Hanover Resolves, Grantville, Dauphin County

My apologies to anyone who missed me updating on schedule two weeks ago - we had some very bad weather and it affects me pretty intently. We're having some this week too, but I couldn't let another 'blog day' go by without an update.

Today's post is a slightly odd one, however. I don't have any photos to share except for the picture of the marker itself. But I did learn some interesting things while writing this, and I hope you find them interesting too.

The marker is on US 22 eastbound,
at Allentown Boulevard

The Hanover Resolves take their name from Hanover Township, which at the time was part of Lancaster County. Today it's in Dauphin County, which is where the marker is found, and I sort of stumbled upon it by accident while driving home from Hershey on a day which was much warmer than the day on which I'm writing about it.

(Edit 5/20/2020: John Robinson, a former PHMC employee, was kind enough to comment on this article with an interesting fact. This was actually the very first blue and gold marker erected by the PHMC, as all the previous markers took the form of plaques. Thank you, John!)

I was in Hershey to collect the markers for Derry Church and its cemetery, and that's actually where I first learned anything about the Hanover Resolves. This made finding the marker for it on my way home kind of a bonus surprise. One of the signers of the Resolves, Col. John Rodgers, is buried at the Derry Church. But what the Hanover Resolves actually are, I didn't know.

They were, essentially, a sort of precursor to the Declaration of Independence. The more 'wilderness' areas of the colonies had better opportunities for free speech than the cities, so it was easier for colonists to gather and talk about how much they wanted to break away from British rule. Several of these meetings took place in different townships, and the 'resolves' of a meeting were the beliefs which those participating in the gathering would agree were significant. The meeting in Hanover is believed to have been the earliest of these, and Col. Timothy Green (who has his own marker that will be covered in a future article) was the chairman. Along with Green and the aforementioned Rodgers, the committee running this meeting consisted of James Caruthers, Josiah Espy, Robert Dixon, Thomas Koppenheffer, William Clark, James Stewart, and Joseph Barnett.

The exact resolves are as follows:

•  1^st.That the recent action of the Parliament of Great Britain is iniquitous and oppressive.
• 2^nd. That it is the bounden duty of the people to oppose every measure which tends to deprive them of their just prerogatives.
• 3^rd. That in a closer union of the colonies lies the safeguard of the liberties of the people.
• 4^th. That in the event of Great Britain attempting to force unjust laws upon us by the strength of arms, our cause we leave to heaven and our rifles.
• 5^th. That a committee of nine be appointed, who shall act for us and in our behalf as emergencies may require.

Interestingly, these Hanover Resolves are not the only Hanover Resolves, as I learned when looking up information for this post. Down in Virginia, in Hanover County, a similar document of the same name was drafted and affirmed at the county courthouse. The Virginia Hanover Resolves, among other things, specifically condemn the slave trade. This document was directed to Patrick Henry and John Syme, who represented Hanover County at Virginia's first revolutionary convention. The Pennsylvania Hanover Resolves are a bit older, being dated June 4, 1774; the Virginian cousin was signed July 20th of the same year.

Being the first document of its kind, the Hanover Resolves hold a unique place in revolutionary history. It's also worth noting, as Luther Kelker points out in his History of Dauphin County, that the Resolves predate the much more famous Mecklenburg Declaration - and unlike that document, there's no controversy about whether or not the Hanover Resolves are real. As usual, I'm amazed at the things I discover while researching this stuff to share with you.

Perhaps inspired by the Hanover Resolves, other townships began to form their own meetings and similar resolutions. Middletown, Hummelstown, and Lebanon all formed resolves within the month, denouncing the oppression and the taxation without representation which were key elements of the spirit behind the American Revolution. In December 1774, Timothy Green and John Rodgers were among those who formed a general committee of Lancaster County to decide how the entire county would come together on the matter. They were ready to go when the news came of "the shot heard round the world" - and the rest, as they say, is history. Literally.

For those who may be curious, Dauphin County separated from Lancaster County in 1785. It was named for the Dauphin (crown prince) of France, Louis-Joseph, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Although he's better remembered for what happened to him during his own country's revolution, Louis XVI's support was instrumental in leading the American Revolution to its conclusion in the Treaty of Paris, signed in that city in 1783. When Lancaster County was broken into seven smaller counties, it seemed right to acknowledge the French contribution by naming one of them in honor of the king's son.

Pennsylvania's very snowy right now. Stay warm!

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Sources and Further Reading:

Egle, William Henry, and Clarence M. Busch. Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution: Associated Battalions and Militia, 1775-1783. E. K. Meyers, State Printer, Harrisburg, 1890.

Kelker, Luther R. History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Volume 1. Lewis Publishing Company, 1907.

Pennsylvania Historical Marker Series: Hanover Resolves by The Hometown Historian. YouTube video, uploaded October 12, 2021.

Dauphin County on Wikipedia.org

Hanover Resolves at Waymarking.com

Hanover Resolves at the Historical Marker Database

If you've enjoyed this, please leave a comment!

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.