Chain of Title: An Adventure to Uncover the 350-Year Legacy of the Old Grist Mill

Guest Post

Fans and followers of Uncharted Lancaster are familiar with adventures to discover the past. Over the past two and a half years, I undertook my own adventure to uncover the history of the property I live on. Just like a scavenger hunt, my journey involved following clues wherever they pointed me—from archives to historical societies to libraries. By the end of the adventure, I had visited dozens of repositories across the country, and on the other side of the Atlantic.

During the course of my adventure, nearly everything I thought I knew about the old grist mill that I live in was turned upside down.  A completely unexpected history was discovered as I got past the information found on the internet or local history books and instead dug into the archives for primary source records.  It was fascinating to find so many examples of things that were written in the 1800s or 1900s that were either incorrect or later misinterpreted, but then repeated over and over again until they became accepted as “facts”. 

Newly discovered records brought to light insights about the original 1710 settlement along the Pequea Creek, including two family names that were not previously known to be present, along with the Herrs, Kendigs, and Millers. 

Through my research, I was able to fully trace the ownership of the property, or Chain of Title, from William Penn to myself.  The scavenger hunt’s clues yielded many prizes, such as an original letter from William Penn to one of the early owners of the property that was found at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Another exciting find was the original survey conducted in 1712 of the 3,380 acres (that’s more than five square miles) in Lancaster County, which includes the plot where the old grist mill now sits.  In addition to the original survey, I found a subsequent survey conducted in 1731, when the property was subdivided into 21 plots, as well as the surveyor’s field notes. 

The Lancaster County Archives holds land records for property transactions, but we have to remember that Lancaster County did not come into existence until 1729. By then, my property had changed hands more than a half-dozen times! I was thus drawn to archives in Chester County, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg to help fill in the gaps between Penn’s Charter of 1681 and the time when Lancaster County’s Land Office was established.

Beyond the dry facts of who, what, when, and where the property changed hands over the centuries, I was able to collect records to tell the story of why.  Quaker meeting minutes from the 1600s, personal correspondence between early owners from the 1700s, and a journal written by one of the millers in the 1800s provided additional color to the story of how each of the property owners contributed to the development of a plot of land in the wilderness of Colonial Pennsylvania into a thriving grist milling business.

The story of my scavenger hunt is shared in Chain of Title: An Adventure to Uncover the 350-Year Legacy of the Old Grist Mill, and I hope it encourages others to undertake their own adventure because every plot of land in Lancaster County has an equally fascinating story to be told. Order your copy from Amazon.

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