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 9
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'Squire Bourns appeared rather as a non-combatant ; he simply had a staff in his hand. But for the night's dark- ness he might have been noticed, however, to wear at his side a bayonet, as he wore that weapon when a soldier under Washington three years before.
The night waned, and the silence continued through the forest, interrupted only by the occasional bark of a fox. or the hoot of an owl. But as the morning began to dawn the soldier's intent ear caught from a little distance a rust- ling sound like that made by animals moving through the underbrush : and quickly its cause was revealed in the ap- proach of a man whom Bourns in the twilight mistook to be one of his party who wore a military hat : and by the planned whistle he called for the countersign. This was not returned, and, being in doubt, the canny Scot started toward the man whom he followed until the growing light proved the fugitive was bent on eluding him ; and he im- mediately shouted the battle rally for his party to hear and join him. Being fleet afoot, 'Squire Bourns gained on the disguised marauder, who proved to be one of the brothers, Shockke, and he ordered him to halt and sur- render. The man, without halting, looked back, mutter-
The capture of an outlaw.
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ing an angry reply; and making a misstep he fell to the ground, when the 'Squire,' coming up, had his bayonet instantly in use to keep his burly foe from rising. Within a very few minutes Colonel Johnston, with the rest of the loyal party, rode up: when the march was started upon down the mountains homeward, with the prisoner in com- pany."
The Nugents. March 25, 1750.
The Nugents, who were among the chief leaders of the band, after evading arrest for a considerable time, were at length captured and paid the penalty of their crimes.
A price on their heads.
Note 29.
Joseph Reed, president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, issued a formal proclamation, offering a reward of five thousand dollars for the capture of Benjamin Nugent, William Nugent, John Rosborough, Charles Johnston and Dr. John McCartney, or one thou- sand dollars for the arrest and safe delivery of either one of them to any county jail.
Note 30. November 22, 1782
As before stated, the Nugents were all captured, and as a matter of interest it is here recorded that William Nugent was captured by Ephraim Hunter, of the county of Cumberland, who presented his petition to the Su- preme Executive Council of the state, and claimed the reward which had been offered by the government. He set forth in his petition :
A capturer's pe- tition.
"That your petitioner hath lately apprehended and safely delivered to Henry Miller, Esq., High Sheriff with- in the Goal of York County the above named William Nugent as by the said Sheriff's Certificate herewith pro- duced will appear. That the value of the said one thou- sand Continental Dollars in hard Money agreeable to the Scale of Depreciation does not appear to be more than Six pounds seven Shillings & sixpence together with four Dollars expences attending the delivering the said Nugent to the Goal afs, which together amounts to Seven pounds seventeen Shillings & sixpence hard money. Your petitioner therefore Prays that your Honor will be pleased to pay him the said Sum of Seven pounds seven-
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LOOKING BACKWARD.
teen Shillings & sixpence hard Money and he as in duty CHAPTER V. bound will ever pray, &c."
Accompanying the petition was the re- ceipt of Michael Gray- bill, gaoler of York county, for the body of William Nugent, which receipt was properly dated.
There was also add- ed the certificate of Henry Miller, sheriff of York county, to the effect that William Nugent had been de- livered to the gaol of that county by Thomas Gold and Ephraim Hunter.
These marauders of early times are said to have a place in litera- ture. It is believed that one of the Doanes was the original of "Sandy Flash," a char- acter in the "Story of Kennet."
A Philadelphia writer of quaint fiction, in the earlier part of the present century, is also and said to have had in his mind the Nugents when he wrote his entertaining story of "The Hawks of Hawk Hollow."
Veren dentommy Custody Me Nugent By Thomas Gates Ephraim Flunder The 12010601982
Michael Graybilligealan
that William Mangent was delivered to the
Art Miller Suit
January
January 6, 1783.
JAILOR'S RECEIPT FOR NUGENT.
Bayard Taylor.
Dr. Bird.
(8)
October 12, 1782.
Thomas hold and Efrain
I do hereby fortify
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CHAPTER V.
Artificers of the Revolution.
John Bourns.
Note 31.
'Squire John Bourns was a noteworthy man in many respects, and has a rival in another noted patriot of the Cumberland valley in important work which was perform- ed for the American cause during the revolution. It goes without saying that the American army stood in great need of an artillery service, and the men who were so pro- ficient in the art of iron working as to be able to turn this sturdy mineral of the mountain into an engine of warfare were indeed, profitable sery- ants of their country. At his little forge under the shadow of the South mountain, he carried on the business of making wrought iron cannon for use in the revolutionary war, and although he was compelled to share the honor of this work with another patriotic artificer. vet he is entitled to his full meed of praise.
William Denning.
At his little forge at Mid- dlesex .. William Denning car- ried on the same business. and, more fortunate than his modest competitor, Bourns, A MAN OF IRON. he attracted public attention. and was even, it is said, known not only to the com- mander-in-chief of the American army, but the British commander as well had learned of his exploits. An effort was made to corrupt him with British gold, and to buy his services for the enemy. but no amount of British gold could have corrupted men like Bourns and Denning, or caused them to betray their beloved country.
A State monu- ment.
The State of Pennsylvania has recognized, however tardily, the services of Denning by erecting over his grave
LOOKING BACKWARD.
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at Newville a monument, telling of his deeds, but so far, CHAPTER V. notwithstanding the equal merit of John Bourns, no pub- lie recognition has been made of his services.
It is a pleasing story, but alas, it is simply tradition, that the name under which the thriving borough at the foot of the South mountain is now known took its rise from the fact that "mad" Anthony Wayne, the old revolu-
A pleasing tradi- tion.
WM DENNING
DENNING MONUMENT.
tionary general, ere whiles visiting the spot, expressed his admiration for its beauty by exclaiming, "What a beauti- ful place for a town!"
It would be a pity to shatter a tradition as pretty as this, and the historian may be excused for withholding his hand, particularly since a native son of the old "burgh" has so beautifully told the story in rhyme. The rhyme is as follows :
A poet's interpre- tation thereof.
Colonel Smith D. Fry.
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"What a beautiful place for a town!" Said brave "mad" Anthony Wayne, "What a beautiful place to build up a town!" He said it again and again.
A soldier and statesman was Anthony Wayne, A man of well-earned renown; He was blessed with the eyes of a seer to discern "What a beautiful place for a town!"
Grand Anthony Wayne has gone to his rest. From the land of the leal looks down, And he says to the angels around him up there, "Look at beautiful Waynesboro town!"
The people are proud of their first grand centennial. No king is more proud of his crown; And Anthony Wayne has a pride that's perennial In beautiful Waynesboro town.
So doff every cap and lift every bonnet To Anthony Wayne of renown; We'll praise him in speech, song, story and sonnet. For giving us Waynesboro town.
CHAPTER VI.
PHYSICAL BEAUTIES.
MOUNTAIN, FOREST AND STREAM.
P ENNSYLVANIA'S mountains lend a remarkable charm to her natural beauties which is not possessed in like degree by any other of her sister States. There are lacking, it is true, the frequent and high-tower- ing peaks of New England : there is no suggestion of the frowning cliffs, the dark and unfathomable recesses of the Rockies : and the heart of the observer is not stilled by an awe-inspiring grandeur which is inseparable from the stupendous canons and mountain ranges of the far west. Yet the mountain chains of Pennsylvania, clear and bright in the distance, with the color they have borrowed from the sky, as they rise and fall in their gentle undulations, framing in the beauties of valley and plain as with a mighty garland, never fail to awaken the heart of the artist, and to tune the tongue of the poet to song.
The mountains of Pennsylvania cover six thousand seven hundred and fifty square miles, or nearly one-sev- enth of the total superficies of the State.
The county of Franklin is remarkably begirt by the most attractive of these mountain ranges, and the South Mountain, at whose feet the town of Waynesboro nestles, is the most remarkable of them all.
Between the Susquehanna and Potomac rivers this range is termed the South Mountain ; in Virginia it forms the Blue Ridge, and, entering the northeast part of Georgia, trending away, it is gradually lost among the sources of the Chattahoochee river.
This remarkable chain enters Pennsylvania on its southern line, and, stretching north between Adams and
CHAPTER VI.
The mountains of Pennsylvania.
Note 32.
Their extent.
The South Mountain.
Its appellations.
Its rise and course.
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CHAPTER VI. Franklin counties, reaches the southern angle of Cumber- land, where it turns northward, and. extending towards the Susquehanna river, separates Cumberland from Adams and York counties. About six miles below Har- risburg it is broken through by the Susquehanna river ; again rising below the mouth of the Swatara creek, it crosses the southern angle of Dauphin county; thence, known as the Conewago hills, it separates Lebanon from Lancaster county, enters Berks and reaches the Schuyl- kill river at Reading. It continues through Berks. Le- high and Northampton counties, passes Allentown, Beth- lehem and Easton, below which last named place it is interrupted by the Delaware river. Completing its course, it extends through Sussex county, New York, and is finally terminated in the Shawangunk on the west side of the Hudson river.
A Mecca for the lover of nature.
In the particular vicinity of Waynesboro the South Mountain presents some of its most attractive features. Nature, assisted by Art, has made it possible for the genu- ine lover of natural beauties to find a Mecca in its summit. where the kindly mother of all, enwrapped in her gran- deur, can be worshipped to the fullest.
Glens and ra- vines.
Impressive as is the view of the landscape from the mountain top, no less so are the beauties of the forest- shaded plane, the glens and the ravines which environ its base. Here dark pines and hemlocks, with ferns of tropi- cal growth, deepen into cypress shades, or light up in the glimmering rays of the sun, whilst thin-branched larches spread their boughs like webs of gossamer before the trees of deeper hue. Under all is spread the velvety moss, dotted here and there with numerous springs which sparkle like jewels as they reflect the errant rays of sun- light which pierce the shade.
Note 33.
How peopled in the past.
It is easy for the imagination to people the dark spots under the trees, the deep recesses in the mountain side, or the sinuous pathways which lead summit-ward with
IN A MOUNTAIN GLEN (ROYAL ARCH CASCADES, MOUNT ALTO).
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER VI. the characters identified with them in the different periods of past existence. Again appears the stalwart form of the dusky Indian. Again is heard, scarcely discernible on the mossy carpet and almost drowned by the laughter of the neighboring streamlet, his stealthy tread, and, in harmony with the wild cry of the beast of prey from its distant lair, echoes through glen and across glade his shrill war- whoop, and the notes, in minor chord, of his defiant death song.
Heroes and hero- ines of legendary story and song.
Now, in kaleidoscopic view, passes by the long proces- sion of the heroes and heroines of legendary story and song, which, born of the superstition of a simple folk in the past, people the mountain from the Chattahoochee on the south to the borders of that other romance land on the north, the Catskills. More vivid than all the rest in pano- ramic presentation are the sad episodes of slavery times, when the underground railroad had right of way through this mountain, and many a fugitive, having escaped from his shackles, gazed from its summit upon the north star, which pointed the way to his freedom.
The Antietam creek.
Note 34.
To diversify and add additional charms to the surround- ings, two streams of water of almost equal volume, the headwaters of the old Indian creek, the Antietam, born of the mountain springs, seek and find channels which take course through glen and glade, by brooding moun- tain pass, to their junction farther south.
Marsh run.
The southeastern portion of the county of Franklin is not as well watered as the central and western portions. The east and west branches of the Antietam and, a few miles to the westward, the tributary, Marsh run, are the water features of the Waynesboro locality, which were potent factors in determining the choice of the early settlers.
Marsh run, for some distance, forms the natural boun- dary line between Washington and Antrim townships.
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PHYSICAL BEAUTIES.
From the earliest days of the Indian occupation of its banks down to the time when the armies of the blue and gray engaged in deadly conflict for the possession of the old stone bridge which spans its waters near Sharpsburg, Maryland, the Antietam has been a historic stream, and it possesses, as well as the neighboring mountain, its full share of traditional and legendary lore.
It seems to be a fitting sequel to the stories which are associated with this locality concerning the cruel entrap- ping of fugitive slaves in the days when capture and return to slavery were sanctioned by law, that, by the banks of the Antietam, should have been fought one of the most important battles of the war which made these slaves free, and by a strange fatality, too, it is a fact that on the banks of the Antietam and in the neighboring glen, sheltered by the South Mountain, was enacted a sad tragedy connected with the first steps which were taken, however ill-advised, to bring about the freedom of the slave.
No story of Antietam would be complete which did not recount the tale of the wanderings of the fugitives from the provisional army of old John Brown at Harper's Ferry, and the tragic capture of Captain John Cook, one of the most daring and reckless of subordinate officers in that ill-fated attempted insurrection.
It will not be possible here to tell the story of the Har- per's Ferry insurrection, which was so closely identified with localities neighboring to Waynesboro; an identifica- tion which was of a most serious character so far as the town of Chambersburg is concerned. It was at Cham- bersburg that John Brown, in disguise and under the as- sumed name of Isaac Smith, carried on some of the most important of his preliminary operations. It was at that point that he received and shipped into the mountains the arms which he was gathering for his intended warfare,
CHAPTER VI.
An historic stream.
The battle of Antietam.
The wanderings of the Harper's Ferry insurrec- tionists, and the capture of Cap- tain Cook.
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER VI.
and it was the town of Chambersburg which was the ob- jective point of the fugitives who escaped the vengeance which had been prepared for them by the government which considered their actions nothing short of treason.
The doomed town.
It is an open secret that the Southern people never for- gave the town of Chambersburg, innocent as it was of any knowledge of the presence of the great conspirator, or of any complicity in his operations, for having, even un- wittingly, harbored him, and when the army of Lee swept northward with thoughts of retaliation upon the North for the destruction of property by its army in the south, the ill-fated town of Chambersburg was remembered for its acquaintance with John Brown, and was doomed to utter destruction.
Owen Brown.
When Owen Brown and his companions made their es- cape from Harper's Ferry upon the failure of his father to carry out his plan of freeing the slaves, he sought a pathway to the north through the passes and hidden ways of the South Mountain.
Of his companions, none seconded his efforts at escape better than Captain John . Cook, but. unfor- tunately for the party and most disastrously for hin- self. Cook could not restrain his impetuosity and his de- sire to take unwarranted risks. The story of this party's journeyings through the mountains reads like a CAPTAIN JOHN F. COOK. romance and cannot be told in better language than that of Owen Brown him- self. The entire party, of which Owen Brown was leader, and which were all that were left from the slaughter of that day when the fearful attack was made upon the en-
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PHYSICAL BEAUTIES.
gine house at Harper's Ferry, consisted, besides Owen CHAPTER VI. Brown, of Barclay Coppoc, Frank J. Merriam, Charles Plummer Tidd, John E. Cook, and Osborne P. Anderson colored.
It is not possible here to follow these fugitives from the time they started until they reached their destination, but it must suffice simply to speak of their wanderings through the South Mountain territory, with which this narrative has to do.
The town of Chambersburg was a sort of Mecca for the wanderers, because they believed if they could only reach and pass that place they would be safe.
The narrative of Owen Brown is taken up at a point where a locality has been reached that is not far from Chambersburg: the record of the earlier wanderings is omitted :
"Before sundown that same afternoon our lives were imperiled in what seemed to me at the time a most wanton manner. Cook had brought with him an old-fashioned. one-barrel horse pistol, once carried by General Wash- ington. Cook got possession of it, when he and Stevens made Colonel Lewis Washington prisoner at Harper's Ferry. Well. Cook took this old pistol and strolled off shooting it around in the neighborhood. This enraged Tidd, who ordered him peremptorily to stop. Cook said he knew what he was doing and would not take orders from him. 'I am carrying out the story of our being hun- ters,' Cook said. The quarrel was going on loudly and angrily. They were fast coming to blows and pistol shots when I rushed between them. Coppoc assisted me. Mer- riam lay quietly on the ground. It was not easy work to separate Cook and Tidd, but we finally got them still. They were both fearless men, and had faced many a gun : they agreed to have it out when they could do it without endangering others. There is really no knowing whether one or both of them would not have been killed in this feud, if it had not been for the events of the succeeding day.
In the course of that night we came to a wide creek
Ralph Keeler in Atlantic Monthly. 1874.
Owen Brown's narrative.
Cook's reckless conduct; and quarrel.
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CHAPTER VI.
A hard road to travel.
Cook goes for provisions and does not return.
which we had to ford. Cook's boots came off so hard that I offered to carry him across, if he would cling to my boots and luggage. His weight, the two bundles, four guns, revolvers and ammunition, upon my bare feet on the sharp stones were unendurable. I told Cook I must drop him, and drop him I did, about two-thirds of the way across. He got wet, but kept the guns and ammunition dry. We crossed two valleys and a mountain and got into the woods of another mountain before day. I was especially anxious to get as far as possible from the place where Cook had bought provisions. The forest now seemed so extensive that, after resting a while, we thought it safe to go on by daylight ; and we traveled on in what we considered the direction of Chambersburg till the middle of the afternoon, seeing no traces of inhabit- ants. All day long, whenever Cook and I would get a little in advance of the others, he talked to me about his quarrel with Tidd, making threats against him. His an- ger seemed to increase rather than decrease. He talked also a great deal about the prospective meeting with his wife and boy in Chambersburg. I remember as if it were yesterday. I told him his imprudence would be so great that he would never see his wife and child again.
We stopped at a clear spring that afternoon, and ate the last of the provisions bought the day before. Then the boys said it would be a good time to go and get a new supply. More earnestly than ever I tried to dissuade them, but to no purpose. They outnumbered me. Coppoc wanted to go this time. I said, since they were deter- mined that somebody must go, Cook was the man most fitted for the mission, and I gave him money, and the same red silk handkerchief. He left everything but one re- volver, and took his leave of us, as nearly as we could judge, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon. As I have told you before, we had no timepiece in the party. I don't know whether it was before or after this. that we lost all reckoning of the days of the week. That will be my excuse if I have got them wrong in this narra- tive, and that, too, will give you some idea how bewilder- ing fatigue is, and hunger, and a couple of States on the lookout for you, eager for your blood. Cook hadn't been gone long when two ravens flew over our heads, croaking
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PHYSICAL BEAUTIES.
dismally. You may think it queer, but it struck every one of us as a bad omen. We waited until dusk, but Cook did not return; we waited till dark and star- light, still he did not come; we waited till nine o'clock, till midnight, and still he did not come. He might have got lost, we thought ; and we lingered about, calling and watching for him till at least two o'clock in the morning. Cook never came.
We knew nothing of his fate till more than a week af- terwards, when, as I shall tell you farther on, we got hold of a newspaper one night at a Pennsylvania farm house, and read of his capture. I have heard since that, going along in a clearing, he came upon two men chopping wood, and told his hunting-party story to them, asking where to buy food. They appeared very friendly, offering to go and show the way; and they walked along talking socially, one on each side of him. The report says-but I do not believe it-that Cook told them who he was. At a given signal they rushed upon him, seizing him by the
arms. They must have taken some such advantage of hin, for if he had had half a chance he would have killed them both. He was, as I have told you, I think, already, the quickest and best shot with a pistol I ever saw. Any- how, poor Cook was taken that night to the Chambers- burg jail, fifteen miles away. We knew we were about fifteen miles from Chambersburg, because Tidd had gone -- very recklessly and without consulting us-down to the road that afternoon, and asked a man who happened to be passing. The nearest village, the man said, if my bad memory of names does not deceive me, was called the Old Forge. The name of one of Cook's captors I have for- gotten. the name of the other was Hughes. They got the heavy reward offered for him, and drank it up in bad whiskey, as I have heard, and were both killed in the rebel army."
The story of the capture of Captain Cook has never Col. Alexander K. been more truthfully and graphically told than by the MeClure. gentleman who acted as Cook's legal adviser when the un- fortunate man was brought to Chambersburg a prisoner. It is from an interesting story by him that the facts upon Story of the cap- ture.
CHAPTER VI.
News of his cap- ture.
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WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER VI.
which the following narrative of the capture is based are derived.
Cook goes to his fate.
When Captain Cook left his companions the last time to go in search of food. he wandered down the mountain and entered a ravine. where he suddenly came into the presence of a number of men, belonging to the Mont Alto furnace company, who were engaged at work there under the supervision of Cleggett Fitzhugh, who was manager of the furnace, and a man with strong southern sympa- thies. There happened there at the same time one. Daniel Logan, who had stopped for a brief conversation with Fitzhugh. Of Daniel Logan and his brother, Hugh, Col- onel McClure speaks as follows :
"Among the sturdy population of the mountaineers on the southern Pennsylvania border was a family of Logans. There were two brothers, both shrewd. quiet, resolute men. both strongly Southern in their sympathies, both natural detectives, and both trained in the summary ren- dition of fugitive slaves without process of law. It was common for slaves to escape from Maryland and Virginia into the South Mountain, whose broken spurs and ex- tended wings of dense forest gave them reasonably safe retreat. Their escape would be followed by hand-bills. describing the fugitives and offering rewards for their capture and return. These offers of rewards always found their way into the hands of Daniel and Hugh Logan, and many fleeing sons of bondage were arrested by them and quietly returned to their masters."
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