First Place of Worship

A log cabin parochial school and place of worship was erected on the property that is now St. Thomas United Church of Christ on Linglestown Road.  The early settlers represented four different religious persuasions: Episcopalian, Lutheran, German Reformed and Presbyterian. The crude building is said to have been located at the west end of the current church property. Two dates identifying the origin of this place are recorded by different previous researchers, 1730 and 1765.

Left side is where the pastor lived, right side was the school.

In 1784 the land that included the first house of worship was sold to Francis Wenrich and his wife, Elizabeth. In 1792 the Wenrich family deeded 2 3/4 acres of their land, including the house of worship and a spring to the four congregations.

In 1793 the Lutheran and German Reformed congregations, which had to share the log church with other denominations, decided to become a union church and drew up Articles of Agreement. The church was to be called Wenrich's Church. This second church building was constructed in 1794 and built of timbers donated by the members. Worshipers brought their own small stoves or foot warmers to provide the only heat. The ministers' horses were housed in stables behind the church and fed with hay and feed paid for by the congregations.

Second church

A drawing of the church and the interior was created in the 1920's while elderly members still had memories of it.

History of the Forts

Fort Berryhill

Joseph and Hanna Berryhill came to America in 1718 and settled in what would become Linglestown in 1725.

Their son Andrew took out a deed for 201 acres in 1756. He was killed there during an Indian attack that same year, his wife and family escaped through the wilderness to Fort Hunter. His body was buried behind the house.

Alexander, Andrew's son, was a fine penman and first Burgess of Harrisburg.

Fort Berryhill, at the east end of Linglestown, had a secret cellar to hide in during Indian attacks that was later used as an Underground Railroad depot.  
It was also home of the Running Pump Tavern, where men could have a drink while making their plans. 
On this farm was the famous "Linglestown Battalion, Drill Ground of Colonial Days."


Fort Gilchrist

Click map to enlarge

Fort Gilchrist is still in its original location on Linglestown Road.
 It was restored in 1946 and it is said that the interior, as it was, was brought out historically, better than any historical building in the US. 
It has 24 Heavenly Lord Hinges. They believed that the hinges kept the witches out.


Fort Patton

Fort Patton, one and a half miles north of Fort Gilchrist, sat on a sunken military road. In order to protect them from Indian attacks, a woman and child were hidden in a stair closet that was nailed shut while her husband went to the field to work. He was killed. When the fort was torn down around 1902, workers pried open the stair closet and found the skeletons of a woman and child.


Fort Barnett

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Fort Barnett was the home of John Barnett and his family. It was erected in 1730 by the Barnetts and their immediate neighbors for the safety of their wives and children while they cultivated their farms in groups. Several of their number stood on guard as sentinels. It is said to have been the scene of much bloodshed and of events about which many interesting tales are told.
It stood until about 1900. A block used in the early days to close one of the portholes was removed from the Fort and placed in the rooms of the Dauphin County Historical Society by the late Dr. Charles H. Smith of Linglestown.

Forts of Paxton Township

The early settlers found it necessary to build forts to protect themselves from attacks by the hostile Indians. These were buildings that the settlers could run to for protection, they had portholes for their guns.

One of these, Fort Gilchrist, was located about a mile west of Linglestown and is presently a home.

Fort Gilchrist now

Fort Gilchrist then

Another fort, Barnett's Fort, was located two miles west of Linglestown.

Patton's Fort was a stone fort. As many as 16 soldiers were stationed there during the French and Indian War. It was torn down around 1896. You will see this historical marker in front of the Metro Bank on Linglestown Rd.

Patton's Fort

There were at least eleven more forts scattered throughout Paxton Township. They were: Forts Ott, Hunter, Berryhill, Macky, Stewart, Crawford, Robinson, Swatara, Weidman, Sugar and the Halfway House.

The Early Settlers of Linglestown

Pioneer Scot-Irish families, banished from their homeland in Scotland in 1718 because of religious differences immigrated to America.

After landing in NY they met up with Conrad Weiser, an Indian Agent in New York state. He led a large group of Scot, Irish and English families down the Susquehanna to a spot near Middletown . The Germans soon followed. Many recognized the beauty and potential for farming in the rich soil, plenty of forest with wood for building and fires. They decided to settle here. 

Conrad Weiser moved northeast and settled near Reading. 

Because of its founding in 1765, Linglestown is the third oldest town in Dauphin County, next to Middletown (1755) and Hummelstown (1762).