History of Apollo, Pennsylvania. The year of a hundred years 1816-1916, Part 1

Author: Henry, Thomas James, 1858-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Apollo, Pa., The News-record pub. co.
Number of Pages: 264

USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Apollo > History of Apollo, Pennsylvania. The year of a hundred years 1816-1916 > Part 1

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الراقية

Gc 974.802 Ap43h 1791062

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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02233 1091

1816-1916 HISTORY OF APOLLO, Pa.

PENNSYLVANIA.

THE YEAR OF A HUNDRED YEARS

By T. J. Henry, M. D.

PUBLISHED BY THE NEWS-RECORD PUB. CO. APOLLO, PENNSYLVANIA 1916

1791062

F WIENRY, THOMAS JAMES, 1858- 8540421 1816-1916; history of Apollo, Pennsylvania.

396 The year of a mmundred years. Apollo, Pa., The News-record mb.co., 1916.

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MAP OF APOLLO IN 1861.

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016

https://archive.org/details/18161916historyo00henr_0

1616-1916

1 Y OF APOLLO :

JORD 1816-1916 HISTORY OF APOLLO THE YEAR OF A HUNDRED YEARS

EXECUTIVE CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE AND CHAIRMEN

E. A. Townsend, President John H. Jackson, Treasurer Sterling G. McNees, Secretary

Historical, Dr. T. J. Henry Vocal Music, Frank T. Wray

Instrumental Music, Thos. Sutton Grounds, W. E. Jones

Speakers, Frank W. Jackson

Civic, W. R. Rowland

Reception, Rev. J. W. Brockway Parade, L. Todd Owens

Entertainment, Mrs. J. Wes Cowan Invitation, Charles H. Truby

Badges, Walter R. Steele

Finance, Ira J. Wray

Fireworks, T. Earle Mccullough Decoration, Milo D. Shaw

Publicity, Lauretta A. Guthrie Athletics, Dr. J. C. Hunter

Historical Pageant, S. G. McNees Advertising, W. C. Campbell

Historical Relics, Philip Koch

Reunions, Margaret McBryar

OFFICIALS OF APOLLO BOROUGH

Burgess, J. C. Hunter, M. D. Councilmen, J. M. Hankey, President, R. W. Rowland, R. F. Orr, Mor- gan Crawford, Charles W. Johnston and J. Ross Lobaugh Secretary, Sterling G. McNees

School Directors, Dr. Colin Cameron, President, J. B. Miller, T. Earle Mccullough, Charles F. Austin, Mrs. T. J. Henry Secretary, Charles H. Truby

Board of Health, J. C. Hunter, M. D., President, W. F. Devers, D. B. Coulter, James DeShong, Sterling G. McNees, Secretary Health Officer, Russell M. Owens

Chief of Police, -

L. J. Culp D. C. Young

Street Commissioner,

Constables,

D. L. Haney, Joseph McGuire James M. Spahr

High Constable,

Borough Solicitor,

Sterling G. McNees

Justices of the Peace

W. W. Hill and John Q. Cochrane

FOREWORD

It has been asked, "Why write a history of Apollo ?" Importance is relative. It is not necessary to be a city of the first class to fill the niche in the hearts of the people or the history of the state. Besides it is our town. It is more. It is said that in no other language is there a word which exactly defines home. Apollo is our TOWN, our HOME. It has fallen upon the writer to be historian for Apollo's Centennial. It has been necessary to be brief. It has been found impossible to embody biographies. Indebtedness for in- formation furnished from memory's stores is acknowledged from the following: Mrs. M. Evans, Mrs. Daniel Jack, Mrs. Margaret James, Miss Elizabeth Ford, Miss Millie Turney, Mrs. Elizabeth Bash, Mrs. Nancy Coleman, and G. Wash Burkett. To others for the loan of books: W. B. Ansley, M. D., Mrs. T. M. Willard, F. W. Jackson, Geo. W. Crawford, J. P. Wood, Robert Lock; to the different ministers in town for church statistics and to Mrs. George J. Bortz for her "History of the Lutheran Church." Other citizens in Apollo have assisted in gathering statistics. The following have contributed articles: T. A. Cochran, list of soldiers buried in local cemeteries; S. F. Hildebrand, list of soldiers enlisting in Apollo and the im- mediate vicinity; Lauretta A. Guthrie, "History of the W. C. T. U."; Mrs. T. J. Henry, histories of Woman's Club and Apollo Free Li- brary; J. N. Nelson, History of Apollo Trust Company; Prof. W. R. Steel, roster of school teachers; C. P. Wolfe, History of First Nation- al Bank; Syl. T. Hildebrand, roster of bands.

A few of the articles have been taken with little change from the local papers as there had been some of them contributed by the writer years ago, although usually unsigned.

In compiling this work the writer gleaned freely from histories of the neighboring counties and from C. A. Hanna, "Wilderness Trail" and "Thwaite's Early Western Travels." With these aids and the writer's knowledge of the town, and this extends over half a century, it is hoped that the chronicles are correct and that they will give pleasure to some and pain to none. If so, they will have served their purpose.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Additions to Borough -

- 25

Apollo Bridge - -

Apollo Steel Co.

- 57

Apollo's Fountain -

- 47

Automobiles -

- 98

Aeroplanes -

- 98

Apollo Trust Co. -

Board of Trade

- 89

Brick Works -

Burial of Warren -

- 41

Business Men's Association

- 91

Bird Life -

- 99

Bridges

Borough Horse

Basin

- 99

Burgesses

Bands

- 86

Captain Sharp's Journey

Carnahan's Blockhouse

- 101

Centennial Program

- 50

Cemeteries

Coal Mines

- 68

Canal

- 52

Cooperage

- 58

Concrete Works

CONTENTS.

Page

Clubs -

- 91

Constables -

- 94

Colored People - -

- 100

Community Trees -

- 100

Churches

Presbyterian

- 74

Methodist Episcopal -

- 75

Zion, A. M. E. -

- 76

United Presbyterian

Lutheran -

Baptist

- 79

Free Methodist -

Shiloh Baptist -

- 80

Reformed

Catholic

Deep Snow -

- 101

Dentists

- 55

Electric Railway

- 67

Electro-Plating Works

Electric Steel Co.

Free Library -

- 90

Ferries

Fort Hand

Foundries

Fire Department -

Fires

Fairs

Fraternal Orders -

Gas and Gas Companies

General History -

Garbage Furnace -

101

Gala Days

- - 48

65 101 70

First National Bank

- -

CONTENTS.

Grist Mills -

- 58

Dr. McKissen

History of Apollo - -

- 18

Hannastown -

- 29

Iron Industries

- 55

Indian Spring -

Indian Arrowheads

Justices - -

94 26

Kiskiminetas River

Local Tales

Lawyers -

- -

Laufman Mill

Lime and Ballast Co.

- 67

Middle Decade -

- 92

Miscellaneous

- 96 83

Nail Mill -

- 55

Newspapers -

Old Home Coming -

Old Inhabitants

Ordinances

Old Mills -

- 31

Post Office -

- 54

Poetry -

- 46

Political

- 87

Personal Mention

- 88

Present Business -

- 102

Potteries -

- 60

Planing Mills -

Physicians

Pound

- 98

Rolling Mill -

Legendary -

Military -

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Page

CONTENTS.

Page 29-32

Regional History

Soldiers, Civil War

Salt Industry

- 51

Schools -

Suburbs

- -

The Big Maple -

- 96

Telephones

Tanneries - - -

Township and Borough

- 24

The Unfinished Millstone - -

- 30

Wireless Telegraphy -

- 101

Water Works -

Woolen Mill

W. C. T. U. -

Woman's Club

- - 90

Warren - - - -

- - 40

Soldiers, Spanish-American War -

--- -- 44

HISTORY Of APOLLO

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

I. MAP OF APOLLO IN 1861.

II. OLDEST HOUSE IN APOLLO.

III. VIEW OF COUNTY BRIDGE.

IV. MRS. DRAKE'S LOG CABIN.

V. THE UNFINISHED MILL STONE.

VI. BALANCED ROCK.

VII. BURNT MILL HOLE.

VIII. RESIDENCE OF JOHN B. KERNS ON THE SITE OF FORT HAND.

IX. INDIAN ROCK.

X. OLD OUTLET LOCK HOUSE.

XI. FIRST PRINTING OFFICE OF WARREN LACON.

XII. CO. I, 78th REG. PA. VOL. AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, TENNESSEE.

XIII. OLD SOLDIERS LEAVING APOLLO FOR THE FIF- TIETH ANNIVERSARY OF GETTYSBURG.

XIV. BEGINNING THE NEW PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

XV. FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH.

XVI. FLOOD OF 1907.

XVII. FLOOD AT NORTH WARREN AVENUE IN 1907.

XVIII. 'SQUIRE WM. HENRY ENTERING HIS OFFICE AT . THE AGE OF NINETY.

XIX. J. P. WOOD WITH A GERMAN CARP AND A SPOON- FISH CAUGHT NEAR THE BRIDGE.

XX. THE BIG MAPLE.

XXI. OLD MARTIAL BAND.

XXII. DEEP SNOWFALL OF 1910.

XXIII. COL. S. M. JACKSON AND HIS HORSE FRANK,

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١٢

HISTORY OF APOLLO PENNSYLVANIA.

1816 Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. 1916. The Year of a Hundred Years.

No man's life is a history unto himself. His ancestors and his associations form an integral part thereof. So with the history of a town-not only its building's and its inhabitants make its history, but the circumstances which brought it into existence and the in- fluences which contribute to its continuance. It will not, therefore, be irrelevant in writing the history of Apollo, Armstrong Co., Penn- sylvania, to consider briefly the state and the county before the town. The history of Pennsylvania is unique inasmuch as, under the Crown of England, it was a province, not a colony, from the first. It was purchased by William Penn, son of Admiral Wm. Penn, of England. Wm. Penn, Jr., was a young man much like others of his age, proficient in manly sports and tolerably studious while at college. While attending Oxford he became a Quaker-a new sect at that time. He refused to attend chapel and prayers as was re- quired at that institute and was reprimanded and fined. He became radical and, strangely enough, loving liberty himself, he was not willing to grant it to others, for he with his companions in the new faith were expelled from college for tearing the surplices off some of his fellow-students. His father beat him and banished him from home for his fanatical actions. Later, through the intercession of his mother, father and son became reconciled. The latter was sent to France to forget his folly. He traveled in France and Spain and returned with "too much vanity of the French garb and affected man- ner of gait and speech." He studied law and had some military ex- perience but returning to his religious convictions he was again es- tranged from his father. Again they were reconciled. Soon after this his father died and William having been fined, imprisoned and buffeted about on account of his Quaker tendencies, decided to go where he could enjoy religious freedom. It happened that King Charles II owed his father's estate sixteen thousand pounds. For this and the valuable services rendered the Crown by Admiral Penn the King granted to Wm. Penn a tract or province in America which Penn wished to call New Wales. After some consideration, King Charles called it Pennsylvania which every school child knows means Penn's Woods. This was in 1681. Owing to the vastness of Amer- ica and ignorance as to the real lay of the lands, the extent of this purchase was too much of the "more or less" as it occurs in old deeds so that over five million acres more were granted than are actually included in Pennsylvania. New York, Maryland and Virginia de- tracted from the original grant. Penn immediately sent colonists over to take possession and the following year, August 30, 1682, he

----

THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.

sailed in the ship Welcome. Arriving in America he established a government and, broadened by his experiences in England, granted the greatest religious liberty. He was opposed to holding slaves and early advocated their education, the abolition of polygamy among them and their civil trial for crime with a view to their final freedom.

It may be well at this point to consider who were the inhabitants of this New World whence Penn directed his energies. America gives evidence of having been inhabited for ages. It is sufficient merely to mention the Cliff Dwellers as a lost race and to speak but briefly of the Mound Builders. The Zuni Indians, of New Mexico, are the remnant of a pagan people conquered in 1550 by the Span- iards, who yet retain their own religion despite their subjection to Christian nations for more than three and one-half centuries. But the Mound Builders are of more local interest inasmuch as evidences of their habitations have been observed in Pennsylvania and even in Armstrong county. These mounds were of various forms and uses, some as forts and some as burial places. None of the mounds in Pennsylvania are so elaborate or unique as in some of the Western and Southern states. Those near Manor were in the shape of circu- lar forts. They had been ditched around. and trees growing upon them were estimated to have been 200 to 300 years old. Too much space cannot be given to this discussion, but from the fact that some Mound Builders cremated their dead and kept the ashes in urns, that they were artisans in copper as well as users of stone and flint, there is no doubt but that they were a distinct race from the Indians. It seems that they usually followed the river valleys. In this vicinity there is but one mound regarded as the work of this race and it has never been explored. This mound is on the Thomas Martin farm on the North Washington road. It appears very prominently on a hill to the right of the road as one views it from Chambers' Schoolhouse. It is one hundred and fifty feet in diameter and is of different soil from the rest of the hill. After the Mound Builders, what? The Lenni Lenape have a tradition that the Allegewi inhabited the eastern part of this country. The Lenni Lenape (or Original People) claim they were the first Indians in America; that they were the progeni- tors of all the other tribes.

They finally left the land of the setting sun, where their ances- tors had lived for ages, and journeyed toward the rising sun. At the great Mississippi they came upon a different people, taller and heavier than the Indians. The Allegewi, as these people were called, refused to let them settle there. After some time they agreed to let them pass on through their territory. On seeing their multitudes they feared the result of the permission and fell upon those who had crossed the river, slaying them and threatening the same fate to any who should attempt to follow. The Lenni Lenape still lingered on the west bank of the Mississippi until another tribe of Indians came. These were the Mengwe, also seeking lands further East. They had

OLDEST HOUSE IN APOLLO-SOUTH SECOND STREET (Picture by T. J. Henry.)

THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.

come from the great North West. Forming an alliance they crossed over the river and made war on the Allegewi, who in spite of their forts and superior stature were overwhelmed and driven from their homes. The fate of this people is lost to history. The Lenni Lenape and the Mengwe followed up the valley of the Ohio and made division of the lands. The Mengwe went North. Some of the explorers from the Lenni Lenape wandered over the Alleghenies and found vast hunting grounds and no inhabitants. This territory was fruitful with berries and nuts as well as full of game which had never been fright- ened by man. The rest of the tribe emigrated to this new hunting ground and settled on the banks of the Lenape Whittuck, or Dela- ware River, afterwards so called in honor of Lord Delaware who had reached the bay and river in 1610.

The whites calling this stream the Delaware naturally called the redmen found upon its banks the Delawares. After the settlers took up this region the Delawares gradually returned to the Alle- gheny and Ohio valleys for game. The Shawnees came from the South in 1677 and both tribes lived along the Allegheny and its tribu- taries. Thus it happened that in the historic valley of the Kiski- minetas there were many villages of the Delaware and Shawnees tribes. The Delawares were great hunters and often their villages were less stable than those of the Shawnees.

Among the other Indians with whom the early settlers of Penn- sylvania were destined to come in contact were the Senecas, Cayugas, Oncidas, Onondagas and Mohawks. These seemed to be tribes which had sprung from the Mengwe. These several tribes had formed a confederacy to protect themselves from the Delawares. This alli- ance was formed at the suggestion of an old Mohawk, Thannawagge. Thus allied they were called the Iroquois or Five Nations. They were presided over by chiefs and sachems. The sachems or wise inen met annually to adjust such questions as affected the whole fed- eration. The chiefs ruled in war and held their positions by valor alone. These people had a legend that a man of miraculous birth, Hiawatha, had come to teach them agriculture and the benefits of peace. These tribes lived along the St. Lawrence, both North and South, and occupied much of New York and of Pennsylvania in the North. The Hurons had either been refused admittance to the alli- ance or had been expelled and were at enmity with the Five Na- tions. Champlain took sides with the Hurons and incurred the dis- pleasure of the Five Nations who became the friends of the English. Other tribes were more or less active in Pennsylvania, but these are the most important.

Returning to Penn's coming, the Indians were not all he was to meet.

The Swedes had first settled in this territory. These were super- seded by the Dutch .. However, Penn's arrival was welcomed by these settlers and he at once began to establish a provincial government.

THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.

The first Indians Penn came in contact with were the Delawares. Not satisfied with his purchase of the land from the Crown, he rec- ognized the prior right of the Indians and began negotiations with them. Purchases were made as more land was needed by settlers. At first the dealings were entirely with the Delawares, but later the Five Nations overcame the former and the whites were compelled to deal with them. The Indians had land in plenty and parted with it for small considerations. A large part of Chester County was pur- chased by Penn for a couple of hundred yards of cloth for coats and blankets, for guns and ammunition, knives, tomahawks, scissors, needles, gimlets, awls, beads and jews-harps. Even a barrel of beer was part of the consideration. Two of the most important purchases were those of the "Walking Purchase" and the purchase in 1768. The former because of the dissatisfaction in its consummation, the latter because of its magnitude. The "Walking Purchase" was made in agreement by which the extent of the purchase was to be a three days' walk westward. Penn, himself, walked the first half and quit until more was required. He followed the trail in his day-and-a half's walk.

Later the whites saw an opportunity to gain by this bargain and had the three days' journey walked by the compass directly west. This was done in 1737.Three trained walkers undertook to accomplish the task. One of them, Yeates, became exhausted and died in a few days. Jennings, broken in health, lived but a few years.

The third, Edward Marshall, accomplished the remarkable feat of walking 86 miles. He lived to be a good old age. The Indians always claimed they were cheated and that the walk should have been according to beaten trails. The Delawares never consented to the terms but were compelled by the Five Nations to submit. This was the beginning of many murders by the Indians. Among the ones to suffer was Edward Marshall. His whole family save one was killed. He spent most of his long life seeking revenge. The purchases were so indefinite that the Indians failed to observe them. Although these treaties have been shrouded in mystery and legend, it is fully estab- lished that as early as 1736 Penn had purchased the whole of the province from the Indians. They, however, claimed to have misun- derstood the provisions and a new treaty was made in 1754 with the Five Nations by which they conveyed all the lands between the Northern and Southern boundaries of Pennsylvania and "as far West as the setting sun." The main bodies of these Indians, as well as the smaller tribes, denied the right of the sachems to barter their hunting grounds and went to war. To stop this war, the whites in 1758 relinquished all the lands West of the Alleghenies. The set- tlers gradually obtruded themselves upon this territory and in 1768 at Fort Stanwix, N. Y., they obtained a grant of all but a small portion of N. W. Pennsylvania. The boundaries described in the treaty ran up the west branch of the Susquehanna to its source near

VIEW OF COUNTY BRIDGE. (Picture by T. J. Henry.)

... .

THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.

Cherry Tree, then called Canoe Point, because it was as far up as . the stream was navigable for canoes. Thence it ran to Kittanning and down to the border along the Allegheny and Ohio. After this treaty all the Indian towns were abandoned, but roving bands of dis- satisfied savages still wandered over the country. During all this turmoil various uprisings of the Indians occurred and many outrages were committed against the colonists.

In the years past, as has been stated before, the Delawares and the Shawnees had been gradually crowded from their hunting grounds in the Delaware and Susquehanna valleys. These tribes in later years had not been considered in the dealings with the Five Nations. Naturally they did not feel like relinquishing these regions without remuneration. Driven to the valleys of the Allegheny and the Ohio, they had established many towns before the whites slowly advanced step by step until this territory was also in demand by the ever in- creasing army of emigrants. Shingas was a Delaware chieftain, Tecumseh and Cornstalk were Shawnees. One tribe was ruled by a woman, Queen Alliquippa, who held sway between Turtle Creek and the Youghiogheny. All tribes held their special hunting grounds. Finally in 1784 the Indians ceded all Pennsylvania territory to the whites. In spite of this up till 1782 all the territory North of the Kiskiminetas River was yet a frontier. Although they had no fixed residences, bands of Indians committed depredations all through this region even as late as 1796. There were several reasons why West- ern Pennsylvania was so long being permanently settled. Because Virginia claimed part of this territory, the titles to land were doubtful and many settlers moved on to Ohio and other western points where clear deeds could be obtained. Another reason was that the French and English treaty at Aix La Chapelle in 1748, while virtually set- tling their war, did not define their lines in America, and while the Ohio Company formed in Virginia by royal grant claimed this ter- ritory, the Governor General of Canada, Marquis de la Gallissoniere, in this year, sent Celoron down the Allegheny and the Ohio to take possession in the name of the King of France. Under these orders, Celoron proceeded from Lake Erie to Lake Chautauqua, placing lead- en plates at specified points. One was placed at the place now called Celoron on Lake Chautauqua. One was placed at Warren, Pa., and, descending the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, he laid claim to both sides of these rivers and their tributaries. In 1752 the Gov. General died and was succeeded by Marquis du Quesne.

Gov. Dinwiddie, of Virginia, sent George Washington, in 1753, to inquire into the designs of the French. This led to the building of a fort at the Forks. Ensign Ward was in command. The French, under Contrecoeur, caused Ward to surrender in 1754, and they es- tablished Fort Du Quesne. They had another fort at Venango called Le Beuf. These conflicting interests led to the French and Indian War which lasted from 1754 to 1756. It would take volumes to relate

THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.

what occurred in Pennsylvania alone during this great war. Suffice it to say that after Braddock's defeat the Indians went wild with thirst for blood, devastating homes and massacreing all ages and sexes. Intimately connected with the present history was the taking of the Indian village of Kittanning.

In 1756, Col. Armstrong, who was stationed on the Susquehanna, conceived the idea of punishing the Indians on their own ground. The Indians had villages along the Kiskiminetas and Allegheny Riv- ers and from these they would make raids over the mountains to the white settlements, killing and stealing and escaping to their strong- holds. From Ft. Shirley, Col. Armstrong came up the Juniata and down across the Kiskiminetas, August 30, 1756, with 307 men. His objective point was Kittanning, the most important Indian village in this region. On the 8th of September at daybreak, Col. Armstrong ordered the attack on the town. The Indians made a brave defense and refused to surrender. Col. Armstrong ordered the village to be DuQuesne could cut them off. In this year Indian raids were so near the powder magazine where the Indians declared they had enough powder to last for ten years. The fire soon reached the storehouse and an explosion occurred which was heard by the French at Ft. Du- Quesne, who immediately dispatched troops to aid the Indians. After the houses caught on fire the Indians fought at a disadvantage and soon had to come out in the open. A number escaped, but in all thirty or forty dead Indians were found after the battle. Col. Arm- strong successfully returned to Fort Shirley ere the troops from Ft. set on fire. John Ferguson succeeded in setting fire to the stockade frequent that a bounty was paid for the capture or killing of an Indian. One hundred fifty dollars for a prisoner and one hundred thirty for a scalp. For a boy or a squaw, one hundred thirty for a prisoner and fifty for a scalp. With the French and Indians both as enemies the settlers had hard times until 1758, when Gen. Forbes with nearly nine thousand men, British regulars and provincials, started on the Western expedition.

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History of Apollo, Pennsylvania. The year of a hundred years 1816-1916, Part 1

Author: Henry, Thomas James, 1858- Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Apollo, Pa., The News-record pub. co. Number of Pages: 264

Author: Henry, Thomas James, 1858-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Apollo, Pa., The News-record pub. co.
Number of Pages: 264