Yale University Library

' *^Hil-'*

s' *i ; ^ '

I;

'•^'ff

^^^^^H

^^^^^H

^^^^^I&"

^^^^^^^^^^^^H|

^^^^^^^^^BBbSI

|H^^^^!^^«-7^^ '

^^^^^^^^^^^1

^^H^^h^HhHh

HBji^^^^^s ,*-^ '

^^^^H^^H

^^BSB^^^K

l^^^ffi^^'"^ ^''*

^^l^^l^l

^^^^hHB^s

^^gBi'^v^V"

^^^^^^^^^^^H

^HH^^^^M^^HE

M^^(m^ '-/"f -*

^I^^^^B

^B^H^^^

^^1*%'^'' ^

^^^^^H^^^^H

¦^HBBSh^^^I^

'™* ^ 'j't.;'^'"

^^^H^H

Mn^H^S

i»-.

^^^^^^^i^^^^^i

^HB^BEKg^Dap^i^^

^^^^^I^^RH
WSI^^^e!@^'^
-fiV"
^HI^BBH
^^^^^^^^4
?
HhH
^si'^r
^^B^SS^^^^
^^^P*i^v'
HHni^^^
^P*4f' '¦• • ¦
HHn^ra^^
'¦H5*-' "
HBBWmi^^^wa^
^j^"'-'^ '
^BHKa^l^ugtA^^^
'L? '*
HE^^^^^^k" 't )
K^^^^^4^ -^
^^wI4'.f•^'"
¦
'
^^^^^
H.'^i^r-; , ' >
f i
{ r-
YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY Gift of
Professor Taft

THE AUTHOR

Zhc Stot^ of
Xancaster: ©lb an6 Mew
Being a Nakeativb History of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, from 1730 to the Centennial
Year, 1918 by
WILLIAM RIDDLE
Author of "Nicholas Comenius, or Ye Pennsylvania Schoolmaster of ye
Olden Time," "One Hundred and Fifty Years of School History in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania," " The Founder' s Return," "A Tribute
to Old Lancaster," and "Cherished Memories."

Dedicated to the Citizens of "New Lancaster"

WITH %2 ILLUSTRATIONS

LANCASTER, PA.
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
1917

Copyrighted, 1917
By William Riddle

PRESS OF
THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY
LANCASTER. PA.

INTRODUCTION
Much has been written of the early history of
Lancaster city, but it remained for the present
octogenarian author to unearth facts of interest, of
no Uttle moment, hitherto unpubhshed. In his
assiduous researches he uncovered records to which
previous historians apparently had not access. The
result is a volume that contributes valuable addition
to the store of local historical chronology.
The work, however, is not a mere insipid recital
of dates with their associate incidents. With the
historical fact is woven a narrative in which Kberal
scope is given to the play of the imagiaation, senti
ment and romance. The old life of the community
is contrasted entertainingly with the new. Informa
tive deductions are drawn therefrom, upon wliich
the author, from time to time, philosophizes, basing
his conclusions upon the varied experiences and
analytical observations of a long life.
The narrative opens with an account of the estab
lishment in Lancaster of the county seat, and con
tinues through the colonial period down to the time
of the city's incorporation. This period, when the
government was administered by the Burgesses, is
described with much detail that portrays the pic
turesque and piquant flavor of the time. Instances
in which the author finds praise worthy to be de
served, it is bestowed freely, and when censure is

IV LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
felt to be warranted it is not withheld. StUl, "the
quality of mercy is not strained," but the reader
will be gratified to discover that, in the unbiased
judgment of the author, there is more to laud than
to condemn.
Following 1818, when the city was granted its
charter, the narrative continues through several
administrations of the early Mayors, relating to the
slow but soKd development of the municipality.
This brings the record to a period within the author's
recollection and affords him opportunity to indulge
in reminiscences of his childhood, many incidents of
wliich are vividly told.
Pubhshed on the advent of the city's centennial
anniversary, the volume has special timeliness and
it will occupy its just place as one of the outstanding
features of the celebration. But as an epitome of
the cardinal events in the pioneer days of this com
munity, conspicuous for its share in the building of
the State and Nation, it wiU serve a much larger
purpose as a residuum of ready and permanent
reference for all future time.
Perusal of the work wiU stimulate and foster local
pride. As the author well says, too Httle is known
by the present generation of the deeds of their sires,
and the community that enjoys a heritage of history
so abundantly rich in praiseworthy achievement as
Lancaster, is lamentably lacking when it fails either
in acquiring knowledge of the facts or in doing them
reverence.
B. Ovid Musselman.

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE
It was in the year 1905 that the chronicler issued
his " One Hundred and Fifty Years of School History
of Lancaster, Pennsylvania." This somewhat com
prehensive work, having met with the hearty ap
proval of aU classes interested in our public school
system, naturally created a desire on the part of
the compiler to follow it with a narrative of Lan
caster as a municipality. Having gone through
several histories of city and county, it soon became
evident that they were intended as books of reference
rather than to be read by the average reader, who
has little time to leaf over five or six hundred pages
in getting what might be had out of a smaller volume
written in the shape of a narrative.
Three reasons may be given for entering upon this
work at the age of four score, when most men are
content to rest from their labors after a somewhat
long, busy life. The first, that the chronicler was
born in "Old Lancaster," in the year 1837; the
second, to be kept busy, feeling that the secret of
old age isn't so much that of years, as in keeping
the mind employed, if not in a business sense, at
least in a line of work conducive to peace and con
tentment. In both of these, the chronicler has
found the pleasure afforded as old age comes creep
ing on.
The third and all-important reason is yet to be

vi LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
Stated. For many years the writer had been looking
forward to 1918, when the various city organizations
might meet to arrange to celebrate, in a becoming
way, the one hundredth anniversary of Lancaster,
which dates back to 1742, when the townstead be
came a borough under the charter by Act of Assembly
of the Province of Pennsylvania.
There was still one other reason for turning
chronicler — a desire to aid in keeping the name
Lancaster on the map, and where it might be seen
by men with money to invest, on their way from the
Pacific to the Atlantic, instead of going to either
New York or Philadelphia for bargains. These,
I knew, could be had right in my own home town,
whether the passenger station remain where it is or
be removed to the cut-off.
With the chronicler the town's future doesn't,
after aU, rest so much in the location of the station,
as in the people themselves. Instead of showing
the city's advantages as a center of intellectual
worth and hterary attainment, it has become a
chronic habit with otherwise well-meaning people to
discount their own home city on the principle that
"'tis distance lends enchantment to the view."
The chronicler has ofttimes listened to praise
showered upon the progressiveness of other towns
when contrasted with their own home city of Lan
caster. Conclusions are only too frequently hastily
reached in prospective, of this or that city's inner
life, without reflecting for a moment concerning its
own worries and troubles.
Unless greatly mistaken, it is the rule rather than

AUTHOR'S PREFACE vii
the exception for those who have resided in Lan
caster for any length of time, to speak in the fuUness
of their hearts of our town's social, industrial and
commercial fife, as not excelled by any other city
in the union of states.
With a good many of our city's otherwise well-
thinking people it is famiharity breeds contempt;
they know not, nor do they seem to care for Lan
caster's past, and how, from a village of a few
hundred it has gradually grown — if by slow strides —
to its present status of over fifty thousand inhabi
tants, in possession of a heritage of which any people
might well feel proud.
In order then to aid all interested in Lancaster's
present and future, it shall be the chronicler's purpose
to carry them back in imagination to the year 1742,
and thence almost to the beginning of this twentieth
century. We have reason to feel that, after having
shown how "Old Lancaster" started, confronting
almost insurmountable obstacles, there may be much
to praise and little to condemn.
If the author at times gives way to his inward
emotions in passing judgment on prevaiUng condi
tions, he is only exercising a God-given right to
discuss in his own way what he beheves is for the
city's present and future. We have ofttimes over
heard men speak exultingly of progress made by
this or that other municipahty, and yet, when asked
to contribute the widow's mite in making their own
more healthy, beautiful and enterprising as a place
in which to bring up their famihes, they go their
way, saying, "As the town was good enough for

vm LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
our ancestors, it ought to be good enough for our
descendants." Possibly, in the union of states there may be other
cities more desirable in which to dwell, but we
doubt it I While it might be better, it will compare
favorably with the great majority of other Pennsyl
vania towns of high or low degree. It shall be shown,
and without mahce, that Lancaster didn't spring up
over night like a western mushroom town with more
unoccupied space than can be covered with homes
for a century to come. Of course, it may not suit
everybody's whims and caprices, and yet where can
be found a better class of dwellers than right here in
the center of the richest agricultural county in
America? If our local government doesn't suit those
who vote "straight" and do the growhng on their
way home from the polls, they have it in their power
to change conditions. But the chronicler's experi
ence, running back a good many years, is that, as a
community, we cKng too closely to our former habits
and traditions. It should not be forgotten that,
while we are not living back in the days of our fore
fathers, when young and old, rich and poor lived
as happily together without strangers as with them,
we have inherited some of their slow-going ways.
But, as the reader shall in due time learn, these were
not at all times a disadvantage. It may be within
the recollection of many of our citizens to recall
how, a third of a century ago, certain industrial
cities of the State were thrown into a panic over the
failure of a number of big concerns. At the time
Lancaster, with its smaller industries, had met with
few failures.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE ix
However, since the seventies, as a city we have
become more liberally disposed in throwing wide
open the town's gates to aU who may enter as law-
abiding citizens in trying to make the city what it
must eventually become — a "Greater Lancaster."
But, after all, much depends on the meaning of this
slogan, so frequently indulged in by the enthusiast
without any clearly defined idea of its significance.
A greater Lancaster doesn't by any means consist
alone in spreading out beyond the town's limits of
two miles square. While this may seem desirable,
there is stiU much of "Old Lancaster" that needs
looking after. No city is judged alone by the
number of acres it covers. Men who have settled
in Lancaster have done so largely on account of its
home life, its churches, and schools. Of course,
without industries — and the more the better — the
city of Lancaster would drift back to its former
status when the town's people lived largely by, for
and within themselves.
At no time withn the chronicler's recollection
have the people as a class shown a greater spirit of
progress than at the present day, in keeping the
name Lancaster on the map. This is no newly
coined term; it was in vogue during Revolutionary
times when the patriotic men and women of "Old
Lancaster" were in no way found wanting in their
devotion to home and country.
In giving expression to another line of thought,
the average twentieth-century citizen has httle time
for what is old. Friends passed away are remem
bered but for a short time and then forgotten —

X LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
unless, perchance, a legacy be forthcoming. Friend
ships such as existed when men wore crepe on the
left arm for thirty days as a mark of respect for the
departed, is considered a useless waste of the raw
material, better suited for other purposes. Old land
marks are swept aside with impunity, even though
one or the other be the homestead of this or that
dweller in which he was born and reared.
We go in search of the almighty doUar, or, if not
for the dollar, at least for the man who possesses it.
Happily men of this kind are the exception. We
verily beheve there is no other city in the union of
states in which the well-to-do are more liberally
disposed in helping along every worthy cause than
right here in "New Lancaster." This has been
made only too clear when "calls" for charity and
other beneficent purposes are made in a becoming
spirit. As for our city's rehgious, moral and social
life, it might be improved, and yet the chronicler is
of the opinion that it wiU compare favorably with
other cities in the forty-eight states of the Union.
However, it is reaUy astonishing how httle is
known by the average person of how the town grew
from an insignificant hamlet of a few hundred in
1730 to an empire surrounded by aU the comforts
wliich should in no way make us envious even of
our neighbors hving on the opposite hues of our two
miles square. But one of these days they will be
knocking at the door for entrance to our municipahty
to help to pay the city taxes! But why become
envious.I* Health and wealth we have, some with
more, others with less; and yet few have cause to

AUTHOR'S PREFACE xi
complain. Of one thing there isn't any shortage as
in times gone by — filtered water — with an ample
supply to be either used or wasted. Think of seven
million gallons consumed daily by the fifty thousand
of the city's inhabitants! The only way to account
for the quantity consumed every twenty-four hours
is that it has taken the place of such stimulants as
used to be indulged in when "muddy" water drove
a good many of the male population to resort to
other means of quenching an inherent thirst. So
let us be thankful for small favors, with larger ones
in proportion.
And these larger ones are our churches, our schools,
our Lancaster County Historical Society, the A.
Herr Smith Memorial Library, the Young Men's
and Young Women's Christian Associations, the
Iris Club, Patriotic Daughters of the Revolution,
Stevens Industrial School, hospitals, the Long Home
and the Home for Friendless Children, not to over
look the ministerial workers, whom some people
don't hke for a way they have of meddhng with
their own private affairs. However, with a little
patience, they may learn of how the Burgesses had
the town constable patrol the streets of the town-
stead, gathering in all tipplers and other violators
of Acts of Assembly.
Of parks we have our Buchanan, Long, Rocky
Springs and, last though not least, our Wilhamson's —
a "place of beauty and a joy forever," especially
during the "good old summer time." In addition,
we have our Chamber of Commerce, City Councils,
with the hope that they may pull together instead

xii LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
of apart in making the coining Centennial of Lan
caster's first century as a municipahty a crowmng
success. We know that our system of street cars,
the best in the country, wiU joui with the Auto
mobile Club in making the occasion a complete
success. Then, with the Brunswick, Stevens, and
others, not to forget our picture shows.
To have one's lot cast in such a favored spot as
Lancaster, what more could any people desire.^
What more.** Only that our schools do their part in
creating a greater love for their county's history!
What signifies a mind overcrowded with non-
essentials.5 Ask any high school boy the simplest
question relating to the city of his birth, and the
chances are his reply will cause you to think that
much of our free-school education is out of pro
portion to its cost.
And here to conclude the preface, let aU boys
stand up and take notice! What aU school boards
have a right to expect for the money invested is to
know that a substantial return follows in the making
of good citizens, loyal in time of peace and equally
loyal in time of war. Without the love of parents,
home and country, aU education coimts for naught.
This is equally apphcable to girls.
To finally conclude with what another has written,
and which are the author's sentiments: "I love my
home better than any other home, my city better
than any other city, my county better than any
other county, my State better than any other in
the Union, and my country better than any other
country in the world."
The Author.

CONTENTS
Introduction  iii
Author's Preface  v
A Prehminary War Episode  1
Part I
Chapter I. The Start of the Town in 1730  10
II. The Hearty Greeting of a Long-lost
Volume  22
III. Continuation of Complaints by the In
habitants  34
IV. An Awakening of the Borough of "Old
Lancaster" to Higher Ideals  46
V. The Incoming of a New Era for the
Borough of Lancaster  60
VI. The Election of Burgess Edward Hand,
of Revolutionary Fame  72
VII. Recommendation by the Grand Inquest,
Resulting in the Building of City
HaU  85
VIII. Opinion of City SoUcitor Slaymaker as
to the Founder's Bequest  96
IX. The Estabhshing of a Bank in Lan
caster  106
Part II
X. Lancaster a City after Seventy-six
Years of Burgess Rule  121
2 xiii

Xiv LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
XI. The Incoming of the Railroad Through
Lancaster  141
XII. Our Venerated Grandmothers and "
Granddaughters  160
XIII. Forcing the Water from the Old City
MiU into the City  176
XIV. The Ambition of Lancaster to Become
the Capital of the State  184
XV. Move for a Court of Appeal The Tax
payers' Redress  197
XVI. Society of Master Mechanics for the
Poor Boys of Lancaster  207
XVII. First Move to Bring Gas Into the City
Very Discouraging  216
XVIII. DismantUng of the Old JaU, and Build
ing of the New Prison. James Bu
chanan's Bequest  226
XIX. Removal of CouncUs and Court from
the Court House to Fulton Hall  240
XX. Lancaster Jockey Club. Two-forty on
the Plank Road for Speeders  249
XXI. Changes in City Life are Like the
Changes of the Seasons  261
XXII. Nine Years of Municipal Rule of the
Much-respected George Sanderson. . 271
Index  283

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Author  Frontispiece
The Liberty Bell  Facing p. 4
Birds-Eye View of Old Lancaster . . " " 10
Postlethwait's Tavern  " " 15
James Hamilton, Founder of Lan
caster, Pa  " " 24
West King Street about 1850  " " 51
Conestoga Wagon  75
Old Colonial Fireplace  109
George Ross Mansion in Colomal Times  109
Old Jail, West King and Prince Streets  120
Modern Jail, as it Stood About 1852  120
North Queen Street After Completion of Rail
road  154
General Lafayette  Facing p. 164
Old Buildings in Lancaster City .... " "180
Old Water Works, Built 1836-7 ..." " 180
Water Committee which Built Pres
ent Water Works  " "194
View of Water Works about 1900 ..." " 202
The Old Court House  " "234
City HaU as it Appeared in 1855 ... " " 244
FrankUn College  " "253
FrankUn and MarshaU CoUege, Built
1854  " "256
Center Square as it Appears Today . " " 270

Lancaster : Old and new

A PRELIMINARY WAR EPISODE
It was after penning the preface, happy in the
thought of what the harvest was to be, that the
ringing of beUs and the blowing of whistles, came to
remind the narrator that the only kind of a story
worth the reading at the present time would be a
war episode.
It was along at the time the first contingent of
young soldier boys went their way to the Rio
Grande, there to uphold the nation's flag of red,
white and blue. Months had gone by with the
danger of war with Mexico subsiding, when came the
President's proclamation, caUing the young men to
do battle in a foreign land. Reaching the station,
in paying a last tribute to the boys, surrounded by
mothers and sweethearts, it was only the octo
genarian's age that kept him from joining the ranks.
Meeting with a war veteran who had done service
in the war between the States during the sixties of
the past century, as we stroUed our way to the
author's "den," he had many a graphic story to
relate of bygone days. Entering, and after glancing
the preface over, he exclaimed, "You, my octo
genarian friend, have undertaken a most com
mendable work in starting to write the story of
your own native city, but you must not forget to pay
homage to the boys who have enUsted to do honor
to their Country's flag of red, white and blue."
1

2 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
And, as we sat discussing the war, in his versatile
way he related the foUowing episode, which the
chronicler has decided to weave into his narrative
as preliminary. And while it has httle bearing on
what is to follow in the story's evolution, it may
be in keeping with these war times. And so, as it
came it shall pass muster with no apology on the
part of the octogenarian author. Bracing himself
in his easy rechning chair, his visitor began:
"It was during my boyhood, away back in the
middle fifties of the past century, that a lad of
my own age was taken by his father on a packet-
boat from Reigart's Landing by canal and tide
water to the Chesapeake, thence up through another
canal to the Delaware River, on the opposite side
of which stood the great big town of PhUdelphy,
as we lads caUed what has since become the city of
'Brotherly Love.'
"For days we stay-at-home lads hung round the
wharf, awaiting the return of the packet-boat.
And so, one July evening, from off the boat our
visiting lad stepped, and so styhshly dressed that,
for a time, none of us waiting lads knew him! This
was owing to the fact that he had been taken to a
Phildelphy tailor and fitted out in a brand new
suit of red, white and blue; red jacket, white cap,
blue trousers. Instead of kips, such as we poor lads
wore, on his feet were a pair of calfskin with red
tops! But what made us poor stay-at-homers so
thumpin' mad was, that our daddies didn't have the
big, round silver doUars to pay our way to Phildelphy
on the 'Edward Coleman'! Putting our heads

A PRELIMINARY WAR EPISODE 3
together we just made up our minds to dump him
overboard into the Conestoga! But catching on to
the trick, he took us aU into the cabin, where he
emptied his pockets of his Phildelphy goodies.
"Dropped him overboard! No, bless you, no!
We dubbed him 'Red, White and Blue,' a nickname
by which he was known imtU the breaking out of the
great war of the sixties, when he enUsted to be
dubbed the 'Little Color Bearer' in carrying the
flag of red, white and blue.
"But not to get ahead of my story: It was only
after patting him on the back that he began teUing
us town 'greenies' that he had stopped at the
'BuU's Head,' one of the biggest taverns in the
town of Phildelphy with so many rooms that he
couldn't count them. And as for the size of the
town of Phildelphy, one of the constables had told
him that it was so big that it couldn't be seen for
the houses! This was such a puzzler that not one
of us home-chappies could get into our heads by
either the single or double rule o' three.
"At last, in deahng out another supply of 'love-
letters,' he told us aU about a visit he had made to
'Independence HaU,' to see what had been told him
was the 'Liberty BeU.' But, oh glory, when he
drew from his blue jacket pocket a picture of the
'beU,' and a Ukeness of George Washington, the
Father of his Country, and who had never told a
'fib' even to his mother, somehow or other we aU
got to like our boy-traveler the more for having
been to PhUdelphy to see the 'sights'! But when
one of our 'gang' asked him why he hadn't brought

4 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
the beU with him so that we might take a good look
at it, he only smUed one of his PhUdelphy smUes,
adding that we were too dumb to get in out of the
rain. This siUy question was asked because, at the
time, the Liberty BeU to our muids didn't differ
except in size from the one which hung high up in
the belfry of the Lutheran steeple. Again, American
history hadn't as yet been taught in the lower grades
of schools.
"As further recaUed after these many years, our
boy visitor to PhUdelphy hadn't a word to say of
how, in 1776, the BeU had pealed out the glad tidings
of how the colonies had freed themselves from
Great Britain's rule. Altogether, toTour untutored
minds, it was just the kind of a beU as had caUed
us boys to Sabbath school on each recurring Sunday.
"If, then," continued my veteran friend, with a
twinkle of his deep-sunken eyes, " 'The Liberty BeU'
was viewed by us lads more through curiosity than
for the cause it represented, how different in this
twentieth century! Why, only a year or two ago
it was carried, draped with the Stars and Stripes,
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Lakes
to the GuK for the admiration of young and old.
"Ah, yes," he went on in his reminiscent way, "it
took almost a century to revive the latent spirit of
Revolutionary times; but now, wherever the 'BeU'
goes, words of good cheer go forth for this emblem
of our country's greatness and glory!" Rising to
his feet, with outstretched arm he asked, "Where
in the union of states Uves there a young man who
wouldn't buckle on the armor in defence of the cause

Courtesy Portland Oregonian

THE LIBERTY BELL

A PRELIMINARY WAR EPISODE 5
for which the 'Liberty BeU' stands, the preservation
of the Stars and Stripes of the 'flag' of red, white
and blue. I*
"Do you know," he continued, resuming his seat,
"that foUowing the great war, I was given to think
ing that patriotism was one of the lost virtues, but
with war and rumors of war resounding in our ears,
I am inchned to the opinion that the same spirit
of patriotic devotion to our country and its flag is
as dominant as in the year 1861 when the young
soldiers marched in defence of an undivided union
of states."
Drawing from his vest-pocket a sUp of paper on
which was a miniature picture of the United States
flag, he read the foUowing:

For right is right, since God is God,
And right the day must win,
To doubt would be disloyalty.
To falter would be sin.
Glancing at his timepiece, he was about to depart
when, hesitating, he went on uninterrupted, "You
would scarcely beheve that it was only a week ago
that my boy-comrade of more than sixty years ago
and your veteran friend went our way to the great
big city of Philadelphia, not however, on a packet
boat but in an automobile, both as octogenarians.
Viewed through his narrow boy vision, its streets
were hghted by the dim gas lamps, but now by elec
tricity, making night almost as bright as day.

6 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"It's a great age, isn't it.»" he continued, as his
voice grew stronger; "Why, think of it, seven de
cades ago, my young chummy rode in an omnibus;
later, on this our visit, we took the underground tube
from the Pennsylvania station to the Delaware. At
the time referred to, 'Old PhUdelphy' extended but
a short distance west of the SchuyUdU, beyond which
even Fairmount Park was Uttle more than an un
broken wilderness — now a perfect ' Garden of Eden,'
and wherein even Adam and his beloved Eve would
be wiUing to rest content were they permitted to
return to Uve their lives over in this earthly Para
dise." Rushing to the window, my veteran exclaimed,
"Whence comes the music reaching our ears? Oh,
it's only the town-band saluting more of the young
soldier boys on their way to the recruiting stations;
but mark an octogenarian's predictions, it won't be
many days imtU the letter carrier wiU be coining
along with letters for sweethearts and dear old
mothers! "And now," resuming his seat, "have you ever
seen a mother clasp her son to her bosom as he
stepped over the threshold to go forth in patriotic
devotion in support of home and country.^ This is
what happened more than half a century ago, and
may happen again. Who can teU.^>
" In mention of letter carriers," he resumed, "have
you ever seen a fond, anxious-hearted mother
standing at the front door, awaiting the carrier as
he approaches with a bundle of letters, but none
from her dear boy? But watch this same disap-

A PRELIMINARY WAR EPISODE 7
pointed mother of the day previous, maybe, the
morning foUowing: If close by, you cannot fail to
hear her exclaim, 'At last, at last has come the long
looked-for letter from my dear son!'
"Keeping within hearing distance, you may hear
her as she breaks the seal and reads aloud page after
page of how the absent one is getting along away
down by the Rio Grande 1 ' Oh, oh ! imd just Usten,
he writes his mother that he wUl soon be back with the
other boys! And where is "Daddy"? CaU him in.'
And as he sits himseK down with both ears wide open
what more can he do but to give way to a deep sigh,
as he recalls how he himself left his good old mother
years before to join the Army of the Potomac at
the soimd of the drum and fife? "
Changing his trend of thought as he sat blowing
the blue smoke of a stogy in graceful ringlets, he
continued, "By some writer, it has been said that
the boys of this twentieth century are actuaUy
dropping out of their home-nests before they can
fly, and that scarcely one out of a hundred continues
to Uve in the same house in which he was bom.
Taking unto himself wings, away he flies, leaving
the old mother bird thinking how long it wUl be until
her wandering child returns. But who, with a
family of either boys or girls, would ever think of
keeping them forever at home? And possibly for
the reason that home is everywhere, and no longer
as in ye olden time, embraced in one's city or county."
And before taking his departure, my octogenarian
friend added, "It used to be said before the breaking
out of the European war, that home was to be found

8 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
on an Atlantic steamer. This must have been so
before the 'Lusitania' went down, otherwise there
wouldn't have been so many excursionists making
these ocean palaces of splendor their migratory
homes. But — but, when the war is over, aU travel
wiU be resumed."
And as the narrator bade his veteran friend a final
goodbye before leaving for the Soldiers' Home in
the city of Washington, his last parting words were,
"There is after aU compensation; instead of going to
Florida in the winter or to the YeUowstone in the
summer, those who cannot afford the expense can,
for a dime or a nickel, go to a picture-show, there
to witness scenes from every part of the world. And
after having feasted their eyes on sights such as we
octogenarians had never witnessed, aU they have to
do on reaching the pavement is to enter a troUey
or an automobile to be taken to their homes whether
far or near."
Purely a flight of the chronicler's imagination?
In part only, for, on the fourteenth of January, came
the boys referred to, to gladden the hearts of loved
ones anxiously awaiting their return from the Rio
Grande. And as a fitting conclusion, let it be said
that, while the narrative is not to be turned into a
war-story, who can say that the foregoing episode
does not touch a tender chord in the hearts of aU
patriotic mothers in knowing what has hitherto
happened may happen again before the volume
reaches this or that home with anxious mothers
standing at the front door awaiting the deUvery
man?

A PRELIMINARY WAR EPISODE 9
As a final passing, fitting trUDute to the boys, it
is the duty of aU true-hearted American citizens of
whatever nationaUty to stand shoulder to shoulder
by the President of this great RepubUc— the young
men possibly to go to war, the mothers, wives and
sweethearts to give encouragement in upholding
their country's flag of red, white and blue, the
emblem of our cherished liberty, with the pledge
that right must prevail though the heavens faU.
In weaving into the story the foregoing imaginary
episode, if you please, dear reader, no apology needs
be made by the chronicler; he has only given way
to such thoughts as have permeated all sections of
our common country, such as each buUetin inspires
as displayed from each newspaper window. With
these sentiments, it is the chronicler's hope that
before the volume is issued from the press, the war-
clouds which darken the horizon may be Ufted with
each buUetin bringing the cheerful news that right
over wrong has prevailed. If exception be taken by
the criticaUy disposed, let them not forget that all
things are fair in love and war. The chronicler can
only conclude the musings of a young girl as she sat
in a corner repeating. In dust lies genius and glory.
But ev'ry-day talent will pay.
It's only the old, old story,
But the piece is repeated each day.

PART I
CHAPTER I
The Start of the Town in 1730
One hundred eighty and seven years ago, forty-
eight years after the arrival of WiUiam Penn on the
shores of the Delaware, two years before George
Washington was bom, and fuUy four decades before
the Declaration was proclaimed in Independence
HaU in Philadelphia, the name Lancaster, Pennsyl
vania, was already on the map, and there it has
remained down untU the close of this, the year of our
Lord 1917.
During these one hundred and eighty-seven years,
more than seven generations of dweUers have come,
played their part and then passed sUently away to
be remembered for a time, then forgotten. The
history of this city of fifty thousand, if gathered by
the chronicler, must be largely from musty records
stored away among the archives of other decayed
volumes that have served their day and generation.
To resurrect these has been not only a duty but a
pleasure on the part of the chronicler, actuated with
the same desire as have others in rummaging through
some old book-shop, sometimes through idle curi
osity, at others, to bring into Ught things that have
10

BIRDS-EYE-VIEW OF OLD LANCASTER, DRAWN BY A LOCAL ARTIST, 1810

THE START OF THE TOWN IN 1730 11
long since become old! In tiring of what is new,
and by which he is daily surroimded, the souvenir
hunter is ever on the go in search of bric-a-brac and
other mementoes bearing the mark of age.
Having undertaken the task of compiler, we think
we can measure the depth of understanding of most
readers who, in addition to statistics, want a httle
of the human presented in readable shape to while
away many a gloomy moment during these times of
trouble in the midst of war and rumors of war. And
so, if, in the narrative, anything appears to provoke
a smUe, weU and good; on the other hand, if what
you cannot approve, let it pass muster, for the
reason that in this world there are "many minds of
many kinds," aU differing as one star differs from
another, and yet aU able to trace their beginning
back to the "Garden of Eden," where both Adam
and his beloved Eve Uved happUy together, untU,
through Eve's wanting to have the last word in an
argument as to the proper way of bringing up their
two sons, both were compeUed to pass from the
garden to end their days pretty much as their de
scendants down even to the present day.
However, our city is not to end its career over
trifles. Unless greatly mistaken, it is to take on a
new lease of uninterrupted prosperity. The same
spirit which has dominated our people in the past
wiU carry them along through this war, only to reap
greater blessings at its close.
In the year 1730, when the name Lancaster was
placed on the map, the plot of two nules square
didn't have as many homes as in this twentieth

12 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
century, nor was it as weU and favorably known as
were a few of the New England towns foUowing the
arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers at a somewhat earUer
period. At the time when the name Lancaster was placed
on the map, there were but three other counties in
Pennsylvania — PhUadelphia, Bucks and the mother-
county, Chester, from which our own was separated
in 1729.
In searching the pages of history, the compiler
has been unable to find any reference to the state of
mind in which the goodly Quakers found themselves
after having parted with such an extended scope of
country as that contained, at least, in our present
nine hundred square miles, rich in aU things that
should make a people contented and happy.
As the part lying west of the Octoraro had, as
early as 1709, become settled by Swiss Mennonites
and Scotch-Irish, with the Conestoga Indians causing
trouble, the inference to be drawn is that the quiet,
peaceful Quakers were only too willing to cast off
their troublesome neighbors. And yet it is only
reasonable to infer that, before a century had gone
by, it began to dawn upon the minds of their descend
ants that they had parted with the richest plot of
soil in the United States. Of course, as a soothing
balm to their wounded pride, came the consoling
reflection that their forefathers had gotten rid of
many of the "Dutch," better able and at the same
time more wiUing to remove the taU oaks and
hickories before the soil could be utilized for farming
purposes.

THE START OF THE TOWN IN 1730 13
At the time the county of Lancaster was separated
from Chester it covered a pretty large number of
acres of Penn's extended domain of about 45,000
square mUes. As this was more land than the people
of Lancaster County cared to farm even on the
shares, in 1749 it gave enough of its broad acres
to form the county of York. Again, in 1752, when
"Old Berks" wanted to set up housekeeping, Lan
caster, with PhUadelphia and Chester, gave another
aUotted portion of her soU. Next came Dauphin in
1785, taking yet another shce. Again, for the last
time in 1818, Lancaster joined Dauphin County
with enough of what couldn't readily be utilized,
in forming the smaU Dutch county of Lebanon.
It wUl be observed, however, that whUe the people of
Lancaster County were liberaUy disposed, they took
good care to hold fast to the very best of their former
holdings, aggregating some nine hundred square
mUes. And for this our fore-parents are to be con
gratulated. They might have thrown to Lebanon
the Conewago hiUs with the numerous boulders
cropping out here and there, of Uttle use even for
baUast. Not to claim aU the credit, each of the counties
separated from Lancaster gave enough of their land
to form some sixty odd other counties, aU embraced
within WiUiam Penn's forty-five thousand square
nules extending from the Delaware to the Ohio and
from the lakes to its southern boundary.
However, in seeking still another reason for the
separation of Lancaster from the mother county of
Chester, it might have been owing to the dialect of

14 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
various nationaUties to suit the EngUsh-speaking
Quakers; for, at the time, under the wise dispensa
tion of Penn, all were allowed to worship according
to their conscience and in their own way without
asking permission of the Quakers, and in any
language, provided they observed the laws of the
Province and those of Great Britain. Of course,
the narrator hasn't submitted the foregoing reflec
tions to the Chester County Historical Society to
deny or afBrm their correctness.
Having settled the question of how the county of
Lancaster happened to be formed, the query natur-
aUy arises, "Who was James Hamilton, the town's
founder? " Born in the townstead of PhUadelphia in
1710, at the death of his father, Andrew, he became
one of the wealthiest, as weU as one of the most
influential citizens of Pennsylvania. Like most pub
hc men of that day, the father of James had selected
and purchased lands in various parts of the Province
in expectation of a rise in value. Some of these were
where "New Lancaster" now stands. Whether it
was one single plot of twenty-five hundred acres
handed over to his son James, or in parcels, may be
made the more clear as the narrative continues.
It has been said that young Hamilton was one of
the wealthiest of the townstead of PhUadelphia.
He was a member of the Provincial Assembly in
1834; mayor of PhUadelphia in 1745; Lieutenant
Governor, 1748. Again appointed Governor, 1759;
and for the third time, 1763. He was the only
Peimsylvanian appointed to the position of Lieu
tenant Governor after the death of Penn, 1718.
James died in New York, 1783, at the age of 73.

POSTLETHWAIT'S TAVERN, WHERE COURTS WERE HELD IN 1729-30
THE START OF THE TOWN IN 1730 15
At the time the county was separated from Chester
in 1729, this young man couldn't have been more
than in his twentieth year, and yet a year later, in
1730, he was handed over, if not aU, at least the
larger portion of what constitutes the city of Lan
caster of today. It would be adding stupidity to
Andrew HamUton's shrewdness and alertness even
to suppose that he didn't know what was going on
at Postlethwait's. WeU he knew that the court of
the county was being held at the tavern of John
Postlethwait, with another rival a dozen miles
further up the river, caUed "Wright's Ferry," and
where a J£ul for evU-doers had already been erected
and around which hangs a tale of absorbing interest,
as set forth by historian Rupp in his "History of
Lancaster County," pubUshed in 1844.
Further mention might be made of Postlethwait's
were it not that only a few years ago the Lancaster
County Historical Society erected a tablet there to
the memory of landlord Postlethwait and numerous
descendants, no doubt for their great-grandfather's
disappointment. But how came the townstead to be named Lan
caster? It was given by that invincible Quaker,
John Wright, in honor of his own home town,
Lancashire, England. If at the time the name
Lancaster seemed appropriate for the new-born
county, it was equaUy appropriate for the county
seat. Having made perfectly clear that young James
Hanulton did start out in search of his legacy after
receiving fuU instructions from his father, it only

16 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
remains for the chronicler to describe his journey
through an almost unbroken wilderness beset with
dangers on every side.
And what were his father's instructions? To
make post-haste in reaching the plot in time to have
it made the seat of justice, for weU he knew or
should have known that, unless this could be accom-
phshed, aU his plans might come to naught. But
how did young James go? In a four-horse chaise
surrounded by a retinue of personal friends? This
isn't Ukely for, at the time, the only pathway was
an Indian trail. The one sensible conclusion to be
reached is that he started out on a beautiful spring
morning with an Indian guide — ^both on horseback.
FoUowing the same Une of reasoning, his first stop
over must have been in the village of West Chester,
where he rested over night with the Quaker landlord
who had no doubt been advised of his coming. That
he was kindly received by the yoimg ladies of "sweet
eighteen" is scarcely open to doubt. Yoimg,
wealthy, weU-groomed, with a most striking per-
sonaUty, as his life-size picture shows, in addition
to his being a bachelor, it would indeed have been
strange for this gaUant yoimg man of twenty to have
entered the hamlet without his advent becoming
known to the leading citizens. Of how he was
entertained can only be imagined. And yet, apart
from the town's social Ufe, there must have been a
few trappers ready to interview their distinguished
visitor as to his purpose in going so far from home.
Nor is it assuming too much to infer that James
wasn't Ukewise a Uttle anxious to learn what had

THE START OF THE TOWN IN 1730 17
taken place with reference to the location of the
permanent seat of justice. The danger he weU knew
lay in procrastination, for, at the time, a week's
delay might in aU probabiUty have decided the
question in favor of one or the other of the sites
already mentioned.
FoUowing James Hamilton in imagination as he
foUowed the traU, it is safe to assume that he did
reach the Conestoga over which spans the present
Witmer bridge. However, as this magnificent struc
ture was not erected untU nearly sixty years later,
he must have forded his way across. Safely over,
on reaching the crest of the steep incUne known as
"Pott's HiU," who can say that he did not feel
himself as much rejoiced as had De Soto after
reaching the mighty waters of the Mississippi?
Being reUgiously incUned, who can deny that he
knelt down to offer up a prayer on reaching the Une
separating his two nules square from the county's
other acres? The chronicler can only regret his
inabiUty to locate the exact spot where this prayer
was offered, otherwise a tablet might long since have
been erected by the Lancaster County Historical
Society to his memory.
What occurred after the weary traveler had
reached the Gibson Inn, certain local historians have
given as foUows: "James Hamilton offered the four
commissioners, Caleb Pierce, John Wright, Thomas
Edwards and James MitcheU, five places, 'Old
Indian field,' 'High plam,' 'Gibson's pasture' with
'Sanderson's,' the other, 'The Waving HUls,' bound
ed by 'Roaring Brook' on the west. Whether the

18 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
two swamps, one caUed 'Dark Hazel,' the other
'The Long's,' were included in the offer to seal the
bargain may be taken for granted, inasmuch as
these were a part of the land grant of two mUes
square." History makes only too clear that the founder did
transact business with the afore-mentioned commis
sioners under the hickory tree close by the famous
spring, also that at least three of the four did possibly
yield their former convictions to the persuasive elo
quence of James Hamilton ! Had this been otherwise,
the plot whereon our city now rests might never have
been the seat of justice of the new-born county of
Lancaster. Had this actuaUy happened, no one
hving in this twentieth century can imagine the
result. Thankful then that the seat of justice was
not permanently continued at the tavern of John
Postlethwait, or, if not there, at Wright's Ferry,
now Columbia.
Having settled the question of the location of the
capital of Lancaster County right here in our midst,
what the chronicler would like to do is to picture to
the reader the status of the hamlet during the twelve
years of its village Ufe. This cannot be done for
the reason that down to the time it became a borough
in 1742, if any minutes were kept, they must have
been lost. However, enough has been written by
travelers to show that this community of about
two hundred trappers, settlers and Indians residing
around the log court house must have been a strange
mixture, but how governed we have no means of
knowing. We have made dUigent search among at
least a half dozen famiUes who can trace their

THE START OF THE TOWN IN 1730 19
ancestors back to 1730, but without recompense for
the time and labor required. It cannot be that
they were fearful lest the chronicler give the pubUc
what they desired most to suppress, their poUtical
and financial status.
Only recently the narrator was met by a gentleman
residing in a mansion surrounded by aU the com
forts which twentieth century prosperity can bring.
Having decided to make inquiry into his family
tree, his purpose was to enUst the chronicler in
looking up his lineal ancestors. This thankless task
was undertaken, only to discover that his pro
genitors were poor in this world's goods, that neither
of his numerous family had ever held a pubhc office
except that of town constable. Reference is here
made to this inquiry to show that it is not weU for
anyone to go too far back in looking up his famUy
record. And here the question may arise, What reason
had James Hamilton in 1742 to turn the viUage
into a borough? Judging himself as Uttle different
from the present-day land-owner, his purpose must
have been to find a more ready sale for choice lots
around Penn Square, either for ready cash in pounds,
shiUings and pence, or on the ground-rent plan. And
who among the business men of "New Lancaster"
can say that the founder did not have an eye single
to what was coming to him when it is recaUed that
these desirable business sites have been growing
in value ever since 1742 down even to the close of
this year 1917?
From the best information obtainable from writers
who visited the hamlet as early as 1742, there could

20 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
not have been enough inhabitants to seat the Hamil
ton Theatre with a capacity of at least a thousand.
Imagine the whole town's population crowded into
the "Hanulton" on a Saturday evening?
However, as we come to think it over, the owner
of this handsome structure is to be congratulated in
naming it "The Hamilton," although few of its
frequenters know after which Hamilton it was
christened. Making incjuiry from the owner as to
his right to the name, he repUed, after a moment's
hesitation, "To keep the founder's name on the
map." In glancing over the city directory, the chronicler
was surprised to find that at least three others had
appropriated the name Hamilton without a permit
from the agent of the Hamilton estate. Entering
the largest watch factory in the world, designated
"The Hamilton," in answer to certain pointed
questions as to how the company had come by the
slogan, the inquisitor was pohtely informed that the
name had been handed down by "James" himself,
and for the reason that the identical timepiece he
had carried with him in the laying out of the town
stead of two mUes square had been manufactured by
the company at present bearing the slogan "The
Hanulton." Having been shown the reUc, the
author was assured that it had been running without
winding for one hundred and eighty-seven years!
Whispering in the off ear of the office boy, the
chronicler impertinently asked how long it would
run if wound occasionaUy?
The reply not being very satisfactory, the chron
icler went his way in search of the "Hamilton Hat

THE START OF THE TOWN IN 1730 21
Company." Asking to be shown a high-top beaver
of the latest design suitable for attending a funeral,
from a case came one bearing the name inside,
"James HamUton." This was handed the searcher
with the assurance that it had been discovered on
the loft of the Gibson Inn before it had been dis
mantled. Satisfied that the dealer in hats was justified in
having appropriated the name HamUton without
having had it copyrighted, the chromcler went his
way in search of the "Hamilton Club" for a Uttle
something soothing to ward off a congestive chiU.
Meeting "George," the accomphshed truthful cat
erer, his guest was handed a draught from a decanter
labeled "Gibson." Being a httle skeptical as to
the genuineness of the brand, his friend was assured
that the first invoice had just arrived by parcel post
from the Gibson stiU around which there weren't
any twentieth century members of the town's Law
and Order Society. Satisfied beyond aU doubt that
the business men of "New Lancaster" knew how to
boost their trade in honor of James Hanulton, off
to the "HamUton Apartment" house the chronicler
went his way in search of the builder. Seeing the
name "HamUton" carved over the entrance, up one
flight of steps, then another, the octogenarian
trudged his weary limbs to be informed by two
score inmates that the buUder, HamUton, had been
summoned before Saint Peter for having appro
priated the slogan without a written permit from
founder Hamilton.
And so ends the chapter, semi-historical, semi-
traditional.

CHAPTER II
The Hearty Greeting of a Long-Lost Volume
The meeting of an old friend has ever been to the
chronicler an unmixed pleasure, and for the reason
that there are so few remaining over whom to make
merry. With the young it is different. Friends
they have among their former schoolmates, ready
at aU times to sit by the hour talking over their
boyhood days.
However, the friend the chronicler has in mind is
nothing more nor less than a rib-bound volume bear
ing the age of one hundred and seventy-five years!
For a third of a century it had been resting in the
quietude of the soUtude, unwept, unhonored and
unsung with none to do it reverence.
Opening its time-worn Uds, we find written with
quill in large EngUsh script:
"Slaturasitpr (Untpatntian look"
174Z ISIS
It was with indescribable pleasure that the chron
icler continued to rummage through its time-worn
pages, and as each was turned over, what a mint of
oldtime recordings had been resting concealed from
human vision. For a period of seventy-six years it
had served as the minute-book for a long Une of
burgomasters' clerks who had faithfuUy inscribed
22

GREETING OF A LONG-LOST VOLUME 23
therein every httle eventful mcident occurring in
the town of "Old Lancaster" during these seven or
more decades. And here the question arose, would
the contents of the "Corporation Book" prove of
any veJuc to the twentieth century reader during
these war times if set forth in the shape of a narra
tive? Impressed with the importance of the undertaking,
the chronicler set himself to the task of handing
down to posterity such of the volume's minutes as
might prove acceptable to the general reader.
Turning to the first page our eyes take in the
foUowing: "At a meeting of the Burgesses and
their assistants in the Borough of Lancaster, in the
county of Lancaster, in the Province of Pennsyl
vania, the thirteenth day of August in the year of
our Lord, 1742, by virtue of a charter of Incorpora
tion granted by the Honored Proprietor, James
Hamilton, dated the first day of May, A. Domini,
1742." FoUowing the minutes, we find sitting in a room
with its low ceiling and scantUy suppUed furniture,
the first assembly of duly constituted burgomasters
charged with duties such as they had never before
been caUed upon to exercise in their corporate
capacity. At the head of the table sat Thomas
Cookson, Chief Burgess, at the other end, Sebastian
Graeff, Burgess, while on opposite sides were their
six assistants, Michael Byerle, Mathias Young,
John Folke, Peter WorraU, John Dehuff, Abraham
Johnston. These burgesses and their co-advisors had met to

24 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
formulate rules and regulations for the government
of the borough under the charter constituting what
for a dozen years previous had been but a viUage
subject to no weU-estabUshed ordinances, rules or
regulations. Before them no doubt rested the charter of the
Borough of Lancaster, and from which only a few
extracts can be made owing to its length and the
space required. It began: "George the Second, by
the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ire
land, King, Defender of the Feuth, &c. To aU to
whom these Presents shaU come Greeting: Whereas
our loving Subject, James Hamilton of the City of
Philadelphia, in the Province of Pennsylvania, Esq.,
owner of a Tract of land whereon the Town of
Lancaster, in the same Province, is erected. Hath,
on behalf of the Inhabitants of said Town, repre
sented unto our trusty and weU beloved Thomas
Penn, Esquire, one of the Proprietors of the said
Province, and George Thomas, Esq., with our
Royal Approbation — do grant and ordain that the
streets of said borough shaU ever continue as they
are now laid out and regulated. And we do now
nominate and appoint Thomas Cookson and Se
bastian Grooffe to be present Burgesses; and that
said Thomas Cookson shaU be caUed Chief Burgess
within said borough, and Michael Byerle, Mathias
Young, John Dehuff, John Folkes, Abraham John
ston, and Peter WorraU, assistants for advising,
aiding and assisting the said Burgesses in the exe
cution of the powers and authorities herein given
them."

JA

MES HAMILTON, FOUNDER OF LANCASTER, PENNA.

GREETING OF A LONG-LOST VOLUME 25
Being a law unto themselves with the charter as
their guide, these goodly burgomasters began to
legislate in accordance with what the charter pre
scribed, reUgiously, moraUy and sociaUy.
The burgesses' first action ran as foUows: "On
receiving the charter from James Hanulton, and in
regard for the great service done this town of Lan
caster in procuring the same to be incorporated, it
is unanimously agreed by the Burgesses and their
assistants that they wait upon him and return him
the thanks of the Corporation for his services. And
also request him [in the absence of the Burgesses]
to return their thanks to his Honor, the Governor,
for the same.
"It is taken into consideration that, by act of
Assembly of this Province, made the fourth year in
the reign of the late Queen Ann, for the observance
of the Lord's Day, it is enacted, that no tradesmen,
artificers, workmen, laborers or other persons what
soever shaU do or exercise any worldly business, or
work of their ordinary caUing on the Sabbath day,
therein caUed the 'First' day upon pain that every
such offender forfeit twenty shillings to the use of
the poor — Provided always, that nothing in said act
extend to prohibit butchers from killing and selling
their meat on that day in the months of June, July
and August before the hour of nine in the morning,
and after five in the afternoon— And that aU con
stables are required to search every tavern, and if
any persons are found drinking or 'tippUng' on the
Sabbath, they are to be fined one shilling sixpence;
and the keeper of such house or tavern, ten shilling
4

26 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
for the same use with the proviso that travelers,
inmates and lodgers may be suppUed with their
victuals, drinks for themselves only."
As the minutes continue: "But notwithstanding
such act, it is only too customary for shopkeepers,
tavemkeepers and others within the Borough to
allow their ordinary caUings on the Sabbath day —
the shopkeepers by selUng their goods to country
people, and tavemkeepers by entertaining company
— For the putting a stop to such practices for the
future, it is ordered that the said act of Assembly
be put into execution — ^And that the chief constable
do pubUsh this ordinance, and take due care that
aU offenders be brought to justice."
Signed, "George Sanderson, clerk of the Bur
gesses." The narrator has no means of knowing what rela
tion if any, this George Sanderson was to the tenth
mayor of the city. He might have been his great
grandfather. As to the status of the constables,
unless they differed greatly from many of their
successors, it need not be assumed that these early
guardians of the peace were not disposed to take a
sly nip of the Uquid that came from the Gibson
stUl even on the Sabbath.
Only in imagination can the present-day reader
picture to himself these reUgiously inclined burgo
masters, as for the first time they sat in the enforce
ment of the provisions of the new charter in starting
the townstead on its future career.
Of one thing there isn't any room for doubt even
by the twentieth century law-violator, namely, that

GREETING OF A LONG-LOST VOLUME 27
the burgomasters were men of the very highest
standing, otherwise they would not have been
selected by proprietor, James Hamilton, as burgesses
and assistants. While the majority were Germans,
they were not aU of one nationaUty as the minutes
wiU make clear as the narrative continues on down
through seventy-six years to the year 1818. But
come from whence they might, they were men of
sterUng human timber — ^pioneers who had endured
hardships years before the viUage had been made a
borough. Without anticipating coming events, the author
has gleaned sufficient to show that many of the
long Une of burgesses and assistants had Uved down
through the stirring times of the Revolution, but at
no time during their seventy-six years of rule was
their loyalty ever questioned. Firm in their devo
tion to the mother country and the government of
the Penns, so steadfast were they to the flag, with
stars and stripes after the colonies had secured their
independence. Opinions differed as they do to-day
over matters of church and private affairs, but in
their official duties they were actuated by a desire
to leave their impress deep and lasting on the pages
of history. And unless greatly mistaken, a goodly
number of those hving in city and county can trace
their ancestry back to the time of the burgesses.
And here the question arises. How came the first
burgesses and their assistants to hold office, inas
much as the minutes make no mention of an election
being held prior to their entering upon their duties?
However, foUowing the year 1742, an election was

28 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
held yearly down to the year 1818. As only a
certain class, freemen, covdd vote, see what trouble
it saved the rank and file, and all without any taxa
tion to worry over. It was not until the year 1812
that the first property tax was laid and coUected.
Think then, ye twentieth-century overburdened tax
payers, citizens of "New Lancaster," with no
assessor, no tax-coUector! Imagine, if you can, a
town without taxes for schools, water and streets to
worry over! Why, we verUy beheve that three
fourths of the voting population of our city of the
present day would be wilUng to forego the right of
franchise, could they feel assured that, for the next
half a century, there were not to be any taxes to
worry over!
But the query. How was it possible for the bur
gesses to run the town for half a century without
the sinews of war, so to speak?
They had but three resources, markets, fines and
fairs. The latter must have been money makers,
otherwise they wouldn't have been held twice each
year, during June and September, with only two
exceptions, during the trying days of the Revolution,
after which they were again resorted to, as shaU be
shown later.
Fairs, unUke those of to-day, were managed by the
corporation instead of by private capital. It would
weU repay any reader for the time in going through
the "Corporation Book" to find how many small
accounts had to be kept by the clerk of the burgesses,
and to find that on fair-settlement day the profit
realized scarcely exceeded a few pounds.

GREETING OF A LONG-LOST VOLUME 29
One thing the twentieth century reader may have
cause to regret, in that the burgesses' clerk did not
mention the kind of visitors attending these fairs.
Surely they did not reach the townstead on a troUey
car or in an auto. The young men must have come
on horseback with their girls behind them. Only
in imagination can a glimpse he had of what was
going on during fair week! No backwoods com
munity of the present day can in any way compare
with the townstead "Old Lancaster" during these
semi-annual weeks of joIUfication! But for one
thing the country people had cause to be doubly
thankful, there were not any turnpikes with "catch
penny" gates, requiring the chauffeur to stop a
minute and a half and then speed up the motor in
trying to make up for lost time. The few traUs
were free to all, young and old, rich and poor, with
more of the latter than of the former.
However, as has already been said, as it was not
possible for even the burgesses to continue to buUd
up the town on the receipts of markets, fairs and
fines, the time came when taxation became an abso
lute necessity, and to this year 1917 it has become
a requirement, but seldom has it been downward —
always upward. At times the rate has been lowered
with the assessment increased, thereby equalizing
conditions. But why bring impleasant reminders to
an already overtaxed people the world over!
In closing this chapter, let the narrator quote
from the historian Gordon as foUows: "Along at
the time the town was founded it had but a few one
story houses, rented to the poorer classes. As the

30 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
ground upon which they stood was being let on the
ground-rent plan, and on terms so easy as to invite
many poor settlers, it soon became evident that the
townstead's two square miles was too large for the
surrounding country." And as the reader shaU
learn, too large it was for a good many years there
after. Surrounded the dweUers were with plenty of
the "open," but much of this was stiU in the hands
of the founder's agent to be sold either for ready
cash or on the ground-land plan. But what signi
fied easy terms with the majority without money?
Unlike in this twentieth century, pounds, shillings
and pence did not come roUing in almost as free as
the air we breathe. The struggle for existence was
the lot of the first settlers, many of whom had come
from Europe with Uttle more than enough to pay
their way to this later town of plenty.
As the minutes of the burgesses show, there were
promoters, who bought up valuable tracts, awaiting
a rise. But one of the difficulties was, when taxa
tion became a necessary evU, how to reach these
land grabbers! Many would neither build nor seU.
And as shaU be shown, when streets came to be
laid out, the price demanded was extortionate!
But the time came, during Revolutionary times,
when not a few died with plenty of land but with
Uttle ready cash. And herein lies one of the secrets
of Lancaster's slow development.
By some the town's slow progress is attributed to
the German settlers, known ever since for their
conservatism. However, with these opinions and
others the narrator is not disposed to differ; his

GREETING OF A LONG-LOST VOLUME 31
mission is to set forth from the "Corporation Book"
and later from the councihnanic records a true narra
tive of how the town grew from an insignificant ham
let in 1730 to a city of fifty odd thousand in this
year of our Lord 1917.
To trace the ownership of even the sites upon
which buUdings stand around Penn Square would
require more space than the narrator has to give,
when it is recaUed that the deed for the original grant
where stands the Conestoga National Bank required
an endless search and research to determine its
present status. Nor is it necessary for the chronicler
to go searching round among musty records to
ascertain the location of the first house built in the
hemilet and by whom. By one writer it has been
said that here and there one or more were buUt as
early as 1717. As neither one nor the other was
erected by the chronicler's great-great-gfandfather,
why bother himself over trifles?
Too many other matters of greater importance
are to occupy the chronicler's attention. What the
readers want to know is more of the inner life of
their ancestors, their habits, customs and traditions,
in order to profit by their virtues and avoid their
errors. And oh, how deUghtful, were it possible to
take one and aU back to the time of the burgesses to
visit them in their homes of one hundred and seventy-
eight years ago; to enter therein and maybe to sit
before the open fire hearth on a cold winter evening
listening to stories of how their ancestors Uved
before them.
We know how enjoyable it would be to be shown

32 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
around the first log court house, to sit under the
shade of the old hickory tree by the famous spring,
and, after a bath in "Roaring Brook," to partake
of a sumptuous repast at the "Gibson Inn" with a
Uttle something invigorating from the Gibson stUl
with no government tax of so much per gaUon to
be collected for revenue purposes.
Think ye, ladies of "New Lancaster," of the
pleasure of stepping into this or that store to be
fitted out in a wardrobe such as the burgesses'
daughters used to wear as they promenaded the
streets where are now stores, and of the kind un
known during the good old days.
Were this long time-distance covered in mUes
instead of in years, the journey might be made in
an automobUe, but this being impossible — not
counting the consumption of gasoUne — the reader
must remain content with a description of the
townstead as taken largely from the "Corporation
Book." And even what is to foUow may prove of
httle avail unless the historic student is gifted with a
reministic imagination to see things as the chronicler
discloses them running down almost to the present
day. Then the cost of the journey must be considered
as an item during these war times, with no steamer
trunk to be fiUed with enough winter and summer
wearing apparel to worry over! So foUow the
writer, who wUl take you back to "Old Lancaster,"
with a guarantee of a safe return, and aU without
any worry over a wardrobe. Why, more excursion
ists worry over making preparations for a journey

GREETING OF A LONG-LOST VOLUME 33
to the seashore than is good for their health. They
grow nervous for weeks before starting, and, after
reaching their destination, they long to be getting
back home where they are no longer at the mercy
of the infernal mosquito on the one hand and the
high price of hotel accommodations on the other.
So, my contented home body, if you wiU but think
yourseff back in "Old Lancaster" of nearly two
centuries ago, you'U surely be there; for, after aU,
Ufe is what we make it — largely a mental process.
A good many people without a doUar think them
selves rich, while others with their thousands are
forever complaining of being poor. Few realize
that the greatest blessing is health. But this is
only too frequently sacrfficed for wealth. And here,
before closing this chapter, is an axiom for boys:
To lose wealth is one thing, to lose health is another,
but to lose character is to lose everything! Write
it out, my lads, and paste it in a conspicuous place
to be glanced over when you feel yourseff going
wrong! Character! it's a jewel! It is dehghtful to
hear it said of a man after passing away, "He was
honest, and faithful to every trust in him reposed!"
And now to the second meeting of the burgesses.

CHAPTER III
Continuation of Complaints by the Inhabitants
Certain descendants of the burgomasters residing
in "New Lancaster" at the present time are no
doubt waiting with patience to learn what took
place at their second meeting at the home of one
Jacob Frey. To locate this then weU-known place
the chronicler has made diUgent search in the
" Corporation Book," but without success. It might
have been a tavern, but, as the burgesses were
temperate in their habits, it was more than hkely a
private house located on the south side of West
King Street above Water, where, the narrator has
been informed, it stood until 1825, when it was
destroyed by fire. In this buUding the burgesses
held their meetings regularly with but few exceptions
for seventy-six years. And, as the minutes show, it
was always at the house of Jacob Frey, indicatuig
that the first Jacob Frey must have been foUowed
by others in regular succession.
As just one month had elapsed from the time of
the burgesses' first meeting to that of their second,
sufficient time had no doubt been given them to
formulate such other rules and regulations as the
newly organized borough required in accordance
with the act of Assembly to which they reUgiously
adhered. 34

COMPLAINTS RY THE INHABITANTS 35
We have no means of knowing if a sentry had been
placed at the door, admitting only those who had
important business with the authorities by teUing
them how the town ought to be governed. This
may seem pecuhar in view of the fact that, in aU
recently organized Lancaster county boroughs, the
newly elected councihnen are usuaUy met by a
committee representing every condition of society.
Having Uved in a borough for a short time after
it was emancipated from the burden of township
rule, the chronicler had every opportunity to observe
how dehghtedly contented the inhabitants were until
the assessor was foUowed by the tax coUector, when,
lo! prayers went out regretfuUy from property
holders that they had ever separated themselves
from their previous, easy-going hfe of township
rule. But, in the end, came the consoling thought
that, by setting up housekeeping for themselves,
they had managed to keep their own town's name
on the map.
However, no sooner had the burgomasters shielded
themselves behind closed and bolted doors than
they began in earnest to enforce their weU-matured
mandates as foUows:
"Resolved, as chapmen (peddlers), Ucensed to
travel the county, have been violating the law by
setting up staUs within the Corporation at times of
fairs, election and court-days, m exposing theu-
goods for sale, be it enacted that no persons except
freemen, within the corporate limits of the borough
of Lancaster, be permitted to display or offer their
goods within this town, under penalty of five pounds

36 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
to be levied by distress, and sale of the vender's
goods for the use of the Corporation. And that the
high constable see that this measure is carried into
effect." That this proclamation was not printed in one
of the dedly newspapers, at so much per running
Une, may have been for the reason that there
were no papers until about the year 1756. Since
that time it is weU to note the fact that as many
as three hundred different kinds of this, that and the
other have been issued in city and county. This
one fact goes far to estabhsh the reputation of our
people as a highly cultured community, exceUed by
none the country over.
The present-day reader, at aU times impatient
over the non arrival of his own daily on schedule
time, can hardly realize how any community could
have existed for so many years without a moming
or evening newspaper. We sometimes wonder how
the women managed to endure without a paper filled
with advertisements! Again, think of no daUies
from PhUadelphia and New York to be read at one's
breakfast, or the evening sheet at one's supper!
What these goodly people had to take the place
of the newspaper we can better imagine than de
scribe. No doubt every now and then would come a
copy of Ben FrankUn's "Poor Richard," out of
which was cuUed, among others, "Early to bed and
early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
If this moral were written today, it would read,
"Late to bed and late to rise makes a man neither
healthy, wealthy nor wise."

COMPLAINTS BY THE INHABITANTS 37
However, it is altogether a matter of conditions.
A people who could Uve for a century depending on
weUs, pumps and springs, without a railroad, troUey,
automobUes, motor-cycles, bicycles, gas or even
matches, surely were not worrying over the need
of a newspaper! No doubt, for what they had they
were thankful, neither too much nor too little.
But how different in this twentieth century!
Blessings are multipUed four-fold! Why, if the
telephone gets out of order for a minute and a half,
what growhng and grumbUng! The only thing
many church-goers wiU overlook is a rainy Sabbath.
And now to a few difficulties with which the
burgesses had to contend, one of the most grievous
of which was the danger of chimneys catching fire.
Numerous complaints having been made by house
wives, it was, "Resolved that any person within the
limits of the town of two miles square who shaU
suffer his or her chimney to catch fire so as to flare
out at the top, shaU forfeit ten shilling for the use
of the Corporation."
This was a wise and necessary provision, enacted
not so much for the revenue in the shape of fines, as
protection to other properties. Only those old in
years can recaU how readily chimneys caught fire,
owing to the soot gathering from the burning of
wood, before coal came into general use among
housekeepers. To witness a flare-up during the
night with sparks flying in aU directions was a sight
to bring terror to those hving within easy distance
of a burning chimney.
As no mention of chimney sweeps was made by

38 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
the burgesses, it may have been owing to the fact
that these "sweepers of chimneys" had not as yet
found their way to the borough, where, during later
years, they could be seen at the top of a chimney,
singing out their weird refrain. CrawUng upward
from the fireplace, they were known at times to
become encased within, requiring to be drawn out
by a rope and with the greatest difficulty. Covered
with soot, on their appearance they might have been
taken for a part of the colored population.
But to continue the minutes: "And as to the
burning of charcoal by blacksmiths, as this has
become a nuisance and very offensive, it is ordered
that no charcoal be permitted to be burned within a
haff mUe of the town as already laid out imder pen
alty of thirty shilUng for each and every offence."
That no mention of either bituminous or anthra
cite coal was made, may have been because these
articles of combustion at the time were unheard of
among the town inhabitants. As for charcoal, it
had, no doubt, become a very profitable industry
among the chestnut timber farmers.
The second complaint was against butchers who
had been caught in the act of "blowing-up" their
meat by the use of pipes. As the minutes faU to
make mention of what the "blowmg-up" of meat
actuaUy meant, the process has been explained by
one whose great-grandfather had actuaUy been
guilty of this crime, practiced on poor, suffering
humanity by the olden-time butchers.
When a slab-sided sheep, calf or other quadmped
was slaughtered without the proper outward quaUty

COMPLAINTS BY THE INHABITANTS 39
for market, a tiibe was inserted lengthwise within
one side and air pumped into the parts with a
beUows ! After the whole had become weU inflated, a
coating of hot taUow was carefuUy poured over the
end of the opening, making it difficult for the buyer
to discover the trick untU the quantity was hung
up in the fireplace, no doubt to be cured, as was the
custom. As the minutes show, this butcher was
fined five pounds with a warning that, for a repe
tition of this trickery, his Ucense would be forfeited.
The next petition signed by some of the women
was of so much importance as to cause the clerk to
visit "the owners of aU 'pubUc bakers,' and weigh
whatever bread he finds, which, if deficient according
to the standard as provided by act of Assembly, it
shaU be taken to any one of the burgesses who is
empowered to dispose of it for the use of the poor."
What may seem strange to the average twentieth-
century housewife is that no complaint was made
about the "pubUc bread bakers" in "blowing-up"
their bread as had the butchers their meat through
pipes. It may have been that the bread bakers
had not as yet learned the art of creating "vacuums"
in their bread loaves so common at the present day
in aU cities except "New Lancaster." As it hap
pened, bread was sold by weight in accordance with
an act of Assembly. Of course, the minutes faU to
show how the bread bakers' scales were adjusted
Uke those of today.
Judging from what is to appear, most of the
trickery practiced during recent years must have
been handed down from remote times. Again,

40 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"Whereas, frequent complaint has been made of
farmers disposing of their cord wood and not giving
sufficient measure, it is ordered that any cord wood
so deficient in measure shaU be sold for the benefit
of the Corporation." Whether this embargo made
farmers more careful in knowing just how many
sticks a cord was to contain, the clerk had not
figured out. However, it is a sorrowful story we
have related with others to foUow. And now, ye
automobile speeders, give ear: "It is ordered that
if any persons whatsoever shaU presume to gaUop
any horse or horses through the streets or any part
of them, they shaU be compeUed to pay a fine of
twenty shilling for each and every offence for the
use of the Corporation." It has been said that the
once-upon-a-time "DevU Dave MiUer" rode his
horse to the second floor of the North American
Hotel, where today stands the Hotel Brunswick.
He must have learned the trick from some of his
Emcestors. "It is also enacted that no firing of guns or other
fire-arms loaded with buUet or shot be permitted
within the inhabited parts of the town. This shaU
not be aUowed until permission is first given. And
whereas, the evil consequences which formerly have
arisen by people selling cider and spiritous liquors
on the streets to persons in getting 'drunk,' be it
ordered that whosoever shaU expose cider, beer or
intoxicants, at any time hereafter, shaU pay a fine
of twenty shiffings for each and every offence. And
whereas, the assembhng of persons around the
court house in playing baU, has resulted in a breech

COMPLAINTS BY THE INHABITANTS 41
of the peace, to the injury of country people on
horseback — for a violation of this order, five shillings
shaU be paid and coUected by the clerk of the
market." It must appear evident to the clerk of the present
market committee that this overworked servant of
the town must have had his hands fuU in looking
after butchers, pubhc bread bakers, chapmen and,
maybe, candlestick makers. And for the clerk of
the burgesses, the minutes show the number of
smaU accounts he was compeUed to keep, and the
time required.
Reformers in the strictest sense of the word these
goodly burgesses may have been, having drawn
their inspiration from the PUgrim Fathers. But
it should not be overlooked by aU twentieth century
critics that, apart from correcting certain evils which
had been only too common for a dozen years previ
ous, it was money they needed to keep the wheels
of the borough in motion. And a portion of this
they got from barbers for shaving on the Sabbath
day. At the time of the burgesses' appointment, no
where do the minutes show that they had a single
doUar in the treasury; and, as this was needed, the
only source of income came from markets, fairs and
fines! They were surrounded by plenty of land,
but this belonged to the proprietor, James Hamilton.
Even what they bought had to be pedd for in pounds,
shiUings and pence or on the ground-rent plan.
Of the founder's UberaUty more may be said as the
narrative continues.

42 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
However, by the year 1757, through the closest
economy, they had accumulated enough to erect a
market house on the site where stands the buUding
over which Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., was buUt in
1798. On the completion of the first market house,
they must have felt themselves deserving of praise,
according to the foUowing: "Whereas, the inhabi
tants of thp Borough have, at a very great expense,
bmlt a convenient market house on the space speci
fied by the founder for said purpose — Therefore, be
it resolved, that, from and immediately after the
pubhcation hereof, any butcher found selUng or
exposing for sale fish, flesh, fowl, or other market
products at any other place than within the market
house, other than on Wednesdays and Saturdays,
shaU forfeit the sum of fifteen shUUngs for each and
every offence."
We have no means of knowing how much growhng
there was over this edict, by farmers and others,
but, judging them as a class, they no doubt were
compelled to obey the burgesses' mandates or sub
mit to a fine which, with money scarce, ended in
their obeying the law.
This convenient (?) market house, as the cost goes
to show, was but a temporary structure, buUt upon
poles with a straw covering, common to many of
the houses at the time. And here foUows what
may prove of interest to members of the various
fire companies before the paid service came to take
their place. It was in 1763 that the burgesses
ordered "That forthwith a hose house be built on
the northwest corner of the market house, to take

COMPLAINTS BY THE INHABITANTS 43
up in length three piUars, and not more than four
feet of the inside of the market house, which space
is to contain three engines." This was the first
hose house buUt in the borough of Lancaster. The
same year, a company was formed by name "The
Sun. ' ' To settle a long-disputed question as between
the "Union" and the "Sun" as to which had pri
ority, the narrator caUed on Mr. Henry Demuth,
and from the minutes of the "Sun's" proceedings it
was ascertained that it was in this same year, 1763,
that the "Sun" hose company came into being.
On the other hand, the "Union" members claim to
have organized their company in 1760.
We have no means of learning from the minutes
what kind of fire-engines were in use; no doubt they
were Uke those of the writer's boyhood, requiring
what was caUed "The Bucket Brigade" to draw
water from weUs and then to be poured into the
box-reservoir to be forced out of the nozzle of the
hose by a hand arrangement. Compare then this
old-time method of fighting fires with engines of the
present day run by gasohne and ladder-trucks
reaching almost to the tops of the highest buUdings.
In this same year, 1763, on the twenty-seventh of
December, while the burgomasters were engaged in
the solemnities of the sanctuary, came the starthng
news that a gruesome murder had been committed
in the workhouse of the Lancaster jaU by a number
of Paxton men with a grievance against the Indians
who had previously murdered several famihes of the
white settlers along the lower Conestoga.
The foUowing account is taken from a letter by
WilUam Henry, Esq., to a friend in Philadelphia:

44 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"The first notice I had of the affair was when I
saw a number of people running down the street
toward the jaU. About six or eight yards from
there, we met from twenty-five to thirty men, weU
mounted on horses with rifles, tpmahawks, and
scalping-knives, equipped for murder. Running
into the prison-yard, oh, what a horrid sight pre
sented itseff to my view! Near the back door of
the prison lay an old Indian and his squaw. His
name was WiU Soc, and across their remains lay
two duldren of about the age of three years whose
heads were spUt open and their scalps taken off."
As the remaining portion of this letter is too grue
some to repeat, it shaU be omitted. This in addi
tion history records: "After the Indians had been
kiUed, all parties busied themselves to ascertain who
was to blame. The burgesses were charged with
remissness of duty, and the people with being in
collusion and connivance with the Paxton men. But
as history further shows, no convictions were the
result." The chronicler having gone carefuUy through the
minutes of the burgesses, was surprised to find no
mention of the occurrence, no doubt for the reason
that they didn't want to give too wide pubUcity to
what might reflect upon the town's future. And
as for the town's newspaper, there were no reporters
meddhng with everybody's private and pubUc
affairs; they had not as yet been discovered, be
longing as they did to a much later epoch. For this
much, at least, the burgesses had cause to be thank
ful.

COMPLAINTS BY THE INHABITANTS 45
But if the burgesses had managed to eliminate
from their proceedings aU mention of this massacre,
the "press" of PhUadelphia teemed with pamphlets,
letters, appeals, pasquinades, and caricatures, many
of which are stiU preserved in the PhUadelphia
library. This one act of violence gave the town
stead more notoriety throughout the Province of
Pennsylvania than anything that had occurred since
its founding. Reasons for the actions of the Paxton
"Boys," as they were caUed, ff at aU justffiable, were
swept aside. And yet, what occurred at a much
later epoch, caUed the "Christiana Riot," ended in
pretty much the same way, with no convictions to
foUow. Nor have atrocities ceased even down to
the present day. If at aU justffiable, the massacre
of 1763 would seem to have been excusable, owing
to conditions at the time of its occurrence between
the Indians and white settlers, the former wishing
to retain their lands, the latter to possess them.
The chronicler can readUy imagine what is upper
most in the reader's mind — ^why resurrect from the
pages of the "Corporation Book" what should have
been aUowed to rest in oblivion?

CHAPTER IV
An Awakening of the Borough of "Old
Lancaster" to Higher Ideals
From now on, extending through succeeding
years, the reader shaU learn of the town's awakening
to higher ideals. The first departure from old-
time methods came on the seventeenth of September,
1770, with Wiffiam Atlee foUowing James RaUfe
as Chief Burgess. Previous to the election of
Burgess Atlee, aU oaths were administered in a
shorter way. Quoting from the minutes we find
the foUowing: " On the 17th day of September, 1770,
Wiffiam Atlee as Chief Burgess of the Borough of
Lancaster did take and subscribe to the oath of
aUegiance, suppremacy and abjuration, and did also
take his oath of office before Edward Shippen,
Esquire, of the same Borough, appointed by the
Hon. John Perm, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of
Pennsylvania by his Didimus Potestatem, to ad
minister the oaths aforesaid — On the same day,
17 of September, 1770, Wiffiam Atlee in pursuance
of the powers to him given in and by the charter of
the said Borough, did administer the oaths of
aUegiance, supremacy and abjuration to Christian
Voght, Burgess, John Hobson, Wiffiam Henry,
George Mayer, Ludwick Lawman, Christian Boogh,
assistants." 46

AWAKENING TO HIGHER IDEALS 47
This oath taken by Chief Burgess Atlee was in
conformity with the new charter passed shortly
before by the Provincial Assembly. To divert the
reader's attention momentarUy from what occurred
during the four years of Burgess Atlee's stewardship,
mention wiU be made of certain business pursuits
conducted within a square or two from the court
house. This mart had aheady become a beeffive
of trade and commerce, as business commerciaUy
speaking went in those early days.
Few possibly Uving at the present day have ever
heard of Joseph Simon, a worthy, honest Jew. He
was agent for the PMladelpMa "Gratz Brothers"
in many Unes of business. As early as 1747 Joseph
Simon and some of his friends purchased and lend
out what is known as the Jewish graveyard, lying
in Manheim Township, south of the Pennsylvania
RaUroad "Cut-off." This plot has ever since been
cared for by the Gratz descendants.
In 1773 Joseph Simon was managing two stores in
"Old Lancaster" in partnership with Mr. A. L.
Levy, as leading merchants and fur traders in the
Offio vaUey. Their advertisement, being rather
unique, ran as foUows:
"Simon and Levy, of Lancaster, take this oppor
tunity of acquainting their friends and the pubhc
in general that they have for sale in their stores near
the court house, opposite Mr. Thomas Poultney's,
a large and general assortment of East India and
European goods, suitable to aU seasons; these they
are determined to seU upon the lowest terms. They
have just imported a general assortment of saddlery-

48 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
ware which they can and wiU seU lower than any
other merchant in Lancaster, and take saddles in
payment for saddlery.
"Those who wiU be pleased to favor them with
their custom, may depend upon being weU treated.
They give the highest prices for furs, skins, beeswax
and taUow. In the same places I have just imported
a general assortment of Iron-Mongry, which they
will seU at wholesale and retail on the lowest terms,
and wiU be obUge to their friends, and the pubhc
in general for their custom."
While the foUowing were not mentioned in the
foregoing advertisement, it can be assumed that
they did have on sale at the time a fuU assortment
of articles worn by the weU-to-do at that early
period, namely, "Garnet colored, paste sleeve and
waist coat buttons; paste, fancy cluster earrings and
necklaces, sorted, colored; French and colored ditto;
stone shoe, knee stock and girdle buckles; shagreen
and silver instrument, and tweezer cases; ffiagree
pick tooth cases; silver-joint garnet eyes; neat
bracelets and lockets, set with garnets, garnet-heart
shirt buckles, set in gold; stone stay hooks, set in
silver; true lovers' knots; kneckless and sUver rings;
patch boxes with looking glasses; black and colored
silk cloaks; cardinals and lockets; black and satin
flounced hats; plain, flowered and colored hander-
chiefs; lace caps; gause ruffles; an assortment of
new fashion ribbon; tandem and Irish lace; sUver
stomachers and sleeve knots; India damask; colored
calimancoes; course hair shag and honeycomb shag;
superfine duroys; dyed jeans and piUows; corded

AWAKENING TO HIGHER IDEALS 49
dimity; cotton gowns; fine Dresden tape; scEu-let
and black everlasting; taUors' sheers; sheep shears
and sundry other goods too tedious to mention."
The foregoing has been copied from the "Gratz
papers" to show that at the time, in 1770, when
WUUam Atlee was elected chief burgess, the borough
of "Old Lancaster" had aheady assumed some
importance as a center of commercial activity, not
only at home but extending among the fur traders
of the Ohio and Mississippi vaUeys.
In passing along any one of the thoroughfares of
"New LancEister," there are not to be seen ladies
decorated with garnets and other costly adornments
such as were worn by the better classes during and
preceding the Revolution. Expensive gowns im
ported from Paris took the place of the cheaper
material on sale in most of the stores here and else
where of this twentieth century.
It wiU be noticed that in the advertisement no
mention was made of hoops, no doubt for the reason
that they had not as yet come into style; and so
large were they during our boyhood as to go thrice
round a sugar hogshead with a few remaining.
Shawls for men took the place of overcoats. But
what has become of the "Walking Gentleman" with
high black silk hat, satin vest, and trousers fastened
with a strap under his caff skin boots to keep them
from bagging at the knees?
However, dress, travel, education, amusements —
aU have changed so completely as to cause the octo
genarian narrator to wonder from what source the
girls are to draw their styles of dress a six months

50 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
hence? In seeing a bunch passing along this or that
street, arm in arm, with no two hats ahke, no two
gowns of the same color, cut or finish, we step out
of their way, wondering what the world is coming to!
But it is easily to be seen that the old-time dress
maker is no longer in evidence. Stopping in front
of a show-window, aU that a twentieth century girl
of the "period" has to do is to step within and
disrobe, when a haff hour later out she emerges a
new made being. And as she goes her way trippingly
along in her white shoes and silk hose a yard in
length, who wUl say that the girls of "New Lan
caster" haven't outdone the girls of Revolutionary
times, and at one third the cost?
There is yet one class of farmers' daughters and
sons who have not grown poor from over dress.
We feel hke congratulating the rosy-faced country
girls, and for the reason that they don't have to
sit up for a six months worrying over what the
Parisian styles are to be a haff year later.
Begging our dear girls' pardon for having tres
passed upon their exclusive domain, it may be neces
sary in order to determine what had remained in
doubt at the time of Burgess Atlee's first year in
office, to bring to the attention of the historical
student the question of ownership of the ground
given by the founder for market purposes.
"One of Mr. Atlee's first acts was to write James
Wright, at Columbia, requesting him to make search
among his deceased father's, John Wright's, papers,
also among those of the late Samuel Blunson's, for
the deed given the trustees for the market ground

WEST KING STREET ABOUT 1850, LOOKING TOWARD THE COURT HOUSE IN CENTRE SQUARE

AWAKENING TO HIGHER IDEALS 51
belonging to the Corporation." The foUowing is
the answer to Burgess Atlee's letter:
"That Mr. Wright has informed Mr. Atlee of his
having found the deed, wffich matter having been
considered by the Burgesses, it is agreed that said
deed be recorded after Mr. Atlee and the High
constable shaU have caUed on him for the same."
Let it be said that upon tffis deed much Utigation
is to foUow. It was ordered by the burgesses to be
recorded in the Recorder's office here in Lancaster.
But the narrator has been unable to find it any
where on record.
Tffis plot of ground whereon stands our city haU,
and that portion over wffich Blue Lodge was erected
as a superstructure in 1798, consisted of one hundred
and twenty feet square. It extended northward
and where now stands the present brick market
house, formerly occupied by rows of frame shops
and offices. If the reader has the patience to await
the time, the mmutes of burgesses and councils
may set at rest the disturbing question as to the
ownersffip of city haU, caUed at times "The State
House." Ever active in weU-doing for the uphft of the
borough, at a meeting in 1772, Burgess Atlee sub
mitted to ffis coUeagues the draught of a biU prepared
by Mr. Ross and himself, to be laid before the
Assembly of the Province to be enacted into a law.
As the minutes of the Corporation Book show, it
was the first caU upon the law-making power of the
Province for the elimination of certain evUs, caUed
"nuisances," with wffich the town had been afflicted.
And here foUows the action of the Burgesses.

52 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"As Mr. Ross is at present in Pffiladelpffia, attend
ing the Assembly, he is requested to use ffis influence
in giving Magistrates the same power as have
justices of the peace in the county in determimng
controversies and other matters wffich affect the
inhabitants of the Borough of Lancaster. Also, to
enable the Burgesses to make rules and ordinances
for the town's government in some constitutional
way less troublesome and more convenient than
formerly." Space alone forbids the narrator from giving a
sketch of the Iffe of plain George Ross, Esquire,
and consequently the Corporation Book must be
rehed on for what is to foUow.
It was at a meeting of the burgesses on the third
day of October, 1772, "that several reputable citi
zens were present with the request that the thanks
of the Corporation be given Emanuel Carpenter,
Esquire, and George Ross, Esquire, for their services
as Representatives of the General Assembly of the
Province." The foUowing addresses were presented
to these gentlemen, to wit:
"In behaff of the services rendered by you,
Emanuel Carpenter, as one of the Representatives
for the county of Lancaster for these seventeen years
past, the Burgesses have directed that the thanks
of the Corporation be offered you, with the assurance
of their approbation of your steady and umform
conduct in that station. And as you have decUned
serving your county in that capacity, I am charged
that it is the earnest wish of the inhabitants of
Lancaster that you may be continued in the com-

AWAKENING TO HIGHER IDEALS 53
mission of the peace and a judge in our County
court, where you have so long presided, and de
servedly acquired and supported the character of an
upright, impartial magistrate."
Signed, "Casper Shaffner, Town Clerk, dated
Lancaster October third, 1772"
Here foUows the reply:
" Gentlemen: The approbation you express of my
conduct both as a representative and a Magistrate
for tffis county gives me great satisfaction. I hope
to continue to deserve your good opimon by en
deavoring to discharge any trust reposed in me
with impartiaUty and fideUty."
Signed, "Emanuel Carpenter."
Letter of thanks to George Ross:
"To George Ross: I am authorized. Sir, to say
that the inhabitants of the Borough intended to
have shown their sense of your services and be
havior by re-electmg you, but as, by an unexpected
opposition of a part of the county whose Deputies
had agreed with them in fixing you on the ticket;
and thereby rendered themselves less active m sup
porting you, that hath been prevented; they there
fore take tffis method of testffying their approbation
of your conduct as one of the Representatives in
Assembly. And I am directed. Sir, in tffis pubhc
maimer to communicate it to you.
"Casper Shaffner, Clerk."
Here foUows the answer:
"Accept my thanks for your kind and pubMc
appreciation of my conduct wffile I had the honor

54 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
of representing you in the Assembly — permit me also
with the greatest sincerity to assure you that my
actions wffile I had that honor, were altogether
governed by what I conceived in conscience would
tend to increase the advantage and happiness of
tffis Province, the trade whereof I have always had
in view and endeavored to promote: The same
principles and motives induced me to oppose the
unreasonable request made for an additional number
of Representatives for the city of Pffiladelpffia.
As I conceive it a just balance necessary for pre
serving the Uberties of the whole Government.
As the city and county of Pffiladelpffia are now fuUy
represented in Assembly, I shaU at aU times, when
witffin my power, render every acceptable service
to the Borough and county of Lancaster. And shaU
always retain a proper sense of tffis, your kind ad
dress, being sincerely your and my country's friend."
Signed, "George Ross."
These were tributes worthy the cause these two
great men had espoused in behaff of their constit
uents. However, it was at the close of Burgess
Atlee's fourth consecutive term of office that the
foUowing substantial tribute of confidence and
respect was paid him by the Corporation. That
mention has ffitherto been made by other ffistorians,
makes it none the less worthy of finding a place in
the chromcler's narrative:
"In consideration of the services Mr. Atlee has
done for the Borough in peiming and preparing the
above laws, and refusing to accept a draft on the
Treasurer for the same, it is unanimously agreed

AWAKENING TO HIGHER IDEALS 55
(he having retired at the request of the other gentle
men present) that Mr. Henry Lowman and Mr.
Hobson have some piece of plate made as shaU be
agreeable to Mrs. Atlee — genteel and not too ex
pensive, and present the same to her as testimony
of their approbation of Mr. Atlee's conduct in
serving the Borough." Where tffis presentation
was made, and its value, is not material to the
chromcler. And since it is not possible to take the reader back
m the flesh to past Revolutionary times, in closmg
tffis chapter, let the writer quote what a traveler
had to say of the town of "Old Lancaster" along
about the time already referred to.
"When I was a boy, at the qmet corner of North
Queen and Chestnut there Uved a few old-fasffioned
German families making a Uving by the closest
economy. Since then, new houses have started up,
and old ones have been altered and dressed anew.
Among the improvements are the handsome buildings
around center square, in place of the one-story houses
with wffich the corners were occupied."
And here the chromcler can only imagine what he
would have to say could he stand in the "Square"
on a Saturday evening of to-day, amid the myriads
of electric Ughts with no court house in sight. But
instead, the Soldiers' Monument, troUey-cars and
automobUes! But to continue the reminiscences:
"Walldng along Orange street, I cannot help but
contrast its present appearance with what it was in
my boyhood. At the time it was Uttle more than
a wide lane, with a haff dozen houses, nearly aU of

56 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
wffich are yet standing. The peaceable and retired-
looking mansion with the willow-tree in front, at
present inhabited by the widow of Judge FrankUn,
I remember it as a commission store, where trade
was carried on with a few Indians stiU in the neigh
borhood, and also with those from a greater distance,
who exchanged their furs and peltries for beads,
blankets and cutlery — with mm, always on sale," —
no doubt fresh from the Gibson stffi. But to con-
tmue: "The house in wffich the North American hotel is
kept [now the Brunswick] was occupied by the
Land Commissioner a few years later. I recaU the
forest trees standing on East King street, nearly as
far out as McComgle's tavern. What is now caUed
Adams-street, then Adamstown, was the most
thickly inhabited place about. It was a vffiage
unconnected with Lancaster. The two-story brick
house, now owned by Mr. Doimely, was used as a
hospital for the sick and wounded soldiers of the
Revolution, and numbers Ue buried in the lot on
wffich it stands. What is now the old storehouse
was then the new coUege, at wffich I was placed by
way of making me a 'gentleman.'
" AnnuaUy during fair weeks, June and September,
you could hardly see the streets for the stables and
booths, covered with merchandise and trinkets of
every kmd. There were silks, laces and jewelry,
caUcoes, gingerbread, such as the ladies love; and
that was the time they got plenty of them, too, for
the young feUows used to hoard up their pocket-
money for months to spend at the fairs; and no gnl

AWAKENING TO HIGHER IDEALS 57
felt ashamed to be treated to a 'fairing' even by a
lad she had never seen before. Tffis was the first
step toward expressing admiration, and she who
got the most of the fairings was considered the beUe.
"Then the corners of the streets were taken up
with mountebanks, rope-dances, emd aU the latest
amusements. To see these, each young man took
the girl that pleased him the most, or, ff he had a
capacious heart, he sometimes took a haff dozen.
There were also the dances — ^the crowmng pleasure
of aU. In every tavern was to be heard the sound
of the fiddle," and, as the cffiomcler may add, with
no mimsterial committee m evidence.
"The most remarkable," continues the traveler,
"is the Episcopal church wffich occupies the place
of the venerable and time-worn edffice that I re
member. It was buUt under a charter granted by
George II, and never had been entirely fimshed.
As I am informed so great was its age and infirmities,
the congregation were obUged to have it taken down
to prevent its tumbhng at their ears. I shaU never
forget the Icist time I sat in it. Every thing about
the antique and sacred structure made an im
pression on my mmd not easUy to be effaced. Even
the old sexton, John Webster, a colored man, and
ffis wffe, Dinah, rustled past in her old-fasffioned
silks with wffite sleeves, apron and 'kercffief.'
Another remarkable character was old Mr. PaU
with ffis glass-head cane, bent figure and hoary
locks. Tffis patriarch was never absent from the
broken pew in the corner except when prevented
from sickness m attendmg service.
6

58 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"The second 'antique and sacred structure' was
erected about 1744 of stone, partly at least when,
in 1761, the people by way of lottery, raised a con
siderable sum of money with wffich they afterwards
bmlt a steeple, erected galleries, bought a beU and
finished a stone waU round the church yard. In
1765 the vestry resolved that the minister should
be entitled to a surpUce fee of five shiffings for every
grave dug in the church yard." No mention is
made by the writer of the foregomg of how many
patriarchs were wiffing to add to the minister's fees m
Uke manner. However, as at the time the member-
sffip was not as large as it is today, there was no room
for envy over the Rector's getting rich m digging
graves. During the year 1820 the edffice, as the chromcler
knew it during the later forties, was consecrated, and
in 1827 came the Rev. Samuel Bowman contmumg
untU his untimely demise, August 3, 1860.
If the chromcler has seen fit to speak at some
length of the old brick church, it is for the reason
that, as a boy, he sat on a bench on one of the
galleries that extended along both sides of the
edffice. And a most lovable pastor was the Rev.
Samuel Bowman, whose personaUty has been deeply
mdentured upon the tablets of our boy-memory.
But apart from Old St. James, since our boyhood
greatly improved mwardly and outwardly, there were
at least four other churches known to most of the
boys of "Old Lancaster," Old Trimty, bmlt as early
as 1736, rebuilt in 1785, with its steeple of one
hundred and mnety-five feet, and where it yet

AWAKENING TO HIGHER IDEALS 59
stands beautfful in its symmetrical proportions.
But what have become of its chimes as they used to
ring out their Christian melodies? Then there was
the old stone church presided over by the good
Father Keenan who, at the age of mnety, when
reminded of ffis years, said, "Tut, tut, we'U Uve as
long as we can!" And to a good ripe old age he
did Uve, beloved by aU.
We can well recaU the Moravian church erected
about 1742, the Presbyterian church wffich stood
where the new edffice now stands. But of all the
old churches few could compare with the First
Reformed, dismantled m 1852. It is a pity old
churches have to go, but go they must to meet the
wants of a capricious pubhc sentiment. No longer
are the attendants satisfied to sit on the plain
benches without backs. They must have cusffion
seats with cusffion backs. And even with these,
the cusffion back of an automobUe seems to be pre
ferable, even on the Sabbath.
As we close this chapter, the bells of the First
Methodist are ringing in our ears, carrying us back
to those early days of boyhood when to attend both
Sabbath school and church service was a require
ment not to be disobeyed except under penalty.
To close tffis chapter finaUy, how fittmg are a few
Unes from an unknown poet, and pubUshed in the
Lancaster Intelligencer years ago:
Ring on, ye bells of Lancaster!
Ring boldly forth! ring full! ring free;
Forsaken hopes, long buried joys
Come creeping down the past to me.
Oh, tuneful bells!
Oh, happy bells!
Oh, chiming bells of Lancaster!

CHAPTER V
The Incoming of a New Era for the Borough
OF Lancaster
It is pleasing as weU as diverting to review the
minutes of the "Corporation Book" during the
seventy-six years of the burgomasters' rule. If
regret foUow, it is because the narrator was not
a part of the town's viUage Ufe at the time it was
converted into a borough by the founder, James
Hamilton, in 1742. But even could tffis be shown,
the dweUers of tffis twentieth century would not
beUeve even the date or name contained in any
one of the burgesses' bibles!
However, foUowing Wiffiam Atlee in 1774, came
Wiffiam Bausman, who held the office of cffief
burgess until 1778, when he was succeeded by
Henry Dehuff, with Michael Diffenderfer as burgess.
The foregoing weU-known names have been handed
down from Revolutionary times to find their de
scendants, the Atlees, Bausmans and Diffenderfers,
StiU among the weU known of tffis twentieth century.
Under Cffief Burgess WUUam Bausman we find,
at the close of the September fair-week, the amount
of money received by Stophel Franciscus, treasurer,
for the use of the Corporation, 39 pounds, 14 sffiffings,
3 pence. Out of tffis gross sum was aUowed for
buUding staUs, 8 pounds; poles, 1 pound; to cryer
60

THE INCOMING OF A NEW ERA 61
for opening the fair, five shillings; two constables
for attendance, one pound. The balance, 2 pounds,
was the neat Uttle sum accrumg to the corporation
out of the holdmg of the fair.
At tffis meetmg "it was ordered that Stans Ferry
be warned not to put any more straw or hay on the
garret of ffis dwelUng house; and that he remove
from before his door certain nusiances; also, that
he cut off ffis posts and lower ffis pavement three
inches as soon as he can get workmen to do it."
It was also ordered that the ffigh constable shaU
receive yearly tffiee pounds out of the corporation
stock for ffis extraordinary services and trouble
wffich he has had in attending and servmg the
corporation. A year later, it was ordered that "the
three pounds aUowed tffis officer as a yearly salary
should not be paid him smy longer."
Complamts having been made, it was ordered
that "hugsters shaU be stationed at certain places
in the market, and that they shaU seU notffing but
eatables whatsoever, and ff they offer to seU any
kmd of merchandise, they shaU be under the penalty
of forfeitmg their hcense. And, Ukewise, that they
shaU pay yearly ten sffiffings for their standmg
room." Passing over pages of the same kmd of embargoes
of dispensers of every kmd of marketable products
from wffich a smaU pittance could be had in support
of the town government, mention shaU be made of
the center square log court house, erected m 1730
and destroyed by fire in 1781. However, m 1783
the second, a brick structure, was buUt on the same

62 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
site. As the reader shaU learn, at no time from
1742 to 1818 were meetings held by the burgesses in
either the log or the brick court house. Tffis may
have been owing to the fact that each in turn was
under the jurisdiction of the court and for county
purposes. However, of tffis more later.
As ffistory makes mention, before the log court
house was destroyed by &e, it was weU and favorably
known mwardly at least for its ffistoric importance.
What helped to make it memorable was the great
. treaty conference between the governors of Penn-
sylvama, Maryland and Virgima and certain of
the Indian cffiefs in the settlement of grievances
wffich had sprung up among the wffite settlers and
their various tribes.
Again, what continued to make the log court
house stiU better known, occurred on the Fourth of
Jffiy, 1776, wffile the Declaration was being read in
Independence HaU, Pffiladelpffia. It was then that
the Pennsylvama mffitia was in session in the
borough court house, its purpose being to resist the
invasion of the British army.
And here is the story of how it came to be de
stroyed in 1781. Quoting from one who knew
whereof he wrote: "It had been imdergomg some
repairs, and as the plasterers were at work, a quan
tity of lime was put on the inside to secure it from
the weather. Some supposed the lime had set it
afire, others, that the clock-repairer, being negUgent,
had set it affie. There were stffi others, that some
vffiain had caused its destruction." However, two
years later, in 1783, a second, a brick structure, was
buUt on the site of the old log buUding.

THE INCOMING OF A NEW ERA 63
As so much has been written concermng tffis later
court house, it wffi be described by one who was
familiar with its interior as weU as exterior: "It was
quadrangular m shape, two stories ffigh, with four
gables, and large beU, surmounted with a steeple
in wffich was placed a good clock with four faces
and time-piece, wffich struck out the hours of day
and mght.
"There was a door in the center of each front,
facing entrance to the four principal streets. The
door on the North Queen Street front was never
opened, that part being occupied by the Judges'
Bench. The west door was opened only when there
was a great crowd; the east door was used principaUy
by lawyers and court-officers."
Aside from what has been quoted, what fond
memories Unger in the mind of the octogenarian
chromcler of tffis same court house so grapfficaUy
described by one who knew it even better than the
writer as a boy in ffis teens. WeU can he recaU how
the voters of the four wards gathered to cast their
baUots, each ward with a separate window, except
when a fight occurred, when they would flock to
gether in defending their party rights.
But the narrator is getting ahead of ffis story:
During Revolutionary times few meetings were held,
the time of the burgesses being taken up with
matters pertaimng to the war. Tffis the minutes
show: "That meetings had not been adhered to on
account of their faffing on troublesome times when
the majority of Burgesses and assistants could not
attend." However at an impromptu meeting m

64 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
1782, "it was unammously agreed to that, owing
to the discord among the prisoners of war, that the
brick house on the 'commons' be immediately con
verted into quarters fit for the reception of the sick,
who are at once to be placed therein; Ukewise, that
the Continental stables be converted and fitted up
into Barracks for the reception of any such troops
as may necessarily and promptly require quarters
in tffis place."
The foUowing testimomal of regard was presented
to General Hazen, bearing the title of Brigadier
General: "Sir: We the Burgesses and Assistants do
with the utmost satisfaction return you and your
officers our most sincere and warmest thanks for the
many distingmshed proofs of your regard and atten
tion to them and to the inhabitants. Your generous
undertaking in erecting Barracks for the reception
of your troops, and others that may hereafter require
quarters, and thereby easing the inhabitants, your
faithful and steady attention as superintendent of
prisoners of war, merits the approbation and thanks
of tffis Corporation. Tffis testimomal is entrusted
to Mr. Wiffiam Parr and John Hobson who wiU
deliver the same to you in person."
Where the barracks stood is not as important as
to know the purpose it served during the Revolution.
Among the first prisoners who came to Lancaster
in 1775 was Major Andre, who was captured by
General Montgomery, in Upper Canada of the
same year, and taken, with other officers, to Lan
caster, and where he became an inmate of Caleb
Cope's house, standing at the time at the northeast

THE INCOMING OF A NEW ERA 65
corner of Lime and Grant Streets where the Baker
mansion now stands. The writer, who wrote a
very interesting biograpffical sketch of Major Andre
and Caleb Cope, states that "Caleb Cope, the elder,
was Burgess of Lancaster, Pa., under the British
Government, immediately prior to the Revolution.
The eldest of the five sons, John, then in ffis thir
teenth year, received lessons m drawing from Major
Andre; and that the tffiee brothers, John, Wiffiam
and Thomas, had, m after Ufe, vivid recoUections of
their games of marbles and other juvenUe sports
with the hvely young EngUsh officer who was destined
to figure so terribly m the after ffistory of tffis
country." Referrmg once more to the complimentary letter
written by the burgesses it may have grown out of
an episode so grapfficaUy portrayed in a paper read
before the Lancaster County Historical Society by
Mr. Frank Diffenderffer.
Only its length precludes its insertion in the
author's narrative. Tffis much may be set forth:
"The old Barracks was the scene of one of the most
exciting episodes of the war of Independence." The
prison was surrounded by a stockade of logs and
strongly guarded, but, m spite of aU precautions,
prisoners escaped and found their way back to the
British army. It was General Hazen who devised
a plan to detect the method of escape. A Captedn
Lee, a patriotic officer, was selected to carry out
the scheme. He disgmsed himseff as a British officer
and was thrust into the jaU with the others. At
the time he could discover notffing, but one mght

66 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
wffile lying awake, the door was opened sUently and
an old woman came in, touched the nearest sleeping
prisoner, who arose; then she approached Lee,
looked at him and wffispered, "Not the man, but
come." Tffis seemed to be the opportumty so long
awaited, and he also arose and foUowed. The woman
was alarmed and went out, teffing Lee to foUow.
And he did foUow the British prisoners for twelve
days, stopping during the day m barns and farm
houses of the Tories, where they found food and
were cared for. One of the number recognized Lee,
who had pumshed him, and he told the leader who
he was. Tffis man attempted to kffi Lee, but both
were seized and carried before a magistrate by some
loyal countrymen. Lee told ffis tale, but weis not
beheved, and sent to jaU. He prevaUed on the
jaUor to carry a note to General Lincoln, who was
at the time in PhUadelphia, and who almost faUed
to recognize him in ffis rags. "Lee returned to
Lancaster, and was instrumental in arresting and
pumsffing fifteen persons who had aided the prisoners
to escape."
What in addition happened in "Old Lancaster"
during these exciting times is a story in itseff to be
found in any one of the ffistories of the Revolution.
It has already been said that fairs were held
twice a year during June and September with the
exception of two years. It was at a meeting of the
burgesses in 1783 that there came a petition from
business men and others to revive the former
custom. At last, in conformity to the petitioners'
pleadmgs, "It was resolved, Wtereas, the Borough

THE INCOMING OF A NEW ERA 67
hath for several years been deprived of holdmg fairs
on account of an oppressive, but at length a glorious
ended war — it is agreed that poles be immediately
provided for the settmg up of staUs, and the reestab
lishing of former customs of holdmg fairs to the
great advantage of country people and our good
inhabitants." And so the custom was reestablished,
contmumg down to the year 1818 as money-pro
ducers. After the burgesses had handed the borough
over to the mne select and fifteen common councU-
men, fairs were conducted by mdividual enterprise.
With but an occasional exception these annual faU
assembUes of city and country people may be con
sidered as coordmate with the foundmg of the
town as far back as the townstead itseff. And the
only wonder is that some humorist has not written
a volume on fairs. At times they have been money
makers, at others money losers, but just how much
profit or loss is not usuaUy mentioned by the pro
moters. Fairs, bless me! m addition to Wffitmonday,
AprU ffist — ^untU they feU out of custom — were to
"Old Lancaster" what the modern game of base-
baU was only a few years ago to the "bleachers"
ready to wend their way to Rossmere on a troUey
car to the neglect of more important busmess. But
the circus with its parade of animals, clowns and
riders! The first to be recaUed was m a lot opposite
the Poor House Hffi along m the early fifties. At the
time, from the corner where stands the Brunswick
stood a long row of frame sheds extendmg to Cffiis-
tian Street and used as eatmg rooms for the country

68 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
visitors. And where Uved the boy who woffid not
run away from school to witness a circus parade?
And maybe sUp under the circus tent? Tffis habit
was not confined to days gone by ! In many respects
boy-nature never changes. Nor is it confined to
the ragtaU and bobtaU of the town's youngsters.
As the cffiomcler has every reason to know, ruiming
away from school to see the elephants has made at
least one good judge who, ff he were runnmg a show
ffimseff, instead of a juvemle court, would let in aU
the school boys gratis. So, let every school board
close the schools for an hour at least on every circus
day, and ff for no other reason than that even the
modern day picture show is an educator of youth.
But to what the minutes of the burgesses have to
set forth. There was one example for incommg
generations to profit by. If they did not open many
of the streets, they usuaUy managed to keep receipts
and expenditures evenly balanced at the close of
each year without pffing up debts for their descend
ants to pay. Of course, at the time of wffich we
write, the town did not extend very far in any direc
tion from the court house except along the four
streets, north, south, east and west. And yet it
has been written by one who had visited the borough
that a certain man who Uved a square or two east
ward on King Street would occasionally find ffis
way from the country to the "hub" to learn the
news, but more hkely to indiUge ffimseff in a "swig-
ger" that came from the Gibson stiU; and years
before the government had placed an embargo over
aU distiUed spirits. Whether tavernkeeper Gibson

THE INCOMING OF A NEW ERA 69
was fined for seffing on the Sabbath except to
travelers, inmates and others, no mention is made in
the Corporation Book. It would have been an act
of discourtesy on the part of the burgomasters to
disclose secrets that are kept inviolate by councU-
men down even to the present day.
And here it must not be forgotten that as these
custodians were engaged in the buUding up of the
town, what they needed most were strangers to
make the wheels of industry go round. And who
can doubt that an occasional one commg from
Pffiladelpffia did not help leaven the loaf in givmg
the borough a Saturday evemng appearance even
without street Ughts strung along the principal
thorougffiares Uke unto tffis twentieth century?
During our boyhood there was a game caUed
"FoUow Your Leader." Tffis game is stUl in vogue,
not so much among boys as among men of aU poUtical
parties. We get the cue, and, after getting it, go
foUowing our leader, may be for the reason that
so few men are capable of leading except in their
own particular line of business.
It has been said offiy too frequently, "Put your
best men m office." And into office many have
gone, only to find out how Uttle they knew of the
science of city government, and how much they had
to learn. Possibly before the conclusion of the
narrative, the cffiomcler may find a solution for the
difficult problem of better local government.
However, because a man is successful in ffis OAivn
Une of business is no guarantee that he has found a
cure for ffis town's numerous Uls. If such can be

70 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
found even among the members of the AutomobUe
Club or the Chamber of Commerce, they would be
worth their weight in solid gold. Critics each and
every generation have had in teffing just how this or
that should be done at the least possible expense.
But when the tax rate is mentioned with the property
valuation, and their own Ukely to be increased, phew,
the poor old city! Everybody is ready to give it a
ffing ! And why ? Because everybody is part owner !
There is one class m every town or city that
cannot weU be ignored. It is the labormg element,
and who, being without a trade or other means of
support, naturaUy look for employment ff not in
one way then in another. They constitute an im
portant factor, especiaUy during election time, when
their votes are not to be ignored by the political
leaders. And after aU, it is a blessed tffing that
employment be given old men who have seen better
days. It is the baUot in tffis free country that is every
man's defensive or offensive, and can be used on
the day of election individuaUy or coUectively.
But results count offiy when there is concentration,
or what may be caUed consensus of opimon expressed
in numbers.
So completely has local government been system
atized as to make the stray voter wonder how it
has been accomphshed! It is a science known
alone to those who have made town government a
study. Tffis the average citizen does not do, possibly
for the want of time, possibly because he does not
care! Then party poUtics is more bmding than

THE INCOMING OF A NEW ERA 71
church creeds on the average church member. The
mimster may preach a sermon of an hour's length
the Sabbath before election on what he considers
the voter's duty, but when the voter stands before
the man with the poU-book — ^perhaps the parson's
own son or other near relative — the poUtical sermon
he has to wffisper in the voter's ear is the more
convincing. And so, the longer the cffiomcler struggles to
find a solution for the vexed question of better
mufficipal government, the less he is able to suc
ceed. Perhaps, before the volume is completed, the
reader may learn sometffing from the action of the
burgesses extendmg down tffiough seventy-six years.

CHAPTER VI
The Election of Burgess Edward Hand of
Revolutionary Fame
At the close of Henry Dehuff's term, came that
of Jacob Reigart, foUowed by Henry Dering, serving
until 1789, when that great patriot of Revolutionary
times, Edward Hand, was elected cffief burgess. It
was at the time when the people, tffiough their
representatives, were looking for a site for the
national government. Pffiladelpffia, Baltimore and
other towns had become aspirants for the honor of
becoming the nation's future capital. Nor were
the inhabitants of "Old Lancaster" any the less
interested, beUeving as they did that their own
iffiand town was possessed of a greater number of
advantages than those of any other site that might
be offered.
The foUowing letter was written by Cffief Burgess
Hand on the seventeenth of March, 1789, to senators
and representatives, and brings mto hght, to a
greater extent than ffitherto, the status of the
borough of Lancaster, its internal improvements and
social ffie, enumerating its diversity of local industries
wffich, in the estimation of Burgess Hand, were not
surpassed in the town's size and possibiUties by any
other in the Uffion.
As the letter is somewhat lengthy, offiy a portion
72

ELECTION OF BURGESS EDWARD HAND 73
shaU be given, and yet sufficient to show the love
tffis patriot had for ffis adopted city. And so, mark
with what sincerity the letter was written. It
began: "Borough of Lancaster, March 17, 1789.
"Gentlemen: The Corporation of tffis Borough
have been instructed by the inhabitants thereof and
adjoiffing townsffip to address you. The new Con
stitution, to wffich we anxiously sought as a means
of estabUsffing the Empire of America on the most
sure and soUd basis, is now in motion, and one of
the objects of Congress wiU be to fix a permanent
place of residence where their exclusive jurisdiction
can be conveffiently and safely exercised.
"Shoffid the general interests of the Uffion point
out an iffiand, centred situation as preferable to a
seaport for the future residence of your Honorable
Body, We humbly offer ourselves as candidate for
that distingmshed honor. As an iffiand town, we
do not consider ourselves inferior to any witffin the
Dominion of the Umted States. Our lands are
remarkably fertUe and in a ffigh state of cffitivation.
Our town is possessed of every advantage for Water
Works, as wffi appear from the draughts herewith
sent, and pecuUarly healthy, with springs, weUs and
pumps in nearly every portion of the town."
"Sprmgs, weUs and pumps in nearly every portion
of the town!" Tffis was no exaggerated statement
of Burgess Hand. Offiy those who have Uved
tffiough the days of old can recaU how boys were
sent with pitcher on a warm July afternoon for a
draught of clear, sparkUng puipp-water! Of course,
7

74 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
ice was harvested, to be stored away during winter,
provided the season was favorable. But tffis was
years before the manufactured product came to
take the place of that gathered at Graeff's Landing.
At the time bacteria, ff known to the medical
fraterffity, were not heralded tffiough the newspapers
as a warffing to bathers. They enjoyed their after
noon and evening baths as a god-given privUege.
But, as the city grew, with the sewage in greater
quantity finding its way mto the Conestoga, the
cry went out, "Beware of the germs!" Tffink for a
moment. Who would have thought seventy years
ago that the time woffid ever come when placards
were to be tacked to tffis or that tree as a warffing
to old and young? And yet in tffis advanced age of
scientffic discoveries, the Conestoga is avoided by
bathers as dangerous to both health and even ffie!
But to conclude Burgess Hand's letter to Repre
sentatives and Senators of the Umted States: To
the city's inhabitants of tffis twentieth century it
cannot help but provoke a smile to tffink that
"Old Lancaster" in 1789 shoffid presume to offer
itself as sffitable for the Umted States capital!
And it was not a joke either! No, no! The letter
meant just what it said. Now mark what is to
foUow, enough to make the mayor and councils of
"New Lancaster" stand up and take notice!
"Every necessary material is to be had and in
the greatest quantity desired at the most reasonable
rates. We venture to assert that there is no part
of the Umted States wffich can boast, witffin the
compass of ten miles, a larger number of wagons
and good teams than ourselves!

ELECTION OF BURGESS EDWARD HAND

75

"The Borough of Lancaster is a square encom
passing a portion of ground one mile ffi length from
the center (the court house) by the main streets
wffich mtersect at right angles. We have five pubhc
buUdings, mcludmg an elegant court house, ffity by
forty-eight feet. In the second story thereof is a
very handsome room 44 by 32 feet in the clear, and
two conveffient adjoiffing rooms, each being 22 by
16 in the clear. There are several places of worsffip
besides a temporary synagogue, belongmg to the
respective Societies of Episcopahan, Presbyterian,

CONESTOGA WAGON.

Lutherans, Reformed Church of Heideffierg, Mora
vian, Quakers and Cathohcs."
Note what is to foUow, and you, dear reader, wffi
almost think yourseff back in "Old Lancaster" of
one hundred and twenty years ago :
"Witffin the compass of the Borough, an enumera
tion of dwelUngs was actuaUy taken in 1786, and the
number then bffilt was 678. Many of the houses
are large and elegant, and woffid, in our idea, accom
modate Congress and their Sffite at tffis period
without inconveffience. Boarding and lodgffig are
to be had at very easy rates. Accordffig to the best

76 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
computation we can make, there are witffin tffis
Borough about 4200 souls."
Again note the town's industries — "14 hatters,
36 shoemakers, 4 tanners, 17 saddlers, 25 tffilors,
22 butchers, 25 weavers, 25 blacksmiths, 12 pubhc
bakers, 30 carpenters, 11 coopers, 6 dyers, 7 gun
smiths, 5 ropemakers, 5 tinners, 2 brass-founders,
3 skin-dressers, 1 brushmaker, 7 turners, 7 nffilors,
5 silversmiths, 3 potters, 3 coppersmiths, 3 breweries,
3 brickyards, 3 printmg presses, and 40 houses of
public entertainment witffin the Borough.
"The current price of provisions — ^wheat, 5 sffiffing
sixpence; rye, 3 sffiffing; Indian corn, 2/6; oats, 1/6;
best hay, 3 £ per ton; pork and staU-fed beef from
25/ to 30 per cwt. AU kmds of poultry in great
abundance and reasonable. Shad, rock and salmon
are plentffuUy suppUed from the Susquehanna in
their seasons."
And here the cffiomcler can offiy say that, ff tffis
letter had been written in tffis year 1917, he might
have said sometffing of how these species of fish
had been destroyed by the coal refuse coming down
the river.
As in that epoch of over a century ago, when the
borough had a population of but 4,200, with but
678 dweffings, these burgesses must have considered
the town of some importance. And verily justffied
they were in boosting it instead of discounting it,
as is done at the present day by some who never
know when they are weU off.
It is weU to remember that in the years to come
old newspapers wffi be read over; and it is not

ELECTION OF BURGESS EDWARD HAND 77
pleasant for us to feel what other people wiU think
when they read of criticism made by present-day
critics except to complam of muddy and dusty
streets. But let us conclude Burgess Hand's letter. Think
of "forty houses of pubhc entertainment" witffin
the borough of 4,200 soffis! — one for every hundred
of the town's popffiation! Of course, aU coffid not
have been taverns nor even apartment houses with
"rooms to let." Some few must have been places
of amusement for senators, congressmen, their wives
and daughters; but the kmd of entertainment!
Of one tffing we feel reasonably sure, there were not
any moving pictures shows. bearing the slogan "The
Hamilton," "Hippodrome," "Sceffic," "Coloffial"
and others.
It takes no vivid imagination to place oneseff in
the mental condition of these burgesses as they sat
in the ease of contentment, awaitmg a favorable
response to the letter sent no doubt by special
deUvery to senators and representatives.
As the missive had not been kept a profound
secret from the shopkeepers, tavemkeepers and
boardmg house-keepers, we can offiy think what a
hurly-burly of excitement aU were put to ffi making
preparation for the fficommg of tffis representative
body! How much time was devoted by the jaffitor
ffi getting the court house in order may never be
known! What the reader shaU shortly learn is
that the court house was later handed over to
Congress at least for one short day; and that, at a
StiU later time, was used by the Legislature for over a

78 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
decade. But why anticipate coming events? The
narrator has enough to do to fathom the depths of
gloom wffich hung over the burgesses and their
assistants, as for many weary weeks they hopefuUy
looked forward to converting the borough into a
' ' New Lancaster. ' '
We beheve it is the regret of every councilman of
today that the verdict was not favorable! The
reply, if one came, must have been destroyed by the
burgesses for fear of the commotion its reception
might likely have created among shopkeepers,
butchers, bread bakers, and last among the owners
of the forty places of public entertainment!
The reader wffi recaU the order to the clerk to
visit every pubhc baker and weigh each loaf. And
now, imagine if you can, by whom aU the bread
was consumed by a popffiation of but 4,200 soffis.
Of course, there could not have been any dehvery-
wagons going from viUage to viUage. AU that can
be iffierred is that the inhabitants must have been
pretty good bread eaters to keep the twelve town
bakers busy. Then tffink again of the bake ovens
necessary! But let us not overlook the "twenty-two" butch
ers! By whom aU the choice roasts were consumed
is another puzzler for the cffiofficler. But as the
choicest of these could be had at a sixpence per
pound, to hve on the fat of the land was better than
to hve in a city of ffity thousand with roasts at
ffity cents per pound, and none of the best at that!
But the cffiomcler must not forget the trend of
ffis narrative by indffiging himseff too freely in

ELECTION OF BURGESS EDWARD HAND 79
helpmg the reader to tffink out what he is able to
reason to ffis own satisfaction.
No. We are not disposed to find fault with the
burgesses for trying to prevent people from getting
drunk on the pubhc streets! They may be blamed
for aUowing tffiee distffieries in fffil operation. But
as they were revenue producers, hke those of the
present day, they were tolerated as a necessary
evil. Again, how coffid the twelve pubhc bakers
have carried on their business without "sots" to
make the dough rise? Why, during our boyhood,
nearly every haff-grown lad coffid be seen with kettle
in hand on ffis way to Shearer's distiUery, around the
corner at North Queen and Lemon Streets for a
supply of tffis old-fasffioned ingredient. And when
these tired lads received a sUce of their mothers'
home-made bread as round as a miffiature race
track covered with "smearkase" and molasses,
what more could their hearts desire than perhaps
another shce of the same kind?
In the "good old days" people ate hog and
hominy, jowl and greens, bacon and beans, "sffitz
and knep," without any knowledge of their inner
organs. Today a boy hves on cigarettes, the girls
on chewing gum, their fathers at the "club," their
mothers at their sociables when not out coUecting.
However, a tap on the shoffider by one in authority
admomshed the cffiomcler that, for the sake of
famUy peace — and with this gentle ffint, the chapter
closes, with a few more complaints on the part of
the burgesses :
"As many inconveffiences have arisen from the

80 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
butchers bringing their dogs with them to market,
it is ordered that they confine them at home during
the market hours; and Ukewise as the meirket place
has been obstructed by their not keeping their blocks
in regffiar order wffich has prevented a regffiar
thorougffiare tffiough the market, it is ordered that
ffiter cutting up their meat, the clerk shaU see that
tffis regulation is effiorced."
Also: "As frequent complaints have been made
by the inhabitants from the inconveffience of swine
muffing at large tffiough the borough, it is ordered
that the High Constable shaU make proclamation
for that purpose in confinffig them for the space
of four days from tffis date under penalty of five
shillings to the informer and one haff of the swine
taken for the poor of the borough."
Here foUows an order on John Hobson, late
treasurer: Sir, please pay to Wiffiam Ross, the
present treasurer, the sum of seventy two pounds
four pence specie, and sixty one pounds thirteen
shUhngs and four pence Continental Currency which
now remffins in your hands, and tffis shaU be your
order, given under my hand tffis 10 day of October,
"Jacob Reigart, Burgess."
Tffis is the ffist mention of Continental Currency
by the burgesses. Of course it was generaUy in
use at the time in 1786 and for some years previous
among merchants and the pubhc generaUy. It
would seem that the trouble with butchers woffid
never cease. "Finding a number contmumg at
home and seffing their meat during market hours,

ELECTION OF BURGESS EDWARD HAND 81
the Corporation have resolved that every one and
each in said borough bring their meat to market on
each market day and there continue with the sale
untU the hour of mne in the morffing. For non-
comphance for each offence, they wffi suffer a
penalty of ffiteen sffiffing. It is ifurther resolved
that they weigh their meat by scales, owing to a
bad custom they have of blowing up their mutton
by their breath; therefore, aU meat thus blown up
shaU be confiscated.
"Agam, as wood is an expensive article to the
Borough we have thought fit to appoffit tffiee
assistants to the clerk of the market who for every
cord shaU be entitled six pence paid by the farmer
of the wood ff it be deficient in bemg a good cord
to the purchaser."
Think for a moment of wood being a scarce article
a century emd a haff ago! No, it was not that
cord wood was scarce, with nearly tffiee fourths of
the county heavUy timbered. There were other
reasons. Reports commg from the treeless West,
led the farmers to beUeve that the most valuable
of their holdmgs were their timber tracts. And in
tffis, but for the discovery of coal at a somewhat
later day, their hopes might have been realized.
Who woffid have ever imagined that at the time
mentioned, there coffid have been a "corner" in
cord-wood for domestic use? It seems almost
incredible! And yet, from other sources we learn
that to cut down a forest tree for family use was
considered sacrUegious. Offiy the dead trees were
cut out to make more room for the young, healthy

82 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
timber. It is witffin the recollection of the cffion-
icler that on both sides of the tumpike leading east
from Witmer's bridge, timber grew in an over
abundance. The same along other pikes. It was
only after the cffitivation of tobacco became ffigffiy
profitable that the oaks and ffickories had to go.
No doubt these included the famous ffickory that
stood before the Gibson Inn. Tffis ffistoric tree
being one of the landmarks of the town, it came
early to be associated with what were caUed the
"Hickory Indians," thereby receiving the name
"Hickory" town.
The statement having been set forth that down to
the year 1812, no general system of property taxa
tion had been authorized by act of Assembly, the
foUowing taken from the minutes of October 7, 1791,
will make offiy too clear:
"Whereas, it is ffigffiy necessary that the Cor
poration shoffid strictly attend to the due apphca-
tion of the momes assessed or levied and received
for fines or penalties by virtue of the act of Assembly
passed the 22 of January, 1774, entitled an act for
regffiating the bffildmgs, keeping in repeffi the
streets, lanes and ffighways in the Borough of
Lancaster and for other purposes therein mentioned.
Therefore — Ordered that the ffighway constable give
notice to the present supervisors to be ready on the
time of settUng their accounts to iffiorm the Cor
poration what streets, lanes and aUeys and ffighways
have been repaired and what sums of money may
have been expended on any particffiar street in
order that the Corporation may be able to judge

ELECTION OF BURGESS EDWARD HAND 83
of the due apphcation for that purpose expended
and whether the same were just and reasonable
accordffig to act of Assembly aforesaid."
From the proceedings of the burgesses, it woffid
seem that no one carrying on any kind of business
having to do in supplying the pubhc, could escape
the tax-collector. The employed officials were ever
on the go from pubhc bread baker to butcher,
artisans, peddlers, and others from whom a few
pounds, shiffings and pence might be gathered
wherewith to keep the town's wheels in motion.
But of ffil the revenue coUected, the greater portion
came from markets and fairs. To close tffis chapter,
let the twentieth-century reader be thankful for
even an increase in taxation, with the hope that one
of these days "New Lancaster" may have a just
and eqffitable assessment of aU property. Nor can
the people of tffis city ever hope to have better
streets until that day arrives. Go where one may,
the most absorbing question is a just and eqffitable
assessment of town property. For a fuU century
the taxpayers have talked it over, but it seems
favoritism is stffi the rule in most cities with Lan
caster being no exception ff complaffits generaUy
made have any foundation in fact.
In closing tffis chapter, it may not be amiss to
ask holders of turnpike stock to locate once upon a
time Anderson's Ferry & New Haven Tumpike
chartered in 1810? A certfficate has been copied,
as follows:
"Evidence of Stock
"Anderson's Ferry, Waterford & New Haven
TurnpUie Office, Jan. 30, 1812.

84 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"Be it hereby certified, by the President,
Managers and Company of the Anderson's Ferry,
Waterford & New Haven Tumpike Road, That
James Mehaffey of Waterford, Lancaster County,
having paid thirty DoUars, is entitled to one share
of stock in the said company, numbered two hundred
and nmety tffiee, transferable in the presence of the
President or Treasurer, by the said James Mehaffey —
or ffis Attorney, subject to the payments now due or
to become due agreeably to the Act of Assembly of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvama, passed the
ffineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord,
one thousand eight hundred and ten, and Sealed
with the Common Seal of the Company.
"George Snyder, Treasurer. "Henry Share, President."
We do not know at what price per share the
Marietta turnpike stock is vffiued at today, changed
as has the Company's name.
A bid for tffis one share, number two hundred
and ffinety-tffiee, properly endorsed by the president
and treasurer, is awaited by the cffiofficler.

CHAPTER VII
Recommendation by the Grand Inquest, Re
sulting IN THE Building of City Hall
We are now to reach an important epoch of the
admiffistration of the burgesses at their meeting of
the fourth of AprU, 1794, ffi wffich it was "Resolved,
That the agreement entered into on the ffist day of
January last, respecting the bffilding for the pubUc
offices on part of the site of the market house,
together with the concurrence of the Court thereon,
be entered on the records of tffis Corporation —
and are as foUows, (to wit)
"The Grand Inquest
"(Seventeen ffi number being present) for the
body of the county of Lancaster, at their Sessions,
1794, are unanimously of the opiffion. That the
Corporation of the Borough of Lancaster wffi grant
a spot of ground, part of the ground allotted for the
market place, wffich may be thought sffitable for
erecting the pubhc bffildmgs, wffich spot of ground
shaU be granted free of expences to the county, and
that such pubhc bffildings shaU be erected on soUd
ground of two stories ffigh, uffiess it shaU be thought
necessary to bffild arched ceUars underneath, in
such case the Grand Inquest unanimously recom
mend such buUdings to be erected.
85

86 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
" Signed — P. Musselman
Wilham KeUy John Barvel
Wiffiam Smith John Baughman
Jacob Johns Michael Hess
Frederick Segar John Free
Jacob Graeff John Roberts
Abraham Wffiteside Nathaffiel Zagnr
Thomas Evans Thomas Robinson
Cffiistian Kauffman Wiffiam Boel
"The Court concurred with the Grand Jury so
far as relates to the erection of the pubhc bffildings
on the site of the market house in the maimer the
jury have pointed out :
"By the Court:
"John Hubley, Cffief clerk of the Court of
Quarter Sessions of the Peace."
At a meeting of the Burgesses, January 1, 1795,
it was concluded and agreed that "the Commis
sioners with the approbation of the Judges of the
Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace,
may erect a bffilding for the public offices on the
present site of the market house, that is to say,
on the east end of the same, the breadth of wffich
bffilding shaU be twenty-eight to tffirty feet from
south to north, and the length thereof, forty-five or
ffity feet from east to west. Done at the Borough
aforesaid the day and year afor mentioned. Paul
Zantzinger, C. B. Charles Shaffner, B."
Here follows the consent of the judges : ' ' We do by
virtue of the presentment of the Grand Jury, consent
that the Commissioners of the county of Lan-

DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL 87
caster, do erect the pubhc offices on the ground witffin
aUotted for that purpose. They further order and
direct that the sffid Commissioners procure a plan
or plans for the same bffildffig for the approbation
of the sffid court, the expence thereof to be paid
out of the county stock: "Signed, Joseph Henry
Robert Coleman
Frederic Kiffin
Andrew Graff"
It was at the house of PffiUp Dffienderfer on the
twenty-fourth day of February, 1798, that it was
resolved by the burgesses that the corporation meet
at the house of Jacob Frey, March 2, in order to
take into consideration the bffilding of the "New
Market House." At tffis meeting appeared a com
mittee from Blue Lodge No. 43, consistmg of Charles
Smith, Henry Dering, WiUiam Kirkpatrick, and
John MiUer, Jr., to consffit and to agree with the
corporation respectmg the privUege of erecting a
superstructure upon the market house for the use
of the Freemason Lodge, No. 43. The committee
handed the corporation the foUowing proposffis, to
wit: "The Corporation to erect pffiars and arches
sufficiently strong to support the superstructure and
roof, wffich pffiars and arches are to be at the
expence of the Corporation; the Lodge to bffild the
superstructure and roof the bffilding from floor and
ceUing; the Corporation to grant the right to erect

88 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
this superstructure and the direction of its uses of
it to such trustees as may be appointed by the
Lodge— But a room shaU ffiways be reserved for
the use of the meetings of the Corporation — AU
other pubhc uses of the rooms to be at the option
of the Lodge.
"If the Corporation shoffid tffink it proper to
erect piUars in the Square, beyond the extent of
the main market bffilding for the use of the country
market people, the Lodge wffi extend the roof over
the same, floor, ceU, pffint and fiffish it in a neat
manner. [Tffis was never done.]
"We on the part of the Lodge and on the part
of the Corporation agree to the above proposals —
By order of the Corporation: Paffi Zantzinger, C. B.
By order of the Lodge — C. Smith, Henry Dering,
John MiUer, Jr., L. Lauman.
"At a meeting, March 22 foUowing, at the house
of PffiUp Dffienderfer, the erection of the market
house beffig under consideration, it is agreed that
the market house shaU be buUt agreeably to the
proposals tffis day signed by the Cffief Burgess on
the part of the Borough, and on the part of the
Mason's Lodge No. 43, by Charles Smith, John
MiUer, Jr., Lewis Lauman and Henry Deerffig:
"Agreed that Paffi Zantzinger, John Hubley and
Jacob Kmg or any two of them are appointed to
procure materials and workmen for the buUding of
the above mentioned market house, in conjunction
with any person or persons that the Lodge 43 wffi
appoint for the same purpose."
At a meeting at the house of Jacob Frey, AprU 5,

DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL 89
foUowing, it was ordered "that the committee
appointed March 22 last to employ workmen and
procure materials for the bffilding of the market
house in conjunction with the persons who may be
appointed by Lodge 43 — reported that, in conjunc
tion with Charles Smith, WilUam Kirkpatrick and
Lewis Lauman, on the part of the said Lodge —
The said committee agreed with George Peters,
brickmeiker, Jacob Albright, mason and bricklayer,
and GodUeb Sener, carpenter, as workmen and
persons to procure material for the said bffilding
agreeably to the contract signed by them and pro
duced to the Corporation, the same being dffiy
considered is agreed to and approved by the Cor
poration. "Agreed that Paul Zantzinger and John Hubley,
the Burgesses in whose names the order is drawn
by the Commissioners of the county for the money
granted by the Grand Jury and Court, toward the
buUding of the market house, do caU on the treasurer
of the county, and receive the amount of the said
order and deposite the same in the hands of John
Roberts, the treasurer of the Corporation for the
purposes of defraying the expences of the said
bffildffig, and payffig the same on the orders of the
two Burgesses for the use of the said buUding.
Paul Zantzinger, C. B."
That the market house was erected in 1798, in
cluding the superstructure, is evidenced by the
date on the West King side of the Lodge rooms.
At a meetmg held January 21, it was resolved,

90 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"That butcher staUs ffi the new market house be
numbered, and that the butchers meet at the house
of Jacob Frey on the eveffing of the 30 foUowing to
draw lots as to the choice, except such as the Cor
poration shaU think proper to except, and it is
agreed that each butcher pay for ffis staU annuaUy
£ 3 in quarterly payments for the use of the cor
poration — the time to commence from the ffist day
of January inst., with the exception of two days
for the June fair." The staUs as set forth in the
minutes are twenty-four ffi number. John deGraff
drew number 4, Cffiistopher Hager 5, Andrew
Lieibly 7, Solomon Kauffman 8, John Leibley, jun.,
12, John Yost 13, Phffip Metzger 14, Phffip Russel
15, Uriah Lambard 17, Jos. Hoover 18, Cffiistopher
Franciscus 20, John Leibly 22, Stephen Lutz 23,
John Metzger 24.
It wffi be seen from the foregomg that the trade
of butchering must have been qffite a profitable
business, otherwise so many of the best citizens
woffid not have been engaged in it. If it was
profitable for them it must have been a money
maker for the burgesses also.
What the impatient reader is anxious to know is
when the present city haU was erected? It wffi be
recaUed, at a meeting of the corporation, January 1,
1795, the opimon of the court was read, "It is con
cluded and agreed that the Commissioners of the
county with the approbation of the Court of General
Sessions, acting in accordance with the Grand Jury's
report, 'may erect a bffilding for the pubhc offices
on the present site of the market house, that is to

DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL 91
say, on the east end of the same, the breadth of
wffich buUding shaU be twenty eight or thirty feet
from the south to the north, and the length thereof,
forty five or ffity feet from east to west.'" This
confirms the measurement taken by the cffiofficler.
An examination of the dividing hne proves beyond
a doubt that both the market house and city haU
were not bffilt at the same year, or at least at the
same time. But that both were erected and paid
for out of county funds is not to be questioned. It
coffid not have been bffilt by the corporation uffiess
they had gone a-borrowmg. To fix the exact time
the minutes of the burgesses fffil to make entirely
clear. However, along in 1801, the city haU was
used by George Duffield, ControUer General, or ffis
deputy, Samuel Bryan, who, on refusing to pay rent,
sffit was brought agmnst the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvaffia. What remams for the records to show is that from
the time it was erected down to 1854 neither the
burgesses nor councUs ever held their meetings
therein. During tffis more than haff century, it
was used for such offices as the County Commis
sioners had determined. Nor is there any proof
that the room set apart for the conveffience of the
burgesses, and to which they claimed the right to
occupy under the agreement between Blue Lodge
and the corporation, was occupied.
With a little patience, the reader may learn how
the city of Lancaster came into undisputed possession
of the much-disputed question of its ownersffip.
It might be now stated, but it is better to wait and

92 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
see what the councU minutes may have to dis
close. To show how poor the borough authorities were,
at least in pounds, sffiffings and pence, it needs offiy
be stated that from 1742 down untU 1812 when
redress came in the shape of an Act of Assembly
authorizing the burgesses to levy a tax on aU real
estate, the receipts were never more than ffity
pounds in one year. And wffile tffis tax levy was
but a trifle, it rffised a storm of protest among
property holders who had bought up whole tracts
witffin the town's two miles square, not to be utUized
in the opeffing up of streets but to hold the same for
a sudden rise in value.
However, at last the County Commissioners did
fill up and "pike" Center Square, after the burgesses
had made their report as foUows: "Resolved that,
having viewed the premises, we are fuUy of the
opiffion that the complaint of the petitioners is
weU founded in fact; that the water wffich flows on
all four sides of the court house for want of proper
drffinage, stagnates in the Square, giving rise to a
pubhc nffisance as weU as a pubhc grievance."
Tffis was the verdict of the burgesses, but as the
square on wffich the court house stood was claimed
by the County Commissioners, who, being slow to
act, and the authorities without the legal right or
money, tffis "goose-pond" was no doubt ffigffiy
enjoyed by the boys until the county began to get
busy. How the lawyers managed to find their way
into the court of justice without stilts, we have no
means of knowing.

DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL 93
To bear and forebear aU kinds of inconveffiences
offiy goes to show that the dweUers of "Old Lancas
ter" were a patient, law-abiding people, wiUing to
suffer to the limits of endurance anytffing and aU
things. Possibly they had more urgent matters to
worry over from year to year to make both ends
meet in trying to pay their annual ground rent.
The reason no mention is made of compeffing
owners or tenants to shovel their pavements after a
two-foot snow, may have been owing to the fact that
brick pavements were few and far between except
around the square, where aU kind of business
flourished. But how Uttle different in tffis twentieth
century! Ordinances are passed requiring house
keepers to shovel the snow from their own side
walks, ff not for their own conveffience, at least for
that of the traveling pubUc. It has been said by a
former mayor that "New Lancaster" has some of
the worst pavements ffi the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvaffia. Being a judge of bricks, he might
have added with equal force that many of these
haff-worn out bricks had come over on the "Wilham
and Sarah" as far back as the year 1709. But with
aU due respect for the feeUngs of owners of side
walks, a certain respect shoffid be shown for aged
women and especiaUy for dainty shoes with heels
that have not as yet become so ffigh as to keep the
skirts of young girls from being sent to the laundry
every day in the week, Sundays, of course, excepted.
As for dust carried into the home of every weU-
regffiated family, the responsibUity rests equaUy
between the city fathers and owners of automobiles

94 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
who have to wear "goggles" to keep themselves
from being bhnded, or, what is worse, smothered by
the volumes of dust turned up in their wake.
Turffing over a nearly two-century old page of
the "Corporation Book:" "Resolved that the ffiing
off of guns and pistols on New. Year's ffight, or at
any other time, has likewise become dangerous, aU
persons violating tffis decree, shaU pay twenty
sffiffings for the use of the Corporation."
To the credit of the pohce force of today, the
cffiofficler can say that tffis one particffiar ordinance
has been fuUy compUed with, for seldom do we hear
of the ffiing off of a gun or pistol as during our boy
hood when pistols were carried and ffied without
fear of arrest.
As to smoking on the streets and aUeys, and
agffinst wffich the goodly burgesses had issued their
edict to frighten boys, the modern day text-books
of physiology and hygiene used in aU schools under
state control have served their purpose.
Why smoking was more common among haff-
grown boys during the forties and ffities of the
past century was owing to the fact that a "sixer"
coffid be had for a big, round, copper cent! Cheap!
Why, it was not until the government began to
levy a tax on cigars and tobacco that the price went
soaring skyward! Why the habit was not broken
by the narrator from the standpomt of economy was
to help the nation ffiong in the rffising of revenue.
But even tffis is no good reason for twentieth-
century boys to form the habit. Tobacco in any
shape is not offiy a vicious but an extravagant habit.

DECISION TO BUILD CITY HALL 95
Don't begin it, my boys, and you wiU not have the
trouble of stopping it when your bank account runs
short! As chewffig gum is ffidffiged in by so many
mothers, why give advice to girls?
The reason the minutes of the burgesses make no
mention of the "curfew" is owing to the fact that
no pubUc school system had been estabUshed at
the time, with no "truant" officer in evidence ffi
makffig boys toe the mark ffi attendmg school
whether they wanted to or not! However, tffis is
not meant to convey the impression that aU young
sters were aUowed to reach the age of discretion
without at least a famffiarity of the tffiee "R's," —
readffig, writffig and 'rithmetic — in the sffigle and
double "rffie o' tffiee," with speffing, at present,
one of the lost arts. To have brought chUdren up
without the rudiments of an education woffid have
been a criminal neglect of duty on the part of
parents. The schoolmaster was abroad, ff not in
the home, at least ffi the church schools. But as
the octogenarian author has other duties to per
form apart from that of turffing schuylemffister, the
story wffi be contmued with the burgomasters'
mmutes to furffish the inspiration to complete the
volume. If reflection be cast upon the present
generation's fads and fancies, the hope is, they wffi
be more forgiving when they reach their four-score.
And so say aU octogenarians!

CHAPTER VIII
Opinion of City Solicitor Slaymaker as to the
Founder's Bequest
In a hurried glance tffiough one of the council-
maffic books of 1847, the searcher was dehghted to
find reference to the same troublesome question as
to the right and title of city haU wffich had been
erected out of money appropriated by the county.
The foUowing resolution offered by a member
of Select CouncU was read and concurred ffi by the
common branch: "Resolved, that the City SoUcitor
be instructed to inquire into the ownersffip of city
haU, and to ascertffin on what pretext the County
stffi occupies it with their offices?"
At the next meeting the foUowing opiffion was
rendered, "On the 16 of May, 1730, tffiee lots of
ground in the town of Lancaster were granted by
James Hamilton, in trust; the ffist for the use of the
county whereon to erect a court house, the second
for a jaU, and the third, contffiffing one hundred and
twenty feet square, for the erection, keeping and
holding a market for the ease and conveffience of
the inhabitants thereof, and others who have oc
casion to resort tffither.
"On the ffist day of January, A. D. 1795, it was
agreed by the officers of the Corporation, with the
approval of the Court of General Sessions, that
96

city SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST 97
the county may erect a bffilding for the use of the
pubhc offices on the present site of the market house
to extend twenty-eight to tffirty feet from south
to north, and forty-five to ffity feet from east to
west. In accordance with this agreement, a bffilding
for county offices was erected and has continued in
use for these purposes up to the present time [1847].
"Upon tffis state of facts two questions arise —
First, does the Ucense of the Corporation of 1795 to
the county to bffild on the market-house space bind
the pubUc? And ff it does not? Second, wiU oc
cupancy for any length of time give the county a
right to the ground covered by its offices, as against
the pubhc?
"The grant of the lot is declared to be for a
specffic purpose of arching, keeping and holding a
market: The intention of the grantor is here dis
tinctly expressed, and aU rights proven or exercised
under the grant must be in strict accordance with
its provisions.
"But further — the conveyance is stated is to be
for the benefit not offiy for the city but ffiso for
others who may have occasion to resort to the
market; thus dedicating the subject-matter of the
grant to the use of the pubhc. The Corporation
has here not an absolute, but merely a qualffied
property right for a specffic purpose; it is in fact
no more than a trustee for the use of the pubhc in
generffi; none of its rights therefore with reference
to tffis property (meaffing the city haU) woffid be
vaUd uffiess they were done in pursuance of the
purposes of the grant — ^nor otherwise coffid they be

98 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
binding upon its trust — the pubhc. If any part of
the lot coffid be appropriated to any other use than
that specffied in the grant, by a parity of reasoffing,
so ffiso might the whole, £ind to any other use what
soever; and thus the intention of the grantor be
frustrated and the benefit to the pubUc entirely lost.
"The pubhc to wffich use tffis property is dedi
cated is not the pubhc of one generation, but of
each generation successively as it makes its appear
ance on the stage of action, and no fraudffient,
improvident or misconceived action on the part of
the pubhc or its officers at any particffiar period
can be permitted to diminish or destroy the right
of the future pubUc. If tffis reasoffing be correct
then it is clear that the Ucense by the Burgesses ffi
1795 coffid give the county no right to erect its
buUdings on the Square, set apart for the market
house. "It then offiy remains for us to inquire how the
rights of the parties are affected by the lapse of time.
With regard to private rights the lapse of time may
be conclusive. The pubhc interests require that
there shoffid be an end of strffe, and when an mdi
vidual with the strong, naturffi stimffius to action
of an immediate personal interest neglects for a long
space of time to assert its rights, the law in many
instances presumes for the sake of peace that he
has parted with those rights. As regards the pubUc,
however, no such presumption shoffid with any
propriety have place.
"The pubhc is an aggregation of mdividuals, no
one of whom usuaUy conceives ffimseff to have ffi

CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST 99
the common property such a direct interest as aU
experience proves is alone sufficient to stimffiate
men to active and earnest efforts. Gradual and
sUght encroachment on pubUc rights therefore rarely
attracts attention, particffiarly if no special incon
veffience is the immediate resffit. And thus the
pubhc, did the lapse of time furffish a bar to its
claim, woffid find the circle of its rights steadily
contracting until at length not a vestige of those
rights would remain.
"To avoid such miscffief as tffis, the Supreme
Court has decided in a number of instances that the
presumption does not arise agffinst the pubhc, and
that the grant of a part of a street or square wffi not
be presumed so as bar an indictment for a nffisance.
In the case under consideration no such presumption
can be admitted. Upon the title as set forth in the
Corporation Book, depends aU the rights with
reference to the property in question. If the officers
of the corporation had the authority to dispose of
the market square for any other purpose than that
mentioned in the original grant, then the county
had the vahd right to the space occupied by its
offices. If however, as we suppose, those officers
had no such right or authority, then the county
biffidings are a pubhc nffisance and aU parties
occupying them are hable to indictment.
"A. Slaymaker, Solicitor for the city."
As httle understood as the above-mentioned
opiffion may be by the pubhc at large, it is quoted
to show that even down to the year 1847 when the
matter came up in councUs, the present city haU

100 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
had proved a bone of contention as to its ownersffip.
As the reader shall learn, down untU the year 1854
it was occupied by county and state officials, not
to overlook the fact that a decade previous councils
had tried to get possession of it, and wffich they
finaUy did, by the right of purchase from the county,
as shaU be made clear ffi due time.
Allowing tffis question to rest temporarily, it was
at a meeting of the burgesses, October 6, 1798,
that an act, passed by the General Assembly for a
"Nightly Watch," came before said body for action.
As many of its provisions are worth reading, a few
may be quoted.
"It is enacted by the authority aforesaid that the
Burgesses shaU have power to set up a number of
lamps in such parts of the ffighways, streets and
pubUc aUeys as to them shall seem to be expedient,
and to contract with any person or persons for the
Ughting, trimming, supplying and mffintffiffing the
same. And likewise to employ any number of
watchmen at such reasonable wages as shaU be found
expedient. Also, that these watchmen shaU use
their best endeavors to prevent ffies, murders,
burglaries, robberies, and other outrages and dis
orders witffin the Borough. And to that end, they
shaU apprehend all suspicious persons. And further,
that ff any minor, bound-servant, apprentice, negro,
slave, or mffiatto to be apprehended, he shaU be
sent to prison for any such length of time, not
exceedmg ten days, uffiess parents, guardians or
mistress of such offender pay the damages aforesaid."

CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST 101
The mention of apprentice, "slave," or bound-
servants may sound strange ffi the ears of people
hving in tffis twentieth century, and yet during
those early days, it was not unusual to see advertise
ments Uke the foUowing:
"A White Negro— Fffty Dollars Reward:
"He is white as any man; but is a slave for ffie;
his hair is red, but turned up before with a ffice
curl, has blue eyes, is a httle cross-eyed, and but for
tffis, woffid be very hkely; is 5 feet two inches ffigh,
about twenty years old; had on and took with him,
a hght Summer coat of cotton, striped blue, swan-
down vest." He was further described by the
owner in the same characteristic way as such notices
usuaUy ran. Nor were slaves the offiy ones held in
bondage; bound wffite boys, when apprenticed to a
trade, were compeUed to serve their time, usuaUy
from tffiee to four years, and as for girls, few found
employment Uke those of today, many of whom
are to be found holding responsible positions in aU
departments of business. And who can say that
thevgirls of "New Lancaster" are not making their
boy friends stand up and take notice that they have
come by their own both in the family and in the
financial, social and commerciffi world?
There was a time, as far back as 1786, when
Wiffiam Henry, after holding numerous positions
of trust, became county treasurer of Lancaster
County, with ffis residence at the corner of Moravian
and Market place. After ffis demise, ffis widow,
Ann, contmued to fiU out ffis unexpired term. In

102 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
many respects she was a remarkable woman, and
the ffist that ever held either a city or county office.
After raismg a family of thirteen cffildren, in 1798
she was laid beside her husband in the old Moravian
graveyard. However, there was, one other Arm, the wffe of
George Moore, who held the position of postmaster
untU ffis death ffi 1798 when ffis widow, Ann, con
tinued to the year 1809. Following came Mary
Dickson, as postmistress in 1828, holding it untU
1850. On January 15, 1872, Mrs. EUen H. Hager
fiUed out the unexpired term of her husband, H. W.
Hager. At the proper place the names of the post
masters, twenty-two ffi number, may be given,
runnmg from 1790 down to the present incumbent's
appointment. As wiU be seen from the foregoffig, from the year
1786 to tffis year 1917, offiy tffiee women held
public office witffin the city of Lancaster. It has
not been that they were not quaUfied, poUte and
accommodating. But, more of the women of Lan
caster as the story progresses.
As has been referred to, it was not until 1798
that an act was passed by the General Assembly of
the Commonwealth, empowering the burgesses to
set up lamps on the streets and aUeys of the borough.
Imagine, if you can, dear, disgruntled reader, of
how, for nearly a haff century, the streets of "Old
Lancaster" were dark, except on moonUght ffights.
As there was no "Weather Bureau" to teU when the
ffights were to be clear or when cloudy, the people
had to take their chances of getting to their homes
as best they coffid. Plenty of those old in years

CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST 103
can recall when, during moonUght ffights, economy
was practiced in the saving of either oU or gas.
As it is with the human most readers are interested,
special reference shaU be made to the old stone jffil
wffich stood at the corner of Prffice and West King
Streets until its removal along about the year 1850.
And here it can be sffid that, although maybe
deserving, the cffiofficler was never compeUed to do
"time" witffin its gloomy waUs. However, there
was one we happened to know, who was sentenced
by Squire Van Camp for six months for some triffing
offense. Taking pity on the poor feUow, at times
we coffid see him standing looking tffiough the bars.
Untffieading one of ffis woolen socks, down he woffid
drop the yarn, with note pleading for some of
Mammy Gruel's sugar cakes and other goodies.
Finding the yarn not strong enough, to the end of the
cord we would tie a piece of kite string. Tffis, when
drawn up with a ginger-horse, maybe, at the end,
woffid at times be seen by the good-natured jaUor,
who offiy smUed one of ffis pleasant smUes, recaffing,
as he doubtless did, how he had been a boy once
upon a time himseff.
Mention of kite string leads the narrator to ask
ffil twentieth-century boys what have become of
kites? Their reply wffi no doubt be that they have
been mled out by the many telegraph wires strung
all over the town. Again, why do not boys play
"sffirmy," town or corner baU any more? During
our boyhood, the best exercise was in playmg hop
scotch, mummydepeg, and other games now almost
forgotten. Pitcffing penffies, a species of gambhng.

104 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
was a game usuaUy practiced in an aUey with no
constable around. Tffis game lasted until big
coppers went out of use. And it is weU for the boys
they did, as they led to other gambling devices of
wffich the town was fffil to overflowing during fair
week, circus days, Whitmonday, April ffist, with the
thimble-rigger at aU times in evidence in roping into
his drag net the unsopffisticated country youngster,
ever ready to beat the expert at ffis own game.
However, whether boys are getting more out of ffie
with so much to be seen and heard during these days,
we have no means of knowffig. In the olden times,
boys were boys xmtil they had reached their voting
age; today, they pass as men at seventeen.
In repeated mention of the old jffil, it must not
be forgotten that on the site where it stood was
erected Fffiton HaU in honor of Robert Fffiton
who ran ffis ffist paddle-wheel steamboat on the
Conestoga near by where yet stands the residence
of the great patriot. General Hand who, as cffief
burgess wrote the letter to Senators and Repre
sentatives of the Uffited States as far back as 1789.
Old Fffiton HaU! Offiy those weU along in years
can recall the fairs held therein by the women of
Lancaster during the war of the sixties! Oh! there
is notffing hke a war to bring to the fore woman's
inherent quahties of soffi, mffid and body. That
same womaffiy spirit dominant durmg Revolutionary
times, bubbled forth during the dark days of the
Civil War. Nor has it subsided in these trymg days.
With the passing of mothers and grandmothers,
we have their granddaughters, members of the "Red

CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION ON BEQUEST 105
Cross" and other organizations, each in its own way
ready to sustain the President of the Uffited States
in ffis laudable ambition to maintain the rights of
all citizens of whatever nationaUty.
Old Fffiton HaU ! It is no more as we once knew it.
Known as the Fffiton Opera House, so completely
has it undergone change as scarcely to be recogffized
from what it was when ffist erected more than
sixty years ago by Cffiistopher Hager & Son.
And now, to what the pages of the " Corporation
Book" may yet have to disclose.

CHAPTER IX
The Establishing of a Bank in Lancaster
For sixty years, from 1742 down to 1803, the
borough of Lancaster was without a bank! And
it was not until at a meeting of the burgesses the
same year, that the foUowing resolution weis offered
and passed by councUs: "Whereas, The estabhsh-
ment of a bank in the Borough of Lancaster is con
sidered not to be contrary to the interests of its
inhabitants, but rather expected to be promotive of
the iffiand trade of tffis place and vicinity; it is
therefore "Resolved, That the President, Directors and
Company of the Bank of Pennsylvaffia be, and are
hereby permitted and invited to estabhsh a branch
of the said bank in the Borough, in coffiormity to
the Act of Assembly incorporating the subscribers
to the same, in case the said president and directors
should tffink proper to do so."
On May 18, 1803, the bank was opened in the
bffilding wffich stUl stands on the northeast corner
of West King and Prince Streets. The directors,
twelve in number, were elected, with Adam Reigart,
Jr., as president, and James Houston as casffier.
Tffis branch of the Bank of Pennsylvaffia located
in Pffiladelpffia managed to weather the storm until
about 1841, when faUure of the larger brought faUure
106

ESTABLISHING A BANK IN LANCASTER 107
to the smaUer banking institution, compeffing it to
close its doors. However, twenty years before the
branch Bank of Pennsylvaffia went into hqffidation,
along in the year 1810, came what is known at the
present day as The Farmers Trust Company, and
what a long, uffintermpted career of prosperity it
has had durffig the past one hundred and seven
years. During times of paffics and other financial
upheavals, it has managed to weather the financial
storms. At the time when the Farmers' Bank was
chartered, the town was stiU a borough with a
popffiation of a httle more than five thousand
inhabitants. Nor were they then aU of one nation
aUty. It was in many respects a heterogeneous
mixture of Enghsh, Germans, Irish, Scotch-Irish,
Welsh, Quakers, French Huguenots and a sprinkling
of negroes. As has already been shown from Cffief
Burgess Hand's letter, tffis community was the
second largest in Pennsylvaffia, and the largest in
land town in the Uffited States.
One is given to wondering how, for more than
haff a century, the pubhc managed to transact
business, the borough being nearly seventy miles
from the townstead Pffiladelpffia. Money, some
genffine, other spurious, was kept securely ffidden
away in secluded places. Of course, there were
what might be called "individual bankers," known
today as "curbstone brokers," who accepted money
from farmers and others at a low rate, and put it
out to borrowers who were as numerous then as in
tffis much later epoch, considering the dffierence in
time.

108 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
There must have been, away back in the early
days, much antipathy among money-lenders agffinst
the ffist bank. Nor had it subsided down to a time
witffin the recoUection of the old-time present-day
bankers. It is not over a haff century when, on
April ffist, farmers, instead of depositing their
money and paying their debts with checks, woffid
crowd the taverns and stairways on wffich they
would transact their business. And who can say
that banking in "New Lancaster" has not made
much progress during the past century with a
haff dozen banks, and almost as many trust com-
paffies aU on a safe foundation and, it is to be hoped,
will so continue.
Not offiy have city people placed their trust in
banks, but the rural popffiation as weU, considering
that almost every town in the county has its bank,
with dividend coming to the investor semi-annuaUy.
Although the burgesses, during their seventy-six
years of rule, had occasion every now and then to
summon the butchers, breadbakers, chapmen and
others before them for wrong-doing, the records
ffiso contain one charge against the Pennsylvaffia
Legislature ! It wiU be recaUed that tffis state repre
sentative body held its sessions in the court house
from 1799 to 1812. As the "Corporation Book"
shows, tffis distingffished assembly had gone their
way to Harrisburg without ffist having paid five
pounds rent for the use of a ten-plate wood stove
in the court house. So annoyed were the burgesses
over the Legislature's neglect to pay the five pounds
overdue, as to cause the clerk to present a biU to

OLD COLONIAL FIREPLACE

GEORGE ROSS MANSION IN COLONIAL TIMES

110 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"Mattheus Huston, Esqffire, of the Assembly, with
instructions that ff the amount be not pffid promptly,
to bring suit against the Commonwealth of Penn
sylvaffia!" Tffinking possibly that the ten-plate wood stove
might have been stored away on the loft of city
haU by the jaffitor, every effort has been made by
the cffiofficler to locate it, but without success.
However, it might be well for every descendant of
tffis Legislative body, to make dffigent search for
tffis memento of other days. The chances are it
wffi still turn up in time for the incoming Centenffial.
It would add much to the occasion, provided it was
not doing service in the old capitol bffilding at the
time it went up in smoke. However, might it not
be well for councUs to authorize our accomphshed
young city sohcitor to bring sffit against the next
Legislature for the five pounds at the rate of six
per cent, compound mterest, dating from the year
1799 to the present year 1917?
Mention of ffies, it was ffiong in the year 1812,
that one ffie foUowed another with stables, barns
and other bffildings faffing prey to the flames.
Rewards were offered for the arrest and conviction
of the incendiary or incendiaries, but without
success. At last a town meeting was held at the
court house, at which it was "Resolved that aU
able-bodied men of the borough be compeUed to
orgaffize themselves into a patrol to parade the
streets at ffil hours of the ffight."
Like the fffitffiul ffistorian who wrote the Kfficker-
bocker History of New Amsterdam, the cffiofficler

ESTABLISHING A BANK IN LANCASTER 111
must not be taken too seriously, if occasionaUy he
is inchned to make merry over some of the ruhngs
of the burgesses. And yet, here is what is set forth
in their minutes: ''It shaU be the duty of each
Captffin of his ward to keep ffis company constantly
on the march during ffights on the lookout for aU
suspicious characters, incendiaries and other ffightly
prowlers, and who are to be locked in the old stone
jail uffiess they can give a good account of them
selves." One newspaper account of that early day has
tffis to say of the many uncaUed-for arrests made
during the ffist ffight of the patrol on the march in
search for all suspicious characters. It seems that
the captffin, after having imbibed too many brandy-
punches, being unable to distingffish members of tffis
or that lodge homeward bound, had committed the
unpardonable mistake of arresting the Grand Master
of Blue Lodge, No. 43, in stepping out of the room
over the market house, at present used for city pur
poses. Tffis flagrant violation of decorum brought
a speedy end of the ffightly patrol.
Already mention has been made that, with one
exception, no property tax was Iffid on real estate
until the year 1812, under Act of Assembly. Tffis
property tax of tffiee thousand doUars was levied
on aU land witffin the borough's two mUes square
for the repair of the streets witffin the bffilt-up
portion. How far north, south, east and west the
buUt-up portion extended, can offiy be approximately
stated. However, what the minutes show is that
large sections of unimproved land witffin the town's
corporate limits had been purchased from the

112 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
HamUton agent on the ground-land plan in antici
pation of a rise in value. As a resffit, when taxation
came, many of these land owners became paffic-
stricken, leading to hard times for the dweUers of
"Old Lancaster."
With tffis came the War of 1812 with its dis-
hearteffing consequences. It was at a town meeting
that a very large and respectable number of citizens
of the borough convened at the court house, and
where the foUowing preamble and resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
"Whereas, it appears by the General Orders of
the Governor of Pennsylvania that the Capitol of
the Uffited States has been destroyed by a haughty
and powerful enemy, who tffieatens the metropohs
of a sister state, and whose conduct warrants an
opimon that an attack is also meditated on the
shores of the Delaware. And whereas, his ExceUency
has under these circumstances thought proper to
direct that the Mffitia generaUy witffin the eastern
counties of Pennsylvaffia shoffid be immediately
caUed into active service: and whereas, it is the
duty of every American who regards the safety and
happiness of ffis Country, at such an ffiarrffing crisis
to aid and assist in bringing forth the physical force
of the people. Therefore
"Resolved, that it be recommended to the free,
able-bodied citizens of our borough and county
particularly to form themselves into Volunteer
Compames as expeditiously as possible, to march
at a moment's warffing to such points where their
services may be most wanted:

ESTABLISHING A BANK IN LANCASTER 113
"Resolved, That the Volunteer Compaffies of
tffis borough, commanded by Wiffiam HamUton and
George Hambright be authorized to procure every
necessary article of Camp Eqffipage without delay.
And we who are here present authorize the Cor
poration to borrow $2,000 to be reimbursed by the
Commonwealth, upon the production of proper
vouchers. "Resolved, That the citizens of Lancaster who
are exempt from Mihtary duty, or others who can
not leave home, wiU form themselves into associa
tions for the safety of the place and weU-being of
the famiUes of those who have stepped out in defence
of our beloved country, during their absence.
"Resolved, That a committee be appointed for
each ward of the borough to coUect such military
apparatus as may assist the volunteers to march to
Baltimore forthwith, such as rifles, powderhorns,
knapsacks, blankets and other articles."
Wffile much has been omitted, enough has been
quoted to show the excited condition of the five
thousand inhabitants in hourly fear that the British
might be working their way up the Conestoga. As
the minutes further show, these compaffies reached
the outskirts of Baltimore to find, to their great
dehght, that the British warsffips had disappeared,
after burffing the capitol at Wasffington.
Mark what followed at a meetffig of the burgesses
in March, 1814: "To the Court and Grand Jury:
The Burgesses beg leave to show that when our
country was invaded by the enemy, the volunteers
that marched to do battle, beffig in need of supplies;

114 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
these were furmshed by the Corporation, amounting
to $480. As this amount coffid not be pffid by the
State or the Uffited States Government, and the
Corporation having but a smaU income, their funds
being exhausted, they therefore soUcit the aid of the
county in reimbursing the Corporation for the
expense incurred." Whether the corporation was
ever reimbursed by either the State or the Uffited
States, no mention is made in the burgesses' pro
ceedings. If more than ordinary space has been given to the
foregoing episode, it is to show how ffistory repeats
itseff. At the time the capitol at Wasffington was burned
there was no telegraph nor telephone to waft the
news to the qffiet town of Lancaster. Such news as
came from even the Governor had to be carried on
horseback. Many hvmg at the present day can recaU what
happened preceding the battle of Gettysburg, when
reports reached Lancaster that Lee's army was
approacffing our city.
And now, with a few additional facts gathered
from the "Corporation Book" Part Second wiU
follow. At the house of WiUiam Cooper were assembled
"on the 13th of May, 1818, Samuel Carpenter,
Cffief Burgess, John Reitzel, Burgess, and by their
side, Peter Reed, Henry Keffer, David R. Barton,
George Buengard, Wiffiam Kirkpatrick, assistants."
Following is what actuaUy occurred — "Whereas,
in and by an act of Assembly of the CommonweEdth

ESTABLISHING A BANK IN LANCASTER 115
of Pennsylvaffia, entitled an act to incorporate the
city of Lancaster, passed the twentieth of March,
1818, the Burgesses and their assistants agreeably
to the provisions of said act, enjoiffing them to
hold an election on the second Tuesday of May,
being the tweffth of this ffistant for the choosing
by ballot of ffiteen persons quaUfied to serve as
members of the House of Representatives, to be
members of Common CouncUs, and ffine persons
qualffied to serve as Senators of the Commonwealth,
to be members of Select CouncUs — The Burgesses
having given due notice to the citizens and inhabi
tants of Lancaster in the several newspapers printed
in the town at the time and place of holding said
election. And having dffiy attended to their duties,
on the closing of the poles and counting the votes,
the foUowffig gentlemen were elected members of
Common and Select CouncUs of the city of Lan
caster, namely: Common Councils
Adam Reigart Ingham Wood
Jeremiah Moser John Reynolds
Jacob Shearer Pffilip Heitshu
George Musser John Weaver
Jacob Duchman John Bomberger
Jacob Eicholtz Joseph T. Smith
George Buengard John Cffiist
Luke Brown Select Councils
John Hubley Samuel Humes
Robert Coleman WUUam Jenkins

116 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
WUUam Kirkpatrick Samuel Slaymaker
John F. Steinman Jacob Lemmon
Wiffiam Dickson
"Testffied to by the Corporation by the returns
ffied in the proper office, dated May 13, 1818.
" Signed — Samuel Carpenter
John Reitzel
Burgesses, acting as inspectors
"Peter Reed
Wm Kirkpatrick
George Buengard
Assistant Burgesses, acting as judges
"Attest, George Weitzel, Town Clerk."
Having performed their duties in accordance with
the Act of Assembly, in the change of the borough
into a city, tffis, the last meeting of burgesses,
ended, in so far as their minutes show, without any
display of feeling outwardly at least. What their
ffiwEird thoughts were can offiy be imagined. For
seventy-six years, from August 13, 1742, down to
1818, these dffiy constituted men of public affeffis
had met as occasion required at the home of one of
their number. Tffis place of meeting, as the "Cor
poration Book" shows, was usuaUy at the house of
one Jacob Frey. Indeed, so frequently has the name
Jacob Frey been mentioned, rurming down tffiough
more than seven decades, as to lead the narrator to
the opimon that the ffist Jacob Frey must have been
foUowed by other sons, so on down tffiough suc
ceedmg years. Tffis weU-known famUy name is yet
to be found in the city directory.
But as we glance over the Ust of distmguished

ESTABLISHING A BANK IN LANCASTER 117
burgesses and assistants, the surprise is how few of
their descendants are hving at the present day.
It is offiy proper then that homage be paid their
memory at the incoming of the Centenffial, marking
the closing of the past one hundred years, in laying
out plans in starting the new century on its future
career of unexampled prosperity. And as we glance
back in imagination over the seventy-six years, it
seems more hke a dream than a reahty.
However, with the passmg of the burgesses, offiy
the ffist part of the narrative has been written:
what is to foUow needs to be gathered from the
councihnanic records. What these wffi have to show
remffins for the narrator to disclose, provided these
musty mffiute books can be found and give up their
contents, not so much for any gratffication it may
afford the writer, as for the lasting good afforded in
setting before the inhabitants of "New Lancaster"
the story of the people of "Old Lancaster." And
so, with the names of the burgesses and their as
sistants, we enter upon Part Second of the narrative.
But, in entering upon what is to follow, it wiU never
do to become forgetful that with aU we have, aU
we are and can ever hope to be as a city, too much
praise cannot be given to the pioneers who, as far
back as 1730, laid the foundation good and strong
for the generations wffich have foUowed. Woffid
that some of these burgomasters could have witnessed
qffite recently the grandest martial outpouring of pa
triotism "New Lancaster" has ever seen. It would
have made their hearts tffiob with inward joy to have
looked upon such a pageant as paraded the streets on

118 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
tffis ffist of May eveffing of 1917. It offiy goes to
show that the spirit of Revolutionary times is stiU
dominant among aU classes of Lancastrians who have
the love of country at heart. The same spirit wffich
pervaded the people of "Old Lancaster" in 1776,
and later, 1812 and in 1861, has become even more
intensffied with one determination, to uphold the
Stars and Stripes of the same old flag that waved
over tffis city in years gone by.
Few know that in 1795 the flag had ffiteen stripes
and the same number of stars; and it was not until
after Vermont and Kentucky had been adrffitted
that tffis emblem was made to coffiorm to its present
size of thirteen stripes and now with forty-eight
stars. Imagine a flag with forty-eight stripes!
Why, there is not a patriotic boy large or strong
enough to carry it in parade.
And as a fitting closing of the admiffistration of
the burgesses and their assistants, before enterffig
on Part Second of the narrative, their names shaU
be given in order that the present generation may
trace their ancestry back to those early, halcyon
days when the making of "New Lancaster" began.
To avoid dupUcating, no names shaU be repeated.
The ffist are the names of the cffief burgesses:
Thomas Cookson, John Dehuff, Adam Simon
Kiffin, Samuel Boude, John Hobson, James Bick-
ham, Wiffiam Bausman, James Burd, Michael
Hubley, James Raffie, Wiffiam Atlee, Henry Dehuff,
Paul Zantzinger, Wiffiam Parr, Jacob Reigart,
Henry Dering, Edward Hand, Adam Reigart, John
MiUer, Wiffiam Reichenbach, Frederick Steinman,

ESTABLISHING A BANK IN LANCASTER 119
John Light, John Eberman, John Messencop,
Samuel Carpenter.
FoUowmg are the names of burgesses: Sebastian
Graff, James Webb, Peter WarraU, Luddwig Stone,
Isaac Wffitlelock, Phffip Lenhere, Bernard Hubley,
Michael Hubley, Wiffiam Henry, Cffiistian Voght,
WUUam HamUton, Cffieb Cope, Casper Shaffner,
Charles HaU, George Ross, Jacob Kaegy, Frederick
Kuhn, James Jacks, Adam WUhehn, John Hubley,
John Roberts, John Bausman, Phffip Diffenderfer,
Henry Pinkerton, Leonard Eicholtz, John Hoff,
John Reitzel. Durmg the seventy-six years there
were two hundred and forty-eight assistants. These
from time to time must have comprised the leading
citizens of the borough.

OLD JAIL, CORNER WEST KING AND PRINCE STREETS

MODERN JAIL AS IT STOOD ABOUT 1853

PART II

CHAPTER X
Lancaster a City After Seventy-Six Years of
Burgess Rule
For the borough to tffiow off the robe in wffich
it had been wrapped for seventy-six years, eventuaUy
to become a fuU-fledged mufficipaUty imder a more
liberal charter, must have been the opeffing up of
possibiUties such as the goodly inhabitants of the
townstead had never before witnessed. Then, for
the ffine select and ffiteen common councUmen to
be designated "senators and representatives" coffid
not otherwise than add digffity to their proceedffigs.
It is to be regretted that these "city fathers" were
not long to be known as such ffi their corporate
capacity. And as for the burgesses, the great
majority were relegated to private ffie.
What may strike the twentieth-century reader as
pecuUar is that no cffief magistrate was voted for
at the time the councUmen were elected; the reason
is not difficffit to explain. As Governor Snyder
had the appomting power under the new charter,
he had reserved the right to appoint any reputable
citizen whom the inhabitants desired, and tffis
attomey-at-law turned out to be John Passmore of
10 121

122 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
Quaker ancestry, but with no great leaning toward
the Quakers as a society. How many were residents
of the city at the tune the change was made the
records fffil to mention, largely for the reason that
the great majority of what were known as "Friends"
had settled in Chester County a century or more
before for reasons best known to themselves.
How the legaUy disposed John Passmore happened
to locate so far from ffis Quaker friends, ffistory faUs
to set forth with any degree of accuracy.
What is known is that, after serving one term by
appointment, he was elected by councils in con
vention assembled for another year at the princely
salary of two hundred doUars per annum! Tffis at
the time was considered ample, in view of the fact
that the burgesses and their assistants had served
their constituents during a period of seventy-six
years for the honor alone.
During those early times there was more in the
honor of the office than in the emoluments accrffing
therefrom. In fact, to walk the streets of the
metropohs and be able to say, "I am the Honorable
John Passmore, the ffist mayor of Lancaster,"
must have carried with it a sort of inexpressible
digffity since unknown to other cffief magistrates
who valued the salary more than the honor. How
ever, Mayor Passmore must have been a joUy good
feUow as most fat men usuaUy are, with so much
weight, physicaUy speaking, to carry. Somewhat
eccentric, he coffid crack a joke, as is iUustrated by
the foUowing. Stroffing into ffis office, young
James Buchanan, later President of the Uffited

LANCASTER A CITY 123
States, took a book from the case, and, before
departing, allowed it to remain open on the desk.
Following him to the door, the weighty John, in his
humorous way, called, "Jim, come back and put
that book where you found it! " And back he came
and into the case went the volume. Pretty good
advice, we have overheard more than one other
attorney declare, on finding ffis office turned mto a
junk shop.
We have no means of knowffig how he dressed.
No doubt in keeping with other professional gentle
men of the times: "swaUow tail," stand-up collar,
cravat, a black silk neckerchief, roUed twice around
the neck, forming of that day the ffist step away
from the older "stock coUar" custom.
Whether tffis our ffist mayor at aU times wore a
ffigh silk hat or offiy on state occasions, is another
puzzler for the cffiofficler. But of one tffing there
is little room for doubt, it being a custom for aU
gentlemen to wear black silk hats! Of course, being
ffihed with the Quakers, he might have worn a head
gear in keeping with ffis Quaker ancestry.
Being an inveterate smoker, and having forgotten
the ordinance the burgomasters had passed against
smoking on the pubhc streets. Mayor Passmore
fined himseff twenty sffiffings, no doubt as an ex
ample for other users of the weed. As tobacco
chewing was more common than it is today, we have
no means of knowing whether at the time tffis, the
city's ffist mayor, fined ffimseff for expectorating on
the sidewalk. The probabihty is he had aUowed
the ordinance to become a dead letter, and a dead

124 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
letter it has been down to the present day, except
on the part of those who usually obey the laws,
not so much from compffision as from a desire to
prove themselves good, law-abiding citizens! It has
been said that a much later mayor fined ffis own
father for not obeying the ordinance in neglecting
to remove the snow from ffis own sidewalk. Why
examples have not been made of other violators
of city ordinances, with the possible exception of
automobUe speeders, is not for the cffiofficler tp
determine. Tradition, at most times an uncertain quantity,
says that John Passmore weighed on the town
scedes four hundred and eighty and a haff pounds
avoirdupois, and when he departed tffis hfe ffi 1827,
at the age of ffity-five, at the northwest comer of
Orange and Sffippen, there was not a catafalque
large or strong enough to convey his remffins to
their last resting place. Nor were they considered
of so much importance as to keep the sexton up
ffightly to prevent the town's medical students
from carrying them off for experimental purposes —
maybe, on account of their weight.
But by way of curiosity, what has become of the
"sun-dial" that used to hang suspended over the
door of ffis famous residence? It had its use, but
offiy during hours when the sun shone, especiaUy in
the winter time. As to the number of paU-bearers
with crepe on the left arm, they were no doubt in
proportion to the town's popffiation. However,
tffis being an old-time custom, no further reference
to it shaU be made concerffing people's cherished

LANCASTER A CITY 125
rights of the present day to conduct funerals to
suit themselves, with as many honorary paU-bearers
as may sffit their conveffience.
In many respects ffis honor took things easy, as
many of ffis successors have since done. But
with all their easy-going ways not a single one of
the other twenty-four mayors who have since held
office, has foUowed John Passmore in rotundity!
Why this has been, the narrator has not been able
to discover from the records of the mayor's office.
It is not that they have not been in the enjoy
ment of the many good tffings sent in by their
numerous friends in expectation of a street to be
repaired, or an mvitation to attend an annual
"blow-out" such as shaU be shown to have been
extended councUmen on a journey down tffiough
the canal to the Susquehanna on the packet the
"Edward Coleman."
Leaving Mayor Passmore to practice ffis pro
fession at the close of ffis two years as chief magis
trate, in glancing back over the minutes of the
burgesses, no mention is anywhere made that the
townspeople had met at the court house square
with brass band to celebrate the passing of the old
dispensation, and the incoming of the newer order
of mufficipal Ufe. Nor is there anything to show
that the burgesses and their assistants had unwill
ingly parted with responsibilities such as they
must have known were sure to follow their suc
cessors in office, the ffine select and ffiteen common
councihnen. What their minutes show and what
they were proud of, was that they had left a clean

126 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
balance sheet with no bad debts to be coUected.
Tffis economy had been practiced reUgiously from
1742 down to 1818.
But no sooner had the borough become a city
than pohtics as a science began to permeate aU
classes with pohtical ambitions to gratffy. Candi
dates there were for tffis or that office. Nor were
they confined to one party, as the foUowing circffiar
and letter testffy. Framed and in possession of
Attorney Ehner Miller, both circffiar and missive
show that the question of conscience did not enter
into conditions as a disturbing factor. To win the
golden prize was sufficient unto the evU thereof.
We tffink we know how rejoiced some of the present-
day pohticians may feel that "graft" in a certain
way had its beginffing a century ago. As the parties
are no longer here in the flesh, there is not any danger
of the cffiofficler being prosecuted for hbel. And
now, give close attention to what is herein set forth:
"Lancaster, October 18, 1818.
"To The Free And Independent Voters Of The City
And County Of Lancaster.
"Fellow-Citizens and Neighbors:
"Pursuant to previous notice given, we are agffin
assembled for the purpose of concerting measures
necessary to ensure the most cordial support to
Messers Frederick Hambright and Wm. B. Ross,
the persons nominated and taken was for the office
of Sherffi, by a large respectable meeting of our
friends, at the house of Mr. John Hatz, Innkeeper,
ffi the City of Lancaster, on Wednesday eveffing.

LANCASTER A CITY 127
the 19 inst., in opposition to those settled on the
Federffi Ticket on the same day at the house of
Mr. John Bachman.
"In aU elections particffiarly by officers, whose
duties are entirely miffisterial, it is conceived that
we shoffid divest ourselves of aU party considera
tions, and uffite in favor of those, who are most
characterised by their patriotism — their talents, and
just claims.
"The people have too long suffered themselves to
be the dupes of desigffing and party men: The result
of the last sherffi's election conclusively demonstrates
the disposition of an enhghtened people, to patronize
those, who have rendered essential services to our
country, and to pay a just tribute to worth and
merit, unshakled by party prejudices, or local
jealousies — and that too, at that time, in opposition
to the settled tickets of both parties.
"Townsffip meetings are so partiaUy attended,
that the sense of the people can never be correctly
ascertffined by the choice of thek Delegates.
"It is a well known fact, that in many of them,
not one fifth of those entitled to vote, attended; yet,
we are caUed upon to support men thus nominated
by a few individuals, — direct opposition to what we
conceive to be the wffi of the majority.
"'Rotation in Office,' has always been acknowl
edged to be one of the fundamental principles of a
repubhcan government: In coffiormity with tffis
principle, our constitution has wisely provided that
the office of Sherffi shall not be fiUed by the same
person twice successively.

128 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"During the last six years property has under
gone a considerable revolution. The wUd and
visionary schemes of specffiators have entranced
landed estate to an unnaturffi and artfficial price and
its sudden faU involved many of our weffithy citizens
in difficffities and embarrassments; hence arose
Utigation and contention, wffich caused our dockets
to sweU to an unprecedented extent.
"Tffis, therefore, furffished an ample harvest for
those who had the good fortune to be elevated to
that important station, durffig the period of the
last six years — Is it reasonable? Is it just? Or
does it comport that the old adopted maxim of
'Rotation in Office' to hold up for pubhsffing
patronage, an individual, who has already had ffis
fuU share and enjoyed the emoluments? To your
good sense — to your unprejudiced minds — to your
own feelings, FeUow-citizens, tffis appeal is made —
We repeat: Pause and Reflect! Consffit the wishes
of the people, and you wffi then find, that the friends
of 'Rotation in Office of profit' are the majority,
and wiU oppose a citizen, who has been favored with
the 'loaves and fishes' for tffiee long years before!
FeUow-Citizens 1
"Such are the pretensions, with wffich one of the
Candidates on the Federal ticket settled at Mr.
Bachman's on the 19 inst., appears before you.
"Once aheady, as before stated, has he received
the Benefits of the Office! — the other now in pos
session of an office, yielding a very comfortable
subsistence, attended besides with very httle labour,
both of the settled Candidates it is acknowledged,

LANCASTER A CITY 129
are gentlemen of respectabUity but neither of them
have claims on the pubhc equal to those of Messers
Frederick Hambright and WUUam B. Ross. Let us
now. Neighbours and Friends, look for a moment on
the pretensions of the two last named Candidates.
" Mr. W. B. Ross having on several former occa
sions, sohcited your suffrages, heis undergone the
test of scrutiny, and is weU known to you aU as a
man of unsuffied probity, discharging with punc-
tffious fficety and exactness, the various business
entrusted to him in ffis several avocations — and the
best encomium that can be pffid to ffis merit, is
seen in the respectable number of votes, wffich he
uffiformly obtaffied, when sohciting your appro
bation. "Mr. Frederick Hambright, now for the ffist time
appears before you in the character of a Candidate.
But the time is yet fresh in your recoUection, when
he manffested the most strenuous and zealous de
votion to ffis Country's Cause at a time it was
agitated with the most dreadfffi convulsions — the
perturbed clouds of war obscured our pohtical
horizon, a furious foe hghted the flames of victory
ffi the capitol of America — and flushed with recent
success, was about to lay in rffins a neighboring city;
prompted by as pure patriotism as ever animated a
Spartan's breast, he voluntarUy renounced every
sociffi enjoyment, and sought distffiction and glory
in the turmoU of the camp. These are sacrffices,
for wffichever a youth, unencumbered with a family
would have a claim on your attention; but when
made by one, on whose fate hung the destiny of a

130 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
young and helpless family, the debt is doubly
entranced, and should be reqffited by bestowing on
him the need of valour. Such, fellow-citizens, are
the characters of the two gentlemen, whom we have
assembled to support.
"It now becomes necessary for us to adopt aU
honorable measures in our power to promote their
election, and, we confidently trust, that your assist
ance, in favor of them, wiU be beneficial to the
citizens generaUy. "Signed by order of the Committee
"Daniel Hahn,
"Chairman."
"Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 18th, 1818.
"Friend Marks Grove,
"It my health woffid have permitted I shoffid
have accompamed my friend the Bearer Mr. Henry
Carpenter, to your Neighborhood, as I was very
anxious to see you before the Election, knowffig
that you are a particffiar friend of mine; I have
therefore thought proper to address a few hues to
you, to request you wiU do aU in your power to
support Frederick Hambright or myseff as Candi
dates for the Sherffi's Office, as we have agreed to
divide the profits of the office between us, shoffid
either of us succeed. — I have understood that there
is some thought in your neighborhood to support
Henry Smith and myseff, but tffis woffid be doing
me an injury in as much as that every vote Smith
gets is taking one off Hambright and me jointly —
Smith has no chance and his offiy intention is to

LANCASTER A CITY 131
elect Matffiot who is married to his -Wife's cousin.
Sheriff — ,<x i i p ¦ ,
In haste your real inend
"W. B. Ross."
So bitter was the feeling between the Federahsts
and their dissentors along in the beginffing of the
city as a mufficipality as to make one conclude that
the "Hog" and "BuU" ringers of a third of a
century ago were not haff as bad as the newspapers
had pictured them to be when compared with their
compeers of earUer days.
Tffink of anyone with the courage to send broad
cast a recipe for the making of a modern FederaUst
durffig any period of our country's ffistory! And
yet, Mr. Henry Demuth is in possession of a written
letter penned by a once weU-known citizen of "Old
Lancaster." In setting it forth it shows that human
nature has not changed very materiaUy; and that
during each poUtical campaign, down to the present
day, men wiU resort to "ways that are dark and
tricks that are vffin," to accomphsh their ends and
purposes. And here the recipe is for the making of
a modern Federahst:
"Take the head of an old hypocrite, one pound of
Morse's Conspiracy, one pound of a Lawyer's tongue,
twenty-five drops of Oliver Cromwell; and ffiteen
drops of anti-cffiist. Put the compound mto a
motor of seff-righteousness, and pound it with the
pestUe of maUce, then sfft it tffiough the vessel of
Rebellion for twenty four hours — then cork it with
Toryism — ^let it settle untU the next Assembly

132 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
meets, and it wiU be fit for use. Give the poUtical
patient five drops just before election. If your
patient is a little squemish, sweeten the whole with
a concoxion of the Stamp Act, or the Land Tax with
a httle of the 'Wasffington Benevolent Society,' and
repeat the dose often." As a warnffig, let it be said,
that the recipe is not to be used by twentieth century
office-seekers under penalty.
FoUowing Mayor Passmore came Samuel Car
penter, serving two years, when in 1824, Nathaffiel
Lightner was elected mayor, holdmg the official
position until 1830.
It was a few years previous that the city awoke
from its fuU century of Rip Van Winkle sleep. Who
conceived the idea of forming a company to be
known as "The Conestoga Navigation Company"
we do not know. What the minutes of councils
have to disclose is that in the year 1830 councils
had been persuaded to invest $10,000 of the city's
money in tffis enterprise. As the chairman of the
Finance Committee announced, " It is to the interest
of the city of Lancaster to foster tffis great pubhc
improvement, wffich wiU be a lasting benefit to
every class of citizens, not offiy of tffis place, but
of the adjoiffing country. By tffis liberal sub
scription, the pubUc-spirited managers of that
company wiU be able to overcome aU difficffities.
The works are now substantially and permanently
fiffished and the navigation of the Conestoga in
complete and successfffi operation." But how httle
imagined the mover of the resolution to invest ten
thousand doUars of the city's money of what was
to happen!

LANCASTER A CITY 133
Here foUows a short account of how the " Cones
toga Navigation Company" was formed and the
purpose it was to serve. It was about eighteen
miles in length from Lancaster to Safe Harbor on
the Susquehanna at the mouth of the Conestoga.
By means of the tidewater canal to Port Deposit,
a navigable commuffication was opened to Balti
more and tffiough another canal to Pffiladelpffia.
Its cost was about $4,000 per mUe. Its directors
and investors were Adam Reigart, John F. Steinman,
Edward Coleman, George B. Porter, Jasper Slay
maker, George Lewis Mayer, Hugh MaxweU, John
Lintner, and George Haverstick, aU weU-known,
reputable citizens.
By the year 1833 business had increased, but not
enough to reheve the embarrassed condition of the
company. On March 3 of tffis year the nffils and
dams were offered for sale by the sherffi. The prop
erty was sold June ffist at the house of Rosina
Hubley. By the year 1837 the second company
went into hqffidation, when Wiffiam and Edward
Coleman secured a new charter, the title being
changed to the "Lancaster, Susquehanna and
Slackwater Navigation Company."
To reach the great West and upper coal-fields on
the opposite side of the river another canal was
constructed extending to Wrightsvffie, signs of
wffich are stiff visible northward even beyond the
town of Columbia. What might have resffited to
tffis project but for the incoming of the raffioad a
year or two foUowing, can offiy be surmised.
Whether the city of Lancaster lost the whole of

134 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
the ten thousand it had invested in tffis aUuring
enterprise, or offiy a portion of it, may be gleaned
from the following : " It was at a meeting of councUs,
February 23, 1832, that a letter came from the
Conestoga Navigation Company to the presidents
of both branches of CouncUs, requesting their
presence at a meeting of stockholders of said Com
pany at Parker's Hotel. It was therefore resolved
'that a committee of two members of each branch
be appointed to attend the meeting to represent
the interests of the city, and that they report what
wffi be done.'" Tffis resolution was non-concurred
in by common councils. Tffis ended aU further
Utigation with the defunct Navigation Company.
Tffis uffiortunate venture was the ffist in wffich
the city had become involved, and had the effect
of withholding private capital from other enter
prises for the benefit of the town's growth and
development. Without going back to the thirties,
numerous instances might be cited of how men with
money to invest have since become scary of tffis or
that industrial project, preferring, as many have,
to invest their money in stocks, bonds and other
securities wffich were felt to be safer in the drawing
of dividends semi-aimuaUy. And yet, ffistory goes
to prove that a round miffion has gone into aU
kinds of "away-from-home" schemes from wffich
not a doUar has been realized. UsuaUy these pro
jects are engineered by stranger promoters. It has
too frequently been said that, if offiy hffif the money
invested in gold mines, copper and rice, had been
invested in helping along their own town, how much
better and richer both the city and mvestor!

LANCASTER A CITY 135
With the beginffing of 1831 came John Matffiot,
ffi many respects the greatest mayor Lancaster has
ever had down to the present time. He held the
office untU 1842, the longest term of eleven years,
and busy ones they were, as the councUmaffic
mmutes wffi shortly disclose.
At the close of the year 1831, the Fmance Com
mittee rendered their report as to the city's status
to Select Councils, and is copied to show just how
the city stood financiaUy.
Loans already contracted  $ 5,750.00
Improvements  4,800.00
Loan for 200 shares Conestoga Navigation stock . 8,405.00
Borrowed on credit of the city  1,595.00
Total city debt  $20,550.00
Income from taxes during the year  $ 5,000.00
Market rents, fines and forfeitures  200.00
Balance in treasury  2.69
Total revenue  $ 5,202.69
Amount Appropbiated
Interest on loans  $ 1,000.00
Salaries  652.00
Watch and lamp expenses  600.00
Repair of streets  760.00
Contingencies  2,190.69
Total expenditures  $ 5,202.69
It may readUy be seen from receipts and expen
ditures that the year 1830 was not a very satis
factory one for councihnen to contemplate, with but
a beggarly fficome of $5,202.69 and a permanent
debt of $20,550. But as the mmutes testify, tffis

136 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
debt did not seem to disturb the tax-payers so long
as the assessed valuation of property was not
disturbed, nor the rate increased.
At a pubhc meeting the cry was, "Let future
generations shoffider their portion." Never was a
thought given what future generations might have
to say in helping pay off old debts wffich they
had no voice in creating, with possibly enough of
their own to be provided for.
However, in the next succeeding chapter the
reader shaU learn that it was either necessary to go
borrowing or to resort to the ffiternative of ffigher
assessment of property or an increase in the rate.
Both of these methods have been studiously avoided
on down to the present day, perhaps for the reason
that the issffing of bonds brought in revenue without
incurring the expense of a tax-coUector.
At the time along in the thirties, forties and
ffities, as a rule, offiy property holders coffid be
elected to either branch of councils. And even
such were men of standing, business or Uterary
attainment. Prior to each mufficipal election a few
of the citizens woffid meet, frame a ticket, and it
was not so much a question of party pohtics, as the
thought uppermost to keep the assessment and tax
rate to the minimum. The common people had a
profound reverence for their superiors, as the rffiers
were designated back in the "good old days."
Along in the thirties councUs must have been a
very harmoffious body of men as the foUowing resig
nation wffi show:

LANCASTER A CITY 137
"To THE Honorable the Select Councils of the
City of Lancaster —
" Gentlemen: Having accepted the office of Marshal
of the Eastern District of Pennsylvaffia, I cannot
longer hold the position as a member of your Honor
able body over wffich I have so long presided tffiough
your kindness, as president. I therefore tender you
my resignation. It woffid be doing injustice to my
feeUngs were I here to omit thanking you indi
viduaUy and collectively for the many flattering
marks of your goodness and your uffiformly correct
deportment and support of the decisions wffich
have been made since I have occupied the President's
Chair. Beheve me, that it is with much regret I
leave such a body of friends among whom so much
unanimity and good feeUngs on aU occasions have
prevaUed. With my most fervent wishes for the
prosperity for tffis city and its inhabitants, and
with a sincere prayer for your own happiness, per
mit me to assure you of my ffigh regard and esteem,
and to subscribe myseff with great respect your
friend and obedient servant George B. Porter."
To fiU the vacancy, John R. Montgomery was
unaffimously elected. "Attest, Reah Frazer, Clerk
of Select Councils."
At the meeting foUowing came a petition from
sundry citizens, stating that a number of mdi
viduals were makffig a regffiar practice of coming
into the city from the country, and retaU fresh meat
by the pound, and thus injure the business of the
victualers in the city, and praying councils to remedy
11

138 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
the evil together with the foUowing resolution. Re
solved that a stop be put to the forestaffing the
market. That notffing was sffid about the ffigh price of
potatoes and other farm trucks, was no doubt for
the reason that these commodities had not become
almost prohibitory hke unto the present day. But
is not it strange how ffistory repeats itseff, and
after nearly a century?
Dating from the time the viUage became a borough
in 1742, and for a good many years thereafter, apart
from burgesses, mayor and councihnen, the tffiee
most important of the town's citizensffip were the
town clerk, the master of the markets, and last,
though not least, the constable. Under burgess rffie
tffis poorly-paid official had aU kinds of duties to
perform. He was required to attend fairs, watch
the pubhc bread bakers to see that they were giving
the proper weight according to act of Assembly.
In addition, instead of being aUowed to keep the
Sabbath holy in attending service, he was compeUed
to visit aU the public houses to find out ff there was
any drinking or "tipphng" going on.
The taUest constable we ever knew as a boy was
ffigh constable Joe Brintenal, appomted as the head
of the "squad," but whether on account of ffis
height of over six feet six by the taUor's yardstick,
none of the lads of the town coffid teU. However,
it used to be sffid that Joseph Brintenal's tailor
usually kept two yardsticks on hand, the longer one
in buying suiting for Joseph, the shorter used in
measuring ffim in height. How much materiffi was

LANCASTER A CITY 139
actuaUy saved by tffis hocus-pocus scheme of
legerdemain, the plyer of shears was never known
to disclose.
With aU due respect for our present-day poUce
force, it would be a reflection on their digffity to
designate them constables! They are known as
pohcemen, dressed in pohce uffiform, but whether
furffished by the city or out of their own monthly
pay, the cffiomcler has not been iffiormed. During
snow, rain or storm one of these conservators of the
peace can be seen perched, if not on a pedestal, at
least on his feet, sometimes on one, sometimes on
the other and occasionaUy on both, according to
weather conditions. How he manages to wear a
smile when a frown would be more in place with
the smeU of gasoUne and the sound of the auto-horn
drumming in ffis ears is past finding out. Alto
gether, he is the most fffitffiul and the poorest paid
of all the city's employees! CentraUy located on a
"diamond" he is compeUed to look in four directions
at the same time; and what must be very coffiusing,
he is expected to note down in memory the number
of every automobUe Ucense-tag. Catcffing a chaffi-
feur exceeding the speed of seven miles an hour, he
is hkewise required to stand face to face with the
violator, who wiU swear himself black and blue in
the face in order to get out of a very tight pinch.
It used to be in the days of the constables when a
"bum" was caught with more of the elixir of life's
chsirms than he coffid weU carry perpendicularly, he
was hustled off to the lockup on a wheeffiarrow.
Now he is carefuUy bundled upright and taken to

140 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
"bummers' haU" in the patrol run by gasohne. Of
course, the "Black Maria" is stUl in use durffig
court triffis. But it won't be long untU these
violators of the common law wffi be taken in an auto
fitted out with cusffion seats and rubber tires to
preserve their perfect eqffihbrium in gomg over the
bumps in the roads. And why, it may be asked,
shoffid they not be treated with the same con
sideration as are the Street Commissioner, the
Superintendent of the Water Works, not to overlook
the Chief of the Fire Department, as he goes ffis
way in an automobUe?
Why, ff a boy is caught ruiming ffis bicycle on the
pavements with the danger of striking a loose brick,
into the street he goes. It was not so ffi the good
old days when Jim Thackara dehvered aU the
express goods on a wheelbarrow, and that too on
the sidewalks.
In closing tffis chapter, may not the narrator ask
what has become of Tommy Hanffigan, peddler of
matches? It has been sffid that the fficommg of
the electric hght broke up ffis business. Then there
is httle Bhnd Tommy who leans agamst a telegraph
pole in entertffiffing aU the country people with ffis
accordeon. The offiy one of the old-timers is Baker
Young, dispenser of the same almanac that once
upon a time predicted snow in Jffiy when it actuaUy
came. Nor can the cffiofficler forget Johnny Effiott,
who carried a kettle of butter aU the way to Baltimore
on a hot August day. Since Abe MiUer, the fiddler,
is no more, visitors to Rocky Springs have to be
satisfied with operatic music, with a deluge of the
Tipperary kffid. Oh, oh!

CHAPTER XI
The Incoming of the Railroad through
Lancaster
After reading the foUowing advertisement pub
lished in a city paper shortly after the raffioad had
been changed from what is known as the "cut-off"
to its present location, ff of a remiffiscent turn, you,
dear reader, wffi tffink yourseff back in "Old Lan
caster" of eighty years ago, ready to jump aboard a
train on its way westward bound. The advertise
ment ran as foUows:
"In large and splendid eight-wheel cars, travelers
can now take passage via the Lancaster and Colum
bia rffihoad where, at said point, Columbia, pas
sengers can take the packet wffich has been fitted
up in a very superior manner, after the most ap
proved models of boats used on the Erie canal,
and not surpassed by those of any other hne. For
speed and conffort, tffis Une is not exceUed by any
other ffi the Uffited States. Passengers for Cin
cinnati, Loffisvffie, Nathes, NashviUe, St. Loffis and
other points wffi always be sure to be taken without
delay, as tffis Une connects with Pittsburgh, carrying
the maU. Offiy two days are required to make the
journey from Lancaster to Pittsburgh."
Mark the time required, " Offiy two days from
Lancaster to Pittsburgh!" Of course, notffing was
141

142 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
sffid about PuUman palace cars. Tffis is no fancy
sketch, but an advertisement for the accommoda
tion of travelers westward bound.
With tffis, the narrator shaU enter upon a subject
over wffich so much discussion has resulted during
a year or two past, growing out of the contemplated
removffi of the P. R. R. passenger station to what
is known as the "cut-off."
Whatever has ffitherto been written pro or con
by tffis or that writer shaU have no weight with the
cffiofficler; the minutes of Councils shaU be fffith-
fuUy adhered to from the beginning of the road
leading tffiough the city to its completion.
At a special meeting of councils, December 21,
1831, "It was resolved by the Select, concurred in
by the Common, that a committee be appointed
by both branches to draft a petition to the Legis
lature for and on behaff of the citizens of Lancaster,
to ffiter the present route of the raffioad so as to
make the city of Lancaster a point according to the
directions of the act of General Assembly, directing
the construction of said road." The committee con
sisted of Mr. Logenecker on the part of Select, and
Mr. Wffiteside on the part of Common CouncUs.
At a meeting, January 3, 1832, the president of
Select Councils presented a communication of the
proceedings had at a general town meeting of citizens
at the court house on the ffineteenth of December,
1831, for the purpose of taking measures to have the
present location of the raihoad changed so as
to bring the same witffin the city, with the foUowing
resolution:

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 143
"Resolved, That tffis meeting recommend to
Select and Common CouncUs to make an appro
priation to meet the expenses of the survey already
made, and such other expenses as may be incurred
to carry into effect the object of tffis meeting.
"Resolved, That the Mayor be and is hereby
authorized to draw ffis warrant in favor of Mr.
Joshua Scott for $100 to be paid out of any un
appropriated moffies in the treasury — And ffiso that
the expenses of the committee at a late town meeting,
for their trip to Harrisburg be paid in the same
manner." In tffis. Common CouncUs concurred,
limiting the expense to $100.
At a meeting, March 6, Mayor Matffiot presented
the account of Moncure Robinson, engineer, "for
services of making a survey and the estimate cost
of locating the raihoad tffiough the city, amounting
to $284, wffich was ordered paid."
A petition was read from sundry citizens, lot-
holders on "Front" street, Bethelstown; another
from those Uving along "Navigation"; and stiU
another from those residing in "Adamstown." At
about tffis time there seemed to be towns witffin
towns, not to overlook "Irishtown," "Ross's
Corner," "Stony AUey," "Dinah's HiU," with other
"ffiUs" wffich, it seems, business shoppers have
avoided ever since the town was laid out.
Mention of Adamstown, wffich has already been
referred to — ^it was not originaUy a part of James
HamUton's plot. It came into ffis possession later,
and comprised, as has been said, a town witffin
itself. Tffis may account for the way Middle and
Church streets were laid out.

144 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
And now, those more interested in streets than in
the raffioad can go their way in lookmg up "First"
street, "Ross's Corner," not to forget that of
' ' Navigation. ' ' Now to the raffioad :
At the meeting, March 13, it was "Resolved, that a
committee of five persons be appomted to consist of
tffiee from the citizens, and one from each of the
Councils, who are to proceed to Harrisburg and
immediately secure ffiteration of the route of the
Pffiladelpffia and Columbia railroad so that the same
may pass tffiough the busffiess part of the city;
and that the city of Lancaster wffi engage to have
the work done, provided that sixty-thousand doUars
are appropriated by the State for that purpose."
At another meetffig, March 27, the committee
presented to Councils a memorial addressed to the
Senate and House of Representatives, wffich, being
read ffi both branches, was approved. "It was
further resolved by Select and concurred in by
Common that a committee be appointed to ascertain
as nearly as possible the damages that may be
sustained to private property [city lots] in the
location of the raffioad, also to obtffin such sub
scriptions as may be offered toward the promotion
of the same."
At a meeting, AprU 14, a resolution was passed
by both branches, "directing the Legislature to
change the route of the raffioad between the big
and Uttle Conestoga bridges, so as to cross North
Queen street." In tffis report notffing was said
about the "sixty-thousand doUars" to be appro
priated by the State. The ordinance foUows at the
end of tffis sketch.

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 145
At the May meetmg foUowing, an "Ordinance,
expressive of the consent of the city of Lancaster
to the proposed alteration of the route was adopted
by both branches of Councils. Then foUowed,
"Resolved, that a committee of tffiee from each
council be appointed, whose special duty it shaU be
forthwith procure Joshua Scott to survey and locate
the route for the proposed ffiteration as may be
most beneficial to the city, stating the probsdjle
cost, so that the contract for making the contem
plated changes in the route may as speedUy as
possible be made with the Canal Commissioners."
Concurred in by Common Councils.
"A committee was named to proceed to Harris
burg with a copy of the ordinance, together with
copies of papers relative to the proposed alteration
of the route of the raffioad."
On the comiffittee's return a report was made
to councUs, May 8, "that they had presented said
papers to ffis ExceUency, Governor Woff. He im
mediately, on examiffing them, approved of the
sffid Ordinance of councils in obedience to the
reqffisitions of said resolution." Joshua Scott, on
being notified of ffis election of engineer, reported,
"That I wffi perform said duties faitffiuUy untU the
raffioad is completed at the rate of $1,000 per
annum payable quarterly."
By action of coimcils, he was employed as en
gineer "to make the necessary maps of said route,
and to do aU other work to meet the approval of
the Canal Commissioners."
A committee was named to ascertain the most

146 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
favorable terms on wffich a loan or loans of money
can be had for the city for the purpose of ffitering
the rffihoad route.
On June second a resolution was offered and con
curred in that a petition be prepared and submitted
to the Legislature, "praying that the grant of the
$60,000 already appropriated to the city of Lan
caster be paid as the work on sffid alteration on the
route progresses (the same as in the other parts of
said rffihoad), thereby saving the city the trouble
and expense of obtaiffing it by loan, inasmuch as
it has already been appropriated; also to obtain
their permission to raise and ffiter the Hardwick
bridge to suit the purposes of the Engineer in
affecting the contemplated ffiteration of the raffioad
between the Big and Little Conestogas."
After reporting that repeated changes had been
made by Mr. Scott, the Raffioad Committee, on
October 3, 1833, made the foUowing report to
Councils: "The gross cost of the road up to this
day is $45,903.53. Of tffis sum the State has pffid
her pro rata of the cost of grading and forming the
road, amountffig to $23,790.13. The probable
amount of cost necessary to complete the road wffi,
as near as can be ascertffined, be as foUows, viz:
Amount of work yet to be done on the 13,
Section  $ 7,000.00
Damages and fences yet unpaid  2,500.00
Bridges  4,500.00
Contingencies  500.00
Total  $14,500.00
To which add the amount already paid  45,903.53
Total  $60,403.53

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 147
The report continues, "Tffis calculation does not
include the bridge at Hensel's aUey (if there is to
be one). nor the laying the additional length of raUs,
nor the damages to the old road, wffich wiU amount
to at least $15,000 more."
A week later, October 9, "The Raihoad Com
mittee have felt it to be their duty to convene
Councils on some matters deeply affecting the
interests of the city. It is with much regret your
committee are stiff obUged to complain of the slow
ness of the work on Section 13. If tffis part of the
work had been prosecuted with proper energy, it
might easily have been completed six months ago,
and the city reheved of the burden of the largest
portion of the cost.
"The contractors appeared before your com
mittee and announced their inabihty to go on with
the work uffiess the fffil measure of rock-excavation
was aUowed; as tffis was a matter altogether with
the State Engineer, the committee could not alter
it without abrocating the contract by the city with
these contractors, and at the same time making the
city hable of excess of measure, above the regular
estimates; and it is very doubtfffi whether the
work would have been any further on even had
such aUowance been made.
"The time fixed by the city to complete the
work is narrowed down to the ffist of November,
1833, a period of not more than twenty days, and
upwards of $7,000 worth of work to be done, a task
rendered almost impossible by its magffitude, and
yet, upon its execution, materiaUy depends the

148 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
most vital interests of the city. The Engineer
iffiormed your committee that after the ffist day
of November, the Commonweffith woffid take the
work in their own hands and complete it themselves.
Such an event is greatly to be deplored, as by that
time the city wffi have expended upwards of $25,000
on the road, and her claim on the Legislature for
reUef in a great measure cut off by the unnecessary
delay in completing the work, with the odium that
must attach to the city for the breech of her contract,
made with the Commonwealth to complete the road.
"Mr. Scott, our Engineer, so far back as the
twenty-fourth of Jffiy last, declared the contract
of Messrs. Hambright and Overholtzer be abandoned
on account of the delay of the work; a copy of that
declaration accompaffies tffis report.
"It is to be regretted that tffis abandonment was
not acted upon at the time it was made by the
Engineers; the road might now be finished. The
committee delayed acting upon it, in consequence
of the contractors repeatedly promising to prosecute
the work with greater energy. An important crisis
in the affairs of the city has arrived, that wffi require
aU the wisdom and energy of the councUs to decide
upon. As there is safety ffi the mffitipUcity of
counseUors, it has been thought most advisable to
lay tffis matter before CouncUs for them to con
sider, and decide upon the best course to be pursued
ffi tffis state of the business."
Tffis lengthy report resffited in another meeting
on the eveffing foUowing, at wffich the engineer and
contractors appeared before councUs with a fuU

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 149
statement in writing of the present state of the road
upon the thirteenth Section.
On February 11, 1834, CouncUs sent a memorial
to the Legislature, "praymg that the city be reheved
of the cost of laymg the raUs on the mcreased length
of the road occasioned by the change of location."
Tffis coffiession weis the cause of great regret and
anxiety on the part of Councils.
On March 4, the foUowmg claim was presented to
Councils by Hambright and Oberholtzer: "We
claim a reasonable compensation for extra work ffi
changffig the Une of road and embankment." Fol-
lowmg is a long defence by the city, but too lengthy
to be copied.
At a meetffig of AprU 10, 1834, the Raffioad Com
mittee made their additional report: "With the
current year closes the prmcipal part of the expenses
occurred ffi constructffig that part of the Pffila
delpffia and Columbia raffioad between the bridges
of the Big and Little Conestoga, as changed by the
Corporation of Lancaster ffi pursuance of a reso
lution of the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvama of the 24 of
AprU, 1832, the gradmg and bed formation of
wffich have been completed, aU necessary bridges
bffilt and sffigle track of raUs Iffid from one end of
the road to the other. In conductmg this great
and important pubhc work expenses have been
incurred, particffiarly in the damage to private
property beyond our expectation. By the resolu
tion of the Legislature, the city of Lancaster is
required to complete with rails the mcreased length

150 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
of the road, occasioned by such change ffi its loca
tion. The city, to save herseff from mm, was
compeUed to accept tffis unreasonable condition
wffich your committee feel confident was never
mtended to be exacted, and from the expense of
wffich they feel equaUy confident that at the next
meetffig of the Legislature they wffi reUeve the
city of Lancaster from the payment of the $60,000
granted by the Legislature to the city to complete
this work.
"$28,127.36, including $2,144 aUowed the city to
defray the expenses of buUding the stone cffibert
over the run at Hardwick, has been received. The
bffiance that remffins due and coming to the city,
it is expected the Canffi Commissioners wiU pay
as soon as the State shaU have received funds, ffist
deducting therefrom the cost of completing with
rails the additional length of the road occasioned
by the change in the location. Tffis balance when
received ought to be immediately apphed to the
payment of such damages occasioned by the road
made by the city to carry on the work, and thus
lessen as soon as possible the unnecessary payment
of interest.
"Your committee fmd the city debt to be $47,750,
the greater part of wffich has been created by
change in the road." FoUowing the committee's
report came a lengthy effiogy of the action of Coun
cils with a "ffing" at certain of those ffigher in
authority: "It cannot but be the subject of amaze
ment to see the most costly and vffiuable public
road ever made in the Uffited States, located witffin

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 151
one mile of the largest and most important inland
city in the Uffion, contaiffing a popffiation of up
wards eight thousand inhabitants, when the practi-
cabihty of bringing it tffiough was fuUy ascertained,
without scarcely an apology for tffis flagrant viola
tion of the pubhc. interests. The object contem
plated by the Legislature, in the construction of her
pubhc improvements, was to open commuffication
between the seaboard and the lakes; affording her
citizens generaUy the opportumty of conveying to
market the immense riches with wffich the western
part of the state abounds; that but for these im
provements woffid forever have remffined where
Nature had placed them, valueless to the owners
and useless to the commuffity. The distingffished
gentlemen composing the board of Canal Com
missioners, have studiously endeavored to make
every town of any consequence along the hne a
point of pubhc improvement. This trffiy wise and
commendable policy was frustrated with regard to
our city. Major WUson, in the employ of the
State, who located the road, seemed determined to
avoid Lancaster, and actuaUy reduced the grade
twelve feet in a mile, when he took the level of ffis
survey tffiough the city. Tffis remarkable fact was
discovered by Mr. Scott who took the level of the
same course. Mr. Wilson's determination to take
the road around the city, instead of tffiough it, in
opposition to the earnest sohcitation of councils
and the anxious desires of its citizens. Tffis gentle
man has since pffid the debt of nature; the committee
therefore forebare any further remarks on ffis con-

152 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
duct, leavmg the evil he intended us, to repose with
him, and the good he may have done, Uve after
ffim." The foregoing somewhat caustic reflection on the
character and standmg of Mr. WUson may have
resffited from a misunderstanding between the city
raffioad committee £md himseff, rather than from
any desire to discrimffiate against Lancaster.
It woffid seem that the city committee's troubles
were never to end. On May 27, 1834, the foUowffig
was submitted to Councils: "It was yesterday
announced that the State, having selected a piece
of ground ffi Mr. Duchman's field, entirely beyond
the busffiess part of the city for the purpose of
bffilding thereon a weight-house, your committee
was no less surprised than mortffied at tffis un
expected inteffigence. Mr. Gay was caUed upon to
learn the truth, wffich he confirmed by statffig that
he had just returned from laying out the plan for
the foundation of the bffilding; that Mr. Duchman
had given the ground to the State at such a price
as it might tffink right and proper to give. Your
committee iffiormed Mr. Gay that it had always
been contemplated to offer the lots owned by the
Corporation to the State for estabUsffing such
buUdings as the Commonwealth might require. It
has always been an important dissideratim to bring
as much business into the city as possible; the objects
contemplated by changing the raffioad wffi be en
tirely defeated ff the business produced is to be
done without the limits of the city; therefore, so
important a depot as the weighthouse ought not to

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 153
be suffered to be buUt out of the business parts of
the city, ff it were ffi the power of CouncUs to pre
vent it, wffich it certaiffiy is by offerffig the State
such lots owned by the Corporation lymg between
Prffice and Water." As the resffit of tffis compro
mise, certam lots were sold by the city to the State
on wffich stood at one time the GoodeU coal yard.
Mention of "gomg outside of the city" goes far
to show that the committee were not lookmg toward
the town's extension. It is difficffit to imderstand
what "open fields" meant. However, at last, when
settlement day came, it is surprismg how many
property-holders who had been benefited by the
change stood ready to present bUls for damages.
In round number there were just one hundred run
nmg mto thousands. But the arbitrators cut out
the great majority, holdffig that the advantages
were greater than the amount claimed. Offiy ffi
one instance were claims allowed as presented.
One whose claim was $2,300, got but ffity, and so,
the larger the claim, the less the reward. Over
ffity per cent, of the claims were offset by advantages.
At the time of the location of the raffioad the
passenger station did not stand where it is at present.
By takmg a bird's eye view of the wood-cut, it
wffi be seen that close by where the smaU loco
motive stands was the "Pioneer Hotel," and directly
south where the drug store looms up, once the
Museum, was the car office. Directly on the corner
where the Brunswick stands, was the North Ameri
can hotel. In tffis was the ticket office, and where
the pEissenger station now is, was Owen Hoppel's
hotel. 12

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 155
The cffiofficler is now to relate what occurred at a
meeting of Councils in 1858, entitled "an ordinance
relative to the granting of certain property of the
city of Lancaster to the Pennsylvaffia R. R. Com
pany in two parts."
" Section 1, Grant in fee simple the piece of ground
at the angle of North Queen and Chestnut streets
whenever by resolution of the Board of Directors
of the Pennsylvaffia Raffioad Company that they
will locate and erect a passenger depot on adjoining
ground, shaU be presented to the Mayor, with a
clause that the grant shaU be void ff such depot
shaU not be erected within one year after the passage
of tffis ordinance.
"Section 2, Grants the Company for the use of
their bffildings the privilege to bffild over the pubhc
aUey between North Queen and Duke streets at a
height of twelve feet or more and across said aUey,
with such additional track or tracks between it and
Prince Street, and at such points, deviation and
grades as the Company may desire, so as not to
prevent the ordinary travel along sffid street and
aUeys." The ordinance was offered by Mayor
Burrowes and passed by both Select and Common
CouncUs on December 7, 1858. That the passenger
station was started and completed possibly a year
or two later, its location testffies.
The narrator has failed to find in the ordinance
any provision that the said passenger depot was
never to be removed.
Turffing again to the minutes of Select CouncU
of July 22, 1834, it occurred to the committee that

156 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
they had overlooked one very important matter —
"turn outs" to connect with a laterffi raU or rails
for the accommodation of those ruiming cars ffiong
certffin streets. It may be surprising to many to
learn that rffils were laid along Chestnut from Duke
to Water. And it was even proposed by one
Councilman to run the tracks down North Queen
as far as the court house. If tffis suggestion did
not meet the approval of Councils, it is not so many
years ago when raUs were Iffid on Water street clear
to the Conestoga.
But at last came the day of joUffication. At a
meeting, October 3, 1834, "It was resolved by both
CouncUs that a committee be appointed to wffit on
the Governor at Columbia, and invite ffim to the
hospitahties of the city." And wffit upon him they
did, bringing him with them to Lancaster with ffis
retmue. From here they aU went their way aboard
a car drawn by the "John BuU," the "Enterprise"
or "Bald Eagle," to the great big city of "Pffila-
delphy." Here foUows the ordinance on ffie ffi the Recorder's
Office. "An Ordinance.
"Expressive of the consent of the City of Lan
caster to the proposed alteration of the rout of the
Pffiladelpffia and Columbia rffihoad: Whereas by a
resolution of the senate and house of Representatives
of the commonwealth of Pennsylvaffia dffiy approved
by ffis exceUency, the governor on the twenty-sixth
day of AprU last the Canal commissioners are

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 157
authorised and required to aUow the corporation
of the [City] of Lancaster to change the location of
the Pffiladelpffia and Columbia raihoad, between
the httle and big Conestoga bridges, so that the
same shaU pass tffiough the City of Lancaster, at
or near the intersection of North Queen and Chestnut
Streets, and to grade and form the same for a double
track of raUway, for the performance of wffich
work the said commissioners shaU pay to the said
Corporation a sum not exceedffig $60,000 and
whereas the said resolution is not to take effect,
or be in force uffiess at pubUc meetings in their
respective wards the consent in writing of at least
two thirds of the taxable inhabitants of the city be
obtffined and the consent of the corporation itseff
be expressed by an ordinance and whereas two
thirds of the taxable inhabitants of the city have in
"writing in pursuance of the provision of the said
resolution expressed their consent thereto, therefore
be it ordffined and enacted by the Citizens of Lan
caster in Select and Common CouncUs assembled
that the mayor, ffiderman and citizens of the said
city consent to the contemplated chemge in the
location of the Pffiladelpffia and Columbia raihoad
and hereby obhgate themselves to pay aU damages
that may arise as weU by the change of the location
of sffid road as those caused by the original location,
wffich damages shaU be appraised and assessed in
the same manner as upon other sections of said
road, and ffiso aU sums over the said $60,000 neces
sary to effect said change and complete as aforesaid
that part of the road between the said Bridges and

158 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
also that they would fiffish and complete with rails
in hke manner at their own expense the additional
length occasioned by said change and that the
sffid road shaU be graded and formed for a double
track of rffilway on or before the ffist day of April
One Thousand Eighteen Hundred and tffirty-tffiee,
provided that the canal commissioners enter into a
contract with the said Mayor, Alderman and Citizens
to pay them the sum of $60,000 for making the sffid
change and doing the sffid work agreeable to the
terms and provisions of the said resolution.
"Sec. 2nd. and it be further ordained by the
authority aforesaid that the mayor of the city be
and he is hereby requested forthwith to transmit
to the Governor of the Commonweffith a copy of
tffis Ordinance together with copies of the papers
signed by the taxable inhabitants of the city, sig-
nffying their consent to the proposed ffiteration of
the route of the rffihoad ordffined and enacted into
a law at the City of Lancaster tffis ffist of May
A. D. 1832.
"George H. Bomberger
President of the Common Council.
"E. ScHAEFFER, President of the Select CouncH
Attest: Jacob Shindel, Clerk
C. C. Reah Frazer, Clerk S. C.
" City of Lancaster.
"PersonaUy appeared before the subscriber, re
corder of said City, Reah Frazer, Clerk of the
Select Council of sffid city who being dffiy sworn
according to law doth depose and say that the

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 159
witffin and foregoing ordinance entitled an ordinance
expressive of the consent of the City of Lancaster
to the proposed alteration of the route of the Pffila
delpffia and Columbia raffioad was dffiy pubhshed
ffi the Lancaster Inteffigencer on the 8th day of May
A. D. 1832 a weekly newspaper pubUshed in sffid
City by Thomas Feran. "Reah Frazer.
"Sworn & Subscribed tffis 9th
day of May A. D. 1832.
Coram: Patton Ross. Recorder.
"I, Patton Ross, Recorder of the City of Lan
caster do certffy that the witffin and foregoing
ordffiance entitled an ordinance expressive of the
consent of the City of Lancaster to the proposed
ffiteration of the route of the Pffiladelpffia and
Columbia raffioad was dffiy enacted by the select
and common councUs of sffid City on the ffist day
of May A. D. 1832.
"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my
name and affixed the seal of sffid City tffis 9th day
of May, Anno Domiffi 1832.

Patton Ross,
"Recorder.

"Corporation Seal
"Recorded May 9th 1832.
"per Jacob Peelor
"Recorder."

CHAPTER XII
Our Venerated Grandmothers and
Granddaughters
Only occasionaUy during the seventy-six years of
burgess-rffie had mention been made of our "ven
erated grandffiothers," as the cffiofficler dehghts to
designate the wives and daughters, who, in their
respective spheres, did their part in buUding up the
townstead down to the time it became a city in 1818.
Wffile the women took Uttle or no part in their
husbands' affairs in the ruiming of the town, it need
not be assumed that aU they had to do was to sit
themselves down in the ease of contentment. From
aU that ffistory furffishes, they were usuaUy blessed
with large famihes, and coffid always find some
tffing to do in the bringmg them up in the way
they shoffid go. Of course, there were not any
suffragettes nor temperance lecturers among the
married or the single. But ff not before, at least
during the Revolution and after peace was declared,
the borough had its "Revolutionary Daughters."
And they managed to keep their names on the
map. They had their sociables, qffiltffigs, kffittmgs,
and the making of homespun, at times for the
wounded soldiers, on other occasions for the poor
and needy. Enough has aheady been shown that
the town has ever had its deserving poor, possibly
160

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 161
more m ye olden times than at the present day,
owffig largely to changed conditions.
From Uttle scraps gathered from ffistory's pages
the women of "Old Lancaster," ff they worried at
aU, did not do so over twentieth-century gossip,
card parties and picture shows. In promenading
the busmess streets on a Saturday eveffing to see
the sights, they were not hustled from side to side,
nor ffi crossffig a thorougffiare were their nerves
shattered by the sound of the iffiemal automobUe
horn! Enterffig one of the shops to buy material for
either summer or winter use, they did not go home
ward worrying, like their present-day sisters, over
the cost when made known to their husbands.
Commg doYSTi witffin the memory of the few yet
Uvmg, the town had its "Old Woman's Brigade,"
and it was not chartered either. Tffis seff-consti-
tuted body of good Samaritans had its mission.
In case of a lost boy or girl, away they woffid go
with horn or dinner-beU, stirring up the whole com
muffity with their dffig-dongffigs. And when a ffie
broke out durffig ffight or day, aU classes — men,
women, and even boys and girls — turned out to
instruct the ffiemen how to extffigffish the flames.
Everybody during the cffiofficler's boyhood seemed
to take tffings ffi an esisy-goffig way, nor were the
sleepers greatly disturbed by the mght-watchman's
rap at the front door, £is he caUed out, "P-a-s-t
two o'clock un' a snowy mornffi'." A queer custom,
was it not, with their smaU watch-boxes located
here and there, whereffi they woffid roast themselves

162 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
during the time between caUs. Then, on HaUow-een,
what fun for the boys to see one of these boxes carried
a haff mUe with the watchman securely encased
inside, swearing in "Dutch" how he woffid have the
Hallow-eeners locked up in the station house to be
fed for a week on bread and water.
Tffis was not anything unusual in the "Good Old
Days," when ffil classes reaUy enjoyed ffie in qffite a
different way from what they do today. Imagine,
ff you can, my busy merchant, a haff-dozen business
men sittffig on a slab-bench in front of one of their
stores on a summer afternoon swapping yarns!
And oh, glory, such yarns, always and forever talking
about the good times their grandfathers had when
hving witffin, for and by themselves back in the
good old days!
Have you ever thought, dear reader, that each
generation has had its good old days to recaU?
Oh, it is a funny world, is it not? No, the world is
aU right, it is the many funny people living ffi it
that makes it seem funny, each wantffig the best
part of it for himseff when he shoffid know that in
the end a very smaU plot wUl be sufficient to contaffi
aU that is mortal. It was wffile passing the old
Moravian graveyard that the thought occurred, how
httle a few of the burgesses knew what was to foUow
after a century or more of their eartffiy pUgrimage?
Referring again to the women of "Old Lancaster,"
it was in the year 1818, the year the borough became
a city, that the "Admiffistration" bffildffig, sp soon
to be dismantled for governmental purposes, was
erected, largely tffiough the perseverffig efforts of

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 163
women! And now let the few old grandmothers
yet hving in the halo of a ripe old age imagine
themselves back ffinety-one years ago. And as
they stand on the vacant space on the Prince Street
side in an open lot, they wffi see General Lafayette
dismount from ffis carriage on the twenty-ffith of
July, 1825, to be received by a cordon of women,
who, before the free school system had become a
possibihty, had been instrumental in having tffis
bffilding erected, not so much for their own cffildren,
as for the poor of the town who coffid not £ifford
to send their own to any one of the paid schools so
numerous among the well-to-do.
In associating the names of the women of "Old
Lancaster" of a century ago with that of the in
vincible patriot. General Lafayette, is so entirely
appropriate at the present time, and for the reason
that tffioughout the forty-eight states of the Uffion
the women are untiring in their efforts in upholding
the great cause of human liberty, not offiy ffi tffis
land of the free, but over on certffin parts of the
continent of Europe, where that "one touch of
nature" permeates all hearts with the instinct of
civil and reUgious liberty for down-trodden humaffity.
And here, in these days of war, let the cffiofficler
reproduce the scene, as the women conducted General
Lafayette into the Admiffistration bffilding where the
chUdren of both sexes to the number of tffiee hundred
and thirty had assembled to pay their last tribute
to the great soldier and patriot.
During the darkest hours of the Revolution he
came as the friend of liberty to joffi the American

164 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
forces. And now, a haff century later, he had landed
in "Old Lancaster" to help reap the fruits for wffich
he had fought so gaUantly as the devoted friend of
Wasffington, "ffist in peace, ffist in the hearts of
ffis countrymen."
On the occasion referred to, the boys were arrayed
in blue sashes, each with a bunch of laurel; the girls
in their wffite, pink gowns, each with a bunch of
wUd flowers fresh from the hUls of the Conestoga.
And as the General entered the school room, on
banners were the revered names, Wasffington, Penn,
Frankhn and other statesmen of Pennsylvaffia.
On an upper tier of side seats, sat one hundred and
tffirty ladies, who had devoted their best years ffi
making the school a success. In full view were tffiee
neatly decorated transparencies — The Geffius of
Liberty, standing on America, supported by Wash
ington, Lafayette and the great FrankUn who had
visited " Old Lancaster" in helping dedicate Franklin
coUege so many years before.
On reacffing the inner door of the Admiffistration
bffildffig, young and old rose from their seats, and
with one acclaim, greeted Lafayette by joiffing in
the chorus: "Hero, haUl all hail to thee.
Champion of our Liberty."
And now, what is to foUow Lafayette's visit in
1825? No more befitting time than the present
coffid be had in recaffing ffis own home country,
France, now strugghng to perpetuate the freedom for
wffich he gave his best years and money to the
cause of our own independence.

¦\

GENERAL LAFAYETTE

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 165
But the end is not yet. It was on the 24th of
June, 1834, that the clerk of Common CouncUs
presented to the Select branch the foUowffig resolu
tion for concurrence:
"Resolved, that tffis commuffity has received with
deep solemn regret the inteffigence that Lafayette is
no more! Resolved, that we sympatffise with our
feUow citizens tffioughout the Uffion for the loss of
Him we loved; whose ffie has been a continuous
scene of pffilantffiopic exertion; and whose efforts
and sacrffices in the estabhsffing of our Independence
has endeared him to every heart that loves its
country. "The splendor of ffis Star shone bright and un-
dimmed durffig the darkest hour that lowered over
ffis native land, and the confidence of ffis country
men, and the world in his patriotism remained firm
and undimiffished to the last.
"Resolved, that as a last tribute of respect to the
memory of the departed Lafayette, these HaUs be
hung with black crepe for the space of six months;
that the members of councUs wear crepe upon their
left arm for tffirty days, and that it be recom
mended that our citizens do Ukewise. That the
BeU of the city coffit house on tomorrow be muffled
and toUed aU day and that in the meantime a
mmute-gun be ffied.
"Resolved, that a committee be appointed to
wait upon our feUow citizen, George W. Barton,
Esquire, and request him to pronounce an Effiogium
at such time as may sffit ffis conveffience.
"Resolved, that a certffied copy of these pro-

166 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
ceedings, with a letter of condolence, be sent by
the Mayor of the city to the relatives of the deceased
Lafayette, and that Mr. Fortney be appointed a
committee on the part of Common CouncUs, and
Messrs. HaU and Freeman, on the part of Select to
carry the resolutions into effect."
At a meeting, Jffiy ffist, " It was resolved to invite
Captffin WorraU and the corps under ffis command
(the Wasffington Rffies of PhUadelpffia) to hear
the effiogism by Mr. Barton on the iUustrious
Lafayette in the Lutheran church at the time
named." In reading the tribute passed by CouncUs of nearly
a century ago, one cannot help but tffink that ffistory
is repeating itseff in tffis twentieth century, with
the spirit of "seventy-six" stffi dominant among the
people of "New Lancaster."
At the time of Lafayette's visit in 1825, he was
in ffis decUnffig years and in ffis seventieth when he
died in ffis own country, France.
If, then, more space is given to the patriotic
Lafayette and to the women of "Old Lancaster"
than woffid seem necessary, it is because both were
deserving. Commg down to more recent times,
most of the pffilantffiopic work done for the eleva
tion of the deservffig has been the resffit of women
either in their individual or corporate capacity.
Mention need be made of offiy a few notable examples
of women active in aU church work from the time of
the burgesses to the present day. We verUy beUeve,
ff it were not for women, haff the churches in the
city of Lancaster woffid be vacant. Let them re-

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 167
main at home during one single Sabbath, and the
chances are the pastors woffid be preacffing to empty
benches. Agffin, ffine men out of ten, ff they attend
at aU, do so to please their wives, or may be, their
sweethearts. With mothers and daughters it is a
rehgious duty; with men, most of us at least, a habit
not innate, acquired from our mothers, perhaps.
A haff century ago, few there were who coffid
faU to recaU the Bowman home in charge of the
sffinted Mary, sister of the Rev. Samuel Bowman.
Nor can elderly people forget the "Home of the
Friendless" started by Mrs. Kramph. Later on
came the Y. W. C. A., the Cathohc Society, The
Long Home, The Iris Club, The Patriotic Daughters
of the Revolution, aU under the supervision of
women. What the narrator does not know is how
many in years gone by have imitated Mrs. Ann
Henry in the rffising of thirteen cffildren. The offiy
spheres to which women have not been admitted are
the councUs and school board, made up largely of
bachelors and widowers without any chUdren of
their own to rear and educate. However, since one
lone woman has at last been elected to Congress,
there is stffi hope for the women of " New Lancaster."
Diverting the non-churchgoer's attention momen
tarUy from the minutes we find "That in accordance
with the wishes of the people of Lancaster, expressed
at a general town meeting, the Legislature are
hereby cordiaUy invited to make the city of Lan
caster the seat of Government; and that they are
respectfuUy assured that sffitable and commodious
buUdings wiU be prepared for thek accommodation."

168 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
Tffis was foUowed by — "Whereas, it is the ffitention
to remove the Capitol from Harrisburg, resolved
that a committee be appointed to visit sffid city."
But as shaU be seen, they did not brmg the capitol
with them. The cause is to be found ffi the fact
that the committees' expenses being limited to fare,
and offiy enough for a ffight's lodging at one of
the cheap taverns — this alone shoffid have taught
councihnen that the members of the Legislature
were not to be won over by any fine display of
rhetoric, feeUngly delivered. There may have been
one other reason for not wiiming over this august
body of legislators, a sUp of the tongue by one of
the visiting committee ffi making mention of the
"ten-plate wood stove"!
However, during the year 1836, a determined
effort on the part of Councils was made to purchase
land in various parts of the city on wffich to erect
another market house. The ffist was to buy the
property extending from the corner of Orange and
Prince to the aUey to the south. Also the lot at
the comer of East King and Duke streets. Then
came Mr. Hopkms', ffiong Duke to Orange, foUowed
by Mr. Humes' corner back of Mr. Hopkms'. The
most favorable site seemed to be Mr. Reidenbach's
lot and bffildffig adjoiffing the market house on
West King. But after many months of discussion,
aU the mentioned locations with others were aban
doned owing to the condition of the treasury.
In closing tffis chapter, we can weU recaU when,
in 1846, the ffist telegraph office was estabhshed in
the North American Hotel, where the Brunswick

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 169
now stands. At the time we boys heartUy enjoyed
a story of a shoemaker hving along the hne on East
Chestnut Street. Having made a pair of boots for
a customer, and not knowffig the best or the qffickest
way of dehvering them, he concluded to send them
over the wire. So, mounting the pole, over the cable
he hung them. During the ffight, came an Irish
laddy, who, seeing the boots by the hght of the
moon, took off ffis own, making the exchange.
Bright and early the morffing foUowing, the shoe
maker, in glancing up, saw what ffis heart could
most desire. Caffing ffis Betsy, he exclaimed, "My
customer has received the new boots, sending the
old to the shoemaker to be mended."
And now, to close tffis somewhat rambhng chapter
finaUy: Story of a Brussels Carpet
People who knew the subject of our sketch best,
declared that he had been born with a "veU" over
ffis face; coffid see spirits prowhng round in anyone
or all of the old graveyards he was in the habit of
visiting when the spell was on, usuaUy at the time
of the fuU of the moon. Be tffis as it may, he was
an eccentric character, belonging to one of the ffist
famffies, and in many ways respected, not to over
look ffis whims and caprices.
For years he had lived a bachelor, for the reason,
no doubt, that few of the town girls were wffiing
to marry a spirituahst. At last, however, he was
uffiortunate enough to marry a lady of ffis own age,
seff minded ffi conducting household affairs. It was
13

170 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
shortly after the marriage knot had been tied that
their troubles began in the selecting of a parlor
carpet. From store to store they went their way,
looking over the various patterns and designs,
with the husband selectmg one, the wife another.
But, as the head of the family had to do the paying,
his opiffion prevaUed, and witffin a few days ffis
own selection was spread out on the parlor floor.
With tffis, aU might have gone weU but for a way
he had of taking ffis wffe tffiee times daUy, in ffis
endeavor to convince her into acknowledging that
ffis own selection was not to be cpiestioned.
Being a lady of fine sensibffities, easily aroused,
every time she took in its shades and designs, it
brought on a nervous speU, finaUy resffiting in her
remains being laid to rest in one of the cemeteries.
With the burial ceremoffies over, two tffings happened
during the same eveffing. The ffist, a bunch of
medical students had gone ffi search of a "stiff"
that had been "planted" the same day in the same
graveyard, but, as the sequel wiU show, owffig to a
misunderstanding on the part of the colored gentle
man who had been engaged to disinter the remams,
sometffing happened.
FeeUng the need of a prescription, the same eveffing
the widower had occasion to enter a doctor's office.
For a time he sat ffione, awaiting the physician's
arrival. Becoming impatient, he turned up the jet,
when, glancing at the floor, ffis eyes instinctively
took in the identical carpet over wffich aU the
trouble had occurred in ffis own home. The longer
he glanced it over the more convmced he became

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 171
that ff it was not the same it was one off the same
sample. At last, disturbed ffi mmd, soffi and body, he
reached over and picked up a medical journal.
Openffig its pages, the ffist to attract ffis attention
was a large size engravmg, around wffich stood a
haff dozen students, witnessffig an operation for
some mternal complamt.
At last, the door to the dissecting room opened,
with the head of old Mose, the doctor's trusty,
peermg tffiough the crevice. "Boss," said he, "jis'
hab a leetle patience, de docto' am jis gone out fur
de sexton ub de graveyard, seem' de students be
misleadffi' des cffile ffi gittffi' de wrong stffi." With
tffis, the door closed, leavmg the patient ffi a more
perplexed state of mffid than ever.
Instead of passffig out for a breath of fresh air to
restore ffis perfect eqffiUbrium, he stroUed round
the room, inspectmg the numerous bottles fiUed
with this, that and the other, any one of whose
contents might have acted as a sedative ffi reheving
his nervousness. At last, ffis hand commg ffi con
tact with the knob of the door leadmg to the dis-
sectmg room, the door flew wide open, but there
was not any Mose ffi evidence. Instead, to his
horror, under a wffite spread on a table rested, as
he coffid offiy think, the body of ffis departed wffe
and helpmate. Tiptoeing his way forward, he
qffietly raised the sheet when, to his everlastffig
surprise, there was the face of her whom he had
tormented wffile ffi the flesh. Recoverffig aU that
was mortal of himseff, backward he moved, closffig

172 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
the door after him. With the veil over his face,
obhvious to even ffis own existence, he feU back into
a chair in the farthest corner of the doctor's office,
lost to the world, its sights and sounds.
It was wffile in tffis hypnotic condition of mental
disturbance that the door leading to the street
opened, admitting the physician with the sexton
by ffis side, and too much excited to notice the
forlorn spirituahst, too much under the influence of
what had occurred to utter a word.
Rusffing to the dissectmg room door, he caUed:
"Mose, Mose, you iffiemal vffiain, anyone caUed
during the doctor's absence?"
"Offiy one gemem, boss; an' him I teU dat ye
hed jis gone after der sexton to be remobin' de body
frum de dissectin' table."
"You told him what you teU me? WeU, as back
to the graveyard must go the body, swing it over
your shoffider, and take it out the ffileyway and
dump it into the cart waiting. And Mose, ff you
expect to hve a happy ffie in tffis world and be
forgiven in the next, keep your tongue from wobbhng ;
for, if the widower spirituahst discovers the mistake
we'U both land in jaU sooner or later. Now do as
you're told." And out the aUeyway went the body,
covered with the white spread.
And now, as to what foUowed after the physician
had time to puU ffimseff together.
Dropping into a chair after turnmg the gas lower,
he began to sohloquize, "Hope old Mose and the
sexton get the spirituahst's wffe's body replaced
before the morrow when the chances are he'U be

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 173
there in the graveyard holding commumon with
her spirit over the misunderstandffig in the purchase
of the parlor carpet. Then, the rascaUy Mose!
wffich of my patients coffid it have been that he no
doubt frightened away by teffing him what may yet
be causffig aU kmd of trouble, with the loss of my
profession!" With tffis, in stepped one of ffis students, who,
droppmg into a chair by ffis side, exclaimed, "Why
so pensive? Don't worry, I've just returned from
the graveyard, and aU is now in apple-pie order,
with the sexton sworn to secrecy. And so, before
making a hurried visit to the plot I made it my
business to caU on the widower to prevent him from
dropping in on you at tffis most mopportune evemng,
understanding that he needed sometffing to stiBFen
up ffis nerves after the ordeal tffiough wffich he has
just passed."
"In the name of ffigh heaven, man," — jumping
to ffis feet Uke a rocket, — "I've just been thinking
that in aU probabffity the person who caUed durffig
my temporary absence might, after aU, have been
the widower! And to tffink that my tffickheaded
Mose got to teffing him of the mistake in gettffig
the wrong 'stiff,' as he caUed it! Confound him,
I'U have him arrested as a 'body snatcher'!"
"Doctor, Usten to reason. Do not make a dunce
of yourseff. Lock him up in the dissecting room for
a week, untU the storm blows over. And so, to
make sure that the widower doesn't learn what's
been going on, I'U take him on a visit for a week
or two to the Seashore, where he can be lookmg up

174 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
another wffe! How does tffis strike your crazy
bone?" And with tffis morsel of comfort, the
student went his way to meet a party of others of
the profession, to indffige themselves over a bottle
of Mum in the lucky escape they had made.
Sitting alone, as the physician thought ffimseff,
in the qffiet of the sohtude, aU at once came the
sound of deep breatffing, wffich, faffing on the
doctor's ears, caused him to glance in the direction
from wffich the sound came. Recovering himseff
almost instantly, he saw that there, leaffing back in a
corner chair, sat ffis widower friend, in a semi
conscious condition.
"In the name of the immortal George Wasffing
ton, man, how came you here!" Placing ffis index
finger upon his pffise and ffis ear to ffis heart, he
tried, by a subterfuge, to ward off what he had
reason to feel was but to part with the secret that
had thus far been held sub rosa.
Rurming ffis hand first down the right side, then
to the left, he exclauned, "When did the attack
ffist come on? Why, my dear widower, you've an
aggravated attack of bowel trouble, and the sooner
you have your insides examined, the sooner you'U
be reUeved from foUowing your departed over to
the graveyard. Do you understand? And so, go
with me to the dissecting room."
Rising slowly from his chair, he graduaUy re
covered from ffis bewilderment and asked, "And
who, doctor, is the corpse you have lying over on
the dissecting table, covered with a wffite spread?
It's my own wffe's remains; I saw her with my own

GRANDMOTHERS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS 175
eyes lying on the table! Oh! oh! oh! I can see her
face at tffis very moment and as plainly as I see the
Brussels of the same pattern as my own spread out
on your office-floor!"
"You're under a delusion, and ff you want to be
convinced that you're offiy resting under one of your
former spirituahstic speUs, come with me!" And
together they went their way to the dissecting room
to find the table empty.
On their return, it began to dawn upon the
physician's mind that ffis widower friend had actuaUy
seen with his own eyes what has been described.
After a reconciUation had been effected, with the
promise that notffing be sffid, the widower turned
and asked, "How came you by the same brand of
carpet, the cause of aU your friends' tribulations?"
"Ha! ha! that is easUy answered. CaUing on
the merchant the same day you had purchased your
own, I concluded to buy the remffiffing remnant, as
it fitted tffis, my front office, as you see."
And tffis ends the story of the Brussels carpet.

CHAPTER XIII
Forcing the Water from the Old City Mill
INTO THE City
It was on Wasffington's Birthday, February
twenty-second, 1837, that the joyful news swept
hke a tornado among the people of "Old Lancaster"
that, on the opeffing of the plugs, came plunging
water from the Conestoga River!
For just one hundred and seven years, dating from
1730 down to 1837, the inhabitants of Lancaster
were compelled to rely on pumps, weUs and springs
for their water supply for domestic and other pur
poses. With the town surrounded, as may be said,
with an over abundance, it had been aUowed to go
its way to the Susquehanna, sometimes at flood
tide, at others peacefuUy in its circffitous path, to
be utilized here and there in driving the wheels of a
grist miU.
The canal for a time had served a certain purpose.
Tffis, with the incoming of the rffilroad, gave en
couragement to business men in the hope of making
Lancaster commercially and industriaUy a greater
center of trade and commerce. But what induce
ment had the city to offer the promoters of in
dustries in the greatest of aU commodities, a plenti
ful supply of water?
As far back as 1789 Burgess Hand, in his admir-
176

forcing water FROM OLD CITY MILL 177
able address to senators and representatives of the
Uffited States, had made mention of the Conestoga's
rffiffions of gaUons going to waste yearly. To the
average mind at the time the raising of the water
into the town was considered an impossibiUty. Nor
was General Hand to Uve to see ffis favorite project
put into successfffi operation.
At last, in 1825, a few of the town's citizens began
to agitate the question, but with the uffiortunate
experience of the tidewater canal, and later the
raffioad project, another delay of a haff score years
foUowed. If the Conestoga had been ffigher than
"CoUege HiU," the problem might have been solved
with httle difficffity. And yet, in case of an ex
tended downpour, the dweUers in the lower parts
had good cause to be thankful that the whole of the
city rested on ffigher ground than the winding Cones
toga. Nothing occurred until January 4, 1831, when
the clerk of Common Councils presented a petition
to the Select branch, signed by a number of the
leading citizens. The resolution accompanying the
petition ran: "And whereas, the offiy practical
mode of accomphsffing tffis important object woffid
be to procure an act of the Legislature authorizing
the issue of stock, with the proviso that the city of
Lancaster shaU have the privUege at any time witffin
a given number of years of redeeming the said stock.
It is beheved that it woffid become valuable, and
that capitalists woffid invest their money in it.
But as it is not in the power of the city at present
to raise the necessary funds, and as it woffid be

178 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
unwise to put it out of the power to possess them
selves of the stock when they coffid rffise the means,
the mode now suggested woffid secure the certain
means of accomphsffing tffis valuable pubhc im
provement, with necessary security of making it a
city stock in course of time —
"Wherefore, Resolved, that a committee, to con
sist of two members from each branch, be appointed
to prepare a paper to the Legislature, asking the
incorporation of a 'stock' company for the purpose
of introducing ruiming water into the city of Lan
caster. "Resolved, That it be recommended to the Mayor
to caU a town meeting some eveffing next week, that
the citizens may take such measures as they may
deem necessary."
The town meeting was held authorizing Councils
to employ a competent engineer. But agaffi the
matter was postponed on account of the cost of
the Pffiladelpffia and Columbia Raffioad.
However, with the coming of the year 1836, a
resolution was offered in both branches of Councils,
"That a committee be appointed to ascertffin the
most practical place and the probable cost, with
power to employ an engineer ff they deem it neces
sary, and report at the next meeting." On the
assembling of CouncUs, great satisfaction was
maffifested as the resffit of another pubUc meeting
by the citizens held on the Friday eveffing previous.
Among the leading advocates were George W.
Barton, J. R. Montgomery, John F. Steinman,
Wiffiam Coleman, Jacob Ratffion, Amos EUmaker

FORCING WATER FROM OLD CITY MILL 179
and Reah Frazer, embued with the spirit of ad
vancement. They constituted the committee.
It was forthwith resolved by both Councils,
"That it shaU be the committees' duty when they
shaU have completed tffis task to caU a meeting of
citizens and submit a written report."
At a meeting February 18, 1836, the committee's
report was read in Councils as foUows: "The under
signed committee of CouncUs and citizens respect
fuUy report that the accompanying commuffication
from General MitcheU contains aU the iffiormation
they have been able to obtain in relation to the
subject with wffich they were charged."
Here foUows the engineer's report:
"Gentlemen: "Having been employed by your committee to
make the necessary examination, I immediately
proceeded to the execution of that duty. The
surveys have been confined exclusively to the
waters of the Conestoga River, and the resffit en
ables me to say that an abundant supply of good
water may be obtffined from that source at a com
paratively smaU expense; the offiy difficffity wffich
presents itseff is the price wffich may be demanded
for water power. Five points have been examined,
from aU of wffich an abundant supply may be ob
tffined by the agency of water power to be derived
from the Conestoga. If, however, the Corporate
Authorities of the city of Lancaster shoffid not be
able to make an eqffitable arrangement for any one
of those water powers, recourse is stiU left, and
that is to erect a stationary steam engme on the

180 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
'Poor House' farm, which woffid not interfere with
the MiU powers on the river except so far as the
quantity of water subtracted from the stream might
affect the interests of individuals immediately below
the place from whence it would be taken out.
"It has been found that the ffigh ground on the
eastern part of the city near Ross's corner is suf
ficiently elevated as to supply the whole city by
constructing a reservoir at that place; and from
that point aU the surveys diverged. As tffis report
is offiy to commufficate facts and not opiffions, it
is offiy necessary to furffish the committee with a
brief review of those surveys.
"First: From Swartz's miU, the difference of
levels between the reservoir and surface of the dam
is 161-8 feet and 265 chains; of tffis distance 74
chains might be made an open race at a cost of
$1,900. The elevation of the ffiU is 99-2 feet ffi a
distance of 660 feet, being 62-6 feet below the
reservoir; and the whole length of pipe woffid be
13,266 feet, wffich at 1.87 per foot woffid amount,
including the race, to $26,773.75.
"Second: From Demuth's mill — Difference be
tween the level of reservoir and surface of dam
170-3 feet, and length of pipe, 6,000 feet, at 1.87
per foot, woffid amount to $11,261.25.
"Third: From Swarr's mill — Dffierence of levels
between reservoir and surface of dam, 1.75-2 feet,
and length of pipe required, 5,444 feet, at same per
foot woffid cost $10,395.00.
"Fourth: From Rock below Humes' factory —
Difference of level, 182-2; length of pipe required,

OLD BUILDINGS IN LANCASTER CITY

OLD WATER WORKS, BUILT 1836-7

FORCING WATER FROM OLD CITY MILL 181
at same cost $13,612.50. Tffis 'Rock' is elevated
above the pool of the dam, 153.8 feet, or 28 feet
below the reservoir.
"Fffth: From Coleman's saw mill — Dffierence of
levels between reservoir and surface of dam, 188-2
feet; and length of pipe required, 11,814 feet, at
same price would be, $22,151.25. As the different
modes wffich may be employed wffi vary the cost
considerably, no calcffiation has been made of the
mere cost of laymg pipe — from wffich the committee
Avffi be enabled to make a relative estimate of the
most economical pomt, after wffich a more carefffi
examffiation shoffid be made. No doubt exists,
however, of the entire practicabffity of introducmg
an abundant supply of water from any one of the
points herein described:
"RespectfuUy Submitted: "W. B. Mitchell."
The query for the interested to determine is'
Where stood Swartz's, Demuth's and Swarr's mills.
Humes' factory, Coleman's saw mill and Ross's
corner? AU has changed so completely on both
sides of the Conestoga sffice the year 1836, as to
make it almost impossible for the descendants of
the then owners to locate these mdustries.
As we glance back to the year 1825 when tffis
project was beffig discussed ffi councils, it can
scarcely be imagffied that a dozen years were to
elapse before the dweUers were to see the water
flowmg tffiough the pipes and out of the plugs ffi
the city. But when, on the 22d of February,
Wasffington's birthday, 1837, the open plugs began

182 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
to pour out either clear or muddy water, praise took
the place of censure wffich from time to time had
been heaped upon the heads of the committee.
Nor was the ever fffitffiul mayor, John Matffiot, to
escape until the time came, rendering the project a
success. As to the ffist cost of tffis enterprise, the amount
varies, rurming as ffigh as $106,000. Again it woffid
be an endless task to determine how much more it
has since taken for change and repairs down to the
present day. But with aU the outlay who woffid
tffink of parting with tffis legacy handed down by
the wise men of nearly a century ago? If the ffist
cost was over one hundred thousand when the
city's popffiation was not over six thousand, surely
the people of "New Lancaster," have not cause to
complffin of a few additional hundred thousands
provided there be no more bursted reservoirs. Of
one tffing, we have clear drinking water, wffich in
itseff is a godsend to young and old, rich and poor.
And so say we aU.
One matter should not be overlooked, although
it may have been by the engineer, namely, that the
town had not covered the ffighest points. But with
ffim and Councils, "sufficient unto the day was the
evil thereof."
It will be recaUed that in 1836 it was a question
whether the city undertake the work or tffiough a
company. Acting as these wise men did, it was no
doubt their opiffion that water shoffid not be sub
ject to controversy as between a corporation and
consumers. Offiy once smce, and that about a

FORCING WATER FROM OLD CITY MILL 183
quarter of a century ago, was the Water Committee
met with a proposition to purchase the water works.
But the promoter of the private company was soon
to learn tffiough the press that, under no circum
stances, woffid the "plant" be aUowed to pass from
the city's control.
But how with the gas company, wffich came a
few years later? With tffis people had their ffiter
native, either to use it or continue the use of candles.
What they could not manffiacture they coffid buy
in the shape of oil. Even the city coffid continue
to Ught the streets without the use of gas, ff an
extortion shoffid foUow.
It is weU then for the citizens of Lancaster to
be occasionaUy reminded of the many blessings they
possess, and that they came offiy by degrees, and
at a time when the town was not supphed with large
ffidustrial plants able to manffiacture their own
pumping macffinery. Again, before the National
Government began to pour out its greenbacks, with
state bank currency there was much uncertffinty
as to wffich notes were genffine, wffich either counter
feit or at a discount. Agaffi, along in the middle
thirties, hard times had struck the country, owing
to what had led to the paffic of 1837.
If, then, the contents of tffis chapter wffi start
people to tffinking "straight," the time consumed in
setting it forth from musty records is not by any
means time wasted by the cffiofficler.

CHAPTER XIV
The Ambition of Lancaster to Become the
Capital of the State
It is worthy of mention that aU cities, and wher
ever located, have striven to become the center of
trade and commerce; some succeeding, owing to
their having greater natural advantages than others.
Nature's products have gone further ffi the bffildffig
up of a city than man's efforts. In many instances,
what Ues beneath the soil has been more conducive
to the influx of population than the products raised
from the upper soU. The discovery of coal, oil and
gas in its natural state, have gone further in the
erection of a city than aU of mankind's efforts com
bined. Without that wffich for centuries had been
ffidden concealed, the ground upon wffich the city
stands might have remffined a desert to aU intent
and purposes.
Our town, as far back as 1787, actuaUy aspired
to become the home of the national government.
The goodly burgesses never for a moment considered
that their iffiand town was lackmg in water-com-
muffication in connecting it with such other cities
as have since sprung into existence. However,
during the Revolution the borough of Lancaster
had the distingffished honor of housing the Congress
of the Uffited States in its precipitate flight from
184

LANCASTER'S AMBITION TO BECOME CAPITAL 185
Pffiladelpffia. But it was offiy for one short day
when, with bag and baggage, the senators and
representatives hurried themselves off to the town
of York, after setthng up their biUs with the tavern-
keepers, who no doubt were greatly grieved over
their sudden departure.
As has already been stated, from 1799 to 1812,
Lancaster prided itseff on being the capital of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvaffia. How it came
to be outvoted by senators and representatives
for the city of Harrisburg, the minutes of the bur
gesses fail to state. What ffistory makes perfectly
clear is that, ffiong in the ffities of the past century,
councUs did make a determined effort to win back
the coveted prize. And aU ffi the face of the fact
that at the close of 1812, the legislature stole itseff
away without ffist having paid the burgesses the
five pounds for the use of a ten-plate stove. By
whom or where it was manffiactured, no mention
is made on the "Corporation Book." The chances
are it was cast by Baron Stiegel before he went ffito
hopeless bankruptcy. But more of the stove later.
Ever since the borough was founded by James
Hamilton, down even to the present day, good local
government has been the ambition of aU progressive
citizens. Legislatures have overtffiown one charter
after another, with the same discouraging resffits.
Tffis faUure is country-wide, not to overlook the
fact that the people rule or at least are supposed
to in their ffidividual or corporate capacity. How
many charters Lancaster has labored under since
1742, offiy to pray to be reheved for that of another,
the Legislative Digest is supposed to show.
14

186 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
The present charter under wffich Lancaster of
today is working must surely be a model of perfec
tion, otherwise our city would not be singled out
as among the very few that have not become third
class cities! But to refer once more to the starting
of the townstead. We are not so sure that ffil
might not have turned out better if James Hamilton,
in handing over ffis plot of two mUes square to the
burgesses in 1742, had settled himself down as one
of the leading citizens, instead of entrusting its
future to paid agents in seffing out town lots on the
ground-rent plan. As for the poor burgesses, they
did not have the money; tffis was forwarded to
founder HamUton at ffis home ffi PhUadelpffia.
And so hke "Topsy," the town grew largely of its
own momentum, and so it has been growffig ever
since! But at the time the viUage was converted
into a borough, Jemies Hamilton did what he thought
best for ffis own interests. And for this gratffity
the burgesses were gratefuUy thankfffi, as their
acceptance of the charter shows.
Of course, at the time the twenty-five hundred
acres were not an "Eden" flowing with rffilk and
honey, such as it has sffice become in tffis twentieth
century, affording its ffity thousand dweUers all the
comforts of home ffie. The greater portion was stUl
covered with virgin forest. Nor can it be sffid at
the time the town was laid out that it was an ideal
spot on wffich to biffid a. city. Coffid its former
status be contrasted with what it is today, how
entirely different woffid it seem!
The cffiofficler can offiy regret there is not any

LANCASTER'S AMBITION TO BECOME CAPITAL 187
picture to be thrown out on the moving-picture
screen, conveying to the sightseer an adequate con
ception of how the vffiage looked at the time the
ffist court house stood in Center Square. The
offiy etchmg by a local artist was made years before
the camera came to do what the dehneator coffid
not do with pencil or qmU.
However, in nearly every other hne of trade, with
the exception of the bffilding up of a city, men
of experience in their own particular Une, with a
thorough knowledge of what business requires, are
employed. If, at the close of the year there is a
loss instead of a profit, the cause is determined and
the remedy apphed. But how altogether dffierent
with the management of a city? Were there danger
of tffis or that town going into bankruptcy, tffings
might be different. But ffi few instances the
country over has this been the case, and for the
reason that the taxpayer is always to be counted
on to foot the bffis. But where under our system
of local government is the remedy to be found?
Offiy in the voters themselves! However, it is the
old, old story — ^what is everybody's business is
nobody's, except those who make the runffing of a
city a business. And yet, up to the present time,
no better system of local government has been
divised than that "of the people, by the people and
for the people."
Has it ever occurred to you to consider how many
hundreds of untrffined local legislators have taken a
hand in the bffilding up of our city since 1742?
Merchants, miffisters, doctors, tradesmen, editors.

188 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
teachers, some with means, others without, aU, how
ever, ready to serve their constituents as "town-
bffilders" in their humble capacity! Every young
man with poUtical ambition or "puU" to be grati
fied, thinks himseff capable of becoming a councU-
man, no doubt with the prospect of earffing a salaried
position by fffitffiffi service at times as a ward worker.
We have known men who have never read the
town's "Digest" to feel themselves amply qualffied
to help govern a city of ffity thousand. The
cffiofficler knows aU about it, havmg served as one
of the "city fathers" — at times considerffig himseff
the whole "push." What every city needs is a
school in wffich local city government is taught as a
science. And as attendants, it might be weU for
some of the younger members of the Chamber of
Commerce to become students. But why effiarge
on what everybody knows? What is common to one
city has its counterpart in others, each trymg to
work out its destiny accordffig to certam estabUshed
rffies, customs and regffiations.
It would be foUy to say that aU seff government
has been a failure, and that aU councihnen and
chief magistrates were unfitted for the office. There
was one mayor deservffig of special mention. Dur
ing the darkest days of the city's financial distress.
Mayor Matffiot never wavered ffi weU-doffig, ex
tending aU tffiough the eleven years of ffis mcum-
bency ffi office. Elected in 1831, he was chosen
annuaUy untU 1842, the longest of any of the twenty-
five mayors down to the present day.
To show the love and respect CouncUs had for tffis

LANCASTER'S AMBITION TO BECOME CAPITAL 189
plam, unobtrusive defender of the city's rights, it
was at a meeting, January 23, 1843, that the foUow
ffig resolution of respect was unanimously passed
by both the Select and Common branches:
"Whereby, By the death of John Matffiot, Es
quire, wffich melancholy event took place last
eveffing, it becomes the mourffiffi duty to take such
action as the circumstance may require in order to
evidence their desires to give expression to tffis
ffiterposition of Divffie Providence,
"Therefore, be it resolved that, ffi the decease of
John Matffiot, late Mayor, we lament the loss of
one, whether a pubUc-spirited citizen, or a fffithful,
indefatigable officer, or an upright man who wffi
long be remembered by ffis feUow citizens —
"Resolved, that each member wear a crepe on
ffis left £irm for thirty days as a testimoffial of our
sfficere regret at the loss of an honest pubhc officer,
a valuable citizen, a good man!"
Referrffig to the mmutes of the School Board, of
wffich he was president, simUar resolutions were
passed ffi ffis honor.
And why, it may be asked, was Mayor Matffiot
held ffi such ffigh esteem? Because for the trying
times tffiough wffich he had passed durffig the eleven
years of his administration. For, at no time before
or sffice, were difficffities of greater moment to be
encountered. The city at the time was strugghng
to become sometffing more than an iffiemd town
known as the largest ffi the Uffited States.
The Conestoga navigation project had started
under the brightest prospects to prove offiy a

190 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
financial loss both to the city and private investors
from start to its final wind-up. After tffis came the
raffioad with its mffitipUcity of worries, runffing
tffiough five long years with debt pffing up with
no means of providing for its hqffidation. FoUowing
came the water works, with its endless disappoint
ments and sleepless ffights for Mayor Matffiot and
councihnen, coworkers. But during aU these trying
times, as the minutes have shown, these fffitffiffi
city officials never dropped by the wayside dis
couraged. Wffile the cffiofficler at times may have given
expression to what might seem Uke faffit-findmg,
it has not been so much against the mdividual as
agffinst a system common to aU cities where the
people rffie. They may go wrong at times, but
usuaUy they get what is coming to them, according
to their deserts.
Many things occurred between the thirties and
forties wffich thus far have been passed over for
matters of greater importance. As pages of the
records are reviewed, it is amusing to note how fre
quently the humorous wffi find expression by some
member who has a personffi grievance. Here fol
lows a few; the ffist, a resolution placing a tax of
twenty doUars on the venders of lottery tickets,
the proceeds of wffich, as explffined by the author
of the resolution, was to go for a councUmaffic
"spread." Except then for the humor displayed,
it might have become a law. Another to meet
with defeat was a tax on toUgates witffin the city.
Tffis measure also went down to defeat, owing to

LANCASTER'S AMBITION TO BECOME CAPITAL 191
the fact that certaffi pike stock was owned by
councihnen. But of all the many vexatious ques
tions sure to crop out at times was an ordinance
prohibiting the running of cows, goats, geese, ducks,
and, last though not least, dogs on the pubhc streets.
However, as many of the caffines were owned by
tffis or that member, seff preservation came in for
ffist consideration. Of how many escaped beffig
consigned to the dog-pound, no record was kept.
It is reaUy surprising how readily a fight Avffi occur
over a dog! One might kick the owner, but never
his dog! And as it not iffirequently happened, the
poorer a famUy, the greater the number of dogs.
Nor have conditions greatly changed!
It used to be a common saying among the super
stitious that the wffiffing of a dog along in the mid-
ffight was a sure sign that sometffing was to happen,
£md happen sometffing did; for, on reading the paper
the next moming, the reader's eyes feU upon an item
that a certffin man had actuaUy died somewhere ffi
the city!
Cats, as many can yet recaU, of aU colors, shapes
and sizes, were held sacred on account of their tones
so closely resembUng those of the human. At the
present day their musical midffight refrains are
ffigffiy appreciated, on accoimt of their resemblance
to the tingle and jingle of the phonograph. No
doubt it is for this reason that aU weU-to-do famffies
have either a phonograph or a victrola. In our
boyhood girls were content to own an accordeon;
the boys, a jewsharp or a fiddle; tffis is why the
cffiofficler at qffite an early age became a fiddler,
ff you must know!

192 LANCASTER; OLD AND NEW
As for bats, swaUows and owls making church
steeples their daUy haunts, at times it weis a question
among boys whether steeples were made for these
ffightly tormentors, or owls, bats and swaUows for
the steeples! We remember how, before the stone
church of the "First Reformed" was dismsmtled in
1851, miffions of these pestfferous bats woffid go
their way in paying their respects to certam of the
town famffies. And, as it happened, with what
deUght they were received by some of the gentler
sex ! But as people want to be entertained, why deny
them the pleasure?
In drawing comparison between conditions of
past times and the present, the cffiofficler, it is to
be hoped, wiU not be considered a plagiarist by
quoting from the author of "The Good Old Days"
a few of ffis conclusions:
"There was a time when farmers' wants were
few and simple. Now he gets up with the lark,
works fourteen hours a day to support an extrava
gant famUy in sending them to the cities to be
mcdiing out of them gentlemen of leisure. As for
the city officiffi, he reaches ffis office at ten in the
morffing, takes two hours for luncheon, closes ffis
day's work at tffiee-tffirty, takes advantage of aU
hoUdays by going a-fisffing; jumps into ffis 'daddy's'
automobile once a week to overlook the 'old man's'
farm. Their usual place of meeting during the
winter is at the 'club,' where they talk over how
many acres shoffid be planted in tffis, that or the
other. If the season prove favorable the credit is
claimed for themselves. If, however, a long con-

LANCASTER'S AMBITION TO BECOME CAPITAL 193
tinuous draught occur, the blame is laid on the
tenant-farmers. "Back in my boyhood," continues the author,
"a man had to be pretty sick to remaffi away from
church. Now, a headache is sufficient of an excuse
to satisfy ffis conscience, wffile notffing short of a
well-developed case of appendicitis, or tuberculEir
meffingitis wiU deter him from attending a game
of goff on the 'Country Club' grounds during each
Sabbath afternoon. He wiU take ffis chUdren to
the Sunday-school door, Emd then go ffis way to sit
for hours in the boiUng sun viewffig a baU game,
without the shghtest fatigue. When a person got
sick in the olden days, he did not have to be carried
to a hospital; now, a feUow with an acffing tooth
wUl spend a month there to be entertffined by the
single nurses. If a conffimed bachelor-mvaUd, he
usually comes out a new-made man.
"However, ff the 'old man' happened to die ffi
ffis own home, ffis wife did not 'go broke' in orderffig
a hot-house of flowers, a long string of carriages and
a hundred honorary paU-bearers to give digffity to
the occasion. He was lowered into the tomb by
lovffig, tender hemds, and not by pffid pohcemen.
And ffis friends did not hurry away, leavffig the
sexton do the planting."
The foregoffig somewhat personal "ffings" recaUs
to the cffiofficler a famiUar saying of the once-upon-
a-time Harry Stiff, who never buried people, edways
planted them, and so deep down £is to prevent
their being exhumed. He was given to saymg that

194 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
more marriages were made Eunong widowers and
widows in a graveyard than in the parlors of the
best-regulated famiUes.
One story that comes vividly to mmd was told
by "Harry." "For a month after his wife's demise,
regularly twice a day, morffing and eveffing, the
haff-broken-hearted widower coffid be seen leanmg
over ffis departed's mound, weeping bitter tcEirs,
as he placed a bouquet of geraffiums thereon. As
it so happened, along about the ssmae time would
come a lone widow, equaUy bent on the same mission,
in paying tribute to her once loving partner in deep,
earnest affection.
"As both plots lay close, one beside the other,
and as both mourners met at times on their errand
of mercy, it was offiy natural that they shoffid come
witffin spcEiking distance; Eind come together they
did with the foUowing resffit:
"Looking up, the widower exclaimed, wiping away
a tear, 'It's a sad misfortune for a man in the
blossom of ffis youth to be left ffione in the world
with a family of cffildren to be cared for.' To tffis,
came the widow's lament, 'It trffiy is, for hkewise,
it's my misfortune to be left also alone with a
family.' Then drawing nearer, the widower, placing
his hand on her shoulder, gives way to another
spasm of grief." The resffit — as the grave-digger
ended ffis story — "both went away, arm in arm,
and nevermore were they seen bending over the
tombs of their loved ones."
But to refer once more to the writer of the "Good
Old Days": "Let us visit some old churchyard,
where loved ones of early days are sleeping their

WATER COMMITTEE WHICH BUILT THE PRESENT WATER WORKS IN M

LANCASTER'S AMBITION TO BECOME CAPITAL 195
last dreamless sleep, each in ffis windowless place of
rest. Tired of the day's wanderings, you sit your
self down on the green grass on the family plot.
The last rays of the setting sun are tinging the ffiU-
tops with their meUow Ught and batffing the land
scape in a flood of golden glory. Perhaps for the
ffist time in years you periffit memory to have its
fuU sway. Beautfful 'Isle of Memory,' Ughted by
the mormng-star of ffie, studded with jewels of
hope, warmed with motherly and fatherly affection,
and watered from perenffial springs of joy; wreathed
in garlands of everblooming flowers and beset with
diamonds of peace, contentment, love! Oh, beauti
ful ' Isle of Memory,' where roses bloom by the door,
where robins sing among the apple blossoms and
where bright waters ripple into eternsd melodies!"
And now, dear reader, wffile the above sentiments
so beautffffily expressed are not of the cffiofficler's
conception, they ffiustrate what he has many a time
witnessed in this or that cemetery, with loved ones
bending over a mound in placing a few flowers
thereon — then silently go their way.
Oldtime stories may be occasionaUy indulged in
by the thoughtless, and yet there is a certain some
thing about a graveyard that admits of no levity on
the part of the humorously disposed. It is the most
sacred, the most beloved spot on God's broad domain;
no place for idle thoughts; no place to indffige in
frivohty. And as the chapter closes, it is with the thought
of one who has just been laid to rest. We knew H. S.
WUhsmison intimately as a devoted husband, a loving

196 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
father, a generous giver, beloved by the boys Emd
girls for ffis many httle acts of charity. His last
act was to present four Uttle tots each a rag doU.
And the day before ffis demise, as he related the
story of the happiness given them, he exclffimed,
"It is the Uttle tffings one does that give the
greater pleasure." But as Harry is no more, may
ffis memory ever remffin fresh and green in the
hearts of ffis hosts of friends Eis one of God's bene
factors. AU at once we are reminded that tffis is "Decora
tion" day with the old smd young veterans going
their way from cemetery to cemetery, there to lay
a few flowers on the mounds of the departed! It is
a beautifffi custom perpetuated as the outgrowth of
the war of the sixties, and later that of the SpEmish
American, even to tffis, the present great EuropeEm
conflict. May the day never come when it wffi be
necessary for the "Grand Army" to lay garlands of
roses on tffis or that patriotic boy's tomb ! To close
tffis chapter, may the clouds wffich hang heavy
over the nations engaged in cruel war, soon be
dispeUed by the sunsffine of hope for a greater and
brighter future!

CHAPTER XV
Move for a Court of Appeal. The Taxpayers'
Redress
We are stiU turning over the pages of the councU
maffic records of the tffirties. An important epoch,
tffis decade, with the city trying to move forward
agmnst obstacles almost insurmountable ! The town
at the time was full of "puUbacks," and theory went
forth, "As it was good enough for our ancestors,
it ought to be good enough for our descendants."
The moneyed men of the city seemed to be almost a
uffit against what they caUed extravagance on the
part of councils in their appropriations. Salaries
were cut to the minimum. And as for street laborers,
few except those engaged at the water plant could
find employment. WeU had the under employees
cause to grumble; but what signffied grumbUng.
The time for trades uffions had not as yet arrived.
No walkffig delegate was to be seen goffig tffiough
work-shops as agitator, ffi banding men together for
their own seff preservation. In fact, such a move
as a walk-out was almost unheard of during the
thirties and forties of the past century.
Prior to the action of councils April 7, 1835, there
was no redress for the tax-payer except to step into
the treasurer's office and pay such taxes as the
dupUcate contamed. As aU good tffings come to
197

198 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
those who have the patience to awffit the hour of
their coming, so was passed the ordffiance creatmg
a " Court of Appeal."
Wffile tffis "court" was intended to equalize and
readjust property vffiuation, for a time it had qffite
the opposite effect, giving those with a "poUtical
pull" with the men constituting the court the power
of lowering the assessment of their favorites, smd
putting up that of their pohtical enemies to the
top notch.
To bear out tffis statement, tffink of taxes from
real estate witffin the town of two miles square,
producing but six thousand doUars at the close of
the year 1835. Evidently the assessor was abroad
ffi "Old Lancaster," and abroad he has been ever
since as one of the city's necessary evUs.
We are now to reach conditions leading to the
paffic of 1837, when specie payment, discontinued
by the bEmks, compeUed councils to issue what to
day might be caUed "sffinplasters." At a meeting
of councUs, June 8, 1838, the committee appointed
to coffier with the different banks of the city relating
to the redemption of the city's loan, ffi bills of one
doUar or less, reported "that the matter be sub
mitted to the respective boards of bsmk directors
for their decision." Here foUows their reply:
"However anxious your committee are to ffid in
the circffiation of metaffic immediately, recent indi
cations of a general resumption of the small bffis
induce the bsmks to withhold a recommendation
under the impression that when the banks fully
resume, the small bffis may be withdrawn from

MOVE FOR A COURT OF APPEAL 199
circulation with less inconvenience to the com
muffity." The following proposition came from the Lan
caster Bank to councUs: "Resolved that tffis bank
will redeem $5,000 in smaU notes issued by the
city of Lancaster under the denomination of one
dollar in specie, provided that funds be furffished
in current bank notes by the city to that amount,
and provided that the city wiU make provision for
the further amount of $10,000 of the same issue in
hke manner. Tffis offer was made by order of the
board, Cffiistian Bachman, Casffier."
These notes, of denominations of ten, twelve and
a one haff, twenty-five and ffity cent scrip were
hEmdsomely engraved, one bearing on its face the
image of the ffist locomotive; another, tffiee black
smiths standmg facing an anvil. They bore the
name "Lancaster City Loan," commoffiy called
"Lancaster City Fractional currency." While their
execution was passable, they were far below the kinds
of scrip issued by the Uffited States during the con-
ffict between the States. The faffit lay not so
much with the engraver as with the iffierior kind of
paper in use for the purpose.
Reference to b£mk-note currency has been made
to show the stringency of the times during the
later tffirties, not offiy ffi Lancaster but in aU cities
of the country.
These "hard times" had reached floodtide with
the close of Andrew Jackson's eight years of ad
miffistration. But comes the query. What occasion
had the people of Lancaster to complffin, with so

200 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
many improvements going on during the tffirties?
Work there had been on the canal, raffioad and
water works, but it was not by the manor-born.
The contractors had brought with them their own
laborers, at least in the construction of the canal
and raffioad.
We have scanned the pages of councUs for the
per diem wage paid city employees, both for clerical
and outside labor. Tffink of Mayor Matffiot re
ceiving $200 per annum, or a total of $2,200 during
the eleven years of ffis incumbency ffi office. As
for employees for street work, ffity, sixty and seventy
cents constituted pay for twelve hours' work. And
as for trffined mechaffics, a doUar a day weis the
rffie, and a pretty long day it was!
At the close of the year 1839, two years after the
water works had been completed, came the foUowffig
report: "The whole cost of the water works up to
tffis time amounts to $127,086.53," and the amount
of revenue received from water for the year previous:
32 dwellings at $7 per annum  $224
79 dwellings at $6 per annum  474
45 dwellings at $5 per annum  225
50 pave washes  50
1 Tavern stabling  28
1 Tavern stabling  22
1 Tavern stabling  18
1 Tavern  28
2 Taverns  96
8 Taverns at $12  96
5 Taverns at $10  50
4 Taverns at $9  36
2 factories at $30  60
Jail and courthouse  30
The Slaymaier House  30

MOVE FOR A COURT OF APPEAL 201
Stable and horse  8
Brewery  25
Brewery  20
Currier shop  20
Currier shop  5
1 Bath house, public  50
9 private baths at $3  27
3 distilleries  40
1 distillery  43
1 distillery  60
2 Barber shops  10
2 Hatters at $8  16
Total revenue, one year  $1,791
Think of offiy ffine private bath tubs in the city
using Conestoga water and but one pubhc bath
house ! It is offiy reasonable to iffier that the owner
of tffis "pubUc" bath house must have done a
tffiivffig business, durffig the summer at least, in
order to pay ffis ffity-doUar water tax per annum.
Whether tffis pubhc bath was used by both sexes
the mmutes fail to make entirely clear. The most
reasonable conclusion reached by the cffiofficler,
who, as a boy, never Uved in a house with a bathtub,
is that most boys, as weU as man, bathed in the
Conestoga near the "Big Stump." But tffis was
years before aU bathers were deffied tffis health-
givffig privUege, with the dsmger of imbibffig aU
kinds of disease germs.
But even with bathtubs for the women, how did
they msmage to get the Conestoga water to a proper
temperature durffig winter for batffing purposes
without a gas rEmge? We used to know a dweUer
who had a tank on the top of ffis roof to catch the
ram water. Tffis he woffid let down through a
15

202 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
pipe into an improvised bathtub, and aU by the
puffing of a cord. As the story has been told the
UEU-rator, on one occasion, during the month of
August, he invited a friend to enjoy a bath, the
ffist he had taken since qffite a young man. Being
assured that the temperature was normffi, the in
vitation was accepted with thanks. The day previ
ous, the tank was fiUed with ice from a nearby ice
house, bringing the temperature to near the freezffig
point. Entering the tub, the bather was told to
stand upright, with the assurance that there was no
danger of ffis getting a sun-stroke from the effect of
the sun's rays on the tank Ed)ove.
Not to be left entirely ffione, one of the leading
physicians kept witffin easy distance to witness the
effect. Witffin the twinkhng of an eye, down came
the icy cold water hke an avalanche. Frozen! It
took a haff-pint of brandy to thaw the invalid into
consciousness, and another haff-pint to restore him
to ffis perfect equilibrium!
It used to be said that a good story was Uke old
wine, the older the more delicious its flavor. How
ever, some people prefer the wine to the story, Emd
so the reader can take ffis choice.
Back in the narrator's boyhood the people used
to brag of their iffiand town bemg the largest in
the Uffited States! But, by gradual degrees, it be
came a back number, at least as to popffiation!
But what other cities could not take from "Old
Lancaster" were its rehgious, social and home ffie.
AU depends, then, on what advEmcement means.
If it means the center of the state's largest ffi-

LANCASTER WATER WORKS AS IT APPEARED ABOUT 1900

MOVE FOR A COURT OF APPEAL 203
dustries, ofttimes over-capitalized, with strikes fol
lowing one another at stated intervals, then Lan
caster has faUed to measure up to its sister cities.
No city can excel in everytffing. Smoke flowing
from the tops of furnace-stacks is not at all times
an indication that the dweUers are gettffig the most
out of ffie's comforts. But ff they do not, it is
largely their own faffit in not leamffig the secret of
how to economize. As a rffie, however, the great
majority of the citizens of Lancaster, wffile liberal
ffi their expenditures, yet manage to lay some
tffing Eiside for a rainy day. And it is to the middle
classes, those who depend upon their daUy earffings,
that the prosperity of our city depends.
If, then, large industries have been few and far
between, our smaUer ones furffish employment for
hundreds of young men and girls. By some our
city has been caUed a "chUd-labor" town. WeU,
as it is no disgrace for young people to work with
their hands as weU as their brams, no longer exists
the Une of demarcation separatmg our citizensffip
mto classes with the rich and weU-to-do as in ye
olden time, when wealth and social standing was
the rffie rather than the exception. Our consti
tuency has become one harmoffious whole where
honest labor receives its just rewards. The wheel
of fortune has taken mEmy a turn and twist during
the pEist haff century. Today a man may have
reached the topmost rung of the financial ladder;
tomorrow, seeking ahns from those whom he despised
but a short time before.
Our people possess one advantage that neither

204 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
fortune nor misfortune can altogether eliminate.
We have our rich agricffitural county, wffich is a
mint in itseff, exceUed by none in the uffion of
states. Of course, our farmers have learned, tffiough
the telephone, newspapers and other avenues, how
to feather their own nests. And notffing has con
tributed more to ffigh prices than our numerous
market houses, conveffiences to the buyers though
they be. One sometimes wonders how prices are
so uffiformly fixed! It is easily explamed. AU
that is necessary is to keep an eye on the "price
fixer," who qffietly moves among those with farm
products to dispose of. A word, a look, or even the
point of the finger, means to add another cent or
two to tffis or that commodity. Tffis may be tme
to a limited extent.
From whom the farmers learned the art the
cffiofficler cannot say, except that they might have
learned it from the city-merchant. Be tffis as it
may, the era of ffigh prices has arrived, nor is it
pecuhar to Lancaster alone. Of aU tffings, think of
matches going up a cent a box with the country fuU
of pine wood! Why, the cffiofficler's nearby neigh
bor nearly went into hysteria when she came to
look over her grocery-bffi to find that matches had
taken an upward turn! A doUar or two added to
the price of a new spring hat might have been borne
with instant and becoming resignation, but a raise
in the price of matches, never! And so, why in the
world does not the Chamber of Commerce get busy
in a busy way? We know that tffis body of workers
are trying to keep the town's name on the map.

MOVE FOR A COURT OF APPEAL 205
We verUy beUeve tffis body can get almost anytffing
their hearts may desire if they offiy go about in the
right way. Let their slogan be, " PuU together, work
together, Emd stand together" ffi harmony with aU
other of the city's other organizations, not to over
look by any means our city fathers, dffiy representa
tive of the ffiterests of their constituents, that usuaUy
puU apart instead of together on most problems that
shoffid demand the ffighest order of statesmEmsffip.
But what is this the mffiutes of councUs of the
year 1843 have to show? The announcement by
the chairman of the Fffiance Committee that the
census had fixed the town's popffiation at 7,999
came with a shock, with offiy a shght increase over
that of the decade previous. It was offiy natural
for tffis or that councUman to wonder why the
census-enumerator had not made it the even eight
thousand! But when the news reached a coterie of merchants
sitting on a slab bench in front of the place of
business of one of their number, they had other
matters to talk over than the town's growth, whether
in extension or popffiation. What they knew, was
that they stffi had the trade of the county as Em
asset. If a few of the old-time shopkeepers were
here in the flesh to testffy, their verdict woffid be
that they did not want an influx of strangers to be
setting up shops as competitors.
Agam, few of the old-time busmess men coffid ever
have been made to beUeve that the time was ever
to come when business was to be conducted on a
"thirty-day" cash basis. With country as weU as

206 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
with some city people it had been a custom of long
standing to settle accounts on the ffist of every
AprU. And then, after settUng up, open another
account to be settled a year hence. Tffis was
caUed "financial settlement" day. It took years
for the town merchants to break away from former
customs. And a blessed tffing it is for everybody
to pay as he goes!
However, the foregoing are but glimpses of old-
time conditions, wffich for years were stored away
in memory's ceUs, always ready and pleading to find
expression. To close tffis chapter, ff you wEmt to
be happy, my boys, in your old days, fiU your
storehouse of memory with plenty of boyhood
remiffiscences. Crowd out Edl the evUs, with offiy
the pleasing reminders to be making merry over.
Of course, tffis is not meant that either boys or girls
in after years shoffid forget their courting days.
And last, let a mother's devotional ways remam
green and fresh ffi memory's ceUs. And, as a
parting word, do not forget to place a rose on her
grave on "Mother's Day." Tffis may be csdled
sentiment, but without sentiment how cold and
dreary woffid the world be! Tffink it over, my
boys. You wiU offiy reaUze it when you become an
octogenarian. Why, the whole country is being crystEdlized in
one overwhelming sentiment in upholding its rights
on land and sea against the encroachment of a domi
nant ohgarchy, and wffich ff aUowed to have its
sway woffid domineer the world. Slow to wrath,
who knows what may happen before tffis volume
reaches the public eye?

CHAPTER XVI
Society of Master Mechanics for the Poor
Boys of Lancaster
Seldom ff ever do we hear mention made of the
"poor boys of Lancaster." Tffis may be for the
reason that there are comparatively few poor boys
in tffis city at the present time compared with
the number in years gone by.
Today, ffine boys out of ten, ff at aU so ffisposed
can find sometffing to do. Every now and then one
can see in a wffidow, "A boy wanted to run errands."
And the supply is seldom equal to the demand, and
tffis, notwithstanding the fact that the telephone
has largely taken the place of boys as message
bearers. Along in the middle forties and ffities what were
caUed poor boys were Edlowed to run the streets,
many attending the lower grades of schools until
they were well up in their teens uffiess fortunate
enough to be appi;enticed to a trade to be known as
bound boys.
It is from the minutes of councils of January 18,
1843, we note the foUowing: "Whereas, The Me-
chEmic's Society of City and County have, with
most prffiseworthy efforts, ffided by the contrffiution
of its members and others, erected a spacious HaR
for the dissemination of knowledge by pubhc lectures
207

208 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
and otherwise, therefore, be it resolved that the same
be exempt from payment of taxes for city purposes."
Merely reheving the society from payment of
taxes by councils was not anytffing unusuffi. The
important question is how came the Society of
Master Mechaffics to be estabhshed? It was written
by the biographer of the Rev. Augustus Muhlenberg
that, in the spring foUowing ffis advent into the
city, he was instrumental in caUing a meeting of
citizens interested in the formation of a pubhc
hbrary. And that out of tffis assemblage grew the
"Society of Master MechEmics" for the benefit of
the town's deserving poor.
Tffis "haU" was as famous in its day, and as
weU known as is the Y. M. C. A. of the present
time, but dffiered in the class of boys admitted to
its rooms for instruction, usuaUy the sons of me-
chEmics serving as apprentices. At the time men
tioned, when a boy entered, he was expected to
serve ffis time. If he happened to run away,
escape was not so easy. He was as a rffie captured.
If he enterfid any one of the trades, where macffinery
was the exception rather than the rffie, he began
at the bottom and graduaUy worked himseff mto a
ffist-class journeymEm and taken ffi the uffion of
Master Mechaffics.
In tffis later twentieth century, a boy of any get-
up soon catches on to one particffiar hne of work,
especiaUy in that of the electric. And it is astomsh-
ing how readUy he finds employment, and at a
weekly wage greater than a trained mechanic re
ceived back in the days before schools and coUeges
were as numerous as at the present day.

society of MASTER MECHANICS 209
As for girls, their chances of earffing a hving have
been enhanced a hundred fold. Scores of the
gentler sex, instead of weddmg, have become wedded
to the typewriter. Enter any business office, and
the jingling of the keys goes merrily on with nimble
fingers. Having at last come by their own in the
world of competition, they have made their boy
friends stand up and take notice, that wffile they are
stiU in the matrimoffial market, they are not sitting
down awaiting a proposal, maybe, later on, to make
a hving for both!
Agffin, there never was a time in the history of
Lancaster or any other city when there was so much
employment at the disposal of young women. It is
not so many years ago when domestics coffid be had
without even an advertisement in any of the daUy
newspapers. Now they fix their own wages per
week; and, what is more, they are always in demand,
wages beffig a minor consideration. The girl prob
lem has given mothers more concern than have the
selecting of a summer's wardrobe. But how to
overcome the trouble is yet an unexplffined question
of domestic housekeeping. The needy meet on the
street, in the churches, at their sociEds, and the
ffist question is, "Can't you teU me of a good girl?"
Some seU out, move into an apartment house, and,
after a six-months, wish themselves back agaffi in
their former homes, even ff they have to do their
own cooking, house-cleaffing and other chores!
But what's the remedy? There is none but to grin
and bear it. Women have their alternative of
remaimng in single blessedness, or of mEtrrying men

210 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
who can be made to do the cooking themselves.
It is a sad condition, and one the narrator almost
wishes he had not entered upon, compeUed eis he is
to bear up under the same kind of household worries.
However, with the mmutes of councils as a diver
sion, the octogenariEm can thrust aU minor troubles
aside. Again resorting to the records of January,
1847, we find "Be it ordered that the Committee
on Finance take up and destroy certfficates of locm
of aU denomination under five doUars, issued by the
city of Lancaster, amountffig to $45,376.19."
From the foregoing it would seem that the city
had outstandffig in smaU currency a pretty large
amount during times of strmgency of the money
market. But ffi due time specie payment was
resumed down untU the breakmg out of the war
between the North and the South, when gold Emd
silver for the second time found a restffig place in
the vaffits of the banks. And who among the
wisest of the wise men of the nation knows how
soon fractional currency may agam come ffi these
times of war Emd rumors of war?
Previous to the year 1840 aU money from any
and every source went into a common fund, makffig
it impossible for the pubhc to know how much came
from water rent or how much from property tax.
From that time on water tax has been kept sepEirate
and apart from moffies derived from other sources.
For keeping eJI funds as a whole, there may have
been a cause in not aUowffig it to become known in
how far water receipts had faUen below expenditures
for tffis staple alone. Bookkeeping at the time had

SOCIETY OF MASTER MECHANICS 211
not become a science Uke today, nor the expense
as great, needffig a treasurer, controUer, and a haff
dozen clerks, such as are to be found in Edl city de
partments at the present time. But as good book
keeping is as necessEiry as good housekeeping, why
even intimate that these overworked officials are not
earffing their salaries?
During these years of slow industrial develop
ment, it is well to note how many men of means
were holders of certfficates of city loan. Of a hst
of sixty subscribers the Finance Committee's report
shows, during the forties, $175,007.62, passing" into
the hands of the weU-to-do, drawing six per cent.
interest. One subscriber alone held $50,000. If
doubters there were as to the city's abiUty to redeem
these loans, tffis investor was not one of the pessi
mists, ever and at aU times ready to foresee some
dire calamity looming in the financial horizon. With
nearly aU moffied men, a six per cent, city bond was
more enticffig than a certfficate bearing double the
rate in a manffiacturing industry. Another resison
for the city's slow development!
As there never has been a time when the councUs
of Lancaster have not been ready to pay homage
to tffis or that great msm, on October 30, 1841,
both bodies were hurriedly summoned to act upon
the foUowing resolution: "Whereas, Councils have
heard with great pleasure that His ExceUency, David
Porter, Governor of Pennsylvaffia, wiU visit the
city to-day, Resolved, that we have an undimiffished
confidence in the admiffistration of Governor Porter,
and rejoice that the popffiar voice has again declEired

212 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
that he shaU be our Cffief Magistrate for another
three yetirs.
" Resolved, that we together, with the Mayor and
Aldermen, wait upon ffis Exellency on the arrivEd
of the cars, to tender ffim the hospitEdities of the
city. Resolved, further, that Messrs. Champneys
and Buchanan join in the ceremoffies." Tffis reso
lution emphasizes the fact that the people of "Old
Lancaster" were always and ever ready tffiough
their councils to welcome aU distmgffished citizens,
come from whence they might.
Another outburst on the part of councUs occurred
the same year in making preparations for the parade
in honor of WUUam Henry Harrison, "the hero of
Tippecanoe," and popffiarly known as "the log-
cabin" candidate. What rendered the parade so
conspicuous was a log cabin on wheels with a Uve
coon fastened on the roof, Emd a barrel of hard
cider stEmding by the cabin's open door. Every
where ffiong the hne of parade was sung the song
of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." It was a most
momentous occasion for the Wffigs, their ffist victory
for forty years. And who could have had the
audacity to say that the name, "Lancaster" was
not then on the map?
Pohticcdly, if not industrisdly, there never has
been a time from 1818 down to 1918 that our town's
name has not been on the map! It used to be SEud,
"As go Lancaster city and county, so goes the
Uffion for either one or the other parties." Men
have been known to sacrifi,ce a lucrative business in
order to serve their constituents in any capacity

SOCIETY OF MASTER MECHANICS 213
from that of constable, squire, on up to that of
president of the Uffited States. And, indeed, why
should not aU men be wiffing to help in every way
witffin their means and capacity, in effiarging and
beautffying their own home city? To Uve alone
for seff and seffish ends and aims, is to live a useless,
wastefffi ffie. And here the thought occurs, it is
easier to give advice than to practice what one
preaches. So, to avoid the billowy waves of too
much criticism, the cffiofficler has an episode to
relate as taken from the minutes of councUs at the
November meeting of 1843.
"Gentlemen of Select and Common CouncUs.
I have the honor to transmit herewith the resolu
tion of the Lancaster, Susquehanna, Slackwater
Navigation Company, inviting councUs to join in
an experimental excursion on Tuesday next.
"RespectfuUy, "John Mathiot, Mayor."
On the day UEuned there arrived from the city of
PhUadelpffia the steamer intended for the purpose
of towing on pEirt of the navigation between Lan
caster and the SusquehEmna. The invitation con
tinued, "The Conestoga Packet Boat will leave
Reigart's Landing in tow of steam at haff past eight
, p y- "Ljj-^yjg Hurford, President."
To tffis "free junketing expedition" came the
prompt reply, "That CouncUs feel great pleasure
in hearing of the arrival of the Steamboat, 'The
Edward Coleman,' wffich is to be run on the Cones
toga from the city to tidewater, and hEul the occur-

214 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
rence as indicative of the completion of what they
had ffiways beheved woffid be of great benefit to
the city and county of Lancaster.
"CouncUs feel deeply the compUment pffid to
them, and freely accept, by resolvmg to meet at
their rooms on Tuesday morffing at 8 o'clock, to
proceed from there to Mr. Reigart's Lgmdrng."
Adopted unanimously by both branches.
It wffi be recaUed that the canal continued with
more or less success untU the early sixties, before
going finaUy into Uqffidation.
Tffis, ff the narrator may add, is the ffist resolution
passed unaffimously by councUs since the year 1818,
except over the remffins of one of their own number.
But why shoffid there have been any hesitation,
being led to beheve, as they were, to partake of
the many good tffings to be had on board the packet
boat, "The Edward Coleman," on their way to the
Susquehanna on a beautffffi November morning,
even ff it did require councihnen getting up a httle
earUer than was their usual custom. Why, we
verily beUeve from personal experience in antici
pation of a free "blow-out" to New York, the
cffiofficler woffid have sat up the entire ffight, even
to miss ffis breakfast.
The offiy account of tffis journey down the winding
Conestoga has been taken from a newspaper of that
early date, from wffich a few extracts have been
made, to be read by some of the councihnen's
descendants. " Before the EdwEird Coleman had gotten up steam,
a roU-cEdl registered the ffine Select and the ffiteen

SOCIETY OF MASTER MECHANICS 215
Common members aU aboard on schedffie time.
As the weather was a httle too cool for batffing
outwardly ffi the placid waters of the Susquehanna,
our caravan of sightseers were not to be blamed for
batffing themselves mwardly from a dozen bottles
of champagne at the Company's expense! Then to
think of the ample 'spread,' so dffierent from what
they had been gettffig at home! What actuaUy
occurred ffi passffig tffiough locks woffid be to
betray confidence. It was late ffi the day when
Safe HEirbor was reached, owffig to "The Edward
Coleman" runnmg out of steam. On our home
ward journey, trouble beset us on every hand,
requirffig the packet boat to be drawn homeward
bound by tffiee mffies. And now, Mr. Editor,
whether any prayers were offered by the returffing
councUmen is extremely doubtfffi owffig to the fact
that they were not pray erf uUy incUned."
And so ends tffis chapter — ^fragments picked up,
some out of the mffiutes of councUs, others tffiough
the cffiofficler's storehouse of memory.
From the Intelligencer of May 28, iSUU.
STEAMBOAT "CONESTOGA"
The splendid new Iron Steamboat Conestoga is now running
with regularity and great dispatch between
Lancaster & Philadeij>hia,
and wiU take freight either way at very reduced rates, viz.: Flour
at 18J^ cents per barrel, delivered in Broad street or any part of
Philadelphia. Store Goods 16 cents per 100 lbs. delivered in Lan
caster city. Apply to George Caujeh,
Graeff's Landing, Lancaster.
A. Wright & Nephew,
Vine St., Wharf, Philadelphia.

CHAPTER XVII
First Move to Bring Gas into the City very
Discouraging
So much occurred during the forties as to cause
the cffiofficler to pause and consider whether more
time has not been given to matters of secondary
importance rather than to such others havmg to do
with the city as a growing mufficipahty. But aU
readers are not interested aUke. There is the
human side apart from the ffistorical, Emd it is to
meet tffis diversity of opiffion the cffiofficler has
endeavored to interest in the volume's pages.
Mention of the raffioad, water and gas, how would
you, my reader, hke to dispense with the automobUe,
troUey Emd parlor coach and go back to the slow-
going stage? As to water, ffitered, how woffid you
like to go to the pump for your daUy supply? In
mention of Ught, the cffiofficler does not beheve there
is any one in Lancaster wUUng to exchange gas or
electricity for the candle, fat lamp or oil with the
dEmger of an explosion. Such were the conditions
less than a century ago. Did the people welcome
the incommg of the rEulroad? The majority may
have; others, countmg the cost, demurred. When
it was proposed to bring the water from the Cones
toga, a like condition prevffiled, offiy ffi a more pro
nounced form. At last, when it was proposed to
216

FIRST MOVE TO BRING GAS INTO CITY 217
ffiume the streets and houses with gas, did the
citizens rise up ffi their might to welcome it as a
godsend? No! wrapped in their former customs,
habits and traditions, a goodly number met ffi
town-meeting with the result to foUow.
At a meeting of councils, November 7, 1842, came
a petition signed by numerous citizens, praying sffid
bodies to grant to "The Lancaster City Gas Com
pany" the right to lay pipes into the city. With
tffis, CEune a message from Mayor Matffiot : " Gentle
men: The undersigned, for and behaff of the LEm-
caster City Gas Company, respectfuUy begs leave
to state that, in the event of the councUs granting
the sffid compEmy the privUege of laying pipes
through the streets of the city and distributing the
gas, to give the Corporation the right and privUege
at any time after twenty years of purchasing and
assuming the ownersffip of the entire works with
their appurtenances erected and estabhshed by the
said company; on the Corporation of sffid city pay
ing, or securing to be paid to sffid company the
principal cost of sffid works, and makffig up the
dividends on the stock of said compEmy to six per
cent, (shoffid the same faU below that) and ten per
cent, on the entire cost for the trouble and expense
and responsibffity incurred ffi the estabUshment of
the sffid Gas Works:
"Signed, John Getz, on behaff of the company."
Tffis was foUowed by a protest which, being read,
was Iffid on the table. It is offiy reflecting pubhc
opiffion pro and con to say that the townspeople
were divided, as they have sffice been on all new
16

218 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
departures from former customs. As the writer
has occasion to know, being chairmEm of the Lamp
Committee at the time the electric light came to
take the place of gas, ffis position weis not by Emy
means a bed of roses. And Eunong the most strenu
ous dissenters were the owners of gas stock. Tffis
self mterest uffiortunately has always loomed up,
and at times among councUmen who msike city
affairs secondary to their own seffish desires. All
cities might become models of perfection if it were
not that so many councUmen have axes to grind
and in what they consider perfectly fair means ffi
guardmg their personal holdings from injury.
However, at a meetmg foUowing an ordinance
was read tffiee times and passed, giving the com
pany the right to lay pipes tffiough the city, pro
vided it be done witffin two years. On the principle
that you can lead a horse to the water-trough but
you can't make him drink, so, wffile the company
was given the right under certffin restrictions, not
even councUs had the authority to make the people
use it for house hghting.
Much of the opposition came from the dealers in
oil with wffich the lamps had been fiUed, and to be
Ughted only during the dark of the moon. As there
was not any weather bureau to teU when nights were
to be cloudy and when clear, the lamp-hghters con
tinued to obey instructions by glancing, the almanac
over. It wiU be observed that, wffile councUs permitted
the gas company to lay its pipes, it did not take
kindly to purchasing the plant after twenty yesirs.

FIRST MOVE TO BRING GAS INTO CITY 219
And why? Had not councils helped bring the rEul
road into the city? And, furthermore, had not the
mufficipaUty bffilt the water works? And yet, as
these older heads reasoned, they had stiU the candle
and oU lamp to faU back upon. It woffid be inter
esting to know how msmy ycEirs it took to persuade
housekeepers to resort to gas; ffiso, to get the city
to hght its streets with gas. And it was offiy after a
special offer was made ffi a reduction, that a few of
the promment avenues were thus hghted.
It woffid seem there is always sometffing to engage
the cffiofficler's attention. At a councUmaffic meet
ing, January, 1842, it was resolved "That tffiee
members from Select, tffiee from Common, with a
like number of citizens be appointed to meet a
committee of members of Congress to mEike an
examination of the waters of the Conestoga whereon
to estabhsh a 'National Foundry.'" Where or at
what point tffis foundry was to be located or its
purpose, no further mention was made at any future
meeting, nor did any committee Eirrive.
Once more must mention be made of the "City
Scales," ffist located at the southwest corner of
Duke and Orange streets on the vacant plot where
now stands the Pennsylvaffia Business CoUege.
From the upper pEirt of the scale's house extended a
beam, on the end of wffich hung the steelyards.
When a load of coal was to be weighed, as per
requirement, it was driven on the platform and the
horses unffitched; then by means of puUey and
tackle, up went the load, the weight taken by the
weigh-master. Later, along came the empty wagon

220 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
undergoing the same process. At the time all coal
was weighed by the city to mEike sure customers
were getting the proper weight of twenty-two
hundred and forty pounds as a ton. Since those
cEirly days, dealers in coal do their own weigffing on
platform scales at two thousand pounds per ton,
or at so much per pound, and no questions Eisked by
the consumer as to price per ton or weight.
Along about tffis time the Fmance Committee was
greatly annoyed over petitions from ffie compaffies,
praying for financial assistance. Tffis caused the
chairman to declare, "There are now in the city
more ffie compaffies and more ffiemen than under
any circumstances can ever be required. Experience
has shown that tffis excess of ffie engines has pro
duced very great coffiusion, but, what is more to be
feared, retarded and interfered with their usefffiness.
It would, to say the least, be the height of foUy,
even with an overflowing treasury, to encourage any
increase in the number of engines, already com
pletely orgaffized and eqffipped.
"Persons composing what they caU the 'Columbia
Hose' company weU knew before they associated
themselves together that their company was entirely
unnecessary. Besides, it behooves councUs to dis
countenance everytffing productive of evU, Emd we
can conceive of none greater than a useless, super
numerary number of ffie compames!" And the
"Columbia Hose" Company did not get an appro
priation! What an uproar the chairman's speech
created among the members is not referred to in the
councils' proceedings.

FIRST MOVE TO BRING GAS INTO CITY 221
If the members of tffis disappointed ffie company
could have looked ahead to tffis ycEir 1917, to see
appropriated for the pEud department $30,000
annually, we can offiy imagine their astoffishment.
As the minutes show, the largest yearly appropria
tion made at any time mentioned was $350.
Among the commuffications received was one
from Thomas C. WUey, CoUector of City ToU at
the railroad, "that from and after tffis day, aU
cars loaded or uffioaded from the State Siding on
Chestnut Street or from any private siding, shaU be
charged twenty-five cents wharfage for single and
ffity cents for double cars for the use of said streets;
and that no cars on the streets shaU remain there
for more thsm twenty-four hours."
Tffink of cars standing on Chestnut street from
Duke to Water!
Another page encased in black Unes indicates the
passing of a person of more than usuEd importance.
At this meeting, Tuesday afternoon, June 25, 1845,
we find the foUowing memorial resolution: "Where
as, It has been announced to the American people
that Andrew Jackson, ex-President of the Uffited
States, has departed tffis ffie —
"Whereas, Tffis mourffiffi event, although not
uffiooked for, has caused a deep impression tffiough
out the Nation, indicating a umversal disposition to
pay merited honors to the memory of the iUustrious
dead. And Whereas, we the members of the Select
and Common Councils of Lancaster City, partici
pated in the genersd feehng, and are desirous of
pEirticipating in the general demonstration, sffitable

222 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
to the sad occasion when the Country sorrows for
the decease of one who has so eiffinently fiUed the
mission of ffis glory — Therefore, Resolved, that in
view of the loss the Nation has sustffined in the death
of Andrew Jackson, once the leader of her armies,
the Head of the country, and cffief among her
statesmen — ^we cause our respective chambers to be
placed in mourffing for six months, and that each
individual wear the badge of mourffing for sixty days.
Resolved, that a sum not exceeding one hundred
doUars be appropriated to defray the expenses that
may be incurred ffi the personal obseqffies of the late
Andrew Jackson."
At the close of John Matffiot's eleven years as
mayor came Michael Carpenter, who for many
years had held the position of Clerk of the Select
branch. At the ffist meeting after his election in
1843, Em ordinance was introduced, giving the
Conestoga water to a "Cotton Factory at seventy-
five doUars per year so long as said factory shall
continue its operations."
The petitioners' request being granted, brought
forth the following message from ffis honor, the
mayor: "I object to the adoption to that part of
the minutes wffich relates to the Preamble and
Resolution instructffig the Water Committee to
enter into a contract with a company, giving water
at seventy-five doUars per year perpetually, and
for the foUowing reasons :
"First, Councils cannot coffier on the Water
Committee a power wffich is not granted to itseff
by its charter:

FIRST MOVE TO BRING GAS INTO CITY 223
"Second, Councils cannot authorize the Water
Comiffittee by resolution to seU or enter into con
tract, and bargain away for an unUmited period any
part of the city property in wffich the citizens wiU
thereafter continue to hold an interest:
"Third: CouncUs cannot pass such a resolution
without suspending or repeahng the second rffie
which governs the business and intercourse between
the two bodies:
"Fourth: Councils have no power to enact either
by resolution or by ordinance wffich wiU bind up
the interests of the commuffity perpetually.
"Fifth: Tffis action on the part of Councils tend
to compromise the interests of citizens, and tend to
estabhsh perpetffity, a power which no Corporation
can possess under the laws of Pennsylvaffia.
"Sixth: Variance from required order of action
is vaUd grounds for a motion to quash aU pro
ceedings had in the premises:
"Seventh: I object to their adoption because
they are unjust in their tendency, and wiU coffier
rights Emd privUeges to tffis Company perpetuaUy
wffich are refused and cannot be enjoyed by the
rest of its citizens!
"Resolved, that the clerk be authorized and
instructed to draw black Unes around and to expunge
forthwith from the Journal aU reference to the
grant." Tffis was decided by the president to be
out of order when an appcEd was tEiken, and ffis
decision overrffied with but one dissenting vote in
the negative.
Comment woffid seem to be unnecessary. AU

224 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
know what the Councils of Lancaster did less than a
score of ycEirs ago — they gave in perpetuity a most
valuable francffise never to be reclaimed! As the
minutes further show. Mayor Carpenter weis not
opposed to givmg ffid to tffis, one of the ffist cotton
miUs to be erected, with others to foUow. His
objection was in giving the right in perpetffity. We
all know what a blessing these nffils have been,
ffiding in the buUding of homes aU over the southern
and other parts of the city. For nearly seventy
years the cUckffig of their spindles has been heard
day in and day out, affordmg employment to de
serving men and women.
Before the year 1840, few new streets had been
opened, and it was not untU a somewhat later day
that property holders had Em act passed, reim
bursing themselves for land tEdten ffi street exten
sions. Efforts have sffice been made to have the
act repealed. Juries have in many cases awarded
damages out of aU rcEison, when it is considered that
the benefit accrffing to owners in the shape of bffild
ing lots on both sides of a street. It is not so many
years ago that the city had to pay the county over
one hundred thousand doUars and wffich the county
had previously assumed. Tffis latter statement
has reference to payment made by the city along in
the eighties, as the mmutes wffi ffi aU probabffity
show. If what has already been set forth serves no other
purpose than to make councils more carefffi in
guarding the city's interests, it may serve a good
purpose. And here the question arises, what is a
city? As understood by the average citizen it is

FIRST MOVE TO BRING GAS INTO CITY 225
but a heartless corporation owffig everybody a hvmg,
ff not ffi one way, then ffi Emother. To much the
city ffi a sffit for damages as against the mdividual
has become a weU-estabUshed prfficiple ffi aU muffi-
cipaUties. Few there are ffi the makffig of their
wffis ever think of leavmg any part of their fortunes
for the city's future effiargement and beautffymg.
We hve, grow wealthy out of the advantages the
city affords, and then take pleasure in finding fault
with tffings that do not go our way. It is to be
hoped ffi the next succeedffig chapter there may be
more of the ffistorical, and less of the cffiofficler's
teffing other people how to manage their own affairs,
pubhc and private. If, however, the narrator's
views run counter to the average citizen's, let them
be taken for what they are worth, ffi extractffig the
grain from the chaff. For after aU the commuffity
of Lancaster, taken as a whole, has at aU times been
a law-abidffig citizensffip. Strikes, as shaU be
shown, we have had, but seldom ff ever have they
resulted ffi Emy very great disturbance of the public
peace. PhysicaUy speakmg, the soU upon wffich the
townstead was bffilt, has been exceptionaUy free from
upheavals such as have visited cities buUt along tffis
or that river. Apart from frequent ffiundations to
wffich other towns have been subjected, our town
has had a certam number, but where can it be
pomted to that whole blocks have been swept away?
LancEister's safety at least durffig the pEist quarter
of a century can be attributed to our weU-eqffipped
Fire Department. But why shower too much praise
before the story is ended?

CHAPTER XVIII
Dismantling of the Old Jail, and Building of
the New Prison. James Buchanan's
Bequest
Discussion having arisen at times as to when
the old jail was dismantled and the new prison
erected, it may be sffid it was completed in 1851,
and considered at the time a very massive structure,
in fact, too stately for evildoers. Bffilt of sand
stone, it had a tower one hundred and ten feet high;
tffis, however, was removed years ago, owing no
doubt to its becoming top-heavy. As the "Castle"
stands it covers about four acres, surrounded on
tffiee sides with a waU eighteen feet ffigh, but as has
been the case, not ffigh enough to prevent escapes.
The cost was $110,000.
To repeat what may already have been stated,
the ffist crude jaU stood at Postletwhait's tavern in
wffich the ffist court was held in 1729-30. The
second log jail was bffilt on the HamUton plot at
the corner of West King and Prince. It answered
its purpose untU 1774, when it was supplanted by
one of stone. Tffis bffilding, fanffiiar to almost
everybody from its picture, stood untU 1852, when
its inmates were transferred to their new quarters
on East King nesir the reservoir.
During the time tffis structure was being dis-
226

BUILDING THE NEW JAIL 227
mantled more than one boy's curiosity was Eiroused
as he StroUed here and there even to the dungeon
on the lower ground floor. Looking tffiough a
crevice a more gruesome sight coffid not be imagined.
And horror increased when told that, years before,
a lone prisoner had been aUowed to starve to death
tffiough the keeper's forgetfffiness. Along the side
of a rock coffid be seen where the convict had
scraped with ffis fingers to find a way out or to
attract attention. If the story was told to frighten
boys, it surely had its effect.
At the January meeting of 1850 a score of peti
tions were presented, aU praying for better pave
ments and better crossings. One from the Vestry
of Saint James' Church asked in humbleness of
spirit and meekness of heart for a crossing leading
to the opposite sides of the streets. As the male
attendance had faUen off, the excuse given no doubt
was on account of the street's condition. And good
reason had the men at least for being tEirdy, owing
to a report that offiy a short time previous one of
the. vestrymen had suddeffiy disappeared with offiy
ffis hat remffiffing to certffy to his identffication.
Of course, too much credence need not be placed
in stories of tffis kmd. And yet, along in the
ffities, the streets were an abomffiation. However,
tffis petition, and also others, was referred to the
Street Committee. Being in the winter time, with
the commissioner taking tffings easy untU the coming
of the June appropriation, the vestrymen had to
bear their soffis in peace for six months longer.
Waiting for the June appropriation, has been the

228 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
excuse down to the present day! For tffis wffiting
there may be some justffication. It gives the dust
a chance to find its way into tffis or that house, or
all of them, instead of being carted away earUer ffi the
shape of mud! Every womaffiy housekeeper ffi the
city of Lancaster of this year 1917 has had more
dust to contend with than all their other worries
combined; at least the cffiofficler has been so m-
formed by one who knows whereof she speaks.
During these years of slow, industrial develop
ment, CouncUs had aU kinds of trouble with the
Water street run. No sooner had it been arched
from a certain pomt at Orange than along came a
freshet, requiring the arcffing to be done over, aU
owing to the mistEike of the engineer in mEddng the
cffivert too small.
Coming regffiarly before Councils for a decade
was the market house question. In fact, from the
year 1730 on down tffiough succeeding years, it
was sure to loom up in some shape or smother. The
Reidenbach property, extending ffiong West Kffig
sixty-four feet, thence northward, was about to be
purchased for $20,000, when, owffig to the low con
dition of the treasury, the matter was mdefimtely
postponed. It was along about the year 1849 that the foUowing
letter reached Mayor Carpenter, smd was by ffim
referred to the Select, and concurred in by the
Common branch:
"Sir: When I removed from Wheatland to Wash
ington in 1845, 1 commufficated to some of my friends
my determination to invest $4,000 and donate the

BUILDING THE NEW JAIL 229
accrffing ffiterest on the same to the purchase of
wood Emd coal for the use of the poor and ffidigent
females of the city of LancEister durffig the wmter
seEison. Havmg often witnessed, with deep sym
pathy, the suffermg of tffis helpless cIeiss of our com
muffity, for WEmt of fuel, durffig periods of severe
cold, I thought I coffid not mEmffest my gratitude
to the benevolent citizens of Lancaster for aU their
kffidness to myseff personaUy ffi a more acceptable
Emd cffiistian manner than by estabhsffing such a
chEirity. Tffis investment weis actuaUy made in
AprU, 1846; Emd I feel myseff greatly mdebted to
you for having cheerfuUy and fffitMuUy distributed
the ffiterest wffich has sffice accrued, among the
worthy objects for wffich it was ffitended. Hitherto,
as you are aware, I have been prevented from placffig
tffis charity upon a legal Emd firm basis, and thereby
giving it some degree of pubhcity for rcEisons wffich
now no longer exist. The object of tffis letter is to
request you to communicate to the Select and
Common CouncUs that I am prepared to trEmsmit to
the city $4,000 of the certfficates of the loan, with
ffiterest, tffis thirtieth June last, as soon as they shaU
accept the same, Emd agree to apply the accrued
mterest thereupon perpetuaUy in the mEmner already
specffied. "Very RespectfuUy, "James Buchanan."
This request weis gratefuUy Emd thankfuUy ac
cepted by both brEmches, and a sffitable reply sent
to Mr. Buchanan. Uffiess the minutes have been
overlooked, tffis is the ffist bequest ever given by

230 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
anyone for the poor of the city. It bespcEiks for
the donor much for wffich the people of Lancaster
have cause to be thankfffi, when we consider that
in the forties, four thousand doUars was considered
an ample fortune for any person to possess.
Tffis fund has been mcreasing, but not propor
tionately as it shoffid have been. The interest of
tffis and other legacies has been carefuUy guarded
and annuaUy dealt out to the town's deserving in
wffich favoritism has no place.
It used to be sffid in the olden days that a man
who owned ffis one-story house with a httle money
in bank, was worthy of being congratffiated. Offiy
a short time ago the cffiofficler was shown a pampffiet
compUed by the late Luther Richards, contaiffing
an estimate of the financial status of the leading
men of the city during the middle ffities.
Among the number runffing from $1,000 upward,
there was only one on the Ust with a fortune of over
$10,000, and he was considered a miffionsffie, to use a
more modern term. At the present day, fortunes
must have a "nuUy" or two added to mEike them
count for anytffing above the average. But in
many instances, "come easy, go easy" is the rule
rather than the exception. Let, then, those in
making their wiUs not forget the deserving poor.
At a special meeting, July 12, 1850, the foUowing
preamble and resolution was passed unanimously
by both branches of CouncUs: "Whereas, CouncUs
have heard with deep regret the melancholy and
uffiooked-for inteffigence of the death of Zachary
Taylor, late President of the Uffited States, There-

BUILDING THE NEW JAIL 231
fore be it resolved that, ffi common with the Ameri
can people, we deem that his great military traiffing,
ffis ffigh mtegrity and purity of character have justly
endeared ffim to the people of tffis Uffion, and that
we deeply deplore his death eis a National calamity."
What rendered the above tribute to the memory
of General Taylor so appropriate at the time was,
no doubt, for tffiee reasons: First, that ffi 1846 he
was known eis "Old Rough and Ready," ffi winnffig
the battle at Resaca la Pahna ffi Mexico.
Second, it weis wffile on ffis way to the city of
Wasffington to Eissume the duties of President,
that he stopped over ffi Lancaster for a short time,
receivffig a royffi reception by the popffiace.
Thirdly, how vividly does the nsirrator recaU how
we boys hurried out the Harrisburg pike where,
after he had dismounted from the train, we had
the pleasure of graspffig his hand. He hved but a
short time after beffig inaugurated President. By
some it was sffid the hospitaUty extended by the
goodly people of Lancaster had hastened ffis death.
We know the many good tffings provided by the
people of Lancaster have been responsible for the
demise of others, and may have had sometffing to do
with President Taylor's sudden ending.
About the year 1852 a recently pubhshed volume,
entitled "Sketch Book of Pennsylvaffia," found
wide circffiation among councihnen, lawyers and
others, producing a profound sensation! The part
referred to is hereffi set forth in order to let the
people of "New LancEister" know what the writer
thought of the town at the time. The portion

232 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
quoted may be found on page 48 of the "Sketch
Book," thus reheving the cffiofficler of the charge
of having written the article himseff. Agffin, the
narrative admits of every shade of opiffion relating
to the townstead, not to overlook the fact that some
people tffink that offiy things complimentary should
be written of their ancestors. With tffis apology,
the sketch runs as foUows:
"The city has made much improvement. It is
now nearly fourteen thousand, whereas, offiy a few
years ago it was but eight thousand. Like many
another county-seat, Lsmcaster has labored under
the paralyzing influence of a superfluous popula
tion — a popffiation wffich, whatever its social merits,
does notffing but consume without contributing to
the real production or substantial wealth of a com
muffity. The place is hteraUy over-run with pro
fessional men, including hordes of srffihng, friendly
pohticians, awaiting their 'turn' for the suffrages
of the 'free and mdependent electors' of the 'Old
Guard.' There is no county ffi the State — there is
probably none in the Uffion — where more interest
is manffested in pohtical affairs; at the same time,
it must be observed, there is none wffich has more
offices to bestow.
"Lancaster has produced some of the most skiffffi
practitioners ffi the pohtical Eirena. Indeed, any
one who has graduated from its schools may safely
venture forth, relying on ffis 'tactics.' The learned
professions, too, embrace some of the brightest orna
ments ffi the country. Some of its citizens are very
rich Emd could safely invest their capittd in objects

BUILDING THE NEW JAIL 233
conceived m the spirit of taste and hberahty; and,
with haff the talent Emd energy wasted ffi pohticEd
struggles, the town might readUy become one of the
prmcipal workshops in Pennsylvaffia."
How much or how Uttle truth the foregomg con
tains is for the Chamber of Commerce to EiscertEun
at one of their weekly banquets. Of one sentence
the cffiomcler cannot take issue — ^"That with haff
the talent and energy wasted ffi poUtical struggles,
Lancaster might readUy have become one of the
prmcipal workshops ffi Pennsylvaffia." And yet,
EIS there are two sides to every question, it is not
unreEisonable to Eissume that the city coffid have
reached its present status without the great legal
minds wffich, ffi years gone by, gave the townstead
a standing the country over such as no purely
mdustriEd center of trade and commerce has ever
been known to reach. For, after aU, it has been
tffiough pohtics that the nation has acffieved its
greatest ends and aims — forty-eight states into one
glorious union.
We are now to reach the time of the dismanthng
of the Center Square court house in 1852. That no
action was taken by councils agffinst its removal
WEIS on account of its beffig a county buUdffig, the
ground upon wffich it stood having been set apart
by James HamUton for the use of a court house offiy.
Like a good many other bffildmgs wffich have sffice
been removed, it was no longer adapted for the same
use it had been when Burgess Hand pictured it in
such glowing colors as the "future home for Senators
and Representatives." It had become antiquated,
17

234 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
inwardly at least, although outwardly it was a mag-
nfficent structure of arcffitectural design. For sixty-
eight years it had stood with its clock strUdng out
the hours of day and ffight. And witffin its narrow
limits many a brUUant speech had been made by
the leading attorneys gathered therein. For years
it had been the voting place of the four wards of the
city down almost to the time of its removal.
The question has often been asked. Why another
new court house was not erected on the same site
of the old one? There were many reasons, one, the
space being too smaU, another, that the people did
not want the Square encumbered. And yet, few
ever imagined the time was to come when it was to
be given up to street cars, automobUes and monu
mental purposes. But the Square is the hub
around wffich the ffie Emd inspiration of aU classes
gather from each of the four sections of ffine hundred
square mUes of our rich agricffitural county. "Old
Penn Square," as the cffiofficler loves to caU it,
owing to its many early associations of boyhood,
is the great human reservoir into wffich the troUey
cars pour their daily influx of shoppers and sight
seers. No longer as in days gone by exists the
antipathy between city and country people, as
during our cffildhood, when the cry went out, "The
town for the town's people, the country for those
who tiU the soU." The line of demarcation has
been eliminated almost entirely, and people of aU
classes mingle together. And what has become so
strikingly apparent, no longer are we Ed)le to dis
criminate between the girls from the country Emd

I

-^-¦^

the OLD COURT HOUSE

BUILDING THE NEW JAIL 235
those of the city. Almost every Saturday has
become a "Wffitmonday" as it was known in the
olden time. FEffi week comes along yearly, with the
circus for boys to make merry over! And who
woffid exchange Lancaster for any other city in the
uffion of states? If our people lack in anytffing,
it is ffi sentiment. Offiy in certam parts where new
residences have been erected have the dweUers
displayed any sense of propriety in beautffying their
homes with lawns and other attractions. The un-
gEdffiy board fence stffi stands, leading strangers to
the opimon that the people of Lancaster want to
be fenced in from their neighbors. These dividing
obstructions ought to be removed, ff for no other
reason than for the ffigh price of lumber ffi keeping
them ffi repair, not to mention the quantity of ffine
required and the cost of wffitewasffing annuaUy.
However, there is one tffing for wffich the people
of both old and new Lancaster have ever had a loving
regard — trees, Emd the older, the more valued they
become. But in their selecting, Uttle attention has
been pffid to the kmd planted: The speedy growing
poplar or the sUver maple that sends its roots as
fEir underground as its branches are above, are
planted without regard to either symmetry or length
of service.
And here, another thought: What every city needs
is a commission on the selection of trees for shade
fronting the town's houses. In the backyards
fences may be necessary, to keep bad boys from
encroacffing on the luscious frffit, wffich is not haff
as plentffffi as when orchards abounded with every

236 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
variety from the Rambo and Smokehouse, to the
Grindstone apple wffich was not to be despised
Effter being dug up in the spring Emd as meUow as a
peach. Offiy a very few can recall "Bobby" Fffitz' and
"Freddy" Hensel's apple orchards! And the boy
who did not pay these a frequent visit by crawUng
over a ffigh fence durffig the "good old summer
time," was not deserving the honor of being dubbed
an aU-round happy youngster! What matter it ff
caught astraddle, with one side of ffis anatomy
hanging perched on the inside, the other on the
outside of the ffigh fence, where stood the owner
with paddle in hand. But you know the rest, my
boys! However, the owners of apple, peach and
cherry orchards were more considerate durffig the
good old days; they never stretched a Une of barbed
wire along the hne of their fences, maybe for the
reason that barbed wire had not come mto general
use! The cffiofficler has just read of a twentieth-
century boy who, being caught on the topmost twig
of a pear tree with pear ffi hand, was asked by the
owner what he was doing there. To tffis siUy
question he made reply, "Say, mister, as I found a
pear on the ground, I Eim just trying to tie it on."
Another story that comes to mind: Walking along
a road, a man was asked where he was going? Re
turffing a short time later, and asked what had
caused ffim to return so soon, came ffis witty reply,
" I have been all over the feirmer's farm, and findin'
all the fences made of wire, I soon concluded that a
wire fence was no place for a tired man to rest!"

BUILDING THE NEW JAIL 237
Spesdcing of boys, what in aU conscience have
become of the innumerable number of ginger-horses,
artisticaUy decorated by the ginger-horse artist?
The best known known during later years was
"Toodler," whose busffiess was that of "ginger-horse
decorator." It has been SEud that he died from
eating too many of the broken ones!
Another query! What have become of aU the
"love letters" done up in tissue paper, each contmu
mg a httle square "goodie"? We tffink we know
where the few lines of verse went— to the girl friends,
wffile the goodies went the way of aU deUcacies!
Oh, it is a funny world, is it not? No! the world
is aU right. It is the mEmy funny boys hving in it
that makes it so funny! We have just learned of a
most mdffigent father who, on taking ffis own WilUe
Eiside before starting for school, said most affec
tionately, "Wiffie, remember, you are to be home
promptly this evemng, otherwise you wffi have to
go to bed without your supper in missffig the picture-
show " ! It was weU after the sun had set when poor,
tired Wiffie entered, to be met by the enraged father,
who exclffimed, "Now, my son, go your way to
your room!" Turffing, the obedieffi Wiffie repUed,
"Say, Dad, ff I tEike a Uckin', won't you take me to
the picture-show?" And to the show they went to
see the pictures.
But Wiffie is not to be blamed for being an aU-
round boy. It takes just such active, forceful lads
to make the aU-round men. Have you ever thought,
my dear worrisome mothers, what an insipid world
tffis would be without at least one Wilhe in the

238 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
family? They are necessary evUs, except ffi time
of war, when they are caUed upon to do service for
Uncle Sam to save their daddies from going! As
we aU know, the war of the sixties was won largely
by the boys! And who knows what is likely to
happen agEim? And as for the girls, they are just
as patriotic today as were the Daughters of the
Revolution and, later, durffig the CivU War.
A httle sentiment woven mto the narrative ! Well,
how coffid it be otherwise, after meeting the cham
pions of the "Red Cross" Fund? It is the greatest
charity ever given by mortal man sffice the beginffing
of the world!
With a councUmaffic record book lymg witffin
reach, the cffiofficler's eyes take in a transcript of
the ffist engraved bond ever issued by the city of
Lancaster, bearing date, 1851:
"City of Lancaster, State of Pennsylvania:
"Know aU men by these presents that the city
is indebted to  bearer, in the sum of
five hundred doUars lawfffi money of the Uffited
States of America, wffich sum the city does agree
weU and trffiy to pay to said  or bearer
on the .... day of  ffi the year of our
Lord eighteen hundred  in the city of
Lancaster, with interest at the rate of .... per
cent, per annum, payable semi-armuaUy on the
ffist day of January and Jffiy in each year on de
Uvery of the annexed coupon at the office of the
Treasurer of the city of Lancaster."
In issffing tffis bond series, it was ordered that it

BUILDING THE NEW JAIL 239
be embellished with appropriate design and vignette
at a cost "not exceedmg $400." The bond was
engraved in Pffiladelpffia.
If, then, the few holders were kept busy ffi cUppffig
off coupons at certain intervals, think of the busy
time aU holders of the "Liberty Bonds" wffi have
along ffi June and December! It wffi enhance the
price of scissors everywhere among the millions of
bond-holders. But as we close tffis chapter, why,
it may be Eisked, shoffid not the price of scissors go
up, hke everytffing else under ffigh heaven! There
is offiy one tffing ffi gomg up wffi find few objectors —
the price of the " Liberty Bonds." And up they wffi
go as reward to those who have gone to the nation's
rescue in the hour of its greatest danger. AU glory,
then, to the champions of the "Red Cross" Fund!

CHAPTER XIX
Removal of Councils and Court from the Court
House to Fulton Hall
It is a weU-estabUshed fact, quoted from the
records of councils that, from 1818 down to 1855,
tffis body was never known to meet in the city
hall, their present place of meeting. As a rffie
their meetmg place was in one of the upper rooms of
the Center Square court house. It was there
Cffiistian Kieffer was elected for the second time,
the sixth mayor in joint convention. The oath was
admiffistered by Judge Long in the presence of
councUmen, officials and others. Tffis meetmg, as the
records show, was held Tuesday, February 8, 1853.
As the time was fast approacffing when the court
house was to be removed, other quarters had to be
sought, not offiy for councils, but for the Court as
weU. The foUowing preamble and resolutions were
read severaUy and adopted by both councUs, to wit:
"Whereas, the Commissioners of Lancaster County
have advertised for pubhc sale on the eighth day of
March next the bffildffig known as the Court House
in the city of Lancaster at the junction of Kmg Emd
Queen Streets: And Whereas, the ground upon
wffich said Court House is erected is situated in the
rffiddle of Center Square, and was given by the
proprietors to certam persons in trust for the County
240

removal of COUNCILS TO FULTON HALL 241
of Lancaster for the erection of a court house to
accommodate the pubhc service of sffid County and
for the ease and conveffience of the sEud inhabitants
thereof and others having occasion to repEur tffither:
And Whereas, the said County Commissioners have
no right, clsdm or title to the ground occupied by
the said court house except to use it eis a court house
and for no other purpose —
"Therefore be it resolved by the Select and
Common CouncUs of the city of Lancaster that the
Mayor and presidents of councUs be and they are
hereby instructed to attend sffid sale and give pubhc
notice that the councUs of the city of Lancaster in
behaff of the people of said city and county of
Lancaster claim the ground upon wffich sffid court
house is bffilt and that any persons who may bid
for the same wffi do so at their perU."
On examiffing the minutes of the County Com
missioners, we find that they did order the Court
House removed "immediately after the Court of
Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas have con
cluded their Sessions." And further, "That aU
courts be held ffi Fffiton HaU untU the new court
house is completed. And that the County Com
missioners pay Mr. Hager five doUars per day for
all Courts held in Fffiton HaU, he to furffish sufficient
Ught, and the County to pay for the fuel."
That tffis meeting of February 8 was the last
ever to be held ffi the court house is verffied by a
personal note affixed to the minutes by James C.
Carpenter, for a score of years the efficient clerk of
Select Councils:

242 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
He made tffis record: "Tffis is the last meeting
to be held in the old court house, commencement of
tearing down the fixtures on the lower floor, prepara
tory to its final removal, having already begun."
Signed, "James C. Carpenter, Clerk of Select
Councils." Singffiar as it may seem, tffis is also the last entry
ffi the minute book closmg February 8, 1853. The
clerk must have been overcome with a feehng of
sadness as he heard the sound of workmen engaged
in desecrating tffis olden-time temple of justice.
But these employees, he weU knew, were offiy doing
their duty under instructions of the commissioners.
There are many stories concerffing the use made
of the material, some of the ornaments gomg to the
new home of Newton Lightner, with others carried
off by souvenir searchers for anytffing old. It has
been said that the four-face clock was for a time in
use in the beffry of the new court house, the corner
stone of wffich was Iffid August 23, 1852, and, of
course, not ready for occupancy by the courts untU
fuUy a year or two later. This accounts for their
going to Fffiton Hall durffig the intervEd elapsing,
as has been stated.
That the County Commissioners did order the
buUding to be torn down is not to be questioned;
nor was it agffinst its removal that Councils pro
tested; it was the ground upon wffich it stood that
the Commissioners were warned not to dispose of
at pubhc sale — that to do so woffid be at the pur
chaser's peril. It is evident from what has already
been referred to that, after the buUding's removal.

REMOVAL OF COUNCILS TO FULTON HALL 243
the county had lost aU right in the spot except where
on to bffild another court house.
Havmg settled the question of right and owner
sffip of the soU upon wffich the court house stood
and wffich coffid not be carried away, we are now
to draw from the minutes of CouncUs certEon data
relatffig to the ownersffip of city haU, spoken of at
times by councUmen as the "State House," no
doubt on account of its stately appearance.
From the time it weis erected down to 1854, it
was occupied by county and state officials. In fact,
it had become a question no longer in dispute, that,
beffig bffilt out of county funds, the city had no
legffi right to it or to any other part of the "one
hundred and twenty feet square" wffich took ffi aU
of the space witffin tffis area fficludmg the market
house over wffich Blue Lodge bffilt their rooms in
1798, also the space on wffich the present market
house stands, erected along ffi the eighties of the
pEist century.
The narrator is prepared to state what occurred
at a meetffig of Coimcils, Jffiy 10, 1854, in their
temporary quarters ffi Fffiton HaU.
"Resolved by the Select and Common Councils
that the Mayor be instructed to negotiate with the
County Commissioners for the absolute grant, bar-
gffin Emd sale of title and interest of the said County
of Lancaster, of and in the property situate on the
North West angle of West King and Market Square
ffi sffid city, to embrace aU the ground and buUdings
now used for county purposes for a consideration
not exceedmg the sum of sis hundred Emd fifty

244 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
doUars, payable on the execution Emd deUvery of a
sufficient deed of convey smce. "
While the cffiofficler has not come into possession
of the deed of conveyance, what happened at a
meeting of CouncUs September 12 foUowing, wffi
make clear that the deed was signed and dehvered
to the mayor of the city, otherwise, " Mr. Wise of
the special committee would not have been ap
pointed to prepare plans for the ffiteration of city
hall." He reported at Emother meeting, "That,
after examination, they recommend the removal of
the large stacks and ffie places in the buildmg and
heating it with a furnace in the ceUar; that the third
story be fitted up for the Council Chamber, and each
chamber to be provided with necessary desks Emd
chairs to accommodate the members — the east
room, designed for Common CouncU, to have 24
seats and desks. President chair with appropriate
desk and fixtures, and place for clerk and reporter
in order to accommodate the meeting of both bodies
in convention.
"That the second story would not be sffitable for
Councils, being more witffin the reach of noise
around the buUding, and coffid be rented for other
purposes — That the east room of the lower story
woffid make an exceUent and commodious post office,
with little ffiteration. The west room coffid be
made into a comfortable Mayor's office, and portions
of the ceUar-way might be converted into a lock-up,
aU at the expense not exceeding one thousand
doUars." Tffis was concurred in by Common
CouncUs.

QLUCC< LUCLQ.<

CO <

<
I

>I-

REMOVAL OF COUNCILS TO FULTON HALL 245
At a meetffig, October 20, foUowmg, it was ordered
that "The Presidents of Select and Common Coun
cUs be authorized to sign bonds of a city loan to
the amount of seven hundred doUars, and that the
sum of $650 thereof be apphed to purchase the
aforesffid State House and bffildmgs, and the balEmce
to be pEdd mto the treasury. "
With the purchase and fittmg up of city haU, at
the same October meetmg, another loan of $5,000
was authorized "to pay and complete the four new
market houses ffi course of erection, and that the
Mayor be instructed to negotiate a loan on the
best terms possible." Tffis weis foUowed by the
report of the committee on the new market houses
stating that the expenditures, fficludmg the price
paid for the several properties to tffis time, amounted
to $43,846, and that the receipts, mcludffig the
special appropriation of $40,000, were $42,125,
leavmg a deficit of $1,725.
The properties referred to were eleven ffi number,
used for various purposes. However, tffis new
market house must not be coffiused with the present
brick structure standmg in the place of the one long
since removed, costffig $40,000. Nor hsis it refer
ence to the buUdffig over wffich Blue Lodge have
their rooms.
At a meeting, January 10, 1854, it was ordered
by Councils, "that arrangement be made with
H. M. Reigart, postmaster, to get the post office ffi
the buUdmg adjoiffing that of the Mayor's new
quarters-to-be. Also, that any part of city haU not
otherwise engaged be let for exhibition purposes

246 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
untU such time as alterations be made for the con
veffience of CouncUs Emd other depEirtments of the
town government."
The ffist orgEinization to ask permission to meet
in an upper room of city haU was the Young Men's
Cffiistian Association, and wffich was granted.
At a convention of Councihnen held in Fffiton
HaU, February 3, 1855, Jacob Albright was elected
the seventh mayor, and sworn into office by Judge
Hayes. On March 3, eis the records show, the Mayor,
CouncUs and other officials of the town government
went from Fffiton HaU to their new permEment
quarters ffi city haU, where they have resided
officiaUy ever since down to the incommg year 1918.
But the end is not yet; it was at a meeting, December
23, 1856, that the property committee reported that
they "had rented the room to the postmEister,
H. B. Swarr, for a term of four ycEirs at the same
price Mr. Reigart had been payffig, to be used as a
post office and nothmg else."
Postmaster Swarr held the office under Mr. Bu
chanan until 1861, when Mr. John J. Cocffian was
appointed by President Lincoffi.
Of the twenty-two postmasters in the borough and
city of Lancaster, the ffist weis Samuel Turbett in
1790. He was succeeded by the foUowing: John
Stone, Henry WUcox, Wiffiam Hamilton, George
Moore, ffis wffe Ann, Mstry Dickson, George W.
Hammerly, H. M. Reigart, Hiram B. Swarr, John
J. Cocffian, H. W. Hager, EUen H. Hager, James
H. MarshaU, H. E. Slaymaker, Elwood Griest,

REMOVAL OF COUNCILS TO FULTON HALL 247
John E. Malone, Elwood Griest, Adam C. Reinoeffi,
S. Clay Mffier, H. L. Trout, Loffis W. Spencer, the
present postmaster.
As has already been referred to, we have no means
of knowing where or in what bffildffig the ffist post-
office was held in 1790. However, it was not during
the whole of these one hundred and twenty-ffine
years that the deUvery man was in evidence. For
years there were no postage stamps Uke at the
present day for souvenir coUectors or no government
envelopes. And yet, people are not satisfied to rest
over the Sabbath. What the letter carrier did not
bring them on Sunday, they caUed for at the office-
wffidow untU Uncle Sam concluded to give the over
worked officials a day's rest to attend church service.
Whether the officials are underpaid or overpffid
we do not know. What aU have reason to know is
that they are most welcome visitors, provided there
be a rffig at the door-beU at least tffiee times daUy.
Durffig years gone by they were usuaUy hEmded a
smaU stipend on each Cffiistmas. It used to be the
same with the newspaper carrier lad, and who,
after handmg ffi ffis almanac souvenir embeffished
with a picture, received sometimes a ffickel, at others,
a dime, and from the kindly disposed a quarter or,
maybe, a haff doUar. And sffice we come to think
it over, these free-givers have never been forgotten
by once newsboys. So, ffi closmg tffis chapter, do
not fail to be kffidly disposed toward the boys!
They, as a class, have long memories, and seldom
forget favors to buy goodies with! AU boys have
appetites for goodies! And it is better that coppers

248 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
go for these deUcacies than to bum a hole in their
pockets. Again, before closing, have you ever
thought why boy trousers have pockets anyway?
Dress a six-year old in pantaloons without pockets
and you can imagine the resffit. They Eire not
simply to be filled with slate pencUs, a jacknffe
and other wortffiess odds and ends, but with paddy
cakes and ginger horses! Every school ought to
have a paddy cake shop in wffich goodies are dealt
out instead of too much of the non-essentials of the
present-day school room curricffium.

CHAPTER XX
Lancaster Jockey Club. Two-Forty on the
Plank Road for Speeders
If Emyone is predisposed to the opiffion that
clubs of any Emd aU kind are pecuUar to tffis twentieth
century, and particffiarly to "New Lancaster," ffis
opiffion must undergo change Effter reading of the
"Gentlemen's Jockey Club," one of "Old Lan
caster's" famous orgaffizations. It was started as
far back as the yesir 1830 by the town's sportmg
fraterffity. Its rffies and regffiations woffid lead one to suppose
that its members were imbued with a desire to im
prove conditions wffich had ffitherto prevaUed among
the drivers of fast horses. Printed in pampffiet
form, the club's rffies were set forth as foUows:
"For the encouragement and breed of fine horses,
wffich aU experience has proved is best promoted by
occasionffi triEds of speed and strength; and for the
prevention of that vicious dissipation, wffich is too
common on such occasions, uffiess the races are
under the direction of an association, empowered
Emd determmed to prevent it by the exhibition
races respectably conducted. The subscribers there
fore agree to uffite and form a society wffich shaU
be stUed 'The Lancaster Jockey Club' for the en
couragement of the breed of fine horses."
18 249

250 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
For the preservation of harmony and good order,
as the twenty-two rffies and Eirticles of the club
indicated, it consisted of one hundred members
with an annual fee of ten doUars, payable in advance.
Its membersffip was not confined alone to Lancaster.
It included the owners of fast horses from various
sections of other states known for their respect-
abffity and standing.
As offiy a few of the club's provisions need be
mentioned, these ran eis foUows: "The officers shaU
have entire control over the place where the races
may be given, Emd it shaU be the special duty of the
officers to prohibit aU gambUng; that no cards, dice,
tables, boards or cloths of any kind or description,
shaU be suffered. No member shaU suffer any
gambling on ffis horse, or witffin the sphere of ffis
control. "Every rider at starting must be dressed neatly
and cleaffiy, in boots or haff boots, leather or nan
keen breeches or pantaloons, wffite shirt, jockey cap
and sUk jacket, with sleeves; ffi defaffit thereof, the
horse, mare or gelding, to be rode by such rider,
shaU not be permitted to start. And ff two or
more riders shaU appear dressed ffi the same uffi
form, the rider of the ffist horse entered shaU have
preference. And the time between heats shaU be
twenty mmutes for mUe heats, twenty-five for two-
mile heats, thirty for tffiee-mile heats, and forty
for four-mUe heats. The Judges shaU give the
word, 'Are you ready'?
"The course shaU measure one mUe, and the
foUowing shaU be the weight to be carried, viz..

LANCASTER JOCKEY CLUB 251
Aged horses 126 lbs.; six year old, 120; five year old,
112, four year old, 102, tffiee year old, 88. The
Stewards shall provide a good set of scales with
good weights, for the use of the club. After the
races are over, the resffit shaU be pubhshed in the
American Turf Register and Sportmg Magazme,
and ffi the papers of Lancaster.
"Riders, jostUng, wffipping each other, or each
other's horses, is foffi riding; and every rider guUty
of iffiringing the rffies, shaU be deemed distanced,
and the rider rendered incapable of riding any nag,
for any prize of tffis association."
For many years tffis was known as "The Lan
cEister Gentlemen's Jockey Club" composed of aU
reputable owners of fast horses. Where or in what
part of the city the club's race track was located,
we have no means of knowing. Enough has been
shown, however, that it might have contffiued down
to the early ffities when "The Manheim, Petersburg
and Lancaster Plank Road Company" came to
tffiow a halo of glory over the spirits of aU owners of
fast horses.
It was on September 13, 1852, that a committee
was appointed by CouncUs to "ascertffin on what
terms a settlement coffid be made between sffid
company and the city growing out of the condition
of North Queen street over wffich the plcink road
extended to jEimes."
The plank road! Of course, it was not a turn
pike, but it was bffilt beside one, extending clear
tffiough to the old town of Manheim, pretty much
as the troUey at the present day ffiong other pikes.

252 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
Most elderly people have no doubt heard the
once famihEir expression, "Two-forty on the Plank
Road"! When it was ffist conceived, it was looked
upon by some of the older members of the "Jockey
Club" with unmixed pleasure. And now a word or
two as to how it was constructed. Planks mne or
ten feet long and two inches tffick were Iffid on
stringers with turnouts to avoid a coffision. But,
at last, as the planks began to flare up at their ends,
the sporters' joys came to an untimely end. And
so ended the "two-forty" on the plank road leading
to the town of Manheim.
YcEirs later came the electric car, to be foUowed
by the automobUe, the greatest champion for good
roads the world has ever seen since the dawn of
ffistory. Their offiy disadvantages are the habit of
stirring up the dust, and turffing turtle occasionaUy
after striking a troUey pole. Whether poles were
planted to be struck, we have no means of knowing.
That they Eire struck, aU drivers of cars weU know.
They seem to have a pecuhar fascmation for striking
poles in turffing out in giving up the middle of the
road to some obstreperous farmer ffi ffis dear
born. At times an automobUe has been known to
go tearing tffiough a gate, Emd aU for the savffig,
not the toU, but to see how far they can go with the
least consumption of gasoUne!
It used to be sffid that the man who rode in a
sffiky was always in danger of the axle brcEiking ffi
the center, causffig the two wheels to grasp the
lone rider back of the ears. Agffin, even in ye
olden times a stage coach was hable to overturn.

LUO UJ

Oo

z <tc

LANCASTER JOCKEY CLUB 253
spiffing its passengers into a ditch. So, tffings have
never been so bad but that they might not be
worse! No! notffing cEm be worse than to be scared
out of one's wits by the blowing of the abominable
auto-horn I
It is at times pleasmg to note how the proceedings
of Councils have always sometffing old yet new to
suggest. And now, ye young students of Frankhn
and MarshaU, give eye to what is to foUow. It was
on the 25th of Jffiy, 1854, that the Select and Com
mon CouncUs met by mvitation to "joffi in pro
cession with the Trustees and patrons of the coUege
to their new home in the Northwestern part of the
city." The old brick coUege from wffich the procession
started stood on Lime Street opposite where stood
the Scffioeder mEinsion. At the time, more than
sixty ycEtrs ago, people wondered what had ever
possessed the mEmagement to locate so far out in
the country! And country it was to aU intents and
purposes. But not so today! By some it was
intimated that the trustees wanted to get their
students out of the hurly-burly of town-ffie. For a
time the coUege stood almost alone on Em extended
plot. But it was not long until came residences
with macadam roads Emd weU-lmd pavements along
the thoroughfares. And who cEm predict what
another six decades may have ffi store for Frankhn
and MarshaU with its batffing resort durffig the
summer and a skating rink durmg the winter.
Known as "Buchanan Park," what a magffificent
resort it hsis become, even ff it did cost one hundred

254 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
thousand doUars of the taxpayers' money! It
might have gone for a less useful purpose!
In closing this chapter, the cffiofficler has a letter
before him from a gentleman who was bom ffi "Old
Lancaster" in the year 1834, at present a resident
of the Cumberland VaUey. Never having met the
writer, its contents at once reawakened Em interest
in the ffie and career of Mr. Stevens.
"Having read your 'Cherished Memories,' kffidly
loaned the writer by one of your city friends, it was
after IcEirffing of your intention to write a narrative
of the town of my birth, that prompted one of over
four-score to relate an episode or two wffich are at
your disposEd, provided there is stiU room for what
the relater has had stored ffi memory since a boy
in ffis teens. And sffice your lady-readers seldom
read a book without a love story woven therein, one
shaU be told occurring back in the rffiddle forties.
As it goes, there resided on Mulberry Street opposite
Sffieiner's graveyard, a most beautffffi young lady
with many admirers among the young men of the
town. If aU were persistent ffi their attentions,
there was one among the number who persisted ffi
outdoing ffis rivals for the hand and heart of one
who shall be designated Miss Maggie Remson.
"For a fortffight the ardent young lover was
ffiways on hand, and at such an early eveffing hour
as to turn elU the rest of ffis rivffis homeward bound.
Having at last popped the question to Miss Maggie,
with what he considered a favorable response, made
or implied, off one cold, snowy December eveffing.

LANCASTER JOCKEY CLUB 255
he ran ffis way, never stoppmg until he had reached
the parsonage of the Rev. Glessner, favorably
known at the time, beloved by ffil who knew him
weU and intimately.
"TelUng him of ffis mission, away together they
went tffiough the storm to the young lady's residence.
Reacffing the knob of the door, to the lover's surprise,
he found it locked to aU outside intruders. Rap,
rap! No response came from witffin. Moments
foUowed as they stood sffiverffig from the cold wind
with the temperature near the zero-point.
"At last, kneehng and placffig ffis Ups to the
key hole, he caUed in pitfful tone, ' Maggie ! Maggie,
why don't you open the door? Don't you know the
parson is here to tie the marriage knot?' As no
reply came, with the hght burffing brightly witffin,
and the parson sffivering without, he continued ffis
pleadmgs, 'Oh, you cruel Maggie, You'll repent of
this sooner or later!' With tffis tffieat faUing on
the Ccirs of Miss Maggie, at last the door flew wide
open. Entering the parlor, it was found deserted
with no prospective bride in evidence. At last, in
she stepped, Emd as the ceremony was about to
be performed, turffing on her heel she haughtily
exclaimed, ' I-am-not-going-to-get-married-tffis-eve-
ffing. I have changed my mind, so I have!'
"What foUowed is a scene ffidescribable, as the
disconcerted young lover, on bent knee, implored
her to change her rffind. Tffis, after some pleading,
she did, stffi maffifesting her former haughty de
meanor. "Steppmg forward, the Rev. Glessner exclaimed

256 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
in low, sympathetic tone, 'Since you. Miss Maggie,
have changed your own mind so suddeffiy, I have
ffiso changed mine. The reason I have to give is,
that after the wedding ceremony you may want to
change it again in seeking a divorce. But Usten to
reason. Dry your tears. Cahn yourselves. If two
weeks hence both are of the same mind, come to
my parsonage, and I wUl perform the marriage
ceremony.'" As the Rev. Glessner was later overheard to say:
"At the appointed hour they came as happy as
two cffildren; and so, happily they went their way,
not by any means forgetting the marriage-fee."
But the sequel is to follow: For some years they
Uved together, when the end came; both bemg laid
to rest in Sffieiner's graveyard.
"And now to the sequel: Later, after returffing
from the war, it weis my pleasure in visiting the city
of my nativity, to go stroffing tffiough tffis Edmost
abandoned graveyard in looking up the tombs of
the departed Maggie and her husband when my
eyes took in the monument of another I had seen
many a time in the Penn Square court house. Re
caffing as it did pleasing remiffiscences of other
days, homeward I went my way almost forgetfffi
of my visit to Sffieiner's graveyard. And it was not
until reading in a Lancaster paper later of an attempt
to exffibit on canvas a scene reflecting on one with
whom father had been so intimately acquffinted,
that the thought occurred of giving your readers a
short sketch of the great ' Commoner.'
"Tffis 'emancipatioffist,' as he was known even

FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE, BUILT 1854

LANCASTER JOCKEY CLUB 257
before ffis advent into your city durffig the middle
forties, had already acffieved fame not coffierred upon
ffim by either chance or favor. Long years as a
plodder, ffist with Blackstone, later with other law
books, had placed him above askmg favors from any
of the town's practitioners with whom he was to
measure swords not offiy in ffis adopted city and
county, but in the ffigher courts eis weU.
"Having purchased a house whereffi he could
dweU among ffis law books, not to be found in any
of the taverns, what he needed most was a house
keeper to look after his bachelor wants. In a
certain town the name of wffich has escaped my
memory, he had known one of color respected by eiU
who knew her, but having married, another of equal
character was recommended. Tffis colored womEm
had two sons by her marriage. But no sooner had
she instaUed herseff and sons ffi a frame house in
the rear of the bachelor's residence than the tongues
of gossip began to wabble that tffis ffity-year-old
attorney was Uving on perfect equEdity with a negro
woman, wffich meant a faUure to observe the weU-
estabhshed system of social etffics wffich prevEuled
among aU clEisses of the town's social Ufe.
"As father woffid frequently say, tffis was the
opportuffity ffis pohtical enemies were awaitffig, Emd
among the ffist to charge him with the buyffig up
of votes were those most jealous of ffis poUtical
ascendency. Apart from tffis, who, it may be asked,
was tffis colored woman? As a boy we had seen her
on the streets as a dignffied, ffigh-mmded lady of
color, in no way pronounced, and yet with colored

258 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
blood in her veffis. Of medium height, if not
prepossessing ffi the eyes of her defamers, as a
conversationahst she was exceedingly entertaimng.
Knowing weU the position she had assumed, she
at all times went her way as a consistent Cathohc,
and who later was buried in St. Mary's cemetery,
of the church of wffich she was a member.
"Of one tffing to her credit, tffis much can be
said, without fear of successfffi contradiction, that,
down to the close of the great Commoner's CEireer,
covering nearly thirty years, Lydia attended him
with aU the tenderness of a true woman!
"But what was the attitude of tffis great lawyer
and statesman as ffistory shows? Did he drag ffis
vihfiers into Court? No! He spurned them as he
graduaUy overreached the great majority.
"Rather a singffiar coincidence, say you not, my
author friend, that these two episodes shoffid foUow
one the other? And yet, foUow they have from a
man weU past his four-score with memory, however,
undimmed by age. And now, before bringmg tffis
long letter to a close, I was an intimate friend of
Charhe Wise, Emd recall the time ffis father took
him to a city in North CaroUna where, after makffig
an ascension ffimseff, Charhe entered the baUoon.
Reacffing terra ffima in safety, he was presented
with a fawn deer by the girls, wffich he brought
home to Lancaster with him. Over tffis, we boys
had much pleasure.
"One other tffiUUng occurrence yet to be men
tioned — the murder of the Melchor Fortney family,
that took place Saturday, October 20, 1845. The

LANCASTER JOCKEY CLUB 259
whole town seemed to have gathered nearly opposite
where Woodward Hffi Cemetery since has been
located. Everywhere the cry went out, 'Hang him,
hang him!' And hung Haggarty was, ffi the yard
of the old stone jaU at the corner of Prince and
West Kffig."
With tffis ends my octogenarian's letter — the man
whom it has never been the narrator's pleasure to
meet. However, it woffid seem that surprises are
sure to foUow, one the other, for no sooner had the
Stevens episode been quoted than came an ffivitation
from Blue Lodge No. 43 to attend the celebration
of James BuchEman's hundredth year as a member
of sffid Lodge.
Recaffing both James Buchanan and Thaddeus
Stevens, never were two statesmen, residmg ffi the
same city, so different in their personal and pohtical
procUvities. Neither was to the mEmor-born. James
Buchanan, wffile a native of Pennsylvaffia, was born
in 1791, Emd died ffi LEmcaster ffi 1868, at the age
of seventy-seven. Thaddeus Stevens, born ffi New
England in 1792, died in LEmcaster, the same year,
1868, at the age of seventy-six.
Mr. BuchEman entered the Uffited States Senate
in 1844; Mr. Stevens, Congress, ffiong Ediout the
same time. It has been said that they offiy spoke
on one occasion — over a law sffit. And why, it
may be asked, came I, as a boy to Uke Mr. Stevens,
and disUke Mr. Buchanan? For the reason that
my father, beffig a Whig, hked the one and dishked
the other, pohticaUy speakffig. And how coffid it
be otherwise after hearmg Mr. Buchanan spoken of

260 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
in the campaign of '56, as "Ten-cent Jimmy"!
The moral — never speak disparagingly of Emy one
in presence of your chUdren. It is sure to leave a
deep, lasting impression, not so CEisUy to be elimi
nated ffi after years! More men have been swayed
in their pohtical procUvities tffiough prejudice than
from conviction. It is cruel, heartless! Give every
boy a chemce to form conclusions of ffis own without
prejudicing ffis young nature ffi favor of opiffions
ofttimes based on prejudice or poUtical avaUabffity!

CHAPTER XXI
Changes in City Life are Like the Changes
OF the Seasons
It has been a long endless search and research
among the records in finding the names of those
who for one hundred and seventy-six years were
engaged in bffildffig Lancaster eis we find it almost
to the present day. Of the number, including the
burgesses and their Eissistants, the great majority
have passed over the River of Time, leaving the
work for other hands to fiffish. To fiffish? No
city has ever been fimshed — it is forever undergoing
change, sometimes by repair, at others by extension.
With most mufficipaUties, more time has been given
to undoing what has been done amiss than to have
bffilt up an entirely new city from start to fiffish.
Few men Uve long enough to see the error of their
way of doing tffings. Their own judgment, they
tffink, is never to be questioned by incoming gener
ations. In the buUding of the market house in 1798,
when the burgesses gave the right in perpetffity to
Blue Lodge, No. 43, to erect a hall over it, they
thought their action coffid never be questioned.
And yet, mark what happened. The CouncUs had
hardly more than entered city haU in 1855, than the
question arose as "to the ownersffip of the whole
261

262 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
of the market house fficluding the lodge rooms."
Finding on due examination that the city's title to
it was faulty, a committee was appomted to coffier
with a similar committee of the lodge. The purpose
was to ascertain on what terms they would be wiffing
to vacate, provided that "notffing shaU be construed
to impair the title wffich the city already has to a
room 'always to be at the disposal of the city.'"
The reply was such as might have been expected
on the principle that "possession is ffine pomts of
the law." Shown the deed of agreement entered
into between the burgesses and lodge, what redress
had councUs? And as for the room to be at the
disposal of the Corporation, Emd later the city, it
has remained in undisputed possession of Lodge No.
43 ever since, with no disposition on the part of the
city to lay claim to it.
Tffis is the story of the market house, substantiated
by the actions of burgesses as far back as 1798.
With city haU, the councUmaffic minutes make it
clear that its title rests in possession of the city
of Lancaster. Of course, the legal mind may have
recourse to data setting aside aU that the councU
records show.
Adjoiffing the market house on the West King
Street side stood a vacant space formerly caUed
"Uffion Court," embracing ffiong sffid street 16 feet,
and extending back 40 feet; tffis Lodge No. 43
bought from the city for the sum of $2,685.31.
On tffis the lodge erected a "plain, substantial
tffiee-story bffilding, the ffist story for store rooms,
the second and third stories for Lodge purposes.

CHANGES IN CITY LIFE 263
After the sale. Councils Iffid out another street and
wffich they named "Market" with the Hager store
as its western boundary. With tffis ends the long
drawn-out htigation runffing from 1798 down tffiough
succeeding years.
That the members of CouncUs were sensitive to
criticism of their duties, may be seen from the
foUowmg. At a meeting hurriedly caUed during the
year 1857, cEime a resolution in defence of the
honesty and integrity of councihnen. It was offered
in Select Councils. "Whereas, it has been very
generally aUeged agEunst the integrity of city authori
ties, in the purchase of material, and in doing work
for the city, strongly imphcating the CouncUs and
those actmg under them of furffishing worthless
material at exorbitEmt prices, and in doing the most
wortffiess kind of work at extravagant rates, that a
proper regEird for the mufficipal character of the
city, and a proper sense of seff respect demand the
adoption of such decided action as wiU at once
remove the disgraceful imputation so frequently
cast upon the integrity of the city authorities;
"Therefore be it resolved that, after the passage
of tffis resolution, no member of either CouncUs,
agent, employee of the city, shaU purchase any
kind of material, goods, wares, lumber, or other
articles, or to contract to do, make, execute or
perform any kind or description of work whatsoever
for the city."
Tffis resolution was adopted unanimously by a
rising vote. So much impressed was one member
with a sensitive conscience as to cause him to rise

264 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
and offer the foUowffig, "Resolved, that the Rev.
Shffitze be invited to open the proceedffigs of both
councils with prayer." Sent to Common Councils
for concurrence, it was voted down unanimously,
showing that this body had not as yet become
conscience-stricken! GlEmcing over the returns of
the foUowing election, nowhere coffid be found the
name of the mover of the resolution to "open
Councils with prayer," indicating that the voters
were not in sympathy with Select CouncU's course
of procedure. And yet, no good reason can be
given why aU corporate bodies should not be opened
with prayer.
During the month of Jffiy, 1857, it was announced
in councUs that "the second reservoir bffilt beside
the ffist was ready to be fiUed, owing to the great
scarcity of water to supply the city." At the meet
ing of August, so alarmffig had conditions become,
as to make it necessary for the Water Committee to
"contract with the 'Lancaster Locomotive Com
pany' for the erection of a stcEim engine and boilers
of sufficient capacity to pump daUy 1,000,000
gaUons, and of one hundred horse power, to be
placed in the City MiU at a cost not exceeding
$7,540." This resolution was concurred in by
Common Councils.
Along about tffis time the Water Committee was
floundering round Uke a sffip in a turbffient sea of
uncertEunty, with a scanty supply one day, and Uttle
or none the next. Whether an extra engine was
placed in the station pumping 1,000,000 dffily, no
mention is to be found ffi the minutes of councils.

CHANGES IN CITY LIFE 265
What is well known at the present day is that over
six milUon gallons are either used or wasted every
twenty-four hours. But as the Conestoga River
water has ffiways been considered both a necessity
and a luxury, in tffis one article of consumption
economy is seldom practiced. Tffink for a moment
how much water, and ffitered at that, costing $55,000
annuaUy is wasted by the running of but one spigot
ffightly. Then multiply the wasted gaUons by such
number of dwellers you may have ffi mind, and a
tolerably fair estimate can be reached of how much
is used, how much wasted unnecessarUy. They say
a "penny saved is a penny earned." The cffiofficler
can offiy emphasize tffis axiom by saying that ff
you want your water rent reduced, cut out all wastes.
Do not Edlow the spigot to be runffing aU winter to
prevent the pipes from freezing, or aU summer to
keep a few "catties" aUve.
Among the faUures of the paffic of 1857 came, the
year foUowing, the "Lancaster Locomotive and
Macffine Manffiacturing Company." For several
ycEirs prior it had been one of Lancaster's most
tffiiving industries. Nor were faUures to end; for,
Ed)out tffis time, there was at least one bank faUure,
brffigmg distress to depositors, with a cloud of
suspicion on directors and officers. However, tffis
was the ffist fEolure since the branch bank of Penn
sylvaffia went into hqffidation. But how fortunate
have depositors since been with but two possible
exceptions. Nowhere in the Uffited States are
banks more prosperous than in Lancaster City and
County. 19

266 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
We are now to reach a measure of considerable
interest to the people engaged in solving the problem
of the passenger station. If reference has already
been made as to the location of the present depot,
no harm can be done by a repetition. At the
December meeting of councUs, 1858, an ordinance
was presented to the Select branch by Thomas H.
Burrowes, the mnth mayor, who succeeded John
Zimmerman. This ordinance was "relative to the
grant of certain property and privUeges by the city
of Lancaster to the Pennsylvaffia Raffioad Company
in two sections :
"Section 1, Grant in fee simple the piece of ground
at the North East angle of North Queen and Chest
nut Streets, whenever by a resolution of the Board
of Directors of the Pennsylvaffia Raihoad Company,
they wffi erect a Passenger station on the ground,
and wffich resolution by said company shaU be
presented to the Mayor, with a clause that the
grant shaU be void ff such depot shaU not be erected
within one year from the passage of tffis ordffiance —
"Section 2 — Grants the Company for the use of
the building the privilege to build over the pubhc
alley between North Queen and Duke streets, at a
height of twelve feet or more, and to cross said
aUey and Prince street, with such additional track
or tracks, and at such points, with such directions
and grades as the Company may divise, so as not
to prevent the ordinary travel along Scdd street and
aUeys." The title of the bill being read, "it was agreed
by tffiee fourths of members present." And so

CHANGES IN CITY LIFE 267
Common Councils was iffiormed. "Tffis body re
turned the ordinance as having been concurred in
as passed by the Select branch."
We have no means of knowing what action was
taken by the Pennsylvama Raffioad Compsmy, but
as the depot was stEirted and completed a year or
two later, there can be no doubt that the ordffiance
was accepted by the company.
The cffiofficler has made dffigent search tffiough
the Council's proceedings, to find ff the ordffiance
contained a clause that the passenger station was
never to be removed from its present location. In
tffis he has not been successfffi. Some claim that
such a provision is somewhere on record, but as
for the narrator, in ffis search and research, it is
not anywhere to be found ffi the councUmaffic
records. Accordffig to the grant, it was given in
fee-simple without any conditions as to whether
the ground was to revert back to the city at any
time the depot might be removed. By referring to
chaptet five, the reader's memory may be refreshed
as to what occurred between the CauEd Com
missioners Emd the city and, later, the Pennsylvaffia
Raffioad Company. At elU times the minutes of
CouncUs have been the nsirrator's only gffide, with
no opiffion pro nor con as to where the passenger
depot shoffid or should not be located. If, then,
what has been set forth wiU ffid the Chamber of
Commerce in finding a solution for the vexed prob
lem, the cffiofficler's time has not been ffitogether
wasted! Between the years of ffity and sixty, as has been

268 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
said, the inhabitants were in a constant state of
alarm, owing to the many ffies breaking out, with a
scanty water supply. It was offiy natural that
VEirious opiffions should find expression among
councihnen as to the cause of these conflagrations.
By one member of the Fire Committee, it was opeffiy
declEired that the great majority of these incendiary
acts were to be charged to "irresponsible members
of compaffies for the 'fun' of engaging in a 'free
fight.'" Tffis was no overdrawn statement. The
difficulty was to catch the perpetrator with sufficient
evidence to bring about conviction. That there
were "irresponsibles" connected with tffis or that
company is made offiy too clear by the Councils'
mmutes. But, as has already been sEud, the great
majority were law-abiding citizens. Not a few
had dedicated their Uves to the cause wffich the
volunteer department represented. The hose-house
was their place of rendezvous, where not a few
hngered ffight and day, ready to respond to a "ceJI."
Plenty of men can recaU the ffitense excitement
wffich prevailed in and out of Councils when it
was proposed to substitute the "paid" for that of
the volunteer system. Of course, the cffief oppo
sition came from these orgEiffizations, aU-powerfffi
at the time as pohtical factors. For over a century
they were as stable as the laws of the Medes and
Persians, composed as they were of the bone and
sinew of the townstead. Nor were doctors, lawyers
and even the clergy above lending their names and
influence, usuaUy distinguished as honorary mem
bers, Emd liberaUy disposed in givmg fiuEmciEd sup-

CHANGES IN CITY LIFE 269
port in addition to what Councils ofttimes dcEdt out
sparingly. Whether this or that member of the
"cloth" had ever engaged in a "free fight," is not
hkely. His duty was to officiate over the remsdns
of one who had either faUen at ffis post of duty or
as the result of a scrimmage. AU honor to the
memory of those who in ycEirs gone by were ever
active in a good cause! And as for the present,
"pEud department," costly as it woffid seem, re
quiring an appropriation of $30,000 yearly, the
expenditure is but a mere bagateUe when safety of
lives and property are considered. AU that is
needed to make tffis depEirtment at aU times stiU
more efficient is plenty of Conestoga water.
At an adjourned meeting in 1857, came a message
from the mayor, "favoring the granting one of the
upper rooms of city haU to certain societies for
Uterary and scientffic purposes free of charge."
The tffird floor was granted to the School Board
for their meetings, and there they held forth until
they went their way to the Admiffistration Bffilding.
Many stiU recall the Lirmsean Society under the
auspices of the late S. S. Rathvon, John Kevinski
and others. It is a pleasure to recall the names of
departed friends, is it not?
In the preface, written before the volume was
started, reference was made to Lancaster's social
ffie, its hberahty in financing every charitable enter
prise, but when, or at any time in the town's ffistory,
has a grander outpouring been known than that
wffich has crowned the efforts of the workers for the
Red Cross Fund?

270 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
From aU classes, the rich and from others less
weU to do, has come a most generous response!
And after tffis and the taking of the "Liberty Loan,"
who can say that the UEune Lancaster, Pennsylvama,
is not on the map with a big "M"?
And as to Lancaster's commercial, industrial and
financial enterprises, the great majority of our
manufacturing estabUshments are offiy partly known
to our people who seldom get further than sdong the
four principal thorougffiares. If you want to see
"New Lancaster" at its best, apart from its social
life, enter the hundreds of workshops during the
busy part of the day. In these industries you wiU
find the bone and sinew of our town's prosperity!
Then watch the troUey cars as they uffioad their
hundreds from every part of a great county! And
not to forget the AutomobUe Association! The
offiy objection the cffiofficler has agffinst the auto
owners is that they do not pay haff as much tax as
they shoffid for stirring up the dust and wearmg
out the streets. But let us be patient, aU-forgiving
even to the "horn," the greatest nerve-destroyer
that Lancaster has ever seen or heard! With love
for all and malice towEird none, tffis chapter closes.

<

CO< LU
Q_Q.<

CO <
LL]CC<Ow

LlJo

CHAPTER XXII
Nine Years of Municipal Rule of the Much-
Respected George Sanderson
Following Mayor Thomas H. Burrowes, who
resigned to accept the position of president of State
CoUege, came George Sanderson, a most worthy
elderly gentleman, well and favorably known for ffis
conservatism in following the trend of many of his
predecessors in letting weU enough alone. He was
elected in 1859, and held the office until succeeded
by Wiffiam Augustus Atlee in 1868 and who served
two years under the new charter dividing the four
wards into ffine.
As a singffiar coincidence worthy of pohtical note,
during the ncEirly thirty years foUowing from 1868
to 1900, when a change was made, it was from a
RepubUcan to a Democrat and vice versa. It was
offiy Effter Mayor Sffissler's term ended that a Re
pubhcan was foUowed by a RepubUcan down to the
present year, 1917. These tffiee decades, pohticaUy
speaking, were the most exciting tffiough wffich the
city had ever passed. FoUowing the conffict, with
the return of the soldiers, the war-feeling wffich it
had engendered became the more pronounced, lead
ing to a bitterness of feehng never since equaled.
Mayor Sanderson, the tenth in hne, was sworn into
office by I. Frankhn Reigart, City Recorder, after
271

272 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
he ffimseff had taken the oath of office. As the
manuscript from wffich the inaugural was dehvered
is qffite lengthy, fffil of promises as to how the city
ought to be governed, it might find place in the vol
ume had it differed from other state papers from the
time of John Passmore down tffiough succeeding
years. Each seemed to be patterned after that of
the preceding mayor's — the less the promises fffi-
fiUed, the greater the chance of a reelection.
For ffine yearly consecutive terms, Mayor Sander
son had done the best he knew how at a salary of
not over five hundred doUars per Eumum. But as
the city, financiaUy speaking, was eis poor as himseff,
what he lacked in compensation was offset by the
honor the office carried with it.
It would be untimely to measure aU mayors by
the same yardstick. Each in turn was subject to
conditions over wffich he had no control. There
have been years when httle except a certffin routine
of duty was required. To pay an hour's visit to
the station house, and then possibly go about ffis
private business, seemed to be aU the public service
required. But witffin a few short years aU has
changed; the mayor has ffis duties to perform, and
one of these is to be ffiways on hand to meet those
with grievances, or sohcitors for help. And, as a
rule, the mayor of every city is among the ffist to
be caUed upon for help, help, help.
We cannot recall our present mayor's salary, but
whatever it may be, it ought to be doubled. And
as for the mffitipUcity of co-workers in the various
departments of the pubhc service, sometimes re-

NINE YEARS' RULE BY GEORGE SANDERSON 273
ferred to as "hangers-on to the pubhc crib," there
is not one who is not earffing ffis salary.
Tax-payers are the most relentless people in the
world. If given to smihng, tffis is suppressed on
enterffig the treasurer's office. A good many wiU
use the city water, or waste it with impuffity, and
aU for Eibout five cents a thousand gcdlons, and
then growl at the exorbitant charge for the same!
Mention having been made of the city poor in
years gone by is not mtended as a reflection. Fi
nanciaUy speaking, down to the close of the Civil
War, the closest economy was practiced in aU cities.
And the city of Lancaster as a mufficipahty was no
exception. It will seem surprising when shown that
at no time from 1855 down to 1868 did the receipts
and expenditures from aU sources wherewith to
run the town government exceed ffity-one thousand
doUars annuaUy.
At the March meeting of 1865, the Finance Com
mittee presented the report for the present fiscal
year as foUows: Receipts
Tax of 90 cents per 100 on property value of
$3,500,000  $31,500.00
Water Rent from Duphcate  10,650.00
Water Rent from Pennsylvania R. R. Co  600.00
From licenses, fines and forfeits  200.00
From Market Rents including arrearages  2,300.00
Rent of city property  375.00
Additional tax in default of payment  300.00
Refunded quota from County for bridges and
road damages  113.62
Balance in the treasury at close of year  1,682.79
Total amount of revenue  $47,721.41

274 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
Expenditures
1. To pay interest on Corporation Loans  $20,443.72
2. To pay temporary loans  6,700.00
3. To pay for grading and repair of streets. . . . 1,000.00
4. To pay lighting streets in winter and dark
nights  3,100.00
5. To pay Fire Companies  950.00
6. To pay salaries  5,297.00
7. To pay sum due Sinking Fund  600.00
8. To pay Water Works expenses  3,000.00
9. To pay abatement for prompt payment of
city taxes  1,250.00
10. To pay abatement water rent  350.00
11. To pay for collection of taxes  400.00
12. To pay night watchmen during three winter
months for ninety days at $1.50 each
night  1,620.00
13. To pay contingences  3,010.69
Whole amount of expenditures during the
year 1865 was  $47,721.41
Accompanying the report was the foUowing:
"Resolved that beheving in and wishffig to adhere
strictly to the poUcy of limiting the expenditures
to the appropriations in order that no deficiences
may be created in any year to be provided for in
the next, and at the same time deeming it but a
measure of justice that the compensation of the
city officials shoffid be proportionate to the value
of their services and the cost of the necessaries of
Ufe, it is considered proper that now at the com
mencement of the fiscal year, their salaries be perma
nently fixed.
"High Constable $500 per annum. Each of the
four city constables, $400; Street Commissioner,
); Superintendent of the Water Works, $600;

NINE YEARS' RULE BY GEORGE SANDERSON 275
Macffiffist, $500; Market Master, $200; Principal
Regffiator when employed, $2.50 per day. Assistants,
$1.75; Lockup Keeper, $84 per annum; Night
Watchman, $1.50 per ffight." Fortunately, no
change was recommended for city officials, the total
amount appropriated for these being $4,000. And
yet, for positions there were then as now, plenty of
apphcants. The whole corporate debt was  $348,612.02
Sinking Fund  49,867.06
Outstanding debt  $299,244.96
A haff century later, or in tffis year 1917, the
receipts and expenditures for runffing the city
government amounts to over $470,000, with a
permanent debt of sometffing Uke $700,000, the
greater portion of wffich is to be charged to water
and street improvements.
By the census of 1860 the popffiation was, in
round numbers, 17,000; today it is over 50,000.
What, it may be asked, has caused tffis tremendous
yearly increase of expenditures? Up to the close
of the war, the city was at a standstiU; as the report
shows, few streets were opened. What are known
as the sixth, seventh, eighth and ffinth wards were
partiaUy lying vacant. Sffice the sixties, forty or
more miles of streets have been opened and macada
mized or paved either with belgian block, brick or
stone. As aU wiU remember who have kept in
touch with the city's extension, a hundred thousand
doUars had to be paid the county for the opeffing of
streets, whether in justice, we cannpt say. Then, a

276 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
broken reservoir, too, added another hundred thou
sand. But the greater amount of money expended sffice
the ycEir 1837 has been for water works improve
ments. To mention the amount annuaUy voted
during the past eighty years, would not serve Emy
good purpose. However, starthng as the sum may
be ff set forth ffi one item, we do not beheve the
people of Lancaster have ever regretted owffing their
own water works, nor wiU the time ever come when
they wiU part with it to a private company. They
wiU continue to bear their ffis patiently so long as
they feel they are getting the worth of their money,
partly in ffitered water, partly for industrial enter
prises. That mistakes have been made by experi
menting; others tffiough bad management by
councihnen without a thorough knowledge of re
quirements, aU know.
In the olden days, as has been shown, men entered
councils to keep down the assessed valuation as
well as the rate to the minimum. Another word for
those who usuaUy vote "strmght" and do the
kicking on their way home from the poles! The
great majority of aU parties tffiust aside their con
viction if they have any concerffing mmiicipal
affairs on the flimsy pretext that their party orgaffi-
zation must be held together for state and national
elections to foUow.
Men enter councils for various reasons. Some
consider it an honor, and an honor it should be to
day as in times gone by. Others use the office as a
boost to sometffing ffigher, and yet others to be

NINE YEARS' RULE BY GEORGE SANDERSON 277
able to say "I am one of the city fathers!" But
why effiarge on what everybody knows. After all,
the people of Lancaster should feel thankfffi that
their city is governed as well as it is, considering that
the hfe of a councilman is no eartffiy paradise, not
withstanding a few tffink it is and strive so hard for a
reelection. In tffis Edso the cffiofficler knows whereof
he writes.
As has been said, it is a "Department of Instruc
tion" all cities need. If teachers need be examined
before elected to teach the young idea how to shoot
"strmght," why overlook csmdidates charged with
the msdiing of the laws for the weffare of a town's
citizensffip? However, when the matter is summed up, and a
reply from tffis or that councilman is sohcited, ffis
response is, "I have taken my cue from repre
sentatives and senators of the Uffited States who
wiU vote for every blessed measure conceived by
mortal man, provided by so doing he can have m-
cluded one of ffis own pet measures, a postoffice or
maybe the wideffing of a stream in no way com-
pEirable with our own Conestoga."
Our Congressman, the best Lancaster County
has ever had, has done wonders; and the offiy tffing
he has not yet undertaken is to have our Conestoga
widened and made navigable clear tffiough to the
Chesapeake. But during these war times, it may
be best that tffis important project be deferred, and
for the reason that it woffid not be conducive to
one's peace of mffid to see a German submarine
landing at Reigart's Landing! So, let us be thank-

278 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
ful for such blessings as we have, clear water with all
the germs removed.
Agffin, what is lacking in our councUs is closer
relationship between the legislative and the ad-
mimstrative. It was Mayor Carpenter who, in a
message to councils, complmned of how httle influ
ence he had with councUs.
Apart from the same views expressed by a later
mayor, for a good many years the cffiofficler hsis
been looking forward to the time when the Suffra
gettes would enter the hEdls of councUs to take up
the work of good local government, but seemg what
a mess the "Lady from Montana" has been making
in the Lower House at Washington, it may after
aU be weU to let matters rest instead of runffing the
risk of going further and farffig worse!
Glancing thoughtfuUy back over the assessed
valuation of 1865 we find it to have been but
$3,500,000, with the tax-rate 90 cents on the hundred
doUars, the ffighest ever known. But tffink of
offiy a $3,500,000 property vffiuation! Evidently
the assessor was abroad. In glancing over the
hst of assessments the mffiutes show that properties
in the business pEirts of the city were assessed so low,
compared with what they Eire today, as to cause one
to wonder why such a condition shoffid ever have
been tolerated. It is not so many years ago, how
ever, since Lancaster had its Board of Assessors
under an act of the Legislature. But msirk the
result! An examination brought out the glaring
fact that tffis Comniission,wffile putting almost every
body's up to the top notch, had accidentEdly for
gotten to raise the VEduation of their own properties.

NINE YEARS' RULE BY GEORGE SANDERSON 279
But what, it may be asked, is the remedy? There
is offiy one town ffi Pennsylvaffia ffi wffich the people
do not have to bother themselves over property
valuation or the tEix rate! They hve along ffi their
own qffiet way, leavffig the town's owner do for them
what the voters of LEmcaster CEinnot do for their own
best ffiterests.
The town to wffich the cffiofficler refers is Hershey,
better known as the "Chocolate" town, ffi wffich
the dweUers bcisk ffi the sunsffine of contentment,
and, what is to them a blessffig, they do not have to
worry over either the tax coUector or the ward
assessor. It is a great pity that, when James
HamUton laid out our town ffi 1730, he had not the
foresight to become sole owner of the town himseff
instead of turnffig it over to his pffid agents to have
town lots sold either for ready cash or on the ground-
Ismd plan to every "squatter" that might happen
to come along with a few pounds, shillings Emd
pence! Oh, it is dreadfffi, isn't it, my poor, over
charged taxpayer?
Remffided that aU tffings must come to an end
sooner or later, the octogenarian cannot divest him
seff of the thought that ffi many respects the volume
hEis faUed to measure up to what certaffi friendly
helpers had been led to expect tffiough their gen
erosity. If then, disappoffitment foUow, let the
volume's shortcomffigs be charged to the war times
durffig wffich it weis written.
There has seldom been a time durffig the past
six months that the author's mffid has not been
distracted, yea, bewUdered, coffiused over buUetins

280 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
Emd newspaper reports, ffist over war with Mexico,
later with that on the Eastern continent. Ordmarily
during more peacefffi times the very mention of
writing the story of Lancaster woffid have brought
forth a friendly, hearty response, but not so during
war and rumors of war such as the country is passing
tffiough at the present time. With a young man,
the writffig of a book coffid afford to wffit a more
propitious season; not so with one who has reached
ffis four score. He cannot turn the dial of time
backward. And so, recaffing Lot's wffe, and the
puffishment dealt out to her for lookmg backward,
the cffiofficler has acted in coffiormity with a rffie
of ffis ffie, never to give up untU the resffits of ffis
efforts have been acffieved.
Every hour in the day came reports of what was
going on at the recrffitffig station, recEiffing how,
more than a haff century ago, the boys went their
way to do battle for their country. It has been
said that opportumty awaits every young man, at
times the man the opportuffity. And then, but for
the CivU War, there might never have been the
great Abraham Lincoln, a Grant, Sheridan, Lee or a
Sherman, names ever to be held revered among the
world's greatest patriots. And as I sit reflecting
comes the thought, Why shoffid mothers worry over
their sons going to war? Let them not despair.
A haff score years hence, if stffi hvffig, they may
rejoice to see their sons holdmg positions of trust
and honor in their own home town or city. So,
my dear mothers, wives and sweethearts, do not
worry, for whatever happens is for the best; for, as

NINE YEARS' RULE BY GEORGE SANDERSON 281
has been said, one of these days they will be coming
home to be making of their city a stffi "Greater
Lancaster." AU honor then to the Committee whose labors in
behaff of the "Red Cross" have been crowned with
success. And as for the contributors to tffis fund,
their liberEdity goes far to prove that the citizens of
Lancaster are generous to the hmit in contributing
to every worthy cause.
Suddenly reminded that there must be a hmit to
even a book's pages, the volume will close with the
names of the twenty-five magistrates, offiy one of
whom has been elevated to the ffigh position of
Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvaffia, usuaUy spok
en of as the "Red Rose" of Lancaster.
And here they are since the city was ffist mcor-
porated in 1818 : John Passmore, Samuel Carpenter,
Nathaffiel Lightner, John Matffiot, M. Carpenter,
Cffiistian Kieffer, Jacob Albright, John Zimmerman,
Thomas Burrowes, George Sanderson, Wiffiam Aug.
Atlee, Frederick S. Pyfer, Wiffiam D. Stauffer,
John T. MacGoffigle, D. P. RosenmiUer, WiUiam
A- Morton, Edward Edgerley, Robert Clark, Edwin
S. Smeltz, Simon Sffissler, Dr. H. E. Muhlenberg,
Chester W. Cummings, John P. McCaskey, Frank
B. McClffin, Harry L. Trout.
In mention of the names of the twenty-five magis
trates, dating from 1818 to the present time, the
minutes faU to state of a death occurring of anyone
wffile in office. Offiy in one instance, and that in
the cEise of Jacob Albright, was there a vacancy from
tffis cause, and wffile Mayor Albright died the year
20

282 LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW
foUowing, in 1856, he was too feeble to ffil out the
term of his office, resulting in the election of John
Zimmerman, who held the office for a single term of
one year. Tffis yearly rotation of office went on
until 1868 when, under the new charter, mayors
were elected for two years, since changed by act of
Assembly. Out of tffis galaxy of twenty-five, offiy eight are
hving to help celebrate the incoming Centenffial of
the city as a mufficipahty, namely, Robert Clark,
Edwin S. Smeltz, Simon Sffissler, Chester W. Cum
mings, John P. McCaskey, Hon. Frank B. McClain,
and the present incumbent, Harry L. Trout. Who
will be the next mayor to succeed the present cffief
magistrate, offiy time can teU.
However, in finaUy concluding the volume, no
greater reward can awffit our present mayor's out
going than to be able to say, "I have done my
duty for the people, of the people and by the people
of Lsmcaster."
May he join with the octogenarian in saying, "I
love my home better than any other home, my city
better than any other city, my county better than
any other county, my State better than any other
in the Uffion, and my country better than any
other country in the world!"
With the foregoing as the school-boy's slogan,
the probability is, on reacffing ffis voting age, he
wUl love his city to the extent of making it a " Greater
Lancaster," rehgiously, socially, industriously and
commercially.
THE END.

INDEX

Act ordering "Nightly watch,"
100
Administration Building, 269;
erected, 1818, 162
Albright, Jacob, 246, 281
Anderson's Ferry & New Haven
Tumpike, certificate of stock,
83-84
Andre, Major, prisoner in Lan
caster, 64, 65
Assessment, kept low, 136
Atlee. William Augustus, 118,
271, 281; Chief Burgess, 49;
oath of, 46, 47, 50, 54
Bachman, John, 127
Bakers, public, 39
Bemk, Farmers', chartered in
1810, 107
Bank, first, antipathy against,
108
Bank, first established in Lan
caster in 1803, 106; fails, 107
Bank of Pennsylvama, branch
of, established in Lancaster,
106; fails, 107
Bankers, various kinds, 107
Banking in Lancaster in early
days, 108
Barracks, for troops, fitted up,
64; how prisoners escaped
from, 65, 66
Barton, David R., 114
Barton, George W., 165, 178
Barvel, John, 86
Bather, anecdote concermng, 202

Bats, in First Reformed church,
192
Baughman, John, 86
Bausman, John, 119
Bausman, William, 60, 118
"Berks, Old," formed from Lan
caster County, 13
Bickham, James, 118
"Big Stump," bathing resort,
201
"Black Maria," 139
"Blowing-up " meat by butchers,
38,81; fine for, 39, 81
Blunson, Samuel, 50
Boel, William, 86
Bomberger, John, 115
Bomberger, George H., 158
Bond, first engraved, issued by
city, copy of, 238
Boogh, Christian, 46
Borough of Lancaster, chartered,
23
Boude, Samuel, 118
Bowman, Mary, 167
Bowman, Rev. Samuel, 58, 167
Bread, sold by weight, 39
Brigade, old women's, 161
Brintenal, Joseph, tallest con
stable, 138
British, burning of National
Capitol by, 112, 113; de
parture of, 113
Brown, Luke, 115
Brussels carpet, story of, 169-175
Bryan, Samuel, 91
Buchanan, James, 259-260; an-

283

284

LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW

ecdote, 122, 123; letter from
to Mayor Carpenter, 229;
starts coal fund for poor of
city, 229
"Bucket brigade," 43
Buengard, George, 114, 115, 116
Burd, James, 118
Burgess, appointed by charter of
Lancaster Borough, 24; first
action of, 25
Burgesses, chief, list of, 118
Burgesses, list of, 119
Burrowes, Thomas H., 266, 271,
281.
Butchering a profitable business
in Old Lancaster, 90
Butchers, "blowing up" meat,
38, 81 ; fine for, 39, 81 ; bringing
dogs to market, prohibited, 80;
list of in new market house, 90 ;
not to sell meat on Sabbath
between nine in the morning
and five in the afternoon, 25;
stalls for in new market house
to be numbered, 89; trouble
with, 80, 81
Byerle, Michael, 23, 24
Calder, George, 215
Canal at Wrightsville, remains
of stUl visible, 133
Canal, to Baltimore and Phila
delphia, cost of, per nule, 133
Capital, of Pennsylvania, Lan
caster the, 185; ambition of
Lancaster to become, 184-187
Capitol of United States, de
stroyed by enemy, 112
Captain of ward, duties of. 111
Carpenter, Emanuel, 52, 53
Carpenter, Henry, 130
Carpenter, James C, 241, 242

Carpenter, Mayor, 278; letter
to, 228-229
Carpenter, Michael, 222, 281
Carpenter, Samuel, 114, 116,
119,281; becomes mayor, 132
Carpet, Brussels, story of, 169-
175
Center Square, court house
advertised for sale, 240-241;
piked by County Commis
sioners after complaint by
burgesses, 92
Certificates, loan, ordered de
stroyed, 210
Chapmen, violation of law by,
35
Charcoal, burning of, by black
smiths, penalty for, 38.
Charter of Borough of Lancaster,
24
Chief burgesses, list of, 118
Chimneys, catching fire, danger
of, 37; penalty for, 37
Chimney-sweeps, 37, 38
Christ, John, 115
Circular, old, on graft, 126-130
City Hall, no meetings of bur
gesses or councils in, down to
1854, 91; ordered erected in
1795, 90; specifications for,
90-91; suit against Common
wealth of Pennsylvama for
refusing to pay rent for use of,
91; ownership of, disputed
until 1854, 100; ownership of.
City Solicitor instructed to
inquire into, 96; ownership of,
opinion by City Solicitor on,
96-99
City loan, redemption of, report
on, 198-199
City, management of, 187

INDEX

285

City scales, 219-220
City Solicitor, instructed to in
quire into ownership of city
hall, 96; report on, 96-99
Civil War, economy after, 273
Clark, Robert, 281, 282
Clerk of burgesses, memifold
duties of, 41
Coal fund, started, 229
Cochran, John J., 246
Conestoga Indians murdered by
Paxton men, 43-45
Conestoga Navigation Company,
directors and investors in, 133;
purpose of, 133; formed, 132;
city invests $10,000 in, 132;
sold by sheriff, 133; end of
litigation with, 134
Conestoga National Bank, deed
for plot of, 31
Conestoga River, water pumped
to city from, 176
"Conestoga," steeunboat, 215
Congress, United States, in
Lancaster, 184
Constable, duties of, in borough
of LancEtster, 138
Continental currency, 80
Cookson, Thomas, 23, 24, 118
Cooper, William, 114
Cope, Caleb, 119; Major Andre
a prisoner in house of, 65
Cord wood, sold for benefit of
corporation, if deficient in
measure, 40, 81
Corporation Book, 22-32, 52,
94, 185, 242
Councils, elect John Passmore
first Mayor, at salary of $200
per annum, 122; special meet
ing of, to petition railroad to
come through Lancaster, 142

Court house, erected in 1730, 61 ;
treaty conference in, 62; de
struction of by fire, 62; second,
description of, 63; Center
Square, advertised for sale,
240-241; Center Square, dis
mantled in 1852, 233
Cummings, Chester W., 281, 282
Debt, permanent, of city in 1830,
135
de Graff, John, 90.
Dehuff, John, 24, 118.
Dehuff, Henry, 23, 60, 118
Demuth, Henry, 131; quoted on
"Sun" and "Union" hose
companies, 43
Dering, Henry, 72, 87, 88, 118
Dickson, Mary, postmistress,
102, 246
Dickson, WiUiam, 116
Diffenderfer, Michael, 60
Diffenderfer, Phihp, 87, 88, 119
Duchman, Jacob, 115
Duffield, George, Controller Gen
eral, uses City Hall, 91
Eberman, John, 119
Edgerley, Edward, 281
Edward Coleman, packet boat,
2, 125, 213, 214, 215
Edwards, Thomas, 17
Eicholtz, Jacob, 115
Eicholtz, Leonard, 119
EUiott, Johnny, 140
Ellmaker, Amos, 178
Episcopal church, described, 57,
58
Evans, Thomas, 86
Fair week, annual, 56, 57
Fairs, revived, 66, 67

286

LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW

F. & A. M., Lodge No. 43, 42,
51, 87, 88, 89, 91
Farmers' Bank chartered in
1810, 107
Federalist, recipe for making,
131-132
Ferry, Stans, 61
Finance Committee, report of
in 1865, 273-274; report of,
in 1831, 135
Firearms, shooting of, pro
hibited, 40
Fire companies, seek financial
assistance, 220
Fire department changed from
volunteer to paid service, 268
Folke, John, 23, 24
Fortney, Melchor, 258
Franciscus, Christopher, 90
Franciscus, Stophel, 60
Franklin and Marshall College,
procession to new site, 253
Franklin, Ben, "Poor Richard,"
36
Frazer, Reah, clerk of Select
CouncUs, 137, 158, 179
Free, John, 86
Frey, Jacob, house of, the usual
place of meeting of burgesses,
116; meeting of burgomasters
at home of, 34
Fulton HaU, 241, 242, 243, 246;
erected on site of old jaU, 104
Fulton, Robert, 104
Fultz, Bobby, 236
Gambling, various species of, 103
Gas introduced into city, 216-
219; opposition to, 218
Gentlemen's Jockey Club, 249
Gettysburg, battle of, news car
ried to Lancaster, 114

Getz, John, 217
Gibson Inn, 17, 21, 32, 82
Gibson stUl, 26, 56, 68
Ginger-horse decorator, "Tood
ler," 237
Gordon, historian, quoted, 29
Graeff, Jacob, 86
Graeff, Sebastian, 23, 24, 119
Groff, Andrew, 87
Graft, a century ago, 126; in
councils, resolution regarding,
263; old circular on, 126-130
Gratz Brothers, 47
Griest, Elwood, 246, 247
Grove, Marks, letter to, 130-131
Gruel, Mammy, 103
Guns, fines for firing, 94
Hager, Christopher, 90; fmd son,
erect Fulton HaU, 105
Hager, EUen H., 102, 246
Hager, H. W., 246; postmaster,
102
Hahn, Daniel, 130
HaU, Charles, 119
Hambright, Frederick, 126, 129,
130
Hambright, George, 113
HamUton, appropriating the
name, in different businesses,
20
HamUton, James, 186, 233;
founder of LancEtster, 14-18,
19, 23, 24, 27, 41, 60, 96
Hamilton, WUUam, 113, 119, 246
Hammerly, George W., 246
Hand, General Edward, 104,
118, 176, 177, 233; elected
burgess in 1789, 72; letter by,
72-76
Hannigan, Tommy, 140
Harrison, WiUiam Henry, 212

INDEX

287

Hatz, John, 126
Haverstick, George, 133
Hazen, General, testimonial of
regard to, 64
Heitshu, PhUip, 115
Henry, Ann, 167
Henry, Joseph, 87
Henry, WilUam, 43, 46, 101, 119
Hensel, Freddy, 236
Hess, Michael, 86
" Hickory" town, why named, 82
High constable, salary of, 61
Hobson, John, 46, 64, 80, 118
Hoff, John, 119
Hoover, Jos., 90
Hoppel, Owen, 153
Hose house ordered buUt, 42
Houston, James, cashier of first
Lancaster bank, 106
Hubley, Bernhard, 119
Hubley, John, 86, 88, 115, 119
Hubley, Michael, 118, 119
Hubley, Rosina, 133
Hugsters, complaints against,
and fines for, 61
Humes, Samuel, 115
Hurford, Lewis, 213
Huston, Mattheus, 109
Incendiaries, patrol for protec
tion against, 110
Income of city in 1830, 135
Isle of Memory, 195
Jacks, James, 119
Jackson, Andrew, 199; death of,
221; resolutions on, 221-222
JaU, old, dismantUng of, 226-227
Jenkins, WiUiam, 115
Jewish graveyard, laid out in
1747, 47
Johns, Jacob, 86

Johnston, Abraham, 23, 24
Junket trip on "Edward Cole
man," 214-215
Kaegy, Jacob, 119
Kauffman, Christian, 86
Kauffman, Solomon, 90
Keenan, Father, 59
Keffer, Henry, 114
KeUy, WUUam, 86
Kevinski, John, 269
Kieffer, Christian, 240, 281
Kirkpatrick, WUUam, 87, 114,
116
Krug, Jacob, 88
Kuhn, Adam Simon, 118
Kuhn, Frederick, 87, 119
Lafayette, General, 163-164,
166; death of, 165; resolu
tions on, 165-166
Lambard, Uriah, 90
Lamps, on streets and alleys,
set up first in 1798, 102
Lancaster, a city after being
borough for seventy-six years,
121; beginnings of, 10; in
1730, 11; chartered as a
borough, 23 ; incorporated
into a city, 114-116; in past
Revolutionary times, 55-57;
resources of, in early days, 28
Lancaster City Fractional Cur
rency, 199
Lancaster City Gas Company,
given right to lay pipes in
city, 217
Lancaster City Loan, scrip, 199
Lancaster Jockey Club, 249-252;
rules of, 250-251
Lancaster Corporation Book,
long-lost volume, 22-32, 94

288

LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW

Lancaster County, Lebanon
County formed from, 13;
"Old Berks" formed from, 13;
separation from Chester, 13
Lancaster Locomotive and Ma
chine Manufacturing Com
pany, faUure of, 265
Lancaster Locomotive Com
pany, 264
Lancaster, Susquehanna and
Slackwater Navigation Com
pany, 133, 213
Land owners, panic among, 112
Lauman, L., 88
Lawman, Ludwick, 46
Lebanon County, formed from
LancEister County, 13
Leibly, John, 90
Leibley, John, Jr., 90
Lemmon, Jacob, 116
Lenhere, PhUip, 119
Letter of General Hand giving
advantages of LEmcaster, 73-
76
Levy, A. L., and Joseph Simon,
merchants and fur traders, 47;
unique advertisement of, 47-49
Liberty BeU, spirit of, 4
Liberty Bonds, 239
Liberty Loan, 270
Lieibly, Andrew, 90
Light, John, 119
Lightner, Nathaniel, 281; be
comes mayor in 1824, 132
Lightner, Newton, 242
Linnsean Society, 269
Lintner, John, 133
Liquors, cider and spiritous, fine
for exposing for sale, 40
List of mayors of city, 281
Losm certificates, ordered de
stroyed, 210

Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., 42,
51, 87, 88, 89, 91, 243, 245,
259, 261, 262; proposals from
in reference to buUding new
market house, 87-88; arrest
of Grand Master of, 111
Lowman, Henry, 55
Lutz, Stephen, 90
MacGonigle, John T., 281
Malone, John E., 247
Manheim, Petersburg and Ltm-
caster Plank Road Company,
251
Market, forestalling, citizens pro
test against, 137
Market house, erected, 42; new,
buUding of considered, 87-88;
ordered erected, 88; finished
in 1798, 89; Ust of butcher
StaUs in, 90; search for favor
able site, 168; dispute over
ownership of, 261-262
Market houses, four new, loem
authorized to pay for, 245;
report of committee on, 245
MarshaU, James H., 246
Mathiot, John, 188, 189, 190,
200, 213, 222, 281; elected
mayor in 1831, 135; death of,
189; resolution on, 189
MaxweU, Hugh, 133
Mayer, George, 46
Mayer, George Lewis, 133
Mayors, Ust of, 281
McCaskey, John P., 281, 282
McClain, Frank B., 281, 282
Mechanic's Society, 207-208
Memory, Isle of, 195
Metzger, John, 24
Metzger, PhiUp, 90
MiUtia of state caUed out, after

INDEX

289

destruction of national capitol,
112
MUler, Abe, 140
MUler, Elmer, 126
MUler, John, 118, 119
MUler, John, Jr., 87, 88
MUler, S. Clay, 247
MitcheU, James, 17
MitcheU, W. B., report on run
ning water for city, 179-181
Montgomery, John R., 178;
elected president of Select
CouncUs, 137
Moore, Ann, 246
Moore, George, 246; postmaster,
102
Morton, WUUam A., 281
Moser, Jeremiah, 115
Muhlenberg, Dr. H. E., 281
Musselman, P., 86
Musser, George, 115
National foundry, hunting site
for, 219
Negro, white, advertisement of
fering reward for return of,
101
Newspaper carrier, Christmas
custom of, 247
Newspapers, daUy, none prior
to 1756, 36
New Year's, fines for iiring guns
on, 94
Nightly watch, 100
North American Hotel, 40, 56,
153, 168
Nuisances, eUmination of, 51
Old Trinity, buUt in 1736, 58
Ordinance admitting Pennsyl
vania Railroad to city, 156-
159

PsJl-bearers, old-time custom of,
124
Parr, WUUam, 64, 118
Passenger station buUt by Penn
sylvania Railroad Co., 266
Passmore, John, 272, 281; ap
pointed first chief magistrate
of LEmcaster city, 121; of
Quaker ancestry, 122; elected
first mayor, councUs, 122;
fines himself twenty shillings,
123; weight, 124; retires to
profession of law, 126; death
of, 124
Patrol, uncaUed-for arrests by,
111
Paxton men, 43-45
Peddlers, violation of law by, 35
Peelor, Jacob, 159
Penn, John, 46
Penn Square, 234
Penn, Thomas, 24
Pennsylvania Legislature, ne
glected to pay rental of ten-
plate stove, 108
Pennsylvania Railroad erect sta
tion, 155; granting property
to, 155; ordinance admitting,
to city, 156-159; grEmt of
property and privUeges to, 266
Plank road, 251
Philadelphia and Columbia RaU
road, 178
PhUadelphia in 1861, 5
Pierce, Caleb, 17
PUgrim Fathers, 41
Pinkerton, Hemy, 119
Pioneer Hotel, 153
Pohcemen, modern, 139
Porter, David, Governor of
Pennsylvania, 211; visits Lan
caster, 212

290

LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW

Porter, George B., 133; resigns
as president of Select CouncUs,
137
Postlethwait's, 15
PostmEisters, Ust of, 246-247
Poultney, Thomas, 47
Promoters buy up real estate, 30 ;
stranger, 134
Property tax, first laid in 1812,
111
Property taxation, system of,
inaugurated in 1791, 82
Provisions, current price of, in
1789, 76
PubUc offices, building of, or
dered, 85-86
Pyfer, Frederick S., 281
Quakers in Lancaster County, 12
REulroad, efforts made to have
enter city, 141-159; incoming
of, advertisement, 141
Raihoad engines, names of esffly,
156
RaUroad Committee, report of,
in 1833, 146-148; report of,
in 1834, 149-152
Railroad, PhUadelphia and Col
umbia, 178
Ralffe, James, 118
Rathfon, Jacob, 178
Rathvon, S. S., 269
Recipe for making FederaUst,
131-132
Redemption of city loan, 198-
199
Reed, Peter, 114, 116
Reichenbach, WilUam, 118
Reigart, Adam, 115, 118, 133
Reigart, Adam, Jr., president of
first Lancaster bank, 106

Reigart, H. M., 245, 246
Reigart, I. Franklin, 271
Reigart, Jacob, 72, 80, 118
Reinoehl, Adam C, 247
Reitzel, John, 114, 116, 119
Report of Finance Committee,
in 1831, 135; in 1865, 273-274
Report of RaUroad Committee
in 1833, 146-148; in 1834,
149-152
Revolutionary Daughters, 160
Reynolds, John, 115
Richards, Luther, 230
Rio Grande, soldiers departing
for, 1
Roberts, John, 86, 119
Robinson, Moncure, 143
Robinson, Thomas, 86
RosenmUler, D. P., 281
Ross, George, 52, 119; letter of
thanks to, 53; answer of, 54
Ross, Patton, 159
Ross, WiUiam, 80
Ross, Wm. B., 126, 129; letter
by, 130-131
Russel, PhUip, 90
Salaries of city officials in 1865,
274-275
Sanderson, George, 271-272, 281 ;
clerk of the burgesses, 26
Scales, city, 219-220
Schaeffer, E., 158
Scott, Joshua, 143, 145
Segar, Frederick, 86
Selling goods on the Sabbath
forbidden, 26
Shaffner, Casper, 53, 119
Shaffner, Charles, 86
Shearer, Jacob, 115
Shearer's distiUery, 79
Shindel, Jacob, 158

INDEX

291

ShinplEisters, 198
Shissler, Simon, 281, 282
Shoemaker, anecdote concern
ing, 169
Simon, Joseph, 47
Sketch Book of Pennsylvania,
quoted, 232-233
Slaymaker, A., 99
Slaymaker, H. E., 246
Slaymaker, Jasper, 133
Slaymaker, Samuel, 116
Smeltz, Edwin S., 281, 282
Smith, Charles, 87, 88
Smith, Henry, 130
Smith, Joseph T., 115
Smith, WUUam, 86
Smoking on streets, 94
Snyder, Governor, appoints John
Passmore first chief magistrate
of Lancaster city, 121
Society of MEister Mechanics, 208
Soldiers departing for the Rio
Grande, 1
Spencer, Louis W., 247
State capital, cunbition of Lan
cEister to become, 184-187;
LancEister the, 185
State capitol, efforts to have it
removed to LsmcEister, 168
State house purchEised by city,
245
Stauffer, WUUam D., 281
Steinman, Frederick, 118
Steinman, John F., 116, 133, 178
Stevens, Thaddeus, 254, 256-259
Stiff, Harry, 193
Stone, John, 246
Stone, Luddwig, 119
Stove, ten-plate, rental of, not
paid by Legislature, 108; un
successful attempt to locate,
110

Stove, ten-plate, 185
Street extensions, damages for,
224
"Sun" hose compEmy, 43
Swarr, Hiram B., 246
Swine ruiming at large, 80
Tax, property, first laid in 1812,
111; rate, kept at minimum,
135
Taxation, property, system of,
inaugurated in 1791, 82
Taylor, General, in Lancaster,
231
Taylor, Zachary, president of
United States, death of, 230
Thackara, Jim, 140
ThomEis, George, 24
Tippecanoe, hero of, 212
Tippling on Sabbath, fine for,
25
"Tommy, BUnd," 140
Trout, H. L., 247, 281, 282
Turbett, Samuel, 246
"Union" hose company, 43
Van Camp, Squire, 103
Voght, Christian, 46, 119
Volunteers during War of 1812,
how suppUed, 113; to march
to Baltimore, 113
War of 1812, consequences of,
112
WarraU, Peter, 119
Watch, nightly, provisions of act
ordering, 100
Water, pumped to city from
Conestoga River, 176; revenue
from, in 1839, 200-201; run
ning, for city, leading advo-

292

LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW

cates of, 178-179; running, for
city, report of engineer, con
cerning, 179-181; works, cost
of, up to 1839, 200
Weaver, John, 115
Webb, James, 119
Webster, John, 57
Weitzel, George, Town Clerk,
116
Whitlelock, Isaac, 119
Whitmonday, fairs on, 67
White negro, advertisement of
fering reward for return of, 101
Whiteside, Abraham, 86
Widow and widower, story of,
194
WUcox, Henry, 246
WUey, Thomas C, 221
WUhelm, Adam, 119

"WiUiam and Sartih," bricks
brought over in, 93
WUUamson, H. S., 195
Wise, CharUe, 258
Wood, Ingham, 115
WorraU, Peter, 23, 24
Wright, A., & Nephew, 215
Wright, John, 15, 17, 50
Wright's Ferry, 15, 18
Yost, John, 90
Yoimg, Baker, 140
Young, Mathias, 23, 24
Young Men's Christian Associa
tion, 246
Zagnr, Nathaniel, 86
Zantzinger, Paul, 86, 88, 89, 118
ZimmermEm, John, 266, 281, 282

3 9002 00616 2417

'.UHg-'.fSri.

^Jir%.s4- j.^^ ^ ,. T^|||.. *;|^»SlC,u«,™ ,.n-

S'H'

4^^il'

-.l-»^ -;•

Vt, r

'' ' I f^

.'*¦'*"

*.,!--'

.J* . -
''If' ''"•'¦
8^'' '. . .
< .Vi