Part 14

Among Lancaster’s numerous churches are, the Moravian, West Orange Street, rear part stone, built, 1750, oldest in the city, brick front added, 1820. First Reformed, East Orange Street, brick; Romanesque; built, 1852-54; two steeples, contains lectern and other pieces of woodcarving by A. Lang of Oberammergau, nephew of Anton Lang, made, 1905; decorations by J. F. Lamb, New York; windows from Tiffany and D’Ascenzo studios; bronze memorial tablet by Martha Hovenden. St. James Protestant Episcopal, corner of East Orange and North Duke Streets, Norman, brick; main walls built, 1820, added to 1870 and 1910; chancel windows from England, others by Lamb and the Tiffany Studios, New York; oil painting, “The Crucifixion,” artist, Jacob Eicholtz; pictorial tile base at altar, by Dr. Henry Mercer; in parish house is fifteenth century oil painting, Urbanean School. St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic, East Orange Street, bronze altar and statues from Oux et Cie, Paris; frescoes by Ludwig Reingruber are adaptations of old masters. Trinity Lutheran, South Duke Street, brick; fine old Georgian style, compares with Christ Church, Philadelphia; built, 1761; tower and spire added, 1794; wood sculpture, four evangelists, at base of tower; original pipe organ built, 1771, was utilized in new organ; memorial windows by the Tiffany Company, and by Joseph Lauber, New York City.

Fulton Opera House, Prince Street between Orange and West King Streets, on site of massacre of Conestoga Indians by Paxtang boys in 1763, over entrance, life-size statue, carved wood, of Robert Fulton, made, 1852, sculptor, Hugh Cannon: the Lancaster County Historical Society placed a tablet on the wall of Robert Fulton’s birthplace, built, 1765; southern part of Lancaster County, Fulton Township, A. Herr Smith, Memorial Free Library, North Duke Street; Italian villa style; contains portraits of notable men identified with Lancaster County. Post Office and Revenue Building, North Duke Street, Italian Renaissance; Indiana limestone; built by United States Government. Guaranty Trust Company, North Duke Street, Ionic, marble, built, 1912. The Henry G. Long Asylum, corner of Marietta and West End Avenues, contains two portraits by Jacob Eicholtz. The Iris Club, founded by Miss Alice Nevin, has annual exhibition of paintings.

In Woodward Hill Cemetery, southern part of city, on the Conestoga, is tomb of President James Buchanan. Greenwood Cemetery, end of South Queen Street, has stone entrance, made, 1895, by Rothenberger. Tomb of Thaddeus Stevens, white and black marble and granite, is in Shreiner burial ground. West Chestnut Street, corner of Shippen and Ross Streets, is inclosure and small brick monument topped by stone sphere, site of George Ross’s mansion. Bountiful markets held on the curbs, as well as in the market houses, are a distinctive and picturesque feature of the town; the presence of the Mennonite, Amish, and other sects lends a peculiar aspect to the scene.

Near Rockford, south, is brick colonial mansion, built before 1775, residence of the Revolutionary general, Edward Hand, marked with tablet by local Historical Society. The birthplace of Dr. David Ramsey, historian, built, 1749, is still standing. Williamson Park, end of South Drake Street, on Conestoga River, acquired by gift in 1902, has wild scenic beauty. Long’s Park on Harrisburg Pike, two miles from city, acquired by gift, scenic, opened, 1903. Between Mount Joy and Maytown is Donegal Presbyterian Church, built prior to the Revolution, a quaint building with gambrel roof; interesting burial ground with the witness tree; Cameron family bury here.

DONEGAL was an early Scotch-Irish settlement. Under the oak witness tree the “Sons of Donegal” dedicated their lives to their country in the Revolutionary War. Tablet records their names, among them James Stephenson, 1770, whose granddaughter Sarah married David McKinley, ancestor of President William McKinley.

LITITZ, settled by Moravians, 1748, has Moravian boarding school for girls, “Linden Hall,” founded, 1749; in the town park are the famous Lititz Springs; Lititz is also famous for pretzels, first made by William Rauch in 1710.

MANHEIM, laid out by Henry William Steigel, 1762, was named for his German home town; here he built a large glass factory, first in the United States; skilled workmen from Europe were employed; a few rare specimens of this glass, owned by collectors, show fineness of quality, richness of color, and a peculiar bell-like ring, some specimens are in the Danner Museum, open Tuesdays, free, to visitors, which outrivals some, more noted, in the rarity and variety of its collections: in 1772 Steigel gave to the Lutherans at Manheim a piece of ground on which to build a church; payment to be five shillings and an annual rental of one red rose; on the second Sunday in June, crowds attend the Baron Steigel Memorial Church, and at these services a descendant of the Steigels receives the red rose; the chancel is often filled with red roses dropped there individually as a tribute; in 1752 Steigel had married a daughter of John Jacob Huber, who owned a small iron furnace near Brickerville, he purchased land and became interested in several furnaces, one he named for his wife, “Elizabeth”; the Elizabeth furnace, in 1776, came into possession of Robert Coleman of Lebanon, in 1777 it was overtaxed with large orders of shot and shell for the Continental Army, and the government sent about two hundred Hessian prisoners, taken at Trenton, to work there; many remained and became good citizens. Mr. Coleman’s residence was at Elizabeth furnace, here he entertained Washington as his guest, who, at his request, sat for a portrait to Gilbert Stuart, which is now owned by B. Dawson Coleman, Esq.

Lancaster County furnaces in the Conestoga Valley, Caernarvon Township, were owned by David Jones in 1736; old mines are still there that bear his name; in 1743 David Branson built the Windsor forges, in the same township; among his partners was Lynford Lardner, who married his daughter Rebecca. On the banks of Furnace Run, near Colemanville, may be seen an old cinder heap, which is all that remains of the Martic Furnace, built 1751-52 on 3400 acres of land, with the usual houses and shops; during the Revolution, round iron was drawn under the hammer at the forge, and bored out for musket barrels; negro slaves were always employed here; among the past owners of this furnace, from 1777-93, was a Philadelphia merchant, Michael Hillegas, who became first Continental treasurer in 1775; in 1777 he was appointed first treasurer of the United States and continued in that office until 1789.

Near, just below Safe Harbor, in the Susquehanna River, is Indian Rock, with a number of inscriptions on it, the writing may be seen when water is low; same writing is found in Beaver County. The bridge over the Susquehanna River from Columbia to Wrightsville has been replaced several times, one was burned to stem the tide of the Confederates. At Elizabethtown are the Masonic Homes of Pennsylvania, on 982 acres, with Grand Lodge Hall, 437 feet long by 160 feet wide, seventeen dwelling houses, and other buildings. Georgian architecture, designed by Zantzinger, Borie and Medary.

V

YORK COUNTY

Formed August 9, 1749; named for the House of York, England. An agricultural region of great fertility. First authorized settlements were made in 1733. Before the white settlers came, the territory west of the Susquehanna River was hunting ground for the Conestoga Indians, a branch of the Mohawks, who migrated to New York State about 1750; also for the Susquehannocks and Conewagos, who had their village at present site of York Haven. When a treaty with the Indians at Albany, in 1736, gave Penn’s heirs right to the territory from west of the Susquehanna to the South Mountain, immigrants from Europe flocked into York County, in vast numbers, and proved a strong and influential part of the population. During the colonial period four companies of soldiers from this county assisted in driving the French and Indians from the western part of the province before 1758.

At beginning of the Revolutionary War it is said that the first military company from Pennsylvania that arrived at Washington’s headquarters, siege of Boston, in 1775, shortly after Battle of Bunker Hill, were from York County; this company, and one commanded by Captain Morgan of Virginia, were first American troops to use rifles; they became the terror of the British regulars, who still used the old-time flint musket. When the British attacked New York City and the Battle of Long Island followed, Pennsylvania troops camped at Perth Amboy; here two regiments from York County were formed out of the militia; and became a part of the Flying Camp, a body of ten thousand men from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, which joined Washington before the Battle of White Plains; they were also in the battles of Princeton and Trenton. Colonel Thomas Hartley, a member of York County bar, commanded a brigade under Washington at battles of Brandywine and Germantown; and after the Revolution he represented York County in Congress for twelve years; he was first member of the Pennsylvania bar to be admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. President Washington was entertained in his house in 1791, site marked by tablet.

Shortly before the Battle of Brandywine, September 27, 1777, the Continental Congress adjourned from Independence Hall to meet in Lancaster; they were there one day, then crossed the Susquehanna and made YORKTOWN the seat of government until June 27, 1778, when they returned to Philadelphia. Twenty-five Congressmen came on horseback over the old Monocacy Road, and took up quarters in the town and vicinity. The personnel of Congress was constantly changing; no less than sixty-four different members were present from first to last. The mansion, corner of Center Square, where the Colonial Hotel now stands, had been rented to General Roberdeau; quarters were found there for the leading Congressmen, Adams, Lee, Harrison, Laurens, and others. John Adams, in letters to his wife Abigail, complained of his straitened quarters, and the Dutch cooking. James Smith, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, gave his law office in Center Square to be used by the Committee of Foreign Affairs; and the Board of War.

The noted chest of papers, belonging to Congress, which John Adams declared “was worth more than Congress itself,” was kept by Thomas Paine at the Cooke’s House, a house of entertainment, still standing, in the bend of Codorus Creek, then away from town; here he wrote parts five and six of “The Crisis.” On September 30, 1777, with John Hancock as President of Congress, the first session was held in the brick court house, built, 1756; site marked by Yorktown Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution; soon after Congress assembled here, news was brought of the surrender of Burgoyne to General Gates, with six thousand British and Hessian troops, at Saratoga. A motion, made by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, to set apart a day for Thanksgiving was unanimously adopted; Thursday, December 18, 1777, was appointed, and a few days later this historic document was written, and sent by post riders to the governors of each of the thirteen original states; this was the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in America, in the sense of its observation, on the same date, by the thirteen states.

Soon after, General Lafayette arrived in Yorktown and was received in open session by Congress; the victory of General Gates had made him the hero of the hour; Washington had been defeated at Brandywine and Germantown, and gone into winter quarters at Valley Forge; knowing that a large number of the delegates in Congress at Yorktown favored a plan to displace him from the head of the army, and promote General Gates to that position, Washington never visited Congress here; he wrote a private letter to Robert Morris, saying, “If Congress adjourns, _sine die_, I wish it understood, I will oppose British invasion, in the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia, rather than give up our cause for Independence, promulgated July 4, 1776”; this historic letter was read at an open meeting in Zion Reformed Church.

Congress called General Gates to York, and made him President of the Board of War; he gave a banquet at his headquarters; among the guests was Lafayette, twenty-one years of age; speeches were made favoring the promotion of Gates to position of general in chief of the army, when Lafayette arose and offered the following toast: “To General George Washington, head of the American Army; may he continue to hold that position until a Treaty of Peace is signed with England, acknowledging the freedom of this country, in whose cause I am listed for its defense.” It was this incident that caused the collapse of the Conway Cabal, instigated by General Conway, opponent of Washington and friend of Gates.

Lafayette visited York in 1825, then sixty-eight years old, and last surviving Major General of the Revolution; he stopped overnight at McGrath’s Hotel, on site of the Rupp Building, where a reception and banquet were given him; among the toasts was, “Lafayette, we love him as a man, hail him as a deliverer, revere him as a champion of freedom, and welcome him as a guest”; to which he responded, “The Town of York, the seat of our American Union in our most gloomy time; may her citizens enjoy a proportionate share of American prosperity.”

At request of Washington, Baron Steuben came to Yorktown early in 1778, and was immediately appointed to the rank of major-general; from here he went to Valley Forge and began to drill and discipline the Army, in the military tactics used by Frederick the Great. In May, 1778, a nephew of General Putnam, who crossed the Atlantic in the Mercury, a fast flying vessel of Congress, which landed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, brought a letter to Henry Laurens of South Carolina, President of Congress, from Benjamin Franklin, saying, “The King of France has resolved to send $600,000 in silver, an army and a fleet, to aid the Americans in their struggle for Liberty.” The Articles of Confederation were formed here, and adopted in Philadelphia the following June. Much Continental money was ordered by Congress, which was printed in a house, at the corner of Market and Beaver Streets, marked by tablet.

Penn Park has a soldiers’ monument, to men of York County in Civil War; this has been the scene of many military gatherings; several insubordinates of the Pennsylvania line were shot here, by order of General Wayne, before the forces under him marched to Virginia; and large hospitals were built here during the Civil War, when York County was the high-water mark of the Southern Confederacy. On June 28, 1863, General Jubal Early of Virginia, with 10,000 Confederate troops, took possession of York. John B. Gordon, leading a brigade of Georgia troops, was first to enter town; he marched on to Wrightsville with twenty-eight hundred men, where a skirmish took place, and when the bridge across the Susquehanna was burned by the Union forces on the Lancaster County side; Early remained in York two days, with four brigades, and received word to fall back immediately to Gettysburg. The first engagement took place in the streets of HANOVER, between Confederate cavalry under Stuart, who were defeated by Union cavalry under Kilpatrick; they were prevented from reaching Gettysburg until evening of second day of battle, which probably turned the tide in favor of the Union; this event is commemorated in the Center Square by a statue, that ranks with the best Art in Pennsylvania, a cavalryman, bronze; sculptor, Cyrus E. Dallim, Boston.

YORK, county seat; population 47,512; is oldest town in Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna; the general plan embraced streets forming perfect squares, with widened space in center of town, junction of Market and George Streets, for market purposes; these privileges are still used. Court house in east Market Street, classic; porch with granite Ionic columns; built, 1903; architect, J. A. Dempwolf; contains portraits of York County judges; Museum of York County Historical Society, open every afternoon except Sunday; has large collection of Indian implements, of war and peace; and etchings by Rosenthal. An annual art exhibition is held in York. Post Office, classic, Ionic. Among the many places of worship, several now standing were erected more than one hundred years ago, including St. John’s Episcopal, in which is tablet to Colonel Thomas Hartley. In burial ground of First Presbyterian Church is tomb of James Smith, the signer, who died, 1806; another

signer, Philip Livingston, of New York, who died while Congress was in session here, is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, where also are the tombs of General William B. Franklin of the Civil War; his brother Rear Admiral Samuel R. Franklin; Judge Jeremiah S. Black; and several hundred Civil War soldiers.

In mentioning the notable men of York, we must include Colonel Hance Hamilton, first sheriff of York County in 1750; Colonel Richard McAllister, founder of Hanover, first President Justice of the County Courts under the Constitution of 1776, and later President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania; James Ross, born, 1762, served two terms in the United States Senate, making there an eloquent speech favoring the Louisiana Purchase, which led to its result; and Senator Matthew S. Quay, born in Dillsburg, 1833, whose father was pastor of the Presbyterian Church. Other places marked by tablet are, site of building of the Franklin Press, where valuable papers were published during the Revolution, and building of General Anthony Wayne’s headquarters.

In 1761, the Mary Ann Furnace was built on Furnace Creek; at the same time a road was cut from there, to connect with the road to the Conewago settlement leading to Baltimore; the furnace was started by George Ross of Lancaster, the signer, his brother-in-law, George Stevenson, a lawyer of York County, and William Thompson, later a general in the Revolution; and continued for fifty years, under other owners; besides making pig iron, stoves, and household iron ware, cannon balls and grapeshot were cast here. The Spring Creek Forge was erected by George Ross, previous to 1772, and was active many years.

VI

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

Formed January 27, 1750; named for county of Cumberland, England. One of the two or three rich agricultural valleys in the United States. Early industries were iron furnaces and forges. First settlers, Scotch-Irish, men of stout heart and wonderful nerve; almost contemporaneous with their building forts and providing means of protection for themselves and families, they established Presbyterian churches, the fine springs of the valley being selected as sites, namely, Silver Springs Church, nine miles west of the Susquehanna; Trindle Spring, now a Lutheran Church; Meeting House Spring, now First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle; curious old carvings are in Meeting House Springs burial ground; Big Spring Church, at Newville; and Middle Spring Church, above Shippensburg, a monument to Revolutionary soldiers is here; all continue in active existence. The early pioneer countenanced the institution of slavery, at one period as many as 307 negroes were held as slaves in this county, the last of them in 1840; on November 1, 1780, an act was passed, directing that all slaves and those held as such in Pennsylvania should be registered; but thereafter all should be free men and women.

SHIPPENSBURG, population 4372, first permanent settlement in the county, founded in 1730, was the only town on the line of the “Great Road” when it was laid out from John Harris’ Ferry, on the Susquehanna, to the Potomac, from 1735-44; this road was the first effort to connect the wilderness west of the Susquehanna with the civilization in the earlier settlements. First bridge erected in the county was over Letort Spring, on east Main Street, Carlisle, about 1780, replaced in 1795 by a stone bridge; several stone arch bridges are over the Yellow Breeches Creek; at the eastern end is Miller’s Mill bridge, over one hundred years old, three arch stone, in good condition; Alexander’s bridge is one mile north of Carlisle on the Conodoguinet Creek, colonial with wooden cover, one span, is very old.

County seat, CARLISLE, named for shiretown of Cumberland County, England; population 10,916; the town is laid off at right angles, with a large public square in center; Bellair Park on the banks of Conodoguinet Creek is one mile from center of town; Lindner Park faces Franklin and Louther Streets, five squares from center; Mount Holly and Boiling Springs Parks are outlying, reached by trolley. The courthouse faces Center Square, Corinthian, Bryant & Witt, architects, built, 1846, one of the portico columns shows marks, in broken flutings, of the shelling of Carlisle, captured by General Lee, during the Civil War; contains portraits of judges of the local court. First Presbyterian Church also faces Center Square, main auditorium built in 1757, Greco-Roman, blue limestone with white marble linings, showing early bonding in stone masonry; tower added and parish house built, 1873. The Young Men’s Christian Association half square from Center, on High Street, French Renaissance, built, 1908; architect, M. I. Kast, Harrisburg. County jail, one square from Center, corner High and Bedford Streets, Tudor, built, 1854, brownstone, is a small copy of the Castle of Carlisle, England, note the limestone arch in east wall of the yard; architects, Myers & Gutshall. Post office, two squares from Center, corner of Pitt and Louther Streets, classic Renaissance, built, 1909, J. Knox Taylor, architect, Washington, D. C. Historical Society, corner of Pitt Street and Dickinson Avenue, brick, built 1878-80, architect, George Rice, contains historical library, papers, and museum.

DICKINSON COLLEGE on campus of seven acres, with law school one square south, Conway Hall one square west, and the Herman Bosler Biddle Memorial Athletic Field, with colonial gateway, made in 1909, architect, H. E. Yessler, three squares west; Main Building, “Old West,” built, 1803; blue limestone mellowed by time, with façade of fine proportions; arched doorways and windows; architect, Colonel Latrobe, first government engineer and architect, brought from England; auditorium contains portraits of John Dickinson, Dr. Nisbet, and others; the James W. Bosler Memorial Hall; Romanesque; built in 1885; George Rice, architect; contains portraits of notable alumni, including President James Buchanan and Dr. Benjamin Rush, also marble bust of James Bosler, and fine copy of Salvator Rosa’s “The Conspiracy of Cataline,” original in the Pitti Palace, Florence; the J. Herman Bosler Memorial Library, architects, Baldwin & Pennington, Baltimore; classic; built, 1899; white marble entrance vestibule, lighted by memorial window, Burne-Jones design, made by Maitland Armstrong & Company; Denny Memorial Recitation Hall, Collegiate Gothic, built, 1905, M. I. Kast, architect.