NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 08044242 3 It-- ' . ^""l^.i-ir v<;'i v<.- -^ ji^jm '♦•'■■. a ■rr>d^z iJbrary , . ;•*•; :rt^ A > M. P. SARGENT. Pioneer Sketches SCENES AND INCIDENTS • OK FORMER DAYS. TllKll-l.ING SCENES AND INCIDENTS, FIERCE ENCOUNTERS WITH INDIANS AND WILD BEASTS, EARLY PRIVATIONS OK THE AMERICAN PIONEERS, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY EARLY SETTLERS. BV M. P. S^HGrKN^r. Illustrated by Gocklanl, under the personal supervision of the Author from real life. ERIE, PA.: Herald Printing and Publishing Comtanv, Li.mited. 1891. The reproduction of this book has been made possible through the sponsorship of the Ashtabula County Genealogical Society, Ashtabula, Ohio. The New York pub/.o Library A Reproduction by Unigraphic, Inc. 1401 North Fares Avenue Evansville, Indiana 47711 nineteen hundred and seventy-six This book was reproduced for the Ashtabula County Genealogical Society through the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Fox, Andover, Ohio, and in memory of the late Mr. Henry Fox and his wife, T. Mary Hakola Fox. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Reproduction of PIONEER SKETCHES was made possible through the efforts of many persons who felt that its availability would encourage more interest in local his- tory. Members assisting in its preparation were: Mary Kelley Crane, index Donna McLeod Rodebaugh, index Dorothy Baker Scott, index Ruth Grove Prostor, orders Karen Wible Wuchter, orders Carol Colby Carraher, orders Marcella Jenness Farr, orders Carol Thomas Fox, publicity Judith Smith Magons, index, orders, and distribution The loan of an original book used in the reprinting was given by Mr. and Mrs, Henry C. Fox of Andover, Ohio. We are grateful to Miss Minnie Salisbury of Ashtabula, Ohio, through whom we obtained copies of the family records appearing in the Sargent Family Bible now owned by Eva Sargent Hutcherson of Clinton, Missouri. It is suggested that the researcher check several spellings of indexed names and support conflicting state- ments with documented proof whenever possible. The Ashtabula County Genealogical Society P. O. Box 885 Ashtabula, Ohio 44004 THE SARGENT FAMILY BIBLE Capt. Phineas Sargent - Born Nov. 20. 1770 in Worcester. Mass. Died Feb. 15. 1855 in Spring Township, Pa. Married Mary "Kingsbery" Sargent in 1792. Mary "Kingsbery" Sargent (wife of Phineas), born 1763 in Worcester. Mass. Died May 11, 1850 in Spring Tps. Crawford Co., Pa. They emigrated from Worcester. Mass.' to Cincinnatus. Cortland Co. . N. Y. in 1792. All their chQdren were born in Cincinnatus, N. Y. They removed to Spring Tps. and settled on banks of Conneaut Creek March 7, 1818 where they remained till death. Children of Phineas and Mary "Kingsbery" Sargent Charles - born Oct. 23. 1795. in Cincinnatus. N. Y. Died in 1865 in Blackhawk Co. , Iowa. Charles married Polly Woodward in 1814. Charles removed from to town in 1854(?) Nancy - born March 26. 1798 in Cincinnatus. N. Y. Married Ira Lock in 1836. Settled in Spring a few years later and removed to the town adjoining Elk Creek where they remained. Anson D. - born Feb. 26, 1800 in Cincinnatus, N. Y'. Died May 9. 1850. Anson lived and died in Spring. Polly - born March 7, 1802. Alfred Hooey - born March 13. 1804 in Cincinnatus. N. Y. Married Maria Phelps Oct. 20. 1831. Lived in Spring "till" his wife's death April 2. 1875 when he removed to Girard. Erie Co. . Pa. with his daughter Addie Cheesman. Betsy - born May 1807 in Cincinnatus, N. Y. , died May 14, 1825. The first person buried in the old Herd Cemetery north of Spring Boro. Birthplace. Age. and Residence of Four Generations Sargeant Family Alfred H. Sergeant son of Born March 13th 1804 at Cincin- Phinehas Sergeant natus, Courtland, N. Y. Present Worchester, Mass. address Miles Grove, Erie Co, , Pa. Martin P. Sergeant Born July 15th 1832 at Spring, son of Crawford Co. , Penn. Present Alfred H. Sergeant residence Ashtabula, Ashtabula Co. , Ohio. James D. Sergeant Born May 25, 1856 at Spring, son of Crawford Co. , Penn. Present Martin P. Sergeant resident Painesville, Laike County, Ohio. Fred W. Sergeant Born Jan. 14, 1884 at Painesville, son of Lake Co. , Ohio. Present address James D. Sergeant Painesville, Lake County, Ohio. Family Record of Martin P. and Melvlna Sargent Martin P. Sargent - born July 15, 1832 - Spring Township Crawford County, Pa. Died January 30, 1896 of pneumonia Age: 63 yrs. , 6 mo. , 16 days. Melvlna Salisbury Sargent - born June 30, 1830, Girard Tps. , Erie Co. , Pa. Died May 7, 1913 (3:40 pm ) at Painesville, Ohio Melvina Salisbury's father was Sanford Salisbury who was born in Westford, N. Y. Martin P. Sargent and Melvina Salisbury were married at Lockport, Girard Tps. , Erie Co. , Pa. , Sept. 7, 1854 by Rev. John B. Page, Baptist Minister at the residence of the bride's brother, Henry Edward Salisbury. Children of Martin P. and Melvina Salisbury Sargent James Dayton Sargent, born May 25, 1856, Spring Tps., Crawford Co. , Pa. Edward Sargent, born May 17, 1861, Spring Tps., Craw- ford Co., Pa. Died March 10, 1862. Fred Stockton Sargent, born July 7. 1863. Spring Tps. , Crawford Co. , Pa. Died Aug. 29, 1926 at Sedelia, Missouri. Electa Sargent Paul, Sept. 14. 1903. born Aug. 29. 1843. died Copied from the Sargent Family Bible by the owner. Mrs. Eva Sargent Hutcherson. of Clinton, Mo. phe:f^ce:, Tlie object of this work is to give the reader life sketches of some of the early settlers of our country, scenes and inci- dents of iuniuT (lavs, current tDpics, sparks of humor, gems of thought, etc., in which 1 have endeavored to give correct statements and dates from reliable sources, that the reader can refer to iiMuiniscences of thi' past, we hope, with some degree of pleasure, knowing there is a VAST FIELD for the his- torian to chronicle events ami incidents of the heroic pioneers of our great beneficent land of America. While the Heroes of the Dark Continent and the Mission- ary of India and other heathen lands enter into the work with unbounded zeal, to delineate to a finality the condition of the heathen race; "very well," but in the interim, let us not he uiiinindfiil of our own kin and kindred. We find there are many families in our land wlio cannot give a correct fanuly history for two or three pjust generations, thus causing nimh annoyance and litigation, pertaining to estates, etc., and a living vacuum of a knowledge of the family pedigree. "Then let us hope others may write a l)Ook As well as some who have undertook In days of yore, that have <^one by Along down the ages to you and 1. 'Tis not necessary to pick out the man of great renown ; From the rank and file many heroes have been fonnd Whose names doth not appear on historic scroll ; Yet patriotic heroes in mind, in body and in soul." People nowadays desire to condense matters, therefore I have thought it best not to torture the reader with long-spun articles, nor with borrowed clippings, other than naturally be- long to incidents and history, of which proper credit is given. "What I offer is my own," With these remarks I present this volume to the public, asking no favor, but hoping that it may be of interest to the reader. Respectfully, Ashtabula, June 15, 1891. AUTHOR. INDBX. CHAPTER I-The Pioneer 13 CUA.PTER II— Tlie Vessel of the Pymatuning— Old Forts 15 CHAPTKK 111— GuEAT Mkn— Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, (Jraut - Kroiu Poverty to the Pinnacleof Fame 17 CHAPTER IV-Life and Accident Insurance 23 CHAPTElv \ —Meadv I IJ.E—Meadville and Crawford County, Pa.. 25 CHAPTER VI— Former Days Sketches of Early History of Craw- ford County and Meadville — Major George Washintiton— Thrown from a Ratt by Ice— Stone War Club— .\rrow Heads— Indian Remains— Stockade Forts — Wild (iame— Millions of Pigeons — Heath of .lames Finley and P.. ]\IcCormick -General Wayne's Treaty — Old Houses and Residences 27 CHAPTER V I :— Cornelius Van Horn— An Exploring Party- Captured by Indians— Tied to a Tree — Escape — Retaken Prisoner — Liquor Exchanged for Him — More Indian Troubles 36 ClIAl'Ti:iv VIII— Early Settlers -Arrival of William Dick in Meadville— The First Siw Mill— The First Grist Mill— General Mead's Stockade House — The Early Bar— Privations of Early Settlers — William Dick's Encounter with an Indian— Half Town's Fat Turkey 41 CHAPTER IX— An Ixdiax Joke— Colonel Joseph Hackney- Trade wiih the Indians— The Keaver Skin 47 CHAPTER X— A Duel— Holland Land Company— William Gill- Jennie Finney— Navigation of French Creek —Singnlar Sui- cide — Melancholy Disaster 49 CHAPTER XI— The Ancient Military of Crawford County— Train- ing Day— Uniforms — The Band — Description of Various Com- panies — The Meadville Stock Raising Dragoons — Meadville Artillery .•. 54 CHATPER XII— Alfreo Sargent— Birth— Removal to Pennsyl- vania Marriage — Clearing Lands - Manufacturing Black Salta —The Rapacious Wolf-The Salt Well— First Vote 65 CHAPTER XIII— Erie City — Presque Isle Bay — Trophies ot Perry's Victory- Seth Reed— Judah Colt-The Small-Pox Pass —The Erie & Pittsburg Canal— Early Settlers 72 CHAPTER XIV— Erie City — Its Early History — Subsequent Progress— Pre-Historic Remains— Curious Mounds — Chorean Peads — The French and Indian Struggle— Old Log Houses and Forts — Ruins — Evacuation of Presque Isle— The Poutiac Con- spiracy—The Triangle — Gen. Anthony Wayne -Construction of Perry's Fleet— Scraps of History 78 CHAPTER XV— Alfred King 95 CHAPTER XVI— Pioneer Soldiery- The Pioneer Soldiery of Crawford County— Lieutenant, Captain, Major— General Train- ing, Etc — The Old Block House— Beaver Rangers 97 CHAPTER XVII— The Coontry School House— Healthy Sports —Cracking the Whip -Spelling Schools— Exhibitions 101 CHAPTER XVIII- Ripe Age 107 CHAPTER XIX— The Wild Hog Chase 108 CHAPTER XX— Logging— Burning Fallow Ill CHAPTER XXI— Obed Wells— Characteristics— Farm Products —The Pittsburg Market— The Milking Scene— The Dutchman and the Bull-Frog- Pulling Turnips 113 CHAPTER XXII— The Bounding Hart 122 CHAPTER XXIII- Daniel Stubtev ant— Buying Cattle— Drov- ing Cattle — Farming 123 CHAPTER XXIV— Ebi Thomas— Characteristics— Selling a Pair of Boots 127 CHAPTER XXV— Early Settlers — Flemming — Jackson H. McKee's Encounter with the Wolf. 130 CHAPTER XXVI— M. P. SABGENT—Birth— Ancestry— Boyhood — The Old Block House on the Hill— Puncheon Floors— The Wood Bee— The Old Fire Place -The Kids on the Hill— The Nimrods-Picnic— Chet and Charlie — Uncle Charlie's Fleet Ride — A Narrow Escape 134 CHAPTER XXVII-OuR First Fiddle— How Got-A Nevada Silver Mine— MyGood Mother— Weaving 145 CHAPTER XXVIII— COONING— Line of Tactics— Coon, Oppossum, Porcupine— The Nimrcds-Cuflf and Ponto— A Painful Accident 147 CHAPTER XXIX— SuGAE Making— Tapping Trees— Gathering Pap— The Rescue— The Festival— Our Cabin— Sugaring Off 153 C'HAPTKK XXX— Our First Tiui- on tiik Kacuno (anal— The Summit — The Feeder — Hartstown I'ond — Ilutulrede of Snakes — Tribes of IndiuDs -Their Depurture for t lie Southwest — The Polk iind I);ill:»s — Towed liy a St^ainhoat — Komiding Heaver Point — A Narrow Escape 158 CHAPTER XXXI— Capt-iin of a (anal Boat, with Papers in My llat-A Cheese Deal 167 CHAPTER XXXII — An Haki.v Visitor- A Terrific Yell — A Magical Ettect 170 CHAPTER XXXIII — In Love and Out 175 CHAPTER XXXIV— The Home of Our Youth 17(1 CHAPTER XXXV— The Hog— His Exploit in a Well— The Rescue 178 CHAPTER XXXVI— A Trip to MeadviUelfor a Pound of Tea 181 CHAPTER XXXVII -Thirty-two Pounds of Butter for a Pound of Tea 183 CHAPTER XXXVIII-Manufacturiug Black Salts— Salt WelU 185 CHAPTER XXXIX— Sparks of Humor 188 CHAPTER XL— A Trip on Lake Erie— Ohio City - Akrou— Re- turn to School 189 CHAPTER XLI— The Sunny South— Down the Ohio and Mis- sissippi — Teachers' lustitute — l'>olton and Dickens, Slave Dealers — Scenes — Death of Brown — The Barbecue 193 CHAPTER XLII— The New Year 205 CHAPTER XLIII— Our Forest Home- Marriage — Orijanizing a School District — Phrenological Lecture— Wholesale Blessing 206 CHAPTER XLIV — Lumrkring — An Incident- Shipping Lumber to Erie, Bnfl'alo, Troy and Albany 209 CHAPTER XLV — Recruiting — Prospecting — Leasing Coal Lands — The Cox F»riu, McFate — Drilling for Coal — My Return — Death of My Sister — Removal — Death of Our Son, Edwin — Prospect- ing Armstrong and Butler Counties — Lease and Purchase — Oil Business — Bear Creek Property— Sale of Timber Lands — Death of a Brother-in-Law — (Jrain and Flour Shipmeut -Drop in Oil Lands — Destruction of Property — Indians — Prisoners Released —Brady's Bend 215 CHAPTER XLVI— Mining and Shipping Coal— Towing Boats- Low Stage of Water on the Allegheny River— Pegu's Chute — Crapo House— A Rebel Landlord — A Loyal Connecticut Man — Palmy Days of Oildom 221 CHAPTER XLVII— Lumber Yards— Meatlville and Oil Creek- Leasing Oil Lands and Operating — Drilling 228 CHAPTER XLYIIl— The North Shore— Lake Superior— The Mercer Party— Lake Huron — Dancing — Sumner Overboard — A Ride Over the Falls 231 CHAPTER XLIX— Return from Prince Arthur— Lumbering — Building — American Insurance Company of Chicago- Charles L. Currier's Letter — E. A. Butts, State Agent — The Prizes— The Field — The Bible and the Hunting Scene — General Insurance Agent — Author Pioueer Sketches, Scenes and Incidents of For- mer Days 237 CHAPTER L-Gemsof Thought 243 CHAPTER LI— Sparks of Humor 244 CHAPTER LII— Springboro— Old Chums— Shadeland— Stockmen 245 CHAPTER -LIII-Tragic Death of Orson Chapman 247 CHAPTER LIV- Return of Spring 249 CHAPTER LV— To the Agent 250 CHAPTER LVI— Edmund Sargent— Characteristics 251 CHAPTER LVII— Things that are Queer 254 CHAPTER LVIII— J. F. Woodard 255 CHAPTER LIX— R. H. and Byron Sargent 257 CHAPTER LX-Sparks of Humor 260 CHAPTER LXI — William S. Alderman — Raising the Log House — An Incident — An Ugly Elevation— Boating— Clearing up Lands — Settling on His Lands — Marriage 261 CHAPTER LXII-The Clever Bears of Calveras County— Their Sagacity— The Pig Sty 265 CHAPTER LXIII— Alfred Sargent— Hunting Geese Eggs- Vaughn's Pond— Westward Bound — Iowa— Colorado— Pike's Peak— Frozen Feet — Return to Iowa — Marriage— Farming 268 CHAPTER LXIV— Kitner H. Sturtevant 272 CHAPTER LXV-Sparks of Humor 274 CHAPTER LXVI— John C. Sturtevant 275 CHAPTER LXVII— Samuel F. Woodard 277 CHAPTER LXVIII— Lucius F. McLaughlin 279 CHAITKK LXIX— Mr. Frey Goes Out lor His Breakfast 281 CHAPTER LXX— Sparks of Humor 2h;} CHAPTER LXXI-Trade in Former Dajs 284 CHAPTER LXXII— Sparks of Humor 288 CHAPTER LXXIII— John P. Locke 289 CHAPTER LXXIV— Gemsof Thought 291 CHAPTER LXXV— Wild Bees-Chester Morley's Big Bonanza 292 CHAPTER LXXVI— Findinii a Bee Tree— Bill, the Ox-Teamster— When to Cut a Pig Yoke 295 CHAPTEIi LXXVII- W'. (J. and S. J. Thomas 297 CHAPTER LXXVIII— Gems of Thought .301 CHAPTER LXXIX—Shadeland— Powell Brothers, the Cele- brated Stockmen 302 CHAPTER LXXX— The Agent of To-Day 304 CHAPTER LXXXI— A. C. Qiinhy— Making Hoops and Shingles — Canal Boatiug— Dealing in Nursery Stock — Livery and Sale Stable ~. 305 CHAPTER LXX XII -The Legal Trio 307 CHAPTER LXXXIII— CoNNEAUT Lake— Location and Size- Crossing Over on the Ice — Awful Suspense 310 CHAPTER LXXXIV— R. Cheeseman 314 CHAPTER LXXXV-A. O. Pai l— The Gander— Agenl^Staging — Livery — Nursery Stock — Horse Dealer 315 CHAPTER LXXXVI— A. C. Martindale 317 CHAPTER LXXXVII— Lexington— Early Settlers 320 CHAPTER LXXXVIII- Sanford Saltsbuby— Mechanical Gen- ius — H. E. Salisbury — A Natural Born Mechanic - Building Saw Mills— Inventing Machinery Death — Canal Boating — James P. Salisbury— The Revolving Wooden Horse-Rake — Removal to Kansas — Hot Times with the Border Kuflians — Farming 323 CHAPTER LXXXIX— Lockport — Cranesville -Albiou— Girard— Across Lake Erie in a Canoe — Treed by a Bear 328 CHAPTER XC~A. Denio— Ostego Fork Mills— Miles Grove, Pa.. 336 CHAPTER XCI— .Vmerica 338 CHAPTER XCII— The Father of Watebs— Romance aud.'Tra'g- edy of the Mighty Mississippi — ^Its Waters Cover the Remains of the First European Who Traversed Them — Ferdinand De Soto, Lasalle and Others 343 CHAPTER XCIII— Cooped by a Lion 347 CHAPTER XCIV— Loving Words 352 CHAPTER XCV— Pittsburg 353 CHAPTER XCVI— Butler 354 CHAPTER XCVII— Colonel Drake, the Discoverer of Petroleum Oil 355 CHAPTER XCVIII— Franklin 357 CHAPTER XCIX— Oil City 359 CHAPTER C— The Steele Farm 363 CHAPTER CI— The Bennehoff FARM~Oil Production— The Robbery of Half a Uillion — The Mystery— The Arrest and Release 365 CHAPTER CII— Titusville 370 CHAPTER cm Conneaut— The Harbor— Early Settlers 372 CHAPTER CIV— Pithole City— Wonderful Growth and Collapse 375 CHAPTER CVI— Roads in Oildom , .. 377 CHAPTER CVII — Ashtabula. Ohio — Harbor- Early Settlers- Growth— Reminiscenses 379 CHAPTER CVIII— East Side— Improvements 387 CHAPTER CIX— Early Settlers of Ashtabula— The First Baptism — "Put Her in Again." 389 CHAPTER CX— John Metcalf— Carrying INfail in Former Days— The Dance at Bunker Hill 392 CHAPTER CXI— The First Vessel Launched at Ashtabula— Sad Accident 395 CHAPTER CXII— William Humphrey 397 CHAPTER CXIII— L. W. Smith 399 CHAPTER CXIV— The Fargo Brothers 401 CHAPTER CXV— The Ashtabula Disaster 403 CHAPTER CXVI— Granville Loorais 405 CllAPTEK CXVII— Painesville, Ohio 412 CHAITER CXVII I— Jefferson. Ohio 41") CHAl^TER CXlX--Geneva, Ohio 417 CHAPTER CXX— Warren 4l!i CHAPTER CXXI-The Indian 4-Jl CHAPTER CXXII— Joseph Bennett 4-2;j CHAPTER CXXIII— Indian Chiefs 424 CHAPTER CXX IV— Cleveland 42.-) CHAPTER CXXV— Youngstown 428 CHAPTER CXXVI— Cartis Goddard— Birth— Boyhood— Manufac- turer- -Hemoval to Ashtabula 431 CHAPTER CXXVII— The Privations of Early Settlers 433 CHAPTER CXXVIII— The Railroad Brakeman 435 CHAPTER CXXIX— The Ashtabula Strike 436 CHAPTER CXXX— Capital and Labor 440 CHAPTER CXXXI -Do You Ever Think?— Life's Seven Stages... 442 CHAPTER CXXXII— Early Sports and Pastimes -The Grape Vine Swing 443 CfHAPTER CXXXIII— The Blind Man Everett 445 CHAPTER CXXXIV— An Interesting Corpse 447 CHAPTER CXXXV— A Pioneer Mortgage 450 CHAPTER CXXXVI— The Court House Removal 451 CHAPTER CXXXVII— A Sad Incident— The Farmer— A Tavern Keeper — A Farm Consumed by Whisky — Removal — Downfall and Trial of a Young Girl — Release — License Taken from a Tavern Keeper 452 CHAPTER CXXXVIII— Noted Life Swindler Caught 454 CHAPTER CXXXIX— The Shenango Railroad 455 CHAPTER CXL— The Round-Up 457 CHAPTER CXLI— Fossil Mines of the West 459 CHAPTER CXLII— Big Salaries and Insurance 466 CHA.PTER CXLI[I--The Insurance Agent of the Fntare 468 CHAPTER CXLIV— The Waterways— Their Importance and Com- mercial Value — Ship Canal Surveys 470 CHAPTER CXLV— Lemuel Cook— Encounter with Indians— The Artist, Charles H. Goddard 477 CHAPTER CXLVI— War Time Heroes -Pretty Mrs. Mason— How She Made Herself Useful to the Confederate Government 479 CHA.PTER CXLVH— Our Country— Its Possibilities 483 CHAPTER CXLVIII— The Forces of Nature 486 CHAPTER CXLIX— The American Conflict 487 CHA.PrER Cli— Sparks of Humor 489 CHAPTER CLI— The Outlook 492 CHAPTER CLII— The Giants 497 CHAPTER CLIII— Wonderful Progress 499 CHAPTER CLIV— The Morning Time 500 CHAPTER CLV— The Locomotive Engineer 501 CHAPTER CLVI— Cost of Life Insurance 503 CHAPTER CLVII— The Telegraph Operator 506 CHAPTER CLVIII— The Hairy Chicken 507 CHAPTER CLIX— Sparks of Humor 509 CHAPTER CLX— Now and Then 511 CHAPTER 1, THE riONEER. S THE pionoer penctratod the primeval forest, he liad to adapt himself to the pe- culiar eonditions in which he was placed. Next to the Indian, he was the orifrinal man. The trees first must he cut away, To let in the light of day; They had to live in crude log houses, And wear tow shirts and linen trousers. They had to use both muscle and a willing hand, To clear the timl)er from the land; They had to come to this decision. And work hard to get their daily coarse provisions. Were it not for the hope of a brighter future, the heail of the Pioneer, at times, would fail ; but no, he resolutely pushed forward from day to day and made the primeval forest yield him and his family a fair subsistence. We should not be unmindful of the heroic strusrirles of the American Pioneer. Struggling not only for a sub- sistence, but that the Banner of Amynca might wave un- pointed by a foreign foe, as the emblem of his country, forever free. THE PIONEER. CHAPTER ir. THE VESSEL OF THE I'VMATUMNG — OLD l-OUTS. IN 1850 John Iladluck, now of Ashtabula, O., in company with John McMurtry, of Hannons- hurg, Pa., visited the Pjniatunin- ability, would never a<;ain have reached tiunr native land. Cul)a and llispaniola (Hayti) were also discovered, and in March, 141)8, the adventurers reached home, where tlu^y were received with high honors. Columbus was given \\w. title of Admiral. He made two sul)sequent voyages, dis- covering Jamaica, Porto Rico and other islands; visiUul terra tinna at the mouth of the Orinoco and founchul a colo- ny at Hispaniola, of which he assumed the Governorsiii]). \\\ 15r knows that other changes came; and when Gen. llalleck was in command he also saw that Gen. Grant was by this commander handicapped in his operations in Tennessee, and when looking ])ack to Donaldson, Henry and Vicksburg, he could see in the unpretentious, brave Gen. Grant, a commander who would tight it out on that line, and eventually close that unholy war. Therefore to Grant was given supreme command of the whole army. Lincoln was raised up for this great emergency. A work to do, a prol)lem to solve of the greatest magnitude ever on the American continent. True, his soldiers, unlike Washington's, did not have to go hungry and barefooted, but some of them even worse, undergoing impositions from currish beings under the garb of men, and thousands of brave boys when in Andersonville and Libby prisons, the hell holes of the South. How did these brave boys look, those who came out alive ? 22 FIOXEER SKETCHES. From the time the first rebel orun was fired on Sumter the intrepid Lincoln threw his wliole soul into the cause t)f humanity and his country. What mortal man had such a Herculean task before him? What man could have dt)ne better? "Forever stnitrfilinfr for the Union of our land, AVheu accomplished cut down by an assassin's hand, Thus ended Washington's and Lincoln's life career, But during their days they lived without a peer." (iiAri'Ki; i\'. 1.11 i; AM) ACCIDKNT INSURANCE. s^\ 'I'lIK early on the labor market, has to comin^to with an inferior competitor, at times, to earn a snhsistancc for himself and family. And when he looks al»on'l him he finds the miLdity man of avar- ice already here. Syndic:ite.s of Europe are here. And a niiirhty concentration of capital is here. Millions of the broad acreaire of (Jod's irreen, fertile earth, is concentrated in the hands of tlu= few. Commercial enterprises and business pursuits- are beinp: coralled and brouirht into th(> rin<; of the orjant. And aL'ain the toil(>r looks around for that prospective home afar otf ; he sees in ihv dim distance the avenues of hope closing up around him, and as he ])rocecds onward towards the promisi^l laud, he finds the door closed, upon which is in- scribi'd in large letters, '"No Admittance." With disheartened mien and pensive mood he retraces his steps and asks himself: ''What am I to do?" I answer: "Insure.'" That is the avenue left open for tiie young. 24 FIOXEER SKErCirE5). the middle or the aired man. to secure a comiietenev for himself, if liviiiir a few years, or for dependent (nies, when you can no loncfer providt> for them. This is the only avenue, to a eompeteney, for the many, as you ean secure your manna charta by paying in semi-monthly, ([uarterly, semi-annually or yearh' installments, and secure M)ur in- denmity, in as safe institutions as there are in the world. '■''But,''' sa\'s one, ''I feel as thouiih 1 would soon get through and he on my road to IleaviMi. and let my family look out for themselves." Yes. how would we look heing wafted Heavenward wliiU^ our famih' is l)ein2: trotted oti to the poor house '. But I fear tliat some ef you will, soon, poi-liaps. Wish you liad not let your policy la])se; Accident is liable to overtake you; Disaster comes too late to awake yon. But, while the lamp liohls out to huin, The most improvident may return To consider well, the sure and safer way, To reinstate your insurance to-day. ('IIAPTKK \. mi: \i)\ II. 1.1".. tvuuj^jAxvi.: \|)\ [|,|j.; i^ ,i„, ..(.iinty ^rnl of ( 'niwtnrd *■ * "^ ('oiiiilv. I*;i.. aiiil i> l)c;mtit'iill\ >itii:it('tl in tlic l''rciiili ( 'rc'rl< or \'rn:mL''o Ki\< r N'mIIcv .•mitl('.^. Mc'idvillc i» :in (iM lli^tclic lowil. .•>('ttlcil o\ rr I(t(l vcMls ••iLTo li\ till' wliilc^, or ;i1 iiuicli (•••irlicr il.itf 1)\- till- Iii(li;iiis who. ;inioiiLr tli<' white | lioiH'cr ."-el t Id'-. hcM liiirli f;inii\;ih kilhiii:' .•-oiiic :iii(l t;ikiiii:' othci-- (■••iptivc. Th.-ii .--ticMiii iiiipi vinu' into the Fi'cnch ( "rcck'at M(';it all sorts of wild game, ji irenial climate sheltered hy its timber and hillsides, atlorded a jtaradise for the Indian and he was loth to <;ivo it np — A 11(1 \\ as (letenniiicd Id iriiiaiii ( )ii his iiiit:iiial duniaiii. But poor Lo here, as elsewhere, is destined to a slow, but sure, extinction. Mearhaj)s no v-ity on this continent, that has a better educated j)eo[)le, and few cities of the same size has more wealth and social retinement, or better public build- ings, or more able jurists. 26 riOXEER SKETCHES. With such citizens as the Huidekopers, Derricksons, Dicks, Richnionds, Churches. FtU'hn's, Hendersons, and many others who niiffht he mentioned, in MetidviUe, it must be of some prominence. Desii)ite the absence of the boom- ing elements of tiowing oil wells and irushing gassers, a railroad center or a seaport town, jSIeadviHe is a solid town and in case either of the above elements should strike them, they would — Be prepared to take it easy, Whether it should be gassy or be greasy. Meadville, being the county seat, also furnished a pretty good nutrket for many articles, especially after the Atlantic & Great Western Railway and its extensive^ shoi)s were built, and the McHenry House, and that village of railway company's houses duplicating each other. A considerable trathc by the way of the Eri(^ &:. Pitts- burg Canal to the Sunnnit, thence via Conneaut Ltdvc and Evansl)urg up the feeder to Meadville The water that supplied this canal feeder Avas taken fixmi French Creek above Meadville. Were it not for a more rapid transit for the people to get around the country, tlie Erie & Pittsburg Canal would be of more real value to-day, to Erie City, Crawford, Mercer and Lawrence counties, than is the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad. And it seems that the people along the line of the Erie Canal and the New York Central Rail- road think about as nmch of the one as the other. The fact is they could not well do without either one of them. In case of the abandonment of the canal, traffic would be in- creased on the Central, and commercial rates from Eultalo to New York would rule much higher. But we are living in a fast age, 'mongst a fast people — And as the people travel from state to state, They are bouud to go at a lightning rate. CHAP'i'KK VI, r(»i;.MKi; days. SKKTCIIE-S OI' MaHIV lllsTdlJV OK Cl; A U 1 ()l:l> ColNTY AND MKAD- Vill K. — \'('/<'.f by ./. llitidi-kof^cr . ;:^ASSIN(i ()\'i:iJ with a l)ri"', of tlitii Major (K'()ri;(> Wasliin^itoii and lii^ cuinitanion Mr. ( iist, "who ))asso(l up l-'icnch ('rrck X'allcy en loutc 1o \\'al(it'oi>l, to ilcniand of the I'^rcnch Connnanch'i- by what iii:ht he hi'ld that jjlacc; the hlunt reply i:i\cn him. that it \\a> held l>y order and claim of France; the courtesy -hown to Wasliinirton by the French officers, and (his horses havinuirixcii ont ) tlu' danijorous and wearisome tranij) hack on foot of \\'ashin_ij:;ton and his com- rade to the AlIcirluMiy l\iv( i\ there having to make a raft, from which Washinirton, liy a collision with ice, was thrown into the river and oliliucd to spend the niirht on an island, walking abont to keep from freezing, while his conn-ade. less fortunate, had his tingers frozen, I proceed to connnent on the valley of French Creek as it jm'sented itself, including the island and for a mile or two above and below the )n(>s(>nt city, to the tirst Pioneers who came here. It is dillicult to believe that Indians, with their simple instruments, could ever have cleared away such a forest as would naturally grow on such f(>rtiU> land. The Indians alleral mound some fiftv feet lonir and some three feet hiirh which, when leveled down a few years a-t) James Find- lay and Barnal)as McCorniick were killed hy Indians while si)litting rails for John Hak'us, about a mile wi'st of the aqueduct. Guns having been heard, si-arch was macU- and they were found dead and scalped by theirsavage assailants. The bodies were i)laced in one cotHn and interred in the Meadville Cemetery. The treaty of (ieneral AVayne with the A\'estern Indians on the 3d day of August, 17H."). ratitied on the '1-1(\ day of December, brought p(>ace so far as Indian hostilities \ver(> concerned to Northwestern Pennsylvania. Meadville, the county seal, wm> originally plamied in 1700 by General David Mead. l)ut the plan was enlarg(>d and matured in the year 17!>.") by Major Koirer Alden and Dr. Thomas K. Kennedy. The plot for the town was divided into 7;") squares by streets, alleys and lanes. The Diamond was laid ott" in the form of a parallelogram, measuring oOo feet cast and west, by 600 north and south, design(>d for pul)lic usi-. On the east side of this now stands a large, commodious brick court house, built in 1825, i)lanned b^- Mr. Strickland, of Phila- delphia. On the west stands the Episcopal Church, from plan of Bisho}) Hopkins, of Vermont. On the south stands the Unitarian Church, of brick, with Doric columns, with plan of Gen. George W. CuUum. /'/( >x/:/:k .SA7-; /( //f.s. :n •On the west side of tin- DiHinoiid, sonic half way hc- twcon Centre and Chestnut Sticets.stood the tirst jail, made sti"oni;ly of hewed lo^^s, with a palisade-protected yanl he- hind it. The story al)ov(> the jail was of frame work an a court Iidusc. the jiidi:('> ha\ iuL'' an clc\atc(| seat at till' south end, and a circular cncli)>in'c di\ idini: the l)ar and jnry from the audience. It wa> in tlii> court room that Win llnlliiid, the muf- dei-iM- of llui:h Kil/.patiiik. in 1^17, and l)a\id Lain|iliier, w ho Uillcd a con>talilc with an a\e w hen atleMi|il in^' to arrc>t him, were tried and eonxictcd; lteiiii:a- yd tlieonU' ciimi nals e\('r ptihlicix executed in tlii- eount\. The hrick hnildini:- south of the I'nitarian ( 'hmch wa> huill for the olliccof the county connni^~ionei>. \\ hentliev renH)ved to the court lioii>e, I'le-idi nt 'J"lninili\ Aldcn u-ed it as a lihr.ary fof the liook^ donated to the Allei:hcn\ ( 'ol- leii"c, the huililini;' of the latter lieinir llnii jii-o^peetiNC. scinx )!,>. In lS()-_' an Act wa> |)a»cd incoi'porat inir a >cminar\' of learninir, ant, were made trn>lccs. A one-story hrick huildinir, containing two rooms, was eom- l)lele(| in the fall of Imi.') at the xaitheast t'ornci' of JJIiertx' and Chestnut Streets, where it stood for al)out l?(> vears. In it the Kev. Joseph Stockton u:a\c instructions in Litin and (ireek and the connnon luanclies of I-jie-li^h education. Some years afterwards .Mr. Andrew Lclinirwcll tauirht an English school in the same huilding. J iccall an annis- inir incident under his ride. WishiuLT to i)unish a hov for misl>eha\ ior, he re<|uested Mr. Wil-on Dick then a |)npil_ 32 PIONEER SKETCHES. to go out and cut a switch for him. The latter thinkin£r the errand rather an undignified one for a boy of his size, after a long delay came back with two poles 15 feet long and laid them with gravity before the teacher — the gravity not extending to the rest of the scholars. Rev. Timothy Alden taught a classical school in the small frame house two doors west of St. Joseph's Hospital, and Judge Derrickson taught one in the Clinton Cullum and afterwards in a house now gone, about where the Opera House now stands. I recall when a very small boy going to a very primi- tive school, taught by a Mr. Douglas, on Arch street. The boys all sat on low benches, and the teacher used to preserve order an instrument called "Taws," made of leather strings, fastened to a ha'ndlc. If a boy misbeluived the "Taws" was thrown at him, and he was required to carry it to the master and abide results. A spell of sickness shortened my term to a week and I am happy to say 1 haes and resi- dents on Water Street. Near where the freight depot is now stood the residence of Hon. William Clark, who I think was secretary under the administration of John Quincy Adams in 1824. One old house standing back from the road, about half-way from Kennedy's Bridge to Water Street, was occupied by John Gibson. The next house standing back east of Water Street with a yard planted with trees in front, was that of H. J. Huidekoper, erected in 1805. It was a frame house with two recessed wings. North of it was a plastered brick building used for a Land PIONEER SKE'JCIIES. 33 office. Horo a larlace full of pleasant memories. Across Chestnut Street from the Cullum store was the Gibson Hotel, noted for its order and excellence, and north of it, beyond the alley, still stands the frame building where the first Courts were held in now Crawford County, the Judges, until the County was separated from Alieglumy County, coming from Pittsburg. The building was also used at times for religious services. Across from this building was the old log house much sunk at the ends, the home of the Waab and J3osler families, the original owners of the island. On the east side of the street, north of the court room, was the home of Eliphalet Betts, in his day the leading if not the only village tailor. Small in size, he is said to have been in early life one of the most j)opular riders in horse racing, at that time a very common amuse- ment. North of Mr. Betts lived Mr. General George Hurst, a prominent citizen, and northward across Centre Street lived Colonel Wm. Mayard, who built paper mills in Woodcock township and discovennl how to make straw pa- per, a process only known in the f2ast Indies prior to his discovery. North of Colonel Mayard's house was the dwelling of Dr. Daniel Benms, who married a daughter of Mr. Wm. Miles of Union City. Across the street was the home of John Reynolds, who married the widow of Dr. Elicot, the person who built the bridge over French Creek leading to Kerrtown. North of Mr. Reynolds, across an alley, still stands the very old store of Major Harriot. PIONEER SKETCHES. 85 Eastward, across the street from this store, was the ohl Meadville Hank, of wiiich Joseph Morrison was eashicr. It has hitely been taken down to make room for a Vw^ty. brick building. I pass on to the house of (ieneral Mead, who died August 2l5d, 181rness, encamped under a large wild cherry tree, near wIktc the east end of where the Mercer Street iron bridjxc stands. ARRIVAL AND SETTLEMENT. The only reliable date of the arrival of the earliest set- tlers, is that ffiven bv Van Horn in his narrative, written about 18?»5, twelve or thirteen years before his death, and 38 PIONEER SKETCHES. now in the possession of the Historical Society of Philadel- phia at Philadelphia. After some time spent in exploring, they erected a tem- porary abode on the spot where Meadville now stands. CAPTUEED BY INDIANS. On the 5th day of May, 1791, while engaged in mark- ing out com ground in company with two men, named Gregg and Ray, near where the passenger station of the N. Y., P. & O. R. R. now stands, Van Horn was attacked by the Indians and taken prisoner. His companions had, at the time of the capture, gone to dinner, and were to bring his to the field. When these companions returned to the field they were attacked by the same Indians, and Gregg was killed and scalped, and Ray taken prisoner. The sub- ject of this article was conducted to the outlet of Conneaut Lake, and there tied to a small tree, and the old chief who had him in charge crawled into the bushes and went to sleep while waiting for his comrades, with Ray in charge, to come up. While the chief was asleep, his prisoner man- aged to loosen the thongs that bound him to the tree, and ran with his arms tied behind him through the wilderness, to the point on the west side of French Creek, opposite the spot which he and his companions had camped on May 12th, 1788. At this point what has always seemed to me to be almost an unaccountable incident took place. The escaped prisoner had some time previously planted some apple seeds near the place referred to, and at the time of the escape the young trees were to be seen above the ground ; weeds had sprung up among them and died the year pre- vious, and there was danger if fire should catch in the weeds that the apple trees would be desti'oyed. After all PIONEER SKETCHES. 39 that hud hapjwned that day — taken prisoner, taken to Con- neaut Lake, escaped, and with his arms pinioned at the elbows, behind— Van Horn seeing the (hinger to his young trees, stoppc^d in liis flight and began to pull the weeds from among the trees. While engaged in that operation was seen by John Fredc^baugh who, from the oi)posite side of the creek, took him for an Indian skulking in the bushes and was about to shoot when a recognition took place. Van Horn then waded the creeK and found a young officer and some men at the block house, who were en route from Fort LeBoeuf to Fort Franklin. THE SETTLEMENT ABANDONED. The settlement was abandoned for the time being. It is not knoNvn whether any white man visited the settlement of Meadville again that year except Van Horn who, in com- pany with an Indian named McGee, came back and got 10 or 12 bushels of grain and towed it in a canoe down the creek to Foil Franklin. After this Van Horn visited his mother in New Jersey and in the autumn niturned to the settlement. He is sup- posed to be the tirst white man who passed a winter in or near Meadville. When Van Horn returned in the fall, after his capture and escape, he learned the fate of his companions Ray and Gregg. Gregg had been shot with his own gun, and Ray had been captured and taken to Sandusky, where he met a trader who was an acf|uaintance and who exchanged liquor with the Indians for him. Ray made his way back to Pitts- burg, where he found his wife. 40 PIONEER SKETCHES. MORE INDIAN TROUBLES. In October, 1793, Samuel Lord arrived at the settle- ment from Franklin, and warned all to fly for their lives as there was danger threatening again from the Indians. This warning caused most of the settlers to remove. General Wilkins wrote Van Horn from Pittsburg to engage a sargeant's command, which he did. They con- tinued in the service until the last day of December, when they were disbanded. Cornelius Van Horn was a lieutenant in the Revolu- tionary army. He held a command as captain under Anthony Wayne and was the acting sherifl" in this section when this portion of Pennsylvania was Allegheny county. He was married to Sarah Dunn in the year 1797 and they had born to them six children, viz. : Jane, who married George Anderson; James; Priscilla. who mairied T. J. Fox; Alden, the celebrated lawyer; Cornelius, Har- riet and Thomas; the last named of whom is the only sur- vivor and is residing on the homestead farm patented by his father in the year 1800 under the name of Southamt> ton. He died July 26th, 1846, in his 97th year. Much more might be written of this sturdy Pioneer, but for fear of becoming tiresome I will close. — ISotes^ C. Van Horn. CHAPTER VIII. EARLY SETTLERS. |N HIS pioneer sketches of Meadville and Crawford County, the Hon. John Dick says: In 17!*4: his father, WilUani Dick, re- moved with his family to Meadville. His family, four in number, viz. : his wife and two sons, George and himself, who was between four and five months old when they arrived in Meadville. At that period there were no means of transportation but by the Allegheny River or l)y pack horses. His father chose the former and embarked with his family and goods on board a keel boat bound for Franklin, at the junction of the French Creek with the Allegheny River. This journey occupied three weeks to Franklin. Franklin was then a military post established by the Government to pro- tect its settlers. The fort was under the command of Lieu- tenant Polhemus and P^nsign Rosencrantz. Several mem- bei's of this command became residents of Meadville, amono^st whom were John Went worth, Luke Hill, Sar- gcant Muzzy, Samuel Lord and Martin Kicenceder, names now familiar to many of the old citizens. Mrs. Dick followed on })ack horses, with her infant son on her lap, along the Indian path, from Franklin to Meadville, which in many places was overhung with bushes that nearly swept her from her seat. On arriving at Meadville General Mead invited them to his house until some provision should be made for them. 42 PIONEER SKETCHES. GENERAL MEAD's STOCKADE HOUSE. There was a stockade ei\cted about his premises as a protection from the attacks of the Indians, who were very numerous and troublesome. The stockade was built by plsmting timbers close together and was about fifteen feet high. The onl>' residents at the time of Mr. Dick's arrival at Meadville were General David Mead, James Dickson, Thomas Ray, David Bulyer, William Jones, Robert F. Randolph, James Finey and Cornelius Van Horn. In 1796 Mr. Dick built a two-story house on the cor- ner of Water Street and an alley and removed his family there the same fall. In 1797 he built a house for General Mead, which now is standing at the head of Water Street, (Dr. Ellis' residence,) being the oldest house in the city. March 12, 1800, the Legislature passed a law to organ- ize Crawford County. A building erected by Mr, Dick was finished up for a Court House, and the first Court held by David Mead and John Kelso, Associate Judges, in July, 1800, and by Judge Addison in 1801, Judge Kelso and Judge Bell being the Associates. In 1803 Mr, Dick built a Court House and Jail on the west side of the Diamond, which was occupied many years as such. THE EARLY BAR, At the early period of judicial business of this County there were many of the first talents of the Bar in regular attendance on the Courts: — Hon. Henry Baldwin, State Supreme Judge; Hon. Wm. Wilkins, John Woods, Thomas Collins, Steel Sample, James Ross, Parker Campbell and George Armstrong, all men of more than ordinary ability. PIONEER SKETCHES. \:\ and some not surpassed in tlu-ir da.y. Of the rcsidont law- yers were several who were at the head of the j)rof('.ssi()n: — Alexander \V. Foster, Patriek Furrelly, Samuel K. Foster, John W. Hunter and others. The tirst Prothonotary was Dr. Thomas K. Ktimedy; Wm. Moore Register anral Mead huilt the first saw mill, and in the Fall of 17!»eks, in conse- 44 PIONEER SKETCHES. quence of the fall of snow about four feet deep. There were no roads opened, and consequently no travel to break the roads. His mother and the children subsisted principally upon frozen potatoes, venison and bear meat until their father's return. The few neighbors were no better off than they, but a disposition to divide with and assist each other was strongly manifested by all. During the summer large bodies of Indians were en- camped in and about the village, hunting and fishing. French Creek abounded at that time witli tine fish and eels and deer and turkeys were often killed within the lines of the village. THE INDIANS. The Indians in general were peaceable, except when under the influence of whisky, which was furnished them bv traders. On one occasion Wm. Dick went down to where a large number were camped and jjurchased a dressed deer skin. When returning he met an Indian who charged him with stealing the skin, and attempted to take it from him, but he being a stout and resolute man, did not feel disposed to yield to his demands. He felled him to the ground and picked up an ox gad and l)elabored him right soundly. He was soon after surrounded by a large number of Indians who were determined to have revenofe. One of them approached from behind with a large knife, but a bystander called to Mr. Dick, to Avarn him of his danger, when he wheeled around, caught the fellow in the act of striking him, threw him down, seized the knife, and, in drawing it from him, cut the savage's hand nearly through. Finding himself surrounded and in danger of his life, he made his way to General Mead's house. In a short time the building was surrounded by Indians, demanding the PIONEER SKETCHES. 45 suiremU'r of Mr. Dick. OwiiiLT to the firmness of Gcnoral Me:i(l and u few others who remained with him during the night, further hostilities were prevented. After an e.xphm- ation of the matter the mass of the In(Hans were satisfied that lie deserved what he got. Among the prominent Indians was a eelehratcd chief, whose name in English was Half Town, another Logan, Cheat and Twenty Canoes. Others when translated were Laughing Thief, Stinking Fish and Surly Bear. On one oeeasion Half Town (withhisscjuaw) called and asked for somethingtoeat. Mrs. Dick set before them some cold meat, bread, butter and milk. After having satisfied their hunger they k'ft with many expressions of thanks; shaking hands, he remarked: '"Good s(|uaw, very good." .About three months after, near Christmas, their old friend, Half Town, made his apiiearanc(.' with one of the largest and fattest wild turkeys ever seen, completely dressed, and pnv sented it to Mrs. Dick. She askod him how nmch was to pay and Half Town seemed (}uite indignant and said: "Good squaw, you much good scjuaw; you keep him," and turned and walked away. He was not to be outdone in acts of kindness. As the country Ix'camc settled and the game scarce, they retired to other hunting grounds. AN INDIAN JOKE. CHAPTER IX. AN INDIAN JOKE. OL. JOSEPH HACKNEY was about the . yvW^iCi/*. fii*st in Mcatlville to trade wiili the Indians '^^^BSH^^^ and had provided such artielcs as were usu- ally re(iuired hy them. He kept his little supi)ly in a small frame building on the corner where John MeFarland's store now stands. Among the prominent articles of trade with the Indians were beaver, otter and mnskrat skins. At that period there were large (juantities of beaver taken in the streams and marshes of this county. Colonel Hackney had traveled among the Indians and acer little Jesse Baldwin, whose distinguished uniform was a scarlet coat, and who beat the tenor drum so skillfully while grim-visaged war was delineated on his every feature. Well do I re- meml)er with what feelings of mingled awe and admiration I gazed upon him as he marched along in all the glory of his position, and how my boyish ambition coveted the at- tainment, in the distant future, of his fame, skill and uni- form. To reach such a point in military greatness seemed to me to be the consummation of human glory, and I deter- mined to attain it or perish in the attempt. But, alas, while aml)ition urged me on, ability lagged Ijcliind, and I never reached the goal. DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS COMPANIES. The Cussawago wore a neat uniform, consisting of a green hunting frock, and leggings fringed with yellow, a light wool hat or cap with a short yellow plume and a black leather l)elt, in which was hung a tomahawk and scalping knife. Suspended by a strap fi'om the shoulders was a PIONEER SKETCHES. 57 powder honi, so thin and lransj)!m'nt tliat its contents could ho distinctly seen. A bullet pouch and charger completed their equipment. Each member of the company carried a long American ritlc, the pride of its owner, with which their skill was such that they could hit a squirrers head on the top of the highest forest tree. TIk^ members of this company were farmers, well skilled in the wood craft of those early days, and would have been formidable adversaries to the trained troops of France or P^ngland. It was such men as these that gave Lcxingt(m and Bunker Hill their renown, and wrested our forests from savagery and wild beasts. Every bullet forced by sturdy hands into those long, slender iron tubes was a death warrant, and every man who carried them wjis skilled in its execution. The S.Tgertown c()m})any presented a neat and soldier- like appearance. Their uniform consisted of white pants, black swallow tailed coats and white belts sustaininjr car- tridge box and l)ayonet sheath, black fur plug hats on the side of which was fastened a white cockade, in the center of which was a ten cent piece. Well do I remember how my boyish avarice coveted the wealth thus })ublicly dis- played. They carried muskets, which were supplied to the troops from the government arsenal, situated where the North Ward school house now stands. Next on the roll of fame, of the ancient military of Crawford County, was the Meadville Dragoons. Here my pen fails me in an attempt to accurately describe the gor- geous equipments of this celebrated body of warriors, or their martial appearance on days of parade. Their coats and pants were of steel gray, the former glittering with globular buttons of brass, their leather helmets surmounted 5 8 FIUXEER SKE 7 CHES. with a crest of horse hair that hung down their backs to the crupper of the saddle, affonhng a compk'te protection against invidious' sword cuts from an enemy in the rear; their ponderous swords of polished iron like that of Sir Hudcbras — With basket hilts that would hold broth, And serv^e for fight and dinner both; In which could be melted lead for bullets, To shoot at foes and, sometimes, pullets. With holster pistols with flint locks and bores the size of small artillery, dangerous weapons to the troopers them- selves, what nuist they have been to an advancing foe^ The horses were of all colors, size and sex, from the mus- tang to the plow horse, or the high-stepping, blooded charger to those that "were without pride of ancestry, or hope of posterity." I well remend)er one June morning, a member of the company appeared on parade with a maternal dam and her playful offspring. The juvenile steed, somewhat uninter- ested with the military evolutions of the company, was promptly ordered under guard by the captain. The mother and son were accordingly led to the stable of the Crawford House, at that time the fashionable hotcd of the place, the colt (against loud maternal j)rotests) was confined in a vacant stall and the mother and rider took their place at the head of the cohuun near the band, a "single bugler." The order, "forward, march I nmsic I" was given, the column started across the i)ublic square, tli<5 band blew an inspiring blast, in which the disconsohite mother thought she recognized the plaintive appeals of her imprisoned off- spring and answered with an affectionate response that com- pletely drowned the ])ugler's cheering notes. A halt was PIONEER SKEU'IIES. 59 C':ill<', U lit rcillioli lie l(tll>rd to ".rn ill ;i>l\lc of Ijmle.id llie iiiulenial mind and were at't'eeliolKllely aiisweicd liy tlie hereaxcd Iilotiier. From tlial liiiie tlie ediiipaiiy was known ;i> tlie "Mcadvillo Stock Kaisini,'' 1 )raLroons.'" Of all the \nliiiitei'r companies of tlio>e early days none were more patriotic tliaii the Meadvilje I)raf;o<)ns. After\vard>, in |.s|;,, when the war cry "r)4-40 or tiirlit,"' resounded o\er our land, I wa-- orderly >eri.''<'ant of tli(> i-ompany, very youiiir in years lait atreil in military anihi- tion. ^^'ell I remeinlicr how the cry lire(| the hearts of the DraiToons. Our ~ almost leaped from their >cal)- bards with patriotic /eal. ( )m- ]ii-.lols iat(le(| in their liol>ler~> with an omiiioii^, warlike >onnd, while every horse hair on the (a-est of oni' Jiehnets "bristled on end like the ijiiills of ;i fretful porcupine. ■■ We all regretted wlien the white hand of p<'ace smoothed war's frowninu" face and corrugated l»row, aixi <'ontiniied to regret until the news came tliat war had l)een declaicd against Mexico, when the Meadville Dragoons >uddenly disbanded. '•"Slo trnnsit, (jUtria iianidip 'riici-c were x'Mial fiagmentary portions of otlier uni- fornicil cdinpanio at that time that S(;emed to l)e fossilifer- oii> remain^ of ])ast ages. 'I'lieir uniforms were di\('r>itied and iini(|ue, lait were generally coinijosed of the ordinary holiday suits of the farmers ornamente(l with white belts and colored scarfs. 1 remember the frasrnient of a com- j)any called the ''AN'ashington Guards." The only distinct- ive; feature that remains in my recolleetion was a large shield of j)ainted tin in fiont of their hats. They Avere 60 PIONEER SKETCHES. kept in place by red cords passing through holes in the top and bottom of the shields and around the hat crown, where they were tied in a bow with pendant tassels. The front of the shields were ornamented with the letters W. G. in yellow. There was also a company called the Green- wood Rifles, with a uniform similar to the Cu«sawago Rifles. A company called tlie Liberty Guards, from Blooming Val- ley, mustered in numbers. Their members were expert with their rifles, their uniform hunting frocks and leo:orino:s well suited to the times and forest warfare. The Meadville Artillery, commanded ])y Capt. Samuel Doud, was a formidable array of twenty -five or more vet- erans, uniformed in gray coats and white pants. Their gun was a brass six-pound cannon, Avith a ''vent" almost as capacious as the muzzle, rendering the feat of spiking it one of great difiiculty, unless a cannon ball was used. The company was very popular with }'oung pioneer America of that day. But, oh! the gathering of the militia, or '"flood wood" as they were sometimes called. The ••DinmoiKr' was the parade ground, and all that time it was a sea of dust, whose surface Avas as restless under the summer's wind as the ocean's waters in a storm. Promptly at 10 o'clock a. m. the citizen soldiers were called to arms. These arms usually consisted of old shot-guns, dilapidated muskets, rifles and bean poles. The line was formed three dee}), and extc^ndcnl from end to end of the Public S(iuare. After a short prac- tice in the manual of arms the soldiers were put through a system of evolutions that must have l)een copied from a western cyclone. This continue lime forest temple, they were naturally reverential and re- ligious. The evening prayer daily ascended from many a rude cabin in the wilderness, while the family Bible wtis read at every fireside. They prayed on the eve of battle, yet took good care to keep their powder dry. Theirs was faith with works, and the result is a nation of freemen. Christian people who acknowledge no supremacy on earth, and no sovereign but Him whose throne is on high. — Notes^ A. B. Richmond. ALFRED SARGENT. CIIAI'TKIJ XII I'KtNKKK SKKTCH OF ALriJKD SARGENT. IDi'livereil iiti the M ()cc:i>i<)ii calls for sonicthinir (iui'iiiir a loiiir period of liiiic. niimiiiL'' liack in ircncrations to till' i)iiiniti\(' (lays of llic Pioneer of this country, and would admit of ex- tended and ajjpropriute remarks, but for that you will have to look to some one more capable than I. A brief statement with some incidents is ^>'^mXm!:^^SSHSSIggM all I shall attemj)t. Our paternal ancestor, Alfred Sargent, was born at Cincinnatus, Cortland County, N. Y., A. D. 1804. At the age of 14, A. D. 18 IS, he, with his parents and the rest of the family, emigrated to the Western Reserve, then called the Far West, and finally settled near the Conneaut Creek, on what is now eall(>d the Elijah Thomas place. Soon thereafter he and the family removed onto lands of the Huidekoiwr-Holland patent in Spring township, Crawford County, Pa., at which place, and in the immediate vicinity, he has since lived, exci^pt the last fourteen years. Alfred Sarmmt was married A. I). 1831 to Maria Phelps, with whom he lived forty-two years. She died at the age of sixty-four after a very busy and industrious life. She was the nobl(> mother, housekeeper and seamstress, 6l5 PIONEER SKETCHES. plying the needle, with the use of the midnight oil, to make garments for the family, and to cut and make coats, vests and pants for hired men. It was wonderful how that mother worked to help along to raise her family and to aid in paying for and to clean up the lands. Too great a tribute we cannot pay to the Pioneer mothers of this country — She is gone, let her calmly repose From her hard labors herself best knows. Our paternal ancestors also had to prepare for the fray; To fell and to clear the trees away. To take, as it were, the bull rij^ht by the horn, That they might raise a few pecks of eight-rowed corn. The uplifted axe down through the roots into the ground, To cut away, that mother earth might there be found. To propagate the seed, did the Pioneer Invincibles Live and work, upon first principles. To this union seven children were born; three of tbem, Martin, Electa and Adelaide, are present; Cornelia, Elizabeth, Edwin and Lcononia, got through the trials of this life at quite an early age, and have gone where no traveler returns. Yet onward marches the ever rolling tide, Its eternal mandates we must abide; Nor stop to gaze upon the moving throng. As we to the Golden Gates are marching on. Of this family there are represented here to-day two lines of three generations and one line of four generations, viz., Alfred Sargent, Electa and Frank, Paul, Addie, Willie and Ina Cheeseman, and Alfred Sargent, Martin, James, Dayton and Fred W. Sargent. Two brothers, Charles and Anson, and three sisters, Nancy, Polly and Betsy, accompanied him to this new PIONEER SK ETCHES. 07 l.iiitl, who in the course of nature, have passed from earth. Hetsy, the younfjost, died of hin^ fever soon after s('ttliii<^ in this new country. Smallpox havin*^ come into the fam- ily, her mother knowing she had not been vaccinated for smallpox, took up her abode in a log cabin on the Fleming lot, over a mile away in the woods, for six weeks, with no one to bear her company except the L.deous nightly howl- ing of the wolves. A messenger, however, was daily sent within hallowing distance to exchange a (quarantine health re|Xiil. This plucky veteran lady of the log cabin in the woods, Mary Sargent, was born at Oxford, Massachusetts, A. D. 1763, and lived to the age of 85 years. Captain Phineas Sargent, husband and father, than whom no stronger man, j)hysically, in the country, was bom at Worcest^'r, Mass., A. D. 1765, and lived to the age of 86 years. The other sisters and brothers, except Anson, lived to old age, from 75 to 83 years. To this new El Dorado others began to settle in: John and Oliver Woodard, Daniel Sturtevant and Harry Wells, later Wm. McCoy, Eri and Elijah Thomas, Porter Skeels, David, Albert and Isaac Hurd, Chris. Cross, Samuel Brain- erd, Daniel Waters, John Curtis, Wm. Cornell, Chester Morley, George and Harry Nicholson, John Gillette, Obed Wells, John Vauphn, Wm. Tucker, Jesse Church, Watkin, Howell and David Powell, Thomas and Elisha Bowman, Luman and Elund Sturtevant, and others. The work of clearing up commenced in earnest. The hands of these sturdy pioneers made the primeval forest yield to the light of day, and a fair independence to be derived from future cultivated fields. "The music of the woodman's axe resounded through the laud, liut to make that music took muscle and a williug hand." g^ PIONEER SKETCHES. Out of all that number of Pioneers you now can see Remaining on earth only three. Alfred Sargent, the youngest, is eighty-five, Few at that age are found vigorous and alive. The next is John Woodward — ninety-two; People living at that age are very few. Isaac Hurd has 'scored the wondrous ninety -five, From all that number the oldest man alive; As these veterans pencil on the scroll of time, 'Tis a long mark, beautiful, grand, sublime. The privations of the pioneer were numerous, notwith- standing all stages of life have their enjoyments and quaint incidents. Geo. Nicholson, a quaint old soul, had a small debt against Wm. Tucker, and accordingly he on(! day called on Mr. T. to collect the same. Grinning while he turned around, Mr. Tucker discovered a piece of white muslin protruding from the seat of George's trousers and he exclaimed, "Mr. Nicholson, you have got a letter in the postoffice." "I know that," said George, "and if you will pay me what you owe me I can take it out." It took 25 cents to pay postage on a letter in those days and people had to resort to novel means to raise the neces- sary amount to pay postage on a single letter. Oliver Woodard saw no way out of the dilemma except to tackle a five-foot chestnut tree which took him all day to fell and gather three pecks of chestnuts to sell to pay postage on a letter. The sale of three pecks of chestnuts to-day would buy postage stamps to write him down the ages. Timber was cut and rolled into log heaps and burned into ashes and manufactured into black salts and hauled 20 miles over corduroy roads to Conneaut, Ohio, to get a few dollars to pay taxes and make payments on land purchase. PIONEER SKETCHES. 69 The rapactiouM wolf was rather an exjx>nsive hixiiry to the pionet^r. Alfred and Anson Sargent had a tiock of sheep, and on one cool, crisp night, the wolves with sharp- ened teeth and thirsty stomachs, came down upon them and sucked the life bUxxl from the throats of 28 of the flock, which lay near the road on the little hillside near Porter Skeel's line. The people had to go on foot through the woods four to six miles to a salt well on the Crossingville Road, where salt was manufactured, and carry home on their backs half a bushel or more of the precious article. Daniel Sturte- vant, while doing this, got belated one night. The wolves overtook him and he had to climb a tree. The wolves howled and gnawed away at the tree until near morning, when his neighbors rescued him from his cool and lofty perch. Daniel said Could he have got a handful! of his salt he would have sprinkled it on their tails and got them into a more friendly submission. Such and other like scenes tried men's souls, their lamb chops and their staying qualities. But the woodman's axe and the click of the trap and the hunter's rifle in time swept the wolf from the land, except that wolf in sheep's clothing, who still lingers in the land, a living curse to generations yet unborn. The flax brake at the barn and the hum of the spinning wheel at the house were everywhere heard in the land. The earliest pioneer of this county had to go to Pif'ts- burg to get his com ground. Later, I have started many a time at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning on horeeback with a grist of com or wheat to get in first at the old Jenks mill on Conneaut Creek, to get my grist groimd. On sev- 70 PIONEER SKETCEHS. eral occasions have had to wait all day. True, the nether mill stone would turn round, but so slow you could count each kernel of corn as into it dropped. At length the day of internal improvements began. The Erie & Pittsburg Canal was built, which brongrht iov and a home market to the people for many of the products of the country. The Lake Shore Railroad was built and astonished the later day inhabitants with awe and wonder. George Terrill, who had never seen a railroad, thouo-ht he would test its wondei-ful velocity, and accordingly he and his wife Nancy started one morning early from Sprintrtown and went to North Springfield station, and there waited for the cars to take them on a visit to York State. After waiting long and growing impatient, he paced up and down the platform, with hands folded across his back under his swallow-tailcoat, and exclaimed "Mr. Railroad Agent, how long before will the railroad start?" "When the cars come, in about two hours," the agent replied. Next came the Telegraph, awakening a great sensation among the people, and the invincible old lady appeared on the scene, who exclaimed, "I'm so glad the telegraph has come; I'll go down to Vennont to see my sister now, who I haint seen for forty years." A new era in most kinds of improvements throughout all the land sprung like magic into existence. Improve- ments most marvelous have been witnessed from centre to circumference all over the globe during the last half of a century. The power of steam, of skill and science, Stands to-day America's proud defiance. PIONEER SKETCHES. 71 Our pattTiiiil aiu'cstor has lived to soo tho t-rcation of all these scenes and improvements through a i()n<;er period of time than will perhaps any of us present. He has lived to cast a vote for John Quincy Adams, and at every Presi- dential election down to Henjamin Harrison. His political creed was that of a Henry Clay Whig and an Abraham Lincoln Republican. I'liriinchingly he has firmly stood in those ranks, From the heat of the great Whig and Democratic Chaldrons, on the Missouri Coniproniiso to date, Down to the boom of Harrison's thunder in 1888. We'll keep Old England on her side of the ditch, And teach her how to twist her British lion's tail, And how to get up a more appropriate sail, For spoils and for low wages, Off into the dark ages. Of central Africa or farther India. In taking a retrospect of the political history of this country from 1798 to 1828, '30, '32, '40, '54 and 1860, he can congratulate himself with a feeling of loyalty and American patriotism, that he never voted for the men or measures who several times have souorht for the dissolution and the- destruction of this great country. Eighty-five years, a long period of time — over four score And you appear to be good for several years more. A grander sight to look upon we never can Than a well-preserved, aged woman or a man. CHAPTER XIII. ERIE CITY. RIE IS situated on the south bank of the beau- tiful bay of Presque Isle and was first settled or occupied by the Indians in centuries past. Of their origin we have but a meager record. But it is a characteristic of the Indian to settle upon the most favorable spots of the earth, on the shores of a bay or lake, or in some prolific valley on the l)ank of a river. And so it was here, on this beau- tiful site where Erie now stands, that Seth Reed, one of the Pioneers of Erie, so successfully and profitably treated the Indians to fire water, which was his first cargo (one bar- rel of whisky.) He hauled it from liuff'alo, over the ice on Lake Erie, on a hand sled. It was his capital in trade, and with it he laid the foundation to his collossal fortune. At this date Erie; was s[)ars(;ly settled by the white man. Among its first white settlers wvro Seth Reed, P. S. V. Hammot, French, Judah Colt and others, in the; course of a few years emigration from the eastern states to this pcjint, (called the Far West) briskly set in and the shores along Lake Erie were soon dotted by tln^ cabins of the white set- tlers. The primeval forest was h(!wn down, the majestic and the valuable oak, the chestnut, ihv, poplar and the ash, the walnut and the cherry, all alike went into the pioneer log roller's common pile to feed the thousand fires at night, only to illuminate the country and to make l)lack salts from PfOXEER SKETCHES. 73 its iishos. Yet tills valuable tiiiihtr \va.> eonsiden-d a nuisam-e and must be cIcaiTd out of tlie way. This was takiii<; tlu' i)iill by \.\w horn, That tht'V uii^ht raise a few peclcs of ei^^ht-rowed corn. In many j)laces to-day these valuable ti'e<'s would Ix; worth five times as much as the ground on which tliey stoo.. ..*.V'-"*V-'W-i'' '^1 ^^•--^•^ ■:.-^^'h^ry^^-^:^ A £l^^ w^^ ■.■••' ' »./«. 1 ^ . .'wH ^-' -«. "-.■■'"■■ • . f ^gi^^j^ inwraj***, .7^-*" ^■ ^::^ ''>, and in 1iez were ex- tt^-rminated in battle about the year 1650 by the Iroquois, or Six Nations, of whom the Senecjis were in possession of Presque Isle in 1740, when the French and English com- menced their struggle for the acquisition of the territory. The French obtained the mastery, and in 1753 sent out an array of "Ih^ men, under command of Sieur Marin, from Montreal to Presque Isle, where they built and garrisoned a fort and established a base of supplies by means of a portage road to Fort LeBceuf, (now Waterford), and thence by French Creek to the Allegheny. At this time General DuQuesne, French commander at Montreal, in a letter to the French minister in Paris, described Presque Isle as a "harbor which the largest vessels can enter loaded and be in perfect safety, the finest spot in nature a bark can safely enter." Presque Isle Fort and road, (which run south on the line of Parade Street), were completed August 3, 1753. The fort was 120 feet long, two stories high, with a log house in each corner, and gates at the north and south sides, and built of chestnut logs, on the west bank of Mill Creek, something over 100 yards from its mouth, adjoining the ground now occupied by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home. The remains of this French fort, built in 1753, are described in an official report of Captain Denny, Cpm- mander at Fort LeBoeuf in 1795, as being a regular penta- gon, with parapet not exceeding five feet; that the stone 6 32 PIONEER SKETCHES. walls of the magazine were then standing and could be suc- cessfully repaired, and the well made fit for use. The ruins of this fortification were plainly visible twen- ty-five years ago, and citizens of the city who played around there in boyhood and who are still young men, are able to identify from memory almost the exact location described in history. The stone foundations of this fort were removed in June, 1888, by Messrs. Paradine & McCarty, whose brick-yard is located near by; twenty musket ban*els, bayo- nets, etc., were found in the north end. The foundation was three feet deep, and the original hard clay floor was covered with ashes under three feet of clay. There was at this period a French village of more than 100 families, a grist mill, a Catholic priest and a school master, on the east bank of Mill Creek. They cleared land and cultivated cornfields. The village appears to have been abandoned after a few years' experiment, as it was not in existence in 1758. The abandonment of this village may be attributed to smallpox, which appeared there about 1756. In the year 1753 George Washington, then 21 years old, visited this section as a representative of the British Government for the purpose of formally notifying the French to discontinue the fortification of Presque Isle and LeBoeuf. St. Pierre, the French commander at Fort LeBceuf , refused to comply with the notice, and Washington returned without visiting Presque Isle. In 1757-8 the British captured several forts and French supremacy began to wane. In 1758 the garrison at Presque Isle had become reduced to two ofiicers, thirty-two white soldiers and ten Indians. British success continued, Niag- I PIONEER SKETCHES. 83 ara had fallen, and the French evaciisitcd Presquo Isle in 1759. It was occupied by the British in 17»)(», who contin- ued to garrison it until 1703. THE PONTIAC CONSPIRACY. The Indians who had previously been allied with the French did not take lovin2, the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed an Act providing for the; laying out of a town at Presque Isle, and for a military force for frontier service. The project was vigorously opposed by the Indians, backed by British influence. The Indians in council asseml)led at Buffalo, July 4, 1794, resolved to prevent by force the garrisoning of Presque Isle by the Americans. Anticipating resistance. General Knox, Secretary of War under Presi- dent Washington, directed a suspension of operations. The State authorities protested, insisting that their capacity was ample to preserve order at Presque Isle. Upon the advice of CoiTiplanter, the S(!neca chief, the Indians withdrew their opposition. Another Act was passed in 1705, under which the town was laid out and received the name it now bears. In that year Captain Russell Bissell arrived with 200 men from Wayne's army. They erected two block houses that year and a saw mill in 1790. General Anthony Wayne, the hero of Stony Point, died in one of these block houses December 15, 1790, and PIONEER SKETCHES. 87 was, by his own request, buried undtT tiio Msif^stafi", wllor(^ his Jxxly rciiuiiiied until ISOO, when it was exhumed l)y his son, Colonel Wayiu', and Dr. Wallacv, tlu- GencraPs physi- cian, and the l)on«'s roniovcd to his former home near Phila- delphia. A portion of the remains were returned to the cotHn in the original grave on Garrison Hill, where they remained until discovered by Dr. Germer, ten years ago, about 200 feet southwest of the present block house. Por- tions of the lid of the coffin were found, on which the follow- ing inscrij)tion appears, the letters being fomied with copjier headed nails viz.: '^A. W.— OH Dec. 15, 1790.'^ Two case knives and a few bones were also found in the grave. The new block house was built in 1880 as a monument to General AVayne, in order to fittingly mark the spot at which was closed his earthly career than which none was more brilliant in the annals of American history. Colonel Reed, gi-eat-grandfather of Hon. Charles M. Reed, amved with his wife in a sail boat July 1, 1795. They camped on the Peninsula the first night. Their camp- fire was seen from the gan-ison, who, thinking it to have been lighted l)y an invading anny, made preparations to resist an attack. Colonel Reed built a log house near the .block houses. Other white settlers having arrived, a public house became a necessity. He converted his dwelling into a public house and hung out his shingle, '••Pres(jue Isle Hotel."' He erected a larger building the next year, moved to Walnut Creek, leavingr his son Rufus S. to continue the business, which, under his able management, soon expanded to gigantic pro- portions and included general merchandise, grist mills, trad- ing with the Indians, lake connnerce, etc., etc. 88 PIONEER SKETCHES. The lirpt vessel built in Erie was the Washington, in 1797. Immigration had set in, a little settlement was formed, supply depots were opened, wharves were con- structed, and business became active. The first newspaper in Erie was the Mirror^ published in 1808, by George Wyeth. Erie was incorporated as a town in 1805, as a borough in 1833, and as a city in 1851. The first council convened May 5, 1800. The limits, which were originally one mile square, were extended in 1834, in 1848, and again in 1870. Erie was governed by a burgess and one branch of council until 1851, since then liy a mayor, select and common councils. The plan of the city is excellent, the streets are wide, cutting ea('li other at right anghis, with very few exceptions, with public parks at convenient distances. THE WAK OF 1812-13. When war was declared with Great Britain in 1812, Erie expected an invasion. Its citizens organized into a company of minute men, constructed and garrisoned a block house, which was still standing in 1853. In Erie Perry's fleet was built, with unparalleliMl (celerity, that won the battle of Lake Erie. From here the fleet sailed for action, and to P2ric returned with the captured s(]uadron of the enemy. The two })l()ck houses and fortifications huilt in 1796 were in ruins in 1813 when the block house of that year was erected. Another block house was built at Crystal Point the same year to defend the entrance to the harbor. The Garrison Tract was the camping ground of the Pennsylvania militia in 1812-13. I'lOXEER SKETCHES. 8i> Here, in isi;;, while the British fleet wii.s diavvn uj) in front of the liarhor intent on destroyinf^ Perry's fleet, in course of eonstruction :it the foot of Sassafras and Cascade Streets, and at a time wlicii "I^ritannia ruled th(^ waves" on ocean and Like, ti,500 soMicis were encamped on these grounds. They had cannon mounted, and such military disj)lay and military strength were hete developed as to forelxxlc disa>tti-, >hould an entrance to the harbor be at- tempted. The liritons, conscious that no picnic awaited them here, hoistcMJ their tojvsails and retreated to more con- genial waters. The subse<|uent events, tlie completion of Perry's fleet, with the Lawrence to lead; the battle of Lake Erie, the de- feat and surrender of the liritish fleet on the lakes, com- manded by Barclay, who fought with Nelson at Trafalgar ; the downfall of Knglish supremacy on the inland waters of America; the triumphal return to Fa'ie, Octo])er 23, 1S18, with the capture! 1 vessels and crews landing at the foot of French Street, ainid the booming of cannon and the wildest demonstrations of joy. with Perry the hero of the hour, — all these have pa>-(d into hi>^tory as glorious as ever recorded. A full description of this battle would make interesting readini;. but it i> too voluminous to be recounted here. The Lawrence was made the especial target of the enemy in l)attle. She was riddled and shattered, but still floating in triumi)h the eagles of victory which ])ercluMl on her masthead, and Perry had won tlu^ victory Avhich rJames Madison, then President, said hatl " Never been surpassed in luster, however it may have been sur})assed in magnitude." Of the American vessels that i)articipated in this battle the Porcupine, Tigress and Scorpion were built at the mouth 90 PIONEER SKETCHES. of Lee's Run, near Sassafras Street, and the Lawrence, Niagara and Ariel at the present site of the E. & P. R. R. docks. The Lawrence brought the wounded of both fleets to Erie — was subsequently sunk in Misery Bay. While there a large part of the vessel was cut into walking canes, and the remainder was raised in 1876 and taken to the Cen- tennial. The Ariel broi]glit General Harrison and Commodores Perry and Barclay to Erie, the latter being a prisoner of war. The Niagara still lies sunk in Misery Bay, Erie Harbor. In November, 1863,