FRANKLIN COUNTY

The Cumberland Valley, of which Franklin County is a part, was first settled by Scots-Irish immigrants who arrived in the area about 1730.   Four brothers, James, Robert, Joseph and Benjamin Chambers, from County Antrim, Ireland, were among the first settlers and Benjamin, the youngest, is credited with the founding of Chambersburg in 1764.  Franklin County, named after Benjamin Franklin, was established in 1784 and Chamberburg was chosen as the county seat.  During the Civil War, the Confederate Army twice captured Chambersburg, and the second time, in July 1864, it was set afire.   The county ranks fourth in receipts from livestock and tenth in crops in the state, and farmland comprises almost 52 percent of the land in the county.  Dairy farming is especially successful there.

The story of the Zentmeyers in Franklin County is the story of Christopher Zentmeyer and his offspring, who are 'writ large' in these parts; if one types 'Zentmyer' into Google Maps, it returns a DPO (Discontinued Post Office) called Zentmyer, PA.  Christopher and his family moved to Washington Twp. Franklin Co. soon after his unfortunate result in York Co. in 1789, and many of his descendants live in and around Waynesboro and Chambersburg to this day.

Christopher's son George was purportedly born there early in 1790, and daughter (Maria) Barbara's birth was recorded in the Leitersburg Lutheran Church records in 1791, just south of the Maryland border.  Christopher did not stray too far off the Great Wagon Road,  which headed southeast from York before ascending South Mountain over the Blue Ridge Summit and dropping down into Washington Twp.  His farm was located in present-day Rouzerville and was a scant 1/8 mile off those venerable ruts.  This proximity may have tempted him to operate an unlicensed watering hole,

called a Tippling House.

The deed by which Christopher conveyed his farm to his son Daniel was also his will.  It is an interesting document for several reasons. 1) family inheritance issues 2) historical context re: business activities on the farm 3) legal precedent re: contract survivorship

 

(Page under construction, April 23, 2011)