Area History: Warner-Beers' History of Franklin County, PA, 1887 -- Part II: Chapters V & VI
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 V. WHISKY WAR
Eleven Years of Peace - Causes of the Whisky Insurrection -
Its Prosecution and Its Subversion - Sympathy of the Militia, etc.
For eleven long years after the close of the Revolution, or until
1794, the country was at peace, save a few unimportant Indian troubles,
and as there was no one else to fight convenient to hand, some of the
people of Fayette, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Washington Counties, of
this State, concluded to get up an insurrection. Open rebellion was,
therefore, proclaimed against the Government because of the excise tax
on whisky. It was not the amount of tax on the whisky, but the principle
and the Government's selection of that favored product of the land that
fired the warlike souls of these good people. It was not any especial
love of the "craythur" as an article of regular diet that caused these
threatenings of internal war, but the fact that at that time pack-horses
were the only mode of transportation, and the raw products of the farms
could not be carried to the distant markets, except when reduced by
distillation into whisky, the people felt that the excise tax was a blow
at their industry that free men should not in any way tolerate. Hence,
nearly every farmer had his still - often this was put up before he was
able to erect his barn. Whisky was made everywhere, and, in a moderate
degree, used in nearly every family. The evidence of the public sense on
this subject of the use of intoxicants is furnished in a church trial. A
preacher was tried for drunkenness; the proof was strong and clear; but
the sessions let him off with a gentle reprimand, and returned him to
his desk. The next year the same man was put upon trial for whistling on
Sunday - conduct "unbecoming a minister, and showing a vacuity of
mind." The sessions convicted, deposed him, and sent him from his
church in disgrace. The wits of the day said he might "whistle for his
back pay."
The spirit of insurrection was not wholly confined to the western
part of the state - there were many warm sympathizers east of the
mountains. General James Chambers, in a letter to A. J. Dallas, from
Loudon Forge, September 22, 1794, says: "On the 16th inst. I arrived in
Chambersburg, and to my great astonishment I found the Rabble had raised
what they called a Liberty pole. Some of the most active of the
inhabitants were at that time absent, and, upon the whole, perhaps it
was best, as matters has since taken a violent change. When I came here
I found the magistrates had opposed the sitting of the pole up, to the
utmost of their power, but was not supported by the majority of the
Cittyzens. They wished to have the Royators Subject to the Law, and (Mr.
Justice John Riddle, John Scott, and Christian Oyster) the magistrates of
this place, informed of their zealous wish to have them brought to
justice, I advised them to call a meeting of the inhabitants to the town
on the next morning, and we would have the matter opened to them and show
the necessity of Soporting Government, Contrassed with the destruction
of one of the best governments in the world.
The meeting was duly convened in the "Coorthouse" and John Riddle
made a "very animating address" to the people. Resolutions were drawn
pledging them to support the justices in their effirts to bring the
"Royaters to Tryal." Genera Chambers then further writes to the
governor: I am now happy to have in my power to request you, Sir, to
inform his Excellency, the Governour, that these exertions has worked
the desired change. The magistrates has sent for the men, the very same
that erected the pole, and I had the pleasure of seeing them, on
Saturday Evening, Cut it down; and with the same wagon that brought it
into town they were oblidgeed to draw the remains of it out of town
again. The circumstance was mortifying, and they behaved very well. They
seem very penetent, and no person offered them any insult. It has worked
such a change, I believe we will be able Shortly to Send our Quota to
Carlisle." This letter shows the temper of the people very plainly. It
was only the great influence and firm stand by such men as General
Chambers that prevented the spirit of insurrection from becoming
general all over the state. The people were very loth to respond to
President Washington's call for troops to quell the turbulent elements
of society. Secretary Dallas, September 10, 1794, says: "According to
the information I have from several parts of the country, it appears
that the militia are unwilling to march to quell the insurrection. They
say that they are ready to march against a foreign enemy, but not against
the citizens of their own State."
August 7, 1794, President Washington called for 12,950 troops,
from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The New Jersey
and Pennsylvania troops assembled at Carlisle. Governor Mifflin, of
Pennsylvania, and Governor Richard Howell, of New Jersey, commanded
the respective troops of their state. The quota of this state was 5,196
men. The quota of Franklin County was 281 men. It was difficult to fill
these quotas, but this county recruited its number and sent them to
Carlisle. There they were met by President Washington, and the army
reviewed by him. (In his route to the western part of the State,
Washington tarried overnight, some say over Sunday, in Chambersburg,
October 11, 1794, stopping with William Morrow in a stone hotel on
South Main Street. Passing through Greencastle he was the guest of Dr.
Robert Johnson.) The Pennsylvania troops were in one division, under
command of Major General William Irvine. It was divided into three
brigades: the first commanded by General Thomas Proctor, the second by
Brigadere General Francis Murray, and the third by Brigadere General
James Chambers. In Chambers' brigade were the men from Franklin County.
The troops passed through this county, by was of Strasburg, and crossed
the mountains, passed through Fort Lyttleton, and reached Pittsburgh in
November. This display of force by the Government ended the cruel war,
and in ten days after their arrival in Pittsburgh, they started on their
return home. They came by way of Greensburg, Ligonier, Bedford, Sideling
Hill, Fort Lyttleton, Strasburg, and Shippensburg, to Carlisle, where
they were disbanded. Their entire term of service was about one month.
CHAPTER VI. FRANKLIN COUNTY ORGANIZED
Date of Erection - Petitions in Favor Of and In Opposition To
The Project - Fight Over the County Seat - The First Court-House
and First Jail - Early County Officers - Estimate of Population -
First General Election - Officials, etc.
The act of the Assembly creating Franklin County, was passed Sep-
tember 9, 1784. The county of Cumberland, the sixth formed in the
province of Pennsylvania, was erected in 1750. It embraced "all and
singular the lands lying within the said Province to the westward of
Susquehanna, and northward and westward of the county of York" (organiz-
ed the year previous). It was "bounded northward and westward with the
line of the Provience." From this vast area and ample limits were sub-
sequently constructed Bedford in 1771; a portion of Northumberland in
1772; Westmoreland from Bedford in 1773; Washington in 1781, and Fayette
in 1783 from Westmoreland. Originally comprising two-thirds of the area
of Pennsylvania, the county of Cumberland is well deserving the name
"Old Mother Cumberland."
We first hear of efforts for the formation of the county of Franklin
during the closing years of the struggle for independence in petitions
therefore in 1780; but remonstrances were poured in upon the Assembly to
postpone the subject until the Revolutionary war was over. No sooner
was the prospect of peace heightened than renewed efforts were made by
the inhabitants of the western parts of the county of Cumberland for a
division, representing "the inconveniences and hardships which they
suffer by the large extent of the said county, * * * * * the
great distance at which the said petitioners dwell from the town of
Carlisle, where the courts of justice and the public officers of the
same county are held and kept." On the 25th of March, 1782, the peti-
tions therefor were ordered by the General Assembly to be referred to
MOSES MACLEAN, MR. AGNEW and MR. MACLAY, with directions to bring in a
bill. A bill was subsequently reported and passed second reading, but
the inhabitants of "New Town" Township petitioning to have Shippensburg
included in the new county, while the inhabitants of Lurgan township
remonstrated forcibly against a division -- the whole subject was drop-
ped until the following Assembly. The next Assembly were not favorable
to the new county project, and the matter was referred by them to their
successors. The new Assembly had scarcely organized when a petition was
received from JOHN CLARK for the appointment of register for the probate
of wills for the new county to be erected out of Cumberland. This was
COLONEL JOHN CLARK, of the town of York, a brave officer of the Revolu-
tion. His application was premature. Numerous petitions for the divi-
sion of the county of Cumberland poured in upon the legislative body,
with not a few remonstrances against the same. The latter were chiefly
from Shippensburg and Lurgan township, a portion of whose inhabitants
preferred, since the former place was not considered eligible for the
county seat, to remain with the old county. On the 16th of March, 1784,
the committee to whom the petitions and remonstrances were referred
reported the following:
RESOLVED, that a new county be granted and laid out, to begin on
the York County line on the South Mountain; thence by a square
line to be run from the said beginning to the North or Blue Ridge,
leaving Shippensburg to the east of said line; thence from the
summit of the said North Mountain by the ridges dividing the waters
of Shearman's Valley from the waters of the Path Valley, to the
Gap, near the heads of the said Path Valley joining Bedford County;
thence by the Bedford County line to the Maryland line; thence by
said line to the line of York County; thence by said county line to
the place of beginning; to be called ______county; and that
the said new county town shall be established by law, at the well-
known place called Chambers Town, and not elsewhere; and that a
committee be appointed to bring in a bill accordingly.
On the 18th of March the resolution was read the second time, and
MESSRS. RUSH, COLEMAN and MCPHERSON were appointed a committee to bring
in a bill. As yet it will be seen no name mentioned in connection with
the new county project. The committee appointed were JACOB RUSH, of
Philadelphia, subsequently president judge of the courts of that city;
ROBERT COLEMAN, of Lancaster, the great iron master, and the head of
that family so intimately connected with the iron trade of Pennsylvania,
and COLONEL ROBERT McPHERSON, of York County, a brave soldier of the
Revolution, and the grandfather of HONORABLE EDWARD MCPHERSON of Gettys-
burg; a remarkable committee - gentlemen of culture, and eminent in
public affairs. To them must the credit be given of naming the county
Franklin for that patriot, sage and philosopher, whose reputation was
even then world-wide. It was a deserving honor, and the first in
successive ones which, next to the immortal Washington, has given name
to more towns and counties than any other in the American Union.
On the 25th of March the bill was reported and read the first time.
Four days after, it was read the second time and ordered to be printed.
Then followed a flood of petitions, for and against not only the divi-
sion of the county, but the location of the county seat. For the latter,
Greencastle and Shippensburg were anxious to be selected, although the
latter was unwilling to be included within the limits of the new county
unless it was thus honored. Greencastle contended that it was equally
as central as Chambers' Town, and much better situated with reference to
the back counties and to Maryland.
On the 25th of August, the Assembly took up the bill and debated it
at length, which was continued on the 30th. On the 6th of September a
clause was adopted to the effect "that the inhabitants of the new county
of Franklin should have their full proportion or share of what moneys
were raised for Cumberland County uses, after all just demands against
said county of Cumberland, before passing this act, are paid."
On the 9th of September, 1784, the bill "was enacted, and signed by
the speaker," and thus was erected the county of Franklin with Chambers'
Town as the seat of justice, "and not elsewhere."
The active parties in petitioning the Assembly for the new county
and to fix the northern boundary line at Big Spring (now Newville), so
as to include all of Hopewell Township in the county to be formed, were
JOHN RANNELLS GEORGE MATHEWS JEREMIAH TALBOT
JOHN JOHNSON OLIVER BROWN WILLIAM RANNELS
JAMES McCAMMONT JAMES CAMPBELL JOSEPH ARMSTRONG
JOHN SCOTT THOMAS CAMPBELL JAMES BROTHERTON
DR. GEORGE CLINGIN JOHN COLHOUN BENJAMIN CHAMBERS
SAMUEL ROYER JOHN HOLLIDAY BENJAMIN CHAMBERS, JR.
PAT CAMPBELL JOHN CRAWFORD JOSEPH CHAMBERS
PATRICK VANCE JOSIAH CRAWFORD JAMES CHAMBERS
NAT McDOWELL EDWARD CRAWFORD WILLIAM CHAMBERS
RICHARD BROWNSON JOHN BOGGS and others.
During the progress of the struggle to strike off the new county,
some of the people of Lurgan Township opposed the measure in toto "be-
cause the militia battalion, and the religious societies to which they
belonged, would be divided and thrown into different counties, and the
social intercourse requisite in these respects would be greatly obstruct-
ed," not to mention the burdens that would come of having to erect a new
courthouse, etc. They therefore prayed to be left quietly in Cumberland
County. The people of Greencastle wanted their town to be the county
seat, but Chambers' Town prevailed, and soon all was well, and the new
county was thus started upon her long career of prosperity and glory.
The act of the Assembly, organizing the county, appointed JAMES
MAXWELL, JAMES McCAMMONT, JOSIAH CRAWFORD, DAVID STONER and JOHN JOHN-
STON trustees, to procure ground for county buildings. The act also
provided for the county commissioners to pay over to the trustees $3,200,
to be expended in erecting a court house and jail.
September 28, 1774, COLONEL BENJAMIN CHAMBERS, by deed, for the
nominal consideration of $26.66 2/3, conveyed to the county the parcel
of ground on which the court-house stands, "to be used as a site for a
court-house and public buildings and no other," and in the same deed
conveyed to the county the lot on the north side of East Market Street,
opposite the "Washington House," for a jail.
The trustees contracted with CAPTAIN BENJAMIN CHAMBERS to build the
court-house, with DAVID and JOSHUA RIDDLE to build the jail. The cost
of the court house, which was not entirely finished until 1794, was
$4,100. The work on the jail progressed even more slowly, it not being
completed until 1797.
The old court-house was of brick, two stories high, and about fifty
feet square. It stood immediately west of the present building, its
eastern wall being about four or five feet distant from the western end
of the present court house, and it was occupied by the courts and public
offices whilst the new building was being erected. It was then torn
down and the portico and steps of the present building were put up on a
part of its site. It was well and substantially built, presented a
rather pleasing appearance, and was fully sufficient for those early