History of Washington Borough
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from
History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
with Biographical Sketches
of Many of the Pioneers and Prominent Men.
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by Franklin Ellis and Samuel Evans.
Philadelphia:
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Everts & Peck
1883
Chapter XXXVI
Washington Borough
(writer L.S.Clare)
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Page 653
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Site, Limits,
and Extent - Washington borough
extends a distance of one mile on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, and is
surrounded on its north, east, and south sides by Manor township. It is one mile
long from north to south, and one fourth of a mile wide from east to west, and
is situated three miles south of Columbia. A full view is had of Columbia and
the river as far north as the bend just south of Marietta, while a fine view is
also had of the river to the southward as far as the bend at the upper end of
Turkey Hill. There is a large and fertile island in the river opposite
Washington, and there are also several small islands. The river is fordable at
some points here at certain times. The borough is divided into two wards,
corresponding to the two original villages of Washington and Charleston, the
former village now comprising the lower or southern ward, and the latter the
upper or northern ward. The borough is bounded on the north by William Ortman’s
land.
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Page 654
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On the east are the lands of William Ortman, William Shertzer, William Siple,
John Brush, Daniel Kauffman, Levi Haverstick, and Jacob B. Shuman. Isaac Shult’s
farm-the old Blue Rock farm-touches the borough line on the south. William
Ortman and John Brush on many lots in the borough, and Isaac Shultz also owns
several. The Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad, running along the river
entirely through the borough, was completed in 1876. the population of
Washington is now over nine hundred, about one-half in each ward.
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Present Condition - Washington Borough
was formed by consolidating the villages of Washington and Charleston, and was
legally incorporated by act of Assembly, approved April 13, 1827. Washington
village - originally Woodstock - was laid out by Jacob Dritt, first before 1800,
and afterward in 1811. Charleston was laid out contemporaneously by Joseph
Charles. Years ago it was a flourishing little town, but it has since
deteriorated, and only recently began to improve. The principal business
features are lumber and fish. The inhabitants are generally an industrious class
of people, and many of them earn their livelihood by piloting rafts down the
river, and also by farming tobacco. Washington Borough has at present two
churches, Methodist Episcopal and Church of God; three schools, one graded and
two primary; two hotels, one a temperance house; two stores, one blacksmith-shop
and edge tool factory, two cigar factories, one confectionery, one shoemaker
shop, three carpenters, one plasterer, and two stone masons.
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Past History of this Locality - The
upper part of Charleston - that part north of the old Conestoga Manor line now
corresponding to the road leading from Charleston to Lancaster- was a part of
the tract granted to Chartier, the French Jesuit and Indian trader, about one
hundred and seventy-five years ago. All the remainder of the borough territory
formed a part of the Conestoga Manor, as surveyed for the Penn family by Jacob
Taylor, surveyor-general in 1717-18. The lands on the site of the present
borough of Washington were first surveyed in 1737, and in addition to all the
northwestern portion of the old Conestoga Manor, in all about three thousand
acres, were for some time retained by the Penn family. John Keagy afterward
settled in that portion of the Conestoga Manor, and sold much of his land to his
son-in-law, Charles Smith Sewell, of Maryland, who sold this tract to other
parties, as will presently be seen.
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Founding of Washington and Charleston
- On June 1, 1810, Charles Smith Sewell and Ann Catharine, his wife, sold one
hundred and ten acres to Jacob Dritt, Esq., of Windsor township, York Co., Pa.
There was a spring of water in the corner of this tract. Upon this tract Dritt
laid out the town of Washington. He sold lots June 11, 1810, to Jacob Habecker,
distiller, and to Joseph Habecker, pump maker, one acre and eight perches, in
lots which came to the river.
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On Jan. 11, 1811, Andrew Kauffman, Esq., of Manor, and Barbara, his wife, and
Charles Smith Sewell and George R. Stake, both of the same place, both house and
lot at corner of Lots Nos. 6 and 7, Lot No. 4 being a part of the one hundred
and ten acres which Charles Smith Sewell and Ann Catharine, his wife, sold to
Jacob Dritt, of Windsor township, York Co. Stake sold to Sewell April 11, 1811.
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On Sept. 10, 1811, John B. Haldeman, of Donegal, and Ann, his wife, sold to
Joseph Charles, of Manor, for six thousand five hundred dollars, a tract of one
hundred and thirty four acres, beginning at the river. This tract was part of
four tracts, the one-half part of which Jacob Gish, of Donegal, and Mary, his
wife, sold to John B. Haldeman Dec. 17, 1808. By writ of partition the
above-named tract was allotted to John B. Haldeman in 1809. John B. Haldeman had
married a daughter of John Stehman, who had owned the land.
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On the site of Washington the town of Woodstock had been laid out Jan. 8, 1807,
as a “free port situated on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, near the
Blue Rock, in Manor township, in Lancaster County”. Jacob Dritt, Esq., of
Windsor Township, York Co., was the proprietor, and he advertised that he had
laid out a town containing three hundred lots, exclusive of four appropriated
for public worship by the Mennonite, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Moravian
congregations, and one for a market-house. These lots were to be sold by
lottery, and were advertised to be drawn Saturday, March 14, 1807, tickets $_
cash. The proprietor agreed to give eight hundred dollars cash to the person who
drew No. 16, for the lot of one thousand feet front granted to the public on the
river for landings. He obtained an act of Assembly for the privilege of erecting
a bridge across the Susquehanna River at that place. A ferry was also to be
established here.
On
July 15, 1811, Jacob Dritt laid out a town “on the east bank of the Susquehanna
River, near the Blue Rock, in Manor township, Lancaster Co.” This town
contained one hundred and twenty-two lots to be disposed of by lottery, each
ticket to draw a lot.
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This was the town ofWoodstock, of 1807, and now named Washington. The lottery took place and all the
lots were drawn. Mr. Dritt advertised that he would meet the “adventurers” at
the house of Mrs. Jeffries, in Columbia, on the 17th and 18th
of May, 1811, and execute the titles for the lots. All who resided in Lancaster
or north of that place were privileged to call on Henry Carpenter, surveyor, for
their titles after the above date. Jacob Dritt made a will in 1815, and Jesse
Roberts and Samuel Bonham were appointed his administrators for the Washington
lots. Dritt was drowned while crossing the river in a boat in 1822.
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The town of Charleston, now constituting the upper ward of the borough of
Washington, was laid out by Joseph Charles, Jan. 4, 1811. It contained sixteen
acres, divided into fourth-seven lots, of sixty feet front, with a spring at the
south side. This town was in Manor township, seven hundred feel along the east
bank of the Susquehanna River, three miles south of Columbia. The lots were laid
out by Joseph Charles, and were sixty by one hundred and eighty feet. The
wedge-shaped tract of land in the north of Charleston, separating that village
from that of Fairview, was owned by a man named Scott, who afterwards sold his
land to the late Henry Ortman, and it is now owned by the latter’s son, William
Ortman.
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Joseph Charles had bought the lower part of the tract upon which Charleston was
built from John Stehman. He had bought the upper part from John B. Haldeman, of
Donegal, who had married a daughter of Stehman, the previous owner of that
tract. That part of Charleston north of Lancaster Street was laid out first.
Joseph Charles advertised lots Jan. 4 and Aug. 16, 1811. The lots were drawn by
lottery Sept. 6, 1811, and were assigned to lot-holders Sept. 27, 1811. On Oct.
6, 1811, one hundred and fourty-three parchment deeds were ordered. Joseph
Charles died in 1814. The bulk of Charles’ lots were drawn by Chester County
people, -the Greenes, the Micheners, the Robertses, and the Mendenhalls.
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Early Progress-Washington Borough - In
the several decades after their foundation, the villages of Washington and
Charleston made considerable progress, and many new buildings were erected.
There was great speculation in building and in buying and selling lots from 1811
to 1820. This speculation was prosperous for a time, and lots brought from
twelve hundred to fourteen hundred dollars; but eventually disaster came, and
many were reduced to bankruptcy and ruin. The villages of Washington and
Charleston were incorporated as the borough of Washington by act of Assembly,
approved April 13, 1827. There were not many new buildings from 1820 to 1860,
and there was a stagnation of about thirty years until about the time of the
breaking out of the late war. There has been some progress of late in building,
and the most substantial and costly buildings have been erected in recent years.
The best buildings have been erected since 1860. there have been more new
buildings erected in the last five or six years than in twenty years before.
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Washington, Past and Present - In the
earlier days of Washington - in the days of its prosperity - its leading
business men were Jessse Roberts, lumberman; John Herr, George Brush, Joseph
Green, Rhinehart Michener, store-keepers; Joseph Shock, and others. Dr. Benjamin
Green was a physician in Charleston about 1820. There were then from twelve to
fourteen hotels in the town. The river was at that time, each spring, lined with
rafts for four miles, and these hotels were required for the accommodation of
the raftsmen. In the days of Washington’s prosperity there were a great number
of coopers in the town, where none are now to be found.
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William Ortman, Isaac Shultz, and John Brush, the latter two now residing
outside the borough limits, are the chief tobacco growers. The Columbia and Port
Deposit Railroad, which runs through the town, along the river, was finished in
1876. The population of the borough is now over nine hundred. Washington at
present pays fifty dollars per month to each of its three teachers, employing
one such teacher as hold permanent certificates or diplomas from normal schools,
and has a school term of six months in each year. The present burgess of
Washington is George Roberts. The justices of the peace are Harvey Brush, son of
John Brush, and S. B. Urban. Joseph Miller, store-keeper, is at present (1883)
postmaster. The leading citizens of Washington borough in recent years have been
William Ortman, tobacco farmer and owner of a large property in and north of the
borough; John Brush, justice of the peace for a long time, and also school
director and a large property owner in and out of the borough, now living just
east of the borough limits, on the road from Charleston to Lancaster.
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Present Business Men and Tradesmen.
John Brush and William Ortman are large property-owners in the borough. Drs.
Binkley and Grey are practicing physicians. Andrew Kane keeps a hotel in the
Lower Ward, and Henry Wertz keeps a temperance hotel and summer resort in the
Upper Ward. The business men and mechanics are Joseph Miller, storekeepers;
William Mann, confectioner and tailor; George Evans, shoemaker; Lewis Green,
Abram Killiard, and Henry Kise, carpenters; Emanuel Fishel, plasterer; John D.
Baker and Uriah Douglas, stonemasons; Henry Mellinger, blacksmith and edge-tool
manufacturer; A. G. Kise and Brown & Wilson, cigar manufacturers. Levi
Haverstick has a lumberyard and a saw and planning mill just north of the
borough limits, and Joseph K. Shultz & Brother have a coal and lumber-yard just
south of the borough, on the Blue Rock farm, owned by his father, Isaac Shultz.
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Lumber,
Fishing, and Tobacco-Farming. - In the
old prosperous days of rafting the lumber trade was the most active line of
business in Washington, and there were large lumber-yards in the place. In the
earlier days of this town Jesse Roberts was a large lumber dealer. Afterwards
Louis Urban had a large lumber-yard. Other lumbermen were Washington Wrighter,
Daniel Neff, and House & Shuman, who was elected a member of the Legislature in
1873, had an extensive lumber yard here. At present, Joseph K. Shultz & Brothers
have a lumber and coal-yard on their father’s Blue Rock farm, just south of the
borough limits. Levi Haverstick has a steam saw and planning-mill and a
lumber-yard just north of the borough limits.
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Page 656
Fishing has been one of the means of earning a livelihood by many residents of
this place. Great quantities of bass are caught, and they supply the markets of
Columbia, Lancaster, and the surrounding country. As rafting began to decline,
tobacco-farming became a means of support for many of the citizens of this town.
The most successful tobacco-growers have been Isaac Shultz and his sons, William
Ortman, and John Brush, who have realized large profits from the sale of their
crops.
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Rafting. -- For a considerable period
half a century ago, when rafting was at its height on the Susquehanna,
Washington was an enterprising little town, and was noted as a stopping place
for raftsmen. There were then from twelve to fourteen hotels in the place. The
river in the vicinity was lined with rafts for three or four miles. Timber and
lumber were brought down the river in rafts. Boards, shingles, and laths were
brought down the river in arks, as were also wheat, oats, coal, and pig-iron.
After 1840 rafting gradually declined, and within the last ten years very little
has been done in that line of business, once so conducive to the prosperity of
Washington borough, many of whose inhabitants earned their livelihood by this
occupation. Some of the raftsmen took their horses and mules along on the rafts
for the purpose of riding back to their homes, while many walked when they
returned.
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Great Freshets - Washington Borough has suffered at various times in the
past from the destructive effects of ice and water-freshets. A water-freshet in
1832 took away Jacob Manning’s distillery. the streets were covered with water
sufficiently deep to admit the sailing of boats. the ice freshet of 1873 also
came up into the streets and caused considerable damage.
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Churches - there are at present only
two church congregations in Washington borough, Methodist Episcopal and Church
of God. There were at one time in the past four denominations in the place, -
Methodist Episcopal, Church of God, Evangelical and Presbyterian. But the latter
two congregations have gradually dwindled down and ceased to exist. the old Blue
Presbyterian Church was built about 1826, the building being put up by Israel
Cooper. For a long time the Presbyterians of Washington borough worshiped in
this building. The congregation of the Church of God in Washington at a later
period rented the church from the Presbyterians. the building was bought by Mr.
John Brush, and torn down by him in 1861, after having for some time been used
as a tobacco-house. The Evangelical congregation in Washington borough built a
frame edifice for worship about 1838, the work being done by Joseph Stoner. The
Evangelical congregation gradually dwindling down, this building was also
purchased by John Brush, and has likewise been used as a tobacco-house. The
Methodists of Washington erected a frame edifice for religious service about
1837, the building being put up by John Steiner. This building was torn down in
1838, and a brick edifice was erected in its stead. It was rebuilt in 1872. The
congregation of the Church of God in Washington erected a house of worship in
1845, the work being done by Jacob Manning. The old edifice was torn down when
the present one was built.
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General Character of Washington -
Washington and Charleston were regularly laid out in streets and alleys, and
these remain as they were originally laid out. the borough limits are mainly
confined within tracts laid out by Dritt and Charles in 1811. The old buildings
of the town are mostly frame structures, but there have been some new
substantial brick buildings erected in recent years.
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