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| Greenwood Township in Perry, Juniata, and Snyder Counties, Pennsylvania |
| Source: A.L. Guss. 1886. "Chapter XXI: Greenwood
Township." Pages 885-891 in F. Ellis & A.N. Hungerford,
eds. History of That Part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys
Embraced in the Counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Everts, Peck & Richards,
Philadelphia.
This transcription of Guss's chapter on Greenwood Township is from Michael L. Milliken's web site, online at RootsWeb.com. I thank Mr. Milliken for putting it online, but I copy it here for "insurance," in case his site goes offline. For quick scanning, surnames in text paragraphs (but not in lists) have been converted to BOLDFACE ALL-CAPS by me. (Some names in color are of special interest to my personal research.) |
| The township of Greenwood, in Cumberland County, was erected in
1767, and embraced originally all the territory now in Perry County east
of the Juniata River except that portion of the present Greenwood township
lying north of the mouth of Cocolamus Creek, which then belonged to Fermanagh
township and the south parts of the present townships of Greenwood and
Susquehanna, in Juniata County, the boundary-line being McKee’s Path, which
extended from the mouth of Mahantango Creek to near Thompsontown, and the
Juniata intersecting the Cocolamus Creek at the Junction of the north and
South branches, when the boundary-line followed the Cocolamus to its mouth.
At the same time, Penn township was erected, which embraced in this county
about two-thirds of the present township of Monroe, the north part of the
east half of the present Greenwood, and the north part of the Susquehanna.
Its boundary in this county was McKee’s Path and the little Cocolamus Creek.
The greater part of Penn township was in what is now Snyder County.
The deed of WILT and DIMM property, near the Seven Star Tavern, was made January 25, 1772, by Michael WILT and Adam WILT, of Bethel township, Lancaster County, and the land is mentioned as being in Penn township, Cumberland County. It was in this year, 1772, that Northumberland County was erected, and Penn township became a part of that county, and that part of Penn township south of Mahantango Creek remained in Cumberland County and was attached to Greenwood, as is shown by the fact that in 1785 the following names appear in the assessment of Greenwood township of persons who resided within the limits of Penn township as it was first erected: Aquilla and Thomas BURCHFIELD, John CREPS (KREPS or GRAPES), Jacob GRAYBILL, grist and saw mills; Edward McCONNELL, Samuel and Peter OSBORNE, John SHELLENBERGER. In 1789 Mifflin County was erected and Greenwood township north of the county line became a township holding the same name in Mifflin County, and the part south remained as Greenwood in Cumberland. In the year 1791, at the June term of Mifflin County court, the following described territory was taken from Fermanagh and annexed to Greenwood, upon the petition here given,-- Upon the petition of Fermanagh and Greenwood Townships, Mifflin County, setting forth that the Inhabitants of these townships labour under much inconveniences on account of the Disporportional extents and bounds of these Townships, Fermanagh being much the Largest, we therefore pray that a line may be struck from the mouth of Delaware run, at Juniata, by the plantations of William THOMPSON, Joseph COOKSON, William STUART and Hugh McELROY, leaving William THOMPSON and Hugh McELROY to the westward, and Joseph COOKSON and William STUART to the eastward, and thence northwest to the Shade Mountain, and that the part of Fermanagh Eastward of the line thus Described may be struck off therefrom and annexed to Greenwood Township. Upon this petition the court appointed Samuel OSBORNE and Samuel CURREN “to have the divisional line run, and make the repot thereof to next Court.” In September following, on the application of Hugh McALISTER, the court ordered that the house of William STUART, mentioned in the petition, be and remain in Fermanagh township. At this time there were but fifty-two taxable inhabitants in the township, and in 1792 eighty-seven taxables were reported. The line was ordered run, and the assessment was made for three or four years, including the territory as near as could be done. In November, 1795, notice was brought to the court that the divisional line had not been run, and the court ordered that James NELSON, the surveyor, run the line, which was done, and in 1796 there was reported in the assessment one hundred and eleven taxables, and embracing Thompsontown and McAlisterville. The locations of the persons mentioned along this line are, as nearly as can be ascertained, as follows: William THOMPSON, at Thompsontown; Joseph COOKSON, in Delaware; William STEWART, on the tract where McAlisterville is now situated and a little south of the town; Hugh McELROY, on the tract north, near where John SHELLEY now resides. Samuel OSBORNE, one of the commissioners to run the line, lived in the limits of the present township of Susquehanna, and owned, at that time, the tract in the southwest corner of the township, now owned in part by Levi LIGHT. Samuel CURRAN, the other commissioner, resided near Cedar Spring Church, now in Walker township. The township embraced this territory until 1834, when Fayette was formed from Fermanagh and Greenwood. In 1836 Delaware was formed from Greenwood and Walker, and in January, 1857, a petition was presented to court, asking for a division of Greenwood into three townships; viewers were appointed, who examined the territory and made a report to court in September, 1857, and reported the division necessary and also presented to the court a draft of the township as divided. On December 12, 1857, the court ordered that a vote of the qualified electors of the township of Greenwood be taken on the question of division. The election was held January 15, 1858, and report made to the court January 19th as follows: two hundred and sixteen for division and twenty-one against. On February 18, 1858, exceptions to this division were filed: First, That the assembly did not authorize a township to be divided into three townships upon one commission; Second, That the act of assembly did not authorize a vote to be taken on the question of division of one township into three; Third, That no authority was vested in court for people to divide a township into more than one township at a time. The subject was again brought before the court and it was decided that Greenwood be divided into three townships agreeably to line given and returned by the commissioners. No. 1, Monroe; No. 2, Susquehanna; No. 3, Greenwood, and decree granted. This proceeding was taken to the Supreme Court which affirmed proceeding of Quarter Sessions, July 24, 1858. In 1790 the only mills assessed in the township were John GRAYBILL, (Richfield), William McALISTER, (Brown), John WHITMER, (Weiser), and John HAMILTON, (now Robert HUMPHREYS), Delaware. In 1792 the following persons were assessed on land. The number of acres are given and the present township in which they were located as far as possible [in the original, these names were presented as a text paragrah, not a list, but I have converted them to a list to make spotting names easier — the publisher may have been short on paper, but we are not short of electrons]: Caspar Accord, 100;
The following were additional in 1796: Aquilla Burchfield, tavern-keeper.
TAXABLE INDUSTRIES.—The tax-lists of Greenwood township, from 1769 to 1831, show assessments on the following in addition to lands and stock. The division line of 1789 left the new county only a small part of the old Greenwood east of the Cocolamus. In 1792 this part was enlarged by the addition of as much as Fermanagh as lay east of McAlisterville and Thompsontown. These lists are made to correspond to these enlarged bounds. [compiled by A. L. Guss] GRIST-MILLS.
FULLING-MILLS.
CARDING-MACHINES.
OIL-MILL.
STORES AND MERCHANTS.
DISTILLERIES.
SAW-MILLS.
TANNERIES AND TANNERS.
INNS OR TAVERNS.
HEMP MACHINE.
The only grist-mill in the township of Greenwood at present, is owned by J. T. DIMM & Bro., at Dimmville. Application for the tract of two hundred and twenty-one acres was made October 20, 1768, by Stephen MARSHALL, of Chester County, who conveyed it November 1, the same year, to his son Thomas. It was adjoining a tract of John MINSHALL. The tract was patented as “Fertile Valley,” July 17, 1795, and sold to David CARGILL, with the mills, mill-houses, etc. David CARGILL had warranted one hundred and sixty-five acres on the heads of the Cocolamus December 15, 1785, on which was built soon after a saw-mill. He had located on another tract near this land in 1774. It all passed to his son James, who sold the property to John JACOB and Samuel DIMM, who in 1839 erected the present mill. The store was built in 1854, and kept by John DIMM and his son, J. F. DIMM. The post-office was established in March, 1878, with J. T. DIMM, postmaster. David CARGILL died on the farm, and left two sons, James and John, the latter settled on a farm between Joseph NIPPLES and James COX. James settled on the mill property and had several sons, the most of whom went west. William is now living in Mifflin County. The tract of land now owned by the heirs of Adam WILT and by Gibson WEIMER and others, was warranted by Leonard PFOUTZ February 25, 1768, who sold the tract to John CRAIN, from whom Crain’s Run takes its name; Crain sold it to Michael WILT January 25, 1772. It is mentioned as being in Penn township, Michael WILT conveyed it to Adam WILT weaver of Bethel township, Lancaster County, September 7, 1773. The property afterwards passed to Adam WILT, a son and Catharine, the wife of Henry DIMM, about 1805. Henry DIMM settled upon a part of the tract and died there October 10, 1846, aged seventy years. His sons were John, James and Samuel, who, about 1835, purchased the CARGILL grist-mill which has been continued by the family from that time. As early as 1811, a saw-mill was erected on the property of Henry DIMM, which was continued many years. A distillery was also upon the place, and a few years before the purchase of the present mills, the brothers were operating a grist-mill and saw-mill on the site where George WILT was running a grist-mill in 1774, and now where George MARKS lives on the State Road. Adam WILT, the brother-in-law of Henry DIMM, and son of Adam WILT, Sr., settled on the farm now owned by the heirs of Adam WILT deceased, a son of Adam WILT, who purchased about 1805. His children were Joseph, Adam, Jacob, Frederick, Eve, Eliza, Sarah and Hannah. They mostly settled in the vicinity and died there. A tract of one hundred and six acres near the WILT property was warranted to Michael METZGER, April 27, 1774, who conveyed it March 7, 1799, to James RAFTER, who sold it to Adam WILT October 8, 1805. The changes of years again brought it back to the families, who still own it. Edward McCONNELL took out a warrant for land at the Seven Star Tavern about 1763, and built the first hewed log cabin in that section of the country. He had been living in his house but three weeks, when he was compelled to fly with the other settlers to Carlisle. He returned in 1767, and at that time Henry McCONNELL, his brother, took up on warrant, November 2, 1767, one hundred and twenty-two acres of land adjoining Edward McCONNELL, and described as being in the Cocolamus settlement. The Edward McQUINN and Leonard PFOUTZ tracts were adjoining. This tract was patented November 5, 1785, as Mount Pleasant. Edward McCONNELL left a son, Henry, who settled upon the tract and sold it, in 1838, to William COX, whose son Paul now resides upon it, and near the old log house, which is still standing. The sons of Edward McCONNELL were Henry, William, James and Howe. J. H. McCONNELL, now living in the township, is a son of Henry. Paul COX, a merchant of Philadelphia, took up land north of the Seven Star Tavern before the Revolution, and his brother William settled upon it. The sons of William were Alexander, William, Paul, John and Charles. Alexander and John went West; William was a millwright, and for many years did not puchase land, but later bought a farm where BROWN & FURREY now reside. On this place he built a tannery and continued it many years, and sold to Joseph SEIBER, who, after a few years, abandoned it. In 1838 he bought the Edward McCONNELL farm, where his son Paul now lives. Of his other sons, William was many years a justice of the peace, and now resides with his son-in-law, Joseph NIPPLE. James lives on the old Henry McCONNELL warrant. Paul, son of William, who settled here first, was assessed on land in 1790, and owned a distillery. He died on the place, and left sons — Lewis, William, David, Thomas and John. The Seven Star Tavern was built in 1818 by Peter STROUP. It has been kept by several, and since 1860 has been kept by Thomas COX. Church COX, a brother of William and Paul, also settled about the same time with the McCONNELLs, on a tract of land lying east of the WILT and DIMM tracts, now owned by Jonathan FREY and Henry MILLER. He had several sons, who all went West. Joseph CASTLE, a native of Londonderry, Ireland, emigrated to this country in 1778 and purchased a tract of land on one of the branches of Cocolamus Creek, where George McELWEE now lives. He was a justice of the peace from 1819, many years. He died June 26, 1834, aged seventy-six years. His wife, Catharine, died October 4, 1826, aged fifty-one years. They left seven sons and three daughters. The sons were John, Robert, Hugh, William, David, Samuel and Joseph. John, Samuel and Joseph moved to the West. Robert settled on the homestead for several years and sold it to John ETTINGER and moved to Lycoming County with his brother Hugh. William settled where J. J. CASTLE, his son, now lives. David married Sarah, daughter of Joseph SELLERS, and settled on the farm now owned by C. and P. NIPPLE, and moved to Michigan in 1878. His son Joseph now lives in McAlisterville. The lands along the northwestern part of the township were warranted about 1794, but not settled upon by permanent residents until much later, and then mostly by German, with the exception of William CAMPBELL, who was long a resident there. SCHOOLS.—The earliest school-house said to have been in the township was built of logs on the STROUP farm, in 1788, and taught by --- ELDER. About 1810 a house was built at the Seven Star Tavern, in which school was taught by Archibald STEWARD and Peter DAWSON (who was blind in one eye and very much of a humorist), William McCOMB and his wife, Frank LUKE, Samuel DIMM and Andrew STROUP. In 1814 a school-house was built near CARGILL’s mill (now DIMM’s), not far from the present one. In 1828 a house was erected near where James COX now lives, which was used until the school system was accepted, in 1836. The township at present has four schools,— DIMM’s, WILT, DRESSLER, and FERGUSON,— which contain one hundred and forty-eight pupils. BETHLEHEM EVANGELICAL CHURCH is located on the road from Salem to the Seven Star Tavern. It was built about twenty years ago and is in charge of the Rev. Mr. KING, of Thompsontown. It is the only church in the township, the St. James Reformed and Lutheran being near the line, in Susquehanna township. |
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