Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-12-29
Euetttttg Gllat

COUNTY tor well nigh 100 years stand
ing near where the western road
winds over Peters Mountain from
the valley of picturesque Clark's
creek is most entertainingly de-
scriDed and a valuable contribution
.aue 10 the written history of Penn
osiVanias capital county in q
pahphiet by Prof. Nevin w. Meyer.
Miooietown, who comes of the
pioneer Moyer family in Lower Pax
ION ana VINO served with distinction
tn rance as a member of the IOsth
,Ieiu artlllery. This house, of which
iFoi. Moyer writes as Peter AL
zen g. is none other than the coun-
'ry residence of Christian w, Lynch
president or the Harrisburg Foundry
ana Machine Works, known now as
noseWood and possessing a story ALI
its own that outrivals the homes nj
1ohn Harris and William MacIav
which still stand in Harrisburg AZ
testing the sturdy character of colon
lal building and the firm belief of
1heir owners in the destiny of the
city which they laid out when the
echoes of the celebration of YORK
town were still ringing over the land.
Col. Henry w. Shoemaker. owner of
the Altoona Tribune and an author
and historian by love of State. has
written for Professor Moyer a fore
word, in which he sets down soma
tacts about Dauphin county history
that ought to be taught in the
schools instead of being treasured
IN monographs and handed down
from father to son. Col. Shoe
maker supports Prof. Meyers con-
clusions ard newspaper practice en-
tbles him to establish vital consider-
ations of date and ownership, so that
the pamphlet. all too short to the
student of local history, can be taken
rs about the last word on the sub
ject
Pror. Meyer writes that this stone
mouse, now most attractive conn
Try home, was standing June 9. 1929.
mat is its earliest appearance in the
records and 1t is often referred to .n
those of later years. Prof. Mover
says that wheu the boundary of old
Paxton township was SURVEYED that
year, which readers of this column
VIII remember was also the year of
the formation of Derry and Hanover
the genesis of Dauphin county. mem
tion Is made of the house bv tba
men who ran the lines. He believes
that the house dates from 1915 and
that such year will be found or, tbe
stone in the gable. The late Dr
Egle said that Peter Allen was proh-
ABLY the first white settler IN what
is now Dauphin county north of
Paxton creek. He must have haen
man of substance or he could NOT
nave built such an enduring housa
or ornamented it in a manner that
SUN challenges the admiration of the
ANTIQUARIAN. Mr.. Aliens name turns
up in a good many deeds of that
sectlon OF the county and especiaIIv
IN the region back of Dauph.n does
ne appears as selling. Men who have
STUDIED Dauphin county believe that
John Harris came here on trading
or exploring expeditions about 170S
french traders were active on the
west shore of the Susquehanna he
fore 100 and Charter. who pava
MS name to part of Allepbenv
county, is said to have had a most
near what Is now Lemoyne before
William Penn had visited Philadel-
phla. The date of Harris definita
locating here is given about 1872. sc
that Peter Allen must have been
settled in Clark's Valley before Har-
rls set up his trading warehouse and
started Harrisburg on what is now
zoo years of history. The John Har-
ris mansion at Front and Washing
ton streets IS quarter of a century
younger than this old house of peter
Aliens and the Maclay mansion at
Front and South streets, now the
home of William E. Bailey was
built years after.
Peter's Mountain and Clark's and
other valleys of Central Daunbin
county are rich in history if some
one could only take the time to COL
late it. From the top of Peters
Mountain, which is crossed bv
couple of roads, one much used
while the State was rebuilding the
river road from Dauphin to Cfark's
Ferry, person can see several stone
houses which go back more than q
century Indeed, there are few sec
tions of the county which give evi-
dence of having been settled by
more substantial people. This sec
ton seems to have been the home
of more than well to do settlers and
in later years was a center of iron
manufacture on scale that recalls
the iron master and his lordly ways
of the thirties, when coke had not
become familiar fuel and wide tracts
of woodland were needed to furnish
the charcoal. There are q number
of families which could be mem
toned as owning much land in this
district, one of whom, the Berryhills.
gave name to a Harrisburg street
and none of whom now lives here.
In tracing the history of Peter AL
lens house, Prof. Meyer goes into
much detail regarding the title to
the land. which he states was patent
ed in 1884. Years often intervened
between settlement and patent, as in
the case of John Harris. He also
refers to the fact that the Girty
family land adjoined Peter Aliens,
recalling to mind that the renegade
of early days was black sheep of a
family that had early settled in this
valley He mentions the mill of
Col. Timothy Green, one of the early
patriots and a Hanover Associator,
which is still standing and brings in
wealth of local history that should
be in the minds of many people who
do not know the record of Dauphin
county in days that tried mems fiber.
After Allen died the property had
several changes of ownership and
IGIyo - 4uk Af- hauaao ~ oo IL.