Mason and Dixon – Indian Troubles – Stamp Act- Connecticut and Virginia Claims-First-Continental Congress — Second Continental Congress – Declaration of Independence – New Constitution for Pennsylvania – Retirement of Governor Penn and the Proprietary Assembly – Evacuation of Boston – Attack on Charleston – British take New York – Battle of Trenton – Princeton – Assembly of the New Legislature — Brandywine – The British Occupy Philadelphia -Attack on Fort Mercer – Battle of Germantown – Valley Forge – Aid from France – Evacuation of Philadelphia – Battle of Monmouth – Abolition of Slavery in Pennsylvania – Wyoming Massacre – Overtures of Peace – Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line – Disaster of Colonel Crawford- Peace – Revolt of Pennsylvania Troops – Treaty of’ Fort Stanwix – Constitution of United States Framed and Adopted – New Constitution for State- Whisky Insurrection – War of 1812 – Coal – Public Schools – Revision of Constitution -Buckshot War – Mexican War – Sale of Public Works – Petroleum and Gas – Secession – Invasion of Pennsylvania – Battle of Gettysburg – Burning of Chambersburg – Soldiers Orphan Schools – Revision of the Constitution – Centennial Exposition – Riots of 1877 -Extra Session of the Legislature.

THE boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland had been a source of vexation between the two proprietaries for many years. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two able mathematicians and surveyors, were appointed by the proprietors to survey the line. They arrived in Philadelphia in November, 1763, carrying with them the most perfect instruments then known to science, and at once entered upon their work. After about three years’ labor they had reached a point 244 miles from the Delaware, and within thirty-six miles of the western limit of the State, when the Six Nations gave notice that the survey should proceed no farther. So the party returned to Philadelphia. The remainder of the line was finished in 1782-84 by other surveyors. From the fact that this was subsequently the mark of division between the free and slave States, Mason and Dixon’s line became familiar in American politics.

John Penn, grandson of the founder, had come to the colony in 1753, and, having acted as president of the Council, was in 1763 commissioned governor in place of Hamilton.

Indian barbarities still continuing along the frontier, Governor Penn sent Colonel Bouquet against them. Bouquet marched his Pennsylvanians as far as the Muskingum and compelled the Indians to sue for peace and to give up all the English captives who had been carried away during the years of trouble.

The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1765. This was an act to lay a uniform tax on stamped paper in all the colonies, to realize funds for the common defense. Prior to this Parliament had adopted a tax on imports, to be paid in coin. These acts excited bitter opposition. A congress of delegates assembled in New York in October, 1765. Messrs. Fox, Morton, Bryan, and Dickinson were the delegates from Pennsylvania. A petition was sent to the king, and a memorial to Parliament. So strong was the opposition of the colonists to the measures of Parliament, that the Stamp Act was repealed the following year. A duty on tea, paper, etc., was the next step taken by the British government to raise revenue off the colonies. This measure was opposed as strenuously by the people and their assemblies as the former acts had been, and in 1770 this tax was abolished, except three pence a pound on tea. The effect on the people, however, was the same, as it was the principle of “taxation without representation” that they objected to.

On the death of his father, Richard (1771), Governor John Penn returned to England, and his younger brother, Richard, was appointed governor. He won the esteem of the people during the two years of his service, when, he was superseded in 1773 by his brother John.

Maryland was not the only claimant of the territory embraced in Penn’s province. Connecticut claimed and actually colonized a large part of the northern section of Pennsylvania, including the Wyoming valley, and Virginia claimed the section in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The Connecticut claim was not finally adjusted until 1802, when Congress decided in favor of Pennsylvania.

Trouble with the mother country now became imminent. The principle of taxation was maintained by the government and as stoutly resisted by the colonies. On the 4th of September, 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia. It was resolved that no more goods be imported from England, and that, unless a pacification was effected previously, no more colonial produce of the soil be exported thither after September 10, 1775. A declaration of rights was adopted and addresses to the king, the people of Great Britain, and of British America were adopted.

The government of Great Britain determined with a strong hand to compel obedience to its behests. The battle of Lexington was fought on the 19th of April, 1775. The colonies were aroused by the blow. A public meeting was held in Philadelphia and it was resolved to organize military companies in all the counties. The second Continental Congress met in May, and provided for organizing an army, fixing the quota for Pennsylvania at 4,300 men. The capture of Ticonderoga on May 10, and the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, followed. Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental army. Congress recommended action by the several colonies, which meant the deposition of the royal governors. A new constitution was resolved upon by the delegates at a colonial meeting in Philadelphia.

A resolution was introduced in Congress June 7, 1776, declaring that “the United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States.” A committee. (consisting of Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Livingston, and Sherman) was appointed to draft a declaration. It was reported June 28, and adopted July 4. An engrossed copy of the declaration was made, which was signed on the 2d of August following. The convention for framing a new constitution for Pennsylvania met on the 15th of July, elected Franklin president, framed a new organic law, and made all necessary provisions for putting it in operation. The old proprietary Assembly adjourned on the 28th of September never to meet again, and with it ended the power of Governor Penn. He remained in this country, living at his country seat in Buck’s county, until his death, which occurred in 1795. In 1779 the Legislature passed an act vesting the estates of the proprietors in the commonwealth, but paying them a gratuity of 130;000 pounds, “in remembrance of the enterprising spirit of the Founder.” This act did not touch the private estates of the proprietors. England still pays the heirs of Penn an annuity of 4,000 pounds.

The British government raised an army of 72,000 men, 17,000 of whom were hired Hessians. Congress issued bills of credit amounting to $6,000,000. Washington compelled Howe to evacuate Boston in March, 1776. The following June Sir Henry, Clinton and Sir Peter Parker made a combined land and naval attack on the defenses of Charleston harbor, and were repulsed by the Carolina militia under General William Moultrie.

The British forces withdrew to New York, where they were met by reinforcements under Lord Howe, and compelled Washington to withdraw from the city. The patriot army retreated across New Jersey and took position on the right bank of the Delaware, on Pennsylvania soil. Cornwallis followed with a heavy detachment. On the night of the 25th of December Washington recrossed the Delaware with a picked body of men, surprised the Hessians posted at Trenton, killed some fifty, and took over a thousand prisoners with their stores, arms, and ammunition. This success inspired the little army with new courage and saved Philadelphia from falling into the hands of the enemy. A second action, at Princeton, N.J., gave Washington a partial success; but being outnumbered he withdrew and went into winter quarters at Morristown.

On the 4th of March, 1777, the two houses of the Legislature, elected under the new constitution, assembled, and in joint convention chose Thomas Wharton, jr., president, under the high-sounding title of “His, Excellency, Thomas Wharton, Junior, Esquire, President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, Captain General, and Commander-in-chiefs, in and over the same.”

Early in the spring indications pointed to Philadelphia as the point of attack by the British army. Enlistments were urged, and General Benedict Arnold was put in command of a camp opened in Pennsylvania for drilling recruits. In midsummer Lord Howe embarked a force of 19,500 men on a fleet of 300 transports, and sailed southward from New York to Chesapeake Bay and up the bay to within fifty-four miles of Philadelphia, where he debarked. Washington had meanwhile crossed the Delaware from New Jersey, passed through Philadelphia, and confronted Howe near the Brandywine. After a brisk skirmish Washington withdrew across the Brandywine, taking position at Chad’s Ford, where, on the 11th of September, a pitched battle ensued. A detachment of the British moved up the river beyond the right flank of the Americans, where they crossed, and returning took the army under Washington by surprise. Overborne by numbers, the Americans were compelled to retire. Lafayette was wounded in this battle.

The British still advanced toward Philadelphia, and on the 16th Washington made another stand some twenty miles west of Philadelphia; but a rain storm wet the powder of the patriot soldiers, which prevented a general engagement. On the 20th General Wayne, who had a small detachment scouting in the rear of the enemy, was surprised by the British, who gave no quarter, putting all to the sword but a few whom, chance favored to escape. This slaughter is known as the Paoli massacre. On the 18th of September Congress adjourned from Philadelphia to meet at Lancaster, and on the 30th removed across the Susquehanna to York, where it remained in session till the following summer. The Council adjourned to Lancaster. On the 26th the British army entered Philadelphia.

The defenses on the Delaware were still in possession of the Americans. Accordingly, on the 21st of October Count Donop, with a force of 2,500 men, made an attack on Fort Mercer, at Red Bank; but the resolute defenders compelled the British to retreat, with a loss of over 400 men, and their leader mortally wounded. The British next bombarded the fort for six days, and, not succeeding in its reduction, they at last brought their large vessels close under the walls of the fort and manned the yard arms with sharpshooters, who drove the gunners from their posts, and the fort fell into the hands of the enemy, leaving the navigation of the Delaware open to the British.

On the 3d of October Washington’s army attacked the British at Germantown. At first the promise of victory was fair; but the enemy proved too strong in numbers and position, and Washington retired to his camp at White Marsh, nearly sixteen miles away.

Here Howe endeavored to surprise him on the 4th of December, but Lydia Darrah, a Philadelphia lady, brought the intelligence to Washington in time to prepare to receive the British. Howe returned to the city without accomplishing anything. Washington now crossed the Schuylkill and went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. The patriot army, half clad and poorly fed, suffered severely, the prints of their naked feet in snow and on frozen ground being often tinted with blood. Sir Henry Clinton was, appointed by the ministry of Great Britain to succeed Lord Howe.

A treaty with France secured that government as an ally of the Americans against the English. A fleet of four frigates and twelve ships was dispatched under command of Count D’Estaing to shut up the British fleet in the Delaware. Intelligence of the sailing of the French fleet reached the English cabinet, and the evacuation of the Delaware was immediately ordered. The fleet withdrew to New York, and Clinton evacuated Philadelphia, moving across New Jersey toward New York. Washington followed and came up with the enemy at Monmouth, on the 28th of June, where a battle was fought, resulting in a victory for the American troops. Congress returned to Philadelphia from York, as did also the Colonial Legislature from Lancaster. General Arnold, who was wounded at Saratoga, was given command in Philadelphia, and occupied the city with a regiment the day following the evacuation.

The death of President Wharton made Vice-President George Bryan acting president. Bryan perfected a bill for the extinguishment of claims to slaves, which was passed by the Assembly March 1, 1780. It provided that no child of slave parents, born after that date, should be a slave, but a servant till the age of twenty-eight years, when all claim for service should end. In this manner was slavery forever rooted out of Pennsylvania.

During the summer of 1778, twelve hundred Tories and Indians made a descent from the north into the Wyoming Valley. Most of the able bodied men were in the patriot army. The old men and boys, numbering about four hundred, resolutely met the invaders, but were overborne by numbers and put to the sword. A few escaped to Forty Fort. Humane terms of surrender were agreed upon, and the families returned to their homes; but the savages treacherously fell upon them, and the night of the 5th of July was given to indiscriminate slaughter. This bloody incident is known as the “Wyoming Massacre.”

Early in this year the British government made overtures of peace, after Parliament had abolished the taxes which were so offensive to the colonies. Promises were extended to forgive all past offenses, but Congress refused to listen to any proposals so long as the English armies remained on American soil. One of the committee sent by the British government, named Johnstone, proposed to General Reed that if he would lend his aid to bring about terms of pacification, ten thousand guineas and the best office in the country should be his. The answer of the patriot general Was, “My influence is but small, but were it as great as Governor Johnstone would insinuate, the king of Great Britain has nothing in his gift that would tempt me.”

Joseph Reed was elected president of the Pennsylvania Legislature and inaugurated on the 1st of December, 1778. At the request of Washington, President Reed was invested with extraordinary powers in 1780, which he used with prudence and good effect. During the winter of this year some of the soldiers of the Pennsylvania line mutinied and marched on Philadelphia with arms. They had enlisted for “three years or the war,” meaning three years unless the war closed sooner. The authorities had interpreted it to mean three years, or as much longer as the war should last. President Reed met the mutineers, heard their cause, and pledged himself to have all discharged who had honorably served the full term of three years if they would return to camp. The soldiers agreed, to this proposition. Before the arrival of President Reed, two emissaries from the enemy came into camp, offering inducements for the soldiers to continue the revolt. The mutineers spurned the offer and delivered them over to the officers, by whom they were tried and executed as spies. A reward was offered the soldiers for this manifestation of patriotism, but they refused it, saying that what they had done was for love of their country, and they would accept no reward.

William Moore was elected president to serve from November 14, 1781. A body of four hundred volunteers, from Washington and Westmoreland counties, was called out, under command of Colonel William Crawford, to chastise the hostile Ohio Indians. The expedition was unfortunate, being defeated, dispersed, and their leader captured and burned at the stake. Crawford county was soon after named in honor of this unfortunate soldier.

In 1782 John Dickinson was chosen president of Pennsylvania. The following year the independence of the colonies was acknowledged, and the joy at the return of peace was unspeakable. The soldiers of Burgoyne, who had been confined in the prison camp at Lancaster, were sent to New York. In June another revolt occurred among the Pennsylvania troops, because of the delay in their payment and discharge. Congress demanded that the State militia should be called out to quell the insurgents. The Council refused to resort to this extreme measure, and Congress left Philadelphia in pique, establishing itself at Princeton, N.J., and afterward at Annapolis, Md.

In October, 1784, the last treaty was concluded with the Indians at Fort Stanwix. All the land north of the Ohio River and the line of Pine Creek was purchased from the natives. This purchase completed the entire limits of the State, with the exception of the “Erie Triangle,” which was acquired from the United States in 1792.

Benjamin Franklin was elected president of the Council in 1785. In May, 1787, the convention to frame a constitution for the United States met in Philadelphia. Upon the completion of their work the instrument was submitted to the several States for adoption. Pennsylvania adopted the constitution on the 12th of December. Thomas Mifflin was elected president of the Council on the 5th of November, 1788. A convention assembled in November, 1789, to prepare a new constitution for the State, which was adopted on September 2, 1790. The Council was abolished, and the executive duties were vested in the hands of a governor. Legislation was intrusted to an Assembly and a Senate.

Thomas Mifflin was elected governor under the new Constitution, and served three successive terms. A system of internal improvements was undertaken and a great debt was accumulated. The Bank of Pennsylvania was chartered in 1793, and continued to exist until 1857. The yellow fever visited Philadelphia in 1793, and nearly 5,000 perished by the pestilence. The whisky insurrection in some of the western counties of the State occurred in 1794. The counties comprising the southwestern quarter of the State were engaged almost exclusively in the production of grain. Being distant from any market, a 1arge proportion of the surplus grain was turned into distilled spirits, on which Congress laid a tax of four pence per gallon in 1791. This tax bore heavily on these people, and they formed a determination to resist its collection. Acts of violence followed. In 1792 the tax was reduced. President Washington issued a proclamation commanding all persons to submit to the law, but without effect. The insurgents organized for forcible resistance, and assembled at Braddock’s field to move on to Pittsburgh. Governor Mifflin took measures to ascertain the facts about the trouble and bring the leaders to justice. President Washington called out the militia of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, to the number of 13,000 men, to quell the insurrection. Governor Mifflin took command of the Pennsylvania troops, and Washington himself accompanied the army. This had the effect to change the attitude of the insurgents. Washington proceeded as far as Bedford, but the submission of the people rendered it unnecessary to go any farther. A number of arrests were made, but all were ultimately pardoned.

The capital of the State was removed to Lancaster in 1799. Thomas McKean was elected governor the same year, and Simon Snyder in 1808. Harrisburg was made the State capital in 1810. In 1812 war was declared against Great Britain. The national call for 100,000 men required 14,000 from this State; but so great was the enthusiasm that several times this number tendered their services. Pennsylvania did not suffer from invasion during this war. Her troops and sailors participated in the various actions of the war, and it was in Erie harbor that the fleet was organized that won the signal victory under Perry, on Lake Erie. General Smith, a Pennsylvania veteran of the Revolution, repulsed the invading army under General Ross, near Baltimore, where Ross was killed.

William Findley was elected governor in 1817, Joseph Hiester in 1820, and Andrew Schulz in 1823. During this period the State banks set a flood of paper money afloat, lines of canals were opened and vast debts incurred.

Coal was discovered and used in the State as early as 1769, but little was known of its importance until an accident brought about a knowledge of how to make it burn. In 1820, 365 tons were sent to Philadelphia, which amount glutted the market. In 1885 the production of anthracite coal in the State was 31,750,546 tons, and of bituminous coal 20,647,720 tons. The bituminous coal was discovered and utilized a little earlier than the anthracite, a cargo having been. sent down the Susquehanna from Clearfield county in 1804.

Iron ore was discovered and worked soon after Philadelphia was laid out. It is not known when or where the first forge was erected. In 1717 Jonathan Dickinson spoke of the great expectations of the iron works forty miles up the Schuylkill. Where they were situated is not settled. It is supposed that the reference was to the Coventry forge, on the French Creek, in Chester county, which is said to have been built by a man named Nutt. It is said to have gone into operation in 1720. But a forge is also mentioned in March, 1719 or 1720, at Manatawney, now Montgomery county.

The first mention of iron-making in Pennsylvania in Minutes of Council is February 24, 1726, where it is stated that “several companies are already engaged in carrying on iron-works.” In 1728 Mr. Logan wrote that there were four furnaces in Pennsylvania in blast. In 1730 there were four furnaces, nine forges, and two bloomeries, which manufactured 1,072 tons pig iron and about 300 tons bar iron. One hundred years later the product of forty-five furnaces was about 40,000 tons, which grew in the next seventeen years (1847) to over 380,000 tons, from 522 establishments. The products of 810 establishments in the State, engaged in the manufacture of iron and its various products during the year 1885 were valued at more than $120,000,000. This sum is a decided decrease from that of some preceding years. Pennsylvania has long ranked first of the States in the Union in the production of iron.

During the administrations of George Wolf; elected in 1829, and Joseph Ritner, elected in 1835, a system of public education was established and brought into a good degree of successful operation. Attention had early been given to education in the colony. In. 1749 a charter was obtained for a college, academy, and charity school of Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania was chartered in 1752, Dickinson College in 1783, Franklin and Marshall College in 1787, and Jefferson College in 1802. Charters were granted for academies at the county seats of forty-one counties, and appropriations were made of money, and in several instances of land grants. In 1809 an act was passed for the education of the “poor, gratis.” By the act of 1834 a general system of education by common schools was established. It was complex and unwieldy, and in 1836 a new bill was adopted; and from this time forward the system has been in efficient operation. In 1854 the system was improved by establishing the county superintendency, and in 1859 by providing for State Normal schools for the professional training of teachers.

The constitution was revised in 1837-38. The “Buckshot War” occurred at the opening of Governor David R. Porter’s term, who was chosen in 1838. The origin of this commotion was the attempt on the part of the Anti-Masonic party to “revise” the returns of the election, which gave Porter (the Democratic candidate) some 5,000 majority. Anarchy prevailed for a time at Harrisburg. Two speakers were elected. An infuriated lobby from Philadelphia and other cities collected and took possession of the two Houses, driving the members from the chambers. The militia were called out and supplied with buckshot cartridges. The capitol was cleared, but, Governor Porter duly inaugurated.

Francis R. Shunk was chosen governor in 1845. The Mexican War occurred during his term of office. Two volunteer regiments under Colonels Wynkoop and Roberts were sent to the field. Colonel John W. Geary afterwards succeeded Roberts in command of the second regiment. William F. Johnston succeeded Governor Shunk. William Bigler was elected in 1851, James Pollock in 1854, and William F. Packer in 1857. During these administrations the lines of public works undertaken at the expense of the State were completed. Their cost had been enormous, and a debt of over $40,000,000 was piled, up against the commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company purchased them during Governor Pollock’s administration for $7,500,000.

In the administration of Governor Packer petroleum was discovered in quantities in this State by boring into the bowels of the earth. From the earliest settlement of the country it was known to exist. As early as 1627 Joseph Delaroche Daillon, a French missionary, described it in a letter published in 1632. Fathers Dollier and Galinee made a map of this section of the country in 1670, on which was marked, at about the point where the town of Cuba, N.Y., is now situated, “Fontaine de Bitume.” The governor of New York instructed his chief engineer, Romer, in 1700, in his visit to the Six Nations, to examine a spring that he was told blazed in a flame when fire was brought into contact with it. The French give an account of an Indian dance, near where now is Oil City, at which oil was burned that had been gathered from the surface of the water in the creek.

In nearly all geographies and notes of travel published during the early period of settlement, this oil is referred to, and on several maps the word petroleum appears opposite the mouth of Oil Creek. Washington, in his will, mentions a bituminous spring on his lands on the Great Kanawha, and Jefferson, in his “Notes on Virginia,” gives an account of a burning spring on the same river. This oil seems to have been gathered in very early times. Upon the flats a mile or so below the city of Titusville are many acres of cradle-holes dug out and lined with split logs, evidently constructed for the purpose of gathering oil. Trees of large size are growing in the midst of these cradles, so that they must have been operated long ago. This may have been the work of the mound builders. Even in later times the oil was collected by throwing a woolen blanket upon pools of water, where oil was floating on the surface, and then wringing it into a tub.

But it remained for Mr. E.L. Drake to open a new enterprise, by drilling into the earth, and, after many discouraging experiences, when about to give up in despair, finally to strike a strong current of oil. From this time forward the business of drilling for oil has been rapidly developed, until it has extended over a wide area of Western Pennsylvania, and into the adjoining States of New York, Ohio, and West Virginia. The oil has been found in paying quantities in McKean, Warren, Forest, Crawford, Venango, Clarion, Butler, Armstrong, and Washington counties. It was first transported in barrels loaded on wagons and drawn by teams. Flat-boats carried thousands of barrels down the Allegheny River from Oil City to Pittsburgh in the early days of development. Lines of railway were soon constructed from the nearest trunk lines. Barrels gave place to immense iron tanks riveted upon cars, and finally great pipe lines were extended from the wells to the seaboard and to the immense refineries on the Great Lakes, through which the fluid is forced by steam power to its distant destinations.

The production has been enormous, having reached a grand total of over three hundred million barrels up to January 1, i887, and seems as yet to show no signs of diminution.

In addition to the oil, the prodigious volume of gas that issues from the wells in some parts of the territory has been utilized, and towns and cities are now lighted and heated by this product of the earth’s interior. Manufactories are supplied with this subtle fuel carried through pipe lines from the wells, and economy and convenience of its use bid fair to have a lasting beneficial influence upon the business interests of this section of the country.

Andrew G. Curtin was elected governor in 1860, and Abraham Lincoln president of the United States. Fifteen of the slave States seceded from the Union and established a separate government, under the name of the Confederate States of America. On the 12th of April, 1861, an attack was made upon a garrison of United States troops holding Fort Sumter. On the 15th the president summoned 75,000 volunteers, to serve for three months, calling for sixteen regiments from Pennsylvania. Instead of sixteen, twenty-five regiments were organized in this State. Governor Curtin obtained permission from the Legislature to organize a select corps of thirteen regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one of artillery, to serve within the State for its defense against invasion; but at the time of the first Bull Run disaster, in July, 1861, the national government being without troops to defend its capital, the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps was called out of the State, and fought gallantly on many a bloody field during the three years’ term of service. During the war Pennsylvania furnished a grand total of more than 350,000 men to serve in the armies of the republic.

In 1862 the Confederates, under General J.E.B. Stewart, invaded Pennsylvania, and burned some buildings at Chambersburg. In June of the following year General Lee led his entire army (of Northern Virginia) into this State. The Army of the Potomac, under General Hooker, followed. General George G. Meade was appointed to supersede Hooker while the army was on the march. The vanguards of the armies met at Gettysburg on the 1st of July. For three days the battle raged with relentless fury. General Reynolds fell on the first day, and the First and Eleventh Corps of the Federal army were forced to retire after a desperate struggle, and to take position on the heights south of the town. During the night reinforcements continued to come up for both armies, and preparations were made to renew the struggle. On the second day the battle opened on the extreme left of the Union army by an attack from the Confederate right. After a bloody slaughter the Union troops lost ground, but still continued to hold Little Round Top, the key to their position. In the evening of the same day a desperate charge was made on the center of the Union line, but the Confederates were repulsed with terrible loss. About the same time an attack was made on the extreme right of Meade’s army, which had been weakened by withdrawing troops to other parts of the field, and the line was occupied and held by the Confederates during the night. On the morning of the third, the battle opened for the recovery of this part of the line and raged with great fury until ten o’clock, when the Confederates were driven from the position and the line of rifle pits was reoccupied by the Union troops.

About two o’clock a heavy artillery fire was opened on the Union line, which was responded to for two hours. Rarely has such a cannonade been heard on any field. A corps of 18,000 Confederates now advanced upon the Union line. A concentrated artillery fire was opened upon the column, with fearful effect. When the advance had come within musket range the Union troops poured in a murderous fire. Still on came the brave Southerners, and actually crossed the Union lines; but the slaughter was too terrible to withstand. Many were killed or captured; a small remnant staggered back, and the battle of Gettysburg was won for the Union.

The losses on the Union side were 2,834 killed, 13,709 wounded, and 6,643 missing, an aggregate of 23,186. Of the Confederates 13,621 prisoners were taken, and their loss in killed and wounded must have been equal to that on the Union side.

Gettysburg was the culminating battle of the war, and from that time forward the fortunes of the Confederacy continued to wane. During the summer of 1864 Pennsylvania was again invaded by a force of Confederates, and almost the entire town of Chambersburg was laid in ashes.

The war ended in 1865. The State provided schools for the soldiers’ orphans, furnishing food, clothing, instruction, and care until the age of sixteen. The number thus cared for up to January 1, 1887, has been about 14,000, at an annual expense of about $375,000.

John W. Geary was elected governor in 1866. A convention for a revision of the constitution assembled in 1872, and the instrument was framed and adopted in 1873. John F. Hartranft became governor in 1873. The first centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was celebrated in 1876, by holding an international exposition in Philadelphia. The exposition opened on the 10th of May and closed on the 10th of November, with a total attendance of 9,789,392. The largest number of people admitted on any one day was 274,919, on Pennsylvania Day, September 28. During Hartranft’s administration occurred the great strike (1877), when travel and traffic were suspended for some time. At Pittsburgh and Scranton conflicts occurred, in which a number of people lost their lives. An uneasy feeling prevailed for several weeks, but the National Guard, assisted by the Regulars, at length succeeded in restoring order, and business again assumed its usual course.

In 1878 Henry F. Hoyt was chosen governor, and Robert E. Pattison was elected in 1882. The Legislature which met in 1883, having adjourned without passing a congressional apportionment bill, was reconvened by the governor in extra session, and remained in session from June to December without agreeing upon a bill.

General James A. Beaver was elected governor in 1886, and is the present incumbent.

SOURCE:  Page(s) 27-38, History of Clarion County, A.J. Davis, A.J.; Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co. 1887

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