Area History: Warner-Beers' History of Franklin County, PA, 1887 -- Part II: Chapters IX - XI Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joyce Moore USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commerical individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites require permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. __________________________________________________ HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO: WARNER, BEERS & CO., 1887 Chicago: JOHN MORRIS COMPANY, PRINTERS 118 and 120 Monroe Street. __________________________________________________ HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - Part II CHAPTER IX. MEXICAN WAR Texas and Mexico -- Whig and Democrat -- Counter Arguments -- Declaration of War -- Franklin County Company -- Its Services Texas had revolted and conquered its independence from Mexico, and asked to become a part of the Union. The Lone Star State was of her- self a great and rich empire in territory, and when she knocked at the doors of the United States for admission as one of the sister States, to the average American there was a strong desire to bid her come and welcome. Had Mexico quietly consented at that time, and abandoned all claims to still control the independent State, it is highly probable it would have peacefully become a member of the union, and Mexico would have avoided a disastrous war with this country, and the consequent loss of her immense territories north of the Rio Grande; and then, too, it is probable that the annexation of Texas would not have caused a political feud in the United States, over which discussion became heated and new political issues were made -- presidents were elected, and eminent politicians were defeated in their ambitious purposes. When a national question in this country assumes a political phase it is curious to watch its accidental outcomes. Men apparently shut their eyes and rush forward in spite of the most solemn warnings of their neighbors. They care only to know what their political rival wants them to do, and then they set their faces like steel to accomplish the very opposite. Thus, by curious accident, the Mexican war became, in the minds of men at that time, a Democratic war; and the Whigs, as a party, were placed in the position as opposed to the annexation of Texas. To demonstrate how purely accidental were the controlling in- fluences among men, we give an incident that occurred between a Demo- cratic and a Whig politician in Illinois in 1844. They were two bright and ambitious young men -- both, afterward, becoming eminent in the Nation's councils. They lived in the same village in southern Illinois, and each was striving for his party nomination for congressman. In order to advertise their claims they agreed to travel together over the vast district, and hold in each county joint discussions. They started out on the absorbing topic of both Whig and Democrat, the annexation of Texas, ranged on different sides. They were bright, witty, brilliant and eloquent, and they drew nearly equal to a circus in the Illinois back countries. But, in taking sides, the Whig favored annexation, and the Democrat opposed it. Thus they had passed over about two-thirds of the district, when the long delayed news from the National Democratic Convention reached the, and lo, it had nominated Polk, and upon the strongest kind of a Texas annexation platform. Here, indeed, was a kettle of fish. What could they do? Why, simply, just what they did do -- swap sides and continue their trip and discussion through the remainder of the district, hammering each other over the heads, each with the other's own arguments. Congress passed a bill admitting Texas into the union of States, and on the 4th of July, 1845, the Legislature of Texas, by solemn act, approved of the measure, and the union was consummated. Mexico con- sidered this as an act of war; and withdrew her minister from Washing- ton. Some feeble and possibly half-hearted attempts to tide over the threatened conflict were made by the United States, and then the two nations declared war, and at once began marshalling their armies. In the early part of 1846, our armies had marched to the border lines of Mexico, and after a brief halt they invaded the country of the enemy. The declaration of war was made by Congress, May 11, 1846, and $10,000,000 voted to furnish the army, and the President was authorized to call for 50,000 volunteers. The temper of our people is shown by the fact, that at once 200,000 volunteers offered themselves, and from every part of the Union it was a race among companies and regiments to get in first. Everywhere companies were formed that the Government was compelled to reject. Franklin County sent one company. This was recruited in 1847, by MARTIN M. MOORE, of Washington, who had procured authority to enlist a Pennsylvania company for the Mexican war. He opened a recruiting office in Chambersburg, and soon filled his company, and it left Chambersburg, March 17, 1847, for the seat of war, numbering 122 men, rank and file, officered as follows: CAPTAIN -- MARTIN M. MOORE FIRST LIEUTENANT -- CHARLES T. CAMPBELL SECOND LIEUTENANTS-- HORACE HALDEMAN WASHINGTON MEADES THIRD SERGEANT -- JAMES S. GILLAN CORPORALS -- MICHAEL W. HOUSER J.R. THOMPSON HENRY REMLEY PRIVATES FROM FRANKLIN COUNTY JAMES ARBAUGH GEORGE BARMORD WILLIAM FISHER JAMES S. BIGGER EMANUEL BURNS WILLIAM JOHNSON JOHN BRICKER DAVID BEARD JEREMIAH KEEFER JOSEPH BRICKER HUGH P. COXE HENRY KOYLER FREDRICK BERKLE WASHINGTON CRAMER SAMUEL KRAFT FREDRICK BAKER JEREMIAH DOUGLAS AMOS LIGHTNER WILLIAM BITTINGER MATHEW DOWNS GEORGE MILLER JAMES BRILEY JOHN DAVIS DANIEL MILLER JOHN BEAMHOP GEORGE ELDRIGE JAMES McCULLOUGH JOHN MEHAFFEY HENRY RAY THOMAS SHOEMAKER ALEXANDER McCARTHEY LEWIS RUMMEL JOHN SHEAFFER JOHN McCUMSEH WILLIAM RETTER JOSEPH WELCH WILLIAM I. McCLELLAN HENRY REAFSNIDER JACOB WEST JOSEPH McMAHAN HEZEKIAH STUFF JACOB WILLIAMS JOSEPH NAVE JOHN C. SHEFFIELD JOHN ZUMBRO JOHN A. PIERSON DAVID M. STUMP JOHN HARNISH JACOB PENTZ JOHN SUDERS JOSEPH GRIMES WILLIAM ROBISON HENRY SHEAFER DAVID CORDELL Although we have no complete list of the men of Company B, Eleventh United States Infantry, as furnished by the War Department, yet we give only those that were known to be from Franklin County. This company marched to Pittsburgh, by way of Bedford, where it received some additional recruits. It arrived with the army at Brazos Santiago, in April, 1847, and for some time was in garrison at Tampico, where a number of men died of yellow fever. From here it went to Vera Cruz, and from there to the City of Mexico. The company was in active service until the close of the war, July 4, 1848. CAPTAIN MOORE was dismissed from the service at Tampico, and CHARLES T. CAMPBELL was promoted to captain, and was in command until our army was mustered out. At the time of the close of the war it was in the interior of the country, about seventy-five miles from the City of Mexico. When the company reached New York on its return home in 1848, its force of 100 men had been reduced to about twenty-four men in the line. There were other men recruited who went to war from this county in addition to those given above in Company B. CAPTAIN WHIPPLE and LIEU- TENANT HANSON got recruits for their command here. Then we are inform- ed that there were several Franklin County men who joined commands that went out from Cumberland County, and their identity as Franklin County men was thereby lost. CAPTAIN CHARLES T. CAMPBELL is now a resident of Scotland, Dak., to which point he removed from Franklin County, some years ago. End Chapter 9. CHAPTER X. THE PRESS Introductory - First Newspaper - Press of Chambersburg - Press of Waynesboro - Press of Mercersburg - Press of Greencastle The corner-stones of modern civilization are the family, the school, the church, and the state. The family is the origin of all government -- the germ of all organization. Upon it all social and political institutions rest. From it all others derive their vitality and inspiration. Without its economy, the body politic and the social fabric could not exist. The family may be regarded a preparatory university, whose president is the father, and whose chief instructor is the loving and faithful mother. All science and all art are taught in this university. The most important lessons in life are the "things learned at that best academy, a mother's knee," embracing the names and quantities of objects and actions; government, philosophy, religion, political economy, theology, poetry, literature, music -- all the gems of an encyclopedic education. From this preparatory school pupils are admitted to the conven- tional school under the control of a licensed master or mistress. New lessons and new duties are to be learned. Certain personal rights must be sacrificed to enjoy certain privileges that are desired. True republicanism is cultivated. Genuine philanthropy is developed, and the pupil qualified to enter intelligently the next grade -- the church. It is the great theological institution intended to teach the higher duties and responsibilities of a moral and pious life. Self- control, charity, benevolence, consecration, devotion, unselfishness -- all these are its legitimate purposes to accomplish. Its work done efficiently, the subject is prepared to occupy his appropriate position in the state; in other words, to become an intelligent, conscientious citizen. Three sets of agencies, each working efficiently in its own sphere, have co-operated to produce the highest type of manhood, the conception which inspired HOLLAND to write: "God give us men! a time like this demands Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office can not buy; Men who possess opinions and a will, Men who have honor -- men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue And damn his treacherous flatterers without winking, Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty, and in private thinking." Men may condemn the evils of church and state; they can not be divorced. As well attempt to separate youth and manhood, the soil and its crop, or any cause from its effect. If the child is the father of the man, the family, the school and the church are the progenitors of the state. But as society is organized, the life-blood of all these institu- tions is the modern newspaper. It is the food of all. In its greed it has usurped the prerogative formerly enjoyed by the oral teacher, secular and religious. It is the accepted text-book of the ordinary laborer, the learned divine and the profoundest statesman. It is more powerful than the throne, which it makes and unmakes at will. It is, in our modern civilization, the life-blood of the body politic. Hence the power and the responsibility of the press. In the history of English journalism occurs this account of the growth of the newspaper: "First we have the written news letter, furnished to the wealthy aristocracy; then, as the craving for informa- tion spread, the ballad of news, sung or recited; then the news phamph- let, more prosaically arranged; then the periodical sheet of news; and lastly, the newspaper." The English newspaper was born in London, in 1622. Its liberty at first was greatly restricted, nothing being allowed publication un- til it had passed proper official inspection. In its struggle for independence, the press had to undergo many prosecutions and trials unknown to the present generation. The blood of martyrs is the seed not only of the church, but of the press as well. Governmental in- fluence with the subject-matter of the newspaper was regarded as a divine right; hence, we are not astonished to find the House of Commons resolving, in 1729, that "it is an indignity and a breach of privilege of the House of Commons for any person to presume to give, in written or printed newspapers, any account or minutes of the debates or other proceedings of this House or any committee thereof." In 1764 the editor of the Evening Post, of London, was fined £100 by the House of Lords, for mentioning the name of Lord Hereford in his paper. The good work continued, however, till the press was disenthralled. France had much difficulty in liberating the press. During the reign of Louis Napoleon there were 6,000 prosecutions of publishers; but they finally succeeded, and France can hear from plebeians, sen- timents which the throne did not dare to utter. Not by German battal- ions only was the usurper overthrown. He was shot through and through by the paper bullets of a hostile and enraged public press. In America the first newspaper was published at Boston, September 25, 1690, by BENJAMIN HARRIS, the printing being done by RICHARD PIERCE. Its name, Public Occurrences, both Foreign and Domestick, was very significant. The only copy now in existence is preserved in the State office in London. Others sprang up in regular oder, until today the American press stands forth as one of the greatest bulwarks of national liberty -- the proudest monument of the progressive spirit of the age. A sentence or two may serve to sketch the editor who realizes the nature of the trust he holds. 1. An editor, like a poet, is born, not made. A plug hat, a waxed mustache, a cigar and a goose quill, will not necessarily edit a paper successfully. Profanity, bad grammar, excessive slang and whisky, are not the indispensable requisites of modern journalism. 2. He has an inherent right to be both a gentleman and a scholar. He should be sufficiently educated, at least, to express an original thought occasionally, in good Anglo-Saxon. Scissors and paste have their legitimate sphere, but this does not imply that he should have "just enough learning to misquote: nor does it require that he should demonstrate in his own case that "to follow foolish precedents, and wink with both eyes, is easier than to think." 3. He should be a leader in public sentiment. It is his province to mould the thought of his constituents. On every new issue he should be able to sound forth the clarion notes of truth and progress, and lead his readers to occupy advanced grounds in the face of ignorant opposition. Some one has truly said: "To know how to say what others only know how to think, is what makes men poets and sages; but to dare to say what others only dare to think, is what makes them heroes or reformers or both." 4. He should have a conscience on matters that affect the public weal. A newspaper is not private property in the sense that it is to reflect only the wishes and piques of its manager. It represents a consti- tuency whose consciences it ought to respect, while it aims to educate them. It can not be made the vehicle for giving vent to private ill- will. For that reason it ought to treat an opponent with courtesy, so long as he exhibits marks of sincerity. The press of Franklin County has had an existence since the open- ing of the last decade of the eighteenth century and has had some able representatives in the ranks of journalism. As will be seen from the lists that are to follow, these daily, weekly and monthly heralds of light and life, have been exceedingly numerous, but many of them, having accomplished their mission, did obeisance to an apparently disinterested public, and silently departed to enjoy the rewards of achieved fame. For the information, and in many cases, the language contained in these brief sketches, obligation is publicly acknowledged to those faithful chroniclers of Franklin Country History, DR. D. C. LANE (Public Opinion of January 1, 1878), JUDGE HENRY RUBY (Shippens- burg News of October 16, 1875), and I.H. McCAULEY, ESQ. (Historical Sketch of Franklin County). From the organization of the county, in September, 1784, to July 14, 1790, no newspaper was published in Franklin County, all sheriffs' proclamations, notices of candidates for office, offers of real estate for sale, estrays, runaway negroes, desertions of bed and board by wives, obituaries, divorces and sale notices, etc., being printed in the Carlisle Gazette and Repository of Knowledge. As the population of Chambersburg increased, one of its chief wants was a weekly journal, to "note the passing tidings of the times." This want was eventually supplied by the advent of MR. WILLIAM DAVISON, from Philadelphia, who, in the month of June, 1790, issued the first number of the first newspaper published in Franklin County. The name of this primitive journal was The Western Advertiser and Chambersburg Weekly Newspaper. It was a small, dingy sheet of three columns to the page, and 10x15 inches in size. Its contents consisted mainly of advertisements and a few extracts from Loundon and Eastern journals, and an occasional ponderous and drowsy original communica- tion upon some political or literary subject. It was singularly dignified and dull. The price of the paper was 15 shillings per annum. MR. DAVISON did not more than fairly start his enterprise, before his health began to decline, and he was obliged to call to his assistance MR. ROBERT HARPER, brother of the late GEORGE KENTON HARPER. MR. HARPER came to Chambersburg in 1792, and took charge of the paper. MR. DAVISON dying soon afterward, MR. HARPER then became its sole proprie- tor. In 1793, MR. HARPER changed the elaborate title of the journal to the simpler one of The Chambersburg Gazette. This name it retained until the year 1796, when it was further changed to The Franklin Re- pository. Soon after MR. ROBERT HARPER became the owner of the paper, he associated with himself in its publication a gentleman named DOVER. This connection existed only a few months, and was severed by MR. DOVER's withdrawal. In the year 1800, ROBERT HARPER sold the estab- lishment to his brother, GEORGE KENTON HARPER (D. R. KIRBY of Chambers- burg, had a copy of the Repository dated February 20, 1800, which was marked No. 44 of Vol. IV. Its subscription price is put at $2.25 per year. G.K. HARPER is its owner and publisher. In its columns is a notice that GEORGE K. HARPER had bought of ROBERT HARPER the Minerva, showing its publication in the last century. See MCCAULEY's denials in loco.). The latter gentleman had previously learned the art of printing in the office in Chambersburg, although, at the time of the purchase, he was a resident of Philadelphia. Under the able and ju- dicious management of GEORGE K. HARPER, the Repository became one of the most extensively circulated and influential journals in the in- terior of the State. The Repository was published by MR. GEORGE K. HARPER for a period of thirty-nine years, and was then sold to JOSEPH PRITTS, who was publishing the Chambersburg Whig, and by whom the two papers were united under the title of the Repository and Whig. This venerable and influential old journal was successively owned by many companies and individuals, until it fell into the most compe- tent hands of COLONEL ALEXANDER K. McCLURE, by whom it was enlarged and otherwise improved. Its title was, by this gentleman, again changed, and its old and honored name of The Franklin Repository most appropriately given it. Under COLONEL McCLURE's proprietorship, it became an acknowledged political power in the state. The paper is now owned (see statement at close of this sketch of the press of Chambersburg) and edited by MAJOR JOHN M. POMEROY, and it may be said with perfect truth and candor, and without any invidious disparage- ment of the very many able gentlemen by whom it had formerly been conducted, that its present proprietor exhibits in its management a combination of energy, enterprise, tact and ability which, at least, have never been exceeded in its past history. The Repository has always been a fearless and able defender of the principles of the old Whig and Republican parties, in whose defense it has been compelled to break many a lance; and, in its mature age of eighty-seven years, it exhibits more than the vigor and energy which characterized its earlier days. The Repository was first issued from an old log house, originally built and used for a blacksmith shop, which stood on the lot now occupied by Mr. Jacob Snider's book store. It was then removed to a small one-story weatherboarded building, which stood on Main Street, near the corner of the Diamond, on the lot on which Mr. Thomas E. Paxton's store now stands. For many years the Repository was the only newspaper published in Franklin County. At length, about the year 1809, a Democratic rival, called the Franklin Republican, was issued by Mr. JOHN HERSHBERGER. Previously, however, two papers, one in English and the other in the German language, had been published for a few years. * * * * * (One of these was called Der Redliche Registrator. Its publisher and editor, F.W. SCHOEPLIN, announced in the Repository of December 21, 1813, "The first number of this paper will be issued from this office to-morrow." He says, further, "Nearly the whole contents of this paper is weekly translated from the latest English papers, which together with the quick conveyance by mails running in all directions from Chambersburg, enables its patrons to receive information of the occurrences of our own and foreign countries as early as they could through any of the English weekly papers." It must be remembered, that at that time all mail matter was distributed by carriers but once a week, and yet these crude facilities were highly appreciated. The German population in the country, too, was an important factor at this early date. Says JUDGE RUBY: "There were but few families in the town or country that did not then understand the German language, which accounts for two weekly papers being sustained in that language." After Mr. Schoeplin's death in 1825, the office was sold to HENRY RUBY.) * * * * * The names of these papers have not been ascertained, although extended inquiry has been made. The English paper was now united with the Franklin Republican. On relinquishing the business of printing in 1816, Mr. Hershberger sold his office to JOHN McFARLAND by whom the publication of the English journal was continued; but who discontinued the German paper for want of adequate support. McFARLAND sold the paper to JOHN SLOAN, who published it until his death, a few years after the purchase. MR. SLOAN died about the year 1824. The late JOSEPH PRITTS, who had been employed in the office of SLOAN, married his widow, and thus became the owner of the printing establish- ment. MR. PRITTS continued to publish the paper in the interest of the Democratic party, until the anti-Masonic excitement in 1834, when he became a member of that organization, and purchased an anti-Masonic newspaper which had previously been established by JAMES CULBERTSON. The two papers were then conjoined and the name changed to The Chambersburg Whig, which it bore until it was merged into the Franklin Repository, in 1839. MR. PRITTS having thus abandoned the Democratic party, that organization was left without an organ, until the Franklin Telegraph was started about the year 1831, by MESSRS. RUBY & MAXWELL. This partnership continued but six weeks, at the end of which time JAMES MAXWELL withdrew, MR. RUBY then selected another partner named HATNICK. MR. HATNICK dying after a partnership of only nine months, MR. RUBY became sole proprietor of the paper, and continued its publi- cation until the year 1840, making it an able and successful exponent of the principles of the party in whose interests it was established. Having been appointed one of the associate judges of Franklin County, JUDGE RUBY sold his journal to MESSRS. BROWN and CASEY. These gentle- men, after conducting it for several years, sold it to JOHN BRAND, who changed its name to the Chambersburg Times. MR. FRANKLIN G. MAY bought the paper from MR. BRAND, and held it until April 6, 1846, when he transferred it to E. R. POWELL. During the proprietorship of MR. POWELL, its name was changed to the Valley Sentinel. In January, 1850, it was purchased by FREDERICK SMITH, ESQUIRE, and edited by his son, ALFRED H. SMITH, until April, 1851, when this gentleman moved to Philadelphia. MESSRS. NEAD & KINNEARD then became the owners of the Sentinel, under whose management it remained until late in the year 1852, when it was sold to MESSRS. P. S. DECHERT & CO.; and its apposite name, after appearing for a season in company with the Spirit as the Spirit and Sentinel, died away. DANIEL DECHERT, in July, 1847, under the title of the Valley Spirit and Cumberland and Franklin County Democrat. In July 1848, it was moved to Chambersburg, and conducted under the firm of P.S. DECHERT & CO, with MR. COOPER as editor. In 1852 the firm bought the Sentinel and united the two papers. In 1857, the Valley Spirit, which had dropped part of its original name, became the property of GEORGE H. MENGLE & CO., and was published by them until 1862, when it was pur- chased by B. Y. HAMSHER & CO., who retained it until 1867, when it passed into the hands of MESSRS. J. M. COOPER & CO., and in 1868 MR. COOPER withdrew from the establishment, MESSRS. WM. S. STENGER and AUGUSTUS DUNCAN becoming its proprietors. In 1876, MR. JOSEPH C. CLUGSTON purchased the paper and reinstated its old and popular editor, MR. COOPER, in the editorial chair. The Valley Spirit is an ably-managed and vigorous publication, and is an able and fearless advocate of the principles of the great party to which it belongs; and its influence is not limited merely to the locality in which it is published, but is sensibly felt in the politics of the State. In that peculiar tact, as well as talent, so essential to the successful editor, MR. COOPER was gifted in an eminent degree. October 1, 1879, the paper was purchased by its present owners, JOHN G. & D. A. ORR, from J. H. WOLFKILL, through whom it had come from CLUGSTON and COOPER. On the 2d of August, 1886, JOHN G. and D. A. ORR purchased at sheriff's sale the Franklin Democrat and Daily Herald, and immediately began the publication of a morning daily known as the Valley Spirit. In a prominent position on its second page stands this epitome of its own history: "Established, 1847. Founded in 1831, mer- ged in Valley Spirit, 1852 -- Franklin Telegraph, Chambersburg Times, Cumberland Valley Sentinel. Founded in 1858; merged in Valley Spirit, 1862 -- the Independent, the Times. Founded in 1878, merged in Valley Spirit, 1886 -- the Franklin County Democrat." Both daily and weekly editions show the highest style of mechanical execution, and the con- tents of each are newsy and spicy, evidencing careful and painstaking research. It is a pronounced anti-Randall Democratic exponent of the theories of government. In July, 1853, MR. ROBERT P. HAZELET started a folio sheet, devot- ed more especially to literature, which he called the Transcript. It became the Know-Nothing organ in the fall of 1854, and was subsequently merged into the Repository, under the title of the Repository and Transcript, and, after a titular fellowship of a few years, ultimately perished. In 1854, MESSRS. KELL & KINNEARD started an educational monthly, called the Tutor and Pupil, which had an ephemeral existence. DAVID A. WERTZ instituted The Independent in 1858, a handsome and able paper, which attracted much attention for its literary ability, but sold it in April, 1859, to WILLIAM I. COOK and P. DOCK FREY. A few months later, namely, on the 7th of October, 1859, they transferred it to FREY & FOLTZ, who converted it from a neutral into a Republican paper. On the 31st of August, 1860, it again changed owners, and MESSRS. WILLIAM KENNEDY and JACOB SELLERS converted it into a Democra- tic organ, as an exponent of the principles of the DOUGLAS wing of the party, in opposition to the Valley Spirit, which supported BRECKENRIDGE. After holding it a few years it was united with the Valley Spirit, as the Valley Spirit and Times, and, a short time after, its distinctive title passed into oblivion. In the year 1814, the HONORABLE HENRY RUBY moved to Chambersburg, and was apprenticed to a German printer named F. W. SCHOFLIN, who was publishing a German paper in connection with MR. GEORGE K. HARPER. This paper was soon afterward sold to MR. SCHOFLIN. MR. SCHOFLIN died in 1825, and his paper was managed by MR. RUBY, for his widow, for a period of six months, at the expiration of which time he bought the office. He continued its publication for some time after the publica- tion of the Franklin Telegraph, but under a new name, and eventually sold it to MR. VICTOR SCRIBA, by whom it was removed to Pittsburgh. MR. SCRIBA changed its name to Freiheit's Freund, and it soon attained a large circulation and much influence among the German population of Pittsburgh. Another German paper was started in Chambersburg, by JOHN DIETZ, in 1824, but enjoyed a very brief existence dying in its second year. During the time embraced by these publications, a large number of papers were launched upon the treacherous waves of popular favor, but soon stranded on the hidden rock of impecuniousity, and sank even beneath public recollection. A notable exception to this statement, however, was the Transcript, established in 1853 by ROBERT P. HAZELET. This paper aspired to the establishment of a literary reputation, in which it secured a marked degree of success. It was then purchased by the Know-Nothings, and upon the sudden collapse of that political monstrosity, was merged into the Repository, and lived a short time longer in the Repository and Transcript. The Despatch, a semi-weekly paper, was started in the spring of 1861, by GEORGE H. MERKLEIN and P. DOCK FREY, under the firm of GEORGE H. MERKLEIN & CO., and lived until the spring of 1863. The Country Merchant, an advertising sheet, was issued in July, 18166, by M. A. FOLTZ, and was succeeded in 1869, by Public Opinion, a progressive weekly newspaper, devoted to advanced Republican principles. It deals especially with news of a local nature, always giving the preference to such, but at the same time, it never neglects matters of national or State import or information of general interest. The people of Franklin County have always had in it a true friend. Their interests have been its interests, and it has fought their battles with vigor from the moment that it first saw the light. The first issue appeared on the 20th of July, in the year above named, and met with immediate success. It rapidly became a leading paper, not only in its own county, but throughout the whole of the Cumberland Valley, its views being quoted far and wide. It has con- tinued to hold this prominence, and is to-day one of the most influen- tial newspapers in southern Pennsylvania. And at the present time, as in the past, it is representative of its title, and is truly a reflex of public opinion. With the commencement of its third volume, in July, 1871, the Opinion enlarged, and in 1885 it re-enlarged, thus becoming one of the largest weeklies published in its section of the State. It has now a circulation of about 2,500, and goes into the best families in the county. The Silver Cornet, a monthly musical journal, was published by P. DOCK FREY & CO., coming into the world of letters in September, 1869, "and piping out" at the somewhat immature age of seven months. The People's Register was started in 1876 as the Centennial Register. It is a patent outside, and was edited by REV. J. G. SCHAFF until the time of his death, when it passed into the hands of his sons, who are still publishing it. In the summer of 1886, they began the publication of an evening daily which has met with a favorable recep- tion. The Register has given special attention to educational news and articles, and thus has become the teachers' friend in the county. The Farm Journal and Experimental Farm Journal were issued suc- cessively by GEORGE A. DIETZ & CO., and were extensive circulated. The first religious journal published by the German Reformed Church, was a monthly pamphlet called The Magazine of the German Reformed Church, and was issued at Carlisle, Penn., under the editor- ship of REV. DR. LEWIS MAYER. It appeared in November, 1827. In 1829 it was removed to York, Penn. In 1832, its title was changed to The Messenger of the German Reformed Church, and the numbers were desig- nated as the New Series. In 1834, it was changed to a semi-monthly, in a quarto form, which was continued until July, 1835, at which time it was removed to Chambersburg. Its title was now changed to the Weekly Messenger and was issued weekly. A specimen number of the paper was published in July, but the regular issue did not begin until the September following. The numbering as a new series again commenced, which has been continued to the present date. In December, 1848, the name of the paper was further changed to that of The German Reformed Church Messenger, because the word "German" had been omitted in the church itself. The office in Chambersburg was destroyed by the rebels in 1864, and its place of publication was then transferred to Phila- delphia. Its name is now simply The Messenger, and it is edited by the accomplished and scholarly divine, REV. P. S. DAVIS, D. D., ably assisted by SAMUEL R. FISHER, D. D., and others. For a time after the removal of the paper to Chambersburg, it was published by JOSEPH PRITTS, and subsequently by HENRY RUBY, until the church established a printing office of her own, in the Masonic Hall, on Second Street, in 1840. The old Mansion House on the east side of the public square was then purchased, refitted, and the office removed into it. The late REV. BENJAMIN S. SCHNECK, D. D., became editor of the Messenger in 1835, after its removed to Chambersburg, and occupied this position until the year 1844. In the beginning of 1840, the REV. SAMUEL R. FISHER, D. D., (since deceased) became associated with him in its editorial management. DR. SCHNECK's relation to the paper, which was suspended in 1844, was resumed in the fall of 1847, and con- tinued until the year 1852. During DR. SCHNECK's pastorate in Gettys- burg, Penn., in 1834, he began the publication of a semi-monthly in the German language, styled the Christliche Herold. The publication of this journal was transferred to Chambersburg in 1840, and issued under the name of the Christliche Zeitschrift. DR. SCHNECK then took charge of it, changing its name to that of Reformirte Kirchenzeitung, and continued this relation until the destruction of the office in 1864, when it was removed to Philadelphia, with the exception of an interval of five years, from 1852 to 1857, when it was edited by the REV. SAMUEL MILLER. For a time the Saturday Local was published by JOSEPH POMEROY & CO. Having accomplished its mission, it quietly took its departure to the sweet by-and-by. In the forgoing sketch it is stated that the Repository is owned and edited by MAJ. JOHN M. POMEROY, and a merited compliment is paid him. Since that was written by DR. W. C. LAME the daily Franklin Repository has been established, which is now in its fourth volume. It has, like the weekly, attained a large circulation, and is, with the People's Register, an evening paper. Until November 26, 1886, it was published and edited by the POMEROY BROS.' but owing to certain com- plications, growing out of the right of title, it was sold by SHERIFF KURTZ to T. M. MAHON and H. GEHR for $2,200, and immediately leased by them to its former managers. The paper is now under the management of JOHN H. POMEROY and A. NEVIN POMEROY, lessees and publishers. The Repository is the oldest paper in the Cumberland Valley, and its pages from 1793 to the present, contain the substantial history of the county. Its influence upon the population of the county through these years has been wonderful. It requires little sacrifice to be able to concur in the sentiment of HON. HENRY RUBY, himself an old printer and a competent judge, "that few towns in Pennsylvania have newspaper establishments conducted with as such ability as the Franklin Repository, Valley Spirit and Public Opinion of Chambersburg." PRESS OF WAYNESBORO In RUPP'S "History of the Five Counties," 1846,in this simple statement: "A weekly paper -- Waynesboro Circulator -- is published by MR. M. C. GROTE." The Village Record, weekly, was founded March 13, 1847, by D.O. & W. BLAIR. D.O. BLAIR afterward studied medicine and went to Abingdon, Ill., where he died. W. BLAIR had sold his interest to his brother, but in 1851 repurchased it and has retained it ever since. It was dur- ing the war published regularly till the time of LEE's invasion in 1863, when an interruption occurred. The outside was printed June 19, and the inside July 31. Rebel soldiers pied his type and overturned his cases, producing confusion which required several weeks to overcome. By virtue of continuous services, MR. BLAIR is entitled to be known as the Nestor of the Franklin County press. The Keystone Gazette was established in 1876, as a Democratic weekly, by J.C. WEST and W.C. JACOBS. In 1878 Jacobs retired. In 1880, S.M. ROBINSON bought it, but in 1882 sold to N. BRUCE MARTIN and JAS. B. FISHER, who conducted it as an independent paper till January 1, 1885. At the last date, MR. FISHER bought MARTIN's interest, and conducted the paper till March, 1886, when D. B. MARTIN assumed edi- torial control, with FISHER as manager. The Brethen Advocate, a religious weekly periodical, was published at Waynesboro from August 5, 1879, to July 5, 1882. It was published in the interests of the German Baptist or Brethren Church. The con- tributors to its columns were some of the ablest writers of the sect. D. H. FAHRNEY was publisher. Size of sheet, 22 x 32. PRESS OF MERCERSBURG In 1846, The Mercersburg Visitor, weekly, was published by McKINSTRY and DOYLE. The Mercersburg Journal was established in 1846. It is a weekly, neutral in politics and has a good local circulation. Its present owners and managers are M. J. SLICK and GEORGE HORNBRAKER. It has passed through a number of changes, which can not be given. In 1851-52, the Mercersburg Review was published in the interests of Marshall College. It was a bi-monthly, and sold at $3 per year. PRESS OF GREENCASTLE The first paper stated in the town was called the Conococheague Herald, and was published by E. ROBINSON, August, 1848. In a few months it was sold to him by CHARLES MARTIN. After running it a year, he sold it to A. N. RANKIN, who in turn disposed of it to ELLIOTT B. DETRICH, by whom the name was changed to the Franklin Intelligencer. At his death the paper passed into the hands of McCRORY and BONNER, who named it the Franklin Ledger. When BONNER died, the new firm, STRICKLER & McCRORY changed the name to The Pilot. Mr. Strickler retiring, McCRORY ran the paper on his own responsibility for several years when he sold it to ROBERT and WILLIAM CROOKS. The first brother soon withdrawing from the firm, the other continued the paper until 1867, when he sold to REV. JOHN R. GAFF, who associated M. D. REYMER with himself, and changed the name to The Valley Echo. In 1867 COL. B. F. WINGER purchased the paper and, with the aid of GEO. E. HALLER, the present proprietor, ran it till January 6, 1876, at which time he sold the establishment to the present owner and manager. The Greencastle Press was established by COL. B. F. WINGER, after retiring from The Valley Echo, in 1876, and has been controlled by him ever since. At present his associate in the management and editorial work is J. C. SEACREST. It is a weekly, and has a good circulation in that portion of the county. About the opening of the war, a small paper was published at Concord by a brother of J. W. C. GOSHORNE, but after a time it was removed to the West. In 1886 the Path Valley News was established at Fannettsburg, and is still in existence. CHAPTER XI. AGRICULTURE A Business of First Importance - Its Promising Future - Improvements Introduced - Judge Watts - The First Reaper - First Stock in the Country - Wheat and Corn - Hessian Fly - Improved Implements - A Wonderful Feat with the Scythe - Agricultural Societies, Officers, etc. From the land comes the life of every living, breathing, thing. It is the nourishing mother of animal and vegetable life. It is the be- ginning of all existence, and "dust to dust" is the common end. The soil and the climate are the determining factors in the growth and quality of the world's civilization. From the soil comes all that we can possess - the best type of manhood, the great cities with their spires and minarets gleaming in the morning sun, the army with banners, the armadas whose sails fleck every sea, the maiden's blush, the bubbl- ing laughter of childhood, the sweet bondage of love, the restful haven of home, all are from this one common, fruitful source. The dull soil, the primeval rocks from which all soils are made, bore the great secrets of life. It has been well said that were you to show a man, sufficiently versed in the subject of rocks, a new world, that by an examination of the soil and rocks he could tell exactly what kind of men, the degree of civilization, the boundary line of their improvements, in farming and in all other industries, the new world would eventually evolve. This might seem to some a sweeping assertion, but by all men of tolerable culture it is accepted without further question. Of all vocations in life that a farmer brings him in closer rela- tions to the land than that of any other class of men. To perfect his education, practically and scientifically, is to make him the master of the philosophy of the most vital subject that can affect life, because he is in the position of first importance, and when his energies are properly directed, it will of itself place him high and supreme above all others. The fundamentals of our physical life have always rested primarily upon the tillers of the soil, and to the coming farmer will mankind go for the higher qualities of mental life as they have already gone for their physical existence. The rudest tillers of the soil in the darkest ages learned, by patient experiments, some of the lessons the land had to give its children. However limited their acquirements may have been, they were the first lessons in nature's supreme univer- sity, whose final diplomas will attest to the best type of minds the earth can produce. The coming farmer will understand the physical laws of this fountain of life at which he toils, sows and reaps. The schools will then teach that all knowledge is simply understanding the mental and physical laws that hedge us about, that form and shape us in every way from the cradle tot he grave. Then, too, will be revealed to the world the important secret that there is nothing so wholly practical as real knowledge. When this great age shall dawn upon the race, then will the unfortunate city boy go to the farmer's school to learn the true knowledge -- to be educated. In that age the great man, "the sun crown- ed," to whom is accorded universal respect and honors, will be that farmer with the most knowledge of the soil he tills. The improvement in the manner of cultivating the soil -- the intro- duction of machinery -- has distinguished the last half of this century. It is not a great while ago that farming, stock raising and all branches of the business, were greatly matters of chance. Mostly the farmer would plow and sow, and gather his crops after the manner of his ances- tors. He then did not concern himself about drainage, or fertilizing, or improving his stock, or better implements of husbandry. Now the poorest farmer makes some effort to inform himself. He has learned to read agricultural papers and books, to meet and interchange ideas with his fellow-farmers, and thus he bestows and receives valuable hints and a more accurate knowledge of his own affairs. Agricultural schools are the evidences of what this important class are beginning to do for them- selves. These steps along the line of advancement once came very slow, but now they are keeping abreast with the age. These are the most cheering signs of our times. Already he realizes fully that he is in a position to experiment and study cause and effect. This is the begin- ning of his real school, and once in the right path he will never turn aside. By these means he lifts himself above the narrow selfishness that too often characterizes nearly all other classes of men. IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED Reforms move slowly. They are required, as HERBERT SPENCER says, to pass through three stages: First, that of indifference; second, that of violent opposition; third, that of adoption. Improvements in the material and methods of farming are, by no means, an exception to this general law. It was the writer's good fortune to have a pleasant interview with HONORABLE FRED. WATTS of Carlisle, touching the changes in farming that have characterized the community. Said he, "About the middle of June, 1839, I was driving in a carriage with my wife from New York to Phila- delphia, there being at that time no railroad communication. Near Trenton, N.J., I was met in the road by a former resident of Carlisle Barracks, LIEUTENANT WILLIAM INMAN, of the United States Navy, who in- vited us to spend the night at his house on the farm. We went over. The next day he showed me a field of beautiful wheat which was rapidly ripen- ing for the harvest. He told me that two years prior to that time he had procured three bushels of the seed near Leghorn, Italy, and was now raising his second crop. I obtained from him six barrels of the same kind, and sowed it on my farm near Carlisle. This was the introduction into the United States of the beautiful variety of wheat for a long time very popular and known as Mediterranean. From the six barrels which I sowed, it was spread through the Cumberland Valley, and into other por- tions of the State. "It was in the summer of 1840," continued the judge, "I bought a McCORMICK reaper, and brought it to my farm. When harvest came I deter- mined to test its power in a twelve-acre field that would yield at least thirty-five bushels per acre. When the appointed time came there were present from five hundred to a thousand persons anxious to witness the signal failure of 'WATTS' folly' as they called the machine. "The wheat stood well. The team was started, the cutting was ex- cellent; the draught was not heavy, but the general decision was that one man could not remove the wheat rapidly enough from the machine. The team could not be driven more than ten or twelve rods till it was neces- sary to stop and rest the raker and straighten up his sheaves. Finally a well-dressed gentleman, or ordinary side and pleasant demeanor, came up and asked whether he might be permitted to remove the wheat for a few rounds. Being answered in the affirmative, he mounted the machine, and took the raker's stand. With perfect ease he raked off the wheat, nor did he seem to labor hard. After two or three rounds the spectators reversed their former decision and unanimously agreed that the machine was a complete success. 'WATT's folly' became a favorite, and thus was introduced into the Cumberland Valley the first McCORMICK, the original reaping machine of the United States. The well-dressed gentleman who did the raking was CYRUS H. McCORMICK, the inventor of the American reaper." Similar illustrations might be adduced relative to the difficulties that attended the introduction of left-handed steel plows, threshing machines, improved varieties of fruit and stock, and the general elements of agricultural improvements. The organization of agricultural and horticultural societies, the publication of State and National reports, the teaching of botany, physiology, geology and agricultural chemistry, the wide-spreaad distribution of farm journals, and the general education of the people by all rational means have tended to hasten reforms. The good work is going on. Scientific farming is destined to be not only a lucrative calling, but an intensely interesting intellectual one. FIRST STOCK INTRODUCED The first animals brought to America from Europe were imported by COLOMBUS, in his second voyage in 1493. He brought over seventeen ships, laden with European trees, plants, and seeds of various kinds, and a number of horses, a bull and several cows. The second lot of horses, the first having all been destroyed soon after landing, was in 1539 by DeSOTO -- a large lot of horses and thirteen cows. The Portuguese took cattle and swine to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in 1553. Thirty years after, they had increased so much that SIR RICHARD GILBERT was tempted to land there to get supplies of cattle and hogs, but his vessel was wrecked. In 1609 three ships landed at Jamestown, with many emigrants and the following domestic animals: 6 mares, 1 horse, 600 swine, 500 domestic fowls, a few sheep and goats. Other domestic animals had, how- ever been introduced there. In 1610, an edict was issued in Virginia, prohibiting the killing of domestic animals, on penalty of death. By 1617, the swine had increased so rapidly that the people were obliged to palisade Jamestown to prevent being overrun by them. In 1627, the Indians in Virginia subsisted mostly upon wild hog meat. In 1648, some of the settlers had a good stock of bees. In 1657, sheep and mares were by law forbidden to be exported from the colony. The first importation of domestic animals into New York was in 1625, by the West India Company. These consisted of horses, cattle, sheep and swine. In 1750, the French in Illinois had numbers of horses, cattle and swine. WHEAT The first raising of wheat antedates history. Its native country even is not known. It was brought to this country by the earliest set- tlers, and was first sown in Massachusetts by a man named GOSNOLD in 1602. It is known that it was raised in Virginia in 1611, but here it was for many years neglected for the cultivation of tobacco Prior to the Revolution, Pennsylvania, among a few other provinces, raised enough for the home market and shipped wheat to the West Indies. In 1776 there was entailed upon the country the enduring calamity -- the Hessian or wheat fly, which it is supposed came from Germany, in some straw employed in the debarkation of HOWE's troops, on the west end of Long Island. CORN This was called sometimes maize, and for a long time was called Indian corn. But now it is corn, and is known, used and cultivated throughout the civilized world. It is indigenous to the Western Hemis- phere. Once it was the accepted saying in this country, "cotton is king" but in the past quarter of a century, cotton has abdicated, and now "corn is king." Corn is still found growing in its wild state from the Rocky Moun- tains in the north to the humid forests of Paraguay, where instead of having each grain naked, as is always the case after long cultivation, it is completely covered with glumes or husks. COLUMBUS found corn cultivated on the island of Cuba at the time of discovery. The first successful attempt to raise it by the English in this country was in 1608, on the James River, by the colonists sent over by the London Company. They pursued the mode that they saw the Indians practice. OATS It is known that oats have been raised at least from the times of PLINY. The plant was introduced in North America early in the seven- teenth century. In the early years of this century, the farming implements used were of the primitive kind. The old wooden plow was the means of pre- paring the ground; then came the CAREY plow, and finally the iron mold- board was introduced with constant improvements to date, and we now have the gang plow, the sulky plow and others in almost endless variety. Men of middle age now can easily remember when there was no corn planted except that dropped from the hand. The mower and reaper came, and then the reaper and binder, until now a well stocked agricultural store would be a veritable curiosity -- a world's agricultural implement fair -- to those who left the farm only a few years ago. There are men now living who can remember when grain was cut only by the ancient sickle -- the scythe and cradle were in their day a great invention. They were an advance like the reaper and binder are to the scythe. THE CHAMPION CRADLER In putting away the old "cradle" it is appropriate to here record what may be considered an extraordinary feat by a gentleman now living, and the truth of which is so well attested that its correctness cannot be questioned. During the harvest of 1858, the gentleman in question, an expert cradler, cut ten acres of grain in a single day. The feat being noised abroad, some newspaper ridiculed the statement as being absurdly ridicu- lous. In the meantime, the report reached the ears of a firm in the Empire State, the proprietors of the Millard Fillmore Manufacturing Company of Claysville, N.Y., who wrote him to inquire whether he could cut ten acres of wheat provided they should make a cradle just to suit his wants; if so, they would be pleased to make him the implement, and to present it to him with their compliments. He responded to the effect that if they would make an implement as ordered, he would undertake to cut twelve acres. They agreed. In due time his cradle came, a marvel of beauty and strength. The blade was sixty-five inches in length, and made of silver steel, cost alone $25. The only difference between this cradle and the ordinary one, was in point of size and the slight curva- ture of the blade at its heel. The long-expected time finally arrived, judges were appointed, and the champion was authorized to begin his day's task, the limits being from sunrise to sunset. From far and near the people came, some to wit- ness, as they predicted a failure; some to gratify idle curiosity, and others to see the modern Hercules actually accomplish his thirteenth wonder. He had employed a physician to traverse the field with him, and to give such medical advice as circumstances required. Under the physician's advice he worked bareheaded, cutting the grain regularly by going around the field. He was clad in linen pants and shirt and ordinary slippers. He took no solid food during the day, nor halted at noon. Once every two hours he stopped briefly to whet his scythe, and then pushed ahead, cutting a swath eleven feet wide and five feet deep at every clip. He made, on an average, twenty-two clips per minute. About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a heavy thunder storm came up, the rain falling in torrents. The lightning flashed, the blade gleaming as it was thrust into the heavy grain. Slippers were thrown aside, and still the heroic man pushed on, determined to redeem his pledge or die in his tracks. No solid food was taken, but liquid nourishment was con- sumed under the advice of the physician. Sometime during the afternoon, an old hunter suggested to the physician that a piece of raw beef taken between the teeth would benefit the man. It was done, a man being dis- patched to Mercersburg to procure a piece which was held and the juice absorbed. At night only the fibres remained. As the sun sank behind the western hills the judge called time. His task was done. The field was subsequently surveyed, and measured some- thing over twelve acres and a half. It is located near the village of Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The product of this remark- able day's cradling was 365 dozen shocks of wheat, yielding, when threshed, 262 bushels of grain. The labor of four men was required to bind after him. The gentleman who did this work, and whose constitution was thoroughly shattered by it, is MICHAEL CROMER, at present the genial and popular conductor on the South Penn Railroad from Chambersburg to Rich- mond. He never speaks of it with pride, the honor having been gained by wrecking a constitution of unusual vigor and power. A more accommodata- ing railroad official it had not been our good fortune to meet anywhere. At the age of fifty-eight years he still has the respect of everybody who is acquainted with him. In the early part of this century the farmers of Franklin County began agitating the subject of forming county agricultural societies. Exactly what year the first meetings of the people were held, looking forward toward organizing, is not definitely known. The following is found in a chance copy of an old paper: "The Agricultural Society of Franklin County held a meeting at the court-house the 1st day of June, 1824. JAMES RIDDLE, Presi- dent; T. G. McCULLOUGH, Secretary. "Note -- The members of the society are expected to pay up their annual contribution on or before the day of meeting at Chambersburg. "Tuesday, June 5, 1827, a meeting of the Agricultural Society of Franklin was held. T. G. MCCULLOUGH, Secretary." Exactly when these society meetings were organized, how long they continued, or exactly their manner of organization is not definitely known. The organization was in advance of the county agricultural societies as they now exist. The first regular organization was in the year 1853 -- the charter members being JUDGE JAMES KENNEDY GEORGE CHAMBERS, vice president, S. M. ARMSTRONG, recording secretary JAMES MILLS, corresponding secretary ALEX. K. McCLURE, treasurer. The grounds were fifteen acres, about one mile west of Chambersburg, which is now the colored cemetery. It belongs to JUDGE KENNEDY. In 1854 the society held a most successful fair. To the novelty of the occasion, ALEX. K. McCLURE succeeded by personal efforts in securing HORACE GREELEY to come and deliver an address on agriculture. The add- ress was of course able, edifying and interesting. COLONEL McCLURE was at that time publishing the Repository and was so pleased with the address that he appealed to Mr. GREELEY to permit him to publish it. The great editor placed the manuscript in his hands and the hieroglyphics were as inscrutable as the characters on a tea-chest. After many patient efforts the services of D. S. EARLY (who was drowned in Philadel- phia in 1855) were called in, and he finally translated the strange characters into English, and the address was printed. But when once in print it richly repaid the labor it had cost. Its advice to the farmers deserved to be not only printed in COLONEL McCLURE's paper, but also to have been hung up over the portals of every farm house in the country, and to be read and re-read at least once a year. The second list of officers for the society, elected in 1853, for the year 1854, were: GEORGE CHAMBERS, president WILLIAM HEYSER, vice-president S. M. ARMSTRONG, recording secretary JAMES NILL, corresponding secretary ALEX. K. McCLURE, treasurer At the fair in 1853, DANIEL F. ROBENSON delivered an address on agriculture. The following officers were elected for the Franklin County Agri- cultural Society for the year 1855.: President, WILLIAM HEYSER Vice Presidents WILLIAM McDOWELL JAMES DAVIDSON JAMES LOWE SAMUEL THOMPSON Managers DANIEL TROSTLE F. S. SAMBAUGH GEORGE ASTON JACOB HEYSER WILLIAM BOSSERT HEZ. EASTON PETER BROUGH MARTIN NEWCOMER CHRISTIAN STOUFFER JACOB GARVER BENJAMIN SNIVELY JAMES CRAWFORD Recording Secretary, S. M. ARMSTRONG Corresponding Secretary, JACOB HEYSER Treasurer, A. K. McCLURE Farmers and Mechanics Industrial Association was the third agri- cultural association formed in the county. A meeting was called in Chambersburg, Tuesday, January 18, 1859. President, COLONEL JAMES B. ORR Vice Presidents JOHN RUTHRAUFF J. WATSON CRAIG WILLIAM BOSSERT CAPTAIN SAMUEL WALKER DAVID SPENCER, ESQ. JOHN DITCH JOHN W. TAYLOR JOSEPH G. CRESSLER SAMUEL GILMORE SAMUEL ALEXANDER JACOB B. COOK JOHN THOMAS BENJAMIN CHAMBERS HON. JAMES J. KENNEDY Secretaries, FRANCIS NORTHCRAFT and WILLIAM D. McKINSTRY A committee of two from each township, two from Chambersburg, appointed to solicit membership for the new organization, as follows: Antrim: JOHN RUTHRAUFF and BENJAMIN SNIVELY Chambersburg: J. W. TAYLOR and A. R. HURST Fannett: SAMUEL HOLLIDAY and SIMON MILLER Greene: JACOB GARVER and S. BRECKENRIDGE Guilford: G. W. IMMELL and F. WALK Hamilton: WILLIAM BOSSERT and HENRY KEEFER Letterkenny: S. GILMORE and SAMUEL LEHMAN Lurgan: THOMAS PUMROY and D. C. BYERS Metal: CAPTAIN S. WALKER and JACOB FLICKINGER Montgomery: J. WATSON CRAIG and J. L. RHEA Peters: A. E. McDOWELL and S. ALEXANDER Quincy: JACOB SECRIST and JOHN A. SHANK Southampton: D. HAYS and DAVID SPENCER, ESQ. St. Thomas: CHARLES GILLAN and JOHN MILLER Warren: A. H. McCULLOH and JACOB ZIMMERMAN Washington: ABRAHAM BAR and H. X. STONER On motion, HONORABLE JOHN ORR JOHN W. TAYLOR DAVID M. LESHER were appointed a committee to wait upon the last board of managers of the defunct old Agricultural Society of Franklin County, and learn if they will contribute to the present company as soon as formed, the funds, lands, and other property of said defunct body. Appointed a committee to draft a constitution were ANDREW N. RANKIN COLONEL JAMES B. ORR MR. JOHN RUTHRAUFF An able and highly instructive address was delivered by WILLIAM McLELLAN. A constitution was adopted. The county executive committee appointed were ANDREW N. RANKIN DR. SAMUEL G. LANE JACOB HENNINGER JACOB N. SNIDER PETER B. HOUSUM Officers elected at a meeting June 7, 1859 to serve the ensuing year as follows: President JAMES B. ORR Vice presidents: WILLIAM BOSSERT JAMES DAVISON S. ARMSTRONG BRADLEY and HENRY KEEFER Recording Secretary, WILLIAM S. EVERETT Corresponding Secretary, ANDREW N. RANKIN Treasurer, EMANUEL KUHN Managers, JOHN RUTHRAUFF J. WATSON CRAIG BENJAMIN CHAMBERS, ESQ. JACOB HEYSER PETER STENGER, ESQ. CAPTAIN SAMUEL WALKER DAVID M. LESHER WILLIAM CLINE DAVID A. WERTZ WILLIAM B. GABBY ROBERT CLUGSTON JAMES G. ELDER A fair to be held in October, continuing four days was provided for. The old society promptly turned over their assets to the new society. The Franklin County Agricultural Society was organized October 19, 1875. The board of directors were: President JAMES SCOTT Vice President DR. J. L. SUESSEROTT Secretary CALVIN GILBERT Treasurer WILLIAM HEYSER (No title was given) DR. E. CULBERTSON JAMES A. McKNIGHT JOHN P. CULBERTSON M. A. KEEFER DR. A. H. SENSENY E.J. BONEBRAKE PETER KREIGHBAUM M. A. FOLTZ W. F. EYSTER JOHN FORBES. The last board (it ceased to exist in 1882 or 1883) President DR. J. L. SUESSEROTT Vice President A. H. ETTER Secretary, CALVIN GILBERT Treasurer WILLIAM HEYSER JOHN P. CULBERTSON JAMES A McKNIGHT M. A. KEEFER E. J. BONEBRAKE M. A. FOLTZ JERE RHOADARMER N.P. GROVE A.A. SKINNER JOHN GERHIG W.P. SLAUGHENHAUPT Pet Stock Association in 1879-80 was in a flourishing condition. Its meetings were held in Repository Hall, Chambersburg. The following were the officers: President, L. L. SPRINGER Vice Presidents, REV. F. F. BAHNER, Waynesboro H. C. GREENAWALT, Fayetteville J. M. LONG, Loudon SOLOMON SELLENBERGER, Guilford DR. W. C. LANE, Orrstown JOHN CROFT, St. Thomas P. E. KREPS, Greencastle DR. MARTIN, Mercersburg H.S. GILBERT, Chambersburg C. C. SCHREBLER, Chambersburg G. R. COLLIFLOWER, Chambersburg DR. B. BOWMAN, Chambersburg Recording Secretary, W. E. TOLBERT Corresponding Secretary, T. M. NELSON Treasurer, A. H. McCULLOH Auditor, J. P. KEEFER Executive Board N.P. GROVE J. N. SNIDER REV. A. S. HARTMAN J. M. GABLE J. L. SENSENY H. C. SEIBERT Superintendent, N. P. GROVE End Chapter XI