USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 1
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1
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01205 6492
GENEALOGY 974.801 W52B v. 1
1 16 laing .
HISTORY
OF
WESTMORELAND
COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
BY
JOHN N. BOUCHER
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. I.
NEW YORK
CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1906
PREFACE
1136270
The purpose of the first volume of this work is to present a history of Westmoreland County from its first settlement down to the present time. The publishers feel confident that the author, Mr. John N. Boucher, has not only laid before the reader in a pleasing manner the salient facts of the long and interesting story, but that he has included much of that purely antiquarian lore which is to many the most instructive and delightful feature of local history.
This volume covers a century and a half of the history of Westmoreland County. Its settlement began properly in 1755, with the lamentable expedition of the English army under General Edward Braddock, to capture Fort Duquesne. The next step in developing this territory was the opening up of a road directly across the county by General John Forbes' army in 1758, in his more successful expedition against the French fort. Immediately follow- ing these events came the early pioneers, and then began the great battle with the wilderness which he must tame, and with a savage race which opposed him at every step. For a third of a century the history of the county is mainly made up by a strange mingling of tragedy and romance on the one hand, and of the privations and exertions of the pioneer on the other.
Formed as the county of Westmoreland was before the Revolutionary War, the story of its patriotism in that great struggle is and must ever remain one of its brightest pages. Coming down through all these years, the author has chronologically told of its formation, its first courts, the building of its roads and turnpikes, its canals, railroads and public buildings. He has told of its participation in the Whisky Insurrection and in five wars, and has dwelt at length on its industries and its modern cities and towns. . Inter- spersed with these narrations are chapters devoted to the social customs, manners, industries, homes and home life of the early settlers.
The reader who is interested in transportation may follow the subject by complete descriptions of the pack-horse trains, the slow moving Concstoga wagons, the romantic stage coach, and the canal boat, down to the present complete system of railroads which has so greatly developed Westmoreland that it has taken a first rank among the rural counties of the United States. So likewise may he trace the great industries from their most primitive stages in the county to their present gigantic proportions. He may also learn of the Bench and Bar, the Press and its editors, the Church and its ministry, the Medical profession, and School history, for each in turn is treated exhaustively from its beginning to the present day.
V
PREFACE
This volume relates entirely to the history of the county and to its promi- nent men of the past. Throughout the entire volume the reader will find biographical sketches of men who contributed to the county's history in war, and to its development in peace.
Mr. Boucher wishes us to state that he has been untrammeled in the prepa- ration of the work, freely treating all subjects and men as he thought they deserved. If he has given too great a prominence to any event, or has with- held from some true hero an encomium justly due him, it is a mistake in the judgment of the author, and is not due to any obligation to eulogize or cen- sure any person or event treated in these pages.
In view of the foregoing, the publishers with great confidence submit this History of Westmoreland County to her intelligent and public spirited people, asking, in return, a careful consideration of the work.
THE PUBLISHERS.
.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
The French and English Struggle for Supremacy .- Braddock's Expedition .- Forbes' Expedition .- George Washington .- Pontiac's War .- Battle of Bushy Run .- Henry Bouquet I
CHAPTER II.
The Grant to William Penn .- Disputed Boundaries .- Mason and Dixon's Line .- Indian Purchases .- Military Permits .- Titles, etc. 33
CHAPTER III.
Formation of County .- First Courts .- Elections 42
CHAPTER IV.
Selection of a County Seat .- Old Hannastown .- Erection of a Jail .- Sentences of the Court .- Slavery 49
CHAPTER V.
The Boundary between Virginia and Pennsylvania .- Dunmore's War ..
60
CHAPTER VI.
The Indians of Early Westmoreland.
67
CHAPTER VII.
Early Indian Troubles .- Places of Refuge .- Forts .- Stockades .- Blockhouses .- Cabins .- Indian Stories 79
CHAPTER VIII.
Scotch .- Irish .- Germans ....... 116
CHAPTER IX.
The Beginning of the Revolution .- Early Movements towards Freedom .- Westmore- land Patriots' Resolutions .- The Rattlesnake Flag. 122
CHAPTER X.
Westmoreland in the Revolution
132
CHAPTER XI.
The Closing Years of the Revolution .- Indians .- Hard Times .- Lochry's and Craw- ford's Ill-fated Expeditions. I45
CHAPTER XII.
The Hannastown War .- Burning of the County Scat .- Destruction of Miller's Block- house
I71
CHAPTER XIII.
The Removal of the County Seat to Greensburg. 186
The Whisky Insurrection
CHAPTER XIV. ..... .. . . . 194
vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XV.
Old Customs .- Crops .- Industries .- Clothes .- Wild Animals, etc. ...... 208
CHAPTER XVI.
Indian Trails Across Westmoreland .- Braddock's Road .- Forbes' Road .- State Road .- Felgar Road .- Post Road .- The Main Turnpike from Pittsburgh to the East. .. 234
CHAPTER XVII.
The Westmoreland Soldiers in the War of 1812. Etc
CHAPTER XVIII.
Taverns .- Turnpikes .- Wagons .- Stage Coaches
253
CHAPTER XIX.
. ..... 265
Mexican War CHAPTER XX.
271
CHAPTER XXI.
.
279
Church History
CHAPTER XXIII.
Bench and Bar
CHAPTER XXIV.
History of the Medical Profession
CHAPTER XXV.
Westmoreland Press
CHAPTER XXVI.
405
The Civil War
426
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Court Houses .- County Home
CHAPTER XXIX.
Agriculture
442
Iron
445
Coal
CHAPTER XXXI.
458
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Coke Industry
466
Railroads
CHAPTER XXII.
285
. 320
376
. ..
395
Common Schools
CHAPTER XXVII.
437
CHAPTER XXX.
Canals
vii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Manufacturing Industries
. ..... 471
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Spanish-American War
473
County Officers CHAPTER XXXV.
478
Greensburg
CHAPTER XXXVI.
487
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Hempfield Township .- Jeannette, "the Glass City."-Mt. Pleasant Township. .. 502
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
North Huntingdon Township .- Irwin Borough ... 515
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Rostraver Township .- North Belle Vernon .- Mones-en .- Fairfield Township .- Bolivar Borough 519
CHAPTER XL.
Donegal Township .- Derry Township .- Livermore Borough .- Franklin Township .-- Murryville .- Washington Township. 534
CHAPTER XLI.
Unity Township .- Latrobe Borough .- New Alexandria 554
CHAPTER XLII.
Salem Township .- New Salem .- South Huntingdon Township .- West Newton .- East Huntingdon Township .- Scottdale 561
CHAPTER XLIII.
Allegheny Township .- Vandergrift .- Vandergrift Heights .- Ligonier Township .- Ligon- ier Borough 579
CHAPTER XLIV.
Sewickley Township .- Suterville .-- Loyalhanna Township .- Burrell Township .- Parnassus .- New Kensington .- Cook Township .- Bell Township .- Penn Town- ship .- Manor .- Penn Borough,-St. Clair Township .- New Florence. ...... 598
CHAPTER XLV.
Miscellaneous .- New Court House .- The Evans Execution .- The Year of the Frost .- Visit of Lafayette 615
CHAPTER XLVI.
Special Biographies .- Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair .- William Findley .- Alexander Johnston .- William F. Johnston .- Joseph Markle .- William Larimer, Jr .- Gen. James Keenan .- John W. Geary .- Richard C. Drum .- John Covode .- Dr. Alexander M. Milligan 624
ยท
CHAPTER I.
The French and English Struggle for Supremacy .- Braddock's Expedition .- Forbes Ex- pedition .- George Washington .- Pontiac's War .- The Battle of Bushy Run .- Henry Bouquet.
Both the French and the English were anxious to acquire and hold dominion over Western Pennsylvania. In view of this scheme the French had prior to 1752 erected and projected a line of fortifications reaching all the way from their strongholds in Canada to the mouth of the Mississippi river. They erected Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, near the present city of Erie; Fort Le Boeuf (now Waterford) in Crawford county ; Fort Venango, where Franklin, Pennsylvania, is built ; and one on French creek, in Ven- ango county. They were about to erect Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh.
These apparently aggressive movements aroused the lethargic spirit of the English in Virginia, who claimed the whole of this territory to Lake Erie under their Royal Charter. Shortly before this the Ohio Land Com- pany had been chartered by the governor at the request of the King. It had a grant of five hundred thousand acres on the headwaters of the Ohio river. The purpose of this company was to hold the territory for Virginia, and to secure for her people the Indian trade of that region. The Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, was a member of the com- pany, and therefore, of course, lent an attentive ear to any story of en- croachment on the part of the French. He promptly sent an agent with authority both from himself and the company, to inquire of the com- manders of these forts the reason for these hostile demonstrations. This agent was then an unknown surveyor about twenty-one years old, of whom the English afterward learned a great deal, for his name was George Wash- ington. His journey is fraught with particular interest to the student of Westmoreland history. Aside from being the beginning of his public life, he was on this trip one of the first white men to cross the unbroken wilder- ness now known as Westmoreland county. He came by the way of Will's Creek, now Cumberland, Maryland, where Christopher Gist, as the agent of the Ohio Company, had the previous year established a small settle-
1
2
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
ment. Thence he crossed the Allegheny Mountains, traveled down the Monongahela River, crossing Westmoreland county, and on November 23, 1752, his report shows he reached the mouth of Turtle Creek. The young . surveyor had the eye of a soldier, and he learned a great deal about the French forts and their requirements. At Venango he ascertained from the French commander that it was the unconcealed design of the French
GEN. WASHINGTON AT AGE OF 25.
to hold the territory by their line of forts against all comers, and that they claimed it by right of discovery on the part of La Salle, the French explorer, who nearly a century before had sailed down the Mississippi river and laid claim for his country to all land drained by the Father of Waters and its tributaries.
When the intrepid agent returned and made his report, the Ohio Com-
3
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
pany did not by any means abandon the field. They built a blockhouse at Redstone, now Brownsville, Fayette county, (1753) and early in the spring of 1754 proposed to erect a fort at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, for, be it remembered, that in his report Wash- ington had particularly recommended the importance of erecting a fort at this place. Trent, Ward and Gist and other frontiersmen arrived at Red- stone in February, and later arrivals swelled their number to about seventy- five. In order to descend the river to its junction they began to con- struct a redoubt, for they meant to at once build the fort advised by Wash- ington. Before they had made much headway the noted French officer, Contrecoeur, with an army of nearly a thousand French and Indians, thoroughly armed, arrived from Fort Venango. Gist, Ward and Trent and their little company were compelled to surrender. This was the first step, the beginning of the French and Indian War, which for nine years desolated our western border, and which in the end resulted so favorably to the English-this war which so shaped the destines of our colonies that in a few years they surpassed in dominion and power the empire of Louis, and compelled the representative of King George to surrender his sword to Washington at Yorktown.
The French immediately built a fort at the point recommended by Washington, and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor of Marquis Duquesne, the governor of Canada, then called New France. For its day, even, it was not a strong fortification, and we doubt whether it could have long withstood an attack of the English army. M. Dumas, its commander, said it was only fit to dishonor the officer who was intrusted with its de- fence. But the French greatly added to its real strength by forming an alliance with the Indians. This they accomplished in part by giving them presents. Bright colored blankets and beads, so common in France, were quite potent with the Indians, much more so than the plainer objects of utility with which the English were supplied. Then, it must be remem- bered, that the Indians affiliated much more readily with the French than with the English. One great reason for this was that the English were largely farmer colonists, who, of necessity, cut away the forests and spoiled the hunting grounds of the Indians, while the French in America then dealt largely in furs and skins, paying little attention to house building or agri- culture. A French and Indian alliance was therefore most suitable to both races, while an alliance between the English and the Indians would have been equally detrimental to the interests of both.
But the Virginia authorities and the Ohio Company, still anxious about the fort at the head of the Ohio, sent out two companies in 1754. These were under the command of Colonel Fry and George Washington. They were met at "Great Meadows," now in Fayette county, at dawn of day on May 28, by the French and Indian army. The little English army was so
4
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
successful that though Colonel Fry died . May 31, and left Washing- ton in command, they were not otherwise severely crippled. Learn- ing of great reinforcements at Fort Duquesne, Washington saw that it would be impossible for him to secure the desired ground. He therefore returned to his fort, called Fort Necessity, a most appropriate name, for here they were attacked by fifteen hundred French and Indians. All day long, in the dense shade of the forest, the battle raged. So ably defended was the fort that the two companies were in the end allowed to march homeward with their baggage and with the honors of war.
But these skirmishes helped to make more enmity between England and France, if, indeed, they were not already deadly enemies. Three expedi- tions were now organized in England for America; one, under General Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, against Fort Niagara and Fort Frontenac ; another, under General (afterward Sir William) Johnson, against Crown Point. The third, which more deeply concerns us, was under General Edward Brad- dock, and the objective point was the capture of Fort Duquesne.
There is perhaps no incident in American history which is fraught with so much interest to western Pennsylvania people, if not to all American readers, as Braddock's campaign. So much has been writ- ten about it that we would be par- doned for passing it were it not so closely connected with Westmore- land county's early history. Its bear- ing on humanity has given it a na- tional, if not, indeed, a world-wide GEN. EDWARD BRADDOCK. interest. In this campaign Wash- ington for the first time came in contact with the trained English soldiers. It was, furthermore, the first campaign of drilled troops and modern artil- lery in the New World.
Braddock had by bravery and ability won very high honors in the English army. He was sixty years old when he arrived in America, Jan- uary 14, 1755. He sailed from Cork, Ireland, with two regiments of Royal troops, each numbering about five hundred men. The Forty-fourth was under Colonel Dunbar, and the Forty-eighth was under Sir Peter Halket. They reached Virginia, disembarking at Alexandria on February 20th. Two months later, April 20, the army left Alexander for Fort Du-
5
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
quesne by way of Frederickstown, Winchester and Fort Cumberland. The entire campaign was badly planned. The army had no adequate base of supplies, and the country through which it was to march could neither sup- ply an army nor furnish transportation. The lack of transportation was largely supplied by Benjamin Franklin, then postmaster-general, who in- duced Pennsylvania farmers to turn out with their private teams and wagons and transport the supplies and baggage of the army. Franklin pledged his private fortune to repay them. This pledge he made good, and it was many years before he was finally reimbursed. Otherwise than this, Pennsylvania did very little for the expedition. She had but few soldiers in Braddock's army, for they were nearly all with General Shirley in the north.
Braddock appointed Washington an aide-de-camp. In addition to the English troops he had with him about twelve hundred provincial troops, mostly from New York and Maryland. Then he had about one hundred and fifty backwoodsmen and Indians from Pennsylvania. The backwoods- men were dressed like Indians, and fought after the Indian fashion. Brad- dock took but little stock in the rough-coated backwoodsmen. Before he reached western Pennsylvania they had nearly all left him, and he was undoubtedly glad of it. He reviewed the army at Cumberland, where they arrived May 10. He expressed great confidence and pride in the scarlet coats, bright buttons, polished muskets, and, most of all, in the Red Cross of St. George, and in the sound of the bugle which echoed through the forest. Braddock was unable to divest. himself of the habits of luxury ac- quired in a lifetime of warfare on the beaten battlefields of Europe. He journeyed part of the way in a chariot, his bodyguard of light-horse gal- loping on each side, and his staff accompanied him with the drums beat- ing the Grenadiers' March. He held a levee in his tent every morning from ten to eleven o'clock. He forbade theft and drunkenness, which he punished with great severity. He was, indeed, a martinet in discipline. He spurned the backwoods tactics of the Virginia Rangers, and, with a con- fidence born of conceit and bravery, said to Benjamin Franklin: "These savages may indeed be formidable to an enemy of raw American militia, but upon the King's regulars and disciplined soldiers, Sir, it is impossible they should make any impression." The great philosopher smiled and wished him well.
The reader must not forget that it was indeed a very difficult march. The distance from Alexandria was about two hundred and eighty miles, and much of this distance a road had to be cut through a dense forest and across the Allegheny mountains. The train with its wagons and supplies was about four miles long. The slowness of the march could not be understood in England. Horace Walpole, with his characteristic wit, wrote that Braddock was "creeping westward towards Fort Duquesne
6
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
with a slowness which indicated that he was not in a hurry to be scalped."
When the army reached Little Meadows, at the foot of the western slope of the Allegheny Mountains, Braddock held a council of war. In this he advised with Washington, whom he called "Young Buckskin," because of his dress, and not entirely, at all events, in derision. Young Buckskin's advice was followed, and the result was that the army was divided. The heavy wagons and main supplies were left behind, and the main army, a little more than half of the entire forces, with pack horses and a few wagons carrying only necessary supplies, with a few pieces of artillery and the ablest of the soldiers, the very flower of the English army, was to push rapidly on toward the fort. This had been advised by Wash- ington at Cumberland, but its importance was not then apparent to Brad- dock. Twelve hundred well trained soldiers under Braddock himself thus pushed on rapidly, while the remaining stores, ammunition, heavy wagons, etc., were left with Dunbar to follow by slower marches.
On June 30th Braddock's division crossed the Youghiogheny River, about one mile below the present town of Connellsville. After this the crooked road they cut across Westmoreland county can be accounted for only on the theory that they had entirely lost their bearings. It is true that Washington had been twice over the way, and, more than any other, guided the expedition. Indeed, his special knowledge of the topography of the country mainly induced Braddock to give him the appointment. But, be it remembered, that at Little Meadows Washington was taken sick with a fever, and much to his chagrin was compelled to remain in Dun- bar's camp. Washington only joined the army again on the day before the battle, and was therefore not with them when they were wildly wandering across Westmoreland. After the crossing at Connellsville the direct route was of course down the river and then down the Monongahela. But they left the river at Connellsville and came across the country to Jacob's Creek, in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, crossing Jacob's Creek about a mile from Mount Pleasant, the ford being later designated as Tinsman's Mills. The route then crossed the present Mount Pleasant and West Newton turnpike, below Mt. Pleasant, leaving that town on the right. From there the route turned off more to the west and crossed the Big Sewickley near Painter's salt works, between Painterville and Ruffs- dale stations, on the South-West Pennsylvania Railroad. From there they journeyed nearly north, leaving Greensburg, Irwin and Jacksonville on the north, and finally reaching Brush Creek, a branch of Turtle Creek. About this time, July 7th, the army seemed to doubt the correctness of its route. They therefore turned to the south, passed down the Long Run valley and reached Crooked Run about two miles from the Monongahela River. While they camped quietly at night their camp was watched by spies of
7
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
the enemy, as, indeed, their every movement had been more or less for several days. The following morning, July 9th, they went down the val- ley and forded the Monongahela River where Mckeesport now stands. The advance was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Gage. The army marched between the bordering hills and the river, down the river about four miles, where the river was again crossed. This crossing of the river seemed necessary to avoid high hills and defiles, yet visible on the right bank of the stream as one passes down from Mckeesport to Braddock, the object being to keep on high ground and thus avoid Indian attacks while hemmed in by high hills. They were not expecting the enemy until they reached the fort, yet the General maintained most rigid discipline. The splendidly equipped army, with bright colors shining in the morning sun, marching along the river bottom, the high wooded hills on their left and the tranquil river on their right, was, said Washington long years after- wards, one of the grandest sights he ever saw. About ten o'clock, accord- ing to Washington, the rear of the army crossed the second crossing. They were less than ten miles from the long looked for fort, and buoyant feelings filled every soldier's breast. The bank was high and had to be leveled so that the heavier wagons and artillery in the rear could ascend, this caus- ing an hour's delay. After the crossing the ground rose slowly to the hills beyond, and deep ravines extended from these hills to the river. They had crossed between two ravines, and these came together, or nearly so, at the top of the hills, and formed something like the letter V, with the apex pointed away from the river. These ravines, the hills beyond and be- tween, were covered with a thick growth of underbrush and large trees. The rear of the army had scarcely emerged from the river before the fight began. In the forest on both sides of the advancing army, and behind al- most every rock, large tree or clump of bushes, was concealed the enemy, watching every movement, and ready at the appointed time to make the attack. Thomas Gage with his division, was in front. Both this and another smaller division under Sir Peter Halket were between the ravines forming the letter V. Suddenly, "seemingly from out the earth," came a terrible roar of musketry and a fiendish Indian yell. No enemy could be seen, and yet volley after volley was poured in the face of the leading army. Almost instantly following came a similar leaden hail on their right front. Braddock hurried forward, halted the advancing division, and sent Colonel Burton forward with the vanguard to assist the front rank. About eight hundred men were now in front, and about four hundred were left behind to guard the baggage. The fire was returned by those in position, with but little or no effect, for no enemy could be seen. Yet there was a mom- ent's cessation of the firing on the part of the enemy after the first fire from the English. The English soldiers could see nothing to fire at, yet
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