USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > Connellsville > Centennial history of the borough of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 1806-1906 > Part 1
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.
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
GEN
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor00mccl 0
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02223 8866
GENEALOGY 974.802 C762M
May 16, 14 10
Centennial History of the Borough of Connellsville Pennsylvania
1806-1906
BY
J. C. MCCLENATHAN, M. D. REVEREND WILLIAM A. EDIE, REVEREND ELLIS B. BURGESS, J. ALOYSIUS COLL EUGENE T. NORTON
LIMITED AUTOGRAPH EDITION.
Registered No.
34
Copyright, 1906 By The Historical Committee of the Connellsville Centennial Celebration. All rights reserved.
THE CHAMPLIN PRESS COLUMBUS, OHIO 1906
1195115
Deniration
This to the Fathers of our pride, Waifs of a wander-lust That blazed the path and stirred the tide Above their buried dust-
The Red Man of the solitude, The hearts of toil and war, Builders of stone and iron and wood That made us what we are.
-J. A. COLL
Borderland 2000
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface,
5
Chapter
I
Pioneers of The Yough,
7
Chapter
II
The Incorporation of The Borough,
65
Chapter
III
Civic Development,
77
Chapter
IV
Educational Institutions,
120
Chapter
V
The Press,
159
·
Chapter
VI
Military History,
·
170
Chapter VII
Chartered Financial Institutions,
219
Chapter VIII
Coal and Coke,
263
Chapter
IX
Merchants of Four Generations,
.
292
Chapter X
Religious Forces,
.
327
Chapter
XI
Public Utilities,
393
.
Chapter
XII
Public Institutions
433
Chapter
XIII
Manufacturers, .
477
Chapter
XIV
The Centennial Celebration,
.
529
Index,
.
.
561
Map of Connellsville and Vicinity.
PREFACE.
Pursuant to a call of the Borough Council, an enthus- iastic body of the citizens of Connellsville met in the council chamber of the City Hall on the evening of January twenty- third, nineteen hundred and six, to consider the proposi- tion to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Borough. Rockwell Marietta was elected president of the meeting; Edmund Dunn, vice president ; William D. McGinnis, secretary ; Raymond S. Coll, corres- ponding secretary, and Isaac W. Rutter, treasurer. The sentiment of the meeting was favorable to the holding of such a celebration, and a strong executive committee of representative men was appointed to take the matter in charge. A number of sub-committees, deemed necessary to the success of the celebration, were also appointed and their duties defined.
Among these committees was the Historical Committee, consisting of Doctor J. C. McClenathan, Rev. William A. Edie, Rev. Ellis B. Burgess, J. Aloysius Coll. H. P. Sny- der and Eugene T. Norton, to whom was assigned the task of preparing a historical volume from the written and unwritten records of the past. The magnitude of the task, in view of the limited time, was clearly recog- nized, yet there was an eager determination manifested on the part of each member of the committee to render the best possible service.
After the policies of the committee had been carefully outlined, the work was begun. Every nook and cranny of the town, in which it was believed old documents might be stored, was searched. Old family Bibles with their pre- cious records and other valuable papers were carefully examined. Correspondence was begun with the scattered
6
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CONNELLSVILLE
sons and daughters of the pioneers. The response was quite gratifying. While many found it impossible to an- swer our questions, all were willing to render the largest possible assistance. We take this opportunity of extending to them one and all our hearty appreciation. The Execu- tive Committee of the Centennial Association also mani- fested a deep interest in the work. and gave liberal financial assistance, without which this volume could not have been published. We realize that in many places we have not been able to supply the fullest information, but we have aimed at thoroughness and endeavored to confine ourselves to well authenticated facts. The data given will be found more reliable than that of any previous local history.
With all the labor involved in the preparation of this volume, the task of the committee has been a pleasant one. Our delving amid the ruins of the past has given us a stronger appreciation of the character of the men who laid the foundations of the city. We give our work to the pub- lic in the hope that a better knowledge of the work of the fathers may arouse our civic spirit and make us worthy successors of worthy men.
& Millena Show O'William A,Cdie Ellis B. Burgers. Gugus 9. Nostos
CHAPTER I
THE PIONEERS OF THE YOUGH
One hundred and fifty-five years ago-a short time in the perspective of history-the site of Connellsville was part of a vast wilderness, whose solitudes were rarely broken by the visit of any white man. All that section of country now embraced within the confines of Fayette county was claimed by the powerful federation of north- ern Indian tribes known as the Iroquois. By permission of these northern Indians, several tribes of Delawares and Kanhawhas made it their home. One of these tribes loca- ted their village on what is known as the Shield's tract about five miles east of Connellsville. Here an extensive burial ground was located covering several acres, a ridge of small round stones marking the position of each grave. Historians who have visited the spot believe that more than a thousand Redmen here sleep the sleep of death. Sev- eral of these graves were opened, a few years ago, reveal- ing a thin line of dark brown dust at a depth of two and a a half feet where the body had lain. A number of flints of various kinds were found, but no bones, indicating a great age for the old burial place. Near this burial ground an old Indian fort was located, around which large num- bers of flints were picked up a generation ago. The indi- cations are that this was once the site of a large and pop- ulous village of the Redmen. Another and smaller village was located on the south bank of the Youghiogheny River about two miles above the mouth of Bear Run. Here also quite a number of flints have been found. It is to these Kanhawha Indians, who built their villages along the head waters of the Youghiogheny, that we are indebted for the name of our beautiful river. Youghioghen;, in the lang-
1
8
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CONNELLSVILLE
uage of the Kanhawhas, means "four rapid streams," and has reference to the junction of the rivers at Confluence, Pa.
Another Indian village was that of the Delaware chief, Nemacolin, on Dunlap's creek in the northwestern part of the county. Still another village was located in Perry township on lands of James Hunter. A gold amulet, a silver knee-buckle and other interesting relics were found here. The most important Indian village of the region, however, from the standpoint of local interest, was situated on the Wilkey farm a short distance southwest of New Haven. This was a palisaded village of the Delawares, occupying a beautiful knoll that commands a wide view of the surrounding country. It is an ideal site for a home. The palisades extended in the form of a great circle about the brow of the hill, and enclosed more than four acres of ground. Within this enclosure the Indians had their huts and also their burial ground. Hundreds of bodies are believed to have been buried here, and every spring human bones and Indian relics of various kinds are turned up by the plow. A fine scalping knife, battle-axe and other Indian flints from this old fort are now in the possession of the writer. About two hundred yards directly east from the fort ran the old Catawba war trail. Between the fort and the trail was one of the finest springs of water in all this section of the country, which the Indians walled up with masonry, a wall within a circular wall, the stones being laid in a cement made of yellow clay. Portions of this stone work can still be seen. Just without the enclo- sure, on the southern side of the hill, was an old Indian apple orchard, one of whose trees was still standing a few years ago. Buried beneath its friendly shade the bodies of two Indians were found lying side by side. Several years ago, in digging a post hole in the center of the old fort, workmen came upon the skeleton of an Indian chief. From the size of the bones it was evident that he was a man of powerful physique. A string of sixty-one ivory
9
PIONEERS OF THE YOUGH
beads was found around his neck. The splendid preserva- tion of these remains, as well as the finding of an old musket barrel in one of the graves, would indicate that this village was occupied by the Indians as late as the first three or four decades of the eighteenth century. But at the time of the English occupation the fort had been destroyed ; by whose hands no one can tell. The only one of these villages then occupied was that of Nemacolin, so that we may speak of all the region under consideration as "a land without a people."
One hundred and fifty-five years have transformed this deserted hunting ground of the Iroquois into the eastern gateway of an empire of fabulous wealth and universal influence. Ultra-montane America, the miracle of civic history, now sways the world. Who were the men and what were the influences that made this mighty transformation possible? To these, so far as they relate to the develop- ment of the Yough region, this chapter of history is de- voted. A well-established tradition informs us that a num- ber of bold French traders from the Canadas with their Indian wives built their homes on the Monongahela river at the mouth of the George's Creek as early as 130. If this be true, Fayette county enjoys the distinction of hav- ing the first settlement of white men in western Pennsyl- vania. Some features of the tradition, however, may rea- sonably be questioned. The French traders of that period were about as wild as the Redmen with whom they traded, and had little desire for a permanent home. It is prob- ably true that they lived here at the time specified and culti- vated some of the soil, but it is scarcely credible that they occupied the land with any intention of effecting a perma- nent settlement. Long before the first wave of English set- tlers had poured through the defiles of the Alleghanies they had gathered their possessions together and sought a more congenial home in the virgin forests of the great West.
Another tradition, of even more doubtful value. tells of a Pennsylvania German trapper named Longabaugh, who
10
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CONNELLSVILLE
built his solitary cabin in what is now Soisson Park about the year 1732. Here he is said to have lived the life of a hermit for more than sixty years, never having married, and never having permitted any one to share his cabin. He is described as a man of unusual strength and agility, fearless of every danger, and uniformly successful in all his encounters with the Indians. He lived by the chase, carrying his peltry on his shoulders to the nearest trading post and bringing back such things as he found necessary . to his humble life. In the summer of 1800 he mysteriously disappeared. A neighboring settler, John Trump, who went to the cabin, found everything in good order, but the old hunter had gone, and never returned. The ravine that traverses the park still bears his name.
The oldest English settlement in Fayette county, of which we have an authentic record, was made in 1751 by Wendell Brown and his three sons, Maunus, Thomas and Adam. This was about two years before Christopher Gist effected his settlement at Mount Braddock. The Browns built their first cabin in Provance's Bottom along the Mon- ongahela river, but for some reason the Indians did not want them there, and persuaded them to take up other land in George's township. For several years these four men lived in these western wilds alone, with only the Red- men for their neighbors. Yet they were never molested. On one occasion, Thomas was caught spying upon the In- dians, and had his teeth knocked out by a tomahawk for his insolence; but aside from this they received the most kind and generous treatment as neighbors and friends. The French occupation of Fort Duquesne, in 1754, put an end to this strange experience. The Browns partriotically rallied to the help of Colonel Washington, doing every- thing they could to furnish him with provisions for his lit- tle army. They were at Fort Necessity at the time of the surrender, July 4, 1754; and, their cabin having been de- stroyed by the French, returned with the defeated army to Virginia. In 1758, after the expulsion of the French
11
PIONEERS OF THE YOUGH
by General John Forbes, they returned to Fayette county, bringing with them their wives and children and estab- lishing themselves permanently in their western homes.
The history of western Pennsylvania, however, is more than the history of individual endeavor. The French traders and their wives on the Monongahela river, Wendell Brown and his three stalwart sons in George's township, Bud Longabaugh in his hunters cabin on the Chestnut Ridge and Christopher Gist with his little company of set- tlers at Mount Braddock, were but pawns in the great game of politics played by France and England for the control of western Pennsylvania and the Ohio valley. To the French King must be credited the first move. The whole western country was claimed for him by right of discovery. This claim was further enforced by actual possession. From his well established military posts in the Canadas he sent out his men into every part of the western country, carry- ing with them presents of all kinds, and receiving fine furs and the favor of the Indians in return. Up to the year 1746, nearly all of this rich fur trade was under French control. In that year George Croghan, the influential Irish trader, crossed the mountains by way of the Conemaugh Valley, and entered into competition with the Canadians. The Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, in 1748, sent Conrad Weiser, in company with Croghan and others, to Logstown on the Ohio river to treat with the Indians and endeavor to win their favor. Their mission was successful.
The Indians were ready to treat with both the Eng- lish and the French, inasmuch as this meant more presents for them and higher prices for their furs. In that same year, John Hanbury, a merchant of London, Thomas Lee and a number of other prominent Virginians formed the "Ohio Company," and petitioned the king for a grant of five hundred thousand acres of land on the south bank of the Ohio river, on condition that they would effect an English settlement in the forks of the Ohio, build a fort and maintain a garrison. It was purely a commercial
1
12
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CONNELLSVILLE
enterprise but the king was quick to see its political im- portance, and, on March 18, 1749, instructed the Lieuten- ant Governor of Virginia to make the grant according to the terms proposed. . The company at once purchased land and established a trading post at the mouth of Will's Creek, intending to make this a base of supplies for their work.
Christopher Gist, one of Fayette county's most illus- trious pioneers, then a resident of North Carolina, was employed by the company to explore these lands. He set out on his journey, October 31, 1750, and returned May 19, 1751, during which time he traveled about twelve hun- dred miles, and visited many Indian towns, finding them all eager to enter into trade relations with the English. But, inasmuch as his explorations were chiefly confined to the country north of the Ohio river, he was sent out a sec- ond time with special instructions to explore the land "be- tween Mohongaly and Big Conhaway." This second tour employed him from November 4, 1751, to March 29, 1752, and enabled him to make a more satisfactory report to the company. To Colonel Thomas Cresap of Oldtown, Md., was entrusted the important task of opening up a trade- road over the mountains. Securing the assistance of Nem- acolin, the well-known Delaware Indian chief of Fayette county, he marked out a road from the mouth of Will's Creek over the mountains to Mount Braddock, and thence along the valley of Redstone creek to the Monongahela river. This was not a new road but a well-beaten Indian trail that had been used by the Redmen for many years. The road from Mount Braddock to the mouth of Redstone creek followed a branch of the main trail. In 1753 this road was cleared at a considerable expense by the Ohio Company and made passable for pack-horses.
These aggressive movements of the English were viewed with serious alarm by the French, who determined to establish garrisons in the disputed territory. Accord- ingly they built Fort Presque Isle early in 1749, and Forts
13
PIONEERS OF THE YOUGH
Le Boeuf and Venango soon after, with the intention of . making them the first links of a great chain of forts ex- tending from Lake Erie by way of the Ohio Valley to the Gulf of Mexico. A number of English traders were seized on the Ohio and taken to Canada. Then it was England's turn to be alarmed. Major George Washington, then a young man 21 years of age, was sent to Fort Le Boeuf by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to demand an explanation of these outrages and incidentally to acquaint himself with the designs of the French. Accompanied by two interpreters he came to the home of Christopher Gist at Will's Creek, and asked him to be his companion and guide on the long and dangerous journey. It was Novem- ber 14 of the year 1753, and a journey through the wilder- ness of northwestern Pennsylvania in the dead of the win- ter was no pleasing prospect, but it was the king's busi- ness, and the next morning Mr. Gist led the way over the mountains. The following Sunday was spent by the little party in the new home erected by Mr. Gist at Mount Braddock during the preceding summer.
Arriving at Logstown, five days later, they were joined by the Half King and three other friendly Indians, who accompanied them through the forest on their way to the French forts.
At Fort Le Boeuf, Washington presented his creden- tials, and was received with characteristic French civility. The Commandants admitted the arrest of the English traders on the Ohio, but declined to discuss the justice of it, saying that they had received their orders from the French government, which, as true soldiers, they were bound to obey.
After two days of fruitless parleying, Washington, with heavy heart started on his long journey homeward. It was, confessedly; one of the most trying experiences of his life. In his private journal he says of the trip from Le Boeuf to Venango: "We had a tedious and very fatiguing passage down the creek. Several times we had liked to
14
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CONNELLSVILLE
have been staved against rocks; and many times were obliged all hands to get out and remain in the water half an hour and more, getting over the shoals. At one place the ice had lodged and made it impassable by water ; we were, therefore, obliged to carry our canoe across the neck of land, a quarter of a mile over. We did not reach Ven- ango until the 22nd, where we met our horses." The over- land trip from Venango to Mount Braddock was even more exhausting. The way lay through the winter forest with only an occasional deserted Indian hut to offer protection against the cold. The springs were frozen so hard that it was difficult to secure water to drink. On the fourth day they fell in with an Indian, who had evidently followed them all the way from Venango with malicious intent. Toward evening he attempted to kill Washington but failed. Gist was angry and wanted to kill the Indian at once, but Washington magnanimously interposed and sent him away unharmed. After enduring the greatest fatigue the two men reached the Mount Braddock settlement on the second day of January of the new year. Here they met a party of Virginians, in the employ of the Ohio Company, on their way to the west with seventeen horses laden with materials and stores for the proposed English fort in the forks of the Ohio.
It was the purpose of the Ohio Company to entrust the building of this fort to Colonel Thomas Cresap, Captain Trent and Christopher Gist, but developments came so thick and fast that memorable winter that Governor Din- widdie sent Captain Trent with a company of forty-one men to the scene of action before Washington and Gist had returned from their trip to Le Boeuf. Captain Trent was a . Pennsylvanian by birth, a business partner of George Crog- han and Benjamin Franklin, a man of considerable intel- ligence and well qualified for the task. He hastened with his force to the mouth of Redstone Creek (one mile below Brownsville) where he built the log storehouse known as the "Hangard." From this point he marched by land and
15
PIONEERS OF THE YOUGH
ice to the forks of the Ohio where, on February 17th, he began the erection of a fort. By means of friendly Indian scouts he learned that the French were about to descend the river in force from Venango, and, leaving his little com- pany under the command of Ensign Ward, hastened over the mountains for reinforcements. The fort was not yet completed when it was invested, April 17, 1754, by a force of more than one thousand French and Indians. Resistance was hopeless. The fort was surrendered and the little gar- rison retreated up the Monongahela to the Hangard and thence across the mountains to Will's Creek. The victors completed the captured fort and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor of the French Governor-General of Canada.
. The interest in the great game of the two monarchs now became intense. Diplomacy was discarded. The war god was summoned to preside. Lieutenant-Colonel George Washington was commissioned to lead a regiment of Vir- ginia troops against the invaders. This force at the begin- ning numbered 150 men, but was subsequently increased to 293. The inadequacy of this small force was fully real- ized by all, but, at a council of war held April 23rd, it was decided to march as far as the Hangard, fortify the place and hold it until reinforcements should arrive. The Indians were especially eager for the war, and it was chiefly because of their importunities that the advance was made. At Great Meadows the command was met by Chris- topher Gist, who brought the news that M: La Force with a scouting party of fifty men had been at his Mount Brad- dock home the day before and would have destroyed all his property but for the intervention of two Indians who were on guard. Washington then entrenched his army and sent out his scouts along the trail. By the cunning of the Half King and his Indians the hiding place of this scouting party was discovered, about five hundred yards east of the trail. Leaving a strong guard for his baggage, Washington led his men through the deep woods at night and surprised the French in their camp. As soon as they were discovered
THE SITE OF FORT NECESSITY,
17
PIONEERS OF THE YOUGH
the Virginians and their Indian allies rushed to the attack. After fifteen minutes of sharp fighting the French were overwhelmed. Nine of their number, including Jumon- ville, were killed, one severely wounded and twenty-one, including their commander, captured. Fayette county was thus the ground on which Washington fought his first bat- tle and achieved his first victory. After the fight was over the French prisoners claimed that they were friendly en- voys, but the Virginia Colonel believed them to be hostile spies and treated them accordingly. Two days later Wash- ington advanced his forces to Mount Braddock, where he began the erection of a fort, but, learning that the French were preparing to send an overwhelming force against him, a council of war was held at which it was unanimously decided to retreat to Will's creek. But the retreat was found more difficult than the advance. The whole army had only "two miserable teams fit for use and a few pack horses." Washington himself gave up his saddle horse to be loaded with munitions of war. The command had nine swivel guns and these were dragged over the rough moun- tain road by hand. Upon reaching the Great Meadows it was found that the overburdened soldiers were too ex- hausted to proceed any further, and it was decided to for- tify and defend themselves as best they could, while wait- ing for re-inforcements and needed supplies. Because of these conditions their fort was named Fort Necessity.
In the meantime the French had not been idle. News of their first disaster had been carried to Fort Duquesne by fugitives, and, on June 28, Captain De Villiers, a half brother of the slain Jumonville, with a force of 500 French and almost as many Indians, set out on an expedition of retaliation. The command ascended the Monongahela in periguas as far as the Hangard. Here De Villiers left all his artillery and made a rapid night march to Mount Braddock, hoping to surprise and effect a speedy capture of the entire English force, but, when they reached the fort, the Virginians had disappeared. Chagrined at his
18
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CONNELLSVILLE
failure the French commander was about to retreat to the Hangard, when a deserter brought the intelligence that Washington had built a fort at the Great Meadows, only thirteen miles to the east, and was not in a position to resist a spirited attack. The French then pressed for- ward, and, on the morning of July 3rd, came in sight of the fort. A heavy rain' was falling, and no attempt was made to capture the fort by direct assault. Scattering themselves through the woods on the high ground nearest the fort, the assailants kept up an incessant rifle fire at long range during the entire day. At eight o'clock in the evening the firing ceased, and De Villiers requested a parley. The terms of capitulation proposed by the French were promptly accepted, and signed by the commanding officers at the hour of midnight, so that at sunrise, on the morning of July 4th, 1754, the English marched out of their fort with drums beating and colors flying, on their way to the east. Washington's loss in the engagement was 12 killed and 43 wounded; the French loss was 3 killed and 17 wounded. The baggage of the Virginians was almost a complete loss, since the men were too much ex- hausted to bring it away. The jubilant French destroyed the fort on the morning of the evacuation and in the after- noon began a hasty, retreat to Fort Duquesne. At the Gist settlement, a company of men, under M. de la Chauvig- nerie, was detailed to destroy all the English settlements in the disputed territory. The store house of the Ohio Company and fourteen settler's homes were burned to the ground. Twelve of these homes were in the Mount Brad- dock settlement. One of them was the home of William Stewart, the New Haven pioneer, who located here in 1753 and after whom the crossings of the Yough were then named. The heaviest loser was Christopher Gist, whose actual losses were not less than one thousand dol- lars. In October of the same year, he petitioned the Vir- ginia House of Burgesses for an indemnity, but his peti- tion was rejected, an act of clear injustice to the man who ranks among the most influential of Virginia's pioneers.
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.