HISTORY: Warner Beers, 1886, Part 2, Chapter 2, Cumberland County, PA
Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
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History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania.
Containing History of the Counties, Their Townships, Towns, Villages,
Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and
Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and
Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. Illustrated. Chicago: Warner, Beers
& Co., 1886.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/beers/beers.htm
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PART II.
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA.
CHAPTER II.
PIONEERS - "LOUTHER MANOR," ETC. - TAXES PAID FROM 1736 TO 1749 -
EARLIEST LIST OF TAXABLES IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY - FIRST SETTLERS IN THE
NORTH VALLEY - TAXABLES IN THE COUNTY IN 1762 - EARLY SETTLERS - WILD
ANIMALS AND FISH - CUSTOMS AND HABITS - FORMATION OF TOWNSHIPS AND
BOROUGHS - LANDS.
BEFORE any attempts at permanent settlement were made in the valley
the region was known to and explored by traders among the Indians, who
had posts in various places on the frontier. Some of these traders
were in reality emissaries of the French Government, sent among the
Indians for the purpose of seducing them from their allegiance to the
English, and the proprietary government regarded them with watchful
jealousy. On the 22d of July, 1707, Gov. Evans laid before the council
at Philadelphia an account of his journey among the Susquehanna
Indians, in which he mentions Martines Chartieres and being located at
Pequehan (now Pequea), at the mouth of the creek of the same name in
Lancaster County, where was an Indian town also bearing the name.
Nicole Godin was a trader near Peixtan, and he was decoyed and captured
during the journey, put on a horse with his legs tied under the
animal's belly, and taken to Philadelphia and imprisoned. Peter
Bezallion, who had a license, resided near the mouth of Peixtan or
Paxton Creek, and James Le Tort was also a trader in the region.
Bezallion and Le Tort were both in Prison in 1709 for sundry offenses.
Chartieres was known as "Martin Chartieres, the French glover of
Philadelphia."* Other traders were in the neighborhood. The post of
Chartieres, or as it is more commonly given, Chartier, was on the east
bank of the Susquehanna, about three miles below Columbia, Lancaster
County, and the Penns gave him a large tract of land on Turkey Hill, in
that county. He died, in April, 1718, much esteemed. His son, Peter
Chartier,
*Notes on Lancaster County in Day's Hist. Coll., p. 391.
8 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
after living a few years at his father's place, moved to the
neighborhood of New Cumberland, in the southeast corner of Cumberland
County, where he established a trading post. He subsequently removed
to a point on the Ohio River below Pittsburgh, where a creek now bears
his name. He was all his life an Indian trader, and finally becoming a
resident among the Indians, took sides with them against the English.*
Peter Chartier was not, however, on of the first actual settlers in
this county, for it was not until 1740 that he purchased 600 acres of
land lying in the southeast corner of what is now Lower Allen Township,
bounded east by the Susquehanna, and south by the Yellow Breeches.
James Le Tort (now written Letort) was a French-Swiss, who acted as
an Indian interpreter and messenger to the government. He was also a
trader, and very early built a cabin at the spring at the head of the
run which now bears his name. His first cabin is said to have been
burnt by the Indians. It was built as early as 1720. So far as known,
he was the first white man to have an abode, even temporarily, in what
is now Cumberland County. His location was near Carlisle, at a place
since known as Beaver Pond. Letort was a man of excellent reputation.
He received 12L. annually from the government for his services.
Before the Indian title to the lands west of the Susquehanna had been
extinguished, the Government authorized Samuel Blunston, of Lancaster
County, to issue to the settlers licenses allowing them to go and
improve the land, a title to which should be granted as soon as the
land office should be opened. These documents were known as
"Blunston's licenses," and many of the earlier settlers held them
previous to 1736.
Andrew Ralston. - Authentic information points to the fact that this
person settled at the "Big Spring," either in Newton or West
Pennsborough Township, in 1728. Ralston was a native of County Armagh,
Ireland, and upon applying at the land office for a warrant, soon after
it was opened, he stated that he had occupied the land "ye past eight
years." The following is a verbatim copy of the license directed to be
issued to him at that time.**
LANCASTER COUNTY, SS.
By Order of the Proprietary:
These are to license and allow Andrew Ralston to Continue to Improve
and Dwell on a Tract of Two Hundred acres of land on the Great Spring,
a branch of Conedogwaiet, Joyning to the Upper Side of a Tract Granted
to Randel Chambers for the use of his son, James Chambers; To be
hereafter surveyed to the s'd Ralston on the Comon Terms Other Lands in
those parts are sold, provided the same has not been already Granted to
any other person, and So much can be had without Prejudice to other
Tracts before Granted. Given under my hand this third day of January,
Ano: Dom: 1736-7. SA: BLUNSTON. PENSILVANIA, SS.
Indorsed: License to Andrew Ralston, 200 acres.
The land was subsequently surveyed to him by Samuel Blunston,
surveyor of Lancaster County, of which it was then a part. Mr. Ralston
had two daughters, who married a Hayes and a Dickey, and a son, David,
who remained at Big Spring for many years, but finally removed to
Westmoreland County, and died about 1810.
Tobias Hendricks located in the valley before Andrew Ralston,
possibly previous to 1725. He was a son of Tobias Hendricks, of
Donegal. It is positively certain he was west of the Susquehanna in
1727, for in a letter to John Harris, dated May 13 that year, he speaks
of his father "at Donegal," and requests Mr. Harris to forward a letter
to him. He also alludes to "a trader" at the Potomac of whom he
purchased skins, and also of the "grate numbers
*Samuel Evans, in Notes and Queries, Part I, p. 17.
**Notes and Queries, Part I, p. 19. - Dr. H. W. Egle.
9 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
coming this side of ye Sasquahannah." The Scotch-Irish emigration had
then begun and the valley was being rapidly settled.* Whether
Hendricks became a permanent settler is not stated.
The Chambers Brothers. - Four brothers, James, Robert, Joseph and
Benjamin Chambers, from County Antrim, Ireland, were among the very
first to cross the Susquehanna and settle upon lands in the North
Valley. They landed at Philadelphia in 1726, and pushing westward
located at the mouth of Fishing Creek, on the east bank of the
Susquehanna, a few miles above Harris' ferry, where they built a mill
which was a great convenience for the settlers over a large tract of
country. Benjamin, the youngest, was but eighteen years of age when
the brothers came to this country, and he died February 17, 1788, aged
eighty years. Not long after their settlement at Fishing Creek the
brothers became attracted by the prospect for procuring fine farms west
of the river, and in or before 1730 crossed over and settled at
different places: "James at the head of Green Spring, near Newville;
Robert at the head of Middle Spring, near Shippensburg; and Joseph and
Benjamin near the confluence of Falling Spring and the Conococheague,
where Chambersburg now stands." Joseph soon returned to Fishing Creek;
the others remained where they had settled and became prominent and
influential citizens in many respects.
It would appear that the land included in the Louther Manor, in the
eastern part of the county, was very early the home of white settlers.
That tract, being first laid out as a hunting ground for the Delawares
and Shawnees, three men were appointed to visit the Indians whither
they had gone upon the branches of the Ohio, and induce them to return.
They had left this region partly on account of the encroachments of
white settlers upon their lands, and partly through the efforts of
emissaries of the French in the guise of traders. The three persons
mentioned indited a document as follows:
PESHTANK,** Nov. ye 19th, 1731.
Ffriend Peter Chartiere, This is to Acquaint Thee that By the
Comisioners' and the Governour's order We are now Going over
Susquehanna To Lay out a Tract of Land between Conegogwainet & The
Shaawna*** Creeks five or six miles back from the River, in order to
accommodate the Shaawna Indians or such others as may see fit to Settle
there. To Defend them from Incroachments, And we have also orders to
Disposess all Persons Settled on that side of the River, That Those
woods may Remain free to ye Indians for Planting & Hunting, And We
Desire thee to Communicate this to the Indians who Live About
Allegening. We conclude
Thy Assured Ff'ds,
JOHN WRIGHT,
TOBIAS HENDRICKS,
SAM'L BLUNSTON. ****
As seen elsewhere the Indians did not return; the above simply shows
that white persons had settled in the eastern part of the county as
early as 1731, and probably earlier. Peter Chartier had been appointed
a trader by the court at Lancaster, and he married a Shawanese squaw.
His subsequent desertion to the French has been noted.
"The influx of immigrants into North or Kittatinny valley," says Mr.
Rupp, "increased fast after 1734. In 1748 the number of taxables was
about 800, and the population rising to 3,000. As early as 1735 a road
was laid out from Harris' Ferry toward the Potomac river. November 4,
1735, the court at Lancaster appointed Randle Chambers, Jacob Peat,
James Silvers, Thomas Eastland, John Lawrence and Abram Endless, to lay
out said road. These
* Notes and Queries, Part 1, p. 18.
** Peshtank, Peixtan or Paxton, was the original name of the manor.
*** Yellow Breeches, or Callapasskinker, or Callapasscink - Indian
name of stream, Delaware language.
**** From article on Louther Manor, by Dr. J. A. Murray, of Carlisle,
in Carlisle Herald, 1885.
10 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
gentlemen made a report February 3, 1736, of their views of the road,
which was opposed 'by a considerable number of the inhabitants on the
west side of the Susquehanna in those parts,' and praying for a review.
The court then ordered that William Rennick, Richard Hough, James
Armstrong, Thomas Mayes, Samuel Montgomery and Benjamin Chambers view
the road, and to make such alterations in it as to them may seem
necessary for the public good, and report their proceedings to next
court. They made the following report, May 4, 1736: 'That they had
reviewed the eastern most part of the said road, and find it very
crooked and hurtful to the inhabitants, etc., and therefore have
altered the said road and marked it in the manner following, to-wit:
From the said ferry, near to a southwest course about two miles; thence
a westerly course to James Silvers', then westward to John Hogg's
meadow; then westward to a fording place on Le Tort's spring, a little
to the northward of John Davison's; thence west northerly to the first
marked road in a certain hollow; thence about southwest a little to the
south of Robert Duning's, to the former marked road; thence along the
same to the Great Spring head, being as far as any review or alteration
to them appeared necessary,' which so altered as above said, and
altered from the return to go by James Silvers' house, was allowed to
be recorded."
The North valley (now constitution Cumberland and Franklin Counties)
was divided in 1735 into two townships, called Pennsborough and
Hopewell, and the line dividing them was thus described: "That a line
running northerly from the Hills to the southward of Yellow Breeches
(crossing in a direct line by the Great Spring) to Kightotinning
Mountain, be the division line; and that the easternmost township be
called Pennsborough and the western Hopewell." Hopewell was divided in
1741 "by a line beginning at the North Hill, at Benjamin Moor's; thence
to Widow Hewre's and Samuel Jamison's, and on a straight line to the
South Hill, and that the western division be called Antrim, and the
eastern Hopewell." This was before the organization of Cumberland
County.
Taxes and Collectors. - Table of taxes paid, and names of collectors
in townships in what is now Cumberland County, from 1736 to 1749:
1736 - Pennsborough, 14L. 17s. 6d.; James Silvers, collector.
Hopewell, 4L. 2s.
1737 - Pennsborough, 13L. 0s. 9d. East part of Hopewell, 3L. ws.;
west part of Hopewell, 2L. 19s.
1738 - Pennsborough, 20L. 14s. 0d. East part of Hopewell, 10L. 0s.
3d.; west part of Hopewell, 7L. 7s. 9d.
1739 - Pennsborough, 23L. 16s. 8d.; William Tremble, collector.
South part of Hopewell, 11L. 8s. 1d.; Jacob Snebly, collector. North
part of Hopewell, 6L. 11s. 6d.; Abraham Endless, collector.
1740 - West part of Pennsborough, 11L. 4s. 7d.; Robert Dennin,
collector. East part of Pennsborough, 14L. 18s. 7d; John Walt,
collector. East Hopewell, 4L. 0s. 2d.; James Laughlin, collector.
West Hopewell, 4L. 19s. 8d.; Philip Davis, collector.
1741 - Pennsborough, 17L. 15s. 10d.; Robert Redock, collector.
Hopewell, 3L. 8s. 9d.; James Montgomery, collector.
1742 - West end of Pennsborough, 7L. 19s. 2d.; William Weakly,
collector. East end of Pennsborough, 16L. 7s. 8d.; John Swansey,
collector. Hopewell, 5L. 11s. 4d.; David Herren, collector.
1748 - East end of Pennsborough, 9L. 0s. 6d.; John Semple, collector;
West end of Pennsborough, 10L. 7s. 3d.; Robert Miller, collector.
Hopewell, 6L. 16s. 11d.; Henry Hallan, collector.
11 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
1744 - West end of Pennsborough, 22L. 4s.; John Mitchell, collector;
east end of Pennsborough, 17L. 12s. 7d.; Thomas Fisher, collector.
Hopewell, 10L. 16s. 2d.; Thomas Montgomery, collector.
1745 - West Pennsborough, 23L. 1s. 11d.; James Chambers, collector;
East Pennsborough, 13L. 4s.; John McCrackin, collector. Hopewell, 12L.
10s. 4d.; William Thompson, collector.
1746 - East Pennsborough, 10L. 4s.; John Rankin, collector; West
Pennsborough, 13L. 4s. 8d.; James McFarlin, collector. Hopewell, 9L
17s. 9d.; John Erwin, collector.
1747 - East Pennsborough, 10L. 12s.; Joseph Green, collector; West
Pennsborough, 13L. 18s. 6d.; Patrick Davis, collector. Hopewell, 12L.
7s. 7d.; John Currey, collector.
1748 - East Pennsborough, 12L. 2s.; Christopher Huston, collector;
West Pennsborough, 14L. 14s. 6d.; William Dunbar, collector. Hopewell,
13L. 13s. 6d.; James Walker, collector.
1749 - East Pennsborough, 23L. 16s. 6d.; Tobias Hendricks, collector;
West Pennsborough, 28L. 8s. 9d.; Archibald McAllister, collector.
Hopewell, 43L. 3s. 9d.; John Kirkpatrick, collector.
Antrim Township we do not give as it was outside the present limits
of Cumberland County, being in Franklin.
Earliest List of Taxables. - The earliest list of taxables in
Cumberland County, as given by Mr. Rupp in the history of Dauphin,
Cumberland and other counties, is as follows:
East Pennsborough, 1750. - Tobias Hendricks, Widow Jane Woods, Samuel
Calhoon, Thomas Spray, Thomas Kenny, James Shannon, James Dickey, John
Bigham, Samuel Chambers, William Barrehill, William Noble, William
Crawford, William McChesney, Richard Fulton, John McClellan, William
Rose, Adam Calhoun, William Shannon, John Semple, Charles West,
Christopher Howston, Walker Buchanan, David Reed, James Armstrong, Hugh
Wharton, Edward Eliot, Francis McGuire, William Findley, Josias
McMeans, Hugh Mahool, Robert Carrithers, William Ross, Henry Quigly,
William Morton, John Armstrong, John Buchanan, Nathaniel Nelson, John
Nailer, Andrew Armstrong, Thomas McCormick, John Dickey, John
McCracken, Widow Clark, Widow McMeans, Robert Eliot, Robert Eliot, Jr.,
James Corrithers, William Gray, Alexander Lamferty, John Willoy, Robert
Duning, Joseph Junkin, William Walker, Alex Armstrong, Moses Star,
James Crawford, Roger Cook, Hugh Cook, William Miller, John McCormick,
James Silvers, John Stevenson, James Coleman, David Waason, John
Hunter, William Douglas, John Mitchel, Andrew Milokin, John Milekin,
Patrick Holmes, James Finley, Peter Shaver (Shaver was a trader among
the Indians and was employed by Gov. Thomas, in 1744, to carry letters
to the Shawanese Indians on the Ohio inviting them to come to
Philadelphia), John Erwin, William Carrithers, Widow Quigly, Samuel
Martin, William Hamilton, Robert Samuels, John Waugh, Thomas Rankin,
Richard Rankin, John Clendenin, Joseph Waugh, Widow Roberts, Thomas
Henderson, William Hamilton, William Marshal, William Miller, Wilson
Thomas, Alex Crocket, Widow Branan, Thomas Calvert, William Griffith,
Robert Bell, William Orr, James McConnel, John Bowan, Robert McKinley,
Samuel Fisher, Titus Hollinger, Samuel McCormick, Rowland Chambers,
Robert Kelton, Isaac Rutlidge, Rowland McDonald, Walter Gregory, Widow
Stewart, James McTeer, Peter Leester, Peter Title, Joseph Willie,
Anthony McCue, James Beaty, William Crocket, Andrew Miller, Robert
Roseborough, Joseph Green, James Douglas, Widow Steel, Widow McKee,
Joseph Keynolds, Jr. Freemen - William Hogg, George Crogham, Esq.,
Jonathan Hogg, Samuel Hu__on, John Gilke-
12 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
son, Robert Airs, Abraham Hendricks, Archibald Armstrong, Joseph
Ferret, Clime Horal, Daniel Campbell, William McDonald, Matthew
Lindham, J. Armstrong, Cornelius Brown, Hugh Shannon, Robert Walker,
Nathaniel Wilson, Matthew Brown (two silversmiths at William
McChesney's), John Adams, David Kenworthy, James Gaily, William McTeer,
Edward Ward, Arthur Erwin, James Clark, William Cranula - total 190,
West Pennsborough 1751. - William Queery, William Lamont, Archibald
McAllister, William Carithers, John Davison, Allen Leeper, Neal McFaul,
John McClure (the less), William Logan, John Atchison, Thomas McCoy,
Charles Gillgore, Andrew Griffin, William Dunbar, William Harkness,
William Patton, Samuel McClure, Robert Walker, James Kirkpatrick, John
Swansy, Arthur Clark, Adam Hays, James McMeans, John Deniston, John
McIntire, James McFarland, William Laughlin, Robert Brevard, Robert
McQueston, James Peebles, John McClure (mountain), Alex McClure, John
Langley, John Gordon, William Livingston, Robert Guthrie, William
Anderson, John Glass, John Logan, William Duglass, Alex Erwin, Alex
Logan, William Townsley, William Parker, Margaret Parker, Andrew
Forbush, John Morrison, David Kollogh, George Brown, Francis
Cunningham, Alex Robb, Anthony Gillgore, Jacob Peebles, Samuel Wilson,
Allen Scroggs, David Kenedy, Mary Dunning, William Carithers, John
Carithers, John Chestnut, Thomas Patton, Andrew Ralston, John McClung,
Ezekiel Dunning, James Lea, John Lusk, Alex McBride, James McNaught,
William Blackstock, James Crutchlow, William Dunlap, Thomas Evans,
Steven Cesna, James Weakly, David Hunter, John Cornelius, Alex Weyly,
Lewis Hutton, James Warnock, David Dunbar, David Miller, John Wilson,
Josh Thomson, Josh Dempsay, Samuel Lindsay, Paul Piercy, Owen McCool,
Pat Robeson, Thomas Parker. Freemen - Samuel Wilson, James McMunagle,
David McCurdy, Pat Reynolds, Andrew McAdams, John McCurdy - total 95.
Middleton, 1751. - William Trent, Thomas Wilson, John Elder, John
Chambers, Robert McNutt, James Long, John Mahafy, James Reed, John
Moor, John Craighead, James Dunlop, Patrick Hawson, Walter Denny, James
Gillgore, Patrick Davison, Thomas Elder, Henry Dinsmore, John Mitchell,
Samuel Lamb, James Williams, James Matthews, Alexander Sanderson, James
Henderson, Matthew Miller, John Davis, William Graham, William
Campbell, William Parkeson, Francis McNichley, John McKnaught, John
Calhoun, William Peterson, John Robb, Robert Graham, Samuel McLucass,
Daniel Williams, George Sanderson, Alexander Sanderson, Joseph Clark,
John McClure, Jonathan Holmes, James Chambers, Thomas Armstrong,
William Waddel, James McConnell, Richard Nicholson, John Neely, John
McCrea, John Stuart, Archibald Kenedy, John Jordan, William Jordan,
George Templeton, James Stuart, Richard Venable, Widow Wilson, David
Dreanan, John Dinsmore, Samuel Gauy, William Davison, Samuel Bigger,
Thomas Gibson, John Brown, John McKinley, Robert Campbell, John
Kinkead, Samuel Wilson, Robert Patterson, John Reed, Robert Reed, James
Reed, William Reed, William Armstrong, James Young, Robert Miller,
William Gillachan, Josh Davies, William Fleming, John Gilbreath,
Richard Coulter, Richard Kilpatrick, Andrew Gregg, Robert Thomson, John
Dicky, James Brannan, John McClure, John Buyers, Arthur Foster,
Harmanus Alrichs,* John Armstrong, John Smith, William Buchanan,
William Blyth, John McAllister, William Montgomery, John Patterson,
Robert Kilpatrick, Archibald McCurdy, William Whiteside, John Woodle,
William Dillwood, William Huston, Thomas Lock-
*Some give this Hermanus Alricks, but Harmanus Alrichs is the way it
appears in his own handwriting on the old records at the court house.
13 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Portrait of Rev. Conway P. Wing
14 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Blank Page
15 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
ward, Thomas Henderson, Joseph Thornton, James Dunning, William Moor,
George Davison, Alexander Patterson, John McBride, Robert Robb, Dennis
Swansy, Daniel Lorrance, Jonathan Hogg, Oliver Wallace, John Bell,
Arthur Buchanan, Robert Guthrie, Berry Cackel, Cornelius McAdams,
Andrew McIntire, Alexander Roddy, Josh Price, Hugh Laird, William
Ferguson, Widow Duglas, Abraham Sanford, Moses Moor, Joseph Gaylie,
Charles Mahaufy, William Kerr, Hugh Creanor, William Guilford, William
Stuart, William Chadwick. Freemen in Middleton and Carlisle - Andrew
Holmes, Jonathan Kearney, Francis Hamilton, Jonathan Donnel, William
Wilson, Patrick Loag, Robert Patterson, William Kinaird, George Crisp,
Hugh Laird, William Braidy, James Tait, Patrick Kearney, Arthur Foster,
James Pollock, Thomas Elmore, Robert Mauhiny, Jonathan Hains, William
Rainiston, James Gambel, John woods, David Hains, Henry Hains - total,
158.
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, 1751. - Robert Gibson, David Heron, Moses Donald,
Thomas Donald, Francis Ignue, Daniel McDonald, John Eliott, Alexander
McClintock, James McFarland, Joshua McClintock, Hugh Terrance, Hugh
Thomson, Josh Thomson, Josh Thomson, Jr., Robert McDowell, James
McDowell, Robert Rusk, John Scrogs, William Walker, William Cornahan,
Thomas Gawlt, James Hamilton, John Laughler, Josh Gair, Samuel
Williamson, Samuel Smith, David Kidd, John Hodge, Robert McCombs,
Thomas Micky, John Wray, Richard Nicholson, Andrew McIlvain, George
Hamilton, John Thomson, William Gambel, Samuel Montgomery, Robert
Simson, John Brown, Allen Nisbit, John Nesbit, Jr., John Nesbit, Sr.,
James Wallace, Andrew Peeble, John Anderson, Patrick Hannah, John
Tremble, Moses Stuart, William Reigny, John Moorhead, James Pollock,
Samuel Stuart, Robert Robinson, David Newell, James McCormick, Charles
Murray, Joseph Boggs, John Lysee, Andrew Leckey, John Montgomery, John
Beaty, James Walker, William Smyley, James Chambers, Robert Meek, Dr.
William McGofreck, James Jack, James Quigly, Robert Simonton, John
McCune, Charles Cumins, Samuel Wier, John McCune, Jr., Josh Martin,
James Carrahan, Allen Kollogh, James Young, Francis Newell, John
Quigly, Robert Stuart, Samuel Montgomery, Daniel Mickey, Andrew Jack,
Robert Mickey, Hugh Braidy, Robert Chambers, William Thomson, Edward
Leasy, Alexander Scrogg, John Jack, James Laughlin, John Laughlin, Jr.,
Robert Dinney, David Simr_l, Samuel Walker, Abraham Walker, James
Paxton, James Uxley, Samuel Cellar, W. McClean, James Culbertson, James
McKessan, John Miller, Daniel O'Cain, John Edmonson, Isaac Miller,
David McGaw [Magaw - Ed.] John Reynolds, Francis Camble, William
Anderson, Thomas Edmonson, James Dunlop, John Reynolds, Jr., William
Dunlop, Widow Piper, George Cumins, Thomas Finley, Alexander Fairbairn,
John Mason, James Dysert, William Gibson, Horace Brattan, John
Carothers, Patrick Mullan, James Blair, Peter Walker, John Stevenson,
John Aiger, John Ignue. Freemen - John Hanch, Josh Edmonson, John
Callwell, John Richison (skinner), P. Miller - total, 184.
First Settlers. - The first settlers in the North Valley and the
region to the northward, embraced in what was Cumberland County, were
mostly Scotch-Irish, a fearless and aggressive people who were
impatient at the delays of the land-office, and began as early as 1740-
42 to settle on lands to which the Indian title had not been fully
extinguished. A few Germans were also among them, and the settlements
were made principally on the Juniata River, Shearman's Creek, Tuscarora
path (or Path Valley), in the little and big caves formed by the
Kittatinny and Tuscarora Mountains and by the Big and Little
Conolloways. The Indians very naturally regarded them as intruders,
and in 1750 threatened to settle matters in their own way if the
Government failed to put a stop to the
16 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
proceedings. Measures were promptly adopted. "The secretary of the
province, Mr. Richard Peters, and the interpreter, Mr. Conrad Weiser,
were directed to proceed to the county of Cumberland, in which the new
settlements lay, and to expel the intruders. They were joined by the
magistrates of the county, the delegates from the Six Nations, a chief
of the Mohawks, and Andrew Montour, an interpreter from Ohio. The
commissioners met with little resistance in the execution of their
duty, a few only of the settlers, under an apprehension of
imprisonment, making a show of opposition. All readily entered into
recognizance for their appearance at the next sessions, and many aided
to reduce their own habitations to ashes in the presence of the
magistrates and attendant Indians."*
Following is the report of the proceedings made to the governor by
Mr. Peters, under date of July 2, 1750:
TO JAMES HAMILTON, ESQ., GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA,
May it please Your Honor: - Mr. Weiser, having received your
Honor's orders to give information to the proper magistrates against
all such as had presumed to settle and remain on the lands beyond the
Kittochtinny Mountains, not purchased of the Indians, in contempt of
the laws repeatedly signified by proclamations, and particularly by
your Honor's last one, and bring them to a legal conviction, lest for
want of their removal a breach should ensue between the Six Nations of
Indians and this province, we set out on Tuesday, the 15th of May,
1750, for the new county of Cumberland, where the places on which the
trespassers had settled lay.
At Mr. Croghan's we met with five Indians, three from Shamokin, two
of which are sons of the late Schickcalamy, who transacted the business
of the Six Nations with the Government; two were just arrived from
Allegheny, viz.: one of the Mohock's Nation, called Aaron, and Andrew
Montour, the Interpreter at Ohio. Mr. Montour, telling us he had a
message from the Ohio Indians and Twightwees to this government, and
desiring a conference, one was held on the 18th of May last, in the
presence of James Galbreth, George Croghan, William Wilson and Hermanus
Alricks, Esq., justices of the county of Cumberland; and when Mr.
Montour's business was done, we, with the advice of the other justices,
imparted to the Indians the design we were assembled upon, at which
they expressed great satisfaction.
Another conference was held at the instance of the Indians, in the
presence of Mr. Galbreth and Mr. Croghan, before mentioned, wherein
they expressed themselves as follows:
"Brethren, we have thought a great deal of what you imparted to us,
that ye were come to turn the people off who were settled over the
hills; we are pleased to see you on this occasion, and as the council
of Onondago has this affair exceedingly at heart, and it was
particularly recommended to us by the deputies of the Six Nations, when
they parted from us last summer, we desire to accompany you, but we are
afraid, notwithstanding the care of the Governor, that this may prove
like many former attempts; the people will be put off now, and next
year come again, and if so, the Six Nations will no longer bear it but
do themselves justice. To prevent this, therefore, when you shall have
turned the people off, we recommend it to the Governor to place two or
three faithful persons over the mountains who may be agreeable to him
and us, with commissions empowering them immediately to remove every
one who may presume after this to settle themselves until after the Six
Nations shall agree to make sale of their land."
To enforce this they gave a string of wampum and received one in
return from the magistrates, with the strongest assurances that they
would do their duty.
On Tuesday, the 22d of May, Matthew Dill, George Croghan, Benjamin
Chambers, Thomas Wilson, John Finley and James Galbreath, Esqs.,
justices of the said county of Cumberland, attended by the under
sheriff, came to Big Juniata, situate at the distance of twenty miles
from the mouth thereof and about ten miles north from the Blue Hills, a
place much esteemed by the Indians for some of their best hunting
ground, and there they found five cabins or log houses, one possessed
by William White, another by George Cahoon, another, not yet quite
finished in possession of David Hiddleston, another possessed by George
and William Galloway, and another by Andrew Lycon. Of these persons,
William White and George and William Galloway, David Hiddleston and
George Cahoon appeared before the magistrates, and being asked by what
right or authority they had possessed themselves of the land belonged
to the proprietaries of Pennsylvania. They then were asked whether
they did not know they were acting against the law, and in contempt of
frequent notices given them by the Governor's proclamation. They said
they had seen
*Rupp's Cumberland, etc., p. 378.
17 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
one such proclamation, and had nothing to say for themselves, but
craved mercy. Hereupon the said William White, George and William
Galloway, David Hiddleston and George Cahoon, being convicted by said
justices on their view, the under sheriff was charged with them and he
took William White, David Hiddleston and George Cahoon into custody;
but George and William Galloway resisted, and having got at some
distance from the under sheriff, they called to us: "You may take our
lands and houses and do what you please with them; we deliver them to
you with all our hearts, but we will not be carried to jail."
The next morning being Wednesday, the 23d of May, the said justices
went to the log house or cabin of Andrew Lycon, and finding none there
but children, and hearing that the father and mother were expected
soon, and William White and others offering to become security, jointly
and severally, and to enter into recognizance as well for Andrew's
appearance and immediate removal as for their own, this proposal was
accepted, and William White, David Hiddleston and George Cahoon entered
into a recognizance of one hundred pounds, and executed bonds to the
proprietaries in the sum of five hundred pounds, reciting that they
were trespassers and had no manner of right, and had delivered
possession to me for the proprietaries. When the magistrates went to
the cabin or log house of George and William Galloway (which they had
delivered up as aforesaid the day before, after they were convicted and
were flying from the sheriff), all the goods belonging to the said
George and William were taken out, and the cabin being quite empty, I
took possession thereof for the proprietaries. And then a conference
was held, what should be done with the empty cabin; and after great
deliberation all agreed that if some cabins were not destroyed they
would tempt the trespassers to return again, or encourage others to
come there should these trespassers go away, and so what was doing
would signify nothing, since the possession of them was at such a
distance from the inhabitants could not be kept from the proprietaries,
and Mr. Weiser also giving it as his opinion that if all the cabins
were left standing the Indians would conceive such a contemptible
opinion of the government that they would come themselves in the
winter, murder the people and set their houses on fire. On these
conditions, the cabin, by my order, was burnt by the under sheriff and
company.
Then the company went to the house possessed by David Hiddleston, who
had entered into bond as aforesaid, and he having voluntarily taken out
all the things which were in the cabin, and left me in possession, that
empty and unfurnished cabin was like wise set on fire by the under
sheriff by my order.
The next day being the 24th of May, Mr. Weiser and Mr. Galbreath,
with the under sheriff and myself, on our way to the mouth of the
Juniata called at Andrew Lycon's with the intent only to inform him
that his neighbors were bound for his appearance and immediate removal,
and to caution him not to bring himself or them into trouble by a
refusal. But he presented a loaded gun to the magistrates and sheriff;
said he would shoot the first man that dared to come nigher. On this
he was disarmed, convicted, and committed to the custody of the
sheriff. This whole transaction happened in sight of a tribe of
Indians who by accident had in the night time fixed their tent on that
plantation; and Lycon's behavior giving them great offense, the
Shickcalamies insisted on our burning the cabin or they would do it
themselves. Whereupon, when everything was taken out of it (Andrew
Lycon all the while assisting) and possession being delivered to me,
the empty cabin was set on fire by the under sheriff and Lycon was
carried to jail.
Mr. Benjamin Chambers and Mr. George Croghan had about an hour before
separated from us, and on my meeting them again in Cumberland County
they reported to me they had been at Sheerman's Creek, or Little
Juniata, situate about six miles over the Blue Mountain, and found
there James Parker, Thomas Parker, Owen McKeib, John McClare, Richard
Kirkpatrick, James Murray, John Scott, Henry Gass, John Cowan, Simon
Girtee and John Kilough, who had settled lands and erected cabins or
log houses thereon; and having convicted them of the trespass on their
view, they had bound them in recognizances of the penalty of one
hundred pounds to appear and answer for their trespasses on the first
day of the next county court of Cumberland, to be held at Shippensburg,
and that the said trespassers had likewise entered into bonds to the
proprietaries in five hundred pounds penalty to remove off immediately,
with all their servants, cattle and effects, and had delivered
possession of their houses to Mr. George Stevenson for the
proprietaries' use; and that Mr. Stevenson had ordered some of the
meanest of those cabins to be set on fire, where the families were not
large nor the improvements considerable.
On Monday, the 28th of May, we were met at Shippensburg by Samuel
Smith, William Maxwell, George Croghan, Benjamin Chambers, Robert
Chambers, William Allison, William Trent, John Finley, John Miller,
Hermanus Alricks, and James Galbreth, Esqs., justices of Cumberland
County, who, informing us that the people in the Tuscarora Path, in Big
Cove, and Aucquick would submit, Mr. Weiser most earnestly pressed that
he might be excused any further attendance, having abundance of
necessary business to do at home; and the other magistrates, though
with much reluctance, at last consenting, he left us.
On Wednesday, the 30th of May, the magistrates and company, being
detained two days by rains, proceeded over the Kittochtinny Mountains
and entered into the Tuscarora
18 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Path, or Path Valley, through which the road to Alleghany lies. Many
settlements were formed in this valley, and all the people were sent
for and the following persons appeared, viz.: Abraham Slack, James
Blair, Moses Moore, Arthur Dunlap, Alexander McCartie, David Lewis,
Adam McCartie, Felix Doyle, Andrew Dunlap, Robert Wilson, Jacob Pyatt,
Jacob Pyatt, Jr., William Ramage, Reynolds Alexander, Samuel Patterson,
Robert Baker, John Armstrong and John Potts, who were all convicted by
their own confession to the magistrates of the like trespasses with
those at Shearman's Creek, and were bound in the like recognizances to
appear at court, and bonds to the proprietaries to remove with all
their families, servants, cattle, and effects, and having all
voluntarily given possession of their houses to me, some ordinary log
houses to the number of eleven were burnt to the ground, the
trespassers, most of them cheerfully and a very few of them with
reluctance, carrying out all their goods. Some had been deserted
before and lay waste.
At Aucquick, Peter Falconer, Nicholas De Long, Samuel Perry and John
Charleston were convicted on the view of the magistrates, having
entered into the like recognizances and executed the like bonds.
Charlton's cabin was burned and fire set to another that was just
begun, consisting only of a few logs piled and fastened to one another.
The like proceedings at Big Cove (now within Bedford County) against
Andrew Donaldson, John Macclelland, Charles Stewart, James Downy, John
Macmean, Robert Kendell, Samuel Brown, William Shepperd, Roger Murphy,
Robert Smith, William Dickey, William Millican, William Macconnell,
Alexander Macconnell, James Campbell, William Carrell, John Martin,
John Jamison, Hans Patter, John Maccollin, James Wilson and John
Wilson, who coming before the magistrates, were convicted on their own
confession of the like trespasses as in former cases, and were all
bound over in like recognizances and executed the like bond to the
proprietaries. Three waste cabins of no value were burned at the north
end of the cove by the persons that claimed a right to them.
The Little Cove (in Franklin County) and the Big and Little
Connolloways being the only places remaining to be visited, as this was
on the borders of Maryland the magistrates declined going there and
departed for their homes.
About the year 1740 or 1741 one Frederic Star, a German, with two or
three more of his countrymen, made some settlements at the very place
where we found William White, the Galloways and Andrew Lycon (on Big
Juniata situate at the distance of twenty miles from the north thereof
and about ten miles north of the Blue Hills, a place much esteemed by
the Indians for some of their best hunting ground. - (Votes Assem. Vol.
IV. P. 138.) which (German settlers) were discovered by the Delawares
at Shamokin to the deputie of the Six Nations as they came down to
Philadelphia in the year 1742 to hold a treaty with this government;
and they were so disturbed as to inquire with a peculiar warmth of
Governor Thomas if these people had come there by the orders or with
the privity of the government, alleging that if it was so this was a
breach of the treaties subsisting between the Six Nations and the
proprietor, William Penn, who in the most solemn manner engaged to them
not to suffer any of the people to settle lands until they had
purchased them from the council of the Six Nations. The Governor, as
he might, with great truth, disowned any knowledge of these persons'
settlements, and on the Indians requesting that they should immediately
be thrown over the mountains, he promised to issue his proclamation and
if this had no effect to put the laws in execution against them. The
Indians, in the same treaty publicly expressed some very severe threats
against the inhabitants of Maryland for settling lands for which they
received no satisfaction, and said if they would not do them justice
they would do justice to themselves; and would certainly have committed
hostilities if a treaty had not been on foot between Maryland and the
Six Nations under the mediation of Governor Thomas, at which the
Indians consented to sell lands and receive a valuable consideration
for them, which put an end to the danger.
The proprietaries were then in England, but observing, on perusing
the treaty, with what asperity they had expressed themselves against
Maryland, and that the Indians had just cause to complain of the
settlements at Juniata, so near Shamokin, they wrote to their governor
in very pressing terms, to cause those trespassers to be immediately
removed; and both the proprietaries and Governor laid their commands on
me to see this done, which I accordingly did in June, 1743, the
Governor having first given them notice by a proclamation served on
them.
At that time none had presumed to settle at a place called Big Cove -
having this name from its being enclosed in the form of a basin by the
southernmost range of the Kittochtinny Hills and Tuscarora Hills, which
last end here and lose themselves in other hills. This Big Cove is
about five miles north of the temporary line and not far west of the
place where the line terminated. Between the Big Cove and the
temporary line lies the Little Cove, so-called from being likewise
encircled with hills; and to the west of the Little Cove, toward
Potowmec, lie two other places called the Big and Little Conollaways,
all of them situated on the temporary line, was it to be extended
toward Potowmec.
In the year 1741 or 1742 information was likewise given that people
were beginning to settle in those places, some from Maryland and some
from this province. But as the two governments were then not on very
good terms, the Governor did not think proper to take any other notice
of these settlements than to sent the sheriff to serve his proclama-
19 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
tion on them, and thought it ample occasion to lament the vast
inconveniencies which attend unsettled boundaries. After this the
French war came on, and the people in these parts, taking advantage of
the confusion of the times, by little and little stole into the Great
Cove; so that at the end of the war it was said thirty families had
settled there - not, however, without frequent prohibitions on the part
of the government, and admonitions of the great danger they ran of
being cut off by the Indians, as these settlements were on lands not
purchased of them. At the close of the war Mr. Maxwell, one of the
justices of Lancaster County, delivered a particular message from this
government to them, ordering their removal, that they might not
occasion a breach with the Indians; but it had no effect.
These were, to the best of my remembrance, all the places settled by
Pennsylvanians in the unpurchased part of the province till about three
years ago, when some persons had the presumption to go into Path Valley
or Tuscarora Gap, lying to the east of Big Cove and onto a place called
Aucquick, lying to the northward of it; and likewise into a place
called Shearman's creek, lying all along the waters of Juniata, and is
situate east of the Path Valley through which the present road goes
from Harris' Ferry to Allegheny; and lastly they extended their
settlements to Big Juniata, the Indians all this while repeatedly
complaining that their hunting ground was every day more and more taken
from them, and that there must infallibly arise quarrels between their
warriors and these settlers which would in the end break the chain of
friendship, and pressing in the most importunate terms their speedy
removal. The government in 1748 sent the sheriff and three magistrates
with Mr. Weiser unto these places to warn the people; but they,
notwithstanding continued their settlements in opposition to all this,
and as if those people were prompted by a desire to make mischief,
settled lands no better - nay not so good - as many vacant lands within
the purchased parts of the province.
The bulk of the settlements were made during the administration of
President Palmer; and it is well known to your Honor, though then in
England, that his attention to the safety of the city and lower
counties would not permit him to extend more care to places so remote.
Finding such a general submission, except the two Galloways and
Andrew Lycon, and vainly believing the evil would be effectually taken
away, there was no kindness in my power which I did not do for the
offenders. I gave them money where they were poor, and telling them
they might go directly on any part of the two millions of acres lately
purchased of the Indians; and where the families were large, as I
happened to have several of my own plantations vacant, I offered them
to stay on them rent free till they could provide for themselves. Then
I told them that if, after this lenity and good usage, they would dare
to stay after the time limited for their departure, no mercy would be
showed them, but that they would feel the rigor of the law.
It may be proper to add that the cabins or log houses which were
burnt were of no considerable value, being such as the country people
erect in a day or two and cost only the charge of an entertainment.
After the close of Pontiac's war, the valley, which had been so sadly
devastated, soon began to wear an air of great prosperity. When it
became a positive assurance that the savages, in fear of whom the
people had lived for years, were to trouble them no longer, the joy of
the afflicted was great, being tempered, however, by the recollections
of the awful scenes through which they had so lately passed. The
inhabitants who had left their homes to seek safety in the older
settled counties to the east now returned to their homes in the valley,
and many immigrants of a desirable class also came in and took
advantage of the chances offered to them in the new country. In 1762
of 141,000 acres of land in the county, 72,000 acres had been patented
and warranted by actual settlers. About the same time (1761-62) a few
Germans had settled in the eastern part of the county, near the
Susquehanna. Louther Manor was resurveyed and opened for settlement
(1764-65), and two years later it was again surveyed and divided into
twenty-eight lots or parcels, containing from 150 to 500 acres each,
which lots were purchased principally by Scotch-Irish in Lancaster and
Cumberland Counties, though some were sold to Germans. Robert
Whitehill is said to have erected the first stone house on the manor.
Among purchasers of manor lands who were of Scotch-Irish nativity were
Isaac Hendricks, Capt. John Stewart, John Boggs, John Armstrong, James
Wilson, Robert Whitehill, Moses Wallace, John Wilson, Samuel Wallace,
James McCurdy, David Moore, Rev. William Thompson (Episco-
20 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
pal minister at Carlisle), Alex Young, Jonas Seely. Among the Germans
were John Mish, Conrad Reinninger, Caspar Weaver, Christopher Gramlich,
Philip Kimmel, Andrew Kreutzer.
Prominent settlers about the same time in various parts of the county
were Ephraim Blaine, who built a grist-mill in 1764 on the Conodoguinet
about a mile north of Carlisle; Robert Collander, who also built a mill
near the confluence of the Conodoguinet and Letort's Spring, in
Middlesex Township; William Thompson, a captain in the Indian war, and
later a general in the Revolution; William Lyon, justice, judge and
military officer; John Holmes, elected sheriff October 5, 1765; William
McCoskry, coroner un 1764; Stephen Duncan, Rev. George Duffield (pastor
of a Presbyterian Church as early as 1768); John Montgomery, Esq., Dr.
Jonathan Kearsley, Robert Miller, Rev. John Steel (captain in the
Indian war) - all at Carlisle; George Armstrong, member of the
Assembly, and Walter Gregory, both in Allen. James Carothers, Esq.,
James Galbraith, Esq., James and Matthew Loudon,* in East Pennsborough;
George Brown, Ezekiel Dunning (sheriff in 1764), John Byers, an
extensive farmer near Alexander Spring and subsequently a member of
Council, all of West Pennsborough; William Buchanan, James Blaine, John
McKnight (judge), Thomas Wilson (judge) - all of Middleton.
Shippensburg, the oldest town in the county, had become a prosperous
settlement also. A company of twelve persons had settled there in
June, 1730, and were soon joined by others. Hopewell Township, which
was formed as a part of Lancaster County in 1735, had settlements
outside of Shippensburg (then in its limits) as early as 1731. And it
is easy to see that upon the breaking out of the war of the Revolution
the number of residents in the territory now included in Cumberland
County was quite considerable.
The following interesting sketch, written by Thomas Craighead, Jr.,
of Whitehill, December 16, 1845, and published in Rupp's History of
Dauphin, Cumberland and other counties, is worthy of insertion in this
connection, and will doubtless be new to many:
* * * The facts, incidents, etc., I communicate, I record as
they occur to my mind. I will confine myself to my youthful
neighborhood and such facts as I heard related by those who have, by
reason of age, gone beyond the bourne whence none return. I need not
inform you that the first settlers of new countries have to encounter
trials, hardships and dangers. These my ancestors, in common with
others, experienced on their first coming into this county.
Notwithstanding their multiplied trials and difficulties, they had ever
in mind the fear and worship of one common Creator. An ancestor of
mine, who early immigrated to America, was a student of theology under
the Rev. Tuckney, of Boston, who had been a member of the General
Assembly at Westminster. You will find, on consulting the history of
the Presbyterian Church of this county, that the name of Craighead
appears at an early period. In establishing churches in this county,
Craighead appears as one of the first ministers. The first sermon
preached west of the Susquehanna was delivered by the Rev. Thomas
Craighead, then residing, as I believe, in what is now Cumberland and
Franklin, viz.: One in the lower settlement, near Carlisle; one at Big
Spring, near Newville, and one in the Conogocheague settlement. Thomas
Craighead preached at Big Spring. When divine service was first held,
the settlers were with their guns to hear preaching. These defensives
were then deemed necessary to deter the Indians from attacking them.
However, the peaceful disposition of the true Christian had its
salutary influence upon the untutored Indian - the Indian feared and
respected the consistent professor of religion. Religious influence
was felt - at Big Spring protracted meetings were held for public
worship. So powerful, it is said, were the influences of the Spirit,
that the worshippers felt loth, even after having exhausted their
stores of provisions, to disperse. I have heard it from the lips of
those present, when Thomas Craighead delivered on of his parting
discourses, that his flow of eloquence seemed supernatural -
*Matthew and James Loudon had come from Scotland and settled first in
Shearman's Valley, but were driven out by the Indians, and relocated on
land near Hogestown, southeast of Carlisle. James returned to
Shearman's Valley after peace was declared with the Indians. His son,
Archibald, born on shipboard during the passage from Scotland,
afterward became postmaster at Carlisle, and also published several
volumes, one of which was descriptive of outrages during the Indian
wars, and has been much quoted.
21 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
he continued in bursts of eloquence, while his audience was melted to
tears - himself however exhausted, hurried to pronounce the blessing,
waving his hand, and as he pronounced the words, "farewell, farewell,"
he sank down, expiring without a groan or struggle. His remains rest
where the church now stands as the only monument to his memory.
John Craighead, a son of Thomas, settled at an early date on Yellow
Breeches Creek, near Carlisle. His son John officiated a short time as
pastor at Big Spring. He then removed to Conegocheague, and was there
placed as pastor. When the Revolution was the absorbing question of
the day, he was an ardent Whig, and fearless of consequences; the
Government had an eye on him, but the people were with him. He
preached liberty or death from the pulpit; the young men's bosoms
swelled with enthusiasm for military glory - they marched to the tented
field, and several were killed. Still he urged them not to be daunted.
On one occasion he brought all his eloquence to bear on the subject,
until the congregation arose to their feet as if ready to march. An
old lady who had just lost a son in battle, hallooed out: "Stop, Mr.
Craighead! I just want to tell ye agin you loss such a purity boy as I
have in the war, ye will na be so keen for fighting. Quit talking and
gang yersel to the war. Ye're always preaching to the boys about it,
but I dinna think ye'd be very likely to gang yersel. Jist go and try
it!" He did try it, and the next day, he and Mr. Cooper - I think - a
preacher also, set about to raise a company. They did raise one, of
the choicest spirits that ever did live; marched in short order, and
joined the army under Washington, in the Jerseys. He fought and
preached alternately, breasted all danger, relying on his God and the
justice of his cause for protection.
One day, going to battle, a cannon ball struck a tree near him, a
splinter of which nearly knocked him down. "God bless me," says Mr.
Cooper, "you were nearly knocked to staves." "Oh, yes," says he very
coolly, "though you are a cooper you could not have set me up." He was
a great humorist. * * * When he marched his company they encamped
near where I am now writing, at the Hon. Robert Whitehill's, who opened
his cellar, which was well stored with provisions and barrels of apple
brandy. Col. Hendrick's daughters assisted in preparing victuals for
them. They fared sumptuously with this brave man. They next encamped
at Boyd's, in Lancaster County; he fell in love with Jennie Boyd and
married her. He died of a cancer on his breast, leaving no children.
His father, John, had been educated in Europe for the ministry, but on
his return he found preaching a poor business to live by. He stopped
at Philadelphia, took to tailoring, took good care when he went into
good company to tie up his forefinger, for fear of his being
discovered, but being a handsome little man and having a good education
he was courted by the elite of the day. He fell in with an English
heiress, of the name of Montgomery, I think, married her, and spent the
fortune all but a few webs of linen, with which he purchased from the
proprietor 500 acres of land on Yellow Breeches. * * * * His other
two sons, Thomas and James, were farmers; they had great difficulty in
paying the balance due on their land. They took their produce to
Annapolis (no business done in Baltimore then); prices got dull; they
stored it; the merchant broke; all seemed gone; they applied for more
time; built a saw-mill. They had made the money, but the war came on.
Thomas was drafted; his son John, thirteen years old, and my father
drove the baggage wagon. It took the money to equip and bear their
expenses while going to and in camp. Thomas took the camp fever and
his son the small-pox. Gen. Washington gave them a furlough to return
home. A younger son, James, met them below Lancaster, and drove the
team home. He often stopped and looked into the wagon to see if they
were still living, but he got them home, and they both recovered. By
some mistake in recording their furlough, there was a fine imposed on
Thomas for leaving camp a few days before his time was up. When the
bailiff came to collect it he was up on a barrack building wheat. The
officer was on horseback. He told him he would come down and pay him.
He came down, took a hickory with that happened to lie near, caught his
little horse by the tail, and whipped the officer, asking him if he was
paid, until he said he was paid. That settled the fine. He was paid
off with Congress money; broke up again with a chest full of money. By
this time things began to go up; all prospered. John Craighead, his
father, had been an active member of the Stony Ridge convention, which
met to petition parliament for redress of grievances. He was closely
watched by the Tories, and one Pollock was very near having him
apprehended as a rebel, but the plot was found out and Pollock had to
leave the county. Near the place where this convention met, at the
stony ridge, one Samuel Lamb lived on his land. There was a block-
house, where the neighbors flew for shelter from hostile Indians. * *
* Lamb was a stone mason, built stone chimneys for the rich farmers who
became able to hew logs and put up what was called a square log house.
They used to say he plumbed his corners with spittle - that is, he spit
down the corner to see if it was plumb. Indeed, many chimneys are
standing to this day and look like it; but he had a patriotic family.
When the army rendezvoused at Little York, four of his sons were in the
army - two officers and two common soldiers. His daughters had a web
of woolen in the loom; they colored the wool with sumach berries, and
made it as red as they could, for all war habiliments were dyed red as
possible; made coats by guess for their brothers, put them in a tow-
cloth wallet, slung it over their young brother, Samuel, to take to
camp. He hesitated, the country being nearly all forest and
22 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
full of wolves, bears, etc. One of them, Peggy, asked him: "What are
you afraid of? Go on! Sooner come home a corpse than a coward!" He
did go on, and enlisted during the war; came home, married Miss
Trindle, of Trindle Spring, removed to Kentucky, raised a large family.
* * * It seems as if there was something in the blood, as one of his
sons in the last war* was a mounted volunteer in Gen. Harrison's army.
At the battle of Tippecanoe he rode a very spirited horse, and on
reining him to keep him in the ranks, his bridle bit broke. Being an
athletic, long-legged young fellow, and his horse running at full speed
toward the ranks of the enemy, he brandished his sword, hallooing:
"Clear the way, I am coming!" The ranks opened, let him through, and
he escaped safe and got back to his camp.** Peggy Lamb deserves a
notice. She afterward married Capt. William Scott, who was a prisoner
on Long Island, and she now (1845) enjoys a captain's half pay; lives
in Mechanicsburg, near her native place, a venerable old lady in full
strength of intellect, though more than four-score years have passed
over her. She well deserves the little boon her country bestows upon
her. The first horse I remember to ride alone was one taken in the
Revolution by William Gilson, who then lived on the Conodoguinet Creek,
where Harlacher's mill now is. He was one of Hindman's riflemen, and
after the battle of Trenton, he being wounded in the leg, two of his
brother soldiers were helping him off the field; they were pursued by
three British Light Horsemen across an old field and must be taken.
They determined to sell themselves as dearly as possible. Gilson
reached the fence, and propped himself against it. "Now," says he,
"man for man; I take the foremost." He shot him down, the next was
also shot, the third was missed. The two horses pursued their courses,
and were caught by Gilson and his companions and brought into camp.
His blue dun lived to a great age. Gilson was offered 1,500L. for him.
Gilson removed to Westmoreland County. His wife was also a Trindle.
He left a numerous and respectable family. I wish I was able to do
those families more justice for their patriotism and integrity to their
country. They have left a long line of offspring, who are now
scattered far and wide over the Union. If they would but all take
their forefathers for examples! I come now within my own remembrance
of Cumberland County. I have seen many a pack-horse loaded with nail
rods at Ege's Forge to carry out to Somerset County and the forks of
Yougheigany and Red Stone Fort, to make nails for their log cabins,
etc. I have seen my father's team loading slit iron to go to Fort
Pitt. John Rowan drove the team. I have known the farmer's team to
haul iron from the same forge to Virginia; load back corn for feed at
the forge. All the grain in the county was not enough for its own
consumption. I have known fodder so scarce that some farmers were
obliged to feed the thatch that was on their barns to keep their cattle
alive. James Lamb bought land in Sherman's Valley, and he and his
neighbors had to pack straw on horses across the mountain. He was on
the top of the mountain waiting until those going over would get up, as
they could not pass on the path. He hallooed out: "Have they any more
corn in Egypt?" I saw the first mail stage that passed through
Carlisle to Pittsburgh. It was a great wonder; the people said the
proprietor was a fool. I think his name was Slough. I happened a
short time ago to visit a friend, Jacob Ritner, son of that great and
good man, ex-Gov. Ritner, who now owns Capt. Denny's farm, who was
killed during the Revolutionary war. The house had been a tavern, and
in repairing it Mr. Ritner found some books, etc., which are a
curiosity. Charge, breakfast, 20L; dinner, horse-feed, 80L; some
charges still more extravagant. But we know it was paid with Congress
money. The poor soldier on his return had poor money, but the rich
boon, liberty, was a prize to him far more valuable. As late as 1808 I
hauled some materials to Oliver Evans' saw-mill at Pittsburgh. I was
astonished to see a mill going without water. Mr. Evans satisfied my
curiosity by showing and explaining everything he could to me. He
looked earnestly at me and said: "You may live to see your wagons
coming out here by steam." The words were so impressed that I have
always remembered them. I have lived to see them go through Cumberland
County, and it seems to me that I may see them go through to
Pittsburgh; but I have seen Mr. Evans' prophecy fulfilled beyond what I
thought possible at that time. But things have progressed at a rate
much faster than the most gigantic minds imagined, and we are onward
still. * * * * Yours, truly, etc., THOMAS CRAIGHEAD, JR.
In truth, could Mr. Craighead now peep at the region he knew for so
many years, he would be even more greatly surprised. The "steam
wagons" have reached Pittsburgh and gone beyond it to the shores of the
distant Pacific Ocean, over mountains beside which the Alleghenies
would be but pigmy foothills. Side by side is the great telegraph, and
even the human voice, by means of the delicate instrument known as the
telephone, can be heard almost across the continent. The most
wonderful strides toward the perfection of civilization have been taken
since Mr. Craighead was laid to rest, and the end is not yet.
*War of 1812.
**Pretty tough story. [Ed.]
22 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Portrait; Yours Truly, Wm R. Gorgus
23 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Blank Page
24 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
No page 24.
25 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
In a pamphlet history of the United Presbyterian Church of Big
Spring, at Newville, Cumberland County, published in 1878 by James B.
Scouller, occur the following passages:
"The first known settlements in Cumberland County were made in 1730,
and at no great distance from the river. But new settlers came in very
rapidly and passed up the North Valley, or the Kittochtinny Valley as
then called, following the Conodoguinet and Yellow Breeches Creeks, and
locating also upon Silver Spring, Letort Spring, Big Spring, Mean's
Spring, Middle Spring, Falling Spring, Rocky Spring and the different
branches of the Conococheague, until in 1736 a line of settlements
extended from the Susquehanna clear through to the western part of the
province of Maryland. In 1748 there were 800 taxables in the valley,
and in 1751 the number had increased to 1,100 indicating a population
of at least 5,000 inhabitants. These, with the exception of about
fifty German families in Franklin County, were immigrants from Ireland
and Scotland, and the descendants of those who had taken root in
Lancaster County. In 1751 a sudden and large increase in the flow of
immigration commenced, which ministered greatly to the rapid settlement
of the county. This tidal wave owed its origin to a very unusual and
novel cause. In 1730 Secretary Logan* wrote thus: 'I must own from my
own experience in the land office that the settlement of five families
from Ireland gives me more trouble than fifty of any other people.
Before we were broke in upon ancient friends and first settlers lived
happily, but now the case is quite altered.' The quick temper and
belligerent character of this people, which kept them generally in a
kind of chronic broil with their German neighbors, did not seem to
improve with time, for in 1743 Secretary Peters wrote in very much the
same strain as had done his predecessor, and even the Quaker
forbearance of the Proprietaries finally became exhausted, so that in
or about 1750, the year in which Cumberland County was organized,
positive orders were issued to all the agents to sell no more land in
either York or Lancaster County to the Irish, and to make very
advantageous offers to those of them who would remove from these
counties to the North Valley. These offers were so liberal that large
numbers accepted, and built their huts among the wigwams of the native
inhabitants, whom they found to be peaceful but by no means non-
resistant."
A pamphlet containing an historical sketch of Carlisle, together with
the charter of the borough and published in 1841, also says: "In the
year 1755 instructions were given by the proprietaries to their agents
that they should take especial care to encourage the immigration of
Irishmen to Cumberland County. It was their desire to people York with
Germans and Cumberland with Irish. The mingling of the two nations in
Lancaster County had produced serious riots at elections.**"
In the year 1749 the total revenue from taxation in the county of
Cumberland was only 117L. 7s. 8d., and the amount of excise collected
in the county for the year ending June 1, 1753, was 55L. In 1762 the
county contained 896 taxables, 37,820 acres of warranted land, 21,500
acres of unwarranted land, 19,304 acres of patented land, 201 town
lots, and there was paid 726L. in rents and 4,641L. 10s. in taxes.
"The proprietaries were the owners of land estimated at 5,167 acres in
Middleton Township, near Carlisle, and 7,000 in
*Logan was himself an Irishman, but had been so long in the
confidence and pay of the proprietaries that he was at this time,
probably somewhat prejudiced even against his own people.
**The same authorities relate, concerning the manner of settling
election difficulties, that, "in 1756, when William Allen was returned
a member of the Assembly for two counties, Cumberland and Northampton,
he was merely requested by the speaker to name the county for which he
would sit, as he could not serve for both. He chose Cumberland, and a
new election was ordered for Northampton." Elections were somewhat
irregular because of the sparse population.
26 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
East Pennsborough, of which 1,000 had been given up to Peter Chartier
(and now in the hands of his assigns) and Tobias Hendricks, who took
care of the whole manor. They also were the owners of sixty-four lots
in Carlisle, eight of which were rated at 100L. and the remainder at
15L. each. The manor lands were valued for taxes, 3,000 of those in
Middleton at 100L. per hundred, and those in East Pennsborough at 75L.
per hundred, on which they paid a tax of 6s. on the pound. Before 1755
the proprietary estates had not been included in any general land-tax
bill, but in that year the proprietaries had yielded the point and
consented to be taxed on all really taxable property (that is,
appropriated lands, all real estate except unsurveyed waste lands, lots
in town and rents of all kinds), and on equal terms with the other
owners. There was, however, so much dispute on various points
connected with this matter, that no collections were made on the
proprietaries, but in consideration of the dangers of the province they
had made a donation of 5,000L.* In 1759, therefore, when the tax was
levied, it was made retrospective for the five years (1755-59)
inclusive, which had been in dispute, allowing them credit for the
5,000L. which had been given.**"
Taxables in 1762. - The following is a list of the taxables in the
county in 1762:
East Pennsborough Township, 1762. - James Armstrong, Andrew
Armstrong, Samuel Anderson, James Armstrong, Samuel Adams, Samuel Bell,
William Brians, William Beard, John Beard, Walter Buchanan, William
Bell, David Bell, John Buchanan, John Biggar, James Carothers, Esq.,
William Chestnut, Thomas Clark, William Carothers, Thomas Culvert,
Samuel Chambers, John Clendening, Adam Calhoon, Samuel Calhoon, Robert
Carothers, John Crosier, John Chambers, William Culbertson, William
Cronicle, John Carson, Thomas Donallson, Robert Denny, William Duglas,
John Dickey, James Dickey, Andrew Ervin, William Ervin, James Ervin,
John Ervin, John Edwards, John Fulton, James Galbreath, James Gattis,
John German, William Gray, Samuel Gaily, Samuel Hustin, Tobias
Hendricks, John Hickson, William Harris, Patrick Holmes, John Hamilton,
Widow Henderson, Clement Horril, Jonathan Hogg, David Hogg, Joseph
Junkin, Robert Jones, James Kerr, James Kile, Widow Keny, Brian Kelly,
Matthew Loudon, Alex Laverty, Widow McClure, William Martial, Edward
Morton, John Morton, Robert McKinly, James McConall, Samuel McCormick,
John McCormick, Francis Maguire, James McCormick, Thomas McCormick,
Matthew McCaskie, James McKinstry, William Mateer, William Millar,
Edward Morton, Andrew Milligan, John McTeer, Thomas Murray, Shedrick
Muchmore, James McConnell, Jr., Brian McColgan, James Nealer, Nathaniel
Nilson, Nathaniel Nilson (again), William Noble, John Orr, William Orr,
William Oliver, William Parkison, James Purdy, William Plunket, John
Quigley, David Rees, William Ross, James Reed, Nathaniel Reaves,
Archibald Stuart, Robert Steel, John Semple, Francis Silvers, David
Semple, Robert Samuels, John Shaw, Mr. Seely, William Speedy, Thomas
Spray, Henry Taylor, Henry Thornton, John Trimble, Benjamin Vernon,
John Williams, William Walker, George Wood, John Wood, John Waugh,
James Waugh, John Willey, Henry Warton, Samuel Williamson - 126.
Carlisle, 1762. - John Armstrong, Esq., Samuel Allen, Harmanus
Alricks, Nicolas Albert, William Armstrong, Thomas Armstrong, John
Anderson, John Andrews, Widow Andrews, Mary Buchanan, Widow Buchanan,
Thomas Bell, William Blyth, James Bell, William Bennet, William Blair,
James Barclay, William Brown, Thomas Blair, Joseph Boyd, Charles Boyle,
Isaac Burns, James Brandon, John Chapman (wagoner), John Crawford,
Henry
*See Indian History.
**Dr. Wing, p. 64.
27 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Creighton, William Crocket, Robert Crunkelton, Roger Conner, William
Caldwell, George Crocket, Samuel Coulter, Andrew Colhoon, James
Crocket, Simon Callins, Robert Callender, William Christy, John
Chapman, William Clark, John Craig, Thomas Copling, Jacob Cart, Thomas
Christy, Widow Colhoon, Michael Dill, George Davidson, James Duncan,
Samuel Davidson (not of age), Thomas Duncan, Ezekiel Dunning, Thomas
Donallan, William Devinport, William Denny, Widow Dunning, Adam Duglas,
Stephen Duncan, Denis Dougherty, Rev. George Duffield, James Eckles,
James Earl, David Franks, Stephen Foulk, John Fortner, James Ferguson,
James Fleming, Thomas Fleming, Mary Gallahan, William Gray, Joseph
Galbreath, James Gregg, William German, John Gamble, Daniel Gorman,
Robert Gorral, Robert Gibson, Robert Guthrie, Abraham Holmes, Adam
Hoops, Barnabas Hughes, Joseph Hunter, Jacob Hewick, Jacob Houseman,
John Hastings, George Hook, John Huston, John Hunter, Joseph Jeffreys,
Thomas Jeffreys, John Kennedy, John Kelly, Benjamin Kid, Andrew
Kinkaid, John Kerr, John Kinkaid, John Kearsley, Robert Little, Agnes
Leeth, William Lyon, William McCurdy, William Main, David McCurdy, John
McCurdy, Widow McIntyre, Robert Miller, James McCurdy, John Montgomery,
Esq., Hugh McCormick, William McCoskry, James McGill, John Mordough,
Widow Miller, John McKnight, Esq., Hans Morrison, Patrick McWade,
William Murphy, John Mather, Widow Miller, John McCay, Hugh McCurd,
William Miller, Robert McWhiney, Andrew Murphy, Philip Nutart, Joseph
Nilson, Culbert Nickelson, John Orr, Thomas Parker, William Parker,
Philip Pendergrass, John Pattison, Charles Pattison, William Plunket,
William Patterson, James Taylor Pollock, James Parker, James Pollock,
Thomas Patton, John Pollock, William Reaney, William Roseberry, William
Rusk, Mary Rogers, John Robison, Robert Robb, James Robb, William
Rodeman, Widow Ross, Henry Smith, Ezekiel Smith, John Scott, Robert
Smith, William Sharp, Widow Steveson, Charles Smith, Widow Sulavan,
James Stakepole, John Starret, John Steel, John Smith, William Spear,
Timothy Shaw, Peter Smith, Rev. John Steel, Joseph Smith, Rowland
Smith, William Spear, for court house, James Thompson, Samuel Thompson,
Wilson Thompson, James Thomas, James Templeton, William White, William
Ward, Roger Walton, Samuel _____, William Watson, William Wadle, Edward
Ward, Francis West, William Whiteside, Widow Welch, Thomas Walker,
Abraham Wood, William Wallace, John Welch, James Woods, Nathaniel
Wallace, Widow Vahan, John Van Lear, James Young - 190.
Allen Township, 1762. - John Anderson, James Atkison, George
Armstrong, Alex Armstrong, William Abernathy, George Armstrong, James
Brown, William Boyls, James Beatty, Robert Bryson, William Boyd,
William Crocket, George Crocket, John Clark, Roger Cook, James
Crawford, Rowland Chambers, Samuel Cunningham, Philip Cuff, James
Crocket, William Crosby, Thomas Davis, William Dickey, John Dunlap,
William Elliott, Widow Frazer, Henry Free, John Glass, Walter Gregory,
John Grindle, Richard Gilson, John Gilitison, James Gregory, John
Gibson, John Giles, William Hamersly, Robert Hannah, Thomas Hamersly,
Isaac Hendricks, Charles Inhuff, Nicholas King, James Long, Henry
Longstaff, Hugh Laird, James McTeer, John McTeer, William McCormick,
William Martin, John McMain, Rowland McDonald, Widow McCurdy, Anthony
McCue, Hugh McHool, Andrew Miller, John McNail, Samuel Martin, Thomas
McGee, John Nailer, Richard Peters, Richard Peters, Esq., Henry
Quigley, Richard Rankin, Thomas Rankin, John Rutlidge, Robert Rosebary,
Isaac Rutledge, John Sands, Widow Steel, Thomas Stewart, James Semple,
Charles Shoaltz, Moses Starr, Peter Tittle, William Trindle,
28 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Alex Trindle, David Willson, John Willson (weaver), John Willson, Alex
Work, Ralph Whiteside, George Wingler - 81.
West Pennsborough Township, 1762. John Armstrong, Esq., Jacob Arthur,
Peter Ancle, Laurence Allport, John Byers, Robert Bevard, George Brown,
Thomas Butler, James Brown, Widow Bratton, William Blackstock, James
Bevard, William Bevard, John Buras, William Carothers, James Carothers,
William Clark, John Campbell, Widow Crutchlow, David Cronister, Matthew
Cralley, John Denny, Ezekiel Dunning, William Dunbar, William Dunlap,
John Dunlap, John Dunbar, James Dunning, John Dunning, George Davidson,
John Dunning, William Dillwood, Robert Erwin, William Eakin, Thomas
Eakin, Thomas Evans, William Ervin, John Ervin, Alex Erwin, William
Ewing (at Three Springs), Thomas Ewing, William Ewing, Andrew Forbes,
Alex Fullerton, Andrew Giffin, James Graham, Rob Guthrie, James Gordon,
William Gattis, Thomas Gray, Samuel Henry, John Hodge, Adam Hays,
William Harkness, James Hunter, Joseph Hasteen, Thomas Holmes, Barney
Hanley, David Hall, Henry Hanwart, Joseph Kilgore, John Kerr, Matthew
Kerr, Charles Kilgore, Samuel Kilgore, John Kenner, William Lemmon,
William Laughlin, Allen Leeper, William Leviston, William Logan, George
Little, George Leavelan, William Little, Samuel Lindsay, John Lusk,
William Leich, John McClung, Robert Meek, James McFarlane, William
McFarlane, Robert McFarlane, John McFarlane, Andrew McFarlane, David
McNair, John McClure, Edward McMurray, John McGeary, Patrick McClure,
Robert McClure, John McCune, Robert McQuiston, James McQuiston, James
McCay, Thomas McKay, Daniel McAllister, Archibald McAllister, James
McNaught, Alex McBride, Samuel McCullough, David McAllister, John
Miller, Robert McCullough, John McIntyre, John McNair, David McNair,
Alex McCormick, William McMahan, Daniel Morrison, Matthew McCleares,
James McAllister, Francis Newell, John Newell, Herman Newman, Alex
Officer, Richard Peters, Esq., William Parsons, Proprietaries' Manor
(700 acres patented), William Dutton, Paul Pears, Richard Parker,
William Parker, Widow Parker, Joseph Peoples, Jacob Peoples, Michael
Pears, John Patton, Thomas Parker, William Quiry, David Ralston,
Matthew Russell, Robert Rogers, William Robison, Archibald Robison,
John Robison, Samuel Reagh, Patrick Robison, Singleton's Place, Robert
Stuart, John Scroggs, Allen Scroggs, John Smily, James Sea, Robert
Swaney, John Swaney, David Stevenson, Thomas Stewart, Robert Stewart,
William Scarlet, William Stewart, James Smith (attorney), Anthony
White, Widow Willson, Samuel Willson, Samuel Wilson, James Weakley,
Robert Walker, William Woods, James White, Robert Welsh, Alex Young -
164.
Middleton Township, 1762. - Nathan Andrew, William Armstrong, James
Alcorn, Adam Armwick, John Beatty, John Bigham, William Beatty, William
Brown, John Beard, William Buchanan, John Brownlee, James Blair,
Richard Coulter, Widow Clark, William Campbell, John Crennar, Robert
Caldwell, Charles Caldwell, John Craighead, James Chambers, John Davis,
George Douglass, John Dinsmore, David Drennan, William Dunbar, John
Dickey, Walter Denny, David Dunbar, James Dunlap, Widow Davies, William
Davison, Jr., James Eliot, Robert Eliot, Jr., John Elder ("Disputed
Land," 150 acres), James Eliot, Jr., Andrew Eliot, William Forgison,
William Fleming, Joseph Fleming, Ann Fleming, Arthur Foster, John
Forgy, Thomas Freeman, John Gregg, Samuel Guay, Widow Guliford, Andrew
Gregg, Robert Gibson, Lodwick Ginger, Joseph Gaily, Joseph Goudin,
Thomas Gibson, Nicholas Hughs, Samuel Harper, William Henderson, Thomas
Holt, William Hood, Jonathan Holmes, Humphrey's land, Hamilton's land,
Patrick Hason, Andrew Holmes,
29 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Thomas Johnston, John Johnston, Archibald Kenedy, James Keny, Matthew
Kenny, John Kincaid, George Kinkaid, James Kinkaid, Richard Kilpatrick,
William Leer, Robert Little, John Little, George Leslie, Samuel Lamb,
David McClure, William McKnitt, Andrew McBath, William McClellan, Hugh
McBride, John McCrea, David McBride, "Meeting-house land," Hugh
McCormick, James McCullough, Matthew Miller, James Matthews, James
McAllister, Francis McNickle, John McKnight, Esq., James Moore, William
Moore, James McManus, Guain McHaffy, John McHaffy, Thomas McHaffy,
Samuel McCrackin, John Mitchell, Widow McIntyre, John Neely, Matthew
Neely, John Patton, William Parkison, James Pollock, Robert Patterson,
William Patterson, Richard Peters' land, John Patterson, William
Riddle, Archibald Ross, James Robison, John Reed, Robert Reed, William
Reed, John Reed, Jr., John Robb, Adam Ritchy, David Reed, James Reed,
William Riggs, George Riggs, Jacob Stanford, Abraham Stanford, John
Stuart (weaver), James Stuart, William Smith, John Stinson, George
Sanderson, Sr., Robert Sanderson, Jean Sanderson, George Sanderson,
Jr., James Sharon, John Smith, Alex Sanderson, Andrew Simison, Randles
Slack, William Shaw, James Smith, William Stewart, Robert Stinson,
Ezekiel Smith, John Stewart, James Smith, Widow Templeton, Robert Urie,
Patrick Vance, Solomon Walker, Daniel Williams, Samuel Willson, John
Waddell, Widow Williamson, Francis West, John Welsh, Thomas Wilson,
Esq., Samuel white, Thomas Woods, James Woods - 159.
Hopewell Township, 1762. - Thomas Alexander, John Anderson, Widow
Andrews, Hugh Brady, Samuel Brown, Benjamin Blyth, William Bricer,
Joseph Brady, John Brady, Samuel Bratin, Hugh Brady, Jr., William
Crunkelton, John Coff, James Chambers, George Clark, James Chambers,
William Carnahan, James Carnahan, George Cunningham, Robert Chambers,
Francis Campble, Robert Campble, William Duncan, Thomas Duncan, Daniel
Duncan, John Daizert, James Daizert, Moses Donally, Widow Donally,
Philip Dusky; Henry Davies, John Eager, John Egnew, Joseph Eager, John
Eliot, James Eliot, Robert Fryer, Clement Finley, Thomas Finley,
William Gibson, Ann Gibson, Andrew Gibson, Samuel Gibson, Widow Gibbs,
Robert Gibbs, William Gamble, Samuel Gamble, John Hanah, Josiah Hanah,
Samuel Hindman, John Hunter, William Hodg, James Hamilton, George
Hamilton, John W. Hamilton, John Taylor Hamilton, David Herrin, John
Hannah, William Hunter, John Jack, Joseph Irvin, James Jack, James
Kilgore, Thomas Lyon, James Long, Edward Leasy, John Laughlin, James
Laughlin, James Little, Andrew Lucky, John Laughlin, Widow Leasin,
Josiah Martin, Daniel McDowel, James McFarlan, John McFarlan, John
McClintock, James McGaffog, Andrew Mackelwain, Samuel Morrow, Patrick
McGee, Robert McComb, Samuel Montgomery, Thomas Montgomery, James
Mahan, John Moorhead, James McCormick, George McCormick, John
Montgomery, James Montgomery, John McCune, Jr., John McCune, Robert
McCune, John McClean, Daniel Mickey, Robert Mickey, John S. Miller,
Samuel Montgomery, David McGaw, Philip Millar, Isaac Miller, James
McAnay, John Millar, James McCall, John Meason, Nail McClean, George
McCully, John McEntire, Samuel Moor, Andrew Mackelwain, John Morris,
William McGaffog, Widow Myers, William Moorhead, Samuel Mitchel, Samuel
Mackelhing, John Montgomery, David McCurdy, Patrick McFarlan, James
McDowel, Robert McDowel, Thomas McKiny, James Mankelwain, Samuel
McGready, Samuel Neaves, John Nisbet, Richard Nickelson, William
Nickelson, James Nesbit, John Nisbet, William Plumstead, Richard
Peters, William Piper, Samuel Perry, Nathaniel Peoples, James Pollock,
William Powell, John Porter, Thomas Pordon, John Porterfield, James
Quigly, John Quigly, John Robison, William Reynolds, John Redman,
30 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
James Reynolds, Samuel Smith, George Sheets, Samuel Stewart, David
Simiral, William Stitt, Robert Simonton, Edward Shipper, Alex Scroggs,
John Stinston, Samuel Sellars, Nathaniel Scruchfield, Samuel Sorre,
Hugh Torrins, John Thompson, William Thompson, John Trimble, Widow
Trimble, Joseph Thompson, David Thompson, Widow Thompson, John
Thompson, Joseph Woods, John Wodden, William Walker, Robert Walker,
Samuel Walker, James Williamson, Samuel Wier, Samuel Williamson, James
Work, William Walker, James Walker, James Wallas, James Jocky
Williamson, West & Smith, James Young.
More Early Settlers. - Dr. Wing, at pages 24 and 25 of his History of
Cumberland County, mentions the following early settlers:
George Croghan, five miles from the Susquehanna River, on the north
side of the Conodoguinet, also owned lands in various parts of the
county, and in 1748 was the owner of 800 acres, which extended nearly
to the mouth of Silvers' Run, on the Conodoguinet. Part of it had been
taken up by Robert Buchanan, in 1743, and part by William Walker, who
sold to William Trent. Mr. Croghan also owned a large tract in
Hopewell, north of Shippensburg. He was a trader with the Indians, did
not cultivate his land, and changed his residence frequently to suit
the convenience of trade. He was originally from Dublin, and lived
afterward at Aughwick, in what is now Huntingdon County. He was
greatly trusted by Sir William Johnson as an agent among the Indians.
Robert Buchanan, above mentioned, sold his first claim and removed
farther up the creek with his brother Walter, living in East
Pennsborough. William Buchanan kept an inn at Carlisle in 1753, and
another Buchanan was a resident of Hopewell Township in 1748, adjoining
the Kilpatrick settlement. James Laws lived next to Croghan, opposite
to the mouth of Silvers' Run. At a spring adjoining on the south was
James Silvers, from whom the stream and spring were named. He had
settled there with his wife, Hannah, before 1733, and owned 500 acres
of land or more; was public-spirited and honorable; has no descendants
bearing his name. Within ten or fifteen years from the time he settled
there located around him James Pollock, who built a gristmill at or
near the confluence of the Conodoguinet and the stream which issues
from Silvers' Spring, John Scott, Robert and James Robb, Samuel
Thompson, Thomas Fisher, Henry Quigley and William Berryhill. Andrew
and John Galbreath owned land adjoining them on the east, and William
Walker on the west.
John Hoge settled very early on the site of Hogestown, and had
numerous distinguished descendants. Two brothers, named Orr, coming
from Ireland before 1738, settled near him. William Trindle, John
Walt, Robert Redock, John Swanzey, John McCracken, Thomas Fisher,
Joseph Green and John Rankin owned land in Pennsborough, and were at
different times tax collectors before 1747. John Oliver, Thomas
McCormick and William Douglas had farms in Hoge's vicinity, John
Carothers at the mouth of Hoge's Run, and William Douglas west of and
opposite him up the Conodoguinet. In the same neighborhood were John
and Abraham Mitchell, John Armstrong, Samuel Anderson, Samuel Calhoun,
Hugh Parker, Robert Dunning, John Hunter (near Dirty Spring), Samuel
Chambers, James Shannon, William Crawford, Edward Morton, Robert
Fulton, Thomas Spray, John Callen, John Watts, Michael Kilpatrick,
Joseph Thompson, Francis Maguire and James Mateer. James Armstrong
lived farther west, and on the ridge back of the present site of
Kingston was the residence of Joseph Junkin, who early settled upon a
large tract. Robert Bell lived near Stony Ridge, and south of him were
31 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Samuel Lamb, "a stone mason and an ardent patriot," John Trindle, near
Trindle's Spring, James Irvine, Mathew Miller, John Forney and David
Denny. At Boiling Springs there settled early Dr. Robert Thompson,
formerly of Lancaster, Joseph Graley, Patrick Hassen, Andrew, William,
James and George Crocket, David Reed and John Dickey. Charles Pippin
settled on "Pippin's Tract," on Yellow Breeches, in or before 1742.
West of him, on the same stream, were John Campbell, who had a mill,
Roger Cook, David Wilson, John Collins, James McPherson, Andrew
Campbell, Andrew and John Miller, Robert Patrick, J. Crawford, William
Fear, John Gronow, Charles McConnel, Alexander Frazier, Peter Title (or
Tittle, as sometimes given), Arthur Stewart, Thomas Brandon, Abraham
Endless, John Craighead, the last earlier than 1746 on lands extending
along the creek eastward from the Baltimore Turnpike. Adjoining him on
the southwest was James Moore, who had a mill which is still in
existence. On the Letort, near Middlesex, James Davison lived in 1736,
a little south of the fording place where the road from Harris' Ferry
crossed the run. The land in this vicinity is said to have been
thickly settled before Carlisle was laid out. Patrick and William
Davison, William Gillingham, James Gillgore (or Kilgore), Joseph Clark,
Peter Wilkie and John McClure owned land near the proposed site of
Carlisle, part of which the proprietaries bought back for the purpose
of laying out the town upon it. Richard lived two miles southwest.
"William Armstrong's settlement" was on the Conodoguinet just below
Meeting-house Springs. "David Williams, a wealthy land-holder and the
earliest known elder in the congregation of Upper Pennsborough, James
Young and Robert Sanderson were probably included in this settlement."
Thomas Wilson was farther east, near the present Henderson mill; next
east was James Smith, and south, Jonathan Holmes, "another elder and an
eminently good man," who lived near the Spring on land more recently
owned by Mrs. Parker, just northeast of Carlisle. Rowland Chambers
lived near the mouth of the Letort on the State road, and below or back
of him on Conodoguinet was a settlement where the first mill in the
county was claimed to have been erected. North and on the north side
of the creek were Joseph Clark and Robert Elliott, who came from
Ireland about 1737. Abraham Lamberton came soon after, also Thomas
Kenny. East of them were John Semple, Patrick Maguire, Christopher
Huston and Josiah McMeans. "On the globe belonging to the congregation
of Upper Pennsborough, about two miles northwest from Carlisle, was the
Rev. Samuel Thompson (1738), near which were lands belonging to John
Davis, Esq.; and farther up the creek were William Dunbar and Andrew
Forbes, near whom a mill was afterward erected by William Thompson."
About four miles west of Carlisle Archibald McCallister had an
extensive purchase, the upper part of which was sold to John Byers,
Esq., as early as 1742. Samuel Alexander was on Mount Pleasant; and
east of him on and near the road to Carlisle were David Line, Andrew
McBeath, James Given, John Roads, M. Gibbons, Jacob Medill, Stephen
Colis and Samuel Blyth. Father south, near the present Walnut Bottom
road, were John Huston and two brothers, from Donegal, Lancaster
County, Samuel and William Woods. Between them and the South Mountain,
as early as 1749, were James McKnight, William Dunlap, Robert Walker
and James Weakley, and in the same vicinity were James L. Fuller, John
McKnight, Esq., William Campbell, John Galbreath, Hugh Craner, John
Wilson, James Peoples, Robert Queston, Thomas Armstrong, William
Parkinson and John Elder.
"In the settlement commenced by James Chambers (whose residence was
about three miles southwest of Newville) was one of the most numerous
clus-
32 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
ters of inhabitants in the valley. It was very early (1738) strong
enough to form a religious congregation, which offered to pledge itself
to the support of a pastor. In each direction from the Big Spring the
land was almost entirely taken up before 1750; so that the people there
presented strong claims to the county seat. Among the earliest of
these settlers was Andrew Ralston [see page 8, this Part], on the road
westward from the Spring; Robert Patterson the Walnut Bottom road;
James McKehan, who came from Gap Station, Lancaster County, and was for
many years a much respected elder in the church of Big Spring; John
Carson, John Erwin, Richard Fulton, Samuel McCullough and Samuel Boyd.
On the ground now occupied by the town of Newville were families of the
name of Atchison and McLaughlin, and near them were others of the name
of Sterrett, Blair, Finley, Jacobs, and many whose locations are not
known to the writer.*"
The third brother of the Chambers family, who located near Middle
Spring (north of Shippensburg at the county line) soon had a numerous
settlement around him. A history of the Middle Spring Presbyterian
Church in 1876, by Rev. S. S. Wylie, then its pastor, has the
following: "There is good evidence for the statement that at that time
(1738) this section of this valley, between Shippensburg and the North
Mountain, was as thickly settled as almost any other portion of it. It
is a matter of history that the first land in this valley taken up
under the 'Samuel Blunston license' was by Benjamin Furley, and
afterward occupied by the Herrons, McCombs and Irwins, a large tract
lying along the Conodoguinet, in the direction of and in the
neighborhood of Orrstown. At the house of Widow Piper, in
Shippensburg, as early as 1735, a number of persons from along the
Conodoguinet and Middle Spring met to remonstrate against the road
which was then being made from the Susquehanna to the Potomac, passing
through 'the barrens,' but wanted it to be made through the
Conodoguinet settlement, which was more thickly settled. This
indicates that at this time a number of people lived in this vicinity.
I give the names of some of them, on or before the year 1738; Robert
Chambers, Herrons, McCombs, Youngs (three families), McNutts (three
families), Mahans (three families), Scotts, Sterretts and Pipers; soon
after the Brady family, McCunes, Wherrys, Mitchells, Strains, Morrows
and others. It was such pioneers as these who, with their children,
made Shippensburg the most prominent town of this valley prior to the
year 1750. Many of the names given above constituted some of the most
prominent and worthy members of Middle Spring Church." Dr. Wing gives
names in this settlement as follows: Hugh and David Herron, Robert
McComb, Alex and James Young, Alex McNutt, Archibald, John and Robert
Machan, James Scott, Alex Sterrett, William and John Piper, Hugh and
Joseph Brady, John and Robert McCune and Charles Morrow. The twelve
persons who, in June, 1730, made the first settlement at Shippensburg,
were Alex Steen, John McCall, Richard Morrow, Gavin Morrow, John
Culbertson, Hugh Rippey, John Rippey, John Strain, Alex Askey, John
McAllister, David Magaw, John Johnston.
Wild Animals and Fish. - Dr. Wing says, in his general work on
Cumberland County: "These fields and forests were full of wild
animals, which had multiplied to an unusual degree with the diminution
of their enemies - the Indians. Deer were especially numerous,
particularly on the mountains; but bears, wolves, panthers, wildcats,
squirrels, turkeys and other game were everywhere plentiful. Along the
creeks and smaller streams the otter, muskrat and other amphibious
animals were taken, and their skins constituted no small part of the
trade with the Indians and early hunters. Fish of all kinds
*Dr. Wing's History, pp. 24-5.
33 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Portrait of Alex Stewart M. D.
34 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Blank Page
35 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
were caught in the streams, and large quantities even of shad are said
to have come up the Susquehanna and to have frequented the Conodoguinet
in the Eastern part of the county. Many of these were taken in the
rude nets and seines called "brushnets," made of boughs or branches of
trees. Most of these wild animals and fish have now disappeared, but
the accounts of the early settlers are filled with tales of their
contests with each other, the Indians and themselves." The same facts
are substantially given in Rupp's History of Dauphin and other
counties.
Customs and Habits. - Wearing apparel was "home-spun and home-made,"
and the men went about dressed in this, and in hunting shirts and
moccasins. Carpets were unknown. Floors were of the "puncheon"
variety - logs split and hewed, with the smooth surface uppermost.
Benches made of the same material with legs in them answered in the
place of chairs. Instead of crockery and china-ware the table
furniture consisted of plates, spoons, bowls, trenchers, and noggins
made of wood, or of gourds and hard-shell squashes; though in the
families in better circumstances pewter took the place of wood, and
there was nothing finer. The border settlers who could eat their meals
from pewter dishes were rich indeed. Says Rupp: "Iron pots, knives
and forks, especially the latter, were never seen of different sizes
and sets in the same kitchen."
The few sheep, cows and calves possessed by the first settlers were
for some years a prey to wolves, unless securely protected and watched.
The ravenous wolves were bold in their marauding expeditions, and many
a time they came prowling around the houses at night, poked their noses
into the openings and looked in through the crevices in the log
dwellings upon the families within, while the discordant howling
sounded like the yelling of demons and made the darkness appalling.
Woe be then to the domestic animal that was not securely housed or
penned, for in the morning only its glistening bones would be left to
tell that it ever existed. The country lying between the Conodoguinet
and the Yellow Breeches, for a distance of ten or twelve miles westward
from the Susquehanna, was a barren, or tract devoid of timber, and
across this deer were occasionally seen in a race for life with a pack
of snarling and hungry wolves at their heels. These cadaverous and
cunning animals were seldom taken in steel traps; a better plan offered
for their capture was the log pen, with sloping exterior, open at the
top, with retreating inner walls. The wolf could easily climb up the
outside, and get at the bait within - generally the carcass of a sheep
which had previously furnished a wolf a meal - but once inside they
could not get out, and were at the mercy of the settlers. Many were
destroyed in this way, yet it was forty years or more before they
ceased to be very troublesome.
The pioneers were a "rude race and strong," or they never could have
withstood the terrible hardships and privations of life in a border
region, with wild beasts and wilder men continually harassing them and
making their lot desperate indeed. There is that in the Anglo-Saxon
blood which appears to court difficulty and danger, and the resources
of the race in time of trial are wonderful beyond comparison. In this
broad and beautiful valley, in the days when the colonists were going
through experiences which should finally cause their separation from
the mother country and the upbuilding of a magnificent Republic, there
were hours, months and years of extremest peril, of which he who reads
at this late day can hardly have conception.
Necessarily the buildings erected by the first settlers were simple
and unpretending, whether for dwellings, places for worship or schools.
Their supplies must be brought on horseback from Philadelphia, and
across the Susquehanna in canoes or simple boats. It may, therefore,
readily be understood
36 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
that they did not make pretensions to style, though there was a degree
of uniformity about their buildings, dress, furniture and mode of
living, which their isolation brought about as a matter of course.
Lumber was not to be had for any price; wooden pins took the place of
nails; oiled paper answered for glass in the windows. Says Dr. Wing:
"They could dispense for a time with almost everything to which they
had been accustomed, provided they could look forward with confidence
to a future supply. Their cabins were soon erected, and they did not
scorn to receive suggestions from the rude savages whose skill had so
long been tasked in similar circumstances. The same forests and fields
and streams were open to them, and the Indian did not grudge his white
brother his knowledge of their secrets. These buildings were
constructed of the logs to be had off the banks of the streams or from
the neighboring hills; the combined strength of a few neighbors was
sufficient to put them in position and small skill was needful to put
them together, to fill up the interstices between them, and to roof
them with rude shingles, thatched straw or the bark of trees, and in a
little while the same ingenuity would split and carve out of timber,
and fashion the floors, benches, tables and bedsteads which were wanted
for immediate use. As the number of settlers increased, these
dwellings became of a better order. More skilled workmen began to be
employed, and better materials and furniture were introduced, but for
the first twenty years the people were contented with the most humble
conveniences. A few houses were constructed of stone, but these were
not common. The first stone dwelling on Louther Manor, or in the
eastern part of the county, was said to have been put up by Robert
Whitehill, after his removal over the river, in 1772. The houses for
schools and for public worship may have been of a better quality, for
they were not usually erected under such extreme emergency, but they
were of like materials and by the same workmen. Those, however, who
know the buoyancy of hopes which ordinarily characterize the pioneers
of a new country will not be surprised to learn that these were a happy
people. The rude buildings in which they slept soundly, studied
diligently, and worshiped devoutly, were quite as good for them, and
were afterward remembered as pleasantly as were the more costly
edifices of their father-land."
Flour was an article not easily obtained until after the erection of
mills to grind the wheat raised in the valley. The latter was found to
flourish on the soil of the region, easily cleared of the bushes which
grew upon it, and "as soon as it could be carried to market it became
the most important article of trade." Maize, or Indian corn, was for
some time more abundant, and afforded a good source of food supply.
The Indians raised it and none was exported, and the process of
preparing it for eating was simple.
Buckskins were made into breeches and jackets of great durability,
though the working classes more commonly wore garments of hempen or
flaxen tow, or woolen. The men had wool hats, cowhide shoes, linsey
frocks, and some times deer-skin aprons, while the women had frocks of
similar materials, and occasionally sun-bonnets. They managed to have
a little better dress for Sunday, or for social meetings, in which they
indulged for "amusement and good cheer." In out-of-door sports the
Indians often came in for a share in the exercises.
After the long French and Indian war, and the subsequent war
precipitated by Pontiac, there was a greater feeling of relief than had
been experienced since the settlements began, and prosperity became
more general. Some families had by that time become possessed of
considerable wealth, and were enabled to maintain a style of living
which those less fortunate could not indulge in. This style was
naturally modeled after English customs. Dr. Wing, who quotes
37 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
as authority "Watson's Annals of Philadelphia," continues: "To have a
house in town for winter and another on a plantation for summer was not
very unusual, and in the proper season a large hospitality was indulged
in. In many families slaves were possessed, and even where a more
ordinary style of servitude prevailed there were not a few forms of
aristocratic life. Some slaves were found even on the smaller farms,
but the great majority of servants were German or Irish
'redemptioners.'* As their term of service was commonly not more than
four or five years, and the price not more than the hire of laborers
for a less term, many farmers found this an advantageous method of
obtaining help. As they were not much distinguishable from the
employers and afterward received good wages, they soon became
proprietors of the soil, and their children, being educated, passed
into better society. In such a state of affairs there was a perpetual
tendency to a uniformity of conditions and of social life. The great
body of the people were moral, and all marked distinctions among them
were discountenanced, but those who followed rough trades were not
unwilling to be recognized. A style of dress and manners prevailed to
which our later American habits are generally averse, and which plainly
distinguished between them and professional men and persons of
independent means. Each class had its special privileges, which amply
compensated for inferiority of position. The long established
relations which thus grew up were the sources of mutual benefits and
pleasures. The dress of those who aspired to be fashionable was in
many respects the reverse of what it now is. Men were three-square or
cocked hats and wigs; coats with large cuffs, big skirts lined and
stiffened with buckram; breeches closely fitted, thickly lined and
coming down to the knee, of broadcloth for winter or silk camlet for
summer. Cotton fabrics were almost unknown, linen being more common,
the hose especially being of worsted or silk. Shoes were of calfskin
for gentlemen, while ordinary people contented themselves with a
coarser neat's leather. Ladies wore immense dresses expanded by hoops
or stiff stays, curiously plaited hair or enormous caps, high-heeled
shoes with white silk or thread stockings, and large bonnets,
universally of a dark color. The dresses of the laboring classes were
different from these principally in the materials used. Buckskin
breeches, checked shirts, red flannel jackets and often leather aprons
were the ordinary wear. While at their work in the fields the
appearance of the men and women continued much as we have described it
at an earlier period. Before the Revolution Watson tells us that 'the
wives and daughters of tradesmen throughout the provinces' all wore
short gowns, often of green baize but generally of domestic fabric,
with caps and kerchiefs on their heads, for a bare head was seldom seen
except with laborers at their work. Carriages were not common and were
of a cumbrous description. People usually rode horseback, and good
riding was cultivated as an accomplishment. At the country churches on
the Sabbath not unfrequently the horses on the outside were nearly as
numerous as the people inside the buildings. Stores in town were
places of resort, and did a more extensive business than they have done
since the cities have been so accessible. Newspapers were rare,
published generally only once a week and reaching subscribers in this
county nearly a week after date. Eight weekly newspapers and one semi-
weekly had been started in Philadelphia, but as the post went into the
interior only once a week, the later was of little advantage to our
people. The sheets on which they were printed were small, and the
amount of news would now be considered very meager. The death of a
sovereign about this time was not proclaimed in the province until
nearly six weeks after its occurrence, and bouquet's victory and treaty
with the Indians were not
*Emigrants hired out until their passage money, which had been
advanced to them, should be repaid.
38 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
known in Carlisle until between three and four weeks from those events.
Visitors to Philadelphia usually went in their own two-wheeled chaises
or on horseback, occupying two or three weeks in the journey. The
numerous courts and transactions in land, as well as the lively social
intercourse, made such journeys frequent. The transportation of goods
both ways rendered needful trains of heavily loaded wagons (since
called by the name of Conestoga or Pennsylvania), with four, five or
six horses. As the woods westward and over the mountains would not
allow of this method, either at Shippensburg or Smiths (Mercersburg),
the goods had to be transferred to pack-horses. 'It was no uncommon
thing at one of these points to see from fifty to 100 packhorses in a
row, one person to each string of five or six horses, tethered
together, starting off for the Monongahela country, laden with salt,
iron, hatchets, powder, clothing and whatever was needed by the Indians
and frontier inhabitants.'"
In the days of pack-trains, time about 1770-80, there were seen at
one time in Carlisle as many as 500 pack-horses, going thence to
Shippensburg, Fort London and other western points, loaded with
merchandise, salt, iron, etc. Bars of iron were carried by first being
bent over and around the bodies of the horses. Col. Snyder, an early
blacksmith of Chambersburg, once told (1845) that he "cleared many a
day from six to eight dollars in crooking, or bending iron, and shoeing
horses for Western carriers." [Rupp's History of Cumberland and other
counties, p. 376.] The same authority says: "The pack horses were
generally led in divisions of about twelve or fifteen horses, carrying
about two hundred weight each, all going single file and being managed
by two men, one going before as the leader, and the other at the tail
to see after the safety of the packs. When the bridle road passed
along declivities or over hills, the path was, in some places, washed
out so deep that the packs, or burdens, came in contact with the
ground, or other impeding obstacles, and were frequently displaced.
However, as the carriers usually traveled in companies, the packs were
soon adjusted and no great delay occasioned. The pack horses were
generally furnished with bells, which were kept from ringing during the
day drive, but were let loose at night when the horses were set free
and permitted to feed and browse. The bells were intended as guides to
direct their whereabouts in the morning. When wagons were first
introduced, the carriers considered that mode of transportation an
invasion of their rights. Their indignation was more excited and they
manifested greater rancor than did the regular teamsters when the line
of single teams was started, some thirty [now seventy] years ago."
Formation of Townships and Boroughs. - The townships, as they now
exist in the County of Cumberland, were formed at dates as follows:
Cook, from a part of Penn, June 18, 1872; Dickinson, April 17, 1785;
East Pennsborough, 1745 (originally Pennsborough, 1735; Frankford,
1795; Hampden, January 23, 1845; Hopewell, 1735; Lower Allen, 1849,
(originally Allen, 1766); Middlesex, 1859; Mifflin, 1797; Monroe, 1825;
Newton, 1767; North Middleton, 1810 (originally Middleton, 1750); Penn,
from part of Dickinson, October 23, 1860; Shippensburg, 1784; Silver
Spring, 1787; Southampton, 1791;* South Middleton, 1810, (originally
Middleton, 1750; Upper Allen, 1849 (originally Allen, 1766); West
Pennsborough, 1745, to present limits in 1785, part of original
township of Pennsborough, 1735; Carlisle Borough, 1782, new charter,
1814; Camp Hill Borough, November 10, 1885; Mechanicsburg Borough,
1828; Mount Holly Springs Borough, 1873; Newburg Borough, 1861; New
Cumberland Borough, 1831; Newville Borough, February 26, 1817, township
in 1828, borough in 1869, Shippensburg Borough, 1819; Shiremanstown
Borough, 1874 or 1875.
*One authority says before 1782, but we have found no record to that
effect.
39 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Lands. - The lands in this region at the time of the early
settlements were of two classes: those to which the Indian title had
not yet been extinguished, and upon which white people were not allowed
to settle until the government should purchase them and open an office
for their sale; and the proprietary lands "sometimes surveyed into
manors and reserved for special purposes and sometimes held open for
private purchase," but belonging to them (the proprietaries) in fee
simple. Purchasers of land from the proprietaries, who had surveyed
and divided them into lots, paid very low prices, sometimes as low as
one shilling sterling per acre, and even down to a merely nominal
valuation according to location. These purchasers often had to borrow
money to pay even the small sums required, and gave mortgages upon the
lands for security. They were generally able to meet their obligations
in a few years. Every acre of land sold by the proprietaries was also
subject to an annual rental, from one penny down, and sometimes a
diminutive quantity of wheat or corn, or perhaps poultry.*
It was not until the treaty of October, 1736, that the Indian title
to lands in Cumberland County was extinguished and vested in the heirs,
successors and assigns of Thomas and Richard Penn. Paxton Manor had
been set off in 1731-32 by Thomas Penn as an inducement to the
Shawanees to settle here and live at peace with the whites; the title
to it was, however, acquired in 1736 with the other lands included in
the deed, and it was then laid out.** Its limits were described as
follows in the return, May 16, 1765, of the warrant for its resurvey,
issued December 26, 1764: "On the west side of the Susquehanna River,
opposite to John Harris' ferry, and bounded to the eastward by the said
river; to the northward by Conodogwinet Creek; to the southward by the
Yellow Breeches Creek, and to the westward by a line drawn north, a
little westerly from the said Yellow Breeches to Conodogwinet Creek
aforesaid, containing, 7,507 acres, or upward." The survey showed it
to contain, 7551 acres. It embraced all the land between the two
creeks, according to reliable authority, extending westward to "the
road leading from the Conodogwinet to the Yellow Breeches, past the
Stone Church or Frieden's Kirch, and immediately below Shiremanstown."
Its first survey had been made very early (1731-32). John Armstrong
surveyed it in 1765, and divided it into twenty portions, and in 1767
John Lukens surveyed it and divided it into twenty-eight tracts or
plantations of various sizes, aggregating about the original quantity
of land in the manor. These tracts were sold originally to the
following persons: No. 1, 530 acres to Capt. John Stewart; No. 2, 267
1/2 acres, to John Boggs; 300 acres to Casper Weber; 256 acres to Col.
John Armstrong; 227 acres to James Wilson; 227 acres to Robert
Whitehill (including site of town of Whitehill); No. 3, 200 acres; No.
4, 206 acres, to Moses Wallace; No. 5, 200 acres, to John Wilson; Nos.
6 (267 acres) and 7 (283 acres), to John Mish; No. 8, 275 acres, to
Richard Rogers; No. 9, 195 acres, Conrad Renninger; No. 10, 183 acres,
to Casper Weaver; No. 11, 134 acres, to Casper Weaver; No. 12, 181
acres, to William Brooks; No. 13, 184 acres, to Samuel Wallace; No. 14,
153 acres, Christopher Gramlich; No. 15, 205 acres, James McCurdey; No.
16, 237 acres, Isaac Hendrix; No. 17, 213 acres, Robert Whitehill; No.
18, 311 acres, Philip Kimmel; No. 19, 267 acres, Andrew Kreutzer; No.
20, 281 acres, David Moore; Nos. 21 and 22, 536 acres, Edmund Physick;
No. 23, 282 acres, Edmund
*The annual quit rent was placed at 1 shilling per 100 acres, payable
in lawful money forever. Its collection was very difficult, however,
for the people deemed it preposterous that they should have to pay it
even though it exempted them from all other proprietary taxes. Some
were paid in Cumberland County though, until some time after the
Revolutionary War. The amount was payable to the heirs of William
Penn. Gold and silver was very scarce and the province issued paper
money, which depreciated to half its face value. Many farmers lost
their tracts through failure to pay mortgages, losing at the same time
their earlier payments and improvements.
**Dr. J. A. Murray in article upon Louther Manor, in Carlisle Herald,
early in 1885.
40 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Physick; No. 24, 287 acres, Rev. William Thompson; No. 25, 150 acres,
Alex Young; No 26, 209 acres, Jonas Seely; Nos. 27 (243 acres) and 28
(180 acres), Jacob Miller. The manor included portions of Hampden,
East Pennsborough and Lower Allen Townships, as at present existing,
and the western boundary would pass just east of Shiremanstown. Within
its area are now situated the towns and settlements of New Cumberland,
Milltown (or Eberly's Mills), Bridgeport, Wormleysburg, Camp Hill and
Whitehill Station.
The troubles between the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland
over the boundary between the two provinces, with their final
settlement by the running of "Mason and Dixon's Line," are set forth in
Chapter X of the history of Pennsylvania in this volume, and it is
unnecessary to repeat them here.
At one time during the Revolutionary period, when the titles of lands
in Cumberland County were examined with a view to taxation, it was
discovered that a large quantity of land was yet vested in the
proprietary family and no revenue was derived from it. "The following
tracts," says Dr. Wing, "were described as belonging to them: in East
Pennsborough a tract called Lowther (formerly Paxton) Manor, containing
7,551 acres; in West Pennsborough these tracts are called Jericho,
containing 807 acres and 40 perches, another of 828 acres, and another
of 770 acres and 20 perches; a tract adjoining the mountains of 988
acres; one composed of several fragments, originally 6,921 acres and 23
perches, and including the borough of Carlisle and then in the vicinity
of the town; one adjoining the North Mountain, 3,600 acres; another
near the Kittatinny Mountains of 55 acres; two tracts in Hopewell
Township, most if not all of which are probably now in Franklin County,
4,045 acres and 120 perches, and 980 acres - making in all 26,536
acres. Much of the land which had been sold had been subjected by the
terms of sale to a perpetual quit rent. During the war none of these
quit rents had been collected, no further sales could be effected, and
no tax could be collected from this large amount of property. Many
persons, too, had settled upon such proprietary lands as were
unoccupied without the form of any title, and were making improvements
on them. November 27, 1779, the Assembly passed resolutions annulling
the royal charter, and granting to the Penn family as a compensation
for the rights of which this deprived them 130,000L. This, however,
did not affect their ownership of lands and quit rents as private
persons, so that they still remain the largest land owners in the
State. On a subsequent occasion (1780) these private estates were
forfeited and vested in the commonwealth, by which act the State
government became possessed of a large amount of land which it bestowed
upon officers and soldiers, or sold to private settlers for the profit
of the State."
We have seen a copy of an original draft of a "proprietary manor
southwest of the borough of Carlisle, in Middleton Township, Cumberland
County, containing in the whole 1,927 acres, 34 perches, and an
allowance of six acres per cent for roads, etc. Resurveyed the 6th,
7th and 8th days of January, 1791. Pr. Samuel Lyon, D. S." This
joined Carlisle on the southwest, being bounded north by Gillanghan's
tract, Armstrong's tract, Richard Peters' tract and Richard Coulter's
tract; east by lands belonging to Patrick and William Davidson, Banton
& Co., Stephen Foulk, Joseph Thornburgh and William Patterson; south by
James Lyon's and the heirs of George Lyre's land; west by Lyre's heirs,
William Reaney and John Carver. It was quite irregular in form.