USA > Pennsylvania > Franklin County > Waynesboro > Waynesboro : the history of a settlement in the county formerly called Cumberland, but later Franklin, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in its beginnings, to its centennial period, and to the close of the present century > Part 5
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Thursday, Nov. 23, 1780.
The subject of county division was first agitated in the Assembly during the incumbency. as Representatives from Cumberland county, of Samuel Culbertson, John Andrews. John Allison. Stephen Duncan. William Brown. Jonathan Hoge and John Harris: the three first named being the Representatives from the section which it was proposed to erect into the new county. That which was done at this sitting of the Assembly amounted to but very little. The following minute is the extent of the record :
Journal of Ass., 1780, p. 539.
"A petititon signed by one thousand three hundred and thirty-two inhabitants of the County of Cumberland. stat- ing the advantages which would result from a division of the said County, and their ability to support the expense thereof and praying that the same may be done, was read and ordered to lie on the table for consideration."
No action taken.
The time was inopportune for a movement of this char- acter. The lawmakers were engrossed in the considera- tion of war measures, so the question of dividing old Cumberland county continued "to lie on the table" dur- ing the sessions of this year and those of the succeeding one.
March 2, 1782.
Two years later the matter was again agitated and the movement received a decided impetus. From the records it is learned that :
Votes of Ass., 1782, p. 582.
"A petition from a number of the inhabitants of the western parts of Cumberland County was read praying for a division of the County, and referring to a former petition of the same import presented to the House of Assembly in 1780, was read and ordered to lie on the table."
59
COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES.
Subsequently this petition was taken up by the Assem- CHAPTER 11. bly and read a second time, and was referred to Moses March 25. McClean, Mr. Agnew and Mr. McClay, as a committee. with instructions that they should bring in a bill agree- ably with the prayer of the petition.
In due course of time the bill, as prepared by this Com- mittee, came up in the House the first time for considera- April 9. tion, and after debate was recommitted and the commit- tee instructed :
"To bring in a clause ascertaining the intended boun- daries in such a manner that the Townships of Hopewell and Lurgan may not be included within the intended new county."
V. A. 623.
After being so amended and reported in due legislative course, the bill came before the House the second time. and on the question whether the same be transcribed and printed for public consideration, the yeas and nays were called by Mr. J. Montgomery and Mr. Duncan, Repre- sentatives from Cumberland county, both of whom were opposed to the bill. The yeas were thirty and the nays twenty-one. The Cumberland county delegation were di- vided on the question as follows: In favor of the meas- ure, James McLene and James Johnston ; against it, Wil- liam Brown, John Montgomery and Stephen Duncan; absent or not voting, Robert Magaw and John Allison.
Despite the unfavorable attitude of a majority of the Cumberland county delegation, the new county bill was thus advanced far enough at this session to be submitted, in printed form, to the portion of the public interested.
The question of division was thoroughly canvassed be- fore the people, and that the opposing element was the stronger is evidenced by the delay on part of the Assem- Opposition. bly in taking up the measure for final action.
As time went on, however, the proposition grew in favor and at the second sitting of the Eighth General As- sembly, the large number of petitions urging immediate
April 12.
Attitude of the Cumberland County delega- tion.
Submitted to the people.
Before the Assem bly again.
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER II.
March 16, 1784.
action which were pending in the House and had been re- ferred to a committee for action, were reported back to the general body and read, whereupon the following reso- lution was presented and adopted :
March 18.
V. A. 191.
A new county granted. Limits fixed.
"Resolved, That a new County be granted and laid out. to begin on the York County line, on the South Moun- tain, thence by a square line to be run from the said begin- ning, to the North or Blue Ridge (Mountain), leaving Shippensburg to the east of said line thence from the sum- mit of the said North Mountain, by the ridge dividing the waters of Sherman's Valley from the waters of the Path Valley, to the gap near the heads of the said Path Valley, joining Bedford County ; thence by Bedford County line to the Maryland line; thence by said line to the line of York County ; thence by said County line to the place of beginning: To be called County and that the said new County Town shall be established by law at the well known place called Chambers Town and not elsewhere."
County Town located.
The committee which was appointed to bring in a bill in accordance with the instructions specifically set forth in this resolution consisted of Mr. Jacob Rush, of Phila- delphia ; Mr. Robert Coleman, of Lancaster, and Mr. Robert McPherson, of York. Owing to the pressure of other duties this committee did not finally agree upon a bill until some days later, which they reported to the House at the time when it was in a great state of agitation over another matter. A proposition had been made to re- move the seat of the State Government from Philadelphia to Lancaster. This proposition created no little excite- ment and very little routine business was transacted until it was voted down for the time being.
March 25, 1784.
March 29. V. A. D. 213.
Having been laid upon the table after its formal first reading in the House at the time of its introduction, the new county bill came up for second reading and consider- ation on the question whether it should be printed for public consideration. Its friends were now active, and
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COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES.
after a short and sharp debate a vote was reached and the bill was ordered transcribed and printed for this purpose.
Nearly five months passed by without any further ac- tion on the part of the Assembly, except that which was Petitioners still incident to the receiving and filing of petitions and me- busy. morials from the people on the subject. Dwellers in Shippensburg and Lurgan township now expressed their August 13-21. willingness, in petitions, to be included in the new county and many in Hopewell township also expressed their will- ingness to come within the new jurisdiction, while the Greencastle people still kept up the fight for the county seat.
Formal action on the measure again began in the As- sembly after the people interested had been afforded a full opportunity of considering the printed proposition to di- vide the county. The measure was taken up at the stage at which it was left five months before. It was formally read a second time, and a day certain was fixed for its further consideration and the debate thereon, when it was debated in part and its further consideration postponed for five days. When it again engaged the attention of the House a determined effort was made to change the boun- daries or limits of the new county proposed in the bill then pending. The chief purpose of this change seemed to be to leave out Lurgan township, and to some extent to change the relation of other territory. The proposed changes were voted down by the decisive vote of thirty- three to eighteen. The representatives from the eastern end of the county-the Cumberland end-were particu- larly active for the amendment. These were Brown (Carlisle), Watts and Whitehill.
The passage of the bill through the remaining stages of legislation was uninterrupted and uneventful. In due time the bill was ordered to be engrossed for the purpose of being enacted into a law, and there came a day, near at hand, of general rejoicing among the Sponsors for Frank-
CHAPTER II.
The Assembly at work again.
August 21. V. A. 292.
August 25.
August 30.
A change in lim- its defeated.
The Franklin county bill en- grossed and signed. September 9.
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER II.
Note 12.
lin county, when "the bill, together with the clause by way of rider to said bill having been brought in engrossed, was compared at the table. enacted into a law. and the speaker directed to sign the same."
The strife for lo- cal offices.
The new county created, the appointment and selection of the county officers at once became a matter of absorb- ing interest to certain worthy and deserving individuals in the purlieu of the new jurisdiction, and a cause of no little embarrassment to the State officials, who under the existing methods had the appointive power. It would not be proper in these pages to attempt to give any detailed account of these controversies, but a brief reference to the contest for the Prothonotary's office it is believed will not be without interest.
There were two chief aspirants for this position, and they were both men of marked prominence in State and county affairs, and both soldiers who served with distinc- tion in the Revolutionary War. They were Lieutenant
Pir Your Excelenay Molt obedient and Hoff Humble forvand Ja Chamber
1782.
and Paymaster Edward Crawford and Colonel James Chambers. When the movement to create the new coun- ty took shape, and two years before the division was actually accomplished, both these gentlemen had applied in writing to the President of the Supreme Executive
63
COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES.
Council for the appointment to this office, the application of Chambers reaching the Council two months in advance of that of Crawford. Both of these papers are interesting historical documents, as they recite somewhat in detail the military services performed by the writers. Both of these applicants had influential friends. General Wash- ington had shown himself a friend to Colonel Chambers in many ways, and particularly in the letter which he wrote to the Pennsylvania Board of War asking for infor- mation as to the cause which had led to the omission of the name of Colonel Chambers from the reorganization roster.
Eaw Crawford Late
Lieut. Crawford, on the other hand, was particularly fortunate in having General Anthony Wayne espouse his cause in the application for the county office. Crawford lived in Philadelphia at the time, and belonged to that little coterie of army officers who basked in the sunlight of "Mad Anthony's" presence, and securing all their in- fluence, was successful in being chosen for the office he had applied for. He proved a good officer, and his mas- ter hand is most manifest in the shaping up of the early records of the county.
The territory lying west of the Susquehanna remained with indeterminate bounds, as the outlying portion of Lancaster county, for nearly six years after the formal organization of the county. Then by order of the court
CHAPTER HI.
Chambers, June 24.
Crawford. August 29.
Note 13.
Their influential friends.
Note 14.
Penn'a Arch. 1st Ser .. Vol. X, p. 603.
Crawford suc- cessful.
Formation of townships.
Head Quarters Morres Town April 10 1777
er
Ool Chambers , who has been omitted in the appointments lately made by your State, exproffes a good deal of uncalinego m account of it , and confeders it as an implied ne flection on his conduct . Ar ther's humfelf intetled to Come" explanation of the reasons for which he has been neglected ; and wishes to know what particular charge or imputation, his exclay on is foundeds . - As I could give him no fatofaction in the matter myself, I have thought proper to refer it to you, and Ifhow! be glad to hear from you on the Subject?
Jam Fini Your moff obedient Serian
FACSIMILE OF WASHINGTON LETTER.
65
COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES.
it was formally included within the limits of two town- ships ; the division line running across the valley, so as to 1735. intersect the "Big Spring." where the town of Newville is now located. That portion of the territory, eastward of the line, extending to the Susquehanna river, was given the name of "Pennsborough Township," and that to the westward and southwestward, to the line of the Province. the name of "Hopewell Township."
The townships thus constituted so remained until the increasing population made further division necessary. Hopewell township, which, before its division, comprised all the territory in the county of Franklin, except the mountain townships, Fannet, Metal and Warren, was now divided by a line, running from the North to the South Mountain, across the valley, the exact location of which it is not possible now to positively determine. There is good authority, however, for saying that this line was about identical with the present boundary line between the counties of Cumberland and Franklin.
The new township, which comprised all the territory which had been formerly the portion of Hopewell town- ship lying within the present limits of Franklin county, was called "Antrim;" a name derived from the ancient county of the same name, in the Province of Ulster. in the North of Ireland, whence many of the settlers in the new Antrim had emigrated, bringing with them fond memories of the rugged hills sloping away to Lough Neagh, and the winding channel and bright wavelets of Brau, to find pleasant reminders of these in the mountains of the "North Valley," and the flashing waters of Conoco- cheague.
Antrim became a prolific mother of townships. Her first born was Lurgan. Then followed in order of time, Peters. Guilford, Hamilton, Fannet, Letterkenny. These townships were all in being prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. The township which this narrative
CHAPTER II.
Pennsborough and Hopewell.
Hopewell divided, 1741.
McCauley.
Antrim township created.
Antrim a mother of townships.
Washington Township comes into being 1779.
(5)
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER IL.
most particularly deals with, Washington township, fol- lows next in the order of time, and as its name might indicate, came into existence while the tide of affairs Revolutionary was at the flood. It was the eighth of the ten townships which were created under the jurisdiction of Lancaster county, and before the formation of Franklin.
Area of Antrim.
Area of Washing- ton and Quincy. 1837.
Within its original ample limits, Antrim township con- tained nearly two hundred and fourteen thousand acres. Washington township, originally, before a portion was cut off to create Quincy township, measured up to twen- ty-six thousand, four hundred and eighty-three acres.
VIRTUE
LIBEI
INDEPENDENCE
CHAPTER III.
EARLY SETTLERS.
NATIONALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS. IMPELLING CAUSES OF SETTLEMENT.
T has been said, and truthfully said, that to no particular CHAPTER III. nationality alone of those represented among the earlier settlers of Pennsylvania, can be given the credit for the proper implanting of the settlements in the Cumberland Valley, and the glorious outgrowth thereof. The truth of this proposition, which applies not only to the Cumberland Valley, but to every other portion of the great State of Pennsylvania, must not be lost sight of in presenting the unbiased history of the State.
There is, perhaps, no other section of the Cumberland Valley in which the two predominating nationalities, who participated in the settlement, were more equally divided than in the eastern end of Franklin county in the territory out of which was formed the township of Washington. At an early day the Scotch-Irish pioneers were in the vicinage, but following fast upon their heels came their German brothers. When Johnston and Roddy took up land and settled down to make a home, Crunkleton and Snively, in neighborly proximity, followed their example. If the Scotch-Irish found a journey along the valley from the Susquehanna west of the mountain, albeit a dangerous yet a profitable one, the Germans also discovered that a journey across the mountain, although equally dangerous. was equally profitable. Step by step, in steady increase, the settlements grew, as the vesting of land titles in in- dividuals became more frequent. In less than a quarter of a century, the principal part of the most desirable land
Credit for settle- ment due to no particular race.
Nationality and characteristics of settlers.
1734-1735.
1734 to 1765.
Note 15.
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER III.
was vested in owners by proper assurances in law, and the land records of the Province were soon teeming with many palatinate German and Scotch-Irish names.
Rupp.
According to the best authority now extant, Antrim township, which embraced the territory afterward named Washington township, contained. all told, at the time of the formation of Cumberland county, one hundred and thirty-three taxables. The three decades which followed were marked by a rapid increase in the population, so that shortly after the formation of Franklin county the total taxables in the original territory of Antrim township amounted to five hundred and eighty-six, and in Wash- ington township alone the enumeration reached two hun- dred and sixty-three.
1786.
Early rates and levies, and origi- nal land values.
In connection with the first levy of taxes in Washing- ton township, under the jurisdiction of the new county of Franklin, it is interesting to note that the value of land was fixed at about ten dollars per acre : that there were returned four hundred horses, five hundred and thirty- three cows, and, enumerated among the animals, three slaves. There were also seven gristmills, seven sawmills. one oil mill, eight stills, and two tanyards. The total tax derived from the township levy amounted to about six hundred and sixty dollars.
Early taxables.
Note 16.
Note 17.
From a historical and genealogical standpoint, too much importance cannot attach to well digested records of original land owners and early taxables, collated after the formation of the county of Franklin. Students of lo- cal history and genealogy count the time well spent which is devoted to the critical examination and analysis of mat- ters of this character. The first assessment lists of Wash- ington township are particularly suggestive.
An irrepressible conflict.
In tracing the history of American civilization, from its birth in the old world to its sublime apotheosis in the new, the investigation of necessity becomes deeply involved in
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EARLY SETTLERS.
the lurid narrative of the tragedies and the lighter story of the intrigues which were incidents of the irrepressible, three-sided conflict between power ecclesiastical, aiming at perpetuity, with power temporal, struggling to main- tain life and a policy of expansion, upon the one hand, and the conscience of man, slowly awakening to an enlight- ened knowledge of its God-given right to control action, upon the other.
The narrative is one of absorbing interest. The field of action embraced all Europe in its scope. The forces of Intolerance were bivouaced in France and Germany, in England and Scotland, and in Ireland.
What of France? The world had stood aghast in con- templation of the fearful crime of St. Bartholomew's eve. Then word of hope was whispered again through the pent up valleys, shadowed by "the long waving line of the blue Pyrenees," when the Bourbon of Navarre approached, by slow advances, the throne.
But for a brief space only the merciless hand of perse- cution seemed to be stayed. The edicts of Poictiers and Nantes, although accomplished facts, proved but promises to the ear. to be broken to the hope. Ivry indeed followed Moncontour, but was only a last errant ray of light from the rapidly closing storm clouds. The white plume of Navarre, no longer the "oriflamme" of persecuted Protest- antism, but the disgraceful symbol of an abjured faith. "went down in dust and blood" before the assassin's dag- ger.
Darker and more threatening grew the storm clouds of persecution, while anon the death-dealing bolts fell thickly, after the second Bourbon, weak son of a fore- sworn father, dead, and a wicked mother, living, came to Louis XIII. 1610-43. the throne; a mother and queen regent with unbridled ambition, the while advising and controlling a weakling, Marie de Medici.
CHAPTER III.
A world-wide field.
August 24, 1572.
Henry 1V., 1752.
1577.
1595.
May 14, 1610.
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER INI.
Cardinal Richelieu.
and afterwards chastising a rebellious son, whilst a prime minister, a man of strong intellect and daring purpose, schemed for and finally attained a vantage ground of power, whence he, "for eighteen years, controlled the des- tinies, not only of France, but of Europe."
Louis XIV. 1643-1715.
Cardinal Mazarine
Oct. 22, 1685.
The reign of the third Bourbon, the Dicu-donne (God- given), better known as "The Great," was a fitting sequel to that of the last. Again was presented the spectacle of a masterful ecclesiastic, the power behind the throne, shaping the political ends of the most powerful nations of the earth. During this reign, the policy of oppression and suppression culminated, and the repeal of the edict of Nantes gave the coup-de-grace to Protestant defenses and transferred to a new field altogether-the Palatinates of Germany-the king's operations in the line of his ambi- tious achievements, where the life of Protestant France had already gone to seek, at least, a temporary asylum.
In England.
Turning from the contemplation of the revolting nar- rative of the crimes of selfish ambition, and the carnage and desolation which followed in France in those days, to England, where the doctrine of the "divine right of kings" was being maintained from another but an equally selfish standpoint, is but to find there also liberty of conscience in bonds and languishing.
The remarkable reign of the second queen regent, and the last of the Tudor line, advanced, it may be, on certain lines, the cause of Protestantism, and enriched the world in literature and art, but over all was the trail of the ser- pent of Intolerance. Elizabeth and Mary were central figures in the world's history, but who can count the cost to humanity and civilization of that long continued con- flict between them, in which unholy ambition, jealousy and hatred were allies on both sides, with foul murder at length enlisted on the one side to close the issue between them, and awaken the Catholic world to action, and to
Elizabeth. 1559-1603.
Woful Allies.
7I
EARLY SETTLERS.
add fury to Protestant persecution on the Continent. In CHAPTER III. England, Scotland and Ireland, conformity to the reli- gious forms established by Elizabeth was made the test of loyalty to the young sovereign. Religious persecutions now became common. Many non-conformists were put to death ; many more were imprisoned. Determined men of uncompromising conscience have made up their minds that if a change does not come, and that speedily, home and country must be sacrificed.
Then came the last day of the "Elizabethan Age." Death, the invincible conspirator, closed forever, with his heavy hand, the eyes of the queen, and the son of Mary Stuart, in waiting across the Scottish border, became England's king.
It was not without foundation, based rather more in the promises made by the new king than in confidence as to his strength of character, that great hopes were enter- tained of King James by the Protestants. Had he not called the church of Scotland "the sincerest kirk of the world," and had he not severely criticised the service of the English church as "an evil said mass?" But there was born in him a spirit which the troublons times which he knew only fostered the more. Vain and weak, he was just the one to be deeply impressed by the teachings of the doc- trine that what the king did was done by the direct hand of God, and that he could do no wrong. Add to this the power of an ambitious longing for greater adulation and greater glory, and we have a character little fitted to cope with the stupendous problem with which the greater minds of mankind were, at the period, busy. Protestant- ism owes much, it is true, to King James of England, but the promises of his early reign were never fulfilled. He sowed seeds of civilization in Scotland and Ireland, and made it possible for the descendants of the Ulster man to have a name and place to-day in the history of the great struggle for liberty of conscience and freedom of thought.
March 24, 1603.
James I.
Protestant hope in King James.
A hope not fully realized.
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER III.
Progress of civilization.
It is impossible here to trace, step by step, the history of the progress of this great movement which finally led to the exodus of men of conscience from their homes in the Old World to seek a refuge in the new, and there to scat- ter the seeds of freedom.
Ebb and flow of the tide.
The ebb and flow of the tide carried these men of con- science from their homes in England, in Ireland and in Scotland, many of them to the Continent of Europe, there to meet a stronger current of humanity fleeing from the dangers which beset their German homes; seeking safety where safety should have been, in England and Scotland. So the current from England swept back again, and swept on across the broad Atlantic to the fertile shores of the new land which promised for the future a life of safety.
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