Milford Township Part I
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...
Edited by F. Ellis and A. N. Hungerford.
Published in Philadelphia by Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886
Pages 749-755
CHAPTER IX.
MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Part I.
By A. L.
Guss
MILFORD TOWNSHIP was erected 1768 under the authority of the
Court of Cumberland County, of which county it originally formed a
part. The following documents were transcribed from the court records
at Carlisle:
" To the Honorable Court of Quarter Sessions, Held at Carlisle the
Third Thursday in October, 1768. Greeting:
" Whereas, the Township of Lack is Very Unconvenient for all
Township Offices, it being of such an Extensive Length, viz., of above
thirty miles, Which makes us pray your Worships to order a Devision of
s'd Township from Tuskarora Mountain, by James Gray's, to William
Scot's, at the foot of the Shade Mountain, and your Humble Petitioners
Will be In Duty Bound to ever pray.
"Thos. Beale.
William Irwin.
Robert Campbell.
Clement Horrell.
Robert Hogg.
James Christy.
John Beale.
William Renison.
Hugh Quigley.
William Bell.
William Christy.
James Armstrong.
David McNair, Jr.
Chas. Pollock.
Robert Littel."
November 7, 1768, the court made the following order on the above:
"Milford Township: To be bounded by Lack, and to run across the
valley by James Gray's and William Scot's, throwing these two
inhabitants into Lack or the upper part of the valley--the Lower part
hereafter to be known by the name of Milford township,
etc."
The origin of the term Milford is of course mill-ford or the fording
at the mill.
Milford township is bounded on the east by the Juniata River, on the
north by the "Black Log," properly called the Blue Ridge, on the south
by Turbett and Spruce Hill, on the west by Beale. It extends up Licking
Creek to the Tuscorara line. It is shaped like a pipe, Licking Creek
valley being the stem, and the opening of the bowl is at the loop below
Groninger's bridge. The front of the bowl is ornamented by the
boroughs of Patterson and Port Royal. The lower end of the Licking
Creek valley towards the river, after the creek deflects southward, is
called Muddy Run. It is drained principally by Licking Creek. The end
of the Shade Mountain and the Forge Hill separate the Valley of Licking
Creek from the Johnstown Valley; the Herring Bone ridges again,
separate the latter from the Tuscarora Creek settlements.
The names of the early settlers of this township will be found in the
history of Lack township.
NAMES OF ADDITIONAL SETTLERS IN 1770.
Alex. Denniston's heirs. George Glassford. Daniel McClelland.
Thomas McKeever. William McCormick. Thomas Millegan.
ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1771.
Thomas Burchfield. Wm. Donegal Chorran. Joseph Gordon. John
Henderson. John Holmes. Philip Land. John Parker, renter. Purviance
& Cox. Robert Walker, Jr.
Single Freemen.
John Dillon. James Kerr. Robert Kirkpatrick. Neil McCoy. Charles
McLaughlin. Edward Milligan.
ADDITIONAL NAMES IN 1772.
John Anderson. John Anderson. Arter Ackles. Aquilla Birchfield.
Ezekiel Bowen. Bennedy Capler (Benjamin Kepner). John Christy. Samuel
Christy. John Dickson. John Eliott. Samuel Fear. Philip Fisher.
William Forist.
John Freeman. Willism Guston. James Heddleston. Nelas Hearts.
Samuel Lyon, Esq. George McCully. Mathew McKaskey. Joseph Poultney.
David Scott. William Shaw. William Stuart. Henry Wills. Richard
Wilson.
Single Freemen.
David Bails. James Camble. Joseph Cashey. John Curry. John Dust.
Peter Graham. John Lyon. James McLaughlin. Joseph McMullen. John
McClelland. Thomas Moore. Robert Ralston. William Shaw. Hugh Stoop.
William Wilson.
ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1773.
William Bear. John Bowen. John Cunningham. John Dilling (Dillin).
Pattis Hart. Richard Hall. Christopher Irwin. James Kiles.
Theophilus McDonnald. Joseph McCoy. Edwin Owen. William Wilson.
John Williams. Enoch Williams. John Wood.
Single Freemen.
John Cunningham. Barney Peterson. Edward Irvin. Nicholas Shrader.
Hugh McCully. Richard Wilson.
ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1774.
Robert Boreland. John Boner. George Crain. Charles Cox. Samuel
Davis. Caleb Graydon. Epenitus Hart. William Henderson. Widow Irwin.
John Kerr. John Little. John McClelland, Jr. Dudley McGee. Hugh
McCully. James Moore.
Abraham Stills. Rudolph Stayors. Thomas Turbett.
Single Freemen.
John Anderson. Benjamin Lyon. John Sloan. Thomas Bowle. Edward
Miligan. Alex. Snodgrass. Thomas Gallaher. Joseph McCaskey.
ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1775.
James Bigham. Thomas Black. Matthew Boreland. Widow Brown. James
Campbell. Aaron Cotter. James Crawford. William Gray. John Harris.
John Henderson. Francis Hicman. Samuel Kearsley. Samuel Leonard.
Joseph McConnell. William McCracken. Thomas McGlaughlin. Daniel
Neane. William Orr. Alexander Reed. Joshua Smith. George Stewart.
Philip Walker. Samuel Wharton. Thomas Wilson.
Single Freemen.
Samuel Bell. Thomas McCahan. Robert Watson. Martin Cunningham.
Nicholas Sheridan. John Irvin. Thomas Toner.
ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1776.
Hugh Black. James Boggs. David Boal. Thomas Boal. James Campbell,
Tristram Davis. James Dever. Peter Daly. Dutfchman. Robert
Gulliford. William Jones. John Lyon, Jr. Jock Leacock. Dennis
Molloy. James Ross. Philip Strouce.
William Thompson. James Williams. Alexander Walker.
Single Freemen.
Robert Anderson. Benjamin Hickman. John Moon. John Chambers. Thomas
Forsythe. Felix O'Neal. Adam Chambers. John Molloy. William
Thompson.
TAXABLE INDUSTRIES, -The tax-lists of Milford township from
l763 to 1831 show assessments on the following in addition to lands and
stock. Those that fell into Turbett in 1817 are marked "Tt." Spruce
Hill was formed out of Turbett and Beale out of Milford at dates later
than these lists.
GRIST MILLS.
Beale, Thomas, 1768-1804.
Bollinger, Daniel, 1811-13, chop. m.
Campbell, Robert, 1768-90.
Campbell, William, 1791-96.
Doyle, Richard, 1807-31.
Evans, Isaac, 1793-95.
Gilson, Thomas, Tt, 1790-1816.
Gilson, William, Tt., 1817-31.
Gish, Matthias, 1820-31.
Graham, John, William and Samuel, Tt., 1817-28.
Graham, William, 1813-16.
Hardy, David, 1790-94.
Hardy, Thomas, Jr., 1789-92.
Harris, Thomas, 1779-95.
Lytle, John, 1797-1831.
McCrum, Joseph, 1831.
McCrum, William, 1795-1830.
Ogden, Isaac, 1787-88.
Patterson, John, 1811-31.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1805, chopping-mill, 1823-29.
Stuart, Thomas, 1796-1806.
Wilson, George, 1798-1819.
FULLING-MILLS.
Elliott, Thomas, 1819-31.
Gilson, David, Tt., 1817-31.
Gilson, Thomas, 1811-16.
Hench, Peter & Reese, Tt., 1830-31.
McAfee, Daniel, Tt., 1820-28.
CARDING-MACHINES.
Elliott, Thomas, 1826-31.
Fry, Abraham, 1820.
Gilson, David, Tt., 1820-31.
McAfee, James, Tt., 1829.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1820-29.
FORGES.
Beale, Thomas and William Sterritt, M., 1792-94.
Evans, Thomas, 1795.
Cahill, Edward, 1796.
Sterrett, William, 1797.
Cromwell, Thomas, 1798-1800.
SAW-MILLS.
Beale, Thomas, 1769-1804.
Beale, Thomas and Sterritt, William, 1792.
Bolinger, Daniel, 1811-15.
Bolinger, Rudolph, 1804-7.
Burkey, Jacob, 1816.
Bushy, Jacob, 1818-31.
Campbell, Robert, l781-90.
Campbell, William, 1791-96.
Doyle, Richard, 1812-31.
Elliott, Thomas, 1819-31.
Evans, Jesse, 1795-1804.
Fahnestock, Benjamin, 1798-99.
Francis, John, 1795-98.
Gilson, Thomas, 1799-1816.
Gilson, William, Tt., 1817-31.
Gish, Matthias, 1820-31.
Graham, William, Tt., 1813-16.
Graham, John, William and Samuel, Tt., 1817-28.
Graham, William, Jr., Tt., 1829-31.
Harris, Thomas, 1779-95.
Kepner, Benjamin, Jr., 1805-31.
King, Lawrence, 1794-1800.
Lytle, John, 1797-1831.
Monahan, Michael, 1818-19.
McCrum, Joseph, 1831.
McCrum, William, 1796-1830.
McDonald, Daniel, Tt., 1809-31.
Norton, James, 1817-19.
Patterson, John, 1811-31.
Patton, William, 1790-94.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1804-50.
Rice, Jacob, Jr., 1826-31.
Rice, Jacob, Jr., Tt., 1830-31.
Selheimer & Kirk, 1823-31.
Selheimer & Norton, 1820-22.
Stuart, Thomas, 1796-98.
Turbett, George, Tt., 1820.
Turbett, Stewart and William, Tt., 1821-31.
Turbett, Thomas, Tt., 1811-19.
Wiliams, Samuel, Tt., 1805-31.
Wilson, George, 1797-1819.
Wilson, Thomas, 1794-96.
PAPER-MILLS.
Norton, James, 1818-19.
Norton & Selheimer, 1820-22.
Selheimer & Kirk, 1823-31.
STORES AND MERCHANTS.
Cahill, Edward, 1796.
Creighton, Robert, 1800-2.
Graham, William, 1776.
Henderson, Thomas, Tt., 1817.
Kepner, Benjamin, Jr., 1821, '24, '27.
Magonigle, Alexander, Tt., 1827.
Patterson, John, 1796, '99, 1820-26.
Rowan, Stuarf, 1797-98.
Stuart, Thomas, 1793-99.
Stuart, William, 1794-1804.
Stinson, Thomas, 1820.
Turbett, Samuel, 1796.
Wilson, George, 1812.
DISTILLERIES.
Beale, Peter, 1804-12.
Beale, Thomas & William Sterritt (2), 1794-1803.
Beale, William, 1804-20.
Black, Thomas, 1791-92.
Borland, William, 1779, 1783-87.
Bushy, Jacob, 1828-30.
Christy, William, 1787-92.
Cunningham, John, 1786-97.
Delaney, Charles, 1805-07.
Dickey, Nathaniel, 1797-1804.
Dillon, John, 1804.
Dillon, John, Jr., 1805-31.
Elliott, John, 1779-81.
Feer, William, 1805.
Finlay (at Hardy's), 1792.
Frow, Gawin, 1811-23.
Gallaher, Patrick, 1797.
Gilson, Thomas (2), 1809-16.
Glassford, Alexander, 1794-97.
Glassford, George, 1804.
Graham, Hamilton, l794-1804.
Graham, John, Tt., 1809-31.
Graham, William, Tt., 1787, '96, 1809, '15.
Graham, William, Tt., 1823-25.
Gray, Robert, 1797.
Greer, David (2), 1797.
Hardy, David, 1820-21.
Hardy, Hugh, 1782.
Hardy, John, Sr,, 1779-94.
Hardy, Thomas, Sr., 1779-94.
Harris, John, 1804.
Harris, Thomas, 1782.
Heddleston, John, l795.
Henderson, Thomas, 1813-15.
Huston, Robert, 1779-83.
Irwin, James, Jr., 1794-95.
Irwin, William, 1814-19.
Johnson, William, 1824.
Kelly, William C., 1823-24.
Kenny, William, Sr., 1791.
TAN-YARDS AND TANNERS.
Guss, Simon, 1816.
Hardy, Hugh, Jr., 1823-31.
Hardy, William, 1805-07.
Irwin, Robert, 1820-21.
Mohler, Rudolph, 1823-24.
Patterson, James, Tt., 1821-31.
Shaw, John, 1827-29.
Showers, Daniel, 1811.
Stuart, John, 1814-25.
Stuart, Thomas, 1791-96, 1804.
Turbett, Stewart & William, Tt., 1821-31.
Turbett, Thomas, Tt., 1776-1821.
Vanormer, Joshua, 1821-22.
Wills, Henry, 1781-82.
Woodward, James, Sr., 1779.
Williams, James, 1776.
INNS or TAVERNS.
Bryner, John, Tt., 1827.
Casner, George, 1796.
Henderson, Thomas, Tt., 1817-20.
Johntz, Henry, Tt., 1825.
Kelly, John, 1797-98.
Kepner, Benjamin, Jr., 1812-31.
Love, James, 1820.
McClelland, Joseph, 1796.
Okeson, Nicholas, 1796-1812.
Patterson, John, 1796, '99.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1812.
Rife, Samuel, 1820.
Stewart, Thomas, Tt., 1827.
FERRY.
Abraham, Noah, 1800-06; heirs, 1807-30.
Gross, Henry, 1817-26.
Kepner, Benjamin, Sr., 1827-31.
Law, Benjamin, 1816.
Love, James, 1816-21, occpt.
Love, John, 1822-24.
Mettlen, Samuel, occpt., 1807-15.
McClelland, Joseph, 1791-1800.
Robinson, John, 1817.
Sanderson, James, 1811-15.
PLATE.
Beale, Thomas, 1780.
Blair, John, 1780.
Lyon, John, Jr., 1780-82.
Lyon, Samuel, 1780.
Stewart, George, 1780.
Wills, Henry, 1780.
SHAD FISHERY.
Cummings, William, 1826.
DISTILLERIES.
Kinzer, John, 1813-16.
Little, Robert, 1779-97.
Lyon, James (2), 1810-11.
Lyon, John, 1779.
Lyon, John, Jr., 1780-86.
Lyon, Samuel, 1778-82.
Milliken, Edward, 1794.
Monahan, Michael, 1807-13.
McCahan, Alexander (2), 1809.
McCahan, John, Sr., 1804-07.
McClelland, Joseph, 1792-97.
McCrum, James, 1796-97.
McCrum, James, Jr., 1825-31.
McCrum, John, 1831.
McCrum, William, l794.
McFadden, Samuel, 1789.
McKee, John, Sr., 1792, 1814, '16.
McKee, Robert, 1809-13.
Orr, John, 1781-86.
Parks, Alexander, 1796-97.
Patterson, John (2), 1794-11; (1), 1811-31.
Pigsler, Jacob, 1805-13.
Pollock, Charles, 1779-88.
Reed, Alexancler, 1779.
Reed, Alexander, Jr,, 1779-82.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1801.
Rice, Peter, 1805-28.
Robison, Alexander, Sr., 1779-86.
Robison, Alexander (at Hogg's), 1794-95.
Ross, John, 1781-1812.
Sheets, George, 1811-13.
Sterrett, William (2), 1795.
Stuart, George, 1821-22.
Stuart, George & N. Martin, 1820.
Stuart, John (2), 1797-1810.
Stinson, Thomas, 1811-28.
Wharton, William, Sr., Tt. (2), 1810-1811 ; (1), 1813-31.
Williams, Norris, 1786-97.
Wills, Henry, 1780-1807.
Wilson, George, 1813-16; (2), 1811-12.
Wilson, Thomas, 1779-96.
Woods, John, 1780.
Wilson, Abraham, 1780-83, 1790-97.
TURBETT DISTILLERIES AFTER 1817.
Barnard, Joseph, 1822.
Bryner, John, 1820-31.
Burns, John, 1823.
Graham, Samuel & William, 1820-22.
Henderson, Thomas, 1817-19.
Hoke, David, 1821-22.
Irwin, William, 1820.
Lauver, John, 1829, '31.
Martin, Nathaniel, 1828, '31.
McAfee, James, 1826-29.
McCracken, William, 1824, '26.
Rice, Samnel, 1825-26.
Robison, Alexander, 1820.
Robison, Alexander & Thomas Henderson, 1820-21.
Woods, Robert, 1826-28.
EARLY SETTLERS.- John McClellan had previously lived in
Franklin County, He belonged to a family still numerously represented
in that region. He settled on the river-bank, at the present site of
Patterson. His warrant, September 8, 1755, called for five hundred and
fifteen acres below, on the river.
McClellan's wife was a Widow Houston, whose maiden-name was
Catharine Buchanan,-a sister of the father of President Buchanan. Her
first husband belonged to a family of that name in this region, from
whom the celelrated Sam, Houston, of Texas, was descended.
[By her frst marriage she had two daughters,--Jane and Sarah. Jane was
the wife of John Elliott, a Revolutionary soldier, and was, in 1763,
one of the twelve men who came over from Perry County after the Indians
that killed the people at White?s, Campbell's and Anderson's, and were
themselves waylaid and half their number killed. Elliott's daughter,
Catharine, was the mother of Hugh T. McAlister, Esq. Sarah was the
wife of Andrew Douglass, elsewhere named as wounded at Kittanning, but
who lived to an old age.]
Mrs. Catharine Buchanan Houston, by her second marriage, to John
McCllellan, became the mother of Daniel, Joseph, John, Jr., and
perhaps other sons, Nancy (wife of James Sanderson), Catharine (wife of
William Lyons and then of James Hite). One of Hite?s stepdaugbters was
the wife of John Lytle, Esq., and mother of Robert, James, John and
David Lytle, later well known in Blair County.
Daniel McClellan was a soldier with his brother John, and was at
Quebec in 1775. He went to Kentucky. On October 22 1776, he applied
for two hundred acres of land "on Licking Creek, higher up the creek
than the Fort Granville road." Aquilla Burchfield afterwards had
seventy-five acres surveyed under it in "Hammer Hollow."
Joseph McClellan kept the ferry at Patterson, as elsewhere noted. He
also taught school in Mifflintown. He removed to Franklin County; his
wife never returned; but he died in Mifflintown.
The old pioneer lived many long years on Clayland; then moved over the
hills to the banks of Licking Creek, where he lived with some of his
descendants, and he died about 1804, at a ripe old age, one-half a
century after he first penetrated this (then) wilderness. His widow
survived him. A lively town has sprung up on the land which he, by
muscular force, cleared of its ancient forests; and of the hundreds
living here in comfort, how few have ever even heard of John McClellan!
" Lieutenant John McClellan, son of John McClellan, at Patterson, was
the first commissioned officer from this county in the cause of
American freedom. He lived either on the Kepner farm below town, or
possibly on the part of his father's tract above town. He had a wife
and daughter. Shortly after the breaking out of the Revolution, William
Hendricks raised a company in Cumberland County, as it then was, for
Colonel William Thompson's regiment, which marched to Boston. A large
part of the regiment was recruited in Juniata and Perry Counties. Some
fifteen on the roll of eighty men in this company, of which McClellan
was lieutenant, can be identified as residents of Juniata, and as many
more correspond to the names of residents here about that time. They
were a set of tall, hardy, bold frontiersmen, excellent marksmen, and
attracted a great deal of attention along the route as they marched on
foot from their homes all the way to Boston. They were dressed in
homespun, armed with their own guns, and undisciplined.
About the 1st of September, Washington sent Benedict Arnold to
Quebec to enlist the Canadian Provinces. The plan was to go by the way
of the Kennebec and Dead Rivers, through the Wilderness, and down the
Chaudiere River to Quebec, and capture this key to the upper St.
Lawrence and the Lakes. It was a most fearful undertaking. After lying
for a time in front of Boston, Hendricks' company, and that of Matthew
Smith, of what is now Dauphin County, started September 11, l775, with
the detachment which made the memorable expedition to Quebec. With the
former company went McClellan, who died near Quebec, a martyr to the
cause
of liberty.
"They were two months on the march and for a good part of that time
on short allowance. So desperate became their condition that dogs were
killed and eaten. Even shoes and shot-pouches were boiled and eaten.
John Joseph Henry, then a young man of seventeen, who passed through
this ordeal, in after-life a judge of the Lancaster, York and Dauphin
County Courts, wrote a narrative of the 'Expedition against Quebec,'
from which are taken a few extracts relating to
McClellan. On November 2d, after leaving Chaudiere Lake, some of the
boats were wrecked at a cataract in the river, and McClellan, who had
previously been in an enfeebled condition, was one of the injured.
Judge Henry, who came upon the party, who, having lost all but their
lives, were sitting around a fire on the shore, says 'Oh, God! what
were our sensations. Poor McClellan was ... lying by the fire. He
beckoned to us. His voice was not audible, Placing my ears close to
his lips, the words he uttered, scarcely articulate, was "Farewell."
Simpson, who loved him, gave him half the pittance of food he still
poseessed, All I could give was - a tear.'
"The short, but melancholy story of this gentleman, so far as it has
come to my knowledge of him, commenced in the camp near Boston. He was
endowed with all those qualities which win the affections of men.
Open, brave, sincere and a lover of truth.
" On the Dead River the variable wind brought on a cold, which
affected his lungs. The tenderness of his friends conducted him
safely, though much reduced, to the foot of the mountain, at the head
of the Dead River. Hence he was borne in a litter across the mountain
by his fellow-soldiers, Captain Hendricks assisting. From our camp
McClellan was transported in the boat to the place where we found him.
The crew conducting the boat ... descended unaware of the
pitch before them, until they got nearly into the suck of the falls.
Here, luckily, a rock presented, on which it was so contrived as to
cause the boat to lodge. Now the crew, with great labor and danger,
bore their unfortunate lieutenant to the shore where we found him.
"McClellan was left behind and two Indians were sent back for him
in a canoe. They found him and three days later brought the then dying
man to the first house down the stream. The following day he died, and
his corpse received a due respect from inhabitants of the vicinage."
Thus, on Nov. 9, 1775, about eighty miles above Quebec, perished
Lieutenant John McClellan, whose youth was spent where now flourishes
the pleasant town of Patterson. His mother's name was Elizabeth
Martin. McClellan's infant daughter was named Priscilla. November 6,
1787, Pennsylvania voted her a pension of one hundred and eighty
pounds, in care of her grandfather. [Col. Rec. xv. 312] In later years
she married David Greer, a weaver by trade. Priscilla Greer's
daughter, Margaret, was the wife of Captain John H. McCrum, father of
Colonel Ephraim B. McCrum. John Greer lives in Scranton. Jane moved to
Selma, Ala. Betsey, the last of Priscilla's children in this county,
died in 1885.
Among those who enlisted with McClellan from Juniata were Third
Lieutenant George Francis, Sergeant William McCoy (afterwards second
lieutenant of the Ninth Pennsylvania Line), Thomas Anderson, Joseph
Caskey, John Chambers, Arthur Eccles, John Henderson, James Hogg,
Daniel McClellan, James Reed, William Smith, Abraham Swaggerty, Joseph
Wright and John Hardy (of whom, see an account under Milford township).
John McClellan, Sr., gave his son John, Jr., one hundred and one
acres, in 1773, off the upper part of his tract. As his son died in the
war a little later, he sold part of this tract to Thomas Gallagher,
father of Robert C. Gallagher, long a well-known merchant in
Mifflintown. It has been since known as the Wright farm; now Henry
Groninger. Near by Gallagher had a shad fishery.
Thomas Gallagher came from Ireland; first lived with the Nelsons at
Cedar Springs, then just above the Patterson Machine-Shops. He died in
1807; his children were Lucretia, Mary Ann, Thomas Andrew Nelson (the
printer), Robert Cooper (the merchant), Harriet and Sophia.
Above this, on the river, was the Caleb Graydon survey of January 29,
1767. He sold it to Conrad Schue (Shuey), who moved upon it in 1791,
and while there was instrumental in introducing Henry Ache (Aughey),
Sr., also of Huguenot stock, his sister's husband, to purchase land and
remove to the township in 1803. Shuey was an elder and active promoter
of the first Lutheran organization in Mifflintown. He removed to
Westmoreland County.
Above this is a tract of two hundred and eighteen acres, warranted
August 4, 1767, to William Speedy. A small rift in the river,
opposite, was called "Purdy's Riffles." He removed to Wyoming, for
what reason is not known; but he there identified himself with the
Connecticut people in their efforts to hold the land as far south as
forty-first degree of latitude, which passes a
mile north of Lewisburgh.
In December, 1776, Speddy volunteered in Captain John Clarke's
company of Northumberland County, and served during the campaign of
Trenton and Princeton. In 1782 he was one of the assessors of Buffalo
township. His signature to the asessment is in a full, round,
beautiful hand. In 1786 he disappears from the assessments of that
county, but reappears in that year in Fermanagh tomnship, where he
continues until 1791. He lived at a place called Speddy's Gap, near
McAlisterville, where he died. He had a son William, Jr., who appears
upon the tax-lists of Milford from 1782 to 1787, and in Fermanagh from
1791 to 1814, and his heirs to 1828, He had a son named Alexander, who
was long known in Mifflintown as "A. Speddy Tailor," the name being
pronounced "speedy." The last-named was the father of Editor John W.
Speddy, of Port Royal. A further account of William Speddy will be
found in the History of Union County. The lands of Speddy in Milford
township later passed to John Elliot; are now owned by Baltzer Lauver.
The Granger Picnic-Grounds are on the Speddy tract.
Above Speddy, on the river, is the survey of Agnes Wilson, three
hundred and ten acres, April 2, 1767, of which tract Aaron Cotter got
one hundred and thirty-eight acres, June 8, 1796. From him, a very
deep place in the river near by has been known ever since as Cotter's
Hole. Into this, it is related, some benevolent persons threw a cannon,
used in former days for firing salutes at Mifflintown on the fourth of
July, which had been the means of killing and
wounding a number of persons. Another story is that it was done to
prevent rival claimants at Lewistown from getting possession of the
cannon.
Above this lived James Aiken. His survey had one hundred and sixty-
seven acres, extending up to the Trout Run, and has on it now the
station called Milford Siding. As far back as 1768 one Robert Gorrel,
or Gorewell, lived here, and claimed these lands at the fording. They
are now owned by George Heikes.
Above this John Harris warranted sixty-eight acres, March 7, 1785,
reaching round the end of the mountain, having on it the Black Log
water plug. Here Foreman W. Cloyd Guss was killed by a passing train in
January, 1882. Near by once lived a colored man named John Hall, who
called himself "a one-horse Methodist preacher," and held forth to his
brethren "up in Macedony." Before the making of the railroad there was
no travel up the Narrows on this side of the river.
Above Agnes Wilson, westward, John Wilson took up one hundred and
eighty-seven acres on warrant 4897. It was long the McCrum place, now
heirs of James McKnight. Wilson's sons were Nathaniel and William.
The graphics on this website are not in the public domain. © 2013 by Michael Milliken
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