Misc: THE SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENT OF DONEGAL, LANCASTER COUNTY, PA. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Skippi M. lorskip@frontiernet.net USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material.These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. ____________________________________________________________ THE SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENT OF DONEGAL, LANCASTER COUNTY, PA. The following article was originally written by Samuel EVANS, Esq. Of Columbia and was presented at the 8th Congress of the Scotch-Irish Society of America, which was held in Harrisburg, (PA.) in 1896: In the years 1718, 1719, and 1720 a large number of Scotch-Irish from Donegal and Derry, in Ireland, arrived at New Castle, Delaware. They were all Presbyterians, and evidently had been well educated. They were a stalwart race, and fitted to found a new settlement in the wilderness of Pennsylvania. They at once pushed forward to the Conestoga River, then the frontier line. After arriving there they forced the line ten miles farther back into the wilderness, along Chicques Creek and the streams running into it. They selected from two to three hundred acres each, and immediately commenced the erection of log dwellings, after which the next and most important of their acts was to organization of the infant community into a Presbyterian congregation. The following is the list of the settlers prior to 1722: James GALBRAITH Sr. and his sons, Andrew, James, and John Robert WILKINS and his sons, Thomas, William, Peter and John Gordon HOWARD and his sons, Thomas and Joseph George STEUART, Esq. and his son, John Peter ALLEN James RODDY, and James And Alexander HUTCHINSON John and Robert SPEAR Hugh, Henry and Moses WHITE Robert McFARLAND and his sons, Robert and James James PATTERSON Richard ALLISON Patrick CAMPBELLL Robert MIDDLETON Thomas BAYLY Aenas DAVENPORT James SMITH Three Samuel SMITH’S James KYLE James MITCHELL Thomas MITCHELL John STERRETT Benjamin STERRETT Joseph WORK Ephraim LYTLE David Mc CLURE Samuel FULTON Alexander McKLEAN Robert BUCHANNAN Arthur BUCHANNAN James CUNNINGHAM William MAYBEE William HAY Henry BAILEY John TAYLOR William BRYAN John KARR Malcom KARR Edward DOUGHERTY John SCOTT Hugh SCOTT These are the men who organized Donegal Church in 1721, and Donegal Township in 1722. John GALBRAITH built the first grist and sawmill, located on Donegal Run. James RODDY built a mill on Chicques Creek. Patrick CAMPBELL and John GALBRAITH erected the first ordinaries. The number of settlers who came from Donegal and Derry between 1722 and 1730 was very large. There were several Indian towns within the limits of Donegal when it was erected into a township in 1722, and in their vicinity were located several French Indian traders, among whom were BIZALLION, LE TORT, CHARTIERE, and MARIANDA. Our Scotch-Irish settlers soon discovered the possibilities of accumulating a competency more rapidly than by farming, by engaging in the Indian trade. The following are the names of those who embarked in this enterprise: Robert WILKINS, William WILKINS, Thomas WILKINS, Peter WILKINS, John WILKINS, James SMITH, two Samuel SMITHS, Gordon and Thomas HOWARD, Patrick CAMPBELL, Jonas DAVENPORT, James PATERSON, John GALBRAITH, Thomas HARRIS, Lazarus LOWPEY, James HARRIS, John KELLY, Thomas MITCHELL, and Henry BAILEY. These men blazed their way across the mountains as early as 1727, to trade with the Indians along the Ohio. They and their sons continued to carry on this profitable but dangerous business for many years. They traveled from the lakes to the Mississippi, and south to the Catawaba Indians. They were the pioneers that led the way for the actual settlers. The Pennsylvania traders became so numerous, and their influence with the western Indians so great, that the French became jealous of their power, and finally incited many of the tribes to a war of extermination against the English traders. These traders of Donegal suffered great losses, but many of them continued in the business and grew rich. Donegal Church was organized in 1721. Andrew GALBRAITH, one of the elders, in August, 1721, rode to New Castle, on the Delaware, and asked the Presbytery for a minister to supply the congregation. They were so much impressed with the zeal manifested by Mr. GALBRAITH in behalf of his friends and neighbors…………………………………………………(end pg.29)