USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 4
USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85
32
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
ance of water-power, coal and iron. In addi- tion to coke and iron manufactures, marble, zinc, graphite, copper and nickel mines are worked, and in the western part of the State productive salt wells are operated. In 1859 petroleum came into commercial importance on Oil Creek, and to-day the oil product of the State is above 5,000,000 barrels, In 1883 the great natural gas reservoirs west of the Alle- ghenies were tapped, and since then natural gas lias been largely used for fuel. The State con- tains 19 canals and nearly 150 railroads, which are engaged in transporting her products to market.
In 1867 a law was passed for the establishı- ment of 12 normal schools, the most of which are now in operation. Over 30 universities and colleges, ably representing the leading professions are located in the State, while the press, now recognized as a public educator, is in a flourishing condition. The American Weekly Mercury was issued in 1719. In 1776 there were 9 papers, in 1880, 620; and now nearly 700 are published in the State.
The old militia system of the State has been replaced by the National Guard of Pennsylva- nia, which has achieved an enviable record for itself.
The population of Pennsylvania in 1790 was 434,373; in 1800, 602,365; in 1810, 810,091 ; in 1820, 1,348,233; in 1840, 1,724,033; in 1850, 2,311,786 ; in 1860, 2,906,215; and in 1870, 3,512,951; in 1880, 4,547,096; and in 1890 was over 5,000,000.
We have not deemed it advisable to give in this sketch census statistics of the State beyond those of population, and in place of numerous lists of statistics omitted (which can be found readily in census reports) we give the presiden- tial vote of the State since 1824. This vote has been carefully compiled from reliable sources, and if it has ever been published be- fore we have been unable to find it.
Popular Vote of Pennsylvania at l'residential Elections From 1824 to 1888.
1824. Republican . . Andrew Jackson 36,100
Coalition . . . John Q. Adams . 5,440 Republican . . William H. Crawford . 4,206 Republican . . Henry Clay 1,609
1828. Democrat. . . Andrew Jackson 101,652
Nat. Rep., . John Q. Adams 50,848
1832. Democrat. . . Andrew Jackson 90,983 Nat. Rep., . . Henry Clay 56,716 Anti-Masonic . William Wirt.
1836. Democrat. . . Martin Van Buren . . 91,475
Whig. William H. Harrison . 87,111
1840. Whig . William H. Harrison . 144,021
Democrat . . Martin Van Buren . . 143,676
Liberty . James G. Birney .
343
1844. Democrat . James K. Polk . 167,535
Whig Henry Clay 161,203
Liberty James G. Birney 3,138
1848. Whig. Zachary Taylor 185,513
Democrat . . Lewis Cass . 171,176 Free Soil . . . Martin Van Buren 11,263
1852. Democrat. . . Franklin Pierce 198,568
Whig . . Winfield Scott 179,174 Free Dem., . . John P. Hale . 8,525
1856. Democrat. . . James Buchanan, . 230,710 Republican . . John C. Fremont 147,510 American . . . Millard Fillmore 82,175
1860. Republican . . Abraham Lincoln . . 268,030
Democrat. . . John C. Breckinridge . 178,871 Ind. Dem. . . Stephen A. Douglas . . 16,765 Cons't Union . John Bell . 12,776
1864. Republican . . Abraham Lincoln . . 296,391 Democrat. . . George B. McClellan . 276,316
1868. Republican . . Ulysses S. Grant . . . 342,280 Democrat. . . Horatio Seymour 313,382
1872. Republican . . Ulysses S. Grant 349,589 Dem. & Lib. . Horace Greeley 212,041
Temperance . . James Black . 1,630
Democrat . . . Charles O'Connor.
1876. Republican . . Rutherford B. Hayes . 348,122 Democrat . . . Samuel J. Tilden 366,158 Greenback . . Peter Cooper . 7,187 Prohibition . . Green Clay Smith . 1,319
1880. Republican . . James A. Garfield . . 444,704 Democrat. . . Winfield S. Hancock . 407,428 Greenback . . James B. Weaver 20,668
Prohibition . . Neal Dow .
1884. Republican . . James G. Blaine . 473,904
Democrat. . . Grover Cleveland . . . 392,785 Greenback . . Benjamin F. Butler . . 16,992 Prohibition . . John P. St. John . 15,283
33
INDIANA AND ARMSTRONG COUNTIES.
1888. Republican . . Benjamin Harrison . . 526,091 Democrat. . . Grover Cleveland . . 446,633
Prohibition . . Clinton B. Fisk .. 20,947
Greenback . . Alson J. Streeter . 3,873
Pennsylvania needs no eulogium ; her past honorable career and present commercial suprem- acy are sufficient guarantees of her future greatness.
William Penn,-In concluding this brief account of the "Keystone State" we append Lossing's sketch of her founder : " In glorious contrast with the inhumanity of Spaniards, Frenchmen and many Englishmen, stands the record on History's tablet of the kindness and justice toward the feeble Indian of the founder of Pennsylvania.
" ' Thou'lt find,' said the Quaker, ' in me and mine, But friends and brothers to thee and to thine, Who abuse no power, and admit no line
'Twixt the red man and the white.' And bright was the spot where the Quaker came To leave his hat, his drab, and his name,
That will sweetly sound from the trump of Fame. Till its final blast shall die.
-HANNAH F. GOULD.
" William Penn was born in the city of Lon- don, on the 14th of October, 1644, and was educated at Oxford. His father was the emi- nent Admiral Penn, a great favorite of royal- ty. William was remarkable, in early youth, for brilliant talent and unaffected piety. While yet a student he heard one of the new sect of Quakers preach, and, with other students, became deeply impressed with the evangelical truths which they uttered. He, with several others, withdrew from the Established Church, worshipped by themselves, and for non-con- formity were expelled from the college. Penn's father sought, in vain, to reclaim him; and when at length, he refused to take off his hat in the presence of the admiral, and even of the king, he was expelled from the parental roof. He was sent to gay France, where he became a polished gentleman after a residence of two years ; and on his return he studied law in 3
London until the appearance of the great plague in 1665. He was sent to Ireland in 1666, to manage an estate there belonging to his father, but was soon recalled, because he associated with Quakers. Again expelled from his - father's. house, he became an itinerant Quaker preacher, made many proselytes, suffered revilings and imprisonments 'for conscience' sake,' and at the age of twenty-four years wrote his celebrated work, entitled No Cross, no Crown, while in prison because of his non- conformity to the Church of England. He was released in 1670, and soon afterwards became the possessor of the large estates of his fatlier, who died that year. He continued to write and preach in defence of his sect, and went to Holland and Germany, for that purpose in 1677.
" In March, 1681, Penn procured from Charles the Second, a grant of the territory in America which yet bears his name ; and two years after- wards he visited the colony which he had -established there. He founded Philadelphia- city of brotherly love -- toward the close of the same year; and within twenty-four months afterward, two thousand settlers were planting their homes there. Penn returned to England in 1684, and through his influence with the king, obtained the release of thirteen hundred Quakers, then in prison. Because of his per- sonal friendship toward James, the successor of Charles (who was driven from the throne by the revolution of 1688, and had his place filled by his daughter, Mary, and William, Prince of Orange), he was suspected of adherence to the fallen mouarch, and was imprisoned, and deprived of his proprietary rights. These were restored to him in 1694; and in 1699 he again visited his American colony. He remained in Pennsylvania until 1701, when he hastened to England to oppose a parliamentary proposition to abolish all proprietary govern- ments iu America. He never returned. In 1712 he was prostrated by a paralytic disorder.
34
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
It terminated his life on the 30th of July, 1718, at the age of seventy-four years. Penn was greatly beloved by the Indians; and it is worthy of remark that not a drop of Quaker's blood was ever shed by the savages."
Time in his flight has numbered nearly a decade over two hundred years since William Penn set foot on the soil of the present mighty and populous State of Pennsylvania, and the results of his work on the Delaware are truth- fully given on the tablet in Independence Hall on which is inscribed, " William Penn, born in London, October 14th, 1644, laid the founda- tion of nniversal liberty A. D. 1682, in the privileges he then accorded the emigrants to Pennsylvania and thus enabled their descendants to make the colony the Keystone State of the Federal Union in 1789."
Territory of Indiana and Armstrong coun- · ties .- This territory is traced back as portions of previons counties until 1682, when the origi- nal counties of Pennsylvania were Philadelphia, Chester and Bucks, whose boundaries were in- definite. May, 1729, an act was passed erect- ing the county of Lancaster, to embrace " all and singular the lands within the province of Pennsylvania lying to the northward of Octo- raro creek, and to the westward of a line of marked trees running from the north branch of the said Octoraro creek northeasterly to the river Schuylkill ; . and the said Octoraro creek, the line of marked trees and the river Schnylkill aforesaid, shall be the bonndary line or division between said county and the coun- ties of Chester and Philadelphia."
Thus the nominal jurisdiction of Lancaster county extended westward to the western limits of the province, including the larger part of the territory which now forms the counties of In- diana and Armstrong.
In 1749 the inhabitants of the western parts of Lancaster county prayed for the formation of a new connty from that part of Lancaster ; whereupon, on the 27th of January, 1750, it .
was by the General Assembly cnacted, "That all and singular the lands lying within the province of Pennsylvania aforesaid to the west- ward of Susquehanna, and northward and west- ward to the county of York, be and are hereby erected into a county named and hereafter to be called Cumberland, bounded northward and westward with the line of the province, east- ward partly with the river Susquehanna and partly with the said county of York, and south- ward in part by the said county of York, and part by the line dividing the said province from that of Maryland."
For more than twenty years, a period cover- ing the campaigns of Washington and Brad- dock and the planting of the earlier settlements in the valleys of the Allegheny and Monon- gahela, Cumberland county continued to include the region west of the Laurel Hill range. On March 9, 1771, that region (embracing the present counties of Indiana and Armstrong and contignons country) passed to the jurisdiction of Bedford county, which was erected by an act of that date to include "all and singular the lands lying and being within the boundaries following, that is to say, beginning where the province line crosses the Tuscarora mountain, and running along the summit of that moun- tain to the Gap near the head of the Path val- ley ; thence with a north line to the Juniata ; thence with the Jnniata to the mouth of Shav- er's creek ; thence northeast to the line of Berks county ; thence along the Berks county line northwestward to the western bounds of the province; thence southward, according to the several courses of the western boundary of the province, to the sonthwest corner of the province, and from thence eastward with the sonthern line of the province to the place of beginning."
The territory of Bedford county west of Laurel Hill became Westmoreland by the pass- age (February 26, 1773) of an act erecting the last-named county to embrace " All and singu-
35
1191398
INDIANA AND ARMSTRONG COUNTIES.
lar the lands lying within the province of Penn- sylvania, and being within the boundaries fol- lowing, that is to say, beginning in the province line, where the most westerly branch, common- ly called the South, or Great Branch of Yough- iogheny river crosses the same; then down the easterly side of the said branch and river to the Laurel Hill ; thence along the ridge of the said hill northeastward, so far as it can be traced, or till it runs into the Allegheny Hill ; thence along the ridge dividing the waters of the Susquehanna and the Allegheny rivers to the purchase line at the head of Susquehanna ; thence due west to the limits of the province, and by the same to the place of beginning."
This purchase line of Nov. 5, 1768, extended from the site of Cherry Tree, on the east Indi- ana county line, to the site of Kittanning, in Armstrong county, on the Allegheny river ; and thus the larger part of Indiana and the smaller part of Armstrong counties were in- cluded in the territory of Westmorelaud until the two first-named counties were established respectively in 1800 and 1803. The portion of Armstrong north of the purchase line be- longed to Allegheuy and Lycoming counties from 1785 to 1800, and that part of Indiana north of the same line was a part of Lycoming from 1784 to 1803. The detailed history of these county establishments and the purchase line of 1768 will be given in the respective sketches of the two counties, in which will also be included full accounts of the early settlers.
Of the territory of Indiana and Armstrong Prof. Leslie says : "The Allegheny and all its head-waters flow through rocks below the coal, in valleys with precipitous sides, seldom exceed- ing five hundred feet high, supporting a general table-land of the Lower Coal Measures. Bor- ings in the valley beds always reach, at the depth of a few hundred feet, sand-rocks charged with rock oil and salt water, in scant or copious measure.
"In the valley of the Conemaugh and Kiski-
minetas, however, the lower coal-beds rise from the water six times, and six times sink beneath it, the upper coal-beds occurring in the hill- tops only at Blairsville and Saltsburg."
The climate of these counties is the best of the temperate latitudes. They lie between the isothermal lines of 48 and 50 degrees, and are favored with an annual rain-fall of thirty-six inches.
The fauna and flora of these counties are similar to the fauna and flora of the other counties of western Pennsylvania.
French and English Contest .- Many of the early settlers of these counties had been partici- pauts in the struggle of England and France over the Ohio Valley, and all of them were Alle- gheny Backwoodsmen.
In the era of Englishi colonization in what is now the United States, the Appalachian moun- tains stood for many years as a great bar against the westward tide of emigration, and the plant- ing of the line of settlement along the western mountain slopes was a herculean task. The ' period of its complete establishment spanned tlie years of half a century. The story of many of its founders has been quaintly told by Pritts, Withers, Doddridge, Kercheval, McClurg, Day, De Haas, McDonald and others. The account of some of its divisions and founders has formed the theme of the volumes of McKnight, Draper, Irvine, Butterfield and Veech. A limited his- tory of its establishment and the struggles over it are topics in the later and more comprehen- sive efforts of Tripplett in "Conquering the Wilderness ; " Kelsey in "Pioneer Heroes," and Mason and Ridpatlı in "Conquering the Ohio Valley." But none.have traced this great frontier line of mighty mountain ridges, or even outlined its full history ; whereby some actors and events that should be general remain as local. Its full history and the true part played in it by the Allegheny Backwoodsmen lias only within the past five years been secured from State archives and governmental papers, and preseuted
36
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
by Roosevelt in " Winning the West " and by some others who have made careful and eon- scientious research among authentie records, which in many cases were beyond the reach of the early historians.
The movement of population in the Atlantie eolonies of His Britannie Majesty George II. was pushing the great frontier line, by settle- ment, westward to the Appalachian mountains, then called Green and White mountains in New England, and known as the Allegheny mountains in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 1750, in New England, the great frontier line extended along the southern coasts of Maine ; then sweeping north to Lake Champlain, with a great curve, only included about one-half of Vermont and New Hampshire. With another great curve it came down to the mouth of the Mohawk in New York; next following a straight line down the Hudson river to the Delaware, and with it to the Alleghenies, and with these mountains, with a great eurve, it fell away toward the northwest corner of Maryland ; here it sent out a narrow tongue of population toward the great lakes via the site of Pitts- burgh ; with another inward curve from the Maryland eorner it swept on to the Kanawha, and thenee within 100 miles of the Alleghenies to their base in Alabama, round which it bent, and, sweeping with another inward curve, it struck the Atlantie along the Georgia and Florida lines. This great frontier line, with ins and outs, from where it left the coast of Maine until it fell back on the Atlantic seaboard, at Florida, was over 2000 miles in length-over two millions English were enclosed within its limits ; a few thousand Spaniards were south of it in Florida. One hundred thousand French were in Canada, and with a feeble line of settle- ments they stretched along the Mississippi on the west.
Between the French and English were the Indians, principally occupying the east Missis- sippi Valley. Careful estimates place the fight-
ing strength of these Indians at ten thousand warriors. In New York were the celebrated Six Nations of the Huron-Iroquois family. West of the Alleglienies were the Shawanees, Delawares, Wyandottes, Ottawas, Miamis and several other tribes. Along the southern part of the line were the Creeks, Cherokees, Cataw- bas and other tribes. On the south were the Seminoles, while in New England were the rem- nants of several tribes who were in daily eom- munication with the Indians of Canada.
The unreasonable poliey pursued by the Eng- lish officers and some unjust measures enaeted on the part of the Colonial authorities, alienated nearly all of the Indians in the Ohio Valley, and made them allies of the French.
There were white explorers west of the Alle- gheny mountain line before 1750, but they came in the character of traders, and not for the purpose of settlenient. The French eame from Canada to trade with the Indians for furs. The English were largely Pennsylvanians, who came by the way of the Juniata, and also by Wills Creck, Md. Veech says these traders made their trips before 1740, and Ellis traces them as early as 1732. The Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. II., p. 14, gives a list of Indian traders licensed in 1748 by Pennsylvania, in which occur the names of George Croghan and Hugh Crawford.
The French in Canada, by the freezing of the St. Lawrence, were shut up from intercourse with Enrope for a large portion of the year. French statesmen formed a grand idea of open- ing communication between Canada and their settlements on the Mississippi by the way of the lakes and the Illinois river. This schieme would have given them uninterrupted inter- course with Europe, secured all the territory west of the Mississippi and the Illinois, and placed them in possession of nearly all the In- dian trade. But instead of establishing this great water-line boundary, and protecting it with a chain of forts, the French were dazzled
37
INDIANA AND ARMSTRONG COUNTIES.
with the brilliant but rash idea of a line of forts from Lake Erie to the Allegheny, and down the Ohio, virtually making the Appala- chian mountains a boundary to Anglo-Ameri- can power, and hemming the English in to the Atlantic sea-board. "Out of the nettle danger they hoped to pluck the flower safety, but, grasping for a little more, they lost all that they had already."
England would cross this great mountain- line boundary to secure the Indian trade and to push commerce to the Mississippi. Sargent answers the question why English settlements were not sooner attempted west of the Alleghe- nies : the conflicting claims of Virginia and Pennsylvania to the territory prevented Eng- lish settlement between 1730 and 1750.
The French and the English fur traders were in constant rivalry for the Indian trade. Galis- sioniere, the governor of Canada, sent in 1748 a command of three hundred men along the Allegheny river to bury leaden plates with in- scriptions claiming the country. In 1750 some French troops under Joncaire visited the Ohio country, and captured all the English traders they could find.
In the mean time, on the part of the English, the Ohio company (which had been chartered in 1749), of Virginia, was preparing to take possession of its grant of 600,000 acres from George II. Its objects were to wrest the In- dian trade from Pennsylvania and to anticipate France in the possession of the Ohio Valley. The company was to locate its lands between the Monongahela and Kanawha rivers. Christopher Gist was employed to explore the country west of the mountains, while Nema- colin, an Indian, was to mark a road from Wills creek (Cumberland) to the forks of the Ohio (Pittsburgh).
The Ohio company erected a store-house at the mouth of Redstone creek which was called the Hangard, and then commenced a fort at "Forks of the Ohio," which was captured by
the French on the 18th of April. The Indian name for the spot was Deundaga. The French first named their fort the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, but changed it to Fort Duquesne in honor of the governor of Canada. As the Ohio company fell back from the disputed territory, a new opponent-the Colony of Vir- ginia-came forward to contest with the French the occupation of their new-won possessions, but the termination of Washington's campaign in the valley of the Youghiogheny, in 1754, left France master of the disputed territory. In this same year occurred the " Delaware Re- volt," which was caused by an egregions colonial blunder made on June 19, 1754. Several colonies sent commissioners with presents to the Indians at a treaty held at Albany, New York. The Six Nations agreed not to aid the French, and to assist the English ; but the Pennsylvania commissioners secretly bought of the Iroquois tribe all the lands in dispute. Thus the Dela- wares and Shawanees had their hunting-grounds sold out from under their feet, and to aggravate their distress, the Iroquois ordered them to re- move. For over two hundred years the Six Nations had ruled the Delawares and Shawanees, and received unquestioning obedience; but now the " nephews " became unruly to their "uncles," they revolted and went over to the French ; and English treasure was largely expended, and English blood flowed freely to pay for this greedy blunder. The Delaware tribes on the Susquehanna formed a league, with Tadeuskund (King of the Delawares) at its head, hostile to the Six Nations and the English. Thompson (p. 77) says the Six Nations, afterward, in their grand council at "Onondago," repudiated the sale, but it was too late to remedy the fault.
The crossing of the Alleghenies was proving to be a very serious matter to the English. The Ohio company had been defeated. Virginia had failed and a united expedition of Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina was abandoned. England now proposed to secure what the
38
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
colonies had failed to win, and authorized Lieu- tenant-Governor Horatio Sharpe, of Maryland, to raise a force from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina and recapture the "Forks of the Ohio." Sharpe failed in his projected cam- paign ; he acted an important part in the pre- cipitation of the Revolutionary struggle-in connection with Dinwiddle, he was responsible for the royal order of November 12, 1754, set- tling the comparative rank of provincial and regular officers. This order, so unjust to American officers, aroused their opposition to English authority, and, although hitlerto un- noticed, yet was an important cause of the Revo- lutionary war.
England, in 1755, sent Braddock to capture the Ohio Valley, and his dreadful defeat at the battle of the Monongahela is so well known as to need no description here beyond the correc- tion of the error existing in so many histories, that Washington, after Braddock's fall, assumed command of the army and conducted the re- treat.
The Destruction of Kittanning .- On Septem- ber 8, 1756, Gen. John Armstrong surprised and destroyed the Indian town of Kittanning on the Allegheny river, from which Capt. Jacobs and Shingas sent forth many war parties to harass the frontier settlements, but a full ac- count of this will be found in the sketch of Armstrong county.
Forbes' Expedition .- In 1758 Gen. John Forbes, with an army of seven thousand men, was sent by England to regain what Braddock had lost and to capture Fort Duquesne. Wash- ington urged Forbes to take the old Braddock road, but Col. Bouquet prevailed upon Forbes to cut a new road from Bedford, Pa., through what is now Westmoreland county, to Fort Duquesne. Bouquet led the advance, and in Sep- tember made his camp on the bank of Loyalhanna creek, where his engineers erected a stockade which he named Fort Ligonier, in honor of Sir John Ligonier, under whom Bouquet served
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.