Miscellaneous News Items From Pennsylvania and the Surrounding New England States from the Past
Transcribed and Donated by Nancy Piper - except where noted.
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The Sprig of Liberty, Gettysburg, PA
June 29, 1804
The honorable Gideon Granger esq., Postmaster General, has made arrangements for conveying the mail from Philadelphia to Pittsburg by stage - this line it is said, will commence running by the first of next month.
The Sprig of Liberty, Gettysburg, PA
July 13, 1804
Lancaster, July 3
A new line of United States Mail stages from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, commences running this day. The first stage will leave Philadelphia this morning, arrive in Lancaster between 4 and 5 o'clock, and proceed to Mr. Cochran's at Big Chicquies, this evening. Tomorrow, it will pass through Harrisburg and Carlisle; and arrive and Chambersburg, on Tuesday, at 11 o'clock in the morning.
A second stage will leave Philadelphia on Friday morning, pass through Lancaster between 4 and 5 o'clock, and arrive at Mr. Cochran's that night. It will proceed next morning, passing through Harrisburg, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Bedford, Greenburg, arrive at Pittsburg on Thursday evening.
The next Wednesday morning, it will leave Pittsburg; and, returning by the same route, arrive at Lancaster on Monday evening; and pass on to Philadelphia the next day.
The price of passage from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, is 20 dollars, or 16, from Lancaster; and same returning.
The Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA
March 17, 1819
About 70 houses (including two warehouses and the Masonic Hall) were destroyed by fire, in Petersburg, Va., on the 8th inst.
The Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA
December 1, 1819
Mortality among Governors
Another Governor deceased - The Delaware Watchman announces the death of Henry Molleston, Esq., governor elect of that state. This is the seventh governor; whose death has been recorded within the last few weeks, viz.
- National Advocate
The Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA
May 17, 1820
Losses by Fire - On the night of the 4th, a fire broke out in Reading, Pa., which destroyed six valuable houses and their appendant buildings.
On the night of the 28th ult., the grist mill of Judge Brown; on the night of the 1st, instant, the house of Mr. Thomas Bronson; and on the afternoon of the 3d, the valuable mills owned by Messers Junkins - all of Mercer county, Pa., were destroyed by fire.
The soap and tallow chandlery and peari-ash works belonging to Messers. Abbot and Wilson, near Zanesville, O., were burnt down on the morning of the 3d, inst. Loss estimated at $5,000.
A cooper's shop, a grocerty store, and a fish-house containing upwards of 1100 barrels of shad, were destroyed by fire, in Baltimore, on the night of the 8th inst.
Lewis, Connelly and M'Guire
Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
May 3, 1820
On Wednesday night, the 19th ult., an attempt was made by two men, to rob the house of a Mr. Beshore, who resides in the lower part of this county - they however, failed in their object, and in endeavoring to effort their escape, one of them was caught, and on Thursday morning, lodged in the Carlisle jail; he proved to be the notorious counterfeiter and robber, David Lewis, who in company with Connelly, escaped from Bedford prison, some months since. Lewis' companion, who eluded the vigilence of the neighbors, is supposed to have been Connelly.
Lewis and his companion were seen in the neighborhood of Mr. Beshore several times, in three or four weeks, previous to the attempted robbery; and from enquiries made by them of the neighbors of Mr. Beshore, concerning his peculiary circumstances, a suspicion was excited, that they intended to rob him, of which he was informed; it was thereupon agreed, if an attempt was made to rob him, that he should sound a horn, and the neighbors would hasten to his assistance.This arrangement was no doubt, the cause of Lewis' apprehension; for, had not the neighbors of Mr. Beshore been called to his assistance, by the appointed signal, it is certain, this celebrated character would yet be at large.
After his confinement in the jail of this county, which was affirmed by some, to be insufficient for his safe keeping, he was removed thence on Tuesday morning last, by Sheriff Ritner, to the jail of Franklin county, which is said to be the strongest in the state. Carlisle Volunteer.
The Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA
July 11, 1820
Robber's Taken
Mifflin, July 8
Lewis, Connelly and M'Guire have all been taken near Shammahone, on the north
branch of the Susquahanna, in Clearfield county, on Friday the 3rd ult. They
were overtaken by a party from Bellefonte, while amusing themselves by shooting
at a mark. They refused to be taken, and a general field battle ensued, both
parties were armed with guns - Connelly was the first that was hit. They
were at length overcome; Lewis and Connelly both being severely wounded.
Lewis had his arm broke and wounded in the thigh. Connelly was shot in the
head and through the lower part of his body, the ball passing through his
hip or thigh, of which he died on Sunday evening; it is thought that Lewis's
arm will have to be taken off. Lewis remains where they were taken, confined
to bed and unable to be removed. - Eagle.
The Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA
July 11, 1820
Chamberburg, July 11
Lewis and M'Guire are both in the Bellefonte Jail - Connelly died of his
wounds shortly after being taken. It was said by a gentleman in this place,
who was at the funeral of Connelly, that he ran upwards of a mile and swam
the river after receiving the wound, which was through the lower part of
the abdomen, from which part of his entails were hanging out when taken -
he died heroically without uttering a word of complaint or even a groan.
Lewis' wound is said by the Bellefonte Patriot, to be, also mortal, and that
they were taken on Friday of last week. M'Guire was taken before the other
two: he had hired at a farmhouse as a laborer, and had a bundle at the time,
the same evening he produced another, and on the next morning a third, which
raised the suspicions of the employer, who apprehended him and on examining
the bundles, their contents were found to consist principally of silks and
other fine articles. He was taken to the Bellefonte jail, where he confessed
his name was M'Guire, and that the bundles contained his part of the plundered
wagons &c. Franklin Republican
Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA
May 13, 1821
Mr. Fenner Ward, of this town, has seven ewes which brought seventeen lambs! This season, of which fourteen are living and doing well - Cautaque Gaz.
Gettysburg Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
January 23 1822
Page 4
Will – The New Brunswick Times has published that part of the late Elias Boudinot’s will, which contains bequests to religious and charitable uses. They amount altogether to 23,400 dollars in money, and 37,403 acres of land, in the counties of Warren, Luzerne, Lycoming, Bradford, Northumberland and Centre, in Pennsylvania, which, valuing the land at a low rate, will make a total amount of at least 60,000, bequeathed by this great philanthropist. Independently of these bequests, there are four items, the amount of which cannot accurately be ascertained; one of them is the testator’s library, and another the residue of his estate after very liberally satisfying his family friends and relations.
Among the bequests are 200 dollars to be laid out by the New Jersey Bible Society, for spectacles, for the use of indigent old persons, to enable them to read the scriptures; 3270 acres of land to the managers of the Philadelphia hospital, for the use of poor and destitute foreigners, and persons from other states than Pennsylvania, to enable them to gain admittance, when necessary, into this institution, and 13,000 acres of land to the mayor and corporation of Philadelphia to form a fund for supplying the poor of this city with wood on the lowest terms. - Frank. Gaz.
For more information on Elias Boudinot see Wikipedia.com - Elias Boudinot
Gettysburg Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
November 20 1822 Page 1
The courts of oyer and terminer And general quarter sessions of the peace terminated their sessions on Friday evening last. At this term the grand jury passed on the following bills, viz.
Of which the following were returned true bills, viz.
The session of this grand jury was distinguished for the number of bills on complaints of assault and battery returned ignoramus, and directing prosecutors to pay the cost, by which however much some of the parties may dislike it, they have rendered an acceptable service to the court & county, as the first were saved the trouble, and the latter the expense of traversing the indictments.
At this term, John M'Niel, for passing counterfeit notes on the Harrisburg bank, was arraigned, and plead guilty to the count in the indictment for passing the notes, for which offence, the court on two several indictments, sentenced him to the penitentiary for 4 years on each. The prisoner was very much affected when he found he was doomed to 8 years servitude in the penitentiary. Having plead guilty to what was his first offence, and to the commission of which he was led by others, he expected a milder sentence. He has since he is sentenced promised, on condition of a pardon and the commonwealth paying him 500 dollars, (after all he is not so dumb as he looks) to disclose a nest of counterfeiters. That he has associates, there can be little doubt, but whether he can in his present situation disclose such facts and circumstances as would be worth a pardon and $500 is extremely doubtful. If he could disclose anything of moment that would bring greater rogues than himself to punishment, a pardon would be a sufficient reward, and this ought not to be granted until it is pretty evident that his confession is founded in truth and will amount to something more that a stratagem on his part to evade the sentence of the law.
Capt. Joseph W. Schmidt, was put on his trial for the same offence, and having passed but two notes, and these under circumstances, which left it reasonably doubtful whether he knew them to be counterfeit or not. He had however a narrow escape; the jury were out upwards of 10 hours, when they came into court with a verdict of "Not Guilty."
Emanuel Bugh was arraigned for committing a rape on a young girl of between 13 and 14 years of age. She told apparently an artless story in her testimony. She said, that having refused to comply with the prisoner's desires, he had at 5 different times whipped her with something in the shape of Cat-o-ninetails. This instrument of torture, the like of which we thought was only to be found in the Algerine and other Barbary states, was produced in court.
It has six lashes or leather thongs of about 12 inches long, and at each of the lashes are pieces of sharp tin, that but a slight application of it would draw the blood from any part of the body. Though it is 9 months since he accomplished his purposes with it, the prosecutrix swore that the marks where it had been applied were yet visible. Bugh is considerable of a mechanical, but at the same time also a visionary genius, who has been pursuing that ignus fatuus in mechanism, Perpetual Motion. He, like Redheiffer, realized something out of his scheme from the credulity of a man by the name of Hummel, whom he had the cunning to persuade, that by giving him his wife for 7 years, he would be able to make a perpetual motion. Hummel surrendered his wife to Bugh, we suppose in the delusive hope, of participating in the profits of the invention. Bugh made some machinery, but like those of all others before him, it failed in the self-moving power. It it appeared to go very near perpetual motion. The girl who is the prosecutrix is the daughter of the woman whom he had leased for 7 years, and having nearly succeeded with perpetual motion with the mother, he artfully pretended he could accomplish it if he could fulfill his desires with the daughter. The daughter testified that Bugh told her "I must have a child from you, or I cannot finish my "Eternal Work." The jury found him guilty, and the court sentenced him ten years to the penitentiary, a time sufficient to complete his eternal work.
John Baker was convicted of burglary and sentenced to undergo an imprisonment of 6 years in the penitentiary.
Charles Wade, (black man) was convicted of burglary, and sentenced to undergo an imprisonment of 6 years in the penitentiary.
Matthew Dunkin was convicted of Larceny and sentenced to undergo an imprisonment of 6 calendar months in the county jail. - ib.
Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania), July 30 1823 Page 3
Died at Grenada, on the 8th ultimo, A. F. Webster, esq. in the 43d year of his age. This gentleman was a native of Grenada, and highly respected in that community. He was most uncommonly large and stout in his person, as may well be imagined when his corpse weighted 555 lbs. It was impossible, from its bulk, to get the coffin into the door of the house where he lay; his body was therefore put into it in the street and carried to the grave by 20 persons, although the place of interment was not many yards distant.
Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
July 30 1823 Page 4
The Providential Journal states that 7 girls, employed in the factory of Messrs. Greene, Tillinghast & Co near Wickford, from the 22d to the 28th ult, both days included, on 14 looms, wove 3910 years of sheeting, No. 15, 33 inches wide, making an average of more than 45 yards per day, on each loom. The greatest quantity woven by one girl in the week was 624 yars, and the least 500 yards.
Star and Republican Banner (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
August 14, 1832
The brig America sailed from Norfolk for Liberia on the 25th ult., having on board 127 free people of color – 102 of them liberated slaves, whose former owners have furnished them with an ample stock of clothing, groceries, agricultural and household utensils and tools of every kind necessary to assist them on their arrival in Africa to furnish their settlements. 16 of those, who are very valuable, were emancipated by Mrs. Page of Jefferson county, Virginia, the sister of Bishop Mead.
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Taken From the Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
September 6 1826
Some interesting reminiscence of the early history of Pennsylvania, has lately been published in the interior of this state. It is related that Thomas Penn, who came over to make a settlement in Pennsylvania in 1732, contracted with Teeyusccuing & some others, whom the Indians said had a right to sell, for a certain sum, the Indian title to all the land to be taken off by a parallel of latitude from any point, as far as the best of three men could walk in a day, between sunrise and sunset, from a certain chestnut tree at, or near Bristol, in a north west direction. Great care was used to select the most capable for such a walk. The choice fell on James Yeates, a native of Bucks, a tall slim man, of much agility and speed of foot. Second, Solomon Jennings, a yankee, a remarkable stout and strong man. Third, Edward Marshall, a native of Bucks, a noted hunter, chain carrier &c., a huge, heavy set and strong boned man,
The day was appointed and the champions notified. The people collected at what they thought the first 20 miles on Durham road to see them pass. First came Yates, stepping as light as a feather, accompanied by T. Penn and attendents on horse-back. After him, but out of sight came Jennings, with a strong, steady step; and not far behind, Edward Marshall, apparently careless, swinging a hatchet in his hand, eating a biscuit – bets ran in favor of Yates.
Marshall took biscuits to support his stomach, a hatchet to swing in his hands alternately, that the action in his arms should balance that in his legs – as he was fully determined to beat the others or die in the attempt. He said he first saw Yates in descending Durham creek, and gained on him. There he saw Yates sitting on a log very tired – presently he fell off, and gave up the walk. Marshall kept on and before he reached Lehigh, overtook and passed Jennings – waded the river at Bethlehem hurried on faster and faster by where Nazareth stands, to the Wind Gap. That was as far as the path had been marked for them to walk on, and there was waiting the collection of people to see if any of the three would reach it by sunset. He only halted for the Surveyor to give him a pocket compass and started again. Three Indian runners were sent after him to see if he walked it fair, and how far he went. He then passed to the right of Pocono mountain, the Indians finding it difficult to keep him in sight, till he reached Still Water – and he would have gone a few miles further but for the water. There he marked a tree, witnessed by three Indians. The distance he walked between sun and sun, not being on a straight line, and about 30 miles of it through the woods was estimated to be from 119 to 120 miles. He thus won the great prize, which was five pounds in money, and five hundred acres of land anywhere in the purchase.
It is added that James Yates, who led the way for the first thirty miles or more, was quite blind when taken out of Durham creek, and lived but three days afterwards. Solomon Jennings did not hold out but a few years. Edward Marshall lived and died on Marshall’s Island opposite Tinicum township, in the Delaware, aged about ninety years. He was a great hunter, and fortunately made a more productive walk than he did for Thomas Penn; for he found a rich silver mine, that rendered him and his family connections affluent, yet he carried the secret, where it was, out of the world with him.
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Death Before Slavery
The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
July 22, 1833
Page 3 Column 1
A few days since, as the laborers employed on the Providence Aqueduct were at work in excavating the earth in the rear of Dyer’s Block, Broad street, they fell upon the bones of a human being, apparently belonging to a man of the age of thirty or forty years. The finding of the bones elicited a variety of conjecture, and whilst one was of opinion, that they belonged to some poor creature who fell a victim to Masonic vengeance, another was decidedly impressed with the belief, that they were the bones of one who had been murdered for his money.
In the midst of all this speculation, the venerable Captain Turpin Smith, from the stores of his memory shed a flood of light on the subject. According to Captain Smith, the bones unquestionably belonged to an unfortunate negro, who preferred the repose of the grave to a life of suffering and bondage. Thus was Capt. Smith’s story:
About the year 1758, seventy-five years ago, a sloop came to this port, from the Island of Curacoa, commanded and manned by three men of color, descended from the fathers of Africa. The sloop, in consequence of some informality in her papers, was seized, and the companions of her voyage were adjudged to be "contraband goods:, and it was decreed by the colonial courts, that they should be sold in perpetual bondage, for the benefit of his Majesty of England.
The day of the sale at length arrived, and the unoffending negroes were offered for sale at public auction "at the foot of the hill" near the place where the bones of which we have spoken were found. – When the Auctioneer had commenced the sale, one of the blacks stepped forward, and in the presence of the throng that had assembled, said, that if he were sold, he would kill himself on the spot, and thus escape that slavery to which he was not entitled. The Auctioneer considered the avowals of the black were rant and bravado, and in a few minutes sold him to a speculator in "bones and sinews." The moment the auctioneer had declared the sale, the indignant and despair-stricken negro, thrust a dagger to his heart, and instantly died on the spot! A hole was soon dug, into which he was thrust without ceremony, and there he has probably reposed until removed by the excavation a few days since. – City Gazette.
Star and Banner (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
February 2 1849
New Counties
An interesting feature of the present session of our State Legislature, is the number of projects, for new counties, to be formed out of parts of old ones. The following list of them is not uninteresting: "Lackawana" from the upper part of Luzerne, Carbondale to be the county seat; "Penn", out of part of Berks, Chester and Montgomery, Pottstown to be the county seat; "Conestoga", from parts of Lancaster and York, with Columbia for the county seat; "Tionesta," from parts of Venango, Crawford and Warren; "Carroll," from parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette and Washington, with Monogahela city at the county sea; "Lawrence," from parts of Mercer and Beaver, Newcastle the proposed county seat.
1871 Deaths from Mining
The Indiana Democrat (Indiana, Pennsylvania) February 29 1872
During the year 1871 two hundred and seventy-two lives were lost, and six hundred and seventy-two people were injured, more or less seriously in the mines of six counties of the Pennsylvania coal region. Two hundred and twenty women were made widows and from five hundred to six hundred children were made orphans by these disasters. A great part of this misery was caused by the penuriousness of the mine owners. About one-third of the whole number killed met their death on account of the neglect of operators to make second openings to their mines; another third fell victims to explosion of gas,which might have been avoided if the law providing for thorough examinations of the mines had been complied with. In Schuylkill County one man was killed for every 50,000 tons of coal produced.
"Easy” Warden is Fired.
The warden of the Eastern penitentiary of Pennsylvania has just lost his job. All there was the matter with his administration was that a still was run by the prisoners, a counterfeiting plant was in full operation, 6,000 cigars had been stolen, and a plot for the release of all the prisoners came within an ace of being successful. They must be getting particular back in Pennsylvania.-Tacoma Ledger.
From: The Evening Herald, Bellingham, WA, October 12, 1903 - Contributed by Marla Snow
The Exploring Expedition of Major Long
Transcribed by Nancy Piper
The Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, PA)
5 Nov 1823 Page 2
Expedition of Major Long
The exploring expedition, conducted by Major Long of the United States army, took its departure from Philadelphia on the 30th of April last, with the view of traversing the American territory in a northwesterly direction, and returning by way of the great northern lakes. The gentlemen composing the expedition accordingly proceeded by way of Wheeling, Fort Wayne, Chicago, Prairie du Chien and Fort St. Anthony, to the source of the river St. Peter. They then traveled down the valley of the Red river, to its junction with the Assinniboin, having ascertained, agreeably to their instructions, the point at which the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, the northern boundary of the U. States, crosses that river. By this it appears that a considerable portion of the country occupied by the Colony of the late lord Selkirk, or that part of it called the Pembina settlements is included within the territory of the U. States.
The journey thus far was performed by land, the party being furnished with a sufficient number of horses for the transportation of their baggage and other uses.
At this place the expedition embarked on board of bark canoes, in which they descended Red river to its mouth, crossed the southern extremity of Lake Wenepeck, ascended Wenepeck river, proceeded through the Lake of the Woods, Rainy river and Lake, and down the Thamana Tekoea, to Lake Superior.
Here they exchanged their canoes for a bateau, in which they traversed the Lake to its outlet. During their voyage through the Lake, from the 15th to the 30th of September, the weather was exceedingly boisterous, snow squalls having occurred daily for nine days in succession. On the night of the 20th of September, the snow fell more than 3 inches deep, and the ground remained covered with it through the day following.
They pursued their voyage to Mackinaw in the same craft, and there left lieutenants Scott and Denny, and the guard detailed at Fort St. Anthony for the service of the expedition, with orders to join their regiment on the Mississippi.
They then sailed for Detroit on board the revenue cutter A. J. Dallas, where they embarked on board the steam boat Superior, and landed at Buffalo.
Pursuing their journey homeward, they took their passage on board one of the New York canal packet boats at Rochester on the Gennessee river, and traveled on the canal to Albany, whence they took the customary route to Philadelphia.
We are happy to learn that no accident or misfortune worthy of particular notice has happened to the party; that they were, for the most part, treated civilly by the natives, and with the utmost hospitality at the establishments of the Hudson Bay Company, several of which they passed on their route. Their tour extended to the fifty-first degree of north latitude, and embraced a circuit of more than 4,600 miles, upward of 3,000 of which were through a savage wilderness remote from the abodes of civilization. This long and hazardous expedition has been completed in the short period of three days less than six months, and greatly redoan is to the credit of the distinguished scientific office by whom it was conducted, as well as to his intelligent brother officers and companions. It will also, no doubt, add much to the stock of knowledge of our northwestern territory and its resources. – Frank. Gaz.
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Long, Stephen Harriman, 1784–1864, American explorer, b. Hopkinton, N.H. As an army engineer, Long was sent on several exploring and surveying expeditions. The first in 1817 was to the region of the upper Mississippi and the Fox-Wisconsin portage; it is recorded in his Voyage in a Six-oared Skiff to the Falls of St. Anthony (1860). A journey to the Rocky Mts. in 1819–20 provided much new knowledge of the mountains. He climbed several peaks, including Long's Peak, and explored the regions of the Platte and Arkansas rivers. Edwin James's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains (2 vol. and an atlas, 1822–23) tells of that journey. In 1823, Long led an expedition to determine the source of the Minnesota River and to study the United States–Canadian boundary W of the Great Lakes. Some of his notes were used in W. H. Keating's Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of the St. Peter's River (1824). Chosen to select a route for the Baltimore and Ohio RR, he made a survey that resulted in an authoritative railroad manual, with tables of grades and curves. (source: www.answers.com)
Pennsylvania Finds 7 Other Declarations
Taken From the Charleroi Mail, Charleroi, Pennsylvania
July 26, 1943
Harrisburg, Pa (UP) - A search of Pennsylvania archives disclosed that seven other "Declarations of Independence" were signed in this state on the same day or prior to that drawn in Philadelphia, the anniversary of which was celebrated July 4.
The State Department of Commerce recounted that on July 4, 1776, unaware of the action at Philadelphia, the "Fair Play Men" of Pine Creek, 275 miles northwest, met under an elm and put their signatures to a declaration of independence.
That tree, estimated to be more than 500 years old, still stands just west of Jersey Shore and is known by local historians as the "Tiadaghton (Indian for Pine Creek) Elm".
Earliest of the "declarations" was that of East Hanover, near Harrisburg, June 4, 1774, and other were at Hummelstown, June 11; Lebanon, June 25; Reading, July 2; Lancaster, July 9, all in 1774, and in Hannastown, north of Greenburg, May 16, 1775.
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