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 37
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5
Joseph Sharp Rose.
6
. John Welsh Rose.
7
Andrew Bowers
Young.
S
William Summerville .
. Rose.
9
. John Christy.
IO.
Archibald Hadden.
II .
. Christ. Heterick.
12.
John H. Wise Rose.
13
John Millen .
Perry.
14 .
Henry Walborn Ridgeway.
15 .
Darius Carrier Rose.
16.
John McGiffen
Rose.
17 .
. Jacob Shillery
Young.
18.
. Clark Eggleston
Ridgeway.
19 .
. Joseph Bell
. Perry.
20 .
John Hughes
Rose.
21
Jacob Hoover . Young.
22 .
Robert K. Scott Rose.
23 .
William Love, Sr.
Rose.
24 .
Thompson Barr
Rose.
CONSTABLES' RETURNS FOR FEBRUARY SESSIONS, 1831.
The following constables appeared and made their returns at Febru- ary sessions, 1831,-to wit : Samuel Jones, Pine Creek township ; Alfred Cory, Young township ; William Hopkins, Perry township ; Hulet Smith, Rose township ; James Brockway, Ridgeway township.
List of retailers of foreign merchandise in the township of Rose, re- turned at February sessions, 1831,-to wit : William Douglass, Jared B. Evans, William Rodgers, Joseph Chambers, John Robinson, John Mc- . Anulty, Sr., Andrew Vasbinder, John Eason, William Clark.
"A list of retailers of foreign merchandise in the county of Jefferson, classified according to the act of Assembly in that case provided,-viz. : John W. Jenks, 8th class, Young township : William Douglass, 8th class, Rose township; Jared B. Evans, Sth class, Rose township; John Smith & Co., 8th class, Rose township; William Rodgers, Sth class, Rose township; Joseph Chambers, 8th class, Rose township ; John Robinson, 8th class, Rose township.
" We, the undersigned Judges and Commissioners of Jefferson County,
367
Andrew Barnett
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
do certify the foregoing to be a correct list as returned by the several Constables, given under our hands the 9th day of February, 1831.
" JOHN W. JENKS, ELIJAH HEATH, Judges. THOS. LUCAS, ROBERT ANDREWS, Commissioners of County."
PIONEER ADMISSIONS TO THE BAR FROM 1830 TO 1843
The names of the members of the Jefferson County bar as they have been recorded on the annals of the court in the order in which they were
---
-------
F
Pracatou Petra
Court-house and jail, 1896.
admitted. Some of these attorneys were not residents of this county, but were admitted to this bar, and practised regularly in our courts.
36S
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ADMITTED AT DECEMBER TERM, 1830.
" Thomas Blair, of Kittanning ; Thomas White, of Indiana ; George W. Smith, of Butler, for ten or fifteen years was afterwards president judge of this district ; Joseph W. Smith, of Clearfield ; John Johnston, of Clearfield ; William Banks, of Indiana, practised in this court for many years ; Hugh Brady ; Robert E. Brown, of Kittanning."
FEBRUARY TERM, 1831.
" Joseph Martin ; William Watson, of Kittanning, Pennsylvania ; Joseph Buffington, of Bellefonte, practised at this bar for many years ; was appointed president judge of this district, and afterwards served as member of Congress from this district."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1831.
" Cephas J. Dunham, of Brookville ; Ephraim Carpenter, of Indiana, came here for many years ; Lewis W. Smith, of Clearfield, came here oc- casionally ; Benjamin Bartholomew, resided in Brookville a number of years, and represented the district in the Legislature in 1846. He removed from Brookville to Warren, and then to Schuylkill County, where he was afterwards district attorney. Hon. Linn Bartholomew, his son, was born in Brookville."
DECEMBER TERM, 1833.
" Michael Gallagher, of Kittanning ; James McManus, of Bellefonte."
FEBRUARY TERM, IS34.
" William F. Johnston, of Kittanning, practised regularly at this bar for many years ; was afterwards governor of Pennsylvania."
MAY TERM, IS34.
" C. A. Alexander ; James Burnside, of Bellefonte."
FEBRUARY TERM, 1835.
" Michael Dan McGeehan, of Ebensburg ; General William R. Smith, from the eastern part of the State, was only here once : removed to Du- buque, Iowa."
MAY TERM, 1835.
" Hiram Bayne, of McKean County, practised at this bar regularly for a number of years. He was engaged in the sale of lands, and was a member of the State constitutional convention of 1837."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1835.
" Lewis B. Dunham, of Brookville, was the pioneer man admitted on examination to the Jefferson County bar, and the pioneer law student in
369
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the county. He practised here for a number of years, and then removed to the West,-Maquoketa, Iowa. Mr. Dunham did not practise his pro- fession after he left Brookville. He represented Iowa in the State senate. Stewart Steele, of Blairsville."
DECEMBER TERM, 1835.
" Alexander McCalmont, of Franklin, practised for many years at this bar, and was president judge of the district. James Ross Snowden, of Franklin, a prominent attorney and politician, came here occasionally. Elijah Heath, of Brookville ; David Barclay Jenks, of Brookville."
SEPTEMBER TERM.
" Richard Arthurs, of Brookville."
SPRING TERM, 1838. " Jesse G. Clark."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1839.
" John W. Howe, of Franklin, came here regularly for many years. He was a prominent attorney, and was elected member of Congress from his district. Thomas Struthers, of Warren, also came here regularly for many years."
DECEMBER TERM, IS39.
" William M. Stewart, of Indiana."
DECEMBER TERM, 1840.
" Thomas Lucas, of Brookville."
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1842.
" J. W. McCabe, of Kittanning, came here a few times."
FEBRUARY TERM, 1843.
" Carlton B. Curtis, of Warren, came here frequently ; elected to the Legislature and Congress twice from the districts of which Jefferson County formed a part. Andrew Mosgrove, of Kittanning, came here occasionally."
MAY TERM, 1843.
" David S. Deering, of Brookville, read law, was admitted, and prac- tised at this bar for several years. He now resides in Iowa."
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
PIONEER LEGAL CARD AND NOTICE IN "THE JEFFERSONIAN."
CEPHAS J. DUNHAM,
Attorney at Law.
OFFICE : PICKERING STREET, BROOKVILLE, PA.
April, IS34.
" TO THE PUBLIC.
" This is to inform the public that I employed C. A. Alexander, Esq., attorney-at-law, to conduct a suit for me, for which he agreed to take two dollars, and took my note for the same, to be paid when I collected the money, in two or three weeks, the time not exactly remembered ; he kept the note and sued me on an account of three dollars for the same ser- vices, but only got judgment for two. If he has such an ambition for money the other lawyers will get my business.
" ANDREW VASTBINDER.
" BROOKVILLE, August 1, IS34."
PIONEER LAWS AND PIONEER HIGHWAYS.
Stewart H. Whitehill, Esq., of Brookville, Pennsylvania, has kindly prepared for me this summary of the pioneer laws specially enacted for Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, and for Brookville, Pennsylvania ; also a summary of the pioneer laws pertaining to the townships and public highways of said county, as follows :
COUNTY.
March 26, 1804 .- Jefferson County erected and boundaries named ; but by the same act annexed to Westmoreland County for judicial pur- poses.
February 3, 1806 .- Authority of commissioners of Westmoreland County and other county officers of said county extended over and within the county district of Jefferson.
February 24, 1806 .- Jefferson County placed in the Western District for the Supreme Court, and the State divided into ten judicial districts, the counties of Somerset, Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong, and Westmore- land comprising the tenth.
March 10, 1806 .- Jefferson County annexed to the county of In- diana, and the authority of the county commissioners and other county officers of said Indiana County to extend over and within the county of
371
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Jefferson. It remained thus annexed to Indiana County for all purposes until 1824, and for judicial purposes until 1830.
March 31, 1806 .- Jefferson County made into a separate election district, elections therein to be held at the house of " Joseph Barnett, on Sandy Lick, in said county."
March 21, 1808 .- Jefferson County placed in a Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Armstrong, Indiana, and Jefferson, the return judges thereof to " meet at the house occupied by Widow Elder, in Black- lick township, Indiana County."
By the same act Jefferson County placed in a State Representative District, composed of the counties of Armstrong, Jefferson, and Indiana, the return judges of which were to meet at the house of Absalom Wood- ward in Armstrong County.
March 20, 1812 .- Jefferson County placed in the Eleventh Congres- sional District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Armstrong, Jefferson, and Indiana.
March 14, 1814 .- Authority granted for the subdivision of Jefferson County into six districts, for the election of justices of the peace.
March 8, 1815 .- Jefferson County placed in the Sixteenth Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Indiana, and Jef- ferson, the return judges thereof to meet at the house of John Kelly, in the town of Newport, in Blacklick township, Indiana County.
By the same act Jefferson County was placed in a State Representa- tive District, along with Armstrong and Indiana Counties, the three counties being entitled to two members, and the return judges were to meet at the house of Absalom Woodward, in Indiana County.
1825 .- The Milesburg and Smethport Turnpike Road Company, authorized " for the purpose of making a turnpike road from Milesburg in Centre County, past Karthaus in Clearfield County, and Smethport in McKean County, to the New York line," and Jonathan Colgrove, Paul E. Scull, John King, and Joseph Otto, of Mckean County; Peter A. Karthaus, of Clearfield County ; James L. Gillis, of Jefferson County ; John Mitchell and Roland Curtin, of Centre County ; George Vaux and Simon Gratz, of the city of Philadelphia, appointed commissioners to solicit subscriptions for said road, which passed through Ridgeway, then in the county of Jefferson. Notice of the time and place when and where books to be opened to receive subscriptions of stock to be published in the Bellefonte Patriot and the Lycoming Gasette, and one paper pub- lished in the city of Philadelphia. Upon subscription of twenty or more persons, representing six hundred or more shares of twenty dollars each, the governor to incorporate the company, which was to have power to erect and maintain toll-gates upon and across said turnpike, as will be seen by the following section of the act :
"SECTION 13 .- And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
That whenever and as often as the said company shall have finished five miles or more of said road the president thereof may give notice to the governor, who shall thereupon forthwith appoint three skilful, judicious, and disinterested persons to view and examine the same and report on oath or affirmation to him whether the road is so far executed in a com- petent and workmanlike manner, according to the true meaning and intent of this act ; and if their report shall be in the affirmative, then the governor shall, by license under his hand and seal of the State, permit and suffer said company to erect and fix such and so many gates or turn- pikes upon and across the said road as will be necessary and sufficient to collect from all persons travelling the same, otherwise than on foot, the same tolls which are hereinafter authorized and granted : Provided, That all persons attending funerals, military parades, or trainings or divine worship on the Sabbath-day shall at all times be exempt from the payment of any toll on said road."
1828 .- " A SUPPLEMENT TO THE ACT ENTITLED 'AN ACT AUTHOR- IZING THE GOVERNOR TO INCORPORATE THE MILESBURG AND SMETH- PORT TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY.'
" SECTION I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the governor be and is hereby authorized and required to subscribe twenty thousand dollars, in shares of twenty dollars each, to the stock of the Milesburg and Smeth- port Turnpike Road Company ; and as soon as any five miles of the road shall be completed, it shall be the duty of the governor to draw his warrant on the State treasurer for a sum in proportion to the whole dis- tance, and a like sum for every five miles, until the whole sum shall be drawn : Provided, That previous to any payment from the treasury satis- factory evidence shall be furnished to the governor that sums equal at least in amount to the sums drawn from the treasury shall have been paid by individual stockholders and expended agreeably to the provisions of the twelfth section of the act incorporating the said turnpike road com- pany, passed the eleventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five : And Provided further, That there shall not be more than five thousand dollars of the aforesaid sum of twenty thousand dollars drawn from the said treasury in any one year.
" Approved-the second day of February, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.
"J. ANDW. SHULZE."
373
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
1831 .- " A FURTHER SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAID ACT INCORPORATING SAID
TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY, BEING THE SECOND SECTION OF THE ACT OF THE 4TH DAY OF APRIL, A. D. 1831, AS FOLLOWS :
"SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the proceedings which are authorized by the thirteenth section of the act entitled 'A Further Supplement to the Act entitled An Act authorizing the Governor to incorporate the Milesburg and Smethport Turnpike Road Company,' passed eleventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, and a supplement to the said act, passed the second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and twenty- eight, in cases when the said company shall have finished five miles or more of said road, be and the same are hereby authorized and extended to portions less than five miles of said road, which are and shall hereafter be finished as aforesaid."
1836 .- A further supplement authorizing the State to subscribe five thousand dollars additional stock in said turnpike.
March 24, 1817 .- The county having been divided into two election districts,-Pine Creek and Perry,-the latter declared a separate election district by act of Assembly,-elections therein to be held at the house of John Bell, of said township.
April 22, 1822 .- Jefferson County placed in the Seventeenth Con- gressional District, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Indiana, and Jefferson.
December 23, 1822 .- Sales of unseated lands in Jefferson County for taxes authorized.
January 21, 1824 .- Election of county commissioners and county auditors first authorized ; and when elected, to " hold their office and transact the public business at such places as shall be determined upon by a majority of the commissioners first elected until the seat of justice is ascertained."
1826 .- County commissioners of the provisional county of Jefferson to draw their warrants on the county treasurer for expenses of laying out roads, criminal prosecutions, and all other costs and expenses incidental to said county ; and the authority of the county commissioners of Indiana County over Jefferson County to cease.
1826 .- One-half of all road taxes received by the treasurers of Jeffer- son and Mckean Counties from unseated lands to be applied for seven years to the improvement of the " leading roads" in said counties ; and C. C. Gaskill and James Gillis, of Jefferson County, and Jonathan Col- grove and Paul E. Scull, of Mckean County, appointed commissioners to expend said fund in the "making, clearing, and opening" of said " leading roads."
1828 .- The above act repealed as to Jefferson County.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
April 10, 1826 .- Young township having been erected, now made a separate election district,-elections therein to be held at the house of Elijah Heath, in Punxsutawney.
April 16, 1827 .- Ridgeway township, of Jefferson County, having been formed, the same is now made into a separate election district,- elections to be held at the house of James Gallagher in said township.
April 14, 1828 .- Rose township having been erected, the same is now declared a separate election district,-elections therein to be held at the house of John Lucas, in said township.
March 3, 1829 .- An act to encourage the destruction of foxes and wild-cats, awarding a bounty of thirty seven and a half cents on the scalp of every fox produced, and one dollar on the scalp of every wild-cat.
April 8, 1829 .- John Mitchell, of Centre County ; Alexander Mc- Calmont, of Venango County ; and Robert Orr, of Armstrong County, appointed to meet at the house of Andrew Barnett, of Jefferson County, and from thence to view, select, and " determine the most eligible and proper situation for the seat of justice for the said county of Jefferson."
April 2, 1830 .- " AN ACT TO ORGANIZE THE PROVISIONAL COUNTY OF JEFFERSON FOR JUDICIAL PURPOSES.
" SECTION I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the first day of October next the inhabitants of the county of Jefferson shall enjoy all and singular the jurisdictions, powers, rights, liberties, and privileges whatsoever within the same which the inhabitants of other counties of this State do, may, or ought to enjoy by the laws and consti- tution of this Commonwealth.
"SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the county of Jefferson shall be attached to and form a part of the Fourth Judicial District, until otherwise ordered by law, and that the judges of the Supreme Court, and the president of the Fourth Judicial District, and the associate judges to be appointed in the said county of Jefferson, shall have like powers, jurisdictions, and authorities within the same, as are or may be warranted to and exercised by the judges in the other counties of this Commonwealth, and the said county of Jefferson is hereby annexed to the Western District of the Supreme Court of this Common- wealth.
" SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the citizens and inhabitants of the said county of Jefferson, who are or shall be qualified to vote agreeably to the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth, shall at the first general election, to be held on the second Tuesday in October next at their respective election districts, choose two fit persons for sheriffs, two for coroners, and all other officers
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
necessary to be elected for the said county of Jefferson in the same manner and under the same rules, regulations, and penalties as by the laws of this Commonwealth similar officers are chosen in other counties, and said officers when chosen as aforesaid and duly qualified to enter on the duties of their respective offices shall have and enjoy all and singular the powers, authorities, privileges, and emoluments in or any way arising out of their respective offices, in and for the county aforesaid, as fully as such officers are entitled to in any other county within this Common- wealth ; and it shall and is hereby declared lawful for all the public officers of the said county of Jefferson, from and after the first day of October next, to do, perform, and exercise all the duties of their respec- tive offices in as full and ample manner as if the several courts should be opened on that day by the president and judges of the same, and any process that may issue returnable to the first term in said county shall bear test as of the first day of October next.
"SECTION 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Courts of Common Pleas and General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, and Orphans' Court for the county of Jefferson shall, from and after the first day of October next, commence and be holden on the first Monday after the courts in Clearfield County.
" SECTION 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all suits which shall be pending and undetermined in the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Indiana County on the first day of October next, when the defendant or defendants in such suit or suits shall at that time be resident in Jefferson County, shall be transferred to the Court of Common Pleas of Jefferson County, and shall be considered as pending in said court, and shall be proceeded on in like manner as if the same had been originally commenced in said court, except that the fees thereon, due to the officers in Indiana County, shall be paid to them when recovered by the prothonotary or sheriff of Jefferson County, and the prothonotary of Indiana County shall procure a docket and copy therein all the docket entries respecting the said suits to be transferred as aforesaid, and shall on or before the fourth Monday in November next have the said docket, together with the records, declarations, and other papers respecting said suits, ready to be delivered to the prothonotary of Jefferson County, the expense of said docket and copying to be paid by the prothonotary of Jefferson County, and reimbursed by the said county of Jefferson on warrants to be drawn by the commissioners of Jefferson County on the treasury thereof.
" SECTION 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the commissioners of Jefferson County, and they are hereby required, as soon as they may deem it expedient, to erect or cause to be erected on such part of the public square in the town of Brookville as they may deem best suited thereto a court-house, and
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
offices for the safe-keeping of the papers and records of the said county, and until such court-house is erected the courts of justice shall be opened and held in such house in said county as the judges and commissioners may obtain for that purpose.
" SECTION 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the sheriff, coroner, and other public officers of Indiana County shall continue to exercise the duties of their respective offices within the county of Jefferson until similar officers are appointed and elected agree- ably to law within and for the said county of Jefferson.
" SECTION 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the sheriffs and coroners of the said county of Jefferson before they enter on the duties of their offices shall give security in like sums as similar officers do in the county of Indiana and in the same manner, and under the restrictions as similar officers are compelled to do in the several counties of this Commonwealth.
" SECTION 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the seat of justice for the county of Jefferson shall be, and the same is established and confirmed at the mouth of the North Fork of Sandy Lick Creek, in the county of Jefferson, and it shall be the duty of the com- missioners of said county to demand and receive from John Pickering, Esq., a sufficient deed or deeds in fee-simple, in trust to them and their successors in office for the use of said county, for all the lands or lots which the said John Pickering, Esq., has agreed to give for the purpose of aiding in the erection of public buildings, agreeably to the act of the General Assembly of the eighth day of April, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, entitled ' An Act authorizing the Appointment of Commissioners to fix a proper Site for the Seat of Justice in Jefferson County, and also for one Public Square in the said Town of Brookville for the purpose of erecting Public Buildings thereon,' and the said com- missioners shall procure the said deed or deeds when recorded in the office for the recording of deeds in the county of Indiana, to be recorded in the proper books directed to be kept for the county of Jefferson, and the said commissioners and their successors in office, or a majority of them, shall and are hereby authorized to sell and dispose of the said lands or lots aforesaid, and to make and execute deeds to the purchasers, and the moneys arising from such sales shall be by them applied to the erec- tion of public buildings for the use of the said county of Jefferson.
"SECTION 10. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners shall, as soon as may be, proceed to lay out the said town of Brookville, and file a draught and return of the survey of the said town, together with the proceedings under and by virtue of this act, in the office for the recording of deeds in and for the county of Jefferson, and an exemplification of the same shall be evidence in all matters of controversy touching the same.
25
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"Approved-the second day of April. A. D. one thousand eight hun- dred and thirty.
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