HISTORY: Warner Beers, 1886, Part 2, Chapter 26, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ ______________________________________________________________________ History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Containing History of the Counties, Their Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. Illustrated. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/beers/beers.htm ______________________________________________________________________ PART II. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER XXVI. LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF NEW CUMBERLAND.* LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP was formed by the division of Allen Township in 1850. It lies in the extreme southeastern portion of the county, and is bounded on the north by Hampden and East Pennsborough, on the east by the Susquehanna River, on the south by the Yellow Breeches Creek, and on the west by Upper Allen Township. The whole of the land of which this township is formed was, long before the formation of Cumberland County, a portion of the proprietary manor known as "Paxtang." From a period unknown the Susquehanoc Indians inhabited the woods on the western shore of the river, and long before the first white man had crossed it, or the first ax had made the primeval forest ring, some sixty families of Shawanese, who had come from the far south, had settled here upon the river's border. There they remained until about 1727 or 1728, when they removed to the Ohio, and placed themselves under the protection of the French. They, and the Delawares, who also lived on the side of the Susquehanna, assigned as a reason for this course that satisfaction had not been made them for land surveyed into the proprietary manor on Conodoguinet. A number of Indian villages existed in this lower portion of the county, three in Lower Allen Township. One was a little north of the spot where the Yellow Breeches Creek empties into the Susquehanna (now New Cumberland) where James Chartier had a landing place; another Indian village was a short distance north of the house now occupied by William Kohler; and the third on an elevation in the neighborhood of Milltown, where there was an Indian burial place, the graves of which, it is said, were easily distinguishable in the early days of some of the present inhabitants. Of the earliest white settlers who crossed over the river into the North Valley, we have no knowledge. They were probably "squatters," who settled on lands west of the Susquehanna prior to the final Penn purchase in 1736, *For Borough of Shiremanstown see page 268. 299 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. and who have left no record of their names. On the west shore of the Susquehanna, at a very early period, one Kelso lived, and, in connection with Harris, managed a ferry. This building is the oldest of its kind in the Cumberland Valley. It was built prior to 1740, and possibly before 1730. In 1739 Alexander Frazier bought of the Penn heirs a tract of 200 acres on which the present mills and a part of the town of Lisburn are situated. The elder Harris, at his death, owned land in the Cumberland Valley, including Gen. Simpson's place below Yellow Breeches, extending to the South Mountain. Among the earliest settlers Isaac Hendrix lived upon the manor, as did also William Brooks, of Scotch-Irish origin, who purchased Lot No. 12 of the manor plot, situated on the Yellow Breeches Creek about three miles from the Susquehanna River, and erected thereon a grist-mill and saw-mill, which were very important at that early period. He was a Presbyterian and a very correct man in all his dealings. In 1740, Peter Chartier, the Indian interpreter, who was of mixed French and Shawnee Indian blood, purchased from John Howard and Richard Penn, 600 acres, bounded on the north by Washington Kinster's and George Mumper's lands, on the east by the river, on the south by the Yellow Breeches, and on the west by property belonging to Andrew Ross and the Flickinger heirs. William Black, from Scotland, purchased property in 1773, now belonging to the above mentioned heirs; and John Mish, a native of Wurtemburg, in 1770, bought 283 acres, Lot No. 6 of the manor, where the Zimmermans live, and built upon the bank of the Yellow Breeches Creek a house and tannery, prior to the period of the Revolution. About this time (1770) John Wilson purchased 200 acres, Lot No. 5 of the manor, now owned by the heirs of Wm. Mateer, and extending from the Feeman to the McCormick farm. The land lying between this tract and the bridge at Harrisburg was purchased by Moses Wallis in 1768-70. It is Lot No. 4 of the manor, and is now owned by the McCormicks. Extensive quarries of limestone are on this land. John Fleck, who died at the age of sixty-five, in the year 1795, was in his day the largest land-owner in this portion of the county, and must have settled there at a very early period. The great-grandfather of William R. Gorgas came from Holland near the beginning of the century, but did not settle in the valley and township till 1791. Michael T. Simpson, prominently connected with the war of the Revolution, established the Simpson ferry four miles below Harris', and was a prominent man of the times. The pioneer settlers in the eastern portion of Cumberland County were principally from the North of Ireland, although some came directly from Scotland and some few from England. After a time a number of German settlers mingled with them. The fertility of the soil and the beauty of the newly settled valley attracted them into it, where they established homes, and where, by their industry and frugality, they have increased in wealth and numbers, so that they have in a great measure displaced the descendants of the original Scotch-Irish. The character of the soil in Lower Allen is principally limestone. In the neighborhood of Lisburn, on the Yellow Breeches Creek, the middle secondary red shales and sandstones pass across from York County, overlapping the limestone to a limited extent. The predominant interest is the agricultural, and fine farms, highly cultivated, are to be seen in every part of the township. Iron ore, of excellent quality, has been found in detached portions, and some 10,000 tons were taken from the farm of William R. Gorgas, to supply in part the Porter Furnace at Harrisburg prior to 1846. For various causes, however, we believe they have been long abandoned. 300 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. LISBURN. Lying in a loop of the Yellow Breeches Creek, in the extreme south, is Lisburn, the oldest village in the township. The portion of it north of the public road was laid out 120 years ago by Gerard Erwin, and that part south of the road in 1785 by Alexander Frazer and James Oren. The mills, the old forge and a portion of the town are all located on a tract of land which was conveyed by the heirs of William Penn to William Frazer in 1739. The names "New Lisburn, " "Lisborn" and "Lisbon" are found in various deeds and conveyances as far back as 1765, and in them lots are numbered to correspond with a plat of the town which had been made previous to that time. One is "From Ralph Whitsett (Whiteside) to William Bennett for a lot where Jacob Flickernell has built his brick house," which was possibly the first brick house erected in the township. The Lisburn Forge, near the present mill, was built in 1783. It is said of this town that fairs used to be held annually in it to which the people resorted, dressed in the fashions of the "old country." Among the more prominent men connected in early days with the history of this village were Alexander Frazer, the original proprietor, William Bennett, Ralph Whiteside (or Whitsett), James Galbraith, Adam Brenizer, Robert Thornberg, Michael Hart, Benjamin Anderson, Andrew Mateer, Peter McKrane, J. Snyder and John McCue. Of the above names, James Galbraith, the younger, settled in Donegal about the year 1719. He was an Indian trader, and commanded a company of rangers during the French and Indian war. He was also a member of the Assembly for a number of years. He moved to the Susquehanna, established a ferry below Paxtang, but shortly after purchased large tracts in Pennsborough (now Lower Allen) about the year 1761. He went into the Revolution, and was chosen lieutenant-colonel for Cumberland County, but on account of his great age was unable to continue active duty in the field. He died June 11, 1787, aged eighty-three years. He left to his son, Robert, a farm in Allen Township. His granddaughter by his son, Andrew, married Chief Justice Gibson. MILLTOWN. Another cluster of seventeen or eighteen houses in the township is known as Milltown or Eberly's Mills. It is pleasantly situated in a dell on the Cedar Spring, three miles southwest of Harrisburg. It is on land originally owned by Rev. William Thompson. Caspar Weaver (or Weber), who owned two lots of the original manor, erected a mill at this point ore than 115 years ago. A grist-mill was erected by George Fahnestock in 1817, which is still standing. A building which was once a clover-mill was, years ago, fitted up as a machine shop, and in it worked Daniel Drawbaugh, who claims to be the original inventor of the telephone, a claim which, after very expensive and protracted litigation, has, either rightly or wrongly, been recently decided against him. Of the other mills, a quarter of a mile east of Milltown stands the stone one erected by Henry Weber in 1817. The Lisburn Mills were probably first erected as early as 1751, for in that year a portion (some twenty acres) of the Frazer Tract was dedicated to that purpose, and a log mill erected on it. The property belonged to a son of the original proprietor until 1765. Garver's mill was built in 1826 by Jacob Haldeman, who owned it until 1863. The woolen factory on the creek, two miles northeast of Lisburn, was erected upon the site of an old oil, grist and saw-mill in 1857. The old Liberty Forge on the creek, one mile north of Lisburn, was erected some time during the last century. There are a number of other mills in the township, but the list 301 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. which we have given embraces those which are the most ancient and interesting. CHURCHES. There are three churches in the township, the Mennonite, the Bethel at Milltown, and the Union Church of Lisburn. The Mennonites began to come into the county about 1800, or shortly after, and held meetings at the Slate Hill, one mile south of Shiremanstown, in Allen Township. Their brick church was erected here about the year 1818. The church at Milltown was erected upon an eminence near that place in 1842, and the Union Church at Lisburn in 1829. CEMETERIES. There are a number of old burial places in the township. Of some of these no record of their origin remains. The one at Lisburn, on the southeastern slope of the high grounds near the creek, is probably one where the early settlers of this section deposited their dead. There is a public cemetery near the Stone Tavern, and a private one near Paul Gehr's residence; one on the farm of John Feeman contains the graves of the Black family, and must have been among the first established in the township. Another is on an eminence known as Bunker Hill, and contains the graves of the Miller family, also dating from the earliest settlement. There is yet another grave-yard, the origin of which has passed away, seemingly, from the recollection of the living. For our information we are indebted to a note left by the late Dr. Robert Young, whose grandfather, Alexander Young, settled on a lot in Louther Manor in 1769. Says he: "The Scotch-Irish settlers at an early date, somewhere before 1740, and possibly prior to the location of the meeting-house at Silvers' Spring, had selected a burial place near to a beautiful spring, about two miles from the Susquehanna River, on the Simpson ferry road, on land long owned by Mr. George Rupp, an estimable citizen and minister of the old Mennonite Society." [It lies just south of the road and a little distance west of the Cedar Spring.] "This ground was brought to the notice of the writer, when quite young, by those who were then old men." At this period the stones had fallen to the ground, and long after, in 1875, the ground was covered with scrubby thorns, briars and long grass. SCHOOLS. John Black one of the early settlers who came into the valley about 1773, erected a log school house within half a mile west of his residence, for the education of his own and his neighbor's children. Another school was then, or afterward, where New Cumberland now is, and these were the only schoolhouses in the township until 1815, when the Cedar Spring Schoolhouse was built and maintained by private subscription until the introduction of the common school system. At this latter place, in 1850, a new and substantial building was erected, with a basement intended for a primary department. The schoolhouse, one mile northwest of New Cumberland, known as "Mumpers," was built in 1846, on the spot where a more substantial brick edifice was erected in 1864. MISCELLANEOUS. THE CUMBERLAND VALLEY Railroad runs along the entire northern boundary line of the township, and the Harrisburg & Potomac Railroad passes through the center portion. The postoffices are Shiremanstown, New Cumberland, Lisburn and Eberly's Mills. 302 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. BOROUGH OF NEW CUMBERLAND. New Cumberland is beautifully situated on the west bank of the Susquehanna River and at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches Creek, in the extreme southeastern corner of the county. It was formerly known as Haldeman's town, after Jacob M. Haldeman, by whom it was laid out in 1814. As late as 1730 a Shawnee Indian village occupied the site where New Cumberland now stands. Here, also, was the landing place of Peter Chartier, a celebrated Indian trader, to whom a large grant of 600 acres, including the present site of New Cumberland, was made by the three Penns in 1739. He was of mixed French and Shawnee Indian blood, and many of these latter, over whom he had great influence, he persuaded afterward (1744) to join the French. Some eight years before the town was laid out Mr. Haldeman purchased a forge at the mouth of the creek, added a rolling and slitting-mill, and soon became one of the foremost iron men in Pennsylvania. The product of his forge, for many years, was sold to the Government for purposes at Harper's Ferry. There was then no bridge over the creek at New Cumberland, and none over the Susquehanna at Harrisburg. The ferries were valuable properties, and their owners usually made historic names. In the early history of the place, large quantities of coal and lumber were brought to New Cumberland, on the river, by means of rafts, which supplied Cumberland Valley and other territory; and flour, grain, iron and whisky were received in great quantities, and sent, by means of "arks," upon the river, to Port Deposit, Philadelphia and Baltimore. A large grain depot was erected by Mr. Haldeman in 1826, which supplied a terminal market for the Cumberland Valley. Here the great teams which were used in those days might have been seen discharging their loads of grain, and reloading with lumber ere starting again upon their homeward trip. At this time the lumber trade was carried on extensively. Prior to 1814 there were two lumber yards, one just north of the town belonged to John Crist and Robert Church, and another, on the south side of the creek, to John Poist, who built and kept what was known as the White Tavern. Mr. Church married Miss Bigler, and their daughter Mary became the wife of Gov. Geary, and presided at the executive mansion during his term of office. In 1831 New Cumberland was incorporated as a borough, and, about a year later, the turnpike road through the town was established, with its daily stages, to Washington and Baltimore. At this time no railroad had yet been built in this portion of the country, although the time was fast approaching when one of the first ones built in the United States was to extend through a portion of the Cumberland Valley. This, however, did not reach New Cumberland. The York & Cumberland Railroad was opened for business in 1851, and from that time the long line of teams gradually disappeared from the streets, the lumber was taken away by the cars, the hotels were no longer crowded with the boisterous raftsmen and teamsters, and many of them in the town and vicinity have since ceased to exist. The lumber business, with some periods of depression, continued steadily to increase, reaching its highest point in 1857, when seven firms were engaged in that business. From this time, however, there has been a gradual diminution in the trade, which is now represented by one firm. New Cumberland has now about 140 dwellings, 2 churches, 2 hotels, a number of stores, 1 flour, 2 saw-mills, and a large planning-mill, while new homes are being yearly erected. 303 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Portrait of Simon Snyder. 304 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Blank Page 305 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. The first church was built in 1828, and was the only one in the town for a period of over thirty years. The present Methodist Episcopal Church was erected in 1858, and the United Brethren in 1873. In the early days, about 1816, the Rev. Jacob Gruber, who is still remembered by many on account of his striking eccentricity, and Rev. Richard Tidings, both itinerant Methodist ministers, established an "appointment" in New Cumberland. Many of the denizens of New Cumberland find steady employment in the Pennsylvania Steel Works, which are on the other side of the river, just opposite the town. They may be seen crossing it at almost all hours of the day or night. Gen. Geary made this place his home during the period of the war, and lived in New Cumberland at the time he was elected Governor of Pennsylvania.