366 AUTHENTIC HISTORY 



ant by his mother. Elizabeth, daughter of John Wright, married Samuel Taylor, who 

 was the owner of a large tract of land near where Strasburg now stands; he sold his 

 property there, and once owned what is now called Wrightsville. The Wrights in this 

 place at the present time are the descendants of James Wright, youngest son of John. 



Robert Barber kept the 2o0 acres next the lower hills; he came from Yorkshire in 

 England. He had followed the sea for some years, and had ^been a prisoner in France, 

 He married Hannah Tidmarsh, in Chester or Philadelphia; she also came from England. 

 Her father came to America sometime before the rest of the family, and was accident- 

 ally shot by an Indian before her arrival. R. Barber settled farther from the river than 

 the others. He built the brick house now occupied by J. Hinkle. He was sheriff of 

 the county, and in consequence of the intention to make this place the seat of justice, 

 a prison was built near his house. It was a strong looking log building, and was pulled 

 down not many years since. In this prison, James, afterwards Lord Altham, was con- 

 fined, having run away from his master. R. Barber had several cMldren; the eldest son, 

 John, was killed by the Indians, near where Pittsburg now stands; he had gone thither 

 to trade in fur, or what was then called trapping. His other sons settled on the land, 

 but it is now owned by the Stricklers, except about 60 acres, which was the shax-e of the 

 second son Robert. He married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Taylor, and had ten children; 

 but at this time they are all gone except one son and two daughters; the daughters live 

 on the place, in the house which their father built 67 years ago. The old house was a 

 few steps below the present mansion. In those days pine boards were little used; the 

 joists, window and door frames were of oak. What little pine there is in the building, 

 was got out of logs picked up in the river, and sawed at a mill of Nathaniel Barber's, 

 on what was called Barber's run, the same stream which Strickler's large mill is on. 

 Samuel Barber, another brother, had a fulling-mill on this stream. 



The land back from the river was mostly settled by the Germans — the Forry's, Strick- 

 ler's, Shirk's, Garber's, &c. Their first purchases were from an old woman of the name 

 of Mary Ditcher, who used to go through the country making what was then called 

 improvements. These improvements consisted in piling a few sticks together, setting 

 them on fire, and hanging a pot over; this was considered a first right; if they could 

 then pay for the land they had the privilege of keeping it. This Mary Ditcher appeai-s 

 to have been a singular person. She used to wander through the woods in a sheep-skin 

 dress, leading an old horse, her only property, with her knitting in her hand. The 

 township in which Columbia is situated, was called Hempfield, from the great quanti- 

 ties of hemp which were raised in it. Manor township, below this, was so called from 

 the circumstance that the land in it was reserved for the proprietor. 



Some Irish families, of the name of Patton, settled on lands adjoining the lower part 

 of Columbia. They gave the name to the hill, and to the current below the mouth of 

 the run, which is well known by the name of Patton's current. Tradition says, that 

 there was a great slaughter of the Indians at that place in the early settlement of the 

 country, by a party of whites, led on by a person of the name of Bell. Our informant 

 remembers seeing many places there, said to be the graves of the Indians who were 

 killed in the battle; it was believed that a piece of cannon lay sunk in the current. To 

 their last days, the Indians in this vicinity had a great dread of the name of Bell. 



Below this, the settlers were principally Germans — the Stehman's, Kauffman's, Rup- 

 ley's, Herr's, &c., were among the first. The township above, called Donegal, was 

 settled by the Irish — the Anderson's, Cook's, Tate's, Kay's, &c. Anderson's ferry, is 

 well known where Marrietta now stands. 



Sixty years ago, where the gravel appears in low water, opposite the Miss Barbers', there 

 wa.s an island with large trees. Large buttonwood and other trees grew at the water's 

 edge; many of them were torn away by the ice. The largest trees have been seen to 

 go down with the weight and force of the ice, seemingly as easy as a child would have 

 broken a twig. The lower falls, as they were called, was a great place for hunting 



