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 48
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
" James and Andrew Smith, father and son, Thomas Ledlie, and Alexander Cochran might be mentioned as men whose deep thought gave an intellectual tone to discussions. Robert McIntosh, Sr., was the first superintendent. He was not a man of extended information, but his devoted spirit and warm cordial impulse gave a great interest to his devo- tional exercises, and made him universally respected. Well do I remem- ber the last time I saw him in the Sabbath school. He closed by singing the sixth psalm, long meter, in the old version,-' Lord, in thy wrath, rebuke me not.' That was the fall of 1833, and he died in the fall of 1834.
" Betty Keys was also the life of the school, as long as her health enabled her to attend. She was said to be very self-willed and opiniona- tive, and on one occasion the young women, returning from · Sabbath-
483
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
school, were walking ahead, and the men in a company behind, all except Oliver McClelland, who was walking with the girls. She invited him to fall back in the company of men, and so maintain the decorum due the day. That she loved to rule might be true, but certain it is that if she ruled it was by the gentle power of love. We children, no matter what class we belonged to, were accustomed to look up to her as to one su- perior to the rest, and as one who could scarcely do anything wrong. We carried our dinners with us, as there was Sabbath-school in the morn- ing and prayer-meeting in the afternoon.
" When we came to the Beechwoods the soil was rich and the vegeta- tion luxurious, but the subsoil was poor. Thousands of years ago great currents of water must have swept westward, carrying the soil into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, leaving the heavy deposits of iron and rock. When the climate became drier and the streams shrank to their present size, a growth of forest followed. The decaying leaves of two or three thou- sand years formed this rich mould. Scarcely was the snow of winter gone when the wild leeks peeped up like corn. At first they had not much of their rampant taste, and cattle nipped them off greedily. Before they got strong, the curley weed showed itself, vellera and broad leaf followed. All these had thick juicy roots, which lived over winter. By the middle of June the wild peavine gave pasturage. Besides these, which the cattle ate, there were many flowers that they did not eat, the mandrake, the sweet-william, the phlox, the honeysuckle, and the violet.
" Bees found homes in the hollow trees as conveniently as food in the flowers. The blossoms of the trees also gave them their choice honey. The crops were often good. In 1835 we planted a bushel and a half of potatoes in one patch of new ground, covering them with leaves, and scratching enough clay over them to keep the leaves down. It was a wet season, which was the most suitable for such planting, and we dug thirty- six bushels of potatoes. The same year the Keyses had four hundred bushels to the acre. Another year James Smith had as good a yield.
" One year, perhaps in 1836, William Smith, Sr., had soft corn, owing to the season, and the next year he thought he would plant more. His wife planted a patch by the house and took every care of it. The crop yielded at the rate of a hundred bushels of shelled corn to the acre. In those days people hardly ever sowed timothy seed at all. A little seed in the wheat got into the ground, and taking hold in fence corners and around stumps, was ready to spread when a field was thrown out. Two tons of hay to the acre was thought nothing remarkable, yet all this was the product of rich mould on the surface. People did not know how poor the subsoil was or they would have kept up the condition of their land.
" Rev. Joseph McGarrah assisted Rev. Mr. Riggs to hold the first com- munion in the Beechwoods. A son of Mr. McGarrah told me, in a chat
484
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
about the old times, that in 1815 he went to a store with a bag of wheat. He went on horseback twelve miles, and got seventy-five cents a bushel for his wheat, and paid fifty cents a pound for coffee and twenty-five cents a piece for tin cups to eat mush and milk out of. It was night when he got back, and he brought two pounds of coffee and two tin cups for his bag of wheat.
" It was not so bad in 1836 as in 1815, but still we had the difficulty of cheap produce and dear store goods. It was five pounds of coffee, four yards of coarse muslin, or six yards of poor calico for a dollar, when a dollar represented two days' hard work. And then cash could not be had for work, and many articles the merchants would not sell without money.
" If the young people want to know how we got along in those days, I will tell them we got along exactly as we do now. When tired we grunted, when hurt we grinned, when pleased we laughed, exactly as we do now. The young men winked at the girls, and the girls smiled back as often and pleasantly as you do now. But to be more definite, the men shore the sheep, the women scoured the wool, and the girls made a frolic to pick it. It was sent to the carding-machine, and then spun by hand. The yarn was carried to the weaver. The cloth was soused in soapsuds and thrown on the kitchen floor, where the boys kicked it until it was fulled up; then, colored with butternut, it was made up into men's clothing. The women were a little more tasty, and wore barred flannel colored with indigo, madder, etc. If people did not look quite as well in homespun as in broadcloth, they felt as happy.
" In 1841, Billy Richards set up a fulling-mill on North Fork. This was a great relief, as before we had to carry our cloth to Frederick Holo- peter's, somewhere in Clearfield County. Remember, this home made cloth cost more, counting the labor, than fine cloth does now, but it was the best we had, and we felt proud of it.
" I think it was in 1830 that Rev. Gary Bishop came from Phillipsburg to marry James Waite and Mattie McIntosh. The temperance reform had not started then. Mr. Bishop carried a jug of whiskey in one end of his saddle-bags and a stone in the other to cheer the wedding-guests. It was the whiskey, not the stone, that cheered the guests. They had no fighting. He baptized Susan McIntosh, now Mrs. Stevenson, at the wedding. The reader will perceive that they were in the habit of killing two birds with one stone in those economical days."
The pioneer temperance society was the Washingtonians, organized in 1842, by Hugh Brady, S. B. Bishop, and Samuel Lucas, of Brookville, Pennsylvania. Fifty members were enrolled.
In 1831, Rev. Riggs made a missionary tour through the settlement. He made a pastoral visit to each family, and preached on two Sundays. The only capitalist in the " Woods" was Matthew Keys, -he had a five- dollar bill. Each settler agreed to give Keys twenty-five cents apiece as
485
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
soon as he could get it if he would give Mr. Riggs the bill. This Keys did, and then the settlement was without a cent.
Archie Campbell married Mary Ann Kyle. Archie and his wife lived in the vicinity of what is now Reynoldsville, and one winter day they concluded to visit the Kyles. They hitched up their horse in a little jumper, and reached their destination, some four miles over the Ceres road, and remained overnight with their relations. During the night there was a heavy snow-fall. On starting home in the morning the Kyles presented Mary Ann with a small crock of apple-butter. The crock was stored between Mrs. Campbell's feet when she took her seat in the jumper. The road-track was covered with fresh snow, and Archie could not, of course, discern it. After driving some distance he struck a trot, the jumper went over a stump, and threw Archie and Mary Ann violently into the snow. Archie scrambled up and cried, " Mary Ann, my dear, are you hurted ?" " My thigh is broken, my thigh is broken, Archie !" Archie rushed to her aid, and running his hand up her limb to ascertain her injury, he exclaimed, " It's wurse than that, it's wurse than that, Mary Ann ; your bowels are busted, your bowels are busted !" And it was only apple-butter.
PORTER TOWNSHIP.
Porter, the twelfth township, organized in 1840, was taken from Perry township, and named for David R. Porter, then the governor of Penn- sylvania. This township has a post-office called Porter, situated about twenty miles south of Brookville. Taxables in 1842, 192 ; population by census in 1840, 977.
" It is difficult to point out the distinguishing characteristics of the several townships, and we will not attempt to specify the advantages or the opposites of this division. It is similar to Perry and Ringgold, and its early settlers were cast in the same rugged mould. Agriculture ranks first in this section, and the farms generally are in excellent condition." -Atlas.
Pioneer settlers : in 1803, James McClelland ; in 1804, Benjamin Ions ; in 1806, David Hamilton ; in 1815, Elijah Ekis, Michael Lantz, and William Smith. The first person born in the township was Robert Hamilton. The pioneer graveyard was in 1843. The pioneer church society organized was by the Methodists in 1838. The pioneer church was built in 1843. The pioneer camp meeting was held in this township in 1836.
The pioneer election for township officers was in 1840, and the fol- lowing officers were chosen,-viz. : Justice of the Peace, John Robinson ; Constable, John Hice ; Supervisors, Conrad Nolf, Geo. Miller ; Auditors, John McAninch, John Robinson, William McAninch, William Ferguson ;
486
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Judge of Election, William Foster ; Inspectors, Robert E. Kennedy, Daniel McGregor.
CLOVER TOWNSHIP.
This was the thirteenth township, being organized in 1841. It was taken from Rose township, and called for Levi G. Clover, then prothono- tary of the county. Troy (post-office Summerville) is the place where the people get their mails, and is now an important shipping-point and trade centre. Taxables in 1842, 145.
The pioneer settler in what is now Clover township was Samuel Baldwin, in 1812. Early settlers, Solomon Fuller, John Welch, before 1816 ; Darius Carrier, 1816 ; in 1818, Thomas and John Lucas ; in 1819, Robert Andrews and Walter Templeton ; in 1820, Frederick Heterick, Henry Lot, Alonzo Baldwin, and the Carrier brothers ; and in 1821, Moses Knapp.
The pioneer church was organized in 1828, by the Associate Reformed Seceders. In 1831 the pioneer church building was erected by this asso- ciation on the farm of Robert Andrews, and the Rev. Joseph Scroggs was pastor. The pioneer school-house was built on the John Lucas farm in 1825. The pioneer school-master was Robert Knox. Rev. William Kennedy preached here occasionally at that time. In 1827, Joseph McGiffin taught a six-months' term of school, at fifty cents a month per scholar, in the Lucas school-house.
In 1840, Dr. James Dowling organized a militia company called the " Independent Greens,"-a rifle company. The uniform of these soldiers consisted of green baize cloth trimmed with red fringe. The coat was made in the form of a shirt. The uniform of the band or drum corps was a bright red, and the members were the " Lucas Band." Muster and reviews at that time were occasionally held on the farm of Robert Andrews.
The pioneer physician in what is now Clover township was Dr. R. K. Scott, in 1826; Dr. James Dowling, in 1837.
The people of that day seemed to be as anxious for "salt territory" as we are now for " oil territory." Thomas and John Lucas settled on the flat called Puckerty. They bored for salt, found some salt water, but never made a success of their well. In 1840 Major Johnston sank a well with pole power, eight hundred and fifty feet deep, and struck what was then called a three barrel well. This was below Troy. James An- derson purchased these works from Johnston, and made salt at the " salt- works below Troy" for twenty-five years. Before these works were started our people had to go to Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, for salt, and bring the salt on horseback on pack-saddles. Salt sold then for five and six dollars a barrel.
Pioneer saw-mills: 1814, on Hiram's Run, Mr. Scott ; 1820, Thos.
487
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Lucas, at Puckerty ; 1822, Moses Knapp, at Baxter ; 1825, Moses Knapp, at Knapp's Bend. In 1838, Moses Knapp built a grist-mill alongside of this mill at the Bend. In 1836, Darius Carrier built a grist-mill in what is now called Troy.
The pioneer election in Clover township was in 1842, and but one officer was elected,-viz. : Wm. Magill, fence viewer.
In 1843 the following-named persons were elected to fill the township offices,-viz. : Inspectors, Samuel Milliron, Euphrastus Carrier ; Judge of Election, Solomon Fuller ; Supervisors, James Sowers, Hazard Jacox ; School Directors, Hiram Carrier, Matthew Dickey, John Shields, Henry Scott, Samuel Lucas, and Christopher Fogle; Constable, Charles Jacox ; Assessor, Euphrastus Carrier ; Auditors, D. Fairweather, P. I. Lucas ; Poor Overseer, Elijah Heath, Robert Andrews ; Town Clerk, A. Baldwin.
The act of the Legislature No. 110, regulating election districts, approved July 11, 1842, established the polling-place for Clover town- ship as follows :
" SECTION 12. That the qualified voters of Clover township, Jefferson County, shall hereafter hold their general election at the house of Darius Carrier, in the village of Troy, in said township."
GASKILL TOWNSHIP.
Gaskill was the fourteenth township, organized in 1842, taken from Young township, and named after Hon. Charles C. Gaskill, then agent of the Holland Land Company, of Jefferson and adjoining counties. Taxables in 1842, 78.
"""" This is a good township,' an observing farmer from Eastern Penn- sylvania remarked, and well he said, for the landscape is dotted with real farm-homes, and the products of the soil are of many kinds, and of a quantity and quality that would suit the fastidious taste of an Orange County (New York) agriculturist. This is the home of Joseph Winslow, the pioneer. The primitive tilling of the past has been followed by the advanced (theoretical as well as practical) culture of the present, and they who could not raise wheat in the early part of the century are known only by tradition. The times have changed, and with them the moon- consulting and sign-believing wiseacres of fifty years ago. We can only say, Tempus fugit."-Atlas.
The pioneer settler was Carpenter Winslow, in 1818. He came from Maine. Other early settlers were Francis Leech, Daniel Coffman, Reuben Clemson, John and Philip Bowers, and John Van Horn, in 1820. The pioneer grist- and saw-mill in the township was built by William Neel in 1843.
" When these families settled in the neighborhood game was very plenty, and it is said that they were frequently obliged to go out at night and drive whole droves of deer out of their grain-fields. Like all
488
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the other early pioneers, these people had to encounter hardships, priva- tions, and dangers, which called forth all their powers of endurance, and they were for many years obliged to practise the closest economy ; but hope, faith, and endurance overcame all difficulties, and they lived to see beautiful farms as the result of those years of toil."
The pioneer lumberman was Philip Bowers, in 1836.
The pioneer graveyard was at Bowers's, in 1840.
The pioneer election was held in the township in 1841, and the fol- lowing township officers were elected: Constable, Joseph Winslow ; Supervisors, John Pifer, Henry Miller, John Kauffman ; Auditors, Henry Phillips, Philip Bowers, Thomas Thompson ; School Directors, Henry Miller, Jonathan Strouse, David Harney, Philip Bowers ; Judge of Elec- tion, John D. Phillips ; Poor Overseers, Thomas Thompson ; Town Clerk, Henry Miller ; Fence-Viewers, Andrew McCreight and John Pifer.
The act of the Legislature No. 110, regulating election districts, ap- proved July 11, 1842, established the polling-place for Gaskill township as follows :
" SECTION 9. That the qualified voters of Gaskill township, Jefferson County, shall hereafter hold their general and township elections at the house of Henry Miller, in said township."
FENCE-VIEWERS.
It will be noticed that in each of these pioneer elections that one or more persons were annually elected as fence-viewers. This office was abolished by act of Legislature in 1842, and in order that the readers of this volume may understand the duties of this office I here reproduce the act creating this office :
"AN ACT FOR REGULATING AND MAINTAINING LINE-FENCES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
"SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That in addition to the duties now imposed upon the township auditors, they shall hereafter perform the duties hereinafter prescribed as fence-viewers. That in addition to the oath now prescribed to be taken by the auditors, they shall annually be sworn or affirmed to discharge their duties as such viewers faithfully and impartially.
"SECTION 2. In case of the death, removal, or resignation . . . so elected, the judges of the court of the proper county shall appoint a suit- able person. .
" SECTION 3. When any two persons shall improve lands adjacent to each other . . . so that any part of the first person's fence becomes the partition fence between them, in both these cases the charge of such division fence, so far enclosed on both sides, shall be equally borne and maintained by both parties.
32
489
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
"SECTION 4. On notice given the said viewers shall within five days thereafter view and examine any line fence as aforesaid, and shall make a certificate in writing, setting forth whether, in their opinion, the fence if one has been already built is sufficient, and if not, what proportion of the expense of building a new or repairing the old fence should be borne by each party, and in each case they shall set forth the sum which in their judgment each party ought to pay to the other in case he shall re- pair or build his proportion of the fence, a copy of which certificate shall be delivered to each of the parties ; and the said viewers shall receive the sum of one dollar for every day necessarily spent by them in the discharge of their duties, which they shall be entitled to receive from the delin- quent party, or in equal sums from each as they shall decide to be just.
" SECTION 5. If the party who shall be delinquent in making or re- pairing of any fence shall not, within ten days after a copy of the certifi- cate of the viewers shall have been delivered to him, proceed to repair or build the said fence, and complete the same in a reasonable time, it shall be lawful for the parties aggrieved to repair or build the said fence ; and he may bring suit before any justice of the peace or alderman against the delinquent party, and recover, as in other actions, for work, labor, ser- vice done, and materials found, and either party may appeal from the decision of the justice or aldermen as in other cases.
'" SECTION 7. If any viewer shall neglect or refuse to perform any duty herein enjoined upon him, he shall pay for each such neglect or re- fusal the sum of three dollars, to be recovered by the party aggrieved as debts of a like amount are recoverable.
" Approved-the eleventh day of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
WARSAW TOWNSHIP.
PIONEER HISTORY OF THE LARGEST TOWNSHIP IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Warsaw, the fifteenth township, organized in 1842, was taken from Pine Creek and Snyder townships, and named by the people after a city of Poland, and lately the metropolis of that country, in the palatinate of Masovia. Taxables in 1842, 77.
Before the white man came to settle in this county a part of Warsaw was " a barren" and thickly settled with Indians, and what is now called Seneca Hill, on the M. Hoffman farm, is where they met for their orgies. They had a graveyard on the Temple place, and S. W. Temple has found a number of curious Indian relics from time to time since he lived there.
The pioneer settlers in what is now Warsaw township were John, Jacob, and Peter Vastbinder. They settled on farms in 1802.
" John Dixon settled in what is now Warsaw about the year 1803, 011 the farm now owned by C. H. Shobert. The venerable John Dixon, of
490
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Polk township, a son of the above pioneer, relates some of the incidents of those early days. He remembers when coffee was seventy-five cents and tea four dollars a pound, and salt ten dollars a barrel. His father on one occasion walked to Indiana, where he bought a bushel of salt, for which he paid four dollars. He carried it home on his back, and then found that he had been cheated in the measurement, as it lacked con- siderably of a bushel. The family subsisted chiefly on wild game, deer, bears, and wild turkeys being abundant. Their corn was ground on hand-mills, or else taken to Blacklick, in Indiana County, until Joseph Barnett erected his little mill at Port Barnett."
Mr. Dixon was the pioneer school teacher in Jefferson County, and was an exemplary citizen. He died in 1834, aged about seventy-six years. Mrs. Dixon, née Sarah Ann Armstrong, died in 1860, aged about ninety-two years. In 1825, Joshua Vandevort located at the place where Mayville, otherwise Bootjack, now stands, the pioneer settler in what is now Bootjack. In 1834, Thomas McCormick, Myron Gibbs, and Milton Johnson, Esq., settled on farms about two miles from Vandevort's. In 1835, Elihu Clark, Isaac Temple, and Andrew McCormick moved into that neighborhood, which afterwards became Warsaw. Mrs. Chloe Johnson died, and was the first interment in the burying-ground near Isaac Temple's residence.
The pioneer settlement near Richardsville was made by James Moor- head, who built a house on the farm now owned by the heirs of Jackson Moorhead in 1835, but he did not move his family there until the spring of 1836. John Wakefield built a house and moved his family on the farm now owned by Joseph McCracken in 1836, but returned to Indiana to spend the following winter. William Humphrey built a house on the farm now owned by his son, Samuel M. Humphrey, in the fall of 1836, and moved his family there in April, 1837. Michael Long built a cabin on the farm now owned by Matthew Humphrey in 1836, and occupied it for a short time. Isaac Walker built a house the same year on the farm now owned by Thomas Brownlee, to which he moved his family the next spring. Matthew Humphrey commenced operations on the farm on which he still resides in 1837. He is the only one of the original settlers of West Warsaw remaining. He says when he came to the township there were no roads, only a trail leading through the woods to " Boot- jack." (Hazen.)
William Russell, father of "Indian" George Russell, the hunter, settled in what is now Warsaw in 1834, and built a saw-mill on the North Fork. This was the pioneer saw-mill.
In 1837, William R. Richards located on the north fork of Red Bank Creek, six miles from Brookville, built a saw mill, woollen-factory, and grist-mill, and called the place Richardsville. He had cleared a farm in Snyder township the year before, which he left in care of Alex. Hutch-
491
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
inson. Daniel Gaup and Thomas McCormick settled on farms this year also. In 1837, David McCormick, Moses B. St. John, John Wilson, and William Perrin settled on farms. In 1838, John Bell, Peter Ricord, and Nelson Riggs also located there.
The pioneer graveyard was in the pine grove at Vastbinder's, the second at Temple's. Warsaw is now the largest township in the county. The country is very hilly and much broken, though few of the hills rise more than four hundred feet above the level of the larger streams. Some bituminous coal of good quality is found in the hills, lying in veins of three feet above the water-level; it is therefore very accessible for mining. Fire-clay has a place among these coal-measures, and ought to be utilized. Various kinds of iron-ores are abundant, and white and blue sandstones suitable for building purposes may readily be found in many places. Limestone in very large deposits is found in many localities. The soil is moderately fertile, and will amply reward the careful culti- vator for his well-directed efforts. For some reason, a large extent of the township was called by the early settlers " The Barrens." The hills, as well as the vales between them, were formerly covered by a dense and heavy growth of timber-trees of various kinds. Pine and hemlock pre- dominated. Chestnut and oak grew in some localities. Birch, sugar- maple, ash, and hickory occupied a wide range. Birch- and cherry-trees were numerous, and linwood-, cucumber-, and poplar-trees grew on many of the hill-sides. Butternut and sycamore, black ash and elms, grew on the low grounds.
The pioneer grist-mill was built on Mill Creek by E. Holben. The pioneer hotel-keeper was Isaac Temple. The pioneer merchant was Solomon Wyant, in Dogtown, or at what is now John Fox's hotel.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.