James Irwin, Jr. was a distiller in Beale Township, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania between 1794-1795

It appears that James Irwin, Jr. was a distiller in Beale Township, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania between 1794-1795.

Irwin, James, Jr., 1794-95
　
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~milliken/alguss/milford.html

　

Milford Township
Part I

History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...

Edited by F. Ellis and A. N. Hungerford.
Published in Philadelphia by Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886
Pages 749-755

CHAPTER IX.
MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Part I.
By A. L. Guss

MILFORD TOWNSHIP was erected 1768 under the authority of the Court of Cumberland County, of which county it originally formed a part. The following documents were transcribed from the court records at Carlisle:

" To the Honorable Court of Quarter Sessions, Held at Carlisle the Third Thursday in October, 1768. Greeting:

" Whereas, the Township of Lack is Very Unconvenient for all Township Offices, it being of such an Extensive Length, viz., of above thirty miles, Which makes us pray your Worships to order a Devision of s'd Township from Tuskarora Mountain, by James Gray's, to William Scot's, at the foot of the Shade Mountain, and your Humble Petitioners Will be In Duty Bound to ever pray.

"Thos. Beale.
William Irwin.
Robert Campbell.
Clement Horrell.
Robert Hogg.
James Christy.
John Beale.
William Renison.
Hugh Quigley.
William Bell.
William Christy.
James Armstrong.
David McNair, Jr.
Chas. Pollock.
Robert Littel."

November 7, 1768, the court made the following order on the above:

"Milford Township: To be bounded by Lack, and to run across the valley by James Gray's and William Scot's, throwing these two inhabitants into Lack or the upper part of the valley--the Lower part hereafter to be known by the name of Milford township, etc."

The origin of the term Milford is of course mill-ford or the fording at the mill.

Milford township is bounded on the east by the Juniata River, on the north by the "Black Log," properly called the Blue Ridge, on the south by Turbett and Spruce Hill, on the west by Beale. It extends up Licking Creek to the Tuscorara line. It is shaped like a pipe, Licking Creek valley being the stem, and the opening of the bowl is at the loop below Groninger's bridge. The front of the bowl is ornamented by the boroughs of Patterson and Port Royal. The lower end of the Licking Creek valley towards the river, after the creek deflects southward, is called Muddy Run. It is drained principally by Licking Creek. The end of the Shade Mountain and the Forge Hill separate the Valley of Licking Creek from the Johnstown Valley; the Herring Bone ridges again, separate the latter from the Tuscarora Creek settlements.

The names of the early settlers of this township will be found in the history of Lack township.

NAMES OF ADDITIONAL SETTLERS IN 1770.

Alex. Denniston's heirs. George Glassford. Daniel McClelland. Thomas McKeever. William McCormick. Thomas Millegan.

ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1771.

Thomas Burchfield. Wm. Donegal Chorran. Joseph Gordon. John Henderson. John Holmes. Philip Land. John Parker, renter. Purviance & Cox. Robert Walker, Jr.

Single Freemen.
John Dillon. James Kerr. Robert Kirkpatrick. Neil McCoy. Charles McLaughlin. Edward Milligan.

ADDITIONAL NAMES IN 1772.

John Anderson. John Anderson. Arter Ackles. Aquilla Birchfield. Ezekiel Bowen. Bennedy Capler (Benjamin Kepner). John Christy. Samuel Christy. John Dickson. John Eliott. Samuel Fear. Philip Fisher. William Forist. John Freeman. Willism Guston. James Heddleston. Nelas Hearts. Samuel Lyon, Esq. George McCully. Mathew McKaskey. Joseph Poultney. David Scott. William Shaw. William Stuart. Henry Wills. Richard Wilson.

Single Freemen.
David Bails. James Camble. Joseph Cashey. John Curry. John Dust. Peter Graham. John Lyon. James McLaughlin. Joseph McMullen. John McClelland. Thomas Moore. Robert Ralston. William Shaw. Hugh Stoop. William Wilson.

ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1773.

William Bear. John Bowen. John Cunningham. John Dilling (Dillin). Pattis Hart. Richard Hall. Christopher Irwin. James Kiles. Theophilus McDonnald. Joseph McCoy. Edwin Owen. William Wilson. John Williams. Enoch Williams. John Wood.

Single Freemen.
John Cunningham. Barney Peterson. Edward Irvin. Nicholas Shrader. Hugh McCully. Richard Wilson.

ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1774.
Robert Boreland. John Boner. George Crain. Charles Cox. Samuel Davis. Caleb Graydon. Epenitus Hart. William Henderson. Widow Irwin. John Kerr. John Little. John McClelland, Jr. Dudley McGee. Hugh McCully. James Moore. Abraham Stills. Rudolph Stayors. Thomas Turbett.

Single Freemen.
John Anderson. Benjamin Lyon. John Sloan. Thomas Bowle. Edward Miligan. Alex. Snodgrass. Thomas Gallaher. Joseph McCaskey.

ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1775.

James Bigham. Thomas Black. Matthew Boreland. Widow Brown. James Campbell. Aaron Cotter. James Crawford. William Gray. John Harris. John Henderson. Francis Hicman. Samuel Kearsley. Samuel Leonard. Joseph McConnell. William McCracken. Thomas McGlaughlin. Daniel Neane. William Orr. Alexander Reed. Joshua Smith. George Stewart. Philip Walker. Samuel Wharton. Thomas Wilson.

Single Freemen.
Samuel Bell. Thomas McCahan. Robert Watson. Martin Cunningham. Nicholas Sheridan. John Irvin. Thomas Toner.

ADDITIONAL NAMES FOR 1776.

Hugh Black. James Boggs. David Boal. Thomas Boal. James Campbell, Tristram Davis. James Dever. Peter Daly. Dutfchman. Robert Gulliford. William Jones. John Lyon, Jr. Jock Leacock. Dennis Molloy. James Ross. Philip Strouce. William Thompson. James Williams. Alexander Walker.

Single Freemen.
Robert Anderson. Benjamin Hickman. John Moon. John Chambers. Thomas Forsythe. Felix O'Neal. Adam Chambers. John Molloy. William Thompson.

TAXABLE INDUSTRIES, -The tax-lists of Milford township from l763 to 1831 show assessments on the following in addition to lands and stock. Those that fell into Turbett in 1817 are marked "Tt." Spruce Hill was formed out of Turbett and Beale out of Milford at dates later than these lists.

GRIST MILLS.
Beale, Thomas, 1768-1804.
Bollinger, Daniel, 1811-13, chop. m.
Campbell, Robert, 1768-90.
Campbell, William, 1791-96.
Doyle, Richard, 1807-31.
Evans, Isaac, 1793-95.
Gilson, Thomas, Tt, 1790-1816.
Gilson, William, Tt., 1817-31.
Gish, Matthias, 1820-31.
Graham, John, William and Samuel, Tt., 1817-28.
Graham, William, 1813-16.
Hardy, David, 1790-94.
Hardy, Thomas, Jr., 1789-92.
Harris, Thomas, 1779-95.
Lytle, John, 1797-1831.
McCrum, Joseph, 1831.
McCrum, William, 1795-1830.
Ogden, Isaac, 1787-88.
Patterson, John, 1811-31.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1805, chopping-mill, 1823-29.
Stuart, Thomas, 1796-1806.
Wilson, George, 1798-1819.

FULLING-MILLS.
Elliott, Thomas, 1819-31.
Gilson, David, Tt., 1817-31.
Gilson, Thomas, 1811-16.
Hench, Peter & Reese, Tt., 1830-31.
McAfee, Daniel, Tt., 1820-28.

CARDING-MACHINES.
Elliott, Thomas, 1826-31.
Fry, Abraham, 1820.
Gilson, David, Tt., 1820-31.
McAfee, James, Tt., 1829.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1820-29.

FORGES.
Beale, Thomas and William Sterritt, M., 1792-94.
Evans, Thomas, 1795.
Cahill, Edward, 1796.
Sterrett, William, 1797.
Cromwell, Thomas, 1798-1800.

SAW-MILLS.
Beale, Thomas, 1769-1804.
Beale, Thomas and Sterritt, William, 1792.
Bolinger, Daniel, 1811-15.
Bolinger, Rudolph, 1804-7.
Burkey, Jacob, 1816.
Bushy, Jacob, 1818-31.
Campbell, Robert, l781-90.
Campbell, William, 1791-96.
Doyle, Richard, 1812-31.
Elliott, Thomas, 1819-31.
Evans, Jesse, 1795-1804.
Fahnestock, Benjamin, 1798-99.
Francis, John, 1795-98.
Gilson, Thomas, 1799-1816.
Gilson, William, Tt., 1817-31.
Gish, Matthias, 1820-31.
Graham, William, Tt., 1813-16.
Graham, John, William and Samuel, Tt., 1817-28.
Graham, William, Jr., Tt., 1829-31.
Harris, Thomas, 1779-95.
Kepner, Benjamin, Jr., 1805-31.
King, Lawrence, 1794-1800.
Lytle, John, 1797-1831.
Monahan, Michael, 1818-19.
McCrum, Joseph, 1831.
McCrum, William, 1796-1830.
McDonald, Daniel, Tt., 1809-31.
Norton, James, 1817-19.
Patterson, John, 1811-31.
Patton, William, 1790-94.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1804-50.
Rice, Jacob, Jr., 1826-31.
Rice, Jacob, Jr., Tt., 1830-31.
Selheimer & Kirk, 1823-31.
Selheimer & Norton, 1820-22.
Stuart, Thomas, 1796-98.
Turbett, George, Tt., 1820.
Turbett, Stewart and William, Tt., 1821-31.
Turbett, Thomas, Tt., 1811-19.
Wiliams, Samuel, Tt., 1805-31.
Wilson, George, 1797-1819.
Wilson, Thomas, 1794-96.

PAPER-MILLS.
Norton, James, 1818-19.
Norton & Selheimer, 1820-22.
Selheimer & Kirk, 1823-31.

STORES AND MERCHANTS.
Cahill, Edward, 1796.
Creighton, Robert, 1800-2.
Graham, William, 1776.
Henderson, Thomas, Tt., 1817.
Kepner, Benjamin, Jr., 1821, '24, '27.
Magonigle, Alexander, Tt., 1827.
Patterson, John, 1796, '99, 1820-26.
Rowan, Stuarf, 1797-98.
Stuart, Thomas, 1793-99.
Stuart, William, 1794-1804.
Stinson, Thomas, 1820.
Turbett, Samuel, 1796.
Wilson, George, 1812.

DISTILLERIES. Beale, Peter, 1804-12.
Beale, Thomas & William Sterritt (2), 1794-1803.
Beale, William, 1804-20.
Black, Thomas, 1791-92.
Borland, William, 1779, 1783-87.
Bushy, Jacob, 1828-30.
Christy, William, 1787-92.
Cunningham, John, 1786-97.
Delaney, Charles, 1805-07.
Dickey, Nathaniel, 1797-1804.
Dillon, John, 1804.
Dillon, John, Jr., 1805-31.
Elliott, John, 1779-81.
Feer, William, 1805.
Finlay (at Hardy's), 1792.
Frow, Gawin, 1811-23.
Gallaher, Patrick, 1797.
Gilson, Thomas (2), 1809-16.
Glassford, Alexander, 1794-97.
Glassford, George, 1804.
Graham, Hamilton, l794-1804.
Graham, John, Tt., 1809-31.
Graham, William, Tt., 1787, '96, 1809, '15.
Graham, William, Tt., 1823-25.
Gray, Robert, 1797.
Greer, David (2), 1797.
Hardy, David, 1820-21.
Hardy, Hugh, 1782.
Hardy, John, Sr,, 1779-94.
Hardy, Thomas, Sr., 1779-94.
Harris, John, 1804.
Harris, Thomas, 1782.
Heddleston, John, l795.
Henderson, Thomas, 1813-15.
Huston, Robert, 1779-83.
Irwin, James, Jr., 1794-95.
Irwin, William, 1814-19.
Johnson, William, 1824.
Kelly, William C., 1823-24.
Kenny, William, Sr., 1791.

TAN-YARDS AND TANNERS.
Guss, Simon, 1816.
Hardy, Hugh, Jr., 1823-31.
Hardy, William, 1805-07.
Irwin, Robert, 1820-21.
Mohler, Rudolph, 1823-24.
Patterson, James, Tt., 1821-31.
Shaw, John, 1827-29.
Showers, Daniel, 1811.
Stuart, John, 1814-25.
Stuart, Thomas, 1791-96, 1804.
Turbett, Stewart & William, Tt., 1821-31.
Turbett, Thomas, Tt., 1776-1821.
Vanormer, Joshua, 1821-22.
Wills, Henry, 1781-82.
Woodward, James, Sr., 1779.
Williams, James, 1776.

INNS or TAVERNS.
Bryner, John, Tt., 1827.
Casner, George, 1796.
Henderson, Thomas, Tt., 1817-20.
Johntz, Henry, Tt., 1825.
Kelly, John, 1797-98.
Kepner, Benjamin, Jr., 1812-31.
Love, James, 1820.
McClelland, Joseph, 1796.
Okeson, Nicholas, 1796-1812.
Patterson, John, 1796, '99.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1812.
Rife, Samuel, 1820.
Stewart, Thomas, Tt., 1827.

FERRY.
Abraham, Noah, 1800-06; heirs, 1807-30.
Gross, Henry, 1817-26.
Kepner, Benjamin, Sr., 1827-31.
Law, Benjamin, 1816.
Love, James, 1816-21, occpt.
Love, John, 1822-24.
Mettlen, Samuel, occpt., 1807-15.
McClelland, Joseph, 1791-1800.
Robinson, John, 1817.
Sanderson, James, 1811-15.

PLATE.
Beale, Thomas, 1780.
Blair, John, 1780.
Lyon, John, Jr., 1780-82.
Lyon, Samuel, 1780.
Stewart, George, 1780.
Wills, Henry, 1780.

SHAD FISHERY. Cummings, William, 1826.

DISTILLERIES.
Kinzer, John, 1813-16.
Little, Robert, 1779-97.
Lyon, James (2), 1810-11.
Lyon, John, 1779.
Lyon, John, Jr., 1780-86.
Lyon, Samuel, 1778-82.
Milliken, Edward, 1794.
Monahan, Michael, 1807-13.
McCahan, Alexander (2), 1809.
McCahan, John, Sr., 1804-07.
McClelland, Joseph, 1792-97.
McCrum, James, 1796-97.
McCrum, James, Jr., 1825-31.
McCrum, John, 1831.
McCrum, William, l794.
McFadden, Samuel, 1789.
McKee, John, Sr., 1792, 1814, '16.
McKee, Robert, 1809-13.
Orr, John, 1781-86.
Parks, Alexander, 1796-97.
Patterson, John (2), 1794-11; (1), 1811-31.
Pigsler, Jacob, 1805-13.
Pollock, Charles, 1779-88.
Reed, Alexancler, 1779.
Reed, Alexander, Jr,, 1779-82.
Rice, Jacob, Sr., 1801.
Rice, Peter, 1805-28.
Robison, Alexander, Sr., 1779-86.
Robison, Alexander (at Hogg's), 1794-95.
Ross, John, 1781-1812.
Sheets, George, 1811-13.
Sterrett, William (2), 1795.
Stuart, George, 1821-22.
Stuart, George & N. Martin, 1820.
Stuart, John (2), 1797-1810.
Stinson, Thomas, 1811-28.
Wharton, William, Sr., Tt. (2), 1810-1811 ; (1), 1813-31.
Williams, Norris, 1786-97.
Wills, Henry, 1780-1807.
Wilson, George, 1813-16; (2), 1811-12.
Wilson, Thomas, 1779-96.
Woods, John, 1780.
Wilson, Abraham, 1780-83, 1790-97.

TURBETT DISTILLERIES AFTER 1817.
Barnard, Joseph, 1822.
Bryner, John, 1820-31.
Burns, John, 1823.
Graham, Samuel & William, 1820-22.
Henderson, Thomas, 1817-19.
Hoke, David, 1821-22.
Irwin, William, 1820.
Lauver, John, 1829, '31.
Martin, Nathaniel, 1828, '31.
McAfee, James, 1826-29.
McCracken, William, 1824, '26.
Rice, Samnel, 1825-26.
Robison, Alexander, 1820.
Robison, Alexander & Thomas Henderson, 1820-21.
Woods, Robert, 1826-28.

EARLY SETTLERS.- John McClellan had previously lived in Franklin County, He belonged to a family still numerously represented in that region. He settled on the river-bank, at the present site of Patterson. His warrant, September 8, 1755, called for five hundred and fifteen acres below, on the river.

McClellan's wife was a Widow Houston, whose maiden-name was Catharine Buchanan,-a sister of the father of President Buchanan. Her first husband belonged to a family of that name in this region, from whom the celelrated Sam, Houston, of Texas, was descended.

[By her frst marriage she had two daughters,--Jane and Sarah. Jane was the wife of John Elliott, a Revolutionary soldier, and was, in 1763, one of the twelve men who came over from Perry County after the Indians that killed the people at White?s, Campbell's and Anderson's, and were themselves waylaid and half their number killed. Elliott's daughter, Catharine, was the mother of Hugh T. McAlister, Esq. Sarah was the wife of Andrew Douglass, elsewhere named as wounded at Kittanning, but who lived to an old age.]

Mrs. Catharine Buchanan Houston, by her second marriage, to John McCllellan, became the mother of Daniel, Joseph, John, Jr., and perhaps other sons, Nancy (wife of James Sanderson), Catharine (wife of William Lyons and then of James Hite). One of Hite?s stepdaugbters was the wife of John Lytle, Esq., and mother of Robert, James, John and David Lytle, later well known in Blair County.

Daniel McClellan was a soldier with his brother John, and was at Quebec in 1775. He went to Kentucky. On October 22 1776, he applied for two hundred acres of land "on Licking Creek, higher up the creek than the Fort Granville road." Aquilla Burchfield afterwards had seventy-five acres surveyed under it in "Hammer Hollow."

Joseph McClellan kept the ferry at Patterson, as elsewhere noted. He also taught school in Mifflintown. He removed to Franklin County; his wife never returned; but he died in Mifflintown.

The old pioneer lived many long years on Clayland; then moved over the hills to the banks of Licking Creek, where he lived with some of his descendants, and he died about 1804, at a ripe old age, one-half a century after he first penetrated this (then) wilderness. His widow survived him. A lively town has sprung up on the land which he, by muscular force, cleared of its ancient forests; and of the hundreds living here in comfort, how few have ever even heard of John McClellan!

" Lieutenant John McClellan, son of John McClellan, at Patterson, was the first commissioned officer from this county in the cause of American freedom. He lived either on the Kepner farm below town, or possibly on the part of his father's tract above town. He had a wife and daughter. Shortly after the breaking out of the Revolution, William Hendricks raised a company in Cumberland County, as it then was, for Colonel William Thompson's regiment, which marched to Boston. A large part of the regiment was recruited in Juniata and Perry Counties. Some fifteen on the roll of eighty men in this company, of which McClellan was lieutenant, can be identified as residents of Juniata, and as many more correspond to the names of residents here about that time. They were a set of tall, hardy, bold frontiersmen, excellent marksmen, and attracted a great deal of attention along the route as they marched on foot from their homes all the way to Boston. They were dressed in homespun, armed with their own guns, and undisciplined.

About the 1st of September, Washington sent Benedict Arnold to Quebec to enlist the Canadian Provinces. The plan was to go by the way of the Kennebec and Dead Rivers, through the Wilderness, and down the Chaudiere River to Quebec, and capture this key to the upper St. Lawrence and the Lakes. It was a most fearful undertaking. After lying for a time in front of Boston, Hendricks' company, and that of Matthew Smith, of what is now Dauphin County, started September 11, l775, with the detachment which made the memorable expedition to Quebec. With the former company went McClellan, who died near Quebec, a martyr to the cause of liberty.

"They were two months on the march and for a good part of that time on short allowance. So desperate became their condition that dogs were killed and eaten. Even shoes and shot-pouches were boiled and eaten. John Joseph Henry, then a young man of seventeen, who passed through this ordeal, in after-life a judge of the Lancaster, York and Dauphin County Courts, wrote a narrative of the 'Expedition against Quebec,' from which are taken a few extracts relating to McClellan. On November 2d, after leaving Chaudiere Lake, some of the boats were wrecked at a cataract in the river, and McClellan, who had previously been in an enfeebled condition, was one of the injured. Judge Henry, who came upon the party, who, having lost all but their lives, were sitting around a fire on the shore, says 'Oh, God! what were our sensations. Poor McClellan was ... lying by the fire. He beckoned to us. His voice was not audible, Placing my ears close to his lips, the words he uttered, scarcely articulate, was "Farewell." Simpson, who loved him, gave him half the pittance of food he still poseessed, All I could give was - a tear.'

"The short, but melancholy story of this gentleman, so far as it has come to my knowledge of him, commenced in the camp near Boston. He was endowed with all those qualities which win the affections of men. Open, brave, sincere and a lover of truth.

" On the Dead River the variable wind brought on a cold, which affected his lungs. The tenderness of his friends conducted him safely, though much reduced, to the foot of the mountain, at the head of the Dead River. Hence he was borne in a litter across the mountain by his fellow-soldiers, Captain Hendricks assisting. From our camp McClellan was transported in the boat to the place where we found him. The crew conducting the boat ... descended unaware of the pitch before them, until they got nearly into the suck of the falls. Here, luckily, a rock presented, on which it was so contrived as to cause the boat to lodge. Now the crew, with great labor and danger, bore their unfortunate lieutenant to the shore where we found him.

"McClellan was left behind and two Indians were sent back for him in a canoe. They found him and three days later brought the then dying man to the first house down the stream. The following day he died, and his corpse received a due respect from inhabitants of the vicinage."

Thus, on Nov. 9, 1775, about eighty miles above Quebec, perished Lieutenant John McClellan, whose youth was spent where now flourishes the pleasant town of Patterson. His mother's name was Elizabeth Martin. McClellan's infant daughter was named Priscilla. November 6, 1787, Pennsylvania voted her a pension of one hundred and eighty pounds, in care of her grandfather. [Col. Rec. xv. 312] In later years she married David Greer, a weaver by trade. Priscilla Greer's daughter, Margaret, was the wife of Captain John H. McCrum, father of Colonel Ephraim B. McCrum. John Greer lives in Scranton. Jane moved to Selma, Ala. Betsey, the last of Priscilla's children in this county, died in 1885.

Among those who enlisted with McClellan from Juniata were Third Lieutenant George Francis, Sergeant William McCoy (afterwards second lieutenant of the Ninth Pennsylvania Line), Thomas Anderson, Joseph Caskey, John Chambers, Arthur Eccles, John Henderson, James Hogg, Daniel McClellan, James Reed, William Smith, Abraham Swaggerty, Joseph Wright and John Hardy (of whom, see an account under Milford township).

John McClellan, Sr., gave his son John, Jr., one hundred and one acres, in 1773, off the upper part of his tract. As his son died in the war a little later, he sold part of this tract to Thomas Gallagher, father of Robert C. Gallagher, long a well-known merchant in Mifflintown. It has been since known as the Wright farm; now Henry Groninger. Near by Gallagher had a shad fishery.

Thomas Gallagher came from Ireland; first lived with the Nelsons at Cedar Springs, then just above the Patterson Machine-Shops. He died in 1807; his children were Lucretia, Mary Ann, Thomas Andrew Nelson (the printer), Robert Cooper (the merchant), Harriet and Sophia.

Above this, on the river, was the Caleb Graydon survey of January 29, 1767. He sold it to Conrad Schue (Shuey), who moved upon it in 1791, and while there was instrumental in introducing Henry Ache (Aughey), Sr., also of Huguenot stock, his sister's husband, to purchase land and remove to the township in 1803. Shuey was an elder and active promoter of the first Lutheran organization in Mifflintown. He removed to Westmoreland County.

Above this is a tract of two hundred and eighteen acres, warranted August 4, 1767, to William Speedy. A small rift in the river, opposite, was called "Purdy's Riffles." He removed to Wyoming, for what reason is not known; but he there identified himself with the Connecticut people in their efforts to hold the land as far south as forty-first degree of latitude, which passes a mile north of Lewisburgh.

In December, 1776, Speddy volunteered in Captain John Clarke's company of Northumberland County, and served during the campaign of Trenton and Princeton. In 1782 he was one of the assessors of Buffalo township. His signature to the asessment is in a full, round, beautiful hand. In 1786 he disappears from the assessments of that county, but reappears in that year in Fermanagh tomnship, where he continues until 1791. He lived at a place called Speddy's Gap, near McAlisterville, where he died. He had a son William, Jr., who appears upon the tax-lists of Milford from 1782 to 1787, and in Fermanagh from 1791 to 1814, and his heirs to 1828, He had a son named Alexander, who was long known in Mifflintown as "A. Speddy Tailor," the name being pronounced "speedy." The last-named was the father of Editor John W. Speddy, of Port Royal. A further account of William Speddy will be found in the History of Union County. The lands of Speddy in Milford township later passed to John Elliot; are now owned by Baltzer Lauver. The Granger Picnic-Grounds are on the Speddy tract.

Above Speddy, on the river, is the survey of Agnes Wilson, three hundred and ten acres, April 2, 1767, of which tract Aaron Cotter got one hundred and thirty-eight acres, June 8, 1796. From him, a very deep place in the river near by has been known ever since as Cotter's Hole. Into this, it is related, some benevolent persons threw a cannon, used in former days for firing salutes at Mifflintown on the fourth of July, which had been the means of killing and wounding a number of persons. Another story is that it was done to prevent rival claimants at Lewistown from getting possession of the cannon.

Above this lived James Aiken. His survey had one hundred and sixty- seven acres, extending up to the Trout Run, and has on it now the station called Milford Siding. As far back as 1768 one Robert Gorrel, or Gorewell, lived here, and claimed these lands at the fording. They are now owned by George Heikes. Above this John Harris warranted sixty-eight acres, March 7, 1785, reaching round the end of the mountain, having on it the Black Log water plug. Here Foreman W. Cloyd Guss was killed by a passing train in January, 1882. Near by once lived a colored man named John Hall, who called himself "a one-horse Methodist preacher," and held forth to his brethren "up in Macedony." Before the making of the railroad there was no travel up the Narrows on this side of the river.

Above Agnes Wilson, westward, John Wilson took up one hundred and eighty-seven acres on warrant 4897. It was long the McCrum place, now heirs of James McKnight. Wilson's sons were Nathaniel and William.