AREA HISTORY:  The Township of Chanceford, York County, PA

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History of York County, Pennsylvania.  John Gibson, Historical Editor.
Chicago: F. A. Battey Publishing Co., 1886.
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THE TOWNSHIP OF CHANCEFORD* – Page 734
* By B. F. Porter, M. D.

CHANCEFORD TOWNSHIP is bounded on the north by Fishing Creek, which separates it from Lower 
Windsor; east by the Susquehanna River, extending from the mouth of Fishing Creek to near 
Burkholder’s Ferry; west by the north branch of Muddy Creek, which separates it from Windsor 
and Hopewell Townships; and south by Lower Chanceford Township; and contains fifty and one-half 
square miles of territory.  Its population at the census of 1880 was 2,994.

In topography, the central portion is gently rolling, and the parts bordering on Fishing Creek 
and Muddy Creek are hilly, and the part bordering on the Susquehanna River is mountainous.  The 
soil, in the northern half of the township, is exceedingly rough and stony, while the southern 
half is clean and productive.  The principal stream is Otter Creek, which rises in the western 
part of the township, and flows east and southeast until it enters Lower Chanceford Township, a 
short distance from its mouth at the river.

Chanceford and Lower Chanceford were separated by an action of the court, February 15, 1806; a 
division line was run by Jesse Cornelius, surveyor, beginning at a chestnut tree, on land of 
James Gibson, at Muddy Creek, and running northeast 2,430 perches, to the Susquehanna River, 
near Burkholder’s Ferry.  Jesse Cornelius recommended that the township be called Sharon, but 
other counsel prevailed, and the name of Chanceford, retained by the upper division, was 
confirmed by the court in May, 1806.

The settlement of Chanceford was first made in the southern half of the township, about the 
year 1735, by the Scotch-Irish, a line of whose settlements extends from New Castle, Del., 
through the southern tier of counties of Pennsylvania, to the West; and a race that has 
furnished so many presidents of the United States, successful generals of the army, and in 
every walk of life, whether professional, civil or social, has given evidence of the highest 
qualities of humanity.  The settlement of the northern part of the township took place at a 
latter date.  After the Revolutionary war, some paroled Hessian prisoners located here.  Much 
of this part of the township, as before stated, is very rough, and remained in the hands of the 
proprietaries until the Revolution.  The Hessians brought their families with them.

The descendants of these people, under the benign influence of the common schools, and the 
general enlightenment of the age, are good citizens.

Recurring to the original settlers, we find them as before stated, making a settlement in a 
wilderness, and necessarily enduring privations of which we of to-day can form no idea, one of 
which, and not the least was the want of timber for building.  The country having been burned 
over by the Indians in order to improve their hunting grounds, was nearly denuded of timber; 
yet these hardy pioneers boldly meeting all disadvantages, built up homes where they could 
worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.

Among the first building put up in the township was a hotel or tavern, near what is now known 
as the York and Peachbottom road; of course it had none of the appointments of a modern first-
class hotel, but a rude building made of such material as was at hand, at which the weary 
immigrant could obtain rest and refreshment in his journey toward the setting sun.  It is told 
that one of those travelers seeing that the house had no sign, proposed to the inn keeper to 
give him one, and	suiting the action to the word, hung up a wooden shoe, known as a brogan, and 
said, “let that be the sign, and henceforth let it be known as ‘The Brogue,’” which name it 
carries to this day.

Pari passu with the settlement of the township, came the church and the schoolhouse; of the 
former we find the first to have been the Guinston congregation of the United Presbyterian 
Church, then known as the Associate Reformed Church, which was organized in 1754; and of the 
latter three are known to have existed before the Revolution.  The number seems small when 
compared with the present number (sixteen), but the results were even greater, comparatively, 
for they learned to know their rights, and the principles of liberty for which they have given 
so much labor and self-denial; so that when on the 19th of April, 1775, “a gale from the North 
brought to their ears the clash of resounding arms,” we find them true to the principles of 
liberty, and ready to seal them with their blood.  They shouldered their arms and sought the 
tented field, and even to this day in the language of the poet:

“Still from the sire the son doth hear
Of the stern strife, and carnage drear,
Of many a bloody field.
Where shivered was Old England’s spear.
And broken was her shield!”

Of their special field of service we have but meager accounts; this much we know, however, that 
two companies under Capts. Graham and Reed, left the township, and were in the dreary winter 
encampment at Valley Forge.  We are also told the Lieut. William Young of Col. McAllister’s 
flying camp, a Fort Washington prisoner, captured November 16, 1776, was exchanged December 8, 
1780, at Elizabethtown, and returned to his home in Chanceford Township, York Co., Penn., a 
distance of 166 miles.

Among the successful men who are natives of Chanceford, we may mention Rev. William Bingham, D. 
D., of Lincoln University, Rev. William G. Stewart, Rev. A. Thompson Stewart and Rev. Lemon 
Grove among clergymen; William F. Smith, M. D., now of Lower Chanceford, Joseph A. Murphy, M. 
D., now of Wilkesbarre, A. P. T. Grove, M. D., the late James Clarkson, M. D. late of Columbia, 
Penn., and A. Clarkson Smith M. D., late of Columbia, Penn., among physicians; James Smith, 
Esq., and W. F. Bay Steward, Esq., among lawyers, form a galaxy of professional men, who by 
their commanding talents, professional success and high personal standing, unite to do honor to 
the township of their birth.

In the connection we may mention another native of Chanceford, the late Johnson K. Duncan, 
brevet major-general of the Confederate army.  His record is as follows:  Admitted as a cadet 
to the military academy at West Point, July 1, 1845; graduated No. 5 in a class of forty-three 
members in June 1849; appointed brevet second lieutenant, Second Artillery, July 1, 1849; 
second lieutenant Third Artillery, October 31, 1849; first lieutenant Third Artillery, December 
24, 1853; resigned January 31, 1855; joined in the Rebellion against the United States; died 
January 1863, at Knoxville, Tenn., aged thirty-six.  While in the Confederate service, he 
commanded the defenses of New Orleans and the lower Mississippi, and was regarded as the best 
artillery officer in that service.

Agriculture is now the almost sole occupation of the people of Chanceford.  The vast 
improvement in machinery and in the management of the soil, that has marked the last half 
century, have had their effect; and the township, from having had occasionally to import grain, 
is now a large exporter of grain and many other agricultural products.  Agriculture has passed 
through several phases before coming to its present condition, which is thought to be far from 
perfection.  At first the timer was cleared off and the virgin soil cropped and recropped, 
until it would produce no more; it was then turned out, and was known as “old field.”  Then 
came the discovery that lime would renovate the soil and make it again productive, and almost 
every farmer built a lime-kiln on his place.  Limestone was hauled from the river, and wood 
used for burning it to quicklime.  It was soon found, however, that lime could be procured at 
the river already burned with coal, much more cheaply than by hauling the stone to the home 
kilns and burning it there; so the home kilns passed into decay.  Now liming has given place, 
almost completely, to the use of artificial fertilizers, such as guano, super-phosphate of 
lime, etc.  Chanceford has three flouring-mills within its borders; to wit:  Samuel Warner’s 
mill, A. S. Warner’s mill and the mill belonging to the heirs of William L. Shaw, deceased.  
These mills are confined exclusively to local custom work, and are the only manufacturing 
establishments now in the township.  In the western part of the township Sarah Ann Furnace, or 
Manor Furnace, was located.  It obtained ore from Chestnut Hill.  The ore found on the property 
proving of poor quality, and having no means of getting it but by wagon, it was soon found to 
be unprofitable, and after sixteen years, in which it was operated by different parties, it 
“blowed out,” never to be again relighted; and the stock and houses of the operatives are 
passing into shapeless ruins.  During the early part of the present century, a distillery was 
located in the northern part of the township, owned by a Mr. Witmer.

New Bridgeville is located along the river, by the canal.  James P. Robison, at present a 
member of the legislature, conducts a general store and keeps a hotel at this place.  Stony 
Island fishery, famous as a place to catch shad, is near here.

At Lockport, a short distance below New Bridgeville, there was formerly a dam across the 
Susquehanna for transporting boats over the stream to Conestoga navigation, which extended from 
Safe Harbor to Lancaster.  An extensive business was done over this route for many years.