William and Sarah Nichol McWilliams - Chapter Seven

FOLLOWING IN WILLIAM AND SARAH’S FOOTSTEPS

Selfie on the Bank of Muddy Creek Forks

Muddy Creek Forks Walking Tour Map

I have made “pilgrimages” to the communities in both York and Northumberland Counties where William McWilliams owned property in Pennsylvania. My sister LaRita McNeely and I went to Muddy Creek Forks in Lower Chanceford Township on September 17th, 2021 and my husband and I went to Chillisquaque Township in Northumberland County on July 16, 2018. Both trips were short, but well planned and I was able to walk on the same plots of ground where William and Sarah had trod more than two hundred years ago. 

Muddy Creek Forks Heritage Village Sign

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS IN YORK COUNTY 

My sister LaRita and I awoke to a drippy mist falling from a cloudy sky on the last day of our week-long visit to the Keystone State in September 2021. We had planned to leave Reading in the morning and drive back to Harrisburg before our flight to Kansas City the next day. Along our way, we would take our time and make stops where ancestors had lived in Lancaster and York Counties. 

After a visit to Bergstrasse Cemetery near Ephrata and a quick lunch in town, we continued west towards York County. The trip through Lancaster County was filled with beautiful farm scenery until we approached the Susquehanna River. Near the river, our view was restricted to thick woods on both sides of the highway. At one point, we suddenly came upon a small tunnel with an arched opening through a hill. It was quaint and a bit odd, since the hill was quite small. The tunnel may have allowed a railroad track to pass above us, but we were unable to see anything but trees on the hill. After crossing the river and making our way into York County, farmland began to reappear. 

Susquehanna River in York County

We wound our way through hilly, terraced fields until we reached the village of Muddy Creek Forks. The location is a bit remote and only one car was in the parking lot when we arrived. The village is set up as a tourist attraction called “Ma and Pa Railroad Heritage Village” to provide a detailed look into the history of the community as it looked in the nineteenth century. The name is derived from the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad which passed through the village. 

Alexander Turner House Built in 1798

Unfortunately, the description of the village does not mention that my 5Xs great-grandparents, William and Mary Nichol, were the first owners of the land where the village stands. A traveling minister recorded the baptism of the Nichol’s son, James, in 1753 in Chanceford Township. About fifteen years later, land there was offered for sale by the Penn family and the Nichols purchased property on the forks of Muddy Creek in 1768. It was likely that the Nichols were “squatters” until the land was officially transferred to the Penns.

Side View of Grove's Roller Mill Showing the Mill Race Entrance

Rear View of Grove's Roller Mill, Grain Elevator & Warehouse

Old Millstone Incorporated into a Stone Wall 

William operated a mill on the creek until his death in 1774. His mill, erroneously called Nicholson’s Mill, was mentioned in York County history books as an election polling place and as a point of reference on petitions for construction of roads in the county in the 1760s. 

My 4Xs great-grandfather, William McWilliams, also warranted land close to the Nichol property in 1768. He married the Nichol’s daughter, Sarah, in 1771. They moved to Northumberland County in 1774, where the next three generations of my McWilliams ancestors were born. 

A.M. Grove General Store Built in 1899

Interior of the Grove General Store

After William Nichol died, Mary sold the land and it changed hands several times before Alexander M. Grove purchased it. He built a four-story general store at the crossroads where the railroad passed through the village. The location was a popular commercial hub among local residents and Mr. Grove was gainfully involved in farming, operating the general store, passenger train travel, mail delivery, telegraph service, and shipping of goods. 

A.M. Grove's Bank Barn Built in 1890

One of Two Corn Crib on the Property

About ten buildings still stand on the property and it is open to the public every day. However, the visitor’s center is only open on Sundays. An excursion train also runs on Sundays, except during the winter months. Sunny skies had returned, and we had a pleasant afternoon following the signs for self-guided tours of the buildings on the property. Surprisingly, Muddy Creek was actually not muddy. The water was so clear that we could see the rocky bottom of the riverbed when we walked over the twin bridges where the creek splits into two streams. The twin crossings over the creek were spanned by covered bridges in days gone by but are now concrete structures. 

CHILLISQUAQUE CEMETERY 

I-81 North of Hershey, Pennsylvania

My trip to Northumberland County started in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on a sunny, humid mid-summer morning in 2018. Fog lingered on the surrounding peaks as we traveled the roller-coaster ride over the mountains which stood between us and the Susquehanna River Valley. The driving wasn’t easy in a modern vehicle on well-paved roads, and I could not help but wonder how difficult it must have been to pass through these mountains on foot, horseback, or by wagon two hundred years ago. 

Farmland South of Sam Wagner Bridge

As we descended into the valley, patches of gently sloping cultivated fields were nestled in the gaps between heavily wooded mountain slopes. We crossed sparkling tributaries of the magnificent Susquehanna River more than once as we traveled successively more rural roads to our destination. When we were about a mile away from Chillisquaque Cemetery, we turned onto Bridge Road. What a surprise! The “bridge” was an historic covered wooden structure over Chillisquaque Creek. 

Interior Burr Arch Truss Design of Sam Wagner Bridge

Sam Wagner Covered Bridge

I have since learned that it is known as the Gottlieb Brown or Sam Wagner Covered Bridge, built in 1881 at a cost of $939.00. It has the distinction of being the only covered bridge in Pennsylvania that straddles a county line at its midpoint, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for both Northumberland and Montour Counties. The deck of the structure is covered with crosswise planking that created a delightful rumble when our vehicle crossed over it.

An area of verdant, level farmland surrounds the bridge and nearby cemetery. Shallow Chillisquaque Creek meanders under the bridge and beside the rural paved road to the graveyard. Just before our arrival we passed under the modern four-lane I-80/Confair Memorial Highway. I couldn’t help but ponder the stark difference between horse and buggy travel over the Gottlieb bridge 137 years ago and travel today in swift automobiles on the nearby superhighway. As I traced the footsteps of my ancestors, the juxtaposition of old and new roadways was a fitting prelude to the glimpses into the past that lay ahead. 

Entrance to Chillisquaque Presbyterian Cemetery

Even though time marches on, there is no feeling comparable to that of standing on the same soil as my forefathers once also stood. I wonder if the McWilliams ladies in my family who came to the cemetery long ago admired the same simple beauty of the “ancestors” of the bobbing heads of the black-eyed susans and the delicate structure of the Queen Anne’s lace that carpeted the roadside? Did the men discuss the effect of recent abundant rainfall on the fields, that created a patchwork of green beyond the roadside blossoms? Did annoying gnats buzz around their faces as they stood in the cemetery to bury my third great-grandfather John in late July 1849? Did sweat trickle down their backs as they paid their respects to my fourth great-grandparents William and Sarah who are buried in the center of the cemetery? My imagination says that I indeed, may have shared some of the same thoughts and emotions that my ancestors experienced generations ago in the same place. 

Headstones of My 4Xs Great-Grandparents William and Sarah Nichol McWilliams

There is only a grass-covered path entering Chillisquaque Cemetery from the paved county road. It appears suddenly as Creek Road intersects with Follmer Road. No sign heralds your arrival, but the arched iron gates and old stone wall surrounding the site are easily visible from the road. We parked in the grass and I rushed to seek out the headstones of my kin among the 324 souls buried within. The property was fairly well maintained, considering that volunteers probably care for the cemetery and no interments have been added since shortly after the Civil War. Guided by flags marking the graves of veterans, I soon found my fourth great-grandparents William and Sarah Nichol McWilliams, as I knew William was a Revolutionary War patriot. A medallion attached to a small American flag is placed beside his headstone. Identification of the burials was difficult, however, because the native limestone markers are badly weathered and the inscriptions are nearly illegible. 

Headstones of My 3Xs Great-Grandparents John & Mariah Cruiser McWilliams

After a bit of searching, I located my third great-grandparents John and Mariah Cruiser McWilliams and four of their children near the crumbling north wall of the cemetery. Mariah’s father, John Cruisen (or Cruiser), another of my fourth great-grandfathers, is also buried in the same plot. John was the seventh child of William and Sarah, born after three sisters and three brothers. 

Gazebo Marking the Location of the Chillisquaque Church Established in 1773

After paying homage to my revered deceased relatives, I took a moment to absorb other points of interest within the cemetery. The burials are on a slight hill with a stacked native rock wall extending around the north and west sides. A post and wire fence defines the edge of a cultivated field beyond the long south boundary. Several small family homes dot the surrounding landscape, including one adjoining the east boundary of the cemetery. Birds sang in the tall pines and assorted varieties of deciduous trees that shaded most of the graves. The grass had been mown, but the vegetation around the gravestones and walls was not trimmed. Violets, clover, grass, vines and saplings encroached on the aging headstones. 

Reverse Side of the Monolith (Front Side was Shaded)

The cemetery contains a trove of history in the headstones and other structures. Military medallions honor soldiers from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Indian Wars and the Civil War. A monolith boulder brought from nearby Montour Ridge faces the entrance of the cemetery and marks the location of the south wall of the foundation of the original Presbyterian Church that was built on the site. It contains a 14” x 20” brass tablet bearing the inscription “Site 1774. Burned by Indians 1779. Pastors 1791-1891: Bryson-Barber-Park-Finney-George-Waite.” 

A brass disk furnished by the State Geological Survey installed below the plaque records the elevation above sea level. The boulder was placed as part of a sesquicentennial celebration of American Independence in 1926. A gazebo structure shelters a sign identifying the “Chillisquaque Presbyterian Cemetery” and features insets in the concrete floor listing the original church trustees in 1774, names of adjacent landowners in 1769, location of the brick church pulpit site in 1853, and the inscription “Chillisquaque Presbyterian Church 1773.” 

Crumbling Wall Behind William & Sarah's Granddaughters' Monument

I hated to leave this hallowed ground, but the sun was getting higher and hotter and I had my heart set on touring four more cemeteries, looking for records in the Northumberland County Courthouse and visiting the Hunter House Historical Museum/Genealogical Society in Sunbury, before the day was over. I might have even picked up a souvenir limestone rock which had fallen out of place from the cemetery wall next to Grandpa John’s resting place, to help me hang onto the memory of my visit.