Menallen Township

This is the location of Menallen Township in the current county of Adams in Pennsylvania. Gettysburg is the county seat and is outlined just beneath the second A in Adams above. Before 1800 Menallen Township and all of Adams County was part of York County which currently borders Adams to the east.  

John Blackburn and his family immigrated to Menallen Township  in 1736 from Armagh, Ireland. John was the son of John & Elizabeth (?) Blackburn, English Quakers who settled in Ireland ca. 1670. John Jr. was born in Loughgall ca. 1675.  He married Rachel Morton the daughter of William and Elinor (?) Morton in 1717.  They had eight children including a daughter Rachel born ca. 1735 in Armagh. As Quakers the family moved to the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania founded in 1681 by William Penn.  Once in Menallen Township, Rachel Blackburn met and married Andrew Dennen.  They had eight children as well.  

John and Rachel (Morton) Blackburn died in the township and are buried in Friends Grove Cemetery. This marker inscription:  Born in Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland, John arrived in North America in 1736 and was one of the earliest settlers of Menallen Township, Pennsylvania where he died in 1752.  He married first to Mary (Courtney) Winter in 1701; she died in Ireland in 1713.  In 1717, John married Rachel Morton (born in 1694, County Down, Ireland).  His descendants congregated in 1986 to dedicate this marker and commemorate the 250th anniversary of his arrival.