CUMBERLAND Summer 2007 Volume Twenty-Four County History Number One
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CUMBERLAND Summer 2007 Volume Twenty-four County History Number One In This Issue Move Over, Molly Pitcher! Stanley Miller The Transformation of the Shippensburg Public Library Building john P Bland Ka ufman's Station at the Village of Boiling Springs Richard L. Tritt Narrow Escapes: Two Original Accounts of Civil War Shells in the Hands of Carlisle Civilians Mrer the War Edited by Barbara Houston Book Review Jenkins , The Real AI! Americans: The Team That Changed A Game, A People, A Nation Reviewed by Barbara Landis Notable Acquisitions, Hamilton Library- January through June 2007 Board of Directors Contributions Soli cited W illiam A. Dunca n, Pres id ent The editor invites articles, notes, or docu JeffreyS. Wood, Vice Pres ident ments on the hi story of C umberl and County Deborah H. Re itzel, Secretary and its people. Such articles may dea l with David Gori ry, Treasurer new areas of research or may review what has bee n wrinen and published in the past. Nancy W. Bergerr Manuscripts should be typed double Bill Burnen spaced. C itations should also be double James D. Flower, Jr. George Gardner spaced; rh ey should be placed at the end of Georgia G ish the rext. Electronic submiss ions should be Homer E. Henschen in Word format with any suggested graphics An n K. Hoffer digitized. Li nda Mohl er Humes Authors should fo ll ow rh e rules se t our in Steve Ka ufman rh e C hi cago Manual ofSty le. Earl R. Ke ll er Q ueri es co ncerning rh e content and form Virginia LaFond Robert Rahal of contributions may be se nt to the Editor at Rev. Mark Scheneman rh e Society. Hilary Simpson Membership and Subscription Publications Committee T he bas ic annual membership fee of the JeffreyS. Wood, C hairman C umberl and County Histori cal Society is Dr. Paul G ill $35. Al l members receive Cumberland County Paul Hoch H istOI)' as parr of their membership. Indi Dr. C had Kimmel vidual iss ues may be purchased for $7 each. C hristine Musser Corres pondence concerning membership Robert Rowland and subscriptions should be addressed to rh e Merri Lou Schaumann Executi ve Director ar rhe Society. C harles Stone Hilary Simpso n James Terry Cumberl and Coun ty Histo ri ca l Society 2 1 North Pin Street Executive Director P.O. Box 626 Linda F. Witmer Carlisle, PA I 7013 Guest Editor David L. Smith Assistant Editor Barbara Houston Photo Editors Ri chard Trin Bob Schwa rtz © 2007 The Cumberland Counry Hisrori ca l Sociery, Carlisle, PA A copy oft!H• ojjirinl registmtio11 ofrbt• Cumbaln11d Coull/)' Historiml Society may be obtni11edji'0111 t!Je l'enwyl11nllin Depnrtmtllt ofSrme by mlli11g rollfi'ee wit!Jilll'tiiW)'IIInllin 1-800-732-0999. Regisrmrio11 does 110t imp6• endorsement. CUMBERLAND COUNTY HISTORY Cumberland County Historical Summer 2007 Society and Hamilton Library Volume Twenty-four Association: Carlisle Number One In This Issue Move Over, Molly Pitcher! ... ....................... .... ............................................. 3 Stanley Miller The Transformation of the Shippensburg Public Library Building .............. 25 john P Bland Kaufman's Station at the Village of Boiling Springs ........... .. ....................... 36 Richmd L. Tritt Narrow Escapes: Two Original Accounts of Civil War Shells in the Hands of Carlisle Civilians Mter the War ........................ .. ............. .. 48 Edited by Barbara Houston Book Review Jenkins, The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed A Game, A People, A Nation ............................................... ......... .. ............ .. ....... ..... .. 53 Reviewed by Barbara Landis Notable Acquisitions, Hamilton Library- January through June 2007 ...... 54 Contributors Stanley Miller is professor emeritus at The Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Historic Peace Church. His most recent contribution to the Journal was pub lished in 2003. John P Bland is a retired military and commercial aviator. He recently com pleted graduate work in Applied History at Shippensburg University. The Society recently published his research on the Prisoner ofWar Camp at Pine Grove, entitled Secret \Vtz1· at Home. He volunteers regularly at the Hamilton Library and continues research on a variety of local history topics. Richard L. Tritt has been the Photo Curator at CCHS since 1990. In 1995 he was one of the co-editors of At a Place Called the Boiling Springs, a compre hensive history of the town of Boiling Springs. Barbara Houston is the Library Cataloger at CCHS and assistant editor of this edition of the Journal. 2 MOVE OVER, MOLLY PITCHER! by D1~ Stanley Miller Two women trudged alongside the American soldiers through 350 miles of uninhabited primeval wilderness in Maine, following a faulty map of an un marked route to Quebec. The terrain with its hills and deep ravines, the rivers, rapids and ponds with their bogs and marshes, and the forest with its fallen trees and rotting debris were obstacles that would have challenged the best of woodsmen. It was late in the year, and it would snow before their trek was over. When the marshes and bogs froze, the soldiers broke the surface ice with their gun butts as they waded through the water. Food provisions ran low, then fi nally ran out, and starvation became a real possibility. Some of the tired, dis colll·aged soldiers sat down by the side of the path so exhausted and weak that they could not take another step, and died there along the trail. Yet the two women endured that terrible march to Quebec in 1775, which was made in the unsuccessful attempt to win Canada in order to make it the fourteenth colony. Tragically both women were killed during the siege of Quebec. The suffering they endured alongside the soldiers on that frightful expedition, and their deaths at the siege of Quebec, qualify them for a place in the front row of heroines of the American Revolutionary War. The two women are genuine, but overlooked, heroines. Not only is their heroism not honored, they are not even remembered. The purpose of this ar ticle is not to enter the discussion of who Molly Pitcher was but rather this paper is put forward as an advocacy of making room for Susannah Grier and Jemima Warner in the pantheon of heroines of the Revolutionary War. 1 There are no stone memorials, or statues, or heroic paintings, or even a plaque to commemorate their heroism. History books ignore them, and even schoolbook histories fail to acknowledge Susannah Grier and Jemima Warner. In their na tive south central Pennsylvania, they remain unknown and unrecognized. It's likely that most readers never heard of them, possibly because the later dishon ored Benedict Arnold was the leader of that unsuccessful fateful expedition and because the women never returned. 3 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Marker. Market Street, Camp Hill. Photo by David L. Smith Captain William Hendricks, however, is deservedly commemorated by a Penn sylvania Historical and Museum Commission roadside marker on Market Street in Camp Hill for his participation in the expedition. Susannah Grier was mar ried to Sergeant Joseph Grier in Hendricks' company of riflemen recruited in Cumberland County. 2 Jemima Warner was married to Private James Warner in Captain Mathew Smith's company recruited in present day Dauphin County.3 The Colonel of the battalion to which the companies belonged was William Thompson of Carlisle, recognized with a plaque at his grave site in Carlisle's Old Graveyard on South Street.4 After the British army occupied Boston in 1775 and Lexington became a household word, militia from New England rushed to the area and hills around Boston to prevent the British from moving inland. Most people remember the Battle of Bunker (Breed's) Hill as the major conflict of that effort. The militia were patriots but undisciplined by the standards of a regular army.5 Many were untrained, officers were elected and obeyed when the men agreed with the or der, men often left the ranks to go home when they felt they were needed to take care of their farms, and each state had its own hierarchy of officers. The Continental Congress appointed George Washington to be the commanding general over all of the militia and soldiers because of the need for a unified command. 4 ' . '- ---::~jj~;:. - - THOMPSON~S :< PENNS~~ UV~NI~ RIP.~E BATir~~l:a . -- l ~ .r -·!.-:'-· -·-... -->~'2. --~-·-~ ., . - CAPTAIN HENDRICKS! ·cb~PAN~ WAS P.AR-1i OF. A BATTALI ON RAISED __ ey; ~t;)¥:t\~IQU~ ~ iTHOMP.SO~ OF. CARLISlE ON THE CAUl ;OF~TCHE~CPNiTiiNENT~l! CONGRESS, JUNE 14, it7.5 ~- AS ~SUCH ~~~ ~WAS 0 E OF. ·=~ _, __-- ·-~ ~ .. _:._ .. _. .., .... __ ,.. THE FI RST 10 COMPANIES ~ Ot:fWHAiTt] IS ~ NOW !~:HE - _-' -·~- ::'-""-.~-,_.._- : ·;,. ... ~~-----"-" -~~....... ---·~-- UNITEitSJAl!E~:t~.RM~f . - -:x::. :2:~ IN MEMORY OF MOLliE :: Mc ·F~NN @ H 'AwUi~i~- - ~~ · -~ ·:-::-:~ ·:·.·_--:.:-._--_~---:~~~:_.::·-_ ·_:-";- . -~ THE THOMPSON BATTALI0N c· M£.MO)(!~l~ P~~~~t:~5!~ Thompson Battalion marker in the Old Graveyard, Carlisle, PA. Photo by Stanley Miller It also became apparent that long term dependable soldiers directly respon sible to General Washington and Congress were needed. When General Wash ington arrived at Cambridge, he did not know how many men were in the army or how many were ready for active service or for how long. Consequently Con gress on 14 June 1775 directed the raising of ten rifle companies- six of them from Pennsylvania with the officers appointed by Congress.6 This was the be ginning of the Continental Line, regiments raised by the Continental Congress for long term service. 7 Recruitment in Pennsylvania was so successful that six companies were quickly raised, then expanded to eight and eventually to nine, which were combined into a battalion or regiment under Colonel Thompson of Carlisle.