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 5
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
soon found themselves confronted with duties and responsibilities differ- ent in many respects from those that had engaged their serious attention and earnest effort during the previous seven years of war. They were to enact just and equitable laws for the government of a new State, and to devise such measures as would stimulate its growth in wealth and popula- tion and promote the development, settlement, and improvement of its great domain.
" As early as the 12th of March, 1783, the General Assembly had passed an act setting apart certain lands lying north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek to be sold for the purpose of redeeming the depreciation certificates given to the officers and sol- diers of the Pennsylvania Line who had served in the war of the Revolu- tion, and also for the purpose of making donations of land to the same officers and soldiers in compliance with a promise made to them by a res- olution passed in 1780. It will be observed that when this act was passed the Indian claim of title to the lands mentioned was still in force ; but the State authorities, though seemingly slow and deliberate in their actions, were no doubt fully alive to the necessity of securing as speedily as possible the right to all the lands within the State-about five six- teenths of its area-that remained unpurchased after the treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1768. With that purpose in view, the first movement made by the General Assembly to be found on record was on the 25th day of September, 1783. This action is in the form of a resolution passed on that day by the recommendation of the report of a committee that had been previously appointed ' to digest such plans as they might conceive necessary to facilitate and expedite the laying off and surveying of the lands' set apart by the act of the previous March. The resolution reads,-
"' Resolved, unanimously, That the supreme executive council be, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to appoint commissioners to hold a meeting with the Indians claiming the unpurchased territory within the acknowledged limits of the State, for the purpose of purchasing the same, agreeable to ancient usage, and that all the expenses accruing from the said meeting and purchase be defrayed out of the Treasury of the State.'-Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. III.
" It next appears by a minute of the Supreme Executive Council, of February 23, 1784, that Samuel John Atlee, William Maclay, and Francis Johnston were on that day chosen commissioners to treat with the In- dians as proposed in the resolution of the General Assembly. The gentle- men named -- all of them prominent citizens-were informed on the 29th of the same month of their appointment, but they did not acknowledge the receipt of President Dickinson's letter until the 17th of May follow- ing. On that day Messrs. Atlee and Johnston reply in a letter of thanks for the honor conferred upon them, and explain the delay as having been caused by circumstances that required Mr. Maclay and Colonel Atlee to
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
visit their families, the first named still remaining absent. The letter also contains a statement of their views upon various matters pertaining to the mission upon which they are about to enter. They suggest Sam- uel Weiser, a son of Conrad Weiser, the noted Indian missionary, as a
Conrad Weiser.
proper person to notify the Indians of the desire to treat with them, and, from his familiarity with their language and customs, to act as interpreter. The time and place for holding the treaty are mentioned, but nothing definite suggested, owing to the fact that the Continental Congress had likewise appointed commissioners to meet the Six Nations for the purpose of treating with them in relation to the lands of the Northwest, beyond the limits of Pennsylvania, and it was deemed proper to permit the rep- resentatives of Congress to arrange for the meeting .* Fort Stanwix, in the State of New York, was finally agreed upon as the place where the
* Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x p. 265.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
meeting should be held, and thither the commissioners on the part of Pennsylvania were directed to proceed. On the 25th of August, 1784, a committee of the General Assembly, having Indian affairs under con- sideration, made the following report :
" ' That weighty reasons have occurred in favor of the design for hold- ing a conference with the Indians on the part of this State, and if under the present situation of Continental affairs that measure can be conducted on sure ground and without too unlimited an expense, it ought to take place and be rendered as effective as this House can make it, under whose auspices a foundation would thus be laid of essential and durable advan- tage to the public, by extending population, satisfying our officers and soldiers in regard to their donation lands and depreciation certificates, restoring that ancient, friendly, and profitable intercourse with the In- dians, and guarding against all occasions of war with them.'- Pennsyl- vania Archives, vol. x. p. 316.
" To aid the commissioners in their efforts to attain objects so worthy and laudable, the above report was accompanied by a resolution that authorized the Supreme Executive Council to expend $9000 in the pur- chase of 'such goods, merchandize, and trinkets' as would be acceptable to the Indians, to be given them as part of the consideration in the event of a purchase being made. In pursuance of this resolution the council promptly ordered a warrant to be issued by the treasurer in favor of the commissioners for the sum of £3375 (equivalent in Pennsylvania cur- rency to $9100), to be expended by them in purchasing the necessary articles. *
" After a tedious and fatiguing journey, in which they met with a number of unexpected delays, the commissioners reached Fort Stanwix early in the month of October, where they found some of the tribes already assembled, and with them the commissioners of the Continental Congress. In a letter to President Dickinson, dated October 4, 1784, they announce their arrival, and state that the negotiations had already commenced, and while they would not venture an opinion as to the final issue, they say the disposition of the Indians appeared to be favorable. The negotiations continued until the 23d of the same month, and on that day ended in an agreement by which the Indian title to all the lands within the boundaries of the State that remained after the treaty of 1768 was extinguished. The Indians represented at the conference were the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Tuscaroras. The consideration fixed for the surrender of their rights was
* For a list of the articles designated in the order see Colonial Records, vol. xiv. p. 186. After the negotiations at Fort Stanwix had been concluded the commissioners gave an obligation for an additional thousand dollars in goods, to be delivered at Tioga. For this list see Pennsylvania Archives, vol. x. p. 496.
45
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
$5000. The deed is dated October 23, 1784, is signed by all the chiefs of the Six Nations and by the Continental commissioners as witnesses. The boundaries of the territory ceded are thus described : 'Beginning on the south side of the river Ohio, where the western boundary of the State of Pennsylvania crosses the said river, near Shingo's old town, at the mouth of Beaver Creek, and thence by a due north line to the end of the forty-second and the beginning of the forty-third degrees of north lati- tude, thence by a due east line separating the forty-second and the forty- third degrees of north latitude, to the east side of the east branch of the Susquehanna River, thence by the bounds of the late purchase made at Fort Stanwix, the fifth day of November, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight, as follows : Down the said east branch of Susquehanna, on the east side thereof, till it comes opposite to the mouth of a creek called by the Indians Awandac, and across the river, and up the said creek on the south side thereof, all along the range of hills called Burnet's Hills by the English and by the Indians -, on the north side of them, to the head of a creek which runs into the west branch of Sus- quehanna, which creek is by the Indians called Tyadaghton, but by the Pennsylvanians Pine Creek, and down the said creek on the south side thereof to the said west branch of Susquehanna, thence crossing the said river, and running up the south side thereof, the several courses thereof to the forks of the same river, which lies nearest to a place on the river Ohio called Kittanning, and from the fork by a straight line to Kittan- ning aforesaid, and thence down the said river Ohio by the several courses thereof to where said State of Pennsylvania crosses the same river at the place of beginning.' After the commissioners had accomplished in so satisfactory a manner the object for which they had journeyed to Fort Stanwix, it became necessary to appease the Western Indians, the Wyan- dots and the Delawares, who also claimed rights in the same lands. The same commissioners were therefore sent to Fort McIntosh, on the Ohio River, at the site of the present town of Beaver, where, in January, 1785, they were successful in reaching an agreement with those Indians for the same lands. This deed, signed by the chiefs of both tribes, is dated January 21, 1785, and is in the same words (except as to the consid- eration money, which is $2000) and recites the same boundaries as the deed signed at Fort Stanwix in the previous month of October .*
" After the purchase of 1768 a disagreement arose between the pro- prietary government and the Indians as to whether the creek flowing into the west branch of the river Susquehanna, and called in the deed . Tya- daghton,' was intended for Lycoming Creek or Pine Creek. The In-
* The conference of the commissioners at Fort Stanwix and Fort McIntosh with the deeds signed at those places are published in the Appendix to the General Assembly for the session of February to April, 1785.
46
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
dians said it was the former, and that the purchase only extended that
chase ; but, in order to avoid any trouble that might arise from the dis-
MAP SHOWING THE VARIOUS PURCHASES FROM THE INDIANS.
From the United States
ENTE/192.
WARREN
MISKEAN
POTTER OF
TIOGA 17 84
BRADFORD
SUSQUEHALYNA
CRAWFORD
FOREST
WAYYE
VAMANGO
AS ELK
STANWI
CLINTON
LYCOMING
18
PIKE
LUZERNE
LAWRENCE
RIVER
CLEARFIELD
S
CENTRE E
UNION
BUTLER
N
BRAYER
SNYDER
NORTHAMPTON
INDIANA
CAMBRIAA
BLAIR
JUNIATA
MITR
BERKS
BYESTMORNIAND
WASHINGTON
CUMBERLAND
OF
CHESTER
PHILADELPHIA
GREENE
BEDFORD
FULTON
FRANKLIN
PURCHASE ADAMS
YORK
jurek
NORTHUMBERLAND
SCHUYLKILL
HOIH3T
WALKING PUR
PERRY
LEBANON
ONTGOMERY
IGAS.
SOMERSET
PURCHASE OF 1758
MIFFLIN
JUNIATA
PANPHIN
PURCHASE OF 170
CARBONE
MONROE
CLARION
JEFFERSON
CAMERON
SULLIVAN
WYOMING
LACHALEINNA
MERCER
FORTYN ROME
OF
VICINATO:)
SHYMY734
ARMSTRONG
H
LANCASTA17368 PRIOR
ments within the disputed territory, and from their persistency in so or prevent adventurous pioneers from entering upon and making settle- west of Lycoming Creek. This determination, however, did not deter pute, it was wisely determined that no rights should be granted for lands
47
far, the proprietaries claimed the latter stream to be the extent of the pur-
LAKE ERIE
Fur
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
doing arose an interesting, not to say serious, condition of affairs, to which reference will again be made. The commissioners at Fort Stan- wix were instructed to ascertain definitely from the Indians which of the two streams they meant by 'Tyadaghton.' They then admitted that it was Pine Creek, being the largest emptying into the west branch of the Susquehanna.
" The Indian claim of right to the soil of Pennsylvania, within its charter limits, had thus, in a period of a little more than one hundred years, ceased to exist. A glance at a map of the State will show that within the magnificent domain that comprises the purchase of 1784 are to be found at the present day the counties of Tioga, Potter, Mckean, Warren, Crawford, Venango, Forest, Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, Cameron, Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer, and parts of the counties of Bradford, Clinton, Clearfield, Indiana, Armstrong, Allegheny, Beaver, and Erie .* This large and important division of our great Commonwealth, now teem- ing[with population and wealth, the abiding-place of a noble civilization, and containing within its boundaries thousands upon thousands of homes of comfort and many of elegance and luxury, fertile valleys to reward the labor of the husbandman, thriving villages, busy towns, and growing, bustling cities, was, in 1784, largely an uninhabited and untraversed wilderness.
"LANDS EAST OF THE ALLEGHENY RIVER AND CONEWANGO CREEK.
" The General Assembly of the State did not delay in enacting laws which would open to settlers and purchasers that part of the late acquisi- tion that had not been otherwise appropriated. As a matter of fact, in anticipation of the purchase, an act was passed on the ist day of April, 1784, in which it was provided that as soon as the Indians were 'satisfied for the unpurchased lands,' the supreme executive council should give official information thereof to the surveyor-general, who was then to ap- point district surveyors to survey all such lands within the purchase as should ' be found fit for cultivation.' The tracts were to contain not more than 500 nor less than 200 acres each, and were to be numbered on a general draft of each district. When a certain number of lots were surveyed, they were to be sold at public auction, the purchaser having the privilege of paying one moiety at the time of purchase and receiving a credit of two years for the other moiety. The mode of disposing of the lands thus indicated was soon changed by subsequent legislation. By an act passed December 21, 1784, to amend the act of April I, the pro- visions of the law for sales by public auction and the giving of credit were repealed. Section 6 of the act provided that the land-office should
+ Sce accompanying map, which shows the extent of the purchase.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
be open on the ist day of May, 1785, to receive applications for lands at the rate of £30* for every hundred acres of the same, and that the sur- vey of an application should not contain more than 1000 acres, with the usual allowance of six per centum for highways. This act was intended to apply to all lands within the purchase, except the lands north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers and Conewango Creek (which, as already mentioned, had been appropriated for the redemption of depre- ciation certificates and for the donations of land to the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line) and the disputed territory between Lycoming and Pine Creeks. By Section 7, a warrant issued in pursuance of the act was not descriptive, and was not confined to any particular place, but could be located on any vacant land, not within the excepted districts, that the applicant might select. Sections 8, 9, and 10 of the act pro- vide for the persons who occupied lands between Lycoming and Pine Creek, in violation of the proprietary mandate. The situation of these settlers was peculiar. When the disagreement in regard to the purchase lines of the purchase of 1768 occurred, the proprietaries, always ex- tremely anxious to avoid giving offence to the Indians, decided to with- hold the territory between the two streams from sale and settlement until the differences could be properly adjusted by mutual agreement. Though many applications for land west of Lycoming Creek were on file, surveys would not be accepted, and at the same time stringent orders were issued protesting against persons making settlement beyond that stream, and warning those already there to depart. In defiance of warnings, protests, and proclamations, however, many sturdy, self-reliant men persisted in occupying the forbidden ground, where they found themselves beyond the bounds of lawful authority, and could not expect to receive encour- agement or protection from the proprietary government. But with the energy and courage common to pioneer settlers they at once began the work of subduing the wilderness and building homes for their families, and from accounts that have come down to us, the little community, if it did not live in luxury, was at least able to earn a subsistence that was not meagre in quantity, whatever may have been its quality. Being without law or government, the members of the community were compelled by the necessities of their situation and surroundings to adopt a system of government of their own, the details of which are not fully known. All, however, were under solemn obligations to support and defend their agreement for mutual support and protection. They called themselves Fair-Play Men, and it is known that annually they elected three of their number to constitute a court, which held stated meetings to dispense jus- tice. To this tribunal all disputes and controversies were referred for settlement, and from its decisions there was no appeal. A stranger
* In Pennsylvania currency this was at the rate of So cents an acre.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
coming among them was obliged to appear before the court and promise under oath to submit to the laws of the community. If he did this, he could remain, take possession of unoccupied land, and receive assistance in building his cabin. If he would not take the obligation, he was quickly notified to absent himself without delay, which he usually did, without awaiting the call of a committee, whose methods of expulsion might be none too gentle. Many of these brave frontiersmen served in the army during the Revolutionary War, and Section S of the act recited that by reason of their services as soldiers, they merited the 'pre-emption of their respective plantations.' Sections 9 and 10 of the same act allowed a pre-emption to all settlers and their legal representatives who had set- tled on the lands between the two streams prior to the year 1780, limit- ing each claim to 300 acres, providing that the application should be made and the consideration paid on or before November 1, 1785. It will be remembered that the time fixed by the act of December 21, 1784, for the land-office to be opened to receive applications was May 1, 1785. Before that day arrived, however, the Legislature passed another act, which, in many respects, changed the policy previously pur- sued in disposing of unappropriated lands. This act became a law on the Sth day of April, 1785, and with it came the practice, as provided in the act, of numbering all warrants for land in the last purchase to the east of the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek, a change in practice that has always been regarded as a valuable improvement on the old system. The act is entitled ' An act to provide further regulations, whereby to secure fair and equal proceedings in the land-office, and the surveying of lands.' It was believed that when the office was opened on the day fixed by the law, numerous applications would be made at the same time, and that preference would necessarily be given to some persons to the disad- vantage of others, and thereby cause dissatisfaction. In order to prevent any one from profiting by such preference, it was enacted in Section 2 of the act that the priority of all warrants to be granted on applications received during the first ten days after the opening of the office should be determined by a lottery to be drawn under the supervision of the Secretary of the Land-Office. Not more than 1000 acres were to be included in one application, and the warrants were to be numbered ' according to the decision of the lottery.' For conducting the lottery the section contains minute directions. All applications made after the expiration of ten days were to have priority according to the order in which they came into the hands of the Secretary, and were to be num- bered accordingly. The other sections of the act relate mainly to the duties of the surveyor-general and the deputy surveyors to be by him appointed, and the way in which surveys were to be made and returned. It also prescribes the fees to be received by the officers of the land office and the deputy surveyors, and attaches the territory east of the Allegheny
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
River and Conewango Creek to Northumberland County, a part of which county it remained until Lycoming County was formed in 1795, when it became part of that county. The remaining portion of the purchase was attached to Westmoreland County, and so continued until Allegheny was formed in 1788, when it was included in the boundary of that county. The applications received during the first ten days from the opening of the office were listed and numbered, placed in the lottery-wheel, and drawn therefrom in the manner provided by the second section of the act. They numbered five hundred and sixty-four, and warrants for that number of tracts were issued, and received a number that corresponded with the number drawn from the wheel. These warrants were called ' Northumberland County Lottery Warrants,' and under that designation are yet carried on the warrant registers of the office. They could be, and were, located in such localities within the purchase east of the Alle- gheny River as the owners might select, except on a reservation of 1000. acres at the forks of Sinnemahoning Creek, for which General James Potter held a pre-emption.
" The surveyor general had authority to appoint deputy-surveyors, and to fix the number, extent, and boundaries of the districts to which they were to be assigned. The territory was divided into eighteen dis- tricts, and a deputy surveyor appointed for each. These districts were numbered consecutively, beginning with No. I, on the Allegheny River, and running eastward to No. 18, which extended to the north branch of the Susquehanna in the northeast corner of the purchase. This arrange- ment of the districts continued until after the year 1790, when a change was made by the surveyor-general. The number of districts was then reduced to six, and were numbered westward from district No. 1, begin- ning at the mouth of Lycoming Creek. In the new arrangement John Adlum was appointed deputy-surveyor for district No. 1, John Broadhead for No. 2, John Canan for No. 3. James Hunter for No. 4, William P. Brady for No. 5, and Enion Williams for. No. 6, on the Allegheny River. In 1793, John Adlum, whose surveys were principally along the northern line of the State, was succeeded by William Ellis, and Enion Williams by John Broadhead. After the drawing of the lottery warrants the busi- ness of the land-office does not appear to have been very pressing. It would seem that at the price fixed by the act of December, 1784-£30 per hundred, or 80 cents an acre-purchasers were not numerous. The records show that from the time of the drawing and issuing of the lottery warrants in May, 1785, down to the year 1792, not more than 400 war- rants were granted for these lands, and among these warrants were many to religious and educational institutions issued under various acts of endowment. There were 32 to Dickinson College,-28 of 300 acres each, and 4 of 400 acres each, making in all 7000 acres ; the Episcopal Academy had 33 warrants,-32 of 300 acres each, and I of 400 acres,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
making 10,000 acres; the Lutheran congregation, of Philadelphia, 10 warrants of 500 acres each, making 5000 acres ; the Pittsburg Academy, Io warrants of 500 acres each, making 5000 acres; the Washington Academy, 10 warrants of 500 each, making 5000 acres; the Reading Academy, 7 warrants,-3 of 1000 acres each and 4 of 500 acres each, making 5000 acres ; and Franklin College 33 warrants of 300 acres each, and 1 of 100 acres, making 10,000 acres,-making in the aggregate 112 warrants for 52,000 acres of land.
" It had now become apparent to the authorities that the price of land was too high to induce investments of money in them, and that the General Assembly must fix a lower rate to promote sales. Benjamin Franklin, the president of the Supreme Executive Council, under date of February 23, 1787, addressed a letter to that body in which he says, ' We are convinced that it will be of advantage to the State to lower the price of land within the late Indian purchase ; only eight warrants have been taken out for lands these six months passed.'* The Legislature accordingly passed an act, October 3, 1788, to reduce the price from the rate of £30 per hundred acres to £20. This rate was to be charged after March 1, 1789, and was a reduction from the old rate of 80 cents an acre to 5313 cents an acre. This rate continued until April 3, 1792 ; but, contrary to expectations, did not have the effect of increasing sales, and, therefore, brought little or no change in the business of the office. By another act, passed April 3, 1792, the price was again reduced. The rate fixed by this act was £5, or $13.3313, for each hundred acres, and at this rate sales almost astonishing in extent were made, and the years 1792-93-94 proved to be noted and important years for disposing of un- appropriated lands. The low price at which lands could now be bought, and the alluring prospect of a large increase in their value, undoubtedly induced many large purchasers to enter their applications. The applica- tions received at the land-office were for a large number of tracts, and in the course of the years named more than 5000 warrants of 900 and 1000 acres each, covering almost 5,000,000 acres, were granted for lands north and west of the purchase line of 1768, and east of the Alle- gheny River. These were all numbered in consecutive order, as required by the act of April, 1785, and were sent to the deputy surveyors of the six districts to be executed. They were issued in the names of a com- paratively small number of persons, but the holdings, as a rule, were very large. While it would be tedious to give the names of all the holders of these warrants, generally called 'late purchase warrants,' it may not prove uninteresting to mention a few of those whose purchases were more than usually large, if only to show that a spirit of speculation might have existed in those days, even as it does at the present time. The first to
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