HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNA BY REV. CONWAY P. WING, D. D. CHAPTER I.—DESCRIPTIVE HISTORY. The valley of which the County of Cumberland forms a part extends under different names from the Southern extremity of Vermont across the Hudson at Newburgh, the Delaware at Easton, the Susquehanna at Harrisburg, the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and the James at Lynchburgh, and then sweeps around through Tennessee, and loses itself in Alabama and the Southwest. It lies between two chains of the great Appalachian range running from the Northeast to the Southwest, and is of nearly equal width, from twelve to twenty miles, the whole distance. I.—MOUNTAINS. The Northwestern side of this Valley is bounded by what is called in Pennsylvania, the Kittatinny or North* Mountain. In the Southwest it is bounded by the South Mountain, which during its whole course maintains nearly the same proportions and distance with respect to the other. From the Susquehanna to the Potomac, the Kittatinny lifts its long regular and almost level line of summit to the height or from seven to twelve hundred feet above the general surface of the valley below. A little beyond the Southern boundary of the County of Cumberland it appears to terminate in a picturesque point, called Parnells Knob, the highest elevation along the whole range, but this is in reality only a spur projecting from the principal group which is seen going forth beyond it. A number of such apparent terminations within sight have the aspect of giant steps advancing from the South ; but on more familiar acquaintance they are found to conceal smaller valleys or, as they are called " coves" which gradually ascend behind these spurs to heights beyond. The Southern side of the mountain is very abrupt, often almost perpendicular, and for much of the way presenting only a sparse forest and a mass of broken and bare rocks. But the aspect is varied by intervals of thick forests, the ever changing drapery of mists, the shadows of passing clouds, and the diversified hues of spring and autumn foliage. To the familiar observer below they are far enough from presenting a monotonous appearance, and they are an unfailing source of interest. Each change conveys to * The name Kittatinny is an abbreviated or softened form of the word Kau-ta-tin-chunk by which the Lenni-Lenape Indians designated the same mountain, meaning " the main or principal mountain." The Indians of the Six Nations in their treaties called them the Tayamentasachta or the Endless. Hills. The English have been more accustomed to call them by the more familiar names of the North, in distinction from the South, or the Blue Mountains. him a telegraphic message which he learns to understand and to receive as a friendly warning, an encouraging omen, or a cheerful greeting. The South Mountain on the other hand slopes more gradually into the valley below, and is broken up into ridges and deep depressions, and on its summit has much table land covered with valuable forests. II.—CLIMATE AND FACE OF THE COUNTRY. The climate of the seven counties which lie in this long valley is not essentially different from that of the eight which constitute the South-eastern portion of the State ; and yet it has some peculiarities which even a superficial observer cannot fail to notice. They are a transition from the seaboard to the mountainous districts, and their climate participates in the qualities of both. The keenness and force of the Atlantic winds are somewhat broken, and yet the mountain storm is liable to break forth with a suddenness and force which are not common at the east. From the notices which have come down to us from the earlier settlers of this region, we are obliged to conclude that there have been perceptible changes in the climate of this valley, as in most other parts from which extensive forests have been cleared. Many springs and streams are by no means as plentiful as they once were. The averages of heat and cold are not as great, and the humidity of the seasons appears to have considerably diminished. Whatever may be the cause to which such changes may be ascribed, it is not easy to deny their reality. As the forests of this valley were never dense within the period embraced by our historical accounts or traditions, their removal could have had no such influence as in the heavier timbered regions of the West. The district however to which such a remark applies was too contracted to have affected the general climate. Dr. Rush, who between the years 1789 and 180.5 gave special attention to the climate of this State, remarks that " a material change has taken place since the days of the founders ; the cold of winters and the heat of summers are less uniform than they had been forty or fifty years before." He thinks the mean temperature may not have changed, but that the climate is altered by heat and cold being less confined to their natural seasons than formerly. "The variableness of weather in our State" he observes " is found South of forty one degrees of latitude, and north of that the winters are steady and in character with the Eastern and Northern states ; but no two successive seasons are alike and even the same months differ from (7.) 8 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA. each other in different years. There is but one steady trait, and that is, it is uniformly variable." The County of Cumberland not only lies below the forty-first degree of latitude, but it is much less elevated than the region above that line. During a period of more than ten years, ending with May 1856, the average temperature in that county was fifty-one degrees and ten minutes (Fahrenheit); in Spring 49' 76', in summer 72' 15', in autumn 52' 05', and in winter 30̊ 45'. Within the past thirty years, there have not been more than a score of days when the thermometer fell below zero, and about as many when it rose above ninety-seven. The summers more nearly resemble each other than do either of the other seasons: most of the days are hot and clear, but interrupted by violent thunder gusts, heavy rains from the North-east, and warm showers from the South. Snow sometimes covers the ground in winter for months, and at other times there is scarcely enough for sleighhing. The prevailing winds are, in summer, from the North-west and South-west, the former bringing clear and the latter cloudy weather ; in winter, the North west winds bring clear cold weather and the North-eastern snow storms and rain. The winter seldom sets in with severity until the latter part of December and commonly begins to moderate in February. Near the close of this latter month or early in March the snow disappears, and in the beginning of April the. fruit trees blossom and vegetation commences. At this season, however, the atmosphere is often damp, chilly and stormy, and until the beginning of May there are frequent returns of wet and disagreeable weather. Owing to these changes, vegetation advances very unequally in different years, and the promising blossoms of the early spring are often blasted by the frosts of April and May. The average of rain and snow fall for three years was found to be, for the spring, nine inches and five hundreths, for the summer 9.67, for the autumn 7.68, for the winter 7.61, and for the whole year thirty-four inches and one hundredth. The autumn is usually the most agreeable season. The mornings and evenings become cool about the middle of September, and soon after the equinoctial rain and after the first frosts of November, commences that remarkable peculiarity of our climate, the " Indian Summer." This is a succession of delightfully pleasant days, in which the atmosphere is thinly veiled in a smoky haze, slightly intercepting the sun's rays, yet on the whole clear and cheerful. The name is probably derived from the Indians who were accustomed to say they always had a " second summer of nine days just before the winter set in." It was the favorite time for their harvest, when they looked to gather in their corn, and when, from accident or design, on their hunting excursions, the woods and grass of the mountains and prairies were burned and their game was driven from concealment. Certainly a more delightful climate, all things considered, it would be difficult to find in the United States. A stagnant pool or swamp, sufficient to produce malarious disease is probably not known and is scarcely possible within the county, on account of the peculiar underdrainage of the soil. The surface of the land between the mountains presents no great variety. It is undulating, but no high hills are anywhere to be seen. It is nowhere elevated more than five hundred feet above the level of the sea, but in the limestone portions it is broken by immense ledges and isolated fragments of rocks which stand out prominently before the eye and make difficult the work of the husbandman. It is only by taking a position on some peak of the neighboring mountains that a prospect of any large extent can be obtained. From some of those gaps through which the traveler crosses the hills,he can look back and survey nearly the whole county, stretching out in what at a distance seems an almost level and highly cultivated garden. III -STREAMS, SPRINGS. The only navigable stream which touches this county is the Susquehanna which flows along its Eastern boundary and receives all the waters from it. The Conodoguinet was at one time thought to be capable of being made navigable, and an act of the Colonial Assembly was once passed for removing obstructions in it,* but its course is so crooked that it will probably always be more desirable for manufacturing purposes. It is a large creek rising in Franklin county and pursuing a remarkably tortuous course through the entire length of the county to the Susquehanna, which it enters at West Fairview, about two miles above Harrisburg. In consequence of the level surface of the country it is rather sluggish, but it has a sufficient fall to afford ample power for a large number of mills and factories along its banks. In some parts of its course it has numerous springs on its bed and margin, and it is large or inconsiderable according to the heavy freshets or protracted drouths to which the country is subject. It receives a number of smaller streams, such as Means, Newburgh, Peebles', Three Square Hollow, Brandy, Whiskey, Back, Big, State, Lick, Stine's, Parkers', Mains', Big Spring, Mount Rock, Cedar, Pine, Bard's, Dry, and Alexander's Runs, in the Western part of the county ; and Letort, Trindle's, Sulphur Spring, Hoge's, Silvers' Spring, Black, and Holtz's Runs in the Eastern part. The Callapasscink, or, as it is more familiarly called the Yellow Breeches, is the only other considerable stream, rising in Newton township in the South-west part of the county, running along the southern part and forming for a few miles the boundary between York and Cumberland counties. It is a beautiful and romantic stream, which also receives a number of runs, such as Mountain Creek, Boiling Spring and Switzer's Run, and finally empties into the Susquehanna at the South-eastern angle of the county. These various streams are an abundant supply for the agricultural and manufacturing wants of the people. Nothing in the natural features of the county is more noticeable than the many large and beautiful springs which one meets with in every direction. The ledges of rock which crop out upon the surface, are favorable to the conveyance of subterraneous currents of water, many of which may be heard rumbling beneath the soil and doubtless have their head and acquire their force in the neighboring mountains. Cedar, Silvers, Boiling, Letort, Meeting House, Carlisle Sulphur, Big, Middle, Doubling * - Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. IV, pp. 392-3. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - 9 Gap, Green, Alexander's, Richwine's and Cocklin's springs break forth from these ledges sufficient in most instances for large mills and factories. Three or four of them are strongly impregnated with sulphur, but most of them are remarkable for their purity and sweetness. At Mount Rock, a few miles West of Carlisle, a large spring issues from beneath a limestone rock, and after running a short distance sinks into the ground, passes under a hill, and then reappears and pursues its course to the Conodoguinet. IV.—GEOLOGY, MINERALS AND CURIOSITIES. A traveler across the south-eastern portion of Pennsylvania will be apt to notice that the ledges or beds of rocks invariably range from the north-east to the south-west, corresponding with the course of the mountain ridges the whole width of the State ; and also that the various layers of rock have a position one above the other at different angles to the horizon. They have been broken up by some disturbing force from below and left with their edges outcropping at various inclinations from a level to a perpendicular. When he comes to the South Mountain he will find that the rocks are of a different character from those of the level region he is leaving. The primary rocks for the most part disappear, and are covered by those of the secondary series. Along the range of the South Mountain he meets with a hard compact white sandstone, which rings when it is struck, and when broken has a splintery and sometimes a discolored appearance. At Pine Grove, on Mountain Creek, he meets with a detached bed of limestone of small extent and connected with a deposit of brown argillaceous earth and hematite iron ore, which has been very productive and has supplied large quantities of material for a furnace there. But as he passes over to the northern base of the mountain he encounters the great limestone formation which may be traced the entire length of the Cumberland Valley. It is usually of a bluish but occasionally of a grey and nearly black color, generally pure enough to yield excellent lime, but not unfrequently mixed with sand, clay and oxide of iron. Flint stones and fossils are also occasionally met with in some parts of this formation. In the soil above it iron ore is sometimes abundant enough to be profitably worked, and indeed some of the most productive ore banks in the State are found in it and its vicinity. Pipe ore and kindred varieties of that material have been obtained of good quality in several localities in this limestone region. About the middle of the valley, though with a very irregular line of demarcation, we meet with a dark slate formation extending to the foot of the North Mountain. Though its usual color is brown or bluish, it is sometimes reddish and even yellow. Lying between the great limestone and the coarse grey sandstone, it is sometimes intermingled with sandstone which contains rounded pebbles forming conglomerate, but this is too silicious to receive a good polish. The rocks of the Kittatinny or North Mountain consist almost exclusively of this massive grey limestone of various degrees of coarseness. They are not valuable for either building or mineral purposes.* A singular trap dike is observable running across the valley from the South Mountain, about six miles east of Carlisle, to the North Mountain. a little eastward of Sterrett's Gap. It goes by the name of " Stoney Ridge," and people have thought that it could be traced through several ranges of mountains beyond the Kittatinny, and on the South nearly to Washington City. It is not unlike a number of ridges and dikes of trap rock which make their appearance in the Eastern part of this and of York county, and the sandstone of which it is composed is probably the same with that of the South Mountain and that of many other ridges in the metamorphic region. It will thus be seen that the geological character of the county is not much varied, inasmuch as only these two formations make their appearance, and we naturally expect that such a region can abound in only two or three kinds of minerals. There is, however, a family of ores which occur exclusively in the limestone and seldom or never in the slate lands. Beneath the surface are inexhaustible deposits of magnetic iron conveniently near to valuable beds of hematite, which lie either in fissures between the rocky strata or over them in a highly ferruginous loam. This hematite is of every possible variety and in immense quantities. When it has a columnar stalactite structure it is known under the name of pipe ore, and it is found abundantly along the slopes of the valley of the Yellow Breeches. It usually yields a superior iron and at the same time i3 easily and profitably smelted. It generally produces at least fifty per cent. of metallic iron. The beds are frequently of extraordinary extent, and the actual depth to which they reach has never been determined. Over a space of ten acres, a number of holes have been opened from sixteen to forty-two feet in depth without going through the vein. Together with the magnetic ores these hematite beds, many of which remain untouched, are sufficient for supplying a large part of tae manufacture in the United States. But in the Valley there are traces also of sulphuret of copper (the Wile vitriol of commerce), red and yellow ochre and chrome ores, alum earth, and copperas ores, porcelain earth, and clay for stoneware, common glazed ware and fire bricks ; also epsom salts, shell lime, marl, manganese, and valuable marbles. The variegated conglomerate which goes by the name of Potomac marble comes from the same general range of strata. The red sandstone belt of Connecticut is said to be only an interrupted prolongation of this extensive red shale and sandstone group of strata. They are intersected by long ridges of trap, near the outcroppings of which are found all the localities of copper ore within this tract. † In every part of the limestone region, the earth resounds under the tread of the traveler, and numerous: sink holes communicate with caverns or running streams beneath them. These constitute a natur. al drainage which is amply sufficient for all the ordinary demands of * Geological survey of Pennsylvania under the superintendence of HENRY D. ROGERS, State Geologist, 1856-7. Geography of Pennsylvania by CHARKES B. TREGO, Assistant State Geologist, 1843. pp 42-3, 226-7. † Scientific American for 1870, and in the Ant rictn Volunteer of Carlisle in Way 1870. 10 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA,. the highest culture. Two or three caves have been discovered and entered which have been esteemed as curiosities. The most remarkable of these is on the bank of the Conodoguinet about a mile North from Carlisle. It is under a small limestone cliff, not more than thirty feet high above the surface of the creek, but through a semicircular, arched entrance from seven to ten feet high and ten in width, it descends gradually to an antechamber of considerable size. From this a vaulted passage large enough to allow one to walk erect, extends two-hundred and seventy feet, to a point where it branches off in three directions. One on the right is somewhat difficult on account of the water which percolates through the rocks on every side, but leads to a large chamber of great length. The central one is narrow and crooked, and has never been completely explored, on account of a deep perpendicular precipice which prevents all progress beyond about thirty feet. The other passage is smaller and has but little interest. In different parts are pools of water, supposed by some to be springs, but as they have no outflow, they are more probably formed by drippings from the surrounding rocks. Human bones have been found in it, and no doubt it has been used for a place of refuge or temporary lodgment for the Indians. No such articles as are usually deposited with their dead have yet been discovered. A notice has recently been published of a cave of large dimensions in West Penns-borough, about a mile and a half North of Greyson, on the bank of the Conodoguinet. The opening is about ten feet wide and six feet high, and extends back about ten feet, when it becomes three feet wide and sixteen high, in which proportions it continues back about thirty-eight feet. It then reaches another opening or room of about ten feet square by fifteen in height. From this a passage of a few feet leads to another opening about six feet square with a high ceiling ; and from this a long narrow passage, barely allowing the course of a man of moderate size, opens into an apartment of forty feet in circumference of the same height with the others. Here a small passage leads to near the place of entrance. Thousands of stalactites and curious shapes may be seen in every part, but a minute description of the whole has not yet been given V.—SOIL, VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS AND TREES. The fertility of the soil is generally determined by the nature of the rocks on which it is imposed and by the disintegration of which it is formed. The limestone region is of remarkable fertility. The slate lands when well farmed and improved by the use of lime amply repay the husbandman for his toil, and even the best limestone lands are often so broken up by rocky ledges that much labor has to be given to the task of quarrying and leveling them. The rocks thus quarried are not lost, but are when calcined of great value for manure. Only a small proportion of territory on the sides of the mountains is incapable of profitable cultivation, and even this is almost equally prized for its timber and fuel. The natural productions of the soil when it was first discovered by white men, awakened admiration quite as much as the meadows and the fields of grain have done at a later period. A rich luxuriance of grass is said to have covered the whole-valley, wild fruits abounded, and in some parts the trees were of singular variety. Of the trees there were many species of oak, the white-and black walnut, the hickory, the white red and sugar maple, the cherry, the locust, the sassafras, the chestnut, the ash, the elm, the linden, the beech and the white and scrub pine. The laurel, the plum, the juniper, the persimmon, the hazel, the wild currant, the gooseberry, the blackberry, the raspberry, the spice bush, the sumac, and the more humble strawberry and dewberry and winter green, almost covered the open country ; and their berries in some instances constituted no small portion of the food of the Indians and the early settlers. The vegetable productions of a later time are such as are everywhere introduced by culture, and need no special mention. Their number is continually enlarging as those of other countries become known, and their quality is improving by judicious crossing and selection. VI.—ANIMALS, GAME AND FISH. 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, the 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 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 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 * CHAPTER II.—PRELIMINARY HISTORY. The American continent being "uncultivated and inhabited only by certain barbarous people who had no knowledge of Almighty God," its several parts were originally looked upon as the property of those European Sovereigns whose subjects had first discovered them. In this way Canada and other northern portions, with an indefinite region on the northern lakes and west of the Allegheny mountains to the mouth of the Mississippi, were claimed by the French King ; Florida * History of Dauphin, Cumberland, &e., Counties, by T. D. Rupp, pp. 446-7. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - 11 and the region on the Gulf of Mexico by the Spanish Monarch ; the territory about Hudson river and extending vaguely toward the Chesapeake Bay by the Dutch ; and the whole of North America, with only indistinct notions of its extent, by the British sovereign. Whenever an adventurer or a roving band of seamen caught sight of land on the new continent, a flag was unfurled and planted at some prominent point, and possession was formally taken of it and of all adjacent territory, in the name of some Sovereign. The claim of mere hunters and unsettled wanderers over the soil was not supposed to give the original inhabitants any political authority, and it was with many a question whether individual proprietors owed them anything for their private ownership. There were, of course, conflicting claims put forward by the sovereigns of Europe. Many of these arose from the want of geographical knowledge, but in general they sprung from the indefinite character of the claims themselves. The Spanish monarch, under a general grant of the Pope, supposed that he had a title to the whole continent, could he but ascertain how far it extended. The English King considered himself entitled by the prior discovery of different points along the coast, of all territory however far it might extend into the interior. The French sovereign, on the other hand, by the discoveries of his subjects in Canada, and on the head waters of the upper lakes and the Mississippi, professed to have a right, if not to the whole Atlantic coast, at least to the northern portion and the region •west of the Alleghenies. In the meantime the Dutch put in a claim to an indefinite extent of territory on the Hudson, downward to the Chesapeake, and actually formed a prosperous settlement on a considerable portion of that territory. The confusion becomes still greater under the royal grants which were made to individual proprietors. Virginia was looked upon as including New York ; Maryland intruded into Pennsylvania and even New York, and the charter for Connecticut was so vague as to extend not only over portions of New York and Pennsylvania, but to the Pacific ocean. We shall find that these conflicting claims between sovereigns and proprietors gave occasion for an immense amount of negotiation and even bloodshed. I.-EARLY HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. The charter under which the territory now embraced in the State of Pennsylvania was settled was given in the year 1681. Several provinces in the neighborhood had been granted before that time, and settlements had been commenced on them. The attention of large numbers, not only of needy adventurers, noble and common, but of earnest, Christian men and women, had been turned to the colonization of the new world. Among the latter was William Penn and his Quaker brethren. He had seen them suffer much, and he had himself suffered a little for an attempt to serve God in ways different from the established forms. He began to think of a great scheme of founding a new commonwealth in the wilderness, where men could worship according to their own consciences. For some years he had urged upon the English government a claim of sixteen thousand pounds left by his father, Admiral Penn, for services in the conquest of Jamaica and in the war with the Dutch, but which had been for various reasons postponed. He now proposed to Charles the Second that this claim should be met by the grants of a tract of land somewhere in the Western continent not otherwise taken up by any one. This easy way of settling up a long acknowledged but inconvenient claim was readily acceded to, and a liberal charter was speedily made out, to which every one who could be thought to have a conflicting claim was induced to give assent. Anxious to have an access to the seacoast, William Penn urged upon the Duke of York to yield him a right to what was called the " three lower counties," now constituting the State of Delaware ; and this also was finally yielded. The preamble and first section of this charter reads thus : " Whereas, our trusty and well beloved subject, William Penn, Esquire, son and heir of Sir William Pen n, deceased, (out of a commendable desire to enlarge our British empire and promote such useful commodities as may be of benefit to us and our dominions, as also to reduce the savage natives, by just and gentle manners to the love of civil society and Christian religion), hath humbly besought leave of us to transport an ample colony into a certain country, hereinafter described, in the parts of America not yet cultivated and planted ; and hath likewise so humbly besought our royal Majesty to give, grant and confirm all the said country, with certain privileges and jurisdictions requisite for the good government and safety of the said country and colony, to him and his heirs forever: Know ye, therefore, that we (favoring the petition and good purpose of the said William Penn, and having regard to the memory and merits of his late father in divers services, and particularly to his conduct, courage and discretion, under our dearest brother James, Duke of York, in that signal battle and victory, fought and obtained against the Dutch fleet, commanded by the Heer Van Opdam, in the year 1665 ; in consideration thereof of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion), have given and granted, and by this, our present charter, for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto the said Wiiliam Penn, his heirs and assigns, all that tract or part of land in America, with the islands therein contained, as the same is bounded on the east by Delaware river, from twelve miles distance northwards of New Castle town, unto the three and fortieth degree of northern latitude, if the said river doth extend so far northward ; (but, if the said river doth not extend so far northward, then by the said river so far as it doth extend,) and from the head of the said river the eastern bounds are to be determined by a meridian line to be drawn from the head of said river unto the said forty-third degree. The said land to extend westward five degrees in longitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds ; and the said lands to he bounded on the north by the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of northern latitude, and on the south by a circle drawn at twelve miles distance from New Castle northward and westward, unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude ; and then by a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned." By the same charter Wm. Penn and his heirs were created true and absolute proprietaries of the said countries, saving only the faith and 12 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA. allegiance of the said proprietaries, and all tenants and inhabitants of the country who shall yield and pay to the King and his successors " two beaver skins, to be delivered at the castle of Windsor on the first day of January in every year," &c. Full power is given to the Proprietaries and their deputies, with the advice and assent of the freemen of the province, assembled in such form as might seem to them best, to enact such laws for the raising of money for public uses, to appoint judges, justices and other magistrates for the probates of wills and for the granting of administration within the province, to remit crimes committed there, with the exception of treason and wilful murder, and to do everything needful to the complete establishment and execution of justice, reserving only the right of His Majesty to rescind all laws and decrees which are found inconsistent with the laws of England, and to determine. such appeals as may be made touchipg any judgments which may be made there.'' Armed with these powers, William Penn now proceeded to organize a colony. Great as was the authority given him by the charter, he was not inclined to press it to its full extent. Every guarantee was given in the " Frame of Government," which he gave to his people after his arrival in this country, of personal rights and privileges. It was unquestionably the freest community which had thus far been organized in America. No restriction was placed upon a man's religion provided he was a worshipper of God in any form. In the year 1682 he published certain articles and laws agreed upon and having the force of a compact between the Proprietary and the Freemen of the province, one article of which was "That all persons living in the province who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the world, and that hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall in no ways be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or practice in matters of faith and worship ; nor shall they be compelled at any time to frequent or maintain any religious worship place or ministry whatever." No greater privileges were awarded in these laws to any one man above another on account of his religious profession. Every one who was the owner of one hundred acres of land, and who had cultivated ten of them, every one that had been a servant or bondsman but had become free and had taken up fifty acres of which he had cultivated twenty, and every artificer or other resident that had paid scot and lot to the government was accounted a freeman, and was capable of electing or being elected a representative of the people in the provincial council or general assembly. No taxes were to be imposed except by the consent of the Proprietary, the Governor or the Assembly, or by act of parliament. During the first year all business of a public nature was transacted in a general meeting of the freemen ; but from the second year onward the government was administered by the Proprietary and Governor, a Provincial Council and a General Assembly. 'The Council was to consist of three persons, and the Assembly of six, chosen from * " History of Pennsylvania, by Robert P.cud." Vol. I, pp. 170-87. each county. There were at first three counties, Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester, besides the " Three Lower Counties of Delaware," which although under the game proprietary rule, was possessed of a kind of independence. So great was the influx of immigrants that four yet after the grant of Penn's charter the province contained twenty settlements and Philadelphia two thousand inhabitants. Efforts we made to obtain settlers from every part cf the Empire and of Europa the persecuted of every land were attracted by the unusually liberal promises of religious freedom ; and the glowing descriptions of the country and the offers of land for a merely nominal price were pow( ful inducements to all who desired worldly possessions. William Penn was himself a resident in his colony a little less than two yea (Sept., 1682—July, 1684), but he was obliged by his duties as Proprietary to return to England, where he remained during the next fifteen years. He left it eminently happy and prosperous, but he has scarcely taken his leave before misunderstandings sprang up between the Legislature and the Governer whom he had left, and between the representatives of the Lower Counties and those of the province. result of this last mentioned quarrel was that two assemblies and two deputy governors had to be established, one each for the Province an for the " Territories." These dissensions were exceedingly painful t the absent Proprietary, and from the representations of each party in England, and from some suspicions of his friendliness to time Hous of Stuart, he was threatened by the new dynasty with a revocation on his charter. For a year or two the jurisdiction of his province was in fact taken from him and committed to the Governor of New York. After a hearing before the King's privy council he was honorably acquitted of all charges against him and restored to his proprietary right by a new patent (Aug., 1694). Five years after this (1699,) he came to Philadelphia with his family, intending to make the province his home. With an enlightened and unselfish regard for the welfare of his colony, he now gave them a new " Frame of Government," in which additional concessions were made to the liberties of the people Every provision was made in this, as in his former Plan, for the s( curity of all men's rights, according to the most advanced notions the time. " I propose," said he, " to leave myself and my successor no power of doing mischief, that the will of no one man may hinder the good of the whole country." No essential alteration was made in the articles we have mentioned. This charter, however, was rejected by the Lower Counties, which shortly after separated again from the province, elected an Assembly for themselves, though they acknow edged the authority of the Proprietary and his Deputy Governor under the former Plan. In 1701 he was obliged to return to Englan to attend to some claims of Lord Baltimore upon his Southern boundary as well as some other indispensable affairs relatir to his colony, and he took an affectionate leave of his people which proved to be final. Again he was so much harrassed by complaints from different parties in the colony and from the crown, and by debts which he had contracted in the establishment of his colony, that with him HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 13 failing health he became heart-sick and despondent, and finally he consented for twelve thousand pounds to transfer the government of the province to the Queen, retaining only his private rights to quitrents and unsold lands. An instrument for this purpose was prepared, and a bill was introduced into Parliament and a small sum was paid by Government in fulfillment of its conditions, but before he had formally signed the writings, an apoplectic fit so impaired his powers that he was incapable of legal action. Six years after (July 30, 1718) he died on his estate in Rushcomb, in Buckinghamshire, aged about seventy four years The right of government was claimed by his family, and when the case was decided in chancery, it was decreed that the transfer to the crown was incomplete and that the proprietary rights properly descended with the personal estate to the widow and her children. Accordingly during the whole period until the colony became a free state in the war of independence, the government was administered by Hannah Penn and her descendants. She herself displayed considerable ability, but her children uniformly renounced the religious principles of the founder, took no important part in the affairs of the colony, and did little or nothing but to look after their own personal interests. Some of them resided for a while in this country and discharged the duties of Lieut. Governor, but whether present or absent, acting in their own name or through their deputies, they were engaged in perpetual wrangles with the representatives of the people about the taxation of their own private property in common with that of the freemen of the province. In most instances however they were not lacking in personal ability and moral worth, but they had a decided preference of the aristocratic life of their English homes, to the perplexing cares and the unostentatious establishment of their American seignory. The first quarter of the last century was a season of uninterrupted prosperity and increase. The immigration of settlers from the old world was so rapid as to occasion apprehension on two grounds : First, the Friends began to fear that they would lose their predominance in the population and that the control of public affairs would soon pass from their hands. Their peculiar views gave rise to serious questions which it was difficult to adjust, with reference to taxation and the enrolment of citizens for military defence. The wide door which had been opened to persons of every country seemed also likely to emperil the national character of the province. The governors and the authorities of England began to be alarmed lest Pennsylvania should become a colony of aliens. Under instructions from the privy council the assembly was induced to impose a duty of forty shillings per head upon all foreigners coming into the province. Nothing, however, was done seriously to affect the great tide of immigration, and before 1730, the whole south-eastern portion of the province had become settled, and the population was estimated to be not less than a hundred thousand. During the preceding year (1729) six thousand persons reached the province by ship, and they were followed by continually increasing numbers, A prosperous trade had grown up with not only the mother country, but with Portugal and the West Indies and other islands in the Atlantic. II.—THE INDIANS. The territory embraced within the limits of Penn's char ter was found to be in possession, more or less perfect, of several tribes of Indians There is much obscurity in the accounts which have been commonly received of them. These have been principally derived from the traditions of the Indians themselves, and they were not unfrequent'y inconsistent with each other. The members of each tribe gave such a shape to their account as would make their own the most important of 'all the races. The monuments which have been discovered and studied give us very little light, since they indicate no order of succession and connect themselves with no existing people. Nevertheless, by comparing the best traditions with each other, and studying the roots of the several languages and the habits of the various races, some probabilities have been reached, through which an outline tolerably consistent with itself may be drawn. 0 ur notice need not be extended beyond those tribes which have scme connection with our future history. *Near the commencement of the seventeenth century (1608) Captain John Smith tells us that when he was exploring the Chesapeake and its tributaries, he met with a party of Susquehanna Indians who were engaged in a desperate war with the Mohawks. Before this, some French missionaries make mention of a people of this name as engaged in a similar war and occupying the same territory. The whole region around the Susquehanna, eastward from the Allegheny Mountains, southward to the Potomac and northward to the sources of the Susquehanna and the lower boundary of New York, was apparently occupied by them. To the eastward of them lived a class of people whom the Europeans called from the river near which they resided, the Delawares, but who called themselves the Lenni-Lenape, or the original people, because they claimed to be the parent stock of more than forty tribes. To the north of these were the Iroquois or Six Nations, a confederacy whose territory was nearly commensurate with the present State of New York. At this early period, the Susquehannas were a powerful tribe, exceedingly ferocious and belligerant toward all surrounding nations. They were perpetually at war, and treated their enemies with cruelty. In 1633 they were at war with the Delawares, and in 1656 with the Iroquois, when they were terribly assailed also by the smallpox. Reduced as they were by this double scourge, it was said that in 1672 they could muster only three hundred warriors. Three years later (1675), the tribe was so completely broken up, either by war or pestilence, that many of them left their home on the Susquehanna to their enemies, and settled on the Piscataway, in what is now Prince George county, Maryland. There * In making up the following account the writer has been guided by what he has found in " Heckewelder's History of the Indian Nations, published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania;" " Sanford's U. S. and the aborigines of America," and Drake's and other Histories of the Indians. He has also found Egle's and Cornell's Histories of Pa., and Mombert's History History of Lancaster very useful. 14 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA,. they became involved in a war with the English, in which their independent existence was lost forever. The Lenni-Lenape appear meanwhile to have gradually extended their settlements westward, and to have set up some claims to the region left by the Susquehannas. This was, however, only by the sufferance of the Six Nations, who now by right of conquest held supremacy over the entire territory. By permission of the same confederacy, other tribes who had found their earlier situation uncomfortable, took refuge on the same forsaken territory, with a general acknowledgment of fealty to the Six Nations. Among these were the Nanticokes, who, with stragglers from the Iroquois (called by the Delawares, Mingos or Mengwes), remnants of the Susquehannas, and portions of the Delaware tribes themselves, constituted a mixed people of an indefinite coherency with one another. The whole Delaware or Lenni-Lenape confederacy was composed of three kindred tribes, the Turtle or Unamies, the Turkey or Unalachtgo, and the Wolf or Minsi. The two former inhabited the country from the Hudson to the Potomac, settling in Small bodies upon the larger streams, and the last called by the English, Monseys, lived in the interior and were the most warlike. There were several subordinate tribes, who received names from their place of residence, as the Nanticokes, the Shackamaxons and the Neshaminies. To account for the subordinate position which all these tribes were obliged to acknowledge and which the Six Nations often arrogantly enforced over them, they pi ofessed that they had been ensnared by a dextrous stratagemto take the name of women and to resign their own guardianship to more warlike men. The probability, however, is that they had been subdued in some of the wars in which the Susquehannas had been destroyed. Whatever may have been the origin of this state of things, the Indians of Pennsylvania, ever since our acquaintance with them commenced, have been incompetent to make war, to change their residence, or to sell their lands, without the consent of the Six Nations. At some period near the close of the seventeenth century (about 1673,) some sixty families of the Shawanese, having been driven by some hostile tribe frcm their former home on the Savannah river (the name of which was perhaps derived from that of their tribe,) asked permission of -the Delawares to settle in their country. As the right of possession in these lands had now passed by treaty with the Pennsylvania Proprietaries. forever from their hands, the consent of the Penn family had to be obtained to this arrangement. Put as this consent was freely -given, on the Delawares becoming responsible for the good behavior of their guests, the main body of the Shawanese (a part of whom had gone to the Ohio,) now took up its residence in this region. Their villages have been traced at various points east of the Allegheny mountains, but especially near the Susquehanna and within the present limits of Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Franklin, Perry and Bedford counties. In consequence, however, of some offence of which their young warriors were guilty, they became apprehensive of the displeasure of the Six Nations, as well as of the English, and they again left their homes (about 1727) and joined their brethren at the West. Their offense was indeed pardoned by the Delawares and by the Proprietary government, and many messages were sent after them to induce them to return,but they had now begun to listen to French emissaries, who persuaded them that they had been unkindly treated by the English. They acknowledged, indeed, that they had behaved foolishly, and sometimes gave the authorities reason to expect their return, but very few of them ever-came back, except at a later period and then as bitter enemies. With the Delawares the relations of the whites were at first more friendly. Many of them were converted under the labors of Moravian and other Christian missionaries. With William Penn and his successcrs and with the Friends they always maintained a friendly intercourse, and they were ever ready to listen with respect to any suggestions from that quarter. They complained sometimes that a hard bargain had been driven with them in the great " walk" for their land, but in the end they confessed that substantial justice was rendered them. At a later period they fell under suspicion, and great injustice was unquestionably done them. We shall find, therefore, that finally this tribe became as embittered against the English as the Shawanese, and a large portion of it combined with the latter in a cruel war upon the white settlements. III.-INDIAN TREATIES. The first treaty which was made by the proprietary government has generally been supposed to have been made by William Penn himself, under the old elm tree at Shackamaxon on the twenty-third day of the Fourth month in 1683, and yet the city of Philadelphia must have been built and a considerable body of land constituting the three original counties had been taken possession of before this. It would seem probable that Wm. Penn regarded his title to those lands as valid from the purchases lie had made from prior occupants and from the royal charter, and accordingly the transaction said to have been under the " Old Elm" was called in all the older documents and histories simply " a firm peace," ratified by the usual token of " a chain of friendship and covenant never to be- broken as long as the sun and moon endure." The nine articles of that treaty contain no reference to the sale of lands, but only to the formation of " a league and chain of friendship." It is certainly true that this was a treaty -made without an oath and never broken. For one or two generations at least the land of Penn was never stained by an Indian with the blood of a white man. Deeds were obtained on several different -occasions during the -years 1682-1700 for lands lying between the Delaware and the Potomac, and South of the South Mountain. In 1696 a purchase was effected through Gov. Dongan, of New York, in -consideration of one hundred pounds sterling, of "all that tract of land lying on both sides of the river Susquehanna and the lakes adjacent in or near the province of Pennsylvania." As the right of the -Six Nations to sell this 'territory was not acknowledged by the various tribes living on the Susquehanna, Conestoga and Potomac rivers, other treaties were entered into with the sachems of these tribes (Sept. 30, 1700, and April 23, 1701) by which their sale was ex- HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - 15 pressly confirmed. So vague however was the language used in these deeds that a question arose whether the phrases lands on both sides of the Susquehanna and adjoining the same," would give any rights beyond that river, and it was thought best to effect another purchase before any settlement should be allowed on that territory. Accordingly the chiefs of the Six Nations met on the 11th day of October, 1736, in Philadelphia, when they revived all past treaties of friendship; and executed a deed conveying to John, Thomas and Richard Penn, and their heirs, " all the said river Susquehanna, wIth the lands lying on both sides thereof, to extend eastward as far as the heads of the branches or springs which run into the said Susquehanna, and all the lands lying on the West side of the said river to the setting of the sun, and to extend from the mouth of the said river northward up the same to the hills or mountains called in the language of said nations Tayamentasachta, and by the Delaware Indians, the Kekachtannin hills." This deed included all the lands comprised in the present county of Cumberland, but was not executed until a few years after settlements had been commenced 'there. IV.-CLASSES OF SETTLERS. Among the people attracted to this province were persons of almost every nationality and religious faith. The diversity thus produced divided the population into classes 'which kept up a separation from each other for two or three generations, which is not even yet effaced. As sorne.of these classes never sustained any important relation to the people of this county they need not be mentioned here. None of them call for special notice here except the English Friends, the Scotch Irish, and the Germans. 1.-FRIENDS OR QUAKERS The Friends, or as they are more commonly called the Quakers, 'never settled extensively on this side of the Susquehanna, but they were for some time a predominant power in the colonial government and controlled the affairs of the province. They had sprung up near the middle of the seventeenth century and soon became numerous. At the period of the settlement of Pennsylvania they had adherents in Germany as well as England and America, and it was one great object of Penn's scheme of colonization to afford them a location by themselves. So pointed was their protest against war, oaths, slavery, and many customs then deemed essential to civilized society, that they everywhere came into collision, not only with the government and police, but with the ordinary life around them. This amounted to a severe persecution even in communities where the principles of religious freedom were most advanced. When therefore William Penn proposed to them a general migration to the country he had purchased for them especially-, but generally for the oppressed of all creeds, they responded to his call in great numbers. For many years they constituted the largest part of the population. Even as late as 1730 they had the ascendancy in wealth and influence, though their numbers did not then amount to more than one-quarter of the whole. No small degree of odium had begun to fall upon them on account of their refusal to use any means for the military defence of the colony. The proprietary family with the governors whom they appointed were in favor of defensive measures, and even William Penn himself was not by any means up to the degree of strictness against all war which most of his people afterwards attained. It was only by extreme art, amounting in fact to deception, that the governors sometimes obtained from the Assembly grants of money which could be used by them for military purposes. In the wars with France and Spain; and especially with the Indians, the province was exposed to depredation, and every argument was used in vain to induce the Friends in the Assembly to vote supplies for erecting fortifications and enlisting soldiers. Fortunately there were for many years, no serious inroads upon the peace of the province. But at a later period, when through the intrigues of the French, the minds of the Indians became disaffected, and the frontiers became a scene of pillage, captivity and bloodshed, and when appeals for aid were denied by the Assembly on the principle of absolute non-resistance, the condition of affairs became intolerable. The Friends themselves were not unwilling to retire from political life, and suffer the management of the provincial government to fall into other hands, ready and prompt however to interpose their psi. vate mediation to bring about a peace. Even in these efforts they more than once encountered the peril of the reproach that they cared more for carrying their points then for the lives of their countrymen. On the whole, time has vindicated their reputation, and an impartial posterity with a better comprehension of the power of a peaceful life, has shown itself appreciative of their memories. Their policy was doubtless carried to an extreme. There are times when a government which is responsible for the defence of its people and for the public safety, is bound to resist, and if possible put down all enemies. But more frequently rulers have been wanting in forbearance, and a kind spirit, like that of these Friends, would have been more effective. Their simple confidence in, and constant practice of, the principles of universal love, has more and more vindicated itself as the best political as well as social policy. Their steadfast resistance of all concession to privileged classes, their refusal to comply with empty and false forms, and their demand of impartial justice and kindness to all in political as well as private conduct, have been the source of much of that character of which Pennsylvanians are now proud. 2.— SCOTCH IRISH. Under this compound designation is included a very peculiar and remarkable race which came originally from Scotland, but which resided for some generations, long enough to acquire some distinctive qualities, in the North of Ireland. This was the class of people by which the county of Cumberland was at first settled, and for more than forty years afterwards there was scarcely a mingling of any other in its population. Their general character may therefore very properly be here a subject of careful consideration, and no one can ap- 16 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA. preciate this or the movement which gave a settlement to three or four counties in this State without a recurrence to an earlier history. As far back as the reign of the First James of England, large numbers of people from Scotland began to colonize the northern part of Ireland. They were much encouraged in this by the government, in hope that a disaffected element in the native population might be either displaced or restrained On every reasonable excuse the estates of the Catholic noblemen were forfeited and given on ec.sy terms to men of another faith from the sister island. An Irish church establishment was formed, richly endowed, and placed under the charge of a style of bishops and clergy to which even the Presbyterians of that day had no insuperable objection. Under the preaching of zealous ministers from Scotland, a remarkable revival of religion took place. In the course of time with a large increase of the Presbyterian element, jealousies began to spring up between it and the higher Episcopal clergy, encouraged as the latter were by the royal authority, until finally acts of uniformity were passed and enforced which became intolerable. Large numbers returned to Scotland, and one band of emigrants, organized with complete ecclesiastical forms, set sail (Sept. 9, 1635,) in a ship called the Eagle Wing for America. Adverse winds and storms, however, compelled them to put back for Ireland, and the purpose of colonization was postponed. For some time there seemed no alternative but conformity to an obnoxious establishment or expatriation. Under penalties which amounted to impoverishment and imprisonment every juror was required to take what was called the " Black Oath," never to oppose a royal order whatever it might be ; marriages by their own ministers were pronounced invalid, and schools not under the direction of a parish priest were forbidden. The most insignificant office could not be held except by communicants in the established church, and men of property were impoverished by fines; severe imprisonments awaited every conscientious dissenter, and the courts treated their children as illegitimate. Relief could be obtained only from the uncertain lenity of the ecclesiastical and civil authorities. Under the " thorough" administration of Wentworth and his subordinates such lenity was not to be hoped for. Even the partiality of James the Second for dissenters, in order to favor the Catholics, was soon turned to enmity when they combined against him in behalf of the house of Hanover. Under the rule of William obnoxious laws were not rigidly enforced, but they remained on the Statute Book for future use when such zealous prelatists as Archbishop King and others found better opportunity under his successors. It was not until near the close of the eighteenth century that the civil and religious disabilities of the Protestant Irish dissenters were removed. Near the commencement of the next century the great emigration of the Irish Presbyterians to this country began. Many of them settled on the eastern shores of Virginia and Maryland, and later still in the south-eastern part of Pennsylvania. Before these settlements had reached the Sus.quehanna, the most serious grievances, complained of by the Presbyterians of Ireland, had been removed, and the motives to emigration were of a more ordinary kind, and yet many of the old difficulties remained with sufficient power to fret and embitter the minds of the people. A serious grievance was also experienced when landlords refused either to sell or to relit their farms except on exorbitant terms, and with a continual advance whenever the tenant made improvements. A series of bad harvests between the years 1724 and 1728, so increased the discontent that a large part of the farmers of Ulster seemed on the point of emigration. An eminent minister complained that six of his clerical brethren had left, and a large part of their people were following them. Primate Boulter, about 1728, wrote to the authorities in London that " the humour had spread like a contagious distemper." So alarming had the exodus become that commissioners were appointed by the Lords Justices of Ireland to inquire into the reasons. In the replies which the Presbyteries gave to the letters of these commissioners, the principal causes were said to be the sacramental test and the marriage grievances, but the Archbishop himself lays the greatest stress on the oppressions of the landlords. From this brief statement we may easily understand what must have been the peculiar character of a people trained under such influences They would of course be strenuous asserters of civil and religious freedom. If they had not reached the extreme point which their earlier friends in the eastern part of the province had attained, they were still much in advance of the prevalent opinions of their day. They were thrifty and hardy. They had been accustomed frcrn time immemorial to self-denial and adversity. Neither Scotland nor Ireland had been a luxurious abode, and the " canny Scot," could thrive where few could live. He was always contented with little, though happy with more. But eager as he might be for worldly advantages, lie was equally ready to sacrifice them to what were dearer, his peculiar faith and his ecclesiastical order. And yet soon after their settlement in this country, there were corn, plaints against these people from some high in authority. They were said to be " troublesome to government and hard neighbors to the Indians." The ground of these complaints may be easily appreciated. They never claimed to belong to the "non-resistant party." They were tenacious of their rights and quick to repel aggression. They had been promised large privileges, and they were eager to claim them. It was difficult for them to maintain a thoroughly pacific conduct toward drunken and lawless persons whether white or red. And yet for more than fifty years they lived in this region without a single known case of important difficulty with either. Their whole history during that time is not fitted to leave on our minds the impression that they were " a pugnacious race." If finally a total want of civil protection and abundance of suffering induced them in a few instances to take the law into their own hands, it may be that the example of some cooler heads and more patient hearts of later times may be referred to in excuse for them. There were also trespassers upon lands which had not been surveyed (though none of which we read within the limits of our present county), but it was with the sup- HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - 17 posed connivance of both proprietary agents and Indians, and no one can fail to admire the facility with which they yielded submission when they were dispossessed of their homes. They were not alone in thinking that " it was against the laws of God and nature that so much land should be idle, while so many Christians wanted it to labor on it and to raise their bread." Many of those who came in the early periods of the exodus were of the humbler &asses, among whom great efforts were made about that time to introduce theories of human rights which were injurious to civil order and the rights of property, and yet we discover no evidence that they were affected by such notions. They were especially God-fearing and religious men. "Their religion," as Carlisle says, " was the chief fact" about them. The Bible was their every day reading, and it moulded their whole thought and action. What Mr. Green says of the English at one time applies with greater truth to the Scotch and their descendants in this region. " They became the people of a book, and that book was the Bible. It was the one book which was familiar to every one; it was read at churches and read at home ; and every where its words; as they fell on ears which custom had not deadened to their force and beauty, kindled a startling enthusiasm " 3.—THE GERMANS. Although very few Germans came within the limits of our county for thirty or forty years after its settlement, they constituted even then nearly one-third of the population of the province and had a large influence upon the policy of the government. About 1682-5, almost as early as Wm. Penn's own colony, some Germans of a like religious faith commenced a settlement which was then, and has since been called, Germantown. They took up more than 28,000 acres of land. There were not, however, more than two hundred families of them before 1702, when the persecutions of the German princes of the Palatinate drove a large number of the most valuable inhabitants of that province to foreign lands. Many of them were Protestants of peculiar views, some of French and Swiss extraction who had found refuge in that country from the dragonades of Louis Fourteenth, but afterwards on a change of rulers had again been driven with others into exile. Thousands of them had bean received by Queen Anne of England, and had been sent at the public expense to different parts of the realm. Many of them found their way to Pennsylvania, in a state of extreme poverty, but with a character to make them valuable citizens. They were Mennonites, Dunkards, German Reformed and Lutherans who formed themselves into distinct communities each according to its peculiar forms, in the eastern part of the province. Their number became so large that in 1717 the Secretary of the province expressed uneasiness lest they should create difficulty, and about ten years later Jonathan Dickinson had apprehensions lest the English character of the colony should be lost, as the nationality of England had been changed when the Saxons came into it. Even Franklin expressed similar anxieties. These immigrants were, however, soon found to be not only peaceable and industrious citizens, but so similar in their views to the Friends that they were likely to take sides with these in opposition to the wars then urged upon them. A union of interests was accordingly effected, which, for some time, controlled the policy of the colonial government. During the twenty-five years which succeeded 1730, about a hundred and sixty-five vessels arrived in Philadelphia well-filled with Germans, whose names are generally given in the Colonial Records Many of them were poor and had been induced by agents in Europe to emigrate by prospects which were never realized. Those who had not the means with which to pay for theIr passage, were on their arrival sold for a series of years, or for ten pounds each as servants in the families of the earlier colonists. The farming of these servants, or " redemptioners," as they were called, fell into the hands of a heartless class of men who became notorious under the name of " soul drivers." It sometimes took a much longer time than had been mentioned in the original indentures, to pay off the accumulated demands which were made upon these redemptioners. Many of them were intelligent and conscientious people who had given up all but life to find a borne for themselves and their children in which they might worship God according to their consciences, and their descendants are among the most respectable citizens of the State. The Germans did not begin to settle in this valley to any appreciable extent until about 1760, and the great influx of them did not commence until near 1770. On the Conococheague and in Dauphin county settlements are noticed as early as 1736-45, but it had been the policy of the proprietary agents to direct the Germans to different parts of the country from the Irish, as these two classes were thought better apart. By this time their number in the colony was large—not short of sixty or seventy thousand, and they were intelligent enough to call for the establishment of a press of their own. In 1738, a newspaper was started at Germantown by Christopher Sour, who published it at first only once a quarter, but eventually (1744) under his son it was issued cnce a week. It had a powerful influence on the opinions of the German people, but was discontinued in 1777, when the British came into possession of Philadelphia Their first settlements in this county were in the eastern part, when it was first offered for sale by the proprietors Before 1775, three or four congregations of different religious sects had been organized, one in the eastern part and two in Carlisle. IV.-THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. What was called by William Penn, his " Frame of Government for the Province of Pennsylvania and Territories thereunto annexed," was somewhat changed at different times but after 1701, it was never essentially altered. The entire legislative, judicial and executive functions of government were conferred upon the proprietaries with the assent of the people, reserving to the home authorities simply the power of declaring and carrying on war, the revisal of all acts for the purpose of seeing that they were not inconsistent with the laws and rights of England, and the determination of all cases of appeal. The powers of the government were put forth through the Governor, who was 18 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. ordinarily one of the proprietary family, and might act through his Lieutenant or Deputy, in all cases the President of his council ; the Executive Council and the General Assembly. The Council was in fact no part of the Legislature, but only the adviser or assistant of the Governer in his negative upon the proceedings of the Assembly. All laws were in the name of " the Governor (or Lieutenant Governor) of the province of Pennsylvania and of the counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on the Delaware river, by and with the consent of the representatives of the freemen of said province in General Assembly. met." The Council consisted of three persons from each of the original counties of the province and the territories, who were so chosen that one-third should fall away each year and one person .should continue in office no longer than three years. The members of this council were chosen by the Governor. The Assembly was by charter elected on the first day of October annually by the freeholders in each county. The qualifications for an elector or a candidate for office, were that he should be a freeman, resident in the county for two years, having fifty acres of land, or otherwise worth in real or personal estate not less than fifty pounds currency. The num ber of representatives was regulated by the acts of the Assembly, but it was usually about thirty-six, of which the city of Philadelphia returned two, each of the three oldest counties of Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester eight ; Lancaster four ; and the other counties (being much more thinly inhabited) returned the remainder. The Sheriffs and Coroners were chosen at the same time with the representatives at the County elections, two being chosen for each office, from whom the Governor selected one who might be elected three years successively, but not more, until he had been out of office three years. The County Commissioners for managing the public affairs of their respective counties were three, and the Assessors for laying taxes for county purposes were six, to be chosen at the same time with the representatives, sheriffs and coroners. The Commissioners continued in office three years, and were so chosen that one was chosen and one went out of office each year. The assessors were all elected annually. Justices of the Peace were all appointed by the Governor and retained office during the pleasure of the same. They sat in Quarter Sessions in accordance with the laws of England, the president being determined by the will of the Governor. Juries were all returned by the Sheriff, except in some extraordinary cases, when a struck jury was had by consent of parties in the presence of the Judges, the Sheriff and the parties. A Register General for the probate of wills and granting letters of administration was appointed for the province by the Governor, but he had his Deputy in each county, except in Philadelphia, where he himself resided. The power of establishing courts of judicature was granted by royal charter to the Proprietary, and accordingly they were erected and held for some time as occasion called for them by the Governor and Council, but they ultimately became established by law. These courts were, 1, The Supreme Court held twice every year in Philadelphia by any two of the three Justices of that court. One of these Justices was commissioned by the name of the Chief Justice. The others were distinguished as the second or third Judge or Justice. This court heard and determined all cases removed from the courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas in the city and the counties, 'reversing or affirming the decisions of those courts ; it examined and punished all officers of inferior courts when these were charged with default ; it occasionally went the circuit twice a year to try the issues in fact in the counties from which the causes were removed ; it delivered the jails of persons committed for treason, murder and other capital felonies and heard and determined all such felonies committed in the unorganized parts of the province before a jury of the city of Philadelphia. From the final sentence of this court, as well as from that of all others in the province, was reserves the right of an appeal to Great Britain. 2, The Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace and Gad] Delivery was held in each county four times in a year, by any three or more of the Justices in that county, and special or private sessions as often as occasion called for them. Any of the Justices had power in or out of session to take all manner of recognizances, &c. 3, The County Court of Common Pleas was held four times in each year, at the same places in which the Quarter Sessions were kept, by at least three Justices, who were empowered to „hear and determine all pleas, suits and causes, civil, personal, real and mixed, &c. The Judges of this court were the Justices of the Peace in each county. When the Quarter Sessions were finished they usually continued to sit as Judges of Common Pleas. 4, The Orphans' Court was likewise held by the Justices of the Quarter Sessions in each county, either when the sessions were held, or at any time when they saw fit. They were authorized to call any person to account who had been entrusted with any estate belonging to an orphan or a minor, to obtain from the Register General such documents as were needful to settle cases of this nature ; to look into the securities of administrators and executors; to admit minors to choose guardians and to appoint guardians where they were needed ; and in general to settle the accounts of all who had been entrusted with minors' estates. Besides there were various courts belonging to the city of Philadelphia, to the admiralty, and other jurisdictions, with which our history has nothing to do. V.-TENURE OF LANDS. We shall not unfrequently be met with difficulties in understanding some parts of our narrative if we are not informed of the tenure on which lands were held. There were first, the lands held by the Indians, on which no white person was supposed to have a right to settle until government had purchased it and opened an office for its sale. There were in the next place the lands belonging to the proprietaries, sometimes surveyed into manors and reserved for special purposes, and sometimes held open for private purchase. In 1770 there were not less than five hundred and thirty-three thousand eight hundred and twenty-five acres which had been surveyed into manors, some for the use of the Indians, as Conestoga HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - 19 Manor in Lancaster, and Lowther in Cumberland counties ; some as seignories for particular friends and relatives, and some for permanent possessions in the proprietary family. There were besides these, more than 93,256 acres of land which were held in the name of the proprietaries by warrant, and were to all intents and purposes manors, although they are not so classed in the records of the Land Department. All these lands the proprietaries held possession of in fee simple, in the same way as any private individuals. In some instances they were rented on easy terms to tenants, and were intended to yield a large revenue to the proprietors, but ordinarily the profits above expenses were small. The third class of lands was that which had been purchased by settlers or land speculators'. under patents or grants from the government. As soon as the land had been purchased from the Indians, it was surveyed and divided into lots, which were sold to private persons at the offices opened in the vicinity. The. price per acre was very frequently as low as a shilling sterling, and even down to a merely nominal valuation, varying according to the position and quality of the lot. Not unfrequently those who had purchased land and were either unable to pay for it at once or preferred to spend their ready money in improvements, were allowed to borrow on interest bills of credit on a mortgage upon their lands. A loan office was opened in Philadelphia at which a large amount of such bills were issued. By this admirable arrangement a great mutual benefit was secured, the government was enriched by the interest on its loaned paper and enabled thus with moderate taxes to defray its own expenses, and the industrious farmer obtained the means of cultivating and stocking his farm. His improvements by increasing the value of his land, at the same time establIshed the credit of the paper, and enabled him in a few years to pay off the original loan. Every acre of land sold by the proprietaries, was subject to a yearly quit rent of greater or less amount,, the highest being about one penny per acre, the larger part being only a half penny, and many of the old patents being under a small acknowledgment of corn or wheat or poultry. VI—REVENUES AND EXPENSES OF GOVERNMENT. The revenues of the proprietary government were not large, nor was any permanent provision made for them. In 1775,the Governor said* in answer ,to inquiries from the Privy. Council of England : " The present revenue of the government arises principally from two temporary acts of Assembly : one an act for laying an excise on wine,rum,brandy and other spirits ; the other, an act for emitting on loan at five per cent, interest, bills of credit struck for that special purpose. The net amount of this revenue is about eight thousand pounds sterling. The appropriation is made by the Assembly, and has been hitherto applied by them to the defraying the ordinary and extraordinary expenses of the government. This is exclusive of an annual sum of £15,000 sterling raised by tax on the real and personal estates of the inhabitants for :sinking and destroying the bills of credit issued at different times dur- *Pa. Archives, vol. IV, pp. 598-9. ing the late Indian war, and granted by way of supplies to his late and present Majesty. These taxes were by act of Assembly to continue till sufficient sums should be thereby raised for the above purpose,and will not cease for two years to come. Neither does this statement include a duty of tonnage on vessels, imposed by Act of Assembly to maintain a lighthouse at the capes of the Delaware ; nor a duty of £20 per head on imported negroes, amounting to about £50 sterling net per annum." In each county there is also a tax on the real and personal estates of the inhabitants to defray the expenses of each county in payment of its representatives in the Assembly, for making and repairing of roads, for the maintenance of their poor, for erecting and repairing court houses and prisons, for building bridges and for other local objects. The ordinary expenses of the government amounted in 1770 to about £3000 sterling. Besides these however, there were what may be called the extraordinary expenses, consisting of presents and expenses to Indians who occasionally came on business or passed and repassed through the colony to or from the neighboring colonies ; messages to and treaties with them ; provisioning and furnishing the King's troops when employed in the colony ; raising, paying and victualling rangers to protect the frontiers ; clearing rivers and creeks for inland navigation; making roads for the whole province ; public rewards for discovering and apprehending criminals and like public objects. As there was no militia establishment and no forts or places for defence were kept up except in time of war with the Indians, no expenses for such objects were commonly required. CHAPTER THIRD.—FIRST SETTLEMENTS. EASTERN SETTLEMENTS. The reader is now prepared to form a tolerably distinct conception of the place and circumstances of the earliest settlements in what was then called the North Valley. A few adventurers had passed the Susquehanna below the " Conewago Hills," a branch of the South Mountain, in different parts of what is now York County, but we have no decisive evidence that any permanent settlements were attempted within the limits of Cumberland county, before the year 1730. This Was the period of the immigration which had commenced in 1724,and was now at its greatest degree of strength. Logan tells us that during the preceding year (1728-9) four thousand five hundred persons, six ships in a single week, and every day two or three, were arriving principally from Ireland. Before this (1724) he had said, that the south-eastern.part of the province had been taken up, that no less than a hundred thousand acres had been taken possession of acrd that the 20 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA new population could not be less than fifty thousand, The Irish had advanced westward as far as Donegal township in Lancaster county, and were pressing forward on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna as far as McAllister's, a few miles above where Harrisburg now stands. A sufficient number of Scotch Irish people had settled in that vicinity to form (about 1720) the churches of Paxton and Derry. INDIAN TROUBLES. John Harris had, commenced a settlement before this (as early as 1719) near the present site of Harrisburg, and for many years afterwards kept a ferry for crossing the river there. Indian towns existed on both sides of the river near that point, the one on the eastern side where Harris lived was called Peixlan, and two or three on the western side for several miles above and below the Yellow Breeches creek. One of these was immediately opposite the Ferry where Bridgeport now is, another was at the month of the Conodoguinet, and another at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches where James Chartier, an Indian trader, had a store and a landing place. Other Indian villages were found many miles along the banks of the Conodoguinet and Yellow Breeches, at which, in several instances, trading posts were established and traders were licensed by the proprietary government. According to some authorities James Le Tort, one of these traders, resided at a very early period at a place called Beaver Pond, near where Carlisle is now situated; and another trader is said to have lived eight miles from the Susquehanna, near the North Mountain where George Croghan afterwards had his residence. Chartier and Letort were either Frenchmen or descendants of Frenchmen, who had left their native land on account of persecution, and had finally found homes in the more eastern part of the province. They had both been frequently employed as interpreters when the government wished to deal with the Indians, and had received liberal rewards for such services. As great care was taken in those times that all traders with the Indians should be men of honesty and trustworthy character, we have reason to believe that these men were of good reputation. Chartier was known at a later period to have absconded, and to have connected himself with the French, and hence the large property which he left on the Susquehanna was confiscated for the payment of his debts, but DO other crime was imputed to him. James Letort, whose name has been given to the stream on which he resided, has left a stainless reputation. See a biographical sketch of him in a subsequent chapter. CAUSES OF THIS IMMIGRATION. By comparing the date of this period with the notice we have already given of contemporary events, we shall find that the cause of this large immigration from Ireland was not strictly persecution nor a strong religious feeling, but a desire to improve worldly advantages. The time for direct persecution was past, but it had left bitter remembrances, and had been followed by a period of perpetual annoyance. Particularly there was no hope of improvement for the dissenting farmers or their children, the means of education were difficult, and unpleasant distinctions were made to the disadvantage of all non-conformists. It was not a Strafford or a Laud that they had to deal with, but a Walpole and a King, men who could molest and vex where they could not destroy. Those who had already settled in Pennsylvania were in the meantime sending back glowing accounts of their prosperity and prospects, and urging their relatives and brethren in the faith to join them in building up a new establishment of civil and religious freedom, as well as of commercial advantages. William Penn had died twelve years before (July 30, 1718), but his wise forethought and disinterested forbearance had provided for one of the freest and most prosperous communities on the face of the earth. His family had been restored to their rights by a decision of the Court of Chancery, and their representatives were then proposing to take up their residence in this country. Two years later (1732) Thomas Penn, and four years later (1734) John Penn (the " American " by birth) arrived in the province, and were received with many demonstrations of joy at the prospect of their permanent residence. George the Second had been proclaimed King two or three years before (1727) and had allowed the American colonies to believe that a liberal policy would be pursued toward the new establishments which had sprung up on these shores. A degree of religious and civil freedom was thought to be possible here, which could not be thought of under the aristocratic establishments of Europe. ROUTE OF TRAVEL. Philadelphia was at that time the largest American town, and yet as late as in 1744 contained only thirteen thousand inhabitants and fifteen hundred houses.* There was no good road, but only wagon paths or Indian trails opened into what was called this " Western Country," and it was a number of years before the inhabitants " over the River" had convenient ways of transportation for their goods. † Travellers usually came to this valley on horseback, by Harris' Ferry, though some came by Wright's Ferry and across the South Mountain. Nearly all who , came from Europe landed at Philadelphia, whose direct intercourse with European parts was equal and sometimes superior to that of New York. The small pox prevailed there so extensively during the years 1731-2, that many of the immigrants in passing through the city were taken with it and died. INDIANS IN THE VALLEY. The Indians were numerous in the Valley at this time. They were of several tribes, thougb the Shawanese were probably the principal possessors. Large numbers of that tribe had come from the West. and South, and had settled here under the protection of the Delawares, and through them in a kind of subordination to the Six Nations. Mingled with them were individuals properly belonging to the Delawares or the Six Nations, who had 'for various reasons wandered * Watson's Annals of Philadelphia vol II, p. 404. † Rupp's History of Lancaster county, p. 262-3. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - 21 away from their homes and found a residence here. Hence we not unfrequently read of Susquehannas, and of Nanticokes, Mingoes and Tuteloes ; the two last being appellations which were given by different tribes to the people of the Six Nations. One village on the Le-tort was said to have been principally inhabited by these Mingoes or mixed people, and the celebrated Logan, whose residences were at different times in almost every part of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, is mentioned as once having a cabin on the " Beaver Pond" at the head of Letort Spring. The Shawanese, to whom this valley in the vicinity of the river had been especially assigned after its depopulation of the Susquehannas, were at this time not so numerous as they had been a few years before. They had, in considerable numbers, rejoined their brethren on the Allegheny, professing that their lands here were unsuitable for hunting, inasmuch as a large part of it was what was called a " Barren," or a district without large trees. Their real motive, however, probably was that some of their young men in a drunken frolic had given an offence to the Delawares, and they were apprehensive of punishment from the Six Nations. Their offence had been investigated and forgiven by both the Delawares and the Six Nations, and messages bad been sent after them inviting them to return. The invitation was declined for that year, inasmuch as their crops of corn had been planted at the West and were unharvested ; they therefore requested that the land might be kept in reserve for them. The Proprietary Thomas Penn, on his arrival in 1732, renewed the invitation and had a large tract of the land on which they had before been settled assigned them with the proviso that they should come and live on it. Some of them did return and lived peaceably with the white settlers and their Indian brethren. When white settlers began to cross the river any occupation of these lands which had been given to the Shawanese, and extending back several miles from the Susquehanna, was especially forbidden. The more effectually to keep of settlers a large tract of this land, consisting of not less than 7.551 acres, was, in 1732, surveyed, and erected into a mannor called Paxton, the same which was after the erection of Cumberland county called Louther, in compliment to a sister of Wm. Penn, who had married a nobleman of that name.* In this valley, as in many of the earlier settlements at the East, there were at first no government-warrants given. In 1724 Logan says that a hundred thousand acres of the best land in the province had been taken up by persons who rarely approached him to purchase it. On the west of the Susquehanna the Proprietaries would have declined to sell or to give any titles had they been thus approached, By the treaty made by Gov. Dongan in 1696, and confirmed by the treaty with the Susquehanna Indians in 1700 and in 1701, the extent of the *Papers in the office of the Surveyor General at Harrisburg. When the Indians were found unwilling to occupy this land it was re-surveyed (December 26, 1764 ) and was " bounded on the East by the Susquehanna opposite John Harris' Ferry ; North by the Conodoguinet ; South by the Yellow Breeches creek, and on the West by a line drawn a little Westerly from the said Yellow Breeches to Conodoguinet creek, containing seven thousand five hundred and seven acres or upwards. The order fur the re-survey was given December 6, 1764, and returned May 35, 1765, and the quantity was found to be seven thousand five Lundred and fifty-one acres." purchase was left in great uncertainty. The phrase " all the river Susquehanna, and all the lands situate lying and being upon both sides of the said river and next adjoining the same" was certainly liable to different constructions. Under these circumstances the Proprietaries, with that strict regard to justice which characterized all their dealings with these Indians declined to claim possession of the lands beyond the river. It was not until October 11th, 1736, that a deed was executed by the chiefs of the Six Nations in behalf of John Thomas and Richard Penn's heirs, successors and assigns, the essential part of which has been given under the head of Indian Treaties in the last chapter. By this treaty the Indian title to lands included within the limits of the present county of Cumberland was forever extinguished, and we hear no more complaints against the Proprietaries' right to that territory. The Shawanese did indeed complain sometimes that certain promises which had been made to them were not properly respected, either by the Six Nations or the Proprietaries, but such objections were found to be entirely without foundation, and were not urged after suitable explanations. CLAIMS OF MARYLAND, We have no evidence that the Indians made any opposition to these settlements on their lands west of the Susquehanna. Many years before they had shown so much displeasure at some settlements in what is now York county under the authority of Maryland, that the Governor of Pennsylvania was obliged to remove the settlers by force. From this and subsequent instances the Indians began to apprehend serious dangers to their possessions from the jurisdiction of Maryland. They saw that their right to the land was entirely disregarded by the successors of Lord Baltimore, who claimed that their territory already extended far into Pennsylvania. Their interest, therefore, inclined them to desire the exclusion of all settlers and of all claims under the authority of Maryland. Accordingly, when Gov. Keith, of Pennsylvania, proposed (1622) to make large surveys west of the Susquehanna, the Susquehanna Indians were quite willing to give their consent, since they felt confident that ultimate justice would be done them by the Proprietary government. The extent of the claims set up by men professing to act under the authority of Maryland, brought them within the limits of the present county of Cumberland. By referring to the charter of Wm Penn, we may see that the boundary of his province was to be extended southward " unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude and then by a straight line westward" " five degrees of longitude." On the other hand a charter of a previous date, given by the same royal hand to Lord Baltimore, assigned to the province of Maryland the northern limit of " the fortieth degree of latitude." Here were two grounds for subsequent contention between the two claimants : first, the meaning of the expression, "the fortieth degree of latitude ;" did it mean to the commencement of that degree from the south, or to the end of that degree on the north ? The Marylanders contended that their charter signified forty degrees complete, while the Pennsylvanians contended that it meant the beginning of 22 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. that degree. Thus there was a dispute with respect to a whole degree of latitude or sixty-nine English miles. Then, secondly, there was a disagreement in the maps used. When the grants were made, the map used was probably that of Capt. John Smith, on which the fortieth degree of latitude crossed the Delaware a little below where New Castle now is, whereas the true place for it was nineteen miles more to the north, above the city of Philadelphia. A long contest ensued, which was at its height when our settlements began. In 1724, a temporary arrangement was made between the authorities, according to which " no person or persons should be disturbed or molested in their possessions on either side, nor any lands be surveyed, taken up or granted in either of the provinces near the boundaries which have been claimed or pretended to on either side." Though this agreement was at first intended to last for only the succeeding eighteen months, during which it was expected that the boundaries would be run and settled, in consequence of the failure of the commissioners to harmonize on the mode of doing their work, the boundaries remained undetermined many years afterwards, and the agreement was tacitly allowed to run on. Appeals were made to the court of chancery, and when after the usual delays a decision was reached in that body, difficulties were raised in the actual execution of their decree, so that the line was not run until 1622. In the preceeding year the Proprietaries of the two provinces " employed two ingenious mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon (after their return from the Cape of Good Hope, where they had been to observe the transit of Venus), finally to settle or mark out the same ; which was accordingly performed by them, and stone pillars erected to render the same more durably conspicuous."* It was during the pendency of this controversy that the earlier settlements were made on the west of the Susquehanna. It accounts for the willingness both of the Indians and the Proprietaries to allow of those settlements, since in this way a resolute and hardy class of settlers would form a strong breastwork against incursions from the South, like those which had annoyed other portions of what was then Lancaster county. MARKING OFF CLAIMS. The mode in which these setttements were made cannot now be determined. Each settler doubtless had some way in which he marked off his claims, and he then felt warranted in putting up his dwelling and making improvements ; but difficulties must have been experienced in determining the exact boundaries of his possession. It is possible that surveyors were tolerated, and perhaps in some cases authorized by the proprietors, but generally the extent of each man's claims must have been left very vague. The abundance and the cheapness of the lands rendered it commonly easy for each settler to suit himself without contending with a rival claimant. The Proprietaries could not sell, and the Indians were debarred by earlier treaty from selling to private persons. Those who desired to secure * Proud's History of Pennsylvania, vol. II., pp. 208-22. lands could therefore only select some location which pleased them, fix upon it some marks which would indicate their choice, pace off, with as much accuracy as possible the portion of land which they could afford to purchase, and if possible erect upon it some cabin or other structure which would imply that they had selected it. They were far from belonging to a class of men who have since been called "squatters," that is, men who have little thought of a fixed residence or of future payments, but who tarry in one place only for a few weeks or months, and keep always a little in advance of the more permanent settlements. On the other hand, they were usually able and willing to make at least partial payments as soon as the opportunity should occur, and were seeking at present merely to secure the advantages which their early visits gave them. If they could not at once erect a building, or fence off the section they had chosen, they could mark some trees or rocks, or set up posts or heaps of stones with the initials of their names at such corners or prominent points as would show their preemption right. These claims were generally respected by all aftercomers, and the Proprietaries recognized the right of such persons " to CONTINUE to improve and dwell on" the tract which they had chosen. SEPARATION OF NATIONALITIES. Most of these settlers belonged to that large class who were now crowding into the country from Ireland. Every family which had come to the more eastern counties was an attraction to relatives and acquaintances " at home," and these, when they arrived, were likely to press forward to the latest " openings." Even if they tarried for a while among friends they were inclined to go where greater cheapness and brighter prospects beckoned them on. It is said also to have been the policy of the Proprietaries and their agents so to direct the immigrants, that all who belonged to a particular nationality might settle in the same neighborhood. The larger part of Lancaster on the other side of the river had already been taken up by Germans, the district which has since been called York was also beginning to be occupied by them, and now the idea had been proposed that the valley beyond the South Mountain should be principally given up to the Irish. Some disagreements which had already occurred between these classes were supposed to confirm this policy. Even those Irish who had settled on the east of the river, where the Germans were most numerous, were encouraged to sell and to remove to this valley. Young men from Donegal or in connection with families there, constituted a large part of the " first corners" to the present counties of Cumberland, Franklin and Perry.* It is useless to inquire what it was which impelled them to leave. The lands may have been no richer or better situated, yet hope doubtless invested them with greater attractions. So completely had their lands in that township and the territory now in Dauphin near the river been taken up during the years 1715-20, that these young men and their acquaintances from the " old country," seeking *Rupp's History of Lancaster, p. 289. History of Donegal church by SAMUEL EVANS, ESQ., Columbia, 1878. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA - 23 for future homes, anticipated more advantageous positions from which to choose further on. " FIRST COMERS." Among the very first to cross the river were four brothers named James, Robert, Joseph and Benjamin Chambers. They had come from the county of Antrim, in Ireland, and had landed in Philadelphia about 1726. According to a deposition made in Philadelphia December 8, 1736, and according to an inscription on his tombstone, Benjamin, the youngest, could have been at this time not more than eighteen years of age. In that deposition he styles himself " a mill-wright about twenty-three years of age," and in the inscription he is said to have been at the time of his death, Feb. 17, 1788, " eighty years of age and upwards." For a time the brothers lived together at the mouth of Fishing creek, on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna, a few miles above Harris' Ferry. Here they erected a mill which was at that period of great utility for a large district of country. Attracted, however, by the prospect of other locations for such establishments and for farms, they crossed the Susquehanna in or before the year 1730, and settled at different places ; " James at the head of Green Spring, near Newville ; Robert at the head of Middle Spring, near Shippensburgh, and Joseph and Benjamin at the confluence of Falling Spring and the Conecocheague, where Chambersburgh now stands." Joseph soon returned to Fishing creek, but the others were for many years distinguished for their enterprise and public usefulness.. They were soon followed by large numbers who were not slow to hear of the attractive region soon to be opened for settlement. It was, however, evident that great confusion would inevitably ensue from such a process. BLUNSTON'S LICENSES AND PAYMENTS. It was not long, therefore, before " an inception of title" was allowed by the Proprietaries, by means of what were afterwards known as "Blunston's Licenses." These took their name from Mr. Samuel Blunston, of Wright's Ferry, who was commissioned to make a partial survey of the land and to grant permission to settlers to take up and improve, or to continue to improve, such lands as they desired, with the promise that a more perfect title should be given them when the Indian claims should be extinguished. The Indians themselves were in the mean time quieted with the assurance that these claims should be fully satisfied as soon as the slow forms of Indian Treaties could be complied with. The, first of these licenses was dated January 24, 1733-4, and the last October 31st, 1737. As a specimen of the form in which these papers were drawn, we give a copy of one.* 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 * Now in the possession of James Ralston of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland county. Great Spring, a branch of the Conedogwainet, joyning to the upper side of a tract granted to Randle Chambers for the use of his son James Chambers ; to be hereafter surveyed to the said Ralston on the common 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 Anno Domini 1736-7, SA : BLUNSTON. PENNSYLVANIA SS. Most of these licenses were signed by Thomas Penn, the second son of William Penn, who was at this time (1732-41) the only representative of the proprietary family in this country The demand made in these licenses, that payments should be made for the lands granted under them, occasioned much difficulty. Many of the settlers, after meeting the expenses of a removal and of erecting buildings, found themselves unprepared to make the payments. It was generally conceded that much forbearance was due to those who encountered the hardships and expenses incident to a frontier life. For many years it was customary to excuse them from taxation even for county purposes, and to require that those who lived in other parts should sustain the principal burden. In the present instance. a. compromise was effected through the intercession of the Assembly, according to which the principal payments were, in many cases, postponed. A loan office was also opened in Philadelphia under the direction of Richard Peters, Esq., from which those who had made small payments and some improvements on their lands were allowed to borrow certain sums of money at the ordinary rate of interest; secured by a mortgage on their property. In this way many of the principal land owners were enabled to make some payment without impairing their ability to make further improvements. The revenue arising from the interest on such loans was also a principal means of defraying the expenses of the provincial government. It was, in fact, a governmental bank, from which issued sometimes an amount of paper money which created alarm. Contraction became necessary with all its accompanying depressions in trade. FAVORITE LOCATIONS. The places selected by these " first corners" were generally in the neighborhood of one of those beautiful springs which have been mentioned in a former chapter. The descendants of Scotchmen could not fail to be attracted by such mementos of many a much loved story of the " old country." Nor were such men unmindful of the more homely advantages which these fresh streams gave to their dwellings and lands. It has been frequently said that this consideration led most of the early settlers to prefer the slate lands of the more northern part of the valley. We see no clear evidence that this was the fact. It would be difficult to find in what part of the valley springs and streams are not numerous. The designations " dry lands" and " barrens," were indeed bestowed upon the light timbered and open parts running through the centre of the county, where the runs are 24 - HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. not as numerous as in the more northern and southern portions, and yet we can hardly imagine anywhere a destitution of water so noticable as to occasion remark. And in fact we can discover no such a preference of the slate lands. The earliest and first selected locations were quite as often in the limestone region. These settlers were in most instances of the better class of farmers and laborers, such as in the old country had rented farms of the landed gentry. Many of them belonged to families in the eastern part of the province, full of enterprise, and stirred by the liberal offers of the Proprietaries. They were the best class of men for pioneers, substantial, intelligent, public spirited, and .God-fearing men, whose aim was to form for themselves and families a permanent home, and for their people a well ordered and congenial society. They expected to be and to have their children after them agriculturists; mechanics, and tradesmen. They sought therefore to find the best locations, not for towns or cities, but for farms, mills and churches. FIRST SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS. It is impossible now to trace the first settlements in the order in which they were made. Passing by Paxton manor which was not yet open to settlement, and beginning at the eastern part, we may mention among those who made the earliest purchases, George Croghan, an Indian trader. He is mentioned in the earliest accounts as having a residence about five miles from the river on the North side of the Conodoguinet. He however early purchased land in different parts of the present county. In 1748 he was the owner of 800 acres which extended nearly to the mouth of Silvers' Run, on the Conodoguinet. A part of this had been taken up in 1743 by Robert Buchanan ; another part had first been owned by Wm. Walker and had been sold by him to Wm. Trent ; and still another part was unoccupied land further westward on the creek. Mr. Croghan also owned a large tract in Hopewell township, a little northward from Shippensburg. He does not appear to have cultivated these lands, but to have frequently changed his residence according to convenience and the interests of trade. For many years afterward he resided at Aughwick, west of the first range of mountains, where he was much trusted by government, and by Sir Wm. Johnson, as an agent among the Indians. He was originally from Dublin, where he received a common education. In later years he was unfortunate in some of his speculations, but on the whole maintained the reputation of a man of honor and integrity. There were four persons among these earliest settlers bearing the name of Buchanan. The first, Robert, above mentioned, after selling his first claim, removed with a brother named Walter, further up the creek, and lived in East Pennsborough ; another, William was in 1753 an innkeeper in Carlisle ; and still another resided in 1748 in Hopewell township adjoining the Kilpatrick settlement. Next to Croghan was James Laws opposite the mouth of Silvers' Run. Adjoining him on the South of the creek was James Silvers on the spring which bears his name. The spot he selected for his home was peculiarly romantic and beautiful. The records of Lancaster county show that he and his wife, Hannah, came to that place before 1733, and were the owners of not less than 500 acres. The little which is known of him indicates that he was public spirited and honorable, but none of his descendants bear his name. In the settlement which clustered around him within the ensuing ten or fifteen years, were James Pollock, who purchased land and erected a mill on the stream which issues from Silvers' Spring, near or at its confluence with the Conodoguinet, John Scott, Robert and James Robb, Samuel Thompson, Thomas Fisher, Henry Quigley and Wm. Berryhill. Andrew and John Galbreath had land adjoining them on the East and Win. Walker on the West. On the site of the present Hogestown was the farm of John Hoge who purchased there at a very early date, and was the progenitor of a numerous connection, some of whom were distinguished in civil, judicial and military life. His property has been divided into a number of farms and village lots. Near him was Wm. Orr, who came from Ireland before 1738, leaving his family there to follow him after he should make provision for them in this country. His son John resided on the North of the Conodoguinet and his descendants are connected with many families of different names throughout the State. His daughter Martha married Alexander Young, whose only representative in eastern Pennsylvania is Robert G. Young, a physician of extensive practice and culture, but now living in retirement at Mechanicsburg. Wm. Trindle, John Walt, Robert Redock, John Swanzey, John McCracken, Thomas Fisher, John Rankin and Joseph Green were land owners and at different times collectors of taxes in Pennsborough before 1747. John Oliver, Thomas McCormick and Wm. Douglas had farms in the vicinity of Mr Hoge ; John Carothers at the mouth of Hoge's Run, and Wm. Douglass opposite him on the West and up the Conodoguinet. In the same neighborhood were John and Abraham Mitchell, John Armstrong, Samuel Anderson, Samuel Calhoon, Hugh Parker, Robert Dunning, John Hunter, (near what was called Dirty Spring), Samuel Chambers, James Shannon, Wm. Crawford, Edward Morton, Robert Fulton, Thomas Spray, John Callen, John Watts, Michael Kilpatrick, Joseph Thompson, Francis Maguire and James Mateer. Still further westward lived James Armstrong, and on a ridge back of the ground on which Kingston now stands, was the residence of Joseph Junkin. He came at a very early period, and took up a large tract which has since been divided among many owners, though the original homestead is in the possession of H. W. Kanaga. Not far from him near the Stoney Ridge, was Robert Bell, and on the South of him were Samuel Lamb, a stone mason and an ardent patriot, John Trindle near the spring which perpetuates his name, James Irvine, Mathew Miller, John Forney and David Denny (near land afterwards owned by Thomas Urie.) At the Boiling Spring an early settlement was made, and we find lands in that vicinity were entered in the name of Robert Thompson, a physician at one time in Lancaster, Joseph Graley, Patrick Hassell, Andrew, William, James and George Crocket, David Reed and John Dickey. Somewhere on the Yellow Breeches was a settlement known as Pippin's Tract, where Charles Pippin settled as