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 Lancaster Townstead. 
 
 HOW, WHEN AND WHERE LAID OUT 
 BY THE HAMILTONS IN J 730. 
 
 THE HAMILTON ANCESTRY AND COAT OF ARMS. THE 
 
 GROUND RENTS, THE MARKET HOUSES AND THE 
 
 PUBLIC SPRING. THE POPULATION AT 
 
 VARIOUS PERIODS. 
 
 By S. M. SENER, Esq., 
 
 SMember of Lancaster Bar, Lancaster County Historical Society, 
 and Penna.-German Society, 
 
 LANCASTER, PA. 
 J90J. 
 
THE LIBRARY OF 
 CONGRESS, 
 
 Two Copies Receiveo 
 
 JUL. 5 1901 
 
 COFVRIOHT ENTRY 
 
 CLASS <*-XXe. N«r. 
 COPY B. 
 
 Copyright, May, 1901, 
 
 BY' 
 
 S. M. Sener. 
 
LANCASTER TOWNSTEAD. 
 
 "Out upon Time! It will leave no more 
 Of the things to come than the things 
 
 before." 
 On February 6, 1729, the settlers in 
 tlie back districts of Cliester county, of 
 the province of Pennsylvania, prayed 
 the Council of the province for a divi- 
 sion of the county and the formation 
 of a new county. This was approved 
 February 7, 1729. Action was promptly 
 taken, the Council acquainted the As- 
 sembly, then in session, and the peti- 
 tion was approved by them and signed 
 by the Governor, May 10, 1729. The 
 first Courts of the new county were 
 held at Postlethwaite's.near the Cones- 
 toga creek. The county seat was 
 moved, May 1, 1730, to Lancaster 
 Townstead, which had been surveyed 
 by John Jones, for James Hamilton, 
 in March, 1730. 
 
 Brief of Title. 
 
 On May 15, 1730, Andrew Hamilton 
 and Ann, his wife, for the considera- 
 tion of five shillings, conveyed two 
 lots of land for the use of the county, 
 viz.: One for the Court House site and 
 the other for the County Prison site. 
 At the same time they conveyed a lot, 
 120 feet square, for the site for a pub- 
 lic market house in the newly laid out 
 town. The Court House lot was 66 
 feet square and in the centre of the 
 town; the Prison lot was on the north 
 side of West King street, and extended 
 from Prince to Water street. The 
 Prison lots were numbered 273 and 
 274 on the Hamilton plan. Lots Nos. 
 654 and 655 were set aside for maga- 
 zine lots for the storage of powder, etc. 
 
 On April 13, 1682, William Penn 
 granted to Richard Wooler, of Gold- 
 inghame, England, five hundred acres 
 
within the province of Pennsylvania, 
 there being a one shilling quit-rent on 
 every hundred acres. Dawson Wooler, 
 son, only child and heir of Richard 
 Wooler, conveyed the land to Samuel 
 Arnold, of London, on May 28, 1714. 
 James Steel purchased a patent for this 
 land on February 7, 1732, and declared 
 that the thirty-one pounds and ten 
 shillings paid for it belonged to An- 
 drew Hamilton, of Philadelphia, and 
 asked that his name be inserted in the 
 patent, but the names of both Steel 
 and Hamilton were inserted in the 
 same. The land was surveyed in 1733. 
 On May 1, 1734, James Steel and An- 
 drew Hamilton conveyed the tract to 
 James Hamilton for five shillings. 
 When the land was conveyed, the 
 court house, jail and several other 
 buildings had already been erected on 
 the tract. This tract embraced the 
 centre of the town and the northwest- 
 ern section. 
 
 On November 13, 1717, Thomas and 
 Richard Penn issued a warrant to 
 Henry Funck for 350 acres, who gave 
 200 acres to his son, Henry, one of 
 whose heirs, John, conveyed it to the 
 Hamiltons in 1747. This embraced 
 the southeastern section of the town. 
 
 A tract was also patented to Theo- 
 dorus Eby, in 1717,and his heirs sold it 
 to Hans Musser in 1739. Dr. Adam 
 Simon Kuhn had purchased 15 acres 
 from Hans Musser on September 17, 
 1744. These tracts of land were laid 
 out into lots and known as Mussers- 
 town and Adamstown. The lots were 
 disposed of by lottery in November, 
 1744. James Hamilton purchased the 
 ground rents and balance of lots of 
 Adamstown from Dr. Kuhn on March 
 7, 1749; when Musserstown was pur- 
 chased by James Hamilton is not 
 known. 
 
 On December 31, 1717, William 
 Penn's Commissioners, Richard Hill, 
 Isaac Norris and James Logan, con- 
 
 (4) 
 
anc/ lanc/s Co/7/-/Qt/OOS 
 Ataye/nlfer 8':P/7S3. 
 
 iJOHH 
 
 BeMAMIffffSKWeY 
 
veyed unto Micliael Shank and Henry 
 Pare (Bare) four hundred acres of 
 land in Spring'town Manor, Chester 
 county, for forty pounds,the land being 
 located on the north side of the Cones- 
 toga creek. The tract had been sur- 
 veyed October 24, 1717. Henry Bare 
 sold his moiety to Michael Shank on 
 December 12, 1729, for 170 pounds, and 
 Michael Shank, on May 29, 1731, sold 
 106 acres of the tract to Samuel Bethel. 
 Samuel Bethel died about 1741, leaving 
 two children, Samuel and Mary, inter- 
 married with Samuel Boude. Parti- 
 tion proceedings were begun in 1751 
 between Samuel Bethel and Mary 
 Booide, his sister, in which Samuel got 
 possession of the land, which, in 1763, 
 he laid out into Bethelstown, said 
 Bethelstown 'being located in the south- 
 ern end of the town.What to-day(1901) 
 is known as Bethelstown, located 
 in the vicinity of Manor and Straw- 
 berry streets and Love Ijane, being 
 laid out later by Samuel Bethel on lots 
 which he had purchased from James 
 Hamilton. The partition proceedings 
 are recorded at Lancaster in the Pro- 
 thonotary's office, in Partition Book 
 No. 3, at page 1. The deed to Michael 
 Shank and Henry Bare is recorded at 
 Philadelphia, in Book A, Vol. 5, at 
 page 275, etc. 
 
 "House of Lancaster." 
 Lancaster was named after Lancas- 
 ter, Capital of Lancashire county, 
 England, the English town being 
 named after the "House of Lancaster," 
 which term was used to designate the 
 line of kings immediately descended 
 from John of Gaunt, fourth son of 
 Edward III. But the title goes back a 
 century further to the reign of Henry 
 HI., who created his second son, Ed- 
 mund, First Earl of Lancaster, in 1267. 
 From the House of Lancaster the rival 
 House of York sprang into existence. 
 Edmund, the first Earl of Lancaster, 
 differenced his father's arms of Eng- 
 land with an azure la'bel of France, 
 
 (6) 
 
charged with a golden fleur de lis, to 
 denote his French alliance. John o£ 
 Gaunt differenced with an ermine iobe, 
 derived from the ermine shield of 
 Brittany. The Plantagenet Dukes of 
 York charged each point with three 
 torteaux, derived from the Shield of 
 Wake. 
 
 Henry, the second son of Edmund, 
 differenced the English arms with an 
 azure bendlet across the shield. The 
 seal of Henry, A.D. 1350, has the figure 
 of an angel above the shield and a 
 lion on each side of it as supporters. 
 
 The seal of Thomas, second Earl of 
 Lancaster, A. D. 1320, differed some- 
 w'hat from the above. 
 
 Matilda of Lancaster had as armorial 
 bearings; to the dexter, a shield dis- 
 played of Dedburgh— or.; a cross gu.; 
 to the sinister, a shield of Ufford— or.; 
 a cross engrailed sa., containing a fleur 
 de lis for difference; in base, a loz- 
 enge of deChetworth.barrulee, arg.,and 
 gu.; an orle of martlets sa., and in chief 
 a lozenge of Lancaster. 
 
 The rose of Lancaster was a red 
 rose; the rose of York, a white rose; 
 and by intermarriage, the red and 
 white roses became the "red and 
 white" of the Tudor family, and was 
 borne as a badge by Henry VIL, to 
 symbolize the union of the factions of 
 Lancaster and York by his marriage 
 with Elizabeth of York. Scott refers 
 to this as follows: 
 
 "Let merry England proudly rear 
 Her blended Roses bought so dear." 
 
 The swan, when blazoned "proper," 
 white, with red beak and legs, was the 
 badge of the Bohuns and their de- 
 scendants, the Lancastrian Plantage- 
 nets. 
 
 The colors of the House of Lancas- 
 ter were white and blue. 
 
 The "S. S. S." on the Lancaster col- 
 lar represented the word "Sover- 
 aygne," the motto of Henry IV. 
 
 (7) 
 
The references to the arms of the 
 House of Lancaster are taken from 
 "English Heraldry," pages 136, 150, 
 155, 167, 182, 183 and 247. 
 The Hamiltons. 
 
 Andrew Hamilton was born in Scot- 
 land, in 16V 6, and of his early history 
 and parentage but little is known 
 other than that he was a descendant 
 in direct line from Sir Gilbert Hamil- 
 ton. He had evidently been involved 
 in some political difficulty at the Eng- 
 lish Court, for, when he came to this 
 country, he went for awhile by the 
 name of Trent. He first located in 
 Virginia, and subsequently in Kent 
 county, Maryland. He married a widow 
 by the name of Preeson, whose maiden 
 name was Borwn. In 1712 he went to 
 England, but returned a few years 
 later, and located in Philadelphia. He 
 was appointed Attorney General of 
 Pennsylvania in 1717, but resigned in 
 1726, and in 1727 was appointed Pro- 
 thonotary, a vacancy having occurred 
 through the death of Mr. Asheton. 
 Later he was appointed Trustee of the 
 Loan Office, and, while such, in com- 
 pany with Messrs. Graeme and Law- 
 rence, designed and built Independ- 
 ence Hall. He was in the employ of 
 the Proprietary Family from the time 
 he came to Philadelphia until his 
 death. He became owner of large land- 
 ed estates in Philadelphia, known as 
 "Bush Hill," which comprised the 
 space from Vine to Coates streets and 
 from Twelfth to Nineteenth streets, 
 and on many of the lots of this tract 
 ground rents are still collectible. 
 While practicing law his most promi- 
 nent case was the defense of John Peter 
 Zenger, indicted in New York, in 1735, 
 for libel. He died at Bush Hill in 1741. 
 In 1848 the remains of himself and 
 family, including the last one of the 
 name, were interred in a handsome 
 mausoleum in Christ churchyard, in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 His children were James, Andrew 
 and Mary. James Hamilton was twice 
 
 (8) 
 
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, 
 and the one who laid out Lancaster 
 into lots and sold them. Andrew Ham- 
 ilton, the other son, acquired land in 
 Lancaster, Easton, New Jersey, and, 
 through his wife, the property known 
 as "Woodlands," in Philadelphia; also, 
 property in Philadelphia, bounded by 
 Chestnut, Third and Dock streets. On 
 many of the properties in Lancaster 
 and Easton ground rents are still col- 
 lectible. He married Ann Fell, a 
 daughter of William Fell, and their 
 children were William and Andrew. 
 William never married and Andrew 
 married a Miss Abagail Franks, of 
 New York. Andrew Hamirtdn; "' who 
 married Ann Fell, is the one who 
 deeded the town site of Lancaster to 
 his nephew, James Hamilton. 
 
 Mary, daughter of the first Andrei' 
 who came to America, married William 
 Allen, Chief Justice of the Provincial 
 Courts, and a daughter of theirs mar- 
 ried John Penn, son of Richard Penu. 
 Mary Ann (Hamilton) Palairet was 
 a daughter of Andrew Hamilton, the 
 third in line, who had located in Eng- 
 land, and her heirs to-day, along with 
 a few others in this country, are the 
 parties to whom the ground rents col- 
 lected in Lancaster are payable. 
 The Hamilton's Anns. 
 William Hamilton, who collected the 
 rents later, was also a nephew of An- 
 drew Hamilton. William Hamilton 
 left nephews, James and Andrew Ham- 
 ilton, who collected the ground rents 
 in the beginning of the Nineteenth 
 Century. The Hamiltons were entitled 
 to bear Arms, which are described in 
 the "American Ancestry," page 84, as 
 follows: Gules, three cinque-foils, or.; 
 crest, out of ducal coronet, argent, an 
 oak tree, penetrated transversely in the 
 main stem by a frame-saw proper, the 
 frame gold, upon the blade, the word 
 "Through," sable. "English Heraldry," 
 pages 151 and 152, states that this de- 
 vice is commemorative of the escape 
 into Scotland in 1323 of Sir Gilbert 
 
 (9) 
 
Hamilton. At the Court of Edward II. 
 Sir Gilbert had unadvisedly expressed 
 admiration for Robert Bruce, on which 
 John le Despencer struck him. Despen- 
 cer fell in single combat the next day, 
 and Hamilton fled, hotly pursued, 
 northward. Near the border he and a 
 faithful esquire joined some wood-cut- 
 ters, assumed their dress, and com- 
 menced working with them on an oak 
 when the pursuers passed by. Hamil- 
 ton, saw in hand, observed his esquire 
 anxiously watching their enemies as 
 they passed and at once recalled his at- 
 tention to his woodman's duties by the 
 word "Through," thus at the same 
 time appearing to consider the cutting 
 down of the oak to be far more im- 
 portant than the presence of their pur- 
 suers. So they passed by, and Hamil- 
 ton followed in safety. This device 
 does not appear on the Hamilton seals 
 until long after the days of Bruce and 
 his admirer, Sir Gilbert Hamilton. 
 The Ground Rents 
 
 The ground rents of Lancaster com- 
 menced in 1735, the tract of land hav- 
 ing come into possession of James 
 Hamilton in May, 1734, and he having 
 laid out the town site as stated above. 
 As noted above, James Hamilton left no 
 direct heirs and William Hamilton col- 
 lected the ground rents and sold lots 
 after his death. The property was held 
 by the law of entailment and the title 
 In fee simple was not made out until 
 1815, when it was under the tenure of 
 James and Andrew Hamilton, the prop- 
 erty being then freed. 
 
 Between 1825 and 1831 the citizens of 
 Lancaster thought they were being 
 imposed upon by a number of fictitious 
 parties representing that they were au- 
 thorized; to collect ground rents, and 
 the ground rents so represented 
 amounting to thousands of dollars in 
 the aggregate, they remonstrated, and 
 on May 30th, 1831, held a public meet- 
 ing in the Market House to take some 
 action in reference to the matter. A 
 committee was appointed, but the sub- 
 
 (10) 
 
ject matter was abandoned, and John 
 Eeauclere Neuman and James Lyle, of 
 Philadelptiia, were appointed trustees, 
 and Emanuel C. Reigart, of Lancaster, 
 was their agent to collect the rents, 
 subsequently Jacob and Peter Long 
 were trustees, and then Jacob M. Long 
 was agent and afterwards trustee. 
 
 From 1S15 to 1830 Horace Binney, 
 Esq., of Philadelphia, had been trustee. 
 In the latter year partition proceedings 
 were had between Mary Ann Hamilton, 
 infant daughter of Andrew, the third 
 in line, against Horace Binney. Mary 
 Ann Hamilton married Septimus Henry 
 Palairet, of Bath, England, who was a 
 Captain of Her Majesty's Twenty-ninth 
 Regiment of Foot, which fact is shov/n 
 by an examination of the power-of-at- 
 torney to George Cadwalader, Esq., of 
 Philadelphia, dated June 8, 1843, and of 
 record at Lancaster in Letter of Attor- 
 ney Book, No. 5, at page 178. George 
 Cadwalader was also attorney-in-fact 
 for George Gregory Gardiner, et al., of 
 Bath, England, also heirs of the Hamil- 
 tons. (Evidenced in the deed from him 
 to Gerhart Metzgar, dated March 31, 
 1845, and of record at Lancaster in 
 Deed Book X.,Vol. 7,at page 494).These 
 and a few others to-day (1901) are the 
 beneficiaries of the ground rents of the 
 Hamilton estate. The present trustee 
 for collection of rents and sale of lots 
 is Henry Lively. 
 
 In early times the payment of four- 
 teen years' ground rent at one time 
 was sufficient to extinguish the same, 
 but in later days, and now (1901), it 
 was increased to twenty- years' pay- 
 ment at one time. 
 
 The Churches. 
 
 Among the lots sold by the Hamil- 
 tons were a number to the different re- 
 ligious denominations located in Lan- 
 caster in its early days, as follows: 
 
 German Reformed, lots Nos. 75 and 
 76, 7 shillings rent on each. 
 
 Moravian, lots Nos. 212, 213 and part 
 of 218, 7 shillings on each. 
 
 (H) 
 
Episcopalian, lots Nos. 34, 35 and 36, 
 7 shillings on each. 
 
 Lutheran, lots Nos. 49, 50, 51 and 
 part of 48, 7 shillings rent on each. 
 
 Catholic, lots Nos. 235, 236 and 237, 
 30 shillings rent on No. 237 and 7 shil- 
 lings on the other two. 
 
 Quakers, lots Nos. 138 and 139, 7 
 shillings rent on each. 
 
 Presbyterian, lots Nos. 19 and 491, 
 20 shillings rent. 
 
 Methodists, lots Nos. 97 and 98, 20 
 shillings on each. 
 
 Franklin College, lots Nos. C69, 670, 
 671 and 672, 60 shillings on each. 
 
 Many of the Hamilton deeds for lots 
 ■will he found by consulting Book A, 
 "Volume 6 and Book I, in the Re- 
 corder's Office, at Lancastsr. Pa. 
 
 Hickory Town. 
 In 1729, when Lancaster county was 
 laid out, John Wright, Caleb Pearce, 
 Thomas Edwards and James Mitchell 
 were the Commissioners to lay out the 
 same, John Wright surveying it. Con- 
 siiderable trouble arose as to the loca- 
 tion of the county seat, some contend- 
 ing that it should be Postlethwaite's, 
 and others that it should be on the 
 Hamilton tract, which was generally 
 known as "Hickory Town," or "Gib- 
 son's Pasture." "Hickory Town" was 
 so called from a large hickory tree 
 under which the Indians were wont to 
 assemble in their intercourse with the 
 Proprietors or their Commissioners. 
 A man named Gibson, who apparently 
 was a "squatter," lived in a cabin near 
 the spot. There were a number of 
 large swamps, one being prominently 
 known as the "Black Swamp," in the 
 tract embraced within the proposed 
 town site. The hickory tree is sup- 
 posed to have been located on East 
 King street, a few doors from Penn 
 Square. The Commissioners above 
 mentioned filed their report on Febru- 
 ary 19, 1730, Edwards excepting. The 
 report was finally adopted as to the 
 town site, and was confirmed May 1, 
 
 (12) 
 
1730, the town site being then located 
 where it now is; two miles square.with 
 streets running nearly north and south 
 and due east and west. 
 
 Lancaster Townstead was chartered 
 as a borough on May 1, 1742, and in- 
 corporated as a city on March 20, 181S, 
 John Passmore being its first Mayor. 
 In 1777 the borough corporation, de- 
 riving its existence from the authority 
 of the Crown of Great Britain, became 
 upon the Declaration of Independence 
 of Pennsylvania from the Crown, im- 
 mediately dissolved, and the General 
 Assembly, with the Hon. Thomas 
 Wharton, President of the Executive 
 Council, re-established on June 17, 
 1777. New officers were appointed and 
 a new seal adopted. 
 
 Population. 
 The following is the population of 
 Lancaster from 1790, when the first 
 census was taken, to 1900, as furnished 
 by the Secretary of the Interior, at 
 Washington, who has charge of the 
 census records: 
 
 1790 3,373 
 
 1800 4,292 
 
 1810 5,405 
 
 1890 6,G63 
 
 1830 '^.699 
 
 1840 8.417 
 
 1850 12,369 
 
 1860 17,603 
 
 1870 20,233 
 
 1880 25,769 
 
 1890 32,011 
 
 1900 41,459 
 
 A fine portrait of Andrew Hamilton, 
 the second,by Wertrauller, copied from 
 a rude original, which was destroyed, 
 was owned by Mr. Becket, of Philadel- 
 phia, and a copy of it is in the posses- 
 sion of the Historical Society of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 The Market Site. 
 On January 14, 1851, the materials 
 in the following properties were sold 
 by the city to clear the site of the 
 
 (13) 
 
market houses, the sheds which were 
 
 first erected being supplemented by 
 
 the present handsome structure in 
 
 1889: 
 
 Forney's building, 22x27 feet..$ 360.00 
 
 Printing office, 24x23 feet 150.00 
 
 Mrs.Wolf's property,17x27 feet 290.00 
 
 Mrs. Wolf's stable, 24x18 feet. 85.00 
 J. Jungling's property, 40x27 
 
 feet 420.00 
 
 J. Jungling's stable,28xl6 feet. 85.00 
 
 Hager's property, 20x30 feet.. 260.00 
 Reichenbach's property, 21x31 
 
 feet 185.00 
 
 Reichenbach'sframe shop, 20x13 
 
 feet 35.00 
 
 Adjoining hose house, 26x18 
 
 feet 56.00 
 
 Adjoining hose house, 22x29 
 
 feet 70.00 
 
 Total $1,996.00 
 
 The land had been purchased from — 
 
 J. Jungling's lot and house $ 6,250 
 
 Mrs. S. Wolf's lot and house...? 3,300 
 
 C. Hager's lot and house 3,000 
 
 J. W. Forney's lot and house.. 3,700 
 G. W. Reichenbach's lot and 
 
 house 16,600 
 
 Total ?32,850 
 
 The old sheds cost $8,042.43, the late 
 John Sehner being superintendent of 
 the building operations. The present 
 structure cost $27,000. 
 
 The first market house erected was 
 on High street (West King), and of 
 this building there are no records ex- 
 tant. In 1798 the building was en- 
 larged by the addition of a superstruc- 
 ture for the use of Lodge No. 43, F. 
 and A. M., Gottlieb Sehner being the 
 builder. 
 
 The Public Spring. 
 Part of lot No. 730, located on Mul- 
 berry street, which is described as 
 being bounded by lot No. 731 on the 
 north, by an alley on the south, on the 
 east by an alley, and on the west by 
 Mulberry street, contained a reserva- 
 
 (14) 
 
tiou to the effect that "a line be drawn 
 so as to form a triangle at a spring by- 
 cutting off ten feet from the eastern 
 and ten feet from the southern bound- 
 aries of said lot, which spring and 
 angle shall be and remain forever for 
 the use of the inhabitants of the bor- 
 ough." This the Hamiltons evidently 
 intended should be used as a public 
 spring, and no doubt gave the name, 
 "Spring Garden street," to Mulberry 
 street, by which name it was known in 
 early days. The historian and anti- 
 quarian to-day ask, "Where is that 
 spring?" but they ask in vain. The 
 old deed for the city market stated that 
 it should be "used as a market place 
 forever." Both "market house" and 
 "spring garden" have outlived the pur- 
 poses for which they were created, and 
 have been swallowed up in the "Greater 
 Lancaster," which has taken the place 
 of the "Lancaster Townstead" of the 
 Hamiltons. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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