Springettsbury Manor, named for William Penn's grandson and perceived heir, was granted to the British by the Iroquois League in a display of affection encouraged by the colonial authorities. In June of 1722, Governor Keith, by way of a treaty with four of the Five Nations of the Iroquois, authorized its surveying.
"In 1730, Thomas Cresap assumed right of
land in the area under Maryland warrant. German families began settling
in the region with assurances from Maryland that they would be issued land
grants.
In 1733-34, Samuel Blunston, who was a
quaker, a Lancaster County Magistrate and a surveyor was officially authorized
by the Pennsylvania authorities to issue "licenses to settle", interim
agreements, to those persons already living on land west of the Susquehanna.
Fifty two licenses were for land within Springettsbury Manor. John Wright
was granted a patent to establish a ferry across the Susquehanna River.
John and Christina Shultz built their house in the area and John's brother
Martin constructed his house on Kreutz Creek.
During the summer of 1735, the Reverend
John Casper Stoever, a Lutheran minister baptised the children of Robert
Canaan, William Canaan, John Low, James Moor, Thomas Crysop(Cresap), Jacob
Harrington and Edward Evans near Conojehela.
By 1736, German settlers had been abducted
and Maryland authorities were running them off their settlements and attempting
to replace them with Maryland settlers. Thomas Cresap was receiving arms
from the Maryland authorities in Annapolis to carry out these removals.
The actions occurring between pro-Maryland and pro-Pennsylvania settlers
became known as "Cresap's War".
In October 1736, the Proprietors of Pennsylvania
received from the Five Nations, deeds for the Susquehanna lands south of
the Blue Mountains. The lands that included the area of today's Hellam
Township were now officially Pennsylvania owned lands.
Please come back soon
"During the 1730's, the prolonged border
dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania exploded into Cresap's War--named
for Thomas Cresap, a justice of the peace for Maryland. For several years
Cresap and a group of vigilantes harassed German settlers living along
the Susquehanna--settlers who lived there under Pennsylvania land permits.
Cresap even threatened to arrest John Wright and Samuel Blunston. The governor
of Maryland dispatched a militia to arrest Wright, and remove the settlers
living in the area without Maryland permits, but 150 Pennsylvanians assembled
to defend Wright's Ferry. King George II ultimately intervened in 1738
and forced a peaceful resolution." from
Columbia, PA 17512 pages
"1736 - While Logan is President of Council, Cresap's war between settlers
from Pennsylvania and Maryland breaks out along the Susquehannah. It ends
about a
year after Sheriff Samuel Smith captures Thomas Cresap and sends him
to Philadelphia. This is the same Cresap who later is a partner of George
Washington's in
the Ohio Company.." An
abstract of the life of James Logan Source cited: James Logan and the
Culture of Provincial Pennsylvania by Frederick B. Tolles (1957) From Gwynned
Friends Meeting webpages
"1737: Future Lancaster
King settles border dispute
A band of 16 Marylanders breaks into the jail in Lancaster where border
war instigator Thomas Cresap's accomplices are incarcerated and free their
fellow statesmen. But Cresap is not there. Authorities previously moved
him to Philadelphia. The raid causes King George II to order Pennsylvania
and Maryland
proprietors to end their boundary dispute by drawing a line between
the two provinces. This temporary line appeases the Penns and Calverts
until Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon perform their boundary work in the
1760s. The king also warns against further violence and orders both sides
to drop all prosecutions and to discharge prisoners on bail." York
Daily Record
" Protecting the Settlements
The wild frontier of the Colonies of Western Maryland and Pennsylvania
could be a
dangerous place to live. Between 1754 and 1755, fortifications in Western
Frederick
County (present day Washington County) Maryland were built in rapid succession
by
settlers to protect themselves from the Indians.
Thomas Cresap's Fort was built in 1742, located along the Potomac River
near
Oldtown. Also known as Fort at Cresap's. This stockade fort
was originally used as a
trading post in 1755. It was also used as a supply base for several expeditions,
and
it was attacked several times. Fort Cresap in Williamsport, Maryland
was built in the
1750ís. Consisting of a stone house with a spring cellar, it was
built by Daniel
Cresap, son of Thomas. It was attacked in 1756. " From Toms
Creek Hundred: The Wild Frontier by John Miller, Part of the
Emmitsburg Area Historical Society webpages
"Land Settlement Pennsylvania West of the Susquehanna
PENNSYLVANIA
COLONIAL LAND POLICY from PENNSYLVANIA ORIGINAL LAND RECORDS SERIES
FOR YORK COUNTY, PA
"Land settlement West of the Susquehanna River was neither normative
nor encouraged until after this territory was fully released by treaty
with the Native American Indians in 1736. After that date, generous inducements
and terms were used to promote settlement and expansion into this region
of Pennsylvania. The Proprietors' objective in land settlement was to encourage
actual settlement at extremely favorable terms, then subsequently bringing
the settlers under regular colonial oversight and taxation. The purchase
price for 100 acres of land was fifteen pounds ten shillings; the quit
rent was one sterling halfpenny per acre, per year, until 1776.
xxxxxx
"A few years after Caspar's occupation of his first plantation the notorious Col. Thomas Cressap and others, under authority from the Governor of Maryland, and in virtue of an alleged patent to the latter from the King of Great Britain, assumed the right to oust by force the German settlers west of the Susquehanna with the purpose of occupying these fertile lands themselves. For years an armed conflict was waged. The invaders were finally ejected and peace restored. In an indictment found against these encroachers mention is made of the lands in the "quiet and possession" of Caspar Spengler. A detailed account of this famous Maryland intrusion and war will be found under the title of Henry Spengler." p 19 Edward Spangler
îThe area that now encompasses East and
West Hempfield Township was part of Chester Countyís western frontier at
the beginning of the 18t century. Settlement along the Susquehanna was
important to Pennsylvaniaís future development not only because of the
boundary dispute with Maryland that precipitated Cresap's War (1731-1736)
but also because the Susqehanna was a trade route that provided direct
accesss from Pennsylvaniaís hinterland to the West and to the Chesapeake,
The heartland of the American colonies. ì
From:Hopkins, Leroy. ìBlack
Eldorado on the Susquehanna: The Emergence of Black Columbia, 1726-1861î,
Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society. Vol 89, pp 110-132
Transcription available at Link
From
History of Hellam Township [Great and concise] "http://www.geocities.com/kcvps/history.htm"
says:
"In June of 1722, Governor Keith, by way
of a treaty with four of the Five Nations of the Iroquois, authorized the
surveying of Springettsbury Manor as a proprietary manor for Springet Penn,
grandson of William. Three men, John French, Fran. Worley and John Mitchel
accomplished the task beginning from a red oak. In 1725, near what
later became known as Anderson's Ferry, Donegal clergy crossed to the west
side of the Susquehanna River to visit settlers along the Conewago Creek.
In 1728, "Maryland Intruders" were removed
from the area by order of the Deputy Governor and Council at the request
of the Indians.
In 1729, John and James Hendricks, with
government authorization settled along Kreutz Creek on 1200 acres of land.
John Wright took up several hundred acres of land between the creek and
John Hendricks' property. Several families from Chester County settled
near Conojohela (Canadochly) but were removed by the authorities. East
of the Susquehanna River, Lancaster County was formed from the western
part of Chester County with its borders extending to lands west of the
river.
In 1730, Thomas Cresap assumed right of
land in the area under Maryland warrant. German families began settling
in the region with assurances from Maryland that they would be issued land
grants.
In 1733-34, Samuel Blunston, who was a
quaker, a Lancaster County Magistrate and a surveyor was officially authorized
by the Pennsylvania authorities to issue "licenses to settle", interim
agreements, to those persons already living on land west of the Susquehanna.
Fifty two licenses were for land within Springettsbury Manor. John Wright
was granted a patent to establish a ferry across the Susquehanna River.
John and Christina Shultz built their house in the area and John's brother
Martin constructed his house on Kreutz Creek.
During the summer of 1735, the Reverend
John Casper Stoever, a Lutheran minister baptised the children of Robert
Canaan, William Canaan, John Low, James Moor, Thomas Crysop(Cresap), Jacob
Harrington and Edward Evans near Conojehela.
By 1736, German settlers had been abducted
and Maryland authorities were running them off their settlements and attempting
to replace them with Maryland settlers. Thomas Cresap was receiving arms
from the Maryland authorities in Annapolis to carry out these removals.
The actions occurring between pro-Maryland and pro-Pennsylvania settlers
became known as "Cresap's War".
In October 1736, the Proprietors of Pennsylvania
received from the Five Nations, deeds for the Susquehanna lands south of
the Blue Mountains. The lands that included the area of today's Hellam
Township were now officially Pennsylvania owned lands.
In December 1736, Cresap was arrested
and the problems he caused ceased. "above From
History of Hellam Township
1736 The
colony of Pennsylvania forms an alliance
with the New York-based Six Nations of the Iroquois after the latter conquer
the aborigine tribes of
Pensylvania. Cresap's War begins after
German settlers from Pennsylvania are run off by Maryland authorities;
Thomas Cresap is arrested in
Dec., ending the war." http://www.tlwinslow.com/timeline/time173x.html
1774 Cresap's War [this is a DIFFERENT
war]
"The Shawnee had never given up their
claims to western Virginia and interpreted the rapid settlement as acts
of aggression. Hostilities reached a climax in 1773
when land speculator Michael Cresap
led a group of volunteers from Fort Fincastle (later renamed Fort Henry)
at present-day Wheeling and raided Shawnee
towns in what became known as Cresap's
War. One of the worst atrocities of the conflict was the murder of several
family members of Mingo chief Tah-gah-jute,
who had been baptized under the English
name Logan. Logan, who had previously lived peacefully with the settlers,
killed at least 13 western Virginians that
summer in revenge." from http://www.wvculture.org/history/indland.html
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