The Covenanters of Lower Chanceford

Been a long time since I posted here but I stumbled on the Rev. Alexander Craighead (aka Creaghead), who was an early Presbyterian minister in PA and then points south.  One of the Covenanters and apparently a man very firm in his beliefs, who had problems making common cause with other Presbyterians. 

From the introduction to one of his works:

"At the time of the renewal of the Covenants, in 1743, there were at least seven regularly organized Covenanter societies in Eastern Pennsylvania, in each of which were ruling elders, as follows: Middle Octorara, Lancaster County, with elders Samuel Irwin, Josiah Kerr, and Robert Laughead. Pequea, Lancaster County, with elders Neal McNaughton, William Ramsey, and Joseph Walker. Muddy Run, Lancaster County, with elders Joseph Bell and John Brownlee. Lower Chanceford, York County, with elders Samuel Hawthorne and Samuel Jackson. Paxtang, Dauphin County, with elders James Brown, James Mitchel, and Andrew Smith. Rocky Spring, Franklin County, with elders Christopher Houston and James Willson. Rock Creek, Adams County, with elders Robert McCullock and Thomas Wilson. No doubt many of these elders, and a large number of the people, were present at Middle Octorara, and entered into the proceedings of the solemn covenanting occasion."

Helen's in the New York Times

Thanks to Beth Chase, whom I've invited to be a co-author of the blog, we know that Helen Harshaw's appointment as a secretary in the YWCA in China was announced in the New York Times on June 4, 1915 (just after the sinking of the Lusitania, as an article on the same page makes clear.)

More on Mac

Okay:
we know in the summer of 1915 he was in North Fenton with John and Ada on the farm.  He was 18 then.

He graduated from high school in 1914, so presumably he had just finished his freshman year at the U of Minnesota.

That would make him a junior the spring of 1917 (assuming he was doing the usual 4 year course).  Did he complete his year  before enlisting in the Army?  How did he qualify as an officer with only 3 years of college or did he finish in 3+ years and graduate before enlisting?

Assume he's demobilized in the winter of 1918/19, so returns to college in the fall of 1919.  If he has 1 year to complete that would mean he graduates in 1920. 

Presumably he spends the 1920's doing graduate work, researching, and possibly teaching.

He's doing research in 1923--don't know if he got a masters before his doctorate. He resigned as an assistant in biochemistry at the U of MN in 1923, perhaps at the end of the school year?He gets his doctorate from University of Missouri in the mid 20's. He's listed as a member of Sigma Xi (dad also was) the chemistry honorary society at U of Nebraska 1928/2.

In the spring of 1929 he resigns from U of Nebraska to take a post at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee.  That's where the family is when Marjorie is born.

On Lincoln Memorial University, from a recent history: " Located near Cumberland Gap in the rugged hills of East Tennessee, Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) was founded in 1897 to help disadvantaged Appalachian youth and reward the descendents of Union loyalists in the region. Its founder was former Union General Oliver Otis Howard, a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, who made it his mission to sustain an institution of higher learning in the mountain South that would honor the memory of the Civil War president."

Marjorie doesn't think he would have been a good teacher, because he lacked patience, and that may have been a factor in his leaving the University after only one year.  But it appears from the history there was a lot of unrest and dissent among the faculty during his year.  In the history he's a co-author of a letter cited in a footnote written in April 1930 when things were coming to a boil.

So, we don't know why he decided to leave after a year--the uproar in the university, dissatisfaction with teaching, better pay in USDA, better research opportunities, a metropolitan area, the opinion of his wife? Whatever the reason he takes a job with USDA/Agricultural Research Service  at Beltsville, MD.  He stays for 12 or 13 years and then goes to Massachusetts with Webster Feed, where he worked until retirement

Note: I did a previous post on his research articles, but Googling "H.M.Harshaw" now shows more articles, all or almost all on nutrition of various farm animals, during the 1920's and 30's.

If I"m understanding this and this correctly he knew German well enough to translate an article, or at least enough to abstract them

William's Obit notice

WILLIAM R, HARSHAW. 91,
died January 1 at the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Ralph Gould, Newport.
R. I. Besides his daughter,
he is survived by two sons, Dr.
H. M. Harshaw of Andover, Mass.,
and John R. of Chenango Forks;
and four grandchildren. The funeral
will be held today at Newport,
and the body will be brought
to Greene for burial in Sylvan
Lawn Cemetery Wednesday, following
, arrival by Lackawanna
Railroad at 1 p. m. Arrangements
were made by Harry R. Rogers,
Greene.

Source is Binghamton Press, here Jan 5, 1948

Rev. John Rippey's Classmate

Was doing some searching and found a listing from Union College of the members of various classes. The 1851 class included Rev. John Rippey, Capt. John's grandson and my great grandfather.

He made Phi Beta Kappa.  I happened to notice the listing for a classmate who also made Phi Beta Kappa, Leonard G. Calkins.  What stood out was his "Residence at Entrance", which was China.  (Most of the class was from New York, though there were a couple of Southerners as well.)  So I googled him, and found a reference to "New York Central College" in McGraw, NY (just east of Cortland), which turns out to be a short-lived institution modeled on Oberlin, which was open to both sexes and to blacks.  Calkins isn't mentioned in this newspaper story but there is a former "Calkins hotel" in McGraw.

Calkins appears to have bounced around, being in real estate in Chicago when the Union centennial directory was published.

Captain John's Service

The Pennsylvania militia has a confusing history and organization.  What we know about Captain John Rippey is that he was elected Captain of the 6th Company of the 6th Battalion of the militia in 1777.  The company was one of three raised from Chanceford township, the 7th Company was headed by  Captain Joseph Reed, Esq.  and the 8th by Captain Thomas McNarry. The Battalion was led by Colonel Ross.

There's an extensive discussion of the historical background here but I'll try to summarize.
Between 1775 and March 1777 the PA militia were only semi-official, due to the pacifist ideals of the Quaker founders.  In March 1777 the militia became official, so the table of organization  I relied upon for the first paragraph reflects the initial establishment.  This lasted for 3 years, with a new establishment in 1780, when Rippey, Reed, and McNarry were not re-elected as Captains.

Each member of  militia could be called up for 2 months of active duty at a time, therefore they were divided into "classes" with all members of the class being called,. A call-up would find  neighbors still serving together, but their colonel would be different and their battalion designation would be different.  (Read the historical background for an explanation.)

When and where was Captain John on active duty?  Can't tell at the moment,  Here's what the historical background says:

Most of the service rendered by members of the Pennsylvania Militia fell into one of three categories. They were either used to augment the operations of the Continental Line such as when some of the Associators accompanied General Washington in crossing the Delaware in January 1777. Other examples of this type of service include the large numbers of Pennsylvania militia employed in the summer and autumn of 1777 to oppose the British invasion at Brandywine and on the flanks at the battle of Germantown, though in neither case did they actually see action. The militia did provide a significant defensive force patrolling the south side of the Schuylkill River and engaged in occasional clashes with British outposts and scouting parties including heavy skirmishes at Whitemarsh on December 7. Due to the sixty-day turnover, however, none of the men who were at Brandywine in September would have been present at Whitemarsh in December. It is known that no Pennsylvania militia served at Valley Forge, Monmouth, or Yorktown. The second type of service was duty on the frontier in Northumberland, Northampton, Bedford and Westmoreland counties. Occasionally, militia reinforcements from Cumberland, Lancaster, and York counties would be brought in to reinforce these frontiers as occurred in the summer of 1778. A third type of militia duty was in providing guards for supply depots located in Lancaster, Lebanon and Reading and at various prisoner of war camps.

What Rev. William's NYC Was Like

William Harshaw's church in the 1890's was on E. 86th street.  Today's NYTimes has an article on a long time resident of E. 84th Street.  Obviously William and family had long since departed for West Pittston by the time Mrs. Jacobs arrived:

WHEN Lillian Jacobs was 2, in 1911 or ’12, her family moved from the Lower East Side into a tenement building on East 84th Street, just off York Avenue, then known as Avenue A. Her parents ran a candy store on the building’s ground floor, catering to the newly arrived immigrants from Germany, Hungary, Austria and Ireland.

People came and went over the years; apartment houses were built and tradesmen’s shops disappeared, along with the family candy store. But the character of the area, and specifically this part of East 84th Street, has largely remained the same. The brownstones, built at the turn of the 20th century and flanked by trees planted in more recent years, have stayed true to the block. 

We don't know whether William was trying to evangelize among the new immigrants, or was serving those good Presbyterians who'd moved from points south, trying to keep ahead of the influx of immigrants.

More on William Rosborough

Marjorie and I have entertained the theory that William Rosborough was a relative of Margaret McCloskey, reasoning from our grandfather's being named after him and what we knew of his history.  But I finally got smart and did a search on his wife, which led me to this ebook republishing a history.(I've corrected obvious problems in the scanning. )

WILLIAM ROSBOROUGH was a represent-
ative business man of Randolph County,
and well deserves representation in its
history. He was born in Ballymena, Ireland, in 1802,
and when a youth of sixteen crossed the Atlantic
to America, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio. There
he entered the employ of a Mr. Mahard, who was
engaged in the commission business, and with
whom he continued until 1833.

In that year Mr. Rosborough married Miss Mary
Mahard, a sister of his employer. To them were
born five children. Elizabeth is now residing in
the old home in Sparta. Robert H., a railroad con-
tractor and auditor, and also a dealer in coal,
married Elizabeth McCutcheon, and they have
five children: William J., a railroad conductor;
Rachel, Robert H., Jr., .John and Allen. Martha
R., the third child of the family, is the widow of
Dr. ?eeper, who was born in Beaver County, Pa.,
in 1832, and there grew to manhood. He pursued
his literary studies in .lefferson College, and studied
medicine in the State Universily of Pennsyl-
vania at Philadelphia. He began practice in Ches-
ter, Ill., and afterward removed to Coulterville,
where he followed his profession for twenty - flve
years. His name is always mentioned in the high-
est terms of praise by all who knew him. He
won an enviable position in his profession, and
was a liberal and public-spirited citizen. Anna
J., another member of the Rosborough family, is
the wife of Daniel P. Barker, of Sparta, Secretary
and Superintendent of the Sparta Natural Gas
and Oil Company. He served in the Union army
as a member of Company K, One Hundred and
Forty-second Illinois Infantry, and at the close of
the war returned to Sparta, where he has since re-
sided. Mr. and Mrs. Barker have four children:
Albert M., now connected with the Rocky Moun-
tain News; Lewis, a student in Champaign, III.;
Mary R. and Elizabeth. Mary M., the youngest
member of the Rosborough family, is the wife of
the Rev. Hugh Y. Leiper, of Pravo, Ohio. They
have had five children: William, Hugh. Earl (de-
ceased), Donald and Mary.

In 1833 William Rosborough came to Illinois,
locating in Randolph County, where he at once
embarked in merchandising. In 1840 he removed
to Sparta, and continued general merchandising
in connection with the manufacture of castor oil.
He also engaged in the packing business, and later
in the flouring business. In 1882 he laid aside
all business cares, and after living retired for three
years, he was called to his final rest, at the age
of eighty-three. In the accumulation of property
he was very successful, but at no time did he sac-
rifice his honor for temporal benefit. He had the
confidence of his entire circle of acquaintances,
who regarded his integrity as above question.

UCC in Middletown, RI

From the 2008 April newsletter for the United Congregational Church, Middletown, RI:

"In 1930, Mrs. Ralph Gold, the wife of the new secretary of the YMCA, spoke on China where she had lived for  15 years.  She was immediately elected President of the Foreign Missions Department and served in that capacity until 1954."

and, from a description of the history of a group of wives who started by helping Navy officer wives in WWII and evolved:

"In 1970 the group became THE SERVICE LEAGUE.  They wanted to furnish the kitchen in the new church and by 1975 when we moved into the new building they had achieved their goal and named it in honor of Helen Gold, a longtime and very active church member."

David Pomeroy

Thanks to a message through ancestry.com I now know more about a second cousin: David B Pomeroy.

My grandmother, Ada Rippey Harshaw, had an elder sister Mary, who married F. Crawford and had children, including Ada Vere Crawford.  Ada Vere married a Pomeroy and had 6 children, with David Pomeroy her youngest.  Ada's husband died in 1918, 2 years after David was born.  David grew up to be enlisted in the Army in March 1944.  (Enlistment record says he had one year of college and was separated with dependents.) After training he was shipped as a replacement to the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division which had been fighting since early July. 

He was one of the volunteers for the "Baby Patrol", which rescued 80+ young children from a chateau between the American and German lines.  He was later captured and served out the war in a POW camp.