Historical Sketch of Franklin County, Pennsylvania

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Excerpt from Historical Sketch of Franklin County, Pennsylvania: Prepared for the Centennial Celebration Held at Chambersburg, Penn'a, July 4th, 1876, and Subsequently EnlargedNeither William Penn nor his sons, John, Thomas and Richard, who succeeded to his rights as proprietors of the colony after his death, in 1718, were ever willing that settlements should be made anywhere in their new possessions without the consent of the Indians, until their claims to the soil had been extinguished by purchase. Thus for nearly seventy years the best state of feeling existed between the settlers and the Indians. The latter were pleased to have the former come amongst them, pointed out voluntarily the most desirable locations for settlement, encouraged the making of improvements, and lived in peace with those who thus became their neighbors.The lands in the "Kittochtinny, " or present Cumberland Valley, were not purchased from the Indians until October, 1736, and were not, therefore, before that time open for sale. But for several years prior to that period the agents of the proprietors, knowing the feelings of the Indians to be favorable, had encouraged settlers to come hither, and had issued to them special licenses for the settlement and securing of such tracts of land beyond the Susquehanna, or "Long, Crooked river, " as might please their fancy. The lands embraced in Amberson's Valley, Horse Valley, Path Valley, and the present counties of Bedford, Fulton, Blair, Huntingdon, Miflflin, Juniata and Snyder were not purchased from the Indians until October 23d, 1758.History says that Benjamin Chambers was the first white man who made a settlement in what is now known as the county of Franklin. He was a native of the county Antrim, Ireland, of Scotch descent, and between the years 1726 and 1730 emigrated, with his brothers James, Robert and Joseph, to the Province of Pennsylvania. At that time neither Lancaster, York, Harrisburg or Carlisle had any existence. Harris' Ferry was the most prominent place in the interior of the State, and to that point the Chambers brothers made their way. Having heard of the beauty of the location upon which our town now stands, Benjamin boldly pushed out into the wilderness, was kindly received by the Indians, and obtained permission to settle on the place of his choice and make it his own. This was about the year 1730, and on the 30th of March, 1734, Thomas Blunston, the agent of the proprietaries, gave him a license "to take and settle and improve four hundred acres of land at the Falling Spring's mouth, and on both sides of the Conocochege Creek, for the conveniency of a grist mill and plantation."About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.