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HORACE A. SCOTT
2208 N. Ross Street
Santa Ana, Calif.
WILLIAM j. MCKNIGHT.
A PIONEER HISTORY
1844
OF
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
AND
MY FIRST RECOLLECTIONS OF BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA,
1840-1843, WHEN MY FEET WERE BARE AND
MY CHEEKS WERE BROWN
BY
w. j. MCKNIGHT, M.D.
BROOKVILLE, PA.
PHILADELPHIA
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1898
COPYRIGHT, 1898,
BY
W. J. MCKNIGHT, M.D.
TO MY
FATHER AND MOTHER
THESE PAGES ARE
AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED
F
PREFACE.
To write a pioneer history of a single county years and years after all
the fathers and mothers have gone to that " country from whose bourn
no traveller returns" is a task to appall the most courageous. To say it
mildly, it is a task requiring a vast amount of labor and research, untiring
perseverance, great patience, and discrimination. In undertaking this
task I realized its magnitude, and all through the work I have determined
that, if labor, patience, and perseverance would overcome error and false
traditions and establish the truth, the object of this book would be fully
attained. This book is not written for gain, nor to laud or puff either the
dead or the living. It is designed to be a plain, truthful narrative of the
pioneer men and events of Jefferson County. I have compiled, wherever
I could, from the writings of others.
I am indebted to the following historical works, viz., "Jefferson
County Atlas," "Jefferson County History," Day's " Historical Recol-
lections," Egle's "History of Pennsylvania," W. C. Elliott's "History
of Reynoldsville," and the county histories of Indiana, Armstrong, Elk,
Centre, Lycoming, Venango, Crawford, and Northumberland ; also to
many individuals. I am greatly indebted to the late Mr. G. B. Good-
lander, of Clearfield, for a complete file of the Brookville Republican for
the year 1837, to Clarence M. Barrett for a file of the Republican for 1834,
and also to the Ladies' Home Journal of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In every instance, as far as possible, credit has been given to the
writings of those who have preceded me. But, dear reader,
" Whoever thinks a faultless work to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.
In every work regard the writer's end,
Since none can compass more than they intend,
And if the means be just, the conduct true,
Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due."
W. J. MCKNIGHT.
BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.
3
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
INTRODUCTORY TIMES, PRIVILEGES, SOCIAL HABITS OF THE PIONEERS, CHRIS-
TIANITY OF THOSE DAYS, ETC 9
CHAPTER II.
OUR ABORIGINES THE IROQUOIS, OR Six NATIONS INDIAN TOWNS, VILLAGES,
GRAVEYARDS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, HUTS, MEDICINES, DOCTORS, BARK-
PEELERS, BURIALS, ETC 12
CHAPTER III.
THE WILDERNESS IN 1755 THE SAVAGE INDIAN MARIE LE ROY AND BAR-
BARA LBININGER, THE FIRST WHITE PIONEERS TO TREAD THIS WIL-
DERNESS THE CHINKLACAMOOSE PATH PUNXSUTAWNEY AND KIT-
TANNING REV. HECKEWELDER, REV. ZEISBERGER, REV. ETTWEIN, AND
ROTHE 32
CHAPTER IV.
THE PURCHASE OF 1784 42
CHAPTER V.
TITLES AND SURVEYS PIONEER SURVEYS AND SURVEYORS DISTRICT LINES
RUN IN NORTHUMBERLAND, NOW JEFFERSON, COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 78
CHAPTER VI.
PIONEER ANIMALS BEAVER, BUFFALO, ELK, PANTHERS, WOLVES, WILD-CATS,
BEARS, AND OTHER ANIMALS PENS AND TRAPS BIRDS WILD BEES . 88
CHAPTER VII.
RUNWAYS, PATHS, TRAILS, DEER RUNS AND CROSSINGS, INDIAN TRAILS
THE WHITE MAN'S PATH DAVID AND JOHN MEADE MEADE'S PACK-
HORSE TRAIL PIONEER SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTHWEST WHITE
BOYS CAPTURED AND REARED BY INDIANS PIONEER EXPLORERS AND
SETTLERS 115
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
PACK
PROVISION FOR OPENING A ROAD REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO THE
GOVERNOR STREAMS, ETC ' 124
CHAPTER IX.
THE OLD STATE ROAD EARLY ROADS AND TRAILS WHY THE STATE ROAD
WAS MADE THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE ROAD LAWS, ETC.,
TOUCHING THE SUBJECT THE SURVEY THE ROAD COMPLETED THE
ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE WHICH SANCTIONED THE BUILDING OF THE
ROAD 137
CHAPTER X.
PIONEER AGRICULTURE How THE FARMERS IN THE OLDEN TIME HAD TO
MAKESHIFT THE PlONEER HOMES PlONEER FOOD PlONEER EVENING
FROLICS TREES, SNAKES, AND REPTILES SOLDIERS OF 1812 PIONEER
LEGAL RELATIONS OF MAN AND WIFE EARLY AND PIONEER Music
LIST OF TAXABLE INHABITANTS IN 1820 THE TRANSPORTATION OF
IRON THE FIRST SCREW FACTORY POPULATION OF THE STATE AND
OF THE UNITED STATES 150
CHAPTER XI.
THE ERECTION OF THE COUNTY SITE FOR COUNTY ESTABLISHED, AND DEED
FOR PUBLIC LOTS PIONEER COURT-HOUSE AND JAIL THE PIONEER
ACADEMY 185
CHAPTER XII.
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM ITS INCEPTION INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA
STATE EFFORT HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE STATE SCHOOLS
OF JEFFERSON COUNTY PROGRESS OF EDUCATION, ETC 199
CHAPTER XIII.
PIONEER MISSIONARY WORK THE FIRST WHITE MAN TO TRAVEL THE SOIL
OF JEFFERSON COUNTY REVS. POST, HECKEWELDER, AND OTHERS , . 229
CHAPTER XIV.
PIONEER AND EARLY CHURCHES PRESBYTERIAN THE PIONEER CHURCH IN
THE COUNTY THE PIONEER PREACHER AND CHURCH 237
CHAPTER XV.
WHITE SLAVERY ORIGIN NATURE IN ROME, GREECE, AND EOROPE AFRI-
CAN SLAVERY IN PENNSYLVANIA GEORGE BRYAN PIONEER COLORED
SETTLER IN JEFFERSON COUNTY CENSUS, ETC. DAYS OF BONDAGE IN
THIS COUNTY , . , . . 266
6
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVI.
PAGE
PIONEER MONEY 296
CHAPTER XVII.
" SCOTCH-IRISH" ORIGIN OF THE TERM UNDER JAMES I. LORDS AND LAIRDS
EARLY SETTLERS IN PENNSYLVANIA THE PIONEER AND EARLY SET-
TLERS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY 299
CHAPTER XVIII.
FROM 1830 TO 1840 311
CHAPTER XIX.
PIONEER SETTLEMENT OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA PIONEER PENNSYLVANIA
INDIAN TRADERS THE PIONEER ROAD BY WAY OF THE SOUTH
BRANCH OF THE POTOMAC AND THE VALLEY OF THE KISKIMINITAS
THE PIONEER ROAD FROM EAST TO WEST, FROM RAYSTOWN, NOW BED-
FORD, TO FORT DUQUESNE, NOW PlTTSBURG, A MILITARY NECESSITY
GENERAL JOHN FORBES OPENS IT IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 1758
COLONEL GEORGE WASHINGTON OPPOSED TO THE NEW ROAD AND
IN FAVOR OF THE POTOMAC ROAD DEATH OF GENERAL JOHN FORBES
PIONEER MAIL-COACHES, MAIL- ROUTES, AND POST-OFFICES .... 334
CHAPTER XX.
PIONEER ROADS IN PROVISIONAL JEFFERSON COUNTY FROM 1808 TO 1830 . 346
CHAPTER XXI.
PIONEER COURT PIONEER JUDGES PRESIDENT AND ASSOCIATES PIONEER
BAR AND EARLY LAWYERS MINUTES OF PIONEER SESSIONS OF COURT
DECEMBER SESSION, 1830, AND FEBRUARY SESSION, 1831 LIST OF
RETAILERS OF FOREIGN MERCHANDISE IN THE COUNTY, FEBRUARY
SESSIONS, 1831 EARLY CONSTABLES 364
CHAPTER XXII.
THE PIONEER PHYSICIAN IN THE COUNTY, DR. JOHN W. JENKS, OF PUNX-
SUTAWNEY THE PIONEER PHYSICIAN ON THE LITTLE TOBY, DR.
NICHOLS OTHER EARLY PHYSICIANS, DR. EVANS, DR. PRIME, DR.
DARLING, DR. BISHOP, DR. A. M. CLARKE, DR. JAMES DOWLING, DR.
WILLIAM BENNETT PIONEER MAJOR OPERATION IN SURGERY IN 1821
EARLY RIDES, FEES, ETC 391
CHAPTER XXIII.
PIONEER TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS AND PIONEER TAXABLES 396
7
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIV.
PAGE
PIONEER NEWSPAPER IN THE WEST PIONEER NEWSPAPER IN THE COUNTY
TERMS EARLY MARKET OTHER PAPERS 407
CHAPTER XXV.
MILITIA AND TOWNSHIPS . 414
CHAPTER XXVI.
MY FIRST RECOLLECTIONS OF BROOKVILLE 512
CHAPTER XXVII.
CORNPLANTER OUR CHIEF CHIEF OF THE SENEGAS, ONE OF THE SlX NA-
TIONS BRIEF HISTORY SOME SPEECHES LIFE AND DEATH MOSES
KNAPP SAW-MILLS JOHN JONES 560
CHAPTER XXVIII.
JOSEPH BARNETT BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE PATRIARCH OF JEFFERSON
COUNTY 570
APPENDIX 593
A PIONEER HISTORY
OF
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY TIMES, PRIVILEGES, SOCIAL HABITS OF THE PIONEERS,
CHRISTIANITY OF THOSE DAYS, ETC.
AT this time all the pioneers have passed away, and the facts here
given are collected from records and recollections. Every true citizen
now and in the future of Jefferson County must ever possess a feeling of
deep veneration for the brave men and courageous women who penetrated
this wilderness and inaugurated civilization where savages and wild beasts
reigned supreme. These heroic men and women migrated to this wilder-
ness and endured all the hardships incidental to that day and life, and
through these labors and tribulations they have transmitted to us all the
comforts and conveniences of a high civilization. When pioneers pass
off a given spot they disappear from that locality forever. This county
was redeemed by the Barnetts, Scotts, and others. We will know them
or their like no more forever. The graves have closed over all these
pioneer men and women, and I have been deprived of the great assistance
they could have been to me in writing this history.
In 1800, when Joseph Barnett settled on Mill Creek, then Lycoming
County, the United States contained a population of five million three
hundred and five thousand nine hundred and twenty-five people. Now,
in 1890, we have sixty-two million six hundred and twenty-two thousand
two hundred and fifty.
Men at this time wore no beard, whiskers, or moustaches, a full beard
being held as fitted only for heathen or Turks.
In 1800 Philadelphia and New York were but overgrown villages, and
Chicago was unknown. Books were few and costly, ignorance the rule,
and authors famed the world over now were then unborn ; now we
spend annually one hundred and forty million dollars for schools. Then
'
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
there was no telegraph, telephone, or submarine cable ; now the earth is
girdled with telegraph wires, and we can speak face to face through the
telephone a thousand miles apart, and millions of messages are sent every
year under the waters of the globe. To-day in the United States an
average of one to twelve telegraphic messages are sent every minute, day
and night, the year through.
In 1800 emigrants to America came in Failing vessels. Each emi-
grant had to provide his own food, as the vessel supplied only air and
water. The trip required a period of from thirty days to three months.
Now this trip can be made by the use of Jefferson County coal in less
than six days. Now ocean travel is a delight. Then canals for the pas-
sage of great ships and transatlantic steamers were unknown.
In 1800 electricity was in its infancy, and travel was by sail, foot,
horseback, and by coach. Now we have steamers, street-cars, railroads,
bicycles, and horseless carriages. Gas was unheard of for stoves, streets,
or lights. Pitch-pine, fat, and tallow candles gave the only light then.
In 1800 human slavery was universal, and irreligion was the order of
the day. Nine out of every ten workingmen neither possessed nor ever
opened a Bible. Hymn-books were unknown, and musical science had
no system. Medicine was an illiterate theory, surgery a crude art, and
dentistry unknown. No snap shots were thought of. Photography was
not heard of. Now this science has revealed " stars invisible" and micro-
scopic life.
In 1800 there were but few daily papers in the world, no illustrated
ones, no humorous ones, and no correspondents. Modern tunnels were
unknown, and there was no steam heating. Flint and tinder did duty
for matches. Plate-glass was a luxury undreamed of. Envelopes had not
been invented, and postage-stamps had not been introduced. Vulcan-
ized rubber and celluloid had not begun to appear in a hundred dainty
forms. Stationary wash-tubs, and even wash-boards, were unknown.
Carpets, furniture, and household accessories were expensive. Sewing-
machines had not yet supplanted the needle. Aniline colors and coal-
tar products were things of the future. Stem-winding watches had not
appeared ; there were no cheap watches of any kind. So it was with
hundreds of the necessities of our present life.
"In the social customs of our day, many minds entertain doubts
whether we have made improvements upon those of our ancestors. In
those days friends and neighbors could meet together and enjoy them-
selves, and enter into the spirit of social amusement with a hearty good-
will, a geniality of manners, a corresponding depth of soul, both among
the old and young, to which modern society is unaccustomed. Our
ancestors did not make a special invitation the only pass to their dwell-
ings, and they entertained those who visited them with a hospitality that
is not generally practised at the present time. Guests did not assemble
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
then to criticise the decorations, furniture, dress, manners, and surround-
ings of those by whom they were invited. They were sensible people,
with clear heads and warm hearts ; they visited each other to promote
mutual enjoyment, and believed in genuine earnestness in all things.
We may ignore obligations to the pioneer race, and congratulate our-
selves that our lot has been cast in a more advanced era of mental and
moral culture ; we may pride ourselves upon the developments which
have been made in science and art, but while viewing our standard of
elevation as immeasurably in advance of that of our forefathers, it would
be well to emulate their great characteristics for hospitality, honor, and
integrity.
"The type of Christianity of that period will not suffer by compari-
son with that of the present day. If the people of olden times had less
for costly apparel and ostentatious display, they had also more for offices
of charity and benevolence ; if they did not have the splendor and lux-
uries of wealth, they at least had no infirmaries or paupers, very few law-
yers, and but little use for jails. The vain and thoughtless may jeer at
their unpretending manners and customs, but in all the elements of true
manhood and true womanhood it maybe safely averred that they were
more than the peers of the generation that now occupy their places. That
race has left its impress upon our times, whatever patriotism the present
generation boasts of has descended from them. Rude and illiterate,
comparatively, they may have been, but they possessed strong minds in
strong bodies, made so by their compulsory self-denials, their privations
and toil. It was the mission of many of them to aid and participate in
the formation of this great commonwealth, and wisely and well was the
mission performed. Had their descendants been more faithful to their
noble teachings, harmony would now reign supreme where violence and
discord now hold their sway in the land.
" The pioneer times are the greenest spot in the memories of those who
lived in them ; the privations and hardships they then endured are con-
secrated things in the recollection of the survivors."
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER II.*
OUR ABORIGINES THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS INDIAN TOWNS, VIL-
LAGES, GRAVEYARDS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, HUTS, MEDICINES, DOCTORS,
BARK-PEELERS, BURIALS, ETC.
AQUAXUSCHIONI, or "united people," is what they called themselves.
The French called them the Iroquois ; the English, the Six Nations.
They formed a confederate nation, and as such were the most celebrated
and powerful of all the Indian nations in North America. The confed-
eracy consisted of the Mohawk, the fire-striking people ; the Oneidas,
the pipe-makers ; the Onondagas, the hill-top peo-
ple ; the Cayugas, the people from the lake ; the
Tuscaroras, unwilling to be with other people ; and
the Senecas, the mountaineers.
The Iroquois, or Six Nations, were divided into
what might be called eight families, viz., the
Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron,
and Hawk. Each of the Six Nations had one of
each of these families in their tribe, and all the
members of that family, no matter how wide apart
or of what other tribe, were considered as brothers
and sisters, and were forbidden to marry in their
own family. Then a wolf was a brother to all
other wolves in each of the nations. This family
bond was taught from infancy and, enforced by
public opinion.
"If at any time there appeared a tendency toward conflict between
the different tribes, it was instantly checked by the thought that, if per-
sisted in, the hand of the Turtle must be lifted against his brother Turtle,
the tomahawk of the Beaver might be buried in the brain of his kinsman
Beaver. And so potent was the feeling that, for at least two hundred
years, and until the power of the league was broken by the overwhelming
outside force of the whites, there was no serious dissension between the
tribes of the Iroquois.
" In peace, all power was confined to ' sachems ;' in war, to ' chiefs.'
The sachems of each tribe acted as its rulers in the few matters which
required the exercise of civil authority. The same rulers also met in
* For much in this chapter I am indebted to Rupp's History.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
council to direct the affairs of the confederacy. There were fifty in all,
of whom the Mohawks had nine, the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas four-
teen, the Cayugas ten, and the Senecas eight. These numbers, however,
did not give proportionate power in the councils of the league, for all the
nations were equal there. There was in each tribe, too, the same num-
ber of war-chiefs as sachems, and these had absolute authority in time of
war. When a council assembled, each sachem had a war-chief near him
to execute his orders. But in a war-party the war-chief commanded and
the sachem took his place in the ranks. This was the system in its
simplicity.
" The right of heirship, as among many other of the North America
tribes of Indians, was in the female line. A man's heirs were his
brother, that is to say, his mother's son and his sister's son, never his
own son, nor his brother's son. The few articles which constituted an
Indian's personal property even his bow and tomahawk never de-
scended to the son of him who had wielded them. Titles, so far as they
were hereditary at all, followed the same law of descent. The child also
followed the clan and tribe of the mother. The object was evidently to
secure greater certainty that the heir would be of the blood of his de-
ceased kinsman. The result of the application of this rule to the Iroquois
system of clans was that if a particular sachemship or chieftaincy was
once established in a certain clan of a certain tribe, in that clan and tribe
it was expected to remain forever. Exactly how it was filled when it
became vacant is a matter of some doubt ; but, as near as can be learned,
the new official was elected by the warriors of the clan, and was then
inaugurated by the council of sachems.
" If, for instance, a sachemship belonging to the Wolf clan of the
Seneca tribe became vacant, it could only be filled by some one of the
Wolf clan of the Seneca tribe. A clan council was called and, as a gen-
eral rule, the heir of the deceased was chosen to his place, to wit, one
of his brothers, reckoning only on the mother's side, or one of his sister's
sons, or even some more distant male relative in the female line. But
there was no positive law, and the warriors might discard all these and
elect some one entirely unconnected with the deceased, though, as before
stated, he must be of the same clan and tribe. While there was no un-
changeable custom compelling the clan council to select one of the heirs
of the deceased as his successor, yet the tendency was so strong in that
direction that an infant was frequently chosen, a guardian being ap-
pointed to perform the functions of the office till the youth should reach
the proper age to do so. All offices were held for life, unless the incum-
bent was solemnly deposed by a council, an event which very seldom oc-
curred. Notwithstanding the modified system of hereditary power in
vogue, the constitution of every tribe was essentially republican. War-
riors, old men, and women attended the various councils and made their
13
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
influence felt. Neither in the government of the confederacy nor of the
tribes was there any such thing as tyranny over the people, though there
was a great deal of tyranny by the league over conquered nations. In
fact, there was very little government of any kind, and very little need
of any. There was substantially no property interests to guard, all land
being in common, and each man's personal property being limited to a
bow, a tomahawk, and a few deer- skins. Liquor had not yet lent its
disturbing influence, and few quarrels were to be traced to the influence
of women, for the American Indian is singularly free from the warmer
passions.
"His principal vice is an easily aroused and unlimited hatred ; but
the tribes were so small and enemies so convenient that there was no dif-
ficulty in gratifying this feeling (and attaining to the rank of a warrior)
outside of his own nation. The consequence was that although the war-
parties of the Iroquois were continually shedding the blood of their foes,
there was very little quarrelling at home.
" Their religious creed was limited to a somewhat vague belief in the
existence of a Great Spirit and several inferior but very potent evil spirits.
They had a few simple ceremonies, consisting largely of dances, one called
the ' green- corn dance,' performed at the time indicated by its name, and
others at other seasons of the year. From a very early date their most
important religious ceremony has been the 'burning of the white dog,'
when an unfortunate canine of the requisite color is sacrificed by one of
the chiefs. To this day the pagans among them still perform this rite.
" In common with their fellow-savages on this continent, the Iroquois
have been termed ' fast friends and bitter enemies.' Events have proved,
however, that they were a great deal stronger enemies than friends. Re-
venge was the ruling passion of their nature, and cruelty was their abiding
characteristic. Revenge and cruelty are the worst attributes of human
nature, and it is idle to talk of the goodness of men who roasted their
captives at the stake. All Indians were faithful to their own tribes, and
the Iroquois were faithful to their confederacy ; but outside of these
limits their friendship could not be counted on, and treachery was always
to be apprehended in dealing with them.
" In their family relations they were not harsh to their children and
not wantonly so to their wives ; but the men were invariably indolent,
and all labor was contemptuously abandoned to their weaker sex.
" Polygamy, too, was practised, though in what might be called
moderation. Chiefs and eminent warriors usually had two or three
wives, rarely more. They could be discarded at will by their husbands,
but the latter seldom availed themselves of their privilege.
" Our nation the Senecas was the most numerous and comprised
the greatest warriors of the Iroquois confederacy. Their great chiefs,
Cornplanter and Guyasutha, are prominently connected with the tradi-
14
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
tions of the head-waters of the Allegheny, Western New York, and North-
western Pennsylvania. In person the Senecas were slender, middle-sized,
handsome, and straight. The squaws were short, not handsome, and
clumsy. The skin was a reddish brown, hair straight and jet-black."
There was a village of Indians at Summerville, one at Brookville,
and as late as 1815 there were six hundred Indians living between Brook-
ville and New Bethlehem. There was a village at Port Barnett, at Rey-
noldsville, at Big Run, and a big one at Punxsutawney. The country was
Indian wigwam.
thickly inhabited, especially what is now Warsaw. Their graveyards or
burial-places were always some distance from huts or villages. There was
one on the Temple farm, in what is now Warsaw ; one on Mill Creek, at
its junction with the Big Toby Creek, in what was afterwards Ridgway
township. They carried their dead sometimes a long way for burial.
" After the death of a Seneca, the corpse was dressed in a new blanket
or petticoat, with the face and clothes painted red. The body was then
laid on a skin in the middle of the hut. The war and hunting imple-
ments of the deceased were then piled up around the body. In the even-
ing after sunset, and in the morning before daylight, the squaws and rela-
tions assembled around the corpse to mourn. This was daily repeated
until interment. The graves were dug by old squaws, as the young
squaws abhorred this kind of labor. Before they had hatchets and other
tools, they used to line the inside of the grave with the bark of trees, and
when the corpse was let down they placed some pieces of wood across,
15
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
which were again covered with bark, and then the earth thrown in, to
fill up the grave. But afterwards they usually placed three boards, not
nailed together, over the grave, in such a manner that the corpse lay
between them. A fourth board was placed as a cover, and then the
grave was filled up with earth. Now and then a proper coffin was
procured.
"At an early period they used to put a tobacco-pouch, knife, tinder-
box, tobacco and pipe, bow and arrows, gun, powder and shot, skins,
and cloth for clothes, paint, a small bag of Indian corn or dried bilber-
ries, sometimes the kettle, hatchet, and other furniture of the deceased,
into the grave, supposing that the departed spirits would have the same
wants and occupation in the land of souls. But this custom was nearly
wholly abolished among the Delawares and Iroquois about the middle of
the last century. At the burial not a man shed a tear ; they deemed it a
shame for a man to weep. But, on the other hand, the women set up a
dreadful howl."
THE ORIGINAL BARK-PEELERS.
An Indian hut was built in this manner. Trees were peeled abound-
ing in sap, usually the linn. When the trees were cut down the bark was
peeled with the tomahawk and its handle. They peeled from the top of
the tree to the butt. The bark for hut-building was cut into pieces of six
or eight feet ; these pieces were then dried and flattened by laying heavy
stones upon them. The frame of a bark hut was made by driving poles
into the ground and the poles were strengthened by cross-beams. This
frame was then covered inside and outside with this prepared linnwood
bark, fastened with leatherwood bark or hickory withes. The roof ran
upon a ridge, and was covered in the same manner as the frame, and an
opening was left in it for the smoke to escape, and one on the side of the
frame for a door.
HOW THE INDIAN BUILT LOG HUTS IN HIS TOWN OR VILLAGE.
They cut logs fifteen feet long and laid these logs upon each other, at
each end they drove posts in the ground and tied these posts together at
the top with hickory withes or moose bark. In this way they erected a
wall of logs fifteen feet long to the height of four feet. In this same
way they raised a wall opposite to this one about twelve feet away. In
the centre of each end of this log frame they drove forks into the ground,
a strong pole was then laid upon these forks, extending from end to end,
and from these log walls they set up poles for rafters to the centre-pole ;
on these improvised rafters. they tied poles for sheeting, and the hut was
then covered or shingled with linnwood bark. This bark was peeled
from the tree, commencing at the top, with a tomahawk. The bark-strips
16
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
in this way were sometimes thirty feet long and usually six inches wide.
These strips were cut as desired for roofing.
At each end of the hut they set up split lumber, leaving an open space
at each end for a door-way, at which a bear -skin hung. A stick leaning
against the outside of this skin meant that the door was locked. At the
top of the hut, in place of a chimney, they left an open place. The
fires were made in the inside of the hut, and the smoke escaped through
this open space. For bedding they had linnwood bark covered with
bear skins. Open places between logs the squaws stopped with moss
gathered from old logs.
There was no door, no windows, and no chimney. Several families
occupied a hut, hence they built them long. Other Indian nations
erected smaller huts, and the families lived separate. The men wore a
blanket and went bare-headed. The women wore a petticoat, fastened
about the hips, extending a little below the knees.
Our nation, the Senecas, produced the greatest orators, and more of
them than any other. Cornplanter, Red Jacket, and Farmer's Brother
were all Senecas. Red Jacket once, in enumerating the woes of the Sen-
ecas, exclaimed,
" We stand on a small island in the bosom of the great waters. We
are encircled, we are encompassed. The evil spirit rides on the blast,
and the waters are disturbed. They rise, they press upon us, and the
waters once settled over us, we disappear forever. Who then lives to
mourn us ? None. What marks our extinction ? Nothing. We are
mingled with the common elements."
The following is an extract from an address delivered by Cornplanter
to General Washington in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1790:
" FATHER, When you kindled your thirteen fires separately the wise
men assembled at them told us that you were all brothers, the children
of one Great Father, who regarded the red people as his children. They
called us brothers, and invited us to his protection. They told us he resided
beyond the great waters where the sun first rises, and he was a king whose
power no people could resist, and that his goodness was as bright as the
sun. What they said went to our hearts. We accepted the invitations
and promised to obey him. What the Seneca nation promises they faith-
fully perform. When you refused obedience to that king he commanded
us to assist his beloved men in making you sober. In obeying him we
did no more than yourselves had bid us to promise. We were deceived ;
but your people, teaching us to confide in that king, had helped to
deceive us, and we now appeal to your breast. Is all the blame ours ?
" You told us you could crush us to nothing, and you demanded from
us a great country as the price of that peace which you had offered us, as
if our want of strength had destroyed our rights."
17
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Drunkenness, after the whites were dealing with them, was a com-
mon vice. It was not confined, as it is at this day among the whites,
principally to the ' strong-minded,' the male sex ; but the Indian female,
as well as the male, was infatuated alike with the love of strong drink ;
for neither of them knew bounds to their desire : they drank while they
had whiskey or could swallow it down. Drunkenness was a vice, though
attended with many serious consequences, nay, murder and death, that
was not punishable among them. It was a fashionable vice. Fornica-
tion, adultery, stealing, lying, and cheating, principally the offspring of
drunkenness, were considered as heinous and scandalous offences, and
were punished in various ways.
" The Delawares and Iroquois married early in life ; the men usually
at eighteen and the women at fourteen ; but they never married near
relations. If an Indian man wished to marry he sent a present, consist-
ing of blankets, cloth, linen, and occasionally a few belts of wampum, to
the nearest relations of the person he had fixed upon. If he that made the
present, and the present pleased, the matter was formally proposed to the
girl, and if the answer was affirmatively given, the bride was conducted
to the bridegroom's dwelling without any further ceremony; but if the
other party chose to decline the proposal, they returned the present by
way of a friendly negative.
"After the marriage, the present made by the suitor was divided
among the friends of the young wife. These returned the civility by a
present of Indian corn, beans, kettles, baskets, hatchets, etc., brought in
solemn procession into the hut of the new married couple. The latter
commonly lodged in a friend's house till they could erect a dwelling of
their own.
"As soon as a child was born, it was laid upon a board or straight
piece of bark covered with moss and wrapped up in a skin or piece of
cloth, and when the mother was engaged in her housework this rude
cradle or bed was hung to a peg or branch of a tree. Their children
they educated to fit them to get through the world as did their fathers.
They instructed them in religion, etc. They believed that Manitou, their
God, 'the good spirit,' could be propitiated by sacrifices; hence they
observed a great many superstitious and idolatrous ceremonies. At their
general and solemn sacrifices the oldest men performed the offices of
priests, but in private parties each man brought a sacrifice, and offered it
himself as priest. Instead of a temple they fitted up a large dwelling-
house for the purpose.
" When they travelled or went on a journey they manifested much
carelessness about the weather ; yet, in their prayers, they usually begged
'for a clear and pleasant sky.' They generally provided themselves
with Indian meal, which they either ate dry, mixed with sugar and water,
or boiled into a kind of mush ; for they never took bread made of Indian
18
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
corn for a long journey, because in summer it would spoil in three or four
days and be unfit for use. As to meat, that they took as they went.
" If in their travels they had occasion to pass a deep river, on arriving
at it they set about it immediately and built a canoe by taking a long
piece of bark of proportionate breadth, to which they gave the proper
form by fastening it to ribs of light wood, bent so as to suit the occasion.
If a large canoe was required, several pieces of bark were carefully sewed
together. If the voyage was expected to be long, many Indians carried
X
Indians moving.
everything they wanted for their night's lodging with them, namely,
some slender poles and rush- mats, or birch bark."
When at home they had their amusements. Their favorite one was
dancing. " The common dance was held either in a large house or in an
open field around a fire. In dancing they formed a circle, and always
had a leader, to whom the whole company attended. The men went
before, and the women closed the circle. The latter danced with great
decency and as if they were engaged in the most serious business ; while
thus engaged they never spoke a word to the men, much less joked with
them, which would have injured their character.
" Another kind of dance was only attended by men. Each rose in
his turn, and danced with great agility and boldness, extolling their own
or their forefathers' great deeds in a song, to which all beat time, by a
monotonous, rough note, which was given out with great vehemence at
the commencement of each bar.
" The war-dance, which was always held either before or after a cam-
paign, was dreadful to behold. None took part in it but the warriors
themselves. They appeared armed, as if going to battle. One carried
his gun or hatchet, another a long knife, the third a tomahawk, the fourth
19
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
a large club, or they all appeared armed with tomahawks. These they
brandished in the air, to show how they intended to treat their enemies.
They affected such an air of anger and fury on this occasion that it made
a spectator shudder to behold them. A chief led the dance, and sang
the warlike deeds of himself or his ancestors. At the end of every cele-
brated feat of valor he wielded his tomahawk with all his might against
a post fixed in the ground. He was then followed by the rest ; each
finished his round by a blow against the post. Then they danced all
together ; and this was the most frightful scene. They affected the most
horrible and dreadful gestures ; threatened to beat, cut, and stab each
other. They were, however, amazingly dexterous in avoiding the threat-
ened danger. To complete the horror of the scene, they howled as
dreadfully as if in actual fight, so that they appeared as raving madmen.
During the dance they sometimes sounded- a kind of fife, made of reed,
which had a shrill and disagreeable note. The Iroquois used the war-
dance even in times of peace, with a view to celebrate the deeds of their
heroic chiefs in a solemn manner.
"The Indians, as well as 'all human flesh,' were heirs of disease.
The most common were pleurisy, weakness and pains in the stomach and
breast, consumption, diarrhoea, rheumatism, bloody flux, inflammatory
fevers, and occasionally the small-pox made dreadful ravages among
them. Their general remedy for all disorders, small or great, was a
sweat. For this purpose they had in every town an oven, situated at
some distance from the dwellings, built of stakes and boards, covered
with sods, or were dug in the side of a hill, and heated with some red-
hot stones. Into this the patient crept naked, and in a short time was
thrown into profuse perspiration. As soon as the patient felt himself
too hot he crept out, and immediately plunged himself into a river or
some cold water, where he continued about thirty seconds, and then
went again into the oven. After having performed this operation three
times successively, he smoked his pipe with composure, and in many cases
a cure was completely effected.
"In some places they had ovens constructed large enough to receive
several persons. Some chose to pour water now and then upon the
heated stones, to increase the steam and promote more profuse perspira-
tion. Many Indians in perfect health made it a practice of going into
the oven once or twice a week to renew their strength and spirits. Some
pretended by this operation to prepare themselves for a business which
requires mature deliberation and artifice. If the sweating did not remove
the disorder, other means were applied. Many of the Indians believed
that medicines had no efficacy unless administered by a professed physi-
cian ; enough of professed doctors could be found ; many of both sexes
professed to be doctors.
" Indian doctors never applied medicines without accompanying them
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
with mysterious ceremonies, to make their effect appear supernatural. The
ceremonies were various. Many breathed upon the sick ; they averred
their breath was wholesome. In addition to this, they spurted a certain
liquor made of herbs out of their mouth over the patient's whole body,
distorting their features and roaring dreadfully. In some instances physi-
cians crept into the oven, where they sweat, howled, roared, and now
and then grinned horribly at their patients, who had been laid before the
opening, and frequently felt the pulse of the patient. Then pronounced
sentence, and foretold either their recovery or death. On one occasion
a Moravian missionary was present, who says, ' An Indian physician had
put on a large bear skin, so that his arms were covered with the fore legs,
his feet with the hind legs, and his head was entirely concealed in the
bear's head, with the addition of glass eyes. He came in this attire with
a calabash in his hand, accompanied by a great crowd of people, into the
patient's hut, singing and dancing, when he grasped a handful of hot
ashes, and scattering them into the air, with a horrid noise, approached
the patient, and began to play several legerdemain tricks with small
bits of wood, by which he pretended to be able to restore him to
health.'
"The common people believed that by rattling the calabash the
physician had power to make the spirits discover the cause of the disease,
and even evade the malice of the evil spirit who occasioned it.
"Their materia medica, or the remedies used in curing diseases, were
such as rattlesnake-root, the skins of rattlesnakes dried and pulverized,
thorny ash, toothache-tree, tulip-tree, dogwood, wild laurel, sassafras,
Canada shrubby elder, poison-ash, wintergreen, liverwort, Virginia poke,
jalap, sarsaparilla, Canadian sanicle, scabians or devil's-bit, bloodvvort,
cuckoo pint, ginseng, and a few others.
"Wars among the Indians were always carried on with the greatest
fury, and lasted much longer than they do now among them. The offen-
sive weapons were, before the whites came among them, bows, arrows,
and clubs. The latter were made of the hardest kind of wood, from
two to three feet long and very heavy, with a large round knob at one
end. Their weapon of defence was a shield, made of the tough hide of
a buffalo, on the convex side of which they received the arrows and
darts of the enemy. But about the middle of the last century this was
all laid aside by the Delawares and Iroquois, though they used to a later
period bows, arrows, and clubs of war. The clubs they used were pointed
with nails and pieces of iron, when used at all. Guns were measurably
substituted for all these. The hatchet and long-knife was used, as well
as the gun. The army of these nations consisted of all their young men,
including boys of fifteen years old. They had their captains and subor-
dinate officers. Their captains would be called among them com-
manders or generals. The requisite qualifications for this station were
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
prudence, cunning, resolution, bravery, undauntedness, and previous
good fortune in some fight or battle.
" 'To lift the hatchet,' or to begin a war, was always, as they de-
clared, not till just and important causes prompted them to it. Then
they assigned as motives that it was necessary to revenge the injuries done
to the nation. Perhaps the honor of being distinguished as great warriors
may have been an ' ingredient in the cup.'
" But before they entered upon so hazardous an undertaking they
carefully weighed all the proposals made, compared the probable advan-
tages or disadvantages that might accrue. A chief could not begin a war
without the consent of his captains, nor could he accept of a war-belt
only on the condition of its being considered by the captains.
"The chief was bound to preserve peace to the utmost of his power.
But if several captains were unanimous in declaring war, the chief was
then obliged to deliver the care of his people,
for a time, into the hands of the captains, and
to lay down his office. Yet his influence tended
greatly either to prevent or encourage the com-
mencement of war, for the Indians believed that
a war could not be successful without the con-
sent of the chief, and the captains, on that ac-
count, strove to be in harmony with him. After
war was agreed on, and they wished to secure the
assistance of a nation in league with them, they
notified that nation by sending a piece of to-
bacco, or by an embassy. By the first, they
intended that the captains were to smoke pipes
and consider seriously whether they would take
part in the war or not. The embassy was in-
trusted to a captain, who carried a belt of wam-
pum, upon which the object of the embassy was
described by certain figures, and a hatchet with
a red handle. After the chief had been in-
formed of his commission, it was laid before a council. The hatchet
having been laid on the ground, he delivered a long speech, while hold-
ing the war-belt in his hand, always closing the address with the request
to take up the hatchet, and then delivering the war-belt. If this was
complied with, no more was said, and this act was considered as a solemn
promise to lend every assistance ; but if neither the hatchet was taken
up nor the belt accepted, the ambassador drew the just conclusion that
the nation preferred to remain neutral, and without any further cere-
mony returned home.
"The Delawares and Iroquois were very informal in declaring war.
They often sent out small parties, seized the first man they met belong-
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ing to the nation they had intended to engage, killed and scalped him,
then cleaved his head with a hatchet, which they left stick in it, or laid
a war-club, painted red, upon the body of the victim. This was a formal
challenge. In consequence of which, a captain of an insulted party would
take up the weapons of the murderers and hasten into their country, to
be revenged upon them. If he returned with a scalp, he thought he had
avenged the rights of his own nation.
"Among the Delawares and Iroquois it required but little time to
make preparations for war. One of the most necessary preparations was
to paint themselves red and black, for they held it that the most horrid
appearance of war was the greatest ornament. Some captains fasted and
attended to their dreams, with the view to gain intelligence of the issue
of the war. The night previous to the march of the army was spent in
feasting, at which the chiefs were present, when either a hog or some
dogs were killed. Dog's flesh, said they, inspired them with the genuine
martial spirit. Even women, in some instances, partook of this feast, and
ate dog's flesh greedily. Now and then, when a warrior was induced to
make a solemn declaration of his war inclination, he held up a piece of
dog's flesh in sight of all present and devoured it, and pronounced these
words, ' Thus will I devour my enemies!' After the feast the captain
and all his people began the war-dance, and continued till daybreak, till
they had become quite hoarse and weary. They generally danced all
together, and each in his turn took the head of a hog in his hand. As
both their friends and the women generally accompanied them to the first
night's encampment, they halted about two or three miles from the town,
danced the war-dance once more, and the day following began their march.
Before they made an attack they reconnoitred every part of the country.
To this end they dug holes in the ground ; if practicable, in a hillock,
covered with wood, in which they kept a small charcoal fire, from which
they discovered the motions of the enemy undiscovered. When they
sought a prisoner or a scalp, they ventured, in many instances, even in
daytime, to execute their designs. Effectually to accomplish this, they
skulked behind a bulky tree, and crept slyly around the trunk, so as not
to be observed by the person or persons for whom they lay in ambush. In
this way they slew many. But if they had a family or town in view, they
always preferred the night, when their enemies were wrapt in profound
sleep, and in this way killed, scalped, and made prisoners many of the
enemies, set fire to the houses, and retired with all possible haste to the
woods or some place of safe retreat. To avoid pursuit, they disguised
their footmarks as much as possible. They depended much on stratagem
for their success. Even in war they thought it more honorable to dis-
tress their enemy more by stratagem than combat. The English, not
aware of the artifice of the Indians, lost an army when Braddock was
defeated.
23
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"The Indian's cruelty, when victorious, was without bounds; their
thirst for blood was almost unquenchable. They never made peace till
compelled by necessity. No sooner were terms of peace proposed than
the captains laid down their office and delivered the government of the
state into the hands of the chiefs. A captain had no more right to con-
clude a peace than a chief to begin war. When peace had been offered
to a captain he could give no other answer than to mention the proposal
to the chief, for as a warrior he could not make peace. If the chief in-
clined to peace, he used all his influence to effect that end, and all hos-
tility ceased, and, in conclusion, the calumet, or peace-pipe, was smoked
and belts of wampum exchanged, and a concluding speech made, with
the assurance ' that their friendship should last as long as the sun and
moon give light, rise and set ; as long as the stars shine in the firmament,
and the rivers flow with water. ' '
The weapons employed by our Indians two hundred years ago were
axes, arrows, and knives of stone. Shells were sometimes used to make
knives.
The Indian bow was made as follows : the hickory limb was cut with
a stone axe, the wood was then heated on both sides near a fire until it
was soft enough to scrape down to the proper size and shape.
A good bow measured forty six inches in length, three-fourths of an
inch thick in the centre, and one and a quarter inches in width, narrow-
ing down to the points to five eighths of inch. The ends were thinner
than the middle. Bow-making was tedious work.
" The bow-string was made of the ligaments obtained from the verte-
bra of the elk. The ligament was split, scraped, and twisted into a cord
by rolling the fibres between the palm of the hand and the thigh. One
end of the string was knotted to the bow but the other end was looped,
in order that the bow could be quickly strung."
Quivers to carry the arrows were made of dressed buckskin, with or
without the fur. The squaws did all the tanning.
The arrow-heads were made of flint or other hard stone or bone ;
they were fastened to the ash or hickory arrows with the sinews of the
deer. The arrow was about two feet and a half in length, and a feather
was fastened to the butt end to give it a rotary motion in its flight.
Poisoned arrows were made by dipping them into decomposed liver,
to which had been added the poison of the rattlesnake. The venom or
decomposed animal matter no doubt caused blood-poisoning and death.
Bows and arrows were long used by the red men after the introduc-
tion of fire-arms, because the Indian could be more sure of his game
without revealing his presence. For a long time after the introduction
of fire-arms the Indians were more expert with the bow and arrow than
with the rifle.
Their tobacco-pipes were made of stone bowls and ash stems. Canoes
24
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
were made of birch or linnwood bark, and many wigwam utensils of that
bark. This bark was peeled in early spring. The bark canoe was the
American Indian's invention.
When runners were sent with messages to other tribes the courier took
an easy running gait, which he kept up for hours at a time. It was a
"dog-trot," an easy, jogging gait. Of course he had no clothes on
except a breech-clout and moccasins. He always carried both arms up
beside the chest with the fists clinched and held in front of the breast.
He eat but little the day before his departure. A courier could make a
hundred miles from sunrise to sunset.
When a young squaw was ready to marry she wore something on her
head as a notice.
Then kettles were made of clay, or what was called " pot stone."
The stone hatchets were in the shape of a wedge ; they were of no use
in felling trees. They did this with a fire around the roots of the tree.
Their stone pestles were about twelve inches long and five inches thick.
They used bird-claws for " fish-hooks." They made their ropes, bridles,
nets, etc., out of a wild weed called Indian hemp.
The twine or cords were manufactured by the squaws, who gathered
stalks of this hemp, separating them into filaments, and then taking a num-
ber of filaments in one hand, rolled them rapidly upon their bare thighs
until twisted, locking, from time to time, the ends with fresh fibres. The
cord thus made was finished by dressing with a mixture of grease and
wax, and drawn over a smooth groove in a stone.
Their hominy-mills can be seen yet about a mile north of Samuel
Temple's barn, in Warsaw township.
All the stone implements of our Indians except arrows were ground
and polished. How this was done the reader must imagine. Indians
had their mechanics and their workshops or " spots" where implements
were made. You must remember that the Indian had no iron or steel
tools, only bone, stone, and wood to work with. The flint arrows were
made from a stone of uniform density. Large chips were flaked or broken
from the rock. These chips were again deftly chipped with bone chisels
into arrows, and made straight by pressure. A lever was used on the rock
to separate chips, a bone tied to a heavy stick.
From Jones's " Antiquities of the Southern Indians" the writer has
gleaned most of the following facts. They had a limited variety of cop-
per implements, which were of rare occurrence, and which were too soft to
be of use in working so hard a material as flint or quartzite. Hence it is
believed that they fashioned their spear- and arrow-heads with other im-
plements than those of iron or steel. They must have acquired, by their
observation and numerous experiments, a thorough and practical knowl-
edge of cleavage, that is, " the tendency to split in certain directions,
which is characteristic of most of the crystallizable minerals." Captain
3 25
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
John Smith, speaking of the Virginia Indians in his sixth voyage, says,
" His arrow-head he quickly maketh with a little bone, which heweareth
at his bracelet, of a splint of a stone or glasse, in the form of a heart, and
these they glue to the ends of the arrows. With the sinews of the deer
'and the tops of deers' horns boiled to a jelly they make a glue which
will not dissolve in cold water." Schoolcraft says, " The skill displayed
in this art, as it is exhibited by the tribes of the entire continent, has
excited admiration. The material employed is generally some form of
horn stone, sometimes passing into flint. No specimens have, however,
been observed where the substance is gun-flint. The horn-stone is less
hard than common quartz, and can be readily broken by contact with
the latter." Catlin, in his "Last Ramble among the Indians," says,
" Every tribe has its factory in which these arrow-heads are made, and in
these only certain adepts are able or allowed to make them for the use of
the tribe. Erratic bowlders of flint are collected and sometimes brought
an immense distance, and broken with a sort of sledge-hammer made of
a rounded pebble of horn-stone set in a twisted withe, holding the stone
and forming a handle. The flint, at the indiscriminate blows of the
sledge, is broken into a hundred pieces, and such flakes selected as from
the angles of their fracture and thickness will answer as the basis of an
arrow-head. The master-workman, seated on the ground, lays one of
these flakes on the palm of his hand, holding it firmly down with two or
more fingers of the same hand, and with his right hand, between the
thumb and two forefingers, places his chisel or punch on the point that is
to be broken off, and a co-operator a striker in front of him, with a
mallet of very hard wood, strikes the chisel or punch on the upper end,
flaking the flint off on the under side below each projecting point that is
struck. The flint is then turned and chipped in the same manner from
the opposite side, and that is chipped until required shape and dimensions
are obtained, all the fractures being made on the palm of the hand. In
selecting the flake for the arrow-head a nice judgment must be used or
the attempt will fail. A flake with two opposite parallel, or nearly par-
allel, planes of cleavage is found, and of the thickness required for the
centre of the arrow-point. The first chipping reaches nearly to the cen-
tre of these planes, but without quite breaking it away, and each clip-
ping is shorter and shorter, until the shape and edge of the arrow-head
is formed. The yielding elasticity of the palm of the hand enables the
chip to come off without breaking the body of the flint, which would be
the case if they were broken on a hard substance. These people have no
metallic instruments to work with, and the punch which they use, I was
told, was a piece of bone, but on examining it, I found it to be of sub-
stance much harder, made of the tooth incisor of the sperm whale,
which cetaceans are often stranded on the coast of the Pacific."
"A considerable number of Indians must have returned and settled
26
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
along the Red Bank as late as 1815-16. James White, of 'Mexico,'
informed the writer that three hundred of them, about that time, settled
along this stream below Brookville, partly in Armstrong County. Re-
specting their return to this section, Dr. M. A. Ward wrote to Eben
Smith Kelly at Kittanning, from Pittsburg, January 18, 1817,
" 'I am not at all surprised that the sober, industrious, religious in-
habitants of Red Bank should be highly incensed at their late accession
of emigrants, not only because by them they will probably be deprived
of many fat bucks and delicious turkeys, to which, according to the strict
interpretation of all our game laws, they have as good a right, if they
have the fortune to find and the address to shoot them, as any ' ' dirty,
nasty" Indians whatever, but because the presence and examples of such
neighbors must have a very depraving influence upon the morals. Their
insinuating influence will be apt to divert the minds of the farmers from
the sober pursuits of agriculture and inspire a propensity for the barbarous
pleasures of the chase. . . . But what is worse than all, I have heard that
they love whiskey to such an inordinate degree as to get sometimes
beastly drunk, and even beat their wives and behave unseemly before
their families, which certainly must have a most demoralizing tendency
on the minds of the rising generation.' " History of Armstrong County.
The Delaware Indians styled themselves " Lenni Lenape," the original
or unchanged people. The eastern division of their people was divided
into three tribes, the Unamies, or Turtles of the sea-shore ; the Una-
chlactgos, or Turkeys of the woods ; and the Minsi-monceys, or Wolves of
the mountains. A few of the Muncy villages of this latter division were
scattered as far west as the valley of the Allegheny.
From Penn's arrival in 1682 the Delawares were subject to the Iro-
quois, or the confederacy of the Six Nations, who were the most warlike
savages in America. The Iroquois were usually known among the
English people as the Five Nations. The nations were divided and
known as the Mohawks, the fire-striking people, having been the first to
procure fire-arms. The Senecas, mountaineers, occupied Western New
York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. They were found in great num-
bers in the Allegheny and its tributaries. Their great chiefs were Corn-
planter and Guyasutha. This tribe was the most numerous, powerful, and
warlike of the Iroquois nation, and comprised our Jefferson County Indians.
"But these were Indians pure and uncorrupted. Before many a log
fire, at night, old settlers have often recited how clear, distinct, and im-
mutable were their laws and customs ; that when fully understood a white
man could transact the most important business with as much safety as
he can to-day in any commercial centre.
" In this day and age of progress we pride ourselves upon our rail-
roads and telegraph as means of rapid communication, and yet, while it
was well known to the early settlers that news and light freight would
27
PIONEER HISTORY OF, JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
travel with incomprehensible speed from tribe to tribe, people of the
present day fail to understand the complete system by which it was
done.
"In many places through the western counties you will find traces of
pits, which the early settlers will tell you were dug by white men looking
for silver, which, as well as copper, was common among the Indians, and
was supposed by first comers to be found in the vicinity ; but experience
soon proved the copper came, perhaps, from Lake Superior, by this
Indian express, as we might term it, and the silver, just as possible, from
the far West. Our railroads wind along the valleys, almost regardless of
length or circuit, if a gradual rise can only be obtained. To travellers on
wheels straight distances between points are much less formidable than is
generally supposed. We find traces of the example of the Indian in the
first white men. The first settlers of 1799 and 1805 took their bags of
grain on their backs, walked fifty miles to the mill in Indiana or Arm-
strong County, and brought home their flour the same way."
" The following is taken from the ' Early Days of Punxsutawney and
Western Pennsylvania,' contributed a few years ago to the Punxsutawney
Plaindealer by the late John K. Coxson, Esq., who had made considerable
research into Indian history, and was an enthusiast on the subject. Ac-
cording to Mr. Coxson, ' More than eighteen hundred years ago the
Iroquois held a lodge in Punxsutawney (this town still bears its Indian
name, which was their sobriquet for "gnat town"), to which point they
could ascend with their canoes, and go still higher up the Mahoning to
within a few hours' travel of the summit of the Allegheny Mountains.
There were various Indian trails traversing the forests, one of which
entered Punxsutawney near where Judge Mitchell now resides.
" ' These trails were the thoroughfares or roadways of the Indians, over
which they journeyed when on the chase or the "war-path," just as the
people of the present age travel over their graded roads. " An erroneous
impression obtains among many at the present day that the Indian, in
travelling the interminable forests which once covered our towns and
fields, roamed at random, like a modern afternoon hunter, by no fixed
paths, or that he was guided in his long journeyings solely by the sun and
stars, or by the course of the streams and mountains ; and true it is that
these untutored sons of the woods were considerable astronomers and
geographers, and relied much upon these unerring guide-marks of nature.
Even in the most starless nights they could determine their course by feel-
ing the bark of the oak-trees, which is always smoothest on the south
side and roughest on the north. But still they had their trails, or paths,
as distinctly marked as are our county and State roads, and often better
located. The white traders adopted them, and often stole their names,
to be in turn surrendered to the leader of some Anglo Saxon army, and,
finally, obliterated by some costly highway of travel and commerce.
28
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
They are now almost wholly effaced or forgotten. Hundreds travel
along, or plough over them, unconscious that they are in the footsteps of
the red men."* It has not taken long to obliterate all these Indian land-
marks from our land ; little more than a century ago the Indians roamed
over all this western country, and now scarce a vestige of their presence
remains. Much has been written and said about their deeds of butchery
and cruelty. True, they were cruel, and in many instances fiendish, in
their inhuman practices, but they did not meet the first settlers in this
spirit. Honest, hospitable, religious in their belief, reverencing their
Manitou, or Great Spirit, and willing to do anything to please their white
brother, this is how they met their first white visitors ; but when they
had seen nearly all their vast domain appropriated by the invaders, when
wicked white men had introduced into their midst the "wicked fire-
water," which is to-day the cause of many an act of fiendishness perpe-
trated by those who are not untutored savages, then the Indian rebelled,
all the savage in his breast was aroused, and he became pitiless and cruel
in the extreme.
" ' It is true that our broad domains were purchased and secured by
treaty, but the odds were always on the side of the whites. The " Colo-
nial Records" give an account of the treaty of 1686, by which a deed for
" walking purchase was executed, by which the Indians sold as far as a
man could walk in a day. But when the walk was to be made the most
active white man was obtained, who ran from daylight until dark, as fast
as he was able, without stopping to eat or drink. This much dissatisfied
the Indians, who expected to walk leisurely, resting at noon to eat and
shoot game, and one old chief expressed his dissatisfaction as follows :
' Lun, lun, lun ; no lay down to drink ; no stop to shoot squirrel, but
lun, lun, lun all day; me no keep up; lun, lun for land.' That deed,
it is said, does not now exist, but was confirmed in 1737."
" ' When the white man came the Indians were a temperate people,
and their chiefs tried hard to prohibit the sale of intoxicating drinks
among their tribes; and when one Sylvester Garland, in 1701, intro-
duced rum among them and induced them to drink, at a council held in
Philadelphia, Shemekenwhol, chief of the Shawnese, complained to
Governor William Penn, and at a council held on the i3th of October,
1701, this man was held in the sum of one hundred pounds never to deal
rum to the Indians again ; and the bond and sentence was approved by
Judge Shippen, of Philadelphia. At the chief's suggestion the council en-
acted a law prohibiting the trade in rum with the Indians. Still later the
ruling chiefs of the Six Nations opposed the use of rum, and Red Jacket,
in a speech at Buffalo, wished that whiskey would never be less than " a
dollar a quart." He answered the missionary's remarks on drunkenness
* Judge Veech.
29
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
thus: " Go to the white man with that." A council, held on the Allegheny
River, deplored the murder of the Wigden family in Butler County by
a Seneca Indian while under the influence of whiskey, approved the
sentence of our law, and again passed their prohibitory resolutions, and
implored the white man not to give rum to the Indian.'
"Mr. Coxson claims that the council of the Delawares, Muncys,
Shawnese, Nanticokes, Tuscorawas, and Mingos, to protest against the
sale of their domain by the Six Nations, at Albany, in 1754, was held at
Punxsutawney, and cites Joncaire's ' Notes on Indian Warfare,' ' Life of
Bezant,' etc. ' It is said they ascended the tributary of La Belle Riviere
to the mountain village on the way to Chinklacamoose (Clearfield) to
attend the council.' * At that council, though Sheklemas, the Christian
king of the Delawares, and other Christian chiefs, tried hard to prevent
the war, they were overruled, and the tribes decided to go to war with
their French allies against the colony. 'Travellers, as early as 1731,
reported to the council of the colony of a town sixty miles from the
Susquehanna.' f
"'After the failure of the expedition against Fort Duquesne, the
white captives were taken to Kittanning, Logtown, and Pukeesheno
(Punxsutawney). The sachem, Pukeesheno (for whom the town was
called), was the father of Tecumseh and his twin brother, the Prophet,
and was a Shawnese. We make this digression to add another proof that
Punxsutawney was named after a Shawnese chief as early as 1750.' J
" ' I went with Captain Brady on an Indian hunt up the Allegheny
River. We found a good many signs of the savages, and I believe we
were so much like the savages (when Brady went on a scouting expedition
he always dressed in Indian costume) that they could hardly have known
us from a band of Shawnese. But they had an introduction to us near
the mouth of Red Bank. General Brodhead was on the route behind
Captain Brady, who discovered the Indians on a march. He lay con-
cealed among the rocks until the painted chiefs and their braves had got
fairly into the narrow pass, when Brady and his men opened a destructive
fire. The sylvan warriors retuned the volley with terrific yells that shook
the caverns and mountains from base to crest. The fight was short but
sanguine. The Indians left the pass and retired, and soon were lost sight
of in the deepness of the forest. We returned with three children re-
captured, whose parents had been killed at Greensburg. We immediately
set out on a path that led us to the mountains, to a lodge the savages had
near the head-waters of Mahoning and Red Bank.
" ' We crossed the Mahoning about forty miles from Kittanning, and
entered a town, which we found deserted. It seemed to be a hamlet,
built by the Shawnese. From there we went over high and rugged hills,
* Joncaire. f Bezant. J History of Western Pennsylvania, p. 302.
30
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
through laurel thickets, darkened by tall pine and hemlock groves, for
one whole day, and lay quietly down on the bank of a considerable
stream (Sandy Lick). About midnight Brady was aroused by the sound
of a rifle not far down the creek. We arose and stole quietly along about
half a mile, when we heard the voices of Indians but a short distance
below us ; there another creek unites its waters with the one upon whose
banks we had rested. We ascertained that two Indians had killed a deer
at a lick, They were trying to strike a light to dress their game. When
the flame of pine-knots blazed brightly and revealed the visages of the
savages, Brady appeared to be greatly excited, and perhaps the caution
that he always took when on a war-path was at that time disregarded.
Revenge swallowed and absorbed every faculty of his soul. He recog-
nized the Indian who was foremost, when they chased him, a few months
before, so closely that he was forced to leap across a chasm of stone on
the slippery rock twenty-three feet ; between the jaws of granite there
roared a deep torrent twenty feet deep. When Brady saw Conemah he
sprang forward and planted his tomahawk in his head. The other Indian,
who had his knife in his hand, sprang at Brady. The long, bright steel
glistened in his uplifted hand, when the flash of Farley's rifle was the
death-light of the brave, who sank to the sands. . . . Brady scalped the
Indians in a moment, and drew the deer into the thicket to finish dress-
ing it, but had not completed his undertaking when he heard a noise in
the branches of the neighboring trees. He sprang forward, quenched
the flame, and in breathless silence listened for the least sound, but noth-
ing was heard save the rustling of the leaves, stirred by the wind. One
of the scouts softly crept along the banks of the creek to catch the
faintest sound that echoes on the water, when he found a canoe down
upon the beach. The scout communicated this to Brady, who resolved
to embark on this craft, if it was large enough to carry the company. It
was found to be of sufficient size. We all embarked and took the deer
along. We had not gone forty rods down the stream when the savages
gave a war-whoop, and about a mile off they were answered with a hun-
dred voices. We heard them in pursuit as we went dashing down the
frightful and unknown stream. We gained on them. We heard their
voices far behind us, until the faint echoes of the hundreds of warriors
were lost ; but, unexpectedly, we found ourselves passing full fifty canoes
drawn up on the beach. Brady landed a short distance below. There
was no time to lose. If the pursuers arrived they might overtake the
scouts. It was yet night. He took four of his men along, and with
great caution unmoored the canoes and sent them adrift. The scouts
below secured them, and succeeded in arriving at Brodhead's quarters
with the scalps of two Indians and their whole fleet, which disabled them
much from carrying on their bloody expeditions.'
" In the legend of Noshaken, the white captive of the Delawares, in
31
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
1753, who was kept at a village supposed to have been Punxsutawney,
occurs the following : ' The scouts were on the track of the Indians, the
time of burning of the captives was extended, and the whole band pre-
pared to depart for Fort Venango with the prisoners. . . . They con-
tinued on for twenty miles, and encamped by a beautiful spring, where the
sand boiled up from the bottom near where two creeks unite. Here they
passed the night, and the next morning again headed for Fort Venango.
" ' This spring is believed to have been the " sand spring" at Brook-
ville. Thus both the earlier histories and traditions would lead us to
believe that Jefferson County was once the scene of Indian occupation.
The early settlers found many vestiges of them, and even at this late day
" Indian relics" in the shape of stone tomahawks, flint arrows, darts, etc.,
are frequently found.
" 'But it was long after these scenes, when Joseph Barnett, the first
white settler, came into the wilds of what is now Jefferson County. Then
nearly all the Indians had gone, some toward the setting sun, others
toward Canada. Of all the tribes that once composed the great Indian
confederations, only a few Muncies and Senecas of Cornplanter's tribe
remained. These Indians, for a number of years after the white men
came, extended their hunting excursions into these forests. They were
always peaceable and friendly. The first settlers found their small
patches of corn, one of which was planted where the fair-grounds are
now located, and another in the flat at Port Barnett. Indian corn, or
maize, as it was sometimes called, is undoubtedly an American cereal,
being first discovered on this continent in 1600, though it is now grown
in all civilized lands.' " * Kate Scot? s History of Jefferson County.
CHAPTER III.
THE WILDERNESS IN 1755 THE SAVAGE INDIAN MARIE LE ROY AND
BARBARA LEININGER, THE FIRST WHITE PIONEERS TO TREAD THIS
WILDERNESS THE CHINKLACAMOOSE PATH PUNXSUTAWNEY AND KIT-
TANNING REV. HECKEWELDER, REV. ZEISBERGER, REV. ETTWEIN, AND
ROTHE.
FROM what I can learn, the first white pioneers to tread the soil of
Jefferson County, as it now is, were Marie Le Roy and Barbara Leininger.
They were Swiss people, and lived with their parents about fifteen miles
from where the city of Sunbury now is, in Northumberland County, then
* Drs. Sturtevant, Pickering, and other eminent botanists and antiquarians, believed
that maize (or Indian corn) is mentioned by the old Icelandic writers, who are thought
to have visited the coast of eastern North America as early as 1006.
32
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Lancaster or Berks County. These girls were Indian prisoners, and were
being taken to Kittanning, as it is called now, by and over the " Chink-
lacamoose path" or "Indian trail." This "trail" passed through Punx-
sutawney, and here the Indians with these captive girls rested five
days.
I quote from the " Narrative of Marie Le Roy and Barbara Leinin-
ger" as follows :
" Early in the morning of the i6th of October, 1755, while Le Roy's
hired man went out to fetch the cows, he heard the Indians shooting six
times. Soon after eight of them came to the house and killed Marie
Le Roy's father with tomahawks. Her brother defended himself des-
perately for a time, but was at last overpowered. The Indians did not
kill him, but took him prisoner, together with Marie Le Roy and a little
girl, who was staying with the family. Thereupon they plundered the
homestead and set it on fire. Into this fire they laid the body of the
murdered father, feet foremost, until it was half consumed. The upper
half was left lying on the ground, with the two tomahawks with which
they had killed him sticking in his head. Then they kindled another
fire, not far from the house. While sitting around it, a neighbor of Le
Roy, named Bastian, happened to pass by on horseback. He was imme-
diately shot down and scalped.
" Two of the Indians now went to the house of Barbara Leininger,
where they found her father, her brother, and her sister Regina. Her
mother had gone to the mill. They demanded rum ; but there was none
in the house. Then they called for tobacco, which was given them.
Having filled and smoked a pipe, they said, ' We are Allegheny Indians,
and your enemies. You must all die !' Thereupon they shot her father,
tomahawked her brother, who was twenty years of age, took Barbara and
her sister Regina prisoners, and conveyed them into the forest for about
a mile. There they were soon joined by the other Indians, with Marie
Le Roy and the little girl.
" Not long after several of the Indians led the prisoners to the top of
a high hill, near the two plantations. Toward evening the rest of the
savages returned with six fresh and bloody scalps, which they threw at
the feet of the poor captives, saying that they had a good hunt that
day.
" The next morning we were taken about two miles farther into the
forest, while the most of the Indians again went out to kill and plunder.
Toward evening they returned with nine scalps and five prisoners.
" On the third day the whole band came together and divided the
spoils. In addition to large quantities of provisions, they had taken four-
teen horses and ten prisoners, namely, one man, one woman, five girls,
and three boys. We two girls, as also two of the horses, fell to the share
of an Indian named Galasko.
33
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" We travelled with our new master for two days. He was tolerably
kind, and allowed us to ride all the way, while he and the rest of the In-
dians walked. Of this circumstance Barbara Leininger took advantage,
and tried to escape. But she was almost immediately recaptured, and
condemned to be burned alive. The savages gave her a French Bible,
which they had taken from Le Roy's house, in order that she might pre-
pare for death ; and when she told them that she could not understand
it, they gave her a German Bible. Thereupon they made a large pile of
wood and set it on fire, intending to put her into the midst of it. But a
young Indian begged so earnestly for her life that she was pardoned,
after having promised not to attempt to escape again, and to stop her
crying.
" The next day the whole troop was divided into two bands, the one
marching in the direction of the Ohio, the other, in which we were with
Galasko, to Jenkiklamuhs,* a Delaware town on the west branch of the
Susquehanna. There we stayed ten days, and then proceeded to Punck-
sotonay,f or Eschentown. Marie Le Roy's brother was forced to remain
at Jenkiklamuhs.
" After having rested for five days at Puncksotonay, we took our way
to Kittanny. As this was to be the place of our permanent abode, we
here received our welcome, according to Indian custom. It consisted of
three blows each, on the back. They were, however, administered with
great mercy. Indeed, we concluded that we were beaten merely in order
to keep up an ancient usage and not with the intention of injuring us.
The month of December was the time of our arrival, and we remained at
Kittanny until the month of September, 1756.
" The Indians gave us enough to do. We had to tan leather, to make
shoes (moccasins), to clear land, to plant corn, to cut down trees and build
huts, to wash and cook. The want of provisions, however, caused us the
greatest suffering. During all the time that we were at Kittanny we had
neither lard nor salt, and sometimes we were forced to live on acorns,
roots, grass, and bark. There was nothing in the world to make this
new sort of food palatable, excepting hunger itself.
" In the month of September Colonel Armstrong arrived with his
men, and attacked Kittanny Town. Both of us happened to be in that
part of it which lies on the other (right) side of the river (Allegheny).
We were immediately conveyed ten miles farther into the interior, in
order that we might have no chance of trying, on this occasion, to escape.
The savages threated to kill us. If the English had advanced, this might
have happened, for at that time the Indians were greatly in dread of
Colonel Armstrong's corps. After the English had withdrawn, we were
* Chinklacamoose, on the site of the present town of Clenrfield.
j- Punxsutawney, in Jefferson County.
34
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
again brought back to Kittanny, which town had been burned to the
ground.
"There we had the mournful opportunity of witnessing the cruel end
of an English woman, who had attempted to flee out of her captivity and
to return to the settlements with Colonel Armstrong. Having been recap-
tured by the savages and brought back to Kittanny, she was put to death
in an unheard-of way. First they scalped her, next they laid burning
splinters of wood here and there upon her body, and then they cut off
her ears and fingers, forcing them into her mouth, so that she had to-
swallow them. Amidst such torments this woman lived from nine o'clock
in the morning until toward sunset, when a French officer took compas-
sion on her and put her out of her misery. A.n English soldier, on the
contrary, named John , who escaped from prison at Lancaster and
joined the French, had a piece of flesh cut from her body and ate iL.
When she was dead, the Indians chopped her in two, through the middle,
and let her lie until the dogs came and devoured her.
"Three days later an Englishman was brought in, who had likewise
attempted to escape with Colonel Armstrong, and burned alive in the
same village. His torments, however, continued only about three hours ;
but his screams were frightful to listen to. It rained that day very hard,
so that the Indians could not keep up the fire : hence they began to dis-
charge gunpowder at his body. At last, amidst his worst pains, when
the poor man called for a drink of water, they brought him melted lead
and poured it down his throat. This draught at once helped him out
of the hands of the barbarians, for he died on the instant.
"It is easy to imagine what an impression such fearful instances of
cruelty make upon the mind of a poor captive. Does he attempt to
escape from the savages, he knows in advance that if retaken he will
be roasted alive : hence he must compare two evils, namely, either to-
remain among them a prisoner forever or to die a cruel death. Is he
fully resolved to endure the latter, then he may run away with a brave
heart.
"Soon after these occurrences we were brought to Fort Duquesne,
where we remained for about two months. We worked for the French,
and our Indian master drew our wages. In this place, thank God, we
could again eat bread. Half a pound was given us daily. We might
have had bacon, too, but we took none of it, for it was not good. In
some respects we were better off than in the Indian towns. We could
not, however, abide the French. They tried hard to induce us to for-
sake the Indians and stay with them, making us various favorable offers.
But we believed that it would be better for us to remain among the In-
dians, inasmuch as they would be more likely to make peace with the
English than the French, and inasmuch as there would be more ways
open for flight in the forest than in a fort. Consequently we declined
35
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the offers of the French and accompanied our Indian master to Sackum,*
where we spent th? winter, keeping house for the savages, who were con-
tinually on the chase. In the spring we were taken to Kaschkaschkung,f
an Indian town on the Beaver Creek. There we again had to clear the
plantations of the Indian nobles, after the German fashion, to plant corn,
and to do other hard work of every kind. We remained at this place for
about a year and a half.
"After having, in the past three years, seen no one of our own flesh
and blood, except those unhappy beings who, like ourselves, were bearing
the yoke of the heaviest slavery, we had the unexpected pleasure of meet-
ing with a German, who was not a captive, but free, and who, as we
heard, had been sent into this neighborhood to negotiate a peace between
the English and the natives. His name was Frederick Post. We and
all the other prisoners heartily wished him success and God's blessing
upon his undertaking. We were, however, not allowed to speak with
him. The Indians gave us plainly to understand that any attempt to do
this would be taken amiss. He himself, by the reserve with which he
treated us, let us see that this was not the time to talk over our afflictions.
But we were greatly alarmed on his account, for the French told us that
if they caught him they would roast him alive for five days, and many
Indians declared that it was impossible for him to get safely through, that
he was destined for death.
" Last summer the French and Indians were defeated by the English
in a battle fought at Loyal-Hannon, or Fort Ligonier. This caused the
utmost consternation among the natives. They brought their wives and
children from Lockstown,^ Sackum, Schomingo, Mamalty, Kaschkasch-
kung, and other places in that neighborhood, to Moschkingo, about one
hundred and fifty miles farther west. Before leaving, however, they de-
stroyed their crops and burned everything which they. could not carry
with them. We had to go along, and stayed at Moschkingog the whole
winter.
"In February, Barbara Leininger agreed with an Englishman, named
David Breckenreach (Breckenridge), to escape, and gave her comrade,
Marie Le Roy, notice of their intentions. On account of the severe
season of the year and the long journey which lay before them, Marie
strongly advised her to relinquish the project, suggesting that it should
* Sakunk, outlet of the Big Beaver into the Ohio, a point well known to all In-
dians ; their rendezvous in the French wars, etc. Post, in his Journal, under date of
August 20, 1758, records his experience at Sakunk (Reichel). See Post's Journal,
Pennsylvania Archives, O. S., vol. iii. p. 527.
f Kaskaskunk, near the junction of the Shenango and Mahoning, in Lawrence
County.
t Loggstown, on the Ohio, eight miles above Beaver. Weiser's Jotirnal.
\ Muskingum.
36
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
be postponed until spring, when the weather would be milder, and
promising to accompany her at that time.
" On the last day of February nearly all the Indians left Moschkingo,
and proceeded to Pittsburg to sell pelts. Meanwhile, their women
travelled ten miles up the country to gather roots, and we accompanied
them. Two men went along as a guard. It was our earnest hope that
the opportunity for flight, so long desired, had now come. Accordingly,
Barbara Leininger pretended to be sick, so that she might be allowed to
put up a hut for herself alone. On the i4th of March, Marie Le Roy
was sent back to the town, in order to fetch two young dogs which had
been left there, and on the same day Barbara Leininger came out of
her hut and visited a German woman, ten miles from Moschkingo. This
woman's name is Mary , and she is the wife of a miller from the
South Branch.* She had made every preparation to accompany us on
our flight ; but Barbara found that she had meanwhile become lame, and
could not think of going along. She, however, gave Barbara the pro-
visions which she had stored, namely, two pounds of dried meat, a quart
of corn, and four pounds of sugar. Besides, she presented her with pelts
for moccasins. Moreover, she advised a young Englishman, Owen Gib-
son, to flee with us two girls.
'" On the 1 6th of March, in the evening, Gibson reached Barbara Lei-
ninger' s hut, and at ten o'clock our whole party, consisting of us two girls,
Gibson, and David Breckenreach, left Moschkingo. This town lies on
a river, in the country of the Dellamottinoes. We had to pass many
huts inhabited by the savages, and knew that there were at least sixteen
dogs with them. In the merciful providence of God not a single one of
these dogs barked. Their barking would at once have betrayed us and
frustrated our design.
"It is hard to describe the anxious fears of a poor woman under such
circumstances. The extreme probability that the Indians would pursue
and recapture us was as two to one compared with the dim hope that,
perhaps, we would get through in safety. But, even if we escaped the
Indians, how would we ever succeed in passing through the wilderness,
unacquainted with a single path or trail, without a guide, and helpless,
half naked, broken down by more than three years of hard slavery,
hungry and scarcely any food, the season wet and cold, and many rivers
and streams to cross? Under such circumstances, to depend upon one's
own sagacity would be the worst of follies. If one could not believe that
there is a God who helps and saves from death, one had better let run-
ning away alone.
"We safely reached the river (Muskingum). Here the first thought
in all our minds was, Oh, that we were safely across ! And Barbara Lei-
* South Branch of the Potomac.
37
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
winger, in particular, recalling ejaculatory prayers from an old hymn,
which she had learned in her youth, put them together, to suit our present
circumstances, something in the following style :
" O bring us safely across this river !
In fear I cry, yea, my soul doth quiver.
The worst afflictions are now before me,
Where'er I turn nought but death do I see.
Alas, what great hardships are yet in store
In the wilderness wide, beyond that shore !
It has neither water, nor meat, nor bread,
But each new morning something new to dread.
Yet little sorrow would hunger me cost
If but I could flee from the savage host,
Which murders and fights and burns far and wide,
While Satan himself is array'd on its side.
Should on us fall one of its cruel bands,
Then help us, Great God, and stretch out Thy hands !
In Thee will we trust, be Thou ever near,
Art Thou our Joshua, we need not fear.
" Presently we found a raft, left by the Indians. Thanking God that
He had himself prepared a way for us across these first waters, we got on
board and pushed off. But we were carried almost a mile down the river
before we could reach the other side. There our journey began in good
earnest. Full of anxiety and fear, we fairly ran that whole night and all
next day, when we lay down to rest without venturing to kindle a fire.
Early the next morning Owen Gibson fired at a bear. The animal fell,
but when he ran with his tomahawk to kill it, it jumped up and bit
him in the feet, leaving three wounds. We all hastened to his assistance.
The bear escaped into narrow holes among the rocks, where we could not
follow. On the third day, however, Owen Gibson shot a deer. We cut
off the hind-quarters and roasted them at night. The next morning he
again shot a deer, which furnished us with food for that day. In the
evening we got to the Ohio at last, having made a circuit of over one
hundred miles in order to reach it.
"About midnight the two Englishmen rose and began to work at a
raft, which was finished by morning. We got on board and safely crossed
the river. From the signs which the Indians had there put up we saw
that we were about one hundred and fifty miles from Fort Duquesne.
After a brief consultation we resolved, heedless of path or trail, to travel
straight toward the rising of the sun. This we did for seven days. On
the seventh we found that we had reached the Little Beaver Creek, and
were about fifty miles from Pittsburg.
"And now that we imagined ourselves so near the end of all our
troubles and misery, a whole host of mishaps came upon us. Our pro-
visions were at an end, Barbara Leininger fell into the water and was
38
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
nearly drowned, and, worst misfortune of all ! Owen Gibson lost his flint
and steel. Hence we had to spend four nights without fire, amidst rain
and snow.
" On the last day of March we came to a river, Alloquepy,* about three
miles below Pittsburg. Here we made a raft, which, however, proved to
be too light to carry us across. It threatened to sink, and Marie le Roy
fell off, and narrowly escaped drowning. We had to put back and let
one of our men convey one of us across at a time. In this way we reached
the Monongahela River, on the other side of Pittsburg, the same evening.
" Upon our calling for help, Colonel Mercer immediately sent out a boat
to bring us to the fort. At first, however, the crew created many diffi-
culties about taking us on board. They thought we were Indians, and
wanted us to spend the night where we were, saying they would fetch us
in the morning. When we had succeeded in convincing them that we
were English prisoners, who had escaped from the Indians, and that we
were wet and cold and hungry, they brought us over. There was an
Indian with the soldiers in the boat. He asked us whether we could
speak good Indian. Marie Le Roy said she could speak it. Thereupon
he inquired why she had run away. She replied that her Indian
mother had been so cross and had scolded her so constantly, that she
could not stay with her any longer. This answer did not please him ;
nevertheless, doing as courtiers do, he said he was very glad we had
safely reached the fort.
" It was in the night from the last of March to the first of April that we
came to Pittsburg. Most heartily did we thank God in heaven for all
the mercy which he showed us, for His gracious support in our weary
captivity, for the courage which He gave us to undertake our flight and
to surmount all the many hardships it brought us, for letting us find the
road which we did not know, and of which He alone could know that on
it we would meet neither danger nor enemy, and for finally bringing us
to Pittsburg to our countrymen in safety.
" Colonel Mercer helped and aided us in every way which lay in his
power. Whatever was on hand and calculated to refresh us was offered
in the most friendly manner. The colonel ordered for each of us a new
chemise, a petticoat, a pair of stockings, garters, and a knife. After
having spent a day at Pittsburg, we went, with a detachment under com-
mand of Lieutenant Mile,f to Fort Ligonier. There the lieutenant
presented each of us with a blanket. On the i5th we left Fort Ligonier,
under protection of Captain Weiser and Lieutenant Atly,| for Fort Bed-
ford, where we arrived in the evening of the i6th, and remained a
week. Thence, provided with passports by Lieutenant Geiger, we
* Chartiers Creek. f Lieutenant Samuel Miles.
J Lieutenant Samuel J. Atlee.
39
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
travelled in wagons to Harris' Ferry, and from there, afoot, by way of
Lancaster, to Philadelphia. Owen Gibson remained at Fort Bedford
and David Breckenreach at Lancaster. We two girls arrived in Phila-
delphia on Sunday, the 6th of May."
In 1762 the great Moravian missionary, Rev. John Heckewelder, may
have, and probably did, spend a day or two in Punxsutawney. In or
about the year 1765 a Moravian missionary viz., Rev. David Zeisber-
ger established a mission near the present town of Wyalusing, Brad-
ford County, Pennsylvania. He erected forty frame buildings, with
shingle roofs and chimneys, in connection with other improvements, and
Christianized a large number of the savages. The Muncy Indians were
then living in what is now called Forest County, on the Allegheny River.
This brave, pious missionary determined to reach these savages also,
and, with two Christian Indian guides, he traversed the solitude of the
forests and reached his destination on the i6th of October, 1767. He
remained with these savages but seven days ; they were good listeners to
his sermons, but every day he was in danger of being murdered. Of
these Indians he wrote,
" I have never found such heathenism in any other parts of the Indian
country. Here Satan has his stronghold. Here he sits on his throne.
Here he is worshipped by true savages, and carries on his work in the
hearts of the children of darkness." These, readers, were the Indians
that roamed over our hills, then either Lancaster or Berks County. In
1768 this brave minister returned and put up a log cabin, twenty-six by
sixteen feet, and in 1769 was driven back to what is now called Wya-
lusing by repeated attempts on his life. He says in his journal, " For ten
months I have lived between these two towns of godless and malicious
savages, and my preservation is wonderful."
In 1768 the six Indian nations having by treaty sold the land from
"under the feet" of the Wyalusing converts, the Rev. Zeisberger was
compelled to take measures for the removal of these Christian Indians,
with their horses and cattle, to some other field. After many councils and
much consideration, he determined to remove the entire body to a mis-
sion he had established on the Big Beaver, now Lawrence County, Penn-
sylvania. Accordingly, "on the nth of June, 1772, everything being
in readiness, the congregation assembled for the last time in their church
and took up their march toward the setting sun." They were "di-
vided into two companies, and each of these were subdivided. One
of these companies went overland by the Wyalusing path, up the Sugar
Run, and down the Loyal Sock, via Dushore. This company was in
charge of Ettwein, who had the care of the horses and cattle. The
other company was in charge of Rothe, and went by canoe down the
Susquehannah and up the west branch." The place for the divisions to
unite was the Great Island, now Lock Haven, and from there, under the
40
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
lead of Rev. John Ettwein, to proceed up the west branch of the Susque-
hanna, and then cross the mountains over the Chinklacamoose path,
through what is now Clearfield
and Punxsutawney, and from
there to proceed, via Kittanning,
to the Big Beaver, now in Law-
rence County, Pennsylvania.
Reader, just think of two hun-
dred and fifty people of all ages,
with seventy head of oxen and a
greater number of horses, trav-
ersing these deep forests, over a
small path sometimes scarcely dis-
cernible, under drenching rains, Rattlesnake,
and through dismal swamps, and
all this exposure continued for days and weeks, with wild beasts to the
right and to the left of them, and the path alive with rattlesnakes in front
of them, wading streams and overtaken by sickness, and then, dear
reader, you will conclude with me that nothing but "praying all night
in the wilderness" ever carried them successfully to their destination.
This story of Rev. Ettwein is full of interest. I reprint a paragraph or
two that applies to what is now Jefferson County, viz. :
"1772, Tuesday, July 142/1. Reached Clearfield Creek, where the
Buffaloes formerly cleared large tracts of undergrowth, so as to give them
the appearance of cleared fields. Hence the Indians called the creek
' Clearfield. ' Here we shot nine deer. On the route we shot one hun-
dred and fifty deer and three bears.
" Friday, July ijth. Advanced only four miles to a creek that comes
down from the Northwest." This was and is Anderson Creek, near Cur-
wensville, Pennsylvania.
"July 1 8th. Moved on ...
" Sunday, July iqth. As yesterday, but two families kept up with
me, because of the rain, we had a quiet Sunday, but enough to do drying
our effects. In the evening all joined me, but we could hold no service
as the Ponkies were so excessively annoying that the cattle pressed toward
and into our camp to escape their persecutors in the smoke of the fire.
This vermin is a plague to man and beast by day and night, but in the
swamp through which we are now passing, their name is legion. Hence
the Indians call it the Ponsetunik, i.e. the town of the Ponkies." This
swamp was in what we now call Punxsutawney. These people on their
route lived on fish, venison, etc.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PURCHASE OF 1784.
THE following article on the purchase made by the Commonwealth
from the Indian tribes known as the Six Nations in 1784, of all the lands
within the charter boundaries of Pennsylvania in which the Indian title
had not been extinguished by previous purchases, was written and com-
piled by Major R. H. Forster, of the Department of Internal Affairs, for
this book :
"At the close of the war of the Revolution, in the year 1783, the
ownership of a large area of the territory within the charter boundaries
of Pennsylvania was still claimed by the Indians of the several tribes that
were commonly known as the Six Nations. The last purchase of lands
from the Six Nations by the proprietary government of the province was
made at Fort Stanwix in November, 1768, and the limit of this purchase
may be described as extending to lines beginning where the northeast
branch of the Susquehanna River crosses the northern line of the State,
in the present county of Bradford ; thence down the river to the mouth
of Towanda Creek, and up the same to its head-waters ; thence by a range
of hills to the head-waters of Pine Creek, and down the same to the west
branch of the Susquehanna ; thence up the same to Cherry Tree ; thence
by a straight line, across the present counties of Indiana and Armstrong,
to Kittanning,* on the Allegheny River, and thence down the Allegheny
and Ohio Rivers to the western boundary line of the province. The In-
dian claim, therefore, embraced all that part of the State lying to the
northwest of the purchase lines of 1768, as they are here described.
With the close of the Revolutionary struggle, the authorities of the new
Commonwealth, anxiously looking to its future stability and prosperity,
* "Canoe Place," so called in the old maps of the State to designate the head of
navigation on the west branch of the Susquehanna River, is the point at which the pur-
chase line of 1768 from that river to Kittanning, on the Allegheny River, begins. A
survey of that line was made by Robert Galbraith in the year 1786, and a cherry-tree
standing on the west bank of the river was marked by him as the beginning of his sur-
vey. The same cherry-tree was marked by William P. Brady as the southeast cor-
ner of a tract surveyed by him " at Canoe Place," in 1794, on warrant No. 3744, in the
name of John Nicholson, Esq. The town of Cherry Tree now covers part of this
ground. The old tree disappeared years ago. Its site, however, was regarded as of
some historic importance, and under an appropriation of $1500, granted by the Legisla-
ture in 1893, a substantial granite monument has been erected to mark the spot where it
stood.
42
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
soon found themselves confronted with duties and responsibilities differ-
ent in many respects from those that had engaged their serious attention
and earnest effort during the previous seven years of war. They were to
enact just and equitable laws for the government of a new State, and to
devise such measures as would stimulate its growth in wealth and popula-
tion and promote the development, settlement, and improvement of its
great domain.
"As early as the i2th of March, 1783, the General Assembly had
passed an act setting apart certain lands lying north and west of the Ohio
and Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek to be sold for the purpose
of redeeming the depreciation certificates given to the officers and sol-
diers of the Pennsylvania Line who had served in the war of the Revolu-
tion, and also for the purpose of making donations of land to the same
officers and soldiers in compliance with a promise made to them by a res-
olution passed in 1780. It will be observed that when this act was passed
the Indian claim of title to the lands mentioned was still in force ; but
the State authorities, though seemingly slow and deliberate in their
actions, were no doubt fully alive to the necessity of securing as speedily
as possible the right to all the lands within the State about five-six-
teenths of its area that remained unpurchased after the treaty at Fort
Stanwix in 1768. With that purpose in view, the first movement made
by the General Assembly to be found on record was on the 25th day of
September, 1783. This action is in the form of a resolution passed on
that day by the recommendation of the report of a committee that had
been previously appointed ' to digest such plans as they might conceive
necessary to facilitate and expedite the laying off and surveying of the
lands' set apart by the act of the previous March. The resolution reads,
" ' Resolved, unanimously, That the supreme executive council be,
and they are hereby authorized and empowered to appoint commissioners
to hold a meeting with the Indians claiming the unpurchased territory
within the acknowledged limits of the State, for the purpose of purchasing
the same, agreeable to ancient usage, and that all the expenses accruing
from the said meeting and purchase be defrayed out of the Treasury of
the State.' Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. in.
" It next appears by a minute of the Supreme Executive Council, of
February 23, 1784, that Samuel John Atlee, William Maclay, and Francis
Johnston were on that day chosen commissioners to treat with the In-
dians as proposed in the resolution of the General Assembly. The gentle-
men named all of them prominent citizens were informed on the apth
of the same month of their appointment, but they did not acknowledge
the receipt of President Dickinson's letter until the i7th of May follow-
ing. On that day Messrs. Atlee and Johnston reply in a letter of thanks
for the honor conferred upon them, and explain the delay as having been
caused by circumstances that required Mr. Maclay and Colonel Atlee to
43
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
visit their families, the first named still remaining absent. The letter
also contains a statement of their views upon various matters pertaining
to the mission upon which they are about to enter. They suggest Sam-
uel Weiser, a son of Conrad Weiser, the noted Indian missionary, as a
Conrad Weiser.
proper person to notify the Indians of the desire to treat with them, and,
from his familiarity with their language and customs, to act as interpreter.
The time and place for holding the treaty are mentioned, but nothing
definite suggested, owing to the fact that the Continental Congress had
likewise appointed commissioners to meet the Six Nations for the purpose
of treating with them in relation to the lands of the Northwest, beyond
the limits of Pennsylvania, and it was deemed proper to permit the rep-
resentatives of Congress to arrange for the meeting.* Fort Stanwix, in
the State of New York, was finally agreed upon as the place where the
* Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x p. 265.
44
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
meeting should be held, and thither the commissioners on the part of
Pennsylvania were directed to proceed. On the 25th of August, 1784,
a committee of the General Assembly, having Indian affairs under con-
sideration, made the following report :
" ' That weighty reasons have occurred in favor of the design for hold-
ing a conference with the Indians on the part of this State, and if under
the present situation of Continental affairs that measure can be conducted
on sure ground and without too unlimited an expense, it ought to take
place and be rendered as effective as this House can make it, under whose
auspices a foundation would thus be laid of essential and durable advan-
tage to the public, by extending population, satisfying our officers and
soldiers in regard to their donation lands and depreciation certificates,
restoring that ancient, friendly, and profitable intercourse with the In-
dians, and guarding against all occasions of war with them.' Pennsyl-
vania Archives, vol. x. p. 316.
" To aid the commissioners in their efforts to attain objects so worthy
and laudable, the above report was accompanied by a resolution that
authorized the Supreme Executive Council to expend $9000 in the pur-
chase of ' such goods, merchandize, and trinkets' as would be acceptable
to the Indians, to be given them as part of the consideration in the event
of a purchase being made. In pursuance of this resolution the council
promptly ordered a warrant to be issued by the treasurer in favor of the
commissioners for the sum of ^3375 (equivalent in Pennsylvania cur-
rency to $9100), to be expended by them in purchasing the necessary
articles.*
"After a tedious and fatiguing journey, in which they met with a
number of unexpected delays, the commissioners reached Fort Stanwix
early in the month of October, where they found some of the tribes
already assembled, and with them the commissioners of the Continental
Congress. In a letter to President Dickinson, dated October 4, 1784,
they announce their arrival, and state that the negotiations had already
commenced, and while they would not venture an opinion as to the final
issue, they say the disposition of the Indians appeared to be favorable.
The negotiations continued until the 23d of the same month, and on that
day ended in an agreement by which the Indian title to all the lands
within the boundaries of the State that remained after the treaty of 1768
was extinguished. The Indians represented at the conference were the
Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the
Tuscaroras. The consideration fixed for the surrender of their rights was
* For a list of the articles designated in the order see Colonial Records, vol. xiv.
p. 186. After the negotiations at Foil Stanwix had been concluded the commissioners
gave an obligation for an additional thousand dollars in goods, to be delivered at
Tioga. For this list see Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. 496.
45
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
$5000. The deed is dated October 23, 1784, is signed by all the chiefs
of the Six Nations and by the Continental commissioners as witnesses.
The boundaries of the territory ceded are thus described : ' Beginning on
the south side of the river Ohio, where the western boundary of the State
of Pennsylvania crosses the said river, near Shingo's old town, at the
mouth of Beaver Creek, and thence by a due north line to the end of the
forty-second and the beginning of the forty-third degrees of north lati-
tude, thence by a due east line separating the forty-second and the forty-
third degrees of north latitude, to the east side of the east branch of the
Susquehanna River, thence by the bounds of the late purchase made at
Fort Stanwix, the fifth day of November, Anno Domini one thousand
seven hundred and sixty-eight, as follows : Down the said east branch of
Susquehanna, on the east side thereof, till it comes opposite to the mouth
of a creek called by the Indians Awandac, and across the river, and up
the said creek on the south side thereof, all along the range of hills called
Burnet's Hills by the English and by the Indians , on the north side
of them, to the head of a creek which runs into the west branch of Sus-
quehanna, which creek is by the Indians called Tyadaghton, but by the
Pennsylvanians Pine Creek, and down the said creek on the south side
thereof to the said west branch of Susquehanna, thence crossing the said
river, and running up the south side thereof, the several courses thereof
to the forks of the same river, which lies nearest to a place on the river
Ohio called Kittanning, and from the fork by a straight line to Kittan-
ning aforesaid, and thence down the said river Ohio by the several courses
thereof to where said State of Pennsylvania crosses the same river at the
place of beginning.' After the commissioners had accomplished in so
satisfactory a manner the object for which they had journeyed to Fort
Stanwix, it became necessary to appease the Western Indians, the Wyan-
dots and the Delawares, who also claimed rights in the same lands. The
same commissioners were therefore sent to Fort Mclntosh, on the Ohio
River, at the site of the present town of Beaver, where, in January, 1785,
they were successful in reaching an agreement with those Indians for the
same lands. This deed, signed by the chiefs of both tribes, is dated
January 21, 1785, and is in the same words (except as to the consid-
eration money, which is $2000) and recites the same boundaries as the
deed signed at Fort Stanwix in the previous month of October.*
"After the purchase of 1768 a disagreement arose between the pro-
prietary government and the Indians as to whether the creek flowing into
the west branch of the river Susquehanna, and called in the deed ' Tya-
daghton,' was intended for Lycoming Creek or Pine Creek. The In-
* The conference of the commissioners at Fort Stanwix and Fort Mclntosh with
the deeds signed at those places are published in the Appendix to the General Assembly
for the session of February to April, 1785.
46
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
dians said it was the former, and that the purchase only extended that
far, the proprietaries claimed the latter stream to be the extent of the pur-
chase ; but, in order to avoid any trouble that might arise from the dis-
s. \
pute, it was wisely determined that no rights should be granted for lands
west of Lycoming Creek. This determination, however, did not deter
"or prevent adventurous pioneers from entering upon and making settle-
ments within the disputed territory, and from their persistency in so
47
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
doing arose an interesting, not to say serious, condition of affairs, to
which reference will again be made. The commissioners at Fort Stan-
wix were instructed to ascertain definitely from the Indians which of the
two streams they meant by 'Tyadaghton.' They then admitted that it
was Pine Creek, being the largest emptying into the west branch of the
Susquehanna.
"The Indian claim of right to the soil of Pennsylvania, within its
charter limits, had thus, in a period of a little more than one hundred
years, ceased to exist. A glance at a map of the State will show that
within the magnificent domain that comprises the purchase of 1784 are
to be found at the present day the counties of Tioga, Potter, McKean,
Warren, Crawford, Venango, Forest, Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, Cameron,
Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer, and parts of the counties of Bradford,
Clinton, Clearfield, Indiana, Armstrong, Allegheny, Beaver, and Erie.*
This large and important division of our great Commonwealth, now teem-
ingjwith population and wealth, the abiding-place of a noble civilization,
and^containing within its boundaries thousands upon thousands of homes
of comfort and many of elegance and luxury, fertile valleys to reward the
labor of the husbandman, thriving villages, busy towns, and growing,
bustling cities, was, in 1784, largely an uninhabited and untraversed
wilderness.
"LANDS EAST OF THE ALLEGHENY RIVER AND CONEWANGO
CREEK.
"The General Assembly of the State did not delay in enacting laws
which would open to settlers and purchasers that part of the late acquisi-
tion that had not been otherwise appropriated. As a matter of fact, in
anticipation of the purchase, an act was passed on the ist day of April,
1784, in which it was provided that as soon as the Indians were ' satisfied
for the unpurchased lands,' the supreme executive council should give
official information thereof to the surveyor-general, who was then to ap-
point district surveyors to survey all such lands within the purchase as
should ' be found fit for cultivation. ' The tracts were to contain not
more than 500 nor less than 200 acres each, and were to be numbered
on a general draft of each district. When a certain number of lots were
surveyed, they were to be sold at public auction, the purchaser having
the privilege of paying one moiety at the time of purchase and receiving
a credit of two years for the other moiety. The mode of disposing of the
lands thus indicated was soon changed by subsequent legislation. By an
act passed December 21, 1784, to amend the act of April i, the pro-
visions of the law for sales by public auction and the giving of credit
were repealed. Section 6 of the act provided that the land-office should
* See accompanying map, which shows the extent of the purchase.
48
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
be open on the ist day of May, 1785, to receive applications for lands at
the rate of ^30* for every hundred acres of the same, and that the sur-
vey of an application should not contain more than 1000" acres, with the
usual allowance of six per centum for highways. This act was intended
to apply to all lands within the purchase, except the lands north and west
of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek (which, as
already mentioned, had been appropriated for the redemption of depre-
ciation certificates and for the donations of land to the soldiers of the
Pennsylvania Line) and the disputed territory between Lycoming and
Pine Creeks. By Section 7, a warrant issued in pursuance of the act
was not descriptive, and was rot confined to any particular place, but
could be located on any vacant land, not within the excepted districts,
that the applicant might select. Sections 8, 9, and 10 of the act pro-
vide for the persons who occupied lands between Lycoming and Pine
Creek, in violation of the proprietary mandate. The situation of these
settlers was peculiar. When the disagreement in regard to the purchase
lines of the purchase of 1768 occurred, the proprietaries, always ex-
tremely anxious to avoid giving offence to the Indians, decided to with-
hold the territory between the two streams from sale and settlement until
the differences could be properly adjusted by mutual agreement. Though
many applications for land west of Lycoming Creek were on file, surveys
would not be accepted, and at the same time stringent orders were issued
protesting against persons making settlement beyond that stream, and
warning those already there to depart. In defiance of warnings, protests,
and proclamations, however, many sturdy, self-reliant men persisted in
occupying the forbidden ground, where they found themselves beyond
the bounds of lawful authority, and could not expect to receive encour-
agement or protection from the proprietary government. But with the
energy and courage common to pioneer settlers they at once began the
work of subduing the wilderness and building homes for their families,
and from accounts that have come down to us, the little community, if it
did not live in luxury, was at least able to earn a subsistence that was not
meagre in quantity, whatever may have been its quality. Being without
law or government, the members of the community were compelled by
the necessities of their situation and surroundings to adopt a system of
government of their own, the details of which are not fully known. All,
however, were under solemn obligations to support and defend their
agreement for mutual support and protection. They called themselves
Fair-Play Men, and it is known that annually they elected three of their
number to constitute a court, which held stated meetings to dispense jus-
tice. To this tribunal all disputes and controversies were referred for
settlement, and from its decisions there was no appeal. A stranger
* In Pennsylvania currency this was at the rate of 80 cents an acre.
49
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
coming among them was obliged to appear before the court and promise
under oath to submit to the laws of the community. If he did this, he
could remain, take possession of unoccupied land, and receive assistance
in building his cabin. If he would not take the obligation, he was quickly
notified to absent himself without delay, which he usually did, without
awaiting the call of a committee, whose methods of expulsion might be
none too gentle. Many of these brave frontiersmen served in the army
during the Revolutionary War, and Section 8 of the act recited that by
reason of their services as soldiers, they merited the 'pre-emption of
their respective plantations.' Sections 9 and 10 of the same act allowed
a pre-emption to all settlers and their legal representatives who had set-
tled on the lands between the two streams prior to the year 1780, limit-
ing each claim to 300 acres, providing that the application should be
made and the consideration paid on or before November i, 1785. It
will be remembered that the time fixed by the act of December 21,
1784, for the land-office to be opened to receive applications was May
i, 1785. Before that day arrived, however, the Legislature passed
another act. which, in many respects, changed the policy previously pur-
sued in disposing of unappropriated lands. This act became a law on
the 8th day of April, 1785, and with it came the practice, as provided in
the act, of numbering all warrants for land in the last purchase to the east
of the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek, a change in practice that
has always been regarded as a valuable improvement on the old system.
The act is entitled ' An act to provide further regulations, whereby to
secure fair and equal proceedings in the land- office, and the surveying of
lands.' It was believed that when the office was opened on the day fixed
by the law, numerous applications would be made at the same time, and
that preference would necessarily be given to some persons to the disad-
vantage of others, and thereby cause dissatisfaction. In order to prevent
any one from profiting by such preference, it was enacted in Section 2
of the act that the priority of all warrants to be granted on applications
received during the first ten days after the opening of the office should
be determined by a lottery to be drawn under the supervision of the
Secretary of the Land- Office. Not more than 1000 acres were to be
included in one application, and the warrants were to be numbered
'according to the decision of the lottery.' For conducting the lottery
the section contains minute directions. All applications made after the
expiration of ten days were to have priority according to the order in
which they came into the hands of the Secretary, and were to be num-
bered accordingly. The other sections of the act relate mainly to the
duties of the surveyor-general and the deputy- surveyors to be by him
appointed, and the way in which surveys were to be made and returned.
It also prescribes the fees to be received by the officers of the land office
and the deputy surveyors, and attaches the territory east of the Allegheny
50
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
River and Conewango Creek to Northumberland County, a part of which
county it remained until Lycoming County was formed in 1795, when it
became part of that county. The remaining portion of the purchase was
attached to Westmoreland County, and so continued until Allegheny was
formed in 1 788, when it was included in the boundary of that county.
The applications received during the first ten days from the opening of
the office were listed and numbered, placed in the lottery-wheel, and
drawn therefrom in the manner provided by the second section of the
act. They numbered five hundred and sixty- four, and warrants for that
number of tracts were issued, and received a number that corresponded
with the number drawn from the wheel. These warrants were called
' Northumberland County Lottery Warrants,' and under that designation
are yet carried on the warrant registers of the office. They could be,
and were, located in such localities within the purchase east of the Alle-
gheny River as the owners might select, except on a reservation of 1000
acres at the forks of Sinnemahoning Creek, for which General James
Potter held a pre-emption.
"The surveyor general had authority to appoint deputy-surveyors,
and to fix the number, extent, and boundaries of the districts to which
they were to be assigned. The territory was divided into eighteen dis-
tricts, and a deputy -surveyor appointed for each. These districts were
numbered consecutively, beginning with No. i, on the Allegheny River,
and running eastward to No. 18, which extended to the north branch of
the Susquehanna in the northeast corner of the purchase. This arrange-
ment of the districts continued until after the year 1 790, when a change
was made by the surveyor-general. The number of districts was then
reduced to six, and were numbered westward from district No. i, begin-
ning at the mouth of Lycoming Creek. In the new arrangement John
Adlum was appointed deputy-surveyor for district No. i, John Broadhead
for No. 2, John Canan for No. 3, James Hunter for No. 4, William P.
Brady for No. 5, and Enion Williams for No. 6, on the Allegheny River.
In 1793, John Adlum, whose surveys were principally along the northern
line of the State, was succeeded by William Ellis, and Enion Williams
by John Broadhead. After the drawing of the lottery warrants the busi-
ness of the land- office does not appear to have been very pressing. It
would seem that at the price fixed by the act of December, 1784 ^"30
per hundred, or 80 cents an acre purchasers were not numerous. The
records show that from the time of the drawing and issuing of the lottery
warrants in May, 1785, down to the year 1792, not more than 400 war-
rants were granted for these lands, and among these warrants were many
to religious and educational institutions issued under various acts of
endowment. There were 32 to Dickinson College, 28 of 300 acres
each, and 4 of 400 acres each, making in all 7000 acres ; the Episcopal
Academy had 33 warrants, 32 of 300 acres each, and i of 400 acres,
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
making 10,000 acres; the Lutheran congregation, of Philadelphia, 10
warrants of 500 acres each, making 5000 acres ; the Pittsburg Academy,
10 warrants of 500 acres each, making 5000 acres; the Washington
Academy, 10 warrants of 500 each, making 5000 acres; the Reading
Academy, 7 warrants, 3 of 1000 acres each and 4 of 500 acres each,
making 5000 acres ; and Franklin College 33 warrants of 300 acres each,
and i of 100 acres, making 10,000 acres, making in the aggregate 112
warrants for 52,000 acres of land.
"It had now become apparent to the authorities that the price of
land was too high to induce investments of money in them, and that
the General Assembly must fix a lower rate to promote sales. Benjamin
Franklin, the president of the Supreme Executive Council, under date of
February 23, 1787, addressed a letter to that body in which he says,
' We are convinced that it will be of advantage to the State to lower the
price of land within the late Indian purchase ; only eight warrants have
been taken out for lands these six months passed.'* The Legislature
accordingly passed an act, October 3, 1788, to reduce the price from the
rate of ^30 per hundred acres to 20. This rate was to be charged
after March i, 1789, and was a reduction from the old rate of 80 cents
an acre to 53^ cents an acre. This rate continued until April 3, 1792 ;
but, contrary to expectations, did not have the effect of increasing sales,
and, therefore, brought little or no change in the business of the office.
By another act, passed April 3, 1792, the price was again reduced. The
rate fixed by this act was ^5, or $13.33^, for each hundred acres, and
at this rate sales almost astonishing in extent were made, and the years
1792-93-94 proved to be noted and important years for disposing of un-
appropriated lands. The low price at which lands could now be bought,
and the alluring prospect of a large increase in their value, undoubtedly
induced many large purchasers to enter their applications. The applica-
tions received at the land-office were for a large number of tracts, and
in the course of the years named more than 5000 warrants of 900 and
1000 acres each, covering almost 5,000,000 acres, were granted for
lands north and west of the purchase line of 1768, and east of the Alle-
gheny River. These were all numbered in consecutive order, as required
by the act of April, 1785, and were sent to the deputy surveyors of the
six districts to be executed. They were issued in the names of a com-
paratively small number of persons, but the holdings, as a rule, were very
large. While it would be tedious to give the names of all the holders of
these warrants, generally called 'late purchase warrants,' it may not
prove uninteresting to mention a few of those whose purchases were more
than usually large, if only to show that a spirit of speculation might have
existed in those days, even as it does at the present time. The first to
* Colonial Records, vol. xv. p. 167.
52
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
be mentioned will be the warrants issued in the names of Wilhelm Willink,.
Nicholas Van Staphorst, Christian Van Eeghan, Pieter Stadnitski, Hen-
drick Vollenhoven, and Ruter Jan Schimmelpenninck. These gentle-
men were merchants of the city of Amsterdam, Holland. In the land
history of Pennsylvania they are known as the ' Holland Land Com-
pany,' and through agents they invested a large amount of money in
land in the purchase of 1784 The warrant registers show that in the
three years, 1792-93-94, they paid for and received 1105 warrants of 900
acres each, aggregating 995,400 acres of land lying east of the Allegheny
River. These warrants were divided among the deputy- surveyors of the
six districts. James Wilson was another large owner of warrants, the
number held by him being 510, of 900 acres each, making 451,000 acres.
Herman Le Roy and Jan Lincklean, A. Z., also of Amsterdam, 303
warrants of 900 acres each, making 272,700 acres. John Nicholson 300
warrants of 1000 acres each, making 300,000 acres. Thomas M. Willing,
311 warrants of 1000 acres each, making 311,000 acres. George Meade,
306 warrants of 1000 acres each, making 306,000 acres. Robert Gil-
more, 200 warrants of 1000 acres each, making 200,000 acres. Samuel'
Wallis, 100 warrants of 1000 acres each, making 100,000 acres. William
Bingham, 1 25 warrants of 1000 acres each, making 1 25,000 acres. Robert
Morris, 185 warrants, 141 of 1000 acres each, and 44 of 500 acres each,
making 163,000 acres. The magnitude of the purchases made by a few
individuals is here clearly indicated. There were, however, other large
purchasers, such as Robert Blackwell, John Olden, Charles Willing,
Philip Nicklin and Robert Griffith, James Strawbridge, Jeremiah Parker,
and others whose names we are obliged to omit. The surveys generally
were carefully and correctly made, and, considering the extent of terri-
tory covered by them, and the large interests involved, no great amount
of litigation from conflicting locations afterwards grew out of defective
or careless work by the surveyor, as was too often the case with surveys
made in other sections of the State. In 1817 the price of the lands was
again changed to 26^3 cents an acre, to correspond with the price in the
older purchases. At the same time warrants were made descriptive, and
have since been carried in the warrant registers by counties. The sur-
veys made on the numbered warrants did not appropriate all the land
within the limits to which they were restricted, and since then many
warrants have been granted in all the counties erected from the territory
that in 1785 was made to form a part of the county of Northumberland.
"LANDS NORTH AND EAST OF THE OHIO AND ALLEGHENY
RIVERS AND CONEWANGO CREEK.
"After the surveys of the tracts to be sold for the redemption of
depreciation certificates and the donation lots to be given to the soldiers
of the Pennsylvania Line had been made, there remained in this part of
53
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the purchase a large surplus of lands to be otherwise appropriated. The
Legislature, on the 3d of April, 1792, passed an act for the sale of these
lands, entitled ' An act for the sale of vacant lands within this Common-
wealth.' This act differs from all previous laws for disposing of the
public lands, by providing that they should only be offered for sale to
such persons as would ' cultivate, improve, and settle the same, or cause
the same to be cultivated, improved, and settled.' The price fixed was
l los. in Pennsylvania currency, for every hundred acres, or in other
words, 20 cents an acre, and the warrants were limited to 400 acres each.
The surveyor general was authorized to divide the territory offered for
sale into proper and convenient districts and appoint deputy-surveyors,
who were to give the customary bond for the faithful performance of their
duties. They were to execute warrants according to their priority, but
* not to survey any tract actually settled and improved prior to the date
of the entry of such warrant with the deputy, except to the owner of such
settlement and improvement.' The territory was divided into eleven
districts, and a deputy- surveyor appointed for each ; Thomas Reese for
district No. i, William Powers for No. 2, Benjamin Stokely for No. 3,
Thomas Stokely for No. 4, John Moore for No. 5, Samuel Nicholson for
No. 6, John McCool for No. 7, Stephen Gapen for No. 8, Jonathan and
Daniel Leet for Nos. 9 and 10, John Hoge for No. ti.
" By Section 8 of the act, on application being made to the deputy-
surveyor of the proper district by any person who had made an actual
settlement and improvement, that officer, on being paid the legal fees,
was required to survey the lines of the tract, not exceeding 400 acres, to
which such person may have become entitled by virtue of his settlement.
Many such surveys were returned to the land office and constituted pre-
emptions to persons for whom they were made. Some of the tracts thus
returned still remain unpaid, as a glance at the land lien docket of the
land-office will show. By Section 9, no warrant or survey made in pur-
suance of the act was to vest title to the lands unless the guarantee had,
' prior to the date of such warrant made, or caused to be made, or should
within the space of two years next after the date of the same, make, or
cause to be made, an actual settlement thereon, by clearing, fencing, and
cultivating at least two acres for every hundred acres contained in one
survey, erecting thereon a messuage for the habitation of man, and re-
siding or causing a family to reside thereon, for the space of five years next
following his first settling of the same, if he or she shall so long live. '
In default of such actual settlement and residence the right was forfeited,
and new warrants, reciting the original warrants and the lack of compli-
ance with the requirements of the act, could be granted to other actual
settlers. It was provided, however, ' that if any actual settler or any
grantee in any such original or succeeding warrant, shall by force of
arms of the enemies of the United States, be prevented from making
54
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
such actual settlement, or be driven therefrom and shall persist in his
endeavors to make such actual settlement as aforesaid, then, in either
case, he and his heirs shall be entitled to have and to hold the said lands
in the same manner as if the actual settlement had been made and con-
tinued.' Under the provisions of this act many surveys, as already
stated, were returned for actual settlers, and many warrants were taken
out immediately after its passage. The warrants were for 400 acres each,
and immense numbers of them in fictitious names, in which great families
of Inks, Pirns, etc., appear, were taken out by a few individuals. For
instance, the Holland Land Company, previously mentioned, again
appears in the territory west of the Allegheny. That company alone
took out 1162 warrants representing 464,800 acres of land, and making
the entire purchases of the company from the State amount to more than
1,500,000 acres. John Nicholson was another purchaser who held a
large number of these warrants. To the ' Pennsylvania Population
Company' he assigned 100,000 acres lying principally in the present
County of Erie, and proposed to assign 250,000 acres lying along Beaver
Creek and the western line of the State to another of his land schemes
called the 'North American Land Company.' The warrants all con-
tained the actual settlement clause, but not any of the large owners of
warrants made the slightest pretence of complying with it. Owing to
the disturbed condition of the western border at the time it was impossi-
ble to do so. A state of war existed with the western Indians. The
United States forces had met with serious reverses in the defeat of Harmer
and St. Clare in 1791, and it was not until after Wayne's treaty, in
December, 1795, gave peace and safety to the borders that settlers with
their families could enter upon those lands free from the fear and danger
of Indian incursions.
" But with the settling of the Indian disorders and the return of peace,
there soon came other troubles, with expensive and vexatious litigation,
to annoy and harass settlers and warrantees by the uncertainty that was
cast upon their titles. This uncertainty grew out of differences of opinion
in relation to the construction the two years' clause of the law requiring
actual settlement, after the termination of the Indian hostilities that had
prevented such settlement from being made, should receive. The oppo-
site views held by those interested in titles are clearly stated in Sergeant's
' Land Laws,' page 98 : ' On one side it was contended that the conditions
of actual settlement and residence, required by the act, was dispensed with,
on account of the prevention for two years after the date of the warrant *
by Indian hostilities ; and that the warrant holder was not bound to do
anything further, but was entitled to a patent. On the other side it was
insisted that the right under the warrant was forfeited, at the expiration
* Nearly all of these warrants were granted in 1792-93.
55
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of two years, without a settlement, and that actual settlers might then enter
on such tracts and hold them by making a settlement. On this and other
constructions, numbers of persons entered on the lands of warrantees
and claimed to hold under the act, as settlers, after a forfeiture.' The
authorities of the State at the time 1796 to 1800 held to the first
opinion, and by the advice of Attorney-General Ingersoll, the Board of
Property devised what was called a 'prevention certificate,' which set
forth the fact of the inability of the warrantee or settler to make the re-
quired settlement. This certificate was to be signed by two justices, and
on its presentation, properly signed, the land officers freely granted a
patent for the land described. Under prevention certificates of this kind
many patents were granted. The Holland Land Company received more
than one thousand, and John Field, William Crammond, and James Gib-
son, in trust for the use of the Pennsylvania Population Company, more
than eight hundred. These patents all contained a recital of the preven-
tion certificate, as follows : ' And also in consideration of it having been
made to appear to the Board of Property that the said (name of warrantee)
was by force of arms of the enemies of the United States prevented from
making settlement as is required by the ninth section (act of April 3,
1792), and the assignees of the said (warrantee) had persisted in their
endeavors to make such settlement,' etc. With a change of administra-
tion in October, 1799, there followed a change of policy. The new
authorities did not regard the policy and proceedings of the former Board
of Property binding, and the further issuing of patents on prevention
certificates was refused. In the mean time, the contentions between the
owners of warrants and settlers were carried into the courts, where a like
difference of opinion in regard to the rights of the contending parties
under the act of 1792 soon manifested itself, the judges disagreeing as
widely in their construction of the ninth section as the parties in interest.
It was only after years of exciting and troublesome litigation, and the
enactment of a number of laws by the Legislature of the State to facilitate
an adjustment of the contentions, that titles became settled and owners
felt secure in their possessions. It may be said that while the judges of
the courts often differed in their opinions on the points at issue, the liti-
gation ended generally in favor of the holders of the warrants. The Hol-
land Land Company, being composed of foreigners, could appeal to the
courts of the United States. In one case carried to the Supreme Court,
the company was actually absolved from making the settlement prescribed
by the ninth section. Chief Justice Marshall, holding that a warrant for
a tract of land under the Act of 1792 ' to a person who, by force of arms
of the enemies of the United States, was prevented from settling and im-
proving the said land, and from residing thereon from the date of the
warrant until the ist of January, 1796, but who, during the said period,
persisted in his endeavors to make such settlement and residence, vests in
56
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
such grantee a fee-simple in said land.'* That the uncertainty in re-
gard to land" titles during these years did much to retard the growth and
prosperity of this northwestern section of the State cannot be doubted ;
but, under the influence of better conditions, brought about by the adjust-
ment of land rights and the allaying of local strife, it afterwards made
marvellous strides forward in the march of progress and improvement.
"The dispositions made of the unsold depreciation and the undrawn
donation lots in this part of the purchase were fully treated of in former
papers, and, therefore, need no further notice. It may not, however, be
amiss to say a word in relation to the purchase of the Erie triangle, an
acquisition that was of vast importance to Pennsylvania by reason of the
outlet of Lake Erie. The triangle was claimed by the States of New
York and Massachusetts, but was ceded by both States, in the years 1781
and 1785, to the United States. The Pennsylvania authorities, antici-
pating its possession, had, through a treaty made at Fort Mclntosh by
General St. Clair, Colonel Harmer, and others, secured a deed from the
Indians by which their claim of title was extinguished. This deed,
signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations, is dated January 9, 1789, and the
consideration paid was $2000. It was then, by a deed dated March 3,
1792, ceded by the United States to Pennsylvania. This deed is signed
by George Washington, President, and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of
State. In 1790, Andrew Ellicott made a survey of the triangle and
found it to contain 202,287 acres, and the purchase- money paid to the
United States, at the rate of 75 cents an acre, amounted to $151,640.25.
This purchase having been completed before the passage of the act of
April 3, 1792, the lands within it, except the reservations, were sold
under the provisions of that act. Before the completion of the purchase,
John Nicholson had made application for the entire tract, and probably
held a larger number of warrants for lands within its boundaries than any
other individual.
"THE RESERVATIONS NORTH AND WEST OF THE OHIO AND ALLE-
GHENY RIVERS AND CONEWANGO CREEK.
"In the act of March 12, 1783, setting apart the depreciation lands,
two reservations for the use of the State were made, one of ' three thou-
sand acres, in an oblong of not less than one mile in depth from the
Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, and extending up and down the said rivers,
from opposite Fort Pitt, so far as may be necessary to include the same ;'
and the other ' three thousand acres on the Ohio, and on both sides of
Beaver Creek, including Fort Mackintosh.' There was also reserved
on Lake Erie for the use of the State the peninsula of Presque Isle, a
tract extending eight miles along the shores of the lake and three miles
* Smith's Laws, vol. ii. p. 228.
5 57
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
in breadth, and another tract of 2000 acres on the lake at the mouth of
Harbor Creek ; and also tracts at the mouth of French Creek, at Fort
Le Bceuf, and at the mouth of Conewango Creek. For th$ purpose of
raising an additional sum by the sale of town lots to be used in paying
the debts of the State, the President of the Supreme Executive Council
was authorized by an act passed the nth day of September, 1787, to
cause a town to be laid out on the reservation opposite Fort Pitt. The
tract, except 312 acres within its boundaries, was accordingly surveyed
into town and out lots and sold at public auction. The regular lots of
the town, as laid down in the survey, were in dimensions 60 by 240 feet,
while the out lots contained from five to ten acres. The part containing
312 acres, not included in the plan of the town, was patented to James
O'Hara on the 5th day of May, 1789. This town has grown into the
large and flourishing city of Allegheny. By another act, passed Sep-
tember 28, 1791, the governor was given power to authorize the sur-
veyor-general to cause a part of the reservation at the mouth of Beaver
Creek to be laid out in town lots, ' on or near the ground where the old
French town stood,' in such manner as commissioners, to be appointed
by the governor, should direct. By this act 200 acres were to be sur-
veyed into town lots, and 1000 acres, adjoining on the upper side, into
out lots to contain not less than five acres, nor more than ten acres.
Daniel Leet, a deputy- surveyor, who had previously surveyed district
No. 2, of the depreciation lands and one of the donation districts, was
employed to lay out these town and out lots, and his survey of the town
and out lots was confirmed by an act passed in March, 1793. The same
act directed the governor to proceed to make sale of the lots and grant
conveyances for them, in the manner prescribed by the act authorizing
the laying out of the town. The town was called Beavertown, and when
the county of Beaver was erected in 1800 was made the county seat.
The act erecting the county appropriated 500 acres of the reservation for
the use of such school or academy as might thereafter be established in
the town. The town then called Beaver was incorporated into a borough
in 1802, and the boroughs of Rochester and Bridgewater, on opposite
sides of the creek, also occupy parts of this reservation.
"The towns of Erie, Franklin, Waterford, and Warren were estab-
lished by an act passed on the i8th day of April, 1795. Of the large
reservation on Lake Erie, at Presque Isle, the governor was authorized to
appoint two commissioners to survey 1600 acres for town lots and 3400,
adjoining thereto, for out lots, with such streets, alleys, lanes, and reser-
vations for public uses as the commissioners should direct. The town
lots were to contain not more than one-third of an acre,* the out lots not
* The regular town lots of Erie as laid down in the map of the town are 82 feet 6
inches front and 165 feet in depth.
58
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
more than five acres, the reservations for public uses not to exceed twenty
acres, and the town was to be called Erie. After the survey of the town,
made by General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott, was filed in the
office of the secretary of the Commonwealth, the governor was directed
to sell at public auction one-third of the town lots and one third of the
out lots to the highest bidders, and grant patents to the purchasers upon
the condition that within two years they respectively should 'build a
house, at least sixteen feet square, and contain at least one brick or stone
chimney,' on each lot purchased, the patent not to be issued until after
the expiration of two years, and then only on proof that the condition of
the sale had been complied with. In addition to the surveys of the town
and out lots, the act provided that three lots one of 60 acres on the
southern side of the harbor, another of 30 on the peninsula, and a
third of 100 acres also on the peninsula should be surveyed for the
' use of the United States in erecting and maintaining forts, magazines,
and dock-yards thereon.' Of the tract at the mouth of French Creek,
300 acres for town lots and 700 acres for out lots were to be surveyed for
the town of Franklin ; and of the tract at the mouth of Conewango Creek,
300 acres for town lots and 700 acres for out lots were to be surveyed
for the town of Warren. At the time the act providing for the laying
out of these towns became a law a settlement had been made at Fort Le
Bceuf. Andrew Ellicott had surveyed and laid out a town, and his draft
of the town was accepted and confirmed by the Legislature. It was pro-
vided, however, that in addition to the town lots of Ellicott's survey,
500 acres should be surveyed for out lots, and that the town should be
called Waterford. The size of the town and out lots for Franklin and
Warren, the out lots for Waterford, and the provisions for streets, lanes,
alleys, and reservations for public use, the reservations reduced to ten
acres, were the same as for the town of Erie, as were also the regulations
for the sale of the lots. At Waterford a number of settlers who had built
houses were given a right of pre emption to the lots on which they settled.
A subsequent act passed April n, 1799, provided that surveys should be
made of the reserved tracts adjoining Erie, Franklin, Warren, and
Waterford, not laid out in town or out lots, into lots not to exceed
150 acres in each, to be sold by commissioners, one of whom was to
reside in each town. The tracts were to be graded in quality, and no
sale was to be made at less than four dollars an acre for land of the first
quality ; three dollars for the second quality, and two dollars for the third
quality, and purchasers, before title could vest in them, were required
within three years from the date of their purchases to make an actual
settlement on the land ' by clearing, fencing, and cultivating at least two
acres for every fifty contained in one survey, and erect on each lot or
tract a messuage for the habitation of man and reside thereon for the
space of five years following their first settlement of the same.' The
59
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
same act required 500 acres in each of the reserved tracts to be surveyed
for the use of schools or academies, and provision was made for the ap-
praisement of the residue of the town and out lots, and for their sale by
the commissioner residing in the town. It was also provided in this act
that the reserved lot in the town of Erie, at the mouth of Cascade Creek,
was to be sold at public sale, on consideration of settlement and im-
provement, provided it brought $50 an acre. By an act passed Feb-
ruary 19, 1800, the clause of the act that required settlement and im-
provement of lots was repealed. The other reservation of 2000 acres in
the Erie triangle, at the mouth of Harbor Creek, was donated by an act of
the Legislature to General William Irvine to indemnify him for the loss of
Montour's Island (now called Neville Island), in the Ohio River below
the city of Pittsburg. General Irvine held the island under a Penn-
sylvania patent, but was divested of his title by a judgment of the Supreme
Court of the United States in an ejectment suit brought against him by a
party who claimed ownership under a Virginia right, which, under the
agreement between Pennsylvania and Virginia for settling the south-
western boundary dispute, was held by the court to be good."
INDIAN TREATIES AT FORTS STANVVIX AND McINTOSH.
" Proceedings of the treaties held at Forts Stanwix and McTntosh, be-
tween the commissioners of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
deputies of the Six Nations and the Wyandott and Delaware Indians,
claiming the unpurchased territory within the acknowledged limits of the
said Commonwealth :
" FORT STANWIX, October 4, 1784.
" The commissioners of Indian affairs from the State of Pennsylvania,
pursuant to their letter of the 3d instant, met in conference with the
commissioners on part of the Continent.
" PRESENT.
The Hon. OLIVER WOLCOTT,
RICHARD BUTLER, and I Commissioners on part of the
ARTHUR LEE, ESQS., )
The HON. SAMUEL F. ATLEE,
WILLIAM McCLAY, and \ Commissioners on part of the
FRANCIS JOHNSTON, ESQS., j State f f****?****-
"It was requested by the State commissioners that the commissioners
for the United States should introduce and announce them in their offi-
cial character to the Indians, and to inform them that they, by consent
of Congress, had some business of importance to transact with them, re-
60
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
lating to the affairs of said State, to be brought forward at a proper
period.
" Which requisition, after being discussed, was unanimously agreed to.
"FoRT STANWIX, October 17, 1784.
" At the request of the commissioners from the United States, the
commissioners from the State of Pennsylvania met them this day in con-
ference on the same subject as above. Present as before.
" Whereupon it was agreed, That upon the close of the council to be
held this day with the Indians in the council-house of Fort Stanwix, the
commissioners on part of said State should be introduced and announced
in due form to the Indian chiefs or sachems in full council.
" The same day, in council held between the commissioners on part
of the United States and the representatives of the Six Indian Nations,
present also the commissioners for the State of Pennsylvania, General
Wolcott arose and addressed the Indians as follows, viz. :
" ' SACHEMS AND WARRIORS, We now announce to you Colonel Atlee,
Mr. McClay, and Colonel Johnston, three honorable gentlemen from
the State of Pennsylvania, who have come, by the consent of Congress,
as commissioners, to transact some affairs with you, on the part of their
State, after the conclusion of the present treaty, should it be concluded
in a manner satisfactory to the United States. '
"After which Colonel Atlee, in behalf of the Indian commissioners
for the State of Pennsylvania, delivered the following speech, viz. :
" ' SACHEMS AND WARRIORS, You have been now told by the honor-
able commissioners from Congress that we attend as commissioners from
your old friends of Pennsylvania to transact business with you on the
part of that State. At a proper season we will produce to you our com-
mission, and lay before you the business committed to our charge, and
we doubt not but you will take it under immediate consideration and
return a favorable answer.'
" (FOUR STRINGS.)
" IN CONFERENCE, FORT STANWIX, October 22, 1784.
" PRESENT:
The HON. SAMUEL F. ATLEE,
FRANCIS JOHNSTON, and
WILLIAM McCLAY, ESQS.
GRIFFITH EVANS, Secretary.
The REV. SAMUEL KIRKLAND )
, - , _ ~ \ Interpreters.
and MR. JAMES DEAN, j
And the deputies of the Six Indian Nations.
" The commissioners, through Colonel Atlee, opened their business by
addressing them as follows, viz. :
61
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" 'BROTHERS OF THE Six NATIONS, It is probable that the business
between you and the Continental commissioners will be settled this day
in council. Previous to which we are desirous of meeting you this
morning with a view of laying before you the particular objects of our
mission, and which we have attended here so long to negotiate with you
on the part of the State of Pennsylvania. It is not our wish to settle
any matters finally until the conclusion of the Continental treaty. The
design of our present interview is to prepare your minds for the introduc-
tion of our business at a proper season, to discuss with freedom and seri-
ously deliberate upon the subjects necessary to be taken into consideration,
that we may fully and perfectly understand each other.
" We now inform you that we are commissioned, and sent from your
old friends in Pennsylvania to purchase from you, according to ancient
custom, the unpurchased lands within the acknowledged limits of the said
State. This has been the invariable usage of our forefathers, and we,
desirous of pursuing their good example, wish that our young men, who
have become very numerous and require more lands, should settle and
improve the same in quietness and peace ; for this desirable purpose we
have brought with us a valuable cargo of goods, suited to your various
wants and necessities, as a compensation for your right to these lands.
But these lands being more remote and consequently less valuable than
those our fathers have heretofore purchased, you ought not, therefore, to
expect so great a consideration for them.'
" (The commissioners then produced a map of the State, pointing out
to them the unpurchased land now intended to be purchased.)
" ' We here produce to you all the deeds of purchase made by our
forefathers from their first coming into this country, which, if you require,
shall be read and explained to you for your information and satisfaction,
by which you will learn the extreme regard the people of Pennsylvania
have ever shown the Six Confederated Nations. '
" To which Captain O'Bale,* a chief of the Seneca Nation, replied in
behalf of the Six Nations :
" 'BROTHERS OF PENNSYLVANIA, We now call your attention to our
reply to what you have said. We greatly rejoice in meeting our brothers
of Pennsylvania once more in peace and friendship. Your language has
been friendly and agreeable to us, as that of your forefathers always was.
You have informed us of the business you are commissioned from the
State of Pennsylvania to transact with us. We have seen the deeds given
by our fathers to yours and understand you well. We will take up the
matter, keep it in mind, and deliberate upon it till the close of the
Continental business.'
* Captain O'Bale was more generally known as the great chief " Cornplanter," who
lived on the Allegheny River, in what is now Warren County. He received two thou-
sand acres of land from the State.
62
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The commissioners then thanked them, and proceeded as follows,
viz.:
" 'We come in the most peaceable and friendly manner, and do not
wish to irritate your minds with a recapitulation of former grievances,
but to make the road between us smooth and even. We are to inform
you that one of our brothers present (pointing to Mr. McClay) is ap-
pointed by the government of Pennsylvania to run the boundary line
between you and us next spring, when we will expect some of you to ac-
company him, in order to prevent all disputes in future touching the
same.
" 'Having it in charge from the State, we must not omit to be in-
formed by you the Indian name of Burnet's Hills, mentioned in our deed
of 1768. And also which of the two streams, Lycoming or Pine Creek
(both of which empty into the west branch of Susquehanna), is known
among you by the name of TIADAGHTON.' (To which they answered :)
As to Burnet's Hills, they call them the Long Mountains, and knew
them by no other name, and that TIADAGHTON was Pine Creek or the
uppermost and largest of the two, but of this they would consider and
return a more positive answer.
" The conference was then closed.
"October 23, 1784, IN CONFERENCE.
' ' PRESENT as before.
"The commissioners again produced the map of the State, pointing
out the purchased and unpurchased lands within the same, particularly
describing and explaining to them the forty-second degree or line of lati-
tude (being the northern boundary of the State), and also mentioned the
place where it was supposed it would pass. All which Captain Aaron
Hill, a Mohock chief, who spoke English very well, perfectly understood
and explained in a satisfactory manner to the other chiefs.
" Captain O'Bale then spoke, and informed the commissioners ' that
it is not the wish of the Six Nations at present to part with so much of
their hunting-grounds,' and pointed out a line on the map which he
hoped would be agreeable to them.
"This being far short of the boundary of the State, was, therefore,
deemed by the commissioners totally inadmissible.
" The commissioners then spoke to them as follows :
" 'BROTHERS, Though the lands that we are about to purchase are
already ceded by the line of cession described in the Articles of Peace
between the United States and Great Britain, yet we mean not to take
advantage of you, but are desirous of paying you a valuable consideration
for them, after the manner of our ancestors, your brothers of Pennsyl-
vania. This consideration we have with us, and consists of an excellent
assortment of goods, amounting in value to four thousand dollars, and
63
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
which you will find to be of the first quality, which will certainly con-
vince you that many advantages will flow to you from a trade and corre-
spondence with your brothers of Pennsylvania.
" ' We now desire you would make up your minds on these important
matters, that our business may be in such forwardness on the conclusion
of the Continental treaty as to be ready to receive a public and final
sanction, on the completion of which we will deliver you a belt.
" 'We wish once more to impress our brothers with an idea that our
intention is to pursue the same method of obtaining lands from you that
our forefathers did, with whose conduct we conceive you must be per-
fectly satisfied, as they never wronged you, but have fulfilled all their
engagements and paid you faithfully for all the lands they have from
time to time purchased of you.
" ' Least any doubts should arise respecting the quality of the goods,
if such chiefs as are desirous of seeing them will attend at the stores, the
several packages shall be opened and shown to them.
" ' It has been intimated by some of you that you are desirous of having
a privilege of hunting on these lands. To this we have no objections, more
especially as the Continental commissioners have granted you the same
indulgence. This, in our opinions, will tend to our mutual advantage.
" 'Brothers, to-morrow being Sunday, on which we can transact no
public business, being a great way from our respective families and winter
approaching fast upon us, we must, therefore, again request you to come
to a conclusion on these matters, and let us know your minds as soon as
possible.'
" The commissioners then withdrew, the chiefs still remaining in con-
sultation. After some time the Indians requested their attendance.
They returned accordingly, when the chiefs present spoke by Captain
O'Bale as follows :
" ' BROTHERS OF PENNSYLVANIA, You have communicated to us your
business, you have pointed out the lands you are directed to purchase of
us, and we understand you. You have likewise shown your authority, of
which we are satisfied. And as we wish to keep the way between us
smooth and even, and to brighten the chain of friendship and make it
lasting, we have agreed that the lands you have described be granted to
you in the same manner as you have requested. But as lands afford a
lasting and rising profit, and as the Pennsylvanians have always been
generous, we hope you will give us something next year as a farther
consideration.'
"The commissioners, after consulting together, replied,
" 'We thank you for meeting us here, and are glad to find you so
well disposed to peace and friendship. We expected we had brought
you sufficient presents for the lands we are commissioned to purchase,
but have nevertheless agreed to give you goods to the amount of one
64
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
thousand dollars more, which we will deliver to you or to any persons
you may appoint to receive them at Tioga, the ist day of next October.
This cargo of goods shall be assorted in the best manner to serve you,
for the performance of which we will obligate ourselves, if you think it
necessary. '
" Then the chiefs, by Captain O'Bale, spoke as follows, viz. :
" ' We most cheerfully agree to this. We will make an obligation for
the purpose of securing to us the privilege of hunting on the lands, and
also for delivery of the goods, which will perfectly satisfy us. We wish
that our brothers of Pennsylvania would send us a faithful gun- and black-
smith to reside at or near Tioga, who would be of great advantage to us
when we come down in hunting-parties ; and also that the government
of Pennsylvania would establish trading-houses at the same place, that we
may be conveniently and honestly supplied with such articles as we stand
in need of.'
"The commissioners answered, 'We will make true report of these
requests to the State, and make no doubt they will be complied
with.'
"Two of the principal chiefs, Captain Aaron Hill, of the Mohawks,
and Captain O'Bale, of the Senecas, desirous of having each a rifle of
the manufacture of Pennsylvania, being informed they were very good,
requested the commissioners to give them two of the best quality, to be
delivered to them on the ist day of April next, at the new store at New-
town, near Tioga, which the commissioners complied with and gave their
obligation for that purpose.
" The conference ended.
" The same day In Council.
" PRESENT:
The HON. OLIVER WOLCOTT,
-P. j / Commissioners on part of
RICHARD BUTLER, and
. , ( United States.
ARTHUR LEE, ESQS.,
The HON. SAMUEL F. ATLEE,
,, 7 ,, , / Commissioners on part of the
WILLIAM McCLAY, and
( State of Pennsylvania.
FRANCIS JOHNSTON, ESQS.,J
The REV. SAMUEL KIRKLAND |
and MR. JAMES DEAN, j
And a full representation of the Six Indian Nations.
" At the close of the Continental business, General Wolcott addressed
the Indians as follows :
" 'SACHEMS AND WARRIORS, We informed you some time past that
these gentlemen commissioners from the State of Pennsylvania had some
65
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
public business to transact with you on the part of the said State. If
they are ready to bring it forward, now will be a proper time.'
"Upon which Colonel Atlee, in behalf of the Pennsylvania commis-
sioners, delivered the following speech, prepared for the purpose :
" ' BROTHERS OF THE Six NATIONS, After a long separation of nine
years, during which period the great Congress have been at war with
and conquered their enemies from the other side of the great water, we,
the commissioners from your old friends of Pennsylvania, with the con-
sent of the United States in Congress assembled, are well pleased to
meet you this day ; and from our hearts rejoice with you that peace and
friendship are once more established by these honorable gentlemen, the
commissioners of Congress.'
"(Six STRINGS.)
" 'BROTHERS, Listen with great attention to what we are going to
say to you. We come in the name and from the government of Penn-
sylvania, of which you have already been informed ; our commission we
here produce, which we will read to you publicly.'
" (The commission was read.)
" ' BROTHERS, From the first coming of our fathers to this country,
about one hundred years ago, to the time of the last treaty and purchase
in 1768 at this place, which many of you now present must well remem-
ber, your brothers of Pennsylvania, as they wanted lands for their young
men to settle on, applied for and purchased from the natives from time
to time such quantities within the bounds of their charter as they judged
sufficient.
" ' The several deeds for the different purchases we here produce, as
authentic proofs of the justice of our conduct towards our brethren the
Six Nations, and others claiming and possessing the country, testimonies
which cannot lie.'
" (Produced the deeds.)
" 'This last deed, brothers, with the map annexed, are descriptive of
the purchase made sixteen years ago at this place ; one of the boundary
lines calls for a creek by the name of Tyadoghton ; we wish our brothers
the Six Nations to explain to us clearly which you call the Tyadoghton,
as there are two creeks issuing from the Burnet's Hills, Pine and Lyco-
ming.
" ' Brothers, you will observe by our commission just now read to you
that our present business is to satisfy you, as was our ancient custom, for
the lands lying within the acknowledged limits of Pennsylvania, for
which you have not heretofore received any compensation.
" ' This compensation has been mutually agreed to by you and us in
conference this morning. It was also agreed that, in addition to the
goods we have now on this ground for your use, we should give our obli-
gation for the amount of one thousand dollars in such goods as will best
66
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
suit yourselves to be delivered at or near Tioga, on the Susquehanna, on
the first day of October next. It now remains for us mutually to carry
into execution our respective agreements, and that in the most solemn
and public manner, as it is our fixed determination that they shall be
inviolate for ever.
" ' Brothers, before we conclude we desire you to appoint some suit-
able persons among yourselves to receive and distribute the goods with
impartiality and justice, and that you will also nominate a fit person to
attend running the boundary between you and us, when due notice shall
be given thereof.'
" (A LARGE BELT.)
" To which they replied by Captain Aaron Hill,
" 'BROTHERS FROM PENNSYLVANIA, We have heard what you have
said, and are well pleased with the same. The consideration we have
fully agreed on, which we are to receive for the lands, and agreeable to
your request have appointed Captain Aaron Hill, Onequiandahonjo, and
Honeghariko, of the Mohawk tribe; Kayenthogkke, Thaghneghtanhari,
and Teyagonendageghte, of the Seneca ; Obendirighton and Thoneeyade,
of the Cayuga ; Sagoyahalongo and Otoghfelonegh, Ojestalale, Oneyanha,
Gaghsawweda, and Odaghfeghte, of the Oneida ; and Onefaghweughte
and Tharonda wagon, of the Tuscarora, as suitable persons to receive the
goods from you.
" 'With regard to the creek called Tyadoghton, mentioned in your
deed of 1768, we have already answered you, and again repeat it, it is the
same you call Pine Creek, being the largest emptying into the west branch
of the Susquehannah.
"'Agreeable to your wish we have appointed Thaghneghtanhari to
attend your surveyor in running the line between you and us.'
" ' We do certify that the foregoing speech was this day made by Cap-
tain Aaron Hill, on behalf of the Six Nations, to the Pennsylvania com-
missioners.
" ' Witness our hands this twenty-third day of October, Anno Domini
one thousand seven hundred and eighty- four.
(Signed) " ' SAMUEL KIRKLAND, Missionary.
JAMES DEAN, Interpreter.'
"The deed was then produced and publicly read, when the chiefs of
the respective nations sealed and delivered the same, saying, ' We deliver
this as our grant and deed, and give up the land therein mentioned,
according to the description thereof, to their brothers, the Pennsylva-
nians, for their use forever.' After the same being witnessed, the com-
missioners sealed and delivered the two obligations mentioned above,
one for the delivery of the goods and the other for securing to them the
privilege of hunting on the lands now purchased.
67
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The council arose.
"The foregoing is a true state of the proceedings of the Indian treaty
at Fort Stamvix.
" GRIFFITH EVANS, Secretary.
"October 23, 1784."
"The six Indian Nations, to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
DEED for lands purchased October 23, 1784.
" To ALL PEOPLE to whom these presents shall come, WE Anigwenda-
honji and Teweghnitogon, Sachems or Chiefs of the Indian nation called
the Mohocks. Kanonghgwenya, Atyatonenghtha, and Tatahonghteayon,
Sachems or Chiefs of the Indian nation called the Oneidas. Obendarigh-
ton and Keatarondyon, Sachems or Chiefs of the Indian nation called the
Onondagoes. Oraghgwanentagon, Sachem of the Indian nation called the
Cayogaes. Tayagoneatageghti, Tehonweeaghreyagi, Thaghnaghtanhari,
Sachems or Chiefs of the Indian nation called the Senecas. And Onongh-
sawanghti and Tharondawagon, Sachems or Chiefs of the Indian nation
called the Tuscaroras, being met together in a general council of the Six
Nations convened at Fort Stanwix, by the Honorable Oliver Wolcott,
Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, Esquires, commissioners of Indian affairs,
duly appointed by the honorable the Congress of the United States, for
the northern and middle districts, SEND GREETING. KNOW YE that WE
the said Sachems or Chiefs, for and in consideration of the sum of five
thousand dollars, to us in hand paid, before ensealing and delivery of
these presents, by the honorable Samuel John Atlee, Esquire, and Wil-
liam M'Clay, and Francis Johnson, Esquires, commissioners for and in
behalf of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the receipt whereof WE
do hereby acknowledge HAVE granted bargained, sold, released and con-
firmed, and by these presents, for us and the said Six Nations, and their
confederates and dependent tribes, all of whom we represent, and by
whom we are thereunto authorized and impowered, Do grant, bargain,
sell, release and confirm unto the said Commonwealth, all that part of
the said Commonwealth not yet purchased of the Indians within the
acknowledged limits of the same, BEGINNING on the south side of the
river Ohio, where the western boundary of the state of Pennsylvania
crosses the said river, near Shingo's old Town, at the mouth of Beaver
creek, and thence by a due north line to the end of the forty second and
beginning of the forty- third degrees of north latitude, thence by a due
east line seperating the forty second and forty third degrees of north lati-
tude, to the east side of the east branch of the river Susquehanna, thence
by the bounds of the late purchase made at Fort Stanwix, the fifth day
of November, anno domini, one thousand seven hundred and sixty eight,
as follows : ' Down the said east branch of Susquehanna, on the east side
thereof, till it comes opposite to the mouth of a creek called by the In-
68
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
dians, Awandac, and across the river, and up the said creek on the south
side thereof, and along the range of hills, called Burnett's Hills by the
English, and by the Indians, ... on the north side of them to the
head of a creek which runs into the west branch of Susquehannah, which
creek is by the Indians called Tyadaghton, but by the Pennsylvanians
Pine Creek, and down the said creek on the south side thereof, to the
said west branch of Susquehanna, then crossing the said river, and run-
ning up the same on the south side thereof, the several courses thereof,
to the fork of the same river, which lies nearest to a place on the river
Ohio called Kittaning. and from the fork by a straight line to Kittaning
aforesaid, and then down the said river Ohio by the several courses
thereof, to where the western bounds of the said state of Pennsylvania
crosses the same river,' at the place of BEGINNING. Together with all
lakes, rivers, creeks, rivulets, springs, waters, soils, lands, fields, woods,
underwoods, mountains, hills, valleys, savannahs, fens, swamps, isles, in-
lets, mines, minerals, quarries, rights, liberties, privileges, advantages,
hereditaments, and appurtenances whatsoever, to the said tract of land
and country belonging or in any wise appertaining, and all the right,
title, interest, claim and demand whatsoever, of us the said sachems or
chiefs, and of the said Six Nations, and their confederates and depend-
ent tribes, and every of them, To HAVE AND TO HOLD the said tract
of land and country, with the appurtenances thereunto belonging, unto
the said commonwealth to the only proper use and behoof of the said
commonwealth, FOR EVER, so that we, the said sachems or chiefs, nor
any of us, nor the said Six Nations, nor their confederates and dependent
tribes, nor any of them, nor any of our or their heirs, children or de-
scendents, shall claim, demand or chalenge, any right, title, interest, or
property, of, in, or to the said tract of land or country, but from the
same shall be forever barred and excluded ; and the same tract of land
and country, shall forever hereafter be peaceably and quietly possessed
by the said commonwealth, and all persons, who shall settle thereon r
under the authority of the same, without the let, hindrance, molestation,
interruption, or denial of us the said sachems or chiefs, or the said Six
Nations, or their confederates, and dependent tribes, or any of them, or
of our or their heirs, children, or descendents. IN WITNESS Whereof,
We the said sachems or chiefs, for ourselves and the rest of the Six Na-
tions, and their confederates and dependent tribes, have hereunto set our
hands and seals. Dated at Fort Stanwix aforesaid, this twenty third day
of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and
eighty four.
" ORAGHGWANENTAGON, his X mark, L. S.
TAYAGONEATAGEGHTI, his X mark, L. S.
TEHONWEEAGHREYAGI, his X mark, L. S.
THAGHNAGTANHARI, his X mark, L. S.
69
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" ONONGHSAWANGHTI, his X mark. L. S.
THARONDAWAGON, his X mark, L. S.
ANIGWENDAHONJI, his X mark, L. S.
TEWEGHNITOGON, his X mark, L. S.
KANONGHGWENYA, his X mark, L. S.
ATYATONENGHTHA, his X mark, L. S.
TATAHONGHTEAYON, his X mark, L. S.
OBENDARIGHTON, his X mark, L. S.
KEATARONDYON, his X mark, L. S.
" Sealed and delivered in the presence of us,
"OLIVER WOLCOTT, ^
ARTHUR LEE, > United States Commissioners.
RICHARD BUTLER, )
AARON HILL,
SAMUEL KIRKLAND, Missionary.
" JAMES DEAN, Interpreter.
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, Sec. Com. U. S.
SAMUEL MONTGOMERY, Ag. 6^ St. K. C. C.
G. EVANS, Sec. Penns. Ind. Commis.
" STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, S.S.
" BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the seventeenth day of February, in
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty five, and in
the ninth year of the independence of the United States of America,
came the honourable Arthur Lee, Esquire, LL.D. one of the commis-
sioners of the United States of America for holding treaties with the
Indian nations, and Griffith Evans, Esquire, Secretary to the commission-
ers of the said State of Pennsylvania, for treating and purchasing, &c. of
said Indians, before the honourable Thomas McKean Esq., doctor of
Laws, chief justice of the supreme court of the said state of Pennsyl-
vania, and made oath on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that
they were present and did see the thirteen Indian sachems or chiefs, in the
above deed named as grantors, make the signatures or marks to their
respective names adjoining, and seal and deliver the above conveyance,
as and for their act and deed, that they severally subscribed their names
as witnesses thereof, and also seen the other seven witnesses subscribe
their names as witnesses to the same, and that the names Arthur Lee and
G. Evans above subscribed, are of their respective hand writing.
"!N TESTIMONY, Whereof I have hereunto put my hand and seal the
day and year above said.
"THOSM'KEAN, L. S."
FORT McINTOSH.
After having successfully completed their mission to Fort Stanwix,
the Pennsylvania commissioners, accompanied by those representing the
70
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
United States, immediately proceeded to Fort Mclntosh, on the Ohio
River, now the site of the present town of Beaver, to treat with the
Wyandott and Delaware Indians, who claimed rights in the same lands
ceded to the State by the treaty at Fort Stanwix. The following are the
proceedings :
" FORT MclNTOSH, January, 1785.
" In Council, January <p, 1785.
"PRESENT.
The HON. GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE, c
RICHARD BUTLER, and \ Commissioners on part of the
ARTHUR LEE, ESQS., (.
THE HON. SAMUEL F. ATLEE and ( Commissioners on part of the
FRANCIS JOHNSTON, ESQS. , \ State of Pennsylvania.
GRIFFITH EVANS, Secretary.
JOHN MONTOUR, Interpreter.
And the chiefs, etc., of the Wyandott, Delaware, Chippewa, and
Ottawa Indian Nations.
" The commissioners on part of the United States, in consequence of
the State commissioners' letter of yesterday, addressed the Indians as
follows :
'"SACHEMS AND WARRIORS, These gentlemen, Colonel Atlee and
Colonel Johnston, are commissioners from the State of Pennsylvania,
who have attended here by consent of Congress to transact some public
business with you on the part of said State, which they will be ready to
introduce after the present treaty is concluded.'
" NOTE. It appearing to the commissioners that the Wyandott and
Delaware nations were the only claimants of the unpurchased lands in
Pennsylvania among the western Indians, consequently the present nego-
tiations on part of the State are confined to them.
"In Conference, January 14, 1785.
"PRESENT.
The HON. SAMUEL F. ATLEE and
,- Commissioners.
FRANCIS JOHNSTON, ESQS.,
GRIFFITH EVANS, Secretary.
JOHN MONTOUR and
JOSEPH NICHOLSON,
And the chiefs of the Wyandott and Delaware Indian
nations.
" The commissioners addressed them in the following words by Colonel
Atlee :
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" ' BROTHERS, We have been long separated by the wars that have
subsisted between us, which are now terminated and over. We are very
glad to meet you here, and have great occasion to rejoice that we have
an opportunity of brightening the chain of friendship between us, and we
hope soon to take you by the hand in a happy and lasting peace, when
established by the commissioners from Congress.
" ' We have called you together this morning with a view of explain-
ing to you the nature of the business we have to negotiate with you.
" ' Brothers, we are commissioned and sent from your old friends of
Pennsylvania to purchase of the natives all the unpurchased lands within
the territory of Pennsylvania. For this purpose we met your brothers
and uncles, the Six Nations, last October at Fort Stanwix, and, accord-
ing to our ancient custom, purchased the said lands of them, and this is
the deed they gave us to confirm the same.'
" (Then produced the deed executed by the Six Nations last October,
and also a map of the country explaining the same to them.)
" ' Your brothers and uncles suggested to us that they had a right to
act for you also in disposing of this land ; but hearing you claimed, and
knowing that you hunted on, part of this ground, we conceived we had
better meet you ourselves on the subject, that we might also see each
other and remove all obstructions out of the way between us. We have,
therefore, reserved a proportion of the presents, and have brought them
with us to give you as a compensation for your right to this country.
" ' The amount of what we have reserved is two thousand dollars, con-
sisting of an excellent assortment of goods of the first quality, calculated
in the best manner to supply your wants, which is a greater proportion
than what we have given to your uncles the Six Nations, and is certainly
a very generous consideration.
" 'You are now fully informed of our business with you. We earn-
estly desire that you may think seriously of it, for what we are about to
do must be as permanent as the sun. We wish you to go and consult
together upon our words, and let us know your minds as soon as con-
venient.
" ' Brothers, we inform you that it is not our wish to settle our business
finally with you previous to the conclusion of the Continental treaty,
but only that we may fully understand each other and have our minds
prepared, that when the commissioners on the part of the United States
shall have completed their business we may have ours ready to bring
on.'
"To which they replied by Captain Pipe, of the Delavvares, viz. :
" 'BROTHERS, We rejoice from our hearts to see our brothers from
Pennsylvania, and are very glad that we are likely once more to live in
peace and friendship with you. Your speech is very pleasing to us.
You have told us the business you have meet us here upon, and we think
72
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
we fully understand you. We will council together and let you know
our minds some time soon.
" ' Brothers, we are glad to hear of your having met with our uncles,
the Six Nations, at Fort Stanwix, and that they have given up their
lands to you, agreeable to the deed you just showed us.'
" In Conference. Present as before.
" Captain Pipe spoke in behalf of the Wyandott and Delaware nations
as follows :
"'BROTHERS OF PENNSYLVANIA, We met last night and counselled
together upon the speech you delivered to us yesterday. We thank you
for saving some of your presents for us, for in this, brothers, you were
very right, for our fathers always told us, and we tell our children, that
from Vinango to Little Beaver Creek, and out to the lake was our hunt-
ing-ground. But we have now all agreed to let our brothers, the Penn-
sylvanians, have it, excepting a few tracts, which we would wish to
reserve, that we might make a present of a piece of ground to you and
your young men for meeting us here at this inclement season, and that
we may have it in our power to fulfil our promise to some of our friends,
which we made long ago.'
"To which the commissioners replied,
" ' BROTHERS, We thank you for your kind offer, but we cannot, con-
sistent with our instructions from the State, agree to any reservations.
Our purchase must be for our whole claim. At the same time, we have
no doubt, but that if any individuals have just claims to any part of these
lands, that upon application being made to the government of Pennsyl-
vania, they will be properly attended to.'
" The chiefs, after consulting together for some time, answered,
" ' Well, then, we have agreed that this country shall be yours, and
that our brothers of Pennsylvania shall have it forever. '
"The commissioners then thanked them, and said,
" ' We shall expect a deed from you for these lands, and we request you
will nominate the persons who are to sign it, that it may be ready for
execution at the proper season, when we will meet you in public council ;
and also that you would appoint fit persons to receive the goods from us,
when we shall be ready to deliver them out. '
" They replied that Montour, the interpreter, should wait on the com-
missioners the next day and give them the names of those persons.
" Conference ended.
"January 16, 1785.
" Montour, agreeable to the appointment of yesterday, attended the
commissioners, and returned the names of the following persons, who
were to sign the deed, viz., Deungquat, or the Half King, Tauwarah,
6 73
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
or the Sweat House, and Abraham Kuhn, of the Wyandotts ; and Kee-
skanohen, or the Pipe, Peechemelind, or the Present, Wialindeoghin,
or the Council Door, Hyngapushes, or the Big Cat, Tatabaughsey, or
the Twisting Vine, and Whingohatong, or the Volunteer, of the Dela-
wares. And Abraham Kuhn, Wialindeoghin, and Wingenum, to receive
the goods.
" In Council, January 21, 1783.
"PRESENT.
The Hon. GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE, -\ f
\ Commissioners on part of the
RICHARD BUTLER, and v rr . .
\ United States.
ARTHUR LEE, ESQS., )
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, Secretary.
The Hon. SAMUEL F. ATLEE and ) Commissioners on part of the
FRANCIS JOHNSON, ESQS., j State of Pennsylvania.
GRIFFITH EVANS, Secretary.
JOSEPH NICHOLSON and JOHN MONTOUR, Interpreters.
And the deputies of the Wyandott, Delaware, Chippevva, and Ottawa
and Muncy Indian nations^
" Upon the completion of the Continental treaty, the Pennsylvania
commissioners delivered the following speech by Colonel Atlee :
"'BROTHERS OF THE WYANDOTT AND DELAWARE NATIONS, Listen
with attention to what your brothers of Pennsylvania are going to say.
You have been informed by the Continental commissioners at their first
meeting that we come from the government of Pennsylvania as com-
missioners duly authorized to transact public business with you, as will
appear by our commission under the seal of the State, which we will read
to you.'
"("Read the commission.)
" ' Pursuant to this commission, we met your brothers and uncles, the
Six Nations, at Fort Stanwix in October last, and after a solemn peace
was established with them by the honorable commissioners of the United
States, we, in conformity to ancient custom, purchased their right to all
the lands within the acknowledged limits of Pennsylvania not already
purchased of them, for which we gave a valuable consideration in goods
of the first quality.
" 'That this may be known to all, we here produce their deed exe-
cuted to us in the most public manner, and witnessed by the honorable
commissioners of Congress, Captain Aaron Hill, a chief of the Mohawk
tribe, and several others.
" ' Now, brothers, as you have been called together to this place
74
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
by the honorable the commissioners of the United States, we, by consent
of Congress, are happy to meet you, and rejoice that peace and friend-
ship are once more established among us. In testimony of our sin-
cerity we present you with these strings.'
"(FIVE STRINGS.)
"'BROTHERS, Knowing that for some time past you have hunted
upon and claimed a portion of the lands within Pennsylvania, and being
actuated by the strict principles of peace and justice towards you in the
same degree that you have seen we have manifested to your brothers and
uncles, the Six Nations, and to prevent future trouble between your
people and ours, we have determined, according to the known usage of
Pennsylvania, to give you the consideration agreed upon between us, for
this purpose we have brought with us a quantity of the best goods such
as will minister to your relief and comfort. These goods shall be de-
livered out to proper persons appointed by each nation to receive them ;
and that no misunderstanding may arise in future, a map of the land we
wish to have confirmed to the Commonwealth shall be affixed to the
deed to be executed by you, that your children and ours, may hereafter
have recourse to the same. '
" (A BELT.)
"To which they, by the Half King, chief of the Wyandotts, re-
plied,
" ' BROTHERS OF PENNSYLVANIA, Give attention to what we shall say
to you. Your words have pleased us very much, and we all thank you
for your kindness towards us ; our grandfathers have always said that
your conduct towards them was just the same you discover to us now.
Pennsylvania has never deceived or wronged us out of anything, and we
all thank you not only from our lips, but also from our hearts for your
honesty.'
"(THREE STRINGS.)
" The commissioners then produced the deed* that was prepared, and
informed them it was ready for them to execute, when the persons who
had been appointed for the purpose walked forward and sealed and de-
livered the same, in the most solemn manner, in the presence of many
witnesses, as their quit-claim and deed for the land therein described, for
the use of Pennsylvania forever.
" The council fire was raked up.
" The foregoing is a true state of the proceedings of the Indian treaty
held at Fort Mclntosh.
" GRIFFITH EVANS, Secretary.
"January 23, 1785."
* The deed executed at Fort Mclntosh, excepting the consideration money men-
tioned, which was two thousand dollars instead of five thousand dollars, is in the same
75
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
GOODS TO BE DELIVERED TO THE INDIANS AT FORT
STANWIX.
" The Supreme Executive Council met,
" PHILADELPHIA, August 28, 1784, Saturday.
"PRESENT.
His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, ESQUIRE, President.
The Honorable JAMES IRVINE, SAMUEL JOHN ATLEE,
JOHN MCDOWELL, BERNARD DOUGHERTY, I Esqrs.
and STEPHEN BALLIOTT, JOHN BOYD, )
" Council having considered the resolution of the General Assembly
of the twenty fifth instant, it was
" Ordered, That the Commissioners be requested to procure immedi-
ately the undermentioned articles, but if the sum of three thousand and
three hundred and seventy five pounds will not be sufficient to purchase
the whole, that then they be desired to reduce the quantity or number of
such of the articles as they shall think fit.
words, and for the same lands with the same boundaries as the deed previously signed
by the Sachems and Chiefs of the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix. It is dated at Fort
Mclntosh, the 2lst day of January, 1785, and signed by the Sachems and Chiefs of the
two tribes as follows ;
WIALINDEOGHIN, or the COUNCIL DOOR, X his mark, L. S.
HYNGAPUSHES, or the BIG CAT, X his mark, L. S.
TATABAUGHSEY, or the TWISTING VINE, X his mark, L. S.
WHINGOHATONG, or the VOLUNTEER, X his mark, L. S.
DEUNGQUAT, or the HALF KING, X his mark, L. S.
TAUWARAH, or the SWEAT HOUSE, X his mark, L. S.
ABRAHAM KUHN, X his mark, L. S.
KEESKANOHEN, or the PIPE, X his mark, L. S.
PEECHEMELIND, or the PRESENT, X his mark, L. S.
[Sealed.]
Sealed and delivered in presence of
G. R. CLARK, ^
RICHARD BUTLER, \ Commissioners of the United Stales,
ARTHUR LEE, J
Jos. HARMER, Lieutenant-Colonel Com.,
ALEXD. LOWREY,
JOHN BOGGS,
WM. BUTLER,
ALEX. CAMPBELL, Secretary Commissioners United States,
W. BRADFORD,
DANIEL ELLIOT,
JOHN MONTOUR, Interpreter,
G. EVANS, Secretary Pennsylvania Commissioners,
EDW. BUTLER.
76
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
20^/2 casks of gun powder.
1 ton of bar lead.
2 groce of thimbles.
2 do jews harps.
50 dozen white ruffled shirts.
5 do laced hats.
50 do knives.
10 do hatchets.
10 do pipe tomahawks.
12 do looking glasses.
2 M awl blades.
5 M needles.
i C. Vermillion.
50 rifles.
60 M wampum 30 white, 30 black.
12 dozen silver arm bands.
12 do wrist bands.
20 dozen pipes, Moravian.
20 do callicoe shirts.
1 hogshead of tobacco.
500 Ib of brass kettles in nests,
complete.
100 Ib of small white beads.
2 gross of morrice bells.
5 dozen of pieces of yellow, green
and purple ribbon.
5 pieces of embossed flannel.
60 dozen broaches.
2 do gorgets.
1 2 do nosebobs.
12 do hair pipes.
12 do rings.
6 pieces scarlet broad cloth.
100 Ib of brass wire.
20 dozen silk handkerchiefs.
2 do pieces of callicoe.
4 dozen of saddles and bridles.
1,000 flints, or i keg.
i gross sheers.
i do scissars.
i do horn combs.
i do ivory do.
50 Ib of thread sorted.
1 2 gross scarlet and star gartering.
1 2 do green and yellow bedlace.
3 hogsheads of rum.
30 p's best London strbud.
30 do French match coats.
10 do blankets.
20 do half thicks, purple and white
nap.
" Ordered, That a warrant be issued to the Treasurer for the sum of
three thousand three hundred and seventy five pounds specie, in favor of
the Commissioners appointed to negotiate a purchase from the Indians
claiming the unpurchased territory within the limits of this State, to be
applied to the purchase of the article above enumerated, in pursuance of
the resolution of the General Assembly of the twenty fifth inst." Colo-
nial Records, vol. xiv. p. 1 86.
COMMISSIONERS ON INDIAN TREATY, 1785.
" SIR, In pursuance of the Order of Council of 3oth July last, I have
made out a List of the Goods necessary to be furnished the Indians in
October next w h I do myself the honor to inclose.
" I am your Excellency's
"most Obedient Serv't,
" F. JOHNSTON.
" Directed,
"To His Excellency JOHN DICKINSON, ESQR.
77
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" A list of the goods to be furnished the six nations of Indians on the
First day of October next.
8 pieces Blue Stroud. 2 Dozen Ivory ditto.
20 pairs 3 point Match Coats. 25 Ib Vermillion.
60 pairs 2^ point ditto. 50 Gallons Barbadoes rum.
25 yards Scarlet Flannel. 56 Ib Gun powder,
i Piece Scarlet Broad Cloth. 400 Ib Barr Lead.
100 White Ruffled Shirts. 300 Ib Tobacco.
50 Callico ditto. i Kegg pipes.
1 8 French Castors. 3 Pieces Gartering.
6 Dozen coarse Combs.
" Aug't 10, 1785.'
Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. 496.
CHAPTER V.
TITLES AND SURVEYS PIONEER SURVEYS AND SURVEYORS DISTRICT LINES
RUN IN NORTHUMBERLAND, NOW JEFFERSON, COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
"!N 1670 Admiral Sir William Penn, an officer in the English navy,
died. The government owed this officer sixteen hundred pounds, and
William Penn, Jr., fell heir to this claim. King Charles II. liquidated
this debt by granting to W T illiam Penn, Jr., 'a tract of land in Amer-
ica, lying north of Maryland and west of the Deleware River, extend-
ing as far west as plantable. ' King Charles signed this deed March 4,
1 66 1. William Penn, Jr., was then proprietor, with power to form a
government. Penn named the grant Pennsylvania, in honor of his father.
In 1682 Penn published his form of government and laws. After making
several treaties and visiting the Indians in the interior as far as Cones-
toga, Penn sailed for England, June 12, 1684, and remained away till
December i, 1699. On his return he labored to introduce reforms in the
provincial government, but failed. He negotiated a new treaty of peace
with the Susquehanna Indians and also with the Five Nations. In the
spring of 1701 he made a second journey into the interior, going as far
as the Susquehanna and Swatara. Business complications having arisen,
Penn sailed for England in the fall, and arrived there the middle of De-
cember, 1701. Owing to straitened financial circumstances, he entered
into an agreement with Queen Anne, in 1712, to cede to her the prov-
ince of Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties for the sum of twelve thou-
sand pounds sterling; but before the legal papers were completed he
was stricken with paralysis, and died July 30, 1718, aged seventy-four.
While Penn accomplished much, he also suffered much. He was perse-
78
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
cuted for his religion, imprisoned for debt, and tried for treason. After
his death it was* found that, owing to the complication of his affairs and
the peculiar construction of his will, a suit in chancery to establish his
legal heirship was necessary. Several years elapsed before the question
was decided, when the Proprietaryship of the province descended to
John, Richard, and Thomas Penn. John died in 1746 and Richard in
1771, when John, Richard's son, and Thomas became sole Proprietaries.
But the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence soon caused a
radical change in the provincial government." Meginnis.
During the Revolution the Penn family were Tories, adherents of
England, and on the 27th of November, 1779, the Legislature of Penn-
sylvania confiscated all their property except certain manors, etc., of
which surveys and returns had been made prior to the 4th of July, 1776.
The Penns were granted as a compensation for these confiscations one
hundred and thirty thousand pounds sterling. This ended the rule of
the Penns in America. The treaty of peace between England and what
is now the United States was ratified by Congress in January, 1784. All
foreign domination or rule in the colonies then ceased, but internal
troubles with the savages still continued in this State in the north and
northwest.
" The Indians were jealous of their rights, and restive under any real
or fancied encroachments that might be made upon them, and it re-
quired the exercise of great care, caution, and prudence on the part of
the authorities to avert trouble on the northern and western boundaries
of the State ; and this they did not always succeed in doing, as many
adventurous spirits, pushing far out into the unsettled wilderness, discov-
ered to their sorrow. Fortunately, however, by the treaty of October,
1784, with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, and that of January, 1785,
with the Wyandots and Delawares at Fort Mclntosh, the Indian title
was extinguished to all the remaining territory within the then acknowl-
edged limits of the State which had been previously purchased. The
boundaries of that great northwestern section of the State covered by
this purchase may be briefly described as follows : Beginning on the east
branch of the Susquehanna River where it crosses the northern boundary
of the State in Bradford County ; thence down the east branch to the
mouth of Towanda Creek ; thence up Towanda Creek to its head-
waters ; thence by a straight line west to the head waters of Pine Creek ;
thence down Pine Creek to the west branch of the Susquehanna ; thence
up the west branch to Cherry Tree in Clearfield County ; thence by a
straight line to Kittanning, on the Allegheny River, in Armstrong County;
thence down the Allegheny River to the Ohio River ; thence down the
Ohio River to where it crosses the western boundary to Lake Erie ; and
thence east along the northern boundary of the State to the beginning.
And within this territory at the present day we find the counties of
79
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Tioga, Potter, McKean, Warren, Crawford, Venango, Forest, Clarion,
Elk, Jefferson, Cameron, Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer, and parts of the
counties of Bradford, Clinton, Clearfield, Indiana, Armstrong, Allegheny,
Beaver, and Erie." Annual Report of Internal Affairs.
The Indians received for this territory ten thousand dollars in cash.
Our wilderness was then in Northumberland County. " All land within
the late (1784) purchase from the Indians, not heretofore assigned to any
other particular county, shall be taken and deemed to be within the
limits of Northumberland County and Westmoreland County. And that
from Kittanning up the Allegheny to the mouth of Conewango Creek,
and from thence up said creek to the northern line of this State, shall be
the line between Northumberland County." Smith's Laws, vol. ii.
P- 3 2 5-
"Under the Proprietary government which ended 2yth November,
1779, land was disposed to whom, on what terms, in such quantities, and
such locations as the proprietor or his agents saw proper. The unoccu-
pied lands were never put in the market, nor their sale regulated by law.
Every effort made by the Assembly to secure uniformity in the sale and
price of land was resisted by the proprietor as an infringement upon his
manorial rights. After the Commonwealth became vested with the pro-
prietary interests, a law was passed April 9, 1781, for establishing the
land-office, for the purpose of enabling those persons to whom grants
had been made to perfect their titles. July i, 1784, an act was passed
opening the land-office for the sale of vacant lands in the purchase of
1768. The price was fixed at ^10 per 100 acres, or 33}^ cents per acre,
in addition to the warrant survey and patent fees, and the quantity in
each warrant limited to 400 acres and the 6 per cent, allowance. The
purchase of 1 784 having been completed and confirmed by the treaty at
Fort Mclntosh, January, 1785, the land-office was opened for the sale of
lands in the new purchase December 21, 1785, at which the price was
fixed at ^30 per 100 acres, and warrants were allowed to contain 1000
acres, with 10 per cent, overplus, besides the usual allowance." This
is the reason why so many old warrants contained 1100 acres, with 6
per cent., or 60 more acres. "Nevertheless, the price of the land was
placed so high that but few speculators ventured to invest in the hilly
and heavily timbered lands of Northern Pennsylvania. Under the pressure
of certain land-jobbers, who were holding important offices (?) in the
Commonwealth, like John Nicholson, Robert Morris, and William Bing-
ham, an act was passed April 3, 1792, in which the price of vacant lands
was reduced to 50 shillings per 100 acres, or 623 cents per acre. Specu-
lation ran wild. Applications for warrants poured into the office by tens
of thousands. The law, while it appeared to favor persons of small means,
and prevent the wealthy from acquiring large portions of the public domain,
was so drawn that by means of fictitious applications and poll deeds
So
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
that is, mere assignments of the application without the formalities of ac-
knowledgment any party could possess himself of an unlimited quan-
tity of the unappropriated lands. Within a year or two nearly all the
lands in the county (then Northumberland) had been applied for, Nich-
olson, Morris, Bingham, James D. Le Roy, Henry Drinker, John
Vaughan, Pickering, and Hodgdon being the principal holders."
Craft's History of Bradford County, pp. 40, 41.
" When, in the pursuance of this policy which had been adopted by
William Penn, by treaties with and by purchases of the Indians, they
finally became divested of their original title to all the lands in Pennsyl-
vania : then, under what was called ' The Late Purchase,' which covered
all of this section of country and included it in Northumberland County,
in the year 1785 certain warrants, called ' Lottery Warrants,' were issued
by governmental authority to persons who would pay twenty pounds per
hundred acres, authorizing them to enter upon the lands and make selec-
tions where they pleased. This was done to some extent, and on those
warrants surveys were made ; but, as there was no road by which emi-
grants could come into the country, no settlements could be made in any
place except where the sturdy pioneer could push his canoe, ignoring, or
overcoming all the privations and difficulties incident to a pioneer life in
such a wilderness."
With a desire to give a complete history of the pioneer surveys of the
county, I addressed a letter to Hon. I. B. Brown, Deputy Secretary of
Internal Affairs, asking for all the information known by the State. I
herewith submit his reply, viz. :
" DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS,
" HARBISBURG, PA., March 7, 1895.
" MR. W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
" DEAR SIR, In answer to your letter of the 5th instant, we beg to
say that prior to the opening of the land office in May, 1785, for the sale
of lands within the purchase of 1784, that part of the purchase lying east
of the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek was divided into eighteen
districts, and a deputy surveyor appointed for each. These districts were
numbered consecutively, beginning with No. i, on the Allegheny River,
and running eastward. The southern line of district No. i began on the
old purchase line of 1 768 at Kittanning, and following that line in suc-
cessive order were districts Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the latter terminating
at the marked cherry-tree on the bank of the west branch of the Susque-
hanna River at Canoe Place. From that point the district line between
the sixth and seventh districts, as then constituted, is supposed to be the
line that divides the present counties of Indiana and Jefferson from the
county of Clearfield as far north as Sandy Lick Creek.
"An old draft and report, found among the records of this depart-
81
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ment, show that Robert Galbraith, one of the early surveyors of Bedford
County, ran the purchase line of 1768 from the cherry-tree to Kittanning
for the purpose of marking it and ascertaining also the extent of the sev-
eral survey districts north of the line and between the two points. This
draft and accompanying report are without date, but the survey was pre-
sumably made during the summer of 1786. A reference to the appoint-
ment of Mr. Galbraith by the surveyor-general to perform this work, and
the confirmation of the appointment by the Supreme Executive Council
on the 8th of April, 1786, appear in the ' Colonial Records,' vol. xv. pp.
3 and 4. In the same volume, p. 85, is found the record of an order in
favor of Galbraith for forty-five pounds, twelve shillings, to be in full for
his services in running and marking the line and Maying off' the dis-
tricts of the deputy-surveyors. He says in his report, ' I began at the
marked cherry-tree and measured along the purchase line seven miles and
forty perches for James Potter's district, thence fifty-four perches to the
line run by James Johnston for the east line of his district ; from the post
marked for James Potter's district seven miles and forty perches to a post
marked for James Johnston's district, thence fifty-two perches to the line
run by James Hamilton for the east line of his district; from Johnston's
post seven miles and forty perches to the post marked for James Hamil-
ton's district, thence fifty-two perches to the line run by George Wood,
Jr., for the east line of his district ; from the post marked for Hamilton's
district six miles and one hundred and fifty-two perches to the line run
by Thomas B. McClean for the east line of his district, thence two hun-
dred and eight perches to the post marked for George Wood, Jr. 's, dis-
trict, thence six miles and one hundred and fifty perches to the line run
by John Buchanan for the east line of his district, thence two hundred
and ten perches to the post marked for Thomas Brown McClean's dis-
trict, thence two miles and one hundred and twenty perches to the Alle-
gheny River for John Buchanan's district.'
" With the exception of the first, these districts each extended seven
miles and forty perches along the purchase line, with the division lines
between them running north to the line of New York. Undoubtedly the
fourth, fifth, and sixth districts, of which James Hamilton, James John-
ston, and General James Potter were respectively the deputy- surveyors,
must have embraced, if not all, at least much the larger part of the terri-
tory that subsequently became the county of Jefferson, while the earliest
surveys were made within that territory during the summer of 1785 by
the surveyors named. It is possible, however, that part of the third dis-
trict, of which George Wood, Jr., was the deputy-surveyor, may have
been within these limits, and if so, surveys were no doubt also made
by him. These first surveys were principally made and returned on
the first warrants granted within the purchase, commonly known as the
lottery warrants, and many of them in the name of Timothy Pickering
82
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
and Company were located on lands that are now within Jefferson
County.
" General James Potter died in the year 1789, and was succeeded by
his son, James Potter, who was appointed in 1790. One of the reasons
given for the appointment of James Potter, second, was that he had filled
the position of an assistant to his father, and had done so much of the
actual work in the field, and was therefore so thoroughly conversant with
the lines of surveys already run, that he would avoid the interferences
another person might fall into, thus preventing future trouble arising from
conflicting locations. It does not appear, however, that the second James
Potter ever did any work in the district, as the deputies' lists of surveys
on file in the land-office show no returns from him.
"Soon after the year 1790 a change was made by the surveyor-gen-
eral in the arrangement of the districts within the purchase of 1784, by
which the number was reduced to six, counting west from the mouth of
Lycoming Creek to the Allegheny River. In this arrangement the two
western districts, Nos. 5 and 6, were assigned respectively to William P.
Brady and Enion Williams. Williams was succeeded in 1794 by John
Broadhead. Brady's district is described as ' beginning at a cherry-tree of
late General Potter's district, and from thence extending by district No.
4 due north to the northern boundary of Pennsylvania, thence by the
same west fourteen miles, thence south to the line of purchase of 1768,
late the southern boundary of James Johnston's and General Potter's dis-
tricts, and by the same to the place of beginning. '
" The sixth district comprised all the territory west of Brady's dis-
trict to the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek All of the present
county of Jefferson must have been within these districts. The surveys
made and returned by Brady, Williams, and Broadhead, for the Holland
Company, John Nicholson, Robert Morris, and other large purchasers of
lands, are so numerous as to practically cover all the lands left unsurveyed
by their predecessors within that particular section of the State. A small
part of the county, in the vicinity of Brockwayville, was in Richard
Shearer's district, No. 7, east of General Potter's line, and a number of
lottery warrants was surveyed by Shearer in that locality in 1785. That
part of the county subsequently fell within district No. 4, of which James
Hunter was the surveyor, who also returned a few surveys.
" In what manner these pioneer surveyors in the wilderness were
equipped, and what the outfit for their arduous and difficult labors may
have been, we do not know and have no means of ascertaining. Doubt-
less they had many severe trials and endured many hardships in preparing
the way for future settlements and advancing civilization, for which they
receive little credit or remembrance at this day. Possibly their only
equipment was the ordinary surveyor's compass and the old link chain of
those days, but they nevertheless accomplished much work that remains
83
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
valuable down to the present time. For their labor they were paid by
fees fixed by law. The law of that day also provided a per diem wage
of three shillings for chain-carriers, to be paid by the purchaser of the
land.
" Very truly yours,
" ISAAC B. BROWN,
" Secretary.'"
You will see from the above that in 1785, Richard Shearer, with his
chain-carriers and his axe-men, traversed what is now Brockwayville and
the forest east of it ; that James Potter, with his chain- carriers and axe-
men, traversed the forests near Temples, now Warsaw ; that James John-
ston, with his chain-carriers and axe- men, traversed the forest where
Brookville now is, and that James Hamilton, with his chain-carriers and
axe men, traversed the forest near or where Corsica now is. Each of these
lines ran directly north to the New York line. Where these lines ran was
then all in Northumberland County. In 1794, James Hunter, with his
chain-carriers and axe- men, was in what is now Brockwayville region,
William P. Brady, with his chain -carriers and axe-men, was in what is
now the Temple region, and Enion Williams and John Broadhead, with
chain-carriers and axe-men, were between where Brookville now is and
the Clarion region. This wilderness was then in Pine Creek township,
Northumberland County.
Elijah M. Graham was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Oc-
tober 19, 1772. His father's name was John Graham, who served five
years in the Continental army.
Elijah M. Graham was one of the original explorers of what is now Jef-
ferson County, Pennsylvania. He explored this region in 1794 under
Deputy- Surveyor John Broadhead. In that year Broadhead surveyed the
district line which now forms the western boundary of Brookville borough.
Broadhead and his party of nine men were in this wilderness surveying
from May until the middle of October, 1794. The party consisted of
Department- Surveyor Broadhead, two chain-carriers (Elijah M. Graham
and Elisha Graham, brothers), two axe-men (unknown), one cook (un-
known), one driver with two horses (unknown), and two other men (un-
known), one of whom was a hunter. These parties crossed streams on log
floats, encamped in log huts, and carried their outfit and their provisions
on pack horses from what is now Franklin, Pennsylvania, and from some
point then in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Graham was six
months on this survey without seeing a paleface other than those that
comprised the party.
In 1797, Elijah M. Graham located on French Creek, now Crawford
County, Pennsylvania, where he resided with his father until 1804, when
he returned to this wilderness and worked on Joseph Barnett's mill for three
84
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
years, when and where he married Miss Sarah Ann Barnett and located
on the State Road near and afterwards in what is no\v Eldred township.
He was the first court crier, and served in various township offices.
In 1804 there were but seven or eight families here, viz., the Bar-
netts, Longs, Joneses, Vasbinders, and Dixons, and one colored family.
Mr. Graham reared a family of ten children, only three or four of
whom, including J. B., are now living. Elijah M. Graham died in
1854, aged eighty-two years.
John Graham, Elijah M. Graham's father, moved to Jefferson County
from Crawford County about 1812, locating about three miles northeast
of Brookville, where he died in 1813, and this Revolutionary soldier was
buried in the first graveyard, now in East Brookville, the land owned
and occupied by W. C. Evans.
"By an act of the Legislature, passed April i, 1794, the sale of these
lands was authorized. The second section of this law provides that all
lands west of the Allegheny Mountains shall not be more than three
pounds ten shillings for every one hundred acres.
" Section four provides that the quantity of land granted to one per-
son shall not exceed four hundred acres. Section six provides for the
survey and laying out of these lands by the surveyor-general or his depu-
ties into tracts of not more than five hundred acres and not less than two
hundred acres, to be sold at public auction at such times as the ' Supreme
Executive Council may direct.'
"When all claims had been paid, ' in specie or money of the State,'
for patenting, surveying, etc. , a title was granted to the purchaser. In
case he was not ready or able to make full payment at the time of pur-
chase, by paying all the fees appertaining thereto, he was allowed two
years to complete the payment by paying lawful interest, and when the
last payment was made a completed title was given.
"By the act of April 8, 1785, the lands were sold by lottery, in por-
tions not to exceed one thousand acres to each applicant. Tickets, com-
mencing with number one, were put in a wheel, and the warrants, which
were called 'Lottery Warrants,' issued on the said applications, were sev-
erally numbered according to the decision of the said lottery, and bore
date from the day on which the drawing was finished.
"Section seven of this act allowed persons holding these warrants to
locate them upon any piece or portion of unappropriated lands. The
land upon each warrant to be embraced in one tract, if possible.
" On the 3d of April, 1792, the Legislature passed an act for the sale
of these lands, which, in some respects, differed from the laws of 1784
and 1785. It offers land only to such persons as shall settle on them,
and designates the kind and duration of settlement. .
"By section two of this act all lands lying north and west of the
Ohio and Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek, except such portions
85
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
as had been or should be appropriated to public or charitable uses, were
offered to such as would 'cultivate, improve, and settle upon them, or
cause it to be done, for the price of seven pounds ten shillings for every
hundred acres, with an allowance of six per centum for roads and high-
ways, to be located, surveyed, and secured to such purchasers, in the
manner hereinafter mentioned.'
'Section three provided for the surveying and granting of warrants
by the surveyor-general for any quantity of land within the said limits,
to not exceed four hundred acres, to any person who settled upon and
improved said land.
"The act provided for the surveying and division of these lands.
The warrants were, if possible, to contain all in one entire tract, and
the form of the tract was to be as near, as circumstances would admit,
to an oblong, whose length should not be greater than twice the breadth
thereof. No warrants were to be issued in pursuance of this act until the
purchase-money should have been paid to the receiver- general of the
land office.
"The surveyor- general was obliged to make clear and fair entries of
all warrants in a book to be provided for the purpose, and any applicant
should be furnished with a certified copy of any warrant upon the pay-
ment of one-quarter of a dollar.
" In this law the rights of the citizen were so well fenced about and
so equitably defined that risk and hazard came only at his own. But
controversies having arisen concerning this law between the judges of
the State courts and those of the United States, which the Legislature,
for a long time, tried in vain to settle, impeded for a time the settlement
of the district. These controversies were not settled until 1805, by a deci-
sion of Chief Justice Marshall, of the Supreme Court of the United States.
" At the close of the Revolutionary War several wealthy Hollanders,
Wilhelm Willink, Jan Linklaen, and others, to whom the United States
was indebted for money loaned in carrying on the war, preferring to in-
vest the money in this country, purchased of Robert Morris, the great
financier of the country at that time, an immense tract of land in the
State of New York, and at the same time took up by warrant (under the
law above cited) large tracts in the State of Pennsylvania, east of the
Allegheny River. Judge Yeates, on one occasion, said, ' The Holland
Land Company has paid to the State the consideration money of eleven
hundred and sixty-two warrants and the surveying fees on one thousand
and forty eight tracts of land (generally four hundred acres each), besides
making very considerable expenditures by their exertions, honorable to
themselves and useful to the community, in order to effect settlements.
Computing the sums advanced, the lost tracts, by prior improvements
and interferences, and the quantity of one hundred acres granted to each
individual for making an actual settlement on their lands, it is said that,
86
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
averaging the whole, between two hundred and thirty and two hundred
and forty dollars have been expended by the company on each tract.'
"An act was passed by the Legislature, March 31, 1823, authorizing
Wilhelm Willink, and others of Holland to ' sell and convey any lands
belonging to them in the Commonwealth.'
" Large tracts of lands in Jefferson County were owned by the Hol-
land Company, and Charles C. Gaskill, of Punxsutawney, was the agent
of the company for their sale. He was appointed by John J. Vander-
camp, the general agent. He finally sold out to Alexander Caldwell, and
Lee, and Gilpin. Mr. Gaskill conveyed much of these lands to actual
settlers in this county. Mr. Gaskill was very lenient to settlers. A day
was generally set for those parties who had payments to make to meet the
owners or their agents, from whom they had purchased lands, at a certain
place ; but money was scarce, and it was hard for the early settlers to
meet their obligations, small as was the price paid in those days. In
order to stir his delinquent debtors up to a sense of their indebtedness
Mr. Gaskill inserted the following notice in a paper published at Kit-
tanning :
" ' NOTICE. Having been very indulgent towards those persons in-
debted for "HOLLAND LAND" in Indiana, Jefferson, and Armstrong
Counties for some time past, I am now under the necessity of informing
them that it will be necessary for them to exert themselves and make as
considerable payments, and as soon as possible, on their respective
bonds, etc.
" ' CHARLES C. GASKILL.
" ' PUNXSUTAWNEY, November 20, 1819.' "
Kate Scott's History of Jefferson County.
" Legally, there never was any such thing as the Holland Land Com-
pany, or the Holland Company, as they were usually called.
" The company, consisting of Wilhelm Willink and eleven associates,
merchants and capitalists of the city of Amsterdam, placed funds in the
hands of friends who were citizens of America to purchase several tracts
of land in the United States, which, being aliens, the Hollanders could
not hold in their names at that time ; and in pursuance of the trust
created, there were purchased, both in New York and Pennsylvania,
immense tracts of land, all managed by the same general agent at
Philadelphia.
"The names of the several persons interested in these purchases, and
who composed the Holland Land Company, so called, were as follows :
Wilhelm Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter Van Eeghen, Hendrick
Vollenhoven, and Ruter Jan Schimmelpenninck. Two years later the
five proprietors transferred a tract of about one million acres, so that the
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
title vested in the original five, and also in Wilhelm Willink, Jr., Jan
Willink, Jr., Jan Gabriel Van Staphorst, Roelif Van Staphorst, Jr.,
Cornelius Vollenhoven, and Hendrick Seye."
Charles C. Gaskill came to Punxsutawney about 1820 from Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania. He resided there until 1849, during which time he
visited regularly the courts of this and adjoining counties, making sales
and receiving payments for land. In this year he disposed of all the
Holland land to Reynolds, Smith, Gilpin & Co., when he returned to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Gaskill was a kind, courteous Quaker
gentleman. He died at Cooper's Point, New Jersey, in 1872.
CHAPTER VI.
PIONEER ANIMALS BEAVER, BUFFALO, ELK, PANTHERS, WOLVES, WILD-
CATS, BEARS, AND OTHER ANIMALS PENS AND TRAPS BIRDS WILD
BEES.
THE mountainous character of this county and the dense forests that
covered almost its whole area made the region a favorite haunt of wild
beasts. "Many of them have disappeared, and it is difficult to believe
that animals now extinct on the continent at large were once numerous
within the boundaries of this county."
The beaver, the buffalo, the elk, and the deer were probably the most
numerous of the animals. " Beaver will not live near man, and at an
*
Beaver.
early period after the settlement of this State these animals withdrew into
the secluded regions and ultimately entirely disappeared." The last of
them known in this State made their homes in the great " Flag Swamp,"
or Beaver Meadow, of what was then Jefferson County. This swamp was
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
in Jenks township, and is now situated in Jenks township, Forest County.
The beavers were still in this swamp in the thirties. Late in the thirties
a trapper named George W. Pelton would occasionally bring a "beaver
pelt" from this swamp on Salmon Creek to Brookville and "barter" it
for merchandise. Centuries ago herds of wild buffaloes fed in our valleys
and on our hills. Yes, more, the "buffalo, or American bison, roamed
in great droves over the meadows and uplands from the Susquehanna to
Lake Erie "
HOW THE BEAVER BUILT HIS DAM.
If the place chosen was stagnant water or a swamp, he at once com-
menced building on the bank with low entrances from the water, but if
the stream was a running one, a large company of beavers would co-op-
erate in order to keep the water at its level. Then they would go up the
stream, gnaw down trees from two feet in diameter down, trim them, float
them down to the "site," lay them crosswise, and fill in with mud and
stone, which they carried between their forepaws and chin. When the
water was high enough in a dam to prevent freezing to the bottom of it
in winter, they separated into families and built their houses against the
bank or dam. The entrance to the house was beneath the water, and
the roof of the house was well covered with mud to protect against
wolves. Beavers laid up food for winter by sinking bark and logs in the
dam near their house, and in summer fed on grass, roots, etc. Every
stream in the county, big or little, had beaver meadows, but they were
mostly located on the smaller streams.
The American elk was widely distributed in this great forest in 1794.
The habitat of this noble game was the forest extending across the north-
ern part of the State. These animals were quite numerous in Jefferson
County in the thirties.
In 1834, Mike, William, and John Long and Andrew Vasbinder cap-
tured a full-grown, live elk. Their dogs chased the animal onto a
high rock, and while there the hunters lassoed it. The elk only lived
three weeks in captivity. The last elk in the State was killed in our
forests. A noted hunter thus describes a battle between wolves and a
drove of elk: "I heard a rush of feet from the opposite direction, and
the next moment a band of elks swept into sight. Magnificent fellows
they were, eight males and three does, with a couple of calves. They
had evidently been stampeded by something, and swept past me without
seeing me, but stopped short on catching sight of the wolves. The does
turned back and started to gallop away in the direction from which they
came, but one of the bucks gave a cry, and they stopped short and hud-
dled together with the fawns between them, while the bucks surrounded
them. Each buck lowered his horns and awaited the attack. The
wolves, seeing the cordon of bristling bone, paused, disconcerted for a
moment ; then the foremost, a gaunt old wolf, gave a howl and threw
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
himself upon the lowered antlers. He was flung fully ten feet with a
broken back, but his fate did not deter the others. They threw them-
selves upon the elks only to be pierced by the prongs. It was not until
fully twenty had in this way been maimed and killed that they seemed
to realize the hopelessness of the thing."
The largest carnivorous beast was the panther. After the advent of
white men into this wilderness panthers were not common. In the early
days, however, there were enough of them in the forests to keep the set-
tler or the hunter ever on his guard. They haunted the wildest glens and
made their presence known by occasional raids on the flocks and herds.
It is probable that here in our northwestern counties there are still a few
of these savage beasts.
The puma, popularly called by our pioneers panther, was and is a
large animal with a cat head. The average length of a panther from
nose to tip of tail is about six to twelve feet, the tail being over two feet
long, and the tip of which is black. The color of the puma is tawny, dun,
Panther.
or reddish along the back and side, and sometimes grayish-white under-
neath or over the abdomen and chest, with a little black patch behind
each ear. The panther is a powerful animal, as well as dangerous, but
when captured as a cub can be easily domesticated. These animals are
occasionally to be found in this wilderness. The pioneers shot them
and captured many in panther- and bear-traps. The pelts sold for from
one to two dollars.
The Longs, Vasbinders, and other noted hunters in our county killed
many a panther. A law was enacted in 1806 giving a bounty of eight
dollars for the "head" of each grown wolf or panther killed, and the
" pelts" bringing a good price for fur, stimulated these hunters greatly to
do their best in trapping, hunting, and watching the dens of these dan-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
gerous animals. The bounty on the head of a wolf pup was three dollars.
The bounty on the head of a panther whelp was four dollars. The
county commissioners would cut the ears off these heads and give an
order on the county treasurer for the bounty money. A panther's pelt
sold for about four dollars. On one occasion a son of Bill Long, Jack-
son by name, boldly entered a panther's den and shot the animal by the
light of his glowing eyes. Jackson Long's history would fill this volume.
In 1833, Jacob and Peter Vasbinder found a panther's den on Boone's
Mountain. They killed one, the dogs killed two, and these hunters
caught a cub, which they kept a year and then sold it to a showman. In
1819 the Legislature enacted a law giving twelve dollars for a full-grown
panther's head and five dollars for the head of a cub.
"One hundred years ago wolves were common in Northern and
Western Pennsylvania. In the middle of the last century large packs of
Wolf.
them roamed over a great portion of the State. To the farmer they were
an unmitigated nuisance, preying on his sheep, and even waylaying be-
lated travellers in the forest. After the State was pretty well settled
these beasts disappeared very suddenly. Many people have wondered as
to the cause of their quick extinction. Rev. Joseph Doddridge in his
' Notes' ascribes it to hydrophobia, and he relates several instances where
settlers who were bitten by wolves perished miserably from that terrible
disease. ' '
I have listened in my bed to the dismal howl of the wolf, and for the
benefit of those who never heard a wolf's musical soiree I will state here
that one wolf leads off in a long tenor, and then the whole pack joins in
the chorus.
Wolves were so numerous that, in the memory of persons still living
in Brookville, it was unsafe or dangerous to permit a girl of ten or twelve
years to go a mile in the country unaccompanied. In those days the
Longs have shot as many as five and six without moving in their tracks,
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
and with a single-barrelled, muzzle-loading rifle, too. The sure aim
and steady and courageous hearts of noted hunters made it barely possi-
ble for the early settlers to live in these woods, and even then they had to
exercise "eternal vigilance." In 1835, Bill Long, John and Jack Kahle
captured eight wolves in a "den" near the present town of Sigel. Wolf-
pelts sold for three dollars. Wild-cats were numerous ; occasionally a cat
is killed in the county yet, even within the borough limits.
One of the modes of Mike Long and other pioneer hunters on the
Clarion River was to ride a horse with a cow-bell on through the woods
over the deer-paths. The deer were used to cow-bells and would allow
the horse to come in full view. When the deer were looking at the horse,
the hunter usually shot one or two.
Buffalo.
Every pioneer had one or more cow-bells ; they were made of copper
and iron. They were not cast, but were cut, hammered, and riveted
into shape, and were of different sizes.
The black bear was always common in Pennsylvania, and especially
was this so in our wild portion of the State. The early settlers in our
county killed every year in the aggregate hundreds of these bears. Bear-
skins were worth from three to five dollars a-piece. Reuben Hickox, of
Perry township, as late as 1822, killed over fifty bears in three months.
Captain Hunt, a Muncy Indian, living in what is now Brookville, killed
sixty-eight in one winter. In i83r, Mrs. McGhee, living in what is now
92
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Washington township, heard her pigs squealing, and exclaimed, "The
bears are at the hogs !" A hired man, Phillip McCafferty, and herself
each picked up an axe and drove the bears away. One pig had been
killed. Every fall and winter bears are still killed in our forests.
Peter Vasbinder when a boy shot a big bear through the window of
his father's house, and this, too, by moonlight. This bear had a scap of
bees in his arms, and was walking away with them. The flesh of the
bear was prized by the pioneer. He was fond of bear meat. Bears
weighing four or five hundred pounds rendered a large amount of oil,
which the pioneer housewife used in cooking.
Trapping and pens were resorted to by the pioneer hunters to catch
the panther, the bear, the wolf, and other game.
The bear-pen was built in a triangular shape of heavy logs. It was
in shape and build to work just like a wooden box rabbit-trap. The
bear steel-trap weighed about twenty-five pounds. It had double springs
and spikes sharpened in the jaws. A chain was also attached. This
was used as a panther-trap, too. " The bear was always hard to trap.
The cautious brute would never put his paw into visible danger, even
when allured by the most tempting bait. If the animal was caught, it
had to be accomplished by means of the most cunning stratagem. One
successful method of catching this cautious beast was to conceal a strong
trap in the ground covered with leaves or earth, and suspend a quarter of
a sheep or deer from a tree above the hidden steel. The bait being just
beyond the reach of the bear, would cause the animal to stand on his
hind feet and try to get the meat. While thus rampant, the unsuspecting
brute would sometimes step into the trap and throw the spring. The
trap was not fastened to a stake or tree, but attached to a long chain,
furnished with two or three grab-hooks, which would catch to brush and
logs, and thus prevent the game from getting away."
An old settler informs me that in the fall of the year bears became
very fat from the daily feasts they had on beechnuts and chestnuts, and
the occasional raids they made on the old straw beehives and ripe corn-
fields. In pioneer times the bear committed considerable destruction to
the corn. He would seat himself on his haunches in a corner of the field
next the woods, and then, collecting a sheaf of the cornstalks at a time,
would there and then enjoy a sumptuous repast.
Wolves usually hunt in the night, so they, too, were trapped and
penned. The wolf-pen was built of small round logs about eight or ten
feet high, and narrowed at the top. Into this pen the hunter threw his
bait, and the wolf could easily jump in, but he was unable to jump out.
The wolf- trap was on the principle of the rat-trap, only larger, the jaws
being a foot or two long.
Trappers rated the fox the hardest animal to trap, the wolf next, and
the otter third. To catch a fox they often made a bed of chaff and got
93
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
him to lie in it or fool around it, the trap being set under the chaff. Or
a trap was set at a place where several foxes seemed to stop for a cer-
tain purpose. Or a fox could be caught sometimes by putting a bait a
Fox.
little way out in the water, and then putting a pad of moss between the
bait and the shore, with the trap hid under the moss. The fox, not
liking to wet his feet, would step on the moss and be caught.
THE AMERICAN ELK DEER AND DEER COMBATS HUNTERS, PRO-
FESSIONAL AND NON-PROFESSIONALSTALKING AND BELLING
DEER OTHER ANIMALS, ETC.
The American elk is the largest of all the deer kind. Bill Long and
other noted hunters killed elk in these woods seven feet high. The early
hunters found their range to be from Elk Licks on Spring Creek, that
empties into the Clarion River at what is now called "Hallton," up
to and around Beech Bottom. In winter these heavy footed-animals
always "yarded" themselves on the " Beech Bottom" for protection from
their enemies, the light footed wolves. The elk's trot was heavy,
clumsy, and swinging, and would break through an ordinary crust on the
snow, but in the summer-time he would throw his great antlers back on
his shoulders and trot through the thickets at a Nancy Hanks gait, even
over fallen timber five feet high. One of his reasons for locating on the
Clarion River was that he was personally a great bather and enjoyed
spending his summers on the banks and the sultry days in bathing in that
river. Bill Long presented a pair of enormous elk-horns, in 1838, to
John Smith, of Brookville, who used them as a sign for the Jefferson Inn.
" The common Virginia white-tailed deer, once exceedingly numerous
94
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
in our county, is still to be found in limited numbers. This deer when
loping or running elevates its tail, showing the long white hair of the
lower surface. If the animal is struck by a bullet the tail is almost in-
variably tucked close to the hams, concealing the white.
Elk.
" The American deer, common deer, or just deer, is peculiar to Penn-
sylvania. It differs from the three well-known European species, the red
deer, the fallow deer, and the pretty little roe. Of these three, the red
deer is the only one which can stand comparison with the American.
"The bucks have antlers peculiar in many cases, double sharp, erect
spikes or tines. The doe lacks these antlers. The antlers on the bucks
are shed and removed annually. Soon after the old antlers fall, swellings,
like tumors covered with plush, appear ; these increase in size and assume
the shape of the antlers with astonishing rapidity, until the new antlers
have attained their full size, when they present the appearance of an
ordinary pair of antlers covered with fine velvet. The covering, or
' velvet,' is filled with blood-vessels, which supply material for the new
growth. The furrows in the complete antler show the course of the cir-
culation during its formation, and no sooner is the building process com-
pleted than the ' velvet' begins to wither and dry up. Now the buck
realizes that he is fully armed and equipped for the fierce joustings which
must decide the possession of the does of his favorite range, and he busies
himself in testing his new weapons and in putting a proper polish upon
95
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
every inch of them. He bangs and rattles his horn daggers against con-
venient trees and thrusts and swings them into dense, strong shrubs,
and if observed during this honing-up process he frequently seems a dis-
reputable-looking beast, with long streamers of blood-stained ' velvet'
hanging to what will shortly be finely polished antlers with points as
sharp as knives. When the last rub has been given and every beam
and tine is furbished thoroughly, our bravo goes a-wooing with the best
of them. He trails the coy does through lone covers and along favorite
runways unceasingly ; he is fiery and impetuous and full of fight, and
asks no fairer chance than to meet a rival as big and short-tempered as
himself. He meets one before long, for every grown buck is on the war-
path, and when the pair fall foul of each other there is frequently a long
and desperate combat, in which one gladiator must be thoroughly whipped
or killed. All deer fight savagely, and occasionally two battling rivals
find a miserable doom by managing to get their antlers securely inter-
locked, when both must perish. Two dead bucks thus locked head to
head have been found lying as they fell in an open glade, where the
scarred surface of the ground and the crushed and riven shrubs about
told an eloquent tale of a wild tourney long sustained, and of miserable
failing efforts of the wearied conqueror to free himself of his dead foe."
Outing. The Vasbinders, Longs, and all the early hunters found just
such skulls in these woods.
Artificial deer-licks were numerous, and made in this way : A hunter
would take a coffee-sack and put in it about half a bushel of common
salt, and then suspend the sack high on the branch of a tree. When the
rain descended the salt water would drip from the sack to the ground,
making the earth saline and damp, and to this spot the deer would come,
paw and lick the earth. The hunter usually made his blind in this way :
A piece of board had two augur-holes bored in each end, and with ropes
through these holes was fastened to a limb on a tree. On this board
the hunter seated himself to await his game. Deer usually visit licks
from about 2 A.M. until daylight. As a rule, deer feed in the morning
and evening and ramble around all night seeking a thicket for rest and
seclusion in the daytime.
"For ways that were dark and for tricks that were -vain" the old
pioneer was always in it. When real hungry for a venison steak he would
often use a tame deer as a decoy, in this way : Fawns were captured when
small, tamed, reared, and permitted to run at large with the cattle. A
life insurance was " written" on this tame deer by means of a bell or a
piece of red flannel fastened around the neck. Tame deer could be
trained to follow masters, and when taken to the woods usually fed around
and attracted to their society wild deer, which could then be shot by the
secreted hunter. At the discharge of a gun the tame deer invariably ran
up to her master. Some of these does were kept for five or six years.
96
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Deer generally have two fawns at a time, in May, and sometimes three.
The horns of a deer drop off about New- Year's.
Love of home is highly developed in the deer. You cannot chase him
away from it. He will circle round and round, and every evening come
to where he was born. He lives in about eight or ten miles square of his
birthplace. In the wilds of swamps and mountains and laurel-brakes he
has his "roads," beaten paths, and "crossings," like the civilized and
cross roads of man. When hounded by dogs he invariably strikes for a
creek or river, and it is his practice to take one of these "travelled
paths," which he never leaves nor forgets, no matter how circuitous the
path may be. Certain crossings on these paths where the deer will pass
are called in sporting parlance " stands." These " stands" never change,
unless through the clearing of timber or by settlement the old landmarks
are destroyed.
" The deer loves for a habitation to wander over hills, through thick
swamps or open woods, and all around is silence save what noise is made
by the chirping birds and wild creatures like himself. He loves to feed
a little on the lowlands and then browse on the high ground. It takes
him a long time to make a meal, and no matter how much of good food
there may be in any particular place, he will not remain there to thor-
oughly satisfy his appetite. He must roam about and eat over a great
deal of territory. When he has browsed and fed till he is content, he
loves to pose behind a clump of bushes and watch and listen. At such
times he stands with head up as stanch as a setter on point, and if one
watches him closely not a movement of his muscles will be detected. He
sweeps the country before him with his keen eyes, and his sharp ears will
be disturbed by the breaking of a twig anywhere within gunshot.
" When the day is still the deer is confident he can outwit the enemy
who tries to creep up on him with shot-gun or rifle. But when the wind
blows, he fears to trust himself in those places where he may easily be
approached by man, so he hides in the thickets and remains very quiet
until night. To kill a deer on a still day, when he is not difficult to find,
the hunter must match the deer in cunning and must possess a marked
degree of patience. The deer, conscious of his own craftiness, wanders
slowly through the woods ; but he does not go far before he stops, and
like a statue he stands, and can only be made out by the hunter with a
knowledge of his ways and a trained eye.
"The deer listens for a footfall. Should the hunter be anywhere
within the range of his ear and step on a twig, the deer is off with a
bound. He does not stop until he has reached what he regards as a safe
locality in which to look and listen again. A man moving cautiously
behind a clump of bushes anywhere within the sweep of his vision will
start him off on the run, for he is seldom willing to take even a small
chance against man. Should the coast be clear, the deer will break his
97
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXNA.
pose, browse and wander about again, and finally make his bed under the
top of a fallen tree or in some little thicket.
"To capture the deer by the still-hunting method, the hunter must
know his ways and outwit him at his own game. First of all, the still-
hunter wears soft shoes, and when he puts his foot on the ground he is
careful not to set it on a twig which will snap and frighten any deer that
may be in the vicinity. The still-hunter proceeds at once to put into
practice the very system which the deer has taught him. He strikes a
pose. He listens and looks. A deer standing like a statue two hundred
yards away is not likely to be detected by an inexperienced hunter, but
the expert is not deceived. He has learned to look closely into the de-
tail of the picture before him, and he will note the difference between a
set of antlers and a bush.
" The brown sides of a deer are very indistinct when they have for a
background a clump of brown bushes. But the expert still-hunter sits
quietly on a log and peers into the distance steadily, examining all de-
tails before him. Occasionally his fancy will help him to make a deer's
haunch out of a hump on a tree, or he will fancy he sees an antler mixed
with the small branches of a bush, but his trained eye finally removes all
doubt. But he is in no hurry. He is like the deer, patient, keen of
sight, and quick of hearing. He knows that if there are any deer on
their feet in his vicinity he will get his eyes on them if he takes the time,
or if he .waits long enough he is likely to see them on the move. At all
events he must see the deer first. Then he must get near enough to him
to bring him down with his rifle." Outing.
Deer will not run in a straight line. They keep their road, and it is
this habit they have of crossing hills, paths, woods, and streams, almost
invariably within a few yards of the same spot, that causes their destruc-
tion by the hounding and belling methods of farmers, lumbermen, and
other non-professionals. Deer-licks were numerous all over this county.
A "deer-lick" is a place where salt exists near the surface of the earth.
The deer find these spots and work them during the night, generally in
the early morning. One of the methods of our early settlers was to sit
all night on or near a tree, " within easy range of a spring or a ' salt-lick,'
and potting the unsuspecting deer which may happen to come to the lick
in search of salt or water. This requires no more skill than an ability to
tell from which quarter the breeze is blowing and to post one's self ac-
cordingly, and the power to hit a deer when the gun is fired from a dead
rest."
" Belling deer" was somewhat common. I have tried my hand at it.
The mode was this : Three men were located at proper distances apart
along a trail or runway near a crossing. The poorest marksman was
placed so as to have the first shot, and the two good ones held in reserve
for any accidental attack of "buck fever" to the persons on the first and
98
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
second stands. An experienced woodsman was then sent into a laurel
thicket, carrying with him a cow-bell ; and when this woodsman found
and started a deer, he followed it, ringing the bell. The sound of this
bell was notice to those on the " stand" of the approach of a deer. When
the animal came on the jump within shooting distance of the first stand,
the hunter there posted would bleat like a sheep ; the deer would then
come to a stand-still, when the hunter could take good aim at it ; the
others had to shoot at the animal running. The buck or doe rarely
escaped this gauntlet.
" The deer was always a coveted prize among hunters. No finer dish
than venison ever graced the table of king or peasant. No more beauti-
ful trophy has ever adorned the halls of the royal sportsman or the humble
cabin of the lowly hunter on the wild frontier than the antlers of the fallen
buck. The sight of this noble animal in his native state thrills with ad-
miration alike the heart of the proudest aristocrat and the rudest back-
woodsman. In the days when guns were rare and ammunition very costly,
hunters set stakes for deer, where the animal had been in the habit of
jumping into or out of fields. A piece of hard timber, two or three
inches thick and about four feet long, was sharpened into a spear shape,
and then driven firmly into the ground at the place where the deer were
accustomed to leap over the log fence. The stake was slanted towards
the fence, so as to strike the animal in the breast as it leaped into or out
of the fields. Several of these deadly wooden spears were often set at the
same crossing, so as to increase the peril of the game. If the deer were
seen in the field, a scare would cause them to jump over the fence with
less caution, and thus often a buck would impale himself on one of the
fatal stakes, when but for the sight of the hunter the animal might have
escaped unhurt. Thousands of deer were killed or crippled in this way
generations ago." Outing.
A deer-skin sold in those days for seventy-five to ninety cents. Of
the original wild animals still remaining in our county, there are the fox,
raccoon, porcupine, musk-rat, martin, otter, mink, skunk, opossum,
woodchuck, rabbit, squirrel, mole, and mouse. Fifty years ago the
woods were full of porcupines. On the defensive is the only way he
ever fights. When the enemy approaches he rolls up into a little wad,
sharp quills out, and he is not worried about how many are in the be-
sieging party. One prick of his quills will satisfy any assailant. When
he sings his blood-curdling song, it is interpreted as a sign of rain.
The wholesale price of furs in 1804 were : Otter, one dollar and a
half to four dollars ; bear, one to three dollars and a half ; beaver, one
to two dollars and a half; martin, fifty cents to one dollar and a half;
red fox, one dollar to one dollar and ten cents ; mink, twenty to forty
cents ; muskrat, twenty-five to thirty cents ; raccoon, twenty to fifty
cents ; deer-pelts, seventy-five cents to one dollar.
99
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The pioneer hunter carried his furs and pelts to the Pittsburg market
in canoes, where he sold them to what were called Indian traders from
the East. In later years traders visited the cabins of our hunters in the
county, and bartered for and bought the furs and pelts from the hunters
or from our merchants.
Porcupine.
Old William Vasbinder, a noted hunter and trapper in this wilder-
ness, and pioneer in what is now Warsaw township, was quite successful
in trapping wolves one season on Hunt's Run, about the year 1819 or
1820; but for some unknown reason his success suddenly stopped, and'
he could not catch a single wolf. He then suspected the Indians of
robbing his traps. So one morning bright and early he visited his traps
and found no wolf, but did find an Indian track. He followed the
Indian trail and lost it. On looking around he heard a voice from
above, and looking up he saw an Indian sitting in the fork of a tree, and
the Indian said, " Now, you old rascal, you go home, Old Bill, or Indian
shoot." With the Indian's flint-lock pointed at him, Vasbinder imme-
diately became quite hungry and started home for an early breakfast.
Bill Long often sold to pedlers fifty deer-pelts at a single sale. He
had hunting shanties in all sections and quarters of this wilderness.
In 1840 the late John Du Bois, founder of Du Bois City, desired to
locate some lands near Boone's Mountain. So he took Bill Long with
him, and the two took up a residence in a shanty of Long's near the
head-waters of Rattlesnake Run, in what is now Snyder township. After
four or five days' rusticating, the provisions gave out, and Du Bois got
hungry. Long told him there was nothing to eat here and for him to
leave for Bundy's. On his way from the shanty to Bundy's Mr. Du Bois
killed five deer.
George Smith, a Washington township early hunter, who is still
living in the wilds of Elk County, has killed in this wilderness fourteen
panthers, five hundred bears, thirty elks, three thousand deer, five hun-
dred catamounts, five hundred wolves, and six hundred wild-cats. He
100
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
has killed seven deer in a day and as many as five bears in a day. All
these animals were killed in what was originally Jefferson County. Mr.
Smith has followed hunting as a profession for sixty years.
NATURAL LIFE OF SOME OF OUR WILD AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
Elk
Years.
SO
Hog
Years.
2O
Beaver . .
SO
Wolf
It
Panther . . .
2S
Cat
1C
Catamount . .
2<
Fox
1C
Buffalo
...... 2O
Dog .
IO
2O
Sheep
IO
Horse ...
2O
Squirrel . . . . .
7
Bear
2O
Rabbit
7
Deer
20
BIRDS.
" If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or
on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting
upon the young, or upon
the eggs, thou shalt not
take the dam with the
young : but thou shalt in
anywise let the dam go,
and take the young to
thee ; that it may be well
with thee, and that thou
mayest prolong thy days. ' '
Deut. xxii. 6, 7.
With the exception of
the wild turkey and raven,
which are now about ex-
tinct, we have almost the
same variety of birds here
that lived and sung in this
wilderness when the Bar-
netts settled on Mill Creek.
Some of these original
birds are quite scarce. We
have one new bird, viz., Wild turkey.
the English sparrow.
Before enumerating our birds it might be proper to give a few sketches
of some of the principal ones.
THE RAVEN.
A very handsome bird, numerous here in pioneer time, now extinct.
He belonged to the crow family. He had a wonderful intellect. He
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXNA.
could learn to talk correctly, and was a very apt scholar. He lived to
an extreme old age, probably one hundred years. He was blue-black,
like the common crow. He made his home in the solitude of the forest,
preferring the wildest and most hilly sections. In such regions, owing
to his intellect and strength, his supremacy was never questioned, unless
by the eagle. In the fall of the year he would feast on the saddles of
venison the hunters would hang on a tree, and the Longs adopted this
method to save their meat : Take a small piece of muslin, wet it, and
rub it all over with gunpowder ; sharpen a stick and pin this cloth to
the venison. The raven and crow would smell this powder and keep
away from the venison.
THE "BALD" EAGLE OUR NATIONAL EMBLEM.
The name "Bald" which is given to this species is not applied be-
cause the head is bare, but because the feathers of the neck and head of
adults are pure white. In Jefferson County, as well as throughout the
United States, we had but two species of eagles, the bald and the golden.
The " Black," " Gray," and " Washington" eagles are but the young of
the bald eagle. Three years, it is stated, are required before this species
assumes the adult plumage. The bald eagle is still found in Pennsyl-
vania at all seasons of the year. I have seen some that measured eight
feet from tip to tip of wing.
" The nest, a bulky affair, built usually on a large tree, mostly near
the water, is about four or five feet in diameter. It is made up chiefly of
large sticks, lined inside with grass, leaves, etc. The eggs, commonly two,
rarely three, are white, and they measure about three by two and a half
inches. A favorite article of food with this bird is fish, which he obtains
mainly by strategy and rapine. Occasionally, however, according to dif-
ferent observers, the bald eagle will do his own fishing. Geese and brant
form their favorite food, and the address displayed in their capture is very
remarkable. The poor victim has apparently not the slightest chance for
escape. The eagle's flight, ordinarily slow and somewhat heavy, becomes,
in the excitement of pursuit, exceedingly swift and graceful, and the fugi-
tive is quickly overtaken. When close upon its quarry the eagle sud-
denly sweeps beneath it, and turning back downward, thrusts its powerful
talons up into its breast. A brant or duck is carried off bodily to the
nearest marsh or sand-bar. But a Canada goose is too heavy to be thus
easily disposed of; the two great birds fall together to the water beneath,
while the eagle literally tows his prize along the surface until the shore is
reached. In this way one has been known to drag a large goose for
nearly half a mile.
" The bald eagle occasionally devours young pigs, lambs, and fawns.
Domestic fowls, wild turkeys, hares, etc., are also destroyed by this species.
I have knowledge of at least two of these birds which have killed poultry
102
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
(tame ducks and turkeys) along the Susquehanna River. Sometimes, like
the golden eagle, this species will attack raccoons and skunks. I once
found two or three spines of a porcupine in the body of an immature
bald eagle. The golden eagle occurs in this State as a winter visitor.
The only species with which it is sometimes compared is the bald eagle
in immature dress. The two birds, however, can be distinguished at a
glance, if you remember that the golden eagle has the tarsus (shin)
densely feathered to the toes, while, on the other hand, the bald eagle
has a bare shin. The golden eagle breeds in high mountainous regions
and the Arctic countries.
" Golden eagles are rather rare in this region, hence their depreda-
tions to poultry, game, and live-stock occasion comparatively little loss.
Domestic fowls, ducks, and turkeys especially, are often devoured ; dif-
ferent species of water-birds, grouse, and wild turkeys suffer chiefly among
the game birds. Fawns are sometimes attacked and killed ; occasionally
it destroys young pigs, and frequently many lambs are carried off by this
powerful bird. Rabbits are preyed upon to a considerable extent."
Of our birds, the eagle is the largest, swiftest in flight, and keenest-
eyed, the humming-bird the smallest, the coot the slowest, and the owl
the dullest.
The spring birds, such as the bluebird, the robin, the sparrow, and
the martin, were early to come and late to leave.
I reproduce from Olive Thome Miller's Lectures the following, viz. :
"There are matrimonial quarrels also among birds. As a rule, the
female is queen of the nest, but once I saw a male sparrow assert his
power. He was awfully angry, and tried to oust his spouse from a hole
in a maple-tree in which they had made their home. He did drive her
out at last, and absolutely divorced her, for he was back before long with
a bride whom, with some trouble and a good many antics, he coaxed to
accept the nest.
" The female bird is the queen of the home, and usually selects the
place for the nest, the male bird sometimes lending a beak in building it,
but most of the time singing his sweet song to encourage his mate.
" That the female is queen is shown by a little story related of a spar-
row. She was hatching her eggs, and was relieved now and then by her
mate while she went off for exercise and food. One day the male bird
was late and the female called loudly for him. He came at last, and
she gave him an unmerciful drubbing, which he took without a murmur.
Thoroughly ashamed of himself, he sat down meekly on the eggs.
" The robin is the most familiar of our birds. Running over the lawns,
with head down, it suddenly grabs a worm, which it shakes as a cat does
a mouse. Having swallowed it, the robin looks up with infinite pride.
They are great insect-destroyers, though they insist on having the earliest
spring peas and the first mulberries, raspberries, and grapes. The robin
103
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
is the great enemy of the bird observer, giving warning of his approach
to every bird in the neighboring thickets. They are brave, and will help
any bird in distress. A sparrow-hawk had seized an English sparrow,
one of the robin's worst enemies, but the robin attacked the hawk so
viciously that it released the sparrow. In another instance a cat had cap-
tured a young robin, but was so fearlessly attacked by an older bird that
she parted with her tender meal and sought shelter under the barn.
"The robins make charming but most mischievous pets. I heard
of a case where a child helped bring up a brood of these birds. When
they were fledged they would follow her about the yard like a flock of
chickens.
" The wood-thrush or wood-robin is of a shy and retiring nature, fre-
quenting thick woods and tangled undergrowth, and at daybreak and sun-
down this bird carols forth its thankfulness for a day begun and a day
ended. The nest is made in some low tree, with little or no mud in its
composition, and contains from four to six eggs. The veery, or tawny
thrush, is a wonderful songster, but a most retiring bird.
"The American cuckoo, unlike her English cousin, builds her own
nest, and is a most devoted parent. These birds, with white breast, are
numerous here in the summer, and the male bird's courting is most
grotesque. After each note he makes a profound bow to the mate, and
then opens his mouth as wide as possible, as if about to emit a loud cry,
but only the feeblest of ' coos' can be heard.
" The blue-jay, though one of our best-known birds, is greatly mis-
understood. It is said he is always quarrelling and fighting, whereas
really he is only full of frolic and mischief and is a most affectionate
bird, and instead of tyrannizing over other birds is most kind to them.
These birds have shared a room with a dozen others much smaller than
themselves and were never known to molest them. They will defend
their young against all comers, and James Russell Lowell tells a story of
discovering three young birds who were .held to their nest by a string, in
which they had got entangled. He determined to cut them loose. The
old birds flew at him at first, but on learning what his object was, sat
quietly within reach of him, watching the operation, and when the birds
were released noisily thanked him.
"A story is told of the frolicsomeness of this bird. One was seated
on a fence-rail, and two kittens, having espied him, essayed to stalk him.
They got up near him ; then he began playing leap-frog over those two
kittens until they returned full of offended dignity to the house. The
bird tried to coax them out to a game several times afterwards, but the
kittens had had enough of it.
" The kingbird is said to fight and drive away every bird that comes
near it, but this is a libel. He attends to his own business almost wholly,
and though not particularly social, is no more belligerent in the bird
104
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
world than most birds are when they have nests to protect. He is a
character, and interesting to watch.
"The shrike, or butcher-bird, has imputed to him the worst charac-
ter of any of our birds. He is not only accused of killing birds, but of
impaling them afterwards on thorns. That he does kill birds is un-
doubted, but only when other food is scarce, for he much prefers field-
mice, grasshoppers, and other noxious insects. That he impales his prey
is certain, and the reason for this is, I think, that he has such small, deli-
cate feet that they are not strong enough to hold down a mouse or insect
while he tears it to pieces.
"Blackbirds are gregarious, forming blackbird cities in the tops of
trees. He and the fishhawk have a strange friendship for one another,
often three or four pairs building their nests in the straggling outskirts of
the hawk's large nest, and they unite in protecting one another.
"The red-winged blackbirds are the most independent of birds, as
far as the two sexes are concerned. The dull brown-streaked females
come up in flocks some time after the males have arrived, and as soon as
the breeding season is over they separate again, the males keeping to the
marshes, while the females seek shelter in the uplands, but always near
water. They nest in marshy places, and insist on plenty of water.
"The cowbird is undoubtedly the most unpopular of this class of
birds, simply from the fact that no nest is built, the egg always being
placed in the nest of some vireo, warbler, or sparrow, and the rearing of
one of these birds means the loss of at least two song-birds, for they
always smother the rightful owners. The popular idea that the foster-
parents are unaware of this strange egg is doubtful. I believe it to be
another instance of the great good nature of the birds to the young of any
sort. The cowbirds nearly kill with overwork whatever birds they have
been foisted on.
" The bobolink, who later in the year becomes the reed- or rice-bird,
is a handsome bird in his plumage of black and white and buff. The
female is a quieter- colored bird. While breeding they are voracious in-
sect-eaters, but when they get down to the rice marshes it is almost im-
possible to drive them away. A hawk seems to be the only thing they
are afraid of.
" The Baltimore oriole is one of the most beautiful and best- known
birds. Its long, pendant, woven nest is known to every one, and it is
wonderful how the bird, with only its beak, can build such a splendid
structure. They have been known to use wire in the structure of their
nests.
"The meadow-lark, one of the largest of this family, is a wonderful
singer, sitting on a fence-rail, carolling forth its quivering silvery song.
All these birds, except the oriole, walk while hunting for food, and do
not hop as most other birds do.
105
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"The crow does not belong to the blackbird family, but owing to
his uniform I will speak about him. Much has been said against him,
but the truth is that he is a most useful bird in killing mice, snakes,
lizards, and frogs, and is a splendid scavenger. He has been persecuted
for so many generations that perhaps he is the most knowing and wary
of birds. He will always flee from a man with a gun, though paying little
attention to the ordinary pedestrian. These birds are gregarious in their
habits, and make their large, untidy nests at the tops of trees.
" They have regular roosting- places, and, curious to say, it is not first
come first served. As each flock reaches the sleeping-grove they sit
around on the ground, and it is only when the last wanderer returns that
they all rise simultaneously and scramble for nests. Crows as pets are
intensely funny.
"In July, when nesting is over, there are no more frolicsome birds
than the highholes, or woodpeckers. They are like boys out of school,
and actually seem to play
games with each other, one
that looks very much like
' tag' being a favorite.
"The young of these
birds never cease in their
clamor for food, and even
when they have left their
hole-nest they are fed by
the parent birds.
"The feeding process
is a strange one. The old
one half loses its long bill
down the throat of the
youngster, and from its
crop gives up a sufficient
supply of half-digested food
for a full meal.
" The courtship of these
birds is exquisitely quaint,
and a correspondent has
given an account of a
game, or dance, in which
they began with a waltz of an odd sort and went through various evolu-
tions, ending with crossing their beaks, and standing so for a moment
before they drew back and did the whole thing over.
"The downy woodpecker is particularly fond of apple-trees, and
though popularly supposed to be an enemy of the orchard, is in reality
one of its greatest friends. They tunnel for the worms, and it has been
1 06
Woodpeckers.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
conclusively proved that trees drilled with their holes have long outlived
in usefulness the trees unvisited by these birds.
"The clown of the family is the red-headed woodpecker, which, as
well as the others shown, is a Pennsylvanian, and a most original and
quaint character. He has been studied for many years in Ohio and many
of his tricks described by Mr. Keyser, of that State. He lays up food
for the winter, and in places where he has been accustomed to depend
on the sweet beechnut for provisions he refuses to stay when the nut
crop fails, but at once betakes himself to a more inviting region.
" The sapsucker, or yellow-breasted woodpecker, was shown with his
mate and a young one, and his characteristics defended against the charge
of sap sucking, which has been made against him. Sufficient evidence
from several scientific ornithologists was produced to show that the bird
is insectivorous in a great degree, and the small amount of sap he may
drink is well paid for by the insects he consumes.
"The junco, or snowbird, is often found in flocks, except in the
nesting season. Their favorite nesting-place is in the roots of trees that
have been blown over. That birds are considerate of one another is
certain. I know of a case where a family had fed a flock of juncos during
a long spell of cold weather. They got so tame that they would come
up to the stoop to be fed ; but it was noticed that one bird always re-
mained on the fence and the other ones fed it. On examination, it was
found that the bird had an injured wing, and in case of sudden danger
would not have been able to leave with the flock in the rush, so it was
left in a place of safety and fed.
"The snow-bunting is to be seen in our part of the world only in
blizzard times, or when there are snow-scurries around." Miller.
OF HAWKS.
The red-shouldered hawk, called by farmers and hunters the hen-hawk,
nests in trees in April or May. The eggs are two to four, white and
blotched, with shades of brown. The nest is built of sticks, bark, etc.
The goshawk was a regular breeder in our woods and mountains.
He is a fierce and powerful bird. The hawk feeds upon wild turkeys,
pheasants, ducks, chickens, robins, rabbits, and squirrels. The cooper-
hawk, known as the long-tailed chicken-hawk, is an audacious poultry
thief, capturing full-grown chickens. This hawk also feeds upon pigeons,
pheasants, turkeys, and squirrels. This bird nests about May in thick
woods ; the nest containing four or five eggs. In about twelve weeks the
young are able to care for themselves. The sharp shinned hawk bears a
close resemblance to the cooper, but feeds by choice upon young chickens
and pullets, young turkeys, young rabbits, and squirrels. If a pair of
these birds should nest near a cabin where chickens were being raised,
in a very few days they would steal every one.
107
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
H^
Wild pigeon.
When I was a boy large nestings of wild pigeons in what was then
Jenks, Tionesta, and Ridgway townships occurred every spring. These
big roosts were occupied
annually early in April each
year. Millions of pigeons
occupied these roosts, and
they were usually four or
five miles long and one or
two miles wide. In this
territory every tree would
be occupied, some with
fifty nests. These pigeons
swept over Brookville on
their migration to these
roosts, and would be for
days passing, making the
day dark at times. The
croakings of the pigeons in these roosts could be heard for miles.
The coopers and the bloody goshawk, the great-horned and barred
owls, like other night wanderers, such as the wild bear, panther, wolf,
wild cat, lynx, fox, the mink, and agile weasel, all haunted these roosts
and feasted upon these pigeons. The weasel would climb the tree for
the pigeons' eggs and the young, or to capture the old birds when at
rest. The fox, lynx, and mink depended on catching the squabs that fell
from the nests.
Like the buffaloes of this region, the wild pigeon is doomed. These
once common birds are only to be seen occasionally. Isolated and scat-
tered pairs still find a breeding-place in our wilds, but the immense
breeding colonies that once visited our county will never be seen again.
The extermination of the passenger pigeon has gone on so rapidly that
in another decade the birds may become a rarity. The only thing that
will save the birds from this fate is the fact that they no longer resort to
the more thickly populated States as breeding-places, but fly far into the
woods along our northern border. Thirty years ago wild pigeons were
found in New York State, and in Elk, Forest, Warren, McKean, Pike,
and Cameron Counties, Pennsylvania, but now they only figure as
migrants, with a few pair breeding in the beech-woods.
To give an idea of the immensity of these pigeon-roosts, I quote from
the Elk Advocate as late as May, 1 85 1 :
"The American Express Company carried in one day, over the New
York and Erie Railroad, over seven tons of pigeons to the New York
market, and all of these were from the west of Corning. This company
alone have carried over this road from the counties of Chemung, Steuben,
and Allegheny fifty- six tons of pigeons."
108
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The wild pigeon lays usually one or two eggs, and both birds do their
share of the incubating. The females occupy the nest from 2 P.M. until
the next morning, and the males from 9 or 10 A.M. until 2 P.M. The
males usually feed twice each day, while the females feed only during
the forenoon. The old pigeons never feed near the nesting- places, always
allowing the beechmast, buds, etc., there for use in feeding their young
when they come forth. The birds go many miles to feed, often a
hundred or more.
Our birds migrate every fall to Tennessee, the Carolinas, and as far
south as Florida. Want of winter food is and was the cause of that migra-
tion, for those that remained surely picked up a poor living. Migrating
birds return year after year to the same locality. In migrating northward
in the spring, the males usually precede the females several days, but on
leaving their summer scenes of love and joy for the south, the sexes act
in unison.
Of the other pioneer birds, there was the orchard-oriole, pine-gros-
beak, rose-breasted grosbeak, swallow, barn-swallow, ruff winged swallow,
bank swallow, black and white warbler, chesnut-sided warbler, barn-owl,
American long-eared owl, short-eared owl, screech-owl, great-horned owl,
yellow-billed cuckoo, black-billed cuckoo, kingbird, crested flycatcher,
phoebe-bird, wood-pewee, least flycatcher, ruffed grouse (pheasant, or
partridge), quail, also known as the bob-white, marsh-hawk, sparrow-
hawk, pigeon-hawk, fish-
hawk, red-tailed hawk,
American ruff-legged hawk,
horned grebe, loon, hooded
merganser, wood-duck,
buff-headed duck, red-
headed duck, American
bittern, least bittern, blue
heron, green heron, black -
crowned night-heron, Vir-
ginia rail, Carolina rail,
American coot, American
woodcock, Wilson's snipe,
least sandpiper, killdeer
plover, belted kingfisher, turtle-dove, turkey-buzzard, whippoorwill,
nighthawk, ruby-throated humming-bird, blue-jay, bobolink, or reed-
bird, or rice-bird, purple grackle, cowbird (cow-bunting), red-winged
blackbird, American grosbeak, red-poll, American goldfinch, or yellow-
bird, towhee-bunting, cardinal- or redbird, indigo bunting, scarlet tana-
ger, cedar- or cherry-bird, butcher-bird, or great northern scarlet tanager,
red-eyed vireo, American redstart, cootbird, brown thrush, bluebird,
109
Grouse, or pheasant.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
house-wren, wood-wren, white-breasted nuthatch, chickadee, golden-
crowned knight.
- ^^xs^Aa't/ /
Humming-birds.
NATURAL LIFE OF SOME OF OUR BIRDS.
Raven
Years.
. . IOO
Pheasant
Years.
|C
Eaele
... IOO
Partridge
1C
Crow
IOO
Blackbird
IO
Goose
. . . 5 1 Common fowl . . .
IO
Sparrowhawk
Crane
... 40
2 4
Robin
IO
Thrush .
. . . IO
Peacock
... 24
Wren
c
Lark
16
WILD BEES BEE-HUNTING, BEE-TREES, BEE-FOOD, ETC.
In pioneer times these woods were alive with bee-trees, and even yet
that condition prevails in the forest part of this region, as the following
article on bees, from the pen of E. C. Niver, clearly describes :
" Although the natural range of bee-pasturage in this section is prac-
tically unlimited, singular to relate, apiculture is not pursued to any great
extent. With all the apparently favorable conditions, the occupation is
too uncertain and precarious to hazard much capital or time on it. At
the best, apiculture is an arduous occupation, and in the most thickly
populated farming communities it requires constant vigilance to keep
track of runaway swarms. But in this rugged mountain country, with
its thousands of acres of hemlock slashings and hard-wood ridges, it is
virtually impossible to keep an extensive apiary within bounds. The rich
pasturage of the forests and mountain barrens affords too great a tempta-
tion, and although the honey-bee has been the purveyor of sweets for the
ancients as far back as history reaches, she has never yet become thor-
oughly domesticated. At swarming time the nomadic instinct asserts
itself. Nature lures and beckons, and the first opportunity is embraced
no
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
to regain her fastness and subsist upon her bounty. Never a season goes
by but what some swarms escape to the woods. These take up their hab-
itation in hollow trees or some other favorable retreat, and in time throw
off other swarms. Thus it is that our mountains and forests contain an
untold wealth of sweetness, but little of which is ever utilized by man.
" Here is the opportunity of the bee-hunter. In the backwoods coun-
ties of Western Pennsylvania bee-hunting is as popular a sport with some
as deer-hunting or trout-fishing. It does not have nearly so many devo-
tees, perhaps, as these latter sports, for the reason that a greater degree
of woodcraft, skill, and patience is required to become a proficient bee-
hunter. Any backwoodsman can search out and stand guard at a deer
runway, watch a lick, or follow a trail ; and his skill with a rifle, in the
use of which he is familiar from his early boyhood, insures him an equal
chance in the pursuit of game. It does not require any nice display of
woodcraft to tramp over the mountains to the head of the trout stream,
with a tin spice-box full of worms,
cut an ash sapling, equip it with the
hook and line, and fish the stream
down to its mouth. But to search
out a small insect as it sips the nec-
tar from the blossoms, trace it to its
home, and successfully despoil it of
its hoarded stores, requires a degree
of skill and patience that compara-
tively few care to attain. Yet in
every community of this section are Straw bee scap.
some old fellows who do not consider
life complete without a crock ful of strained honey in the cellar when
winter sets in. Then, as they sit with their legs under the kitchen-table
while their wives bake smoking-hot buckwheat cakes, the pungent flavor
of decayed wood which the honey imparts to their palates brings back
the glory of the chase. Whenever a man takes to bee hunting he is an
enthusiastic devotee, and with him all other sport is relegated to the
background.
"There are many methods employed in hunting the wild honey-bee.
The first essential is a knowledge of bees and their habits. This can
only be acquired by experience and intelligent observation. The man
who can successfully ' line' bees can also successfully ' keep' them in a
domestic state, but a successful apiarist is not necessarily a good bee-
hunter.
" September and October are the best months for securing wild honey,
as the bees have then in the main completed their stores. At that season
they can also be most readily lined, for the scarcity of sweets makes them
more susceptible to artificial bait. But the professional bee-hunter does
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
not, as a rule, wait until fall to do all his lining. He wants to know
what is in prospect, and by the time the honey-bee suspends operations
for the winter the hunter has perhaps a dozen bee-trees located which he
has been watching all summer in order to judge as near as possible as to
the amount of stored honey they contain. If the hunter wants to save
the bees he cuts the tree in June and hives the inmates in the same man-
ner as when they swarm in a domestic state. Many swarms are thus ob-
tained, and the hunter scorns to expend any money for a swarm of bees
which he can get for the taking. As a matter of course, when the honey
is taken in the fall the bees, being despoiled of their subsistence, inevi-
tably perish.
" ' I'll gather the honey-comb bright as gold,
And chase the elk to his secret fold.'
" The first warm days of April, when the snows have melted from the
south side of the hills, and the spring runs are clear of ice, find the bee-
hunter on the alert. There is nothing yet for the bees to feed upon, but
a few of the advance-guard are emerging from their long winter's hiber-
nations in search of pollen and water, and they instinctively seek the
water's edge where the warm rays of the sun beat down. Where the
stream has receded from the bank, leaving a miniature muddy beach,
there the bees congregate, dabbling in the mud, sipping water and carry-
ing it away. The first material sought for by the bees is pollen, and the
earliest pasturage for securing this is the pussy -willow and skunk- cabbage,
which grow in the swamps. After these comes the soft maple, which also
affords a large supply of pollen. Sugar-maple is among the first wild
growth which furnishes any honey. Then comes the wild cherry, the
locust, and the red raspberries and blackberries. Of course, the first blos-
soms and the cultivated plants play an important part, but the profusion
of wild flowers which are honey- bearing would probably supply as much
honey to the acre as the cultivated sections.
"The wild honeysuckle, which covers thousands of acres of the
mountain ranges with a scarlet flame in May, is a particular favorite with
bees, as is also the tulip- tree, which is quite abundant in this section.
Basswood honey has a national reputation, and before the paper- wood
cutters despoiled the ridges and forests the basswood-tree furnished an
almost unlimited feeding-ground. This tree blooms for a period of two
or three weeks, and a single swarm has been known to collect ten pounds
of honey in a day when this flower was in blossom. Devil's-club fur-
nishes another strong feed for bees, as well as the despised sumach. Last,
but not least, is the golden-rod, which in this latitude lasts from August
until killed by the autumn frosts. While these are the chief wild-honey
producing trees and plants, they are but a fractional part of the honey
resources of the country.
112
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Having discovered the feeding-ground and haunts of the wild
honey-bee, the hunter proceeds to capture a bee and trace it to its habi-
tation. This is done by ' lining,' that is, following the bee's flight to its
home. The bee always flies in a direct line to its place of abode, and
this wonderful instinct gives rise to the expression, ' a bee-line.'
" To assist in the chase the hunter provides himself with a ' bee- box,'
which is any small box possessing a lid, with some honey inside for bait.
Arrived at any favorable feeding-ground, the hunter eagerly scans the
blossoms until he finds a bee at work. This he scoops into his box and
closes the lid. If he can capture two or more bees at once, so much the
better. After buzzing angrily for a few moments in the darkened box
the bee scents the honey inside and immediately quiets down and begins
to work. Then the box is set down and the lid opened. When the bee
gets all the honey she can carry she mounts upward with a rapid spiral
motion until she gets her bearings, and then she is off like a shot in
a direct line to her habitation. Presently she is back again, and this time
when she departs her bearings are located and she goes direct. After
several trips more bees appear, and when they get to working the bait
and the line of their flight is noted, the box is closed when the bees are
inside and moved forward along the direction in which they have been
coming and going. The hunter carefully marks his trail and opens the
box again. The bees are apparently unconscious that they have been
moved, and work as before. This manoeuvre is repeated until the spot
where the swarm is located is near at hand, and then comes the most try-
ing part of the quest to discover the exact location of the hive. Some-
times it is in the hollow of a dead tree away to the top ; sometimes it is
near the bottom. Again, it may be in a hollow branch of a living tree
of gigantic proportions, closely hidden in the foliage, or it may be in an
old stump or log. To search it out requires the exercise of much patience,
as well as a quick eye and an acute ear.
"To determine the distance of the improvised hive after a line has been
established from the bee-box the hunter resorts to ' cross-lining.' This
is done by moving the box when the bees are at work in it some distance
to one side. The bees as usual fly direct to their home, the second line
of flight converging with the first, forming the apex of a triangle, the
distance between the first and second locations of the box being the base
and the two lines of flight the sides. Where the lines meet the habita-
tion is to be found.
"Different kinds of bait are frequently used in order to induce the
bees to work the box. In the flowering season a little anise or other pun-
gent oil is rubbed on the box to attract the bees and keep them from
being turned aside by the wealth of blossoms along their flight. It is a
mistake to mix the oil with the bait, as it spoils the honey the bees make
and poisons the whole swarm. Sometimes in the early spring corn-cobs
113
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
soaked in stagnant brine proves an attractive bait, while late in the fall
beeswax burned on a heated stone will bring the belated straggler to the
bee -box.
"Cutting a bee-tree is the adventuresome part of the sport. An
angry swarm is a formidable enemy. Then, too, the treasure for which
the hunter is in search is about to be revealed, and the possibilities bring
a thrill of anticipation and excitement. So far as the danger goes the
experienced hunter is prepared for that, and protects his head and face
by a bag of mosquito-netting drawn over a broad-brimmed hat. With
gloves on his hands he is tolerably protected, but sometimes a heavy
swarm breaks through the netting, and instances are on record where
bee-hunters have been so severely stung in despoiling wild swarms as to
endanger their lives. In felling a tree great care must be exercised in
order that the tree may not break up and destroy the honey. Sometimes
trees are felled after night, as bees do not swarm about in the darkness,
and the danger of getting stung is not so great.
"The amount of honey secured depends upon the age of the swarm.
Frequently much time and labor have been expended in lining and cut-
ting a tree which yielded nothing, while again the returns have been
large. There are instances in this community where a single tree
yielded over two hundred pounds of good honey. Not long since a
hunter cut a tree in which a hollow space about eighteen inches in diam-
eter was filled with fine honey for a length of fifteen feet. Often a
tree is cut which has been worked so long that part of the honey is spoiled
with age. Often the comb is broken and the honey mingled with the
decayed wood of the tree. The bee- hunter, however, carefully gathers
up the honey, wood and all, in a tin pail, and strains it, and the pungent
flavor of the wood does not in the least detract from the quality in his
estimation.
" Bee-hunting as a sport could be pursued in nearly every section of
Western Pennsylvania, particularly in the lumbering and tannery districts.
In these sections thousands of acres are annually stripped of timber, ex-
tending many miles back from the settled districts. Fire runs through
these old slashings every year or so, and a dense growth of blackberry
and raspberry briers spring up. These, with the innumerable varieties of
wild flowers, afford a rich and vast pasturage for the honey-bee which has
thrown off the restraints of civilization. Swarm upon swarm is propa-
gated, the surplus product of which is never utilized. With a little en-
couragement bee- hunting might become as popular a form of sport with
the dweller of the town as with the skilled woodsman."
114
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER VII.
RUNWAYS, PATHS, TRAILS, DEER RUNS AND CROSSINGS, INDIAN TRAILS
THE WHITE MAN'S PATH DAVID AND JOHN MEADE MEADE's PACK-
HORSE TRAIL PIONEER SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTHWEST WHITE
BOYS CAPTURED AND REARED BY INDIANS PIONEER EXPLORERS AND
SETTLERS.
PREVIOUS to the white man's advent here this wilderness had public
highways, but they were for the wild deer and savage Indians. These
thoroughfares were called "deer paths" and "Indian trails." These
paths were usually well beaten and crossed each other as civilized roads
now do. The first trail discovered and traversed by the white man was
the Indian Chinklacamoose path, which extended from what is now Clear-
field town to what is now Kittanning. This Indian trail passed through
what is now Punxsutawney, and over this path and through this Indian town
Allegheny Indians carried their white prisoners from the eastern part of the
State to what was then called Kittany, on the Allegheny River. From a
most careful and thorough search to ascertain when the first path or trail of
the white man was made through or in what is now our county, I find it to
be in the year 1 787. In this year of grace two hardy and courageous men,
David and John Meade, were living in what is now Sunbury, Pennsyl-
vania, where John was keeping an inn or tavern. These two brothers
having read General George Washington's report to Governor Dinwiddie,
of Virginia, of the rich lands and valleys that were unoccupied in what is
now called Venango and Crawford Counties, Pennsylvania, determined
to explore that region for themselves. To reach this uninhabited section
they were compelled to open a path from east to west, through what is
now called Jefferson County, then Northumberland County, and which
path is now called in history " Meade's Trail." This trail passed through
what are now West Reynoldsville, Port Barnett, and Brookville.
Fired with the zeal and energy of youth, David and John Meade
blazed their way through this wilderness, over or through streams and
across hills until they reached a broad valley upon whose bosom now
reposes the city of Meadville. Being pleased with the valleys and hills,
these two brothers returned to Sunbury over their trail in the spring of
1788, only to invite and bring with them in the same year, over the same
trail, to the rich valleys they had found, the following-named friends and
neighbors :
Thomas Martin, John Watson, James F. Randolph, Thomas Grant,
Cornelius Van Horn, and Christopher Snyder.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
These men, with their goods packed on four horses, passed through
where Brookville now is in 1788, and settled in and around what is now
Meadville, then Allegheny County. Meade's trail commenced at the
mouth of Anderson's Creek, near Curwinsville, Clearfield County, Penn-
sylvania, and over this trail until 1802 all transportation had to be car-
ried into or through this wilderness on pack-saddles by pack-horses. A
pack-horse load was from two to three hundred pounds. In 1802-3 the
first wagon-road, or the old Milesburg and Waterford State Road, was
opened for travel. The Meade settlers in Crawford County in 1 788 com-
prised the pioneer permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Soon after David Meade and his neighbors reached their new home
the great chief of the Six Nations, accompanied by a number of his tribe,
made these pioneers a social visit. This chief was Cornplanter, and he
was then chief over our Indians who belonged to this confederation. In
one of these friendly visits Meade discovered that five white men who
had been captured when boys were reared by the Indians and were then
living under Cornplanter; that these boys had all attained manhood
and three of them had married Indian women. The five white men
were Lashley Malone, of Bald Eagle Valley, Pennsylvania, Peter Krause,
of Monongahela, Elijah Matthews, of Ohio, Nicholas Rosencrants and
Nicholas Tanewood, of Mohawk Valley, New York State.
In 1789, Darius Meade, father of David and John, Robert F. Ran-
dolph, and Frederick Baum passed over this " trail" on their way to what
is now Meadville. Many of the pioneers who travelled over this trail to
the northwest were captured and murdered by the Indians in the raids of
1791-92 and 1793. In 1791, Darius Meade was captured by two Indians
while ploughing in a field. His captors were Captain Bull, a Delaware
chief, and Conewyando, a Seneca chief. Meade in an effort to escape
got possession of Bull's knife and killed Bull with it, and after a fierce
struggle with Conewyando was killed, but Conewyando died in a few
days from the wounds Meade gave him. Two of our soldiers buried
Meade and Bull side by side where they fell.
"Indian trails were 'bee lines,' over hill and dale, from point to
point. Here and there were open spots on the summits, where runners
signalled their coming by fires when on urgent business, and were
promptly met at stated places by fresh men."
Of the pioneer settlers who came over this trail and settled in what is
now Jefferson and Clarion Counties, Judge Peter Clover, of Clarion
County, in 1877, wrote as follows :
"As stated in the outset, I will give a brief account of the pioneer
settlement of Jefferson County. In 1800, Joseph Barnett and Samuel
Scott settled forty miles west of Curwinsville, Clearfield County. They
were men of great energy and industry, and soon made valuable improve-
ments. They built a saw-mill, which was a great help to the people,
116
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
providing them with boards, etc. They settled among the Indians of
the Seneca tribe, who were, however, civil. Joseph Barnett was a very
eccentric, high-minded man, and took a leading part in all the business
transactions of the day ; a man long to be remembered by those who knew
him. Shortly after their mill was made, perhaps as early as 1802, Henry
Fir, a German, and a number of other families settled on the west of Mill
Creek. Jacob Mason, L. Long, John Dickson, Freedom Stiles, and a
very large negro by the name of Fudge Vancamp, whose wool was as
white as the wool of a sheep and whose face was as black as charcoal, and
yet he was married to a white woman (?).
" In about 1802, John Scott came to the county and settled on the
farm where Corsica now stands, and about 1805, Peter Jones, John Roll,
Sr., the Vasbinder families, and Elijah Graham, and, in 1806, John
Matson and some others, settled near where Brookville now stands. In
the southern part of the county, near Mahoning, John Bell settled at
an early day. He was a man of iron will and great perseverance, afraid
of neither man nor beast, and was a mighty hunter. Moses Knapp was
also an early settler. 'Port Barnett,' as the settlement of Barnett and
Scott was called, was the only stopping-place from Curwinsville for all
those who came in 1801-2 through or for the wilderness over the
' trail. ' We imagine that these buildings would have a very welcome
look to those footsore and weary travellers, an oasis in the desert, as it
were.
" In the year 1801, with a courage nothing could daunt, ten men left
their old homes and all the comforts of the more thickly settled and older
portions of the eastern part of the State for the unsettled wilderness of
the more western part, leaving behind them the many associations which
render the old home so dear, and going forth, strong in might and firm
in the faith of the God of their fathers, to plant homes and erect new
altars, around which to rear their young families. Brave hearts beat in
the bosoms of those men and women who made so many and great sacri-
fices in order to develop the resources of a portion of country almost un-
known at that time. When we look abroad to-day and see what rapid
strides have been made in the march of civilization, we say all honor to
our forefathers who did so great a part of the work. It would be difficult
for those of the present day to imagine how families could move upon
horseback through an almost unbroken wilderness, with no road save an
' Indian trail,' the women and children mounted upon horses, the cook-
ing utensils, farming implements, such as hoes, axes, ploughs, and shovels,
together with bedding and provision, placed on what were called pack-
saddles, while following upon foot were the men with guns upon their
shoulders, ready to take down any small game that might cross their path,
which would go towards making up their next meal. After a long and
toilsome journey these pioneers halted on their course in what was then
117
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
called Armstrong County (now Clarion County), and they immediately
began the clearing of their lands, which they had purchased from General
James Potter, of the far-famed ' Potter Fort,' in Penn's Valley, in Centre
County, familiar to every one who has ever read of the terrible depreda-
tions committed by the Indians in that part of the country at an early
period of its history.
" The names of the men were as follows : William Young, Sr., Philip
Clover, Sr., John Love, James Potter, John Roll, Sr., James McFadden,
Bear.
John C. Corbett, Samuel Wilson, Sr., William Smith, and Philip Clover, Jr.
Samuel Wilson returned to Centre County to spend the winter, but death
removed him. In the following spring of 1802 his widow and her five sons
returned, namely, Robert, John, William, Samuel, and David. Those
who did not take their families along in 1801, built their cabins, cleared
some land, put in some wheat, raised potatoes and turnips, put them in
their cabins and covered them with earth for safe-keeping for the next
summer's use, and when they got all their work done, in the fall they
118
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
returned to their families in Centre and Mifflin Counties, in the spring
of 1802. Those, with some others, who also came at an early date,
James Laughlin and Frederick Miles, built a saw-mill in 1804, at or near
the mouth of Pine Creek, and they were the first to run timber to
Pittsburg from what is now Clarion County.
" The food and raiment of the first settlers made a near approach to
that of John the Baptist in the wilderness. Instead of locusts they had
wild turkey, deer, and bear meat, and their raiment consisted of home-
spun woollen, linen, or tow cloth, the wool and flax being all prepared
for weaving by hand, there being no carding-machines in the county for
many years after its first settlement ; then . women carded by hand.
When woollen cloth was wanted for men's wear, the process of fulling
was as follows : The required quantity of flannel was laid upon the bare
floor, and a quantity of soap and water thrown over it ; then a number
of men seated upon stools would take hold of a rope tied in a circle and
begin to kick the flannel with their bare feet. When it was supposed to
be fulled sufficiently, the men were released from their task, which was a
tiresome one, yet a mirth provoking one, too, for, if it were possible, one
or so must come from his seat, to be landed in the midst of the heap of
flannel and soapsuds, much to the merriment of the more fortunate ones.
Flax was prepared by drying over a fire, then breaking, scutching, and
hackling before being ready to spin. The linen and tow cloth supplied
the place of muslin and calico of the present day. That which was for
dress goods was made striped, either by color or blue through the white,
which was considered a nice summer suit, when made into what was
called a short gown and petticoat, which matched very well with the
calfskin slippers of that day. The nearest store was at Kittanning, thirty-
five miles distant, and calico was fifty cents per yard, and the road but a
pathway through the woods.
"In those days men appeared at church in linen shirts with collars
four inches wide turned down over the shoulders, linen vest ; no coat in
summer. Some wore cowhide shoes, others moccasins of buckskin, others
again with their feet bare. In winter, men wore deerskin pantaloons
and a long loose robe called a hunting shirt, bound round the body with
a leathern girdle, and some a flannel warmus, which was a short kind of
a coat, the women wearing flannel almost exclusively in the winter.
" During the first two years after the first settlement the people had
to pack their flour upon horseback from Centre, Westmoreland, and In-
diana Counties ; also their iron and salt, which was at ten dollars per
barrel ; iron fifteen cents per pound. Coffee and tea were but little used,
tea being four dollars per pound, coffee seventy-five cents. Those arti-
cles were considered great luxuries, both from the high price at which
they came, and the difficulties attending their transportation through the
woods, following the Indian trail. As to vegetables and animal food,
119
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
there was no scarcity, as every one had gardens and the forest abounded
with wild game, and then there were some expert huntsmen that kept the
settlement supplied with meat. Those who were not a sure shot them-
selves would go and work for the hunter while he would go out and sup-
ply his less fortunate neighbor. Many, however, got along badly, some
having nothing but potatoes and salt for substantials. I knew one hunter
who killed one hundred and fifty deer and twenty bears in the first two
years of the settlement, besides any amount of small game. When people
began to need barns and larger houses, one would start out and invite the
whole country for miles around, often going ten or twelve miles, and
then it often took two or three days to raise a log barn, using horses to
help to get up the logs."
THE PIONEER EXPLORERS, ANDREW BARNETT AND SAMUEL SCOTT
THE PIONEER SETTLERS, JOSEPH HUTCHISON AND WIFE THE
PATRIARCH OF THE COUNTY, JOSEPH BARNETT OTHER EARLY
SETTLERS.
In regard to the first settlement and early history of the county I
have made diligent research, and find, what is not unusual, some con-
flicting accounts and statements. These I have endeavored to compile,
arrange, and harmonize to the best of my ability.
From the best information I am enabled to gather and obtain, Andrew
Barnett and Samuel Scott were sent in 1795 by Joseph Barnett, who was
then living in either Northumberland, Lycoming, or Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania, to explore the famous region then about French Creek,
now Crawford County, Pennsylvania. But when these two "explorers"
reached Mill Creek, now Port Barnett, they were forcibly impressed with
the great natural advantages of the place for a saw -mill. They stopped
over two or three days to examine the creek. They explored as far down
as to where Summerville now is, arid, after this careful inspection, con-
cluded that this spot, where " the lofty pine leaned gloomily over every
hill-side," was just the ideal home for a lumberman.
They went no farther west, but returned east, and informed Joseph
Barnett of the "Eureka" they had found. In the spring of 1797,
Joseph and Andrew Barnett, Samuel Scott, and Moses Knapp came from
their home at the mouth of Pine Creek, then in Lycoming County, to
the ideal mill-site of Andrew, and so well pleased were they all that they
commenced the erection of the pioneer cabin and mill in the wilderness,
in what was then Pine Creek township, Lycoming County. The cabin
and mill were on the present site of Humphrey's mill and grounds at Port
Barnett. The Indians assisted, about nine in number, to raise these
buildings, and not a stroke of work would these savages do until they
had eaten up all the provisions Mr. Barnett had. This took three days.
Then the rascals exclaimed, "Me eat, me sleep; now me strong, now
120
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
me work." In the fall of the same year Joseph Barnett returned to his
family, leaving his brother Andrew and Scott to finish some work. In a
short time thereafter Andrew Barnett became ill and died, and was buried
on the north bank of the creek, at the junction of Sandy Lick and Mill
Creek, Scott and two Indians being the only attendants at the funeral.
Joseph Barnett was, therefore, soon followed by Scott, who was his
brother-in-law, bringing the melancholy tidings of this event, which for
a time cast a gloom over the future prospects of these sturdy pioneers.
In 1798, however, Joseph Barnett, Scott, Knapp, and a married man
by the name of Joseph Hutchison, came out with them and renewed
their work. Hutchison brought his wife, household goods, also two
cows and a calf, and commenced housekeeping, and lived here two years
before Joseph Barnett brought his family, who were then living in Dauphin
County. Hutchison is clearly the pioneer settler in what is now Jeffer-
son County. He was a sawyer. In that year the mill was finished by
Knapp and Scott, and in 1 799 there was some lumber sawed. In the fall
of 1800, Joseph Barnett brought his wife and family to the home prepared
for them in the wilderness. Barnett brought 'with him two cows and
seven horses, five loaded with goods as pack-horses and two as riding or
family horses. His route of travel into this wilderness was over Meade's
trail.
The first boards were run in 1801 to what is now Pittsburg. About
four thousand feet were put in a raft, or what would be a two-platform
piece. Moses Knapp was the pioneer pilot.
In a paper contributed to the Jefferson County Graphic by Mrs. Sarah
Graham, a daughter of Joseph Barnett, this portion of the county is there
described as " the home of the Indian, the panther, the bear, and deer;
and wolves were as plenty as dogs in Brookville. ' '
Farther on this interesting account continues : " The first white child
born in the county was J. P. Barnett. The next person that came here
was Peter Jones. He settled on the farm now owned by John McCul-
lough, and the next was a Mr. Roll, who settled on the farm now owned
by John S. Barr. Then came Fudge Vancamp (negro), who built his
cabin on the farm now owned by John Clark ; and then Adam Vasbinder,
who settled on the farm at the present time owned by Samuel Bullers.
William Vasbinder pitched his tent on the Kirkman homestead. Ludwick
Long put up his wigwam on the place now owned by Mr. McConnell.
Here Long erected a distillery, and the great dragon first opened his
mouth and cast out his flood of water in the wilderness. John Dixon
came next. He was our first school-master. The school- house was built
on the McConnell farm ; built of round logs, and oiled paper for glass.
Everything had to be carried from the settlements on horseback ; glass
was too easily broken to try to bring so far. The second school-house
was built on the south side of the pike, at the forks of the Ridgway road.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Here the first graveyard was laid out, and the first person buried in it was
a child of Samuel Scott.
"An old Muncy Indian, called Captain Hunt, was a frequent visitor
at Port Barnett, and had his camp for several years on the Red Bank,
within the limits of the southwestern part of what is now the town of
Brookville. It is related of him that a cave near what is now the con-
fluence of Sandy Lick and North Fork was occupied by him for several
years as a hiding-place. He was a fugitive from his tribe for having
killed a fellow Indian, and was frequently pursued by members of his
race to avenge the crime. On these occasions he always managed to
escape to his cave, approaching it by running in the water of the stream
to avoid being followed by his track, and in this way he safely secreted
himself and successfully evaded his pursuers.
" In this same connection, a story is told of the capture of a child in
Westmoreland County by the Muncy Indians, who carried him to their
tribe and adopted him. By the law of this tribe, when one of their
number was a fugitive from them for killing another, he was not per-
mitted to return until the place of the murdered Indian was supplied by
the capture of another male from the whites or some other tribe. It is,
therefore, alleged and generally supposed that the little boy from West-
moreland County, who had been sent by his mother on an errand to his
father in the field, was observed by these Indians, seized and carried off
to their camp, and that after this old Captain Hunt was at liberty to re-
turn to his tribe. It is also related of the boy, that when he grew to be
a man he was permitted to visit his parents and friends, but declined to
remain among them, and returned to his Indian home.
" Old Captain Hunt was a noted and successful hunter, obtaining his
living in this way, and John Jones was often his companion on hunting
excursions. One year he is said to have killed seventy-eight bears, and
having the Indian appetite for whiskey, the skins of these were nearly all
expended by him in procuring this beverage.
" These dense forests were the abode of wild animals and game in
greater numbers than most any other part of the country. Panthers,
bears, and wolves roamed the woods undisturbed, the deer travelled about
in droves, and flocks of wild turkeys were numerous."
I may not be able to give the names of all the early settlers and the
date of their arrival, but John, William, and Jacob Vasbinder reached
here about the year 1802 or 1803, John Matson, Sr., about 1806, and
the Lucases soon after.
In 1803 the name Keystone was first applied to the State. This was in
a printed political address to the people. Pennsylvania was the central
State of the original thirteen.
John and Archibald Bell settled in the southern part of the county
about 1809 or 1810, and that locality was then an unbroken wilderness
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
for miles around. Archie Hadden came and settled a mile southeast of
him about 1812, and in 1815 Hugh McKee settled half a mile east of
Perrysville. Jacob Hoover came in 1814 and settled at the present site
of Clayville. John Postlethwait, Sr., came in 1818 from Westmoreland
County, and located with his family a mile and a half northwest of Perrys-
ville. A family by the name of Young settled about two miles west of
this place about the same time. People began to settle in the vicinity of
Punxsutawney about the year 1 8 1 6, the first being Abram Weaver, and
Deer and fawn.
Rev. David Barclay, Dr. John W. Jenks, and Nathaniel Tindle, with
their families, and Elijah Heath arrived there about 1817 or 1818.
Charles C. Gaskill, Isaac P. Carmalt, John B. Henderson, and John Hess
came some time later. About 1818, David, John, and Henry Milliron
settled on Little Sandy, and Henry Nolf located on the same stream,
where Langville now stands, and erected a saw-mill. In 1820, Lawrence
Nolf came to Pine Run, two miles south of Ringgold, but made no im-
provement, and afterwards sold to John Miller, who opened up a farm.
Hon. James Winslow and others were also among the first settlers in the
neighborhood of Punxsutawney. James McClelland and Michael Lantz
123
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
came into the southwestern part of the county, within the limits of what
is now Porter township, previous to the year 1820. William Stewart and
Benjamin McBride made a settlement in the Round Bottom, west of
Whitesville, in 1821, and in the same year James Stewart came and
located three miles northwest of Perrysville. The year 1822 brought a
number of families to the county, among whom were the following : David
Postlethwait, who purchased Stewart and McBride's right of settlement
in the Round Bottom, and settled with his brother John on Pine Run,
who had preceded him there ; John McHenry, James Bell, and some
others, who moved into the Round Bottom, near Whitesville, and a Mr.
Baker, who settled across the creek east of Whitesville ; Jesse Armstrong
and Adam Long, the former locating near where Clayville now is, and
the latter at a place near Punxsutawney ; John Fuller, who settled near
Reynoldsville ; and Samuel Newcome, who settled on Pine Run, about a
mile above the Postlethwaits. In 1823, John Mclntosh and Henry Keys
settled in Beech Woods, now Washington township, and the year 1824
brought Alexander Osborn. John McGee, Matthew and William
McDonald, Andrew Smith, John Wilson, William Cooper, and William
McCullough were also among the first settlers in the northeastern part of
the county. Other names of early settlers will be found in that part of
this history devoted to the different towns and townships.
CHAPTER VIII.
PROVISION FOR OPENING A ROAD REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO
THE GOVERNOR STREAMS, ETC.
"AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR OPENING A ROAD FROM NEAR THE BALD
EAGLE'S NEST, IN MIFFLIN COUNTY, TO LE BCEUF, IN THE COUNTY
OF ALLEGHENY.
"WHEREAS, A road has, under the direction of the Legislature, been
in part laid out from Reading and Presque Isle ; AND WHEREAS, It is con-
sidered that opening and improving said road would be greatly conducive
to the interests of the community by opening a communication with the
northwest part of the State, and would much facilitate an intercourse with
Lake Erie ;
" SECTION i. Therefore be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly
met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the gov-
ernor be empowered to contract for the opening and improving of the
road between the Bald Eagle's Nest and the Allegheny River to Le
Bceuf.
124
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
when it shall appear to the persons who may contract for the opening of
said road that deviations from such parts of the road as laid out are
essentially necessary, he or they shall be authorized to make such devia-
125
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
tions, provided that such deviations do not depart materially from the
survey already made.
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
in order to carry this into effect the governor is empowered to draw his
warrant on the State Treasurer for five thousand dollars, to be paid out
of the sale of reserved lands and lots in the towns of Erie, Franklin,
Warren, and Waterford."
Passed April 10, 1799. Recorded in Law Book No. 6, p. 443.
The Bald Eagle's Nest referred to above was Milesburg. The nest
was not that of a bird, but that of an Indian warrior of that name, who
built his wigwam there between two large white oaks. The western ter-
minus of the road, then called Le Boeuf, is now known as Waterford,
Erie County, Pennsylvania. On the completion of the turnpike most of
this road was abandoned in this county. It is still in use from Brook-
ville, about seven or eight miles of it, to the Olean road north of Cor-
sica. It passed through where Brookville now is, near or on what is now
Coal Alley. It was a great thoroughfare for the pioneers going to the
West arid Northwest.
" DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS,
" HARRISBURG, PA., May 18, 1895.
"MR W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
"DEAR SIR, In answer to your letter of the ist instant, we send
you this contract and the accompanying papers, which are among the
records of the department. As requested, we send you a copy of the
report of the commissioners who made the survey of the road.
" Very truly yours,
" ISAAC B. BROWN,
' ' Deputy Secretary. ' '
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO THE GOVERNOR.
"WHEREAS, In and by an Act of the General Assembly entitled 'An
Act for laying out and opening sundry Roads within this Commonwealth
and for other purposes,' it is among other things provided and declared,
that your Excellency shall be empowered and required to appoint three
persons as Commissioners, ' to view the ground and estimate the expense
of opening and making a good Waggon Road from the Bald Eagle's
Nest, or the end of Nittany Mountain, to the Town of Erie at Presque-
isle, and to cause the said Road to be Surveyed and staked out, by the
most practicable Route, and also cause a draft of the survey to be made out
in Profile, and to report to the Legislature the several parts of the ex-
pense that will be incurred in each County through which the said Road
will pass : Provided, That the Commissioners thus appointed* shall not
stake out any part of the said Road when it may be carried on Roads
126
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
heretofore laid out and opened, agreeably to the Provisions of former
laws of this State.'
"AND WHEREAS, In pursuance of the power and authority given and
granted in and by the said recited Act of Assembly, William Irvine,
Andrew Ellicott, and George Wilson, Esquires, were by Letters Patent
under your Excellency's hand, and the great Seal of the State, bearing
date the thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and ninety-six, appointed Commissioners for the purposes
aforesaid; but the said Andrew Ellicott, Esq., hath since resigned the
said appointment, and his resignation hath been duly accepted.
" AND WHEREAS, In pursuance of the power and authority given and
granted in and by the said recited Act of Assembly, Joseph Ellicott was,
by Letters Patent, under your Excellency's Hand and the great Seal of
the State, bearing date the nineteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, appointed a Commis-
sioner in the lieu and stead of the said Andrew Ellicott, Esq., who had
resigned as aforesaid, and in conjunction with the said William Irvine
and George Wilson, Esquires, the two other Commissioners for the pur-
pose of viewing and laying out the said Road in manner as stated in and
by the above recited Act of Assembly.
" Now THEREFORE, The said George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott, two
of the Commissioners appointed as aforesaid for the purposes aforesaid,
beg leave to report :
" I. That the said William Irvine, George Wilson, and Joseph Elli-
cott, the Commissioners appointed as aforesaid, in conformity to your
Excellency's Instructions in pursuance of the above recited Act of Assem-
bly, with all convenient dispatch, in the execution of the trust reposed in
them, proceeded to examine the situation of the Country at the Bald
Eagle's Nest and to the end of Nittany Mountain, and having viewed the
respective safes, they unanimously agreed to take their departure from the
Bald Eagle's Nest. As soon as this decision took place the said William
Irvine left the other Commissioners and returned home.
" II. That the said George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott then pro-
ceeded to vfew, survey, and stake out by a route, in their opinion,
deemed the most practicable, a Road from the Bald Eagle's Nest towards
the town of Erie at Presque-isle, and that they have ascertained the various
courses and distances, the topographical situation, &c., of the said Road
for the length of one hundred and sixteen miles, as represented in and by
the Draft in profile hereunto annexed.
"III. That in consequence of the failure of Horses, the scarcity of
Provisions, the advanced season of the year, and various other obstacles
which retarded the prosecution of the business, they were compelled to
relinquish the object of their mission, and have left above thirty-six miles
of the Road unfinished.
127
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" IV. That they have used their utmost diligence and attention to
direct the course of the said Road over firm and level ground j but that
frequently became totally impracticable, and where the ascent and descent
of hills and mountains became unavoidable they made use of an altitude
level, and have so adjusted its course that in its greatest elevation or de-
pression it never exceeds an angle of six degrees with the horizon : Hence
it may easily be inferred that considerable deviations from a straight line
have necessarily occurred.
" V. That the land in that part of Mifflin County through which the
Road passes is generally of an indifferent quality. For a part of this
distance the Road passes over the declivities of the Allegheny Mountain
and the Mushanon Hills. The country, however, for several miles be-
tween the summit of the Allegheny Mountain and the Mushanon hills,
and also that part of Huntingdon County which the Road intersects, is
generally level and free from stones, well timbered with Hickory, White
and Black Oak, Dogwood, Ash, Chestnut, Poplar, White Pine, &c., and
upon the whole well calculated for settlements. The soil of that part of
Lycoming County which is intersected by the Road is generally of a lux-
uriant quality, abounding in many places with Stone coal, well timbered
with various species of wood, and adapted to the production of all kinds
of grain, &c., peculiar to the climate.
" VI. Your Commissioners with pleasure remark that from the Sus-
quehanna River at Anderson's Creek to the first navigable stream of
Sandy Lick Creek (a branch of Allegheny River) the portage along the
said road is but twenty-two Miles. The road crosses Sandy Lick Creek
about fifty miles from its junction with the Allegheny River, and from
the Susquehanna to the North-Western branch of Sandy Lick Creek the
portage is thirty- three miles. The North-Western branch discharges its
waters into Sandy Lick Creek, about sixty perches below the place where
it is intersected by the Road at the junction of the North-Western branch.
The Sandy Lick Creek is as large as the Susquehanna River at Anderson's
Creek, and the distance of the said Creek from the Allegheny River is
about thirty-five miles. The Portage from the Susquehanna at Ander-
son's. to Toby's Creek is forty-nine miles. Toby's Creek is twenty-two
perches wide, and its distance from the intersection of the Road to the
Allegheny River is about forty miles. It is navigable for boats, rafts, &c.,
from the intersection of the Road to the Allegheny River and about fifty
or sixty miles above the place of intersection. The portage from the
Susquehanna to the Allegheny River at Sussunadohtaw is seventy-two
miles, and for the greater part of the distance of these portages the Road
passes through a rich and fertile country.
" VII. That your Commissioners have formed their estimate of ex-
penses upon the supposition that the said Road, as far as it has been sur-
veyed, will be opened thirty feet in width ; sixteen feet in the middle to
128
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
be cut and cleared as nearly level with the surface of the earth as prac-
ticable, but where digging and levelling on the sides of Hills and Moun-
tains shall become necessary that a passage will be dug twelve feet wide,
and that Bridges and causeways will be erected and formed over all miry
places to enable Waggons to pass.
"A general estimate of expenditures requisite in opening, clearing,
digging, levelling, erecting Bridges and forming causeways over the said
Road.
"The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Mifflin,
commencing at the Bald Eagle's Nest and ending at the Big Mushanon
Creek, nineteen miles & sixteen perches.
"For opening, cleaning, digging, levelling, forming^ ..
causeways on the said Road and erecting a Bridge over the >
Little Mushanon in the said County. J
" The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Hunting-
don, commencing at the Big Mushanon Creek and ending at the West
branch of the Susquehanna River, twenty-one miles one hundred and
fifty-seven perches.
"For opening, clearing, digging, levelling, forming ^
causeways on the said Road and erecting a Bridge over > 2643.37.
Alder Run in said County. J
"The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Ly-
coming, commencing at the West branch of Susquehanna and ending at
the Allegheny River, seventy-two miles & 193 perches.
" For opening, clearing, digging, levelling, and forming )
Causeways on the said Road. )
" VIII. That the said Road in its whole length passes through one
entire and uninterrupted Wilderness, and the expenses already incurred
in the execution of the business have considerably exceeded the legal
appropriation intended for its completion.
" GEO. WILSON.
JOSEPH ELLICOTT."
DELAWARE INDIAN AND PIONEER NAMES FOR RIVERS AND CREEKS;
ALSO ACTS OF LEGISLATURE DECLARING THESE STREAMS PUB-
LIC HIGHWAYS.
" Where skimmed the Indian bark,
And the song of the boatman re-echoed through the forest."
Topi-hanne Toby Creek ; 1749, Riviere au Fiel Gall River.
Ma-onink Mahoning.
Tangawunsch-hanne North Fork.
Legamwi mahonne Sandy Lick, or Red Bank; 1749, Riviere au
Vermilion.
129
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Legamwi-hanne Sandy Creek.
The reason why Toby Creek was subsequently called Clarion River
was because there were no less than three or four Toby Creeks in Penn-
sylvania. There was one in Monroe County, one in Luzerne, and one
in Venango, which is now Clarion. Now, Tobyhanna, or Toby Creek,
is corrupted from Topi-hanne, signifying alder stream ; that is, a stream
whose banks were fringed with alders. I find also that the Clarion River
was called by the Delawares Gawunsch-hanne ; that is, brier stream, a
stream whose banks are overgrown with briers. There seems to be an
incongruity, but the probabilities are that farther down in what is now
Clarion County the stream was overgrown with alder-bushes. Mahoning
is a corruption of Ma-onink, and signifies where there is a lick, or at the
lick ; sometimes a stream flowing there or near a lick. This name is a
very common one for rivers and places in the Delaware country, along
which or where the surface of the ground was covered with saline de-
posits, provisionally called "licks," from the fact that deer, elk, buffalo,
and other animals frequented these places and licked the salted earth.
Mahonitty signifies a small lick, and Ma-oning a stream flowing from
or near a lick.
By the act of Assembly, March 21, 1808, this creek was declared to
be a public highway for the passage of rafts, boats, and other vessels from
its confluence with the Allegheny River to the mouth of Canoe Creek, in
Indiana County. That act authorized the inhabitants along its banks, and
others desirous of using it for navigation, to remove all natural and arti-
ficial obstructions in it, except dams for mills and other water -works, and
to erect slopes at the mill and other dams, which must be so constructed
as not to injure the works of such dams. Any person owning or possess-
ing lands along this stream has the liberty to construct dams across it,
subject, however, to the restrictions and provisions of the general act
authorizing the riparian owners to erect dams for mills on navigable
streams. William Travis and Joseph Marshall were appointed to super-
intend the expenditure of eight hundred dollars for the improvement of
this stream, authorized by the act of March 24, 1817, to whom an order
for their services for two hundred and one dollars was issued by the com-
missioners of this county December 23, 1818.
The Act of Legislature, No. 129, declaring part of Big Mahoning
Creek a public highway, approved April 13, 1833, reads as follows :
" SECTION 2. From and after the passage of this act, that part of Big
Mahoning Creek, in Jefferson County, from the mouth of Canoe Creek,
in said county, is hereby declared a public highway for the passage of
rafts, boats, and other craft ; and it shall and may be lawful for persons
desirous of using the navigation of said creek between the points afore-
said to remove all natural and artificial obstructions from the bed or
channel of said creek, except dams for mills and other water works, and
130
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
also to erect such slopes at the mill or other dams on said creek as may
be necessary for the passage of rafts, boats, and other vessels. Provided,
such slopes be so constructed as not to injure the works of such dams.
And provided also, that any person or persons owning or possessing lands
on said creek shall have liberty to construct any dam or dams across the
same, agreeably and subject to all the restrictions and provisions of an act
of the General Assembly of this Commonwealth, passed the twenty-third
day of March, one thousand eight hundred and three, entitled ' An Act
to authorize any person or persons owning lands adjoining navigable
streams of water declared public highways to erect dams on such streams
for mill and other water-works.' '
Tangawunsch-hanne, North Fork, meant in the Indian tongue Little
Brier Stream, or stream whose banks are overgrown with green brier.
The following act of the Legislature declared it a public highway.
An act, No. 64, declaring the North Fork of Sandy Lick Creek, in
the county of Jefferson, from the mouth thereof to Ridgway, in said
county, a public highway :
"SECTION i. Be it enacted, etc., That the North Fork of Sandy Lick
Creek, in the county of Jefferson, from the mouth thereof to Ridgway, in
said county, be, and the same is hereby declared a public highway ; and
it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons desirous of improving
or using the navigation of said stream to remove thereout all obstruc-
tions, except dams for mills and other water-works already built, on which
dam any such person or persons as aforesaid shall have full power to
make slopes, such as are hereinafter described, and to keep the same in
repair for the passage of boats, rafts, and other craft. Provided, that
such slopes be so constructed as not to injure such dams.
"Approved the thirteenth day of March, A.D. one thousand eight
hundred and thirty-three.
" GEORGE WOLF,
" Governor.'"
" Legamwi-mahonne means a sandy lick creek; that is, Sandy Lick,
which was the name of this stream as late as 1792, from its source to its
mouth, according to Reading Howell's map of that year. It bore that
name even later. By the act of Assembly, March 21, 1798, ' Sandy Lick
or Red Bank Creek' was declared to be a public stream or highway ' from
the mouth up to the second or great fork. ' The writer has not been able
to ascertain just when, why, or at whose suggestion its original name was
changed to Red Bank, by which it has been known by the oldest inhab-
itants now living in the region through which it flows. Perhaps the
change may have been suggested by the red color of the soil of its banks
many miles up from its mouth." History of Armstrong County, Pennsyl-
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF RED BANK CREEK.
In 1749 the governor-general of Canada sent an expedition under
Celeron de Bienville down what is now known as the Allegheny and
Ohio Rivers, to take possession of the country in the name of the king
of France. The command embraced two hundred and fifteen French
and Canadian soldiers and fifty-five Indians. Father Bonnecamp, a
chaplain of this expedition, drew a map of the route, locating the tribes
of Indians, and giving the Indian names of the tributaries of these rivers
and also the name of the Indian villages. This manuscript map was de-
posited and is still in the archives of the Department de la Marine in
Paris, and is styled " Map of a Voyage made on the Beautiful River in
New Flanders, 1749, by Rev. Father Bonnecamp, Jesuit Mathematician."
The map is very correct, considering all the circumstances. It has
been reproduced on a smaller scale by George Dallas Albert and pub-
lished in "The Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," in vol. ii., with an ex-
planation of the map, French names, and their corresponding American
designations. In this map I find Riviere au Vermilion emptying into
the Allegheny River, corresponding to the exact location of what is now
called Red Bank Creek, and unfortunately translated by Mr. Albert as
Mahoning Creek. On the Allegheny River going downward I find
Riviere aux Bceuf, Beef, or Buffalo River, now called French Creek;
then Riviere au Fiel, Gall River or Clarion River ; third, Riviere au
Vermilion or Red Bank Creek; fourth, a stream not named, which
must have been Mahoning ; and then Attique, a village, or what is now
Kittanning. Mr. Albert should have named the undesignated stream
Mahoning and the Vermilion River Eed Bank.
In 1 798 this stream was designated by legal statute as Sandy Lick or
Red Bank Creek, but later by common acceptance the name Sandy Lick
was applied to that portion above where the North Fork unites, and Red
Bank from Brook ville to the mouth.
" The first lot of lumber which Barnett and Scott sent down the Red
Bank was a small platform of timber, with poles instead of oars as the pro-
pelling power. There was a flood in this stream in 1806 which reached
eight or ten feet up the trees on the flats.
"One thousand dollars was appropriated by the act of Assembly
'making appropriations for certain internal improvements,' approved
March 24, 1817, for the purpose of improving this creek, and Levi Gib-
son and Samuel C. Orr were appointed commissioners to superintend the
application of the money. By the act of April 4, 1826, ' Sandy Lick, or
Red Bank Creek,' was declared a public highway only for the passage of
boats, rafts, etc., descending it. That act also made it lawful for all
persons owning lands adjoining this stream to erect mill-dams across it.
and other water-works along it, to keep them in good repair, and draw
132
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
off enough water to operate them on their own land, but required them
' to make a slope from the top, descending fifteen feet for every foot the
dam is high, and not less than forty feet in breadth,' so as to afford a
good navigation, and not to infringe the rights and privileges of any owner
of private property.
" The first flat-boat that descended this stream was piloted by Samuel
Knapp, in full Indian costume. In 1832 or 1833 two boats loaded with
sawed lumber owned by Uriah Matson, which found a good market in
Cincinnati, with the proceeds of which Matson purchased the goods
with which he opened his store at Brookville. " History of Armstrong
County.
An act declaring the rivers Ohio and Allegheny, and certain branches
thereof, public highways :
"SECTION i. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passing of
this act, the river Ohio, from the western boundary of the State up to the
mouth of the Monongahela, Big Beaver Creek, from the mouth of the
first fork in the seventh district of donation land, Allegheny River, from
the mouth to the northern boundary of the State, French Creek to the
town of Le Boeuf, and Conewango Creek, from the mouth thereof to the
State line, Cussawago Creek, from the mouth of the main forks, Little
Coniate Creek, from the mouth up to the inlet of the Little Coniate
Lake, Toby's Creek, from the mouth up to the second fork (now Clarion
River, and Johnsonburg was the second fork), Oil Creek, from the mouth
up to the main fork, Broken Straw Creek, from the mouth up to the second
fork, Sandy Lick, or Red Bank Creek, from the mouth up to the second
great fork, be, and the same are hereby declared to be public streams
and highways for the passage of boats and rafts ; and it shall and may be
lawful for the inhabitants or others desirous of using the navigation of
the said river and branches thereof to remove all natural obstructions in
the said river and branches aforesaid." Passed 2ist March, 1798. Re-
corded in Law Book No. VI. page 245.
The first fork was at Brookville's site, the second great fork was at
Port Barnett.
An act, No. 189, declaring Little Toby's Creek, Black Lick Creek,
Little Oil Creek, and Clark's Creek public highways :
"SECTION i. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of
this act Little Toby's Creek, in the counties of Clearfield and Jefferson,
from the mouth of John Shaffer's mill run, on the main branch of Toby's
Creek, and from the forks of Brandy Camp (or Kersey Creek) to the
Clarion River,
%%.-%.%%%'%%.%.
be, and the same are hereby declared public highways for the passage of
rafts, boats, and other craft, and it shall and may be lawful for, etc.
(The same provisions follow here as in No. 129.)
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"Approved the fourteenth day of April, A.D. one thousand eight
hundred and twenty-eight.
" J. ANDW. SHULTZ,
" Governor:'
The Little Sandy Creek makes a long circuit through about what is
now the centre of the county. Numerous runs approach it from the east
and north. The principal streamlets are Big Run, Elk Run, and Pine
Run. This region of the county is hilly and the ravines are deep, and
at some points wide ranges of bottom flats. When the pioneer settled
here the stream was the southwestern portion of the county. The table-
lands along this stream range in height from twelve hundred to eighteen
hundred feet above the sea.
"THAT FLOOD.
"The flood is here. During the past week all has been bustle and
hurry. Our lumbermen have had an excellent time to start their lumber
to market, and now the great body of the lumber manufactured on the
Clarion and its tributaries during the past year is floating down-stream.
The waters have been very accommodating for a few days past, neither
too high nor too low. Pilots are in their glory. Each one was the first to
discover that stray ' snag' which had hid itself beneath the foaming waters
in some critical spot, and although some of them happened to run pretty
close to it, yet all knew it was there, and would have missed it, if they
could ; and some of them did miss it by dint of ' cracking her up behind'
with all their power.
"The rafting season on these waters is a season of life and activity,
bustle and confusion, wet limbs and red wamuses. It gives to our town
an important and business-like appearance. The landing of steamers and
other craft in a great commercial mart may be some, but the landing of
rafts in ' Dick's Pond' and ' the Eddy' is considerable more. The skill,
nerve, and muscle here exhibited to say nothing of an occasional big
word that accidentally falls from some excited pilot or proprietor can
find its equal nowhere only on some lumbering stream during a rafting
freshet. There is something fascinating about this rafting business, not-
withstanding its incessant hard labor. As they proceed downward, float-
ing majestically over the virgin bosom of the mighty waters, the scene
changes with them, the fare changes, the atmosphere changes, the waters
change. Here the hungry raftmen recruit their drooping energies with
'the best the country can afford,' and such as are so disposed (and we
are happy to say there are but few of this class) can wet their whistles
with pure, unadulterated ' rot gut,' with which ' our bar' is always boun-
tifully supplied. On their course they soon find beef and potatoes and
hot cakes more scarce, but are cheered up by a change from this fare to
' a great many molasses, ' lots of flitch, and mouldy bread that has been
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
kept over from the last rafting for their especial benefit, with common
corn whiskey. But anything for a change. No matter if you do flop out
of the frying-pan into the fire. Peradventure, our hardy fellow- citizens,
with rough exterior, but large, generous souls glowing within them,
arrive at towns below, where they are greeted with ' Olean hoosiers'
from every long nine, with a smutty-faced urchin attached to it, they
meet. But no matter. They have ' better clothes' at home and more
Banking logs.
rhino in their pockets than any score of these foppish nobodies. They
command respect wherever they land, whether it be in a skiff at some
little settlement to get a small stock of provisions, or in the populous
cities where they find a market. Their frank, open countenances, their
independent swagger, and their muscular appearance is enough to secure
them from molestation. They see all the curiosities of the city, visit the
theatre, take a peep into the 'punch-room,' just to see what is there.
They get a view of all the fashionable resorts of the city. But we are not
going to speak of all the places they frequent ! They do not care for
expenses. They go down the river for fun, not for profit, and as they
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
did not have much going down, tugging away at an oar, in rain-, hail-,
and snow-storms, they are bent on making up for lost time. Finally,
after they have become sick and tired of smoke and confusion, they turn
their steps homeward, and in due time they arrive at their mountain home,
and are ready to go to work when they get rested." Elk Advocate.
In 1844 the waters of what is now called the Clarion were as clear as
crystal, pure as life, and gurgled into the river from mountain springs.
No tannery or other refuse was to be found in it. In 1749 the French
named the stream Gall River. It was declared a public highway, as
Driving logs.
Toby's Creek, by an act of the Legislature, March 21, 1798, up to the
second great fork.
In early times this river was known as Stump Creek, and sometimes
as Toby's Creek, and it is said that it got these two names after two
Indian hunters, who were in the habit (in the winter) of going up this
river in canoes to hunt and trap. They would return each spring
with their furs and meat to their villages down the Allegheny and Ohio
Rivers.
It was called Toby's Creek as early as 1758. Unable myself to find
any authority for a change to Clarion, I wrote to the Secretary of Internal
Affairs, and received the following reply, viz. :
136
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"June 8, 1897.
" HON. W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
" DEAR SIR, In answer to your letter of recent date, we beg to say
that we are unable to find any act of Assembly changing the name of
Toby's Creek to Clarion River. In an act to authorize the erection of a
dam, passed in 1822, this stream is designated as ' Toby's Creek, other-
wise called Clarion River.'
" Very truly yours,
" JAMES W. LATTA,
"Secretary."
CHAPTER IX.
THE OLD STATE ROAD EARLY ROADS AND TRAILS WHY THE STATE ROAD
WAS MADE THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE ROAD LAWS, ETC.,
TOUCHING THE SUBJECT THE SURVEY THE ROAD COMPLETED THE
ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE WHICH SANCTIONED THE BUILDING OF THE
ROAD.
IN 1791 and 1793 a State -road through this wilderness to what is now
called Waterford was incepted, agitated, and legalized ; but, owing to
the Indian troubles of 1791, '92, '93, and '94, all efforts had to be
stopped and all legal proceedings annulled and repealed. The Indian
troubles were settled in 1794 by war and purchases, and then legal steps
were again taken to open up this great northwest in 1795 and 1796. The
reader will please bear in mind that Le Boeuf is now Waterford, Penn-
sylvania, Presque Isle is now Erie City, Pennsylvania, and Bald Eagle's
Nest is now Milesburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania.
EARLY ROADS AND TRAILS.
In 1784-85 the old State Road from the east was opened through
to Fort Pitt in the west over what had been previously a path, or what
was called Forbes's Trail. This trail passed through Bedford, Westmore-
land, and other counties. In those days the State surveyed and laid
out county seats and sold the lots. The lots were generally sold at
auction. All government stores, as well as groceries and goods of every
description, were for a long time carried from the east to the west on
pack-horses over trails. One man would sometimes drive a hundred
horses.
Guards from the militia were a necessity for their trains. Guards
were also a necessity for the road surveyors and road-makers. A body
of about fifty militia was the usual number, and sometimes these soldiers
would do some work as well as guard the road-makers. Transportation
was also carried over Meade's trail, which passed through West Reynolds-
10 137
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ville, in the same way. In 1787 the only road from Fort Pitt to Le Boeuf
(now Waterford) was a trail or path through what is now Butler County
and up the Allegheny River. The turnpike over or across the old Forbes's
trail was finished to Pittsburg in 1819.
In 1 794 the great problem was a thoroughfare from the east to the
northwest. The defence of the western portion of the State from In-
dians required the State and the national authorities to be constantly on
the alert. On the 28th of February, 1794, the Legislature passed an act
for "raising soldiers for the defence of the western frontiers." Also at
this time a combined effort of the nation and State was made to lay out
a town at Presque Isle (now Erie) on Lake Erie.
WHY THE STATE ROAD WAS MADE.
In order to protect these frontiers from the British and Indians a
road through this wilderness seemed an absolute necessity, hence an act
was passed through the Legislature previous to or in 1794, authorizing
the surveying and making of a State road from Reading to Presque Isle
(Erie City). Colonel William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott were the com-
missioners. These men were also commissioners to lay out the town of
Erie (Presque Isle). The official instructions to the commissioners and
Captain Denny were as follows :
'PHILADELPHIA, March i, 1794.
" GENTLEMEN, In providing for the general defence of the frontiers,
the Legislature has authorized me to form a detachment of troops, for
carrying into effect the act directing a town to be laid out at or near
Presque Isle ; and as the subject of the commission to survey and lay out
a road from Reading to Presque Isle may be promoted by the same
measure, I have instructed Captain Denny, the commanding officer of
the detachment, to grant to you as commissioners all the aid and pro-
tection that is compatible with a due attention to the particular charge
which is confided to him. Under these circumstances, I trust you will
find it convenient to proceed immediately in the execution of your work.
" I am, gentlemen,
" Your most obedient servant,
" THOMAS MIFFLIN.
"To WILLIAM IRVINE and ANDREW ELLICOTT, Commissioners for lay-
ing out a road from Reading to Presque Isle."
"PHILADELPHIA, March I, 1794.
"The Legislature having made provision for surveying and opening
two roads, one from Reading and the other from French Creek to
Presque Isle, it is obvious that the establishment of the town is inti-
mately connected with those objects ; and, therefore, you shall deem it
your duty to grant all the aid and protection to the respective commis-
138
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
sioners and contractors employed in surveying and opening those roads
that is compatible with due attention to the particular charge confided in
you.
" Your most obedient servant,
"THOMAS MlFFLlN.
"To EBENEZER DENNY, ESQ., Captain of the Allegheny Company,
&c."
FIRST ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE ROAD.
Captain Ebenezer Denny, with a detachment of soldiers, was ordered
by the government to accompany these men. On the arrival of Denny
and the soldiers at what is now Franklin, Venango County, he discovered
that the Indians were cross and ugly, and General Wilkins, in talking to
Mr. Dallas, said, " The English are fixed in their opposition to the open-
ing of the road to Presque Isle, and are determined to prevent it by the
English and Indians." Orders were then given to Captain Denny to go
no farther than Le Boeuf (now Waterford), and occupy two small block-
houses, which had been erected for Commissioners Irvine and Ellicott.
This was the first attempt to open up a road through the wilderness
of what is now Jefferson County. Governor Mifflin applied to the Presi-
dent for a thousand militia soldiers to enforce this work; but the Presi-
dent counselled peace. Work was suspended at Presque Isle, and it was
not until in April, 1795, that all difficulties were removed and Colonel
William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott resumed work. At this time Irvine
commanded the troops and Ellicott had charge of the surveyors.
LAWS, ETC., TOUCHING THE SUBJECT.
The following letter to the author from Hon. Isaac B. Brown, Secre-
tary Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, of Harrisburg, gives
some valuable information concerning the road.
" HARRISBURG, April 29, 1895.
" MR. W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
" DEAR SIR, In answer to your letter of the i3th instant, we beg to
say that you will find ' An Act to provide for opening a road from near
the Bald Eagle's Nest, in Mifflin County, to Le Boeuf, in the county of
Allegheny,' passed April 10, 1790, published in full in Bioren's 'Laws
of Pennsylvania,' vol. vi. p. 24. The reference in the preamble of this
act to a road ' in part laid out from Reading to Presque Isle,' is probably
to an act passed April n, 1793, appropriating certain sums of money
for laying out a large number of roads within the State. The following
appropriation is made in the first section : ' For viewing and laying out
a road from Reading to Presque Isle, one thousand three hundred and
thirty-three dollars.' This act appears in Bioren's 'Laws,' vol. iv. p.
277 et seq. It is possible, however, that the reference was intended to
i39
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
apply to a road from the Bald Eagle's Nest to the Allegheny River, which
was surveyed and laid out under an act passed April 4, 1796, entitled
1 An Act for laying out and opening sundry roads within this Common-
wealth, and for other purposes.' This act will be found in full in Bioren's
'Laws,' vol. v. p. 187. By this act the governor was authorized and
empowered to appoint ' three skilful persons to view the ground, and
estimate the expense of opening and making a good wagon road from
the Bald Eagle's Nest, or the end of the Nittany Mountain, to the town
of Erie at Presque Isle. '
"Under this last act the governor, on the i3th day of April, 1796,
appointed William Irvine, Andrew Ellicott, and George Wilson commis-
sioners to make the survey. Andrew Ellicott declined the appointment,
and Joseph Ellicott was appointed in his place. These men met to ex-
amine the situation of the country at the Bald Eagle's Nest and at the
end of Nittany Mountain, and determined to start at the Bald Eagle's
Nest, now Milesburg, Centre County. It appears, however, that William
Irvine returned home, and George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott proceeded
to make the survey. Their draft and report are among the records of
this department, and show their work from the Bald Eagle's Nest to the
Allegheny River, a distance of one hundred and sixteen miles by their
measurement. After reaching the Allegheny River, they say that ' in
consequence of the failure of horses, the scarcity of provisions, the ad-
vanced season of the year, and various other obstacles which retarded the
prosecution of the business, they were compelled to relinquish the object
of their mission, and have left above thirty-six miles of the road unfin-
ished.'
' ' Very truly yours,
" ISAAC B. BROWN,
' ' Secretary. ' '
THE SURVEY.
The point on the Allegheny River where these surveyors stopped in
the fall of 1796 was on the land where Eli Holeman settled in 1800. It
is three miles below Tionesta borough, Forest County, Pennsylvania.
For the sixteen years of travel and traffic of emigrants and others over
this old State Road each and all had to force or cross this ferry. The
old State Road never passed through where Clarion now is, or through
Franklin or Meadville. It passed through the wilderness away north of
these towns, but connected with other State roads running through them.
All of the county histories which have been written prior to this one
confound this road with the turnpike, which was not built or opened for
traffic until November, 1820. At Brookville the turnpike survey in 1818
took a separate and distinct southerly course from the old State Road,
and passed through Franklin, Meadville, and so forth.
140
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
THE ROAD COMPLETED.
The road was officially taken from the contractors and a quietus en-
tered as to the contract April 2, 1804. The course of the road through
what is now Winslow township was through Rathmel, down Sandy Lick
to the south side, crossing the creek between Sandy Valley and near
where West Reynoldsville now is, where it deflected to the right over the
hill, through the farm now occupied by Robert Waite. This State road
was the great public thoroughfare for emigrants from the east to the
northwest for a period of sixteen years, until the turnpike was finished in
1820. A portion of about seven miles is still in use from Brookville to
the Clarion County line, parallel, but north of that part of the turnpike
which extends from Brookville to Corsica.
SANCTIONED BY THE LEGISLATURE.
The following is the act which authorized the building of the State
Road, of which this article is a history :
"AN ACT FOR LAYING OUT AND OPENING SUNDRY ROADS WITHIN THIS
COMMONWEALTH, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
" WHEREAS, From the increasing population of the northern and
northwestern parts of this State, it becomes expedient at this time to pro-
vide for the laying out and opening the necessary roads, for the accom-
modation of the same ; therefore,
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the governor be, and he
is hereby, authorized and empowered to appoint three skilful persons to
view the ground and estimate the expense of opening and making a good
wagon road from the town of Northampton, in the county of Northamp-
ton, to the mouth of Tioga, in the county of Luzerne, and from thence,
by the most practicable route, to the northern line of this State ; and
three skilful persons to view the ground and estimate the expense of
opening and making a good wagon road from the Bald Eagle's Nest, or
the end of the Nittany Mountain, to the town of Erie, at Presque Isle ;
and to cause the said roads to be surveyed and staked out by the most
practicable routes ; and also to cause drafts of the roads to be made in
profile, and report to the Legislature the proportional parts of the ex-
pense that will be incurred in each county through which the said road
will pass ; provided that the commissioners thus appointed shall not stake
out any part of the said roads when they may be carried on roads hereto-
fore laid out and opened agreeably to the provisions of former laws of
this State.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the governor be, and he is hereby, empowered to contract, either with
141
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
individuals, or with companies, for opening a road from Pittsburg, by
the way of Fort Franklin, to Le Boeuf, and to draw his warrant on the
State Treasurer for a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars, to defray
the expense of laying out the roads to Tioga and Erie ; a sum not ex-
ceeding four thousand dollars, to defray the expense of opening the road
from Pittsburg, by Fort Franklin, to Le Bceuff. Provided always, That
all contracts to be made by virtue of this act shall be registered by the
governor, according to the directions of the eighth section of the act,
entitled ' An Act to provide for the opening and improving sundry navi-
gable waters and roads within the Commonwealth,' passed the thirteenth
day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one.*
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the governor be, and he is hereby, empowered to draw his warrant in
favor of Joseph Horsefield for any sum not exceeding five hundred dol-
lars, to be applied towards removing the fallen timber and other obstruc-
tions in the road leading from Jacob Heller's tavern, in Northampton
County, to Wilkesbarre, in Luzerne County. Passed 4th April, 1796."
"DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS,
" HARRISBURG, PA., June 7, 1895.
" HON. W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
" DEAR SIR, Herewith you will find copies of the contract and the
reports of John Fleming relating to the road from Bald Eagle's Nest to
Le Bceuff.
"Very truly yours,
"JAMES W. LATTA,
' ' Secretary. ' '
" ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT made and entered into this third day of
July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-
nine, between Thomas Mifflin, Governor of the Commonwealth of Penn-
sylvania, of the one part, and Samuel Miles and Roger Alden, of the
City of Philadelphia, Esquires, of the other part.
"WHEREAS, In and by an Act of the General Assembly, entitled
' An Act to provide for opening a Road from near the Bald Eagle's Nest,
in Mifflin county, to Le Bceuff, in the county of Allegheny,' passed the
tenth day of April, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-
nine, the Governor is empowered to contract for opening and improving
the said road in the manner and on the terms in the said act prescribed :
AND WHEREAS, The said Samuel Miles and Roger Alden have made pro-
posals for entering into the said contract upon principles which appear
to the Governor most likely to accomplish the good purposes by the Legis-
* For the act referred to in this section, see vol. iv. chap. 1558.
142
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
lature intended : Now THESE ARTICLES WITNESS, That the said Samuel
Miles and Roger Alden, jointly and severally for themselves, their Heirs,
Executors, and Administrators, covenant, promise, and agree to and with
the said Thomas Mifflin and his successors, Governors of the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania, in consideration of the Covenant on behalf of the
said Commonwealth hereinafter made, That they, the said Samuel Miles
and Roger Alden, their Heirs, Executors, and Administrators, shall and
will, well and faithfully, and with all convenient diligence, open, extend,
and improve the said Road in manner following, that is to say : That
the Road shall be opened generally of such width as to enable and admit
two waggons to pass each other, except only in such place or places as
from great natural difficulty of Mountains, Hills, Rocks, and Morasses
shall render such an undertaking impracticable or unreasonably laborious
and expensive, considering the public consideration therefor given. But
in all such place or places there shall be a good passage of at least ten feet
wide, with proper and convenient passing places in view : And that the
said Contractors will advance by anticipation (if necessary) the sums of
money requisite to open the said Road in the manner aforesaid. And
the said Thomas Mifflin, in consideration of the Covenants and under-
taking of the said Contractors, and by virtue of the power in the said
Act of Assembly to him given, covenants, promises, and agrees to and
with the said Samuel Miles and Roger Alden, their Executors, Adminis-
trators, and Assigns, that they shall have and receive the sum of Five
Thousand Dollars, to be paid out of the first money arising from the sale
of the reserved Lands & Lots at the Towns of Erie, Franklin, Warren,
and Waterford : And for which sum of Five Thousand Dollars, the said
Thomas Mifflin covenants, promises, and agrees to draw his Warrant or
Warrants on the State Treasurer in favor of the said Contractors. In
Witness whereof the parties have hereunto set their respective hands &
seals the day and year first above written.
(Signed) "SAMUEL MILES, [seal]
ROGER ALDEN, [seal]
THOS. MIFFLIN. [seal]
''Sealed and Delivered"!
in the presence of [
A. W. FOSTER, [
JNO. MILES." )
To the above contract appear the names of George Fox, James
Phillips, and Tench Coxe as sureties for its " true, faithful, perfect, and
diligent performance," and also the following endorsement on the back
of the same :
"The Governor, being satisfied, from three several reports of John
Fleming, Esquire, (the two first dated on the i6th of December, 1801,
i43
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
& the loth of January, 1803, respectively; & the last without date, but
delivered into the Secretary's Office in the month of January last,) that
Samuel Miles & Roger Alden, Esquires, have completed their contract
for opening a road from near the Bald Eagle's Nest to Le Boeuff, by
opening & improving the same agreeably to the terms of said contract,
as far as could reasonably be expected 'from the situation and nature of
the country through which said road passes, & the public consideration
given therefore, this day directed a quietus to be entered upon the
contract.
(Signed) " T. M. THOMPSON, Sec.
"April the 2nd, 1804."
' ' To HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS MC~KEAN, ESQUIRE, Governor of the
State of Pennsylvania :
" SIR, In pursuance of your Excellency's letter appointing me a Com-
missioner to view and report on that part of the State Road from Miles-
burg to Le BceufF, which was undertaken to be opened by Col. Samuel
Miles, I proceeded to Milesburg and viewed the said Road as shewn to
me by Mr. Richard Miles, and beg leave to submit the following Report :
"Beginning at Milesburg the road crosses Bald Eagle creek, over
which is a sufficient wooden Bridge, thence up the said creek on the
north side of it for five miles ; the road passable for waggons. Within
these five miles, on the west side of Wallis's run, there is some wet ground
a little swampy.
" Leaving the Bald Eagle creek and thence to the foot of the Alle-
gheny mountain, five miles, the Road is good excepting some trees that
have fallen across it since it was opened.
Across the mountain is three miles. The ascent is one mile, of which
240 perches are dug, in some places, nine feet wide. Towards the top it
is too steep for carriages. The descent of the mountain is about two
miles and gradual.
"About one mile from the foot of the mountain is a small run diffi-
cult to pass.
" Here I must beg leave to remark, as applicable to this as well as to
other small runs that may be mentioned in this Report, that many very
small streams in the country over which this road passes run in narrow
channels, the bottoms of which lie from one to three feet below the sur-
face of the earth. A footman can step over many of them, where, from
the nature of the soil at the bottom, a horse is in great danger of being
mired.
" After crossing the last-mentioned run there is a hill of which in
ascent there are thirty perches, and in descent twelve perches not pas-
sable for waggons for want of digging. Near this are two small runs, both
difficult to pass.
144
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" To Phillipsburg from thence, a distance of more than eight miles,
the Road is good, excepting some very swampy ground on the east of
what is called the five mile run, and some miry ground at Coldstream,
one mile from Phillipsburg. Some more work is necessary on the hill
west of the five mile run. The whole distance from Milesburg to Phil-
lipsburg is twenty-six miles.
" Passing Phillipsburg one mile is Moshannon creek. It is not
bridged nor is it fordable at the place where the Road crosses it at any
season. There is some timber prepared at the place for a bridge. It is
about six perches wide with steep banks. There is a Fording about half
a mile below. Three miles further the road is good excepting a few wet
places. Within two miles further there are two runs, the banks of which
are dug, and the road is good.
" Thence to Clearfield creek, four miles, some digging done in two
places, and on the hill descending to Clearfield forty perches are well
dug ; the road is good.
" Thence to the Susquehanna river, five miles, the road good. The
breadth of the river is twelve perches.
"Thence to Anderson's creek, nearly three miles, some digging done
on Hogback hill. The road in general good.
" Thence to a branch of Anderson's creek, about eight miles, several
places dug and some bridges made : the road is tolerably good. More
digging and bridging wanted.
"Thence to the waters of Stump creek, about three miles, several
bridges made and digging done in some places ; the road good.
" Thence five miles, crossing two ridges on each of which there is
digging done, and several runs, two of which are bridged. In the latter
part of these five miles are two runs necessary to be bridged. With this
exception the road is tolerably good.
" Thence to a branch of Sandy Lick creek, about six miles, in several
places the road is dug and some bridges made. The road tolerably good.
"Thence about three miles; several steep banks, deep runs and wet
places ; road not passable.
" Thence to the end of Col. Miles' opening is four miles. The road
good.
"From Milesburg until the road crosses the Susquehanna the road is
opened from sixteen to twenty feet wide, and from thence to the end it is
opened from twelve to sixteen feet wide. The whole length of the road
opened as aforesaid by Col. Miles is seventy-four miles and eighty-six
perches.
(Signed) "JNO. FLEMING.
" December i6th, 1801."
Only the commonest goods were hauled into this county from Phila-
delphia over the old State Road. The freightage from Philadelphia to
i45
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Port Barnett was about six dollars per one hundred pounds, and it took
four weeks to come from Philadelphia. In 1800 wheat brought one dollar
and a half a bushel, wheat flour four and five dollars per one hundred
pounds, corn one dollar per bushel, oats seventy-five cents, potatoes
sixty-five cents. Tobacco was sold by the yard at four cents per yard,
common sugar thirty-three cents, and loaf (white sugar) fifty cents per
pound. A hunter's rifle cost twenty-five dollars, a yoke of oxen eighty
dollars, boots from one to three dollars, a pair of moccasins about three
or four shillings.
S. B. Rowe, in his "Pioneer History of Clearfield County," says,
"The State, in order to connect the western frontier with the eastern
settlements, had laid out several roads, among others one leading from
Milesburg to Erie. This road was opened in the year 1803. It crossed
the Susquehanna River near the residence of Benjamin Jordan.
"The Milesburg and Le Boeuff road became subsequently an impor-
tant and leading thoroughfare. It was a road of the worst kind, laid out
with very little skill, and made with a great deal of dishonesty. It had
but one bridge at Moshannon between Bellefonte and Anderson's
Creek, and to avoid digging the hill-side, Anderson's Creek was crossed
three times in less than two miles. Large quantities of merchandise
passed over it, principally upon pack-horses, companies of which, ex-
ceeding a score in number, might often be seen traversing it. Until the
place of this road was supplied by an artificial road, located on or near its
bed, it was the principal road leading to Erie and the great West. About
the time the State Road was supplanted by the turnpike the now almost
forgotten Conestoga wagon, with its heavy horses, walking leisurely along,
their tread measured by the jingling of bells, afforded cheaper and better
mode of transportation for goods. A trip to Philadelphia to purchase
goods or to ' see the sights' of that village was then quite an undertaking,
and called for weeks of preparation."
"To HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS McKEAN, ESQUIRE, Governor of the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania :
" Agreeably to your Instructions received through the Secretary of
the Commonwealth, I proceeded to review that part of the road leading
from Milesburg to Le Boeuff, opened by Major Roger Alden, and beg
leave to submit the following report :
" Beginning at the west end of Col. Samuel Miles' opening,
" 2 miles, a hill with some digging ; the road good.
" i y 2 miles to the crossing of the north branch of Sandy Lick creek.
The road good.
" 9 m farther. The road good.
" 4 m of rough road. There is in this distance four streams of water
146
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
crossing it, with bad hills on each side of each of them. They are gen-
erally all dug that carriages may pass.
"4m farther to Toby's creek : some digging done on the descent of
the hill going down to the creek the road tolerably good.
"2m farther to the hill descending to Little Toby's creek. The
road good. When I reported before, this descent to the creek was im-
passable with waggons ; since that time the road has been changed, and
laid on better ground, and the road dug. The road good. West of the
creek the road is somewhat difficult for carriages.
"4m. The road passable for carriages.
" i m. A hill descending to Licking creek, bad, as is also the hill
on the west side of the creek. There is some digging done here. These
hills comprehend a distance exceeding a mile.
. " 10 m. Road good, lying on chestnut ridges. In this distance there
is little difference in the road.
"4m to the Allegheny river, lying over pine ridges, some of them
steep. The hill to the river near a mile long. Since my last report
some bridging and digging has been done. Passable for carriages.
"6m from the crossing of the Allegheny river to Pi thole creek. The
road crosses several ridges, one of which is dug.
"2m of good road.
" 2 m of very swampy ground, principally bridged and causewayed.
Passable with carriages.
"3 m to the crossing of the south-east branch of Oil creek There
are several bridges made in this distance. There is a good one across the
creek. The road good.
"7m to the crossing of the N. W. branch of Oil creek. There are
several bridges made in this distance. Since my last report the fording
of the creek is changed for the better.
" i m. West of the creek for near a mile the road is altered, making
the ascent of the hills that I noticed easier. They are still difficult for
carriages.
" 7 m to where this road intersects the public road from Pittsburg to
Le Boeuff by the way of Franklin. In this distance the road in general
is good. A number of bridges are made on it.
" 3 m to the crossing of Muddy creek several bridges made. The
road something wet.
" 12 m to the crossing of French creek a number of bridges made.
" 3 m to Le Boeuff a number of bridges made, and the road good.
From the intersection of the Franklin road to Le Boeuff the soil is gen-
erally wet.
" I would generally observe that a considerable quantity of timber is
fallen across the road, and the sprouts in such quantities grown up in
many places, since the road was opened, as to render travelling difficult.
i47
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
There has not been any cutting done since I reported, unless where the
road is changed in the two places before mentioned.
" I am Sir,
" Your Excellency's very humble servant,
"JOHN FLEMING."
"AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATION FOR CERTAIN INTERNAL IMPROVE-
MENTS.
" SECTION 14. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That the sum of four hundred and fifty dollars be, and the same is hereby
appropriated to be paid to John Litle and James Weston, for improving
the following roads in the county of Erie : to wit, two hundred and
twenty-five dollars for the State Road from Milesburgh to Waterford, etc.
"SECTION 17. That the sum of five hundred dollars be, and the same
is hereby appropriated to be paid to the commissioners of Venango
County for improving the following roads : viz., . . . and two hundred
and fifty dollars for the State Road from Waterford to Milesburgh, where
it passes through the county of Venango, and crosses the Allegheny River
at the ferry of Eli Holeman.
"SECTION 20. That the sum of seven hundred dollars be, and the
same is hereby appropriated to be paid to the commissioners of Indiana
County for improving the State Road from Milesburgh to Waterford, where
it passes through the county of Jefferson, between the counties of Clear-
field and Armstrong ; and that the further sum of seven hundred dollars
be, and the same is hereby appropriated to be paid to the commissioners
of Armstrong County ; three hundred dollars thereof for improving that
part of the Milesburgh and Waterford road which passes through the
County of Armstrong, etc.
" SECTION 22. That the sum of seven hundred dollars be, and the same
is hereby appropriated to be paid to the commissioners of Centre County
for improving the roads in Clearfield County, as follows : viz., . . . four
hundred dollars for the road from Milesburgh to Waterford between the
west branch of the Susquehanna River and the line between the counties
of Clearfield and Jefferson, and one hundred dollars for the said road
from Clearfield Creek to the line of Centre County.
" SECTION 29. That it shall be the duty of the county commissioners,
and trustees, and the commissioners appointed by this act, to whom the
sums hereby appropriated are to be paid respectively, to advertise that
proposals will be received at a certain time and place, to be by them fixed,
for making the improvements in this act specified, and shall contract
with such person or persons as will in their judgment secure the most
advantageous expenditure of the several sums herein appropriated ; and
they shall furnish to the auditors of their several counties a detailed
statement of the manner in which the said monies shall have been ex-
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
pended ; and the county commissioners, and trustees, and commissioners
appointed by this act, as soon as their accounts shall have been settled
and adjusted, shall transmit a certified copy of the detailed statement
aforesaid to the auditor-general, together with the vouchers, which ac-
counts shall be settled by the accountant department in the usual manner.
"SECTION 30. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That at any time after the first day of August next, the State treasurer be,
and he is hereby authorized and directed to pay to the county commis-
sioners, and trustees, and commissioners appointed by this act, on their
producing satisfactory evidence that the several contracts have been made,
and the necessary securities for the faithful application of the monies
taken, and the work actually commenced, the several sums hereby appro-
priated out of any monies in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
"Approved the second day of April, one thousand eight hundred
and eleven.
" SIMON SNYDER."
The road was opened and finished to Holeman's Ferry, on the Alle-
gheny River, in 1804. This point is now in Forest County. There was
no provision made to complete the road from there to Waterford by the
Legislature until 1810. At that time Clarion County was not organized,
and the part of the State Road that now lies in Clarion County was then
in Venango County. As near as can be learned, the following contracts
were let for work on the road in the year 1811 :
" Wm. Hays contracted to dig a part of said road on the north side
of 'Three Mile Run at 40 cts. per perch.'
" Isaac Connelly contracted to dig a part of said road on the north
side of ' Hemlock Creek at 50 cts. per perch.'
"William Hays contracted to dig and open a part of said road on
the south side of ' Hemlock Creek at 40 cts. a perch.'
"Samuel and Alexander McHatten agree to open and bridge a part
of the said road near Hicks cabin at eight dollars.
" Charles Holman contracted to open and dig a part of said road for
66 cts. per perch for digging, and a reasonable prize for any part which
may be opened.
"Samuel and Alexander McHatten contracted to dig and open a part
of said road at 57 cts. a perch on the north side of Little Toby's Creek.
"Alexander McElhaney contracted to bridge a part of said road,
supposed to be 26 rods, at 99 cts. per perch, and to open and repair at a
reasonable price.
"Samuel and Alex McHatten agree to dig and open a part of said
road on Toby's Creek Hill at twenty-four and a half cents per perch."
In Brookville the State Road came up the hill between Mrs. Show-
alter 's and the Lutheran church, turned to the right and over what is now
an alley between Dr. McKnight and Robert Darrah.
149
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER X.
PIONEER AGRICULTURE HOW THE FARMERS IN THE OLDEN TIME HAD TO
MAKE SHIFT THE PIONEER HOMES PIONEER FOOD PIONEER EVEN-
ING FROLICS TREES, SNAKES, AND REPTILES SOLDIERS OF l8l2
PIONEER LEGAL RELATIONS OF MAN AND WIFE EARLY 'AND PIONEER
MUSIC LIST OF TAXABLE INHABITANTS IN 1820 THE TRANSPORTA-
TION OF IRON THE FIRST SCREW FACTORY POPULATION OF THE
STATE AND OF THE UNITED STATES.
FOR convenience in description I may here state that the soil of Jef-
ferson County was covered in sections with two different growths of tim-
ber, viz., sections of oak and other hard -wood timber, with underbrush
and saplings. Some of these sections were called the barrens. The
other sections were covered with a dense and heavy growth of pine,
hemlock, poplar, cucumber, bass, ash, sugar, and beech, with saplings,
down timber, and underbrush in great profusion. The mode of clearing
in these different sections was not the same. In the first-mentioned or
sparsely covered section the preliminary work was grubbing. The saplings
and underbrush had to be grubbed up and out with a mattock and piled
in brush-piles. One man could usually grub an acre in four days, or you
could let this at a job for two dollars per acre and board. The standing
timber then was usually girdled or deadened, and allowed to fall down in
the crops from year to year, to be chopped and rolled in heaps every spring.
In the dense or heavy growth timber the preliminary work was underbrush-
ing, cutting the saplings close to the ground, piling the brush or not, as
the necessity of the case seemed to require. The second step was the
cutting of all down timber into lengths of ten or fifteen feet. After this
came the cutting of all standing timber, which, too, had to be brushed
and cut into twelve- or fifteen-foot lengths. This latter work was always
a winter's job for the farmer, and the buds on these falling trees made
excellent browsing feed for his cattle. In the spring-time, after the brush
had become thoroughly dry, and in a dry time, a good burn of the brush,
if possible, was obtained. The next part of the process was logging,
usually after harvest. This required the labor of five men and a team of
oxen, one driver for the oxen and two men at each end of the log-heap.
Neighbors would " morrow" with each other, and on such occasions each
neighbor usually brought his own handspike. This was a round pole,
usually made of beech-, dog-, or iron wood, without any iron on or in it,
about six feet long, and sharpened at the large end. Logs were rolled on
the pile over skids. Sometimes the cattle were made to draw or roll the
logs on the heap. These piles were then burned, and the soil was ready
150
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
for the drag or the triangular harrow. I have looked like a negro many
a time while working at this logging. Then money was scarce, labor
plenty and cheap, and amusements few, hence grubbing, chopping, and
logging "frolics" were frequent and popular. For each frolic one or
more two-gallon jugs of whiskey were indispensable. A jolly good time
was had, as well as a good dinner and supper, and every one in the
neighborhood expected an invitation.
As there was a fence law then, the ground had to be fenced, accord-
ing to this law, "horse-high, bull-strong, and hog-tight." The effort
made by the pioneer to obey this law was in four ways, viz. : First, by
slashing trees and placing brush upon the trees ; second, by using the
logs from the clearing for the purpose of a fence ; third, by a post- and
rail-fence, built straight, and the end of each rail sharpened and fastened
in a mortised post ; fourth, by the common rail- or worm-fence. These
rails were made of ash, hickory, chesnut, linn, and pine. The usual price
for making rails per hundred was fifty cents with board. I have made
them by contract at that price myself.
" I seem to see the low rail-fence,
That worming onward mile on mile,
Was redolent with pungent scents
Of sassafras and camomile.
Within a fence-rail tall and bare,
The saucy bluebird nested there ;
'Twas there the largest berries grew,
As every barefoot urchin knew !
And swiftly, shyly creeping through
The tangled vine and the bramble dense,
The mingled sunshine and the dew,
The Bob- White perched atop the fence ;
And, flinging toil and care away,
He piped and lilted all the day."
In 1799, when Joseph Hutchison lived here, wheat sold in this sec-
tion of the State for two dollars and fifty cents per bushel, flour for eighteen
dollars per barrel, corn two dollars, oats one dollar and fifty cents, and
potatoes one dollar and fifty cents per bushel.
The early axes were called pole-axes. They were rude, clumsy, and
heavy, with a single bit. About 1815 an improved Yankee single-bit
axe was introduced, but it, too, was heavy and clumsy. In about 1825
the present double-bitted axe came to be occasionally used.
I have never seen the wooden plough, but I have seen them with the
iron shoe point and coulter. These were still in use in the late twenties.
I have driven an ox-team to the drag or triangular harrow. This was the
principal implement used in seeding ground, both before and after the
introduction of the shovel-plough in 1843.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"The greatest improvement ever made on ploughs, in this or any
other country, was made by Charles Newbold, of Burlington, New Jersey,
and patented in 1797. The mould-board, share, landside, and point were
all cast together in one solid piece. The plough was all cast iron except
the beam and handles. The importance of this invention was so great
that it attracted the attention of plough-makers and scientific men all
over the country. Thomas Jefferson (afterwards President of the United
States) wrote a treatise on ploughs, with a particular reference to the
Newbold plough. He described the requisite form of the mould-board,
according to scientific principles, and calculated the proper form and cur-
vature of the mould-board to lessen the friction and lighten the draught.
" The Newbold plough would have been nearly perfect had it not
been for one serious defect. When the point, for instance, was worn out,
which would soon be accomplished, the plough was ruined and had to
be thrown aside. This defect, however, was happily remedied by Jethro
Wood, who was the first to cast the plough in sections, so that the parts
most exposed to wear could be replaced from the same pattern, by which
means the cast-iron plough became a complete success. His plough was
patented in 1819, twenty-two years after Newbold's patent. It is a won-
der that so long a time should have elapsed before any one thought of
this improvement. These two men did more for the farmers in relation
to ploughs than any others before their time or since. ' '
In harvest-time the grain was first reaped with a sickle ; then came
the cradle. In my boyhood all the lying grain thrown down by storms
was still reaped with a sickle. I carry the evidence of this on my fingers.
Grain was usually thrashed by a flail, though some tramped it out with
horses. By the flail ten bushels of wheat or twenty bushels of oats was
a good day's work. Men who travelled around thrashing on shares with
the flail charged every tenth bushel, including board. The tramping
was done by horses and by farmers who had good or extra barn floors.
The sheaves were laid in a circle, a man stood in the middle of the circle
to turn up and over the straw as needed, and then, with a boy to ride
one horse and lead another, the " tramping" in this circuit commenced.
This was hard work for the boy ; it made him tired and sore where he sat
down. To prevent dizziness, the travel on the circuit was frequently re-
versed. One man, a boy, and two horses could tramp out in this way
in a day about fifteen bushels of wheat or thirty-five bushels of oats.
Grain was cleaned by means of two hand-riddles, one coarse and one fine.
These riddles had no iron or steel about them, the bottom of each being
made of wooden splints woven in. The riddles were two and one-half
feet in diameter and the rings about four inches wide. Three men were
required to clean the grain, one to shake the riddle, while two others,
one at each end of a tow sheet, doubled, swayed the sheet to and fro in
front of the man shaking the riddle. These three men in this way could
152
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
clean about ten or fifteen bushels of wheat in a day. This process was
practised in the twenties. Windmills came into use about 1825. For
many years there were extremely few wagons and but poor roads on
which to use them. The early vehicles were the prongs of a tree, a sled
made of saplings, called a "pung," and ox-carts. In fact, about all the
work was done with oxen, and in driving his cattle the old settler would
halloo with all his might and swear profusely. This profanity and hal-
looing was thought to be necessary. The pioneer sled was made with
heavy single runners, the " bob" -sled being a later innovation.
" HAYING IN THE OLDEN TIME.
" Haying in the old days was a much more formidable yearly under-
taking than it is to modern farmers. Before the era of labor-saving
haying implements farmers began the work of haying early in the day
and season, and toiled hard until both were far spent. Human muscle
was strained to exert a force equal to the then unused horse-power. On
large farms many ' hands' were required. Haying was an event of im-
portance in the farmer's year. It made great demands upon his time,
strength, and pocket-book. His best helpers were engaged long in ad-
vance, sometimes a whole season. Ability to handle a scythe well enti-
tled a man to respect while haying lasted. Experts took as much pains
with a scythe as with a razor. Boys of to-day have never seen such a
sight as a dozen stalwart men mowing a dozen-acre field.
" On the first day of haying, almost before the sun was up, the men
would be at the field ready to begin. The question to be settled at the
very outset was as to which man should cut the ' double.' This was the
first swath to be cut down and back through the centre of the field.
" The boys brought up the rear in the line of mowers. Their scythes
were hung well 'in,' to cut a narrow swath. They were told to stand
up straight when mowing, point in, keep the heel of the scythe down,
and point out evenly, so as not to leave ' hog-troughs' on the meadow
when the hay was raked up. Impatient of these admonitions, they
thought they could mow pretty well, and looked ambitiously forward to
a time when they might cut the ' double.' '
DRESS OF MEN.
Moccasin shoes, buckskin breeches, blue broadcloth coats and brass
buttons, fawn-skin vests, roundabouts, and woollen warmuses, leather or
woollen gallowses, coon- or seal-skin caps in winter with chip or oat-straw
hats for summer. Every neighborhood had then usually one itinerant
shoemaker and tailor, who periodically visited cabins and made up shoes
or clothes as required. All material had to be furnished, and these itin-
erant mechanics worked for fifty cents a day and board. Corduroy pants
and corduroy overalls were common.
ii 153
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The warmuses, breeches, and hunting-shirts of the men, the linsey
petticoats, dresses, and bed-gowns of the women, were all hung in some
corner of the cabin on wooden pegs. To some extent this was a display
of pioneer wealth.
DRESS OF WOMEN.
Home made woollen cloth, tow, linen, linsey-woolsey, etc. I have
seen "barefoot girls with cheek of tan" walk three or four miles to
church, when, on nearing the church, they would step into the woods to
put on a pair of shoes they carried with them. I could name some of
these who are living to-day. A woman who could buy eight or ten yards
of calico for a dress at a dollar a yard put on queenly airs. Every married
woman of any refinement then wore day-caps and night-caps. The
bonnets were beaver, gimp, leghorn, and sun-bonnets. For shoes, women
usually went barefoot in the summer, and in the winter covered their feet
with moccasins, calf-skin shoes, buffalo overshoes, and shoe-packs.
Linen and tow cloth were made from flax. The seed was sown in the
early spring and ripened about August. It was harvested by "pulling."
This was generally done by a "pulling frolic" of young people pulling
it out by the root. It was then tied in little sheaves and permitted to
dry, hauled in, and thrashed for the seed. Then the straw was watered
and rotted by laying it on the ground out of doors. Then the straw was
again dried and " broken in the flax-break," after which it was again tied
up in little bundles and then scutched with a wooden knife. This scutch-
ing was a frolic job too, and a dirty one. Then it was hackled. This
hackling process separated the linen part from the tow. The rest of the
process consisted of spinning, weaving, and dyeing. Linen cloth sold for
about twenty-four cents a yard, tow cloth for about twenty cents a yard.
In the State Constitutional Convention of 1837 to amend the con-
stitution I find the occupation of the members elected to that body to be
as follows, viz.: Farmers, 51; iron-masters, 3; manufacturer, i; me-
chanics, 2 ; house-carpenters, 2 ; brick-maker, i ; paper-maker, i ;
printers, 2; potter, i ; judge, i ; attorneys, 41 ; doctors, 12; editor, i ;
merchants, 9; surveyors, 4; clerks, 4; total membership, 136. From
this it will be seen that farmers received proper recognition in the earlier
elections.
THE PIONEER HOMES OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
" This is the land our fathers loved,
The homestead which they toiled to win.
This is the ground whereon they moved,
And here are the graves they slumber in."
The home of the pioneer in Jefferson County was a log cabin, one
story high, chinked and daubed, having a fireplace in one end, with a
chimney built of sticks and mud, and in one corner always stood a big
i54
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
wooden poker to turn back-logs or punch the fire. These cabins were
usually small, but some were perhaps twenty by thirty feet, with a hole
cut in two logs for a single window, oiled paper being used for glass.
For Brussels carpet they had puncheon floors, and a clapboard roof held
down by weight poles to protect them from the storm. Wooden pegs
were driven in the logs for the wardrobe, the rifle, and the powder-horn.
Wooden benches and stools were a luxury upon which to rest or sit while
feasting on mush and milk, buckwheat cakes, hog and hominy.
155
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Hospitality in this log cabin was simple, hearty, and unbounded.
Whiskey was pure, cheap, and plenty, and was lavished bountifully on
each and all social occasions. Every settler had his jug or barrel. It
was the drink of drinks at all merry-makings, grubbings, loggings, chop-
pings, house-warmings, and weddings. A drink of whiskey was always
proffered to the visitor or traveller who chanced to call or spend a night
in these log cabins.
Puncheon boards or planks were made from a log of straight grain
and clear of knots, and of the proper length, which was split into parts
Cabin barn.
and the face of each part smoothed with a broadaxe. The split parts
had to be all started at the same time, with wedges at the end of the
log, each wedge being struck alternately with a maul until all the parts
were separated.
The furniture for the table of the pioneer log cabins consisted of
pewter dishes, plates, and spoons, or wooden bowls, plates, and noggins.
If noggins were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled squashes answered for
drinking-cups.
The iron pots, knives and forks, along with the salt and iron, were
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
brought to the wilderness on pack-horses over Meade's trail or over the
Milesburg and Le Boeuf State road.
Some of these log cabins near Brookville were still occupied in the
forties. I have been in many of them in my childhood. In proof of the
smallness of the early cabin I reproduce the testimony on oath of Thomas
Lucas, Esq., in the following celebrated ejectment case, viz. :
"EJECTMENT.
" In the Court of Common Pleas of Jefferson County. Ejectment for
sixteen hundred acres of land in Pine Creek township. Elijah Heath vs.
Joshua Knap, et al.
" i6th September, 1841, a jury was called per minets. The plaintiff
after having opened his case in support of the issue, gave in evidence as
follows :
" Thomas Lucas. Masons have in the surveys about twelve acres of
land, a cabin house, and stable thereon. They live near the line of the
town tract, the town tract takes in the apple-trees ; think they claim on
some improvement. Some of this improvement I think is thirty-five
years old, this was the Mason claim. The first improvement was made
in 1802 ; I call it the Pickering survey, only an interference. Jacob Mason
has been living off and on since 1802, two small cabin houses on the
interference, one fifteen or sixteen feet square, the other very small,
twelve or fifteen feet, a log stable."
At this time and before it many of these cabins were lighted by
means of a half window, viz., one window-sash, containing from four to
six panes of seven by nine glass. Up to and even at this date (1841) the
usual light at night in these cabins was the old iron lamp, something like
the miner wears in his hat, or else a dish containing refuse grease, with
a rag in it. Each smoked and gave a dismal light, yet women cooked,
spun, and sewed and men read the few books they had as best they could.
The aroma from this refuse grease was simply horrible. The cabin was
daily swept with a split broom made of hickory. The hinges and latches
of these cabins were made of wood. The latch on the door was raised from
without by means of a buckskin string. At night, as a means of safety,
the string was " pulled in," and this locked the door. As a further mark
of refinement each cabin was generally guarded by from two to six
worthless dogs.
Of pests in and around the old cabin, the house-fly, the bed-bug, and
the louse were the most common on the inside ; the gnat, the wood-tick,
and the horse-fly on the outside. It was a constant fight for life with
man, cattle, and horses against the gnat, the tick, and the horse-fly, and
if it had not been for the protection of what were called " gnat-fires,"
life could not have been sustained, or at least it would have been unen-
durable. The only thing to dispel these outside pests was to clear land
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
and let in the sunshine. As an all-around pest in the cabin and out, day
and night, there was the flea.
PIONEER FOOD WHAT THE PIONEER COULD HAVE, OR DID
HAVE, TO EAT.
Buckwheat cakes, mush, .and souens, corn-mush and milk, rye-mush
and bread, hominy, potatoes, turnips, wild onions or wramps, wild
meats, wild birds, fish, and wild fruits.
In the early cooking everything was boiled and baked ; this was
healthy. There was no "rare fad," with its injurious results. The
common dishes served were wheat- and rye bread, wheat- and rye-mush,
corn-pone, cakes, and mush, sweet and buttermilk boiled and thickened,
doughnuts, and baked pot-pies. Soda was made by burning corn-cobs.
Buckwheat souens was a great pioneer dish. It was made in this
wise : Mix your buckwheat flour and water in the morning ; add to this
enough yeast to make the batter light ; then let it stand until evening, or
until the batter is real sour. Now stir this batter into boiling water and
boil until it is thoroughly cooked, like corn mush. Eat hot or cold with
milk or cream.
MEATS.
Hogs, bears, elks, deer, rabbits, squirrels, and woodchucks.
The saddles or hams of the deer were salted by the pioneer, then
smoked and dried. This was a great luxury, and could be kept all the
year through.
The late Dr. Clarke wrote, "Wild game, such as elks, deer, bears,
turkeys, and partridges, were numerous, and for many years constituted
an important part of the animal food of the early settlers in this wilder-
ness. Wolves and panthers came in for a share of this game, until they,
too, became game for the hunters by the public and legal offer of boun-
ties to be paid for their scalps, or rather for their ears, for a perfect pair
of ears was required to secure the bounty. All these have become nearly
extinct. The sturdy elk no longer roves over the hills or sips ' salty
sweetness' from the licks. The peculiar voice of the stately strutting
wild turkey is heard no more. The howl of the wolf and the panther's
cry no longer alarm the traveller as he winds his way over the hills or
through the valleys, and the flocks are now permitted to rest in peace.
Even the wild deer is now seldom seen, and a nice venison steak rarely
gives its delicious aroma among the shining plate of modern well-set
tables."
FISH.
Pike, bass, catfish, suckers, sunfish, horn-chubs, mountain trout, and
eels.
The old settler shot, seined, hooked with a line, and gigged his fish.
Gigging was done at night by means of a light made from burning fagots
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of pitch-pine. It usually required three to do this gigging, whether
" wading" or in a canoe, one to carry the light ahead, one to gig, and
one to care for the fish.
BIRDS.
Pheasants were plentiful, and enlivened the forests with their drum-
ming. The waters and woods were full of wild ducks, geese, pigeons,
and turkeys.
The most remarkable bird in America was the wild turkey. It is
the original turkey, and is the stock from which the tame turkeys sprung.
In the wild state it was to be found in the wooded lands east of the
Rocky Mountains. In pioneer times it was called gobbler or Bubly
Jock by the whites, and Oo-coo-coo by the Indians. Our pioneer
hunters could mimic or imitate the gobbling of a turkey, and this decep-
tive ruse was greatly practised to excite the curiosity and bring the bird
within shooting distance. The last wild turkey in our county was killed
in the seventies near the town of False Creek.
To obtain a turkey roast when needed, the pioneer sometimes built in
the woods a pen of round logs and covered it with brush. Whole flocks
of turkeys were sometimes caught in these pens, built in this wise :
" First, a narrow ditch, about six feet long and two feet deep, was
dug. Over this trench the pen was built, leaving a few feet of the chan-
nel outside of the enclosure. The end of the part of the trench enclosed
was usually about the middle of the pen. Over the ditch, near the wall
of the pen, boards were laid. The pen was made tight enough to hold
a turkey and covered with poles. Then corn was scattered about on the
inside, and the ditch outside baited with the same grain. Sometimes
straw was also scattered about in the pen. Then the trap was ready for its
victims. The turkeys came to the pen, began to pick up the corn, and
followed the trench within. When they had eaten enough, the birds
tried to get out by walking around the pen, looking up all the time.
They would cross the ditch on the boards, and never think of going to
the opening in the ground at the centre of the pen. When the hunter
found his game he had only to crawl into the pen through the trench and
kill the birds."
In the fall turkeys became very fat, and gobblers were sometimes
captured for Christmas in this way weighing over twenty pounds.
FRUITS.
Apples, crab-apples, wild, red, and yellow plums, blackberries,
huckleberries, elderberries, wild strawberries, choke-cherries, and wild
gooseberries.
SWEETS.
Domestic and wild honey, maple-sugar, maple -molasses, and corn-cob
molasses. Bee-trees were numerous, and would frequently yield from
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
eight to twelve gallons of excellent honey. These trees had to be cut in
the night by the light of pitch-pine fagots.
DRINK.
Metheglin, a drink made from honey; whiskey, small beer, rye
coffee, buttermilk, and fern, sassafras, sage, and mint teas.
To fully illustrate the pioneer days I quote from the " History of
Crawford County, Pennsylvania," viz. :
" The habits of the pioneers were of a simplicity and purity in con-
formance to their surroundings and belongings. The men were engaged
in the herculean labor, day after day, of enlarging the little patch of sun-
shine about their homes, cutting away the forest, burning off the brush
and debris, preparing the soil, planting, tending, harvesting, caring for
the few animals which they brought with them or soon procured, and in
hunting. While they were engaged in the heavy labor of the field and
forest, or following the deer, or seeking other game, their helpmeets were
busied with their household duties, providing for the day and for the
winter coming on, cooking, making clothes, spinning, and weaving.
They were fitted by nature and experience to be the consorts of the
brave men who first came into the western wilderness. They were heroic
in their endurance of hardship and privation and loneliness.
"Their industry was well directed and unceasing. Woman's work
then, like man's, was performed under disadvantages, which have been
removed in later years. She had not only the common household duties
to perform, but many others. She not only made the clothing, but the
fabric for it. That old, old occupation of spinning and of weaving,
with which woman's name has been associated in all history, and of which
the modern world knows nothing, except through the stories of those
who are great-grandmothers now, that old occupation of spinning and
weaving which seems surrounded with a glamour of romance as we look
back to it through tradition and poetry, and which always conjures up
thoughts of the graces and virtues of the dames and damsels of a genera-
tion that is gone, that old, old occupation of spinning and of weaving
was the chief industry of the pioneer woman. Every cabin sounded with
the softly whirring wheel and the rhythmic thud of the loom. The woman
of pioneer times was like the woman described by Solomon : ' She seeketh
wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands ; she layeth her
hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.'
"Almost every article of clothing, all of the cloth in use in the old
log cabins, was the product of the patient woman-weaver's toil. She spun
the flax and wove the cloth for shirts, pantaloons, frocks, sheets, and
blankets. The linen and the wool, the ' linsey-woolsey' woven by the
housewife, formed all of the material for the clothing of both men and
women, except such articles as were made of skins. The men commonly
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
wore the hunting-shirt, a kind of loose frock reaching half-way down the
figure, open before, and so wide as to lap over a foot or more upon the
chest. This generally had a cape, which was often fringed with a ravelled
piece of cloth of a different color from that which composed the garment.
The bosom of the hunting- shirt answered as a pouch, in which could be
carried the various articles that the hunter or woodsman would need. It
was always worn belted, and made out of coarse linen, or linsey, or of
dressed deer-skin, according to the fancy of the wearer. Breeches were
made of heavy cloth or of deer-skin, and were often worn with leggings
of the same material or of some kind of leather, while the feet were most
usually encased in moccasins, which were easily and quickly made, though
they needed frequent mending. The deer- skin breeches or drawers were
very comfortable when dry, but when they became wet were very cold to
the limbs, and the next time they were put on were almost as stiff as if
made of wood. Hats or caps were made of the various native furs. The
women were clothed in linsey petticoats, coarse shoes and stockings, and
wore buckskin gloves or mittens when any protection was required for
the hands. All of the wearing apparel, like that of the men, was made
with a view to being serviceable and comfortable, and all was of home
manufacture. Other articles and finer ones were sometimes worn, but
they had been brought from former homes, and were usually relics
handed down from parents to children. Jewelry was not common, but
occasionally some ornament was displayed. In the cabins of the more
cultivated pioneers were usually a few books, and the long winter even-
ings were spent in poring over these well-thumbed volumes by the light
of the great log-fire, in knitting, mending, curing furs, or some similar
occupation.
"As the settlement increased, the sense of loneliness and isolation
was dispelled, the asperities of life were softened and its amenities multi-
plied ; social gatherings became more numerous and more enjoyable.
The log-rollings, harvestings, and husking-bees for the men, and apple-
butter making and the quilting-parties for the women, furnished frequent
occasions for social intercourse. The early settlers took much pleasure
and pride in rifle-shooting, and as they were accustomed to the use of
the gun as a means often of obtaining a subsistence, and relied upon it as
a weapon of defence, they exhibited considerable skill.
"Foot-racing, wrestling, and jumping matches were common. The
jumping matches consisted of the 'single jump,' backward jump, high
jump, three jumps, and the running hop, step, and jump.
" A wedding was the event of most importance in the sparsely settled
new country. The young people had every inducement to marry, and
generally did so as soon as able to provide for themselves. When a mar-
riage was to be celebrated, all the neighborhood turned out. It was
customary to have the ceremony performed before dinner, and in order
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
to be in time, the groom and his attendants usually started from his
father's house in the morning for that of the bride. All went on horse-
back, riding in single file along the narrow trail. Arriving at the cabin
of the bride's parents, the ceremony would be performed, and after
that dinner served. This would be a substantial backwoods feast, of
beef, pork, fowls, and bear- or deer-meat, with such vegetables as could
be procured. The greatest hilarity prevailed during the meal. After it
was over, the dancing began, and was usually kept up till the next morn-
ing, though the newly made husband and wife were, as a general thing,
put to bed in the most approved fashion and with considerable formality
in the middle of the evening's hilarity. The tall young men, when they
went on the floor to dance, had to take their places with care between
the logs that supported the loft-floor, or they were in danger of bumping
their heads. The figures of the dances were three- and four-hand reels,
or square sets and jigs. The commencement was always a square four,
which was followed by 'jigging it off,' or what is sometimes called a
'cutout jig.' The 'settlement' of a young couple was thought to be
thoroughly and generously made when the neighbors assembled and raised
a cabin for them."
PIONEER EVENING FROLICS, SOCIAL PARTIES, PLAYS, AND AMUSE-
MENTSHOW THE PIONEER AND EARLY SETTLERS MADE THEIR
LOG CABINS MERRY WITH SIMPLE, PRIMITIVE ENJOYMENTS.
In the pioneer days newspapers were few, dear, printed on coarse
paper, and small. Books were scarce, only occasional preaching, no
public lectures, and but few public meetings, excepting the annual Fourth
of July celebration, when all the patriots assembled to hear the Declara-
tion of Independence read. The pioneer and his family had to have fun.
The common saying of that day was that " all work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy." As a rule, outside of the villages, everybody lived in
log cabins, and were bound together by mutual dependence and acts of
neighborly kindness. At every cabin the latch- string was always out.
The young ladies of the " upper ten" learned music, but it was the hum-
ming of to " knit and spin ;" their piano was a loom, their sunshade a
broom, and their novel a Bible. A young gentleman or lady was then
as proud of his or her new suit, woven by a sister or a mother on her own
loom, as proud could be, and these new suits or "best clothes" were
always worn to evening frolics. Social parties among the young were
called "kissing parties," because in all the plays, either as a penalty or
as part of the play, all the girls who joined in the amusement had to be
kissed by some one of the boys. The girls, of course, objected to the
kissing, but then they were gentle, pretty, and witty, and the sweetest
and best girls the world ever knew. This was true, for I attended these
parties myself. To the boys and girls of that period
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The earth was like a garden then,
And life seemed like a show,
For the air was rife with fragrance,
The sky was all rainbow,
And the heart was warm and joyous ;
Each lad had native grace,
Sly Cupid planted blushes then
On every virgin's face."
The plays were nearly all musical and vocal, and the boys lived and
played them in the "pleasures of hope," while usually there sat in the
corner of the cabin fireplace a granddad or a grandma smoking a stone
or clay pipe, lighted with a live coal from the wood-fire, living and
smoking in the " pleasures of memory."
The plays were conducted somewhat in this way :
A popular play was for all the persons present to join hands and
form a ring, with a dude of that time, in shirt of check and bear-greased
hair, in the centre. Then they circled round and round the centre
person, singing,
" King William was King James's son,
And of that royal race he sprung;
He wore a star upon his breast,
To show that he was royal best.
Go choose your east, go choose your west,
Go choose the one that you like best;
If he's not here to take your part,
Go choose another with all your heart."
The gentleman in the centre then chose a lady from the circle, and she
stepped into the ring with him. Then the circling was resumed, and all
sang to the parties inside,
" Down on this carpet you must kneel,
Just as the grass grows in the field ;
Salute your bride with kisses sweet,
And then rise up upon your feet."
The play went on in this manner until all the girls present were
kissed.
Another popular play was to form a ring. A young lady would step
into the circle, and all parties would join hands and sing,
" There's a lily in the garden
For you, young man ;
There's a lily in the garden,
Go pluck it if you can," etc.
The lady then selects a boy from the circle, who walks into the ring
with her. He then kisses her and she goes out, when the rest all sing,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" There he stands, that great big booby,
Who he is I do not know ;
Who will take him for his beauty ?
Let her answer, yes or no."
This play goes on in this way until all the girls have been kissed.
Another favorite play was :
" Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows ;
None so well as the farmer knows
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grows ;
Thus the farmer sows his seed,
Thus he stands to take his ease ;
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands," etc.
Another great favorite was :
" Oh, sister Phoebe, how merry were we
The night we sat under the juniper-tree,
The juniper-tree, I, oh.
Take this hat on your head, keep your head warm,
And take a sweet kiss, it will do you no harm,
But a great deal of good, I know," etc.
Another was :
" If I had as many lives
As Solomon had wives,
I'd be as old as Adam ;
So rise to your feet
And kiss the first you meet,
Your humble servant, madam."
Another was :
" It's raining, it's hailing, it's cold, stormy weather ;
In comes the farmer drinking of his cider.
He's going a-reaping, he wants a binder,
I've lost my true love, where shall I find her."
A live play was called " hurly-burly." " Two went round and gave
each one, secretly, something to do. This girl was to pull a young
man's hair ; another to tweak an ear or nose, or trip some one, etc.
When all had been told what to do, the master of ceremonies cried out,
' Hurly-burly.' Every one sprang up and hastened to do as instructed.
This created a mixed scene of a ludicrous character, and was most prop-
erly named ' hurly-burly. ' '
TREES, SNAKES, AND REPTILES.
Our forests were originally covered by a heavy growth of timber-trees
of various kinds. Pine and hemlock predominated. Chestnut and oak
grew in some localities. Birch, sugar-maple, ash, and hickory occupied
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
a wide range. Birch- and cherry-trees were numerous, and linnwood-,
cucumber-, and poplar-trees grew on many of the hill-sides, butternut,
sycamore, black ash, and elm on the low grounds.
In all, about one hundred varieties of trees grew here. These forests
have become the prey of the woodman's axe. There has been no voice
raised effectively to restrain the destruction, wanton as it has been, of the
best specimens of the pine which the eye of man ever saw. The growth
of hundreds of years felled to the ground, scarified, hauled to the streams,
tumbled in, and floated away to the south and east and west for the pal-
try pittance of ten cents a foot ! Oh, that there could have been some
power to restrain the grasping, wasteful, avaricious cupidity of man, of
some voice of thunder crying, " Woodman, woodman, spare that tree !
That old familiar forest- tree, whose glory and renown has spread over
land and sea, and woodmen hacked it down !"
But they are gone, all gone from the mountain's brow. The hands,
also, that commenced the destruction are now mouldering into dust, thus
exemplifying the law of nature, that growth is rapidly followed by decay,
indicating a common destiny and bringing a uniform result. And such
are we ; it is our lot thus to die and be forgotten.
Reptiles and snakes were very numerous. The early pioneer had to
contend against the non-poisonous and poisonous snakes. The non-
poisonous were the spotted adder, blacksnake, the green-, the garter-,
the water-, and the house-snake. The blacksnake sometimes attained a
length of six and eight feet. But dens of vicious rattlesnakes existed
in every locality in the county. In the vicinity of Brookville there was
one at Puckerty, several on the north fork, one at Iowa Mills, and
legions of rattlers on Mill Creek. The dens had to be visited by bold,
hardy men annually every spring to kill and destroy these reptiles as
they emerged in the sun from their dens. Hundreds had to be destroyed
at each den every spring. This was necessary as a means of safety for
both man and beast. Of copperheads, there were but a few dens in the
county, and these in the extreme south and southwest, viz., in Perry
township, in Beaver township, on Beaver Run ; and two or three dens in
Porter township, on the head- waters of Pine Run,^viz., Nye's Branch
and Lost Hill. Occasionally one was found in Brookville.
The copperhead is hazel-brown on the back and pinkish on the belly.
On each side there are from fifteen to twenty-six chestnut blotches or
bands, that somewhat resemble an inverted Y- His head is brighter and
almost copper-colored on top, and everywhere over his back are found
very fine dark points. The sides of his head are cream-colored. The
dividing line between the cream of the side and the copper of the top
passes through the upper edge of the head, in front of the eye, and
involves three-fourths of the orbit. The line is very distinct.
He is commonly found wherever the rattler is, but he does not live
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
quite so far north. He has a variety of names, upland moccasin,
chunkhead, deaf-adder, and pilot-snake among the rest. It is agreed
that he is a much more vicious brute than the rattlesnake. He is more
easily irritated and is quicker in his movements. It is said that he will
even follow up a victim for a second blow. On the other hand, his bite
is very much less dangerous for a variety of reasons. In the first place,
he is no more than three feet long, and his fangs are considerably shorter
than those of a rattler of the same size, while his strength is less, and the
blow, therefore, less effective. So he cannot inflict as deep a wound nor
inject so much venom. The chances of his getting the venom directly
into a large vein are proportionately less.
Rattlesnakes, copperheads, and other large snakes do most of their
travelling in the night. "Snakes, it appears, are extremely fastidious,
every species being limited to one or two articles of diet, and prefer-
ring to starve rather than eat anything else apparently quite as tooth-
some and suitable. Individual snakes, too, show strange prejudices in
the matter of diet, so that it is necessary in every case to find out what
the snake's peculiarities are before feeding him."
Rattlesnakes eat berries for food, hence they avoid ash and sugar,
and live on barren, rocky, or on huckleberry land. They like to bathe,
drink, and live in the sunshine. This, too, makes them avoid ridgy,
heavily timbered land.
The bigger the reptile, of course, the more poison it has. Further-
more, it is to be remembered that of all American serpents the rattle-
snake is the most dangerous, the copperhead less so, and the water-
moccasin least. It is a fact that the poisonous snakes are proof against
their own venom. That this is true has been demonstrated repeatedly by
inoculating such serpents with the poisonous secretion from their salivary
glands. It is believed that there exists in the blood of the venomous
snake some agent similar to the poison itself, and that the presence of
this toxic principle is accountable for the immunity exhibited.
One safety from the snakes to the pioneer and his family was the
great number of razor-back hogs. These animals were great snake-
hunters, being very fond of them.
RATTLESNAKES FIRST KILL THEIR PREY, THEN SWALLOW IT
WHOLE.
The rattlesnake is not found anywhere but in America. It belongs
to the viper family. There are twelve species and thirteen varieties.
They vary in size and color, one variety being red. A rattle is formed
at each renewal of the skin, and as the skin may be renewed more than
once a year, rattles do not indicate the exact age. They live to a ripe old
age, and have sometimes as many as thirty rattles. Some writers call our
variety the "banded snake." In the natural state the rattler sheds his
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
skin but once a year, but in confinement he can be forced to shed the
skin two or three times annually by giving him warm baths and keeping
him in a warm place. Rattlers are unable to climb trees, are fond of
Dr. Ferd. Hoffman and rattlesnakes.
music, and do not chase a retreating animal that has escaped their
"strike."
The rattlesnake of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, is the Crotalus
horridus, or North American species, and is the black variety, somewhat
spotted. Our snake attains the length of five feet, but usually only four
and one-half feet, and they inhabit the barren, rocky portions of our
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
county, formerly in immense numbers, but of late years they are not so
plentiful.
Dr. Ferd. Hoffman, of our town, celebrated as a snake-charmer,
brought a rattlesnake into our store one day, in a little box covered
with wire screen. The snake was small, being only thirty inches long
and having seven rattles. Desiring to see the reptile eat, and know-
ing that they will not eat anything but what they kill themselves, we
conceived the idea of furnishing his kingship a repast. Mr. Robert
Scofield went out and captured a large field-mouse (not mole) and
brought it in, and, in the presence of myself, Scofield, Albert Gooder,
'Squire McLaughlin and brother, and Frank Arthurs, dropped it into
the box under the screen. The box was fourteen inches long and seven
inches wide. The snake, being lively, immediately struck the mouse
back of the head. The mouse gave a little squeak of terror and ran
fourteen inches, then staggered fourteen inches, the length of the box,
then was apparently seized with spinal paralysis, for it had to draw its
hind limbs with its front feet to a corner of the box. It then raised
up and fell dead on its back. After striking the mouse, the snake paid
no attention to anything until the mouse dropped over dead, then his
snakeship wakened up and apparently smelled (examined) the mouse all
over. Satisfied it was healthy and good food, the snake caught the
mouse by the nose and pulled it out of the corner. After this was done,
the snake commenced the process of swallowing in this manner, viz. :
He opened his jaws and took the head of the mouse in one swallow,
pulling alternately by the hooks in the upper and lower jaw, thus forcing
the mouse downward, taking an occasional rest, swallowing and resting
six times in the process. He rattled vigorously three times during this
procedure. It is said they rattle only when in fear or in danger. This
rattling of his must have been a notice to us that he was dining, and to
stand back.
I am informed by my friend Dr. Hoffman, of Brookville, Pennsyl-
vania, that the rattlesnake is possessed of both a high intelligence and a
memory ; that he can be domesticated, and in that state become quite
affectionate and fond of his master, and that snakes thus domesticated
will vie and dispute with each other in manifestations of affection to and
for their master. He also informs me that rattlesnakes are unlike in dis-
position, some are cross and ugly, while others are docile and pleasant.
He also informs me that the rattlesnake can be trained to perform
tricks, as he has thus trained them himself and made them proficient in
numerous acrobatic tricks, such as suspending a number by the head of
one on his thumb, the forming of a suspension chain or bridge, and per-
mitting them to kiss him, and many other tricks too numerous to relate.
To my personal knowledge, he has educated or trained the rattlers in
numbers to perform in the manner indicated here, and without removing,
168
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
in a single instance, any poisonous tooth or sac. These trained rattlers
will fight any stranger the moment he presents himself; but if the master
or their acquaintance presents himself, the rattlers will at once recognize
him, and to him be kind, docile, and affectionate.
The snapping-turtle, the mud-turtle, and the diamond-backed ter-
rapin existed in great numbers in the swamps and around the streams,
and formed a part of the Indian's food. The tree-toad, the common toad,
common frog, lizard, and water-lizard lived here before the pioneers took
possession of the land.
The tools of the pioneer were the axe, six-inch auger, the drawing-
knife, the shaving-knife, a broadaxe, and a cross-cut saw. These were
"all used in the erecting of his shelters." The dexterity of the pioneer
in the "slight" and use of the axe was remarkable and marvellous. He
used it in clearing land, building cabins, making fences, chopping fire-
wood, cutting paths and roads, bridges and corduroy. In fact, in all
work and hunting, in travelling by land, in canoeing and rafting on the
water, the axe was ever the friend and companion of the pioneer.
The civilized man in his first beginning was farmer, carpenter, mason,
merchant, and manufacturer complete, though primitive, in the indi-
vidual. But he was a farmer first and foremost, and used the other avo-
cations merely as incidentals to the first and chief employment. Less
than half a century has elapsed since the spinning-wheel and the loom
were common and necessary in the home.
SOLDIERS OF 1812 WHO PASSED THROUGH PINE CREEK TOWN-
SHIP TO FIGHT GREAT BRITAIN AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT
OF THE PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA WHICH MARCHED OVER THE
OLD STATE ROAD THROUGH BROOKVILLE AND WITHIN TWO
MILES OF WHERE REYNOLDSVILLE NOW STANDS, WHILE ON
ITS WAY TO ERIE.
George Washington never passed through any portion of Jefferson
County with soldiers ; neither did Colonel Bird, who was stationed at
Fort Augusta in 1756; neither was there a " road brushed out for the
purpose of transferring troops to Erie." In 1814, early in the spring, a
detachment of soldiers, under command of Major William McClelland,
travelled through our county, over the old State Road (Bald Eagle's Nest
and Le Boeuf road) to Erie. They encamped at Soldiers' Run, in what
is now Winslow township, rested at Port Barnett for four days, and en-
camped over night at the " four-mile" spring, on what is now the Afton
farm. Elijah M. Graham was impressed with his two " pack-horses" into
their service, and was taken as far as French Creek, now in Venango
County.
Joseph B. Graham gave me these facts in regard to McClelland.
These soldiers were Pennsylvania volunteers and drafted men, and
12 169
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
were from Franklin County. Major McClelland, with his officers and
men, passed through where Brookville now is, over the old Milesburg
and Waterford Road. Three detachments of troops left Franklin
County during the years 1812-14 at three different times, one by way
of Pittsburg, one by way of Baltimore, and the last one through this
wilderness. All of these troops in these three detachments were under
the supervision of the brigade inspector, Major McClelland.
N. B. BOILEAU TO WILLIAM MCCLELLAND.
"HARRISBURG, February I, 1814.
"To WILLIAM MCCLELLAND, ESQ., Inspector Second Brigade, Seventh
Division.
"SiR, By last evening's mail the Governor received a letter from
the Secretary of War, requiring a detachment of one thousand militia to
march to the defence of Erie. He has it in contemplation to order them
from the counties of Cumberland, York, Adams, and Franklin. The
Governor directs me to give you this intimation in order that you may
make arrangements to execute as promptly as possible the orders which
which will be sent to you in a few days.
" Very respectfully, sir,
" Your obedient servant,
"N. B. BOILEAU."
NOTE. Similar letters were written to George Welsh, James Lamber-
ton, and Archibald S. Jordan.
GOVERNOR SIMON SNYDER TO N. B. BOILEAU.
" GENERAL ORDERS.
" HARRISBURG, February 7, 1814.
"To N. B. BOILEAU, Aide- de- Camp.
"In compliance with a requisition by the President of the United
States, I do order into the service of the Union one thousand men, rank
and file, of the Pennsylvania militia, and a competent number of officers,
to be composed of the quotas of the First and Second Brigades of the
Seventh Division, and of the Second Brigade of the Fifth Division, desig-
nated for the service of the United States, under general orders of the
1 2th of May, 1812, to rendezvous at Erie on the 5th day of March, then,
or as soon thereafter as possible, to be organized into one regiment, and
to be agreeably to law.
" SIMON SNYDER,
" Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.'' 1
170
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
N. B. BOILEAU TO WILLIAM MCCLELLAND.
" HARRISBURG, February 24, 1815.
" To WILLIAM MCCLELLAND, ESQ., Inspector of Second Brigade, Seventh
Division.
" SIR, In answer to yours of the 2ist ult., to the Governor, I am
directed to state that in case your first draft does not furnish a quota suf-
ficient when added to those from Mr. Lamberton's and Welsh's brigades
to make one thousand men, rank and file, then you put under the direc-
tion of Major Lamberton the number you may have ready to march, and
proceed to make another draft to make up the deficiency of your quota,
and march them on to the general place of rendezvous as expeditiously as
practicable. You will make an arrangement with Mr. Lamberton as to
the point where your detachment will join his. A sufficient number of
tents, together with those at Carlisle, to accommodate the whole detach-
ment, are now on the road from Philadelphia, and will be at Carlisle OP
Saturday next.
" By order of the Governor.
"N. B. BOILEAU."
I quote from an early history of Franklin County, Pennsylvania :
"In the early part of the year 1814, the general government having
made a call upon the State of Pennsylvania for more troops, Governor
Simon Snyder, about the beginning of February of that year, ordered a
draft for one thousand men from the counties of York, Adams, Franklin,
and Cumberland, Cumberland County to raise five hundred men and the
other counties the balance. The quota of Franklin County was ordered
to assemble at Loudon on the ist of March, 1814. What was its exact
number I have not been able to ascertain.
"At that time Captain Samuel Dunn, of Path Valley, had a small
volunteer company under his command, numbering about forty men.
These, I am informed, volunteered to go as part of the quota of the
county, and were accepted. Drafts were then made to furnish the
balance of the quota, and one full company of drafted men, under the
command of Captain Samuel Gordon, of Waynesburg, and one partial
company, under command of Captain Jacob Stake, of Lurgan township,
were organized, and assembled at Loudon in pursuance of the orders of
the Governor. There the command of the detachment was assumed by
Major William McClelland, brigade inspector of the county, who con-
ducted it to Erie. It moved from Loudon on the 4th of March, and
was twenty-eight days in reaching Erie. According to Major McClel-
land's report on file in the auditor-general's office at Harrisburg, it was
composed of one major, three captains, five lieutenants, two ensigns, and
two hundred and twenty-one privates.
171
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Captain Jacob Stake lived along the foot of the mountain, between
Roxbury and Strasburg. He went as captain of a company of drafted
men as far as Erie, at which place his company was merged into those
of Captains Dunn and Gordon, as the commissions of those officers ante-
dated his commission and there were not men enough in their companies
to fill them up to the required complement."
Upon the arrival of these troops at Erie, and after their organization
into companies, they were put into the Fifth Regiment of the Pennsyl-
vania troops, commanded by Colonel James Fenton, of that regiment.
James Wood, of Greencastle, was major, and Thomas Poe, of Antrim
township, adjutant, the whole army being under the command of Major-
General Jacob Brown.
Adjutant Poe is reputed to have been a gallant officer, one to whom
fear was unknown. On one occasion he quelled a mutiny among the
men in camp, unaided by any other person. The mutineers afterwards
declared that they saw death in his eyes when he gave them the com-
mand to "return to quarters." He fell mortally wounded at the battle
of Chippewa, July 5, 1814, and died shortly afterwards.
These soldiers did valiant service against the British. They fought
in the desperate battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, on July 5 and
25 of the year 1814.
War has cost the United States nearly $10,000,000,000 'and over
680,000 lives, to say nothing of 30,000 lives lost in colonial wars before
the Revolution. Here are the details :
Cost. Lives.
Revolution $ 1 3S> 1 93'73' 30,000
\Varof 1812 107,159,003 2,000
Mexican war 74,000,000 2,000
Civil war 8,500,000,000 600,000
Indian wars 1,000,000,000 49,000
The two Napoleons cost France in war nearly $3,500,000,000. For
the Napoleonic wars France paid $1,275,000,000. Over 5,000,000 men
were killed in these wars.
AN OUTLINE OF THE PIONEER LEGAL RELATIONS OF MAN AND
WIFE.
Up to and later than 1843, Pennsylvania was under the common law
system of England. Under this law the wife had no legal separate ex-
istence. The husband had the right to whip her, and only in the event
of her committing crimes had she a separate existence from her husband.
But if the crime was committed in her husband's presence, she was then
presumed not guilty. Her condition was legally little, if any, better than
a slave.
172
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Under the common law, husband and wife were considered as one
person, and on this principle all their civil duties and relations rested.
The wife could not sue in her own name, but only through her hus-
band. If she suffered wrong in her person or property, she could, with
her husband's aid and assistance, prosecute, but the husband had to be
the plaintiff. For crimes without any presumed coercion of her husband,
the wife could be prosecuted and punished, and for these misdemeanors
the punishments were severe. The wife could make no contract with her
husband. The husband and she could make a contract through the
agency of trustees for the wife, the wife, though, being still under the pro-
tection of her husband.
All contracts made between husband and wife before marriage were
void after the ceremony. The husband could in no wise convey lands or
realty to his wife, only and except through a trustee. A husband at death
could bequeath real estate to his wife.
Marriage gave the husband all right and title to his wife's property,
whether real or personal, but he then became liable for all her debts and
contracts, even those that were made before marriage, and after marriage
he was so liable, except for "superfluities and extravagances."
If the wife died before the husband and left no children, the husband
and his heirs inherited her real estate. But if there were children, the
husband remained in possession of her land during the lifetime of the
wife, and at his death the land went to the wife's heirs.
All debts due to the wife became after marriage the property of the
husband, who became invested with power to sue on bond, note, or any
other obligation, to his own and exclusive use. The powers of discharge
and assignment and change of securities were, of course, involved in the
leading principle. If the husband died before the recovery of the money,
or any change in the securities, the wife became entitled to these debts,
etc., in her own right. All personal property of the wife, such as money,
goods, movables, and stocks, became absolutely the property of the
husband upon marriage, and at his death went to his heirs.
Property could be given to a wife by deed of marriage settlement.
Property could be settled on the wife after marriage by the husband,
provided he was solvent at the time and the transfer not made with a
view to defraud.
The wife could not sell her land, but any real estate settled upon her
to a trustee she could bequeath.
The husband and wife could not be witnesses against each other in
civil or criminal cases where the testimony could in the least favor or
criminate either. One exception only existed to this rule, and that
was this, " the personal safety or the life of the wife gave her permission
to testify for her protection." For further information, see my "Recol-
lections."
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
A PIONEER SONG THAT WAS SUNG IN EVERY FAMILY.
'OLD GRIMES.
"Old Grimes is dead, that good old man,
We ne'er shall see him more;
He used to wear a long black coat
All buttoned down before.
" His heart was open as the day,
His feelings all were true;
His hair was some inclined to gray,
He wore it in a queue.
" When'er he heard the voice of pain
His breast with pity burned ;
The large round head upon his cane
From ivory was turned.
" Kind words he ever had for all ;
He knew no base design ;
His eyes were dark and rather small,
His nose was aquiline.
" He lived in peace with all mankind,
In friendship he was true ;
His coat had pocket-holes behind,
His pantaloons were blue.
" Unharmed, the sin which earth pollutes
He passed securely o'er,
And never wore a pair of boots
For thirty years or more.
" But good Old Grimes is now at rest,
Nor fears misfortune's frown ;
He wore a double-breasted vest,
The stripes ran up and down.
" He modest merit sought to find,
And pay it its desert :
He had no malice in his mind,
No ruffles on his shirt.
" His neighbors he did not abuse,
Was sociable and gay ;
He wore large buckles on his shoes,
And changed them every day.
" His knowledge hid from public gaze
He did not bring to view,
Nor make a noise town-meeting days,
As many people do.
174
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" His worldly goods he never threw
In trust to fortune's chances,
But lived (as all his brothers do)
In easy circumstances.
" Thus undisturbed by anxious cares
His peaceful moments ran ;
And everybody said he was
A fine old gentleman."
ALBERT G. GREENE.
EARLY AND PIONEER MUSIC PIONEER MUSIC-SCHOOLS AND
PIONEER SINGING-MASTERS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
I. D. Hughes, of Punxsutawney, informs me that the first music-book
he bought was Wyeth's "Repository of Sacred Music," second edition.
I have seen this book myself, but a later edition (the fifth), published in
1820. Mr. Hughes says that Joseph Thompson, of Dowlingville, was
the pioneer "singing-master" in Jefferson County, and that he sang from
Wakefield's " Harp," second edition. He used a tuning-fork to sound
the pitches, and accompanied his vocal instruction with violin music.
George James was an early ' ' master, ' ' and used the same book as
Thompson. These two taught in the early thirties. I. D. Hughes taught
in 1840 and used the "Missouri Harmony." This was a collection of
psalm and hymn tunes and anthems, and was published by Morgan &
Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. The first tune in this old "Harmony," or
" buckwheat" note-book, was "Primrose" :
" Salvation, oh, the joyful sound,
'Tis pleasure to our ears,
A sovereign balm for every wound,
A cordial for our fears."
On the second page was "Old Hundred," and on the same^page
"Canaan" :
" On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie."
The dear old pioneers who used to delight in these sweet melodies
have nearly all crossed this Jordan, and are now doubtless singing
"Harwell" :
" Hark ! ten thousand harps and voices
Sound the note of praise above ;
Jesus reigns, and heaven rejoices ;
Jesus reigns, the God of love."
Rev. George M. Slaysman, of Punxsutawney, was the pioneer teacher
of round notes the do ra me 1 s in the county. Judge William P. Jenks
was also an early instructor in these notes.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
We talk about progress, rapid transit, and electricity, but modern
music- teachers have failed to improve on the melody of those old pioneer
tunes, "that seemed like echoes from a heavenly choir; echoes that
seemed to have increased power every time the pearly gates opened to
admit some sainted father or mother."
" God sent these singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth,
That they might touch the hearts of men
And bring them back to Heaven again."
A PIONEER SONG FOR THE SUGAR-TROUGH CRADLE.
DR. WATTS'S CRADLE HYMN.
" Hush, my babe, lie still and slumber,
Holy angels guard thy bed;
Heavenly blessings, without number,
Gently falling on thy head.
" Sleep, my babe, thy food and raiment,
House and home thy friends provide,
All without thy care or payment,
All thy wants are well supplied.
" How much better thou'rt attended
Than the Son of God could be,
When from heaven He descended
And became a child like thee.
" Soft and easy is thy cradle,
Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay,
When His birthplace was a stable,
And his softest bed was hay.
" Blessed babe! what glorious features,
Spotless, fair, divinely bright !
Must He dwell with brutal creatures ?
How could angels bear the sight ?
" Was there nothing but a manger
Wicked sinners could afford
To receive the heavenly stranger ?
Did they thu$ affront the Lord ?
" Soft, my child, I did not chide thee,
Though my song may sound too hard :
'Tis thy mother sits beside thee,
And her arms shall be thy guard.
" Yet, to read the shameful story,
How the Jews abused their King ;
How they served the Lord of Glory,
Makes me angry while I sing.
176
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" See the kinder shepherds round Him,
Telling wonders from the sky;
There they sought Him, there they found Him,
With his virgin mother by.
" See the lovely babe a dressing,
Lovely infant ! how He smiled !
When He wept, His mother's blessing
Soothed and hushed the holy child.
" Lo ! He slumbers in a manger
Where the horned oxen fed !
Peace, my darling, here's no danger,
Here's no ox about thy bed.
" 'Twas to save thee, child, from dying,
Save my dear from burning flame,
Bitter groans, and endless crying,
That thy blest Redeemer came.
" May'st thou live to know and fear Him,
Trust and love Him all thy days !
Then go dwell forever near Him,
See His face and sing His praise.
" I could give thee thousand kisses
Hoping what I most desire ;
Not a mother's fondest wishes
Can to greater joys aspire."
COMPLETE LIST OF TAXABLE INHABITANTS IN JEFFERSON
COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, IN A.D. 1820.
PINE CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Robert Andrews, William Andrews, single man, Joseph Barnett, saw-
and grist-mill, John Barnett, single man, Andrew Barnett, single man,
Thomas Barnett, grist-mill, Summers Baldwin, single man, half a saw-
mill, Israel Bartlett, David Butler, single man, Peter Bartle, Harmen
Bosley, single man, J: Bowen, Joseph Clements, Paul Campbell, Joseph
Carr, Euphrastus Carrier, single man, Samuel Corbett, single man, John
Dixon, Robert Dixon, single man, John Z. Early, two saw-mills, J.
Stephens, half a saw-mill, Henry Feye, Sr., Henry Feye, Jr., single
man, George Feye, single man, Aaron Fuller, Solomon Fuller, saw-mill
and grist-mill, John Fuller, saw-mill, Elijah Graham, Andrew Grinder,
Alexander Hatter, single man, John Hise, Christopher Himes, William
Himes, single man, Frederick Hetrick, John Jones, single man, Robert
Knox, Henry Kailor, Moses Knapp, Lewis Long, John Lucas, John
Lattimer, single man, Thomas Lucas, Henry Latt, John Matson, half a
saw-mill, Jacob Mason, Abraham Milliron, Philip Milliron, William
Morrison, Joseph McCullough, Samuel McGill, William Milliron, John
177
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Mason, single man, John McCartney, single man, John McClelland,
single man, Adam Newenhouse, John Nolf, Jr., John Nolf, Sr., saw-mill,
Peter B. Ostrander, half a saw-mill, Alexander Powers, Jacob Pierce,
single man, John Reed, Hulet Smith, James Shields, Samuel Shaffer,
Henry Sharp, Walter Templeton, Adam Vasbinder, Sr., Jacob Vas-
binder, William Vasbinder, Henry Vasbinder, John Vasbinder, Andrew
Vasbinder, Jr., single man, Fudge Van Camp, colored, Richard Van
Camp, single man, colored, Sarah Van Camp, colored, Enos Van Camp,
colored, Hugh Williamson, John Welsh, saw-mill, Charles Sutherland,
colored.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
Jesse Armstrong, James Brady, Jr., John Bell, Esq., James Bell, single
man, Joseph Bell, single man, John Bell, single man, Asa Grossman, Sr.,
Asa Crossman, Jr., Joseph Grossman, Elisha Dike, Benjamin Dike, Na-
thaniel Foster, Charles C. Gaskill, David Hamilton, James Hamilton,
Archibald Hadden, Jacob Hoover, saw-mill, Elijah Heath, John Hoover,
James Hutchinson, James Irven, Dr. John W. Jenks, Stephen Lewis,
Isaac Lewis, Michael Lantz, Jacob Lantz, single man, Adam Long,
James McClelland, Elizabeth McHenry, John McDonald, David Mill-
iron, John Milliron, Hugh McKee, James McKee, John Newcome, John
Postlethwait, David Postlethwait, single man, John Pifer, Thomas Pagne,
Peter Reed, Samuel Stokes, William Smith, James Stewart, John Stewart,
Jacob Smith, William Thompson, James Wachob, John Young.
MAPLE-SUGAR INDUSTRY.
One of the pioneer industries in this wilderness was maple-sugar-
making. The sugar season commenced either in the last of February or
the first of March. In any event, at this time the manufacturer always
visited his camp to see or set things in order. The camp was a small
cabin made of logs, covered usually with clapboards, and open at one
end. The fireplace or crane and hooks were made in this way : Before
the opening in the cabin four wooden forks were deeply set in the ground,
and on these forks was suspended a strong pole. On this pole was hung
the hook of a limb, with a pin in the lower end to hang the kettle on.
An average camp had about three hundred trees, and it required six ket-
tles, averaging about twenty-two gallons each, to boil the water from that
many trees. The trees were tapped in various ways, viz. : First, with
a three-quarter-inch auger, one or two inches deep. In this hole was
put a round spile about eighteen inches long, made of sumach or whit-
tled pine, two spiles to a tree. The later way was by cutting a hollow
notch in the tree and putting the spile below with a gouge. This spile
was made of pine or some soft wood. When a boy I lived about five
years with Joseph and James McCurdy, in what is now Washington town-
178
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ship, and the latter method of opening trees was practised by them. In-
deed, all I say here about this industry I learned from and while with
them. At the camp there were always from one to three storage- troughs
made of cucumber or poplar, and each trough held from ten barrels up-
ward. Three hundred trees required a storage of thirty barrels and
steady boiling with six kettles. The small troughs under the trees were
Stirring off maple-sugar.
made of pine and cucumber and held from three to six gallons. We
hauled the water to the storage-troughs with one horse and a kind of
"pung," the barrel being kept in its place by plank just far enough
apart to hold it tight. In the fireplace there was a large back log and
one a little smaller in front. The fire was kept up late and early with
smaller wood split in lengths of about three feet. We boiled the water
into a thick syrup, then strained it through a woollen cloth while hot into
the syrup-barrel. When it had settled, and before putting it on to
"sugar off," we strained it the second time. During this sugaring we
skimmed the scum off with a tin skimmer and clarified the syrup in the
kettle with eggs well beaten in sweet milk. This "sugaring off" was
always done in cloudy or cold days, when the trees wouldn't run " sap."
One barrel of sugar-water from a sugar-tree, in the beginning of the
season, would make from five to seven pounds of sugar. The sugar was
always made during the first of the season. The molasses was always
179
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
made at the last of the season, or else it would turn to sugar in a very few
days. The sugar was made in cakes, or "stirred off" in a granulated
condition, and sold in the market for from six and a quarter to twelve
and a half cents a pound. In "sugaring off," the syrup had to be fre-
quently sampled by dropping some of it in a tin of cold water, and if the
molasses formed a " thread" that was brittle like glass, it was fit to stir.
I was good at sampling, and always anxious to try the syrup, as James
McCurdy, who is still living, can substantiate. In truth, I was never
very hungry during sugar-making, as I had a continual feast during
this season of hot syrup, treacle, and sugar.
Skill and attention were both necessary in "sugaring off," for if the
syrup was taken off too soon the sugar was wet and tough, and if left on
too long, the sugar was burnt and bitter. Time has evoluted this indus-
try from our county. In the census chapter of 1840 you will find how
many pounds of maple-sugar were manufactured in each township and the
sum total in pounds for the county.
"While maple-sugar-making has passed in Jefferson County, it still is
quite an important industry in many parts of the country. According to
the statistics gathered in the census of 1890, Vermont leads in the pro-
duction of maple-sugar, at least in the number of large producers. There
were 23,533 producers who manufactured each 500 pounds or over of
sugar, according to that census. Of these, Vermont reported 10,099 '> New
York, 7884; New Hampshire, 1725; Michigan, 1135; Pennsylvania,
noi ; Ohio, 930 ; Massachusetts, 415 ; Maryland, 78 ; Maine, 39 ; West
Virginia, 26; Indiana, 24; Iowa and Minnesota, 23 each; Illinois, 8;
Connecticut and Missouri, 5 each ; Wisconsin and Virginia, 4 each ;
Tennessee and North Carolina, 2 each ; and Kentucky, i .
"It is the hard-maple tree that makes the sugar. Windham County,
Vermont, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and Delaware County, New
York, are the three greatest maple-sugar producing counties in the Union,
the first leading the list with an annual yield of about 3,000,000 pounds,
the second producing 2,500,000 pounds, and the third 2,000,000 pounds.
The largest single sugar-bush is in Windham County ; it contains 7000
sap-bearing trees."
Joseph and James McCurdy were pioneer settlers. Joseph has been
dead many years, and I can cheerfully say that he was an honest and
true Christian.
THE TRANSPORTATION OF IRON THROUGH JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Centre County, Pennsylvania, was richly supplied by nature with the
finest quality of iron ore and all the other requisites for its manufacture
into iron. The pioneer in the iron business in what is now Centre
County was Colonel John Patton, of the Revolutionary war. Imme-
diately after peace was declared he removed to this region and erected
180
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Centre Furnace." He died in 1804. The iron in early days, before
1800, was called " Juniata Iron," and the market was to be found on the
Atlantic seaboard.
The development of this rich iron field, thus early commenced,
gradually developed under the old charcoal system, until in 1826, when,
from an increased demand from the Western market, there was in active
operation in that county thirteen furnaces making annually eleven thou-
sand six hundred tons of pig-metal and three thousand one hundred tons
of bar-iron, with such a production of iron new markets had to be sought
out. The completion of the Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike
through this wilderness suggested the feasibility to the Greggs, Curtins,
and others of transporting pig-metal, blooms, and iron to the waters of
Red Bank by horse power, a distance of about eighty-eight miles, and
from here by water to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Ken-
tucky.
As near as I can ascertain, about the year 1828 a contract was entered
into by iron men of Centre County with Henry Riley, of Armstrong
County, Pennsylvania, to deliver blooms and pig-iron to Pittsburg and
the Western market at a stated price per ton. The transportation on
land to Port Barnett was principally carried on during the winter months
by farmers in subcontracts. Port Barnett was so named because it was
a shipping-point. Henry Feye hauled with an ox- team, and Joseph Mc-
Giffin, of this county, hauled with a horse-team. The late Uriah Matson
and Peter B. Ostrander took subcontracts from Riley for delivering at
Port Barnett. They hauled with oxen and sleds and carried their own
board and ox- feed with them. The round trip took them about ten days.
Matson and Ostrander received about ten dollars per ton for their work.
Peter B. Ostrander was a veteran of the war of 1812. Other Port Barnett
teamsters were Samuel Jones and David Butler. Fudge Van Camp, our
colored patriarch and brother, hauled this pig-metal as well as fiddled in
the old inns and taverns. Riley's teamsters were Captain F. Downs,
Christ Shick, and others. These men were all well supplied with old
rye and used it freely. They hauled with wooden sleds, having wooden
soles. The iron was principally hauled from Phillipsburg. A number of
Armstrong farmers (now Clarion) took subcontracts from Riley, viz.,
the Joneses, Crookses, Hindmans, and Shieldses. The "silver craze"
prevailed then, for Riley paid his contract workers all in silver.
From Port Barnett the pioneer transportation to Pittsburg was on
rafts. The rafts were made of dry or dead pine timber, in this wise :
The sticks were notched on each side and a hole was bored through
each ; then the sticks were placed side by side in the water to form a
platform, and poles were driven through these flat platforms and wedged
on each side. These dry pine logs forming the platform were marketed
in Pittsburg for wood. Samuel T. Corbett, uncle of W. W. Corbett,
181
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
was the pioneer to pilot one of these rafts to market. Henry Feye con-
ceived the idea that barges would afford better transportation facilities
for the iron, and he built one, loaded it, and had the misfortune to stove
it on what is now called, on that account, "Iron Bar Ripple." This
ripple is about one and one-half miles from the mouth of Red Bank.
William Jack, of Brookville, built boats on the North Fork, at the head
of what is now Heidrick, Matson & Co. 's dam. The late James K. Hoff-
man and John Dixon worked on these boats and helped run them to
market. The barge business continued, and Major William Rodgers, of
Brookville, and Thomas Chapman, of Westmoreland County, Pennsyl-
vania, received the contract in 1832 for the transportation of three hun-
dred tons. This contract was for but two years, and was for bar-iron
to be delivered at Louisville, Kentucky. Their shipping-point was the
mouth of the North Fork. Joseph McGiffin, William Kennedy, and
William Kelso, of this county, hauled for this firm. Chapman and
Rodgers shipped entirely by barges or flat-boats about eighty feet long.
After the iron was unloaded an eighty-foot boat brought them eighty
dollars.
This mode of transportation ceased in 1834, but iron and nails were
still brought here for our local market for many years thereafter.
THE FIRST SCREW FACTORY.
"It is an especially noteworthy fact, known to comparatively few
persons, that the first screw-mill in the United States was erected in 1821
by Mr. Phillips in the little mountain village of Phillipsburg, hundreds of
miles distant from any of the great marts of the country. The neces-
sary buildings were put up near the Moshannon Creek, in a suburb of the
town that is now called Point Lookout. The capacity of the factory was
fifteen hundred gross per week, but the largest quantity produced during
the time it was in operation was one thousand gross per week, the material
for which was prepared from the blooms by rolling and wire drawing
machinery operated by steam- and water-power. The nearest and best
market was at Pittsburg, through Port Barnett, and the products of the
forge- and screw- mill had to be hauled at no inconsiderable expense to
the waters of the Allegheny River in wagons, and thence transported in
arks to their destination."
The old Chinklacamoose trail passed through and over the high
table lands in the county of Centre, passing through or near Milesburg,
Phillipsburg, and Snow Shoe. Snow Shoe took its name from the follow-
ing circumstances : About or previous to the year 1775, "a party of white
hunters went out on the old Chinklacamoose trail and were overtaken on
these high table-lands of the Allegheny Mountains, near the forks of
Moshannon Creek, by a heavy snow-storm. Their provisions becoming
exhausted they had to make snow-shoes and walk in them to the Bald
182
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Eagle settlement. It required about two days to travel in these snow-
shoes a distance of thirty miles." This old Indian path passed through
the Indian town of Chinklacamoose, old town, or what is now called
Clearfield. " This was the central point of the great Chinklacamoose
path." " Post lodged at this village on his way to the Ohio country in
the night of August 2, 1758. 'We arrived,' he writes in his journal,
' this night at Shinglimuce, where we saw the posts painted red and stuck
in the ground, to which the Indians tie their prisoners. It is a disagree-
able and melancholy sight to see the means they use to punish flesh and
blood.' "
At this point Indian trails connecting the great eastern and western
waters crossed the mountains in various directions. There was a trail
towards Fort Venango (through Brookville), another towards Kittanning
(through Punxsutawney), and one towards the source of the Sinnema-
honing (through Brockwayville). Punxsutawney was another central
point for Indian paths, and this Chinklacamoose trail is famous, made
so by the fact that the "white prisoners" were carried over it to Kit-
han-ne, in Munsi Indian, and Gicht-han-ne, in Delaware, meaning Kit-
tanning, or a town near or on the main stream, viz., the Allegheny
River.
I copy from the Armstrong history a few of the early cruelties prac-
tised on the prisoners carried over this trail.
"At a council, held in Philadelphia, Tuesday, September 6, 1756,
the statement of John Coxe, a son of the widow Coxe, was made, the
substance of which is : He, his brother Richard, and John Craig were
taken in the beginning of February of that year by nine Delaware In-
dians from a plantation two miles from McDowell's mill, which was
between the east and west branches of the Conococheague Creek, about
twenty miles west of the present site of Shippensburg, in what is now
Franklin County, and brought to Kittanning 'on the Ohio.' On his
way hither he met Shingas with a party of thirty men, and afterwards, with
Captain Jacobs and fifteen men, whose design was to destroy the settle-
ments in Conogchege. When he arrived at Kittanning he saw here
about one hundred fighting men of the Delaware tribe, with their families,
and about fifty English prisoners, consisting of men, women, and chil-
dren. During his stay here Shingas's and Jacobs's parties returned, the
one with nine scalps and five prisoners. Another company of eighteen
came from Diahogo with seventeen scalps on a pole, which they took to
Fort Duquesne to obtain their reward. The warriors held a council,
which, with their war-dances, continued a week, when Captain Jacobs left
with forty-eight men, intending, as Coxe was told, to fall upon the in-
habitants of Paxton. He heard the Indians frequently say that they
intended to kill all the white folks except a few, with whom they would
afterwards make peace.
183
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"They made an example of Paul Broadley, whom, with their usual
cruelty, they beat for half an hour with clubs and tomahawks, and then,
having fastened him to a post, cropped his ears close to his head and
chopped off his fingers, calling all the prisoners to witness the horrible
scene.
" Among other English prisoners brought to Kittanning were George
Woods, father-in-law of the eminent lawyer, James Ross (deceased), and
the wife and daughter of John Grey, who were captured at Bigham's
Fort, in the Tuscarora Valley, in 1756. Mr. Grey came out here with
Armstrong's expedition, hoping to hear from his family. These three
prisoners were sent from Kittanning to Fort Duquesne and subsequently
to Canada.
" Fort Granville, which was situated on the Juniata, one mile above
Lewistown, was besieged by the Indians July 30, 1756. The force then
in it consisted of twenty-four men under the command of Lieutenant
Armstrong, who was killed during the siege. The Indians having offered
quarter to those in the fort, a man by the name of John Turner opened
the gate to them. He and the others, including three women and several
children, were taken prisoners. By order of the French commander the
fort was burned by Captain Jacobs. When the Indians and prisoners
reached Kittanning, Turner was tied to a black post, the Indians danced
around him, made a great fire, and his body was run through with red-
hot gun-barrels. Having tormented him for three hours, the Indians
scalped him alive, and finally held up a boy, who gave him the finishing
stroke with a hatchet.
" Such were a few of the terrible enactments of which Kittanning was
the scene in the eighteenth century."
POPULATION OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA AND OF THE
UNITED STATES FROM 1790 TO 1840 INCLUSIVE.
1790.
Whites. Free Colored. Negro Slaves. Total in Pennsylvania.
424,099 6,537 3.737 434,373
Population in the United States, 3,929,827.
I80O.
586,098 14,561 1,706 602,365
Population in the United States, 5,305,941.
1810.
786,704 22,492 795 810,091
Population in the United States, 7,239,814.
1820.
1,017,094 32,153 211 I,049,45 8
Population in the United States, 9,638,191.
184
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA,
1830.
Whites. Free Colored. Negro Slaves. Total in Pennsylvania.
i,39>9 37,93 43 1,348,233
Population in the United States, 12,866,020.
1840.
1,676,115 47,854 64 1,724,033
Population in the United States, 17,069,453.
RATIO FOR A MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
1790 33,000 Number in Pennsylvania, 13 Total membership, 105
1800 33,000 " " " 18 " " 141
1810 35,000 " " " 23 " " 181
1820 40,000 " " " 26 " " 213
1830 47,000 " " " 28 " " 240
1840 70,680 " " " 24 " " 223
Salary of a Congressman, eight dollars a day.
CHAPTER XI.
THE ERECTION OF THE COUNTY SITE FOR COUNTY' ESTABLISHED, AND
DEED FOR PUBLIC LOTS PIONEER COURT-HOUSE AND JAIL THE
PIONEER ACADEMY.
ERECTION OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
WHEN William Penn came to what is now the State of Pennsylvania
and organized what has become our present Commonwealth, he erected
three counties, which were Bucks, Philadelphia, and Chester. Chester
County extended over the western portion of the State at that time. In
reality, it had jurisdiction over only the inhabitable portion, but its
boundary lines extended west of what is now Jefferson County.
On May 10, 1729, Lancaster County was erected from Chester. On
January 27, 1750, Cumberland County was erected from Lancaster. On.
March 9, 1771, Bedford County was erected from Cumberland. March
27, 1772, Northumberland County was erected, and for thirteen years our
wilderness was in this county. On April 13, 1795, Lycoming County
was erected from Northumberland, and on March 26, 1804, Jefferson
County was erected from Lycoming County. Thus you will see that this
wilderness was embraced in six other counties before it was erected into
a separate county. The name of the county was given in honor of
Thomas Jefferson, who was then President of the United States. The
original area of Jefferson County contained 1 203 square miles, but it now
has only about 413,440 acres; highest altitude, from 1200 to 1880 feet
above sea-level; length of county, 46 miles; breadth, 26 miles.
13 185
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Jefferson County is now in the fourth tier of counties east of the Ohio
line, and in the third tier south of the New York line, and is bounded by
Forest and Elk on the north, Clearfield on the east, Indiana on the south,
and Armstrong and Clarion on the west. Its south line now runs due
west twenty-three and one-third miles from the Clearfield-Indiana corner ;
Map of Jefferson County, 1842.
its west line thence due north twenty-eight and one-quarter miles to the
Clarion River ; its north line, first up the Clarion River to Elk County,
thence due south one-half mile, thence southeast thirteen and three-
quarter miles, to Clearfield County ; its east line runs first southwest ten
miles, thence due south fifteen and one-third miles, to the starting-place
at the Clearfield-Indiana corner.
1 86
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXNA.
GEOGRAPHY.
" The original boundary lines enclosed an area of more than one thou-
sand square miles, embracing much of what is now Forest and Elk, be-
yond the Clarion River. At what time the present boundaries were
erected is not certain ; but much shifting took place, especially along the
northern border, until comparatively recent years.
" The pioneer people were mainly of Scotch-Irish descent, with a
considerable intermixture of the German element, industrious, prudent,
and thrifty.
TOPOGRAPHY.
" The surface of Jefferson County is uniformly broken and hilly ;
everywhere occupied by the same set of rock strata, lying nearly hori-
zontal, and excavated into valleys and ravines in the same style. Although
one valley cannot be said to be the exact counterpart of another, nor the
streams be considered of equal size and importance, yet the type of the
topography is the same wherever we look at it, and any one part of the
county, therefore, is, in this respect, a picture of the whole.
" Standing upon one of the many elevated points of the region, the
observer may see beneath him a broad valley, from three hundred to five
hundred feet deep, and as irregular in its trend and course as its slopes
are variable in their fall. Here precipitous walls face the stream on both
sides ; there a sharp descent upon the one side is faced by a long gentle
slope upon the other, according as the dips are arranged ; at another
place the valley widens under the influence of a synclinal, and both its
slopes are gradual. Numerous ravines, some short, some long, some deep,
others shallow, debouch into the valley from both sides. Uplands un-
dulating, but of a pretty uniform height, stretch away in both directions.
No mountain ridges are anywhere visible on the horizon. As far as the
eye can see there spreads an elevated table-land, broken by vales, valleys,
and ravines.
"The height above tide of the upland summits ranges from twelve
hundred to eighteen hundred and eighty feet. They are lowest at the
southern end of the county, and highest at the northern end, in obedi-
ence to a topographical law prevailing throughout Western Pennsylvania :
that the surface elevations gradually increase in the direction of the rising
anticlinal axes, i.e., towards the northeast.
" To this law there is one notable exception in Jefferson County;
the southeast corner borders on the high table-land of the Chestnut Ridge
anticlinal, whose summits frequently attain an elevation of two thousand
feet ; and some few points in Gaskill township rise nearly to that height ;
but these points are related more closely to the topography of Indiana
and Clearfield Counties than to that of Jefferson, which is in fact a mere
continuation of that prevailing throughout Clarion, Armstrong, and
western Indiana Counties.
187
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ELEVATION.
Feet.
Hillman above sep.-level, 1880
Perrysville " " 1170
Winslow " " 1636
Horatio " " I2II
Falls Creek above tide, 1405
Evergreen " " 1398
Magee's (Sandy Galley P. O.) " " 1387
Panther Run " " 1386
Reynoldsville " " 1377
Prior Run " " 1366
Prindible " " 1360
McAnnulty's Run " " 1359
Camp Run " " 1341
Fuller's " " 1327
Wolf Run " " 1319
Iowa Mills " " 1299
Bell's Mills " " 1268
Brookville Tunnel, east end " " 1242
Brookville Station " " 1235
Coder's Run " " 1223
Puckerty Point " " ^214
Rattlesnake Run " " 1207
Baxter " li 1206
Troy " " 1186
Heathville " " 1161
Patton's " ' 1131
ELEVATION ABOVE TIDE FROM FALLS CREEK TO RIDGEWAY.
Near Falls Creek Station above tide, 1406
Surface ot ground, McMinn's Summit " " 1625
(McMinn's Summit is the Boon Mountain divide.)
Brockwayville " " 1466
Ordinary low water in Little Toby " " 1441
On the main Ridgway Road " " 1451
Mouth of Little Toby Creek " " 1321
(This is the ordinary water-level.)
Big Run " " 1287
Sykesville " " 1350
Punxsutawney " " 1225
DRAINAGE.
" The drainage of Jefferson County is all westward towards the Ohio
River, through (i) the Clarion River at the north end of the county, (2)
Red Bank Creek in the centre, and (3) Mahoning Creek on the south.
Each of these streams has its own complex system of tributaries, each
with its own system of small branches and branchlets ; and thus the sur-
face of the whole county is broken into hills.
188
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Although the Clarion and Mahoning are larger streams, yet they flow-
on the borders of the county, and are less important to it than the Red Bank.
" Red Bank Creek is the principal stream, as a glance at the map will
at once show. Its water basin is unsymmetrical on the two sides, a much
larger part of its drainage coming in from the north than from the south.
Excepting indeed from the Little Sandy branch its basin on the south
side would be confined pretty much to the hills which overlook the creek ;
whereas towards the north its far-reaching arms extend to what is now the
Elk County line.
" Red Bank Creek in the original maps and drafts of Jefferson County
bore the name of Sandy Lick, which name is still retained for its main
branch, coming from Clearfield County, along which the Bennett's
Branch Railroad is laid. The creek assumes the name of Red Bank at
Brookville, where Sandy Lick unites with the North Fork, and both
branches carry enough water during floods to float rafts and logs.
" Mill Creek, a branch of the Sandy Lick, is also a rafting stream.
" Little Sandy, before alluded to as occupying the southwestern part
of the county, is a rafting stream.
" The volume of water, however, in all the streams, large and small,
is extremely irregular, varying as it does from stages of high flood when
the larger streams are destructive torrents, to stages of almost complete
exhaustion during periods of severe drought. This extreme of variability
is largely the consequence of the porous and loose condition of the surface
rocks, which thus copiously yield water so long as they hold it. In
1879, an exceptional year, after a succession of prolonged droughts,
there was a dearth of water in all parts of the county ; the larger streams
had barely enough in them to turn a mill ; and considerable difficulty
was experienced, especially in the upland country, to obtain water for the
cattle. As a rule, the county is abundantly watered for agricultural pur-
poses, and for domestic supply in towns and villages.
"The Red Bank-Mahoning divide in the southeast corner of the
county crosses from Clearfield at a point nearly due east of Reynoldsville.
Thence it follows an irregular southwest line, around the heads of Elk
Run, and around the heads of Little Sandy. Paradise settlement stands
at the top of it ; so does Shamoka, Oliveburg, and Frostburg. Porter
Post-Office at the southwest end of the county marks the top of the divide
in that region.
" The Red Bank-Clarion divide on the north enters Jefferson south of
Lane's Grove, where one branch of Rattlesnake Run takes its rise. After
passing Brockwayville the water-shed is forced almost to the edge of Little
Toby valley, as will be seen on examination of the county map. Along
the last-named stream it passes in Elk County, where curving about the
heads of the North Fork (Red Bank system), it returns again to Jefferson,
whence closely skirting the Clarion River, it runs southwest of Sigel.
189
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
There it turns sharply about and next sweeps around the head of Big
Mill Creek, extending thence south to within a few miles of the Red
Bank valley. It therefore describes a semicircle in northern Jefferson,
stretching from one side of the county to the other."
FOREST-TREES.
"The southern portion of Jefferson County was mostly covered with
white oak, black oak, rock oak, chestnut, sugar, beech, and hickory.
"The rock areas of northern Jefferson were covered with pine and
hemlock, with scarcely a trace of white oak. There is still a consider-
able quantity of marketable hemlock left.
"White oak, chestnut, sugar, beech, and hickory were the principal
kinds of wood on the cleared lands.
"White oak was found mostly on the high uplands.
" W. C. Elliott says, ' There were four kinds of maple, four of ash, five
of hickory, eight of oak, three of birch, four of willow, four of poplar,
four of pine, and from one to three of each of the other varieties. The
following are the names of all of them ; some of the trees are not correctly
named, but the names given are the only English names by which they
go. Their Latin names are all correct and would be given, but would not
be understood. Sweet-bay, cucumber, elkwood, long-leaved cucumber,
white basswood, toothache-tree, wafer-ash, spindle-tree, Indian-cherry,
feted buckeye, sweet buckeye, striped maple, sugar-maple, white maple,
red maple, ash-leaved maple, staghorn sumach, dwarf sumach, poison
elder, locust, coffee-nut, honey-locust, judas-tree, wild plum, hog-plum,
red cherry, black cherry, American crab- apple, crab- apple, cockspur,
thorn, scarlet haw, blackthorn, Washington thorn, service-tree, witch-
hazel, sweet-gum, dogwood, boxwood, sour-gum, sheep-berry, stag-bush,
sorrel-tree, spoonwood, rosebay, southern buckthorn, white ash, red ash,
green ash, black ash, fringe-tree, catalpa, sassafras, red elm, white elm,
rock elm, hackberry, red mulberry, sycamore, butternut, walnut, bitter-
nut, pignut, kingnut, shagbark, white hickory, swamp white oak, chest-
nut oak, yellow oak, red oak, shingle oak, chinquapin, chestnut, iron-
wood, leverwood, beech, gray birch, red birch, black birch, black alder,
speckled alder, black willow, sand-bar willow, almond-willow, glaucous
willow, aspen, two varieties of soft poplar, two varieties of cottonwood,
two varieties of necklace-poplar, liriodendron (incorrectly called poplar),
white cedar, red cedar, white pine, hemlock, balsam, fir, hickory, pine,
pitch-pine or yellow pine, red pine, Virginia date, and forest olive. In
addition to the above were numerous wild berries, vines, etc. '
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.
" The rocks of Jefferson County are folded in a regular succession of
parallel anticlinal ridges and synclinal basins, stretching from southwest
190
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
to northeast. The folds are not all equidistant from each other. Those
west of Perrysville anticlinical are nearly so.
"The anticlinical arches are low, and the synclinal basins are shal-
low ; and while they are not equal in height and depth, when compared
with one another, the difference is small, although of considerable im-
portance in its effect upon mining interests. Some idea of how gently
the rocks incline from the horizontal may be got from the fact that the
whole thickness of strata outcropping at the surface in any basin does
not exceed five hundred feet, although the basin is in some cases six
miles wide.
"The axes of the rolls and troughs being parallel, the line of strike
is necessarily uniform in all parts of the county ; about N. 40 E. (S.
40 W.).
" The normal dip, therefore, is either to the N. 50 W. or S. 50 E.
But the real dip is somewhat different, owing to the plainly marked rise
of the whole region (with its anticlinals and synclinals) towards the
northeast." Geological Report of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.
" AN ACT TO ERECT PARTS OF LYCOMING, HUNTINGDON, AND SOMERSET
COUNTIES INTO SEPARATE COUNTY DISTRICTS.
" SECTION i. Be it enacted, etc., and it is hereby enacted by the author-
ity of the same, That part of the county of Lycoming, included within
the following lines, to wit : Beginning at the northeast corner of Venango
County, and thence east thirty miles (part along the line of Warren
County), and thence by a due south line fifteen miles, thence a south-
westerly course to Sandy Lick Creek, where Hunter's district line crosses
said creek ; thence south along Hunter's district line to a point twelve
miles north of the canoe-place, on the west branch of Susquehanna;
thence a due west line until it intersects the eastern boundary of Arm-
strong County ; thence north along the line of Armstrong and Venango
Counties, to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby erected
into a separate county, to be henceforth called Jefferson County ; and the
place of holding the courts of justice shall be fixed by the Legislature at
any place at a distance not greater than seven miles from the centre of
the said county, which may be most beneficial and convenient for the
said county.
"SECTION 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the Governor shall, as soon as convenient, appoint three Commissioners
to run and mark the boundary lines of the counties of Jefferson, Clear-
field, and Cambria, and shall appoint three other Commissioners to run
and mark the boundary lines of the counties of McKean, Potter, and
Tioga, according to the true intent and meaning of this act ; and the
said Commissioners, or any two of them, shall have power to run the
aforesaid lines, and shall have, for their services, the sum of two dollars
191
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
for every mile so run and marked, to be paid out of the treasury of this
Commonwealth.
" SECTION 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
as soon as it shall appear by an enumeration of the taxable inhabitants
within the counties of Jefferson, McKean, Clearfield, Potter, Tioga, and
Cambria, that any of the said counties, according to the ratio which shall
then be established for apportioning the representation among the several
counties of this Commonwealth, shall be entitled to a separate representa-
tion, provision shall be made by law apportioning the said representa-
tion, and enabling such county to be represented separately, and to hold
the courts of justice at such place in the said county as is or may here-
after be fixed for holding the same by the Legislature, and to choose
their county officers in like manner as in the other counties of this
Commonwealth.
" SECTION 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the Governor be, and he is hereby authorized and required to appoint
three suitable persons for trustees in each of the said counties, who shall
receive proposals in writing from any person or persons, or any bodies
corporate or politic, for the grant or conveyance of any lands within the
said counties respectively, and within the limits prescribed by this act for
fixing the place of holding courts of justice in said counties respectively,
or the transfer of any other property, or payment of money for the use of
said counties, and transmit to the Legislature from time to time a copy
of the proposals so received under their hands ; and when the place of
holding courts of justice in the said counties respectively shall be fixed
by the Legislature, to take assurances in the law for the lands and other
valuable property, or money contained in any such proposals, which shall
or may be accepted of.
"SECTION 13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That for the present convenience of the inhabitants of the county of Jef-
ferson, and until an enumeration of the taxable inhabitants of said county
shall be made, and it shall be otherwise directed by law, the said county
of Jefferson shall be, and the same is hereby annexed to the county of
Westmoreland ; and the jurisdiction of the several courts of the county
of Westmoreland, and the authority of the judges thereof, shall extend
over and shall operate and be effectual within the said county of Jef-
ferson.
"SECTION 15. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That the electors within the counties erected by this act shall continue
to elect at the same places and with the same counties as heretofore.
"Approved the twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
one thousand and eight hundred and four.
"THOMAS McKEAN,
" Governor of the Commowealth of Pennsylvania."
192
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"AN ACT APPROVING THE APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONERS TO FIX UPON
A PROPER SITE FOR THE SEAT OF JUSTICE IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
" SECTION i. Beit enacted, etc., and it is hereby enacted by the authority
of the same, That John Mitchell, of the county of Centre, Alexander Mc-
Calmont, of the county of Venango, and Robert Orr, Junior, of Arm-
strong County, be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners, who, or
a majority of whom, shall meet at the house of Andrew Barnett, in the
county of Jefferson, on the first Monday in September next, and from
thence proceed to view and determine the most eligible and proper situa-
tion for the seat of justice for the said county of Jefferson, and make report
into the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth on or before the
first Monday of December next ; and each of said Commissioners shall
receive three dollars per day for every day they shall be necessarily em-
ployed in the duty aforesaid, to be paid by warrants drawn by the Commis-
sioners of Jefferson County on the treasurer of said county : Provided, That
in case of death, resignation, or inability of any one or more of the
Commissioners to serve, the Governor shall be authorized and required
to appoint such suitable person or persons to fill such vacancy or
vacancies.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the Commissioners of Jefferson County shall have power, and it shall be
their duty to take assurances, by deed, bond, or otherwise, of any land,
lots, money, or other property which hath or may be offered for the use
and benefit of the said county, either for the purpose of erecting public
buildings, or for the support of an academy or other public use.
" Approved the eighth day of April, A.D. one thousand eight hun-
dred and twenty-nine.
" J. ANDW. SHULZE."
In accordance with the provisions of this act these men met at the
house of Joseph Barnett on the first Monday of September, 1829, and
located the site on the Waterford and Susquehanna turnpike, at the con-
fluence of the Sandy Lick and North Fork, where they form the Red
Bank, and named the place Brookville.
The boundaries of the town as then laid out were as follows : Butler
Alley, running east and west, north of the second (or old graveyard),
thence east, taking in the mills and dam of Robert P. Barr, now Heidrick,
Matson & Co. On the west was an alley, now east of the Presbyterian
church, down that alley to Water Street, taking in or including " Hunt's
Point, ' ' thence along Water Street to Pickering Street, and across Red
Bank, near the bridge, and out Pickering Street to lot No. 25, and thence
to the Sandy Lick.
193
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
' AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE PROVISIONAL COUNTY OF JEFFERSON, TO
ELECT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
" SECTION i. (The citizens to elect three County Commissioners and
three Auditors on the second Tuesday of October next :)
"Provided, that the largest in vote of the said County Commission-
ers, and also the lowest in vote of the said County Auditors, shall only
serve one year, the next lowest two years, whose places respectively shall
be supplied according to the laws of this Commonwealth. Provided
always, That all and singular the costs and expenses in laying out and
opening roads, all costs chargeable to the county of Jefferson, arising
from criminal prosecutions instituted against persons within said county,
and all other costs and expenses incidental to said county, and which of
right should be paid by the same, on account of the jurisdiction of the
several Courts of Indiana County, and the authority of the judges thereof
extending over the said county of Jefferson, shall be paid by the said
county of Jefferson, on warrants drawn by the Commissioners of Indiana
County, and countersigned by the Commissioners of the county of Jeffer-
son.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
it shall and may be lawful for the said Commissioners of the county of Jef-
ferson, or their successors, to call on the Commissioners of the county of
Indiana for the purpose of examining, liquidating, and receiving such
balances as shall be found due to the said county of Jefferson, and if, on
such examination, it be found that a balance is due from the county of
Jefferson to the county of Indiana, then it shall be the duty of the Com-
missioners of Indiana County to call on the Commissioners of Jefferson
County and receive said balance.
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the said County Commissioners and Auditors so elected shall hold their
office and transact the public business as Commissioners and Auditors of
said county at such place as shall be fixed upon by a majority of the
Commissioners first elected in said county of Jefferson, until the seat of
justice is ascertained, and thereafter at the seat of justice.
" SECTION 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
so much of any act or acts of the General Assembly of this Common-
wealth as is altered or supplied by this act be, and the same is, hereby
repealed.
" Passed 2ist January, 1824."
* * * ***%.%.*
PIONEER COMMISSIONERS, TREASUKERS, AUDITORS, COLLECTORS,
AND ASSESSORS SATURDAY AFTERNOON A TIME TO PREPARE
FOR SUNDAY.
In pursuance of this act of Assembly, approved January 21, 1824,
granting to the provisional county of Jefferson the privilege of electing
194
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
its own commissioners, auditors, etc., an election was held the i2th day
of October, 1824. Andrew Barnett was duly elected commissioner of
Jefferson County for three years, John Lucas was duly elected for two
years, and John W. Jenks was elected for one year, the election of these
three being certified to by Alexander Taylor, prothonotary of Indiana
and Jefferson Counties. Andrew Barnett and John Lucas took the oath
of office before Joseph McCullough, of Pine Creek township, Friday,
October 29, and John W. Jenks before John Bell, Esq., of Perry town-
ship, on the 3d day of November, 1824.
November 12, 1824, Barnett, Lucas, and Jenks met at the home of
Joseph Barnett, in Pine Creek township, and organized as a board. Ira
White was appointed clerk for one year at one dollar a day for the " time
employed in the office." A room was rented in Barnett's Inn for an
office " at the rate of one dollar a week for the time occupied," " and a
closet in said room to be in the use of the county continually."
On the i6th day of February, 1825, John Matson, Sr., was appointed
county treasurer.
The pioneer county auditors were elected in 1825, viz., Thomas
Robinson, James Corbett, and Alonzo Baldwin. They were sworn in
before Joseph McCullough, Esq., January 2, 1826.
The pioneer assessors and collectors under the commissioners for
Jefferson County were, in 1825: Pine Creek assessor, James Shields;
collector, John Barnett ; Perry assessor, Elijah Heath ; collector, Isaac
McKinley.
The pioneer contract to supply the public buildings with wood and
coal for fuel was in November, 1831, for one year, by Joseph Clements,
for thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. As the county buildings had
only ten-plate stoves, wood, three feet in length, and no coal, was sup-
plied under this contract.
Previous to and as late as 1850 it was the rule for mill-men, woods-
men, and laboring men generally to stop work every Saturday at noon.
The idea was to better prepare for the observance of the Sabbath. As
far as my observation reminds me, I can assure you that spiritualizing was
practised freely on these Saturday afternoons.
COPY OF DEED DELIVERING GROUND FOR THE PUBLIC PURPOSES.
"JOHN PICKERING et al. ~\ Deed dated July 3ist, 1830.
to [-Recorded in Deed Book No. i, at
COMMISSIONERS OF JEFFERSON Co. 3 page 133.
" AND WHEREAS, The said John Pickering, with the approbation and
consent of a majority of the said Company, being the parties of the sec-
ond part hereto, which consent is signified by their becoming parties to
this indenture, for and in consideration of the seat of justice for Jefferson
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
County being established upon the said tract of land, did agree (inter
alia) to grant and convey unto the said parties of the third part, and
their successors in office, ground for the public buildings, and also for
churches and a public burying-ground, as also ten inlots in the town to
be laid out upon said tract of land.
"AND WHEREAS, The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, by an act passed on the second day of April, A.D. one
thousand eight hundred and thirty, did establish the seat of justice for
said county of Jefferson at the town of Brookville, to be laid out upon
said tract of land, and thereby authorize and empower the said parties of
the third part to receive (inter alia) from the party of the first part a deed
in fee simple for the purposes above mentioned.
"Now this Indenture Witness eth, That the said John Pickering, as
well as for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar, lawful money
of the United States to him in hand paid by the said Thomas McKee,
Thomas Lucas, and Elijah Heath, Commissioners of Jefferson County, at
and before the ensealing and delivery hereof, the receipt whereof is
hereby acknowledged, hath granted, bargained, and sold, aliened, en-
feofed, released, and confirmed, and by these presents doth grant, bar-
gain, and sell, alien, enfeof, release, and confirm unto the said Thomas
McKee, Thomas Lucas, and Elijah Heath, Commissioners of Jefferson
County, and their successors in office, all that square or piece of ground
in the said town of Brookville, situated, lying between, and bounded by
Pickering Street, Market Street, Chestnut Alley, and Court Alley, and
marked in the general plan of said town, Public Square, and also the
outlets known and numbered in the general plan of the same by the
numbers twelve (12) and thirteen (13). And also all those ten inlots of
ground known and numbered in the general plan of said town by the
numbers thirty-four (34), thirty-five (35), thirty-six (36), thirty-seven
(37), thirty-eight (38), sixty-four (64), sixty-five (65), sixty-six (66),
sixty-seven (67), and sixty-eight (68), together with the privileges and
appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining. To
have and to hold the same to the said Thomas McKee, Thomas Lucas,
and Elijah Heath, Commissioners of Jefferson County, and their suc-
cessors in office, to the only proper use and behoof of the said Thomas
McKee, Thomas Lucas, and Elijah Heath, Commissioners of Jefferson
County, and their successors in office, forever. In trust, nevertheless,
and to and for the uses and purposes hereinafter declared, that is to
say, that the said square shall be and remain for the use of the Public
Buildings. That outlot Number twelve (12) shall be and remain for the
purpose of erecting churches or houses of public worship thereon for any
denomination that sees proper to build thereon. That outlot Number
thirteen (13) shall be and remain a public burying-ground. That as to
the said ten inlots before mentioned and described, the said parties of
196
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the third part and their successors in office shall sell and dispose of the
same and pay the proceeds thereof into the Treasury of said county, to
be applied towards the erection of the public buildings in the Town of
Brookville.
"In witness whereof the said parties have hereunto set their hands
and seals the day and year first above written.
"JNO. PICKERING, Trustee. [L. S.]
JNO. PICKERING, Executor. [L. S.]
OCTAVIUS PICKERING, Executor. [L. S.]
" THOMAS A. DEXTER,
SAMUEL HUNT,
" Witnesses to the signature of John Pickering and Octavius
Pickering.
"NiCH's FISH. [L. S.]
LEONARD KIP. [L. S.]
MARIA I. KIP. [L. S.]
" DAVID CLYDE, Clerk.
WM. H. MAXWELL, Counsellor and Commissioner, New York.
"Witnesses to the signatures of Nich's Fish : WM. JOHNSON, LEONARD
KIP, LEONARD KIP, as attorney, and MARIA I. KIP, his wife.
" LEONARD KIP. [L. S.]
" Attorney for all the heirs of Duncan Ingraham.
" REDWOOD FISHER, Executor. [L. S.]
"Witnesses to the signature of Redwood Fisher: ANDREW GEYER
and J. C. WIKOFF.
"JABOY M. FISHER, Executor. [L. S.]
" Witnesses to the signature of Jaboy M. Fisher : ANDREW GEYER and
RALPH SMITH. 9
"ANN WIKOFF. [L. S.]
"Witnesses to the signature of Ann Wikoff : ANDREW GEYER and
J. C. WIKOFF."
The pioneer court-house was contracted for in 1830 and finished in
1833. The county records show this "Article of Agreement, made the
1 4th day of December, 1830, between Thomas Lucas and Robert Andrews,
Commissioners of Jefferson County, of the first part, and John Lucas, of
Jefferson County, and Robert Barr, of the county of Indiana, of the
second part. The party of the second part agrees to build court-house,
two offices, one fire-proof, within two years from the ist day of January
next. The Commissioners, on their part, agree to pay contractors the
sum of three thousand dollars, in manner as follows : two thousand dol-
lars as the work progresses, and one thousand dollars in full on the ist
day of January, 1833, to be paid out of the funds arising from the sale
197
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of lots in said town of Brookville, if there shall be sufficient ; if not, to
be made up out of the county funds.
(Signed) "THOMAS LUCAS,
ROBERT ANDREWS,
" Commissioners.
" JOHN LUCAS,
ROBERT BARR,
" Contractors.
"Witnesses:
" WILLIAM M. KENNEDY,
JAMES HALL."
Our first jail was a stone structure, built of common stone, in 1831.
It was two stories high, was situated on the northeast corner of the public
square lot, near Joseph Darr's residence, and fronting on Pickering Street.
Daniel Elgin was the contractor. The building was divided into eight
rooms, two down stairs and two up-stairs for jail proper, and two down-
stairs and two up-stairs for the sheriff's residence and office. The sheriff
occupied the north part. It cost eighteen hundred and twenty-four
dollars and twenty-three cents.
The pioneer academy in Jefferson County was authorized by an act of
the Legislature, approved April 13, 1838. This act authorized the treas-
urer of the Commonwealth to subscribe two thousand dollars, to be ex-
pended in building an academy building in Brookville, Pennsylvania.
The trustees appointed by said act were John J. Y. Thompson, C. A.
Alexander, Thomas Hastings, Levi G. Clover, John Pierce, and Richard
Arthurs. In 1841 the Legislature authorized the commissioners of Jeffer-
son County to subscribe five hundred dollars, and five hundred dollars
being raised by subscription of citizens, this made a fund of three thou-
sand dollars to erect the building.
The site selected was the lot on the corner of Jefferson and Barnett
Streets, and the lot was kindly donated for this purpose by John Picker-
ing. The lot was in a state of nature then, being covered with pine-
trees. The contractors were Robert P. Barr, Thomas M. Barr, and
Robert Larrimer. The building was of brick, and was completed in
1843. Professor J. M. Coleman was the first to teach classics and high
mathematics in this institution.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER XII.
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM ITS INCEPTION INTRODUCTION INTO AMER-
ICA STATE EFFORT HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE STATE SCHOOLS
OF JEFFERSON COUNTY PROGRESS OF EDUCATION, ETC.
As an introduction to this chapter, I cannot do better than reproduce
an extract from a speech delivered by myself before a convention of Jef-
ferson County school directors, viz. :
" GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION, I thank you for this honor. I
highly appreciate it. As the representatives of thirty-two school districts,
two hundred and forty schools, and twelve thousand pupils, we have met
this day to consider modes and methods by which we can best advance
the cause of education. This is wise and patriotic. Perhaps it might be
well as an introduction to our work to review a little history as to the
origin and present status of our common schools. Martin Luther, a Ger-
man, was the first to advocate the public school system. This he did in
1524, ably, vigorously, and boldly. He asserted that the ' government, as
the natural guardian of all the young, has the right to compel the people
to support schools.' He further said, ' Now, nothing is more necessary
than the training of those who are to come after us and bear rule. ' The
education of the young of all classes in free schools was one of the objects
nearest Luther's heart. Scotland is the only other country of Europe
that took an early interest in public school education. In 1560, John
Knox urged the necessity of schools for the poor. These grand humane
impulses of John Knox and other Scotch fathers have spread abroad,
'wide as the waters be,' only to germinate, bud, and bloom into the
grandest social, theological, and political conditions ever attained by
man. But it remained for the Puritan fathers of New England (America)
to completely develop the common school system of our time. In New
England education early made great progress. Under the eaves of their
church the Puritans always built a school-house. As early as 1635, Boston
had a school for 'the teaching of all children with us.' In 1647, Massa-
chusetts made the support of schools compulsory and education universal
and free by the enactment of the following law, viz. : ' It is therefore
ordered that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath in-
creased them to the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith
appoint one within the town to teach all such children as shall resort to
him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents
or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general by way of
199
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
supply, as the major part of those who order the prudentials of the town
shall appoint, provided those that send their children be not oppressed
by paying much more than they can have them taught for in other towns. '
In Connecticut, in 1665, every town that did not keep a school for three
months in the year was liable to a fine. On April i, A.D. 1834, one hun-
dred and eighty-seven years later than the enactment of the common
school law of Massachusetts, the law creating the common school system
of Pennsylvania was approved by George Wolf, governor. Our second
State superintendent of public instruction was appointed under this law.
His name was Thomas H. Burrowes.
" The foundation of our common school system was built by the
convention to form a State constitution in 1790. The article as incor-
porated in that document reads as follows :
" ' SECTION i. The Legislature shall, as soon as conveniently may be,
provide by law for the establishment of schools throughout the State, in
such a manner that the poor may be taught gratis.
"'SECTION 2. The arts and sciences shall be promoted in one or
more seminaries of learning. '
"This educational article was also incorporated into the constitution
of 1838. But little effort was made under the first constitution by legis-
lative bodies to establish schools under the first section. Their only aim
seemed to be to aid the churches and neighborhood schools to carry on
the work they had been doing for a hundred years. The pioneer effort
by the Legislature seems to have been in 1794, when, on December 8,
1794, a committee was appointed by the House to report a proper mode
of carrying into effect that part of the governor's message in regard to
schools. The committee reported as follows :
" 'Resolved, That schools may be established throughout the State,
in such a manner that the poor may be taught gratis.
" ' Resolved, That one-fifth part of the expense necessary to support
the masters of said schools be paid out of the general funds of the State.
" ' Resolved, That the remaining four-fifths of the said expense be
paid in each county, respectively, by means of a county tax.
" ' Resolved, That the said schools be put under the direction of
trustees in each county, subject to such limitations and regulations, as to
the distribution of their funds, the appointment of masters, and their
general arrangements, as shall be provided by law.
" ' Resolved, That the schools thus established shall be free schools,
and that at least spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic shall be taught
therein.
" 'Resolved, That ten thousand dollars a year be appropriated out of
the funds of this Commonwealth to encourage the establishment of acad-
emies, in which grammar, the elements of mathematics, geography, and
history shall be taught.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" 'Resolved, That the said sum be apportioned amongst the city and
several counties of the State in proportion to their respective population.
" ' Resolved, That whenever a sum sufficient, with the addition of the
sums proposed to be given by the public, to support an academy for the
purpose aforesaid shall have been subscribed, or contributed, the addi-
tional sum of one hundred dollars a. year shall be given out of the public
treasury in aid of such academy.
" ' Resolved, That when the number of academies in any county shall
be so great that the sum to which such county is entitled becomes insuffi-
cient to afford one hundred dollars to each, it shall be divided by the
trustees aforesaid among the whole of such academies, in proportion to
the number of masters employed and scholars taught, and the length of
time in each during which each academy is so kept and supported.
" ' Resolved, That whenever a sum is subscribed and contributed suf-
ficient, if added to the income of any of the inferior schools, to procure
the instruction contemplated to be given in the academies, such school
shall become an academy and receive the additional bounty of one hun-
dred dollars as aforesaid, subject to a reduction in the manner aforesaid.'
" A bill was prepared in accordance with these resolutions and passed
both branches, but was lost in conference committee. This was forty
years before the enactment of 1834."
THE PIONEER ACT.
On the ist day of March, 1802, Governor McKean approved the
pioneer law of this State making a provision for the education of the poor,
the title being "An Act to provide for the Education of Poor Children
gratis."
" WHEREAS, By the first section of the seventh article of the Constitu-
tion of this Commonwealth it is directed ' That the Legislature shall as
soon as conveniently may be provide by law for the establishment of
schools throughout the State, in such manner as that the poor may be
taught gratis ;' therefore,
"SECTION i. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passing of
this act the Guardians and Overseers of the Poor of the City of Philadel-
phia, the District of Southwark, and Townships and Boroughs within this
Commonwealth, shall ascertain the names of all those children whose
parents or guardians they shall judge to be unable to pay for their school-
ing, to give notice in writing to such parent or guardian that provision is
made by law for the education of their children or the children under
their care, and that they have a full and free right to subscribe at the
usual rates and send them to any school in their neighborhood, giving
notice thereof as soon as may be to the Guardians or Overseers of the
term for which they have subscribed, the number of scholars and the
rate of tuition ; and in those Townships where there are no Guardians or
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Overseers of the Poor, the Supervisors of the Highways shall perform the
duties herein required to be done by the Guardians or Overseers of the
Poor.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
every Guardian or Overseer of the Poor, or Supervisor of the Highways,
as the case may be, in any township or place where any such child or
children shall be sent to school as aforesaid, shall enter in a book the
name or names, age, and length of time such child or children shall have
been so sent to school, together with the amount of schooling, school-
books, and stationery, and shall levy and collect in the same way and man-
ner and under the same regulations as poor taxes or road taxes are levied
and collected a sufficient sum of money from their respective townships,
boroughs, wards, or districts to discharge such expenses, together with
the sum of five per cent, for their trouble.
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the Guardians or Overseers of the Poor for the time being, or Supervisors
of the Highways, as the case may be, shall use all diligence and prudence
in carrying this act into effect, and shall settle their accounts in the same
way and manner as by the existing laws of the State, the Guardians, Over-
seers of the Poor, and Supervisors of the Poor, and Supervisors of the
Highways are authorized and required to settle their accounts.
" SECTION 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
this act shall continue in force for the term of three years, and from thence
to the end of the next sitting of the General Assembly and no longer."
It was found that the act of 1802 was unsatisfactory, and, in the hope
of betterment, this act of 1 804 was passed :
"AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE MORE EFFECTUAL EDUCATION OF THE
CHILDREN OF THE POOR GRATIS.
"WHEREAS, The law passed the first day of March, Anno Domini
one thousand and eight hundred and two, entitled ' An Act to provide for
the Education of Poor Children gratis,' has not been found by experi-
ence to answer the constitutional purposes intended by it ; therefore,
"SECTION i. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passing of
this act it shall be enjoined as a duty on all school -masters and school-
mistresses teaching reading and writing in the English or German lan-
guages and arithmetic to receive into their schools and teach as aforesaid
all such poor children as shall be recommended to them by the Overseers
of the Poor, or where there are no Overseers of the Poor, by a Justice of
the Peace and two respectable freeholders of the city, district, or town-
ship where such school is kept.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That upon the performance of any such service by any school-master or
school -mistress as aforesaid, the Overseers of the Poor or Justices of the
202
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Peace and freeholders who have recommended as aforesaid, shall certify
to the Commissioners of the proper county or city the names of such
poor children, the time they have been respectively taught, and the usual
rate of schooling paid for other children at the same school, who shall
examine such certificate, and, finding it correct, shall draw an order
in favor of such school-master or school-mistress for the amount on the
treasurer of the proper county or city, to be paid out of the county
stock.
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That this act shall continue in force for three years, and from thence to
the end of the next session of the General Assembly and no longer, and
the act entitled ' An Act to provide for the Education of Poor Children
gratis,' shall be and hereby is repealed."
That this act also was considered an incomplete fulfilment of the con-
stitution appears from the message of the governor the next year after its
passage.
Agitation and discussion over the law resulted in the act of 1809,
better drawn, with the same title and aim.
THE LAW OF 1809.
"AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR GRATIS.
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall be the duty of
the Commissioners of the several counties within this Commonwealth, at
the time of issuing their precepts to the assessors, annually to direct and
require the assessor of each and every township, ward, and district to re-
ceive from the parents the names of all the children between the ages of
five and twelve years who reside therein, and whose parents are unable to
pay for their schooling ; and the Commissioners when they hold appeals
shall hear all persons who may apply for alterations or additions of names
in the said list, and make all such alterations as to them shall appear just
and reasonable, and agreeably to the true intent and meaning of this act ;
and after adjustment they shall transmit a correct copy thereof to the re-
spective assessor, requiring him to inform the parents of the children
therein contained that they are at liberty to send them to the most con-
venient school free of expense ; and the said assessor, for any neglect of
the above duty, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five dollars, to be sued
for by any person, and recovered as debts of that amount are now recov-
erable, and to be paid into the county treasury, for county purposes:
Provided always, That the names of no children whose education is
otherwise provided for shall be received by the assessors of any township
or district.
203
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the said assessor shall send a list of the names of the children aforesaid to
the teachers of schools within his township, ward, or district, whose duty
it shall be to teach all such children as may come to their schools in the
same manner as other children are taught, and each teacher shall keep a
day-book, in which he shall enter the number of days each child entitled
to the provisions of this act shall be taught, and he shall also enter in
said book the amount of all stationery furnished for the use of said child,
from which book he shall make out his account against the county, on
oath or affirmation, agreeably to the usual rates of charging for tuition in
the said school, subject to the examination and revision of the trustees of
the school where there are any ; but where there are no trustees, to three
reputable subscribers to the school ; which account, after being so exam-
ined or revised, he shall present to the County Commissioners, who, if
they approve thereof, shall draw their order on the county treasurer for
the amount, which he is hereby authorized and directed to pay of any
moneys in the treasury.
"Approved the fourth day of April, one thousand eight hundred
and nine.
" SIMON SNYDER."
Each of these acts compelled parents to publish to the world their
poverty and to send their children to school as paupers.
The method of organizing schools and hiring masters under these
laws was as follows : A school-meeting was called by a notice posted in
the district. The inhabitants then met and elected in their own way
three of their number to act as a committee or as trustees with power to
hire a master or mistress, and this committee executed a supervision
over the school. A rate bill was always made out by the master and
handed to the committee, who collected the moneys and paid it to the
master.
The pioneer and early modes of school discipline were the cat-o'-
nine-tails and the rod, carrying the offender on the back of a pupil and
then flogging him, setting the boys with the girls and the girls with the
boys, fastening a split stick to the ear or the nose, laying the scholar
over the knee and applying the ferule to the part on which he sat. These
punishments lasted for years after the common schools came into use.
For the benefit of young teachers I will give the mode of correction.
The masters invariably kept what was called toms, or, more vulgarly,
cat-o'- nine-tails, all luck being in odd numbers. This instrument of tor-
ture was an oaken stick about twelve inches long to which was attached
a piece of raw-hide cut in strips, twisted while wet, and then dried. It
was freely used for correction, and those who were thus corrected did
not soon forget it, and not a few carried the marks during life. Another
204
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
and no less cruel instrument was a green cow-hide. Comment upon the
above is useless, as the words cruelty and barbarity will suggest them-
selves to the minds of all who read it. For our text-books we had
Dilworth's and the " United States Speller," and our readers were the
good old Bible and Testament. The " Western Calculator" was all the
arithmetic that was in use, and the one who got through the "rule of
three" was called tolerably good in figures, and the lucky wight who got
through the book was considered a graduate in mathematics. Grammar
Governor Joseph Ritner.
and geography were not taught in common schools, being considered
higher branches.
Not one of the governors of the State during the time the law of 1809
was in force believed it met the requirements of the constitution, hence
in 1824 an act was passed repealing it and another one substituted. The
new act was violently opposed, never went into effect, was repealed in
1826, and the act of 1809 was re-enacted. The policy enforced in our
State for fifty years after the Revolutionary War was the endowment of
academies and the free instruction of poor children in church and neigh-
borhood schools.
Governor Wolf, in 1833-34, made education the leading topic of his
message. Among other things he said,
"To provide by law ' for the establishment of schools throughout the
State, and in such a manner that the poor may be taught gratis,' is one
205
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of the public measures to which I feel it to be my duty now to call your
attention, and most solemnly to press upon your consideration. Our
apathy and indifference in reference to this subject becomes the more
conspicuous when we reflect that whilst we are expending millions for
the physical condition of the State, we have not hitherto appropriated a
single dollar that is available for the intellectual improvement of its youth,
which, in a moral and political point of view, is of tenfold more conse-
quence, either as respects the moral influence of the State or its political
power and safety.
Governor George Wolf.
"According to the returns of the last census, we have in Pennsyl-
vania five hundred and eighty-one thousand one hundred and eighty
children under the age of fifteen years, and one hundred and forty-nine
thousand and eighty-nine between the ages of fifteen and twenty years,
forming an aggregate of seven hundred and thirty thousand two hundred
and sixty-nine juvenile persons of both sexes under the age of twenty
years, most of them requiring more or less instruction. And yet with all
this numerous youthful population growing up around us, who, in a few
years, are to be our rulers and our law-givers, the defenders of our country
and the pillars of the State, and upon whose education will depend in
great measure the preservation of our liberties and the safety of the re-
public, we have neither schools established for their instruction nor
provision made by law for establishing them as enjoined by the con-
stitution."
206
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
In 1827, William Audenreid, then a senator from Schuylkill County,
introduced a bill into the Senate, the title of which was, " To provide a
Fund in support of a General System of Education in Pennsylvania."
This bill passed the Senate that session, but was defeated in the House,
but being urged and pressed every season it became a law April 2, 1831.
This law entitled Senator Audenreid to be called the author of our school
system. The law reads as follows :
"SECTION i. That there shall be and there hereby is established a
fund, to be denominated a Common School Fund, and the Secretary of
the Commonwealth, the Auditor- General, and the Secretary of the Land-
Office shall be Commissioners thereof, who, or a majority of them, in
addition to the duties they now perform, shall receive and manage such
moneys and other things as shall pertain to such fund, in the most advan-
tageous manner, and shall receive and hold to the use of said fund all
such gifts, grants, and donations as may be made ; and that said Com-
missioners shall keep a correct record of their proceedings, which, to-
gether with all papers and documents relative to said fund, shall be kept
and preserved in the office of the Auditor-General.
" SECTION 2. That from and after the passage of this act, all moneys
due and owing this Commonwealth by the holders of all unpatented
lands ; also all moneys secured to the Commonwealth by mortgages or
liens on land for the purchase- money of the same ; also all moneys paid
to the State Treasurer on any application hereafter entered, or any war-
rant hereafter granted for land, as also fees received in the land-office, as
well as all moneys received in pursuance of the provisions of the fourth
section of an act entitled ' An Act to increase the County Rates and
Levies for the Use of the Commonwealth,' approved the twenty-fifth day
of March, 1831, be and the same are hereby transferred and assigned to
the Common School Fund ; and that at the expiration of twelve months
after the passage of this act, and regularly at the expiration of every
twelve months thereafter, the State Treasurer shall report to the said
Commissioners the amount of money thus received by him during the
twelve months last preceding, together with a certificate of the amount
thereof, and that the same is held by the Commonwealth for the use of
the Common School Fund, at an interest of five per cent.
" SECTION 3. That the interest of the moneys belonging to said fund
shall be added to the principal as it becomes due, and the whole amount
thereof shall be held by the Commonwealth, and remain subject to the
provisions of an act entitled ' An Act relative to the Pennsylvania Canal
and Railroad,' approved the twenty-second of April, 1829, until the in-
terest thereof shall amount to the sum of one hundred thousand dollars
annually, after which the interest shall be annually distributed and ap-
plied to the support of common schools throughout this Commonwealth,
in such a manner as shall hereafter be provided by law."
207
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
THE PIONEER SCHOOLS SCHOOL-MASTERS AND SCHOOL-
HOUSES.
"The pioneer school house in the southern part of the county was
built of logs, in the fall of 1820, near John Bell's, a little more than a
mile northeast of where Perrysville stands. It was built after the fashion
of the first school-house in the county, with paper instead of window-
Pioneer school-house.
glass, boards pinned to the wall for desks, floors and seats made of
puncheons, and fireplace along one end. John Postlethwait, Sr., John
Bell, Archibald Hadden, Hugh McKee, and James Stewart were the prin-
cipal citizens engaged in organizing and starting the school. John B.
Henderson, of Indiana County, taught the school in this part of the
county, in that pioneer house, the first winter after it was built. The
Testament, Bible, Catechism, and the ' United States Spelling- Book'
were used as text-books in the school. Ira White, a Yankee from the
State of New York, succeeded Mr. Henderson as master. Some time
afterwards a school was taught by Crawford Gibson, in a house near the
county line. Some parties claim that Gibson taught before Henderson,
about a mile south of Perrysville. Somewhat later a school was taught
by John Knox, in a log house across the creek, southeast of Perrysville.
They paid him with grain, in part at least. James C. Neal, Sr., then a
young man, hauled a load of grain with a yoke of oxen, to pay Mr. Knox
for teaching, from Perrysville to some place near Troy, a distance of about
twenty miles, through the woods.
"The pioneer school held in Punxsutawney was opened by Andrew
Bowman, about 1823, in a house then owned by John B. Henderson.
Dr. Jenks, Charles Barclay, Judge Heath, Rev. David Barclay, Mr. Black,
and others took an active part in starting the school. They hired a mas-
ter by the year. The tuition for the small pupils was twelve dollars each,
and for the large ones fifty dollars a year. The first school- house was
208
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
built in Punxsutawney by the above-named gentlemen about 1827, where
the Baptist church stands. Hugh Kemvorthy was the first man who was
well educated that was employed as a master there. The next master
was Dr. Robert Cunningham. After him came Thomas Cunningham,
since Judge Cunningham.
" The pioneer master in Rose township was Robert Knox. When he
taught the house was not floored and the pupils sat on the sleepers. The
venerable Joseph Magifen, still living, taught a six months' term in 1827.
Tuition, fifty cents a month per scholar and to board with the scholars.
"A school was taught in the vicinity of Brockwayville in 1828,
then Ridgway township, for which the master was to receive twelve
dollars per month in maple-sugar.
" Alexander Cochran taught the pioneer school in what is now Wash-
ington township, in 1831, in a school-house near the Beechwoods grave-
yard. Messrs Cooper, Keys, Mclntosh, and the Smiths were instrumental
in organizing the school.
" Brookville's pioneer school was taught by Alexander McKnight,
father of Dr. McKnight, in a small brick school-house in 1832-33.
" A pioneer school was commenced within the present limits of Union
township about 1834 or 1835. James Barr taught first, in the summer.
There were about twenty pupils, and the tuition was fifty cents a month
for each pupil. Samuel Davison, Robert McFarland, John W. Monks,
John Hughes, and Robert Tweedy were prominent in organizing the
school.
" In every locality in the county in which the population was dense
enough to support a school one seems to have been organized previous
to the common school system." Blose.
The creation of the common schools in Pennsylvania was not the
work of any one man or set of men, nor was it imported from any other
State. It was the outgrowth of freedom. In a book like mine I cannot
enumerate all the glorious workers in the fight. The Pennsylvania So-
ciety for the Promotion of Public Schools, organized in Philadelphia in
1827, was a great factor in the work. Senator Audenreid, Dr. Anderson,
and Senator Smith, of Delaware County; N. B. Fetterman, of Bedford;
Samuel Breck, a senator from Philadelphia ; and Thaddeus Stevens, all
deserve to be forever remembered for their able and untiring labor in
this direction.
The pioneer school in the United States for the education of teachers
was the model school of Philadelphia, established and opened in 1838.
The finest and most costly educational structures in the world are the
Girard College buildings in Philadelphia.
In the session of 1834, Samuel Breck, a senator from Philadelphia,
was made chairman of a joint committee on education. The members of
this committee on the part of the Senate were Samuel Breck, Charles B.
209
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Penrose, William Jackson, Almon H. Read, and William Boyd ; of the
House, Samuel Anderson, William Patterson, James Thompson, James
Clarke. John Wiegand, Thomas H. Crawford, and Wilmer Worthington.
This committee secured all possible information on the subject from all
sources. The author of the bill as passed was Samuel Breck. It was but
little discussed and met with but little opposition in the Legislature.
THE LAW OF 1834 AND ITS WORKINGS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
" WHEREAS, It is enjoined by the constitution, as a solemn duty which
cannot be neglected without a disregard of the moral and political safety
of the people ; and
" WHEREAS, The fund for the common school purposes, under the act
of the 2d of April, 1831, will, on the 4th of April next, amount to the
sum of $546,563.72, and will soon reach the sum of $2,000,000, when it
will produce at five per cent, an increase of $100,000, which, by said act,
is to be paid for the support of common schools ; and
"WHEREAS, Provisions should be made by law for the distribution of
the benefits of this fund to the people of the respective counties of the
Commonwealth ; therefore,
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the city and county of
Philadelphia, and every other county in this Commonwealth, shall each
form a school division, and that every ward, township, and borough,
within the several school divisions, shall each form a school district.
"SECTION 2. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of each county, thirty
days previous to the third Friday in September of the current year, 1834,
to give notice, by proclamation, to the citizens of each school district to
hold elections in their respective townships, wards, and boroughs at the
places where they hold their elections for supervisors, town councils, and
constables, to choose six citizens, of each school district, to serve as
school directors of said districts respectively ; which elections shall, on
the said day, be conducted and held in the same manner as elections for
supervisors and constables are by law held and conducted ; and on the
day of the next annual election of supervisors in the respective townships,
and of constables in the respective cities of the Commonwealth, a new
election for directors shall take place in the said townships, boroughs,
and cities, at which election, and annually thereafter at that time, and in
manner and form aforesaid, two directors shall be chosen, who shall serve
for three years ; the sheriff giving thirty days' notice previous to such
election."
OF MANUAL SCHOOLS.
" SECTION 10. WHEREAS, Manual labor may be advantageously con-
nected with intellectual moral instruction in some or all of the schools, it
210
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
shall be the duty of the school directors to decide whether such connec-
tion in their respective districts shall take place or not ; and if decided
affirmatively, they shall have power to purchase materials and employ
artisans for the instruction of the pupils in the useful branches of the
mechanic arts, and where practicable, in agricultural pursuits : Provided,
nevertheless, That no such connection shall take place in any common
school, unless four out of the six directors shall agree thereto."
Many of the sections were found to contain requirements that were
crude, hence they were repealed in 1836 and perfected. These referred
to the building of school-houses, employing masters, locating houses, etc.
No pay was allowed a director other than as a delegate to the county
convention.
PROCLAMATION COMMON SCHOOLS.
"WHEREAS, The act of Assembly approved ist April, 1834, and en-
titled ' An Act to establish a General System of Education by Common
Schools,' provides 'that the city and county of Philadelphia, and every
other county in this Commonwealth, shall each form a school division, and
that every ward, township, and borough within the several school divisions
shall each form a school district : Provided, That any borough which is
or may be connected with a township in the assessments of county rates
and levies shall, with the same township, so long as it remains so con-
nected, form a district, and each of said districts shall contain a com-
petent number of common schools for the education of every child within
the limits thereof, who shall apply either in person, or by his or her
parents, guardian, or next friend, for admission and instruction.'
"AND WHEREAS, The said act further directs, 'that it shall be the
duty of the sheriff of each county to give notice by proclamation to the
citizens of each school district to hold elections in their respective town-
ships, wards, and boroughs, on the third Friday of September next, at
the places where they hold their elections for supervisors, town council,
and constables are by law held and conducted.'
"Now, therefore, I, William Clark, High Sheriff of the county of
Jefferson, in pursuance of the duty enjoined on me by the above recited
act, do issue this, my proclamation, giving notice to the citizens of said
county, qualified as aforesaid, that an election will be held on the third
Friday of September next, to choose six citizens residing therein, to serve
as school directors of said districts respectively.
" The electors of the borough of Brookville are to meet at the Court-
House in said borough.
" The electors of Rose township are to meet at John Lucas'.
"The electors of the township of Pine Creek are to meet at Joseph
Barnett's.
"The electors of Barnett township are to meet at the house of Wil-
liam Armstrong.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The electors of Perry township are to meet at the house of Chris-
topher Heterick.
"The electors of Young township are to meet in Punxsutawney.
"The electors of Ridgeway township are to meet at the house of
James Gallagher.
" Given under my hand at Brookville, this fifth day of August, one
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and of the independence of the
United States the fifty-eighth.
"WILLIAM CLARK,
" Sheriff.
" SHERIFF'S OFFICE, August 5, 1834."
PIONEER SCHOOL DIRECTORS IN THE COUNTY.
Those elected under this proclamation and the law of 1834 were:
Rose township and Brookville borough Alexander McKnight, James
Green, James Linn, Robert Andrews, Irwin Robinson, Darius Carrier.
Barnett township Cyrus Blood, William Armstrong, Edwin For-
sythe, Trumble Hunt, Alexander Murray, John Hunt.
Pine Creek township David Butler, John Lattimer, Andrew Barnett,
William Cooper, Samuel Jones.
Young township John W. Jenks, William Campbell, Jos. Winslow.
Perry township John Philliber, William Postlethwait, Martin Shoff,
Esq., William Marshall, Andrew Gibson, David Lewis.
Ridgeway township L. Wilmarth, James Gallagher, J. L. Gillis.
As soon as these proclamations were made by the sheriff the liveliest
discussion took place for and against the system. The majority of the
citizens in most of the counties were against it. It was not so, however,
in Jefferson, six of the districts adopting it. Nearly half of the nine
hundred and eighty-seven districts in the State rejected it. Families
quarrelled over and about it. In some districts a free-school man was
ostracized. Life-long enmities were engendered. Several religious de-
nominations placed themselves against this law, Catholics, Episco-
palians, Mennonites, Friends, and Lutherans. These were not opposed
to education, but they believed in religious instruction and secular edu-
cation, and that the two should go hand in hand, as their fathers had it.
The Germans opposed it on account of a change in language. But the
ignorant, the penurious, and the narrow-minded fought against it most
bitterly, on account of supposed increased taxation. James Findlay was
the pioneer superintendent of common schools.
The school question entered into the nomination and election of
members for the session of 1834-35, and perhaps a majority of those
elected were anti-school. But Governor Wolf and friends of the com-
mon school were undismayed, bold, and able, and braved the tempest
of that session. Competent judges who witnessed that struggle in the
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Legislature agree that had it not been for Thaddeus Stevens, a young
member from Adams County, the law of 1834 would have been repealed,
or only saved by a veto from the governor. This session ended the last
bitter and great fight in the State and Legislature for common schools.
Thaddeus Stevens.
The ablest and most determined leaders of the anti-school were William
Hopkins, of Washington County, and Henry W. Conrad, of Schuylkill.
Children as late as 1842 were admitted to the schools at the age of
four years.
APPOINTMENT OF SCHOOL INSPECTORS UNDER THE LAW OF 1834.
" SECTION 12. The several courts of quarter sessions of this Common-
wealth shall annually, at their first session, after the election of school
directors, within their respective counties or divisions, appoint two com-
petent citizens of each school district to be inspectors of the public school
therein, established by this act, who shall be exempt during the perform-
ance of the duties of their said office from militia duty, and from serving
in any township or borough office.
"SECTION 13. It shall be the duty of the school inspectors to visit
every three months, and as much oftener as they may think proper, to
inquire into the moral character, learning, and ability of the several
teachers employed therein ; they shall have power to examine any per-
sons wishing to be employed as a teacher, and of good moral character,
213
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
shall give him or her a certificate to that effect, naming therein the
branches which he or she is found qualified to teach, certificates shall be
valid for one year from the date thereof, and no longer ; and no person
who shall not have obtained such certificate shall receive from the county
treasury, or the treasury of the Commonwealth, any compensation for his
services.
"SECTION 14. The inspectors of any school division may meet at
such times and places as they may deem expedient, and adopt such rules
for the examination of teachers and schools, and prescribe such form or
certificates, as they may deem necessary to produce uniformity in such
examinations and certificates throughout the school division, and they
may, if they deem it expedient, appoint days for the public examination
of teachers to be examined in public, and said inspectors, or any one of
them, may visit all district schools in their school division and examine
the same.
"SECTION* 15. Whenever the inspectors meet together, as they are
empowered by the preceding section, they shall organize themselves for
the proper transaction of business, and each inspector shall be governed
by the rules then adopted in his examinations and observe such forms in
his certificates as shall be prescribed by the majority of the inspectors of
the school division thus assembled, and no certificate of qualification
shall be given by the inspectors, or any of them, to any teacher unless he
or she shall be found qualified to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic.
"SECTION 16. The school inspectors shall minutely examine into the
state and condition of the schools, both as respects the progress of the
scholars in learning and the good order of the schools, and make an
annual report to the superintendent of the public schools on or before the
first Monday in November of the situation of the schools in their respec-
tive districts, founded on their own observation and the report of the re-
spective school directors ; to include the characters of the teachers ; the
number of scholars admitted during the year in the several schools under
their inspection ; the branches of study taught in each school ; the num-
ber of days in the year during which each school shall have been kept
open ; the cost of the school-house for either building, renting, or repair-
ing, and all other costs that may have been incurred in maintaining the
several schools in their respective districts, and also shall cause the same
to be published in the school division, at the expense of the respective
city or county."
PIONEER STATE AID.
" The first money received from the State for school purposes, by this
county, was by an order drawn August 5, 1836, on the State Treasurer,
Joseph Lawrence, Esq., to the Treasurer of Jefferson County, by Thomas
H. Burrowes, Superintendent of Common Schools, under an act entitled
' An Act to establish a General System of Education by Common Schools, '
214
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
passed on the ist of April, 1834, and a supplement thereto passed April
15, 1835, for one hundred and four dollars and ninety-four cents, for the
year 1835. Also, on the same date, one hundred and four dollars and
ninety-four cents, for the year 1836.
State
Aid.
76 $49-20
Thomas H. Burrowes.
"The following table will show the townships receiving the State aid,
the officers of their school boards, the number of the warrants, and the
amounts received :
No. of
Warrant.
Barnett township W. P. Armstrong, President; Cyrus
Blood, Treasurer and Secretary
Eldred township Thomas Hall, President; Wm. M.
Hindman, Treasurer ; John W. Monks, Secretary . .
Perry township Thomas Williams, President; Isaac
Lewis, Treasurer; John Philliber, Secretary ....
Pine Creek township Wm. Cooper, President; Samuel
Jones, Treasurer; A. Barnett, Secretary
Ridgeway township J. Gallagher, President ; L. Wil-
marth, Treasurer and Secretary
Rose township Wm. Kelso, President; B. McCreight,
Treasurer; C. A. Alexander, Secretary
Snyder township A. Brockway, President; A. Ross,
Treasurer; Wm. Shaw, Secretary 4'
Young township Wm. Campbell, President; J. W.
Jenks, Treasurer ; J. Winslow, Secretary 146
37
209
40
252
23-95
35-31
66.68
25.89
163.14
26.54
94-52
1485.23
215
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" It would seem from the above table that it includes the appropria-
tion of 1837 also."
ORGANIZATION UNDER THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM IN
JEFFERSON COUNTY.
" From the best information to be had, it appears that in 1837 Cyrus
Crouch taught the first school in Brookville under the common school
system. He taught two terms, and was followed by Jesse Smith, Craig-
head, and Hannibal.
"As early as the fall of 1835 a man by tne name of Timblin made
application for the school in Punxsutawney. He was examined by the
Board of Directors, and was the first master under the new school system.
The members of the Board were C. C. Gaskill, James Winslow, and
James Torrence. Mr. Gaskill attended to the examination of the mas-
ters. It was held in an old log house in which Mr. Torrence lived. The
house known as the old farm-house of Dr. Jenks was the first house built
in Punxsutawney. The master was examined in reading, writing, and
arithmetic. The 'United States Speller,' the 'English Reader,' and
the ' Western Calculator' were the text-books used in the school. At
that time Young township included Bell, McCalmont, Gaskill, Hender-
son, and parts of Winslow and Oliver.
" There was a great deal of hostility to the school system at first in
Punxsutawney. Four schools were organized, under the common school
system, in the fall of 1835 in Pine Creek township, one near where
Nathaniel Butler lives, another near the Bowers school, then called the
Frederick school, another near Richardsville, and the other in the school-
house near the Beechwoods graveyard. The directors were John Latti-
mer, William Cooper, and Andrew Barnett. A school-master of the time
says that David Butler, John Lattimer, and Andrew Barnett examined the
masters at Andrew Barnett's house. Mr. Thomas Kirkman taught first
under the school system at the Butler school-house. Mrs. Mary McKnight
taught the summer term in this house in 1840. Mr. Kirkman taught
thirty days for a month, receiving fourteen dollars a month and boarding
himself. They used the ' English Reader' and the ' United States Spell-
ing-Book. ' The schools began some time in November, and continued
three months. Thomas Reynolds taught the Waite school in Beech-
woods first under the school system. He received twelve dollars a
month and ' boarded round' with the scholars. They had a ten-plate
stove in the school-house, and their fuel consisted entirely of chestnut
and hemlock bark, which the large pupils helped the master to pull from
dead trees in the vicinity. There were about twenty-eight pupils attend-
ing the school, with an average daily attendance of eighteen. Judge
Andrew Barnett, John Lattimer, and William Cooper were the principal
citizens who took part in having the schools started. John Wilson was
216
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
probably the first master at Richardsville. They had about fifteen
pupils there."
PAUL DARLING, A PIONEER SCHOOL-MASTER.
Dr. George Darling located in Brookville in 1834 and was the father
of Paul. When still young, about thirteen years old, Paul was obliged
Paul Darling.
to help himself. In the year 1836 Paul taught a school in Pine Creek
township. His certificate read as follows :
" We, the undersigned School Directors of Pine Creek township, do
hereby certify that we have examined Paul Darling, and have found him
15 2I 7
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
qualified to teach Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and the principal
rules of Grammar and Geography.
(Signed) "JAMES MOORE,
ARCHD. MCMURRAY,
JOHN LONG,
GEO. S. MATTHEWS."
From a long and intimate acquaintance with Paul Darling, I can
truthfully say that he was a type of the truest men of his time ; he was
modest, yet determined, honest in deeds as well as in words, indus-
trious and intelligent, frugal and liberal, kind-hearted, friendly and
charitable, social and poetic, yet prudent and just. As a financier he
was eminently successful, as his large estate of over five hundred thousand
dollars fully attested.
"In 1836 a school-house was built above Mr. Prescott's, at Prescott-
ville, called the Fuller school-house. Mr. Thomas Reynolds taught the
first school in it. During the summer of the same year a contract for
building a hewed log school-house near Mr. Dickey's, in Henderson
township, was given to Mr. Caufman, and a school was commenced the
following winter, under a Mr. Heisy as master. From the best informa-
tion to be had, a school appears to have been organized in the Bowers
settlement some time before that. About 1836 a school was organized
under the school system in Perry township, and taught in one of the old
log dwelling-houses in the vicinity of Perrysville. No one remembers
who the master was.
"In the winter of 1835 or 1837 a school was kept in an old house
near Frederick Stears', by a Mr. Travis. That was the first school in
that locality under the school system. A Mrs. Travis taught a summer
school in the same place. It was then in Perry, but was included in
Porter township when it was organized. About the year 1839 a frame
school-house was built just above Perrysville. T. S. Smith, Sr., furnished
the nails and spikes, and some other citizens furnished other material
and built the house. The same year a hewed log school-house was built
near George Blose, Sr. 's. Wm. Postlethwait, George Blose, Sr., Youngs,
and some others were prominent in having the school organized.
" The first common school was commenced in what is now Eldred
township in the beginning of the winter of 1837. The house was built
the same fall, near where the Hall school-house now stands. It was a
hewed log house, and was built by the citizens. John Lucas taught the
first school in it. There were about forty scholars. About 1837 or 1838
a round log school-house, called the Milliron school, was built a short
distance northwest of where Ringgold now is. Samuel Hice was the first
master there. He received not more than ten dollars a month. They
used ' Cobb's Spellers' as text-books. Henry Freas, John Hice, Ben-
218
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
jamin Campbell, and others were the principal citizens in having the
school organized. A school-house was built in Rose township, near
Mr. Spyker's, in 1836. They previously rented a house on what is
now the Pleasantville road, near John J. Miller's. The first school in
Union township under the school system was taught by Jesse or Theoph-
ilus Smith, about 1838, in a log school-house, with a wooden chimney
along one end. The house was about two miles from Corsica, near
Dallas Monks'. The pupils studied their lessons out loud. The teacher
was paid sixteen or eighteen dollars a month, and boarded himself.
Some of the citizens who took part in starting the school were John
Fitzsimmons, the Barrs, Hindmans, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Monks.
John Kahle taught the first school in Kahletown, Eldred township, about
1837 or 1838, in one end of his father's house. That was the first school
in that part of the county. Clover township was organized into a sepa-
rate school district in 1842. The first board of directors was organized
May 24, 1842. Rev. C. Fogle was President, John Shields, Secretary,
and D. Carrier, Treasurer. The wages of male teachers were from eigh-
teen to twenty-five dollars a month, and of female teachers from twelve
to fifteen dollars a month, and board themselves and make their own
fires." Blose.
PIONEER SCHOOL INSPECTORS.
Pioneer school inspectors appointed by the court December 8, 1834,
under the act of 1834:
Rose township Dr. George Darling, Rev. John Shoap.
Young township Charles C. Gaskill, Charles R. Barclay.
Perry township David Lewis, Parlen White.
Pine Creek township Andrew Barnett, John Lattimer.
Ridgeway township Lyman Wilmarth, Reuben A. Aylesworth.
Barnett township Cyrus Blood, William Armstrong.
EXTRACT FROM COMMON SCHOOL LAW OF 1834.
" SECTION 3. It shall be the duty of the said school directors, within
ten days after the period of their election, annually to meet in their re-
spective school districts, when such board shall choose, out of their own
body, a president and secretary, and a delegate to join the delegate
meeting provided for in the following section ; they shall appoint a
treasurer for the district where no township or borough treasurer shall be
otherwise appointed ; and it shall be the duty of each board, on the day
of their first assembling as aforesaid, to divide themselves into three
classes, the first of which shall serve until the next election, the second
until the second election, and the third until the third election follow-
ing, so that one-third of each board may be chosen annually ; and if any
vacancy shall occur, by death or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the
219
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
body in which such vacancy may occur to fill the same until the next
election.
" SECTION 4. On the first Tuesday of November, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and the first Monday in May in
each year thereafter, there shall be held, at the county court-house in
each division, a joint meeting of the county commissioners and one dele-
gate from each board of school directors within said county or school
division, in which it shall be decided whether or not a tax for the expen-
diture of each district be levied ; and if a tax be authorized by a major-
ity of the joint meeting, it shall be apportioned among the several dis-
tricts as county levies are now by law apportioned. Each delegate to
the joint meeting shall be entitled to receive one dollar per day for each
day's attendance spent by him in travelling to and from and attending
said meeting, to be paid out of the county treasury."
PIONEER SCHOOL CONVENTION UNDER THE COMMON SCHOOL
LAW OF 1834.
From The Jeffersonian, Brookville, Pennsylvania, Thursday, Novem-
ber 6, 1834:
"The delegates appointed by the several boards of school directors
in the respective districts of Jefferson County, together with the commis-
sioners of said county, met agreeably to law at the court-house, in the
borough of Brookville, on Tuesday, the 4th of November, inst. (being
the first Tuesday of the month). The following delegates were in
attendance :
"County Commissioners Levi G. Clover, James Corbett.
" Rose Robert Andrews.
" Barnett Cyrus Blood.
"Pine Creek Andrew Barnett.
"Young John Hoover.
" Perry John Philliber.
" Ridgeway James L. Gillis.
" The above delegates met the 4th of November and adjourned until
the 5th in consequence of the absence of some delegates.
"They met the 5th of November in pursuance to previous adjourn-
ment, and proceeded to business.
" On motion, the convention was organized by calling Robert
Andrews to the chair and appointing John Beck secretary.
" On motion of Mr. Andrew Barnett, and seconded, it was unani-
mously resolved that an appropriation for common schools be made.
" 'Resolved, That a tax be levied and raised of double the amount of
the appropriation made by the Commonwealth for common schools. '
" The following shows the proportionable share due each township
out of the money appropriated by the Commonwealth, viz. : Barnett
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
township, $6.13; Ridgevvay township, $7.06; Perry township, $21.86;
Pine Creek township, $13.20 ; Rose township, $37.60; Young township,
$19.20; total, $105.05.
" The tax to be raised off the people, for the pupose of carrying into
effect the ' free school' system, is estimated at double the amount appro-
priated by the Commonwealth.
" ' SECTION 17. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall be super-
intendent of all the public schools established by virtue of this act.' '
COMMON SCHOOL NOTICE.
" For the purpose of settling controversies, of collecting and impart-
ing information connected with the Common School System, so as to
produce harmony and vigor in every department of its operations, the
Superintendent will be at the county towns mentioned in the following
lists on the days therein designated at 10 o'clock A.M.
" Directors, Teachers, and all others who may have business to trans-
act with the Superintendent, under the 4th paragraph of loth section of
the school law, will meet him at their proper county towns on the days
respectively named. As the chain of appointments noAv made will not
admit of more than one day's delay at each place, early and punctual
attendance is earnestly requested.
Town. County. Date.
Brookville. Jefferson. Saturday, Sept. 2.
jfc^^^Hc^^^Hs
" THOS. H. BURROWES,
' ' Superintendent Common Schools.
" SECRETARY'S OFFICE, HARRISBURG, July 18, 1837."
" SECTION 19. Seventy-five thousand dollars are hereby appropriated
out of the school fund for the year one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-five, which amount shall be annually thereafter appropriated and
paid as hereinafter directed until the year when the school fund shall
yield an interest of one hundred thousand dollars annually, when that
sum shall be distributed in each year amongst the school divisions created
by the adoption of this act in manner following : The superintendent of
common schools shall give notice in at least one public newspaper in
every division in this Commonwealth for the space of three weeks of the
sum to which such division may be entitled, having reference in such
distribution to the number of taxable inhabitants in said division, and
these funds shall again be distributed to the different districts according
to the provisions of this act, and as soon as practicable thereafter the
said superintendent shall cause the distributive share of each school
division entitled thereto to be paid to the county treasurer, which share
221
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
shairbe appointed amongst the respective districts of the several divisions
according to the said principle of distribution prescribed for the superin-
tendent ; and the same rule shall be observed in the distribution of the
proceeds of the tax imposed upon the county for the same purpose by the
delegate meeting hereinbefore provided for."
The law of 1831 of Senator Audenreid is the foundation-stone, and
that of 1834 and the act of 1837 completed our common school system,
erroneously called " the free school system."
I cannot do better than to reproduce here a little speech of mine in
response to the toast " Our Free Schools" :
" The free school is our nation's hope. It is education that forms the
common mind, and the continuance of our free institutions requires an
educated common mind. To thoroughly educate the common people our
schools should be free and equal. No special privileges or conditions
should be permitted in them, either for the rich or the poor. We pride
ourselves on our common schools, and well we may ; but the schools are
not equal, and only partially free. Before they can become either we
must emancipate them from favoritism and unequal burdens. The con-
ditions are unequal because the rich can buy all needful books to make
the schools thorough and efficient for them, but the widow, the day
laborer, and the mechanic cannot. True, we have free houses, free
desks, free fuel, free black-boards, free maps, and free teachers, every-
thing free except the most important, the one thing needful, books.
It is our duty, then, to perfect the school system by furnishing free
books, free paper, free pens, free ink, free slates, free pencils, and free
sponges. For it must be plain to all that with this heavy burden yet re-
maining on the shoulders of poor parents and pupils the word free schools
is a misnomer and a mockery. Give us, then, by legislation equal privi-
leges in the schools, and free text-books for all.
" Hasten the day, just Heaven,
Accomplish Thy design,
And let the blessings of the school Thou hast given us
On all men and women shine,
Until free schools be everywhere and equally enjoyed,
And human power be for human good employed."
For much of the local information in this chapter, and which I quote,
I am indebted to the writings of Professor G. Ament Blose.
PIONEER LICENSES IN JEFFERSON COUNTY FROM 1812 TO 1830.*
Name. Place. Date.
Joseph Barnett ..... Bald Eagle road December 16, 1812.
John Matson Bellefonte road Issued.
Joseph Barnett Residence March 6, 1819.
* Copied from the records of Indiana County by J. N. Banks, Esq.
222
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Name. Place. Date.
Joseph Barnett Residence September 27, 1820.
Henry Feye Sandy Lick settlement December 15, 1812.
Joseph Barnett Residence on State Road . . . December 12, 1814.
Isaac Packer Where Northern pike crosses
Sandy Lick Creek December 12, 1823.
Joseph Barnett ...... Continued December 24, 1821.
Joseph Barnett " March 23, 1823.
Elijah Heath Punxsutawney December 25, 1822.
Elizabeth Winslow .... " March 24, 1829.
Joseph Long " " "
William Vasbinder .... Rose township March 23, 1829.
Joseph Potter On Turnpike road " "
John W. McAnulty .... Bellefonte road March 25, 1825.
Joseph Barnett Dated Sept. 27, 1824.
Elijah Heath Punxsutawney March 22, 1824.
Alexander Powers .... Pine Creek township December 26, 1824.
Isaac Packer " " " March 30, 1824.
John Barnett House formerly owned by Jo-
seph Barnett Granted.
Joseph Barnett Port Barnett September 22, 1822.
Andrew Vasbinder .... Pine Creek township June 25, 1827.
Joseph Barnett Port Barnett March 27, 1827.
Isaac Packer . At his residence " "
Elijah Heath Punxsutawney Marked granted.
Alexander Powers .... Pine Creek township June 27, 1827.
PIONEER CONSTABLES IN JEFFERSON COUNTY FROM 1811 TO 1830.
Name. Place. Date of Election.
Freedom Styles Pine Creek March 15, 1811.
Freedom Styles " March 20, 1812.
Joseph Barnett " March 18, 1814.
Freedom Styles " March 17, 1815.
Elijah Graham % " March 15, 1816.
Elijah Graham " March 15, 1817.
Freedom Styles " March 20, 1818.
David Hamilton Perry " "
Jesse Armstrong " March 19, 1819.
Jacob Mason Pine Creek " "
Jacob Hoover Perry March 17, 1820.
John Dixon Pine Creek March 18, 1820.
Moses Knapp " March 16, 1821.
James Wachob Perry " "
David McDonald " March 15, 1822.
Silas Sally Pine Creek " "
Elijah Heath Perry March 14, 1823.
James Diven Pine Creek . . . . , " "
Isaac McHenry Perry March 19, 1824.
Stephen Reed Pine Creek " "
Thomas Robison " March 18, 1825.
Charles R. Barclay Perry " "
223
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Name. Place. Date of Election.
Thomas Robison Pine Creek March 17, 1826.
Thomas McKee Perry " "
James Park Pine Creek March 16, 1827.
Joseph Lowry Young " "
Nehemiah Bryant Ridgeway " "
William McAndrish Perry " "
James Wachob " March 20, 1829.
Peter Ostrander Pine Creek " "
William Love Rose " "
Clark Eggleston Ridgeway " "
William Bowers Young March 19, 1830.
William Smith Perry " "
James McCollough Pine Creek " "
James M. Brockway Ridgeway " "
Herbert Smith Rose " "
William Bowers Young " "
EARLY CONSTABLES IN JEFFERSON COUNTY FROM 1831 TO 1843.
Date of
Election.
John George Rose 1831.
Stephen Tibbets Ridgeway "
John B. Williams Young "
Joseph Cochran Perry "
Adam George . f Rose ' Tievote - A dam George >
John George j acted as constable, no doubt V 1832.
I by appointment of court. J
James Wachob. f Perr y- Tie vote ' J ames Wa ' )
Alvah Payne . j chob evidently appointed by I
* the court. J
John George Pine Creek "
Henry Walburn Ridgeway "
Wiliam Clark Rose 1833.
John Dixon, Sr Pine Creek "
Caleb Dill Ridgeway "
John Maize Barnett "
John Drum Young "
William M. Cochran Perry "
John Smith Rose 1834.
George Newcomb Perry "
William Clawson Young "
Jacob Dobbins Ridgeway "
Edwin Forsythe Barnett "
James K. Hoffman Pine Creek "
John Christy Rose
Joseph Sharp Brookville
George Newcomb Perry
Nathan Phipps Barnett
Thomas W. Barber Ridgeway
John Wilson Pine Creek
William Clawson Young
224
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Date of
Name. Place.
Election.
Miram Gibbs Snyder 1835.
Joseph Sharp Brookville 1836.
Joseph Chitister Rose "
Joseph Cochran Young "
Andrew Alcorn Perry "
Thomas W. Barber Ridgeway "
Miram Gibbs Snyder "
John Wilson Pine Creek "
Elijah M. Graham Eldred "
James Aharrah Barnett "
John McLaughlin Brookville 1837.
William Kelso Rose "
Henry Smith Young "
Henry Philliber Perry "
John McGhee Washington "
Edward Adams Pine Creek "
Elijah M. Graham Eldred "
Henry Shaffer , Snyder "
George Dickinson Ridgeway "
James Aharrah Barnett "
John McLaughlin Brookville 1838.
William Kelso Rose "
William Robinson Young "
James R. Postlethwait Perry "
John McGhee Washington "
Henry Shaffer Snyder "
Thomas Dixon Pine Creek "
T. B. Maize Barnett "
Cyrus Blood Jenks "
John Gallagher Brookville 1839.
Samuel Newcomb Rose "
David Barnett Young "
Robert E. Kennedy Perry "
Robert Mclntosh Washington "
George S. Matthews Pine Creek "
Galbraith Wilson Snyder "
Christ. McNeil Eldred "
Matthew L. Ross Ridgeway "
James Aharrah Barnett "
George R. James Rose 1840.
William Long Young . "
Andrew Gibson Perry "
John Hice Porter "
George Matthews Pine Creek "
David Riggs Washington "
Christ. McNeil Eldred "
Peter Rickard, Jr Snyder "
Robert Huling Barnett "
David Thayer Ridgeway "
John Dougherty Brookville "
225
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Date of
Election.
George R. James Rose 1841.
James St. Clair Young "
Michael Palmer Perry "
John Hice Porter "
Michael Elliott . Washington "
Nicholas McQuiston Pine Creek "
James Wilkins Snyder "
Joseph Winslow Gaskill "
Charles Gillis Ridgeway "
James Steele Eldred "
James Aharrah Barnett "
William Rodgers Brookville "
William McGarey Rose 1842.
David L. Moore Clover "
Absalom De Haven Young "
Michael Palmer Perry "
James Dickey Paradise "
John McAninch Porter "
Michael Elliott Washington "
Peter Rickard Snyder "
Nicholas McQuiston Pine Creek "
David Thayer Ridgeway "
John D. Kahle Eldred "
Robert Wallace Barnett "
Oran Bennett Jenks "
John Brownlee Brookville ... "
Isaac Hughes Rose 1843.
William E. Gillespie Young ...... "
Nicholas McQuiston Pine Creek "
De Witt C. White Snyder
David C. Riggs Warsaw "
John McAninch Porter "
Samuel Kyle Washington "
Charles Jacox Clover "
David Thayer Ridgeway "
John Reynolds Barnett "
Job M. Carley Eldred
John Coffman Gaskill "
James H. Ames Jenks "
M. Palmer Perry "
William Rodgers Brookville <;
"PIONEER CENSUS OF LYCOMING AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.
Total. Negro Slaves.
" Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in 1800 . . . 54*4 39
Whites. Colored. Slaves.
'Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, in 1810 . . . 161 I
' " " in 1820 . . . 561 10 . . j '
" " " in 1830 . . . 2003 21 i
" " in 1840 . . . 7196 57 .;,
226
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Taxable list of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, from 1807 up to
and including 1842 : 1807,23; 1814,35; 1821,161; 1828,356; 1835,
904; 1842, 1788.
" Receipts and expenditures of Jefferson County from January 2, 1816,
to January i, 1817, both days inclusive:
"John Taylor, Esq., Treasurer.
"DR.
"To cash of Joseph Barnett, Collector of Pine Creek township for 1813,
in full ^ . . $17-43%
Received on unseated lands 2475.61^
" land sold 101.92
#2594.97
List of outstanding debts due from the collectors for 1815 &7-7O/4
On unseated lands before 1816, for which the lands have been sold to the
Commissioners 2140.27
County tax, 1816 790.92
$2938.89^
"CR.
" By cash paid on sundry road orders $1626.76
" " on election orders 34-OO
" " on wolf orders I 57-37^
" " to road viewers 18.00
" " on contingent expenses 102.00
Paid to Indiana County the proportionate part of the general expenses . 298.56
Treasurer's fees of sixty-five tracts of land sold to Commissioners . . . 182.92
Treasurer's fees on $1933.13^ at 2 per cent 38.66
Balance in treasury 136.69^
#2594.97
" GARWIN SUTTON,
THOMAS SHARP,
THOMAS LAUGHLIN,
' ' Commissioners.
"Attest:
" DANIEL STANARD,
" Clerk."
Indiana American, February 10, 1817.
INCIDENTS.
On October 23, 1819, was the "dark day." Between nine and ten
o'clock in the morning the darkness was so great that the pioneer had to
light his old lamp or blaze his pitch-pine knot.
In January, 1828, there was a great flood in Jefferson County, and
also a great one on February 10, 1832.
1816, or the year without a summer. Frost occurred in every month
in 1816. Ice formed half an inch thick in May. Snow fell to the
227
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
depth of three inches in June. Ice was formed to the thickness of a
common window-glass on the 5th day of July. Indian corn was so
frozen that the greater part was cut in August and dried for fodder, and
the pioneers supplied from the corn of 1815 for the seeding of the spring
of 1817.
In 1809, Fulton patented the steamboat.
The pioneer steam-vessels that made regular trips across the Atlantic
Ocean were the "Sirius" and " Great Western" in the year 1830.
The pioneer use of gas for practical illumination was in 1802.
The pioneer mill to make finished cloth from raw cotton was erected
in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1813.
In 1807 wooden clocks were made by machinery.
The anthracite coal business was established about 1820.
In 1836 matches were patented.
" The first practical friction matches were made in 1827 by an Eng-
lish apothecary named Walker, who coated splints of card-board with
sulphur and tipped them with a mixture of sulphate of antimony, chlo-
rate of potash, and gum. A box of eighty-four matches sold for one
cent, a piece of glass-paper being furnished with it for obtaining ignition.
In 1830 a London man named Jones devised a species of match which
was a little roll of paper soaked in chlorate of potash and sugar, with a
thin glass globule filled with sulphuric acid attached to one end. The
globule being broken, the acid acted upon the potash and sugar, pro-
ducing fire. Phosphorus matches were first introduced on a commercial
scale in 1833, and after that improvements were rapid.
"The modern lucifer match combines in one instrument arrange-
ments for creating a spark, catching it on tinder, and starting a blaze,
steps requiring separate operations in primitive contrivances. It was in
1836 that the first United States patent for friction matches was issued.
Splints for them were made by sawing or splitting blocks of wood into
slivers slightly attached at the base. These were known as ' slab' or
' block' matches, and they are in use in parts of this country to-day."
The pioneer strike in America was that of the journeymen boot-
makers of Philadelphia in 1796. The men struck, or " turned out," as
they phrased it, for an increase of wages. After two weeks' suspension
of trade their demands were granted, and this success gained them
greater strength and popularity, so that when they " turned out in 1798,
and again in 1799, for further increases, they were still successful and
escaped indictment.
Vulcanized rubber was patented in 1838.
In 1840, Daguerre first made his pictures.
The express business was started about 1840.
The pioneer telegram was sent in 1845.
The pioneer steamer to cross the Atlantic was built in New York in
228
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
1818 by Francis Picket. The vessel was called the "Savannah." In
the trip she carried seventy-five tons of coal and twenty-five cords of
wood. She left Savannah, Georgia, in May, 1819, and arrived at Liver-
pool in June, 1819. She used steam eighteen of the twenty-six days.
James Piles was the pioneer blacksmith, in 1808, in Jefferson County.
Joseph McCullough was the second blacksmith, in 1819. Before " stocks"
were invented oxen had to be thrown and tied and the shoes nailed on
while down. McCullough did this.
In 1811 a furious tornado swept across this county.
In 1828, March 9, an earthquake shock was felt in Jefferson County.
The earliest recorded tornado in the United States was in 1794. It
passed north of Brookville, in what is now Heath and other townships,
and extended to Northford, Connecticut.
PIONEER THANKSGIVING DAYS.
The first recorded Thanksgiving was the Hebrew feast of the Taber-
nacles.
The New England Thanksgiving dates from 1633, when the Massa-
chusetts Bay colony set apart a day for thanksgiving.
The first national Thanksgiving proclamations were by Congress
during the Revolutionary War.
The first great American Thanksgiving day was in 1784, for the
declaration of peace. There was one more national Thanksgiving in
1789, and no other till 1862, when President Lincoln issued a national
proclamation for a day of thanksgiving.
The pioneer Thanksgiving day in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania,
was on the last Thursday of November, 1819, by proclamation of
Governor Findlay.
CHAPTER XIII.
PIONEER MISSIONARY WORK THE FIRST WHITE MAN TO TRAVEL THE SOIL
OF JEFFERSON COUNTY REVS. POST, HECKEWELDER, AND OTHERS.
THE pioneer minister to travel through what is now Jefferson County
was a Moravian missionary or a preacher of the United Brethren Church,
the Rev. Christian Frederic Post. He travelled from Philadelphia to the
Ohio (Allegheny) River in 1758 on a mission from the government of
Pennsylvania to the Delaware, Shawanese, and Mingo Indians. These
Indians were then in alliance with the French, and Rev. Post's mission
was to prevail on them to withdraw from that alliance. Post passed
through what is now Jefferson County, from Clearfield, over Boone's
Mountain, crossed Little Tobec (Little Toby), and then over Big Tobec
(Big Toby) Creek.
229
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
From Post's journal I quote the following extract :
" August 2nd We came across several places where two poles, painted
red, were stuck in the ground by the Indians, to which they tye the pris-
oners, when they stop at night, in their return from their incursions. We
arrived this night at Shinglimuce, where was another of the same posts.
It is a disagreeable and melancholy sight, to see the means they make
use of, according to their savage way, to distress others.
" jrd We came to a part of a river called Tobeco, over the moun-
tains, a very bad road.
"4th We lost one of our horses, and with much difficulty found him,
but were detained a whole day on that account [at what is now Brock-
way ville]. I had much conversation with Pisquetumen [an Indian chief
that travelled with him] ; of which I think to inform myself further when
I get to my journey's end.
"^th We set out early this day, and made a good long stretch,
crossing the big river Tobeco, and lodged between two mountains. I
had the misfortune to lose my pocket book with three pounds five shil-
lings, and sundry other things. What writings it contained were illegi-
ble to any body but myself.
"6th We passed all the mountains, and the big river, Weshawaucks,
and crossed a fine meadow two miles in length, where we slept that night,
having nothing to eat.
"ft/i We came in sight of fort Venango, belonging to the French,
situate between two mountains, in a fork of the Ohio [Allegheny] river.
I prayed the Lord to blind them, as he did the enemies of Lot and Elisha,
that I might pass unknown. When we arrived, the fort being on the
other side of the river, we hallooed, and desired them to fetch us over :
which they were afraid to do ; but showed us a place where we might
ford. We slept that night within half gun shot of the fort."
" Christian Frederic Post accompanied by several friendly Indians,
set out from Bethlehem on the igth of July, for Fort Augusta (Sunbury).
There he took the path along the right bank of the West Branch, leading
over the Chillisquaque, over Muncy, Loyalsock, and Pine Creeks, crossed
the Susquehanna at the Great Island, and then struck one of the main
Indian thoroughfares to the West. On the 3rd of July he forded Beech
Creek, on whose left bank he came to the forks of the road. One branch
led southwest along the Bald Eagle, past the Nest to Frankstown, and
thence to the Ohio country ; the other due west to Chinklacamoose. Post
took the latter. It led over the Moshannon, which he crossed on the ist
of August. Next day he arrived at the village of Chinklacamoose in the
'Clear Fields.' Hence the travellers struck a trail to the northwest,
crossed Toby's Creek (Clarion River), and on the yth of August reached
Fort Venango, built by the French in 1753, in the forks of the Alle-
230
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
gheny. 'I prayed the Lord,' writes Post, 'to blind the French, as he
did the enemies of Lot and Elisha, that I might pass unknown. '
" Leaving Venango, Post and his companions turned their horses' heads
to the southwest, struck the Conequenessing on the i2th of August,
crossed the Big Beaver, and next day arrived at Kaskadkie, the terminus
of their journey and the head-quarters of 'the Beavers' and 'Shingas,'
war-chiefs of the western Delawares. " Post was, therefore, the first Mora-
vian west of the Alleghenies. He closes his interesting journal with these
words :
" Thirty-two days that I lay in the woods, the heavens were my cov-
ering, and the dew fell so hard sometimes that it pricked close to the skin.
During this time nothing lay so heavily on my heart as the man who went
along with me [Shamokin Daniel], for he thwarted me in everything I
said or did ; not that he did it against me, but against the country on
whose business I was sent. When he was with the French he would speak
against the English, and when he was with the English he would speak
against the French. The Indians observed that he was unreliable,
and desired me not to bring him any more to transact business between
them and the prisoners. But praise and glory be to the lamb that was
slain, who brought me through a country of dreadful jealousy and mis-
trust, where the Prince of this world holds rule and government over the
children of disobedience. It was my Lord who preserved me amid all
difficulties and dangers, and his Holy Spirit directed me. I had no one
to commune with, but Him ; and it was he who brought me from under
a thick, heavy and dark cloud into the open air, for which I adore, and
praise and worship him. I know and confess that He, the Lord my God,
the same who forgave my sins and washed my heart in his most precious
blood, grasped me in his almighty hand and held me safe, and hence I
live no longer for myself, but for Him, whose holy will to do is my
chiefest pleasure."
" Christian Frederic Post, the most adventurous of Moravian mis-
sionaries employed among the North American Indians, was born at
Conitz, Polish Prussia, in 1710. He immigrated to this country in June,
1742. Between 1743 and 1749 he was a missionary to the Moravian In-
dians in New York and Connecticut. He first married Rachel, a Wam-
panoag, and after her death, Agnes, a Delaware. Having become a
widower a second time, he, in 1 75 1 , returned to Europe : hence he sailed
for Labrador in 1752, engaging in an unsuccessful attempt to bring the
gospel to the Esquimaux. Having returned to Bethlehem in 1754, he
was sent to Wyoming, where he preached to the Indians until in Novem-
ber of 1755. I* 1 tne summer of 1758, Post undertook an embassy in be-
half of government to the Delawares and Shawanese of the Ohio country,
which resulted in the evacuation of Fort Duquesne by the French and
the restoration of peace. In September of 1761 he engaged in an inde-
231
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
pendent mission to the Indians of that distant region, and built him a hut
on the Tuscarawas, near Bolivar, in Stark County, Ohio. John Hecke-
welder joined him in the spring of 1762. But the Pontiac war drove the
missionaries back to the settlements, and the project was abandoned. Im-
pelled by his ruling passion, Post now sought a new field of activity in the
southern part of the continent, and in January of 1 764 sailed from Charles-
ton, via Jamaica, for the Mosquito coast. Here he preached to the natives
for upward of two years. He visited Bethlehem in July of 1767, returned
to Mosquito, and was in Bethlehem, for the last time, in 1784. At this
date he was residing with his third wife, who was an Episcopalian, in
Germantown. Here he deceased April 29, 1785. On the 5th of May
his remains were interred in the Lower Graveyard of that place, Rev.
William White, of Christ Church, conducting the funeral service. A
marble slab, bearing an appropriate obituary record, was placed, some
thirty years ago, upon the veteran missionary's grave." Transactions of
the Moravian Historical Society, vol. i.
The second minister to cry aloud in this wilderness was the Rev. John
Heckewelder in 1 762. He came from Bethlehem over the Chinklacamoose
trail to Punxsutawney. He was a Moravian missionary, and travelled
some thirty thousand miles in Indian missionary work between the years
1762 and 1814.
The third preacher to penetrate this wilderness was a Moravian min-
ister, the Rev. David Zeisberger, and he passed through or near Brock-
wayville over the northwest trail to what was then the Ohio, now the
Allegheny (in what is now Forest County) River.
I quote as follows from " Day's Collections" :
" In the year 1767 an unarmed man of short stature, remarkably plain
in his dress, and humble and peaceable in his demeanor, emerged from
the thick forest upon the Allegheny River, in the neighborhood of the
Seneca towns. This was the Moravian missionary, Rev. David Zeis-
berger, who, led by Anthony and John Papanhunk, Indian guides and
assistants in his pious labors, had penetrated the dense wilderness of
Northern Pennsylvania, from Wyalusing, on the Susquehanna, to preach
the gospel to the Indians in this region. His intended station was at
Goshgoshunk, which appears to have been on the left bank of the Alle-
gheny, not far from the mouth of Tionesta. Possibly Goshgoshunk was
the same as the Indian name Cush-cush.
" The Seneca chief, believing Brother Zeisberger to be a spy, received
him roughly at first ; but, softened by his mild demeanor, or perhaps by
the holy truths which he declared to the chief, he at length bade him
welcome, and permitted him to go to Goshgoshunk. He warned him,
however, not to trust the people there, for they had not their equals in
wickedness and thirst for blood. This was but another incentive to him
who came to preach ' not to the righteous, but to sinners.' However, on
232
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
his arrival he was well received, and shared the hospitality of a relative
of one of his guides. ' Goshgoshunk, a town of the Delawares, consisted
of three villages on the banks of the Ohio [Allegheny]. The whole town
seemed to rejoice at the novelty of this visit. The missionary found,
however, that the Seneca chief had told him truly. He was shocked at
their heathenish and diabolical rites, and especially by their abuse of the
holy name of God. An Indian preacher, called Wangomen, strenuously
resisted the new doctrines of the missionaries, especially that of the in-
carnation of the Deity, and instigated the jealousy of his people ; but the
truth, preached in its simplicity and power, by the missionaries, over-
came him, and he yielded his opposition so far as to join the other In-
dians in an invitation to the missionaries to settle among them. The old
blind chief, Allemewi, was awakened, and afterwards baptized, with the
Christian name of Solomon. The missionary went home to report his
progress to his friends in Bethlehem. The following year Zeisberger re-
turned, accompanied by Brother Gottlob Senseman and several Moravian
Indian families from the Susquehanna, to establish a regular mission at
Goshgoshunk. They built a block-house, planted corn, and, gathering
round their block-house several huts of believing Indians, they formed a
small hamlet, a little separated from the other towns. ' To this a great
number resorted, and there the brethren ceased not, by day and night, to
teach and preach Jesus, and God in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself.' These meetings were fully attended, ' and it was curious to see
so many of the audience with their faces painted black and vermilion and
heads decorated with clusters of feathers and fox-tails. ' A violent oppo-
sition, however, succeeded, occasioned by the malicious lies of the ma-
gicians and old women, ' the corn was blasted, the deer and game began
to retire from the woods, no chestnuts nor bilberries would grow any
more, merely because the missonaries preached a strange doctrine, and
the Indians were changing their way of life.' Added to this, the grand
council at Onondaga and Zeneschio (Ischua) looked with extreme jealousy
upon this new encroachment of white men upon their territories and dis-
countenanced the establishment. In consequence of these things the mis-
sionaries left Goshgoshunk, and retired fifteen miles farther up the river,
to a place called Lawanakanuck, on the opposite bank, probably near
Hickorytown. Here they again started a new settlement, built at first a
hunting-den, and afterwards a chapel and a dwelling-house, ' and a bell,
which they received from Bethlehem, was hung in a convenient place.'
"About the year 1765 the Moravian missionary David Zeisberger
established the mission of Friedenschnetten, near the present town of
Wyalusing, in Bradford County. This town, the name of which signifies
'tents of peace,' contained 'thirteen Indian huts, and upward of forty
frame houses, shingled, and provided with chimneys and windows.'
There was another mission about thirty miles above Friedenschnetten,
16 233
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
' Tschechsehequanink,' or, as it was translated, ' where a great awakening
had taken place.' This latter mission was under the charge of Brother
Roth.
" These missions prospered greatly, and much good was done among
the Indians, until 1 768, when the Six Nations, by the treaty made that
year, 'sold the land from under their feet,' and the missionaries en-
countered so much trouble from both the Indians and whites, that in
1772 the brethren decided to abandon these missions and remove to the
new field which had been planted by the indefatigable Zeisberger on the
banks of the Ohio. They therefore started from Wyalusing on the 1 2th
day of June, 1772, in number two hundred and forty-one souls, mostly
Indians, of all ages, with their cattle and horses. Their destination was
Friedenstadt,* near the present site of Beaver, Pennsylvania. They were
under the guidance of Brothers Roth and Ettewein, and their course was
from the North Branch across the Allegheny Mountains, by way of Bald
Eagle, to the Ohio River. Brother Roth conducted those who went by
water and Brother Ettewein those who travelled by land. In 1886 the
Moravian, published at Bethlehem, gave the journal of Rev. John Ette-
wein, and we give the extracts from it of the progress of the party through
the territory now comprised by southern Jefferson County, with the
explanatory foot-notes in the Moravian, translated by Mr. Jordan :
"' 1772.
" ' Tuesday, July 14. Reached Clearfield Creek, where the buffalos
formerly cleared large tracts of undergrowth, so as to give the appearance
of cleared fields. Hence, the Indians called the creek 'Clearfield.'
Here at night and next morning, to the great joy of the hungry, nine
deer were shot. Whoever shoots a deer has for his private portion, the
skin and inside ; the meat he must bring into camp and deliver to the
distributors. John and Cornelius acted in this capacity in our division.
It proved advantageous for us not to keep so closely together, as we had
at first designed ; for if the number of families in a camp be large, one
or two deer, when cut up, afford but a scanty meal to each individual.
So it happened that scarce a day passed without there being a distribu-
tion of venison in the advance, the centre and the rear camp. (On the
route there were one hundred and fifty deer and but three bears shot.)
In this way our Heavenly Father provided for us ; and I often prayed for
our hunters, and returned thanks for their success.
" ' Thursday, July 16. ... I journeyed on, with a few of the brethren,
two miles in a falling rain, to the site of Chinklacamoose, where we found
* " The Annals of Friedenschnetten, on the Susquehanna, with John Ettewein's
Journal of the Removal of the Mission to Friedenstadt, 1765 and 1772, by John W.
Jordan."
234
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
but three huts, and a few patches of Indian corn. The name signifies
' No one tarries here willingly.' It may, perhaps, be traced to the cir-
cumstance that some thirty years ago an Indian resided here as a hermit,
upon a rock, who was wont to appear to the Indian hunters, in frightful
shapes. Some of these, too, he killed, others he robbed of their skins ;
and this he did for many years. We moved on four miles, and were
obliged to wade the West Branch three times, which is here like the
Lehigh at Bethlehem, between the island and the mountain, rapid and
full of ripples.
" ' Friday, July 77. Advanced only four miles to a creek that comes
down from the northwest.* Had a narrow and stony spot for our camp.
" ' Satiirday, July 18, Moved on without awaiting Roth and his
division, who on account of the rain had remained in camp. To-day
Shebosch lost a colt from the bite of a rattlesnake. Here we left the
West Branch three miles to the Northwest, up the creek, crossing it five
times. Here, too, the path went precipitately up the mountain, and four
or five miles up and up to the summit to a spring the head-waters of the
Ohio.f Here I lifted up my heart in prayer as I looked westward, that
the Son of Grace might rise over the heathen nations that dwell beyond
the distant horizon.
" ' Sunday, July /p. As yesterday, but two families kept with me, be-
cause of the rain, we had a quiet Sunday, but enough to do drying our
effects. In the evening all joined me, but we could hold no service as
the Ponkis were so excessively annoying that the cattle pressed towards
and into our camp, to escape their persecutors in the smoke of the fires.
This vermin is a plague to man and beast, both by day and night. But
in the swamp through which we are now passing, their name is legion.
Hence the Indians call it the Ponksutenink, i.e., the town of the Ponkis. \
The word is equivalent to living dust and ashes, the vermin being so
small as not to be seen, and their bite being hot as sparks of fire, or hot
ashes. The brethren here related an Indian myth, to wit : That the afore-
cited Indian hermit and sorcerer, after having been for so many years a
terror to all Indians, had been killed by one who had burned his bones,
but the ashes he blew into the swamp, and they became living things, and
hence the Ponkis.
" ' Monday, July 20. After discoursing on the daily word ' The Lord
* "Anderson's Creek, in Clearfield County, which they struck at a point near the
present Curwensville. "
f " Probably the source of the North Branch of the Mahoning, which rises in
Brady township, Clearfield County, and empties into the Allegheny, in Armstrong
County, ten miles above Kittanning."
J " Kept down the valley of the Mahoning, into Jefferson County. Punxsutawney
is a village in Young township, Jefferson County. The swamp lies in Gaskill and
Young townships."
235
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
our God be with us, may he not forsake us' we traveled on through the
swamp, and after five miles crossed the path that leads from Frankstown*
to Goshgoshunk, and two miles from that point encamped at a run. At
5 P.M., came Brethren Peter, Boaz, and Michael, with fourteen unbap-
tized Indians, from Lagundontenink, to meet us with four horses, and
five bushels of Indian corn, also Nathaniel's wife from Sheningat with a
letter from Brother Jungman. I thought had I but milk or meat, I would
add rice, and prepare a supper for the new-comers. But two of them
went to hunt, and in half an hour Michael brought in a deer to my fire.
My eyes moistened with tears. Sister Esther hunted up the large camp
kettle, and all had their fill of rice and venison, and were much pleased.
That night and the following morning there were four deer shot by the
company.
" ' Tuesday, July 21. The rear division came up, and the destitute,
viz., such as had lived solely upon meat and milk, were supplied each
with one pint of Indian corn. We proceeded six miles to the first creek.
In the evening a number of the brethren came to my fire, and we sat to-
gether right cheerful until midnight. Once when asleep I was awakened
by the singing of the brethren who had gathered around the fire of the
friends from Lagundontenink. It refreshed my inmost soul.
" ' Wednesday, July 22. We journeyed on four miles, to the first fork \
where a small creek comes down from the mouth.
" ' Thursday, July 23. Also four miles to the second fork, to the creek,
coming in from the south-east. As a number of us met here in good
time we had a meeting. Corneliu's brother-in-law stated that he was
desirous of being the Lord's ; therefore he had left his friends so as to
live with the brethren, and to hear of the Saviour.
" ' Friday, July 24. The path soon left the creek, over valleys and
heights to a spring. Now we were out of the swamp, and free from the
plague of the Ponkis. Also found huckleberries, which were very grate-
ful. Our to-day's station was five miles, and about so far we advanced on.
" ' Saturday, July 25. On which day we encamped at a Salt Lick, and
kept Sunday some three miles from the large creek, which has so many
curves, like a horseshoe, so that if one goes per canoe, when the water is
high, four days are consumed in reaching the Ohio, whereas, by land,
the point can be reached in one day. 1 1 Our youngsters went to the creek
* " Near Hollidaysburg. See Scull's map of 1759 for this path."
^ " Sheninga is a township in Lawrence County, just above Friedenstadt."
J " A branch of the Mahoning."
\ " Query. The creek that comes in and up below Punxsutawney."
|| " The Mahoning, formed by the junction of the East and South Branch, which
meets at Nicholsburg, in Indiana County. This route to the Allegheny was the same
path taken by Post in 1758, when returning from his second visit to the Ohio Indians
in that year, and between Chinklacamoose and the Allegheny, over the same path
236
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
to fish, and others to hunt ; and at sunset they came in with two deer,
and four strings of fish.' '
"John Roth was born in Brandenburg, February 3, 1726, of Catholic
parents, and was brought up a locksmith. In 1748 he united with the
Moravians and emigrated to America, arriving at Bethlehem in June of
1756. He deceased at York, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1791.
"John Ettewein was born 2pth of June, 1721, in Freudenstadt, Wiir-
temberg. He united with the Moravians in 1740, and came to Bethle-
hem in April of 1754. Here he was set apart for service in the schools
of his adopted church, when, in 1758, a new field of labor was assigned
him at the Brethren's settlements in Western North Carolina (Forsyth and
adjacent counties). During his residence in Wachovia he itinerated
among the spiritually destitute Germans of South Carolina (1762), and
visited the Salzburgers and Swiss of Ebenezer (in Georgia) in 1765.
The following year he was recalled to Bethlehem. This place was the
scene of his greatest activity, as here, under God, he led the Moravian
Church in safety through the stormy times of the Revolution. He was
ordained a bishop in 1784. In 1789 he sailed for Europe, and attended
a general synod convened at Herrnhut. John Ettewein was one of the
remarkable men of the Brethren's Church in North America. He deceased
at Bethlehem, ad of January, 1802."
CHAPTER XIV.
PIONEER AND EARLY CHURCHES PRESBYTERIAN THE PIONEER CHURCH IN
THE COUNTY THE PIONEER PREACHER AND CHURCH.
THE pioneer Presbyterian preaching in Pennsylvania was in Philadel-
phia in 1698. In 1704 they erected a frame church on Market Street
and called it " Buttonwood."
I quote from Rev. Fields as to the organization of the pioneer Pres-
byterian Church of Jefferson County :
"Its first name was Bethel, and continued to be for many years.
The records of the church are not to be found farther back than Septem-
ber 20, 1851. Records were in existence as far back as 1832, but where
they are or who has them cannot now be ascertained. The church had
its beginning in Port Barnett. Preaching seems to have been in the set-
tlement in June, 1809. -^ tnat ti me a communion service was held in
the house of Peter Jones, near where John McCullough now lives. Robert
travelled by Barbara Leininger in 1755, when Chinklacamoose and Punxsutawney were
villages."
237
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
McGarraugh administered the supper. He was then pastor of Licking
and New Rehoboth, now in Clarion County. He had come to the
Clarion region as a licentiate of the Presbytery of Redstone in the fall of
1803. Whether he visited Port Barnett settlement at that time cannot
now be ascertained. At all events, when he returned from Fayette
County with his family, June, 1804, and was ordained pastor of Licking
and New Rehoboth churches, November 12, 1807, he seems to have
taken the Port Barnett settlement under his care. When he ' held the
communion,' June, 1809, certain persons were received into the church
in such a way that he baptized their children. This much is plain from
the memory and Bible record of Mrs. Sarah Graham, daughter of Joseph
Barnett. ' '
A word here with regard to that good and God-fearing man. He was
highly educated and able in prayer, yet, like Moses, slow of speech, often
taking two and three hours to deliver a sermon. He preached without
notes, and with great earnestness pleaded with his hearers to forsake
their sins and the errors of their ways and turn to the Lord. So earnest
would he become at times that the great tears would roll from his eyes to
the floor. It was often said that he preached more eloquently by his tears
than by the power of his voice. He lived poor and died poor, and
preached in the clothes in which he worked.
" How long Robert McGarraugh continued to preach in the house of
Peter Jones remains uncertain. After some years religious services were
held in the house of Samuel Jones, five miles west of Brookville. The
church was fully organized in a school-house, near the present site of the
L'nited Presbyterian Jefferson Church on the Andrews farm. That seems
to have been in 1824. The Allegheny Presbytery reported to the Synod
of Pittsburg twenty-three churches in 1823. In 1824 the Presbytery
reported twenty-five churches, and among them Bethel and Zelienople,
so that the record of the Synod establishes conclusively the fact that in
that year (1824) Bethel for the first time was recognized as a separate
congregation. The next record is in the minutes of the Allegheny Pres-
bytery, April, 1825. It there appears as vacant, and, shortly afterwards,
as connected with Red Bank, both having sixty-eight members.
"Bethel Church, as organized in the Jefferson school-house, was re-
moved, in the fall of 1824, to a farm on the road from Brookville to
Clarion. The farm was owned by Joseph Hughes (the father of Isaac
D. Hughes, of Brookville), and was distant from Brookville three miles.
There they built a church, and dedicated it The Bethel of Jefferson
County. The church was built of logs, small and closely notched to-
gether. It stood to the right of the road as one goes towards Clarion,
near the pike, and on a line between it and the ' Old Graveyard.' The
latter is still in existence, but all traces of the old meeting-house are gone.
The floor was genuine mother-earth, and the seats slabs or boards on
238
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
logs. A board on two posts constituted the ' pulpit-stand,' and a seat
was made out of a slab or a block of wood. The first stated preacher in
that log church was Rev. William Kennedy. His name appears as a
stated supply October 13, 1825 ; also April, 1827. Bethel was then con-
nected with Red Bank. He ceased to be a member of the Allegheny
Presbytery after April, 1827. He was dismissed to Salem Presbytery,
Indiana Synod. He became a member of Clarion Presbytery January
17, 1843, and died November 2, 1846, aged sixty-seven years and four
months. The last years of his life were devoted to the congregations of
Mount Tabor and Mill Creek.
"The next record concerning Bethel. is that the Rev. Cyrus Riggs
was appointed to supply at Bethel on the second Sabbath of July, 1827.
Bethel and Red Bank were marked vacant April, 1828. Mr. Riggs was
appointed April, 1829, to supply one Sabbath at discretion. Rev. John
Core and Rev. John Munson were selected to ' administer the Lord's
Supper at Bethel on the fifth Sabbath of August, 1829.' Bethel and Red
Bank were still vacant April, 1831. ' Rev. Cyrus Riggs and Rev. John
Core were appointed to administer the Lord's Supper on the third Sab-
bath of August, 1831.' Mr. Core afterwards preached that same year at
discretion.
"The first jail building in Brookville was of stone, two stories in
height. It was built before the first court-house, and for that reason be-
came the first place of preaching, in the second story. Bethel Church
seems to have renewed its youth in the summer of 1831. No further
trace of preaching in ' the old log church' is found after that date. In
the summer of 1832 the first court-house was erected, and religious ser-
vices were then held in it. Bethel does not appear in the minutes of
April, 1832. In 1833, Mr. Riggs was appointed to supply Bethel on the
fifth Sabbath of June, and Messrs. McGarraugh and Riggs to administer
the Lord's Supper the fourth Sabbath of August. On the ist of July,
1833, the following persons were dismissed to form the organization of
Pisgah, viz. : Samuel Davidson and wife, Samuel Lucas and wife, Philip
Corbett and wife, John Wilson and wife, William Corbett and wife, John
Hindman and wife, John M. Flemming and wife, David Lamb and wife,
Christwell Whitehill and wife, and William Douglass. They were organ-
ized the next day by Mr. Riggs, in the house of Philip Corbett, a short
distance west of Corsica, where his son, Robert Corbett, now resides.
" The next record of Presbytery is August 24, 1834 : ' The congrega-
tions of Bethel, Pisgah, and Beechwoods requested by their commissioners
that Mr. John Shoap, a licentiate of Allegheny Presbytery, be appointed
to preach steadily in those congregations until the spring meeting of
Presbytery.' The request was granted, and Mr. Shoap accepted the call,
October 8, 1834, from the churches of Bethel and Pisgah. The conditions
of the call were, ' Each half-time and two hundred dollars by each.' ' To
239
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
be paid/ as one lady remarked, 'in pork and maple-sugar.' Mr. Shoap
was never ordained, never installed. He died March 13, 1835, f con ~
The Presbyterian Church of Brookville. Erected in 18^,9.
sumption. His body was interred in the 'Old Graveyard' in Brookville,
and perhaps but one person can identify his grave. Rev. Gara Bishop,
M.D., came to Brookville June 23, 1835. He supplied in that year
240
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Beechwoods more frequently than either Bethel or Pisgah. April 3,
1838, Bethel requested the one- half of the labors of the Rev. Gara
Bishop as a stated supply. One-fourth of his labors were given to Beech-
woods. He remained until the spring of 1840. Rev. David Polk, a
cousin of President James K. Polk, was then invited to give one-half of
his labors to Bethel. On the 22d of October Clarion Presbytery was
formed from Allegheny, and Bethel's history henceforward was a part of
the records of Clarion. Rev. Bishop died in Brookville, October 17,
1852, and was buried in the 'Old Graveyard.' In 1841 a small frame
church (contract price being eleven hundred dollars) was erected on the
site of the present edifice, and was dedicated in August, 1842. Rev.
Polk remained until December 24, 1845." Fields.
Bethel Church was changed to " The Bethel Congregation of the
Brookville Presbyterian Church" by articles and charter of incorporation
May 13, 1842. The trustees named in the articles were James Corbett,
Samuel Craig, and Andrew Barnett. On May 13, 1842, the court de-
cided that the persons associated in the articles should "become a cor-
poration and a body politic," and that the charter be entered in the office
for recording deeds in the said county of Jefferson. In accordance with
this decree the articles were recorded in Deed Book No. 3, pages 521, 522.
On August 18, 1843, at a meeting held for that purpose, Jameson
Hendricks, W. A. Sloan, and Thomas M. Barr were duly elected elders.
The pioneer regular preacher for Bethel was the Rev. William Ken-
nedy, viz., from October, 1825, to April, 1827, one-half of his time.
The membership then was sixty-eight. When Bethel removed to Brook-
ville in 1830, all west of the old log church moved west, thus forming
two churches out of one. On July 2, 1833, tne members of the western
division were organized into Pisgah Church (the third organization) by
a committee from the Allegheny Presbytery, Rev. Cyrus Riggs, chair-
man, and on that date the organization was completed in Philip Corbett's
barn, one mile west of where Corsica now stands. In this society there
were twenty-five members, twelve men and their wives and one widower.
The elders elected at that time were William Corbett, William Douglass,
Samuel Lucas, Samuel Davison, James Hindman, and John M. Flem-
ming. Two meetings preliminary to the organization were held at the
house of Robert Barr, Sr., one mile east of where Corsica now stands,
viz., February 22, 1833, and April 13, 1833. On February 22 it was re-
solved that the congregational name be Pisgah, and that the edifice for
worship be erected on the hill south of McAnulty's, close to the Olean
road. A committee was appointed to purchase the land, and a commit-
tee was appointed to present the petition of the church people to Presby-
tery for an organization. At the April meeting the committee reported
the purchase of ten acres of ground on the west side of the Olean road
for the sum of fifteen dollars and a deed of trust received. It was also
241
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
resolved that Philip Corbett's barn, in Clarion County, be the place for
worship that summer. The pioneer house of worship was built on that
hill in 1841, at a cost of one thousand dollars.
Pisgah was first regularly supplied by Rev. John Shoap in connection
with Bethel (Brookville) in 1834 and 1835. Rev. Shoap was a married
man, and lived in Brookville, where Judge John Mills now resides.
Rev. Gara Bishop was put in for one-third time, from May, 1835, to
May, 1836. During the next four years only supplies. The first installed
minister was Rev. David Polk, one- half time, from 1840 to 1845.
THE BEECHWOODS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Rev. W. H. Filson, in his history of this church, says, "The Presby-
terian Church of Beechwoods was organized December 2, 1832, and is,
therefore, nine years younger than the settlement. In 1826, Rev. Cyrus
Riggs visited the settlement, and the same year a Sunday-school was
started, and at its close a sermon was read. Andrew Smith was the first
reader. Rev. Riggs frequently visited these people between 1826 and
1832. The following is a copy of the minutes as found on the sessional
records :
" ' On the first day of December, 1832, the Rev. Cyrus Riggs, accom-
panied by three elders of Bethel (Brookville) Church, arrived in Beech-
woods, and having preached on Sabbath, the second, after sermon gave
public notice that they would proceed at the house of Matthew Keys, on
Monday, the third of December, to organize a church, and hold an elec-
tion for elders in this congregation. At the time appointed the following
persons, having presented certificates or given other satisfaction of their
standing and right to membership in the church, did publicly agree and
covenant to and with each other that they would walk together as a
church of Christ, according to the order and discipline of the Presby-
terian Church in the United States of America ; and, further, that they
would love, watch over each other, and not suffer sin on any brother, but
would faithfully, and in the spirit of the gospel only, exhort and admonish
one another, wherever they saw or knew of any one overtaken, or in dan-
ger of being overtaken, with evil, and that they would endeavor to pro-
voke each other to love and good works. An election was then held for
ruling elders, and Robert Mclntosh, William McConnell, and Robert
Morrison were duly elected.' Then following is a list of members : Wil-
liam McConnell, Robert Mclntosh, William Cooper, Martha Cooper,
David Dennison, Martha Dennison, Susan Keys. The first communion
was held in the hewed log house of William Cooper, and was conducted
by Rev. Robert McGarraugh, of Clarion County. The only person re-
ceived into membership at that time was James Smith, the father of
Elder William Smith.
"Rev. Riggs was born in Morris County, New Jersey, October 15,
242
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
1774. While yet a boy his father emigrated to Washington County,
Pennsylvania. Rev. Riggs studied theology under Dr. McMillen. He
graduated from Jefferson College in 1803, and was licensed to preach
October 7, 1805. He was married to Miss Mary Ross, of New Jersey,
July 25, 1797. He died in Illinois in 1849.
"In 1835, Rev. Gara Bishop, M.D., pastor at Brookville, began to
preach for them, and continued to do so for eleven years. During his
ministry Joseph McCurdy, John Hunter, and John Millen were elected
elders and thirty-three members added to the church. During all this
time the congregation had worshipped in the log school-house on the
farm of James Wait."
THE PERRY CHURCH IN PERRY TOWNSHIP.
" The Presbyterian Church of Perry stands tenth in order of age in
Clarion Presbytery. The older churches were organized as follows :
New Rehoboth and Licking, 1802; Concord, 1807; Rockland, 1822;
Richland, 1823; Brookville, 1824; Beechwoods, 1832; Pisgah, at Cor-
sica, 1833; Bethesda, at Rimersburg, 1836.
" This church of Perry, so called from the name of the township, was
organized September 4, 1836, by Revs. John Reed and E. D. Barret, a
committee appointed by the Presbytery of Blairsville. It was composed
of the following twenty-four members : William Stunkard, Stephen Lewis,
and Samuel Kelly, elders, and their wives, Ruth Stunkard, Ann Lewis,
and Elizabeth Kelly, James and Sarah Chambers, John and Mary Framp-
ton, Thomas and Eleanor Gourley, Elizabeth and Margaret Kelly, David
and Elizabeth Lewis, William and Rebecca Marshall, Joseph and Jane
Manners, Margaret McKinstry, and Elizabeth McKee. All of these
were received by letter, and Robert Gaston and Sarah Wachob on exami-
nation.
" The original members brought their letters from churches in In-
diana and Armstrong Counties. The Gourley family came from Sinking
Valley, though John Gourley, a brother of Thomas, was elected an elder
in this church in 1841 while residing at Covode, and George Gourley
(the first) came here from Smicksburg.
" John Perry was precentor. Isaac Lewis, and after him David
Harl, lined out the hymns. The precentor and outliner stood in an ele-
vated box, and the pulpit was high over the heads of the people, as is
still the case in some instances in modern times.
"'PASTORS.
" This church has had six pastors. For four years after its organiza-
tion its pulpit was filled by supplies, during which time thirty-two mem-
bers were received by letter and nineteen on examination, or fifty-one
in all.
243
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The first pastor was Rev. John Carothers, who was ordained and
installed June 4, 1840, by the Presbytery of Blairsville as pastor of the
churches of Gilgal and Perry.
" During this pastorate additions to the eldership were received at
three different times. May 8, 1841, Joseph Manners and John Gourley
were ordained and installed, and James Chambers installed. May 13,
1842, John Sprankle; May 6, 1848, Wm. M. Johnston, Wm. Newcomb,
and Isaac Me Henry."
THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
This denomination has five congregations within the limits of Jeffer-
son County. The first society was organized in a log school-house, in
the borough of Punxsutawney, February i, 1836, and is called the Jeffer-
son Congregation. At the time of the organization there were seventeen
communicants and two elders, Alex. Jordan and Dr. John W. Jenks.
Their first pastor was Rev. Charles R. Barclay.
Writing under date of March 5, 1895, J- B. Morris, Sr., of Punxsu-
tawney, Pennsylvania, says,
"This organization continued to worship in the same house until
about the year 1834. In the fall of 1833 they began the erection of a
brick church on what is now known as the Public Square.
"History tells us that the first organization of the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church was in the old log school-house above men-
tioned. This is an error in history, for reasons which can be ex-
plained. The first organization of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
was formed in the home of Dr. John W. Jenks, now the City Hotel,
in the room now used as a dining-hall, during the afternoon of Feb-
ruary i, 1836, with the following-named members, as recorded in the
minutes of the meeting taken from the session-book : John Hutchinson,
Isabella Hutchinson, Obed Morris, Mary Morris, Alexander Jordan,
Flora Jordan, John White, Kesiah White, Richard Kendall, William
Shields, Eleanor Shields, John W. Jenks, Mary D. Jenks, Elizabeth Bar-
clay, Mary Barclay, Rev. David Barclay, and Rachel Williams. At the
meeting above mentioned Obed Morris was called to preside, with Charles
R. Barclay as clerk. Resolutions were adopted as follows : ' Dissolving
our connection with the Presbytery of Blairsville, we seek to unite our-
selves with the Pennsylvania Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church ; also that Charles R. Barclay is hereby appointed commissioner
of this congregation to meet the Pennsylvania Presbytery of the Cumber-
land Presbyterian Church at its next meeting,' which convened at Car-
michael's, Greene County, Pennsylvania, April 7, 1836. The moderator
and clerk were to sign the resolutions, attested by the two elders, John
W. Jenks and Alexander Jordan. Upon presentation of the resolutions
to the Pennsylvania Presbytery by the commissioner, the request of the
244
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
congregation Avas granted, and so recorded in the minutes of the Presby-
tery. At this meeting of Presbytery, Charles R. Barclay was examined
as a candidate for the ministry, was ordained, and on his return preached
his first sermon in April, 1836, in the old brick church, and was pastor
of the congregation until the fall of 1841. During about six months of
this pastorate, while the pastor was absent, his son-in-law, Samuel McCol-
lum, occupied the pulpit. The pastor was also frequently assisted by such
men as John Morgan, Milton Bird, and A. M. Bryan, from all of whom
the writer remembers hearing noble gospel sermons.
' ' A regular Presbyterian Church had been formed in Punxsutawney
in 1826, and in about 1833 they built a brick church in the Public Square,
but the feeble organization was not permanent.
' ' A brief sketch of the old brick church erected on the Public Square
might not be out of place. The bricks were prepared and delivered on
the ground by John Hunt, familiarly known as ' Old Pappy' Hunt, in
the summer of 1833, at two dollars and fifty cents per thousand, and late
in the fall of the same year, perhaps October or November, they were
laid. The carpenter-work was managed by John Drum, father of Mrs.
Evans and Mrs. Winslow, and perhaps there are now none living who
worked on the building, except Mr. Ephraim Bair and Mr. Daniel
Rishel. The house was not finished for years afterwards, although used
for religious and school purposes.
" Early ruling elders of the Punxsutawney congregation in the order
of their ordination : John W. Jenks, Alexander Jordan, James E. Cooper,
Thomas McKee, Edward Means, John McHenry, Sr. , John Couch, Charles
R. White, C. R. B. Morris, John Hutchinson."
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
This church is one of the youngest of the Presbyterian bodies in
America, but the history of its antecedents extends back more than a
century. Its original antecedents were the Associate and Reformed
Presbyterian bodies. The former body was composed of Presbyterians
who seceded from the General Assembly of Scotland in 1733 and formed
themselves into what was known as the "Associate Presbytery," or, as
the masses knew them, " the Seceders." The first minister of that de-
nomination to arrive in America was Rev. Alexander Gellatly, who set-
tled at Octoraro, Pennsylvania, in 1753, where he labored for eight
years. Many members of the body had preceded him to this country,
settling along the seaboard, and some of them going as far south as the
Carolinas. The church was largely increased by immigration from year
to year, and the Presbytery of Pennsylvania was organized in 1758.
The first minister of the Reformed Presbyterian or Covenanter Church
to arrive in America was Rev. John Cuthbertson, who came in 1752.
245
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Soon after he was joined by two other ministers from the Reformed
Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
A Presbytery was formed in 1774, and the church, as a body, obtained
a foothold in the New World. The subject of union between these bodies
was agitated before either was many years old, the leading ministers be-
lieving that such an alliance would add to the efficiency of both. During
the Revolutionary War several meetings of ministers of the two denomi-
nations were held, at which the matter was thoroughly discussed. In
1782 three Presbyteries met in Philadelphia, and a union was consum-
mated. The new organization took the name of the "Associate Re-
formed Synod of North America. ' ' A few of the ministers of both bodies
refused to enter into the alliance, and the original bodies maintained a
separate existence.
The Associate Reformed Church flourished. It spread rapidly to the
westward, and was largely and steadily increased by immigration. In
1793 it had a firm hold on the territory now known as Western Pennsyl-
vania. In that year the original Presbytery of Pennsylvania was divided
into two, the First and Second Associate Reformed Presbyteries of
Pennsylvania. The Second, by order of the Synod, took the name of the
Monongahela. It was composed of four ministers, Revs. John Jamison,
Henderson, Warwick, and Rankin, with their elders. This was the first
Presbytery organized in connection with any of the Reformed Churches
west of the Allegheny Mountains. Its boundary lines were the Allegheny
Mountains on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west.
The prosperity of the new body in Western Pennsylvania was remark-
able. Soon it became necessary to form new Presbyteries in the territory
originally covered by the Presbytery of the Monongahela, and the church
commanded the attention of the entire country.
A union of the Associate with the Associate Reformed Churches of
North America had been for a long time considered desirable by the lead-
ing ministers of both denominations, and it was accomplished in 1858.
The consummation took place in Old City Hall, Pittsburg, and was the
occasion of general rejoicing among the ministers and members of both
bodies. It was in this city of ecclesiastical reunions that the United
Presbyterian Church as a distinct Presbyterian body was born.
The Rev. John Jamison mentioned as one of the original four in the
Second or Monongahela Presbytery was my maternal great-grandfather.*
He was born at Ellerslie, Renfrewshire, Scotland. His mother was a
Wallace, of Sir William's clan. He read theology with John Brown,
of Haddington. He migrated to America, landing in Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania, in November, 1782. He came from the Associated Burgher
Synod of Scotland. He moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to
* Dr. McKnight.
246
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where he purchased a grist-mill and
six hundred acres of land, including what is known as Big Springs. He
was for some years pastor of a Shippensburg church. Mentally, he
was able and educated ; physically, he was six feet two inches high,
possessing wonderful energy and powerful endurance. In the year 1 790
he crossed the mountains with his wife and three children, locating
near Blairsville, Pennsylvania, being the first minister to locate in In-
diana County, Pennsylvania. In 1791 he was installed pastor of Brush
Creek, Hannahstown, and Conemaugh Churches. In 1793 his time was
given to New Alexandria and Conemaugh. Rev. Jamison travelled as a
supply for his church from New York to Georgia, organizing churches.
In May, 1795, ne was charged with misconstruing the action of Synod in
reference to the use of Watts's hymns, days of fasting, the use of tokens,
etc., in connection with the Lord's Supper, being opposed to innova-
tions. He was hyper-Calvinistic in his views. These charges were sus-
tained in Philadelphia at the trial, and he was suspended. Nothing
daunted, he wrote a book, defending his views and the old-time customs of
his church. Also he continued to preach as an Independent till the day
of his death. The country being new, he preached from settlement to set-
tlement, in the cabins, barns, and in tents in the woods. For roads he had
forest-paths, bridges there were none, and, in devotion to duty, he braved
alike the beasts of the forests, the summer's heat, and the winter's cold.
Rev. John Jamison married Nancy Gibb in Scotland. He died in
1821, aged seventy-six years. He is buried in the United Presbyterian
Church graveyard at Crete, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Nancy, his
wife, died in 1841, aged ninety-one years.
"The pioneer church organized in Jefferson County was the Jeffer-
son, now United Presbyterian, Congregation.
"About the year 1820 a number of families of like faith settled in
Jefferson County. These had most of them been settled in Huntingdon
County, in this State, for a few years (some more, some less), but were
originally from the same neighborhood in the north of Ireland. Drawn
together by a common faith, as they had all been educated in the seces-
sion church, and stimulated by the laudable enterprise of securing homes
for themselves and for their families, they struck for this country, then an
almost unbroken wilderness, covered mostly with pine forests.
" The place selected for their settlement is north of the Red Bank and
southwest of what is now Brookville, the county seat. At that time jus-
tice for them was administered in Indiana, some forty-five miles south.
This arrangement for the administration of justice continued for some
ten years after their location here.
"From the circumstance adverted to, of these people being emi-
grants from Ireland, the neighborhood was long known as the Irish
Settlement.
247
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The names of the founders were John Kelso and Isabella, his wife ;
John Kennedy and Ann, his wife ; James Shields and Elizabeth, his
wife ; William Morrison and Nancy, his wife ; Samuel McGill and Mar-
garet, his wife ; James McGiffin and Sarah, his wife ; Matthew Dickey
and Elizabeth, his wife ; James Ferguson and Margaret Bratton, his
wife ; Robert Andrews and Jane Lucas, his wife ; Alexander Smith and
Annie Knapp, his wife ; Christopher Barr and Sarah Lucas, his wife ;
also, by subsequent marriage, Elizabeth McGiffin, widow of Joseph
Thompson ; Clement McGarey and Mary, his wife ; Hugh Millen and
Esther, his wife ; Joseph Millen and Polly Brown, his wife. These last
three settled south of Red Bank, and constituted the nucleus of what
became Beaver Run Congregation.
" Then there were Moses Knapp and Susanna, his wife ; none of that
name are now members of the United Presbyterian Church here.
" There were also a William Ferguson and family south of Red Bank ;
none of that family are now in the county or members of this church.
"ORGANIZATION.
"As nearly as I can ascertain, the first dispensation of the Lord's
Supper in this congregation was in the autumn of 1828. The ministers
officiating were Revs. Joseph Scroggs and Thomas Terrier. James Fulton,
an elder from Piney Congregation, which seems to have been organized
some time previous, was present at this communion. He and James
McGiffin were the officiating elders on that occasion. About that time
John Kelso was elected and ordained to the eldership. These two,
Kelso and McGiffin, were the only elders, as would appear, until after
their first pastoral settlement.
" Matthew Dickey and his family moved into these bounds in 1832,
and the first recorded minutes of Jefferson Session which has come into
my hands is dated August 31, 1833, an< ^ ^ s sa id to be in the handwriting
of Mr. Dickey. The Session as then constituted consisted of Rev. James
McCarrell, moderator ; James McGiffin, John Kelso, Matthew Dickey, and
John Shields.
"The next minute of Session is dated July 14, 1838. At this meet-
ing the name of Solomon Chambers appears as a member of the court.
It is probable he was elected at the same time with the others mentioned
in the pastorate of Brother McCarrell.
" The next recorded minute is dated July 3, 1842, and is in a different
handwriting, without any name subscribed. Changes had taken place,
which are not noticed in these records. Rev. McCarrell had left (when
or for what cause does not appear), and Rev. John McAuley appears, who
at that time examined three applicants for admission, viz., John Thomp-
son, Joseph Millen, and John Millen. These three men are elders in the
church, one in Brookville, the others in Beaver Run. At the same time
248
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
eight children were baptized, William T. Love, Mary A. Ferguson, Eliza-
beth Campbell, Martha Chambers, Margaret Lucas, Chambers Millen,
Joseph K. Gibson, and Hugh McGill.
"The next date in the minute-book, May 16, 1843, states that Rev.
John Hindman, upon the occasion of the moderation of a call, moderated
the Session, and baptized two children, John Kelso Moore and Rebecca
McGiffin. Rev. John McAuley disappears as unceremoniously as did his
predecessor, and we are left to infer that the call moderated at this time
by Brother Hindman was for Mr. John Tod, as the next minute, dated
October 15, 1843, represents the same Rev. Tod administering an admo-
nition as the organ of a constituted court.
"PASTORS AND PASTORAL CHANGES.
" No one with whom I have conversed in this vicinity is able to in-
form me who first ministered in preaching the gospel to these people of
Jefferson. When last I met our aged father, Rev. David Blair, in 1872,
he informed me that he, first of all his ministerial brethren, visited and
preached to this people. Then, as a result, he supplied them to some
extent, as he and they were long in the same Presbytery, and, in the ab-
sence of evidence to the contrary, I am disposed to admit his claim. One
circumstance, however, renders it doubtful. When the first of these
people came here, Rev. John Dickey was ministering as the settled pas-
tor of Piney, Cherry Run, and Rich Hill ; this last is where he spent
most of his ministerial service and ended his life. But Piney is so near,
and the relations were so intimate, it seems improbable that they should
enjoy a regular dispensation of gospel ordinances and Jefferson not even
have any supply.
" The names of Thomas McClintock, Daniel McLean, Joseph Scroggs,
David Blair, Thomas Ferrier, and some others have been mentioned to
me as having preached here at an early day, some before the congregation
organized and some afterwards.
"The first communion was held in 1828, as has been before men-
tioned, and it would seem that measures were taken soon afterwards to
call a pastor. It is not possible from any data within my reach to deter-
mine the date of the settlement of the first pastor. There is no doubt
but that the man was Rev. James McCarrell and that his settlement was
about 1830.
"In the minute-book of this Session there are only two recorded
minutes under his pastorate, the first, August 31, 1833, and the second,
May 24, 1834.
" I remember having seen Mr. McCarrell once when a probationer,
about the year 1829. This was shortly before his settlement here.
" Of Mr. McCarrell's capabilities as a minister of the Word, or of his
success as a pastor, I can form no judgment. His place of residence was
17 249
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Strattanville, so far out of the bounds of Jefferson Congregation that fesv
of these people had opportunity of becoming acquainted with him. He
was a man of blameless life, exemplary in his deportment, and attentive,
as much as his domestic cares would permit, to all pastoral duties.
" The next date in the minute-book of Session reveals the presence of
Rev. John Hindman and John McAuley. It seems to be the occasion of
Mr. McAuley's first communion here after his settlement. Mrs. McAuley,
whose maiden name was Reed, and raised in the vicinity of South Han-
over, in Southern Indiana, raised in the Presbyterian Church, presented
a certificate, and it is recorded that on this certificate and her 'acceding
to the principles of our church' she was received. It would seem that the
pastorate of Brother McAuley in Jefferson lasted about four years. He
must have left in 1842, as the next settlement was in the following year.
"Rev. John Tod was installed pastor of Jefferson, Beaver Run, and
Piney on the i5th of August, 1843. His ti me was divided, one-half to
Jefferson, one- third to Beaver, and one-sixth to Piney. This congrega-
tion was organized in the Associate Church, under the care of the Pres-
bytery of Allegheny.
"The United Presbyterian Congregation of Brookville was organized
in the Associate Reformed Church, and continued in that connection till
the union of the Associate and Associate Reformed Church was consum-
mated in the city of Pittsburg, May, 1858.
"Jefferson is perhaps the most recently settled of the counties in
Western Pennsylvania. The first of those who settled here and felt an
interest in our cause came about the year 1830, some earlier, some later,
but no movement was made to have preaching here till 1836.
" Isaac Temple, who was one of the first elders, went to Presbytery,
and solicited preaching for the place where he lived. Of course he was
encouraged, hence a subscription was taken for service to be rendered
during the year 1837.
" The first name on the list is that of David McCormick. I think he
was one of the elders of the congregation, but whether he was ordained
here or in the place of his former residence we have at present no means
of knowing. Then follows Thomas McCormick, Job McCreight, Job
and W. Rogers, Levi G. Clover, Benjamin McCreight, William Clark,
C. A. Alexander, A. Vasbinder, Daniel Coder, Joseph Kerr, James M.
Craig, Isaac Temple, Andrew Moor, John McClelland, William McCul-
lough, David Dennison, William McDonald, Alexander Hutchinson,
Andrew McCormick, Charles Boner, Andrew Hunter.
" This comes into my hands as the roll of honor. The first men who
gave their names, and with their names their money, built up and sus-
tained the Secession or Reformed Presbyterian cause in this county. Some
of these were not then, nor ever became, members of the church which
they chose to patronize. Some of them had perhaps little sympathy with
250
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Christianity at all ; but I find them here signing their names and giving
their support to a cause to which I have given the labor of my life. I
honor them. Most of the names on that paper represent men of worth
and weight of character, known in the neighborhood in which they re-
side as such, and over all Jefferson County as it then was. It will be
seen that the parties subscribing to this paper were widely scattered,
from Brookville to the vicinity of Rockdale and Brockwayville. The
amount of this first subscription is fifty-four dollars. The compensation
agreed upon among the psalm-singing churches was six dollars per Sab-
bath. This same paper upon which is the subscription contains also the
disbursement of the money. In this connection we find, first of all, the
name of Joseph Osburn. With this brother I had no acquaintance. He
belonged to the Associate Reformed branch of the United Presbyterian
Church, and died several years before the union, while yet a young man.
" The next name is that of Jonathan Fulton, of whom the same thing
may be said. He died young. He is represented as gifted in a very
high degree, both as a reasoner and a pulpit orator. Many of you well
remember him. His ministrations here did much to give respectability
to our cause. Joseph H. Pressly also ministered here at an early day and
with much acceptance. This brother, who has now gone to his rest,
represented to me, when in the act of moving to this place, that it was
the place of all others he ever visited, the one where he wished to live.
But a Providence shapes our ends differently from our anticipations, and
even wishes and efforts to the contrary. This brother performed all his
life-work in the city of Erie, and there he ended his life.
" I find also among those who rendered acceptable service the names
of M. H. Wilson, this brother labored in Jacksonville, Indiana County,
Pennsylvania, A. G. Wallace, Samuel Brown, William Jamison, and
others. These services covered a space of about twenty years, and
were the means of keeping the people together and keeping up their
sympathy with the cause. The pioneer church edifice was on Church
Street, and was built about 1845.
" BEECH WOODS CONGREGATION.
" David Dennison was a member of the Beechwoods Congregation,
and died some time during the winter of 1875.
"As far as I have the means of judging, it appears that Rev. Joseph
Osburn was the first Associate Reformed minister who visited this section
of country, I suppose in 1837. After him the name of N. C. Weed
occurs as dispensing the Lord's Supper for the first time in this wilderness
in 1842.
" Shortly after this Rev. Alexander McCahen rendered service here
as a stated supply for the space of four years.
" The number of communing members at the first sacrament was
251
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
thirteen. This communion was held in the barn of Elder Isaac Temple.
David McCormick was also an elder officiating at the first communion,
but whether either of these fathers, long since departed, was ordained
here or had been in the exercise of that office previous to their coming
here does not appear from any record. Warsaw was the residence of
the brethren, and the congregation up to this time went by that name.
The place of worship was about eight miles to the northeast of Brook-
ville." * Miss Scoffs History of Jefferson County.
This church has always been a consistent opponent of human slavery.
The Scotch-Irish element, of which the church is largely composed, is
usually stalwart on the side of all reforms and all right.
This denomination holds a few distinctive principles, by which it is
distinguished from the larger Presbyterian bodies. It holds to the exclu-
sive use of an inspired psalmody ; in theory it is opposed to the affiliation
of its members with secret orders, and it practises a restricted communion.
PIONEER METHODISM CIRCUIT RIDERS CHURCH AND MEMBERS
IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
On the 7th of March, 1 736, John Wesley preached the pioneer Meth-
odist sermon in America, in Savannah, Georgia. Other early Methodist
service in the United States was conducted in New York City by a Mr.
Embury, urged and assisted by Barbara Heck. Barbara Heck emigrated
from Ireland to New York in 1765. From her zeal, activity, and pious
work as a Christian she is called the mother of American Methodism.
Methodism was introduced into Pennsylvania in 1767 by Captain Thomas
Webb, a soldier in the British army. Webb was a preacher, and is called
the apostle of American Methodism. In 1767 he visited Philadelphia,
preached, and formed a class of seven persons. The first Annual Con-
ferences of the Methodist Church held in America were in Philadelphia,
viz. : in the years 1773, 1774, and 1775. After this year all Conferences
were held in Baltimore, Maryland, until the organization of the church in
the New World.
The pioneer Methodist preaching in Pennsylvania was in Philadel-
phia, in a sail-loft near Second and Dock Streets. St. John's Church
was established in 1769. Methodism was to be found in Philadelphia in
1772, York in 1781, W'ilkesbarre in 1778, Williamsport in 1791, and in
Pittsburg in 1801.
The pioneer Sunday-school in the world was opened at Glencastle, in
England, in 1781, by Robert Raikes. The idea was suggested to him by
a young woman, who afterwards became Sophia Bradburn. This lady
assisted him in the opening of the first school. The pioneer Sunday-
schools were started in the New World in 1790 by an official ordinance
* Dr. Vincent,
252
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of the Methodist Conference establishing Sunday-schools to instruct poor
children, white and black: "Let persons be appointed by the bishops,
elders, deacons, or preachers to teach (gratis) all that will attend and
have a capacity to learn, from six o'clock in the morning till ten, and
from two o'clock in the afternoon until six, when it does not interfere
with public worship."
The Methodist Church was really the first temperance organization in
America. The general rules of the society prohibited the use of liquor
as a beverage. Other modern temperance organizations are supposed to
have their beginning about 1811. But little was done after this period
outside of the churches for about twenty-five years.
Rev. William Watters was the pioneer American itinerant Methodist
preacher. He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, October 16, 1751.
Until 1824 Western Pennsylvania, or " all west of the Susquehanna
River, except the extreme northern part, was in the Baltimore Confer-
ence." In 1824 the Pittsburg Conference was organized, and our wil-
derness came under its jurisdiction. In 1833 the first Methodist paper
under the authority of the church was started. It was in Pittsburg, Penn-
sylvania, and the paper is now called The Pittsburg Christian Advocate.
In 1836 the Erie Conference was formed, and Jefferson County was
placed within its jurisdiction.
Methodism in Jefferson County has been, first, in the Baltimore Con-
ference ; second, in the Pittsburg Conference ; and third, is now in the
Erie Conference.
The Methodists were slow in making an inroad in Jefferson County.
The ground had been occupied by other denominations, and a hostile
and bitter prejudice existed against the new "sect."
The pioneer Methodist minister in the county was the Rev. Elijah
Coleman. He was a local.
The pioneer Methodist Church in the county Avas organized by him
in Punxsutawney in 1821, ten members in all. This circuit was a part
of the Baltimore Conference then, and contained forty-two appointments.
It took the preacher six weeks to travel over it. In 1830 Punxsutawney
was in the Pittsburg Conference. In 1836 this church was taken into the
Erie Conference.
The pioneer church edifice in the county was erected there in 1833.
Services previous to that time were held in Jacob Hoover's grist-mill.
The pioneer circuit in the county was the Mahoning district, which
was created in 1812 by the Baltimore Conference, but no appointments
were made in our county until 1822.
The pioneer circuit riders in this district were as follows, viz. : Revs.
Ezra Booth, William Westlake, 1822 ; Revs. Dennis Goddard, Elijah H.
Field, 1823 ; Revs. Ira Eddy, B. O. Plimpton, 1824; Rev. I. H. Tackett,
1825; Rev. James Babcock, 1826-27; Rev - Nathaniel Callender, 1828;
253
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Revs. John Johnson, John C. Ayers, 1829 ; Revs. Fleck and Day, 1830;
Rev. Summerville, 1832; Rev. Bump, 1833; Rev. Kinnear, 1834; Rev.
Butt, 1835; Rev. S. Heard, 1837; Rev. J. P. Benn, 1838 associate,
Rev. R. Peck; Revs. Shinebaugh and Peck, 1839; Revs. Mershon and
George Reeser, 1840; Revs. John Graham and George Reeser, 1841 ;
Revs. H. W. Monks and I. Scofield, 1842; Revs. D. H. Jack and H.
W. Monks, 1843.
Summerville, or Troy, was an early field of Methodism. Darius and
Nathan Carrier were zealous Methodists, and frequently opened their
homes for service as early as 1825-26. The first church was organized
there in 1830 by Rev. Ayers.
Missionary Methodist preachers travelled through this wilderness in
those times, preaching anywhere and everywhere they could. This itin-
erancy makes it hard to systemize the church history.
The Brookville Church seems to have been the head-quarters for the
northern part of the county, and the first class was organized in 1828 in
an old log barn at the head of Litch's dam, on the east side of the North
Fork. The members of this class were five, Cyrus Butler and wife,
David Butler and wife, and John Dixon, Jr. A Sunday-school was
started, with Cyrus Butler as superintendent. Services were held in
private houses, the old jail, and in the court-house, as the congregation
was too weak to build a house even as late as 1845.
The pioneer church was organized in Brookville under Rev. Johnson
in 1829. In 1829 and 1830 all services were held in the house of David
Butler, on the east side of the North Fork Creek, at the upper end of
Litch's dam.
The pioneer and early members (1829) were David Butler and wife,
Cyrus Butler and wife, John Long and wife, William McKee, William
Steel, and John Dixon, Jr. The last is the only one now living.
The pioneer circuit riders in the north side of the county were : Rev.
John Johnson, 1829; Rev. Jonathan Ayers, 1830; Rev. Job Watson,
1831 ; Revs. Abner Jackson and A. C. Barnes, 1832; Rev. Abner Jack-
son, 1833, who had twenty-nine preaching-places and a circuit of two
hundred and fifty miles (it was the Brookville and Ridgeway mission) ;
Rev. A. Kellar, 1834; Revs. John Sava and Charles C. Best, 1835;
Revs. J. A. Hallock and J. R. Locke, 1836 ; Rev. Stephen Heard, 1837 ;
Rev. L. Whipple, 1838; Rev. H. S. Hitchcock, 1839 ; Rev. D. Prichard,
1840. In 1841, supplies and Revs. G. F. Reeser and John Graham ; in
1842, Revs. Isaac Scofield and William Monks; in 1843, Revs. William
Monks and D. H. Jack; in 1844, Revs. S. Churchill and J. K. Coxson ;
in 1845, R CVS - R- M. Bear and Thomas Benn.
These ministers always travelled on horseback. The horse was usu-
ally " bobbed," and you could see that he had a most excellent skeleton.
These itinerants all wore leggings, and carried on the saddle a large pair
254
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of saddle-bags, which contained a clean shirt, a Bible, and a hymn-book.
The sermon was on a cylinder in the head of the preacher, and was ready
to be graphophoned at any point or time.
The pioneer presiding elders were : Rev. Wilder P. Mack, 1828-31;
Rev. Joseph S. Barris, 1832; Rev. Zerah P. Caston, 1833-34; Rev.
Joshua Monroe, 1835; Rev. Joseph S. Barris, 1836; Rev. William Car-
roll, 1837-40; Rev. John Bain, 1841-42; Rev. John Robinson, 1843.
Methodist Episcopal Church, Brookville, Pennsylvania. Erected in 1886.
Pioneer Presiding Elder, Brookville Mission District : " Rev. William
Carroll, presiding elder on the Brookville Mission District, was a stout,
energetic man, of medium preaching talents, and was selected for this
field of labor because it required bone and muscle, as well as faith and
255
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
zeal, to accomplish its duties. That entire region of country was new,
wild, rough, and mountainous, with many rapid bridgeless streams to
cross. The settlements were far from each other, and the people poor
but generous. Never since the days of Young and Finley did any pre-
siding elder encounter such difficulties. Calvinism in its primitive char-
acteristics had been planted there, and its advocates contested the ground
with great tenacity and zeal. But to this field of toil and sacrifice the
new presiding elder and his little band of youthful heroes hastened away
and sowed the good seed with tears, and reaped a rich harvest of souls.
That sterile soil has since become very fruitful." Gregg's History of
Methodism.
Ridgeway Mission was created in 1834. Pioneer circuit riders : Rev.
G. D. Kinnear; 1835, Rev. Alured Plimpton.
As a rule, these pioneer Methodists were good singers, and when and
wherever they held a service in this wilderness they usually made our
hills and valleys vocal with the glorious and beautiful hymns of John and
Charles Wesley.
The pioneer female to pray in public or in the general prayer-meet-
ings in Brookville was "Mother Fogle," Rev. Christopher Fogle's first
wife.
The pay of the pioneer Methodist ministers and preachers, and for
their wives and children, was as follows :
"2800. ' i. The annual salary of the travelling preachers shall be
eighty dollars and their travelling expenses.
" ' 2. The annual allowance of the wives of travelling preachers shall
be eighty dollars.
. " ' 3. Each child of a travelling preacher shall be allowed sixteen dol-
lars annually to the age of seven years, and twenty-four dollars annually
from the age of seven to fourteen years ; nevertheless, this rule shall not
apply to the children of preachers whose families are provided for by
other means in their circuits respectively.
" ' 4. The salary of the superannuated, worn-out, and supernumerary
preachers shall be eighty dollars annually.
" ' 5. The annual allowance of the wives of superannuated, worn-out,
and supernumerary preachers shall be eighty dollars.
" ' 6. The annual allowance of the widows of travelling, superannu-
ated, worn-out, and supernumerary preachers shall be eighty dollars.
" ' 7. The orphans of travelling, superannuated, worn-out, and super-
numerary preachers shall be allowed by the Annual Conference, if possi-
ble, by such means as they can devise, sixteen dollars annually. '
" 1804. The following inserted in clause 3, before 'nevertheless' :
' and those preachers whose wives are dead shall be allowed for each
child annually a sum sufficient to pay the board of such child or children
during the above term of years.'
256
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The following added at the close of the section :
" ' 8. Local preachers shall be allowed a salary in certain cases as
mentioned. '
" 1816. 'The allowance of all preachers and their wives raised to
one hundred dollars.'
"1824. Under clause 2 (allowance to wives) it is added, 'But this
provision shall not apply to the wives of those preachers who were single
when they were received for trial, and marry under four years, until the
expiration of said four years.'
" 1828. The seventh clause (relating to orphans) was altered so as
to read as follows :
" ' 7. The orphans of travelling, supernumerary, superannuated, and
worn-out preachers shall be allowed by the Annual Conferences the same
sums respectively which are allowed to the children of living preachers.
And on the death of a preacher, leaving a child or children without so
much of worldly goods as should be necessary to his or her or their sup-
port, the Annual Conference of which he was a member shall raise, in
such manner as may be deemed best, a yearly sum for the subsistence
and education of such orphan child or children, until he, she, or they
shall have arrived at fourteen years of age, the amount of which yearly
sum shall be fixed by the committee of the Conference at each session in
advance. '
" 1832. The following new clause was inserted :
" ' 8. The more effectually to raise the amount necessary to meet the
above-mentioned allowance, let there be made weekly class collections in
all our societies where it is practicable ; and also for the support of mis-
sions and missionary schools under our care. '
"1836. The regulation respecting those who marry 'under four
years' was struck out, and bishops mentioned by name as standing on the
same footing as other travelling preachers. Clauses i, 2, 4, and 5 thrown
into two, as follows :
" ' i. The annual allowance of the married travelling, supernumerary,
and superannuated preachers and the bishops shall be two hundred dol-
lars and their travelling expenses.
" ' 2. The annual allowance of the unmarried travelling, supernumer-
ary, and superannuated preachers and the bishops shall be one hundred
dollars and their travelling expenses.'
" The pioneer members were prohibited from wearing ' needless orna-
ments, such as rings, earrings, lace, necklace, and ruffles.' " Strickland's
History of Discipline.
PIONEER AND EARLY CAMP-MEETINGS.
The pioneer camp-meeting in the United States was held, between
1800 and 1 80 1, at Cane Ridge, in Kentucky. It was under the auspices
257
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of several different denominational ministers. The meeting was kept up
day and night. It was supposed that there were in attendance during the
meetings from twelve to twenty thousand people. Stands were erected
through the woods, from which one, two, three, and four preachers
would be addressing the thousands at the same time. It was at this place
and from this time our camp-meetings took their rise.
Evans, the Shaker historian, who is strong in the gift of faith, tells us
that " the subjects of this work were greatly exercised in dreams, visions,
revelations, and the spirit of the prophecy. In these gifts of the Spirit
they saw and testified that the great day of God was at hand, that Christ
was about to set up his kingdom on earth, and that this very work would
terminate in the full manifestation of the latter day of glory."
From another authority, endowed perhaps with less fervor but with
more of common sense, we get a description of these " exercises," which
has a familiar ring that seems to bring it very near home. " The people
remained on the ground day and night, listening to the most exciting
sermons, and engaging in a mode of worship which consisted in alternate
crying, laughing, singing, and shouting, accompanied with gesticulations
of a most extraordinary character. Often there would be an unusual out-
cry, some bursting forth into loud ejaculations of thanksgiving, others
exhorting their careless friends to ' turn to the Lord,' some struck with
terror and hastening to escape, others trembling, weeping, and swooning
away, till every appearance of life was gone and the extremities of the
body assumed the coldness of a corpse. At one meeting not less than a
thousand persons fell to the ground, apparently without sense or motion.
It was common to see them shed tears plentifully about an hour before
they fell. They were then seized with a general tremor, and sometimes
they uttered one or two piercing shrieks in the moment of falling. This
latter phenomenon was common to both sexes, to all ages, and to all sorts
of characters.
"After a time these crazy performances in the sacred name of re-
ligion became so much a matter of course that they were regularly classi-
fied in categories as the rolls, the jerks, the barks, etc. The rolling ex-
ercise was effected by doubling themselves up, then rolling from one side
to the other like a hoop, or in extending the body horizontally and roll-
ing over and over in the filth like so many swine. The jerk consisted in
violent spasms and twistings of every part of the body. Sometimes the
head was twisted round so that the face was turned to the back, and the
countenance so much distorted that not one of its features was to be rec-
ognized. When attacked by the jerks they sometimes hopped like frogs,
and the face and limbs underwent the most hideous contortions. The
bark consisted in throwing themselves on all-fours, growling, showing
their teeth, and barking like dogs. Sometimes a number of people
crouching down in front of the minister continued to bark as long as he
258
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
preached. These last were supposed to be more especially endowed with
the gifts of prophecy, dreams, rhapsodies, and visions of angels."
Exactly when the pioneer camp-meeting was held in Jefferson County
is unknown to me. Darius Carrier advertised one in \JbKjeffersoman as
early as 1836, to be held near Summerville. The first one I remember
was near Brookville, on the North Fork, on land now owned by F.
Swartzlander. Others were held near Roseville, and in Perry township
and kindred points. The rowdy element attended these services, and
there was usually a good deal of disturbance from whiskey and fights,
which, of course, greatly annoyed the good people. The first " Dutch
camp-meeting" was held in what is now Ringgold township. In fact,
these German meetings were only abandoned a few years ago. I repro-
duce a " Dutch camp-meeting hymn" :
" CAMP-MEETING HYMN.
" Satan and I we can't agree,
Halleo, halleolujah !
For I hate him and he hates me,
Halleo, halleolujah !
" I do believe without a doubt,
Halleo, halleolujah !
The Christian has a right to shout,
Halleo, halleolujah !
" We'll whip the devil round the stump,
Haileo, halleolujah !
And hit him a kick at every jump,
Halleo, halleolujah !"
The mode of conducting our wood meetings was patterned after the
original in Kentucky. The manner of worship and conversions were the
same, and while a great deal of harsh criticism has been made against
this mode of religious worship, there is one thing that must be admitted,
many bad, wicked persons were changed into good religious people.
Pitch-pine fagots were burned at night to light the grounds.
BAPTIST CHURCH.
The pioneer Baptist preaching in Pennsylvania was at Cold Spring,
Bucks County, in 1684, by Rev. Thomas Dungan. This church died in
1702.
In 1818, Rev. Jonathan Nichols settled on Brandy Camp, in the Little
Toby Valley. He was a regularly ordained Baptist minister and an edu-
cated physician. His labors extended all over this county. He was the
pioneer Baptist. His was "the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Rev. Jona-
than Nichols migrated to this region from Connecticut. He died in
1846, aged seventy-one years. His wife Hannah died in 1859, aged
259
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
eighty-two years. As a physician his labors were extended, and his
ministry was well received by the scattered people of all beliefs. For a
while he adhered to the close communion, but owing to the different
beliefs adhered to by his hearers, he after a few years invited all Christian
people who attended his services to the "Lord's table." His daughter
told me his heart would not let him do otherwise. One who knew him
well wrote of him : " He was a generous, kind-hearted gentleman, genial
and urbane in his manners, with a helping hand ready to assist the
needy, and had kind words to comfort the sorrowing." Winter's snow
never deterred him from pastoral work or visits to the sick. After
Nichols came Rev. Samuel Miles, of Clearfield County. The first regular
Baptist church was organized in what is now Washington township, in
June, 1834, with thirteen members, in Henry Keys' barn, by Rev. Brown.
Henry Keys and James McConnell were elected deacons. The members
of this pioneer church were James McConnell, Henry Keys and Avife,
Miss Betty Keys, Mrs. Eliza Haney, Mary Ann McConnell, Mrs. Catha-
rine Keys, Margaret McConnell, Mrs. Nancy McGhee, Mrs. McClelland,
Miss Hall, and Robert Mclntosh and wife. The pioneer church in the
county was erected on the Keys farm in 1841-42. It was a frame. James
McConnell was the carpenter. The immersions took place in Mill Creek,
now Allen's Mills. Before organizing their own church the men and
women of the Mclntosh, Keys, and McConnell families would start early
on Sunday morning and walk to Zion Church, in Clarion County, thirty
miles, and return the same day.
BROOKVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH MISSION.
The pioneer minister to do mission labor was Rev. Samuel Miles. He
appeared on this field in 1833.
The pioneer Baptist communicant to locate in Brookville was James
Craig, in 1834.
The pioneer convert in the borough was Miss Jane Craig. She was
"immersed" near the covered bridge by Rev. Samuel Miles in 1838.
The second minister to perform mission work was Rev. Thomas E.
Thomas, called Father Thomas. He came here from 1839 to 1843. The
third minister to pioneer as a missionary in Brookville was the Rev.
Thomas Wilson. He preached in Brookville in 1844. He pioneered in
the county as early as 1840.
The early Baptists in this mission were Thomas Humphrey and wife,
John Bullers and wife, Michael Troy and wife, William Humphrey and
wife, Mrs. John Baum, William Russell and wife, Samuel C. Espy and
wife, and others.
The pioneer and early " immersion" points were at the covered bridge
at the junction of Sandy Lick and North Fork Creeks, at or in the tail-
race and in the sluice, the mill-dam of R. P. Barr.
260
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The Punxsutawney Church was organized October 30, 1840, by Rev.
Thomas E. Thomas and Benoni Allen, with the following members ..by
letter, viz. :
Brookville Baptist Church. Erected in 1883.
Isaac London, Hiram London, Lemuel Carey, Sr., Hannah Carey,
John R. Reed, Margaret Reed, James Armstrong, Mary Armstrong,
261
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Esther McMillan, Eliza Cochrane, Sarah Gilhausen, and Elizabeth Mc-
Cracken. Revs. Thomas and Allen continued to preach, each one-
fourth of his time, until April i, 1841. William Campbell was elected
clerk. The pioneer immersions were Stephen London and James Mc-
Conaughey, viz., on November i, 1840. On the ad the following were
immersed, viz. : William Davis, William Campbell, Ephraim Bair, Jacob
Bair, Samuel Gilhausen, John Hunt, and Prudence Stewart. On the 3d
day of this month the following were immersed : James H. Bell, Ann
Bell, William Torance, Lemuel Carey, Jr., Mary Davis, Jane Hunt, Eliz-
abeth McDermott, and Jane Major. The Rev. Thomas continued with
this church until October, 1841, when he was succeeded by the Rev.
Thomas Wilson.
THE WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH.
THE BEECHWOODS CHURCH.
"The society was organized in 1835, under the direction of Rev.
Stoughton. The first members were Henry Keys and wife, Eliza Keys,
Joseph Keys, James McConnell and two sisters, Mrs. Osborne, and several
others whose names are forgotten. The first elders were Henry Keys and
James McConnell. The first stated pastor was Rev. Samuel Miles, of
Milesburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania. The first Baptist in the county
was Eliza Keys, a sister of Henry and daughter of Joseph Keys. She was
a woman of unusual energy, and whose qualities of mind and heart were
eminently designed for the duties of a missionary, as she was in deed if
not in name. From 1824 to the organization of the church in the
county they went to Clarion County, and worshipped in the old ' Zion'
Church and in the houses of Messrs. Lewis, Frampton, and Williams, and
latterly in a little frame church near Corbett's Mills. The distance trav-
elled by the members of the congregation was from twenty- eight to forty
miles, and many of the good people traversed the country on foot, and
nothing but sickness prevented them from a regular attendance on divine
services. Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, whose services are mentioned in
brief in a sketch of the Punxsutawney Baptist Church, was one of the
leading preachers in the Clarion region, and by his efforts built up the
cause in Western Pennsylvania. In 1825 the only Baptist churches in
Western Pennsylvania were Pittsburg, one ; Huntington, one ; Milesburg,
one ; and Freeport, one. In 1826 a Baptist church was erected near Cor-
bett's Mills, Clarion County, and thither the people of that faith were
accustomed to congregate till the erection of a little church in Beech-
woods, the date being 1837. This in time was succeeded by the present
edifice."
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The pioneer Catholic service in Pennsylvania was in Philadelphia in
1708. The pioneer priest was either Polycarp Wicksted or James Had-
262
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
dock. The pioneer church erected was St. Joseph's, in Philadelphia, in
1730.
The pioneer Catholic to locate in the county was perhaps John
Catholic Church, Brookville, Pennsylvania. Erected in 1875.
Dougherty, of Brookville. He came in 1831. The pioneer priest to
visit Brookville was the Rev. John O'Neill, of Freeport, Pennsylvania.
He visited here in 1832, and performed the pioneer baptism, viz., of
263
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXNA. ,
Miss Kate, the daughter of John Dougherty. There was no resident
priest here until 1847. The pioneer Catholics in the county were at-
tended by priests from Armstrong and Westmoreland Counties. Pioneer
services were held in the houses of John Dougherty, John Gallagher,
Jacob Hoffman, and others.
THE MORMON CHURCH IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
About 1815 there lived in Wayne County, New York, a young man
by the name of Joseph Smith. In the twenties he proclaimed himself a
prophet from God. In 1827 he published to the world that an angel had
placed in his hands some golden plates, with a pair of spectacles, too,
through which he alone could decipher the writing on the plates. His
revelation from God consisted of a book styled the Book of Mormon.
The book is a silly, childish kind of a romance. I possessed a copy for
many years and tried at different times to read it through, but never had
the grace or gift of continuance. This book pretends to give a history
of Nephi, a Hebrew, who, six hundred years before the advent of Christ,
was miraculously carried from Palestine in vessels to this American con-
tinent. When Nephi landed on this continent there were no inhabitants,
and the American Indians are declared by the book to be the descend-
ants of Nephi. The Mormons taught that there were many Gods in
in heaven, and that each God had many wives and children, viz. :
Smith would be a god ; his superior would be Jesus ; above Jesus would
be Adam, above Adam would be Jehovah, and above all would be Elo-
him. In 1830, Smith had about thirty believers, and organized his church
at Manchester, New York. In 1831, under the lead of an angel, this band
moved to Kirtland, Ohio. In 1838 they migrated to Missouri. From
here they moved to Illinois, and built the city of Nauvoo. In the early
forties Smith received a " revelation" establishing polygamy in the
church. This caused internal dissensions, Smith was arrested, placed in
jail, and finally shot by a mob. Brigham Young was then elected prophet,
and the church migrated in a body beyond the Rocky Mountains to what
is now the State of Utah.
PIONEER MORMON MISSIONARY.
" Mormonism ! On Saturday evening last our borough was visited by
a youth of apparently not more than twenty-two years of age, a graduate
of the disciple Jo Smith, S. Rigdon, and others of the Mormon creed,
fresh from the ' Holy Land.' He remained here over Sabbath, during
which time he kept himself principally secluded from company till even-
ing, when he appeared in the court-house, and attempted to instruct the
citizens of this place in the ' sublime mysteries' of Mormonism (?), but
his 'new-fangled doctrine' didn't take.
264
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"In the prosecution of his mission he labored to prove that events of
transcendent importance were about being ushered in ; that the millen-
nium was dawning on our astonished visions ; that a revelation had been
made on plates of gold to the said Jo Smith by the hands of an angel,
and last, though not least, that a revelation of the hidden mysteries were
important, etc.
" He taxed his most deceptive genius a science in which he appears
to be well versed to rivet the attention of the congregation, by telling
them that he had 'strange things yet to tell them,' and finally brought
his exhibition to a close. We have not learned that he discipled any
here, but believe that the decision and intelligence of the people of Jef-
ferson County is a sure and certain guarantee against such delusions ever
gaining their credence. He was permitted to depart in peace." Brook-
ville Republican, Thursday, October 12, 1837.
Our brother, the editor, was not exactly correct in his estimate of the
intelligence of the people of Jefferson County, for quite a little congrega-
tion of Mormons was formed in the extreme eastern end of Snyder town-
ship, this county, and the western portion of Fox township, Clearfield
County. The principal members were some of the Cobbs, Heaths,
Bundys, Hoyts, and others. Religious meetings were held in each other's
houses for some time. A number of these members migrated to the
"Holy Land."
LUTHERAN CHURCH.
The pioneer Lutheran congregation in the United States was at New
Hanover, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with Justus Faulkner, pas-
tor, in 1703.
The pioneer Lutheran minister to visit this county was the Rev.
George Young, of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Rev. Young or-
ganized the pioneer church in the county in 1835, and erected a log
building for that purpose, to which was attached a cemetery. The pio-
neer services were held in the barn of Abraham Hoch, one mile south of
Sprankle's Mill, and no\v Oliver township. Communion was commem-
orated in this barn. The pioneer log church building was erected in
1838, about half a mile from Mr. Hoch's, on the farm now occupied by
Boaz D. Blose. This log church was used for ten years, when it was
abandoned for school purposes, and a large frame house of worship was
then erected on the ridge two miles from Sprankle's Mill. This congre-
gation was and is still known as St. John's, General Council.
The second Lutheran church organized was in 1838, and a log build-
ing erected. This church was also called St. John's, and belonged to the
General Synod branch of the denomination. Joel Spyker and Peter
Thrush took an active part in the organization. This church was on
what is now Andrew Ohl's farm, and was about three and one-half miles
i s 265
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
south of Brookville. The pioneer members at this communion were
Thomas Holt, Peter Thrush and wife, Samuel Johns and wife, Mattie
Chesly, Charles Merriman and wife, Armenia Grove, Hannah Himes,
Mary Johnson, Jacob Wolfgang and wife, Mary Spyker, and Joseph
Kaylor. *
The pioneer preaching in Brookville was by the Rev. Young. He
preached in the homes of members and in the second story of the old
stone jail. Rev. John Rengan, of Indiana, Pennsylvania, preached in
the jail in 1844. No organization was effected. Rev. John Nuner came
after Rengan, but in what year and for how long is unknown.
The pioneer Lutherans in Brookville were John and Catherine Eason,
Daniel Coder and wife, Hannah McKinley, Mary A. Yoemans, Jacob
Burkett and wife, Jacob Steck and wife, John Boucher and wife, Maria
Von Schroeder. Pioneer elder, Daniel Coder. Pioneer deacon, John
Boucher.
Lutheran services were also held at Paradise, Grubes, Reynoldsville,
Emerickville, Punxsutawney, and Ringgold, but no dates of service or
records of organization can be found. I acknowledge valuable aid in
this compilation to Mrs. Virginia Blood.
CHAPTER XV.
WHITE SLAVERY ORIGIN NATURE IN ROME, GREECE, AND EUROPE AFRI-
CAN SLAVERY IN PENNSYLVANIA GEORGE BRYAN PIONEER COLORED
SETTLER IN JEFFERSON COUNTY CENSUS, ETC. DAYS OF BONDAGE IN
THIS COUNTY.
WHITE slavery is older than history. Its origin is supposed to be
from kidnapping, piracy, and in captives taken in war. Christians en-
slaved all barbarians and barbarians enslaved Christians. Early history
tells us that Rome and Greece were great markets for all kinds of slaves,
slave-traders, slave-owners, etc. The white slaves of Europe were mostly
obtained in Russia and Poland in times of peace. All fathers could sell
children. The poor could be sold for debt. The poor could sell them-
selves. But slavery did not exist in the poor and ignorant alone. The
most learned in science, art, and mechanism were bought and sold at
prices ranging in our money from one hundred to three hundred dollars.
Once sold, whether kidnapped or not, there was no redress, except as to
the will of the master. At one time in the history of Rome white slaves
sold for sixty-two and a half cents apiece in our money. The state, the
church, and individuals all owned slaves. Every wicked device that
might and power could practise was used to enslave men and women
266
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
without regard to nationality or color. And when enslaved, no matter
how well educated, the slaves possessed no right in law and were not
deemed persons in law, and had no right in and to their children.
Slavery as it existed among the Jews was a milder form than that which
existed in any other nation. The ancients regarded black slaves as
luxuries, because there was but little traffic in them until about the year
1441, and it is at that date that the modern -African slave-trade was
commenced by the Portuguese. The pioneer English African slave-
267
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
trader was Sir John Hawkins. Great companies were formed in London
to carry on African traffic, of which Charles II. and James II. were mem-
bers. It was money and the large profits in slavery, whether white or
black, that gave it such a hold on church and state. The English were
the most cruel African slave-traders. Genuine white slavery never ex-
isted in what is now the United States. In the year A.D. 1620 the pio-
neer African slaves were landed at Hampton Roads in Virginia, and
nineteen slaves were sold. In 1790 there were six hundred and ninety-
seven thousand six hundred and eighty-one African slaves in the Middle
States.
Slavery was introduced in Pennsylvania in 1681, and was in full force
until the act quoted below for its gradual abolition was enacted in 1 780,
by which, as you will see, adult slaves were liberated on July 4, 1827,
and the t children born before that date were to become free as they
reached their majority. This made the last slave in the State become a
free person about 1860.
In 1790 Pennsylvania had slaves 3737
In 1800 " " 1706
In 1810 ' " 795
In 1820 " '' " 211
In 1830 " " 403
In 1840 " " " 64
In 1860 " " (in Lancaster County) . I
On December 4, 1833, sixty persons met in Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, and organized the American Anti-Slavery Society.
NEGRO SLAVERY.
" He found his fellow guilty of a skin not colored like his own ; for such a cause
dooms him as his lawful prey."
Negro slaves were held in each of the thirteen original States.
In March, 1780, Pennsylvania enacted her gradual abolition law.
Massachusetts, by constitutional enactment in 1780, abolished slavery.
Rhode Island and Connecticut were made free States in 1784, New
Jersey in 1804, New York in 1817, and New Hampshire about 1808 or
1810. The remaining States of the thirteen viz., Maryland, Delaware,
Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia each retained their
human chattels until the close of the Civil War. In one hundred years,
from 1676 until 1776, it is estimated that three million people were im-
ported and sold as slaves in the United States.
As late as 1860 there was still one slave in Pennsylvania; his name
was Lawson Lee Taylor, and he belonged to James Clark, of Donegal
township, Lancaster County.
268
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The first man who died in the Revolution was a colored man, and
Peter Salem, a negro, decided the battle of Bunker Hill ; clinging to the
Stars and Stripes, he cried, " I'll bring back the colors or answer to God
the reason why !" His example fired the hearts of the soldiers to greater
valor, and the great battle was won by our men.
" It was on the soil of Pennsylvania in 1682 that the English penalty
of death on over two hundred critnes was negatived by statute law, and
the penalty of death retained on only one crime, viz., wilful murder.
It was in the province of Pennsylvania that the law of primogeniture was
abolished. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first mint to coin
money in the United States was established. It was on the soil of Penn-
sylvania in 1829, and between Honesdale and Carbondale, that the pio-
neer railroad train, propelled by a locomotive, was run in the New
World. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first Continental
Congress met. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the great Magna
Charta of our liberties was written, signed, sealed, and delivered to the
world. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the fathers declared ' that
all men are born free and equal, and are alike entitled to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.' It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that
the grand old Republican party was organized, and the declarations of
our fathers reaffirmed and proclaimed anew to the world. It was on the
soil of Pennsylvania that Congress created our national emblem, the
Stars and Stripes ; and it was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that fair
women made that flag in accordance with the resolution of Congress. It
was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that our flag was first unfurled to the
breeze, and from that day to this that grand old flag has never been dis-
graced nor defeated. It was upon the Delaware River of Pennsylvania
that the first steamer was launched. It was in Philadelphia that the first
national bank opened its vaults to commerce. It was upon the soil of
Pennsylvania that Colonel Drake first drilled into the bowels of the earth
and obtained the oil that now makes the ' bright light' of every fireside
' from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand.' It was on the
soil of Pennsylvania that the first Christian Bible Society in the New
World was organized. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first
school for the education and maintenance of soldiers' orphans was
erected. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first medical col-
lege for the New World was established.
"And now, Mr. President, I say to you that it was permitted to
Pennsylvania intelligence, to Pennsylvania charity, to Pennsylvania peo-
ple, to erect on Pennsylvania soil, with Pennsylvania money, the first
insane institution, aided and encouraged by a State, in the history of
the world."
The above is an extract from a speech made by me when Senator in the
Senate of Pennsylvania in 1881. I reproduce it here only to reassert it and
269
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
crown it with the fact that Pennsylvania was the first of the united colonies
to acknowledge before God and the nations of the earth, by legal enact-
ment, the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Pennsylva-
nia was the first State or nation in the New World to enact a law for the
abolition of human slavery. This act of justice was passed, too, when
the struggle for independence was still undetermined. The British were
pressing us on the east, and the savages on the west were torturing and
killing the patriot fathers and mothers of the Revolution.
George Bryan originated, prepared, offered, and carried this measure
successfully through the Legislature. I quote from his remarks on this
measure : " Honored will that State be in the annals of mankind which
shall first abolish this violation of the rights of mankind ; and the
memories of those will be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance
who shall pass the law to restore and establish the rights of human nature
in Pennsylvania." George Bryan did this. He was born in Dublin,
Ireland, in 1732, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1791. To ex-
hibit the advanced sentiment of George Bryan, I republish his touching
and beautiful preamble to his law, and a section or two of the law which
will explain its work.
" AN ACT FOR THE GRADUAL ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.
<c When we contemplate our abhorrence of that condition to which the
arms and tyranny of Great Britain were exerted to reduce us, when we look
back on the variety of dangers to which we have been exposed, and how
miraculously our wants in many instances have been supplied, and our de-
liverances wrought, when even hope and human fortitude have become un-
equal to the conflict, we are unavoidably led to a serious and grateful sense
of the manifold blessings which we have undeservedly received from the
hand of that Being from whom every good and perfect gift cometh. Im-
pressed with these ideas, we conceive that it is our duty, and we rejoice that
it is in our power, to extend a portion of that freedom to others which hath
been extended to us, and release from that state of thraldom to which
we ourselves were tyrannically doomed, and from which we have now
every prospect of being delivered. It is not for us to inquire why, in the
creation of mankind, the inhabitants of the several parts of the earth
were distinguished by a difference in feature or complexion. It is suffi-
cient to know that all are the work of an Almighty hand. We find, in
the distribution of the human species, that the most fertile as well as the
most barren parts of the earth are inhabited by men of complexions dif-
ferent from ours, and from each other ; from whence we may reasonably,
as well as religiously, infer that He who placed them in their various
situations hath extended equally His care and protection to all, and that
it becometh not us to counteract His mercies. We esteem it a peculiar
blessing granted to us that we are enabled this day to add one more step
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
to universal civilization, by removing, as much as possible, the sorrows
of those who have lived in undeserved bondage, and from which, by the
assumed authority of the kings of Great Britain, no effectual legal relief
could be obtained. Weaned, by a long course of experience, from those
narrow prejudices and partialities we had imbibed, we find our hearts
enlarged with "kindness and benevolence towards men of all conditions
and nations ; and we conceive ourselves at this particular period extraor-
dinarily called upon, by the blessings which we have received, to mani-
fest the sincerity of our profession and to give a substantial proof of our
gratitude.
" II. And whereas the condition of those persons, who have hereto-
fore been denominated Negro and Mulatto slaves, has been attended
with circumstances which not only deprived them of the common bless-
ings that they were by nature entitled to, but has cast them into the
deepest afflictions, by an unnatural separation and sale of husband and
wife from each other and from their children, an injury the greatness of
which can only be conceived by supposing that we were in the same un-
happy case. In justice, therefore, to persons so unhappily circumstanced,
and who, having no prospect before them whereon they may rest their
sorrows and their hopes, have no reasonable inducement to render their
service to society, which they otherwise might, and also in grateful
commemoration of our own happy deliverance from that state of un-
conditional submission to which we were doomed by the tyranny of
Britain.
" III. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, That all persons, as well
Negroes and Mulattoes as others, who shall be born within this State
from and after the passage of this act, shall not be deemed and con-
sidered as servants for life, or slaves ; and that all servitude for life, or
slavery of children, in consequence of the slavery of their mothers, in
the case of all children born within this State from and after the passing
of this act as aforesaid, shall be, and hereby is, utterly taken away, ex-
tinguished, and forever abolished.
"IV. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That every Negro
and Mulatto child born within this State after the passing of this act as
aforesaid (who would, in case this act had not been made, have been
born a servant for years, or life, or a slave) shall be deemed to be, and
shall be, by virtue of this act, the servant of such person, or his or her
assigns, who would in such case have been entitled to the service of such
child, until such child shall attain unto the age of twenty-eight years, in
the manner and on the conditions whereon servants bound by indenture
for four years are or may be retained and holden ; and shall be liable to
like correction and punishment, and entitled to like relief, in case he or
she be evilly treated by his or her master or mistress, and to like freedom,
dues, and other privileges, as servants bound by indenture for four years
271
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
are or may be entitled, unless the person to whom the service of such
child shall belong, shall abandon his or her claim to the same ; in which
case the overseers of the poor of the city, township, or district, respec-
tively, where such child shall be so abandoned, shall by indenture bind
out every child so abandoned as an apprentice, for a time not exceeding
the age herein before limited for the service of such children." Passed
March i, 1780.
PIONEER COLORED SETTLER.
The pioneer colored settler in this wilderness was Fudge Van Camp. He
was jet-black, fine-featured, and thin- lipped. Fudge Van Camp was born
a slave, but purchased his freedom after he grew to manhood. He came
to Port Barnett from Easton, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, in
the winter of 1801, and travelled this distance on foot. The last thirty-
three miles were travelled without food, in a heavy snow-storm and in a
two-foot fall of snow. Van Camp was a large and powerful man, but
gave out and had to work his way for the last mile or two on his hands
and knees to Port Barnett. He arrived there at midnight exhausted
and almost frozen. He came over what was then called the Military or
Milesburg and Le Boeuf State road. Being pleased with the country,
he returned to Easton only to migrate here with his four children,
bringing his effects on two horses, and settled on what is now the
John Clark farm. He brought apple-seeds with him and planted them
on this farm, this being the first effort to raise fruit in this wilderness.
Some of the trees are still living. Fudge Van Camp married a white
woman. She died in Easton. His family consisted of two sons and two
daughters, viz., Richard and Enos, Susan and Sarah. Susan mar-
ried Charles Sutherland, and Sarah married William Douglass. Douglass
was a hunter. Richard married Ruth Stiles, a white woman, and left
the county.
Fudge Van Camp was the only colored person living in the county as
late as 1810. He was a fiddler and a great fighter, and was the orchestra
for all the early frolics.
In 1824 I find James Parks is assessed in Pine Creek township (but
lived then where Christ's brewery is now) with one negro man, " Sam,"
valuation fifty dollars. "Sam" was a miller. In 1826 he is assessed at
one hundred dollars. Transferred to Rose township in 1829 and as-
sessed at one hundred dollars. In 1830 Parks's log-mill is assessed at
fifty dollars and "Sam" at one hundred dollars. Now "Sam" disap-
pears. According to the census of 1830, the county contained twenty-two
colored people, one of these a slave. This slave was James Parks's man
Sam. Master and slave lived in Brookville. I find one negro slave in
Brookville in 1833. William Jack is assessed among other property with
"one boy of color," valuation forty dollars. Jack lived at that time in
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the Darr residence, north of the court-house. This slave boy fled to
Canada and secured his liberty. In 1836, Jesse Smith, a Presbyterian
minister living one mile north of where Corsica now is. on the Olean road,
and then in Rose township, is assessed with one mulatto, valuation fifty
dollars. It appears from this that slavery existed in Jefferson County
from 1 824 until 1836, twelve years.
Thank God this cruel slavery, which existed once in Jefferson County,
is forever wiped out in these United States ! There is now no master's
call, no driver's lash, no auction-block on which to sell, and no blood-
hounds to hunt men and women fugitives not from justice, but fugitives
for justice. Thank God for John Brown, and may " his soul go march-
ing on !"
Van Camp's real name was Enos Fudge. His owner's name Avas Van
Camp. Fudge was hired by his master to the patriot army of the Revo-
lution to drive team, and by playing the violin to the soldiers and in
other ways he accumulated five hundred dollars, which he presented to
his master, who in consideration of this gave him his freedom. Two
white men, Stephen Roll and August Shultz, came with Van Camp into
this wilderness. Van Camp died about the year 1835, and is buried in
the old graveyard in Brookville.
THE " UNDERGROUND RAILROAD" IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
" My ear is pained,
My soul is sick with every day's report
Of wrong and outrage with which this earth is filled."
The origin of the system to aid runaway slaves in these United States
was in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1787, Samuel
Wright laid out that town, and he set apart the northeastern portion for
colored people, and to many of whom he presented lots. Under these
circumstances this section was settled rapidly by colored people. Hun-
dreds of manumitted slaves from Maryland and Virginia migrated there
and built homes. This soon created a little city of colored people, and
in due time formed a good hiding-place for escaped slaves. The term
" underground railroad" originated there, and in this way : At Columbia
the runaway slave would be so thoroughly and completely lost to the pur-
suer, that the slave hunter, in perfect astonishment, would frequently ex-
claim, " There must be an underground railroad somewhere. ' ' Of course,
there was no railroad. There was only at this place an organized sys-
tem by white abolitionists to assist, clothe, feed, and conduct fugitive
slaves to Canada. This system consisted in changing the clothing, se-
creting and hiding the fugitive in daytime, and then carrying or direct-
ing him how to travel in the night-time to the next abolition station,
where he would be cared for. These stations existed from the Maryland
2/3
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
line clear through to Canada. In those days the North was as a whole
for slavery, and to be an abolitionist was to be reviled and persecuted,
even by churches of nearly all denominations. Abolition meetings were
broken up by mobs, the speakers rotten-egged and murdered ; indeed,
but few preachers would read from their pulpit a notice for an anti-
slavery meeting. Space will not permit me to depict the degraded state
Charles Brown handcuffed and shackled in Brookville jail, 1834.
" The shackles never again shall bind this arm, which now is free."
" My world is dead,
A new world rises, and new manners reign."
of public morals at that time, or the low ebb of true Christianity in that
day, excepting, of course, that exhibited by a small handful of abolition-
ists in the land. I can only say, that to clothe, feed, secrete, and to con-
vey in the darkness of night, poor, wretched, hunted human beings flee-
ing for liberty, to suffer social ostracism, and to run the risk of the heavy
penalties prescribed by unholy laws for so doing, required the highest
type of Christian men and women, men and women of sagacity, cool-
ness, firmness, courage, and benevolence ; rocks of adamant, to whom
the down-trodden could flock for relief and refuge. A great aid to the
ignorant fugitive was that every slave knew the "north star," and, fur-
ther, that if he followed it he would eventually reach the land of free-
dom. This knowledge enabled thousands to reach Canada. All slave-
holders despised this "star."
To William Wright, of Columbia, Pennsylvania, is due the credit of
putting into practice the first "underground railroad" for the freedom
of slaves. There was no State organization effected until about 1838,
274
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
when, in Philadelphia, Robert Purvis was made president and Jacob C.
White secretary. Then the system grew, and before the war of the Re-
bellion our whole State became interlaced with roads. We had a route,
too, in this wilderness. It was not as prominent as the routes in the
more populated portions of the State. I am sorry that I am unable to
write a complete history of the pure, lofty, generous men and women in
our county who worked this road. They were Quakers and Methodists,
and the only ones that I can now recall were Elijah Heath and wife,
Arad Pearsall and wife, James Steadman and wife, and the Rev. Chris-
topher Fogle and his first and second wife, of Brookville (Rev. Fogle
was an agent and conductor in Troy), Isaac P. Carmalt and his wife, of
near Clayville, James A. Minish, of Punxsutawney, and William Coon
and his wife, in Clarington, now Forest County. Others, no doubt, were
connected, but the history is lost. Our route started from Baltimore,
Maryland, and extended, ria Bellefonte, Grampian Hills, Punxsutawney,
Brookville, Clarington, and Warren, to Lake Erie and Canada. A branch
road came from Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Clayville. At Indiana, Penn-
sylvania, Dr. Mitchell, James Moorhead, James Hamilton, William
Banks, and a few others were agents in the cause.
In an estimate based on forty years, there escaped annually from the
slave States fifteen hundred slaves ; but still the slave population doubled
in these States every twenty years. Fugitives travelled north usually in
twos, but in two or three instances they went over this wilderness route
in a small army, as an early paper of Brookville says, editorially,
"Twenty-five fugitive slaves passed through Brookville Monday morn-
ing on their way to Canada." Again: "On Monday morning, Oc-
tober 14, 1850, forty armed fugitive slaves passed through Brookville to
Canada. ' '
Smedley's "Underground Railroad" says, "Heroes have had their
deeds of bravery upon battle-fields emblazoned in history, and their
countrymen have delighted to do them honor ; statesmen have been re-
nowned, and their names have been engraved upon the enduring tablets
of fame ; philanthropists have had their acts of benevolence and charity
proclaimed to an appreciating world ; ministers, pure and sincere in
their gospel labors, have had their teachings collected in religious books
that generations might profit by the reading ; but these moral heroes,
out of the fulness of their hearts, with neither expectations of reward nor
hope of remembrance, have, within the privacy of their own homes, at
an hour when the outside world was locked in slumber, clothed, fed,
and in the darkness of night, whether in calm or in storms, assisted poor
degraded, hunted human beings on their way to liberty.
%%*%.%.-;.%.'%'%
" When, too, newspapers refused to publish antisiavery speeches, but
poured forth such denunciations as, ' The people will hereafter consider
275
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
abolitionists as out of the pale of legal and conventional protection
which society affords its honest and well-meaning members,' that
' they will be treated as robbers and pirates, and as the enemies of man-
kind ;' when Northern merchants extensively engaged in Southern trade
told abolitionists that, as their pecuniary interests were largely connected
with those of the South, they could not afford to allow them to succeed
in their efforts to overthrow slavery, that millions upon millions of dol-
lars were due them from Southern merchants, the payment of which
would be jeopardized, and that they would put them down by fair means
if they could, by foul means if they must, we must concede that it re-
quired the manhood of a man and the unflinching fortitude of a woman,
upheld by a full and firm Christian faith, to be an abolitionist in those
days, and especially an ' underground railroad' agent."
SLAVE TRAFFIC AND TRADE.
" And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he
shall surely be put to death." Exod. xxi. 16.
In the United States Constitutional Convention of 1787 the Carolinas,
Georgia, and New York wanted the slave-trade continued and more slave
property. To the credit of all the other colonies, they wanted the foreign
slave traffic stopped. After much wrangling and discussion a compromise
was effected by which no enactment was to restrain the slave-trade before
the year 1808. By this compromise the slave-trade was to continue
t\venty-one years. On March 2, 1807, Congress passed an act to pro-
hibit the importation of any more slaves after the close of that year.
But the profits from slave trading were enormous, and the foreign traffic
continued in spite of all law. It was found that if one ship out of every
three was captured, the profits still would be large. Out of every ten
negroes stolen in Africa, seven died before they reached this market. A
negro cost in Africa twenty dollars in gunpowder, old clothes, etc., and
readily brought five hundred dollars in the United States. Everything
connected with the trade was brutal. The daily ration of a captive on a
vessel was a pint of water and a half-pint of rice. Sick negroes were
simply thrown overboard. This traffic " for revolting, heartless atrocity
would make the devil wonder." The profits were so large that no slave-
trader was ever convicted in this country until 1861, when Nathaniel
Gordon, of the slaver " Erie," was convicted in New York City and exe-
cuted. It was estimated that from thirty to sixty thousand slaves were
carried to the Southern States every year by New York vessels alone. A
wicked practice was carried on between the slave and free States in this
way. A complete description of a free colored man or woman would be
sent from a free State to parties living in a slave State. This description
would then be published in hand-bills, etc., as that of a runaway slave.
276
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
These bills would be widely circulated. In a short time the person so
described would be arrested, kidnapped in the night, overpowered, man-
acled, carried away, and sold. He had no legal right, no friends, and
was only a " nigger." Free colored men on the borders of Pennsylvania
have left home to visit a neighbor and been kidnapped in broad day-
light, and never heard of after. A negro man or woman would sell for
from one to two thousand dollars, and this was more profitable than horse-
stealing or highway robbery, and attended with but little danger. A re-
port in this or any other neighborhood that kidnappers were around
struck terror to the heart of every free colored man or woman. Negroes
in Brookville have left their shanty homes to sleep in the stables of
friends when such rumors were afloat.
Before giving any official records in this history, I must pause to
present the fact that one Butler B. Amos, an all-around thief, then in
this county, was, in 1834, in our jail, sentenced to "hard labor" under
the law.
Early convicts were sentenced to hard labor in the county jail, and
had to make split-brooms from hickory-wood, as will be seen from this
agreement between the commissioners and jailer :
"Received, Brookville, Sept. 29111, 1834, of the commissioners of
Jefferson county, thirty-seven broomsticks, which I am to have made
into brooms by Butler B. Amos, lately convicted in the Court of Quarter
Sessions of said county for larceny and sentenced to hard labour in the
gaol of said county for six months, and I am also to dispose of said
brooms when made as the said commissioners may direct, and account
to them for the proceeds thereof as the law directs. Received also one
shaving horse, one hand saw, one drawing knife and One jack knife to
enable him to work the above brooms, which I am to return to the said
commissioners at the expiration of said term of servitude of the said
Butler B. Amos, with reasonable wear and tear.
" ARAD PEARSALL, Gaoler."
Amos had been arrested for theft, as per the following advertisement
in the Jeffersonian of the annexed date :
"Commonwealth vs. Butler B. Amos. Defendant committed to
September term, 1834. Charge of Larceny. And whereas the act of
General Assembly requires that notice be given, I therefore hereby give
notice that the following is an inventory of articles found in the posses-
sion of the said Butler B. Amos and supposed to have been stolen, viz. :
i canal shovel, i grubbing hoe, 2 hand saws, 2 bake kettles, i curry
comb, 2 wolf traps, i iron bound bucket, i frow, 3 log chains, i piece
of log chain, 2 drawing chains, i piece of drawing chain, i set of breast
chains, i hand ax, &c. The above mentioned articles are now in pos-
277
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
session of the subscriber, where those interested can see and examine for
themselves.
ALX. M'KNIGHT, /. P.
11 BROOKVILLE, August 25th, 1834."
A few years after this sentence was complied with Amos left Brook-
ville on a flat-boat for Kentucky, where he was dirked in a row and
killed. Although Amos was a thief, he had a warm " heart" in him, as
will be seen farther on.
The earliest official record I can find of our underground road is in
fat Jeffersonian of September 15, 1834, which contained these advertise-
ments, viz. :
"$150 REWARD.
"ESCAPED from the jail of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, last
night a black man, called Charles Brown, a slave to the infant heirs of
Richard Baylor, deceased, late of Jefferson county Virginia ; he is about
5 feet 7 inches high, and 24 years of age, of a dark complexion pleasant
look, with his upper teeth a little open before. I was removing him to
the State of Virginia, by virtue of a certificate from Judges' Shippen,
Irvin 6 M' Kee, of the Court of Common Pleas of the county of Venango,
as my warrant, to return him to the place from which he fled. I will
give a reward of $150 to any person who will deliver him to the Jailor of
Jefferson county Virginia, and if that sum should appear to be inadequate
to the expense and trouble, it shall be suitably increased.
"JOHN YATES,
" Guardian of the said heirs.
"Sept. 15, 1834."
"#150 REWARD!!
"ESCAPED from the Jail of Jefferson county; Pennsylvania last
night, a black man, nam'd WILLIAM PARKER alias ROBINSON a
slave, belonging to the undersigned : aged about 26 years, and about 5
feet 6 inches high ; broad shoulders ; full round face, rather a grave
countenance, and thick lips, particularly his upper lip, stammers a little,
and rather slow in speech. I was removing him to the State of Virginia,
by virtue of a cirtificate, from Judges Shippen and Irvin, of the Court of
Common Pleas, of Venango county ; as my warrant to return him to the
place, from which he fled. I will give a reward of $150, to any person,
who will deliver him to the Jailor of Jefferson county Virginia ; and if
that sum should appear to be inadequate to the expense and trouble, it
shall be suitably increased.
" STEPHEN DELGARN.
"September 15, 1834."
Arad Pearsall was then our jailer, and he was a Methodist and an
abolitionist.
278
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Our pioneer jail, as I remember it, was constructed from stone spawls,
with wooden doors and big iron locks. For safety, the prisoners were
usually shackled and handcuffed , and they were fed on ' ' bread and water. ' '
When recaptured, escaped slaves were lodged in county jails and shackled
for safety. These slaves had been so lodged, while their captors slept on
beds " as soft as downy pillows are." Charles Brown and William Parker
reached Canada. Heath and Steadman furnished augers and files to the
thief Amos, who filed the shackles loose from these human beings, and
with the augers he bored the locks off the doors. Pearsall, Heath, and
Steadman did the rest. Some person or persons in Brookville were
mean enough to inform, by letter or otherwise, Delgarn and Yates that
Judge Heath, Arad Pearsall, and James Steadman had liberated and run
off their slaves, whereupon legal steps were taken by these men to recover
damages for the loss of property in the United States Court at Pittsburg,
the minutes of which I here reproduce :
" CLERK'S OFFICE, UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT,
" WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA,
" PITTSBURG, October 9, 1897.
"W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
" DEAR SIR, Judge Buffington has referred your letter to me, and I
enclose a pencil memoranda of the proceedings in the two suits against
Heath and others.
" This is about as full as we can give it, except the testimony in so far
as it appears in depositions filed. Most of the evidence was oral, the
names of the witnesses appearing in subpoenas on file.
"Yours truly,
" H. D. GAMBLE,
" Clerk United States Circuit Court."
"At No. 4 of October Term, 1835, i n tne District Court of the United
States for the Western District of Pennsylvania, suit in trespass, brought
July 10, 1835, by Thomas G. Baylor and Anna Maria Baylor, minors, by
John Yates, Esq., their guardian, all citizens of Virginia, against Elijah
Heath, James M. Steadman, and Arad Pearsall.
" At No. 5, October Term, 1835, sint i n trespass by Stephen Delgarn,
a citizen of Virginia, against same defendants as in No. 4, brought at
same time. Burke and Metcalf, Esqs., were attorneys for the plaintiffs
in each case, and Alexander M. Foster for the defendants.
" Suit, as No. 4, was tried on May 3, 4, and 5, 1836, and on May 6,
1836, verdict rendered for plaintiff for six hundred dollars.
"Suit No. 5 was tried May 6 and 7, 1836, and verdict rendered May
7, 1836, for eight hundred and forty dollars. November 24, 1836,
judgments and costs collected upon execution and paid to plaintiffs'
attorneys.
279
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" In suit No. 4 the allegations as set forth in the declarations filed
are : That plaintiffs, citizens of Virginia, were the owners of ' a certain
negro man' named Charles Brown, otherwise ' Charles,' of great value,
to wit, of the value of one thousand dollars, to which said negro they
were lawfully entitled as a servant or slave, and to his labor and service
as such, according to the laws of the State of Virginia. That on or about
the ist day of August, 1834, the said negro man absconded, and went
away from and out of the custody of said plaintiffs, and afterwards went
and came into the Western District of Pennsylvania ; and the said plain-
tiffs, by their guardian, did, on or about the i3th day of September, 1834,
pursue the said servant or slave into the said Western District of Penn-
sylvania, and finding the said servant or slave in said district, and there
and then claimed him as a fugitive from labor, and caused him to be ar-
rested and brought before the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of
Venango County, in said Western District of Pennsylvania ; and it ap-
pearing upon sufficient evidence before them produced in due and legal
form, that the said negro man did, under the laws of Virginia, owe ser-
vice and labor unto said plaintiffs, and that the said negro man had fled
from the service of his said master in Virginia into Venango County,
Pennsylvania, aforesaid ; and the said plaintiffs, by their guardian, did,
on the said i8th day of September, 1834, obtain from the said judges of
the Court of Common Pleas of Venango County aforesaid a warrant for
the removal of the said negro man to Virginia aforesaid ; and the said
guardian was returning and taking with him, under and by virtue of the
said warrant, said servant or slave to the said plaintiffs' residence in Vir-
ginia; and while so returning to wit, on or about the day and year
last aforesaid the said guardian at Jefferson County, in the Western Dis-
trict of Pennsylvania aforesaid, did, with the assent and by the permis-
sion of the person or persons having charge of the public jail or prison in
and for said County of Jefferson, place the said servant or slave in said
jail or prison for safe-keeping, until he, the said guardian, could reasonably
proceed on his journey with the said aforesaid servant or slave to Virginia
aforesaid. Yet the said defendants, well knowing the said negro man to
be the servant or slave of the plaintiffs and to be their lawful property,
and that they, the said plaintiffs, by their guardian aforesaid, were enti-
tled to have the possession and custody of him, and to have and enjoy
the profit and advantage of his labor and services ; but contriving and
unlawfully intending to injure the said plaintiffs, and to deprive them of
all benefits, profits, and advantages of and which would accrue to these
said plaintiffs from said services, then and there, on or about the day
and year aforesaid at Jefferson County aforesaid, did secretly and in the
night-time unlawfully, wrongfully, and unjustly release, take, and assist
in releasing and taking, or procure to be released or taken, the said negro
man, then being as aforesaid the servant or slave of the said plaintiffs,
280
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
from and out of the said prison or jail, where said servant or slave was
placed for safe-keeping by said guardian as aforesaid ; whereby said ser-
vant or slave escaped, ran off, and was and is wholly lost to said plaintiffs,
and said plaintiffs deprived of all the profits, benefits, and advantages
which might and otherwise would have arisen and accrued to said plain-
tiffs from the said services of said servant or slave.
"The allegations and declarations in No. 5 were materially the same
as in No. 4."
Isaac P. Carmalt was co-operating with Heath and others at this
time. Heath was a Methodist, and so was Pearsall. Heath moved away
about 1846, and Pearsall died in Brookville about 1857.
Isaac P. Carmalt was a Quaker, a relative of William Penn, and was
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1 794. He learned the carpenter
trade. In 1818 he left his native city with two horses and a dearborn
wagon, and in three weeks he crossed the Allegheny Mountains and
located in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. In 1821 he moved to Punx-
sutawney. In 1822 he bought a farm near Clayville. In 1823 he mar-
ried Miss Hannah A. Gaskill, a Quakeress, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
But little can be given of his great work in this direction owing to his
death. His daughter, Mrs. Lowry, writes me as follows :
"The last slave that came to our house was after the insurrection at
Harper's Ferry. He claimed to have been in the insurrection. He
came with a colored man who lived near Grampian Hills, whose name
was George Hartshorn. This one was a mulatto, and claimed to be the
son of Judge Crittenden, who, I think, held some important office at
Washington, Senator or Congressman. The slave was very nervous
when he came, and asked for a raw onion, which, he said, was good to
quiet the nerves. He was also quite suspicious of Joe Walkup, who was
working at our house at the time. He called him out and gave him his
revolver, and told him he would rather he would blow his brains out
than to inform on him, for if he was taken he would certainly be hung.
He left during the night for Brookville. Most of the fugitives came
through Centre and Clearfield Counties. One of the underground rail-
road stations was in Centre County, near Bellefonte, kept by a friend by
the name of Iddings, who sent them to the next station, which was Gram-
pian Hills, from thence to our house, and from here to Brookville. I re-
member well one Sabbath when I was coming home from church ; Lib
Wilson was coming part way with me. We noticed a colored man ahead
of us. I paid but little attention, but she said, ' I know that is a slave.'
I knew Wilson's pro slavery sentiments, and replied very carelessly that
' there was a colored family living near Grampian Hills. I supposed he
was going to our house, as we had been there a short time before, want-
ing to trade horses for oxen to haul timber with.' But as soon as she left
me I quickened my pace and tried to overtake him. I was afraid he
19 281
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
might go through Clayville, where I knew there was a perfect nest of pro-
slavery men, who had made their threats of what they would do if father
assisted any more slaves to gain their freedom. Among them were the
Gillespies, who boasted of being overseers or slave-drivers while they
were in the South. He kept ahead of me and stopped at James Minish's,
and I thought it was all over with him, as they and the Gillespies were
connected, and most likely were of the same sentiment in regard to
slavery. But imagine my surprise when I came up, Mr. Minish handed
me a slip of paper with the name of ' Carmalt' on it, and remarked that
I was one of the Carmalt girls. (I suppose it was the name of a station.)
But he hurried the fugitive on, and I directed him to go up over the hill
through the woods. I then hurried home for father to go and meet him.
But when I got home, father was not there, so I put on my sun-bonnet
and went but a short distance, when I met him. There were several per-
sons in the house, so I slipped him in the back way. He seemed to be
in great misery and could not eat anything, but asked for something to
bathe his foot in. Then he gave a short account of his escape from
slavery three years previous. After escaping he stopped with a man
near Harrisburg, at what he called Yellow Breeches Creek, and worked
for him, during which time he married and had a little home of his own.
One day when ploughing in the field he discovered his old master from
whom he had escaped and two other men coming towards him. He
dropped everything and ran to his benefactor's house, and told him whom
he had seen. His benefactor then pulled off his coat and boots and di-
rected him to put them on, as he was in his bare feet, having left his own
coat and boots in the field. Being closely pursued, he ran to the barn, and
the men followed him. He was then compelled to jump from a high
window, and, striking a sharp stone, he received a severe cut in one heel,
not having had time to put on the boots given him by his benefactor.
When he came to our house he was suffering terribly, not having had an
opportunity to get the wound dressed. His benefactor had charged him
not to tarry on the road. But father, seeing the seriousness of his
wound, persuaded him to go to bed until midnight. But the poor fellow
could not sleep, but moaned with pain. We gave him his breakfast, 1 and
then father had him get on a horse, while he walked, and it was just
breaking day when they arrived at Brookville. A gentleman by the name
of Christopher Fogle was waiting to receive them. We heard afterwards
that the poor slave succeeded in reaching Canada, but returned for his
wife, and was captured and taken back to slavery.
" There is just one more incident that I will mention, which occurred
at an earlier date. One morning I went to the door and saw four large
colored men hurrying to the barn. I told father, and he went out and
brought them in. Our breakfast was just ready. We had them sit down
and eat as fast as they could, taking the precaution to lock the door, for
282
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
several persons came along while they were eating. Father noticed that
one of the slaves looked dull and stupid, and inquired if he was sick.
One of the others replied that he was only a little donsey. When they
were through eating, father hurried them to the woods and hid them
somewhere near the old school-house then on the farm. When father
went to take their dinner to them, the one said he was still a little donsey,
and then showed father his back. His shirt was sticking to his back,
He had been terribly whipped, and they had rubbed salt in the gashes.
They then gave a short history of their escape. They said they had a
good master and mistress, but their master had died and the estate was
sold. The master's two sons then sold them, and they were to be taken to
the rice-swamps to toil their lives away. They were determined to make
their escape, but the one who had been so terribly whipped was captured
and taken back. Their old mistress planned and assisted him to make
his escape by dressing him as a coachman, and with her assistance found
his way to Washington, where he met his companions and friends.
From Washington they were guided by the north star, travelling only
by night.
" I think but few fugitives came by the way of Indiana, though I re-
member of hearing father tell of one or two that he brought with him
when he first came from Indiana who had escaped by way of Philadel-
phia. I think most came through Baltimore, where a Quaker friend by
the name of Needles assisted the runaways through this branch of the
underground railroad. From Baltimore they came through the Quaker
settlements in Centre and Clearfield Counties. Father was the only one
who conveyed them from our house near Clayville to Brookville. This
he generally did by going himself or by sending some reliable person
with them. Father concealed a man from Baltimore, a German, who
used to smuggle slaves through. He had a furniture wagon, in which he
concealed them, but was discovered and put in jail at York, Pennsylva-
nia, but he escaped to Iddings, near Bellefonte, thence to Grampian
Hills, and from there to father's, where he worked five years. He then
left, and moved to Ohio. He became afraid to stay, for there were a
few who had an inkling of his history and knew there was a reward of
three thousand dollars for his arrest. One day in going to his work he
met the sheriff from Baltimore, who knew him well, and told him to
keep out of his sight, that there was a big reward offered for him. When
he was first arrested he had a colored girl concealed in a bureau which
he was hauling on his wagon."
Christopher Fogle was born in Baden, Germany, in 1800. His father
came with his family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1817, and Christo-
pher learned the tanning trade in Germantown. On June 26, 1826, he was
married in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. About this time he joined
the Methodist Church. In 1835 he migrated to Heathville, Jefferson
283
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
County, Pennsylvania, and built a tannery. In 1843 ne m oved to Troy
and had a tannery. This he afterwards sold out to Hulett Smith, when
he moved to Brookville and purchased from Elijah Heath and A. Colwell
what was called the David Henry tannery. Rev. Fogle was in the un-
derground railroad business in Heathville, and Mrs. Jane Fogle, his
second wife, who still survives him, informs me that he continued in that
business until the war for the Union, and she assisted him. The points
in and around Brookville where the Rev. Fogle lived and secreted fugi-
tives were, first, the old tannery ; second, the K. L. Blood farm ; third,
the little yellow house where Benscotter's residence now is; and, fourth,
the old house formerly owned by John J. Thompson, opposite the United
Presbyterian Church. Officers frequently were close after these fugitives,
and sometimes were in Brookville, while the agents had the colored
people hid in the woods. The next station on this road to Canada was
at the house of William Coon, in Clarington, Pennsylvania. Coon would
ferry the slaves over the Clarion, feed, refresh, and start them through
the wilderness for Warren, Pennsylvania, and when Canada was finally
reached, the poor fugitive could sing with a broken heart at times, thinking
of his wife, children, and parents yet in bonds,
" No more master's call for me,
No more, no more.
No more driver's lash for me,
No more, no more.
No more auction-block for me,
No more, no more.
No more bloodhounds hunt for me,
No more, no more.
I'm free, I'm free at last; at last,
Thank God, I'm free!"
INDENTURED APPRENTICES, WHITE SLAVERY, AND REDEMP-
TIONERS.
Colored people were not the only class held in servitude by Pennsyl-
vanians. Another form of slavery was carried on by speculators called
Newlanders. These traders in " white people" were protected by custom
and legal statutes. They ran vessels regularly to European seaports, and
induced people to emigrate to Pennsylvania. By delay and expensive
formalities these emigrants were systematically robbed during the trip of
any money they might have, and upon their arrival at Philadelphia would
be in a strange country, without money or friends to pay their passage or
to lift their goods from the villanous captains and owners of these ves-
sels which brought them to the wharves of Philadelphia. Imagine the
destitute condition of these emigrants. Under the law of imprisonment
for debt the captain or merchant either sold these people or imprisoned
them.
284
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The Newlanders were the first German emigrants to Pennsylvania.
Actuated by sinister motives, the Newlander would return to Germany,
and rely on his personal appearance and flattering tongue to mislead and
induce all classes, from the minister down to the lowest strata of human-
ity, to migrate to the New World. The Newlanders would receive from
the owner or captain of a vessel a stipulated sum per passenger. By arts
and representations the Newlander ingratiated himself into the confidence
of the emigrant, securing possession of his property, and before taking
passage the emigrant had to subscribe to a written contract in English,
which enabled the Newlander the more fully to pluck his victim, for
when the vessel arrived at Philadelphia the list of passengers and their
agreements were placed in the hands of merchants. The Newlander
managed it so that the emigrant would be in his debt, and then the poor
foreigners had to be sold for debt. The merchants advertised the cargo ;
the place of sale on the ship. The purchasers had to enter the ship,
make the contract, take their purchase to the merchant and pay the price,
and then legally bind the transaction before a magistrate. Unmarried
people and young people, of course, were more readily sold, and brought
better prices. Aged and decrepit persons were poor sale ; but if they had
healthy children, these children were sold at good prices for the combined
debt, and to different masters and in different States, perhaps never to see
each other in this world. The parents then were turned loose to beg.
The time of sale was from two to seven years for about fifty dollars of our
money. The poor people on board the ship were prisoners, and could
neither go ashore themselves or send their baggage until they paid what
they did not owe. These captains made more money out of the deaths of
their passengers than they did from the living, as this gave them a chance
to rob chests and sell children. This was a cruel, murdering trade. Every
cruel device was resorted to in order to gain gold through the misfortune
of these poor people. One John Stedman, in 1753, bought a license in
Holland that no captain or merchant could load any passengers unless he
had two thousand. He treated these deluded people so cruelly on ship-
board that two thousand in less than one year were thrown overboard.
This was monopoly.
As will be seen in this chapter, under the head of advertisements,
many of the leading merchants in Philadelphia were engaged in this
nefarious business. In answer to the daily advertisements of " Redemp-
tioners for Sale," citizens from all parts of Pennsylvania and adjoining
States visited Philadelphia and bought these poor white people, the same
as sheep and oxen. Many of the best families and people in this State
are descendants of these " white slaves." We have some such descendants
in Jefferson County. I could name them.
Under this debasing system of indentured apprentices, the legal exist-
ence of African slavery, and the legalized sale of white emigrants in our
285
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
State, is it any wonder that among the people intemperance, illiteracy,
lottery schemes for churches, gambling, and profanity was the rule, or
that to the poor, the weak, and the wretched the prisons were the only
homes or hospitals for them, and that the " driver's lash" fell alike on the
back of the old and young, black or white, minister, school-master, or
layman ?
" I pity the mother, careworn and weary,
As she thinks of her children about to be sold ;
You may picture the bounds of the rock-girdled ocean,
But the grief of that mother can never be told."
ACT OF 1700.
"AN ACT FOR THE BETTER REGULATION OF SERVANTS IN THIS PROVINCE
AND TERRITORIES.
" For the just encouragement of servants in the discharge of their
duty, and the prevention of their deserting their masters' or owners' ser-
vice, Be it enacted, That no servant, bound to serve his or her time in
this province, or counties annexed, shall be sold or disposed of to any
person residing in any other province or government, without the con-
sent of the said servant, and two Justices of the Peace of the county
wherein he lives or is sold, under the penalty of ten pounds ; to be for-
feited by the seller.
"II. And be it further enacted, That no servant shall be assigned
over to another person by any in this province or territories, but in the
presence of one Justice of the Peace of the county, under the penalty of
ten pounds ; which penalty, with all others in this act expressed, shall be
levied by distress and sale of goods of the party offending.
" III. And be it enacted, That every servant that shall faithfully serve
four years, or more, shall, at the expiration of their servitude, have a dis-
charge, and shall be duly clothed with two complete suits of apparel,
whereof one shall be new, and shall also be furnished with one new axe,
one grubbing-hoe, and one weeding-hoe, at the charge of their master or
mistress.
" IV. And for prevention of servants quitting their masters' service,
Be it enacted, That if any servant shall absent him or herself from the
service of their master or owner for the space of one day or more, with-
out leave first obtained for the same, every such servant shall, for every
such day's absence, be obliged to serve five days, after the expiration of
his or her time, and shall further make such satisfaction to his or her
master or owner, for the damages and charges sustained by such absence,
as the respective County Court shall see meet, who shall order as well the
time to be served, as other recompense for damages sustained.
" V. And whosoever shall apprehend or take up any runaway servant,
and shall bring him or her to the Sheriff of the county, such person shall,
286
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
for every such servant, if taken up within ten miles of the servant's abode,
receive ten shillings, and if ten miles or upwards, twenty shillings reward,
of the said Sheriff, who is hereby required to pay the same, and forthwith
to send notice to the master or owner, of whom he shall receive five shil-
lings, prison fees, upon delivery of the said servant, together with all
other disbursements and reasonable charges for and upon the same.
"VI. And to prevent the clandestine employing of other men's ser-
vants, Be it enacted, That whosoever shall conceal any servant of this prov-
ince or territories, or entertain him or her twenty-four hours, without his
or her master's or owner's knowledge and consent, and shall not within
the said time give an account thereof to some Justice of the Peace of the
county, every such person shall forfeit twenty shillings for every day's
concealment. And in case the said Justice shall not, within twenty- four
hours after complaint made to him, issue his warrant, directed to the
next constable, for apprehending and seizing the said servant, and com-
mit him or her to the custody of the Sheriff of the county, such Justice
shall, for every such offence, forfeit five pounds. And the Sheriff shall
by the first opportunity, after he has received the said servant, send
notice thereof to his or her master or owner; and the said Sheriff,
neglecting or omitting in any case to give notice to the master or owner
of their servant being in his custody as aforesaid, shall forfeit five shil-
lings for every day's neglect after an opportunity has offered, to be
proved against him before the next County Court, and to be there
adjudged.
"VII. And for the more effectual discouragement of servants imbez-
zling their masters' or owners' goods, Be it enacted, That whosoever
shall clandestinely deal or traffic with any servant, white or black, for any
kind of goods or merchandise, without leave or order from his or her
master or owner, plainly signified or appearing, shall forfeit treble the
value of such goods to the owner ; and the servant if a white, shall make
satisfaction to his or her master or owner by servitude, after the expira-
tion of his or her time, to double the value of the said goods ; And if the
servant be a black, he or she shall be severely whipped, in the most public
place of the township where the offence was committed."
ACT OF 1705.
" SECTION 2. Provided, That no person shall be kept in prison for
debt or fines, longer than the second day of the next session after his or
her commitment, unless the plaintiff shall make it appear that the person
imprisoned hath some estate that he will not produce, in which case the
court shall examine all persons suspected to be privy to the concealing
of such estate ; and if no estate sufficient shall be found, the debtor shall
make satisfaction by servitude to the judgment of the court where such
287
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
actionjs tried (not exceeding seven years if a single person, and under
the age of fifty and three years, or five years if a married man, and under
the age of forty and six years) if the plaintiff require it ; but if the plain-
tiff refuse such manner of satisfaction, according to the judgment of the
court as aforesaid, then and in such case the prisoner shall be discharged
in open court.
"SECTION 3. Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be
construed to subject any master of ship or other vessel, trading into this
province from other parts, to make satisfaction for debt by servitude as
above said."
Up to 1842 this law of Pennsylvania authorized the imprisonment of
men for debt. The act of July 12 of that year abolished such imprison-
ment. Quite a number of men were committed to the old jail in Brook-
ville because of their inability to pay their debts. Sometimes their
friends paid the debt for them, and sometimes they came out under the
insolvent debtor's law. Below I give an exact copy of an execution
issued by 'Squire Corbett, a justice of the peace in Brookville:
" JEFFERSON COUNTY, ss.
"The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to James Cochran, constable
of borough, greeting : Whereas judgment against Stephen Tibbits for the
sum of 5 dollars and 27 cents and the costs was had the 6th day of Jany,
'39, before me, at the suit of Heath, Dunham & Co. : These are there-
fore in the name of the commonwealth, to command you to levy distress
on the goods and chattels of the said Stephen Tibbits, and make sale
thereof according to law to the amount of said debt and costs, and what
may accrue thereon, and make return to me in twenty days from the date
thereof; and for want of goods and chattels whereon to levy, you are
commanded to convey the body of said Stephen Tibbits to the jail of the
said county, the jailer whereof is hereby commanded to receive the same,
in safe custody to keep until the said debt and costs are paid, or other-
wise discharged by due course of law. Given under my hand and seal
the 15 day of May, 1841.
"JAMES CORBETT."
This execution was numbered 8n. The debt was $5.27 ; interest, 60
cents ; justice's costs, 25 cents ; execution and return, 20}^ cents ; total,
$6.32^. The whole sum was paid May 26, 1841.
By the act passed April 8, 1785, entitled "An Act for establishing the
office of a register of all German passengers who shall arrive at the port
of Philadelphia, and of all indentures by which any of them shall be
bound servants for their freight, and of the assigments of such servants
in the city of Philadelphia," it was provided that the register should un-
derstand and speak both German and English languages, and that he
could have "all the powers and authorities of a justice of the peace, as
288
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
far as the same shall be required for the support and efficiency of his
office, and the laws respecting the importation of German passengers and
binding them out servants." All indentures and assignments to be made
and acknowledged before the register or his deputy, and he to register
all indentures or assignments, as servants' indentures or assignments.
Under the act for regulating the importation of German and other
passengers, passed February 7, 1818, the captain was compelled to give
a bill of lading of merchandise to passengers, under a penalty of one
hundred dollars. Passengers to be discharged on payment of freight.
When passengers were sold for servitude, the indenture to be acknowl-
edged before the mayor of the city of Philadelphia; "but no master,
captain, owner, or consignee of any ship or vessel shall separate any
husband and wife, who came passengers in any such ship or vessel, by
disposing of them to different masters or mistresses, unless by mutual
consent of such husband and wife ; nor shall any passenger, without his
or her consent, be disposed of to any person residing out of this Com-
monwealth, under the penalty of one hundred dollars." The goods of
each passenger to be a pledge for freight.
AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF REDEMPTIONERS.
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the several provisions of
an act of Assembly of this Commonwealth, passed the twenty-ninth day
of September, one thousand seven hundred and seventy, entitled ' An Act
for the regulation of apprentices within this province,' and of an act
passed the eleventh day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-
nine, entitled a supplement to the act, entitled ' An Act for the regula-
tion of apprentices,' be and the same are hereby extended to all Redemp-
tioners bound to service for a term of years. " Passed pth February, 1820.
ACT OF SEPTEMBER 29, 1770.
" SECTION i. All and every person or persons that shall be bound by
indenture, to serve an apprentice in any art, mystery, labour, or occupa-
tion, with the assent of his or her parent, guardian or next friend, or
with the assent of the overseers of the poor, and approbation of any two
Justices, although such persons, or any of them, shall be within the age
of twenty-one years at the time of making their several indentures, shall
be bound to serve the time in their respective indentures contained, so
as such time or term of years of such apprentice, if female, do expire at
or before the age of eighteen years, and if a male, at or before the age
of twenty-one years, as fully to all intents and purposes as if the same
apprentices were of full age at the time of making the said indentures.
" SECTION 2. If any master or mistress shall misuse, abuse, or evilly
289
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
treat, or shall not discharge his or her duty towards his or her apprentice,
according to the covenants in the indentures between them made, or if
the said apprentice shall abscond or absent him or herself from his or her
master's or mistress's service without leave, or shall not do and discharge
his or her duty to his or her master or mistress, according to his or her
covenants aforesaid, the said master or mistress, or apprentice, being
aggrieved in the premises, shall or may apply to any one Justice of the
Peace, of any county or city, where the said master or mistress shall re-
side, who, after giving due notice to such master or mistress, or appren-
tice, if he or she shall neglect or refuse to appear, shall thereupon issue
his warrant for bringing him or her, the said master, mistress, or appren-
tice, before him, and take such order and direction, between the said
master or mistress and apprentice, as the equity and justice of the case
shall require : And if the said Justice shall not be able to settle and ac-
commodate the difference and dispute between the said master or mistress
and apprentice, through a want of conformity in the master or mistress,
then the said Justice shall take a recognizance of the said master or mis-
tress, and bind him or her over, to appear and answer the complaint of
his or her apprentice, at the next county court of Quarter Sessions, to be
held for the said county or city, and take such order with respect to such
apprentice as to him shall seem just ; and if through want of conformity
in the said apprentice he shall, if the master or mistress or apprentice re-
quest it, take recognizance of him or her with one sufficient surety, for his
or her appearance at the said sessions, and to answer the complaint of his or
her master or mistress, or commit such apprentice for want of such surety,
to the common gaol or work-house of the said county or city respectively ;
and upon such appearance of the parties and hearing of their respective
proofs and allegations, the said court shall, and they are hereby author-
ized and empowered, if they see cause, to discharge the said apprentice
of and from his or her apprenticeship, and of and from all and every the
articles, covenants, and agreements in his or her said indenture con-
tained ; but if default shall be found in the said apprentice, then the said
court is hereby authorized and empowered to cause, if they see sufficient
occasion, such punishment by imprisonment of the body, and confine-
ment at hard labour, to be inflicted on him or her, as to them, in their
discretion, they shall think his or her offence or offences shall deserve.-"
ACT OF APRIL n, 1799.
"SECTION i. If any apprentice shall absent himself or herself from
the service of his or her master or mistress, before the time of his or her
apprenticeship shall be expired, without leave first obtained, every such
apprentice, at any time after he or she arrives at the age of twenty- one
years, shall be liable to, and the master or mistress, their heirs, executors,
or administrators, are hereby enabled to sustain all such actions, and
290
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
other remedies against him or her, as if the said apprentice had been of
full age at the time of executing his or her indenture of apprenticeship.
"SECTION 2. When any master or mistress shall die before the term
of apprenticeship shall be expired, the executors or administrators of
such master or mistress, provided the term of the indenture extended to
executors and administrators, shall and may have a right to assign over
the remainder of the term of such apprenticeship to such suitable person
of the same trade or calling mentioned in the indenture, as shall be
approved of by the court of Quarter Sessions of the county where the
master or mistress lived, and the assignee to have the same right to the
service of such apprentice as the master or mistress had at the time of his
or her death ; and also when any master or mistress shall assign over his
or her apprentice to any person of the same trade or calling mentioned
in the indenture, the said assignment shall be legal, provided the terms of
the indenture extended to assigns, and provided the apprentice, or his or
her parents, guardian or guardians, shall give his, her, or their consent
to such assignment before some Justice of the Peace of the county where
the master or mistress shall live. ' '
These advertisements are selected from a large number of a similar
kind that are found in Relf's Philadelphia Gazette and Daily Advertiser
for the years 1804-5 :
" GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS.
" To be disposed of, the time of a number of German Redemptioners,
consisting of Clerks, Shoemakers, Taylors, Cloth makers, Weavers, Stock-
ing weavers, Blacksmiths, Watch makers, Miniature painters &c. on board
the Ship Cato, Capt. Barden, from the river Jade, lying off Vine Street,
apply to the captain on board Cato.
"SMITH RIDGWAY & Co.
" No. 50 n. front street.
" Nov. 3rd (1804)."
"TO BE DISPOSED OF.
" The Time of a German Servant Girl, who has eight years to serve.
She is strong and hearty, understands English, and can be well recom-
mended. Enquire at No. 15 South Third Street.
" January gth 1805."
" GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS.
"A number of German Redemptioners of different ages and profes-
sions, to be disposed of on board ship Venus from Amsterdam. For
terms apply on board, opposite Callowhill street.
" Sept. gth 1805."
"SWISS AND GERMAN PASSENGERS.
"The Time
" Of the following passengers mostly farmers and a few mechanics,
viz: 17 men, n women, 13 boys and 14 girls now to be seen at the
291
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Spread Eagle Tavern, Callowhill street near the water, to be disposed of
by their agents Winkleblick & Bund, at the Red Lion Tavern, Market
Street, between 6 and 7 street, South from 9 in the morning till 6 o'clock
in the evening. The payment to be made at the counting house of Mr.
L. Huson, No. 19 South Wharves."
"GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS.
" On board the ship Indostan laying in the stream above Vine street,
consisting of carpenters, bakers, butchers, gardeners, blacksmiths, sugar
refiners, glass makers, taylors, servants &c. &c. whose times are to be
disposed of, by
" ISAAC HAZELHURST & SONS.
" April l6th 1804."
"20 DOLLARS REWARD.
"RAN AWAY on Saturday last from the subscriber, a German in-
dentured servant man, named Tobias Schwenck, a weaver by trade, about
25 years of age, about 5 feet 6 inches high. When he speaks he has
a fashion of swinging his arms in a very passionate manner, pale face,
slender made, light straight hair, speaks a little English ; took with him
.a tight body blue coat made in the German fashion, a blue surtout coat,
two pair of Russia sheeting trousers, and a pair of blue velvet pantaloons,
and a number of other clothing, a pair of new full boots broad round
toed.
" Whoever secures the above run -away in any gaol, or delivers him
to the subscriber, shall receive the above reward and reasonable charges
paid by
" HENRY DOTTERER,
"Sign of the Buck, Second street, Philadelphia.
"Oct. 1804."
"2 DOLLARS REWARD.
"Ran away, an indentured Dutch servant girl, (the property of
Richard Baily, near the 7 mile stone, Germantown) about 8 years of
age, light complection, named Maria, was dressed in a striped lindsey
short gown and petticoat, blue worsted stockings, and speaks but little
of her native language. All persons are cautioned against detaining or
harboring the said girl. In addition to the above reward, any reason-
able expense will be allowed.
"Dec. 1 8th 1804."
" 10 DOLLARS REWARD.
" Ran away from the subscriber living in the village of New- Holland,
Lancaster County, on the evening of the 7th last, a German indentured
servant Girl, named Anna Maria Wagner, she came from Germany last
fall in the brig Newton, Capt. Reilly. She is about 19 or 20 years old,
292
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of a low stature, she hath short and sandy hair, freckled face, her arms,
hands, and feet, very small. Had on when she went away, a blue and
white striped petticoat of German manufacture, and a blue jacket, which
is remarkable, being lined after the German manner with whalebone. It
is said that she hath a sister living in the neighborhood of Kutz town,
Berks county, bound to Mr. Lesher. Whoever will secure and deliver
her in any gaol, and give notice to the subscriber thereof, so that he may
get her again, shall have the above reward, and reasonable charges paid.
All persons are hereby forewarned not to harbour her at their peril.
" JONATHAN ROLAND.
" NEW-HOLLAND, Jan. 3rd 1805."
"In law, this system was known as an apprenticeship, or service en-
tered into by a free person, voluntary, by contract for a term of years on
wages advanced before the service was entered. The servants, by per-
forming the service, were redeeming themselves, and therefore called ' Re-
demptioners.' In practice, however, with a certain class of people, and
in instances hereinafter related, this system was as revoltingly brutal and
degenerating as the negro slavery abolished in our own time in its worst
aspects.
" It was conceived and had its beginning in the harmless and in
some respects benevolent idea to help a poor person in Europe who
wished to emigrate to America and had not the money to pay for his
passage across the ocean, by giving him credit for his passage-money, on
condition that he should work for it after his arrival here, by hiring as a
servant for a term of years to a person who would advance him his wages
by paying his passage-money to the owner or master of the vessel.
"There are instances on record when school-teachers, and even min-
isters of the gospel, were in this manner bought by congregations to
render their services in their respective offices. Laws were passed for the
protection of the masters and of the servants. Whilst this is the bright
side of the Redemptioners' life, it had also a very dark side. The Re-
demptioners on their arrival here were not allowed to choose their mas-
ters nor kind of service most suitable to them. They were often sepa-
rated from their family, the wife from the husband, and children from
their parents ; were disposed of for the term of years, often at public sale,
to masters living far apart, and always to the greatest advantage of the
shipper. I have read many reports of the barbarous treatment they re-
ceived, how they were literally worked to death, receiving insufficient
food, scanty clothing, and poor lodging. Cruel punishments were in-
flicted on them for slight offences when they were at the mercy of a hard
and brutal master. Their fellow black slave was often treated better, for
he was a slave for life, and it was in the interest of the master to treat
him well to preserve him, whilst the poor Redemptioner was a slave for
293
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
a number of years only, and all his vital force was worked out of him
during the years of his service.
" No public records were kept of the contracts entered into abroad
by the Redemptioners, nor of the time of the expiration of their service.
The Redemptioners were not furnished with duplicates of their contracts.
They were sometimes, and could be, mortgaged, hired out for a shorter
period, sold, and transferred like chattel by their masters. The Redemp-
tioners belonging to the poor and most of them to the ignorant class, it
is apparent that under these conditions they were at a great disadvantage
against a rapacious master, who kept them in servitude after the expiration
of their true contract time, claiming their services for a longer period.
"For many years the Redemptioners in Maryland had come prin-
cipally from England and Ireland. The abuses of the system having be-
come known in England, rigorous laws and measures were adopted in
England for their better protection, and letters and articles appeared in
the newspapers warning the poor people from entering into these con-
tracts. The first and early immigration of Germans came into Maryland
from Pennsylvania. From Lancaster County it extended into Baltimore,
Harford, Frederick, and the western counties of our State. As wages
advanced, the trade of shipping Redemptioners to the colony became
highly lucrative. Large profits were made in a successful voyage with a
full cargo of human beings, who, on their arrival here, were sold to the
highest bidder for a term of years.
"The Dutch, who, in 1620, had sent the first cargo of negro slaves
to this country, and had amassed great wealth in the pursuit of the negro
slave-trade from distant Africa, discovered that it was less troublesome
and equally remunerative to engage in a sort of a white slave-trade, by
shipping Redemptioners from their own country, Germany, Switzerland,
and adjoining countries, to the American colonies. The shipping mer-
chants of Holland would send regular agents, or drummers, as we now
would call them, who received one-half of a doubloon for every Redemp-
tioner shipped by them into these colonies. These agents generally ap-
peared in gaudy dress, with flourish of trumpets, and in glowing language
depicted the wealth and happiness of the people of this country, whereof
all could partake if they only would come here ; that they did not need
any money for their passage, as all they had to do was to sign a contract
that on their arrival here they would pay for the same out of their first
earnings. In this manner these agents would travel from village to vil-
lage, deluding the poorest and most ignorant to follow them to the New
Eldorado.
" Whenever such an agent had collected a sufficient number, he would
take them personally to the shipping harbor in Holland. It was a gay
crowd which travelled in this manner in wagons across the country. The
horses and wagons were decorated with gay ribbons, and joyous songs
294
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
were heard from the emigrants, who believed they were leaving toil and
poverty to go to the fabulously rich America to enjoy the ease and plenty
of this world's goods. This spirit was artificially kept up by the liberal-
ity of the agent until they were safely aboard the ship. From thence
such a life of suffering, privation, and hardship commenced, that it seems
incredible that the Christian nations of Europe and America should have
permitted such a trade to flourish up to nearly the end of the first quarter
of the present century. I myself know several very old persons yet living
in Baltimore who came to this country in this manner. The contracts
which these Redemptioners had to sign in Holland, and which few of
them then understood, contained the proviso that if any passenger died
on the voyage, the surviving members of the family, or the surviving Re-
demptioner passengers, would make good his loss. Thereby a wife who
had lost her husband during the sea-voyage, or her children, on her arrival
here would be sold for five years for her own voyage and additional five
more years for the passage-money of her dead husband or dead children,
although they may have died in the very beginning of the voyage. If
there were no members of the family surviving, the time of the dead was
added to the time of service of the surviving fellow- passengers. The
effects and property of the dead were confiscated and kept by the cap-
tain. By this the shipping merchant and the captain of the vessel would
gain by the death of a part of the passengers, for the dead did not require
any more food and provision. It seems that many acted on this prin-
ciple. The ships were often so overcrowded that a part of the passengers
had to sleep on deck. Christoph Saur, in his petition to the governor
of Pennsylvania in 1775, asserts that at times there were not more than
twelve inches room for each passenger (I presume he means sleeping
room below deck), and but half sufficient bread and water. Casper
Wister, of Philadelphia, in 1752, writes, 'Last year a ship was twenty-
four weeks at sea, and of the one hundred and fifty passengers on board
thereof more than one hundred died of hunger and privation, and the
survivors were imprisoned and compelled to pay the entire passage-money
for themselves and the deceased.' In this year ten ships arrived in
Philadelphia with five thousand passengers. One ship was seventeen
weeks at sea, and about sixty passengers thereof died. Christoph Saur,
in 1758, estimates that two thousand of the passengers on the fifteen
ships which arrived that year died during the voyage. Heinrich Kep-
pele, the first president of the German Society of Pennsylvania, writes in
his diary that of the three hundred and twelve passengers on board of the
ship wherein he crossed the ocean, two hundred and fifty died during
the voyage. In February, 1775, Christoph Saur relates in his news-'
paper, 'Another ship has arrived. Of the four hundred passengers,
not more than fifty are reported alive. They received their bread every
two weeks. Some ate their portion in four, five, and six days, which
295
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXNA.
should have lasted fifteen days. If they received no cooked victuals
in eight days, their bread gave out the sooner, and as they had to wait
until the fifteen days were over, they starved, unless they had money with
which to buy of the mate flour at three pence sterling a pound, and a
bottle of wine for seven kopstick thalers.' Then he relates how a man
and his wife, who had ate their bread within eight days, crawled to the
captain and begged him to throw them overboard, to relieve them of
their misery, as they could not survive till bread-day. The captain re-
fused to do it, and the mate in mockery gave them a bag filled with sand
and coals. The man and his wife died of hunger before the bread-day
arrived. But, notwithstanding, the survivors had to pay for the bread
which the dead ought to have had. Pennsylvania, in 1765, at the insti-
gation of the German Society, passed rigorous laws for the protection of
the Redemptioners, but Maryland remained inactive until more than
fifty years later." Hennighausen.
In Pennsylvania this traffic in white people continued until about
1820-25, when public sentiment compelled it to be discontinued.
CHAPTER XVI.
PIONEER MONEY.
" THE subject of a national mint for the United States was first intro-
duced by Robert Morris, the patriot and financier of the Revolution. As
head of the finance department, Mr. Morris was instructed by Congress
to prepare a report on the foreign coins then in' circulation in the United
States. On the i5th of January, 1782, he laid before Congress an expo-
sition of the whole subject. Accompanying this report was a plan for
American coinage. But it was mainly through his efforts, in connection
with Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, that a mint was estab-
lished in the early history of the Union of the States. On the i5th ot
April, 1 790, Congress instructed the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander
Hamilton, to prepare and report a proper plan for the establishment of a
national mint, and Mr. Hamilton presented his report at the next session.
An act was framed establishing the mint, which finally passed both
houses and received President Washington's approval April 2, 1792.
"A lot of ground was purchased on Seventh Street near Arch, and
appropriations were made for erecting the requisite buildings. An old
still- house, which stood on the lot, had first to be removed. In an
account-book of that time we find an entry on the 3151 of July, 1792, of
the sale of some old materials of the still-house for seven shillings and
296
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
sixpence, which ' Mr. Rittenhouse directed should be laid out for punch in
laying the foundation-stone.'
"The first building erected in the United States for public use under
the authority of the federal government was a structure for the United
States Mint. This was a plain brick edifice, on the east side of Seventh
Street near Arch, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the corner-stone of which
was laid by David Rittenhouse, director of the mint, on July 31, 1792.
In the following October operations of coining commenced. It was
occupied for about forty years. On the igth of May, 1829, an act was
passed by Congress locating the United States Mint on its present site.
"The first coinage of the United States was silver half-dimes, in
October, 1792, of which Washington makes mention in his address to
Congress, on November 6, 1792, as follows : 'There has been a small
beginning in the coinage of half-dimes, the want of small coins in circu-
lation calling the first attention to them.' The first metal purchased for
coinage was six pounds of old copper at one shilling and three pence per
pound, which was coined and delivered to the treasurer in 1793. The
first deposit of silver bullion was made on July 18, 1794, by the Bank of
Maryland. It consisted of ' coins of France,' amounting to eighty thou-
sand seven hundred and fifteen dollars and seventy-three and a half cents.
The first returns of silver coins to the treasurer was made on October,
15, 1794. The first deposit of gold bullion for coinage was made by
Moses Brown, merchant, of Boston, on February 12, 1795; it was of
gold ingots, worth two thousand two hundred and seventy-six dollars and
seventy-two cents, which was paid for in silver coins.
"The first return of gold coinage was on July 31, 1795, and con-
sisted of seven hundred and forty-four half-eagles. The first delivery of
eagles was on September 22, same year, and consisted of four hundred
pieces.
"Previous to the coinage of silver dollars at the Philadelphia Mint,
in 1794, the following amusing incidents occurred in Congress while the
emblems and devices proposed for the reverse field of that coin were
being discussed.
"A member of the House from the South bitterly opposed the choice
of the eagle, on the ground of its being the ' king of birds,' and hence
neither proper nor suitable to represent a nation whose institutions and
interests were wholly inimical to monarchical forms of government.
Judge Thatcher playfully, in reply, suggested that perhaps a goose might
suit the gentleman, as it was a rather humble and republican bird, and
would also be serviceable in other respects, as the goslings would answer
to place upon the dimes. This answer created considerable merriment,
and the irate Southerner, conceiving the humorous rejoinder as an insult,
sent a challenge to the judge, who promptly declined it. The bearer,
rather astonished, asked, ' Will you be branded as a coward ?' ' Cer-
20 297
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
tainly, if he pleases,' replied Thatcher; ' I always was one, and he knew
it, or he would never have risked a challenge.' The affair occasioned
much mirth, and, in due time, former existing cordial relations were
restored between the parties, the irritable Southerner concluding there
was nothing to be gained in fighting with one who fired nothing but
jokes.
" Previous to the passage of the law by the federal government for
regulating the coins of the United States, much perplexity arose from the
use of no less than four different currencies or rates, at which one species
of coin was recoined, in the different parts of the Union. Thus, in
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Ver-
mont, Virginia, and Kentucky the dollar was recoined at six shillings ; in
New York and North Carolina at eight shillings ; in New Jersey, Penn-
sylvania, and Maryland at seven shillings and six pence ; in Georgia and
South Carolina at four shillings and eight pence. The subject had en-
gaged the attention of the Congress of the old confederation, and the
present system of the coins is formed upon the principles laid down in
their resolution of 1786, by which the denominations of money of ac-
count were required to be dollars (the dollar to be the unit), dimes or
tenths, cents or hundredths, and mills or thousandths of a dollar. Noth-
ing can be more simple or convenient than this decimal subdivision. The
terms are proper because they express the proportions which they are in-
tended to designate. The dollar was wisely chosen, as it corresponded
with the Spanish coin, with which we had been long familiar." G. G.
Evans 1 s History of the United States Mint.
TABLE OF THE DENOMINATIONS OF UNITED STATES MONEY.
Standard Weight as established by Law.
Dwt. Gr.
\ cent 3 12
10 mills make I cent 7 oo
\ dime o 2O i 8 <y
10 cents make I dime I I 7^g
\ dollar 4 8
\ dollar 8 16
10 dimes make I dollar 17 8
\ eagle 2 i6/ ff
\ ea 8 le 5 9
10 dollars make I eagle 10 18
The mills were imaginary and never coined. The old cents were
made of copper, round, and about one inch in diameter and one-sixth of
an inch in thickness.
PIONEER BANKS.
The pioneer act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania regulating banks
was passed March 21, 1813, but Governor Snyder vetoed the bill. On
298
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the 2ist of March, 1814, this bill was "log-rolled" through the Legis-
lature and became a law over Governor Snyder's veto. Previous to that
time banks were organized under articles of association.
CURRENCY.
" The best currency of those times was New York bank-notes, and
the poorest those of the Western banks. Pennsylvania bank-notes had
only a small circulation in the county, and held a place in popular esti-
mation intermediate between the above. There was a discount on all
these, ranging from one to twenty per cent. It was for the interest of the
private bankers to circulate the notes on which there was the largest
discount, and as a consequence the county was flooded with the bills of
banks the locations of which were hardly known. Every business man
had to keep a 'Bank-Note Detector,' revised and published monthly
or weekly, on hand, and was not sure then that the notes he accepted
would not be pronounced worthless by the next mail. There was hardly
a week without a bank failure, and nearly every man had bills of broken
banks in his possession. To add to the perplexities of the situation,
there were innumerable counterfeits which could with difficulty be dis-
tinguished from the genuine. Granting that the bank was good, and
that the discount was properly figured, there was no assurance that the
bill was what it purported to be. All this was a terrible annoyance and
loss to the people, but it was a regular bonanza to the 'shaving-shops.'
Even of the uncertain bank-notes there was not enough to do the busi-
ness of the community. Most of the buying and selling was done on
long credit, and occasionally a manufacturing firm, to ease itself along
and relieve the necessities of the public, would issue a mongrel coin,
which went by the name of ' pewterinctum.' '
CHAPTER XVII.
" SCOTCH-IRISH" ORIGIN OF THE TERM UNDER JAMES i. LORDS AND
LAIRDS EARLY SETTLERS IN PENNSYLVANIA THE PIONEER AND EARLY
SETTLERS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
SCOTCH-IRISH.
THE term "Scotch-Irish" is so frequently used, particularly in Penn-
sylvania, and is so little understood, even by those who claim such
relationship, that I consider it appropriate in this place to explain its
derivation. In the time of James I. of England the Irish earls of Tyrone
and Tyrconnell conspired against his government, fled from Ireland,
were proclaimed outlaws, and their estates, consisting of about five hun-
299
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
dred thousand acres of land, were seized by the crown. The king
divided these lands into small tracts, and gave tracts to persons from
his o\vn country (Scotland), on the sole condition that each individual
securing a tract of land should cross over into Ireland within four years
and reside upon the land permanently. A second insurrection soon
after gave occasion for another large forfeiture, and nearly six counties in
the province of Ulster were confiscated and taken possession of by the
officers of the crown. King James was a zealous sectarian, and his
primary object was to root out the native Irish, who were all Catholics,
hostile to his government, and almost continually plotting against it,
and to populate Ireland with those from his own country, Scotland,
whom he knew would be loyal to him.
The distance from Scotland to County Antrim, in Ireland, was but
twenty miles. The lands offered by James free of cost were among
the best and most productive in the Emerald Isle, though they had been
made barren by the strifes of the times and the indolence of a degraded
peasantry. Having the power of the government to encourage and pro-
tect them, the inducements offered to the industrious Scotch could not
be resisted. Thousands went over. Many of them, though not lords,
were lairds, or those who held lands direct from the crown, and all were
men of enterprise and energy, and above the average in intelligence.
They went to work to restore the land to fruitfulness, and to show the
superiority of their habits and belief compared with those of the natives
among whom they settled. They soon made to blossom as a rose the
counties of Antrim, Armagh, Caven, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Lon-
donderry, Monaghan, and Tyrone, all names familiar to Jefferson
County and Pennsylvania settlers.
These were the first Protestants to settle in Ireland, and they at once
secured the ascendency in the counties in which they settled, and their
descendants have maintained that ascendency to the present time against
the efforts of the Church of England on the one hand and the Roman
Catholic Church on the other. These Scots refused to intermarry with
the Irish who surrounded them. The Scotch were Saxon in blood and
Presbyterian in religion, while the Irish were Celtic in blood and Roman
Catholic in religion. These were elements that would not coalesce ;
hence the races are as distinct in Ireland to-day, after a lapse of more
than two hundred and fifty years, as when the Scotch first crossed over.
The term Scotch-Irish is purely American. It is not used in Ireland ; in
the United States it is given to the Protestant emigrants from the north
of Ireland, simply because they were descendants of the Scots who had
in former times taken up their residence in Ireland.
But few Scotch-Irish emigrants found their way to the Province of
Pennsylvania prior to 1719. Those that came in that year came from
the north of Ireland. Subsequently the descendants of the Scots in Ire-
300
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
land were bitterly persecuted by the English government ; hence thou-
sands of them migrated to and settled in Pennsylvania. In 1729
thousands of Scotch-Irish arrived in Philadelphia from Ireland, as well
as some English, Welsh, and Scotch people, many of whom were sold in
servitude for a term of from three to seven years, for about forty dollars
each, to pay passage-money or for their goods. For a further description
of this form of slavery, see Chapter XV., German Redemptioners.
In September, 1736, one thousand Scotch-Irish families sailed from
Belfast because of an inability to rene\v their land leases upon satisfactory
terms, and the most of these people settled in the eastern and middle
counties of Pennsylvania. By a change of residence they hoped to find
an unrestrained field for the exercise of industry and skill, and for the
enjoyment of religious opinions. They brought with them a hatred of
oppression and a love of freedom that served much to give that inde-
pendent tone to the sentiments of the people of the province which pre-
vailed in their controversies with the English government years before
these Scots entertained a thought of American political independence.
The Scotch-Irish who settled in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsyl-
vania brought its fair lands under cultivation. They fought the savages
and stood as a wall of fire against savage forays eastward. It is said that
between 1771 and 1773 over twenty -five thousand of these Scotch-Irish
were driven from Ireland by the rapacity of Irish lairds or landlords,
and located either in that rich valley or west of the Allegheny Mountains
in Pennsylvania. This was just before the Revolutionary War, and while
the angry controversies that preceded it were taking place between the
colonists and the English government. Hence these Pennsylvanians
were in just the right frame of mind to make them espouse to a man the
side of the patriots. A Tory was unheard of among them. They were
found as military leaders in all times of danger, and were among the
most prominent law-makers through and after the seven years' struggle
for freedom and human rights. The Scotch-Irish in the United States
have furnished Presidents, United States Senators, Congressmen, judges,
and many others in civil as well as in all stations of life.
The pioneers of Westmoreland, Indiana, and Jefferson Counties were
made up principally of these Scotch-Irish or their descendants.* I am
indebted to the "History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania," 1876, for
the data and facts contained in this article.
PIONEER RECORD OF CIVIL LIST.
Roster of State Officers in 1804, at Organization. Thomas McKean,
Governor ; Thomas McKean Thompson, Secretary of the Commonwealth ;
* The Harrietts and others were of this origin. Washington township was settled
almost exclusively by them.
301
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
George Duffield, Auditor-General ; Andrew Ellicott, Secretary of Land-
Office ; Timothy Matlack, Master of Rolls ; John McKissick, Receiver-
General ; Samuel Bryan, Controller-General ; Clement Biddle, Escheator-
General ; Samuel Cochran, Surveyor- General ; Isaac Weaver, State
Treasurer ; Joseph B. McKean, Attorney-General ; Richard Hampton,
Adjutant-General ; Simon Snyder, Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives ; Robert Whitehill, Speaker of the Senate ; Edward Shippen, Chief
Justice of Supreme Court. Pennsylvania then had eighteen Congressmen.
Her United States Senators were George Logan and Samuel Maclay.
In 1838 the amended constitution as adopted limited the rights of
any one man to serve in the office of governor to six years out of nine.
Under the first constitution of 1790 the limit of service in this office
was nine years out of twelve.
Up to 1840 the judges were all appointed by the governor with
the advice and consent of the Senate. Supreme Court judges were
appointed for fifteen years, district judges of the Court of Common
Pleas were appointed for ten years, and the associate judges were
appointed for five years.
OFFICIALS OF WESTMORELAND AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.
President judge, 1805, Alexander Addison ; 1806, John Young.
OFFICIALS OF INDIANA AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.
Jefferson was attached to Indiana from 1806 until 1830. Hon. John
Young, of Greensburg, was president judge from 1806 until 1830.
Associate Judges appointed and elected. James Smith, Charles Camp-
bell, 1806; Joshua Lewis, 1818; John Taylor, 1828; Andrew Browning,
1829; Samuel Morehead, 1830.
Prothonotary ', Clerk, and Register and Recorder. James McLain,
1806-18; John Taylor, 1818-21.
Prothonotary, Clerk, etc. James McCahan, 1821-24; Alexander
Taylor, 1824-28; William Banks, 1828-30.
Register and Recorder. James Speer, 1821-24; Alexander Taylor,
1824-28; William Banks, 1828-30.
Sheriff. Thos. McCartney, 1806-9; Thos. Sutton, 1809-12; Robert
Robinson, 1812-15; Thos. Sutton, 1815-18; James Elliott, 1818-21;
Henry Kinter, 1821-24; Clements McGara, 1824-27; and James Gor-
don, 1827-30.
Treasurer. James McKnight, 1811-12; Thos. Sutton, 1813; John
Taylor, 1815-16; William Lucas, 1817-18; William Douglass, 1820-21 ;
Alexander Taylor, 1822-23; William Trimble, 1824-26; William Lucas,
1827-29 ; and Blaney Adair, 1830.
Commissioners. William Clark, 1806-7; James Johnson, 1806;
302
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Alexander McLain, 1806; Wm. Clark, 1808; Alexander McLain, 1808;
Wm. Clark, 1809; Rev. John Jamison, 1809; James McKnight, 1810;
Rev. John Jamison, 1810; Robt. Robinson, 1810 n; Joshua Lewis,
1811-12; Rev. John Jamison, 1811; Robt. Robinson, 1812; Joseph
Moorhead, 1812; Francis Boals, 1813-14; Joshua Lewis, 1813; Joseph
Moorhead, 1813-14; Francis Boals, 1814-15 ; Alexander McLain, 1814-
16; Garvin Sutton, 1815-17; Thomas Sharp, 1816-18; John Smith,
1817-19; Thomas Laughlin, 1818-19; Joseph Henderson, 1819-21;
Wm. Clark, 1820; John Smith, 1820; Clements McGara, 1821-22;
Stewart Davis, 1822-24; Wm. Clark, 1822; Clements McGara, 1823;
Alexander Pattison, 1823-24; James Gordon, 1824-25.
Clerk to Commissioners. James Riddle, 1806; James McKnight,
1807; Daniel Stannard and James M. Biddle, 1808; Daniel Stannard,
1809-10; James McKnight, 1811; James M. Kelley, 1812-13; John
Wilson and James Coulter, 1814; John Wilson and John Taylor, 1815 ;
Garvin Sutton and John Taylor, 1816; Daniel Stannard and Stewart
Davis, 1817; Stewart Davis, 1818-20; Robert Young, 1822-23;
Ephraim Carpenter, 1824.
In 1824 Jefferson County elected three commissioners independent
of Indiana.
The pioneer elections in Jefferson County for President and governor
were as follows :
For President. 1832, Andrew Jackson, 175; William Wirt, 105.
1836, Martin Van Buren, 244; William H. Harrison, 231. 1840,
Martin Van Buren, 592; William H. Harrison, 476. 1844, James K.
Polk, 731 ; Henry Clay, 591. .
For Governor. 1832, Geo. Wolf, 250; Joseph Ritner, 173. 1835,
Geo. Wolf, 356; Joseph Ritner, 246 ; Muhlenberg, 3. 1838, David R.
Porter, 591; Joseph Ritner, 421. 1841, David R. Porter, 678; John
Banks, 447. 1844, Francis R. Shunk, 727; Joseph Markle, 617.
Pioneer Congressional Districts and Early Members. Pioneer district,
Indiana, Westmoreland, and Jefferson: 1816-17, David Marchand ;
1820-24, Rev. Plummer; 1826-28-30, Richard Coulter. Early districts,
Armstrong, Butler, Clearfield, and Jefferson: 1832-34, Samuel S. Harri-
son; 1836-38, William Beatty; 1840, William Jack, first Congressman
from Jefferson County. Clearfield, McKean, Warren, Potter, Erie,
Venango, and Jefferson: 1833, Chas. M. Reed.
Pioneer Senatorial Districts and Senators. Pioneer district, Indiana,
Westmoreland, and Jefferson: 1815, John Reed; 1819, Henry Alls-
house. Early districts, Indiana, Cambria, Armstrong, Venango, Warren,
and Jefferson: 1822, Robert Orr, Jr.; 1825, Ebon S. Kelley. Jefferson,
Indiana, Armstrong, Venango, and Warren: 1829, Joseph Fox; 1830,
William D. Barclay; 1831, Philip Mechling ; 1834, Meek Kelley. Jef-
ferson, Venango, Warren, McKean, and Tioga: 1838, Samuel Hays.
303
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Elk, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, Warren, and Clarion: 1842, William P.
Wilcox. Twenty-eight years and Jefferson no Senator.
Pioneer Legislative Districts and Members. Pioneer district, Jeffer-
son, Indiana, and Armstrong: 1816, Joshua Lewis, James M. Kelley ;
1817, James M. Kelley, Samuel Houston; 1818, Samuel Houston,
Robert Orr, Jr. ; 1819, Robert Orr, Jr. ; 1820, Robert Orr, Jr., Robert
Mitchell ; 1821, Robert Mitchell, James Taylor ; 1822-23, John Taylor,
Joseph Rankin ; 1824, Joseph Rankin, William Lawson; 1825. William
Lawson, Thomas Johnson; 1826, David Lawson, Joseph Rankin; 1827,
Robert Mitchell, Joseph Rankin; 1828, Joseph Rankin, David Lawson.
Early districts, Indiana and Jefferson, with one member: 1829, Robert
Mitchell; 1830-31, William Houston; 1832, James M. Stewart; 1833-
34, William Banks; 1835, James Taylor; thirty years connected with
Indiana and Jefferson never conceded a member by Indiana. Jefferson,
Warren, and McKean, with one member: 1836-37, C. B. Curtis; 1838-
39, William P. Wilcox; 1840, James L. Gillis, first member from Jeffer-
son ; 1841, Lewis B. Dunham, of Jefferson; 1842, Joseph Y. James.
In 1843 another district was formed, and James Dowling, of Jefferson,
was elected in 1844.
"At the election held in 1835 votes were cast on the question of a
convention to amend the constitution of the State, which resulted in
Jefferson as follows : for a convention, 424; against a convention, 59.
"In 1836 the votes cast for delegate to the convention were as follows :
Thomas Hastings, 303; O. Hamlin, 284; Benjamin Bartholomew, 127 ;
and Powell, 10.
" In 1838 the vote on the amendment .to the constitution stood as fol-
lows : for amendment, 593; against amendment, 356.
"At the general election in 1839 the first prothonotary was chosen.
Levi G. Clover received therefor 544 votes, and William Campbell 358
votes.
" The first county treasurer chosen by the people was at the election in
the year 1841. Samuel Craig received 357 votes ; Thomas Hastings, 300 ;
David Henry, 230; and Samuel Carey, 219.
"The act of Assembly, passed April 8, 1830, having bestowed full
powers, rights, and privileges upon the citizens of Jefferson, and invest-
ing complete authority in the county, as an organized body politic, the
first general election for State and county officers was held on the second
Tuesday of October of that year. The number of townships was then
five, viz. : Pine Creek, Ridgeway, Perry, Rose, and Young. The officers
voted for and the number of votes received by each candidate are as fol-
lows :
"Congress. Richard Coulter, 162 ; James Pollock, 121.
"Senate. Philip Mechling, 143; Joseph M. Fox, 41 ; William D.
Barclay, 103.
304
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Assembly. William Houston, 176 ; Meek Kelley, 108.
Sheriff. Thomas McKee, 130; Frederick Heterick, 129; William
Bowers, 93.
" Coroner. John Lucas, 230; John Barnett, 2; Joseph Long, 51;
John Hess, i.
"Commissioner. Robert Andrews, 90; Jacob Hoover, 83 ; John Lat-
timer, 36 ; William Kennedy, 6 ; Isaac Lewis, 59 ; John McClelland, 13.
"Auditor. John Hess, 138 ; John Welsh, 102 ; John Eason, 20 ; John
Bell, 2 ; Peter Button, i." Atlas.
The county was erected in 1804, but there was no election of any
kind held until Friday, March 20, 1807. Pine Creek township was estab-
lished in 1806, and the election district made at Joseph Barnett's. In
1819, Perry was created. This made two election districts, one at Bar-
nett's and one at Bell's. Little Sandy was the dividing line. Previous
to 1826 all the settlers on the north of this line had to vote at Port Bar-
nett, and all south at John Bell's. All legal business had to be trans-
acted at Indiana until 1830. No voters in the county before 1814 could
vote at a general election. Yet even after 1814 there was no record of
our vote, for Jefferson votes were counted in with Indiana.
PIONEER ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR OFFICE PREVIOUS TO NOMINATING
CONVENTIONS.
"To the free and independent electors of Jefferson County, who
are opposed to petty aristocracies and serving friends out of the public
treasury, I offer myself as a candidate for the office of COUNTY AUDITOR,
and pledge myself, if elected, to pay some regard to the oath of office,
and oppose the settling of any account paid out of the county treasury that
is not strictly legal.
"ELIJAH HEATH."
Brookville Republican, August 24, 1837.
"TO THE FREE AND INDEPENDENT ELECTORS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
" To all who are opposed to petty aristocracies, to serving friends and
pensioners out of the public treasury, and, in short, to all who are op-
posed to petty monopolies, petty larceny, and to those who sacrifice
honor, truth, and honesty at the shrine of Mammon, or in any manner
worship the golden calf at the hazard of the damnation of their souls, I,
on the suggestion, and at the earnest solicitation of many friends, offer
myself, at the ensuing election, as a candidate for the office of COUNTY
AUDITOR, and I hereby stand pledged, if elected, to pay full and com-
plete regard to the oath of office and to oppose settlement of any account
not in good faith strictly honest.
" C. A. ALEXANDER."
Brookville Republican, August 31, 1837.
305
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEER ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH NOMINATING CONVENTIONS FOR
COUNTY OFFICERS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Previous and up to the year 1837 everybody who wished announced
and ran for office in the county without a caucus nomination, but in that
year the pioneer effort was made to organize a party system of nominating
candidates, viz. :
" PUBLIC MEETING.
" In pursuance of a notice in the Brookville Republican the Democratic
citizens of Jefferson County assembled at the court-house in the borough
of Brookville, on Saturday, the 26th of August, instant, to take into
consideration the propriety of electing delegates to meet similar dele-
gates at Montmorency from the counties of Warren and McKean, to
put in nomination a suitable person to be supported at the next general
election to represent the district composed of the counties of Warren,
McKean, and Jefferson.
"On motion, Richard Arthurs, Esq., was appointed President, Wil-
liam Rodgers, Esq., and Daniel Coder, Vice-Presidents, and Jesse G.
Clark, Secretary.
" The object of the meeting being briefly and ably stated by John J.
Y. Thompson, Esq., the following resolutions were adopted, viz. :
" Resolved, That Uriah Matson and Thomas Hastings, Esqrs., be ap-
pointed delegates of the Democratic party to meet similar delegates from
Warren and McKean Counties, at Montmorency, on the 3oth day of
August, inst., to put in nomination a suitable person to be supported at
the general election to represent this district in the next Legislature.
"Resolved, That a notice be published in the Brookville Republican,
requesting the several townships in the county to send delegates to meet
at the court-house on the Wednesday evening of the next September
court, to put in nomination suitable persons to fill the various offices in
said county, to be supported at the next annual election.
"Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the
officers and published in the Brookville Republican.
" R. ARTHURS,
President.
WILLIAM RODGERS,
DANIEL CODER,
Vice -Presidents.
JESSE G. CLARK,
Secretary. ' '
PIONEER NOMINATING CONVENTION ORGANIZATION OF THE SYS-
TEM OF CONVENTION NOMINATIONS IN THE COUNTY.
" TOWNSHIP MEETINGS.
"The citizens of the several townships throughout this county are
requested to hold meetings in their several townships, and appoint dele-
306
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
gates to meet in convention, in the court-house, on Wednesday evening,
the 1 3th of September next (court week), for the purpose of putting in
nomination suitable persons to be supported by the Democratic Anti-
Bank, Anti-Shinplaster party for the several county officers.
" DEMOCRATS."
Brookville Democrat- Republican, August 31, 1837.
PIONEER ELECTION OF DELEGATES DEMOCRATIC GENERAL
COUNTY MEETING.
" Pursuant to a resolution of the convention which assembled in War-
ren on the 6th of September last, for the purpose of nominating a can-
didate to represent the legislative district composed of the counties of
Jefferson, Warren, and McKean in the General Assembly, it is enjoined
on the several counties in the assembly district to appoint two delegates
from each county to meet in convention on future occasions to bring up a
candidate for this district, and that they assemble for said purpose at the
house of Gould Richardson, in Montmorency, Jefferson County, on the
last Wednesday in August next.
"Agreeable to the foregoing resolve the Democratic citizens of Jeffer-
son will meet at the court-house, in the borough of Brookville, on Satur-
day, the 26th instant, at five o'clock, to appoint two delegates to confer
with the delegates from other counties in said convention.
" MANY DEMOCRATS."
Brookville Republican, August 10, 1837.
PIONEER JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
It appears by the records in the office of the Secretary of the Com-
monwealth at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that the pioneer justices of the
peace for Jefferson County were appointed in the year 1809, viz. :
Thomas Lucas, on the i6th of January, A.D. 1809, and John Scott on
the 1 7th of March, A.D. 1809.
In the books at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, containing the appoint-
ments of justices of the peace from the year 1809 until the year 1840,
when the office became elective, the following record of justices of the
peace of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, appears :
FIRST DISTRICT.
Composed of the townships of Perry and Young and that part of Pine
Creek lying south of the State Road leading from Milesburg to Erie,
bounded by the county line and said road :
John Bell, appointed March 8, 1818.
Thomas Lucas, appointed January 16, 1809.
Charles C. Gaskill, appointed August 15, 1822. Resigned March 12,
1824.
307
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Andrew H. Bowman, appointed February 28, 1826. Resigned.
Elijah Heath, appointed May 16, 1828.
John Hess, Sr., appointed August 20, 1830. Resigned March 7, 1831.
John Winslow, appointed May 20, 1831.
William Stunkard, appointed October 22, 1831.
James Bell, appointed November 13, 1832.
John Robinson, appointed May 27, 1833.
Alexander McKnight, appointed October 25, 1833.
Martin Shoaf, appointed October 31, 1833.
James M. Steedman, appointed January i, 1834.
William Ferguson, appointed May 27, 1835.
John Robinson, appointed in 1836.
James Corbett, appointed June, 1837, for District No. i, composed
of the townships of Perry, Young, and that part of Pine Creek lying
south of the State Road leading from Milesburg to Erie, bounded by the
county line and said road, including the borough of Brookville.
SECOND DISTRICT.
To include the remainder of said county lying north of the State
Road leading from Milesburg to Erie, bounded 'by the county line and
said State Road, including Ridgeway township :
Joseph McCullough, appointed December i, 1823.
John Stratton, appointed March, 31, 1837.
Reuben A. Aylesworth, appointed February 18, 1832, and resides in
Ridgeway township. Resigned March 15, 1836.
John Wilson, appointed January 8, 1835.
Stephen Tibbetts, appointed February 14, 1835.
EARLY JUSTICES OF THE PEACE PIONEER ELECTION, 1840.
Young Township. William Davis, Lemuel Carey.
Porter Township John Robinson.
Paradise Township.
Pine Creek Township. John J. Y. Thompson, Nathaniel Butler.
Washington Township. Andrew Smith, William Reynolds.
Eldred Township. William McNeil, David Lamb.
Snyder Township. Milton Johnston, Asaph M. Clarke.
Barnett Township. Oran Butterfield, John A. Maize.
Ridgeway Township. James Gallagher, Lyman Wilmarth.
Tionesta Township. John G. Williamson.
Jenks Township. Cyrus Blood.
1842.
Rose Township. William Kelso.
Clover Township. Darius Carrier.
Porter Township. Martin H. Shannon.
308
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Snyder Township. Isaac Ingalls.
Pine Creek Township. Samuel Howe.
Jenks Township. Russell Buffum.
JEFFERSON COUNTY ROSTER.
The various offices in Jefferson County have been filled by the fol-
lowing persons, either by election or appointment, since 1824. The
commissioners, treasurer, and auditors, being the first officers of the pro-
visional county, we commence with them. The figures at the com-
mencement of the line denote the year they were elected or appointed.
Year. Commissioners. Treasurers. Auditors.
(And. Barnett
John Lucas
J. W. Jenks
(A. Baldwin.
James Corbett.
T. Robinson.
1826 F. Heterick J. Brockway.
1827 Thos. McKee Christopher Barr .... Jonathan Coon.
1828 Thos. Lucas John Christy.
1829 Elijah Heath Andrew Barnett . . . . J. McCullough.
1830 R. Andrews . John Hess.
1831 J. Henderson J. B. Evans Wm. Kelso.
1832 C. R. Barclay D. Postlethwait.
1833 L. G. Clover Wm. A. Sloan .... John Welsh.
1834 Jas. Corbett J. M. Stedman .... Wm. Ferguson.
1835 Jas. Winslow ..... Jas. L. Gillis J. J. Y. Thompson.
1836 J. Philliber A. McKnight H. Robinson.
1837 John Pierce C. Alexander.
1838 Daniel Coder Daniel Smith .... Jesse Smith.
1839 Irwin Robinson .... Wm. Rodgers M. Johnston.
1840 B. McCreight J. G. Clark James Gray.
1841 Joel Spyker Nathaniel Butler .... James Perry.
1842 J. Gallagher Samuel Craig W. Reynolds.
1843 John Drum J. Henderson John Pifer.
1844 Enoch Hall A. McKinstry.
The first election for treasurer took place in 1841, when Samuel
Craig was elected. Previous to that time they were appointed by the
commissioners for one year, and were eligible to reappointment.
Jonathan Coon died in the spring of 1838, and Samuel Newcomb
was elected in his place at the general election to fill the unexpired term
as auditor.
Charles R. Barclay, commissioner, resigned in the spring of 1834.
John Lattimer was appointed until the election, and then James Winslow
was elected to fill the vacancy one year.
Treasurer McKnight died June 20, 1837, and on the 22d of the same
month Daniel Smith was appointed to fill the vacancy.
309
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Prothonotaries were appointed by the governor until 1839, the amended
constitution making them elective for three years. James Corbett, ap-
pointed in 1830; Thomas Hastings in 1832; Thomas Lucas in 1835;
Levi G. Clover, appointed in 1839, and elected in the fall of the same
year; John McCrea, elected in 1842.
Sheriffs. 1830, Thomas McKee ; 1833, William Jack, appointed in
June, in room of McKee, dead ; in the fall of the same year William
Clark was elected; in 1836, Joseph Henderson elected; 1839, John
Smith; 1842, Thompson Barr.
Coroners. 1830, John Lucas; 1833, J. Christy; 1836, Joseph Sharp;
1838, John Earheart; 1839, John Lucas; 1842, Henry Frease. The office
of coroner has been considered of such small importance that but few
persons lift their commissions.
President Judges. 1830, Thomas Burnside appointed; resigned in
1835, and Nathaniel B. Eldred appointed; Eldred resigned in 1839, and
Alexander McCalmont appointed, whose term expired in 1849.
Associate Judges. In 1830, John W. Jenks and Elijah Heath were
appointed; Heath resigned in 1835, and William Jack was appointed;
Jack resigned in 1837, and Andrew Barnett was appointed. In 1841
James Winslow was appointed in room of John W. Jenks, whose term of
office expired under the amended constitution. In February, 1843,
Andrew Barnett's time expired, and James L. Gillis was appointed, but
in consequence of the erection of Elk County, Gillis resigned in Novem-
ber of the same year, and Levi G. Clover was appointed.
COMMISSIONERS' CLERKS.
1824-26, Ira White; 1828, James Diven ; 1829, William Morrison;
1830-31, William M. Kennedy; 1832, Benjamin Bartholomew; 1833,
Jesse Smith; 1834-35, John Beck; 1836, John Wilson; 1838-39, Jesse
G. Clark; 1840-41, William Rodgers; 1842-43, Hugh Brady.
PIONEER APPEALS.
"NOTICE.
"The taxable inhabitants of Jefferson County will take notice that
the commissioners will hold the appeals for said county as follows, viz. :
"On Tuesday, the iyth day of February next, at James Caldwell's
in Punxsutawny for Young township.
"On Wednesday, the i8th February next, at Sprankle's Mill for
Perry township.
" On Thursday, the igth day of February next, at Andrew Barnett's
for Pine Creek township.
"On Friday, the 2oth day of February next, at the commissioners'
office in Brookville for Rose township.
" On Tuesday, the 24th day of February next, at James Gallagher's for
Ridgeway township.
310
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" On Tuesday, the 24th day of February next, at William Armstrong's
for Barnett township.
" By order of the commissioners.
" JOHN BECK, Clerk.
"COMMISSIONERS' OFFICE, BROOKVILLE, Feb. 12, 1835.
CHAPTER XVIII.
FROM 1830 TO 1840.
I COPY from a book published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1832,
the following :
" Jefferson County was provisionally erected by an act of 26th March,
1804, and is bounded north by McKean and Warren, east by McKean
and Clearfield, south by Indiana, and west by Armstrong and Yenango
Counties. Greatest length 46 miles, mean breadth 26 ; area, 1200 square
miles. Central lat. 41 15' N., long. 2 W. from W. C.
" Like the rest of Northwestern Pennsylvania, the county is hilly, and
iron and coal are in abundance ; the latter is in every part of the county.
The soil in the valleys is in many places highly fertile, but the great body
of the county cannot be rated above second quality. It is abundantly
watered, having on the south Mahoning Creek ; on the. west Little
Sandy Lick Creek and Big Sandy Lick Creek, whose branches stretch
across the county. Clarion River, or Toby's Creek, with its many and
large ramifications, intersects the northern half of the county in every
direction.
"The State Road from Kittanning to Hamilton, in the State of New
York, runs diagonally across the county from southwest to northeast, and
the turnpike road from Phillipsburg to Franklin traverses it from south-
east to northwest, passing through the town of Brookville ; and a company
has lately been incorporated for making a turnpike road from Ridgeway,
through Warren County, to the State line in New York, in the direction
of Jamestown.
"There are three small villages in the county, including the seat of
justice, viz. : Brookville, Punxsutawney, and Ridgeway. At the first,
which was commenced in August, 1830, there are about 40 dwellings, 4
taverns, and 4 stores; at Punxsutawney 10 or 15 dwellings, 2 taverns,
and i store ; and at Ridgeway some half-dozen dwellings, etc. Port
Barnett, Centre, Cooper, and Jefferson are marked on the map as towns.
There is a tavern at the first. The others are mere names.
" There are two or three grist-mills only, but more than four times as
many saw-mills, and the export of the county is lumber solely, unless
venison hams be included. Two million of feet of white pine boards,
3"
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
etc., were cut in 1830 and rafted down the Big Mahoning, Red Bank,
or Sandy Lick Creek, and Clarion River, to the Allegheny River, and
thence to Pittsburg and other towns on the Ohio.
"The population is composed of Germans, some English, and some
settlers from New York, and consisted, by the census of 1830, of 2025.
That there is room for great increase is obvious, when we observe that
this population might be comfortably supported on 2000 acres, whilst
766,000 acres are unsettled. There are several sects of Christians in
these wilds, chiefly Presbyterians, Seceders, and Methodists. But there
is not a church in the county.*
" Venango, Warren, Armstrong, Indiana, and Jefferson form the
twenty-fourth senatorial district of the State, sending one member to the
Senate. Indiana and Jefferson, united, send one member to the House
of Representatives. Jefferson belongs to the fourth judicial district, and
to the western district of the Supreme Court, and, connected with West-
moreland and Indiana, constitutes the seventeenth Congressional district.
"This county paid into the State treasury in 1831 for
"Tax on writs, $35; for tavern licenses, $33.44; for duties on
dealers in foreign merchandise, $31.69; total, $100.13. Value of tax-
able property in 1829, real estate, $509,801 ; of personal estate, $14,777 >
rate of levy, 7*4 mills on the dollar.
" Unimproved lands are offered for sale in this county at from 150 to
200 cents per acre."
"STATISTICAL TABLE OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, 1832.
Townships.
Greatest
Area in Acres.
Population.
Taxables.
Perry
Length.
II
15
39
23
9
Breadth.
9
12
12
17
9
49,280
85,760
289,520
262,040
5 i ,840
1820.
205
356
1830.
2025 in
the whole
county.
86
49
"I
26
70
Pine Creek ....
Rose
Ridgeway . .
Young
" The population has not been classed by townships in 1830.
"JEFFERSON COUNTY, 1832.
Post-Offices.
Names of Postmasters.
Miles from
Washington.
Brockwayville Alonzo Brockway .... 226
Brookville Jared B. Evans 238
Montmorency James L. Gillis 242
Punxsutawney John W. Jenks 216
Ridgeway Reuben A. Aylesworth . . 236
Gordon's Gazetteer, 1832.
Miles from
Harrisburg.
154
I6 5
171
1 60
I6 5 ."
* There was one abandoned log church building in the county near Roseville,
viz. : Rehoboth. McKNlGHT.
3"
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
OFFICIAL ELECTION RETURNS FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY, 1837.
Borough. Rose. ^.^ Young. Perry Snyder. Eldred. ^| e " Barnett.
ASSEMBLY.
Carleton B. Curtis . 22 27 13 2 4 815 15 26
William Clawson .52 64 47 115 84 9 9
I 6
. . i
14
I 4 2
3
. . i
i
COMMISSIONER.
John Pierce . . .
3 2
28
28
12
9
7
12
Christopher Barr .
20
34
18
4
28
I
6
David Henry . . .
13
5
48
7
I
3
William Kelso . .
6
50
i
16
2
John Smith . . .
2
4
53
12
12
I
Robert K. Scott .
6
5
I
2
. .
James P. Stewart .
7
i
22
3
AUDITOR.
Daniel Coder . . 24 33 6 10 16 9 5 5 5
C. A. Alexander .43 6 42 93 69 6 14 . . 6
Elijah Heath . . . 13 18 14 15 2 8 i 2 9
Joseph Magiffin .6 43 I .. 7 .. 5 .. n
1837 APPOINTED BY THE COMMISSIONERS.
"Alexander McKnight, Esq., to be treasurer of Jefferson County for
the current year of 1837 from the ist instant.
"(NOTE. We are gratified to be able to announce the reappoint-
ment of Esquire McKnight. He has filled the office with honor to him-
self and credit to the county.)" Brookville Republican, January 12,
1837.
" DIED.
"In this borough, on Thursday last, of pulmonary consumption,
ALEXANDER MCKNIGHT, Esquire, treasurer of Jefferson County, aged
twenty-seven years and six days, leaving a disconsolate widow and three
helpless children to deplore his untimely exit.
"In the death of Esquire McKnight it may truly be said that this
county and community at large have sustained an irreparable loss. His
deportment through life was frank, open, and circumspect. Honesty
was one of his most ennobling characteristics. Esteemed by those with
whom he had intercourse in life, his decease was equally lamented. In
a word, he was a faithful officer, the honest man, and the good citizen.
Peace to his memory. Brookville Democrat- Republican, June 22, 1837.
Pioneer book- and medicine-store advertised in the Brookville Repub-
lican, August 31, 1837 :
" ' BOOKS AND MEDICINES'
"just received and for sale at this office."
*:;><#***#*
21 313
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
A RAILROAD COLLISION OF 1837.
" FATAL RAILROAD ACCIDENT.
" STEAMBOAT ' COLUMBUS,'
" August 12, 1837.
"The most serious accident has occurred in Eastern Virginia since
my recollection happened on the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad, one
and a half miles from Suffolk, yesterday, between nine and ten o'clock.
A company, consisting of about one hundred and fifty ladies and gentle-
men, from the counties of the Isle of Wight, Nansemond, and Southamp-
ton, came down on the railroad on Thursday, the loth inst, with the
view of visiting Portsmouth, Norfolk, Fortress Monroe, and returning the
next day. On their return, at the time and place above mentioned, they
met a locomotive and train of burden-cars, and, horrible to relate, the
two ran together while going at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour. ' '
Brookrillc Republican, August 31, 1837.
NOTICE.
"LIST OF RETAILERS.
" In pursuance of an act of Assembly, approved the yth day of April,
1830, requiring the county treasurer to publish a list of the retailers of
foreign merchandise, designating those who have and those who have not
paid for license on or before the ist day of June, I publish the following
list, certified by the associate judges and commissioners on the i4th day
of February, 1837 :
Retailers. Class. Paid.
William Campbell 7 Not.
Charles R. Barclay 8 "
James McKennon & Co 7 "
James Robinson 8 "
Evans & Clover 6 "
Jared B. Evans 7 "
Heath, Dunham & Co 6 "
Enos Gillis 8 "
Hughes & Dickenson 8 "
"All retailing foreign merchandise in Jefferson County and not enu-
merated in the above list are requested, under penalty of law, to take out
license.
" The eighth section of the above act requires the treasurer to bring
suits in June against all delinquent retailers of foreign merchandise.
"It is hoped that those interested will prevent legal action by calling
in due time for the license. Those who neglect may rest assured the
requisitions of the law will be strictly complied with. All persons having
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
obtained liberty to keep public houses are requested to call and take their
license. Those who neglect will be returned to court as the law directs.
"A. MCKNIGHT,
" Treasurer.
"TREASURER'S OFFICE, BROOKVILLE, May 15, 1837."
Table of taxable inhabitants of Jefferson County, together with the
seated and unseated township taxes, for the year 1837 :
Township. Inhabitants. Seated Tax. Unseated Tax.
Ridgeway 40 $42.32 $38.27
Harriett 76 74.34 74.34
Eldred 37 39.14 36.43
Perry .... 209 221.12 205.80
Pine Creek 103 108.97 101.38
Rose 252 264.50 248.14
Snyder 41 43.38 40.37
Young 146 I54-46 143-47
Table of township assessors for the year 1837 :
Rose township Samuel Lucas.
Perry township Thomas Gourley.
Ridgeway township Lyman Wilmarth.
Eldred township John Wilson.
Tionesta township David Mead.
Barnett township James Aharrah.
Jenks township Cyrus Blood.
Pine Creek township Joseph Carr.
Washington township Henry Keys.
Snyder township Joseph McAfee.
Young township John Grube.
"ONE CENT REWARD.
" Ran away from the subscriber on the 5th inst. an indentured ap-
prentice to the tailoring business, named Michael Stine, of German de-
scent. His clothing consisted of a straw hat, flannel roundabout, black
cloth pantaloons, and coarse shoes. Any person returning said runaway
shall receive the above reward, but neither thanks nor charges.
"BENJAMIN MCCREIGHT.
" BROOKVILLE, March 7, 1837."
PAMPHLET LAWS.
" Persons wishing to subscribe for the pamphlet laws of the present
session will do well to apply soon.
"A. McKxiGHT,
" Treasurer.
"TREASURER'S OFFICE, BROOKVILLE, December 22, 1836."
315
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The laws were bound in "board" and sold at fifty cents, and were
then published in English and German editions.
"JACKSON DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN CELEBRATION.
"Pursuant to previous arrangements, the citizens commemorated the
4th day of July by appointing
"Colonel Wm. Jack, president of the day.
"Hon. E. Heath, vice-president.
"C. G. M. Prime, orator.
" L. B. Dunham, reader of the Declaration of Independence.
" J. J. Y. Thompson, reader of toasts.
" Colonel John Smith, marshal of the day.
"REGULAR TOASTS.
" i. The day we celebrate.
"2. President and Vice-President of the United States.
" 3. General George Washington. His virtue and patriotism will
long remain in the minds of the American people. May laurels thicken
around his grave.
" 4. The heroes of the Revolution, who fought our battles and in the
dark days of our adversity wrought out our political salvation ; men whose
disinterested achievements are not transcended in all the annals of
chivalry, and who for us confronted horrors not surpassed in all the
history of the martyrs. They are entitled to the gratitude and liberality
of American people.
"5. Governor Wolf, our venerable chief magistrate, a consistent
Democrat and faithful servant of the people, his administration insures
him the suffrages and gratitude of his constituents.
" 6. General Lafayette, the benefactor of the old and the liberator
of the new world. His generous virtue and patriotic principles, more
powerful than the armed hosts of nations, swayed empires and controlled
the destinies of the earth. Alas ! death has summoned his choice spirit
home to that celestial bower, where he sits in the highest niche in that
bright constellation of patriots. His memory is indelibly engraven on
the hearts of all freemen. The hero, philanthropist, and champion of
liberty.
"7. The Constitution of the United States. The highest evidence
of learning, genius, profound wisdom, and devout patriotism ; our
nation's most redoubtable fortress defends the invasions of aspiring
demagogues or intriguing political jugglers. The first who dare attack
it, may he perish beneath its ramparts.
"8. The United States Bank. Old Nick's kingdom. Satan and his
angels are roving to and fro, from the east to the west, seeking whom
316
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
they may devour; but, fortunate for America's people, the meridian is
fast approximating, when Satan shall be bound and his kingdom washed
away.
"9. United States Senate. An ambitious and turbulent cabal ; they
present to the people of the United States a perfect picture of what man
is when deprived of the divine faculty of reason.
" 10. Agriculture and commerce. The bone and sinew of our re-
public ; our stronghold in war, our wealth in peace ; twin stars that will
light us into prosperity and glory.
"n. Arts and manufactures. To encourage and foster them is
placing a dome over our national fabric, and finishing the stately edifice
with the touch of a masterly hand.
" 12. Thomas Jefferson, the illustrious author of the Declaration of
Independence, the able supporter and advocate of the Federal Constitu-
tion, the champion of civil and religious liberty.
"13. The American fair. Last in our toasts, first in our hearts, and
last to be forgotten.
" ' The fair, how fairer can they be ?
From all corruptions and faults are free.
Their hearts all beat for sacred liberty,
For union to a man, and so are we.'
"VOLUNTEER TOASTS.
"By the president of the day, Colonel Wm. Jack. Samuel McKean.
Unworthy the situation he holds, the next Legislature will request his
retiring to his original obscurity.
" By the vice-president of the day, Hon. Elijah Heath. The judiciary
of Pennsylvania. May they always keep themselves untrammelled from
politics.
" By the orator of the day, C. G. M. Prime. Andrew Jackson. Like
Moses, he has rescued us by the rod of his miracles ; but unlike Aaron,
with that rod he smote the Golden Calf.
" By C. J. Dunham. Anti-Masons. Although the noisy advocates
of ' law and order,' they are usually the first to outrage the one and mar
the harmony of the other.
"By John Dougherty. The hero of New Orleans. The undaunted
chieftain, ever ready to drop the gauntlet to the foes of freedom. The
liberal sons of Neptune in Charleston have rigged him with a constitu-
tional shillalah from the timber of old Ironsides. May it defend the
deposits from the grasp of King Biddle, as it did liberty from the chains
of King George.
"By J. J. Y. Thompson. Hon. Samuel McKean. The fawning
sycophant of Clay, Webster and Co., against whom no prudence can
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY,, PENNA.
guard, no courage defend. The insidious smile upon his cheek should
warn his constituents of the canker in his heart.
" By Robert Larrimore. Anti-Masonry. A rotten ladder for down-
hill politicians to climb to power.
"By Jesse Clark. General Lafayette. He sat by the cradle of our
independence, and never in a long and eventful life was he for a moment
unfaithful to the principles of our independence, to the maintenance of
which his youth and manhood were devoted. Americans will hold him
in grateful remembrance while the earth bears a plant or the sea rolls a
wave.
" By Richard Arthurs. May Congress lay by their political weapons
of rebellion and unite in protecting the Union.
"By John Gallagher. The President of the United States. In spite
of nullifiers and blue lights, he will ride out the storm in safety, the
vestal fire of liberty, whose light illuminates the path of the patriot to
the temple of freedom, may its genial rays not be shed in vain o'er the
green fields of America.
" By L. B. Dunham. Henry Clay, the great grand high priest of
envy, malice, and all uncharitableness. His efforts to sacrifice our be-
loved President at the altar of his horrid deity, the United States Bank,
will only sink him deeper in the bog.
" By John B. Butler. Martin Van Buren. May the laurels he has
won so nobly in defending the principles of Andrew Jackson and hurling
political Anti-Masonry to the regions of darkness eventually elevate him
to the Presidential chair.
" By Colonel John Smith. John Quincy Adams. A great politcal
sinner.
" By Wm. Clark, Esq. Martin Van Buren. The next candidate for
the Presidential chair. All opposition to him will be in vain. His
enemies will vanish away like snow in the grasp of a heated hand.
"By John Earheart. To the afflicted. Down-hill politicians are
hereby informed that there is yet room for them in the Anti-Masonic
ranks.
"By John Beck. Hon. William Wilkins, our talented Senator in
Congress. His able and zealous support of our venerable President and
the acts of his administration, particularly in reference to the British
bank, merits and will receive the approbation of all true Pennsylvanians.
"By George R. Barrett. The Democratic party of Jefferson County.
God speed its progress !
"By C. Blood. The citizens of Brookville. May peace, prosperity,
and independence ever attend them for their disinterested attention and
hospitality to strangers.
"By C. J. Dunham. The orator of the day. Mighty in the cause
of truth.
V
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" By Daniel Smith. The fair sex.
" ' Auld nature smiles, his lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O.
Her 'prentice han' she tried on man,
And then she made the lasses, O.'
"By L. B. Dunham. The fair sex. The patent work of God's
invention.
" By Richard Arthurs. He that tramples upon the rights and speaks
disdainful of the fair sex, may all good society treat him with unlimited
contempt.
" By a guest. Political blacklegs : Senator Clay, two bullets and a
bragger. Hard case ! Senator Forsyth, two bullets and a bragger, and
the eldest hand. Do you give it up? Tune, Sweep-Stakes.
" By a guest. The liberty pole. May we see it rising in strength as
long as Democracy shall dwell in the breasts of man, and those who
would attempt to put it down be treated as tyrants trampling upon the
liberties of their country.
" By the company. The officers of the day. The dignity with
which they presided and the faithful discharge of their duty is calculated
to raise them in the estimation of their fellow-citizens.
" By the company. Our worthy host and hostess : for our excellent
entertainment receive our warmest thanks."
"FOURTH OF JULY.
' ' JACKSON CELEBRATION.
"The citizens of Brookville and vicinity friendly to a National
and State administration celebrated the fifty-eighth anniversary of
American independence in a manner creditable to themselves and to the
party to which they have the honor to belong. The evening immediately
preceding the Fourth of July preparations were made to raise a liberty
pole, which had been previously drawn to the place for that purpose (a
hickory-tree about one hundred feet in length). Our opponents boasted
through the streets that our force was too weak, and that we would not
find ten Jackson men in our town to aid in planting our POLE. But
when we made an attempt to rally our force, we soon found forty stern
Democrats surrounding the tree, and some of them willingly yielded their
services to guard it until morning, for fear of an attack by the enemy.
" Our cannon was prepared ; but some person, having no other way
of giving vent to a confined genius or displaying their cunning, stole it
from the place where it had been left. We wish it to be understood that
we do not, neither do we believe it to be the opinion of one of the
319
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
party, that any of the respectable citizens would be guilty of so mean
and contemptible an act ; none would condescend to such insignificance.
We believe the act to be done by some wag, hawbuck, or scullion pos-
sessing more impudence than brains, willing to be called the ready tool
of every sycophant who would put themselves on a level with him.
" The morning of the Fourth every preparation was made, and at one
o'clock a large and respectable company of ladies and gentlemen as-
sembled at the court-house at the ringing of the bell, where the Declara-
tion of Independence was read by L. B. Dunham, Esq., and an excellent
address delivered by C. G. M. Prime, Esq., well adapted to the occasion.
" After which the company repaired in perfect order to the Franklin
House, and partook of an excellent dinner, and we are much pleased to
state that the ladies to a considerable number we know not exactly how
many honored us with their presence, and, to the great gratification of
the guests and credit of our village, participated in the festival, joined us
in a glass of wine, etc., after which they were accompanied to their
respective homes. We must say to the credit of our village that we doubt
indeed whether we have a precedent in any of the country towns in the
western part of Pennsylvania. The ladies were dressed rich and ele-
gant, in the line of procession from the court-house as well as at the
dinner-table, presented a most magnificent appearance. We wish our
readers to remember, when we speak of the manner in which the birthday
of American Independence was celebrated by the citizens of Brookville,
that four years ago the place where this town now stands was an entire
wilderness ; where stately edifices are now erected four years ago was the
abode of beasts of the forest ; the ground where the liberty pole now
stands was then probably occupied by a howling wolf or panther. Little
did any who then viewed the site where our flourishing village is situated
expect four years hence to see the tall pines and scrubby oaks removed,
and in their stead stately dwellings reared ; little did they expect at this
time to see a court-house not surpassed in the western country where then
the prospective eye could only view a doleful-looking forest. However,
we will not at this time leave the subject which we have commenced to
portray, the grandeur of our village and its rapid progress.
"After the ladies had retired the cloth was removed, and the table
covered with the choicest and best selection of liquors ; the company re-
assembled and drank their toasts with loud cheers. Every member of
the celebration displayed great zeal in defending the administration of
General Andrew Jackson. After the toasts which had been committed to
paper were passed, a proposition was made that each member should give
a sentiment extemporaneously, which was complied with by several gen-
tlemen present, some of which we will cite : ' Hon. John McLean, of
Ohio, the Devil on two sticks;' second, ' General Andrew Jackson : may
the sons of America appreciate his worth, and never suffer the indepen-
320
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
dence which he aided in achieving to be trampled by the foes of American
freedom.' Received with cheers and shouts of applause. The company
were blessed while together with the prevalence of an unanimity of sen-
timent and identity of feeling ; they joined, as we predicted, like a band
of brothers cemented together by the fond endearing ties of Jacksonism,
and celebrated the day without a single occurrence calculated to disturb
their peace or mar their harmony. They separated in the evening in
perfect order." The Jcffersonian, Brookville, Pennsylvania, Thursday,
July 10, 1834. George R. Barrett, editor. Mr. Barrett afterwards be-
came the distinguished Judge Barrett.
A CALL FOR AND A REPORT OF THE DOINGS, AND AN EDITORIAL
NOTICE OF AN OLD-TIME POLITICAL FOURTH OF JULY CELE-
BRATION.
"JACKSON DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN MEETING.
"A large and respectable meeting of the Democratic Republican cit-
izens of Brookville and vicinity, friendly to the national and State ad-
ministration, convened at the house of William Clark, Esq., on Monday,
the 23d inst., for the purpose of making arrangements preparatory to
celebrating the approaching anniversary of our National independence.
" On motion, Colonel William Jack was called to the chair, and J. J.
Y. Thompson appointed secretary.
"Whereupon the following persons were chosen a committee of
arrangements : C. G. M. Prime, J- T- V. Thompson, A. McKnight, J.
Beck, and William Rodgers, Esqrs. On motion,
" Resolved, That C. G. M. Prime, C. J. Dunham, G. R. Barrett, be a
committee to draft regular toasts suitable to the occasion."
" FOURTH OF JULY.
" We, the undersigned, a committee appointed to make arrangements
for celebrating the anniversary of American independence, beg leave to
inform their constituents and the public that in pursuance of the duties
incumbent upon them they have made necessary arrangements for the
entertainments of that day. A dinner will be prepared at the Frank-
lin House by Mr. Clark, and an appropriate address delivered in the
court-house at the hour of twelve o'clock.
" WILLIAM RODGERS,
C. G. M. PRIME,
J. J. Y. THOMPSON,
J. BECK,
ALEXANDER MCKNIGHT.
" BROOKVILLE, June 25, 1834."
The Jeffersonian.
321
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
IMPROVEMENT MEETING RESIGNATION OF JUDGE BURNSIDE.
" At a meeting of the citizens of Jefferson County, on Thursday after-
noon of court week, the following proceedings were adopted :
" On motion, James Clover was called to the chair, and R. A. Ayles-
worth appointed secretary.
" On motion,
" Resolved) That the following persons compose a committee to draft
resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting, to be reported at an ad-
journed meeting to be held in the court-house this evening at early can-
dle-light, viz. : William Jack, Thomas Hastings, G. R. Barrett, A.
McKnight, and R. A. Aylesworth.
"Resolved, That James M. Stedman, James Clover, and John Galla-
gher be a committee to wait on the Hon. Thomas Burnside and General
William R. Smith, and solicit them to address the meeting this evening.
" Resolved, That the meeting adjourn to meet this evening at early
candle-light.
"ADJOURNED MEETING.
"At an adjourned meeting of the citizens of Jefferson County, held
at the court-house on Thursday evening of the February court, the fol-
lowing proceedings were had :
" On motion, the Hon. Elijah Heath was called to the chair.
" Thomas Lucas and James H. Bell, Esqs., vice-presidents.
"James M. Steedman and John Beck, Esqrs., secretaries.
" When Judge Burnside opened the meeting by reading the part of
the bill relative to extending the Pennsylvania Canal to the mouth of
French Creek, by means of canal or railway, and, to the gratification of
all present, delivered a very elaborate and appropriate address.
" He was succeeded by General William R. Smith, who addressed the
meeting with great earnestness in a brief but pithy address, after which
the committee reported the following resolutions :
" Resolved, That we view with deep interest the importance of extend-
ing the West Branch Canal, or slack- water navigation, to the mouth of
Anderson's Creek, in Clearfield County, and from thence a water navi-
gation, by means of canal or slack-water, along the Sinnamahoning and
Clarion Rivers, or railway through Jefferson and Armstrong Counties to
connect the French Creek division of the Pennsylvania Canal.
"Resolved, That Jefferson County is large in territory and embraces
a body of land with soil unsurpassed in Pennsylvania, covered with tim-
ber of the first order, with large bodies of stone-coal, salt- wells, and iron
ore in abundance, and, in fact, everything calculated to advance the
interest and further the improvement of our county.
322
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Resolved, That we highly approve of the measures of the canal
commissioners for the improvement of this our important section of
the county.
" Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the facilities which
will be afforded by the contemplated connection of the eastern and
western waters are too vitally important to be looked over. The trade
passing east and west by way of this communication will surpass the most
sanguine expectations of the people.
" Resolved, That if the present contemplated connection is carried
into effect it will ere long form the most prominent part of our im-
provement.
"A motion was then made that the meeting adjourn, and the people
invited to keep their seats to hear the following resolution, which was
unanimously adopted by the meeting with loud cheers of applause, every
one responding to the sentiment :
"Resolved, That we appreciate the talents, stability, character, and
public worth of the Hon. Thomas Burnside, and that the citizens of this
county and members of the bar sincerely regret his departure as presi-
dent judge of this district ; that the highest testimonial of respect we are
able to pay him is the assurance that he carries with him our best wishes
for his future happiness, and we will ever cherish a grateful remembrance
of our former acquaintance."
BURNSIDE'S RESPONSE.
" GENTLEMEN, I have this day received the flattering resolution
passed unanimously by the meeting over which you presided last evening
at the court-house.
" I want words to express my thanks and my feelings for this mark
of respect from the people and the bar of Jefferson County.
"It is grateful to my heart to have their confidence both in my public
and private capacity.
" I bear testimony to the kindness of the people, their regard for the
law, and their promptness on all occasions to maintain it. It is due to
the bar to declare my entire approbation of their correct and gentle-
manly deportment, and I part with them all with feelings of kindness
and respect. I shall always remember them with the deepest sense of
gratitude.
"Accept, gentlemen,- my most grateful respects, and permit me to
tender through you to the people of Jefferson County and the bar my
unfeigned thanks for the kind and flattering sentiments conveyed in their
resolution.
"THOMAS BURNSIDE.
" Directed to the officers of the meeting."
The Jeffersonian, February 19, 1835.
323
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
SHOOTING-STARS IN 1833 A SHOWER OF FIRE NATURAL
PHENOMENON.
" The heavens declare thy glory, O Lord."
On Wednesday, November 13, 1833, about 5 o'clock A.M., the
heavens presented a spectacle in this wilderness as has seldom been seen
in the world. To those who saw it in this county it struck terror to their
hearts, and many ran away from home to their neighbors, declaring that
the "day of judgment had arrived." The duration of the display was
about an hour. One account says,
"Yesterday morning, between the hours of five and six o'clock, the
heavens presented a very unusual and brilliant display of shooting me-
teors, a more full account of which, I hope, will be furnished by those
better versed in astography than the writer of this.
"At one period probably more than one hundred, of various sizes
and brightness, appeared shooting forth from zenith to the horizon, illumi-
nating not only the azure vault, already bright and clear with the vast num-
ber of stars with which it was studded, but actually lighting up our very
chambers, as if to allure the slothful to a scene very rarely to be wit-
nessed. They were attended with no noise, at least distinguishable to us,
but were remarkable for their number, their startling velocity, and bright-
ness with which they seemed to dart athwart the sky, and the brilliant
track they left behind.
"The phenomenon continued until the approach of the sun, when
the light of the meteors was lost in the near effulgence of his blaze.
"In a book recently published, called 'The Geography of the
Heavens, with a Celestial Atlas,' by E. H. Barritt, A.M., pages 104-
195^, an account is given of a scene similar to the above.
" ' Mr. Andrew Ellicott, who was sent out as our commissioner to fix
the boundary between the Spanish possessions in North America and the
United States, witnessed a very extraordinary flight of shooting-stars,
which filled the whole atmosphere from Cape Florida to the West India
Islands. This grand phenomenon took place the i2th of November,
1799, and is thus described: "I was called up," says Mr. Ellicott,
" about three o'clock in the morning to see the shooting-stars, as they are
called. The whole heavens appeared as if illuminated with sky-rockets,
which disappeared only by the light of the sun after daybreak. The
meteors, which at any one instant of time appeared as numerous as the
stars, flew in all possible directions, except from the earth, towards which
they all inclined more or less, and some of them descended perpendicu-
larly over the vessel we were in, so that I was in constant expectation of
their falling upon us."
"The notion that this phenomenon betokens high winds is of great
antiquity. Virgil, in the first book of ' Georgica,' expresses the same idea :
324
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" ' And oft, before temptations winds arise,
The seeming stars fall headlong from the skies,
And shooting through the darkness, gild the night
With sleeping glories and long tails of light.' "
The Jeffersonian.
THE PIONEER TEMPERANCE WORK IN JEFFERSON COUNTY THE
PIONEER TEMPERANCE WORKERS ORGANIZATION OF THE JEF-
FERSON COUNTY TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, AN AUXILIARY TO
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY WASHING-
TONIANS.
In what year this society was formed and by whom is unknown. I
find the following call in The Jeffersonian, Thursday, April 3, 1834:
"TEMPERANCE MEETING.
" A meeting of the Jefferson County Temperance Society will be
held in the court-house on Monday evening, the yth day of April next.
An address will be delivered by Mr. John Wilson. The ladies and
gentlemen are invited to attend.
" J. J. Y. THOMPSON,
' ' Secretary. ' '
A temperance society was formed in Brookville by a small number,
principally young men, on the evening of the 23d of September, 1836.
At this meeting there were only ten names signed to the pledge. The
following officers were duly chosen, viz. : President, Andrew C. Hall;
Yice-Presidents, Samuel Craig, ^Yilliam A. Sloan ; Recording Secretary,
James M. Craig ; Corresponding Secretary, James McCrackin ; Treasurer,
James Park ; Managers, Thomas McGinty, Thomas M. Barr, John Shrenk.
The pledge was at first " only to abstain from ardent spirits ;" but on
the zd of January, 1837, after several meetings held in the school-house,
it was changed "to that of total abstinence." The secretaries, in a re-
port to the society, on the evening of March 6, 1836, say since the organ-
ization of the society seven meetings have been held, at which the names
of forty '-one persons, at different times, have been added.
" The secretaries feel that they, in common with all other members of
this society, owe a tribute to the ladies of Brookville and vicinity, no less
than nineteen of whom have nobly come out and attached their names
to the pledge." Rev. Hallock, Rev. Barris, Thomas Lucas, and other
speakers addressed the monthly meetings.
This society was the only one organized body in the temperance work
in the county until 1842, when the "\Vashingtonians organized their socie-
ties. Colonel Hugh Brady, S. B. Bishop, Esq., and others led this
movement.
325
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CONTINUOUS WATER COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE EASTERN
AND WESTERN WATERS.
" To carry out successfully the gigantic project of uniting the great
eastern with the great western waters was supposed to require an amount
of capital and of credit beyond the control of any joint-stock company,
and the pre eminent power and credit of the State herself was enlisted in
the enterprise. Unfortunately, to do this required legislative votes, and
these votes were not to be had without extending the ramifications of the
system throughout all the counties whose patronage was necessary to carry
the measure. In March, 1824, commissioners were appointed to explore
a route for a canal from Harrisburg to Pittsburg by the way of the Juniata
and Conemaugh, and by the way of the West Branch of the Susquehanna,
Sinnemahoning, and the Allegheny, and also between the head- waters of
the Schuylkill, by Mahanoy Creek, to the Susquehanna, with other pro-
jects. In 1825 canal commissioners were appointed to explore a number
of routes in various directions through the State. In August, 1825, a
convention of the friends of internal improvement, consisting of delegates
from forty- six counties, met at Harrisburg, and passed resolutions in
favor of ' opening an entire and complete communication from the Sus-
quehanna to the Allegheny and Ohio, and from the Allegheny to Lake
Erie, by the nearest and best practicable route.' The starting impulse
being thus given, the great enterprise moved on, increasing in strength
and magnitude as each successive Legislature convened ; and the citizens
of every section were highly excited, not to say intoxicated, with local
schemes of internal improvement. Contemporaneously with these enter-
prises, anthracite coal began to be successfully introduced for family use ;
and, besides, the discovery of vast and rich deposits of this mineral,
almost exclusively in Pennsylvania, the circumstance was an additional
reason for the construction of improvements. Iron-mines and salt-wells
were also opened, stimulated by the high tariff of 1828, and the rich bitu-
minous coal-fields west of the Allegheny invited enterprise and specula-
tion to that quarter. To describe the various public works that grew out
of the powerful impulse given from 1826 to 1836 would require itself a
small volume. Suffice it to say that in October, 1834, the Philadelphia
and Columbia Railroad was opened for travelling. The main line of
canal had been previously completed, and in the same month, on the
completion of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, an emigrant's boat, from
the North Branch of the Susquehanna, actually passed over the Allegheny
Mountains, with all its family on board, and being launched into the
canal at Johnstown, proceeded on its route to St. Louis!" Day's
Recollections.
" Yesterday the report of B. Aycrigg, Esq., the engineer employed
by the State to examine and report on the practicability of a continuous
326
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
water communication between the Susquehanna and Allegheny Rivers,
was received, accompanied by his estimate of the expense. The House
ordered two thousand copies to be printed.
" The canal will be 129 miles long, and is estimated to cost $3.767,377 ;
add five per cent., $188,368 ; making a total of $3,955,745-
" Mr. Aycrigg remarks that the estimate is not of the probable, but
of the greatest expense, and that he believes if the work be properly con-
structed a considerable surplus will be left.
" The tunnel, according to his estimate, will cost two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, and will take two years longer to make than the
other parts of the canal. He therefore recommends an immediate appro-
priation to that part of the work, including the heavy embankments
forming the reservoir.
" We think this is the most important State object that can occupy
the attention of the Commonwealth. It will open an avenue by water to
Philadelphia, not only for the commerce of the Ohio, but the commerce
of the Great Lakes. It will do away with the necessity of a transship-
ment over the mountains, and it will crown our canals, so as in a short
time to require double locks, and not only contribute to our commercial
prosperity, but enrich the treasury of the Commonwealth. The Legisla-
ture, then, ought not a moment to delay its action. If any improvement
is to be delayed, let it be some of the almost useless ones that have re-
ceived the favor of the Committee on Internal Improvements, as will be
seen by a reference to the appropriation bill now on the files of the
House." Pennsylvania Intelligencer, March 9, 1837.
" We are pleased to learn by our Harrisburg papers that Mr. Aycrigg
the engineer who was engaged last summer in exploring the country
between the waters of the Susquehanna and Allegheny Rivers made his
report to the Legislature on Thursday morning last, the i5th. What
will be most gratifying to the citizens of this section of country is the
fact that the report is favorable to the Red Bank route. The Pennsylva-
nia Intelligencer says, ' We have taken the trouble to read his report in
manuscript, and are pleased with the valuable information it contains.
He has found a route by the way of Anderson's Creek, which empties
into the West Branch, and Red Bank, which empties into the Allegheny,
where a water communication can be made. He recommends a reservoir
on the summit. By constructing a mound 40 feet high, across the valley
of Sandy Lick Creek, three eighths of a mile in length, a reservoir of 3
square miles can be made, which will contain 1,672,704,000 cubic feet
of water, and that water can be supplied there during 240 days to pass
115,600 boats. The lockage is 693 feet, by 83 locks westward to the
Allegheny River at the mouth of Red Bank, and by 99 locks eastward to
the mouth of the Sinnamahoning. The whole distance from the mouth
of the Sinnamahoning to the mouth of Red Bank is 128^ miles.'
327
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
' ' It may be remembered that we during the course of the past
season took occasion to remark that it was our opinion, and we thought
well founded, too, that Mr. Aycrigg would report in favor of this route.
Though we do not pretend to the spirit of prophecy, yet we felt certain
that our prediction would, as it did, prove true. But a word with regard
to the great advantages that will arise to this county. Perhaps no docu-
ment ever issued from the press is of more vital importance to our citizens
than the report in question. It involves the interests of the farmer and
mechanic, and deeply interests the merchant and tradingman. Our un-
improved lands must immediately rise in value ; our timber will prove a
source of wealth, and for years an almost inexhaustible quantity of it will
be found ; our bituminous coal, iron ore, and other minerals make the
prospects of our county equally flattering, should this contemplated im-
provement be completed, with any other in Western Pennsylvania."
The Jeffersonian, December 22, 1836.
It is needless to say this great enterprise was never consummated.
PIONEER COUNTY BRIDGE ACROSS RED BANK.
" Petition for a bridge across Red Bank Creek at Brookville. Re-
corded on Road Docket, January 19, 1836.
" THOMAS HASTINGS, Clerk.
" To THE JUDGES OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF THE COUNTY OF
JEFFERSON NOW HOLDING A COURT OF QUARTER SESSIONS OF THE
PEACE IN AND FOR SAID COUNTY :
" The petition of the subscribers, inhabitants of the township of Rose
in said county, respectfully represent that a bridge is much wanted over
Red Bank Creek at the place where the public highway from the borough
of Brookville to Indiana crosses the said creek in the township of Rose
in said county, and that the erection of said bridge will require more
expense than it is reasonable the said township should bear.
"Your petitioners therefore pray the Court to appoint proper persons
to view the premises, and to take such order on the subject as is required
and directed by the act of Assembly in such case made and provided.
And they will ever pray, etc.
"John J. Y. Thompson. Charles C. Gaskill, John Beck, Wm. Corden,
John Rhoads, James Shields, Wm. Thompson, Joseph Magiffin, Robt.
Andrews, Wm. B. Kennedy, Robert Morrison, Jacob Milliron, Sheridan
McCullough, John Love, William Steele, John Jones, John McAninch,
James Clover, Henry Smith, John Brownlee, Jacob M. , Isaac
Hallon, John Rine, Peter Groff, Philip Burns, Wm. Clark, Robert E.
Kennedy, Lewis Sharer, John Wilson, Thos. Lucas, Thomas Witherow,
Robert Witherow, Frederick Heterick, Joseph Hughes, Isaac Covert,
Joseph Hall, Ramsey Potter, Wm. Kennedy, Thomas Hastings, John A.
328
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Matthews, D. M. Riddle, Paul Vandevort, John Smith, Miran Gibbs,
Jacob Mason, Cyrus Blood, James M. Craig, George Darling, James
Fullerton, James Henry, Wm. Rodgers, Christopher Barr, William Fer-
guson, Joseph Sharpe, John Christy."
This pioneer county covered bridge was a wooden one, made of pine
timber. It was erected across Red Bank Creek in the borough of Brook -
ville, a few feet west of where the present iron structure on Pickering
Street now stands. There were no iron nails used in its construction,
and only a few hand- made iron spikes. The timbers were mortised and
tenoned, and put together with wooden pins. This was a single span
bridge of one hundred and twenty feet in length, with no centre pier,
and of the burr truss plan. It had two strings of circle arches, resting
on the stone abutments. I find the following official records in the court
dockets :
"At the February session of court, February 13, 1836, 'upon the
petition to the honorable judges of said court of many inhabitants of
Jefferson County, setting forth that they labor under great inconvenience
for want of a bridge across Red Bank Creek, where the Hamilton road
enters Pickering Street in the borough of Brookville, asking the Court to
appoint viewers, whereupon the Court appointed the following-named
persons to view the road and make a report to the Court, viz. : John
Dougherty, John Matson, Sr., James K. Huffman, Daniel Coder, Robert
Morrison, and John Philliber. ' ' These viewers made their report to the
Court May 10, 1836, "that the bridge was indisputably necessary."
At the September session, 1836, the Court approved this report and
ordered the county to pay four hundred dollars to the construction of the
bridge.
The following official advertisement for bids I copy from the Brook-
ville Jeffersonian for 1836:
" NOTICE.
" The building of a bridge across Red Bank Creek, on Pickering
Street, will be sold to the lowest bidder on Thursday, the i5th day of
September next, at i o'clock P.M.
"A plan of said bridge will be shown at the commissioners' office,
on Monday, 12. Sufficient security will be requested of the undertaker
for the faithful performance.
" By order of the commissioners.
"JOHN WILSON, Clerk.
" COMMISSIONERS' OFFICE, BROOKVILLE, November 24, 1836."
The bridge was let by the commissioners December 15, 1836, to
Messrs. Thomas Hall and Richard Arthurs, contractors. The contract,
called for the completion of the bridge by September, 1837. The ac-
22 329
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
cepted contract bid was seven hundred and ninety-five dollars. When
finished the bridge was a good solid structure, but was a curious pile of
wood and stones.
Many memories to the old citizen clustered around this bridge, but
time has effaced the bridge and will efface the memories. On its planks
generations have met, passed, and repassed, and from its stringers fishers
dropped many a hook and line. Up to and later than 1843, Brookville
had three natatoriums, or swimming-pools, viz., one at the head of
what is now Heidrick, Coleman & Co. 's dam on the North Fork, one at
the " Deep Hole" near the Sand Spring, on the Sandy Lick, and one at
or underneath the covered bridge on Red Bank. In those days, from
the time we had May flowers until the chilling blasts of November ar-
rived, one of the principal sports of the men and boys was swimming
in these "pools." We boys, in summer months, all day long played on
the bosom of these waters or on the border-land. The busy men, the
doctor, the statesman, the lawyer, the parson, the merchant, the farmer,
the mechanic, and the day laborer, all met here in the summer eve with
boisterous shouts of joy and mirth to welcome up the moon. Of course,
we had some skilful plungers and swimmers, who were as much at home
in these waters as the wild ducks and geese of that day. An artist
could swim on his back, on either side, under the water, float on his
back, tread or walk in the water, and plunge or dive from almost any
height. The beginner or boy, though, always commenced his apprentice-
ship in this graceful profession by swimming with his breast on a piece of
plank, board, or old slab. But alas to the pioneer,
" Swimming sports, once deemed attractive,
Haunts amidst the bloom of laurel flowers,
Radiant charms that pleased my senses
In my boyhood's sunny hours,
Have departed like illusions,
And will never more be ours."
POPULATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Counties. Year 1840.
Adams 23,044
Allegheny 81,235
Armstrong 28,365
Beaver 29,368
Bedford 29,335
Berks 64,569
Bradford ' . 32*769
Bucks 48,107
Butler 22,378
Cambria 11,256
Centre . 20.492
Chester - 57-5 I 5
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Counties. Year 1840.
Clarion 9,500
Clearfield 7,834
Clinton 8,323
Columbia 24,267
Crawford 31,724
Cumberland 3,953
Dauphin 30,118
Delaware 19,791
Erie 3,412
Fayette 33,574
Franklin 37,793
Greene J 9,I47
Huntingdon 35,484
Indiana 20,782
Jefferson 7> 2 53
Juniata 11,080
Lancaster 84,203
Lebanon , 21,872
Lehigh 25,787
Luzerne 35>96
Lycoming 22,649
McKean 2,975
Mercer 32,873
Mifflin 13,092
Monroe 9,879
Montgomery 47,241
Northampton 40,996
Northumberland 20,027
Perry 17,096
Philadelphia 258,037
Pike 3,832
Potter 3,371
Schuylkill 29,053
Somerset 19,650
Susquehanna 21,195
Tioga 15,498
Union 22,787
Venango 17,900
Warren 9,278
Washington 41,279
Wayne 11,848
Westmoreland 42,699
Wyoming 8,100
York 47,oio
1,705,601
Jefferson County was not organized in 1830, and the census was not
reported, only as a whole. Males in county, 1065 ; females, 940; total,
2005.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEER AND EARLY COUNTIES, DATE OF FORMATION, AND
NUMBER OF ACRES IN EACH.
No. | Name. Date of Formation.
Acres.
I
Philadelphia . March 10, 1682
One of Penn's original counties . .
80,840
2
Chester .... " 10, 1682
u it ^ f
472,320
3
Bucks .... " 10, 1682
it it tt tt
387,200
4
Lancaster . . . May 10, 1729
From a part of Chester
608,000
5
York Aug. 19, 1749
" " Lancaster ....
576,000
6 Cumberland . . Jan. 27, 1750
" " Lancaster ....
348,160
7
Berks .... March II, 1752
" " Philadelphia, Ches-
ter, and Lancas-
ter ......
588,800
8
Northampton . " 1 1, 1752
" " Bucks
240,000
9
Bedford ... " 9, 1771
" " Cumberland . . .
636,160
10
Northumberland
27, 1772
Cumberland, Berks,
Bedford, and
Northampton . .
292,480
II
Westmoreland .
Feb. 26, 1773
" " Bedford, and in 1785
part of the Indian
purchase of 1784
was added . . .
672,000
12
Washington . . March 28, 1781
" Westmoreland . .
573,440
13 Fayette . . . . , Sept. 26, 1783
" " Westmoreland , .
527,360
14 Franklin ... " 9, 1784
" Cumberland . . . :
480,000
15 Montgomery. . " 10, 1784
" Philadelphia ...
303,080
16 Dauphin . . March 4, 1785
" Lancaster ....
357,76o
17 Luzerne ... Sept. 25, 1782
" Northumberland .
896,000
18 Huntingdon . . ! " 20, 1787
Bedford
537,600
19 Allegheny. . . " 24,1788
" Westmoreland and
Washington . .
482,560
20
Mifflin .... " 19, 1789
" Cumberland and
Northumberland
286,800
21
Delaware ... " 26, 1789
" Chester
113,280
22
Somerset . Anril 17. I7OC
" Bedford
682,240
23 j Greene .... Feb. 9, 1796
" Washington ...
389,120
24 1 Wayne .... March 26, 1796
" Northampton . . .
460,800
25
Lycoming . . . April 13, 1796
" Northumberland .
691,200
26
Adams .... Jan. 22, 1800
" York !
337,920
27
Centre .... Feb. 13, 1800
" Mifflin, Northum- |
berland, Lyco-
ming, and Hunt-
ingdon ....
688,000
28
Armstrong . .
March 12, 1 800
" " Allegheny, West-
moreland, and
Lycoming . . . '
408,960
2 9
Beaver ....
" 12, 1800
" " Allegheny and
Washington .
298,240
30
Butler .... 12, 1800
" " Allegheny ...
502,400
31 Crawford ... 12, 1800
" " Allegheny ...
629,760
32 Erie 12. 1800
" " Allegheny . . .
480,000
33 Mercer ....
12, 1800
" " Allegheny . . .
416,000
34
Venango ... 13, 1800
" " Allegheny and Ly \
coming . . .
330,240
35
Warren .... " 12, 1800
" " Allegheny and Ly
coming ....
551,040
36
Indiana . . .
" 30, 1803
" " Westmoreland and
Lycoming ...
492,800
37
McKean . . . " 20, 1804
" " Lycoming ....
716,800
332
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEER AND EARLY COUNTIES, DATE OF FORMATION, AND
NUMBER OF ACRES IN EACH. Continued.
No.
Name.
Date of Formation.
Acres.
38
39
40
4i
42
43
44
Clearfield . . .
Jefferson . . .
Potter ....
Cambria . . .
Tioga ....
Bradford * . .
Susquehanna
March 26, 1804
" 26, 1804
" 26, 1804
" 26, 1804
" 26, 1804
Feb. 21, 1810
" 21. 1810
From a part of Lycoming and
Northumberland
" " Lycoming ....
" " Lycoming ....
" " Huntingdon, Som-
erset, and Bedford
" " Lycoming ....
" " Luzerne and Ly-
coming ....
" " Luzerne
761,600
412,800
384,000
428,800
714,240
751,300
510,080
45
Schuylkill . . .
March i, 1811
" " Berks and North-
ampton
4.8 ; ,400
46
47
Lehigh ....
Lebanon . . . ,
" 6, 1812
Feb. 16, 1813
" " Northampton . . .
" '' Dauphin and Lan-
caster
232,960
195,840
48
49
"iO
Columbia . . .
Union ....
Pike
March 22, 1813
" 22, 1813
" 26, l8l4
" " Northumberland .
" " Northumberland .
" " ^Vayne . .
275,840
165,120
384,000
51
Perrv . .
" 22, l82O
" " Cumberland . . .
344,960
C2
Juniata
" 2, 1831
< Mifflin
224,640
S3
Monroe ....
April I, 1836
" " Northampton and
Pike ....
184,000
54
Clarion ....
March II, 1839
" " Venango and Arm-
strong
384,000
55
Clinton ....
June 21, 1839
" " Lycoming and Cen-
tre
501,760
56
57
58
Wyoming . . .
Carbon ....
Elk ....
April 4, 1842
March 13, 1843
April 18, 1843
" " Northumberland
and Luzerne . .
" " Northampton and
Monroe ....
" " Jefferson, Clearfield,
261,760
256,000
and McKean . .
446,720
* Previous to March 24, 1812, this county was called Ontario.
333
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER XIX.
PIONEER SETTLEMENT OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA PIONEER PENNSYL-
VANIA INDIAN TRADERS THE PIONEER ROAD BY WAY OF THE SOUTH
BRANCH OF THE POTOMAC AND THE VALLEY OF THE KISKIMINITAS THE
PIONEER ROAD FROM EAST TO WEST, FROM RAYSTOWN, NOW BEDFORD,
TO FORT DUQUESNE, NOW PITTSBURG, A MILITARY NECESSITY GEN-
ERAL JOHN FORBES OPENS IT IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 1758
COLONEL GEORGE WASHINGTON OPPOSED TO THE NEW ROAD AND IN
FAVOR OF THE POTOMAC ROAD DEATH OF GENERAL JOHN FORBES
PIONEER MAIL-COACHES, MAIL-ROUTES, AND POST-OFFICES.
" WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA was untrodden by the foot of the white
man before the year 1700. As early as 1715 and 1720 occasionally a
trader would venture west of the Allegheny Mountain, and of these the
first was James Le Tort, who resided in 1 700 east of the Susquehanna,
but took up his residence west of it, Le Tort Spring, Carlisle, in 1720.
Peter Cheaver, John Evans, Henry DeVoy, Owen Nicholson, Alexander
Magenty, Patrick Burns, George Hutchison, all of Cumberland County ;
Barnaby Currin, John McGuire, a Mr. Frazier, the latter of whom had
at an early day a trading-house at Venango, but afterwards at the Mo-
nongahela, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, were all traders among the
Indians. But no attempt had been made by the whites at settlements in
the region now occupied by the several counties west of the Alleghenies
before 1748, when the Ohio Company was formed. This company sent
out the undaunted Christopher Gist, in 1750, to explore the country and
make report. He, it is said, explored the country ' from the South
Branch of the Potomac northward to the heads of the Juniata River,
crossed the mountains, and reached the Allegheny by the valley of Kis-
kiminitas. He crossed the Allegheny about four miles above the forks,
where Pittsburg now stands, thence went down the Ohio to some point
below Beaver River, and thence over to the Muskingum valley.' The
first actual settlement made was within the present limits of Fayette
County, in 1752, by Mr. Gist himself, on a tract of land, now well known
there as Mount Braddock, west of the Youghiogheny River. Mr. Gist
induced eleven families to settle around him on lands presumed to be
within the Ohio Company's grant.
" The more southern part of Western Pennsylvania (Greene, Wash-
ington, Fayette, and part of Somerset), which was supposed to be within
the boundaries of Virginia, was visited by adventurers from Maryland
334
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
prior to 1754. Among these were Wendel Brown and his two sons
and Frederick Waltzer, who lived four miles west of Uniontown. David
Tygart had settled in the valley which still bears his name in Northwest-
ern Virginia ; several other families came here a few years afterwards.
These were the only settlements attempted prior to Braddock's defeat,
and those made immediately afterwards, or prior to 1760, were repeatedly
molested, families murdered, cabins burnt, and, for a time, broken up,
alternately abandoned and again occupied.
" The treaty of 1762 brought quiet and repose to some extent to the
English colonies, and the first settlers on the frontiers returned to their
abandoned farms, but they were soon again obliged to leave their homes
and retire for safety to the more densely settled parts. Bouquet prosecuted
his campaign with success against the Indians, and in November, 1764,
compelled the turbulent and restless Kyashuta to sue for peace and bury
the hatchet on the plains of Muskingum, and finally humbled the Delawares
and Shawanese. Soon after the refugee settlers returned to their cabins
and clearings, resumed their labors, extended their improvements, and
cultivated their lands. From this time forth the prosperity of Pennsyl-
vania increased rapidly, and the tide of immigration with consequent
settlements rolled westward, though the pioneer settlers were afterwards
greatly exposed.
" Previous to 1758, Westmoreland was a wilderness trodden by the
wild beast, the savage, and, like other portions of Western Pennsylvania,
by an occasional white trader or frontiersman. No settlements were
attempted prior to this date, when Fort Duquesne, afterwards Fort Pitt,
was abandoned by the French, became an English military post, and
formed a nucleus for an English settlement, and two years afterwards
(1760) a small town was built near Fort Pitt, which contained nearly two
hundred souls, but on the breaking out of the Indian war, in 1763, the
inhabitants retired into the fort, and their dwellings were suffered to fall
into decay. In 1 765, Pittsburg was laid out." History of Western Penn-
sylvania.
This southern exploration was through what is now Somerset, Fayette,
Westmoreland, and Allegheny Counties. In 1754, Lieutenant-Colonel
George Washington, then twenty-one years old, penetrated this wilder-
ness and improved this road. In 1755, General Braddock, accompanied
by Washington, marched his army over this road. Hence the road has
always been called Braddock's road.
The pioneer road from east to west was opened up in September,
1758, by General John Forbes. He commanded an army of about eight
thousand men. General Forbes marched in the spring from Philadelphia
with his troops to Raystown (now Bedford), but on account of the small-
pox in his army he was detained at Carlisle, and failed to reach what is
now Bedford until the middle of September. At a consultation of his
335
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
officers at this point it was decided to cut out a new road over the
mountains from Kaystown to Loyalhanna, now in Westmoreland County,
a distance of forty-five miles.
This new road passed through what is now Bedford, Somerset, and
Westmoreland Counties. Colonel Bouquet, with twenty-five hundred
men, cut out the road in September and October of that year.
Colonel Washington was at this consultation, and was opposed to the
new road. Washington's arguments in favor of the southern route were
as follows :
"CAMP AT FORT CUMBERLAND, August 2, 1758.
" SIR, The matters of which we spoke relative to the roads have,
since our parting, been the subject of my closest reflection, and so far
am I from altering my opinion that the more time and attention I bestow
the more I am confirmed in it, and the reasons for taking Braddock's
road appear in a stronger point of view. To enumerate the whole of
these reasons would be tedious, and to you, who are become so much
master of the subject, unnecessary. I shall, therefore, briefly mention a
few only, which I think so obvious in themselves, that they must effect-
ually remove objections.
"Several years ago the Virginians and Pennsylvanians commenced a
trade with the Indians settled on the Ohio, and, to obviate the many in-
conveniences of a bad road, they, after reiterated and ineffectual efforts
to discover where a good one might be made, employed for the purpose
several of the most intelligent Indians, who, in the course of many years'
hunting, had acquired a perfect knowledge on these mountains. The
Indians, having taken the greatest pains to gain the rewards offered for
this discovery, declared that the path leading from Will's Creek was in-
finitely preferable to any that could be made at any other place. Time
and experience so clearly demonstrated this truth that the Pennsylvania
traders commonly carried out their goods by Will's Creek. Therefore
the Ohio Company, in 1753, at a considerable expense, opened the road.
In 1754 the troops whom I had the honor to command greatly repaired
it, as far as Gist's plantation, and in 1755 it was widened and completed
by General Braddock to within six miles of Fort Duquesne. A road that
has so long been opened and so well and so often repaired must be much
firmer and better than a new one, allowing the ground to be equally
good.
" But supposing it were practicable to make a road from Raystown
quite as good as General Braddock's, I ask, have we time to do it ? Cer-
tainly not. To surmount the difficulties to be encountered in making it
over such mountains, covered with woods and rocks, would require so
much time as to blast our otherwise well-grounded hopes of striking the
important stroke this season.
336
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The favorable accounts that some give of the forage on the Rays-
town road, as being so much better than that on the other, are certainly
exaggerated. It is well known that on both routes the rich valleys be-
tween the mountains abound with good forage, and that those which are
stony and bushy are destitute of it. Colonel Byrd and the engineer who
accompanied him confirm this fact. Surely the meadows on Braddock's
road would greatly overbalance the advantage of having grass to the foot
of the ridge, on the Raystown road ; and all agree that a more barren
road is nowhere to be found than that from Raystown to the inhabitants,
which is likewise to be considered.
" Another principal objection made to General Braddock's road is in
regard to the waters. But these seldom swell so much as to obstruct the
passage. The Youghiogheny River, which is the most rapid and soonest
filled, I have crossed with a body of troops after more than thirty days
almost continued rain. In fine, any difficulties on this score are so
trivial that they really are not worth mentioning. The Monongahela,
the largest of all these rivers, may, if necessary, easily be avoided, as
Mr. Frazier, the principal guide, informs me, by passing a defile, and
even that, he says, may be shunned.
"Again, it is said there are many defiles on this road. I grant that
there are some, but I know of none that may not be traversed, and I
should be glad to be informed where a road can be had over these moun-
tains not subject to the same inconvenience. The shortness of the dis-
tance between Raystown and Loyal Hanna is used as an argument against
this road, which bears in it something unaccountable to me, for I must
beg leave to ask whether it requires more time or is more difficult and
expensive to go one hundred and forty-five miles on a good road already
made to our hands than to cut one hundred miles anew, and a great part
of the way over impassable mountains.
" That the old road is many miles nearer Winchester in Virginia and
Fort Frederick in Maryland than the contemplated one is incontestable,
and I will here show the distance from Carlisle by the two routes, fixing
the different stages, some of which I have from information only, but
others I believe to be exact.
FROM CARLISLE TO FORT DUQUESNE BY WAY OF RAYSTOWN.
Miles.
From Carlisle to Shippensburg 21
" Shippensburg to Fort Loudon 24
" Fort Loudon to Fort Littleton 20
" Littleton to Juniata Crossing 14
" Juniata Crossing to Raystown 14
93
" Raystown to Fort Duquesne 100
193
337
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENXA.
FROM CARLISLE TO FORT DUQUESXE BY WAY OF FORT FREDERIC AND CUM-
BERLAND.
Miles.
From Carlisle to Shippensburg 21
" Shippensburg to Chamber's 12
" Chambers to Pacelin's 12
" Pacelin to Fort Frederic 12
" Fort Frederic to Fort Cumberland 40
97
" Fort Cumberland to Fort Duquesne 115
" From this computation there appears to be a difference of nineteen
miles only. Were all the supplies necessarily to come from Carlisle, it is
well known that the goodness of the old road is a sufficient compensation
for the shortness of the other, as the wrecked and broken wagons there
clearly demonstrate. " The Olden Time, vol. i.
For many years all government supplies for western forts, groceries,
salt, and goods of every kind, were carried from the east on pack-horses
over this Forbes road. One man would sometimes have under his con-
trol from fifty to one hundred pack-horses. A panel pack-saddle was
on each horse, and the load for a horse was about two hundred pounds.
Forts were established along the line of the road, and guards from the
militia accompanied these horse-trains, guarding them by night in their
"encampments" and protecting them by day through and over the
mountains.
This Braddock road and Raystown road were nothing more than
trails or military roads, and it was not until 1784 or 1785 that the State
opened a road from the east to the west over Forbes's military trail.
General John Forbes died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the i5th
of March, 1759.
One hundred years ago this pioneer road was crowded by carriers with
their pack-horses going westward, laden with people, salt, iron, and
merchandise.
" The pack-horses then travelled in divisions of twelve or fifteen, going
single-file, each horse carrying about two hundred-weight ; one man pre-
ceded and one brought up the rear of the file. Later on the carriers, to
their bitter indignation, were supplanted by the Conestoga wagons, with
their proud six-horse teams, with huge belled collars, the wagon stored
with groceries, linens, calico, rum, molasses, and hams, four to five tons
of load ; by law none of these wagons had less than four inch tires on its
wheels."
From 1784 to 1834 was the stage-coach era -in this country. In the
year 1802 the government started a line of coaches between Philadelphia
338
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
and New York, carrying their own mail. This was continued for three
years, clearing an average profit yearly of four thousand dollars. In 1834
the postmaster-general and the government preferred railroad transporta-
tion where it could be had. The government required from the railroads
a schedule time of thirteen miles an hour for the mails. I give as near
as I can learn the pioneer individual stage-coach mail lines.
PIONEER MAIL-COACHES EAST AND WEST, AND TO CROSS THE
ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS.
"PHILADELPHIA AND PITTSBURGH MAIL STAGES.
"A line of stages being established and now in operation to and
from each of the above places. This line will start from John Tomlin-
son's, Market-street, Philadelphia, every Friday morning, via Harris-
burgh and Chambersburgh, to Pittsburgh, and perform the trip in 7 days.
It will also start from THOMAS FERREE'S the Fountain Inn, Water-street,
Pittsburgh, every Wednesday morning, same rout to Philadelphia, and
perform the trip in 7 days ; Fare Passengers 20 dollars and 20 Ib. bag-
gage free ; all extra baggage or packages, if of dimentions such as to be
admitted for transportation by this line, to pay 12 dollars per 100 Ib.
the baggage or the packages to be at the owner's own proper risque unless
especially receipted for by one of the proprietors, which cannot be done
if the owner is a passenger in the stage, same trip. These stages are
constructed to carry three passengers on a seat, and more never shall be
admitted.
"This line will also leave John Tomlinson's as above every Tuesday
morning for Chambersburgh, making the trip in 2^ days, and leave
Mr. Hetrick's tavern in Chambersburgh, every Wednesday at noon, for
Philadelphia, and make the trip in 2^ days; fare 9 dollars and 50 cents,
under the same regulations as above.
" The public will perceive by this establishment, that they have a
direct conveyance from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh once a week, and
from Philadelphia and Chambersburgh twice a week.
"The proprietors being determined that their conduct shall be such
as to merit support in their line.
"JOHN TOMLINSON & Co.
"July 3rd, 1804."
"PHILADELPHIA AND PITTSBURGH MAIL STAGES.
" The Proprietors
"With pleasure now inform the public that they run their line of
stages twice in the week to and from the above places.
"They leave John Tomlinson's Spread Eagle, Market-street, Phila-
delphia, every Tuesday and Friday morning, at 4 o'clock, and Thomas
339
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Ferry's Fountain Inn, Water-street, Pittsburgh, every Wednesday and
Saturday morning, perform the trip in seven days. Fare each passenger
20 dollars ; 14 Ibs. of baggage free ; extra baggage to pay 12^2 cents per
Ib. This line runs through Lancaster, Elizabeth Town, Middle Town,
Harrisburgh, Carlisle, Shippensburgh, Chambersburgh, McConnell's-
town, Bedford, Sommerset, Greensburgh, &c.
"As usual they continue to run their line of Stages in conjunction
with Mr. Scott, from Philadelphia, to the City of Washington, via Lan-
caster, Columbia, York, Hanover, Petersburgh, Frederick Town, <S:c.
three times a week, Summer establishment, and twice a week in winter.
Also their daily Stages from Philadelphia and Lancaster continue, as
heretofore. All baggage transported by any of the above lines of Stages
is to be and remain at the risque of the owner. The Proprietors of the
above lines respectfully thank the public for their past favours : Would
be glad they would increase them ; and they will pledge themselves,
neither expence in reason, or attention, shall not be wanting on their
part to make their several lines respectable.
"JOHN TOMLINSON & Co.
' Nov. gth, 1804.''
PIONEER MAIL-ROUTES AND POST-OFFICESEARLY MAIL-ROUTES
AND POST-OFFICESTRANSMISSION OF MONEY THROUGH MAILS
AND OTHERWISE.
The pioneer post-office was established in this State under an act of
Assembly, November 27, 1700, viz.:
"AN ACT FOR ERECTING AND ESTABLISHING A POST OFFICE.
" Whereas, The King and the late Queen Mary, by their royal letters
patent under the great seal of England, bearing date the seventeenth of
February, which was in the year one thousand and six hundred and ninety-
and-one, did grant to Thomas Neal, Esquire, his executors, administrators
and assigns, full power and authority to erect, settle and establish within
the King's colonies and plantations in America, one or more office or
offices for receiving and dispatching of letters and packets by post, and
to receive, send and deliver the same, under such rates and sums of money
as shall be agreeable to the rates established by act of parliament in Eng-
land, or as the planters and others should agree to give on the first settle-
ment, to have, hold and enjoy the same for a term of twenty-one years,
with and under such powers, limitations and conditions as in and by the
said letters patent may more fully appear ;
" And whereas , The King's Postmaster General of England, at the
request, desire and nomination of the said Thomas Neale, hath deputed
Andrew Hamilton, Esquire, for such time and under such conditions as
in his deputation is for that purpose mentioned, to govern and manage the
340
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
said General Post Office for and throughout all the King's plantations
and colonies in the main land or continent of America and the islands
adjacent thereto, and in and by the said deputation may more fully
appear :
"And whereas, The said Andrew Hamilton hath, by and with the
good liking and approbation of the Postmaster General of England,
made application to the proprietary and governor of this province and
territories and freemen thereof convened in general assembly, that they
would ascertain and establish such rates and sums of money upon letters
and packets going by post as may be an effectual encouragement for
carrying on and maintaining a general post, and the proprietary and
governor and freemen in general assembly met, considering that the
maintaining of mutual and speedy correspondencies is very beneficial to
the King and his subjects, and a great encouragement to the trade, and
that the same is best carried on and managed by public post, as well as
for the preventing of inconveniences which heretofore have happened
for want thereof, as for a certain, safe and speedy dispatch, carrying and
recarrying of all letters and packets of letters by post to and from all
parts and places within the continent of America and several parts of
Europe, and that the well ordering thereof is matter of general con-
cernment and of great advantage, and being willing to encourage such a
public benefit :
" (SECTION i.) Have therefore enacted, and be it enacted by the said
Proprietary and Governor of this Province and Territories, by and with
the advice and consent of the Freemen thereof in General Assembly met,
and by the authority of the same, That there be from henceforth one
general letter office erected and established within the town of Phila-
delphia, from whence all letters and packets whatsoever may be with
speed and expedition sent into any part of the neighboring colonies and
plantations on the mainland and continent of America, or into any other
of the King's kingdoms or dominions, or unto any kingdom or country
beyond the seas ; at which said office all returns and answers may like-
wise be received, etc., etc."
The pioneer mail-route through this wilderness was over the old State
Road; it was established in 1805. It was carried on horseback from
Bellefonte to Meadville. The route was over the State Road to what is
now the Clarion line ; from there over a new road to the Allegheny
River or Parker's Ferry, now Parker's City; up the river to Franklin,
and from there to Meadville. The pioneer contractor's name was James
Randolph, from Meadville. The next contractor was Hamilton, from
Bellefonte; then by Benjamin Haitshour and others, until the turnpike
was completed ; then the first stage contract was taken by Clark, of
Perry County. He sent on his coaches by John O'Neal, and from that
time until the present the mail has been carried through this county ;
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
and in 1812 we got our news from a Meadville paper, edited by Thomas
Atkinson, called the Crawford Weekly Messenger. The nearest post-
office west was Franklin, and east was Curwinsville. All papers that
came through the county were carried outside the mail and delivered by
the mail-carrier. Our nearest post-office south was at Kittanning, Arm-
strong County, and when any one in the neighborhood would go there
they would bring the news for all and distribute the same.
In 1815 the United States had three thousand post-offices. The
postage for a single letter, composed of one piece of paper, under forty
miles, eight cents; over forty and under ninety miles, ten cents; under
one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and a half cents ; under three hun-
dred miles, seventeen cents ; under five hundred miles, twenty cents ;
over five hundred miles, twenty-five cents. The law was remodelled in
1 816 and continued until 1845, as follows, viz.: Letters thirty miles,
six and a quarter cents ; over thirty and under eighty miles, ten cents ;
over eighty and under one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and a half
cents ; over one hundred and fifty and under four hundred miles,
eighteen and three-quarter cents ; over four hundred miles, twenty-five
cents. If the letter weighed an ounce, four times these rates were
charged. Newspaper rates, in the State or under one hundred miles,
one cent ; over one hundred miles or out of the State, one and one-half
cents. Periodicals, from one and one-half to two, four, and six cents.
A portion of the records of the postmaster-general's office at Washing-
ton were destroyed by fire in the year 1836; but it has been ascer-
tained that an advertisement was issued May 20, 1814, for once-a-week
service on route No. 51, Bellefonte to Franklin, Pennsylvania, from Janu-
ary i, 1815, to December 31, 1817, Jefferson Court-House being men-
tioned as an intermediate point ; that on May 26, 1817, an advertisement
was issued for service between the same points from January i, 1818, to
December 31, 1819; and on May 26, 1819, service as above was again
advertised from January i, 1820, to December 31, 1823; the service
during these years connecting at Franklin with another route to Mead-
ville.
Owing to the incompleteness of the records of the office at Washing-
ton, for the reason above stated, the names of all the contractors prior
to 1824 cannot be given ; but under advertisement of June 10, 1823, for
once a- week service on route 158, Bellefonte to Meadville, from January
i, 1824, to December 31, 1827, contract was made with Messrs. Hayes
and Bennett, of Franklin, Pennsylvania, at the rate of sixteen hundred
dollars per annum.
From the best information at hand, it appears that a post-office was
established at Port Barnett, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1826, the name
changed to Brookville, September 10, 1830; that from the date of the
establishment of the post-office to December 31, 1839, the office was
342
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
supplied by star route from Bellefonte to Meadville, Pennsylvania, Messrs.
Bennett and Hayes being the contractors to December 31, 1831, Messrs.
J. and B. Bennett to December 31, 1835, and Mr. Benjamin Bennett to
December 31, 1839.
From January i, 1840, Brookville was supplied by route from Cur-
winsville to Meadville, Pennsylvania (the service having been divided on
Curwinsville, the eastern route being from Lewistown via Bellefonte and
other offices to Curwinsville), Mr. Jesse Rupp being the contractor to
June 30, 1844, ar >d Mr. John Wightman to June 30, 1848.
Prior to 1826, or the completion of the turnpike, there was no post-
office in this wilderness. Not until the county had been organized for
twenty- two and the pioneers had been here for twenty- five years was a
post-office created. The second mail-route in this county commenced at
Kittanning, Pennsylvania, and ended in Olean, New York. The route
was one hundred and ten miles long. It was established in 1826. Ros-
well P. Alford, of Wellsville, Ohio, contractor and proprietor. The
mail was to be carried through once a week, and this was done on horse-
back, and the pay for this service was four hundred dollars a year. The
following-named post-offices were created in this county to be supplied
by the carrier on this route :
Port Barnett, Pine Creek township, January 4, 1826; Joseph Barnett,
postmaster.
Montmorenci, Ridge way township, February 14, 1826 ; Reuben A.
Aylesworth, postmaster.
Punxsutawney, Young township, February 14, 1826; Charles R.
Barclay, postmaster.
Hellen, Ridgeway township, April, 1828 ; Philetus Clarke, postmaster.
Brockwayville, Pine Creek township, April 13, 1829, Alonzo Brock-
way, postmaster.
From the information at hand it appears that an advertisement was
issued in the year of 1825 for proposals carrying the mails on star route
No. 79, from Bellefonte, by Karthaus, Bennett's Creek, Rockaway, Gil-
lett's, and Scull's, to Smithport, Pennsylvania, once in two weeks, from
January i, 1826, to December 31, 1827 ; and that in 1827 an advertise-
ment was issued for service on route No. 219, from Bellefonte, by Karthaus,
Fox, Bennett's Branch, Ridgeway, Gillett's, Scull's, Montmorenci, Ser-
geant, and Smithport, Pennsylvania, to Olean, New York, once a week,
from January i, 1828, to December 31, 1831.
There is no record showing the contractors during the above terms.
In the year 1831 an advertisement was issued for star route No.
1127, from Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Bennett's Branch, Fox,
Kerseys, Ridgeway, Montmorenci, Clermontville, Smithport, Allegheny
Bridge, Pennsylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean, New York,
once a week, from January i, 1832, to December 31, 1835, an< ^ contract
343
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
was awarded to Mr. James L. Gillis, of Montmorenci, with pay at the
rate of six hundred and seventy-four dollars per annum.
In 1835 an advertisement was issued for service on route No. 1206,
from Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Bennett's Branch, Caledonia,
Fox, Kersey, Ridgeway, Williamsville, Clermontville, Smithport, Farmers
Valley, Allegheny Bridge, Pennsylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to
Olean, New York, once a week, from January i, 1836, to December 31,
1839, an d contract was awarded to Mr. Bernard DufTey (address not
given) at six hundred and twenty-eight dollars per annum.
In 1839 an advertisement was issued for service on route No. 1593,
from Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Caledonia, Fox, Kersey,
Ridgeway, Williamsville, Clermontville, Smithport, Farmers Valley,
Allegheny Bridge, Pennsylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean,
New York, once a week between Bellefonte and Smithport, and twice a
week the residue of route, from January i, 1840, to June 30, 1844, and
contract was awarded to Mr. Gideon Ions (address not given) at eight
hundred and forty-five dollars per annum.
EARLY POSTMASTERS, WHEN APPOINTED.
Brookville. Jared B. Evans, September 30, 1830; Cephas J. Dun-
ham, March 30, 1833; William Rodgers, January 19, 1835; John
Dougherty, August 18, 1840; Samuel H. Lucas, June 25, 1841.
Brockwayville. Dr. Asaph M. Clarke, March 14, 1838.
Clarion, now Corsica, John McAnulty, February 8, 1833 ; John J.
Y. Thompson, November 29, 1843.
Cool Spring. James Gray, April 17, 1838.
Heathville. Elijah Heath, September 24, 1841.
Montmorenci. Jesse Morgan, March 13, 1828; James L. Gillis,
April 7, 1828.
Punxsutawney . John W. Jenks, December 15, 1828; David Barclay,
November 2, 1830; Charles R. Barclay, December 21, 1831 ; John Hunt,
October 17, 1837; James McConaughey, February n, 1839; John R.
Rees, December 29, 1843.
Prospect Hill. Tilton Reynolds, May 18, 1842.
Summerville. David Losh, February 14, 1839; Geo. Richards,
October 4, 1839 ; Samuel B. Taylor, October 20, 1840; James Gardner,
October 4, 1841 ; Ira Baldwin, January 12, 1843.
Warsaw. Trios. McCormick, August 15, 1836; David McCormick,
January 17, 1838; Moses B. St. John, May 12, 1839.
WJiitesville. John Keim, December 14, 1835.
Like every other business in those days, the postmaster trusted his
patrons, as the following advertisement exhibits, viz. :
"All persons indebted to C. J. Dunham for postage on letters or
newspapers are notified to call and pay off their bills to James M. Steed-
344
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
man, or they may look for John Smith, as no longer indulgence can or
will be given.
"February 18, 1834."
Barter was taken in exchange for postage. In those days uncalled-
for letters were advertised in the papers. The pioneer advertisement of
letters was in the Philadelphia Gazette, March 26, 1783.
In the thirties distance governed the postage on letters up to four
hundred miles and more. The price of such a letter was twenty-five
cents. The postmaster, who was also a merchant, took produce for
letters the same as for goods, and for postage on such a letter as named
would receive two bushels of oats, two bushels of potatoes, four pounds
of butter, or five dozen eggs. To pay the postage on thirty-two letters
such as named the farmer would have to sell a good cow. "In early
times it was death by the law to rob the United States mails."
In the pioneer days, or previous to about 1860, there was no bank in
Jefferson County. There was no way to transmit funds except sending
them with a direct messenger or by some neighbor who had business in
the locality where you desired to send your money. An adroit way was
to secure a ten-, fifty-, or one-hundred-dollar bill, cut it in two, send the
first half in a letter, wait for a reply, and then enclose the other half in
a letter also. The party receiving the halves could paste them together.
The pioneer merchants when going to Philadelphia for goods put their
silver Spanish dollars in belts in undershirts and on other parts of their
person, wherever they thought it could be best concealed. In this way
on horseback they made journeys. Every horseback rider (tourist)
carried a pair of leather saddle-bags.
In the United States on the ist of July, 1837, the post roads were
about 118,264 miles in extent, and the annual transportation of the mails
was at the rate of 27,578,620 miles, viz. :
On horseback and in sulkies, 8,291,504; in stages, 17,408,820; in
steamboats and railroad cars, 1,878,297.
The number of post-offices in the United States on the ist of July,
1835, was 10,770; on the ist of July, 1836, it was 11,091 ; and on the
ist of December, 1837, n,ioo.
In the year 1837 the postmaster-general recommended revision of
the present rates of postage of about twenty per cent., to take effect on
the ist of July next. To this end he suggested the following letter
postage :
75 miles and under 5 cents.
150 miles and over 75 miles 10 "
300 miles and over 150 miles 15 "
600 miles and over 300 miles 20 "
Over 600 miles 25 "
23 345
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Postage stamps were invented by James Chalmers, an Englishman,
and first used May 6, 1840, in London.
The first issue of the United States stamps took place in 1845, but
the postmasters of several places had issued stamps for their own con-
venience a few years before this. These " Postmasters'," or provisional
stamps, of course, were not good for postage after the government issue
took place.
The first stamp sold of this issue was bought by the Hon. Henry
Shaw. This issue consisted of but two denominations, the five- and ten-
cent ones, and were unperforated, as were the stamps of the next series,
issued in 1851-56.
The pioneer post-office was established in this State under an act of
Assembly, November 27, 1700.
CHAPTER XX.
PIONEER ROADS IN PROVISIONAL JEFFERSON COUNTY FROM 1808 TO 1830.
ABSTRACT OF INDIANA RECORDS.*
PIONEER ROAD.
" The petition of a number of citizens of Jefferson County and parts
adjacent was presented to Court and read, praying for the view of a road
from Brady's mill,y on Little Mahoning Creek, to Sandy Lick Creek, in
Jefferson County, where the State Road crosses the same. Whereupon
the Court did appoint Samuel Lucas, John Jones, Moses Knapp, Samuel
Scott, John Park, and John Wier to view and make report to next Court.
September sessions, 1808, report filed."
There is no report of the viewers on record, nor is the report in the
file with the old papers.
SEPTEMBER SESSIONS, A.D. 1809.
"The petition of a number of the inhabitants of Jefferson County
was presented to Court and read, praying for a view of a road from a
bridge at the end of Adam Vasbinder's lane to Samuel Scott's mills on
Sandy Lick Creek. Whereupon the Court did appoint William Vas-
binder, Moses Knapp, Ludwick Long, Samuel Scott, Adam Vasbinder,
and John Taylor to view and make report to next Court. Order issued.
Distance, 2^ miles and 53 perches."
* By J. N. Banks, Esq., Indiana, Pennsylvania,
f Indiana County.
346
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXNA.
MARCH SESSIONS, l8ll.
" The petition of the inhabitants of Jefferson County was presented
to Court and read, setting forth that they labored under great inconveni-
ences from the want of a public road from the settlement in Jefferson
County to the settlement in Mahoning township, Indiana County, to
begin .near Moses Knapp's mill, on the State Road, to Big Mahoning
Creek, near John Bell's. Whereupon the Court did appoint John Tay-
lor, John Bell, Thomas Lucas, Moses Knapp, John Matson, and John
Jones to view and make report to next Court. Order issued. Distance,
15 miles and 95 perches; 20 feet wide."
"The petition of a number of the inhabitants of the county of In-
diana and county district of Jefferson was presented to Court and read,
setting forth that they labor under great inconvenience from want of a
public road from Puxsutawney, to intersect the road leading from Brady's
mills to the mouth of Anderson's Creek, at or near Lucas's camp.
Whereupon the Court appointed John W. Jenks, Zephaniah Weakland,
John Bell, Esq., Samuel Bell, Esq., Peter Dilts, and Moses Crawford to
view the ground over which the proposed road is petitioned for and to
to make return next sessions. Approved April 12, 1820. Distance, 7^
miles and 34 perches."
"The petition of the inhabitants of Perry township, in Jefferson
County, and also of Mahoning township, in Indiana County, was pre-
sented to Court and read, setting forth that they labor under great incon-
venience from the want of a public road from the four-mile tree, upon a
road leading from John Bell's, Esq., in Jefferson County, to David Law-
son's, in Armstrong County; from thence to intersect the road leading
from Jacob Knave's to James E\ving's mill, at or near the north end of
the farm of Joshua Lewis. Whereupon the Court appointed James
Ewing, William Dilts, James McComb, William Davis, Samuel Bell,
Esq., and David Cochran to view the ground over which said road is
contemplated to be made and make report to next Court. Distance, 7^
miles and 26 perches; 25 feet wide. Approved March 29, 1820."
"The petition of a number of the inhabitants of Pine Creek town-
ship, in Jefferson County, was presented to Court and read, setting forth
that they labor under great inconveniences from the want of a public
road from the county line of Armstrong County, to which place there is
a road leading out near William King's ; from thence to the town of
Troy, which is about a mile. Whereupon it is considered by the Court
and ordered that Salmon Fuller, John Welch, John Lucas, James Shields,
James demons, and Peter Bartle do view the ground over which the
proposed road is petitioned for and make report to next Court. Dis-
tance, 253 perches. Approved December 28, 1820."
" The petition of a number of the inhabitants of Pine Creek township
347
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
was presented to Court and read, setting forth that they labor under
great inconvenience for the want of a road or cart-way from the eighty-
mile post near Alexander Power's on the State Road, to intersect the road
leading to Indiana at or near Little Sandy Creek, and praying the Court
to appoint viewers to view and lay out the same. Whereupon the Court
appointed John Bell, John Matson, Archibald Hadden, John Bartle,
Joseph McCullough, and Robert Anderson to view the ground over
which the said road is contemplated to be made and make report to next
Court. Distance, 9 miles and 63 perches. December 28, 1820, order
of view approved."
"The petition of a number of the inhabitants of Perry township, in
Jefferson County, was presented to Court and read, setting forth that
they labor under great inconvenience from the want of a public road
from Punxsutawney, to intersect the road leading from Indiana to Bar-
nett's, at or near John Bell's, Esq. Whereupon the Court appointed
John Bell, Esq., Archibald Hadden, Michael Lantz, Hugh McKee,
Jacob Hoover, and William P. Brady to view the ground over which the
proposed road is contemplated to be made and make report to next
Court. Distance, 6 miles and 120 perches. Approved December 28,
1820."
" The petition of a number of the inhabitants of the counties of In-
diana and Jefferson was presented to the Court and read, setting forth
that they labor under great inconvenience for the want of a road from
the settlement on the Indiana and Susquehanna road to Punxsutawney
and Barclay's mill, conveniently at the northeast corner of Abraham Wil-
cock's lots, or near it, to intersect the road from Punxsutawney Leasure's
camp, at or near where said road crosses Canoe Creek. Whereupon it
is considered and ordered by the Court that Moses Crawford, John Park,
Robert Hamilton, John Jamison, William Hendricks, and James Work
do view the ground over which the proposed road is contemplated to be
made, and if they or any four of these actual viewers agree that there is
occasion for said road, they shall make report to next Court.
"June 25, 1822, report of viewers approved and ordered to be
opened.
" No distance is given in the return of viewers."
SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL ROADS AND COUNTY BRIDGES FROM
1830 TO 1840.
DECEMBER SESSIONS, 1830.
Petition No. i. Petition of the commissioners of Jefferson County
for a bridge over Sandy Lick Creek where public highway to Indiana
crosses said creek in the township of Pine Creek in said county, etc.
December 7, 1830, the Court appointed Joseph Barnett, William Rob-
348
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
inson, David Butler, Samuel Jones, John Christy, and Joseph Potter to
view the same and report according to law.
The contract for this bridge was made August n, 1829. The com-
missioners were Thomas McKee and Thomas Lucas. The contractors,
William Morrison and William KelsD. Witnesses to agreement, Andrew
Barnett and John McGhee. Consideration, $320, to be paid as follows,
viz. : to give them now in hand the subscription of $75, and a draft
on the supervisors of Pine Creek township for $50, and the remainder,
195, in county orders when completed.
The bridge was 16 feet wide, with stone abutments 75 feet apart, suf-
ficiently strong to support roofing, and to be finished in 113 days.
Petition No. j. Road from Barclay & Jenks's mill to Brookville.
December 7, 1830. Viewers : James Winslow, Charles G. Gaskill,
William Maxwell, Reuben Hickox, Alexander Jordan, and John Hess.
Confirmed September session, 1831.
Petition No. 2. Road from Jacob Hoover's mill to intersect the
road leading from Barclay & Jenks's mill to the Jefferson road through
Gibson's clearing.
Viewers : James Winslow, Obed Morris, Stephen Lewis, Reuben
Hickox, John Hess, and Alfred Carey. Read and confirmed and ordered
to be opened 35 feet wide, unless where digging and bridging is neces-
sary. December 13, 1831.
Petition No. j. Road from Brookville to David Hamilton's on the
Indiana county line.
February 8, 1831. Viewers: David Postlethwait, Archibald Haddon,
William Newcomb, John Christy, John Shields, and John Barnett. Sep-
tember 7, 1831, read and confirmed.
Petition No. 4. Road from William McKee's on the turnpike to
James Linn's improvement on the Olean road.
February 8, 1831. Viewers: Christopher Barr, Jared B. Evans,
Thomas Lucas, Esq., Thomas Robinson, Samuel Knapp, and William
Vasbinder. Read and confirmed. December 13, 1832, ordered to be
opened.
Report No. j. Of a road from Brookville to Matson's mill.
Viewers report in favor of same February 7, 1831 : Thomas Robin-
son, R. R. Scott, Samuel Hughey, William Vasbinder, Joseph Clements.
Confirmed by the Court and ordered to be opened 25 feet wide. May
10, 1831.
MAY SESSIONS, 1831.
Petition No. i. For a road from Moses Knapp's mill to intersect the
Sandy road at or near W. Godfrey's.
Viewers : James Corbett, Esq., Isaac McElvane, Nathan Carrier, Sam-
uel Kennedy, James Hall, and Daniel Elgin. Reported. December 13,
1831, approved and ordered to be opened.
349
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Petition No. 4. For a road from the thirty-fourth mile-stone on the
Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike road to or near the house of Jo-
seph McCullough.
Viewers: Peter Sutton, Thomas Lucas, Esq., A. Barnett, John Latti-
mer, David Butler, and James Stewart. May 10, 1831. February 8, 1832,
read and approved.
Petition No. 5. For a road from Troy to intersect the Olean road at
John McAnulty's.
Viewers : John Shields, Thomas Robinson, Thomas Lacy, Alonzo
Baldwin, John Shoemaker, and Hiram Carrier. May 9, 1831. Read ni
si February 8, 1832.
MAY SESSIONS, 1832.
Petition No. I. For a road from Squire McCullough's shop to David
Butler's.
Viewers : Andrew Barnett, Joseph McCullough, Esq., David Butler,
Jacob Vasbinder, Samuel Jones, and John Lattimer. December 12,
1832. Read and approved ni si.
Report No. 7. Of a road from Shields's Lane to the road running
along Red Bank Creek.
Viewers report in favor of road January 31, 1833 : William B. Ken-
nedy, Thomas Robinson, Isaac Me El vane, Darius Carrier. Confirmed
May n, 1833.
MAY SESSIONS, 1833.
Petition No. 2. For a road from Shoemaker's to intersect the road
from Hance Robinson's to Troy.
Viewers : John Milliron, Samuel Milliron, Isaac McElvane, John J.
Y. Thompson, Hulet Smith, and Darius Carrier. December 12, 1833,
approved.
DECEMBER SESSIONS, 1833.
Petition No. 2. For a road from Thomas Barr's on the Olean road
to the L'nion School-House.
Viewers : J. J. Y. Thompson, J. W. Monks, John Barnett, John
Shields, Samuel Jones, and Israel Gray. May 13, 1834, approved.
FEBRUARY SESSIONS, 1834.
Petition No. i. For a road from Port Barnett on the Indiana road
to the Ceres road at or near Punxsutawney.
Viewers : John Long, John J. Y. Thompson, James M. Steedman,
George Gray, David Henry, and Stephen Lewis. February 12, 1834.
September n, read ni si. January 12, 1847, ordered to be opened.
Petition No. 2. For a road from a public road leading from Brook-
ville to Kittanning at the county line to McKinstry's saw-mill near the
mill of John Robinson.
350
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Viewers : John J. Y. Thompson, Euphrastus Carrier, Aaron Fuller,
John Nolf, Sr., William Ferguson, and John Shoemaker. February 12,
1834. December 13, 1843, approved and ordered to be opened 50 feet
wide.
MAY SESSIONS, 1834.
Petition No. i. For a road from Israel Gray's fulling-mill and card-
ing-machine to a point at or near where the Olean road crosses Little
Mill Creek.
Viewers : William B. Kennedy, Israel Gray, John Monks, Samuel
McGill, Rev. William Kennedy, and William Steel. September n,
1834. June rr, 1835, ordered to be opened 20 feet wide.
Petition No. 2. For a road from the bridge over Mill Creek to the
house of William McCullough in Pine Creek township.
Viewers : John J. Y. Thompson, Henry Keys, Frederick Heterick,
William Cooper, James Kyle, and Michael Long. September n, 1834.
Opening order issued October 23, 1835, * be 20 feet wide.
Report No. j. Of a road from Ball's mill on Tionesta to the Hepler
Camp road near the four-mile tree.
Viewers report in favor of road November 15, 1834 : Cyrus Blood,
David Reynolds, William Armstrong, Trumble Hunt, and John Hunt.
Opening order issued October 16, 1835.
MAY SESSIONS, 1835.
Petition No. I. For a road from Robert P. Barr's on the turnpike
to Andrew Vasbinder's improvement on the North Fork.
Viewers : Hugh Brady, William B. Kennedy, Andrew Barnett, Fred-
erick Heterick, William Long, and Michael Long. December 16, 1836.
Read and ordered to be opened 50 feet wide.
Petition No. 6. For a bridge across Red Bank Creek where the
Brookville and Hamilton road crosses.
Viewers: John Dougherty, John Matson, Sr., James K. Huffman,
Daniel Coder, Robert Morrison, and John Philliber. February 13,
1836. Viewers report in favor, March 8, 1836.
Petition No. 7. For a bridge on Big Mahoning.
Viewers : Thomas Kerr, James E. Cooper, Daniel Henneigh, Christian
Reischel, John Drum, and James W. Bell. February 13, 1836. August
20, 1836, report in favor and county pay $180.
Report No. 10. Of a road from John Hoover's mill to intersect the
Ceres road at or near Daniel Graffius's, Jr.
Viewers report in favor of road February 4, 1836 : James H. Bell,
Nathaniel Tindall, John Hoover (miller), Samuel Bowers, James E.
Cooper. May term approved.
Petition No. 2. For a road from James Ross's to intersect the Brock-
way road at or near S. Tibbetts's.
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Viewers : Frederick Heterick, Paul Vandevort, William Cooper, James
Smith, John McLaughlin, and Jared B. Evans.
Petition No. 3. For a road from the tan-yard of John W. Jenks in
Punxsutawney to the saw-mill of Wm. Campbell.
Viewers : Thomas Kerr, James E. Cooper, Andrew Bowers, James
Winslow, John Ham, and John Hunt. Approved May 10, 1836.
Report No. 8. Of a road from the west end of Morrison's Lane to
the west end of John Kennedy's.
Viewers report in favor of road (no date) 1835 : John J. Y. Thomp-
son, Moses Knapp, Nathan Carrier, John Love, Sr., Wallace Bratton.
May 10, 1836, read and confirmed.
SEPTEMBER SESSIONS, 1836.
Petition No. 2. For a road from Vasbinder's improvement to
Frederick Heterick's.
Viewers: William Kennedy, Jr., Frederick Heterick, Michael Long,
James Moorhead, Hugh Brady, Esq., and Jesse Clark. May 10, 1836.
December 17, 1836, read and confirmed.
Petition No. j. For a road from Mill Creek road near John Wil-
son's to Maize's Gap on the Clarion River.
Viewers : William Armstrong, Nathan Phipps, Thos. Callin, Henry
M. Clark, Daniel Elgin, and George Catz. September 16, 1836. May
10, 1837, read and approved.
Petition No. 6. For a road from Ball's mill on Tionesta Creek to
intersect the Warren and Hepler Camp road near the four-mile tree.
Viewers : Cyrus Blood, William Armstrong, Trumble Hunt, Thomas
Maize, John Hunt, and David Reynolds.
DECEMBER SESSIONS, 1836.
Petition No. i. For a road from Jacob Smith's to intersect the Ceres
road at or near John Rhoads's.
Viewers : David Kerr, John Hoover (miller), John Rhoads, Sr., John
Pifer, Sr., John Bouthart, and Nathaniel Tindall. December 16, 1836.
Petition No. 2. For a road from the house of James Smith to inter-
sect the Ceres road at or near the farm of Wm. Smith.
Viewers: Isaac Packer, John Fuller, Andrew Barnett, John Matson,
Sr., Henry Vasbinder, John J. Y. Thompson. December 16, 1836.
October 14, 1837, viewers report in favor of road. May 16, 1838, con-
firmed.
FEBRUARY SESSIONS, 1837.
Petition No. i. For a road from Armstrong & Reynolds's mill at
the mouth of Maple Creek to Thomas Median's farm on the line of
Jefferson and Venango.
Viewers : John H. Maize, Nathan Phipps. John Cook, James Aharrah,
352
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
George Armstrong, and Joseph Reynolds. February 14, 1837. July 24,
1837, viewers report in favor of road. September 15, 1837, read and
confirmed ni si.
Petition No. 2. For a road from the public road at or near David
Milliron's to intersect the Troy road at or near Benjamin Shaffer's.
Viewers : John Robinson, John Bell, Esq., James Corbett, Wm. New-
comb, David Postlethwait, and John Alcorn. February 17, 1837.
MAY SESSIONS, 1837.
Petition No. I For a road from Daniel Elgin's to the turnpike near
the Widow Mills's.
Viewers : Thomas Hall, John Monks, John J. Y. Thompson, Thomas
Arthurs, John Barnett, and Samuel Davidson. May 10, 1837. Con-
firmed September 15, 1837.
Petition No. 2. For a road from the road from Whitesville to Punx-
sutawney, one-half mile east of Whitesville, to intersect the road from
Hamilton's to Brookville near Henry Philliber's.
Viewers: John Bell, Esq., William Newcomb, Wm. Stunkard, John
J. Y. Thompson, Wm. Johnston, and Daniel Postlethwait. May 10, 1837.
September 15, 1837, confirmed ni si. Order issued December 23, 1837,
for opening to John C. Ferguson, and to be paid by him.
Petition No. j. For a road from the Smethport and Milesburg
turnpike where it crosses Clarion River to the mouth of Spring Creek.
Viewers : Henry Kerns, Caleb Dill, Lyman Wilmarth, George Pelton,
John Liram, and Gould Richards. May 10, 1837. September 15, 1837,
read and confirmed ni si.
Petition No. 5. For a road from John Bowers's to James H. Bell's
grist-mill.
Viewers : Andrew Bowers, Joseph W. Winslow, James Winslow,
James E. Cooper, James Hunter, and John Grube. May 10, 1837. Sep-
tember 15, 1837, read and confirmed ;// si. February 10, 1845, on the
application of George R. Barrett, deputy attorney-general, the Court
order and direct that the road be opened 40 feet wide.
SEPTEMBER SESSIONS, 1837.
Petition No. 2. For a road from David Dennison's to the seventy-
first mile-stone.
Viewers : James Ross, Joseph McAfee, Henry Keys, Henry Mclntosh,
James M. Brockway, and A. Sibley. Confirmed May 16, 1838.
Petition No. 10. For a bridge on Mahoning Creek near Charles C.
Gaskill's.
Viewers : David Henneigh, John Hutchison, John Drum, John
Grube, Samuel Steffy, and Philip Bowers to view and report on same.
September 1837. The county builds this bridge. John Hutchison,
353
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
foreman. The Court approve the finding of the grand jury and direct
the \vithin-named bridge to be recorded as a county bridge. December
DECEMBER SESSIONS, 1837.
Petition No. 2. For a road from the forks of Jones's Run to intersect
the Olean road about one mile east of Mr. Gorden's near the Black
Swamp.
Viewers: Joseph Hughes, John Barnett, John Wilson, Samuel
Hughes, William Mendenhall, and John J. Y. Thompson. December
13. December 18, 1840, confirmed. Order to open, April 24, 1841.
Petition No. j. For a road from Thomas Wilkins's to Ebenezer
Carr's.
Viewers : Samuel Clark, Thomas Wilkms, John Long, John J. Y.
Thompson, Samuel McQuiston, and Daniel Chistiter. December 12,
1837. Read and confirmed May 16, 1838.
Petition No. 6. For a bridge across Red Bank Creek at or near
Carrier's mill.
Viewers : David Henry, John Lattimer, James Matson, John Smith,
John Wynkoop, and Job McCreight. December 12, 1837. Approved
by the grand jury, and the county to assist in building the same. Feb-
ruary 1 6, 1838.
FEBRUARY SESSIONS, 1838.
Report No. j. Of a road from Curry's lot to John Bell's in Perry.
Viewers report in favor of road February 9, 1838: John Hutchison,
James W. Bell, Samuel K. Williams, Andrew Gibson, William Haddon,
William Marshall. February 16, 1838, confirmed ni si. May 17, 1838,
confirmed.
Petition No. i. For a bridge across Red Bank Creek at the place
where the road from Aaron Fuller's to Hance Robinson's crosses.
Viewers : Thomas Hastings, John Lucas, Robert Andrews, Isaac
McElvane, Jesse Smith, and John Barnett. Approved September 12,
1838, by Court.
MAY SESSIONS, 1838.
Petition No. i. For a road from Benjamin Shaffer's to David Mill-
iron's.
Viewers: Aaron Fuller, Hance Robinson, Conrad Nolf, Isaac Mc-
Elvane, Thomas Gourley, and James Winslow, Esq. Read and con-
firmed February 16, 1839.
Petition No. 2. For a road from Dennison's to William McCon-
nell's.
Viewers : Henry Keys, Andrew Smith, James Moorhead, Stephen
Tibbetts, James Ross, and Isaac Temple. May 17, 1838. Confirmed
December 14, 1838. Ordered to be opened 50 feet wide, December 15,
1843-
354
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
DECEMBER SESSIONS, 1838.
Petition No. 4. For a road from the twentieth mile-stone on the Sus-
quehanna and Franklin turnpike to the Sandy Lick Creek at the Irish
Town path.
Viewers : William Reynolds, Samuel Rea, Henry Mclntosh, Andrew
Smith, Woodward Reynolds, and David Rhea. December 14, 1838.
May 15, 1839, read and confirmed.
MAY SESSIONS, 1839.
Petition No. i. For a road from Wakefield's in Pine Creek town-
ship to the district line near Andrew McCormick's, Snyder township.
Viewers : Isaac H. Metcalf, David McCormick, John Wilson, Ira
Brownson, and Elihu Clark. Approved ni si December 10, 1839.
Petition No. 2. For a road from Aaron Fuller's to the Brookvilleand
Hamilton road near Mr. Holt's.
Views: Alonzo Baldwin, John Robinson, Esq., Salmon Fuller, Jr.,
Joel Spyker, John Welsh, and John Shoemaker. May 14, 1839. Read
and confirmed ni si December 13, 1839, and ordered to be opened Feb-
ruary 10, 1840.
Petition No. j. For a road from Hance Robinson's mill to the Arm-
strong County line near the land of Hulet Smith.
Viewers : Joel Spyker, Alonzo Baldwin, Frederick Heterick, Samuel
Newcomb, Hulet Smith, and Nathan Carrier. May 14, 1839. Read and
confirmed /' September 10, 1839. Order to open October 7, 1840.
Petition No. 4. For a road from Daniel Elgin's in Eldred township
to the mouth of Spring Creek in Ridgeway township.
Viewers: James Crow, 'John McLaughlin, James Moorhead, Henry
Vasbinder, Jr., Peter Vasbinder, and James Fullerton. May 14, 1839.
Read and confirmed ni si December n, 1839.
Petition No. 6. For a road from the borough of Brookville to the
Beech Bottom on Clarion River.
Viewers : James Moorhead, John McLaughlin, William Long, Henry
Vasbinder, Jr., Almond Sartwell, and William Humphreys. May 14,
1839. Read and confirmed December 13, 1839.
Petition No. 8. For a road from the upper end of the Clearfield and
Armstrong turnpike east of Punxsutawney to intersect the old State Road
at or near John McHenry's.
Viewers : James Winslow, Samuel Steffy, David Barnett, Daniel Hen-
neigh, Robert Cunningham, and Christian Reischel. May 14, 1839.
Read and confirmed December 13, 1839.
SEPTEMBER SESSIONS, 1839.
Petition No. i. For a road from the farm of Levi G. Clover to the
Olean road at or near James Cochran's.
355
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Viewers : William Kennedy, James Summerville, Henry M. R. Clark,
William Hindman, John McCracken, and John Wilson, Esq. September
n, 1839. Read ni si 1839. Ordered to be opened May 22, 1840.
Petition No. 8. For a road from the twelfth mile-stone on the turn-
pike to intersect the road half a mile east of John McGhee's.
Viewers : John Mclntosh, John Atwell, William Cooper, John Mc-
Ghee, Oliver McClelland, and James Moorhead. September u, 1839.
May 12, 1840, confirmed and ordered to be opened 50 feet wide.
Report No. p. Of a road from the southeast corner of the Graham
lot on the Punxsutawney road to intersect the turnpike at the northeast
corner of Andrew Barnett's land.
Viewers report in favor of road August 23, 1839 : Samuel McQuiston,
Joseph Kerr, Elijah Clark, John J. Y. Thompson, John W. Baum. Peti-
tioned for May 15, 1839. December 13, 1839, read and confirmed.
Report No. 16. Of a bridge across the Big Mahoning Creek at the
Bell's mills.
Viewers report in favor of bridge November 30, 1837 : John Drum,
Philip Bowers, Daniel Henneigh, John Grube, Samuel Steffy, John
Hutchison. Petitioned for September, 1837. County appropriated
$250 to build said bridge. David McCormick, foreman. Court concur
September u, 1839.
DECEMBER SESSIONS, 1839.
Petition No. i. For a road from Richards's mill on the Brookville
and Beech Bottom road to intersect the Brockway road at or near the
farm of Almon Sartwell.
Viewers : John McLaughlin, James K. Huffman, William Hum-
phreys, Peter Chamberlain, Henry Vasbinder, Jr., and Thomas Drum.
December 10, 1839. May 12, 1840, confirmed.
Petition No. j. For a road from the Hogback road near Frederick
Lantz's to intersect the Brookville and Indiana road at or near T. S.
Mitchell's store.
Viewers : George Bloss, David Postlethwait, Michael Lantz, Archi-
bald Haddon, James Means, and David Lewis. Approved by Court,
December 16, 1841.
Petition No. 4. For a road from T. S. Mitchell's on the Indiana
and Brookville road to intersect the road that leads from Irvin Robin-
son's to the Indiana County line.
Viewers : George Bloss, David Postlethwait, Michael Lantz, Archi-
bald Haddon, James Means, and David Lewis. December 13, 1839.
Confirmed December 18, 1840.
Petition No. j. For a road from John Quiggles's to the Big Maho-
ning Creek where the line between James Solesby and William Campbell
crosses said creek.
356
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Viewers : James H. Bell, David Kerr, Samuel Steffy, Samuel Bowers
Charles Shipman, and William Cochran. Read and confirmed February
term, 1841.
Petition No. 6. For a road from the road that has been of late made
from the twentieth mile-stone to Sandy Lick Creek to the Beechwoods
road, one and a quarter miles from the twentieth mile-stone road.
Viewers : Woodward Reynolds, Ramsey Potter, Henry Mclntosh,
Samuel Sprague, and Thomas Reynolds. December 9, 1839. Con-
firmed May 12, 1840.
Petition No. 7. For a road from the Waterford turnpike one-half
mile east of the twenty-fifth mile-stone to David Losh's grist-mill.
Viewers : William Reynolds, Isaac McElvane, Jacob Horm, Ramsey
Potter, Woodward Reynolds, and David Rhea. December 9, 1839.
Confirmed May 12, 1840.
FEBRUARY SESSIONS, 1840.
Petition No. i. For a road from the Brockway road at or near S.
Tibbetts's to the Beehwoods road at or near James Ross's Lane.
Viewers : David Dennison, Henry Mclntosh, Henry Keys, Findley
McCormick, William Cooper, and Isaac Temple. February n, 1840.
Confirmed May 12, 1840.
Petitioned for to Shaw's from Ross's Lane, September, 1836. Con-
firmed to these points May 10, 1837.
MAY SESSIONS, 1840.
Petition No. j. For a road from the Brockway road at or near Peter
Richards's smith-shop to the Beechwoods road at or near the top of Mill
Creek Hill.
Viewers : John McLaughlin, James Ross, William Shaw, Henry Vas-
binder, Jr., Henry Keys, and Milton Johnston. May 13, 1840. Feb-
ruary 10, 1841, read and confirmed to be opened fifty feet wide.
SEPTEMBER SESSIONS, 1840.
Petition No. j. For a road from the Clearfield County line near
Robert Dixon's to Osborne's mill.
"Viewers: John McLaughlin, John McGhee, Henry Mclntosh,
Henry Keys, William Reynolds, and Andrew Hunter. September n,
1840. Read and confirmed February 10, 1841.
Report No. g. Of a road from the road leading from Barnett's to
Punxsutawney, about one mile south of Barnett's, to the old Indiana
road, near the Five-Mile Run.
Viewers report in favor of road, May 12, 1840: John McLaughlin,
George L. Matthews, William Taylor, Ebenezer L. Kerr, William Wiley.
September 17, 1840, read ni si. February 10, 1841, read and confirmed.
357
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
SUSQUEHANNA AND WATERFORD TURNPIKE THE OLD TOLL-
GATES ALONG THE ROUTE A FULL HISTORY OF THE OLD
TURNPIKE, A PART OF WHICH IS NOW MAIN STREET IN REY-
NOLDSVILLE.
In 1792 the first stone turnpike in the United States was chartered.
It was constructed in Pennsylvania in 1 794 from Lancaster to Philadel-
phia. In this year also began the agitation in Pennsylvania for internal
improvement. An agitation that resulted in a great era of State road,
canal, and turnpike construction, encouraged and assisted by the State
government. From 1792 until 1832 the Legislature granted two hundred
and twenty charters for turnpike alone.
These pikes were not all made, but there was completed within that
time, as a result of these grants, three thousand miles of passable roads.
The pioneer turnpike through our wilderness was the Susquehanna and
Waterford turnpike. On February 22, 1812, a law was enacted by the
Pennsylvania Legislature enabling the governor to incorporate a company
to build a turnpike from the Susquehanna River, near the mouth of An-
derson Creek, in Clearfield County, through Jefferson County and what
is now Brook ville, and through the town of Franklin and Meadville, to
Waterford, in Erie County. The governor was authorized to subscribe
twelve thousand dollars in shares towards building the road. Joseph
Barnett and Peter Jones, of Jefferson County, and two from each of the
following counties, Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Clearfield, Venango, and
Philadelphia, and two from the city of Philadelphia, were appointed com-
missioners to receive stock. Each of the counties just named was re-
quired to take a specified number of shares, and the shares were placed
at twenty-five dollars each. Jefferson County was required to take fifty
shares.
The war of 1812 so depressed business in this part of the State that
all work was delayed on this thoroughfare for six years. The company
commenced work in iSiS, and the survey was completed in October of
that year. In November, 1818, the sections were offered for sale, and in
November, 1822, the road was completed.
The commissioners employed John Sloan, Esq., to make the survey
and grade the road. They began the survey in the spring and finished
it in the fall of 1818, a distance of one hundred and four miles. The
State took one-third of the stock. James Harriet, of Meadville, Pennsyl-
vania, took the contract to build the road, and he gave it out to sub-
contractors. Some took five miles, some ten, and so on. Work began
in 1821, and was completed in 1824. The bridge over the Clarion River
was built in 1821, by Moore, from Northumberland County; it was built
with a single arch.
In March, 1821, an act was passed by the Legislature appropriating
358
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
two thousand five hundred dollars for improving the road. Appoint-
ments were made in each county through which the road passed of
people whose duty it was to receive the money for each county and to
pay it out. Charles C. Gaskill and Carpenter Winslow represented
Jefferson County.
Andrew Ellicott never surveyed or brushed out this turnpike. He
was one of the commissioners for the old State Road.
Our turnpike was one hundred and twenty-six miles long. The in-
dividual subscriptions to its construction were in total fifty thousand dol-
lars, the State aid giving one hundred and forty thousand dollars. This
was up to March, 1822. The finishing of our link in November, 1824,
completed and opened one continuous turnpike road from Philadelphia
to Erie. Our part of this thoroughfare was called a " clay turnpike,"
and in that day was boasted of by the early settlers as the most con-
venient and easy travelling road in the United States. That, in fact,
anywhere along the route over the mountain the horses could be treated
to the finest water, and that anywhere along the route, too, the traveller,
as well as the driver, could regale himself "with the choicest Monon-
gahela whiskey bitters," clear as amber, sweet as musk, and smooth as
oil.
" Immediately after the completion of the turnpike mile- stones were
set up. They were on the right-hand side of the road as one travelled
east. The stones when first erected were white, neat, square, and well
finished. On each stone was inscribed, ' To S. oo miles. To F. oo miles.'
Of course figures appeared on the stones where ciphers have been placed
above. S. stood for Susquehanna, which is east, and F. for Franklin,
which is west."
Only the commonest goods were hauled into this country over the
old State Road, and in the early days of the turnpike, Oliver Gregg, with
his six horses, and Joseph Morrow, with his outfit of two teams, were
regularly employed for many years in carrying freight from Philadelphia
to this section. It took four weeks to reach here from Philadelphia, and
the charge for freight was about six dollars per hundred pounds. A man
by the name of Potter in latter years drove an outfit of five roan horses.
Each team had a Conestoga wagon and carried from three to four tons of
goods.
THE TOLL-GATE.
With the completion of the turnpike came the toll-gate. One was
erected every five or ten miles.
Gangs of men were kept busy constantly repairing the pike, and they
were individually paid at these gates. The road was then kept in good
condition.
359
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"AN ACT TO' ENABLE THE GOVERNOR OF THTS COMMONWEALTH TO INCOR-
PORATE A COMPANY FOR MAKING AN ARTIFICIAL ROAD, BY THE BEST
AND NEAREST ROUTE, FROM WATERFORD, IN THE COUNTY OF ERIE,
THROUGH MEADVILLE AND FRANKLIN TO THE RIVER SUSQUEHANNA, AT
OR NEAR THE MOUTH OF ANDERSON'S CREEK, IN CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
' ' SECTION 13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the said company, having perfected the said road, or such part thereof,
from time to time as aforesaid, and the same being examined, approved,
and licensed as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for them to appoint
such and so many toll-gatherers as they shall think proper, to collect and
receive of and from all and every person and persons using the said road
the tolls and rates hereinafter mentioned ; and to stop any person riding,
leading, or driving any horse or mule, or driving any cattle, hogs, sheep,
sulkey, chair, chaise, phaeton, cart, wagon, wain, sleigh, sled, or other
carriage of burden or pleasure from passing through the said gates or
turnpikes until they shall have respectfully paid the same, that is to say,
for every space of five miles in length of the said road the following sum
of money, and so in proportion for any greater or less distance, or for
any greater or less number of hogs, sheep, or cattle, to wit : For every
score of sheep, four cents ; for every score of hogs, six cents ; for every
score of cattle, twelve cents ; for every horse or mule, laden or unladen,
with his rider or leader, three cents ; for every sulkey, chair, chaise, with
one horse and two wheels, six cents ; and with two horses, nine cents ;
for every chair, coach, phaeton, chaise, stage-wagon, coachee, or light
wagon, with two horses and four wheels, twelve cents ; for either of the
carriages last mentioned, with four horses, twenty cents ; for every other
carriage of pleasure, under whatever name it may go, the like sum, ac-
cording to the number of wheels and of horses drawing the same ; for
every sleigh or sled, two cents for each horse drawing the same ; for
every cart or wagon, or other carriage of burden, the wheels of which do
not in breadth exceed four inches, four cents for each horse drawing the
same; for every cart or wagon, the wheels of which shall exceed in
breadth four inches, and shall not exceed seven inches, three cents for
each horse drawing the same ; and when any such carriages as aforesaid
shall be drawn by oxen or mules, in the whole or in part, two oxen shall
be estimated as equal to one horse ; and every ass or mule as equal to
one horse, in charging the aforesaid tolls."
COMPLETION OF THE TURNPIKE.
The first stage line was established over the Waterford and Susque-
hanna turnpike from Bellefonte to Erie by Robert Clark, of Clark's
Ferry, Pennsylvania, in November, 1824. It was called a Concord line,
and at first was a tri-weekly. The first stage-coach passed through where
Brookville now is about the 6th of November, 1824. In 1824 the route
360
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
was completed to Philadelphia, through Harrisburg, and was a daily
line.
'' The arrival of the stages in old times was a much more important
event than that of the railroad trains to-day. Crowds invariably gathered
at the public houses where the coaches stopped to obtain the latest news,
and the passengers were of decided account for the time being. Money
was so scarce that few persons could afford to patronize the stages, and
those who did were looked upon as fortunate beings. A short trip on the
stage was as formidable an affair as one to Chicago or Washington is now
by railroad. The stage-drivers were men of considerable consequence,
especially in the villages through which they passed. They were in-
24 36l
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
trusted with many delicate missives and valuable packages, and seldom
betrayed the confidence reposed in them. They had great skill in hand-
ling their horses, and were the admiration and envy of the boys. Talk
about the modern railroad conductor, he is nothing compared with the
importance of the stage-coach driver of sixty and seventy years ago
"The traffic on the turnpike began, of course, at its completion in
November, 1824. It increased gradually until it reached enormous pro-
portions. A quarter of a century after the road had been built it arrived
at the zenith of its glory."
Pedlers of all kinds, on foot and in covered wagons, travelled the
pike. From Crawford County came the cheese and white-fish pedler.
Several people, including the hotel-men, would each buy a whole cheese.
The pioneer inns or taverns in Jefferson County along this highway
were about six in number. Five of the six were built of hewed logs,
viz.: one where Reynoldsville is; the Packer Inn, near Peter Baum's ;
one near Campbell Run (Ghost Hollow) ; the William Vasbinder Inn ;
James Winter's tavern at Roseville ; and John McAnulty's inn, kept by
Alexander Powers, where Corsica is now located. The Port Barnett Inn
at this time was a " frame structure," as its picture represents.
The early settlers along the pike east of Port Barnett were John and
Rebecca Fuller in 1822, the Potters in 1824-25, Andrew McCreight
and wife in 1832, Tilton Reynolds and wife in 1834, Valentine Smith
in 1835, Woodward Reynolds in 1837, Thomas Doling, and others.
These were all in what is now Winslow township. West of Port Barnett
the settlers along the pike were Moses Knapp, Joseph Kaylor, E. M.
Graham, Alexander Powers, John Scott, Samuel D. Kennedy, Rev.
William Kennedy, John Christy, and John Monks. Lee Tipton had a
store in 1835 about where Corsica is. See chapter on my early " Recol-
lections of Brookville, Pennsylvania."
As Morrow, Gregg, and Potter carried our produce to the Lewistown
market, I reproduce a market-table herewith :
LEWISTOWN MARKET, 1837.
Wheat flour per barrel $10.00
Rye " " " 5.00
Wheat grain per bushel 1.95
Rye " " " i.oo
Corn " " " .70
Oats " " " .40
Potatoes " " .31
Ham .12
Butter 15
Beeswax .20
Timothy-seed per bushel 2.50
Clover- " " " , . . . . t . . . 7.00
Flax- " " " 1.25
362
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMISSIONERS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY TO
ALTER A CERTAIN PART OF THE SUSQUEHANNA AND WATERFORD TURN-
PIKE ROAD.
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the commissioners of
Jefferson County be, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to
lay out and make one mile and ten perches of turnpike road through the
village of Brookville in said county, said road not to exceed five degrees
from a horizontal line, and to be connected with the Susquehanna and
Waterford turnpike road at both ends.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
as soon as the said road is finished, so much of the said Susquehanna and
Waterford turnpike road as lies between the points of intersection afore-
said may be vacated ; and the commissioners of said county are hereby
authorized to draw their warrant on the treasurer of Jefferson County for
the amount necessarily expended by them in making said road.
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
from and after the ist day of April next it shall be the duty of the super-
visors of the public highway in each and every township in the county of
Jefferson to lay out and expend at least two-thirds of the amount of all
the road taxes assessed each year in each and every township aforesaid,
in opening and repairing the public highways within said township and
county, on or before the ist day of October in each and every year.
"Approved the fourth day of April, one thousand eight hundred
and thirty one.
"GEORGE WOLF."
This law authorized a change in the pike in Brookville from Jefferson
Street to Main Street. The Commonwealth awarded the contract for
this work to Thomas and James Hall, who completed the change.
Stage-passengers' rights were guarded as herein by legal statutes.
ACT OF MARCH 6, 1820.
"AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE OWNERS AND DRIVERS OF PUBLIC STAGES
AND OTHER CARRIAGES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF PASSENGERS, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
" SECTION i. From and after the ist day of July next, if the driver of
any public stage, mail-coach, coachee, or carriage shall leave the same
with the horses attached thereto, without some suitable person to take
care of such horses, or securely fastening the same, such driver, and the
owner or owners, or any of them, of such stage, mail-coach, coachee, or
carriage shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not less
363
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
than ten nor more than fifty dollars, one moiety whereof shall go to
the person giving information of the commission of such offence, and the
other moiety to the stock of the county where such offence shall have
been committed : Provided, That the party aggrieved shall have a right
to appeal to the next court of common pleas of the county wherein the
offence was committed.
"SECTION 2. If any wagoner, carter, drayman, or driver of any
stage, mail coach, coachee, or carriage shall wilfully and vexatiously ob-
struct or delay any person or persons travelling on the public highways
of this Commonwealth, he shall for every such offence forfeit and pay
the sum of twenty dollars, one-half whereof shall go to the person giving
information of the commission of such offence, and the other moiety to
the stock of the county where the offence shall have been committed.
"SECTION 3. The said penalties may be recovered before any alder-
man or justice of the peace, in the same manner as sums not above one
hundred dollars are now by law recovered ; and in any suit or action
brought to recover the same, the informer shall be a competent witness,
leaving his credibility, as in other cases, to be judged of by the proper
authority determining the same. And no such suit or action shall be
abated, nor a nonsuit therein ordered, on account of the names of all
the owners of any such stage, mail-coach, coachee, or carriage not being
embraced as defendants, but it shall be lawful to bring and sustain any
such suit or action against any one or more of the said owners : Provided,
That no such suit or action shall be brought against any person for the
penalty incurred by a violation of the provisions of this act after the
expiration of thirty days from the commission of the offence." *
CHAPTER XXI.
PIONEER COURT PIONEER JUDGES PRESIDENT AND ASSOCIATES PIONEER
BAR AND EARLY LAWYERS MINUTES OF PIONEER SESSIONS OF COURT
DECEMBER SESSION, 1830, AND FEBRUARY SESSION, 1831 LIST OF
RETAILERS OF FOREIGN MERCHANDISE IN THE COUNTY, FEBRUARY SES-
SIONS, 1831 EARLY CONSTABLES.
THE first legislation creating a judiciary in this State was called the
provincial act of March 22, 1722. This court was styled "The Court
of Quarter Sessions of the Peace and Gaol Delivery." The Orphans'
Court was established in 1713. The constitution of 1776 provided for
the continuance of these courts. By the constitution adopted in 1790
* For turnpike, see my " Recollections of Brookville."
364
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the judicial power of the State was vested in a Supreme Court, in a Court
of Oyer and Terminerand General Jail Delivery, Common Pleas, Quarter
Sessions, Orphans' Court, and Register Court for each county, and for
justices of the peace for boroughs and townships. The early judges
were appointed by the governor.
In 1806, for the more convenient establishment of the Supreme
Court, the State was made into two districts, viz., the Eastern and
Western. Jefferson County was in the Western.
By an act of the Legislature passed April 2, 1830, Jefferson County
was attached to the Eighteenth Judicial District. Thomas Burnside was
appointed president judge, and John W. Jenks and Elijah Heath asso-
Hon. Thomas Burnside, pioneer judge, 1830-35.
ciate judges. They were the pioneer judges of this county. The salary
of an associate judge was one hundred and fifty dollars per year.
Both the president judge of a district and the associate judges for a
county were appointed in this State until 1850, when the State consti-
tution was changed to make them elective. The term of the president
judge ran ten years, but the term of the associates was for five years.
In 1835, Burnside resigned and Nathaniel B. Eldred was appointed
district judge. In a short time he resigned, when Alex. McCalmont was
appointed and served ten years. Neither Burnside, Eldred, nor McCal-
mont lived in Jefferson County. The president judge's salary was sixteen
hundred dollars a year and mileage.
The early associates, all of whom resided in the county, and whose
service extended only until 1844, were, viz. : William Jack, Andrew
Barnett, James Winslow, and James L. Gillis.
365
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The early local or home lawyers were Hugh Brady, Cephas J. Dun-
ham, Benjamin Bartholomew, Caleb A. Alexander, L. B. Dunham,
Richard Arthurs, Elijah Heath, D. B. Jenks, Thomas Lucas, D. S.
Deering, S. B. Bishop, and Jesse G. Clark. Many very eminent lawyers
from adjoining counties attended our courts regularly at this period.
They usually came on horseback, and brought their papers, etc., in large
leather saddle-bags. Most of these foreign lawyers were very polite
gentlemen, and very particular not to refuse a "drink."
The pioneer law student in the county was Lewis B. Dunham. He
was admitted to the bar of the county at the September term, 1835. It
may be a matter of pride to recall the fact that Benjamin Bartholomew
had a son born while living in Brookville, who became distinguished as
one of the great orators of the State, the Hon. Linn Bartholomew.
PIONEER SESSION DECEMBER SESSION, 1830 HELD IN THE UPPER ROOMS
OF THE OLD JAIL.
" Minutes of a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, held
at Brookville, for the county of Jefferson, on Monday, the sixth day of
December, 1830 :
"Present, the Honorable Thomas Burnside, President, and John W.
Jenks and Elijah Heath, Esquires, Judges of said Court. High Sheriff
of Jefferson County, Thomas McKee. Constables, Alfred Cory, Con-
stable of Young township, and Hulet Smith, Constable of Rose town-
ship, sworn.
" The Court order and direct that a Grand Jury of twenty-four and
a Traverse Jury of thirty-six be summoned returnable to next term."
The following-named gentlemen were admitted to practise law in the
several courts of Jefferson County, and were all sworn and affirmed, to
wit : Thomas Blair, Thomas White, George W. Smith, Josiah W. Smith,
John Johnston, William Banks, and Hugh Brady, Esq. December 7,
Robert E. Brown, Esq., admitted and sworn as an attorney of the several
courts of Jefferson County.
James M. Brockway appointed constable of Ridgeway township and
sworn in open court ; Samuel Jones appointed constable of Pine Creek
township and sworn in open court ; William Hopkins appointed constable
of Perry township for the present year and sworn in open court.
The following constables appeared and made their returns, to wit :
Alfred Cory, constable of Young township, and Hulet Smith, constable
of Rose township.
FEBRUARY SESSIONS, 1831.
Grand jurors for February sessions, 1831. Thomas McKee, Esq., high
sheriff of Jefferson County, returns his pr&cipe to him directed and the
366
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
following- named persons for grand jury at February sessions, 1831, to
wit :
No. Name. Township.
i Andrew Barnett Pine Creek.
2 Jacob Shaffer Ridgeway.
3 Aaron Fuller Rose.
4 Samuel Jordan Perry
5 Joseph Sharp Rose.
6 John Welsh Rose.
7 Andrew Bowers .... Young.
8 William Summerville Rose.
9 John Christy.
10 . . . .' Archibald Hadden.
ii Christ. Heterick.
12 John H. Wise Rose.
13 John Millen Perry.
14 Henry Walborn Ridgeway.
15 Darius Carrier Rose.
16 John McGiffen Rose.
17 Jacob Shillery Young.
1 8 Clark Eggleston Ridgeway.
19 Joseph Bell Perry.
20 John Hughes Rose.
21 Jacob Hoover Young.
22 Robert K. Scott Rose.
.23 William Love, Sr Rose.
24 Thompson Barr Rose.
CONSTABLES' RETURNS FOR FEBRUARY SESSIONS, 1831.
The following constables appeared and made their returns at Febru-
ary sessions, 1831, to wit: Samuel Jones, Pine Creek township; Alfred
Cory, Young township ; William Hopkins, Perry township ; Hulet Smith,
Rose township ; James Brockway, Ridgeway township.
List of retailers of foreign merchandise in the township of Rose, re-
turned at February sessions, 1831, to wit: William Douglass, Jared B.
Evans, William Rodgers, Joseph Chambers, John Robinson, John Mc-
Anulty, Sr., Andrew Vasbinder, John Eason, William Clark.
"A list of retailers of foreign merchandise in the county of Jefferson,
classified according to the act of Assembly in that case provided, viz. :
John W. Jenks, 8th class, Young township ; William Douglass, 8th
class, Rose township; Jared B. Evans, 8th class, Rose township; John
Smith & Co., 8th class, Rose township; William Rodgers, 8th class, Rose
township ; Joseph Chambers, Sch class, Rose township ; John Robinson,
8th class, Rose township.
"We, the undersigned Judges and Commissioners of Jefferson County,
367
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXXA.
do certify the foregoing to be a correct list as returned by the several
Constables, given under our hands the pth day of February, 1831.
" JOHN W. JENKS,
ELIJAH HEATH,
Judges.
THOS. LUCAS,
ROBERT ANDREWS,
Commissioners of County. ' '
PIONEER ADMISSIONS TO THE BAR FROM 1830 TO 1843
The names of the members of the Jefferson County bar as they have
been recorded on the annals of the court in the order in which they were
Court-house and jail, 1896.
admitted. Some of these attorneys were not residents of this county, but
were admitted to this bar, and practised regularly in our courts.
368
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ADMITTED AT DECEMBER TERM, 1830.
"Thomas Blair, of Kittanning ; Thomas White, of Indiana ; George
W. Smith, of Butler, for ten or fifteen years was afterwards president
judge of this district ; Joseph W. Smith, of Clearfield ; John Johnston,
of Clearfield ; William Banks, of Indiana, practised in this court for
many years ; Hugh Brady ; Robert E. Brown, of Kittanning."
FEBRUARY TERM, 1831.
"Joseph Martin; William Watson, of Kittanning, Pennsylvania;
Joseph Buffington, of Bellefonte, practised at this bar for many years ;
was appointed president judge of this district, and afterwards served as
member of Congress from this district."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1831.
"Cephas J. Dunham, of Brookville ; Ephraim Carpenter, of Indiana,
came here for many years : Lewis W. Smith, of Clearfield, came here oc-
casionally ; Benjamin Bartholomew, resided in Brookville a number of
years, and represented the district in the Legislature in 1846. He removed
from Brookville to Warren, and then to Schuylkill County, where he was
afterwards district attorney. Hon. Linn Bartholomew, his son, was born
in Brookville."
DECEMBER TERM, 1833.
" Michael Gallagher, of Kittanning ; James McManus, of Bellefonte."
FEBRUARY TERM, 1834.
"William F. Johnston, of Kittanning, practised regularly at this bar
for many years ; was afterwards governor of Pennsylvania."
MAY TERM, 1834.
" C. A. Alexander; James Burnside, of Bellefonte."
FEBRUARY TERM, 1835.
" Michael Dan McGeehan, of Ebensburg ; General William R. Smith,
from the eastern part of the State, was only here once ; removed to Du-
buque, Iowa."
MAY TERM, 1835.
" Hiram Bayne, of McKean County, practised at this bar regularly
for a number of years. He was engaged in the sale of lands, and was a
member of the State constitutional convention of 1837."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1835.
"Lewis B. Dunham, of Brookville, was the pioneer man admitted on
examination to the Jefferson County bar, and the pioneer law student in
369
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the county. He practised here for a number of years, and then removed
to the West, Maquoketa, Iowa. Mr. Dunham did not practise his pro-
fession after he left Brookville. He represented Iowa in the State senate.
Stewart Steele, of Blairsville."
DECEMBER TERM, 1835.
" Alexander McCalmont, of Franklin, practised for many years at this
bar, and was president judge of the district. James Ross Snowden, of
Franklin, a prominent attorney and politician, came here occasionally.
Elijah Heath, of Brookville; David Barclay Jenks, of Brookville."
SEPTEMBER TERM.
" Richard Arthurs, of Brookville."
SPRING TERM, 1838.
"Jesse G. Clark."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1839.
"John W. Howe, of Franklin, came here regularly for many years.
He was a prominent attorney, and was elected member of Congress from
his district. Thomas Struthers, of Warren, also came here regularly for
many years."
DECEMBER TERM, 1839.
" William M. Stewart, of Indiana."
DECEMBER TERM, 1840.
"Thomas Lucas, of Brookville."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1842.
" J. W. McCabe, of Kittanning, came here a few times."
FEBRUARY TERM, 1843.
" Carlton B. Curtis, of Warren, came here frequently; elected to the
Legislature and Congress twice from the districts of which Jefferson
County formed a part. Andrew Mosgrove, of Kittanning, came here
occasionally. ' '
MAY TERM, 1843.
" David S. Deering, of Brookville, read law, was admitted, and prac-
tised at this bar for several years. He now resides in Iowa."
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEER LEGAL CARD AND NOTICE IN "THE JEFFERSONIAN."
CEPHAS J. DUNHAM,
Attorney at Law.
OFFICE:
PICKERING STREET,
BROOKVILLE, PA.
April, 1834.
" TO THE PUBLIC.
" This is to inform the public that I employed C. A. Alexander, Esq.,
attorney- at-law, to conduct a suit for me, for which he agreed to take two
dollars, and took my note for the same, to be paid when I collected the
money, in two or three weeks, the time not exactly remembered ; he kept
the note and sued me on an account of three dollars for the same ser-
vices, but only got judgment for two. If he has such an ambition for
money the other lawyers will get my business.
" ANDREW VASTBINDER.
" BROOKVILLE, August i, 1834."
PIONEER LAWS AND PIONEER HIGHWAYS.
Stewart H. Whitehill, Esq., of Brookville, Pennsylvania, has kindly
prepared for me this summary of the pioneer laws specially enacted for
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, and for Brookville, Pennsylvania ; also
a summary of the pioneer laws pertaining to the townships and public
highways of said county, as follows :
COUNTY.
March 26, 1804. Jefferson County erected and boundaries named ;
but by the same act annexed to Westmoreland County for judicial pur-
poses.
February j, 1806. Authority of commissioners of Westmoreland
County and other county officers of said county extended over and within
the county district of Jefferson.
February 24, 1806. Jefferson County placed in the Western District
for the Supreme Court, and the State divided into ten judicial districts,
the counties of Somerset, Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong, and Westmore-
land comprising the tenth.
March 10, 1806. Jefferson County annexed to the county of In-
diana, and the authority of the county commissioners and other county
officers of said Indiana County to extend over and within the county of
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Jefferson. It remained thus annexed to Indiana County for all purposes
until 1824, and for judicial purposes until 1830.
March ji, 1806. Jefferson County made into a separate election
district, elections therein to be held at the house of " Joseph Barnett, on
Sandy Lick, in said county."
March 21, 1808. Jefferson County placed in a Senatorial District,
composed of the counties of Armstrong, Indiana, and Jefferson, the return
judges thereof to "meet at the house occupied by Widow Elder, in Black-
lick township, Indiana County."
By the same act Jefferson County placed in a State Representative
District, composed of the counties of Armstrong, Jefferson, and Indiana,
the return judges of which were to meet at the house of Absalom Wood-
ward in Armstrong County.
March 20, 1812. Jefferson County placed in the Eleventh Congres-
sional District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Armstrong,
Jefferson, and Indiana.
March 14, 1814. Authority granted for the subdivision of Jefferson
County into six districts, for the election of justices of the peace.
March 8, 1815. Jefferson County placed in the Sixteenth Senatorial
District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Indiana, and Jef-
ferson, the return judges thereof to meet at the house of John Kelly, in the
town of Newport, in Blacklick township, Indiana County.
By the same act Jefferson County was placed in a State Representa-
tive District, along with Armstrong and Indiana Counties, the three
counties being entitled to two members, and the return judges were to
meet at the house of Absalom Woodward, in Indiana County.
i82j. The Milesburg and Smethport Turnpike Road Company,
authorized " for the purpose of making a turnpike road from Milesburg
in Centre County, past Karthaus in Clearfield County, and Smethport in
McKean County, to the New York line," and Jonathan Colgrove, Paul
E. Scull, John King, and Joseph Otto, of McKean County; Peter A.
Karthaus, of Clearfield County ; James L. Gillis, of Jefferson County ;
John Mitchell and Roland Curtin, of Centre County ; George Vaux and
Simon Gratz, of the city of Philadelphia, appointed commissioners to
solicit subscriptions for said road, which passed through Ridgeway, then in
the county of Jefferson. Notice of the time and place when and where
books to be opened to receive subscriptions of stock to be published in
the Bellefonte Patriot and the Lycoming Gazette, and one paper pub-
lished in the city of Philadelphia. Upon subscription of twenty or more
persons, representing six hundred or more shares of twenty dollars each,
the governor to incorporate the company, which was to have power to
erect and maintain toll-gates upon and across said turnpike, as will be
seen by the following section of the act :
'"SECTION 13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
372
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
That whenever and as often as the said company shall have finished five
miles or more of said road the president thereof may give notice to the
governor, who shall thereupon forthwith appoint three skilful, judicious,
and disinterested persons to view and examine the same and report on
oath or affirmation to him whether the road is so far executed in a com-
petent and workmanlike manner, according to the true meaning and
intent of this act ; and if their report shall be in the affirmative, then the
governor shall, by license under his hand and seal of the State, permit
and suffer said company to erect and fix such and so many gates or turn-
pikes upon and across the said road as will be necessary and sufficient
to collect from all persons travelling the same, otherwise than on foot,
the same tolls which are hereinafter authorized and granted : Provided,
That all persons attending funerals, military parades, or trainings or '
divine worship on the Sabbath-day shall at all times be exempt from the
payment of any toll on said road."
1828. "A SUPPLEMENT TO THE ACT ENTITLED 'AN ACT AUTHOR-
IZING THE GOVERNOR TO INCORPORATE THE MILESBURG AND SMETH-
PORT TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY.'
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the governor be and is
hereby authorized and required to subscribe twenty thousand dollars, in
shares of twenty dollars each, to the stock of the Milesburg and Smeth-
port Turnpike Road Company ; and as soon as any five miles of the
road shall be completed, it shall be the duty of the governor to draw his
warrant on the State treasurer for a sum in proportion to the whole dis-
tance, and a like sum for every five miles, until the whole sum shall be
dra\vn : Provided, That previous to any payment from the treasury satis-
factory evidence shall be furnished to the governor that sums equal at
least in amount to the sums drawn from the treasury shall have been paid
by individual stockholders and expended agreeably to the provisions of
the twelfth section of the act incorporating the said turnpike road com-
pany, passed the eleventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and
twenty-five: And Provided further, That there shall not be more than
five thousand dollars of the aforesaid sum of twenty thousand dollars
drawn from the said treasury in any one year.
"Approved the second day of February, A.D. one thousand eight
hundred and twenty-eight.
" J. ANDW. SHULZE."
373
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
. " A FURTHER SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAID ACT INCORPORATING SAID
TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY, BEING THE SECOND SECTION OF THE
ACT OF THE 4TH DAY OF APRIL, A.D. 1831, AS FOLLOWS:
"SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That the proceedings which are authorized by the thirteenth section of
the act entitled ' A Further Supplement to the Act entitled An Act
authorizing the Governor to incorporate the Milesburg and Smethport
Turnpike Road Company,' passed eleventh day of April, one thousand
eight hundred and twenty-five, and a supplement to the said act, passed
the second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-
eight, in cases when the said company shall have finished five miles or
more of said road, be and the same are hereby authorized and extended
to portions less than five miles of said road, which are and shall hereafter
be finished as aforesaid."
1836. A further supplement authorizing the State to subscribe five
thousand dollars additional stock in said turnpike.
March 24, 1817. The county having been divided into two election
districts, Pine Creek and Perry, the latter declared a separate election
district by act of Assembly, elections therein to be held at the house of
John Bell, of said township.
April 22, 1822. Jefferson County placed in the Seventeenth Con-
gressional District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Indiana,
and Jefferson.
December 23, 1822. Sales of unseated lands in Jefferson County for
taxes authorized.
January 21, 1824. Election of county commissioners and county
auditors first authorized; and when elected, to "hold their office and
transact the public business at such places as shall be determined upon
by a majority of the commissioners first elected until the seat of justice
is ascertained."
1826. County commissioners of the provisional county of Jefferson
to draw their warrants on the county treasurer for expenses of laying out
roads, criminal prosecutions, and all other costs and expenses incidental
to said county ; and the authority of the county commissioners of Indiana
County over Jefferson County to cease.
1826. One-half of all road taxes received by the treasurers of Jeffer-
son and McKean Counties from unseated lands to be applied for seven
years to the improvement of the " leading roads" in said counties; and
C. C. Gaskill and James Gillis, of Jefferson County, and Jonathan Col-
grove and Paul E. Scull, of McKean County, appointed commissioners
to expend said fund in -the "making, clearing, and opening" of said
" leading roads."
1828. The above act repealed as to Jefferson County.
374
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
April 10, 1826. Young township having been erected, now made a
separate election district, elections therein to be held at the house of
Elijah Heath, in Punxsutawney.
April 16, 1827. Ridgeway township, of Jefferson County, having
been formed, the same is now made into a separate election district,
elections to be held at the house of James Gallagher in said township.
April 14, 1828. Rose township having been erected, the same is
now declared a separate election district, elections therein to be held
at the house of John Lucas, in said township.
March j, 1829. An act to encourage the destruction of foxes and
wild-cats, awarding a bounty of thirty- seven and a half cents on the scalp
of every fox produced, and one dollar on the scalp of every wild-cat.
April 8, 1829. John Mitchell, of Centre County ; Alexander Mc-
Calmont, of Venango County ; and Robert Orr, of Armstrong County,
appointed to meet at the house of Andrew Barnett, of Jefferson County,
and from thence to view, select, and " determine the most eligible and
proper situation for the seat of justice for the said county of Jefferson ."
April 2, iSjo. "Ax ACT TO ORGANIZE THE PROVISIONAL COUNTY OF
JEFFERSON FOR JUDICIAL PURPOSES.
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the first
day of October next the inhabitants of the county of Jefferson shall
enjoy all and singular the jurisdictions, powers, rights, liberties, and
privileges whatsoever within the same which the inhabitants of other
counties of this State do, may, or ought to enjoy by the laws and consti-
tution of this Commonwealth.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the county of Jefferson shall be attached to and form a part of the Fourth
Judicial District, until otherwise ordered by law, and that the judges of
the Supreme Court, and the president of the Fourth Judicial District,
and the associate judges to be appointed in the said county of Jefferson,
shall have like powers, jurisdictions, and authorities within the same, as
are or may be warranted to and exercised by the judges in the other
counties of this Commonwealth, and the said county of Jefferson is hereby
annexed to the Western District of the Supreme Court of this Common-
wealth.
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the citizens and inhabitants of the said county of Jefferson, who are or
shall be qualified to vote agreeably to the Constitution and laws of this
Commonwealth, shall at the first general election, to be held on the
second Tuesday in October next at their respective election districts,
choose two fit persons for sheriffs, two for coroners, and all other officers
375
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
necessary to be elected for the said county of Jefferson in the same
manner and under the same rules, regulations, and penalties as by the
laws of this Commonwealth similar officers are chosen in other counties,
and said officers when chosen as aforesaid and duly qualified to enter on
the duties of their respective offices shall have and enjoy all and singular
the powers, authorities, privileges, and emoluments in or any way arising
out of their respective offices, in and for the county aforesaid, as fully as
such officers are entitled to in any other county within this Common-
wealth ; and it shall and is hereby declared lawful for all the public
officers of the said county of Jefferson, from and after the first day of
October next, to do, perform, and exercise all the duties of their respec-
tive offices in as full and ample manner as if the several courts should be
opened on that day by the president and judges of the same, and any
process that may issue returnable to the first term in said county shall
bear test as of the first day of October next.
" SECTION 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the Courts of Common Pleas and General Quarter Sessions of the Peace,
and Orphans' Court for the county of Jefferson shall, from and after the
first day of October next, commence and be holden on the first Monday
after the courts in Clearfield County.
" SECTION 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
all suits which shall be pending and undetermined in the Court of Com-
mon Pleas of Indiana County on the first day of October next, when the
defendant or defendants in such suit or suits shall at that time be resident
in Jefferson County, shall be transferred to the Court of Common Pleas
of Jefferson County, and shall be considered as pending in said court,
and shall be proceeded on in like manner as if the same had been
originally commenced in said court, except that the fees thereon, due to
the officers in Indiana County, shall be paid to them when recovered by
the prothonotary or sheriff of Jefferson County, and the prothonotary of
Indiana County shall procure a docket and copy therein all the docket
entries respecting the said suits to be transferred as aforesaid, and shall
on or before the fourth Monday in November next have the said docket,
together with the records, declarations, and other papers respecting said
suits, ready to be delivered to the prothonotary of Jefferson County, the
expense of said docket and copying to be paid by the prothonotary of
Jefferson County, and reimbursed by the said county of Jefferson on
warrants to be drawn by the commissioners of Jefferson County on the
treasury thereof.
" SECTION 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
it shall and may be lawful for the commissioners of Jefferson County,
and they are hereby required, as soon as they may deem it expedient, to
erect or cause to be erected on such part of the public square in the town
of Brookville as they may deem best suited thereto a court-house, and
376
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
offices for the safe-keeping of the papers and records of the said county,
and until such court-house is erected the courts of justice shall be opened
and held in such house in said county as the judges and commissioners
may obtain for that purpose.
" SECTION 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the sheriff, coroner, and other public officers of Indiana County shall
continue to exercise the duties of their respective offices within the
county of Jefferson until similar officers are appointed and elected agree-
ably to law within and for the said county of Jefferson.
" SECTION 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the sheriffs and coroners of the said county of Jefferson before they enter
on the duties of their offices shall give security in like sums as similar
officers do in the county of Indiana and in the same manner, and under
the restrictions as similar officers are compelled to do in the several
counties of this Commonwealth.
" SECTION 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the seat of justice for the county of Jefferson shall be, and the same is
established and confirmed at the mouth of the North Fork of Sandy Lick
Creek, in the county of Jefferson, and it shall be the duty of the com-
missioners of said county to demand and receive from John Pickering,
Esq., a sufficient deed or deeds in fee-simple, in trust to them and their
successors in office for the use of said county, for all the lands or lots
which the said John Pickering, Esq., has agreed to give for the purpose
of aiding in the erection of public buildings, agreeably to the act of the
General Assembly of the eighth day of April, A.D. one thousand eight
hundred and twenty-nine, entitled ' An Act authorizing the Appointment
of Commissioners to fix a proper Site for the Seat of Justice in Jefferson
County, and also for one Public Square in the said Town of Brookville
for the purpose of erecting Public Buildings thereon,' and the said com-
missioners shall procure the said deed or deeds when recorded in the
office for the recording of deeds in the county of Indiana, to be recorded
in the proper books directed to be kept for the county of Jefferson, and
the said commissioners and their successors in office, or a majority of
them, shall and are hereby authorized to sell and dispose of the said lands
or lots aforesaid, and to make and execute deeds to the purchasers, and
the moneys arising from such sales shall be by them applied to the erec-
tion of public buildings for the use of the said county of Jefferson.
"SECTION 10. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That the said commissioners shall, as soon as may be, proceed to lay out
the said town of Brookville, and file a draught and return of the survey
of the said town, together with the proceedings under and by virtue of
this act, in the office for the recording of deeds in and for the county of
Jefferson, and an exemplification of the same shall be evidence in all
matters of controversy touching the same.
25 377
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"Approved the second day of April, A.D. one thousand eight hun-
dred and thirty. GEO. WOLF."
1831. An act relieving the prothonotary, register, and recorder of
Jefferson County from payment of State tax on his fees and commissions,
and refunding all such taxes already paid by him.
1831. Commissioners of Jefferson County authorized to alter the
location of, and to lay out and make one mile and ten perches of, the Sus-
quehanna and Waterford turnpike, where it passes through the village of
Brookville.
1831. Township supervisors of Jefferson County authorized and re-
quired to expend at least two-thirds of the annual road tax in the repair
and improvement of the public roads of their respective townships, on or
before the ist day of October in each and every year.
February 7, 1832. Boundary line between Jefferson and Venango
Counties fixed, Richard Irvin, Esq., having run and marked the same
" to the entire satisfaction of both counties."
1833. Jefferson County placed in the Eighteenth Judicial District
by section 8 of the act of 1833, which reads as follows :
" And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and
after the first day of September, Anno Domini one thousand eight hun-
dred and thirty-five, the said county of Potter, and the counties of
McKean, Warren, and Jefferson, shall be formed into a separate judicial
district, to be called the Eighteenth District, and a person of integrity,
learned in the law, shall be appointed and commissioned by the governor
to be president and judge of the Courts of Common Pleas within the said
district, which president shall receive the like salary, and have and exe-
cute all and singular the powers, jurisdictions, and authority of president
judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Court of Oyer and Terminer and
General Jail Delivery, Orphans' Court, and justice of the Court of Quar-
ter Sessions of the Peace, agreeably to the constitution and laws of this
Commonwealth. The courts in Potter County shall be held on the first
Monda>s of February, May, September, and December of each year ; the
courts in McKean County on the first Monday after those in Potter
County ; the courts in Warren County on the first Monday after the courts
in McKean County; and the courts in Jefferson County on the first
Monday after the courts in Warren County, the courts in each county to
continue one week if necessary."
1834. Recognizances and bonds of the sheriff of Jefferson County
fixed at 7000.
1835. Courts of Jefferson County authorized to be held on the second
Mondays of February, May, September, and December.
1835. Wheat, rye, and corn flour, designed for exportation as a
product of Jefferson County, to be stamped.
378
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
1839. An act authorizing one person to hold and exercise the several
offices of prothonotary, clerk of the courts, register, and recorder in the
county of Jefferson. This act remained in force until 1893.
1840. Commission appointed to run and mark the division line be-
tween the counties of Jefferson, Warren, McKean, and Clearfield, consist-
ing of Jonathan Coalgrove, of the county of McKean, Elijah Heath, of the
county of Jefferson, and John S. Brockway, of the county of Clearfield.
1840. An act to encourage the destruction of wolves and panthers,
giving a bounty of twenty- five dollars on wolves and sixteen dollars on
panthers. Repealed in 1841.
1841. An act requiring township elections in the county of Jefferson
to be held on the second Tuesday of February, annually.
1842. Township elections to be held on the fourth Monday of Feb-
ruary, annually.
1842. County commissioners of Jefferson County authorized to issue
orders to supervisors on county treasurer for road taxes collected on un-
seated lands, and prescribing the form thereof.
1842. Jefferson County commissioners authorized to issue orders on
county treasurer for school taxes collected on unseated lands in favor of
the school treasurers of the respective townships, and the form thereof
prescribed.
1843. Act granting premiums on destruction of wild-cats and foxes
repealed as to Jefferson County.
1843. Mechanics' lien law extended to Jefferson County.
1843. Elk County erected out of parts of Jefferson, Clearfield, and
McKean Counties. Timothy Ives, Jr., of Potter County; James W.
Guthrie, of Clarion County ; and Zachariah H. Eddy, of Warren County,
appointed commissioners to "ascertain and plainly mark the boundary
lines of said county of Elk."
By same act, Jefferson County to receive and provide for all Elk
County prisoners for three years, or until Elk County erects a jail.
1843. Jefferson County placed in the Twenty-third Congressional
District, composed of the counties of Erie, Warren, McKean, Clarion,
Potter, and Jefferson.
1843. Jefferson County placed in the Twenty eighth Senatorial Dis-
trict, composed of the counties of Warren, Jefferson, Clarion, McKean,
and Potter. Same act places Jefferson, Clarion, and Venango Counties
together in one legislative district, and authorizes the three counties to
elect two members.
1844. Supplement to the act erecting Elk County, regarding the
bringing of suits, liens, revival of judgments, and the issuing of execution
writs, etc.
1845. All expenses for laying out and opening roads in Jefferson
County to be paid out of the road funds of the several townships through
379
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
which the same may pass. All expenses for the election of township offi-
cers in said county to be paid out of township rates and levies. Super-
visors in the county of Jefferson required to give bond in double the
amount of the sum assessed for road purposes ; and township auditors,
within ten days after settlement with supervisors, to file a copy of said
settlement with the clerk of the quarter sessions.
1845. An act authorizing but three road and bridge viewers in Jef-
ferson County, and requiring all to view.
1846. Certain deeds made and improperly executed by Jefferson
County commissioners legalized.
BROOKVILLE BOROUGH.
1 8 jo. County commissioners authorized to lay out the town, and
limits thereof defined by courses and distances.
1834. Borough incorporated. Election of borough officers author-
ized, and Thomas Hastings and Jared B. Evans, Esqs. , to publish notice
"and see to the opening of the election."
fSjj. Manner and time of electing constable for Brookville pre-
scribed.
2837. Six school directors to be elected in the borough on the first
Monday of January annually.
1837. Brookville to have and own the school taxes assessed against
its own citizens by Rose township.
1838. Brookville Academy established "for the education of youth
in the English and other languages, and in the useful arts, sciences, and
literature, under the care and directions of six trustees and their suc-
cessors in office." The six trustees first appointed were C. A. Alexander,
Thomas Hastings, John J. Y. Thompson, Levi G. Clover, John Pearce,
and Richard Arthurs. By same act the State appropriated $2000 to said
Brookville Academy.
1838. Brookville Female Seminary authorized and established, and
Andrew Barnett, Thomas Hastings, Levi G. Clover, William Jack, Elijah
Heath, C. A. Alexander, John Bell, Charles K. Barclay, and John W.
Jenks appointed trustees.
1841. County commissioners authorized to subscribe $500 to the
Brookville Academy. Three trustees thereafter to be elected annually
"by the qualified voters of the county."
2842. After payment of the $500 to the Brookville Academy, to be
subscribed and paid by the county, trustees of the said academy to be
elected by the voters of the whole county.
1842. Brookville borough to elect two constables and one assessor
annually.
1843. Voters of Jefferson County not to vote for trustees until the
380
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
county commissioners have subscribed and paid the aforesaid $500 here-
tofore authorized to be subscribed.
1845. Borough officers to be elected on the first Monday of March
annually.
1845. Market, Water, Jefferson, and Church Streets, of the borough
of Brook vi lie, authorized.
TOWNSHIPS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
1804. Pine Creek was the original township, coextensive with the
county as erected in 1804.
PERRY.
1817. Perry township made a separate election district, and elections
therein to be held in the house of John Bell in said township.
1826. Elections in Perry township to be held at the house of Jacob
Heterick in said township.
iSjo. Auditors of Young and Perry townships authorized to audit
and settle the accounts of John Van Horn as supervisor of Perry town-
ship previous to its division into- the said townships of Perry and Young,
and to apportion the balance found due him between the said townships.
1835. Elections in Perry township to be held at the house of William
Stunkard in said township.
1842. Perry township divided into two school districts, Perry and
Whitesville.
YOUNG.
1826. Young township to hold its elections at the house of Elijah
Heath, in the town of Ptinxsutawney.
RIDGEWAY.
1827. Ridgeway township made a separate election district, and
elections to be held at the house of James Gallagher.
ROSE.
1828. Rose township made a separate election district, and elec-
tions to be held at the house of John Lucas in said township.
1834. Rose township elections to be held at court house, Brook -
ville, Pennsylvania.
1836. Rose township divided for election purposes, the western end
thereof to hold its elections at the house of Darius Carrier.
1838. Rose township again divided for election purposes by a dif-
ferent line from that established by the act of 1836; but both parts of
the township were required to vote at Brookville. This was very un-
satisfactory, and so in 1840 this act of 1838 was repealed by a revival of
the act of 1836, permitting again the western end of the township to vote
381
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
at the house of Darius Carrier, the site of which is now, in 1897, within
the limits of the borough of Summerville.
1838. Boundaries of Rose township determined and fixed, extend-
ing to the Armstrong County line.
1842. Rose township elections to be held at the court-house in the
borough of Brookville.
BARNETT.
i8j2. Barnett township elections to be held at the house of John
Wyncoop in said township.
-fSjj. Barnett township elections to be held at the house of Alexan-
der Murray in said township.
YOUNG.
1838. Young township divided for election purposes by an east and
west line, and all electors north of that line to hold their elections "at
the Paradise School-House, near Jacob Smith's, in said district."
ELDRED.
1836. Eldred township declared a separate election district, and elec-
tions to be held at the house of James Linn in said township.
SNYDER.
-fSjj. Snyder township declared a separate election district, and
elections to be held "at the house of John McLaughlin on the Brockway
road in said township."
1838. Elections in Snyder township to be held on the third Tuesday
of February, instead of the first Friday of March.
1842. Elections in Snyder township to be held at the house of
James M. Brockway in said township.
WASHINGTON.
1838. Washington township declared a separate election district,
and elections therein to be held at the house of John Mclntosh in said
township.
JENKS.
1838. Jenks township in Jefferson County declared a separate elec-
tion district, and elections therein to be held at the house of Cyrus
Blood in said township.
PORTER.
1840. Porter township declared a separate election district, and elec-
tions therein to be held at the house of Henry Freese in said township.
CLOVER.
1842. Clover township elections to be held at the house of Darius
Carrier, in the village of Troy in said township.
382
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
GASKILL.
1842. Elections in Gaskill township to be held at the house of
Henry Miller in said township.
1844. Elections in said township to be held at "Miller's District
School- House. "
WARSAW.
1842. Warsaw township declared a separate election district, and
elections therein to be held at the house of William Weeks in said town-
ship.
TIONESTA.
1838. Tionesta township, in Jefferson County, declared a separate
election district, and elections therein to be held at the house of John
Noeff in said township.
1844. One- fourth of the road taxes levied and collected in Tionesta
township, in the county of Jefferson, to be applied annually for six years
to repairs and improvement of the Warren and Ridgeway turnpike.
HIGHWAYS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY AS MADE BY ACT OF
ASSEMBLY.
1798. Red Bank Creek declared a public highway from its mouth to
the "second great fork," which is the North Fork.
1817. One thousand dollars appropriated by the State " for the pur-
pose of improving the navigation of Red Bank Creek from the mouth
thereof as far up as it is declared navigable."
1820. Sandy Lick Creek declared a public highway up to Henry
Nulf's saw mill in the county of Jefferson.
1798. Toby's Creek, now Clarion River, declared a public highway
from its mouth up to the second great fork thereof.
7c?77- T\fo hundred dollars appropriated by the State "for the pur-
pose of improving the navigation of Toby's Creek."
1808. Big Mahoning declared a public highway from its mouth up to
the mouth of Canoe Creek, and permission given and regulated to erect
dams in said creek.
7^77 . Appropriation by the State of S8oo " for the purpose of re-
moving obstructions in Big Mahoning Creek, and improving the navi-
gation of the same between the mouth of Little Mahoning and the
confluence of said creek with the river Allegheny."
1835. Big Mahoning Creek declared a public highway from the
mouth of Canoe Creek to the forks of Stump Creek in Jefferson County.
1845. Incorporation of the Mahoning Navigation Company author-
ized, and J. W. Jenks, William Campbell, and James Torrence appointed
commissioners to procure books, solicit subscriptions, and organize the
company.
383
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
1812. Incorporation of the Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike
Company authorized. Governor of Pennsylvania to subscribe $125,000
in the stock of said road.
1814. Supplement to said act extending the time for subscriptions
to the stock of said company three years from the 22d of February, 1815.
1818. Supplement extending the time five years from March 20,
1818.
1821. Governor of Pennsylvania, on behalf of the State, authorized
to subscribe $15,000, in addition to the amount before subscribed, to the
Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike Company. By a report made in
the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, March 23, 1822, it appears
that the contemplated length of this road was one hundred and twenty-
six miles, one hundred and seventeen of which were completed at that
date. About twenty six miles of this turnpike were laid out within the
limits of the county of Jefferson.
2838. Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike Road Company author-
ized to open their road one hundred feet wide through marshy places,
"so as to let the light and air upon the same."
OLEAN ROAD.
1819. This State road was authorized by the following act of As-
sembly :
"AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE GOVERNOR TO APPOINT COMMISSIONERS FOR
THE PURPOSE OF LAYING OUT A STATE ROAD FROM THE TOWN OF KlT-
TANNING TO THE STATE LlNE, IN DlRAECTION TO THE VILLAGE OF
HAMILTO*N, IN THE TOWNSHIP OF OLEAN, IN THE STATE OF NEW
YORK, AND ALSO FROM MlLESBURG IN CENTRE COUNTY TO CLARION
RIVER IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the governor be, and is
hereby authorized and required to appoint three commissioners, one of
whom shall be a practical surveyor, to view, mark, and lay out a State
road from the town of Kittanning, in the county of Armstrong ; thence
on the nearest and best route to the State line, on a direction to the vil-
lage of Hamilton, on the Allegheny River, in the township of Olean, in
the State of New York ; and the commissioners so appointed shall pro-
ceed to perform the duties required of them by this act on or before the
first Monday in June next, and shall make out and deposit a copy of the
draft of said road in the office of the clerk of the Court of Quarter Ses-
sions in each county through which said road shall pass, and the said
clerks shall enter the same in their respective offices, which shall be a
record of said road ; and from thenceforth the said road shall be, to all
384
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PEXNA.
intents and purposes, a public highway, and shall be opened and kept in
repair in the same manner as roads laid out by order of the Court of
Quarter Sessions of the county through which said road passes."
Section 2 provides for the oath of the commissioners, their pay, and
the settlement of their accounts.
Sections 3 and 4 pertain only to the other State road mentioned in
the title of the act.
"Approved the twenty-third day of March, one thousand eight
hundred and nineteen."
1821. -Appropriation of $8000 to the Olean road by the nineteenth
section of " An Act for the Improvement of the State," which reads as
follows :
" SECTION 19. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the sum of eight thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated
for the opening and improving a State road, recently laid out from the
town of Kittanning in Armstrong County to the State line, on a direction
to the village of Hamilton, in the State of New York, which passes through
Armstrong, Jefferson, and McKean Counties, to be expended in the said
counties through which said road passes in proportion to the distance
it passes through the same respectively. And the governor is hereby
authorized to draw his warrant on the State treasurer in favor of the
following named persons that is, for that part of the said road which
lies in Armstrong County in favor of David Lawson and James Cochran,
Armstrong County ; and for that part of said road which lies in Jeffer-
son County in favor of John Sloan, Jr., of Armstrong County, John
Matson, and John Lucas, of Jefferson County ; and for that part of said
road that lies in McKean County in favor of Brewster Freeman and Jo-
seph Otto, of McKean County, who are hereby appointed commissioners
to receive and expend the said sum in opening and improving the said
road within the limits of the counties to which they are appointed to
superintend, etc.
"Approved March 26, 1821."
1819. State road from Kittanning to the mouth of Anderson's
Creek, in Clearfield County, authorized by
"AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE GOVERNOR TO APPOINT COMMISSIONERS TO
LAY OUT A STATE ROAD FROM THE TOWN OF KITTANNING IN A DIREC-
TION TO THE MOUTH OF ANDERSON'S CREEK.
" SECTION i. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the governor is, and he
is hereby authorized to appoint three commissioners, one of which shall
be a practical surveyor, to view, mark, and lay out a State road from the
385
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
town of Kittanning, thence by the nighest and best route on a direction
towards the mouth of Anderson's Creek, in Clearfield County, to inter-
sect a road from Bellefonte to Erie. And the commissioners so ap-
pointed shall proceed to perform the duties of their appointment at such
time as the governor shall direct. And they shall make out and deposit
a draft of said road in the office of the clerk of the Court of Quarter
Sessions in each county through which said road shall pass, and the said
clerks shall enter the same in their respective offices, which shall be a
record of said road, and from thenceforth the said road shall be to all
intents and purposes a public highway, and shall be opened and kept in
repair in the same manner as roads laid by order of the Courts of Quarter
Sessions of the counties through which said road passes.
"Approved January 27, 1819."
1821. Appropriation of $2500 to the State road from Kittanning to
Anderson's Creek, Clearfield County, by " An Act for the Improvement
of the State."
' ' SECTION 1 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars be, and the same is hereby
appropriated for the purpose of opening and improving a State road re-
cently laid out from the mouth of Anderson's Creek, in Clearfield County,
to the town of Kittanning, in Armstrong County, which passes through
the counties of Clearfield, Jefferson, Indiana, and Armstrong, to be ex-
pended in the same counties through which said road passes in proportion
to the distance it passes through the same, and the governor is hereby
authorized to draw his warrant on the State treasurer in favor of the fol-
lowing named persons. that is, for that part of said road which lies in
Armstrong County in favor of James Hannagan and Joseph Marshall,
of Armstrong County ; for that part of said road which lies in Indiana
County in favor of James McComb and William Travis, of Indiana
County ; for that part of said road lying in Jefferson County in favor of
Charles C. Gaskill and Carpenter Winslow, of Jefferson County ; and for
that part lying in Clearfield County in favor of David Ferguson and
Moses Boggs, of said county, who are hereby appointed commissioners
to receive and expend the said sum in opening and improving the said
road within the limits of the counties to which they are appointed to
superintend, and the said commissioners shall each be entitled to receive
as a full compensation one dollar and fifty cents per day for every day
they shall be necessarily employed in performing their respective duties.
"Approved March 26, 1821."
1824.. State road from Warren to Brookville authorized.
i&2j. " State road from Indiana through Punxsutawney, in the
county of Jefferson, and Smethport, in the county of McKean, to the
386
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
town of Ceres, in said county of McKean," authorized, and Meek Kelly,
of Indiana County, John Sloan, Jr., of Armstrong County, and Charles
C. Gaskill, of Jefferson County, appointed commissioners to view, lay
out, and mark the same.
1826. Warren and Jefferson County Turnpike Road Company author-
ized <f for the purpose of making a turnpike road from the town of War-
ren, in Warren County, to the Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike, at
or near the bridge over the north fork of Sandy Lick Creek, in Jefferson
County," and Joseph Hackney, John Andrews, and Archibald Tanner,
of Warren County ; Thomas Lucas, Charles C. Gaskill, and John Matson,
of Jefferson County, appointed commissioners to solicit subscriptions and
organize the company.
1826. An act to improve the leading roads in McKean and Jefferson
Counties.
1826. Clearfield and Jefferson Turnpike authorized, and Charles C.
Gaskill, Dr. John W. Jenks, Andrew Barnett, and Thomas Lucas, of the
county of Jefferson ; ana Greenwood Bell, John Irvin, David Ferguson,
and Alexander B. Read, of Clearfield County, appointed commissioners
to procure books and solicit subscriptions for said road, and generally to as-
sist in the organization of the company, to be known as " The President,
Managers, and Company of the Clearfield and Jefferson Turnpike Road."
1826. Sandy Lick or Red Bank Creek declared a public highway
from the eastern boundary of Jefferson County to its mouth, for the
passage of descending boats, rafts, etc. ; and permission granted, and
regulations prescribed, for the erection of dams in said creek.
1828. Little Toby's Creek, in the counties of Clearfield and Jeffer-
son, from the mouth of John Shaffer's mill-run, on the main branch of
Toby's Creek, and from the forks of Brandy Camp (or Kersey Creek) to
the Clarion River, declared a public highway for the passage of rafts,
boats, and other craft, and permission given to erect and regulate dams
on said creek.
iSjj. North Fork Creek, in Jefferson County, from its mouth to
Ridgeway, declared a public highway.
1834.. State road from Kittanning to Brookville authorized, and John
Sloan, Jr., Alexander Duncan, and James Corbett appointed commission-
ers to view and lay out the same.
1835. Commissioners appointed to lay out State road from Kit-
tanning to Brookville: William Jack, John Cribbs, Jr., and Robert
Richards.
1838. Luthersburg and Punxsutawney Road Company authorized,
" for the purpose of making a turnpike from the town of Punxsutawney,
in the county of Jefferson, to the town of Luthersburg, in Clearfield
County," and Lebbeus Luther, John Jordan, Benjamin Bonsall, David
Irvin, Jacob Flick, Benjamin Carson, David Hoover, David Henny, and
387
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Jeremiah Miles, of the county of Clearfield ; William Campbell, Charles
R. Barclay, Charles C. Gaskill, James Winslow, James W. Bell, and John
Hoover (miller), of the county of Jefferson, appointed commissioners to
solicit subscriptions for stock, and generally to assist in the organization
of the company to be known as " The Luthersburg and Punxsutawney
Road Company."
1838. The governor of Pennsylvania authorized and required to sub-
scribe $4000 to the Luthersburg and Punxsutawney Turnpike Company
"if incorporated the present session."
1830. State road from Warren to Ridgeway's settlement, in Jeffer-
son County, authorized, and Robert Falconer, John Andrews, and Lan-
sing Witmore, of Warren County, and Reuben A. Aylsworth, and Enos
Gillis, of Jefferson County, appointed commissioners to lay out the same.
1831. Company organized and incorporated to build said road,
called the Warren and Ridgeway Turnpike Road Company. " The said
commissioners are hereby authorized to employ one surveyor, whose com-
pensation shall not exceed one dollar and fifty cents per day, and two
chain-bearers and one axe-man, at per diem allowance, not exceeding
one dollar per day, and one packer and pack-horse, if necessary, for
which a reasonable allowance shall be made. Further, that the compen-
sation of the said commissioners shall be one dollar and fifty cents each
for every day they may be necessarily employed by virtue of this act."
1836. In consideration of privileges granted by the State to the State
bank, it was authorized and required to pay $5000 to this Warren and
Ridgeway Turnpike Road Company.
1838. Governor of Pennsylvania authorized to subscribe $2000 stock
in said Warren and Ridgeway Turnpike Road Company.
1842. Having completed forty miles of the Warren and Ridgeway
turnpike road, said company was authorized to demand, receive, and
collect tolls thereon.
1844. The managers and stockholders of the Warren and Ridgeway
Turnpike Road Company having abandoned the same, it was enacted
that one half of the road taxes levied in the township of Sheffield, and
one-fourth of the road tax levied in the township of Kinzua, in the
county of Warren ; one-fourth of the road tax levied in the township of
Tionesta, in the county of Jefferson ; one-fourth of the road tax levied in
the township of Ridgeway, and one-eighth of the road tax levied in the
township of Jones, in the county of Elk, should, for a period of six years,
be paid and expended by Richard Dunham and Erastus Barnes, of the
county of Warren, and Joseph S. Hyde, of the county of Elk, commis-
sioners, to the best advantage, in repairing, mending, and improving
said turnpike road through the counties of Warren, Jefferson, and Elk.
1831. Armstrong and Clearfield turnpike road authorized to com-
mence at Kittanning, pass through Punxsutawney, and to end at the
388
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
mouth of Anderson's Creek, in Clearfield County. Thomas Blair, Jacob
Pontius, and Joseph Marshall, of Armstrong County ; Charles C. Gaskill,
and John W. Jenks, of Jefferson County; John Evving and Henry Kin-
ter, of Indiana County ; David Ferguson and John Irvin, of Clearfield
County ; and William A. Thomas and Hardman Phillips, of Centre
County, were appointed commissioners by said act to solicit subscrip-
tions, give notice of organization of company, etc.
1838. Governor of Pennsylvania authorized and required to sub-
scribe $5600 to said Armstrong and Clearfield Turnpike Road Company.
1844. Time for the completion of the said Armstrong and Clearfield
turnpike road extended for the term of ten years from April 16, 1844.
1834. State road from the mouth of Little Bald Eagle Creek, in
Huntingdon County, through Clearfield County, to Punxsutawney, in
Jefferson County, authorized, and James Winslovv, of Jefferson County ;
Elisha Fenton, of Clearfield County; and Benjamin Johnson, of Hunt-
ingdon County, appointed commissioners to lay out the same.
1835. Supplement extending time for making out drafts of location
of said State road from Little Bald Eagle Creek to Punxsutawney.
1834. State road authorized from the settlement on the head-waters
of Millstone Creek, in Jefferson County, to the State Road leading from
the Clarion River bridge, on the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike,
in the county of Venango, at or near the farm of Peter Walley, Jr., and
James Gillis and William Armstrong, of Jefferson County ; and David Rey-
ner, of Venango County, appointed commissioners to lay out the same.
1835. State road from Shippenville to Ridgeway, in Jefferson
County, authorized, and Daniel Rhyner and James Hasson, of Venango
County ; and William Armstrong, of Jefferson County, appointed commis-
sioners to view, lay out, and mark the same.
1838. State road from Brookville to Tionesta authorized, and
James Huling and Richard Irvin, of Venango County, and Philip G.
Clover, of Jefferson County, "appointed commissioners to view, lay out,
locate, and mark the same by the nearest and best route."
1840. Incorporation of the Armstrong, Jefferson, and Clearfield
Turnpike Company authorized, to begin "at the northern termination
of the Freeport and Kittanning turnpike road, on the top of the Mahoning
hills, and continue by the most practical route, via the borough of Brook-
ville, in Jefferson County, and the Brandy Camp, to the Milesburg and
Smethport turnpike road, at or near Ridgeway, in Jefferson County. By
same act James Kerr, Hance Robinson, Jacob Miller, of the county of
Armstrong ; and Hiram Wilson, William Jack, John Dougherty, and
Jacob Shaffer, of the county of Jefferson ; and Isaac Horton, Daniel
Oyster, Uriah Rodgers, and Jonathan Nichols, of the county of Clear-
field, were appointed commissioners to solicit subscriptions and organize
the company.
389
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
1840. State road from Ebensburg to Punxsutawney authorized, to
begin "at the town of Ebensburg, in Cambria County; thence by the
nearest and best route to the Cherry Tree ; thence by the nearest and best
route to the town of Punxsutawney, Jefferson County;" and Stephen
Lloyd and James Rhey, of Cambria County ; James Bard, of Indiana
County; David Ferguson, of Clearfield County; and James Winslow, of
Jefferson County, appointed commissioners to view, lay out, and mark
the same.
April 2, 1841. Time for completing the survey and location of State
road from Ebensburg to Punxsutawney extended one year from April 2,
1841, and Stephen Lloyd, John B. Douglass, of Cambria County;
Richard Bard, of Clearfield County ; William Thompson, of Indiana
County; and James Winslow, of Jefferson County, appointed commis-
sioners in place of those named in the act originally authorizing the road.
May 5, 1841. Original act authorizing the State road from Ebens-
burg to Punxsutawney revived, "and William Thompson, of Indiana
County ; Richard Bard, of Clearfield County ; and Stephen Lloyd, John
B. Douglass, and James Rhey, of Cambria County, appointed commis-
sioners to carry the provisions of the said act into execution."
1842. Chutes of dams on the Red Bank and Sandy Lick Creek to be
twenty feet long for every one foot high.
1841. Jefferson County commissioners authorized to subscribe stock
in the Mahoning Mouth Bridge Company "such number of shares as they
may deem right and proper. ' '
1842. State road from Cherry Tree in Indiana County to Clarion
authorized, and David Peelor, Heth F. Camp, and John Decker, of
Indiana County; John Sloan, Jr., Peter Clover, Jr., of Clarion County ;
and Robert Woodward, of Armstrong County, appointed commissioners
to view and lay out the said State road, which was to begin at " Cherry
Tree in Indiana County, and to intersect the Susquehanna and Water-
ford Turnpike at or near the town of Clarion, in Clarion County, by
the nearest and best route between the said points."
1843. Time for executing and returning drafts of the survey of this
State road from Cherry Tree to Clarion extended one year, and Henry
Freese, of Jefferson County, added to the board of commissioners.
i&4j. State road from Brookville to Ridgeway by way of the mouth
of Little Toby authorized.
1843. State road from Elderton to Punxsutawney authorized, and
Thomas Armstrong, of Elderton ; Peter Dilts, of Mahoning, Indiana
County; and William Campbell, of Jefferson County, "appointed com-
missioners to view and lay out the road from Elderton, in Armstrong
County, to Punxsutawney, in Jefferson County, by way of Plumville, in
Indiana County, by the nearest and best route from point to point."
1844. The county commissioners of the several counties through
390
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
which the State road from Elderton by way of Plumville to Punxsutaw-
ney was laid out authorized and required to settle the accounts of the
commissioners viewing and laying out said road.
1844. State road from the borough of Warren, in Warren County,
to the borough of Brookville, in Jefferson County, authorized, and
Henry G. Sergeant and Orin L. Stanton, of Warren County ; and Samuel
Findley, of Jefferson County, appointed commissioners to view and lay
out the same ; drafts of the location of said State road to be made and
deposited " in the office of the clerk of the court of the respective
counties in which said road may be laid out."
1846. Act relating to dams and obstructions in the Clarion River.
1846. State road from Smicksburg, Indiana County, to the borough
of Brookville, Jefferson County, authorized, and Hugh Brady, Levi G.
Clover, of Jefferson County ; and George Bernard, of Indiana County,
appointed commissioners to view and lay out the same " on the nearest
and best route, to a straight line, and in no place to exceed an elevation
of five degrees."
Viewers required to make draft and file copy of same in both counties,
and courts of the respective counties authorized to fill vacancies occurring
in the board of commissioners.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE PIONEER PHYSICIAN IN THE COUNTY, DR. JOHN W. JENKS, OF PUNX-
SUTAWNEY THE PIONEER PHYSICIAN ON THE LITTLE TOBY, DR.
NICHOLS OTHER EARLY PHYSICIANS, DR. EVANS, DR. PRIME, DR.
DARLING, DR. BISHOP, DR. A. M. CLARKE, DR. JAMES DOWLING, DR.
WILLIAM BENNETT PIONEER MAJOR OPERATION IN SURGERY IN 182 1
EARLY RIDES, FEES, ETC.
IN 1818, Dr. John W. Jenks came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
and settled in what is now Punxsutawney, where he built a cabin, made
improvements, and reared a family. He was quite a prominent man,
and filled positions of profit and trust. He was one of the first associate
judges, and father of Judge W. P. Jenks, Hon. G. A. Jenks, and Mrs.
Judge Gordon.
The pioneer physician and pioneer clergyman to settle in the Little
Toby Valley was the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Nichols, who died in 1846,
aged seventy-one. His wife, Hannah, died in Brookville in 1859, aged
eighty-two years.
Rev. Dr. Jonathan Nichols migrated from Connecticut, and settled
on Little Toby, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1818. He
was a preacher and a doctor. He was the first minister to preach reg-
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ularly in this county; also the pioneer physician in the northern part.
The date of Dr. Nichols's first settlement in this wilderness was in 1812,
on the Sinnamahoning. Dr. Nichols was a regularly educated physician,
but, being of a very pious turn of mind, he studied and was ordained a
Baptist minister. One who knew him well wrote of Dr. Nichols, viz. :
" He was a generous, kind-hearted gentleman, genial and urbane in his
manners, with a helping hand ready to assist the needy, and had kind
words to comfort the sorrowing. As a physician his visits were required
over a large extent of the county. As a clergyman his meetings were
well attended by the people."
PIONEER MAJOR SURGICAL OPERATION.
Moses Knapp moved to what is now called Baxter in the spring
of 1821, and while cutting timber he got a foot and leg crushed so
that his limb had to be amputated above the knee. Dr. Stewart, of
Indiana, and Dr. William Rankin, of Licking, now Clarion County,
performed the amputation in the summer of 1821. Knapp that year
was constable, having been elected in the spring election.
Prior to 1825, Dr. R. K. Scott settled on what is now the Cowan
farm, a little east of Roseville. The doctor was a pleasant, intelligent
gentleman, and at one time was in the newspaper business. Where he
removed to I do not know.
About the year 1831, Dr. Alvah Evans came to Brookville and opened
an office for practice. He remained but a few months.
In the spring of 1832, Dr. G. C. M. Prime came to Brookville and
commenced the practice of medicine. Dr. Prime was a man of skill.
He amputated the arm of Henry (Hance) Vasbinder. Inflammation
and gangrene in the arm, caused by a bite on his thumb while fighting,
made this amputation necessary. Dr. Prime left Brookville in 1835.
In June, 1833, Dr. Geo. Darling (father of the late Paul Darling)
came from Smithport, McKean County, Pennsylvania, and located in
Brookville. In 1843, Dr. Darling left Brookville and located in Ohio.
He was a well-bred, intelligent, educated physician.
In the summer of 1835, Rev. G. Bishop, M.D., located in Brookville,
both preaching and practising medicine. He preached regularly to the
Presbyterians of Beechwoods, Brookville, and where Corsica now stands.
In the spring of 1836, Dr. A. M. Clarke (who read and practised
under Dr. Nichols) located in Brockwayville and commenced to practise
for and by himself. Dr. Clarke was born in Granby, Connecticut, in
1808. His father was Philetus Clarke, who came into this wilderness in
1819. After a long and useful life Dr. Clarke died, May 2, 1884, leav-
ing a family and his aged wife, nee Rebecca M. Nichols. The following
tribute was paid him at his death by a literary friend, Eugene Miller,
Esq., viz. :
392
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Deceased was intellectually a remarkable man. Denied the advan-
tages of wealth and education, he became not only a learned and skilful
physician, but a literary man of high order. Books were the mine in
which he delved, and from their pages he brought forth jewels of infor-
mation and thought most rare. He loved poetry with an ardor words
cannot express, and was not only familiar with the leading poets of the
past and present, but was himself the author of a number of fragments,
which show him to have been possessed of a poetic fire that, in the
hands of one less modest and unassuming than he ever proved himself to
be, would have made him an enduring name. His qualities of heart
were no less choice than were those of his head. He was generous to a
fault, and as meek and gentle as a child. Nothing seemingly gave him
more pleasure than to do good to his fellow-men, and many there are
who have partaken bountifully of his store. In the sick-room his pres-
ence was always a sweet solace, and his delicate touch almost as soothing
as a narcotic. In the social circle he was ever popular, the diversity of
his knowledge and the easy flow of his language rendering him a delight-
ful companion. As a man and citizen he was highly respected, as was
proved by the spontaneity with which his neighbors gathered about his
grave and dropped a tear to his precious memory. His death, like his
life, was peaceful, and the name he leaves behind is as pure as the lily
and as fragrant as the rose."
Dr. James Dowling came from Mercer County, Pennsylvania, in
1841, and located in what is now called Baxter. In 1843 ne removed to
Brookville. In 1844 he was elected a member of the Legislature. Dr.
Dowling was a little man in stature, but a " big man in head and brain."
He was greatly in advance of the many theoretical, narrow-minded,
bigoted doctors of his time. He was popular in his manner and pleasing
in his address. His practice was extensive and his reputation great. I
remember his many kind acts to me, and I cherish his memory. He
died December, 1860.
Dr. William M. Bennett was married to a Miss Orilla Ralston, of
Angelica, Alleghany County, New York, about the year 1818 or 1819.
He lived a short time where the city of Bradford now stands. He emi-
grated with his family to Jefferson County early in the year 1843, a d
settled on the Little Toby, in Snyder township, three miles below Brock-
wayville, where he built a saw-mill and engaged in the practice of his
profession. Dr. Bennett was not a highly educated man, but he had a
wonderful fund of common sense, and in his career of physician was
popular, successful, and useful. In his treatment of diseases he was far
in advance of what was then called science in medicine. He died Octo-
ber n, 1875, an d was buried at Temple's graveyard, Warsaw township,
this county.
The pioneer and early doctor was a useful citizen, and his visits to the
26 393
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
early settlers when afflicted was a great comfort. How we all long now
to see the doctor when we are sick ! These isolated people longed just
the same for the coming of their doctor. The science of medicine then
was very crude, and the art of it very imperfect, hence the early practi-
tioner had but limited skill, yet while exercising whatever he professed
for the relief of suffering, his privations and labor while travelling by
night or day on horseback with his "old pill-bags" were hard and severe
in the extreme. The extent of his circuit was usually from fifty to one
hundred miles over poor roads and paths, swimming his horse through
creeks and rivers as best he could. I have travelled a circuit of one hun-
dred miles in my day. In those days every one had respect for the doc-
tor, and every family along his circuit was delighted with an opportunity
to extend free hospitality to the doctor and his horse.
In some of my long rides I have become so tired about midnight that
I felt I could not go a step farther, when I would dismount from my
horse, hitch him on the outside to a log of a log barn, slip the bridle
around his neck, climb into the mow, throw the horse an armful of hay,
and then fall asleep in the hay, only to awaken when the sun was an hour
or two high. The pioneer doctor carried his pill -bags well stocked with
calomel, Dover's powder, tartar emetic, blistering salve, a pair of old
turnkeys for extracting teeth, and a spring and thumb lance for bleeding
purposes, as everybody had to be bled, sick or well. Twenty-five cents
was the fee for bleeding, and the amount of blood drawn from the arm
was from half a pint to a quart. The custom of bleeding sick or well
fell into disrepute about 1850. A town visit was from twenty-five to fifty
cents, a visit in the country twenty-five cents a mile, an obstetric fee five
dollars. The pioneer doctor always wore green leggings or corduroy
overalls. I was no exception to this rule.
THE PIONEER MEDICAL SOCIETY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENN-
SYLVANIA.
On July 3, 1857, a call was published in the Jefferson Star by Drs. A.
P. Heichhold and J. G. Simons for the physicians of Jefferson County
"to meet at the court-house in the borough of Brookville, on the loth
of July, 1857, at 10 o'clock A.M.," to organize a medical society.
The call was responded to, and below I give the minutes of the meet-
ing as published in the Star of July 17, 1857 :
" In compliance with a call to the members of the medical profession
in Jefferson County, a meeting was held in Brookville and a county med-
ical society was formed with the following members, viz. : Drs. C. P.
Cummins, Mark Rodgers, Charles Baker, A. J. Johnston, R. B. Brown,
W. J. McKnight, D. A. Elliott, J. G. Simons, and A. P. Heichhold.
"The meeting was organized by calling Dr. M. Rodgers to the chair,
and Dr. A. P. Heichhold was appointed secretary pro tern.
394
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Dr. Simons was then called on to state the object of the meeting,
which he did in a neat and appropriate manner.
" The following resolution was then offered : ' Resolved, That in con-
sequence of the indisposition of a portion of the members of the profes-
sion to the formation of a medical society, we deem it inexpedient to
organize one at this time,' which was rejected, and a committee was then
appointed to draft a constitution, and the society was organized perma-
nently. The following officers for the ensuing year were then elected :
President, Rev. Dr. C. P. Cummins ; Vice-Presidents, Drs. A. J. Johns-
ton, M. Rodgers; Secretary, D. A. Elliott; Treasurer, Dr. A. P. Heich-
hold ; Censors, Dr. A. P. Heichhold, J. G. Simons, A. J. Johnston.
The society then adjourned to meet at the court-house, in Brookville,
on Tuesday, the 28th day of July, at 7.30 P.M.
"C. P. CUMMINS,
' ' President.
" A. P. HEICHHOLD,
" Secretary.' 1 ''
In this same issue of July 17 the following official notice was pub-
lished :
" A meeting of the Jefferson County Medical Society will be held in
the court-house, in the borough of Brookville, on Tuesday evening, the
28th instant, at 7.30 o'clock P.M. An address will be delivered by the
Rev. Dr. C. P. Cummins, the president of the society. The ladies and
gentlemen of Brookville and vicinity are respectfully invited to attend.
" D. A. ELLIOTT,
"Secretary."
"Of this lecture the S/arsays, in an editorial of July 31, 1857,
" COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY. This body held a public meeting in
the court-house on Tuesday evening last, which was addressed by Rev.
C. P. Cummins, M.D. The remarks of the Rev. Dr. are highly ex-
tolled by those who had the pleasure of being present. The society met
next morning at Dr. Heichhold's office for the transaction of business.
We are glad to observe a great interest manifested in its proceedings by
the physicians of the county."
The above address was published in full in the Star. The next meet-
ing was publicly announced by the secretary " for September 14, at 7.30
o'clock. Dr. J. G. Simons will deliver an address, to hear which the
ladies and gentlemen of Brookville and vicinity are invited to attend."
Of the members of the county medical society formed forty years
ago in Brookville but two are now living, viz., Dr. Charles Baker and
the writer.
395
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER XXIII.
PIONEER TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS AND PIONEER TAXABLES.
PINE CREEK.
CREATED in 1806 by an act of Assembly, and embraced all the county.
COMPLETE TAXABLE LIST IN PINE CREEK TOWNSHIP (THIS COUNTY)
FOR THE YEAR 1 807.
Joseph Barnett, farmer and distiller ; John Dickson, weaver ; Elijah
M. Grimes, laborer; Lewis Heeb, farmer; Peter Jones, blacksmith;
John Jones, farmer ; Moses Knapp, farmer ; Samuel Lucas, tailor ;
Thomas Lucas, farmer, and grist- and saw-mill; William Lucas, tailor;
Ludwig Long, farmer and distiller ; Alexander McCoy, farmer ; Jacob
Mason, laborer ; Stephen Roll, cooper ; Daniel Roadarmil, farmer ; John
Scott, Sr., farmer; Samuel Scott, miller, saw- and grist-mill ; John Scott,
Jr., farmer; Adam Vastbinder, farmer; Jacob Vastbinder (single man),
farmer; John Vastbinder (single man), laborer; Fudge Van Camp
(colored), farmer. Number of horses, 23; number of cows, 35.
PERRY.
Formed in 1818, and was taken from Pine Creek. Perry township as
originally organized was bounded on the north by Pine Creek township,
on the west by the Armstrong County line, on the south by the Indiana
line, and on the east by the Clearfield County line.
PIONEERS IN PERRY TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN l8l8.
Names of Taxables. Jesse Armstrong, John Bell, Esq., James W.
Bell (single man), Joseph Bell (single man), John Bell (single man),
Elijah Dykes, Benjamin Dykes, Archibald Hadden, Jacob Hoover,
David Hamilton, Elizabeth McHenry, James Hamilton (single man),
Adam Long, Michael Lantz, Henry Lott, Stephen Lewis, Isaac Lewis,
Jacob Lane, James McClelland, David Milliron, Hugh McKee, James
Hutchison, John Postlethwait, David Postlethwait (single man), Porter
Reed, John Piper, James McKee, Thomas Page, Samuel States, James
Stewart, John Stewart, James Wachob.
YOUNG.
Young township was organized in 1826, and was taken from Perry.
It was bounded on the east by the Clearfield line, on the south by the
Indiana line, on the west by Perry, and on the north by Pine Creek
township.
396
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEERS IX YOUNG TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IX 1826.
Names of Taxables. Jesse Armstrong, John Archibald, David Burk-
hart, Andrew Bowers, Rev. David Barclay, house and lot in Punxsutaw-
ney, two-thirds of a grist-mill and two-thirds of a saw-mill ; John Bowers,
Philip Bowers, John Buck, Andrew Bowman, house and lot; Charles B.
Barclay, house and lot ; James Black, house and lot ; Daniel Coffman,
Charles Clawson, Matthias Clawson, Abraham Craft, James Caldwell,
Benijah Corey, John Corey, house and lot ; Isaac Carmalt, house and lot ;
Nichols Dunmire, Adam Dunmire, Daniel Grafnus, Charles C. Gaskill,
house and lot ; Samuel Ganor, John Henderson, house and lot ; Henry
Hum, John Hum (single man), Jacob Hoover, one grist-mill ; John
Hoover, William Hemmingray, John Hess, house and lot in Long's
Town; John Hutchison, Elijah Heath, house and lot; John W. Jenks,
one third of a grist mill, one-third of a saw-mill, one bull ; Adam Long,
Joseph Long, house and lot ; Adam Long, cooper ; Francis Leach,
George Leach, Isaac Lunger, Obed Morris, Joseph Potter, Frederick
Rinehart, Christian Richel, Samuel Steffy, James Smith, Samuel States,
Nathaniel Tindall, house and lot; James Williams, Benoni Williams,
Ira White, James Winslow, Carpenter Winslow, Sr., Carpenter Winslow,
Jr., Ebenezer Winslow, Charles Winslow, Reuben Winslow, Caleb Wins-
low (single man), Thomas Wheatcraft, William Webster, Abraham Weaver,
house and lot ; George Weaver (single man), Parlin White.
RIDGEWAY.
Organized in 1826, and was taken from Pine Creek. Ridgeway
township was bounded on the east by McKean County line, on the north
by the Warren County line, on the south by the Clearfield County line,
and on the west by Pine Creek township.
PIONEERS IN RIDGEWAY TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1827.
SEATED LIST.
Names of Taxables. Aylesworth & Gillis Co., one grist- and saw-
mill; James Brockway, Collins Brooks (single man), Naphtalia Burns,
Nehemiah Bryant, Sampson Crooker, Clark Eggleston, Henry Francis
(single man), Enos Gillis, James Gallagher, Joseph P. King, George
March (single man), William Maxwell (single man), Harvey B. Moor-
house (single man), James McDougal, Lorenzo Preaket (single man),
Jacob Shaffer, John Stratton, William Taylor, Jacob Taylor (single
man), Alanson Vial, Henry Walborn.
ROSE.
Organized in 1827, and was taken from Pine Creek. Rose township
was bounded with Pine Creek on the east, Young and Perry on the south.
397
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEERS IN ROSE TOWNSHIP, AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1827.
Names of Taxables. Robert Andrews, Johns Avery & Caleb
Howard, one saw-mill, trade ; Christopher Barr, Joseph Barnett, one
saw-mill; John Barnett, David Butler, one-half of a saw-mill ; Nathaniel
Butler, Alonzo Baldwin, Lorenzo Brooks (single man), Euphrastus
Carrier (single man), Christian Conrad, John Coon, one half of a saw-
mill ; John Christy, James E. Corbett, William Cooper, James Crow
(single man), Samuel Kennedy, Joseph Clements, W. B. Clements,
George Crispen, James Divin, trade; Samuel Davidson, Robert Dixon,
John Dixon, William Douglass (colored), George Eckler, Henry Feye,
Sr., Henry Feye, Jr., Samuel Feye, William Guthrie, John Fuller, trade ;
Elijah M. Graham, William Graham, - - Himes, one-half of a saw-
mill ; Frederick Heterick, one saw-mill ; James Hall (single man), John
Horam, Moses Knapp, Samuel Knapp, one saw- and grist-mill ; Robert
Knox, John Kelso, John Kennedy, Joseph Keys, Matthew Keys (single
man), Henry Keys (single man), William Long (single man), John
Lucas, William Love, Sr. , William Love, Jr. (single man), John Love
(single man), Thomas Lucas, one-half of a saw-mill, land ; John Latti-
mer, one-half of a saw- mill; John Long, Alex. Lyons, Henry Lot, one
saw-mill ; Peter Lot, Daniel Long, William Lattimer, Isaac Matson,
John McGiffin (single man), William Morrison, Samuel Magill, Isaac
McElvaine, Abraham Milliron, Jacob Mason, Benjamin Mason (single
man, Joseph McCullough, John Matson, John Mclntosh, John McGhee,
trade ; Timothy Nightingale, P. B. Ostrander, Alexander Osburn, James
Parks, gristmill; Alexander Powers, Isaac Packer, William Rodgers,
Hance iRobinson, one-half of a saw-mill; David Roll, one saw-mill;
Joshua Rhea, Thomas Robinson, Robert Smith, James Shields, trade ;
John Shields, Peter Slogerbuck, Samuel Stiles, Michael Shadle, Heulet
Smith, Andrew Shippen, Charles Sutherland (colored), Robert K. Scott,
Joseph Sharp, Walter Templeton, Joshua Vandevort, Jesse Vandevort,
Jacob Vastbinder, Adam Vastbinder, William Vastbinder, Henry Vast-
binder, Andrew Vastbinder, Hugh Williamson, John Welsh, house and
lot in Troy; John Walters, Beach Wayland, Patience Wheeler, John
Webster (single man), Peter Walters, Robert Weir, Daniel Yeomans,
William McDonald, Nathan Carrier, William Mendenhall, Alexander
Scott, Benjamin Sies, Joseph Hastings, Robert Tweedy, James Sharp,
Nicholas Sharp, Joseph Butler, Jeremiah McCallester, Samuel Rhodes,
John Hayes, John Scott (single man), Samuel Johns, Robert Maxwell.
BARNETT.
Organized in 1833, an< ^ was taken from Rose. Barnett originally
contained Jenks and Tionesta townships and all that part of Jefferson
County lying north of the Clarion River. In 1838 the two above-men-
tioned townships were organized out of it.
398
PIOXEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEERS IN BARNETT TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1833.
Names of Taxable s. William Armstrong & Co., one saw-mill ; Luther
Barns & Co., Israel Ball, Warren Barns (single man), John Cook, one
saw-mill ; Job Carr, Nathan & Elijah Tipps, David Meads, Thaddeus
Meads, Erastus Gibson, William Manross, one saw-mill ; David Reynolds,
John Wyncoop, two saw-mills ; John Mays, James W. Mays, Smith heirs,
one saw-mill; Alexander Murray, Thomas B. Mays, Thomas Fords, John
A v Kramer, John Fitzgerald, Smith N. Myers, James Orwin, William
Beer, William Thomas, George & Samuel Armstrong, Ebenezer Kingly,
William Gordon, William Forsythe.
SNYDER.
Organized in 1835, and was taken from Ridgeway and Pine Creek.
Snyder township was bounded on the east by Clearfield County line, on
the north by Ridgeway township, on the south and west by Pine Creek
township.
PIONEERS IN SNYDER TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1836.
Names of Taxables. Dillis Allen, Hugh Anderson, George Addison,
James & Alonzo Brockway, one saw- mill ; Elihu Clark, David Carr, Joel
Clark, Sr., Joel Clark, Jr. (single man), David Dennison, John Dougherty
(single man), Thomas Dougherty (single man), Miron Gibbs, Francis
Goodar, Benjamin Hulet, Frederick Heterick, Joseph Houston (single
man), William Houston (single man), Milton Johnston, Joseph McAfee
(single man), Robert McCurdy (single man), Joseph McCurdy (single
man), John McLaughlin, Thomas McCormick, Hamilton Moody,
Thomas Moody, Andrew McCormick, James Moorhead (single man),
James W. Moorhead (single man), John Moorhead, David Moorhead
(single man), John Pearsall, Arad Pearsall, James Ross, David M.
Riddle, Henry Shaffer (single man), Jacob Shaffer, Ami Sibbley, Wil-
liam Shaw, Stephen Tibbetts, Isaac Temple, Andrew Vastbinder, Paul
Vandevort, Joseph Whitehall.
ELDRED.
Organized in 1836, and was taken from Rose and Barnett. Eldred
township was bounded on the north by Barnett, on the east by Ridgeway
township, on the south by Rose, and on the west by the Armstrong County
line.
PIONEERS IN ELDRED TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1837.
Names of Taxables. Thomas Arthurs, George Armstrong, William
Anderson, Henry Boyles, David Barr, Thomas Barr, Samuel Barr, Abra-
ham Bickler, Smith Benedict, Richard Burns, William Booth, Jacob
Beer, Thomas Callen, Jacob Craft, Moses H. Carly, Peter Coonsman,
John D. Kahle, George Catz, Henry Clark, Job Carly, William Douglass
(colored), Daniel Elgin, Alexander Fredericks, Elijah M. Graham, Jo-
399
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
seph Graham, Elias Gearhart, Dolly George, Isaiah Guthrie, William
Gordon, Israel Hughes, Thomas Hughes, Thomas Hall, William Hop-
per, Malachi Hopper (single man), William M. Hindman, William
Hughes, Richard Hague, Richard Hague, Jr., William & John Hutchi-
son, William B. Kennedy, Frederick Kahle, William Kennedy, David
Aikens, James Cochran, David McKee, John W. Monks, Isaac Matson,
Sr., mill seat ; James McManigle, James McNeal, John McCracken, David
Miller, Robert McFarland, Stewart Ross, Jacob Riddleburger, Chris-
tian Ruffner, George Royer, Andrew Steel, James Stewart, Jr., Paul
Stewart, Alexander Scott, Hiram Sampson, John Summerville, William
Summerville, James Summerville, David Silvis, Jacob Trautman, James
L. Thompson, James Templeton, Michael Traper, George Wilson, Jr.
(single man), Robert Wilson, John Wilson, Jr., William Wallace, John
Wilson, Esq., George Walford, Abram Yokey, Christy Yokey.
TIONESTA.
Organized in 1838, and was taken from Barnett.
PIONEERS IN TIONESTA TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1838.
Names of Taxables. James Adams, George Bests, Samuel Cupins,
Erastus Gibson, Ebenezer Kingsley, Perry Kingsley, Ephraim Kingsley
(single man), Edward Kingsley, Count Kingsley, John Lukins (single
man), George Leadlie, one saw-mill with two saws ; David W. Mead,
sawyer; John Nolf.
JENKS.
Organized in 1838, and was taken from Barnett.
PIONEERS IN JENKS TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1838.
Names of Taxables. James Anderson, Cyrus Blood, Benjamin L.
Baley, Aaron Brockway, Sr., Aaron Brockway, Jr., Amos Fitch, Isaac
Fitch, John Hunt, Phelps Hunt, Jessie Jackson, Josiah Leary, John
Lewis, Robert McLatchlie, Oran Newton, Samuel Reyner, Andrew J.
Reyner.
WASHINGTON.
Organized in 1839, an d was taken from Pine Creek and Snyder.
Washington township was bounded on the east by Clearfield County line,
on the north by Snyder township, and on the south and west by Pine
Creek township.
PIONEERS IN WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1838.
Names of Taxables. Dillis Allen, one saw-mill ; Frederick Alexan-
der, Hugh Alexander, John Atwell, James Alexander and father, James
Bond, Samuel Beman, Samuel Crawford, John Clendennen, John Craw-
ford, William Cooper, John P. Clark, Aaron Clark, Robert Douthard,
one grist-mill ; Thomas Dougherty, James Dougherty, James Downs,
400
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Robert Dickson, Michael Elliott, William Feely, John Fuller, Alexander
B. Fowler, George Feely, George Hughes, Andrew Hunter, George
Horam, Jacob &: William Horam, John Horam, Sr., John Horam, Jr.,
Matthew Keys, Henry Keys, Joseph Keys; James Kyle, Samuel Kyle,
Samuel Miles, John McGhee. Oliver McClelland, Andrew Moore, Robert
Morrison, William McConnell, James McConnell, Joseph McConnell
(single man), John McClelland, William McCullough, William Mc-
Donald, Robert Mclntosh, occupation ; Henry Mclntosh, John Mclntosh,
William Mclntosh, Jr., William Mclntosh, Sr., Rebecca Mclntosh, George
Ogden, Joseph Potter, tavern ; Ramsey Potter, Jacob Peters, Tilton Rey-
nolds, William Reynolds, Thomas Reynolds (single man), David Rey-
nolds, Joshua Rhea, Samuel Rhea, James Rany, James Smith, Andrew
Smith, Matthew Smith, B. Sprague, Ephraim Stephen, Peter Sharp,
John Sprague, Thomas Tedlie, Henry Vastbinder, James Waite, John
Wilson, Oliver Welsh, Daniel Yeomans, Henry Yeomans.
PORTER.
Organized in 1840, and was taken from Perry. Porter township was
bounded on the west by Armstrong County line, on the south by Indiana
County line, on the north by Rose township.
PIONEERS IN PORTER TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1841.
Names of Taxables. John Alcorn, William Alcorn, Samuel Albert,
Thomas Adams, Alexander Adams, George Barickhouse, Lawrence Bair,
Ludwick Byerly, Gideon Bush, Powel Baughman, Robert Brice, Arm-
strong Bartley, Rev. Elisha Coleman, $30 on interest ; John Coleman,
William Callen, Benjamin Campbell, Henry Cherry, David Callen,
Peter Callen, Andrew Callen, John Cherry (single man), Elisha Camp-
bell, Frederick Coonrod. James Chambers, John Chambers, Harrison
Coon, Jacob Dinger, Benjamin Dimick, Michael Tumas, Henry Dorn-
hime, John Thomas, Edward Enty (colored), John Flisher, Jr., John
Flisher, Henry Flisher, William Ferguson, Sr. , William Ferguson, Jr.,
John Ferguson, Ebenezer Ferguson, Henry Faringer, William Foster,
David Fairman, Francis Fair man, Henry Freece, Thomas Gaghagen,
James Gaghagen, Gearhart & Spangler, Henry Glontz, Daniel Gag-
hagen, Peter Graver, Daniel Geist, one saw-mill ; Solomon Geist, Sam-
uel Geist, Jesse Geist, John Geist, Sr., John Geist, Jr., Pollie Gilbreth
(widow), William Gillespie, occupation ; Daniel Hinderlighter, Michael
Hinderlighter, Daniel Hass, William Himes, James Hamilton, Elias
Hulwick, David Hamilton, Michael Heterick, Peter Heterick, Samuel
Hice, Michael Holloback, E. E. Hannager, Joseph Hannah, Adam
Hane, Harry Heckendorn, John Hice, office ; Isaac Hamilton, Jacob
Huffman, Daniel Huffman, Andrew Hazlet (single man), John James,
Robert Kennedy, John Conklin, Joseph Kinnear, George Knarr, Michael
401
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Lantz, John Lantz, Frederick Lantz, George Letich, Samuel Lerch
David Langard, John Miller, John Mohney. John Hotter, Henry Mill-
iron (single man), William McAninch, Jr., William McAninch, Sr. , Hugh
McGuier, occupation ; John McAninch, John McClelland, John Mower,
Jr., John Mower, Sr. , William Montier, William McNutt, Robert Mc-
Nutt, Martin Miller, Peter Minich, George Milliron. David Milliron,
Philip Milliron, William Milliron, Peter Milliron, Daniel Motter, Sam-
uel Motter, Jacob Motter, George McGregor, M. McGregor, John
Martz, Gillmore Montgomery, Daniel McGregor, Matthew McDavid,
John Miller, Andrew McDaniel, Jacob Minich, David McDaniel,
John McMillan, Thomas McMillen, Henry Minich, occupation ; Samuel
Mickle, Coonrod Nulf, N. J. Nesbit, occupation ; Thomas Nice, Wil-
liam Niel, John Potts, George Potts, John Postlethwait, David Postle-
thwait, Elias Powel, Moses Powel, Peter Procius, Daniel Procius, Henry
Peter, James Robinson, David Richard, George Reitz, John Robinson,
Esq., one saw-mill ; William Robinson, Irwin Robinson, Samuel Richard,
Carl Randolf, Philip Reed, Joshua B. Farr, George Rinehart, Henry
Ross, occupation ; George Reitz (single man), John Silvas, occupation ;
Michael Shaffer, Simon Stahlman. Henry Spare, Sr., Isaac Shaffer,
Frederick Steer, Jacob Snyder (single man), Abraham Shipe, Henry
Shipe, one tan-yard ; Philip Smith, Andrew Shaffer, Abraham Shaffer,
Benjamin Shaffer, Valentine Shaffer, money on interest ; Francis Shraw-
ber, office; John Shrawber, Martin Shannon, occupation; Peter Spang-
ler, Absalom Smith, John Shadle, John Steel, Jacob Startzel, John
Shofner, Henry Spare, John Startzel, Coonrod Snyder, Walter Snyder,
Daniel Snyder, Moses Shoffstall, Stephen Travis, Broce Taylor, Edward
Chamberlin, Henry Truckmiller, Henry Chamberlain, George Chamber-
lain, George Travis, James Travis, Samuel Trayor, John Wilson, occupa-
tion ; Edward Uptagraff, George Wise, Amos Weaver, Moses Weaver,
James Watts, James Wilson, Esq., office; Benjamin Weary, Abraham
Walker, Robert Wilson, Jacob Wise, George Young, Jr., George Young,
Sr. , Lawrence Yeager.
CLOVER.
Organized in 1841, and was taken from Rose. Clover township was
bounded on the east and north by Rose, on the west by the Clarion
County line, and on the south by Perry.
PIONEERS IN CLOVER TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1843.
Names of Taxables. Daniel Baldwin, Wallace Bratton, John H. Bish,
Hudson Bridge, Samuel Bratton, Michael Brocius, John Brocius, Peter
Brocius, Jacob Brocius, George Burns, Alonzo & Fred. Baldwin, one
saw-mill, one yoke of oxen, one cow, and two horses ; Adam Brocius,
John Baughman, John Bruner, occupation as sawyer; John Campbell,
Hiram Carrier, one saw-mill ; Nathan Carrier, one fourth of a saw-mill ;
402
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Darius Carrier, Lorenzo Campbell, Sanford Campbell, George and Xa-
than Carrier, George Cain (single man), Michael Crawford, George Car-
rier, one-fourth of a saw-mill ; Darius Carrier, one-half of a saw-mill ;
Euphrastus Carrier, Darius &: Hiram Carrier, one grist-mill ; Isaac
Covert, George Campbell, Matthew Dickey, Dr. James Dowling, James
S. Dean, Andrew Doyle (single man), James Defords, George Eckler,
William Edmond Thomas Edmond, one saw-mill ; David Edmond,
John Fuller (single man), John H. Flemming, Solomon Fuller, Jr., Chris-
topher Fogle, one tan-yard ; David Farriweather, C. Jacox, house and
lot ; Ira Fuller, one saw-mill ; William Fitzsimmons, transferred to
Baldwin, James Ferguson, Abraham Funk, Hiram Fuller, Thomas
Guthrie, Aaron Fuller, one saw-mill ; George Gray, occupation ; Wil-
liam Guthrie, James Guthrie (single man), Carder Gilmore, James B.
Guthrie, James Guthrie, Sr., Alexander Guthrie, Jacob Grame, James
Gardner, Elijah Heath, one grist-mill and one saw-mill; Jacob Heck-
man, James Hildebrand, Peter Himes, Joseph Hall, Sr., Joel & Porter
Haskill, one saw-mill ; Gideon Haskill, Simon Hays, one house and lot ;
Abram Hidelman, occupation as miller ; John Johnston, William Jack,
Samuel Johns, Hazard Jaycock, Charles Jaycock, Matson J. Knapp,
Samuel Knapp, Moses Knapp, Jr., one grist-mill and one sawmill; Jo-
seph Knapp, one yoke of oxen and three cows ; John Knapp, John
Kelso, Jr.. one dog; George Keck, James Kelso, William Kelly, Wil-
liam Lucas (single man), James S. Lucas, occupation ; Peter Lucas,
John Lucas, Jr., Daniel Leech, John Lucas, Sr. , Samuel Lucas, Sr., John
Lucas (of Samuel), Samuel Lucas, Jr., tradesman ; John T. Love, John
Love (Yankee), William Lucas (single man), Lucas & Knapp, guardians
of Battle's estate ; James Long, trade ; Rev. John McCauley, Samuel
Magill, William Magill, Hugh McGiffin (Yankee), Daniel Milliron, Sam-
uel Milliron, John McGiffin, Robert Morrison, David Moore, Isaac Mot-
ter, Andrew McElwaine, estate ; Eli McDovvel (single man), Abraham
Milliron, Hugh McGiffin, Solomon Milliron, tradesman ; Elijah McAn-
inch, estate ; George McAninch, William McAninch (of Samuel), Henry
Milliron, Jonathan Milliron, William Miller, one house and lot; Samuel
Newcomb, one saw-mill ; Coonrad & Frank Xolf, William B. Newcomb,
Joseph Osborne, William Rhoney, Levi Reed, William Rodgers, James
Ross, one saw-mill ; Hance Robinson, one grist-mill and saw-mill ;
Joseph Ross, William Robinson (single man), Richards Richard, George
Richard, one house and lot ; John Reitz, Isaac Reitz (single man), David
Smith, William Simpson, Alexander Smith, Hulet Smith, John Shields,
Sr., James Shields, Peter Swab, tradesman ; Robert Shields, one yoke
oxen and cow ; Daniel and James Shields, one cow and yoke of oxen ;
James Shields, Jr., George Simpson, Benjamin Sowers, Abraham Stine,
one house and lot ; Henry Scott, Henry Sowers, John B. Shields,
James Sowers, Jr., David Shields, James Sowers, Sr., Gideon Trumbull,
403
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Joseph M. Thompson, Samuel B. Taylor, one lot and store ; Jesse Van-
devort, occupation ; Paul Yandevort, one house and lot ; David Yan-
devort, Stephen Webster, five lots ; Beech Wayland, Patience \Yheeler,
John R. Welsh, Jackson Welsh (single man), Monroe Webster, Ezekiel
White.
BROOKVILLE BOROUGH.
The pioneer borough, and taken from Rose, bounded on the east by
Pine Creek.
BROOKVILLE BOROUGH AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1844.
A r ames of Taxables. Richard Arthurs (single man), house and lot,
profession ; Caleb Alexander, one patent- lever watch, $35 ; Charles
Anderson (colored), one outlet and house; James Acheson (single man),
Isaac Allen, two lots improved, one-half lot and house, and blacksmith-
shop ; John Arthurs, James H. Ames, occupation ; John Alexander, Rev.
Garey Bishop, profession ; Cyrus Butler, house and lot ; Samuel B.
Bishop, house and stable, profession, one gold watch, $50 ; Thompson
Barr (single man), office ; Robert P. Barr, house and lot, one grist-mill,
mill lot and house, saw-mill ; Hugh Brady, one lot improved, profession ;
Thomas Barr, house and lot, outlet, lot improved ; John Brownlee,
house and lot, printing-office ; Samuel M. Bell, David Bittenbenner
(single man), Wakefield Corbett (minor), one patent-lever watch ; Bar-
clay & Hastings, printing-office ; Jesse G. Clark, house and lot, brick,
tavern stand, lot improved, outlets improved, profession, one gold watch,
$50; James Corbett, one lot, office, justice of peace; Levi G. Clover,
house and lot, lots, outlets, office judgeship ; Solomon Chambers, house
and lot ; Joseph Clements, house and lot, lots improved ; Samuel Craig,
house and lot, lot improved ; James Craig, house and lot ; Andrew Craig
(single man), Corbett & Barr, house and lot, inlot and smith-shop ;
James C. Coleman, William F. Clark (single man), inlot, one lever
watch, $35 ; George Darr, Joseph Deering (single man), Hugh Dowling
(single man), George Darling, house and lot ; Lewis B. Dunham, house
and lot, outlet, profession, one pleasure carriage, $30 ; Daniel Dunkle-
burg (single man), David Deering (single man), profession, one lever
watch, $35 ; John Dougherty, house and lots (tavern), house and lots
(brick), house and lots, inlot improved, inlots, one gold watch, $45 ;
James Dowling, profession ; Jared B. Evans, four lots and houses and
stables, eight lots ; Samuel Espy, house and lot ; Charles Evans, house
and lot, brick, main street ; Evan Evans, John Gallagher, lot improved,
office justice of peace, outlot ; Enoch Hall, house and lot ; William
Fleming (single man), John Hutchison, house, lot, and shop ; Joseph
Henderson, house and one and two-thirds lots; John Hastings, occupa-
tion, one lever watch, $35 ; Jamison Hendricks, occupation ; James
Hall estate, house and lot, outlot ; Joseph Hughes, house and lot ;
404
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
George Irwin, David B. Jenks, house and two lots, profession ; William
Jack, house and one-half lot, house and lot, inlots, inlots improved,
outlets; William P. Jenks, Sr., Samuel H. Lucas, house and lot, one
gold watch, $40 ; Thomas Lucas, house and lot, inlot improved, pro-
fession ; John Matson, Jr., house and lot; Uriah Matson, house and lot,
James C. Matson, Joseph McAfee, inlot improved, outlets improved:
Benjamin McCreight, house and lot, brick, partly finished, house and
lot, four lots ; Geo. McLaughlin (single man), house and lots, lot im-
proved ; William McCandless (single man), Robert Matson (single man),
John McCrea, office prothonotary ; George Porter, house and two lots ;
John Richards, occupation, one gold watch, $75 ; John Ramsey, house
and lot ; William Rogers, occupation ; Alexander Scott, Jr. (single man),
Philip Schrader, house and t\vo lots ; John Smith, house and one-half lot,
tavern, outlot; Daniel Smith, house and lot; Gabriel Vastbinder, inlot
improved ; George Wilson (single man), William Wilkins (single man),
one pleasure carriage ; Thomas Wilkins, James C. Wilson (single man),
watch, value of $25 ; Wilkins & Irwin, one and one-half lots and house,
tan-yard and house ; Michael Woods, Adam Goodman, T. B. McClellan,
house and lot, lot improved ; Ephraim Washburn, occupation ; Alexander
Scott, Sr., lot improved; George Scott (single man), Wm. A. Sloan,
house and lot, lot improved ; Samuel Truby, house and lot, lot im-
proved : John Templeton, house and lot ; James Humphrey (single man).
GASKILL.
Organized in 1842, and was taken from Young. Gaskill township
was bounded on the east by the Clearfield County line, on the south by
the Indiana County line, and on the west and north by Young township.
PIONEERS IN GASKILL TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1842.
Names of Taxables. Levi Anthony, unimproved land judgments, 38 ;
Henry Bowman, Philip Bowers, Andrew Bovvers, John Bowers, Eli Bow-
ers, Henry &: Samuel Beam, Calvin Brooks, William Brooks, Peter Bu-
chite, George Gulp, John Gary, Daniel Coffman, John Coffman, Oliver
Gathers, Joseph Cofflett, Abraham Cofflett, Jacob Cofflett (single man),
Josiah Covert, John Douthett estate, Francis Doros, John Deamer, James
Dickey, Alexander Dickey, Thomas Davis, Josiah Davis, George Gregg,
David Henry, John Hoover, Joseph Hoover, Sally Hess, Rufus Jorley,
Frederick Kuhuley, Thomas Kerr, one promissory note, $20 ; George
Keller, occupation ; Joseph Keller, Abraham Keller, Alexander Lyons,
Henry Lot, Francis Leech, George Leech, occupation ; Abraham Lud-
wick, George Ludwick, Elizabeth Ludwick, John Long, Andrew Mc-
Creight, Sharp McCreight, James McCreight (single man), Henry Miller,
mason ; John Miller, George Miller, Henry Miller, farmer : William Mc-
Elheny, George Pifer (single man), John Pifer, Jonas Pifer, Henry & John
405
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
D. Philipi, Samuel Pershing, Adam Quigley, John Rider, George Rhodes,
Jacob Smith, Sr., Jacob Smith, Jr., Jonathan Stouse, James Solesley,
Samuel Smith, Adam States, Henry Sprague, Ashel Sprague, Milton
Sprague, carpenter; Thomas Thompson, Adam Wise, Jacob Weaver;
Joseph Wilson, Richard Waimvright, George Wainwright, William Wil-
liams, James Williams, Adam Yohey, Henry Yohey, fcamuel Yohey
(single man), Samuel Zufall, one saw- mill.
WARSAW.
Organized in 1842, and was taken from Pine Creek. Warsaw was
bounded by Snyder and Washington on the east, by Ridgeway on the
north, Eldred on the west, and Pine Creek on the south.
PIONEERS IN WARSAW TOWNSHIP AS PER ASSESSMENT IN 1843.
Names of Taxables. William Anderson, John Alexander, Gilbert
Burrows, Ira Bronson. John Bell, John W. Baum, Joseph Buell, Na-
thaniel Butler, Philo Bowdish, David Butler, Bartholomew Cavinore,
Chapman, one cow and trade ; Peter Chamberlin, Elihu Clark, David
Carlton, Sarah Dixon, John Dill, Thomas Dixon, Jared A. Evans,
Thomas Ewing, John Fleming, George Frederick, Aaron Fuller, Milton
Gibbs, William Gray, Francis Goodar, Miron Gibbs, William Humphrey,
Matthew Humphrey, Philip Heterick, Samuel Howe, Joel Howe, Elijah
Heath, James K. Huffman, George Hunter, John Heterick, Joseph E.
Hannah, Joseph Hoey, Davis Ingraham, Eli I. Irvin, William Jack,
Milton Johnson, Henry Keys, William Long, Michael Long, Sarah Ann
Lithgow, Josiah Loomis, Sarah McCormick, Thomas McCormiek, David
McCormick. Jr., one silver watch; James & John Moorhead, David
Moorhead, Joseph McConnell, Matthew Metcalf, one silver watch ; Wil-
liam and James McElvain, Asa Morey, Jacob Moore, Mundale Metcalf,
Ozias P. Mather, Robert Montgomery, Andrew McCormick, Samuel P.
McCormick, Findley McCormick, one silver watch ; David McCormick,
Sr. , Thomas McWilliams, Elnathan Marsh, Charles Munger, Nathan
Perrin, John M. Phelps, Arad Pearsall, trade , John Pearsall, Solomon
Riggs, George Russell, William R. Richards, two saw-mills, one silver
watch; Peter Richards, Sr., Peter Richards, Jr., Abraham Rufsnyder,
William Russell, John N. Riggs, Davis E. Riggs, James L. L. Riggs,
Daniel Snyder, Eli Snyder, Abraham Snyder, Nathan Snyder, Samuel
Shul, one saw-mill and house ; Moses B. St. John, Gideon Trumbull,
Isaac Temple, Jacob Yastbinder, Sr., Joshua Vandevort, Sr., Jacob Vast-
binder, Jr. (single man), John Vastbinder, Andrew Vastbinder, Abram
Vandevort, Levi Vandevort, Joshua Vandevort, Jr., Peter Vastbinder,
Tames A. Wilkins. John J. Wilson, Isaac Walker, John Wakefield, John
Walker, Solomon Wales, William Weeks, John R. Wilkins, Galbraith
Wilson, Jeremiah Wilson, one tannery ; Hiram Wilson.
406
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
CHAPTER XXIV.
PIONEER NEWSPAPER IN THE WEST PIONEER NEWSPAPER IN THE COUNTY
TERMS EARLY MARKET OTHER PAPERS.
PREYIOUS to 1793 there were no postal or post-office facilities. Letters
and papers had to be sent with friends, neighbors, or by special carriers.
The first newspaper started in the western part of the State was the Pitts-
burg Gazette. It was published by John Scull, and issued in 1786. It
was distributed to patrons by special carriers. The pioneer newspaper
for Jefferson County was published in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It was es-
tablished in 1826 It was a four-column paper, printed on paper eleven
inches wide and seventeen inches long. I have No. 13 of vol. i., and
reprint here from it, viz. :
THE AMERICAN,
AND
INDIANA & JEFFERSON REPUBLICAN.
" He is a freeman whom the truth makes free and all are slaves besides." COWPER.
ALEXANDER T. MOORHEAD, PROPRIETOR, AND EDITED BY JAMES MOORHEAD.
NEW SERIES VOL. I.
MONDAY, MAY 22, 1826.
No. 13.
PRINTED BY
WM. MOORHEAD,
in the frame house next door to Mr.
Jos. Thompson, Chair Maker and
Painter,
North of the Court House,
Water Street, Indiana, Pa.
Terms of Publication.
THE AMERICAN. AND INDI-
ANA AND JEFFERSON RE-
PUBLICAN wili be publuhed every
Monday, at two dollars per annum,
exclusive of postage ; and two dollars
and fifty cents, including postage,
payable half yearly in advance.
No subscription taken for a shoner
period than six months, and no with-
drawal whilst in arrears.
A failure to notify an intention to
discontinue at the end of six months
is considered a new engagement.
Advertisements will be inserted at
the rate of ONK DOLLAR per
square for the three first insertions,
and TWENTY-FIVE cents for every
continuance ; those of greaier length
in proportion.
All orders directed to the Editor
must be post paid or they cannot re-
ceive attention.
GRAIN, RAGS. BEES-WAX, OR
TALLOW, will be taken in payment
of subscription, if paid within the
current year.
40"
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Inside and local column :
THE AMERICAN.
