LANCASTER COUNTY. 133 



A settlement was also commenced in the interior of 

 the county ; Hans Graaf located at the head of a small 

 stream, known by the name of Grove's run, in West E^rl 

 township.* He was joined next year by Mr. Wenger, 



*Hans Graaf fled from Switzerland to Alsace, with one of 

 his brothers, about the year 1695 or 96, he came to Germantown, 

 where he remained a short time; afterwards settled on Grove's 

 Run, in Earl township, both of which were named in honor of 

 him. The following circumstance, as related to us by one of 

 his lineal descendants, will show the reader how Graaf was led 

 to settle in Graaf s Thaal; for this is the name by which the 

 settlement is known to this day : 



His horses having strayed from Pequea; while in pursuit of 

 them in a northern direction from the inhabited parts, he dis- 

 covered a fine spring in a heavily timbered spot; the head of 

 Grove's Run. In this elysian dale, said he, will I fix my per- 

 manent abode. He nevertheless pursued his horses till he 

 found them, and returned to Pequea. A short time afterwards 

 he made a disposition of his effects. Now he returned to the 

 spring, and about one-half mile down, on the north side, he 

 erected a cabin under a large AVlfite Oak tree, in which he, his 

 wife and an only child, stayed all winter. In the spring of the 

 year, having secured by a warrant, dated November 22,1717, a 

 large tract of land, he erected a house near the cabin. The 

 spot where he erected the house in the spring of 1718, is still 

 pointed out by his progenitors. At this time, as was common 

 with the aborigines in all the new settlements, the Indians called 



frequently at his house to sell baskets and Hickory brooms. 



Mr. Graaf had six sons; as soon as some of them were grown 

 up, he turned his attention to dealing in blankets, and other 

 articles of merchandize, which he procured at Philadelphia, 

 and took them to Harris's Ferry, on the Susquehanna, and 

 exchanged them for skins, furs and the like. 



He spoke, it is said, the Indian language fluently. \Vhen 

 one of the sons drove, the old gentleman accompanied him, 

 riding a fine steed, for he kept none but fine horses. On one 

 cccsaion, as his team was returning to Philadelphia, Peter, the 

 oldest, was driving, in crossing the Brandywine, which was 

 very flush at the time, he was in danger of a watery grave ; 



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