USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Brookville > A pioneer history of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania and my first recollections of Brookville, Pennsylvania, 1840-1843, when my feet were bare and my cheeks were brown > Part 14
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
also to erect such slopes at the mill or other dams on said creek as may be necessary for the passage of rafts, boats, and other vessels. Provided, such slopes be so constructed as not to injure the works of such dams. And provided also, that any person or persons owning or possessing lands on said creek shall have liberty to construct any dam or dams across the same, agreeably and subject to all the restrictions and provisions of an act of the General Assembly of this Commonwealth, passed the twenty-third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and three, entitled ' An Act to authorize any person or persons owning lands adjoining navigable streams of water declared public highways to erect dams on such streams for mill and other water-works.' "
Tangawunsch-hanne, North Fork, meant in the Indian tongue Little Brier Stream, or stream whose banks are overgrown with green brier.
The following act of the Legislature declared it a public highway.
An act, No. 64, declaring the North Fork of Sandy Lick Creek, in the county of Jefferson, from the mouth thereof to Ridgway, in said county, a public highway :
"SECTION 1. Be it enacted, etc., That the North Fork of Sandy Lick Creek, in the county of Jefferson, from the mouth thereof to Ridgway, in said county, be, and the same is hereby declared a public highway ; and it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons desirous of improving or using the navigation of said stream to remove thereout all obstruc- tions, except dams for mills and other water-works already built, on which dam any such person or persons as aforesaid shall have full power to make slopes, such as are hereinafter described, and to keep the same in repair for the passage of boats, rafts, and other craft. Provided, that such slopes be so constructed as not to injure such dams.
" Approved-the thirteenth day of March, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.
" GEORGE WOLF, " Governor."
" Legamwi-mahonne means a sandy lick creek ; that is, Sandy Lick, which was the name of this stream as late as 1792, from its source to its mouth, according to Reading Howell's map of that year. It bore that name even later. By the act of Assembly, March 21, 1798, 'Sandy Lick or Red Bank Creek' was declared to be a public stream or highway 'from the mouth up to the second or great fork.' The writer has not been able to ascertain just when, why, or at whose suggestion its original name was changed to Red Bank, by which it has been known by the oldest inhab- itants now living in the region through which it flows. Perhaps the change may have been suggested by the red color of the soil of its banks many miles up from its mouth."-History of Armstrong County, Pennsyl- vania.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF RED BANK CREEK.
In 1749 the governor-general of Canada sent an expedition under Celeron de Bienville down what is now known as the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, to take possession of the country in the name of the king of France. The command embraced two hundred and fifteen French and Canadian soldiers and fifty-five Indians. Father Bonnecamp, a chaplain of this expedition, drew a map of the route, locating the tribes of Indians, and giving the Indian names of the tributaries of these rivers and also the name of the Indian villages. This manuscript map was de- posited and is still in the archives of the Department de la Marine in Paris, and is styled " Map of a Voyage made on the Beautiful River in New Flanders, 1749, by Rev. Father Bonnecamp, Jesuit Mathematician." The map is very correct, considering all the circumstances. It has been reproduced on a smaller scale by George Dallas Albert and pub- lished in " The Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," in vol. ii., with an ex- planation of the map, French names, and their corresponding American designations. In this map I find Rivière au Vermillon emptying into the Allegheny River, corresponding to the exact location of what is now called Red Bank Creek, and unfortunately translated by Mr. Albert as Mahoning Creek. On the Allegheny River going downward I find Rivière aux Bœuf, Beef, or Buffalo River, now called French Creek ; then Rivière au Fiel,-Gall River or Clarion River ; third, Rivière au Vermillon or Red Bank Creek; fourth, a stream not named, which must have been Mahoning ; and then Attique, a village, or what is now Kittanning. Mr. Albert should have named the undesignated stream Mahoning and the Vermilion River Red Bank.
In 1798 this stream was designated by legal statute as Sandy Lick or Red Bank Creek, but later by common acceptance the name Sandy Lick was applied to that portion above where the North Fork unites, and Red Bank from Brookville to the mouth.
" The first lot of lumber which Barnett and Scott sent down the Red Bank was a small platform of timber, with poles instead of oars as the pro- pelling power. There was a flood in this stream in 1806 which reached eight or ten feet up the trees on the flats.
" One thousand dollars was appropriated by the act of Assembly ' making appropriations for certain internal improvements,' approved March 24, 1817, for the purpose of improving this creek, and Levi Gib- son and Samuel C. Orr were appointed commissioners to superintend the application of the money. By the act of April 4, 1826, 'Sandy Lick, or Red Bank Creek,' was declared a public highway only for the passage of boats, rafts, etc., descending it. That act also made it lawful for all persons owning lands adjoining this stream to erect mill dams across it, and other water-works along it, to keep them in good repair, and draw
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
off enough water to operate them on their own land, but required them ' to make a slope from the top, descending fifteen feet for every foot the dam is high, and not less than forty feet in breadth,' so as to afford a good navigation, and not to infringe the rights and privileges of any owner of private property.
" The first flat-boat that descended this stream was piloted by Samuel Knapp, in full Indian costume. In 1832 or 1833 two boats loaded with sawed lumber owned by Uriah Matson, which found a good market in Cincinnati, with the proceeds of which Matson purchased the goods with which he opened his store at Brookville."-History of Armstrong County.
An act declaring the rivers Ohio and Allegheny, and certain branches thereof, public highways :
"SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passing of this act, the river Ohio, from the western boundary of the State up to the mouth of the Monongahela, Big Beaver Creek, from the mouth of the first fork in the seventh district of donation land, Allegheny River, from the mouth to the northern boundary of the State, French Creek to the town of Le Bœuf, and Conewango Creek, from the mouth thereof to the State line, Cussawago Creek, from the mouth of the main forks, Little Coniate Creek, from the mouth up to the inlet of the Little Coniate Lake, Toby's Creek, from the mouth up to the second fork (now Clarion River, and Johnsonburg was the second fork), Oil Creek, from the mouth up to the main fork, Broken Straw Creek, from the mouth up to the second fork, Sandy Lick, or Red Bank Creek, from the mouth up to the second great fork, be, and the same are hereby declared to be public streams and highways for the passage of boats and rafts ; and it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants or others desirous of using the navigation of the said river and branches thereof to remove all natural obstructions in the said river and branches aforesaid." Passed 21st March, 1798. Re- corded in Law Book No. VI. page 245.
The first fork was at Brookville's site, the second great fork was at Port Barnett.
An act, No. 189, declaring Little Toby's Creek, Black Lick Creek, Little Oil Creek, and Clark's Creek public highways :
"SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of this act Little Toby's Creek, in the counties of Clearfield and Jefferson, from the mouth of John Shaffer's mill run, on the main branch of Toby's Creek, and from the forks of Brandy Camp (or Kersey Creek) to the Clarion River,
× * be, and the same are hereby declared public highways for the passage of rafts, boats, and other craft, and it shall and may be lawful for, etc. (The same provisions follow here as in No. 129.)
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Approved-the fourteenth day of April, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.
" J. ANDW. SHULTZ, " Governor."
The Little Sandy Creek makes a long circuit through about what is now the centre of the county. Numerous runs approach it from the east and north. The principal streamlets are Big Run, Elk Run, and Pine Run. This region of the county is hilly and the ravines are deep, and at some points wide ranges of bottom flats. When the pioneer settled here the stream was the southwestern portion of the county. The table- lands along this stream range in height from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred feet above the sea.
"THAT FLOOD.
" The flood is here. During the past week all has been bustle and hurry. Our lumbermen have had an excellent time to start their lumber to market, and now the great body of the lumber manufactured on the Clarion and its tributaries during the past year is floating down-stream. The waters have been very accommodating for a few days past,-neither too high nor too low. Pilots are in their glory. Each one was the first to discover that stray ' snag' which had hid itself beneath the foaming waters in some critical spot, and although some of them happened to run pretty close to it, yet all knew it was there, and would have missed it, if they could ; and some of them did miss it by dint of ' cracking her up behind' with all their power.
" The rafting season on these waters is a season of life and activity, bustle and confusion, wet limbs and red wamuses. It gives to our town an important and business-like appearance. The landing of steamers and other craft in a great commercial mart may be some, but the landing of rafts in 'Dick's Pond' and ' the Eddy' is considerable more. The skill, nerve, and muscle here exhibited-to say nothing of an occasional big word that accidentally falls from some excited pilot or proprietor-can find its equal nowhere only on some lumbering stream during a rafting freshet. There is something fascinating about this rafting business, not- withstanding its incessant hard labor. As they proceed downward, float- ing majestically over the virgin bosom of the mighty waters, the scene changes with them, the fare changes, the atmosphere changes, the waters change. Here the hungry raftmen recruit their drooping energies with ' the best the country can afford,' and such as are so disposed (and we are happy to say there are but few of this class) can wet their whistles with pure, unadulterated ' rot gut,' with which ' our bar' is always boun- tifully supplied. On their course they soon find beef and potatoes and hot cakes more scarce, but are cheered up by a change from this fare to ' a great many molasses,' lots of flitch, and mouldy bread that has been
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
kept over from the last rafting for their especial benefit, with common corn whiskey. But anything for a change. No matter if you do flop out of the frying-pan into the fire. Peradventure, our hardy fellow citizens, with rough exterior, but large, generous souls glowing within them, arrive at towns below, where they are greeted with 'Olean hoosiers' from every long nine, with a smutty-faced urchin attached to it, they meet. But no matter. They have 'better clothes' at home and more
-
Banking logs.
rhino in their pockets than any score of these foppish nobodies. They command respect wherever they land, whether it be in a skiff at some little settlement to get a small stock of provisions, or in the populous cities where they find a market. Their frank, open countenances, their independent swagger, and their muscular appearance is enough to secure them from molestation. They see all the curiosities of the city, visit the theatre, take a peep into the 'punch-room,' just to see what is there. They get a view of all the fashionable resorts of the city. But we are not going to speak of all the places they frequent ! They do not care for expenses. They go down the river for fun, not for profit, and as they
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
did not have much going down,-tugging away at an oar, in rain-, hail-, and snow-storms,-they are bent on making up for lost time. Finally, after they have become sick and tired of smoke and confusion, they turn their steps homeward, and in due time they arrive at their mountain home, and are ready to go to work-when they get rested."-Elk Advocate.
In 1844 the waters of what is now called the Clarion were as clear as crystal, pure as life, and gurgled into the river from mountain springs. No tannery or other refuse was to be found in it. In 1749 the French named the stream Gall River. It was declared a public highway, as
Driving logs.
Toby's Creek, by an act of the Legislature, March 21, 1798, up to the second great fork.
In early times this river was known as Stump Creek, and sometimes as Toby's Creek, and it is said that it got these two names after two Indian hunters, who were in the habit (in the winter) of going up this river in canoes to hunt and trap. They would return each spring with their furs and meat to their villages down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.
It was called Toby's Creek as early as 1758. Unable myself to find any authority for a change to Clarion, I wrote to the Secretary of Internal Affairs, and received the following reply,-viz. :
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" June 8, 1897. " HON. W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
" DEAR SIR,-In answer to your letter of recent date, we beg to say that we are unable to find any act of Assembly changing the name of Toby's Creek to Clarion River. In an act to authorize the erection of a dam, passed in 1822, this stream is designated as 'Toby's Creek, other- wise called Clarion River.'
" Very truly yours, " JAMES W. LATTA, " Secretary."
CHAPTER IX.
THE OLD STATE ROAD-EARLY ROADS AND TRAILS-WHY THE STATE ROAD WAS MADE-THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE ROAD-LAWS, ETC., TOUCHING THE SUBJECT-THE SURVEY-THE ROAD COMPLETED-THE ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE WHICH SANCTIONED THE BUILDING OF THE ROAD.
IN 1791 and 1793 a State road through this wilderness to what is now called Waterford was incepted, agitated, and legalized ; but, owing to the Indian troubles of 1791, '92, '93, and '94, all efforts had to be stopped and all legal proceedings annulled and repealed. The Indian troubles were settled in 1794 by war and purchases, and then legal steps were again taken to open up this great northwest in 1795 and 1796. The reader will please bear in mind that Le Bœuf is now Waterford, Penn- sylvania, Presque Isle is now Erie City, Pennsylvania, and Bald Eagle's Nest is now Milesburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania.
EARLY ROADS AND TRAILS.
In 1784-85 the old State Road from the east was opened through to Fort Pitt in the west over what had been previously a path, or what was called Forbes's Trail. This trail passed through Bedford, Westmore- land, and other counties. In those days the State surveyed and laid out county seats and sold the lots. The lots were generally sold at auction. All government stores, as well as groceries and goods of every description, were for a long time carried from the east to the west on pack-horses over trails. One man would sometimes drive a hundred horses.
Guards from the militia were a necessity for their trains. Guards were also a necessity for the road surveyors and road-makers. A body of about fifty militia was the usual number, and sometimes these soldiers would do some work as well as guard the road-makers. Transportation was also carried over Meade's trail, which passed through West Reynolds-
IO
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ville, in the same way. In 1787 the only road from Fort Pitt to Le Bœuf (now Waterford) was a trail or path through what is now Butler County and up the Allegheny River. The turnpike over or across the old Forbes's trail was finished to Pittsburg in 1819.
In 1794 the great problem was a thoroughfare from the east to the northwest. The defence of the western portion of the State from In- dians required the State and the national authorities to be constantly on the alert. On the 28th of February, 1794, the Legislature passed an act for "raising soldiers for the defence of the western frontiers." Also at this time a combined effort of the nation and State was made to lay out a town at Presque Isle (now Erie) on Lake Erie.
WHY THE STATE ROAD WAS MADE.
In order to protect these frontiers from the British and Indians a road through this wilderness seemed an absolute necessity, hence an act was passed through the Legislature previous to or in 1794, authorizing the surveying and making of a State road from Reading to Presque Isle (Erie City). Colonel William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott were the com- missioners. These men were also commissioners to lay out the town of Erie (Presque Isle). The official instructions to the commissioners and Captain Denny were as follows :
" PHILADELPHIA, March 1, 1794.
" GENTLEMEN,-In providing for the general defence of the frontiers, the Legislature has authorized me to form a detachment of troops, for carrying into effect the act directing a town to be laid out at or near Presque Isle ; and as the subject of the commission to survey and lay out a road from Reading to Presque Isle may be promoted by the same measure, I have instructed Captain Denny, the commanding officer of the detachment, to grant to you as commissioners all the aid and pro- tection that is compatible with a due attention to the particular charge which is confided to him. Under these circumstances, I trust you will find it convenient to proceed immediately in the execution of your work.
" I am, gentlemen, " Your most obedient servant, " THOMAS MIFFLIN.
" To WILLIAM IRVINE and ANDREW ELLICOTT, Commissioners for lay- ing out a road from Reading to Presque Isle."
" PHILADELPHIA, March 1, 1794.
" The Legislature having made provision for surveying and opening two roads,-one from Reading and the other from French Creek to Presque Isle,-it is obvious that the establishment of the town is inti- mately connected with those objects ; and, therefore, you shall deem it your duty to grant all the aid and protection to the respective commis-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
sioners and contractors employed in surveying and opening those roads that is compatible with due attention to the particular charge confided in you.
" Your most obedient servant,
" THOMAS MIFFLIN.
" To EBENEZER DENNY, EsQ., Captain of the Allegheny Company, &c."
FIRST ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE ROAD.
Captain Ebenezer Denny, with a detachment of soldiers, was ordered by the government to accompany these men. On the arrival of Denny and the soldiers at what is now Franklin, Venango County, he discovered that the Indians were cross and ugly, and General Wilkins, in talking to Mr. Dallas, said, " The English are fixed in their opposition to the open- ing of the road to Presque Isle, and are determined to prevent it by the English and Indians." Orders were then given to Captain Denny to go no farther than Le Bœuf (now Waterford), and occupy two small block- houses, which had been erected for Commissioners Irvine and Ellicott.
This was the first attempt to open up a road through the wilderness of what is now Jefferson County. Governor Mifflin applied to the Presi- dent for a thousand militia soldiers to enforce this work; but the Presi- dent counselled peace. Work was suspended at Presque Isle, and it was not until in April, 1795, that all difficulties were removed and Colonel William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott resumed work. At this time Irvine commanded the troops and Ellicott had charge of the surveyors.
LAWS, ETC., TOUCHING THE SUBJECT.
The following letter to the author from Hon. Isaac B. Brown, Secre- tary Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, of Harrisburg, gives some valuable information concerning the road.
" HARRISBURG, April 29, 1895. " MR. W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa.
" DEAR SIR,-In answer to your letter of the 13th instant, we beg to say that you will find ' An Act to provide for opening a road from near the Bald Eagle's Nest, in Mifflin County, to Le Bœuf, in the county of Allegheny,' passed April 10, 1790, published in full in Bioren's ' Laws of Pennsylvania,' vol. vi. p. 24. The reference in the preamble of this act to a road ' in part laid out from Reading to Presque Isle,' is probably to an act passed April 11, 1793, appropriating certain sums of money for laying out a large number of roads within the State. The following appropriation is made in the first section : 'For viewing and laying out a road from Reading to Presque Isle, one thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars.' This act appears in Bioren's ' Laws,' vol. iv. p. 277 et seq. It is possible, however, that the reference was intended to
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
apply to a road from the Bald Eagle's Nest to the Allegheny River, which was surveyed and laid out under an act passed April 4, 1796, entitled 'An Act for laying out and opening sundry roads within this Common- wealth, and for other purposes.' This act will be found in full in Bioren's · Laws,' vol. v. p. 187. By this act the governor was authorized and empowered to appoint ' three skilful persons to view the ground, and estimate the expense of opening and making a good wagon road from the Bald Eagle's Nest, or the end of the Nittany Mountain, to the town of Erie at Presque Isle.'
" Under this last act the governor, on the 13th day of April, 1796, appointed William Irvine, Andrew Ellicott, and George Wilson commis- sioners to make the survey. Andrew Ellicott declined the appointment, and Joseph Ellicott was appointed in his place. These men met to ex- amine the situation of the country at the Bald Eagle's Nest and at the end of Nittany Mountain, and determined to start at the Bald Eagle's Nest, now Milesburg, Centre County. It appears, however, that William Irvine returned home, and George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott proceeded to make the survey. Their draft and report are among the records of this department, and show their work from the Bald Eagle's Nest to the Allegheny River, a distance of one hundred and sixteen miles by their measurement. After reaching the Allegheny River, they say that 'in consequence of the failure of horses, the scarcity of provisions, the ad- vanced season of the year, and various other obstacles which retarded the prosecution of the business, they were compelled to relinquish the object of their mission, and have left above thirty-six miles of the road unfin- ished.'
" Very truly yours, " ISAAC B. BROWN, " Secretary."
TIIE SURVEY.
The point on the Allegheny River where these surveyors stopped in the fall of 1796 was on the land where Eli Holeman settled in 1800. It is three miles below Tionesta borough, Forest County, Pennsylvania. For the sixteen years of travel and traffic of emigrants and others over this old State Road each and all had to force or cross this ferry. The old State Road never passed through where Clarion now is, or through Franklin or Meadville. It passed through the wilderness away north of these towns, but connected with other State roads running through them. All of the county histories which have been written prior to this one confound this road with the turnpike, which was not built or opened for traffic until November, 1820. At Brookville the turnpike survey in 1818 took a separate and distinct southerly course from the old State Road, and passed through Franklin, Meadville, and so forth.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
THE ROAD COMPLETED.
The road was officially taken from the contractors and a quietus en- tered as to the contract April 2, 1804. The course of the road through what is now Winslow township was through Rathmel, down Sandy Lick to the south side, crossing the creek between Sandy Valley and near where West Reynoldsville now is, where it deflected to the right over the hill, through the farm now occupied by Robert Waite. This State road was the great public thoroughfare for emigrants from the east to the northwest for a period of sixteen years, until the turnpike was finished in 1820. A portion of about seven miles is still in use from Brookville to the Clarion County line, parallel, but north of that part of the turnpike which extends from Brookville to Corsica.
SANCTIONED BY THE LEGISLATURE.
The following is the act which authorized the building of the State Road, of which this article is a history :
"AN ACT FOR LAYING OUT AND OPENING SUNDRY ROADS WITHIN THIS COMMONWEALTH, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
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