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Boyds in Adams County, PA

History of Adams County, Chapter XXX, Adams County, PA

History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886

Part III, History of Adams County, Pages 236-247

CHAPTER XXX.

CUMBERLAND TOWNSHIP.*

* For sketch of Borough of Gettysburg, see Chapter XXV, page 181.

The principal streams of Cumberland Township are Marsh Creek and Rock Creek. Willoughby Run, which drains the center of the entire north half, is a tributary of Marsh Creek, forming a confluence with that stream opposite the Reding homestead on Tout’s farm. A number of running brooks, some with the pretensions of creeks, flow southeast into Rock Creek, while several rivulets flow southwest from the center line north and south into Marsh Creek. Rock Creek bounds the township on the east and Marsh Creek on the west, both flowing south into Maryland within a mile of each other, although they are about six miles apart in the northern district of the township. Cemetery Ridge, Seminary Ridge and Round Top (799 feet above the Atlantic level) are the prominent eminences.

The geological features are dolerite on Culp’s Hill; trap along Seminary and
Cemetery Ridges to Little Round Top; indurated mud rock, south of Rock Creek bridge; shales and altered sandstone, indurated mixed rock in railroad cut west by north of Gettysburg; argillaceous sandstone at brick-yard northeast of Gettysburg; dolerite, three-quarters of a mile northwest of Gettysburg; and white feldspathic trap one and one-half miles south of Gettysburg. In 1874 a vein of iron ore was discovered on Howell’s farm, two miles west of Gettysburg.

In 1872 iron ore was found on the Peter Gintling farm. Lignite was found
opposite the fair grounds at Gettysburg, but the vein was light and quality
poor.

Southwest of Round Top is the Indian field. Fifty-six years ago this was a
clearing of six acres in the midst of a dense forest, with a salt spring at the
southern end. Here it is said a great Indian battle was fought, and this spot
was cleared to bury the dead, although others say it was sacred festival ground.

Here the Wilsons, McNairs and Quinns, all of Revolutionary stock, are supposed to have made the first white settlements in the county.

The population of the township in 1800 was 1,263, including Gettysburg; in 1810, 863 - 436 males, 404 females, 2 slaves and 21 free colored. In Gettysburg there were 362 males, 313 females, 7 slaves and 43 free colored, aggregating 725, which with the township gives total population of 1,888 souls; in 1820, 1,022, and in Gettysburg, 1,111; in 1830, 1,010, and Gettysburg 1473; in 1840, 1,218, and Gettysburg, 1,908; in 1850 (excluding Gettysburg) 1,408, including 74 colored; in 1860, 1,325, including 67 colored; in 1870, 1,455, including 53 foreign and 91 colored citizens. The figures for 1860 and former decennial periods include the population of part of Highland. In 1880 the population outside of Gettysburg was 1,512, and of Gettysburg, 2,814.

The number of taxpayers (1886) is 460; value of real estate, $566,479; number of horses and mules, 464; cows and neat cattle, 529; value of moneys at interest, $54,905; value of trades and professions, $11,280; number of carriages, 190; gold watches, 11; silver watches, 1; acres of timber land, 1,956.

In 1809 the stone bridge over Marsh Creek at Bream’s tavern was built by William McClellan, for $2,500. The length is 115 feet, with five arches. In 1814 the Marsh Creek stone bridge on the Gettysburg and Emmittsburg road was built by John Murphy. It is 114 feet long, contains five arches and cost $3,500. In 1852 it gave place to the present wooden bridge. In 1846 Joseph Clapsaddle built the Rock Creek wooden bridge on the Harrisburg road for $850. In 1852 David S. Stoner built a wooden bridge over Marsh Creek on the road from Gettysburg to Nunnemaker’s mill, for $1,544. In 1853 John Finley erected the Rock wooden bridge on the Hanover road, near Gettysburg, for $1,490. In 1871 the 120 feet span bridge (wooden) at Horner’s mill was rebuilt at a cost of $1,345, by J. M. Pittenturf. In 1871 Gilbert & Co. erected an iron bridge over Willoughby Run, on the Gettysburg and Fairfield road, ninety feet long, for $13.45 per foot, exclusive of stone work, which was built by Perry J. Tawney.

The iron bridge at Hoffman’s, which was being built in the winter of 1885-86,
was swept away and a man named Herring drowned.

The first road repairing work done in the township after the organization of the county, was in November, 1802, when a small bridge was built over the creek on the Baltimore road near the mill known as “McAllister’s Mill.” The first road built after the establishment of the county was that from Isaac Deardorff’s mill to Gettysburgh, viewed in 1800 by Thomas Cochran, Alexander Irvine, Francis Knouse, Alexander Lecky, James Horner and Samuel Smith of Mountpleasant. The Rock Creek road, otherwise the Baltimore road, an old highway, was repaired for the first time within the bounds of Adams County in June, 1805. During that month William McPherson and Reynolds Ramsey, the road supervisors of Cumberland
Township, called on the residents for help. This call was responded to as
follows:

Rev. Alex Doblin

James McClure

Andrew Bushman

Quintin Armstrong

Robert McCurday

David Horner

Henry Black and Conrad Hoke sent each a wagon and team with one man. Jacob Sharfey

Phoutz J. Armstrong

Jacob Bushman

Robert Works

Hugh Dunwoody

Robert Thompson

Gabriel Walker

Robert McCreary

Henry Black

Michael Miller and Conrad Hoke appeared on the ground themselves, or sent their men to assist in repairing this road.

The Gettysburgh and Black’s Tavern pike was made in 1812; the Baltimore and Carlisle turnpike in 1815; the York and Gettysburg and the Chambersburg and Gettysburg pike roads are noticed in the history of other townships.

In 1859 the Gettysburg & Harrisburg Railroad was opened for traffic. February 26, 1884, the “Jay Cooke” brought in the first train over the Gettysburg & Harrisburg Railroad, and two golden spikes were driven. The road was completed and opened for regular traffic April 21, 1884, the first train north being drawn by the locomotive “South Mountain,” with Samuel Wiser, engineer; John Sawers, fireman, and Capt. Small, conductor. The second train was drawn by engine “Jay Cooke,” with Ephraim McClary, engineer; L. Bailey, fireman; Capt. C. E. Givler, conductor.

In 1869 a street railroad was built from the Hanover Railroad depot to the
Springs Hotel, right of way being granted on condition that the company would keep the streets in repair. The conditions were observed for a short time, and in failure the road was condemned.

In 1696 the Five Nations Indians were induced to sell their lands, west of the Susquehanna, to Thomas Dougan, governor of New York. Immediately after, January 13, 1696, the whole tract was deeded to William Penn for £100 sterling, or about $483. Penn then won from the Susquehannas, the original owners, their claims and subsequently satisfied a claim of the discontented Conestogas who denied the validity of the Susquehannas’ title. In 1736 a deed was given by the five tribes to John Thomas and Richard Penn for all lands west of the Susquehanna to the “setting sun.” On this title the proprietaries claimed the right to own a tract of land as large as Great Britain, and the claim was held just by the English governors.

There was also the “Carroll Tract” and “Digges’ Choice,” located in Adams
County, under titles granted to Carroll and Digges by Lord Baltimore, but for
some years this question of overstepping proprietary rights was confined to the landlords themselves.

Between 1735-36 and 1741 a number of Irish peasantry from the hills of Tyrone, Derry, Cavan, and Sligo Counties, came hither to stay, to erect a free home for themselves at the foot of the old South Mountains. The Hamiltons, Sweenys, Eddys, Boyds, Blacks, McClains, McClures, Wilsons, Agnews, Darbys and others were here, near Gettysubrg, in 1841. Then came the landlords’ agent to survey the “Manor of Maske,” and a second one to drive off the “squatters,” or obtain from them pay for the permission to work in the heat of summer and cold of winter among the rocky hills, who declared “yt if ye Chain be spread again, he wou’d stop it, and then stop ye Compass from ye Surv. Gen.” The men who resisted the survey of  the “Manor of Maske” were prosecuted, but the wisdom of the Penns prompted a fair settlement with the squatters, which resulted in the Irish peasant becoming his own laborer and master, his own tenant and landlord. This same band of fighters for the right, organized for defense against the Indians and shared in the honors of saving the frontier from many an Indian raid. This same band of peasants first saw the tyranny of the “tea tax,” and were among the first to hail the Revolution. They were among the first to recognize the liberty conventions and swear fealty to the act of such conventions in 1775. They were the men who formed McPherson’s battalion in 1775, and the Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment of the line in 1776.

They spoke bad Irish and as bad English, but their shout was heard unmistakably wherever the wave of revolution struck, and when, with their brothers of the thirteen stars, they raised the flag of the Union, they, at that moment saw the shackles fall from the husbandman, and the industry and liberty march forward over the trails and military roads cut by the retreating soldiers of Great Britain.

The German squatters in “Digges’ Choice” followed up the principle of the
squatters in the ”Manor of Maske,” but, making only a formal resistance, were on the point of being subjected, when Jacob Kitzmiller shot Dudley Digges, a son of the “landlord” and routed the sheriff. This act, and the acquittal of the peasant, shed new light on the land question, and possibly was the second paving stone in the street which is leading to ownership of land by the cultivator of the land. Does it not seem strange that here on Marsh Creek, where the Irish squatter-cultivator first fought for the ownership of his own labor, the first decisive blow was struck at colored slavery 122 years later?

The pioneers of the township came here between 1733 and 1739, from Ireland. The term “Scotch-Irish of the border” was a name given to these settlers by the colonial land grabbers of the Penn coterie (A. Boyd Hamilton, Harrisburg). The tract over which they squatted was wild land when they came; but a few years later, in 1740, the Penns named it “The Manor of the Maske.” In 1765 a list of the squatters was made out, which was recorded April 2, 1792. This list gives the name “manor,” and from it, with the aid of descendants of the old settlers, the following list of those who resided in this township is taken:

William McClellan, May, 1740        Thomas Douglass, May, 1740
John Fletcher, June, 1739              Alex. Poe, April, 1739
Robert Fletcher, May, 1741            Hugh Davis, April, 1739
Samuel Gettys (Rock Creek),1740 John Brown, May, 1741
Hugh Scott, September, 1740       Samuel Brown, May, 1741
Daniel McKeeman, Sept 1740       Samuel Eddy, March, 1741
George Kerr, October, 1740          John Stuart, March, 1741
Samuel McCullough, May, 1741    Henry McDonough, April, 1739
Alex. Stuart, April, 1741               James McNaught, May, 1740
Robert Smith, April, 1741             Myles Sweeney, March, 1741
James Thompson, May, 1741       Thomas Boyd’s heirs, March, 1741
Joseph Clugston, April, 1741        James Hall, April, 1741
John McGaughey, April, 1741       Samuel Paxton and son, March, 1741
William McCreary, April, 1740      Quintin Armstrong, April, 1741
Joseph Moore, March, 1740         John Murphy, April, 1741
David Moore, March, 1741            John McNeil, April, 1741
Hugh Woods, March, 1741           John Armstrong, April, 1740
Edward Hall, March, 1741             Andrew Thompson, May, 1741
John Linn, April, 1740                  John Leard, September, 1739
James Walker, May, 1740            Robert Black, May, 1740
Thomas Latta, May, 1740             Alex. Walker, April, 1741
David Dunwoody, March, 1741      Moses McCarley, April, 1739
Hugh Dunwoody, April, 1741

The name McPherson does not appear among the original owners. Robert McPherson was a delegate in the convention held at Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia, June 18, 1775, and took the oath of allegiance to the Union of States; he was also delegate to the great convention of 1776.

The act of the Pennsylvania Legislature, March 12, 1802, dealing with the
purchase and improvement of the “Manor of the Maske” prior to 1741, provided that the original settlers, or their heirs, who were excluded from perfecting titles to their lands, owing to State and manor boundary difficulties, be now enabled to acquire title by paying purchase money and interest thereon from 1765 to 1802 to the receiver-general of the land office. This act applied to the settlers in Butler, Menallen, Liberty, Straban, Hamiltonban and Freedom, as well as to the settlers on the east side of Marsh Creek.

The original tax payers of the township in 1799, and the assessed value of
property are given as follows:

Quintin Armstrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,052
Isaac Armstrong* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......746
John Potter Ashbough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 207
William Braden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......646
Robert Bigham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....459
Henry Black, miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 756
Adam Black, wagon-maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
Benjamin Blubough, tanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
John Bowman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 16
John Brough, hotel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . 200
Jacob Bogh, school teacher . . . . . . . . .. .... . . . 32
Boyd property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . 1,152
Christian Bender* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ..... . 925
William Crawford, physician . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,240
William Cobean†, miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,203
Capt. Alex Cobean†† . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,666
Matthias Copland†† . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . . . 875
Henry Cluts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . 873
Cornelius Cornhover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . 264
John Cunningham, tailor . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . 264
James Cox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . 530
Stophel Culp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........... . 916
James Cobean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... . . 72
Martin Cluts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .............. . . 64
Christian Culp, wheel wright . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . 207
Mathias Culp, blacksmith . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . . 182
Rev. Alex Dobbin* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . 1,222
Thomas Douglass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . . . 829
James Douglass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ . . 917
Thomas Douglass Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . . . 608
Arch. Dickey, millwright . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . 157
Hugh Dunwoodie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . 1,360
James Dickson, merchant . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . 11
David Dunwoodie Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . 1,942
David Dunwoodie, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . . 1,066
George Dunphy, weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . 127
Widow Douglass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . 82
John Dodds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........... . . 263
Samuel Edie, squire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . 986
John Ewing, tailor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... . . 137
David Edie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .............. . 80
Charles Fletcher, blacksmith . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1,157
Hugh Fergus, weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . 510
Samuel Frye, miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ . . . . 533
Jacob Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............ . 110
James Gettys†† . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . 2,314
Fleming’s heirs† . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........... . . . 900
William Guinn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... . . . . 375
George Gayer, wagon-maker . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . 7
George Gayer, Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........... . . . . 7
William Garvin, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... . . . 177
John Galloway, sadler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
George Gantz, mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Grimes & Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Conrad Hoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892
Edward Hall‡ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
Patrick Hagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726
James Hamers, blacksmith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Daniel Hack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
William Hollen, a minor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
William Hamilton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,308
Christ. Harsha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,436
Henry Hoke¹, tanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,244
Robert Horner, merchant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Jacob Harper, cordwinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Nicholas Kevehaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,106
William Klonce, cordwinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
John Kissinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
George Kerr and Kerr & Mitchell, merchants . . . . . . 837
Alex Irvine, merchant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,615
Hugh Linn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 964
Fred Long, cordwinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,020
Samuel Lisley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916
Linah Thomas, weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
John Lower, joiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Conrad Lower, joiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
William McGaughey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,121
William McCreary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
John McKallen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,586
Robert Mayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Daniel Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Robert McCurdy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,794
James McClure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863
William McPherson††† . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,551
Widow Agnes McPherson²³ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
William McClellan, squire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,516
David Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,168
Michael Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
Widow McClellan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
John Myers, merchant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
Widow Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Con. Maynag, cordwinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
John McNutt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Wyman Phillip, blacksmith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Hugh Patterson, weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Nathan Paxton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857
Samuel Patterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
George Plank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756
Christian Patzer, joiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Samuel Phillips, cordwinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Alexander Russell, squire‡ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,328
Reynolds Ramsey, merchant‡ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
John Rutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
Hugh Reed, mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Christian Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
Fred Rumble, blacksmith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Ludwick Rumble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
George Rumble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
James Rowan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
William Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918
Robert Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Jacob Shirfey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,150
Alexander Shannon, tailor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
John Sweeney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,190
Henry Spangler, blacksmith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
James Sweeney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,130
Thomas Sweeney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,196
John Shakely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
Lewis Shriver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760
Christian Stouffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Abraham Stoner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,227
James Scott, hotel‡ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,128
Walter Smith, hatter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
John Scott, hotel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
Robert Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,357
Samuel Taggert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Jacob Troxell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Robert Tate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,458
Joseph Thompson, tailor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
John Troxall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
David Troxall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
John Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
William Waikert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783
Henry Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Joseph Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903
Thomas Wible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Gabriel Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,064
George Wible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Robert Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,196
John Wible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
William Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Andrew Wible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Stephen Wible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Stephen Wible, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
John Welty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889
Henry Weaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,348
Emanuel Zigler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

* Store-house.
† Grist-mill.
†† Saw and grist-mill.
‡ Female slave, value $100.
³ Brick house, woman slave, value $25.
¹ Tanner, held male slave, value $150.
††† Holder of men slaves, value $800.
² Holder of man slave, value $150.

The single men residing in the township in 1799, were William Ashbough, potter; John Breaden, tailor; Thomas Breaden, cordwinder; George Boham, James Black, John Black, Robert Black, blacksmiths; James Black, weaver; Elisha P. Barris, Thomas Brown, weavers; Samuel Cobean, John Cluts, weavers; James Douglass, hatter; James Dobbin, Henry Duncan, joiners; William Fellons, weaver; William Hall, John Hamilton, weavers; John Hunter, weaver; Robert Hayes, lawyer; Daniel Kissinger, tanner; Jacob Long, Thomas Latta, Matthew Longwill, merchants; William McDead, mason; John McCleary, tailor; James McNevin, William McKinley,
cabinet-makers; Robert McMurdie, weaver; John McCulley, school teacher; David Moore, James McClillan, Hugh O. Dwyer, Robert Ramsay, cordwinders; James Smith, Hatter; William Sterling, John Shavey, Casper Shavey, Samuel Sloan, joiners; John Scott, miller; James Thompson, wheelwright; John Taylor, mason; and George Dodds. Many of these “single men” possessed some little property, which with the real estate and personal property assessment amounted to $103,931 as assessed by David Moore, James Gettys and Peter Weikert. The collectors were
Edward Hall and Reynolds Ramsey, the rate being 36 cents per $100.

>From 1775 to the close of 1865 this division of the State was always well
represented in the armies of the Union. During the Revolution no less than 300 men from this portion of York County participated in the battles for liberty. Prior to this time they stood as sentries on the frontier, and in the late war contributed about 2,500 men to the defense of the Union. The first actual signal of the war of 1861-65 seen in the township, was Capt. Stoneman’s four companies of cavalry from Carlisle barracks. They encamped May 6, 1861, at Horner’s mills.

The men who answered the first call for troops in 1861, residents of Cumberland Township and Gettysburg, were George Quinn, George Arendt, John Arendt, Sr., John Arendt, Jr., Joseph M. Miller, Charles M. Gallagher and Edward Welty, all of Cumberland Township. Andrew Schick, William Guinn, Thaddeus Warren, Henry Hughes, Nicholas J. Codori, Jr., James A. Lashall, Dr. T. T. Tate, Charles R. Bushey, John H. Sheads, Henry Chritzman, J. Louis McClellan, Johnson M. Skelly, Jacob Kitzmiller, George W. Myers, Henry J. Fry, John Sheads, A. P. Bollinger, Clinton Danner, Elias Sheads, Samuel George, Alex J. Tate, William Pierce, M. J.
Coble, Oscar D. McMillan, Isaac M. McClean, Samuel Vandersloot, Thaddeus S. Welty, John G. Fry, Jr., William Wilson, Frank D. Duphorn, Duncan M. C. Little, William M. C. McGonagal, Peter Warren, George A. Warner, William Wiegantt, and A. J. Cover. John T. McIllhenny was second sergeant; James Adair, fourth sergeant; Adam Doersour, Jr., W. E. Culp and Jerome Martin, of Gettysburg, corporals; William W. Little, drummer; John Culp and E. G. Fahnestock, lieutenants; P. J. Tate, quartermaster, and C. H. Buehler, captain. The company of which these men were members was mustered into Company E, Second Regiment
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

The house immediately south of the National Cemetery was built by William Guinn in 1776, and occupied July 4 of that year. It was tenanted by Catherine Guinn during the battle of Gettysburg, when thirteen shot and shell entered it, one striking the bureau near which the old lady was sitting. She was eighty-five years old in July, 1876.

CHURCHES.

The Upper Marsh Creek Church stood in what is now the desolate looking “Black’s Grave-yard.” After Mr. Black’s time the congregation pulled down the old church, and built one on North Washington Street, Gettysburg, near the Catholic Church. This was succeeded by the church of Baltimore and High Streets. In 1775 Rev. John Black became pastor of “Upper Marsh Creek.” In 1786 he, with others, was sent off to form the Carlisle Presbytery. Owing to congregational difficulties in 1790-94, he in 1794 joined a Reformed Dutch congregation near Hunterstown. His death took place August 16, 1802.

The old log church of the Reformed Presbyterians, which stood on the old
Dunwoody farm, now the David Blocher farm, on the Carlisle and Newville road was erected prior to 1774, as Morrow and Dunwoody were ordained as elders in 1753, and the society was organized April 8, the same year.

The Covenanters-Among the Scotch and Scotch-Irish settlers along Marsh and Rock Creeks were small clusters of families called “Covenanters” because they asserted that the obligation of the “Solemn League and Covenant” of their forefathers were binding upon them. Their presbytery in the mother country took the name of the Reformed Presbytery and they styled themselves Reformed Presbyterians. They had been called Cameronians in Scotland after one of their field preachers, Richard Cameron, who was beheaded in 1680. They had also been
known as Mountain People, because in times of persecution they fled to the mountains to worship in secret places.

There were seven or eight little Covenanter societies between the Susquehanna and the Blue Ridge before the arrival of their first minister from the mother country. Rev. Alexander Craighead a Presbyterian minister who sympathized with the Covenanters in their distinctive principles, preached to them for a time. One of these little societies was at Marsh Creek, and had what was called a “tent” for their public meetings not far from the site of Gettysburg. The “tent” of the Covenanters of that time is described as simply a stand in the woods with a shelter overhead, a board braced against a tree on which to lay the Bible and psalm book, and rude seats in front for the congregation over whom there was no covering but the sky. At a general meeting of delegates from the different societies held at Middle Octorora, March 4, 1744, Thomas Wilson and David Dunwoody were delegates from the Marsh Creek society.

In 1751 Rev. John Cuthbertson, the first Reformed Presbyterian minister in
America sent by the denomination in Scotland, arrived in Pennsylvania. On
September 1, 1751, Mr. Cuthbertson preached his first sermon to the Adams County Covenanters at their tent, which was not far from the residence of David Dunwoody. On April 8, 1753, was the first ordination of ruling elders of this denomination in America. Six persons were ordained, two of whom, David Dunwoody and Jeremiah Morrow, were the first ruling elders of the Covenanters about the site of Gettysburg; the former was the grandfather of Rev. Dr. J. L. Dinwiddie, the latter the grandfather of Gov. Jeremiah Morrow, of Ohio. The society soon took the name of Rock Creek Church, and built its first log meeting-house near that stream about one mile northeast of where Gettysburg now stands. In 1764 John Murphy and Andrew Branwood were ordained elders.

The Rock Creek Church at the period of the Revolution was probably the most important and influential Covenanter Church in America. They learned Rev. Alexander Dobbin became pastor of this congregation in 1774, immediately after his arrival in this country and so continued until his death in 1809. After the union of the Reformed Presbyterians and Associate Presbyterians in 1782, it became an Associate Reformed Church, and about 1804 began the erection of the first house of worship in Gettysburg. This church was “a substantial brick structure, of good size, finished in the old style, with high-backed pews, brick-paved aisles, high pulpit and huge sounding-board.” It has since been remodeled in the interior, and since 1858 has been known as the United Presbyterian Church.

The early Covenanters maintained a practical dissent against the British
Government prior to the American Revolution. They were all Whigs; not a Tory could be found among them. Their public religious services lasted four or five hours, and on communion days, often from seven to nine hours, with an intermission of fifteen minutes for lunch. Some of the lead tokens used by them at communion services are still in existence. They are about one-half an inch long, and nearly as wide, with the letters R. P. (Reformed Presbyterian) on one side, and L. S. (Lord’s Supper) and the date, 1752, on the other.

For twenty-two years Rev. John Cuthbertson was the only Covenanter pastor in America. During his first year in this country he preached on 120 days, baptized 110 children and married ten couples. Year after year he made his way in summer’s heat and winter’s storm over a region now forming four or five counties. At many of his preaching stations there were no churches for years; at such places he preached in the groves, when the weather would permit, and in private houses when the weather was not propitious. He died in 1791, after having toiled in this country nearly forty years, during which he preached on 2,452 days baptized 1,806 children, married 240 couples and rode on horseback about 70,000 miles. These facts are shown by his diary.

CEMETERIES.

The old Marsh Creek Cemetery, commonly called “McClellan’s,” is on the eastern bank of the creek a point north of the stone bridge on the Fairfield road. The headstones marking the burial places of the McClellans were moved to Evergreen Cemetery some years ago. The stones still to be found there give the following names and dates of death of aged people:

Henry McDonogh, 1758 Joseph McCleary, 1840
Rosanna Crawford, 1772 Eleanor Kincaid, 1768
Christina Deal, 1809 Hugh Dunwoodie, 1825
Sarah Jamieson, 1807 Sarah Dunwoodie, 1744
Charles Deal, 1820 David Dunwoody, 1802
Sarah Cross, 1789 Jane Dunwoody, 1781
Eliza, wife of Mark Forney, 1852 Elizabeth Dunwoody, 1789
Eliza, wife of John Butts, Sr., 1851

The old monuments to the McClellans, moved to Gettysburg, are the old fashioned slate stones. They memorialize the deaths of William McClellan, fourth, fifth and sixty; the former dying in 1831.

Black’s Cemetery takes its name from Rev. John Black, who was pastor of Upper Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church from 1775 to 1786. The church stood on the cemetery grounds, north of the Chambersburg road, until torn down about 1786. Among the straggling, crumbling monuments, the following names and dates of death are discernible:


Mary Orr, 1754 Robert McNutt, 1772
Thomas Armstrong, 1759 Charles McAlister, 1774
Mary, his wife, 1759 James McAlister, 1782
John Morrison, 1749 John Bigham, 1759
His wife, 1752 Agnes Bigham, 1749
Ann Fletcher, 1773 John Innis, 1760
Wm. Boyd, 1757 James Innis, 1766
Robert Black, 1760 Robert Innis, 1763
John Hosack, 1789 Rev. Robert McMurdie, 1796
Violet Porter, 1753 Margaret McMurdy, 1777
Wm. Porter, 1753 Andrew Thompson, 1768
Nathaniel Porter, 1749 Samuel Agnew, 1760
Wm. Boyd, Sr., unknown Mary Agnew, 1760
Thomas Boyd, 1760 Alexander Latta, 1772
Rebecca Stevenson, 1767 Hugh Martin, 1767

Many of the old monuments have been removed to Gettysburg and other places. The few remaining, as well as the venerable old home of pioneers itself, are in a deplorable condition of decay. Hance Hamilton’s monument, moved to Gettysburg some years ago, is badly shattered. It records his death, February 2, 1772, aged fifty-one years. This old settler commanded in a fight with Indians at Bellemont about 1758. The pioneer McPhersons claim some ancient monuments also in the new cemetery at Gettysburg.

The old cemeteries within the borough of Gettysburg are the German Reformed, near the church; old cemetery east of county jail; old Catholic; United Presbyterian, opposite the Catholic Church; Colored Cemetery on York road, near railroad, and Methodist, in rear of G. A. R. Post, No. 9 hall. Removals to Evergreen Cemetery and to the new Catholic Cemetery have been extensively carried out, so that the old homes of the dead are fast falling to decay. In April, 1880, the lot east of the jail was cleared of its 228 silent tenants by Samuel Herbst and a force of exhumers, some of the remains being moved to the grave-yard, where the Reformed Church stands, and some to the old cemetery. Sixty-four with headstones were placed in the Reformed Church Cemetery and twelve in Evergreen Cemetery. One hundred and fifty-two graves were unmarked.

SCHOOLS.

In April, 1800, the following named residents of Cumberland Township agreed to send their children to a school at Gettysburg to be conducted by a teacher of their own choice: David Dunwoody, Henry Hoke, Archibald Dickey, Walter Smith, Emanuel Zeigler, Hugh Dunwoody, Henry Weaver and Jacob Sell agreed to send each one child; James Scott, Joseph Little, James Duncan and Alex. Dobbin agreed to send two children each; A. Russell agreed to send three children, while George Kerr agreed to send one-half, which is interpreted to be a baby scholar. The election of teacher, which was held the same month, resulted in the choice of David Moore, Jr., over Andrew Wilson.

Thaddeus Stevens represented Gettysburg and Cumberland Township in the convention of November 4, 1834, and voted for adopting the common school system according to the act of April 1, 1834. On November 28, 1834, the school board of Gettysburg divided the borough into four school districts, and established one school for colored children. S. S. King was president, and Robert G. Harper secretary of the board. Common schools were opened January 5, 1835, in Thomas Menargh’s house, Mr.Schriener’s, Mr. McMillar’s and Mr. McClean’s; the colored school in Mrs. Keech’s house.

The postoffices in Cumberland Township are Gettysburgh and Green Mount, latter located southwest of Round Top, on the Emmittsburg road, below the old Wilson farm. It is the postal center for the greater part of Freedom Township and the southern portion of Cumberland. Mr. Bigham is in charge of the office.

MISCELLANEOUS.

On February 24, 1869, Thomas J. Lee was shot and killed by F. Weems Black at Mrs. Rosensteel’s “Wolf Hill,” two miles south of Gettysburg. Black was acquitted of murder