Manor Township Time Line
About 1575, Susquehannock Indians settled on the Shultz site, just south of Washington Borough. They came from further up the Susquehanna River and may have originated along Lake Erie. They displaced a local population and absorbed many of them. These earlier people are known to archaeologists as the "Shenks Ferry People" because their remains were first found at Shenks Ferry, Conestoga Twp., what the Shenks Ferry people called themselves is unknown. The Susquehannocks left Manor Twp. after their loss to the Iroquois, about 1675, and then returned about 1690. On their return they consisted of both Susquehannock and Seneca Indians, part of the Iroquois Confederacy. Eventually this group became known as the Conestoga Indians.
In Sept., 1615 Etienne Brule who was an interpreter for Samuel Champlain came to Manor to meet with the Susquehannocks. Brule and Champlain were hoping the Susquehannocks could be recruited to help the French and Huron fight the Iroquois in Canada and upper New York State. Brule was probably the first European to set foot in Manor Twp. The French would find adventurous young men and bring them to North America to live with Indians, learn their language and culture and later serve as interpreters.
1696 William Penn intended to establish a second city for Pennsylvania at the junction of the Susquehanna River and the Conestoga Creek. He described this area as a "safe harbor" from storms. There is no reason to think Penn's name stuck, the name for this area wasn't clearly established until at least 100 years later. It probably got its name from the fact that others saw it as a safe harbor as well. Penn's second city never developed because the Susquehanna wasn't a very navigatible river, being passable only in the spring.
About 1700 William Penn came to Conestoga Manor for a treaty with the Indians.
About 1703, James Le Tort bought land in Manor Twp. to establish a trading post. The date is based on the fact that Le Tort’s mother, Ann wrote a letter from Conestoga Manor in January 1704. James Le Tort had spent 1701-1703 in Canada and probably established his trading post after his return. Le Tort sold this land to James Logan in 1719 who subsequently re-warranted the land to clarify his right to it. Logan’s land, which had earlier been Le Tort’s land, was along the Conestoga at the Little Conestoga Creek.
1717 The first permanent settlers arrive in Conestoga Manor (Manor Twp). They were, the Herrs, the Baughmans, the Mayers, the Shanks, the Kauffmans, Hostotters, the Oberholtzers the Witmers, the Zieglers and the Charles family, among others.
1718 Conestoga Twp. was formed in Chester Co., It covered all of Lancaster County and beyond. Part of Manor Twp. was known as Conestoga Manor during this period and was reserved for the Penn family. The Penn family allowed Native Americans to live on this land before they began to sell it off to Europeans.
1720 Because of the death of William Penn in 1718, the Pa. Land Company was unable to sell any more land in Pa. until his estate was probated and litigation resolved. This frustrated settlers, primarily Scotch-Irish, who began squatting without paying. At one point the Pa. Land Company burned 30 squatter cabins in Conestoga Manor.
1729, Lancaster County formed from Chester County. At that time Manor Twp. was part of Hempfield Twp. It became a township in its own right in 1759.
1730-1735 Pa. border dispute with Maryland. Both colonies claimed the land below the 40th parallel, about where 999 is today. Maryland more or less conceited Lancaster County to Pennsylvania so the disputed area was primarily in York County, but some Conestoga Manor citizens were involved. James Patterson had some horses killed and many citizens here served in posses to reinforce Pennsylvania’s claim.
1744 Dr. John Connoly was born in Manor Twp. on the tract formerly owned by James Patterson. His mother was the wife of one of the Pattersons and when he died she married Dr. John Connoly, a British surgeon. Later their son, also Dr. John Connoly was a Tory and served in the British army during the Revolution. He is said to have died in Canada.
1759 Manor Twp. formed from Hempfield Twp.
In 1761 the village of Millersburg was laid out by John Miller. He bought a large parcel of land and began selling lots. He eventually went bankrupt and served some time in debtor’s prison. He died in 1772 and is thought to be buried at the old grounds of the Bethany Lutheran Church.
At some point Millersburg’s name was changed to Millerstown but as early as 1831 there was a post office called Millersville, according to the Columbia Spy. This was standard operating procedure for a village that wanted a post office, they would create a post office just outside of town, and eventually the post office name would replace the original name. As late as 1869 Millerstown was still being used for elections but the arrival of the Normal School probably propelled the change to Millersville since the school was always known as Millersville. Millersville became a borough in 1939.
1763, December 14th The Paxton boys arrived at Indiantown and murdered all the Indians they found, men, woman and children, according to Benjamin Franklin, 3 men, 2 women and 1 boy. The remaining Indians, who had been away, were taken to the Lancaster County jail for protection but they were murdered December 27th by the same Paxton Boys. While the people in Manor Twp. who knew these Christian Indians had quite a bit of respect for them, the general Lancaster County population feared the Indians and wouldn't have convicted the Paxton Boys, and so they were never tried for their crimes. The Reverend John Elder, leader of the Paxton Boys and minister at the Paxton Presbyterian Church used scripture to justify the massacre.
June 2, 1776 Henry Funk published a poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette complaining about John Farran who stole two horses from him and two from Christian Carpenter of Caernarvon Township. See elsewhere for the poem of what has to be Manor Township’s first poet.
1777, Pennsylvania passed a draft law which required men from 18 to 53 to serve in the militia. Anyone over 53 was an “old man”. For those who, for religious reasons, didn’t feel they could serve, they could pay a fine and the money would be used to hire a replacement. The people who paid a fine were called non-associators. The troops were organized by classes, 1st through 8th class, when state officials needed troops they would called for the first class of Lancaster County militia. These classes were not based on the ability of the soldiers, it was simply a way of organizing the troops so that all the troops from an area weren’t off fighting leaving their home area undefended. Usually only one or two classes would be out of the area at a given time. We know all eight classes of the Lancaster County militia were called up so everyone in Manor who shows up on the tax list and who didn’t pay a fine must have served. This is how we constructed the list of those who served from Manor Twp. To see this ask to see a printed copy or go to our web page at
http://rootsweb.com/~pacahs/index.htm Look in the “Proudly They Served” folder on our web page.
1807 Jacob Dritt, Esq., of Windsor Township, York Co., Pa., began selling lots along the Susquehanna River for a town he called Woodstock. It was renamed Washington when a second attempt to sell the lots was made in 1811. On January 4th, 1811 Joseph Charles laid out another town he named Charlestown. Both of these villages were combined to form Washington Borough by act of the state legislature on April 13, 1827. This meant that Washington Borough was no longer part of Manor Twp., it now had its own government. In the early days Washington Borough was successful because of the lumbering business, large rafts of logs were floated down the Susquehanna River. These logs meant there were a large number of hotels for the raftsmen, mills to cut the logs and coopers to make kegs and other wood products. According to Ellis and Evans, History of Lancaster County, the lumbering business began to decline about 1840. Also the fishing business created jobs and drew people.
1834, Manor township accepted the Pa. School law which allowed it to set up Public Schools at tax payer expense. Prior to this time there were a few privately owned schools that students attended and were paid for by their parents. There were provisions for poor children; they could have the tuition paid for by the county but this program wasn't very successful since few parents were willing to acknowledge they were poor.
1839 The Lancaster-Millersville Turnpike Company was organized. The turnpike company was given permission to collect tolls on the turnpike in return they were suppose to maintain it. The turnpike extended from Lancaster along Route 999 to one mile past Millersville and also up George Street and down Frederick Street to the Conestoga. In the Lancaster Inquirer of July 28, 1888, John Shober of the Slackwater Paper Company complained about the turnpike company, he was paying tolls to use the road and it wasn’t being properly maintained. He began refusing to pay the toll. A similar complaint appeared in the Inquirer of April 28, 1917, at this time the Lancaster Automobile Club complained about the roads not being maintained and it had filed a complaint with the Pa. Public Utility Commission. It was alleged that the company was paying as much as 150% return on investment in some years and averaged about 40%. As a result of this complaint and others received from various parts of the commonwealth the state began buying out these turnpike companies and they became the foundation for the state highway system.
1855 A private school is organized in Manor Township. At the close of the school year the use of the building is offered to J.P. Wickersham, Superintendent of Schools of Lancaster County. Professor Wickersham wanted to operate a Normal School (teacher training school) over the summer. Professor Wickersham accepts the offer and on April 15, 1855 the first Pennsylvania Normal School is opened. That fall the board of the private school offers their building to Prof. Wickersham and he accepts, making the Normal School a permanent fixture. In its earliest days this school was run by a board of these early investors and the state with the state eventually buying out the investors and appointing all the members of the board themselves. This Normal School is now Millersville University.
1858 In this year there were 8 licensed Taverns in Manor Township.
June 19th, 1860, a tornado hit Safe Harbor lifting the water out of the Conestoga River bed in front of Hess' Mansion House. .See the Columbia Spy, June 23, 1860 for an account of this storm.
June 16th, 1863, Colonel Franklin orders the defense of Lancaster County as a result of the invasion of the North by the Army of Northern Virginia and Robert E. Lee. This invasion results in the burning of the Columbia Wrightsville Bridge and the Battle of Gettysburg. Col. Franklin order citizens of Manor Twp. to defend Safe Harbor, the intent was to keep rebels from crossing the river at this point. Citizens of Conestoga were to defend Shenks Ferry and Columbia to defend the bridge at Columbia.
On Sept. 27, 1866 the Normal School’s Tecumseh Baseball Club played Columbia at Columbia. This wasn’t an official team of the Normal School but a club of students who attended the school. The Columbia Spy doesn’t tell us the results of that game but the Millersville club was thought to be one of the better teams in the area. The game of baseball is thought to have grown out of the Civil War. It would appear at this point the standard game length wasn’t 9 innings, one game was played until 2:00 PM and a second game was only 6 innings but Tecumseh won the 6 inning game by 38 to 12 so perhaps that was the reason it ended early.
The Columbia Spy (February 22, 1868) tells us that a post office was established at Indiantown April 1st, 1868, Levi B. Immel was postmaster.
December 27th, 1868, the United Brethren in Christ Church at Highville was dedicated on this date
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February 7th, 1869, the church of the Evangelical Association at Pittsburg, Manor Township was dedicated.
June 26, 1869 The name of the Post Office heretofore known as Turkey Hill, in Manor Township, this county, has been changed to Creswell, in accordance with a petition to that effect from the inhabitants of the neighborhood. L. B. Immel continues to be postmaster as heretofore. This contradicts stories that Creswell got a post office because they changed the name of their town to Creswell to honor the Post Master General of the United States. Apparently they just liked Creswell, who was from Port Deposit, Maryland, just down the road.
On Sept. 10th, 1870, a young black boy, aged 10, was shot by a white boy for being black. William Hardeman was shot by William Cover, age 15. Cover yelled he was going to shoot that “damn nigger” as he fired. 150 buck shot were fired into Hardeman’s face; he lost his vision but apparently survived.
The street railroad from Lancaster to Millersville began operating on April 15, 1871. By March 1776 the railroad was owned by John G. Brenner of Millersville. In July of 1876 he had opened a park in Shenk’s Woods for picnics in the area. The park was said to be three blocks from the terminus of the line. This wasn’t an electric railroad, Millersville didn’t have electricity at this point, this was probably a trolley car pulled by horses along rails to smooth the ride.
In the Columbia Spy for November 27, 1875 they report that the Columbia-Port Deposit Railroad was operating to Turkey Hill. By April 12, 1876 the railroad is operating to Pequea Station with three trains operating a day. There were passenger stations at Washington Borough, Turkey Hill and Safe Harbor in Manor Twp.
August 16, 1876, Bethany Lutheran Church of Millersville had its corner stone dedicated on this day. The Rev. W. S. Porr was the pastor.
August 17, 1878 BAPTISM IN THE RIVER - On Thursday morning divine services were held at Frederick Frey's place in Manor Township, by the denomination of Christians known as River Brethren. The services were conducted by Rev. Jacob Engle, of Conoy Township, and Bishop Jacob N. Graybill of Manor. After the services in the afternoon, the baptism of eleven candidates took place in the Susquehanna River, near Obed Strickler's at Turkey Hill. Rev. Engle administered the rite, which is by immersion. A great multitude of people were attracted to the spot, and the services were very solemn and impressive.
According to a notice in the Columbia Spy of August 9, 1879 it was the custom in Manor Twp. when a barn burned down or a new one was being built, for neighbors to pitch in and help out and dig the basement or foundation. On August 5th, at Mr. D. O. Wisler's farm at Creswell 50 neighbors were working for only meals and lunch which consists of beer, lemonade, cakes and pies, etc.
Diphtheria - The Columbia Spy in its edition of January 11, 1879 reports that a man named Sneath, of Manor Township had 7 of his 15 children die of diphtheria. Two were buried in one day recently and two were buried last Friday.
Four students were expelled from the Normal School for playing cards in their dorm room on July 19, 1879. Two of the students were expected to graduate within days. A petition was signed by the students but nothing came of it.
November 13th, 1880, a cannon explosion at Safe Harbor killed two and injured two. The cannon, probably the last Griffin Gun at Safe Harbor, had its barrel blown off and the two killed by a piece of that barrel. The Griffin Gun was developed at Safe Harbor Iron Works by John Griffin, superintend of the works. Hundreds of these guns were sold to the North during the Civil War. Elias Funk, a civil war veteran, lost his leg, another person, Mrs. Thomas Crow suffered a leg injury. Killed were Joseph Taylor and John Aument, Taylor was a shop owner at Safe Harbor and Aument was of Manor Twp. Elias Funk was operating the gun, they were celebrating the election of Republican James Garfield to the Presidency of the United States. When one bag of power broke while it was being loaded into the gun Funk added another bag of powder which caused the explosion. James A. Garfield served less than one year as President of the United States before being killed by an assassin.
December 11, 1880 - Washington Borough was indicted by the Commonwealth of Pa. for not widening streets in the borough as provided by law. Washington Borough was acquitted since when they tried to widen the streets in the borough a riot ensued. Several citizens of the borough were indicted for riot.
On June 25th, 1881, Henry Wertz, proprietor of the Susquehanna House in Washington Borough converted his hotel to a temperance hotel.
Supervisors Indicted. Henry Murray, Jacob Sherle, A. R. Witmer and Fred Doerstler, supervisors of Manor Township, were convicted of neglect of duty in Quarter Sessions Court. According to the Lancaster Express of January 23, 1884, they were fined 1 dollar each and required to pay court costs. A search of newspaper and court records has failed to turn up any additional detail.
According to the Columbia Spy of August 14, 1886, the farmers of Manor Township formed the Manor Mutual Fire Insurance Company. John H. Landis was elected president, A.E. Hostetter; Vice President; M.D. Kendig, Secretary; and E. H. Hershey, Treasurer.
Voter Fraud at Indiantown According to the Intelligencer of June 10, 1887 a fraud was committed on Republican Primary voters in Manor Township. After the primary all the ballots were destroyed and new ballots were filled out by the perpetrators of the fraud. Jonas Stoner, a tavern keeper of Highville was involved as was his sister, Lizzie Stoner. A third party was a Mr. Kauffman who sat on the election board. The three were paid by candidates of office to fix the election. It has been suggested that previous elections had been fixed as well. It was thought the guilty parties would be prosecuted. For a news account see The Indiantown Fraud
In an article in the Columbia Spy of August 13th, 1887, it was established that, based on the returns of the State Treasurer, it was established that Manor Township was the wealthiest township in Lancaster County. This claim is based on a tax collected by the state on luxury items owned by the citizens. Only the citizens of the 2nd ward of Lancaster city paid more in this tax.
The Columbia Spy announced the creation of a newspaper for Washington Borough in its December 3, 1887. The proprietor is said to be Mr. J. W. Miller, who has a patent medicine business in the village.
The article on Washington borough in the Columbia Spy states that Henry Wertz had his Susquehanna Hotel painted, apparently that wasn’t the norm. The author suggests that people passing on the Columbia & Port Deposit Railroad might think the town dates back to Noah’s time.
On July 25, 1900 four men were injured and two later died as the result of the collapse of scaffolding during construction of the Model School at Millersville Normal School.
According to the Intelligencer of August 31, 1906, On Wednesday (August 29th) afternoon a blast on the low grade railroad killed four men and injured two, all in the employ of the Kerbough Company. The accident occurred about a mile and a half from Highville. One man is missing and presumed dead although his body hasn't been found. The dead men were all foreigners, three Slavs and one Italian. The company didn't know the names of the dead, the company identified them by numbers. Two were blown down the hill to the riverbank while two were born uphill; one of the killed had his head, one arm and two legs blown off. They were buried at the Catholic cemetery at Safe Harbor. The men lived in Camp 6 near Creswell.
The Kerbough Company was also responsible for the Dynamite Factory Explosion that occurred two months earlier, June 9th, 1906 in Conestoga Twp. Eleven people were killed in that blast.