AREA HISTORY: History of Adams County, Chapter XXIX, Adams County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Kathy Francis Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/adams/ _______________________________________________ History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886 _______________________________________________ Part III, History of Adams County, Pages 227-236 CHAPTER XXIX. CONOWAGO TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF MCSHERRYSTOWN. Conowago Township is a division of the county that was formed out of Heidelberg and Manheim Townships in 1801, and organized that year. Its original name was Digges’ Choice, bestowed upon it in 1727. In 1730 the Lillys settled here and gave to it its Indian name, Conewako. Little Conowago Creek forms the whole western and southern line of Conowago Township, McSherry Creek, called in early years “Plum Creek,” is a native stream, rising in the ore hills in the southeastern districts, and flowing in a general northwesterly course to its confluence with the Little Conowago on the Devine farm. Each stream affords water-power for mills, while serving to drain the entire township. The township north of McSherrystown is decidedly hilly, but both hill and dale afford some of the finest limestone land in the whole county. The elevation of McSherrystown above the Atlantic is 518 feet. The geological outcrop shows slaty limestone, argillite with dendritic stain, roofing slate, slate impregnated with iron, all just southwest of Hanover Junction. Light blue, white and slaty limestones are found north of the Gettysburg & Hanover Railroad. Light blue, pure limestone, granular speckled, light cream, light-white-streaked lime is found in the Barnitz, Meyers’ and Hendricks’ quarries, east and north by east of McSherrystown. Slaty conglomerate, chlorite, slate, compact limonite, argillaceous limonite, sandy slate with specular iron, micaceous ore and magnetite, mesozoic mud rock. The “Blue Spring,” near Conowago Chapel, was sounded over a century ago by one of the Jesuit fathers, but the plummet found no resting place. It is said to be a bottomless well. In September, 1881, the shy blacksnake of Round Top was seen by Hiram Warren, who states his length to be fifteen feet. For over a quarter of a century this reptile has been known to reside in this neighborhood. Rattlesnakes having as many as sixteen rattles are found among the younger ones. In August, 1876, a turtle was found near Round Top, marked “I. P., 1825.” Locusts visited the county in 1834, 1851 and 1868, making their headquarters in this township at every visit. In 1821 a stone hatchet was found by Miss Mary McCreary in the rear of Conowago Chapel, on the old John McCreary land, and on the site of the old Indian wigwam which stood there when the whites first came, and where, it is said, the first missionaries of the Catholic Church held the first Christian ceremonies in the county. Many such relics of Indian occupation have been since unearthed. Historic turtles were found on the Hoke farm in November, 1877. One was marked “A. Storm, 1821;” the second, “John Sindorff, 1846;” third, “M. S., 1829, and “F. S., 1834,” and the fourth “G. M. and R. F.” The Storms lived on the Hoke farm for about forty years and the Sindorffs were a mile distant. The population in 1800 was 448 in the Heidelberg and 22 in the Manheim divisions; in 1810 about 700; in 1820, 1,030, including McSherrystown, 191; in 1830, 878; in 1840, 899; in 1850, 775, including 8 slaves; in 1860, 950, including 2 colored; in 1870, 1,029, including 9 colored; and in 1880, 1,211 including McSherrystown. The number of taxpayers (1886) is 231; value of real estate, $454,991; number of horses etc., 233; number of cows, etc., 259; value of moneys at interest, $37,092; value of trades and professions $6,995; number of carriages, 73; gold watches 14; acres of timber land, 275. The retailers of foreign merchandise in 1828, according to the sworn statement of Constable Jacob Eyster, were William Albright and Adam O. Aster. They were, in fact, the only traders in the township. Among the old bridges of the township are a few which have stood both flood and travel for over forty years. In 1825 a wooden bridge was built over the Little Conowago at Dellone’s, near McSherrystown, for $550, by Henry Eck. Kitzmiller’s Mill wooden bridge on the Littlestown and Hanover road, was erected in 1837 for $1,690, by John Camp. In 1848 Adam Slagle erected a wooden bridge over the Little Conowago near the chapel for $780. In 1857 John Finley built the covered bridge over the Little Conowago on the Gettysburg and Hanover road for $1,274. In 1862 J. M. Pittenturf built a covered wooden bridge over the Little Conowago at Lilly’s mill for $1,193. On September 10, 1857, the first train of cars in Adams County move across the line, and was received by William McSherry, David Wells, H. J. Stahl and others. After some speeches had been delivered the train passed over the Hanover Branch Railroad to the Junction. The construction of the Hanover, Littlestown & Frederick City Railroad was begun July 4, 1857, and completed to Littlestown, through Conowago, Union and Germany Townships June 26, 1858. In 1871 the extension to Frederick City was completed. The McSherrystown and Hanover pike road was built in 1882. The original assessment of Conowago, made in 1801, gives the following list of property owners and assessed values, together with the names of single men: Jacob Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,454 Magdaline Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,379 Richard Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Francis Brosius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,270 Martin Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Conrad Dutero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,422 Charles Droskil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Michael Emlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628 Joseph Eck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Eliza Eyster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,650 George Itzlor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,417 John Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Henry Finck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845 Jacob Freed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Peter Freed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,098 George Gelwix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Leonard Geistler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956 Anthony Gereshten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Peter Grumbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 William Gitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,249 Nicholas Ginder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Michael Graft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 James Gallagher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Jacob Hostetter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 Barnhard Hilbush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 John Heagy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Henry Hemler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Jacob Heagy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,744 Jacob Herether . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Christian Hoffman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 George House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 John Kuntz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 George Kitzmiller* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,345 John Kitzmiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,638 Nicholas Keiffober† . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,699 Jacob Kuhn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 Abram Kagy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,842 Jacob Kagy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,842 John Kuhn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,395 Jacob Kubser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Henry Kolstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 John Leonard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Conrad Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 842 George Lontzell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Philip Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550 Samuel Lilly' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Joseph Lilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,786 Jacob Lork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 John Lilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 John Lorentz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Paul Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,730 James McSherry^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Jacob Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Paul Metzgar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Leonard Middlecoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,634 George Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,242 David McCreary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,156 David Mealhorn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Andrew Mealhorn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Nicholas Noel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Peter Overbush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Adam Oaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Anthony Obold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,146 Joseph Obold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,480 Thomas Owings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 Patrick Owings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,030 Robert Owings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,536 Robert N. Owings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 George Reinicker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 John Sneeringer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Andrew Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Englehart Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Mary Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Francis Shaeffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Mary Slentz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Henry Sheetz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Henry Slagle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,250 George Stine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,172 John Stine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Joseph Shene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Storm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Mary Shorp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,440 John Swobe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,600 Jacob Sherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Jacob Staub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Daniel Schroeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Joseph Sneeringer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,123 Andrew Shriver‡ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,458 Peter Shenfelder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,916 Ludwick Shriver± . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,600 Philip Staub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,432 George A. Stumb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 John Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,658 Jacob Trine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 George Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Henry Waltman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Fred Wagonman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 John Wisler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984 Martin Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,615 Jacob Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,650 Michael Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,200 Henry Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,376 Marks Worst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,812 Nicholas Walter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Henry Wershler• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,328 Jacob Wershler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 * Grist Mill, saw-mill, oil-mill, hominy-mill and slaves valued at $250. † Distiller. ' He was one of the four inhabitants of York County commissioned by Congress as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Attainder in 1778. ^ Ground rent. ‡ Distillery. ± Grist-mill and distillery. • Grist-mill. The single men of the township in 1801 are named as follows: William Adams, James Plunkett, Anthony Ditto, Michael Atzler, Daniel Eister, William Erwin, Andrew Gostwiler, George Groft, John Groft, Joseph Heagy, Christopher Kelly, Jacob Kitzmiller, John Obold, Patrick Owings, Frederick Plate, Jacob Shriver, Andrew Shriver, Henry Stoner, Henry Waltman, Jacob Worst, Peter Weiser, David Will, Christopher Weisler, and John Youett. From these a poll-tax of 75 cents each was collected. The total valuation was $117,548.20, on which 16 cents per $100 was collected. CHURCHES. The Church of the Sacred Heart, better known as Conowago Chapel, and its history belongs rather to the history of the Christian Church in America than to any present division of the United States. It was here before the sturdy Irish and Germans crossed the Susquehanna, and may be said to be contemporary with the Church of St. Peter’s, at Baltimore. From what has been learned of the beginnings of this church, it dates back to the period of the Iroquois and Algonquin wars. The Caughnawagas, a branch of the Algonquin race, rambled south from the great lakes, settled for a time in this vicinity, and were here to offer a welcome and a home to the first Jesuit fathers. Josiah Grayton, S. J., often called “Father Creighton,” was the first of the fathers who made any direct reference to Caughnawaga of the Susquehanna. In 1720 he came here and offered up services in the wilderness, making, it is said, the wigwam a temple. Within a few years a cabin was erected, which was used until 1740, when Rev. William Wappeler, S. J., had a new log building erected in the vicinity of the present church. Mrs. Elizabeth Sourbrier, of Maryland, herself a centenarian, remembers an old church cabin* of which many old settlers knew nothing; while the German immigrants of 1735 “passed a mass house, built of unhewn logs, while en route from York to Christ Church settlement.” Samuel Lilly, family and household, and the Robert Owings family settled here in 1730, and were the first actual white settlers and members of the church. Then came the McSherrys, McCrearys, Marshalls, Sanderses, Riellys - all from the north of Ireland – the Sneeringers, Shrivers, and a host of others from Holland and other parts of Europe. In 1787 what is now a part of the present brown stone church was erected by Father James Pellentz. The transepts were added in 1850-51 by Father Enders; in 1873 he erected the tower and spire, and in 1877 built the marble altar. The paintings and frescoing are of the highest order. The missionary priests who attended Conowago from the close of the seventeenth century to 1720 belonged to Baltimore, while the Canadians claim that the fathers from Montreal, and even Quebec, crossed the Susquehanna about this time. In 1720 Father Grayton, who died in 1752, was here; he was followed by missionaries from Baltimore until 1740, when Father Wappeler, S. J., came to build a new mission house. Then came Matthias (Sittensberger) Manners, the first resident priest, whose mission contained 116 German and seventy-three Irish Catholics; then Fathers Frambach and Deitrich; next, in 1758, Father James Pellentz, who discovered and opened the brown stone quarries at East Berlin, and had the first stone church erected of this material in 1787; Rev. Demetrius Augustus Gallitzin, born at The Hague—-- 1770, where his father was Russian ambassador, assisted Father Pellentz up to 1799, when he left to establish the Catholic colony at Loretto, where he died in 1840. Father Pellentz died in 1800. Then Revs. Charles Sewell and Sylvester Boarman took charge. Father Brosius, the great and first school teacher at the mission, with Fathers Cerfoumont, Manley and Sockley followed, and had charge of the church at Littlestown, Carlisle, and other points. In 1820 Father A. L. De Barth became superior. (He it was who said the first mass, at Hanover, in an old shop, fronting on the alley in rear of Baltimore Street.) With him were Fathers Britt and Byrne, Russians, and Larhue and Divin. Father Britt fell dead on the altar in 1822. In 1826 Rev. Nicolas Mertz came. In 1828 Rev. Matthew Lekeu, who came to the mission in 1823, was appointed superior. Prior to 1845 he built the two schoolhouses in front of the church, and purchased a confiscated convent bell, one of a cargo brought hither, which he placed in the belfry. Revs. Michael Dougherty, C. Paul Kohlman, Ferdinand Helias and Nicholas Steinbacher were all on this mission during his administration. In 1836 Revs. Virgil Barber, Milesius Gibbons, Pester, Zachi, Hatting, Colting were here. Then came Fathers Villiger, F. X. Denecker, Cantani, Tuffer, Domperis, B. Villiger, J. J. Bellwalder, Peter Manns, Peter Flanagan, I. L. Jamieson, Emig, B. F. Casey, Finigan, Di Maria, and others referred to in the history of other churches. Rev. Joseph Enders succeeded Father Steinbacher as superior in 1847. Father Foran was appointed superior in July, 1883. Father Enders died September 10, 1884, aged eighty-three years. St. Matthew’s (formerly St. Michael’s) Lutheran Church, of Conowago, was organized in April, 1743, but prior to this year the members of this church were visited by the preacher of a still older congregation at Creagerstown, Md. The original officers were David Candler, pastor; Lehnert Barnitz, Johannes Morningstar, Andreas Herger, Fred Gelwicks, Nicolas Biedinger and Christoffel Schlegle. The preachers in charge of the whole circuit, in order of service, were Revs. D. Candler, 1743†; L. Nyberg, John George Bager, C. F. Wildbahn, R. Schmidt, F. W. and John F. Melsheimer, Jonathan Ruthrauff, Jacob Albert, Dr. Hay, D. P. Rosenmiller, M. J. Alleman, S. Yingling and J. C. Koller. The first building of this society was erected in 1743, on an acre donated by John George Kuntz; the second across the line of Adams in 1756; the third, in Hanover, in 1803, and the fourth on the site of the third in 1879. The value of property is placed at $35,000, and the number of members at 717. The Lutheran and Union Church, near Schwartz’s Schoolhouse, was built in 1878. * This was on the Robert Owings tract, where also the old Catholic cemetery was located. The beginnings of the present cemetery date back to 1752. † Died in 1744, in the log house which was his residence as well as church. CEMETERIES. Conowago Chapel-yard. - The home of the greater number of the pioneers of Conowago is known as the Conowago Chapel-yard, in which interments have been made regularly since 1771. In 1752 the body of Dudley Digges, who was shot by Jacob Kitzmiller, was buried here. The following list gives the names and dates of death of old people interred here: Frederick E. F. Brn. De Bulen Bertholff . . . . . . . . 1805 Joanna Maria Theressa, his wife* . . . . . . . . . . . 1804 Dudley Digges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1752 Arthur O’Neal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1846 Elizabeth, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1842 Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Michael . . . . . . . . . . . 1882 Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Isaacs . . . . . . . . . . . 1862 Frederick Wise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1868 Catherine, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1868 John Rimbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1868 Patrick Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1848 Catherine, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1847 Cristopher Kranz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1869 Aloysius Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1848 Catherine Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1862 Reul Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1771 John Stiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1813 Elizabeth, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840 Michael Burke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1862 Rosa McBarron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1844 Jacob Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1822 Mary, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1843 Joseph Schaffter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1847 Joseph Schaffter’s wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1865 Juliana Sneeringer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1813 John Snyder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1847 Peter Shanefilter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1878 Charles Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839 Johannes Storm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1805 Aloysius Owings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1809 Robert Owings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1815 John Kuhn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1826 Theresa, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1821 Catherine Ehrman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1799 Sebastian Weis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1802 Jacob Weis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1794 Caspar Weis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1803 John Faller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1829 Matthew Timmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863 Johannes Heidler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1806 John Bederman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1865 Patrick Dougherty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1855 Philip Flishman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1851 Adam Oaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1846 Mary E. Oaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1844 Catherine Becher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1790 Richard Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1813 Elizabeth Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1801 Christian Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1853 Anna M. Dabber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1788 Joseph Storm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1815 Christian Dabber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1789 Joseph Kuhn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824 Nicholas Lingg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1877 Catherine Merthin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1798 Elizabeth Snyder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1832 Anna M. McKenrothen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1790 John Eckenrode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1849 Sister Maria Tharsella, daughter of Geo. Kuhn . . . . . 1844 N. G. O’Clare, old, half-breed slave . . . . . . . . . Johannes Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1821 Jean Brady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1799 Wm. Devine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1841 Elizabeth, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1835 Geo. T. Lantzell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1804 Nicholas Ginter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1850 Jane Rielly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1816 Edward Rielly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1848 Maria B. Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1843 Martin Klunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1795 Jacob Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863 Peter Noel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1868 Jacob Delone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863 Maria, wife of Jacob Delone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1867 Edward McCabe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1814 Joseph Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863 Geo. Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1866 Anthony Foller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1858 Peter McClaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1880 Wm. McCreary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1850 Sebastian Weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1864 Hugh Colgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1870 Edwin Colgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1865 Thomas Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1879 Joseph J. Kuhn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1878 His wife Jane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1883 Samuel Sneeringer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1872 Geo. Eline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1852 Nancy A. Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1852 Joseph Cooper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1854 Adam Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1834 Ignatius Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1859 John O’Brien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1858 Joseph Ehrman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1798 Ablohn Ehrman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1801 Joseph Hemler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1835 John Orendorff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1841 Ann M. Hemler, wife of Joseph Hemler, Sr. . . . . . . 1837 Mary, wife of John Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1833 Eve Byers, wife of Ch. Orendorff . . . . . . . . . . . 1850 Jacob Hilp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1867 Peter Shoenfelter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1836 Elizabeth Shoenfelter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1841 Mary Stine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1836 Eva Maria Meverin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1779 James Timmons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1868 Joseph Shanefelter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1810 Catherine, widow of Alexander C. Harrison . . . . . . . 1810 Patrick Brady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1814 Maryanne Weisin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1781 Francis Renault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1857 Peter Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1835 Anna Margaret Kleinen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1796 Thomas Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1776 Joseph Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1801 Maria Regina Briegner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1787 Catherine Schorbin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1784 Johannes Schorbin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1815 Johannes Faller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1781 Jacob Breigner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1789 Frederick Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1822 Mary Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lawrence Magers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839 Catherine, wife of Jacob Starner . . . . . . . . . . . 1840 James McLane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1825 Theresa McLane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1790 John Kellar, old half-breed slave . . . . . . . . . . . Catherine Keller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1782 John Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1850 Nichold Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1823 John Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1846 Anthony Bivenauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1835 Peter McFarland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1826 Peter Boyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1805 Mary, wife of Adam Foller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1835 Mary McDavith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1804 Conrad Alwine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1846 Joseph Felix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1876 Bartholomus Sullivan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1848 Joseph Eckinrode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1850 Henry Fink Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1822 B. Altrogge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1849 Jos. Sneeringer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1868 Jacob Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863 John Lilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1869 Samuel Lilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839 John Lilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1822 Henry Hemler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1838 Samuel Lilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1758 Peter Little . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1860 Margaret Little . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1859 Christian Hemler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1882 Jacob Hemler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1856 Joseph Burkee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1870 John Lynch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1869 Jacob Staub, Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1821 Anthony B. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1855 Peter Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1884 John Kuhn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1853 Jacob Klunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1871 John Hemler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1851 John Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1853 John L. Gubernator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1823 John Bushey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1881 Thomas Wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1858 Joseph Clunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1853 Martin Clunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1793 Jacob Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1863 John Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1866 John Riddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1872 John Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1870 Peter Noel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1882 John Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1877 Ignatius O’Bold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1866 Jacob Sourbier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1881 Henry Strausbaugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1884 Geo. M. Willet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1876 Samuel Strausbaugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1876 Landelin Loosman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1876 John Kellenberger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1872 Eliza, wife of John Gurdorffer, Sr. . . . . . . . . . . 1859 Samuel Forsythe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1858 Eliza, his wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1862 Michael Cotton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1855 J. McMaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1852 Charlotte McMaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1878 Frederick Dunn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1828 Joseph Noel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1849 James Robinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1872 Joseph Arntz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1869 John Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1875 Patrick Dougherty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1855 * Buried in chapel. The Keagy Cemetery, a private burial ground, southeast of Conowago Chapel, contains a number of graves; among the monuments are five, bearing the following records: Henry Keagy, 1829; J. A. Keagy, 1828; John Keagy, 1826; Abram Keagy, 1833; Johannes Erisman, 1827. St. Michael’s Lutheran Cemetery was to be seen near McSherrystown up to the close of the war. It is thought that there Rev. David Chandler, the first Lutheran preacher, was buried in 1744. In 1865 the ground was purchased by George Young and cleared for the use of the living. Some of the headstones were moved to a grave-yard northeast of Hanover, among which is that of Rev. John Bager, and some to the grave-yard in Hanover, where a person born in 1647 finds a home, and some to Mount Olivet, south of Hanover. The Littlestown Branch Railroad passes through the southeastern portion of the township. The postoffices are McSherrystown and Centennial. BRUSHTOWN. This place, located on the Gettysburg road, is a little settlement dating back to 1811, when Peter Little erected a house here. After the Council of Pennsylvania settled the Digges and Carroll claims, the lands in this vicinity were deeded to William McClay and Thomas Boyd in an instrument dated December 24, 1759. MISCELLANEOUS. Conowago Township, through its delegate, J. Lilly, voted “nay” in the Gettysburg Convention of November 4, 1834, in re school law adoption. The subject attracted much attention for some time; but the people, observing how the new system worked in the townships which adopted it, fell into line. BOROUGH OF MCSHERRYSTOWN. This borough is situated almost in the central part of the township, on slightly rolling land. It consists of one long, well built up street, and may be considered the parent town of Hanover in order of time, or a western addition to that town in point of progress and appearance. The site was deeded to Patrick McSherry by the Digges brothers and Charles Carrol, Sr., November 14, 1763, and two years later the new owner surveyed part of the tract into sixty lots, thirty north and thirty south of a road running east and west. The population in 1820 was 191; in 1830, about 200; in 1840, 180; in 1850, 206; in 1860, 280; in 1870, 291; in 1880, 434; and in 1885 (estimated) 650. The number of taxpayers (1886) is 176; value of real estate, $89,038; number of horses, etc., 26; of cows, etc., 29; value of moneys at interest, $50,298; of trades and professions, $9,545; number of pleasure carriages, 16; of gold watches, 13; no timber land. The first traders were Nicholas Ginter, William Albright, and John G. Morningstar, about 1804. They were followed by Charles Barnitz, Col. E. J. Owings, John H. Aulebaugh, Samuel Isaacs, John Bushey, Sr., Frank Krichten, Michael Rielly, Samuel G. Sneeringer, and F. X. Smith. Dr. V. H. B. Lilly, Dr. George Rice, and Dr. G. B. Aiken are the present representatives of the medical profession. Dr. Charles Berluchy, who moved to Gettysburgh in 1816, and Dr. William L. Homback, who died in 1861, were the pioneer physicians. Dr. Charles F. Homback practiced here from 1855 to 1877, when he died. Dr. Henry A. Lilly practiced here from 1850 to his death in 1866. George Reinicker, Adam Oister, William Albright kept the first hotels here. The Albright tavern is the only survivor of those old hostelries. The first postoffice was opened in the old Anthony Storm tavern in 1844. Nicholas Krichten and Jacob Adams were the first blacksmiths and nailers. In September, 1882, a meeting presided over by John L. Gubernator, with John H. Krichten, secretary, voted in favor of incorporation. A petition was presented to the commissioners and the borough established. The first election in McSherrystown Borough, held in April, 1884, resulted as follows: Samuel L. Johns, burgess; Daniel Fink, V. J. Timmins, F. X. Smith, Dr. G. L. Rice, John A. Poist, Francis Conrad, councilmen; Emanuel Bunty and Thaddeus A. Smith, justices of the peace; John L. Dougherty, judge; William Sheffer and David M. Johns, inspectors; Lewis Krichten, assessor; William F. Poist, C. D. Smith, William Mummert, Charles Bunty, Lewis Small, J. V. Stambaugh, school directors; E. J. Owings, Michael Sheffer, Jeremiah Johns, auditors; David Martin, constable. Ambrose Eline opposed Burgess Johns, receiving forty-six votes; his opponent receiving fifty-one. In 1885 Dr. V. H. Lilly was elected burgess. In October, 1884, the streets were paved or macadamized. The convent schools of McSherrystown date back to 1834, when the trustees of the Young Ladies’ School asked the Sisters of Charity of the Emmittsburg Convent to take charge. In 1840 the school building was burned. The trustees lost no time in erecting a new house, and this building, with five acres of land, was sold to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, by whom the buildings were extended and schools conducted until their removal to Eden Hall in 1851. In 1854 the Sisters of St. Joseph purchased the convent buildings, and were incorporated under the title “The McSherrytown Novitiate and Academy of St. Joseph,” August 31, 1854. Part of what is now the convent proper was used in the academy until 1883, when the present spacious buildings were opened. In this year the department for the education of the blind was established. Together with the academy the sisters have charge of the two parochial schools in the borough and of the branch convent and schools at Mount Rock, Hanover and Lebanon. The number of the community is 40; of pupils attending the academy, 35; and of pupils attending the two schools of McSherrystown, 130. The Building & Loan Association was organized December 13, 1883, with 138 members. The membership at present numbers 100, with 400 shares, and $12,000, leaving interest secured by real estate. S. L. Johns is president, and W. H. Sheffer, secretary. The first building association here was organized in 1879- 80.