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USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > Brownsville > Hart's history and directory of the three towns, Brownsville, Bridgeport, West Brownsville also abridged history of Fayette county & western Pennsylvania > Part 1
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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
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Hart's History and Directory
: of the : : :
THREE TOWNS
BROWNSVILLE BRIDGEPORT WEST BROWNSVILLE
Illustrated with Portraits & Views
Also Abridged History of Fayette County & Western Pennsylvania : : : : :
Price $2.50
Edited and Compiled by JS PERCY HART assisted by W. H. BRIGHT 11
Published by J. PERCY HART : : Cadwallader, Pa. 1904
FIST F243 Caju 2
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Two Copies Received NOV 17 1904 Copyright Entry 702.17.1904 CLASS a XXc. NOI 101892 COPY A.
ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS IN THE YEAR 1904 BY J. PERCY HART, CADWALLADER, PA. IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON, D. C.
4- 332.33
Preface
I N this abridged history of Fayette County, of Western Pennsylvania. and of the Three Towns of Brownsville, Bridgeport and West Browns- ville particularly, it has been the aim of the author and compiler, to devote more time to the writing, assembling and systematic arranging of facts and incidents of the carly settlement and life, social and industrial, than to the portrayal of the present.
It is around the things of the past that memory most fondly clings, and to place them upon the pages of history that old and young may pore over them, the former with fond recollections and the latter with awakened interest in the life and trials of our forefathers, is the incentive that prompted the writing of these pages.
With more recent history, all are more or less familiar. The history of the world, of today, is being made and comes to us daily through the columns of newspapers and magazines; it is being graven upon marble and granite and upon the everlasting hills, in a manner that it will never be erased, but the history of the past centuries, we must gather from tradition or from musty volumes of ancient and almost forgotten lore. And, it is from these that we have gathered what we here present and we assure you that it was as much a pleasure as a task to gather much of what we have written from the trembling lips of beautiful old age, and embellish it by the aid of the photographer and illustrator.
All who took part in making the carlier history of this part of Pennsyl- vania, have long since gone to their reward but their works live after them and will result in manifold blessings to generations yet unborn; while many of the others who came upon the scene from a half to three-quarters of a century later, are still with us bearing upon their brows the silvery crown of interesting and instructive old age, but their memory of things seen and heard is a rich storehouse from which an historian delights to draw, and it is to these as well as to the ancient chroniclers of history, that we are indebted for much that enters into this volume,
Veech, Ellis, Searight, Nelson, Crumrine and other writers of the early history of Pennsylvania, have been drawn upon and we believe in most instances credited with their contributions, while the vast number of others who have generously aided us in our search for historic incidents, is such as to preclude the possibility of individual mention. Among them, how- ever, are J. D. S. Pringle, D. M. Hart, William Graham, Thomas Benton Wilgus, (now in Morgantown), James Risbeck, James Mitchell, and a diary of Robert Rogers, kindly furnished us by Roland C. Rogers.
We also desire to express our thanks to Hunter Beall, and Mrs. Morgan West, now at Damascus, O., the former for the privilege of photographing
an old snuffbox and the latter for a picture of an old mirror both of which came over in the Mayflower, as well as others for interesting and valued heirlooms that deserve a place in this work. There are no doubt many other relics if they were unearthed but some are buried away in obscure garrets to be dug up by later generations while others are in the hands of people with whom we have not been able to communicate. We are in- debted to our efficient photographer W. D. Pratt, for pictures of many of the old landmarks which it would have been impossible to secure had he not had the negatives carefully laid away for just such an emergency .
While we have pictures and biographies of nearly all of our borough and county officials, still there are a few that we have been unable to secure. This we regret very much but feel that we are not to blame as we made every reasonable effort to do so.
We realize that while we have brought the record of Fayette County's progress down to the present time and the record of the Three Towns as well, and that while that record is one of which any county or community might well feel proud, it will be but a few more years at the present rate of progress when our proud position in the industrial world, will seem to those who look back, as exceedingly primitive. The future of Fayette County and of the Three Towns particularly, is as promising as the dawn of a new day and all the past achievements will seem primitive and prescribed com- pared with what we shall have before the present generation takes its place in the ranks of generations past.
J. P. H.
Index to Departments
PAGE
Early History of Western Pennsylvania.
614
Fayette County History
615
Geology of Fayette County .
616
Fayette County's Part in Wars.
617
Early and Present Modes of Transportation 618
History of the National Pike 615
Slack-Water Navigation . 619
Old Taverns Along the Pike 62(
Railroad History 621
History of the Three Towns 622 and 623
Necrological Record of the Three Towns since August 10, 1869. 250 History of Brownsville. 624
History of Bridgeport. 625
History of West Brownsville 626
Financial Institutions of the Three Towns 627
Educational History 628
629
List of Telephone Subscribers-"Bell," "Federal," "Mononga-
420
History of Uniontown
630
Business Directory of Uniontown
464
Directory of the Three Towns
475
Brownsville
475
Bridgeport
520
West Brownsville . 579
Business Directory of the Three Towns 600
Index to Illustrations .
631
Index to Advertisements.
639
Large Map of the Three Towns
Back of Book.
Religious History
hela Valley " and " Home-Mutual.
Early History of Western Pennsylvania
WHAT IS NOW FAYETTE COUNTY THE SEAT OF EARLY CONTENTION-FRENCHI INVASION-THE HANGUARD AND OTHER OLD FORTS-WASHINGTON AT JUMONVILLE AND THE GREAT MEADOWS-BRADDOCK'S DISASTROUS EXPEDITION-BURIED IN FAVETTE COUNTY-EXPEDITION OF GENERAL FORBES-FRENCH ABANDON FORT DUQUESNE-MOUNDS AND MOUND- BUILDERS-REDSTONE OLD FORT AND FORT BURD-GIST'S PLANTATION CALLED MONONGAHELA- DIVISION OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY-TRIALS OF FIRST SETTLERS.
FRENCH INVASION.
There is probably not a county in the state of Pennsylvania nor in any other in the United States, that can justly lay claim to greater historical interest than Fayette County. Located as it is, in the most prominent path that marks the course of the aborigines from the east to the west, that was afterward trodden by the pioneers, the trappers and traders, the colonial forces that came across the Alleghenies to cross swords with the French, and that from a blazed way through almost untrodden and seem- ingly unbounded forests, became the highway of commerce long before the iron rails of the Pennsylvania or Baltimore & Ohio had pierced the fertile hills or spanned the still more fertile valleys of this vast region, it has ever been prominent in the eyes of the nation and in the eyes of the world.
It is not our purpose in this work to enter into a detailed history of Fayette County, as its history has been written many times by abler men who in their works exhausted the subject and gave to those interested all that there is to know about this section of the state and particularly of Fay- ette County, but to deal more particularly with what has long since become familiarly known as the Three Towns and by which name Brownsville, Bridgeport (Cadwallader P. O.) and West Brownsville are known. How- ever, as the links are all intact between the gradual transition of Wendell Brown and his two sons, Manus and Adam, from nimrods to husbandmen, in 1751, to the present time, it will not be out of order nor consume much time of the reader to follow the trail of the trader till it develops into the modern, steel highways that now vie with the ever-rolling rivers, as the arteries of commerce.
The French had explored virtually all that vast scope of country between the Allegheny mountains and the Mississippi river from the Great Lakes south to the Ohio river, long before the advent of the English and had established forts and trading places along many of the rivers, but they had made no definite effort to hold the territory until 1749 when Marquis de la Galis- soniere, then Governor-General of Canada, sent one Celoron by way of the Great Lakes, down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers to take possession of the
4
Washington's Mission to Le Boeuf
country in the name of the king of France. How this expedition started from LaChine near Montreal, June 15, 1749, following the St. Lawrence, the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and then crossed over to the Allegheny striking it at a point near where Warren, Pennsylvania, now stands, and continued down that stream to the Ohio, down the Ohio to the Miami, up that stream to near its head waters thence overland to the Maumce which river they descended to Lake Erie and returned to Montreal by way of the route they had come, planting leaden plates all along the route, which bore in- scriptions setting forth the claims of France to the territory, are all matters of history too well known to merit repetition herc.
It was this move on the part of France, however, that led the English to greater activity and it was partly to circumvent the French that the Ohio Company formed in Virginia by Virginians and Marylanders, in 1748, commenced active operations shortly afterward. Subsequent to the expedi- tion of Coloron, the visits of the French to this section of the country became frequent and in 1753 another expedition under a French commander made its way into the territory now comprising Western Pennsylvania, following closely the route that Celoron had taken, and built a number of forts.
WASHINGTON'S MISSION TO LE BOEUF.
These movements on the part of the French alarmed the Governor of Virginia, who urged on by the middle colonies, sent George Washington, then a young man, to inquire of the French the motive of their movements. Washington with seven other men among whom was Christopher Gist who figures largely in the subsequent history of this section of the country, set out on his mission late in the fall of 1753 and after a long and tedious journey reached Venango, an old Indian town which was an outpost of the French forces or rather an advance post. Here he found Joncaire and stated his mission. Joncaire referred him to his superior officer who was stationed at Le Boeuf, one of the forts but recently built by the French. Thither Wash- ington made his way and was courteously received by Legardeur de Saint- Pierre who in turn said that he would forward Governor Dinwiddie's message to the Governor-General in Canada, but that in the meantime he had orders to hold the territory and that he would obey his orders to the best of his ability. Washington could do nothing more and with this answer he re- turned to Virginia and reported to Governor Dinwiddie at Williamsburg, January 16, 1754.
In the meantime the Ohio Company had planned to establish a fort and colony at the forks of the river or where Pittsburgh now stands, had received consignments of goods from England and on his way back to Virginia, Washington met a number of these people then en route to the head waters of the Ohio. The Ohio Company had already established trading posts along the route namely at Wills creek, at the mouth of Turtle creek (whither Frazier had gone after being driven from Venango by the French), and William Trent was at the time engaged in building the Hanguard a kind of fort or blockhouse at the mouth of Redstone just below Brownsville. Washington
5
The Hanguard, Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne
on his way back to Virginia, after his mission to the French commanders, stopped for a time at the plantation of Gist, known then as Monongahela, a name which was applied to the territory from the mouth of Redstone to the Yough, Gist's plantation, however, was within what is now Fayette County and more definitely speaking in Wharton township.
THE HANGUARD, FORT PITT AND FORT DUQUESNE.
Early in January, 1754. the Ohio Company realized that they needed a stronger arm than they wielded to protect their interests in this section of the country and secured from Virginia, authority to organize a company of militia to co-operate with them. Governor Dinwiddie commissioned William Trent captain of this company, John Frazier lieutenant, and Edward Ward ensign. Trent, as stated before, was at the time engaged in building the Hanguard at the mouth of Redstone but on receiving orders from the Governor of Virginia to proceed to the Old Dominion and raise a company of 100 men, he left the work and went on his mission. After securing about forty men, he started for the Forks (now the city of Pittsburgh) hoping to fill out his company on the way. He proceeded to Gist's and thence to the mouth of Redstone where he first completed the Hanguard after which he went on to the Forks where in company with Gist, George Croghan and a number of others, he commenced the work of building the fort.
After laying out the ground and getting some of the logs in position, Capt. Trent was forced to return to Wills creek across the mountains for provisions, Lieutenant Frazier was called to his trading post at Turtle creek and the work at the Forks was left in charge of Ensign Ward. About this time the French under Contrecoeur appeared in force and demanded the surrender of the post. Ward saw that resistance would be suicidal and on the following day, February 17, 1754, surrendered the post and with his men ascended the Monongahela river to Brownsville where the Hanguard had already been completed.
The French having gained possession of the Forks of the Ohio, at once set about to build what has since been known as Fort Duquesne where or near where over a year afterward, to be exact, July 9, 1755, General Braddock met with disastrous defeat and received the wound that terminated his life at the Great Meadows in Fayette County about eight o'clock Sunday even- ing, July 13, 1755.
WASHINGTON AND JUMONVILLE.
Unaware of the surrender of the " Forks of the Ohio" by Ward, the Gov- ernor of Virginia was raising and organizing troops to go forward and occupy the position. The first detachment of these troops was sent forward under the command of Lieut. Col. George Washington who had already received his commission from the Governor of Virginia as Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment of Virginia, Col. Joshua Frye being in command. Washington was ordered to take the troops then quartered at Alexandria, Virginia, consisting of two companies of infantry properly officered, and proceed
Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States
George Washington, First President of the United States
8
Washington and Junonville
to the Ohio and there help Captain Trent to build forts and protect the rights or possessions of His Majesty against the French.
On the second day of April, 1754, Washington left Alexandria with the two companies consisting of about 100 men besides the officers and we next hear of him at Jacob Pearsoll's where he received word by an express, from Captian Trent at the Ohio, stating that he was hourly expecting an attack by a body of 800 French troops, and asking reinforcements. Wash- ington's force had in the meantime been augmented by Captain Stephen and fifty men thus bringing his troops up to a total of 150 men in the ranks.
On the 20th Washington received word from Ensign Ward of the surrender of the Forks. This was the first intimation he had of what had transpired at the head waters of the Ohio river. After holding a council of war at Wills creek, Washington decided that the proper thing to do was to push forward to the mouth of Redstone and there fortify to meet the enemy, having in the meantime received word that LaForce with a number of French and some Indians had advanced up the Monongahela river and were in the neighborhood of Gist's place. On the 12th of May Washington received word by carrier that Colonel Frye was at Winchester Virginia with 100 men and would start in a few days for the front to join him. He also received word that Colonel Innis was on the way with 350 Carolinians. On the 17th Ward who had gone on east, returned and joining Washington in- formed him that Captain Mackay with a company of 100 independents was on the way to join him and that he might expect them any day. The same evening two friendly Indians came into camp and informed Washington that the French at Ft. Duquesne were expecting reinforcements any dav, that would increase their force to about 1,600 men. However, Washington moved his troops forward and after experiencing some difficulty in crossing the Youghiogheny and hesitating as to whether the Youghiogheny or the Monongahela were the better point at which to make a stand decided in favor of the latter and at two o'clock in the afternoon of the 24th of May, 1754 we find him at Great Meadows. Just before reaching Great Meadows two In- dian runners met him with a message from Half-King (Tanacharison) stating that the French army was already on the road from Fort Duquesne to meet the English and that Half-King and the other chiefs would soon be with him to hold a council of war, as it seems Washington had requested them to do. by messenger, prior to this time. That same evening a trader came into camp at Great Meadows, from Gist's and reported that he had seen two French- men in that neighborhood and that he also knew there was a strong French force in the vicinity of Stewart's Crossing of the Youghiogheny. From this and the news he had received from Half-King, Washington decided to remain at the Meadows, at least for a time, and if needs be, fortify himself against the enemy.
Of this place Washington wrote prior to his encounter with the French, that it was " A charming place for an encounter" but it seems that he after- wards found it anything else but a "Charming place."
On the morning of the 27th Christopher Gist arrived at Great Meadows direct from his plantation and told Washington that on the previous day a
9
Washington's Defeat at Great Meadows
detachment of the French had visited his place and had committed various depredations, and further informed Washington that he had seen their tracks within five miles of Fort Necessity, the name Washington had given to his intrenchments. On receipt of this information, Washington sent out about. 76 men to reconnoiter and if possible to locate the French troops. From the following accounts it does not seem that they located the French, but the same evening Washington received word from Half-King who was then en- camped only about six miles away, that he had seen two Frenehmen and following them stealthily had discovered the camp of the French forces in a deep and secluded ravine very difficult of access and only about half a mile from the trail.
After putting the camp or fort in order, Washington with those of his men not left to protect the supplies, set out in the darkness for the camp of Half- King. which they reached just before daylight on the morning of the 28th of May. A short council was held with the old Sachems and it was decided to at once attack the French who were not far away. Accordingly they marched in single file, early that May morning, to the French camp and forming in line of battle with the English troops on the right and the Indians on the left, the attack was made without any further preliminaries. While Washington did not succeed in surprising the French, the attack was so sudden and they had so little time to prepare that though they flew to arms, they were soon thrown into confusion and after about fifteen minutes' fight- ing during which time ten of the French were killed and one wounded, while Washington lost only one man killed and one wounded, they surrendered.
Among the French who were killed was Jumonville who had command of the French forces. Twenty-one French were taken prisoners, from which it appears that there were only 32 French in the party. Among the prisoners was LaForce who is sometimes credited with having had charge of the French forces. The French who were killed in the battle were scalped by Half-King's men and the prisoners were eventually sent to Winchester. Virginia.
The death of Jumonville and the capture of his company, occurred on the morning of the 28th of May, 1754, in the northwest part of what is now Wharton township, Fayette County. Pa .. close to what is now known as Washington's Spring and not far from the National Road. This is the location given Half-King's camp by Judge Veech and the place where Jumonville and his men were encamped, could not have been very far away.
WASHINGTON'S DEFEAT AT GREAT MEADOWS-FT. NECESSITY.
On the 30th, a few days after his encounter with and defeat of Jumon- ville's company, Washington commenced to build a small fort with palisades at Great Meadows where some work had previously been done. Washing- ton feared that as soon as the news of Jumonville's defeat and death reached the French at Fort Duquesne they would come out in great force, hence the strengthening of this unfortunate position, for that is what it certainly proved to be. To get the benefit of two natural embankments
10
Fort Necessity
and the little stream of water, Fort Necessity was built on low, open ground with wooded heights or elevations practically on two sides of it where the French and Indians should they come to attack the American forces, could, under cover of the timber and from the elevations, pour volley after volley into the fort whose occupants not being able to see the enemy, would be absolutely helpless.
The work on Fort Necessity could not have been very extensive. for history informs us that it was finished by the second day of June and religious services were held in it. About the time that Fort Necessity was finished Half-King and his men came into camp and brought with them a number of families of Indians who had fled from the lower Monongahela river fear- ing the vengeance of the French when they heard of Jumonville's defeat and death. The number of these refugees was augmented from time to time, till they became quite a burden to Washington from the fact that the provisions in camp were not sufficient to feed such a large number of people very long and as most of them were non-combatants, there was no possible benefit to be derived from keeping them in camp and Washington made an effort to get them to go into camp some distance away at the mouth of Redstone creek but did not succeed in doing it. Among these refugees was Queen Alliquippa and her son. It was only about a year before this when Washington had given the "Queen" a bottle of rum when he was on his first mission to the French, and she was located over on Turtle creek, and she no doubt hoped for more of the "fire-water," butt history does not record whether she got it or not.
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