HISTORY: Warner Beers, 1886, Part 2, Chapter 30, 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 XXX. NEWTON TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF NEWVILLE. NEWTON TOWNSHIP, originally included in Hopewell, was formed in 1767. It is of a wedge-like shape, and is bounded on the north by Mifflin Township, the Conodoguinet Creek being the dividing line; on the east by West Pennsborough, Penn, and Cook townships; its extreme point south touching the line of Adams County, while on the west lie the townships of Southampton and Hopewell. [Archivist note: Mifflin Township was not formed until 1797 and this claim is likely the reason some show that Mifflin Township was formed from Hopewell Township.] In its southern portion, extending some two or three miles northward from the base of the South Mountains, are what are known as the pine lands, of a gravelly character, but which produce good crops of wheat. Then, through the center of the township, for the breadth of several miles, is the belt of the richer clay and limestone land, while to the north is found the slate formation which, under the improved methods of agriculture, has grown to produce yearly more abundant crops. There are a number of small springs or streams in the northern and southern portions of the township. In the south, among the mountains, rises the Yellow Breeches Creek, which is here, however, only a small stream, the name of which is more properly Pine Run. On its northeastern boundary is the Big Spring, which empties into the Conodoguinet Creek, and near its western the Green Spring, in the northern portion of the township. The lands known as the "Barrens" lay near Oakville, a small region devoid of streams. The road from Carlisle to Shippensburg passes through them. When the township was first settled, the southern portion of it was covered with a dense growth of yellow pine, with undergrowth of oak, hickory and chestnut. The center - 318 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. that known as the "Barrens" - was without timber; but about the middle of the last century, small pine trees began to make their appearance on these barren lands, until, about 1800, they were covered with a thriving growth of valuable timber. Within the last half century much of this timber has disappeared and much of it has been needlessly destroyed. In the early days, before the white settlers, there was an Indian pack trail through the township, extending along the Green Spring, thence over to the head of the Big Spring, and thence toward Dillsburg and York. There was also, at a later day, a fort known as "Fort Carnahan," or as it was sometimes called, "Fort Jack." It was built on the James Jack farm, now owned by James and Joseph Koons, situated in Newton Township near the Conodoguinet Creek, opposite the William Carnahan tract in Mifflin Township, now owned by Parker Q. Ahl. There is no doubt about this being the fact, says out informant, himself a descendant of the Carnahans. "The Carnahans," says he, "spoke of its location with the greatest certainty." As late as 1840, evidences of its foundations remained, and the channel cut from the Green Spring to supply the fort with water even then could be traced." What a wonderful change has occurred since those days, seemingly so distant, of the Indian trail, or the log fort, not only here, but throughout this whole universally admired region! As strange, they are in reality, as are the sudden changes in a dream. "Look now abroad - another race has filled These populous borders; wide the wood recedes, And towns shoot up, and fertile realms are tilled; The land is full of harvests and green meads." The earliest settlers in the township were, as everywhere in the county, the Scotch-Irish. Among them were the McCunes, Sharps, Sterritts, Fultons, Graceys, Mickeys, Scroggs, Kilgores, Beattys and others. Some of the descendants of these are still in the possession of the homes where their ancestors settled. Much of the land in Newton Township had not been taken up at the time of its formation in 1767. A tract of 100 acres, partly in Newton and partly in Mifflin Township, was taken up by Robert McCoome in 1746; one was located, of 100 acres, by John Herman in 1752; James Kilgore and Samuel Williamson also each took up a tract this year; John and Hugh Laughlin took up tracts, of 200 acres each, in 1766, and George Thompson 100 acres, while in the following year, 1767, when the township was formed, tracts were taken up by Samuel Bratton, Matthew Boyd, William Carnahan, Joseph Eager, Robert Mickey, William Nicholson and others. By far the largest amount of land, however, seems to have been taken up in 1794, during which year twenty-five tracts of 400 acres each, aggregating 10,000 acres, were taken up by the following twenty-five persons: William Auld, Horace and John Bratton, Samuel Dickenson, Thomas Heeling, Josiah Lewis, Atcheson and John Laughlin, Adam and George Logue, James Lamberton, William and Henry Miller, James Moore, William McFarlan, Samuel McClintock, William McCracken, Mark and William McCasland, Benjamin, David, George and Alexander McCune and George Wilson. David Rawlston also took up a tract of several hundred acres on the Big Pond during this year 1794.* Many tracts of land on the North Mountain, from Doubling Gap to Sterrett's Gap, were taken up by various parties in 1794. Nearly all of the early inhabitants of Newton Township were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and among those who came at about or before this time *There were probably earlier warrants than we have mentioned, as of some known to have existed we can find no record. 319 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. was a minister, who settled at Big Spring, whose grandfather, John Brown, a pious carrier of Muir Kirk Parish, Scotland, was shot, in 1685, by Graham of Claverhouse. It was not until near the close of the last century that a few German families began to come into the lower portion of the township. They settled on the pine lands along the mountain. Before 1802 they had erected a small church, which was known as the Dutch Meeting-House. Among these were the Seavers, Thrushes, Frys, Brickers and others. Until after 1830 the German inhabitants of Newton constituted but a small portion of its population; to-day they own much of the most desirable land in the southern portion of the township. Among the families still represented in Cumberland County by numerous descendants, were the Sharps, who settled in Newton Township at an early period. The ancestor was Thomas Sharp, but the first who came to America was his son Robert. He came over at a very early age, and soon returned to the North of Ireland, where they had immigrated at some previous period from Scotland, and persuaded his father to bring his family over. This was not later than 1746.* Thomas Sharp, the father, had married Margaret Elder, the daughter of a Scottish laird, by whom he had five sons and five daughters. All of these owned lands afterward in Cumberland County, in the neighborhood of the Big Spring. These were Robert, Alexander, Andrew (killed by the Indians), John and James. Of the daughters one married John McCune, another James Hemphill, another - Fullerton, another John Smith of Lurgan Township, now Franklin but then Cumberland County, and another _____ Harper, father of the late William Harper of Dickinson Township. All of these sons, except Andrew, and all the husbands of the daughters, lived and died in the neighborhood of the Big Spring. Their bones and those of their children, and many of their children's children are buried there, in the old grave-yard of the United Presbyterian Church at Newville. All of these sons of Thomas Sharp were, with the exception of Alexander, commissioned officers in the Indian war or the Revolution. Alexander went as a private. The children of Alexander, who married Margaret McDowell, were Andrew, Rev. Alexander Sharp, Dr. William M. Sharp, John, the father of Gen. Alexander Brady Sharpe, of Carlisle, known as "John Sharp of the Barrens;" Col. Thomas Sharp, elder, who died unmarried, aged nineteen, and Ellen, who married Samuel McCune. Rev. Alexander Sharp married Elizabeth Bryson, and his children were Dr. Alexander Sharp, who married Nelly Dent, a sister of the wife of Gen. Grant, and Andrew, who was the father of the late Hon. J. McDowell Sharp, born in Newton Township, one of the ablest lawyers in Pennsylvania, and one of the most prominent members of the Constitutional Convention in 1872-73. Rev. Alexander Sharp lived on the Green Spring, and was pastor of the church at Newville (Big Spring), from 1824 until the time of his death in January, 1857. Alexander Sharp, the son of Thomas, the ancestor, was the largest landowner in the township, his tract extending from near Newville to the turnpike above Stoughstown, a distance of about four miles in length and several miles in breadth, nearly all of which, variously divided, is in the hands of his descendants to this day. It bordered on the north on the headwaters of the Green Spring, the right to the watercourse of which stream was the cause of the long war between the Sharps and Kilgores. That litigation, after old Mr. Kilgore had been nearly impoverished by it, was brought to an end by the in- *Two tracts, one of 200 acres another of 20, are found in the list of land warrants as taken up by Thomas Sharp in May, 1746. James Sharp, a brother of Robert and son of Thomas, is one of the signers of a petition from Cumberland County to Gov. Hamilton for aid against the Indians July, 1754. See Rupp's History of Cumberland County, etc., page 68. 320 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. tercession of Samuel McCune (father of the wife of John Sharp of the Barrens) who was known in the community as the peacemaker. Alexander Sharp had a tannery, distillery, mills, etc., and one of his apprentices at the tanning business, which he carried on extensively, was Robert Garrett, of Baltimore, father of John W. Garrett, former president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and grandfather of Robert M. Garrett, the present president of that road. He sent him, after his apprenticeship was over and before he was twenty years of age, to Baltimore, where he had never been, to begin life, secured for him a warehouse, turned much of the trade of the valley, then carried to Baltimore in wagons, to his place of business, and laid the foundation of the fortune of which he died possessed. Andrew Sharp, the son of Thomas Sharp, the ancestor, was killed by the Indians at what is now Sharpsburg, a town which was called after him. He went from this valley to Indiana County in 1785, and located on Crooked Creek, eight miles west of Indiana, on the famous Indian trail known as the Kittanning Path, and which Gen. Armstrong followed in his expedition against the Indians at Kittanning in 1756. He took with him his only child, Hannah, born in Cumberland County February 14, 1784 (married in 1803 to Robert Leason), from whom we take the following account of the killing of her father, Capt. Sharp, which was given by her in a letter written to her grand-nephew, William Moorhead: "My father," says she, "was a militia captain, and served under Gen. Washington in the Revolution. He was married to my mother, Ann Woods, in their native place, Cumberland County, in 1783, and with a family of one child moved to Crooked Creek, in what is now Indiana County, Penn. This being a new country, there was no chance for schooling his children. My father, after living there ten years, was determined on having them schooled. He swapt his place for one in Kentucky, where my mother's friends lived. We started to move to Black Lick River, and got into our boat, but the water was low, and we had to land over a day and a night. We started the next. Father had a canoe tied to the side of the boat. It got loose. He went back for it. When he was away, there was a man came and told us the Indians were coming. By that time father got back. All the women and children were in the boat. The men went out to tie up their horses. The sun was an hour and a half high. Seven Indians fired upon them. They were hid behind a large tree that had fallen down. The first fire shot off my father's eyebrow. When he was cutting one end of the boat loose he got a wound in the left side. When he was cutting the other end loose they shot him in the other side, but he got the boat away before they could get in. He saw an Indian among the trees. He called for his gun. Mother gave it to him. He shot him dead. The boat got into a whirlpool, and went round and round for awhile, when the open side went toward land and the Indians fired at us. They followed us twelve miles down the river. They called to us to go out to them or they would fire again. Mrs. Leonner and her son wanted to go out to them. They said the men were all killed or wounded [i.e., the seven who had gone ashore]. Father told him to desist or he would shoot him. The Indians shot him dead that minute. He fell across my mother's feet. There were two dead men and two wounded. One of them died the next morning. There was no woman or child hurt. There were twenty in all. They took my father's horses. The others got theirs. My mother worked the boat, and we got to Pittsburgh again by daylight. One man went on before us and had doctors ready. When we got to Pittsburgh there were a great many kind neighbors came to see us when we landed. We lived awhile in the boat. We moved up to the city before father's death. He 321 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. lived forty days after he was wounded. There were three [wounds] in him, one on each side and one in his back.* He died the eighth day of July in the forty-second year of his age, in the year 1794. He was buried with honors of war in Pittsburgh." His brother, Alexander Sharp, went from Cumberland County to see him, but Capt. Andrew Sharp had died before he arrived in Pittsburgh. "My uncle," the writer continues, "stayed with us till there were wagons sent for. We went over the mountains to Cumberland County, where our friends lived, and stayed there three years, where we went to school," when they moved back to their old home in Indiana County. "It was a party of twelve Indians that went to Pittsburgh to trade," we are further informed, "who killed Capt. Sharp. The people would not trade with them. They got angry and killed all they could that day. There were three men went down the river in a canoe before us, one of whom was shot dead; the other two were wounded. One of them died and the other got well. He lay in a room next to father's room. He could come to see father. This was the last war which was in that part of the country. It was in the year 1794 when all these things happened."** We have given the above vivid account, not only because it concerns one of the early pioneers belonging to one of the largest families, or cluster of families, in Newton Township, but also as illustrative of the times, and as one instance of the trials and tribulations of the early settlers, who, impelled by the restless spirit of adventure which was in their blood, moved still farther westward, and were driven back to Cumberland County by the remorseless cruelty of the Indians. Among the pioneers who settled at an early date in the upper portion of the county were the Moorheads, some of whom resided in that portion which is now Franklin. The name of John Moorhead is found in the tax list of 1750. One of the earliest of this family was Fergus Moorhead, who, impelled westward by the "Saxon hunger for land," left the county in 1769, the year in which the land office was opened for the sale of lands in the northwestern and southwestern counties of Pennsylvania, and purchased, of the Penns, a large tract, known in the patent, after the English fashion, as "Suffield," two miles west of the present town of Indiana, on the road to Kittanning. The smoke of Moorhead's cabin was the first that arose from the chimney of a legal landowner between the Conemaugh River and the old French fort, at Le Boeuff. He, like his co-settlers in the Cumberland Valley, was a Scotch Presbyterian, who "carried his Bible in one hand and his rifle in the other." Two of his brothers, Samuel and Joseph, accompanied him from their old home in Cumberland County, to help in bringing the wagons, live- stock and goods. On their trip they traveled partly on the road made by Gen. Armstrong and his men some twelve years before, when he led his expedition against the Indians at Kittanning. Here he lived until the outbreak of the Revolutionary war, when the Indians became hostile to the English. In 1775 he undertook to conduct a man, by the name of Simpson, from his home to Fort Kittanning. Simpson was the bearer of dispatches from the government to the commander of the Fort, who was Moorhead's brother. Near the Fort they were waylaid by the Indians, Simpson was shot, and Moorhead taken prisoner, carried to Quebec and sold to the British. When his wife had become convinced that some misfortune had befallen him, she started through the wilderness for Cumberland County, with one child in front of her on the *It seems also from the letter that he was recovering, but that the cannons fired on the 4th of July caused his relapse. **It was in August of this year (1794) that Gen. Wayne gained his decisive victory over the Indians. 322 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. horse and one behind her. She went by way of Fort Ligonier, and reached the Cumberland Valley in safety. Just one year after being taken prisoner, Moorhead returned to his father's home in Cumberland County from Quebec, he having been exchanged as a prisoner. At Fort Shippen, in the Cumberland Valley, he and his brother Samuel (who also had gone away, built a grist-mill above Homer City, which was burned, and he driven back by the Indians) signed a petition to Gov. Penn, that means might be adopted to protect the frontier inhabitants. After the close of the war he returned again to his new home, near Indiana, which he found in ruins; but he soon built a stone house, which is still standing, and which has ever since been occupied by his descendants. It was said to have been built of memorial stones heaped by the Indians upon the graves of their dead. One son of Fergus Moorhead, Joseph, was wounded at St. Clair's defeat; another, James, was killed at Perry's victory, on Lake Erie; another, Fergus Moorhead, Jr., was the paternal grandfather of Silas M. Clark, of the Supreme court.* VILLAGES. The township contains few villages. Jacksonville (Walnut Bottom P. O.), before 1825, consisted of but six log houses. One, a two-story house on the hill, was kept as a tavern by an Irishman named John McCaslin. Some distance east was another, known as the "Bull Ring" tavern, kept by Michael Hawk. The land on the north side of the road was the property of Peter Fry, and the village was at first called Frystown. It was afterward called Canada, and later Jacksonville. About 1820 the pine forest extended to the town. Stoughstown, on the turnpike in the eastern portion of the township, was called after Col. John Stough, who kept a tavern there for many years, which tavern was also, prior to 1846, kept by his son. The town dates back to nearly the beginning of the century, and the tavern, for many years, was one of the most noted as a relay house for the teamsters and the stages on the road. Near Stoughstown is a large spring, from which a fine stream issues. Oakville is a small post-village west of the center of the township and a station on the Cumberland Valley Railroad. Prior to the building of this road it had no existence. MISCELLANEOUS. There are small beds of iron ore at places, particularly in the southern portion of the township. The Big Pond Furnace was built some three miles southeast of Leesburg, or Lee's Cross Roads, about forty years ago, near the Big Pond, a deep and somewhat stagnant pool, from which seemingly there is no outlet, made by a mountain stream, on which are Seever's mill, Buchanan's mill, and, after the Three Springs flows into it, Oyster's mill. This furnace, however, at the Big Pond, was long ago abandoned. The Cumberland Valley and the Harrisburg & Potomac are the two railroads which pass through Newton Township. The postoffices are Newville, Green Spring, Oakville, Big Spring, Stoughstown and Walnut Bottom. BOROUGH OF NEWVILLE. The borough of Newville is handsomely situated on the Big Spring, on the line of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, some twelve miles westward of *As to the Moorheads settlement in Indiana County, see also the sketch of that county in Dr. Egle's History of Pennsylvania, p. 793. The date is there given as 1772, but as we have obtained our information from a descendant, who gives the date as 1769, we prefer to let it stand. 323 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Carlisle. It was first incorporated as a borough by an act of the Legislature on the 26th of February, 1817, but its inception as a settlement ante-dates the century, and carries us back to the days of our Colonial government. In the earlier part of the last century there was something of a settlement in the country surrounding the Big Spring, as a Presbyterian congregation was in existence at that place prior to 1737. A warrant for a tract of about ninety acres of and was issued by the provincial authorities on March 2, 1744, to four persons, namely: William Lamond, James Walker, Alexander McClintock and David Killaugh, in trust for the Presbyterian congregation at Big Spring, which had previously, about 1738, erected a house of worship.* Upon this glebe the congregation built a parsonage, which was occupied until after 1786, but prior to 1790 it was abandoned as a parsonage, and in 1794 laid out into village lots. A plan of the new town was drawn, which consisted of one (Main) street, extending from the spring westward, with Cove and Glebe Alleys running parallel on the north and south, crossed by Corporation, High and West Streets, the former two extending northward to the boundary of the glebe. The first lots were laid out upon these streets, and the remaining portion of the tract was divided into larger parcels of from two to five acres, for pasture or tillage. The first sale of lots was September 9, 1790. Other sales occurred during the eight or ten years succeeding, until all were sold. They were not put up at auction, but were disposed of at fixed prices, most of them selling for $6 each.** The pasture lots were all sold April 9, 1795, at prices ranging from $24 to $27 per acre. About eight acres on the northeast corner of the glebe were reserved for a parsonage, and subsequently purchased by the pastor, Rev. S. Wilson. On all of these lots laid out for the new town, there was a reserved incumbrance, with an annual quit-rent of 6 per cent to the church, most of which annual quit-rents were extinguished in 1836.*** FIRST HOTELS, STORES, ETC. The first buildings were erected upon the eastern part of Main Street and on North Corporation. Robert Lusk was one of the earliest citizens, and is said to have been the first innkeeper in Newville. He built the third house from the spring on Main Street, in which he opened the first tavern. This was before 1792, for in the petition to the court for a license in August of that year he speaks of having kept "a house of entertainment in the house where he now lives the preceding year, and is desirous of continuing the same." Samuel McCullough, having provided himself with a house for keeping a tavern in the town of Newville, also prays the court to recommend him to the Governor for a license this same year. John Dunbar shortly opened a hotel in the third house above Corporation Street, but at what exact date is to us unknown. The first store is said to have been opened on North Corporation Street, on the east side and north of Cove Alley. About 1797 Thomas Kennedy, father of the late Judge John Kennedy, of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and of James Kennedy, for many years a justice of the peace in Newville, opened the second store upon the opposite side of Corporation Street, in what is known as the Woodburn row. "Stephen Ryan then opened where Morrow's brick house stands, and was succeeded by Christian Geese. Joseph Colbertson next *This same tract was confirmed to the church, by another patent, under the State authority, in 1794. **A few lots, on account of exceptional advantages, brought much higher prices; as Lot No 1, on account of water privileges, $213, bought by William Laughlin, and one opposite, $50, bought by George McKeehan. ***The incumbrance on the front lots was $22.22 each, making the annual quit-rent $1.33; on the back lots $17.90 each, with quit-rent of $1.07; on outlots $13.33 per acre, with quit-rent of 80 cents. Owing to the annoyance of collecting these rents, the trustees of the church accepted, in 1830, the payment of the incumbrance of most of the lots, and granted to the owners titles in fee simple. 324 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. opened in the stone house on the southeast corner of Main and Corporation Streets, which Gen. Samuel Finley had built in 1799. Joseph Showalter, Alexander Barr, William McCandlish, John Johnson, James Huston and others followed." These were the early merchants of the town. The first resident physician was John Gedds. He came from Silver Spring, and settled in Newville about 1792, after having studied medicine with Dr. McCoskry, of Carlisle. Here he practiced until his death in 1840. The village must have improved with tolerable rapidity, for in 1799, nine years after the sale of the first lots, there were five tavern- keepers in Newville. These were James Woodburn, Joseph Shannon, Thomas Clark, Thomas Martin and Philip Beck. Two years later, 1801, James Woodburn built the Logan House, which is still standing. In the year 1800 the first postoffice was established. Before this time there were no offices nearer than Carlisle and Shippensburg. For about twenty years there was but one mail each way per week. Then there were two until the building of the railroad in 1838, when the daily mail and the daily papers first made their appearance. There is now Pullman cars and a variable number of daily mails each way. Coming down to about 1806 and after, we find that the appearance of the town is within the recollection of the living. James Woodburn kept the hotel on the corner of Main and Corporation Streets. Up two or three lots, John Dunbar kept a hotel. The names of two of the hotels were "The Indian Queen" and "The Eagle." Opposite was Samuel Crowell, on the corner of Main Street, not yet built up. Near the corner of Main and High, Philip Beck kept a tavern. On the extreme upper end of Main Street Patrick Dunfee and William MacMonagal had their inns. Besides these there were two on Corporation Street, Thomas Clark and Andrew Thompson. The area of these public houses embraced the extreme limits of the town. Few buildings had been erected west of High Street. Clusters of buildings afterward grew up on the western end of Main Street, and the two portions of the town gradually grew together. The original portion of the town, however, was that lying just north or slightly northwest of the old Presbyterian Church and cemetery. INCORPORATION, ETC. The town, which was first laid out in 1794, remained for more than twenty years a part of Newton Township. Dissatisfaction existed as to the proportionate assessments of property, and on application to the Legislature a borough charter was granted February 26, 1817. The town, however, continued to pay its proportion of road taxes to Newton Township until January sessions, 1828, when the borough was formed into a township by the court. To get rid of the inconvenience of two sets of officers - borough and township - a more comprehensive charter was granted by the court in 1869. Since the building of the railroad, the track of improvement has turned south toward the depot, and westward along the line of the road, giving to the plan of the town quite an irregular form. What was known as Newtown was laid out prior to the war by the McFarlan brothers, John and William Gettys, and some buildings erected. Shortly after the Ahl brothers laid out an addition to the borough, extending southwesterly toward the railroad, on the Jerry McKibbon land, which two portions of the town were taken into the borough of Newville in 1874, and now constitute the South Ward. Until this time the boundaries of the old glebe farm, which had been originally granted to the church, constituted the limits of the borough. 325 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Newville, in 1845, is described by Rupp as having about 100 dwellings, several mills, taverns and churches (two Presbyterian and one Lutheran), and three public schools. Previous to this, in 1840, it is described as having six stores and three taverns. Its population at various periods has been: In 1830, 530; 1840, 564; 1850, 715; 1860, 885; 1870, 907; 1880, 1,650. The town was divided into the north and south wards by a decree of the court, confirmed July, 1874. AN HISTORICAL CHARACTER. One of the most interesting facts in connection with the history of the town of Newville, is that the artisan, William Denning, who succeeded in making the first wrought-iron cannon in America, lived, after the Revolution, in the neighborhood of Newville, and was buried in the grave-yard of the old Presbyterian Church at that place. No tombstone, however, marks the spot, although some of the older citizens claim to have located it. He died December 19, 1830. The following account is given of him in Hazard's Register, Vol. VII: "The deceased was an artificer in the Revolution. He it was who, in the days of his country's need, made the only successful attempt ever made in the world to manufacture wrought-iron cannons, two of which he completed at Middlesex, in this county, and commenced another and larger one at Mount Holly, but could get no one to assist him who could stand the heat, which is said to have been so great as to melt the buttons off his clothes. This unfinished piece, it is said, lies as he left it, at either Mount Holly or the Carlisle Barracks. One of those completed was taken by the British at the battle of Brandywine, and is now in the Tower of London. The British Government offered a large sum and a stated annuity to any person who would instruct them in the manufacture of that article, but the patriotic blacksmith preferred obscurity and poverty in his own beloved country to wealth and affluence in that of her oppressors, although that country for which he did so much kept her purse closed from the veteran soldier till near the close of his long life, and it often required the whole weight of his well known character for honesty to keep him from the severest pangs of poverty. When such characters are neglected by a rich government, it is no wonder that some folks think Republics ungrateful." CHURCHES. The First Presbyterian Church at Newville was erected about 1738. It was a log building, in the southern part of the grave-yard now used by the congregation. The present stone structure was built about 1790. It was a plain stone building, with three doors, and with the pulpit, on the north side. It had pews with high, straight backs. In 1842 it was handsomely remodeled in modern style, and is now one of the handsomest churches in the valley. It is built in a delightful grove near which, in the language of Dr. Nevin, "rolls gently along the clear and lovely stream from which it has received its name, and which for ages has been flowing on, apparently the same, whilst the crowds that have been weekly gathering on its brink have, one after another, lain down within the sound of its murmurs" to their long, last sleep. Thomas Craighead was the first pastor, installed in 1738. He died in the pulpit after the close of an eloquent sermon, while its last words were still upon his lips. His remains were buried where the church now stands, the only monument of his memory. United Presbyterian Church. - This church, originally "Seceder," was built of logs, according to the inscription on it, in 1764. This was followed by a stone church about 1790, a brick 1826, a new brick in 1868. The present 326 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. handsome brick church edifice was built in 1882. It is upon an elevation in a beautiful grove, and with its grave-yard just back of it. Upon a tablet in the church building is engraved the dates which we have given: "United Presbyterian Church. Founded A. D. 1764 - Erected A. D. 1882." First Methodist Church. - This was built in 1826. It was of brick and stood on the back part of the present lot on Main Street. The present one, of brick, was built in 1846. First Lutheran Church. - This was built in 1832 on North High Street, and the present one in 1862 on West Main Street. "Bethel" Church. - A Bethel Church was built in 1830, which is now occupied by a colored congregation. The present Bethel Church on Railroad Street was built in 1859. United Brethren Church. - This is located on Fairfield Street, and was built of brick in 1867. CEMETERY. Owing to the necessity for new burial ground, the Newville Cemetery was organized a few years ago. It is beautifully situated west of the town. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. For some years before and after the middle of the century, classical schools were established in Newville. In 1832, Joseph Casey, the father of Judge Casey, of the United States Court of Claims, opened a classical school, which lasted for a period of eight or ten years. He had received his education at Glasgow, and was a thorough Latinist. About 1843 another classical school was opened, which included all the ordinary academic studies. This was established by R. D. French, who was succeeded, in 1846, by Mr. Kilburn; in 1849, by James Huston; in 1852, by W. R. Linn. Rev. R. McCachren erected an academy building at about this time, where he and others taught until 1857, when it was succeeded by a normal school. The Rebellion broke this up; but even after the war a classical school was conducted by F. L. Gillelon, who was succeeded by Dr. Stayman and W. H. Thompson. At this time the academy building was used as a female school. Both succumbed, however, either to the growing favor for larger colleges or the public schools. There are eight public schools in Newville, with fit buildings, one of which, a commodious brick structure with inclosed grounds, has been recently erected. NEWSPAPERS. The first newspaper published in Newville was in 1843, but it was a small sheet and of brief duration. The Star of the Valley was started in 1858 by J. M. Miller. The Enterprise, which had been established at Oakville, in May, 1871, by the Fosnot Bros., was moved to Newville in December, 1874, and the two papers were consolidated as The Star and Enterprise, under the management of J. C. Fosnot & Son, in January, 1886. It is an eight page weekly paper. The Times, which was begun at Plainfield, and known as the Plainfield Times, in the winter of 1881, was moved to Newville in the winter of 1885; it is a neat eight-page weekly paper, conducted by J. W. Strohm BANKS. The first bank in Newville was the "Newville Saving Fund Society." It was organized March 9, 1850 and dissolved March 31, 1858. A private banking firm was started by Rea, Gracey & Co., in 1857, and was reorganized under the United States charter in August of 1863, as the First National Bank of 327 HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Newville. It is in a handsome building on Railroad Street. Its capital is $100,000. FIRE DEPARTMENT. Friendship Fire Company, No 1, meets in the Council Room, East Main Street, on the second Tuesday evening of each month. J. C. Fosnot, president; J. M. Reed, secretary. Washington Fire Company meets on second Friday evenings of each month. D. N. Thomas, president; Geo. L. Gussman, secretary. SOCIETIES. Big Spring Lodge, No. 361, A. Y. M., was instituted June 1, 1866, with the following named charter members: J. A. Kunkel, Harry Manning, W. B. Shoemaker, Peter A. Ahl, David Ahl, A. Byers, Samuel Byers, William Borland, James Elliott, George M. Graham, D. H. Gilmore, J. S. Hays, H. S. Ferris, G. H. Hammer, S. I. Irvine, William Klink, R. R. McAchlan, C. T. McLaughlin, James McCandlish, J. P. Rhoads, Henry Snyder, S. A. Rea, S. W.; John E. Mickey, J. W.; A. Byers, Treasurer; S. G. Glauser, Secretary. Conodoguinet Lodge, No. 173, I. O. O. F., was organized May 28, 1846, with the following named charter members: James F. Coxel, A. J. North, J. B. Myers, H. S. Ferris, Archibald Bricker, J. G. Kyle, Joseph Fry, Lewis Rhoads, George Blankney, E. E. Brady and John C. Kyser. Membership numbers sixty. Present officers are D. P. Sollenberger, N. G.; J. H. Ployer, V. N. G.; J. C. Fosnot, Secretary; B. F. Shulenberger, Treasurer. Big Spring Encampment, No. 92, I. O. O. F., instituted February 23, 1855, has a membership of nineteen. Present officers are George Murphy, C. P.; D. P. Sollenberger, S. W.; G. B. Weast, J. W.; J. C. Fosnot, Scribe; B. F. Shulenberger, Treasurer. Sawquehanna Tribe, No. 131, I. O. R. M., was instituted at Shippensburg June 21, 1870, with the following named charter members: J. Berr Reddig, William H. Lawrence, A. D. Rebok, O. M. Blair, Samuel S. Shryock and H. M. Ash. The tribe removed to Newville December 2, 1875. Its present membership numbers about twenty, and its officers are Joseph Jeffries, Sachem; Joseph S. Tolhelm, Senior Sagamore; J. W. Taylor, Junior Sagamore; J. C. Fosnot, Chief of Records; D. N. Thomas, Keeper of Wampum. The "I. L. C.," a social and literary club, meeting weekly, was organized June 24, 1884, with the following named members: W. B. Stewart, G. B. Landis and E. D. Glauser. Present membership numbers fourteen, and the officers are George Fosnot, President; George Landis, Vice-President; E. D. Glauser, Secretary; W. B. Stewart, Treasurer. This club has a library.