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 53
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Rafting on the North Fork.
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shaved down. Pine timber or wild lands could then be bought at from one dollar to two dollars per acre.
Along the lower end of our creeks and on the Allegheny River there lived a class of people who caught and appropriated all the loose logs, shingles, boards, and timber they could find floating down the streams.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
These men were called by the early lumbermen Algerines, or pirates. The name Algerine originated thus : In the war of 1812 "the dey of Algiers took the opportunity of capturing an American vessel and con-
Rafting on the North Fork.
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demning her crew to slavery. Then a powerful squadron, under Porter and Perry, early in 1815, appeared in the Mediterranean, captured the largest frigate in the Algerine navy, and with other naval successes so terrified the dey that he immediately consented to a treaty of amicable relations, surrendered all his prisoners, made certain pecuniary in-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
demnities, and renounced all future claim to any American tribute or payments."
As there has been considerable agitation over my paragraph on poll- evil in horses, I reprint here a slip that has been sent me :
"AN OLD TIME CURE FOR POLL-EVIL.
" ED. SPIRIT,-I am moved by your quotation from Dr. McKnight's article in the Brookville Democrat on the old-time nonsense in relation to poll-evil in horses to say that the doctor's explanation of the cause of that severe affliction on the poor brute's head is in part correct ; but it was mainly owing to the low door-ways and the low mow-timbers just above the horse's head as he stood in the stall of the old-time log stables. The horse often struck his head on the lintel of the low door-way as he passed in and out ; and as he stood in the stall, when roughly treated by his master, in throwing up his head it came in violent contact with the timbers, and continued bruising resulted ultimately in the fearful, painful abscesses referred to. There were those in that day who had reputations for skill in the cure of poll evil, and their method was this : The afflicted animal must be brought to the doctor before the break of day. An axe was newly ground. The doctor must not speak a word to any person on any subject after the horse was given into his hand until the feat was per- formed. Before sunrise the doctor took the axe and the horse and pro- ceeded out of sight of any human habitation, going towards the east. When such a spot was reached he turned towards the animal, bent down its head firmly and gently, drew the sharpened blade of the axe first lengthwise, then crosswise of the abscess sufficiently to cause the blood to flow, muttering meanwhile some mystic words ; then, just below where the head of the horse was, he struck the bloody axe in the ground, left it there, turned immediately around, walked rapidly away, leading the animal, and not at all looking back until he had delivered it into the hand of the owner, who was waiting at a distance to receive it, and who took it home at once. The next morning at sunrise the axe was re- moved, and in due time the cure was effected.
" SMICKSBURG, PA., September 7, 1894."
" AN OLD-TIMER.
The first known person to live within the confines of the present borough was Jim Hunt, an Indian of the Muncy tribe. He was here as early as 1797, and was in banishment for killing a warrior of his own tribe. By an Indian law he was not allowed to live in his tribe until the place of the warrior he had slain was filled by the capture of another male from white people or from other Indians. In ISO8, Jim's friends stole a white boy in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and had him accepted into the tribe in place of the warrior Jim had killed. Jim Hunt's residence or cave was near the deep hole, or near the sand
536
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
spring, on Sandy Lick, and was discovered in 1843 by Mr. Thomas Graham. After 1812 Jim Hunt never returned. He was a great bear- hunter, having killed seventy-eight in one winter. He loved " fire- water," and all his earnings went for this beverage ; yet he never dared to get so drunk he could not run to his cave when he heard a peculiar Indian whoop on Mill Creek hills. His Indian enemies pursued him, and his Indian friends looked after him and warned him to flee to his hiding-place by a peculiar whoop. Little Snow, a Seneca chief, lived at the sand spring in 1800, and it was then called " Wolf Spring."
The first white person to settle in what is now Brookville was Moses Knapp. He built a log house about 1801 at the mouth of North Fork Creek, on ground now owned by Thomas L. Templeton, near Christ's brewery. The first white child born within the limits of what is now Brookville was Joshua Knapp, on Mr. Templeton's lot, at the mouth of the North Fork, in the month of March, 1810. He is still living (1895) in Pine Creek township, about two miles from the town. About 1806 or 1807, Knapp built a log grist-mill where the waters of the North Fork then entered the Red Bank. It was a rude mill, and had but one run of rock- stones. In 1818 he sold this mill to Thomas Barnett. James Parks, Bar- nett's brother-in-law, came to run this mill about 1824 (Barnett having died), and lived here until about 1830. Parks came from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and brought with him and held in legal slavery here a negro man named "Sam," who was the first colored person to live in what is now called Brookville.
Joseph B. Graham, Esq., of Eldred township, informs me that he carried a grist on horseback to this mill of one half-bushel of shelled corn for this Sam to grind. Mr. Graham says his father put the corn in one end of the bag and a big stone in the other end to balance the corn. That was the custom, but the 'squire says they did not know any better. Joshua Knapp, Uriah Matson, and John Dixon all took grists of corn and buckwheat to this mill for "Sam," the miller, to grind.
" Happy the miller who lives by the mill,
For by the turning of his hand he can do what he will."
But this was not so with "Sam." At his master's nod he could grind his own " peck of meal," for his body, his work, his life, and his will belonged to Parks. Many settlers in early days carried corn to the grist-mill on their own shoulders, or on the neck-yoke of a pair of oxen. I have seen both of these methods used by persons living ten and fifteen miles from a mill.
The census of 1830 gives Jefferson County a population of 2003 whites, 21 free colored persons, and I colored slave. This slave, we suppose, was " Sam."
Brookville was laid out as the county seat in 1830, but it was not
35
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
incorporated as a borough until April 9, 1834. (See pamphlet laws of 1834, page 209.) The first house was erected in August, 1830. The first election held in the new borough for officials was in the spring of 1835. Joseph Sharpe was elected constable. Darius Carrier and Alexander McKnight were elected school directors. The first complete set of borough officers were elected in 1835, and were as follows :
Burgess, Thomas Lucas ; Council, John Dougherty, James Corbett, John Pierce, Samuel Craig, Wm. A. Sloan ; Constable, John Mclaughlin (this man Mclaughlin was a great hunter, and could neither read nor write ; he moved to Brockwayville, and from there went West) ; School Directors, Levi G. Clover, Samuel Craig, David Henry, C. A. Alexander, Wm. A. Sloan, James Corbett.
In 1840 the borough officers were :
Burgess, William Jack ; Council, Elijah Heath, John Gallagher, Cyrus Butler, Levi G. Clover, John Dougherty, William Rodgers; Constable, John Dougherty.
Of these early fathers the only one now living (1895) is Major William Rodgers. He resides about a mile from town, on the Corsica road.
In 1840 the "itch" was in Brookville, and popular all the year round. As bath-tubs were unknown and family bathing rare, this itch was the seven-year kind. Head-lice among the people and in the schools were also common. Had I been familiar with Burns in my boyhood, many a time, while seeing a louse crawl on and over a boy or girl in our schools, I could have exclaimed,-
"O, Jenny, dinna toss your head An' set your beauties a' abraed ; Ye little ken what cussed speed The beast's a makin'."
The only cure for lice was to "rid" out the hair every few days with a big, coarse comb, crack the nits between the thumb-nails, and then satu- rate the hair with "red precipity," using a fine-tooth comb. The itch was cured by the use of an ointment made of brimstone and lard. During school-terms many children wore little sacks of powdered brim- stone about their necks. This was supposed to be a preventive.
In 1840 the only music-books we had were " The Beauties of Har- mony" and " The Missouri Harmony." Each of these contained the old " buckwheat" notes of me, fa, sol, la. Every one could not afford one of these books. Music-teachers travelled through the county and taught classes. A class was twenty-six scholars, a term thirteen nights, and the tuition-fee fifty cents for each scholar. Teachers used " tuning- forks," and some played a violin in connection with the class-singing. The teacher opened the singing by exhorting the class to " sound your pitches, -sol, fa, la."
538
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
In 1840, Billy Boo, an eccentric, intelligent hermit, lived in a hut on the farm in Rose township now occupied by William Hughey. Although he lived in this hut, he spent most of his wakeful hours in Brookville. He was a man of good habits, and all that he would tell, or any one could learn of him or his nativity, was that he came from England. He was about five feet five or six inches high, heavy set, and stoop shouldered. He usually dressed in white flannel clothes. Sometimes his clothing, from being darned so much, looked as if it had been quilted. He lived upon the charity of the people, and by picking up a few pennies for some light gardening jobs. He died as a charge on Brookville borough in 1863.
Indian relics were found frequently on our hills and in our valleys in 1840. They consisted of stone tomahawks, darts, arrows, and flints.
Prior to and during 1840 a form of legalized slavery was practised in this State and county in regard to minor children. Poor or destitute children were " bound out" or indentured by the poor overseers to masters or mistresses, boys until they were twenty-one years of age and girls until they were eighteen. Parents exercised this privilege also. All apprentices were then bound to mechanics to learn trades. The period of this indenture was three years. The law was severe on the children, and in favor of the master or mistress. Under these conditions cruelties were practised, and children and apprentices tried to escape them. Of course, there were bad children who ran away from kind masters and mistresses. The master or mistress usually advertised these runaways. I have seen many of these in our papers. I reprint one of these ad- vertisements, taken from the Gasette and Columbian, published by J. Croll & Co., at Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, on August 8, 1832 :
" $5 REWARD.
" Run away from the subscriber, living in the borough of Kittanning, on the 22d inst., an indentured apprentice to the Tailoring business, named Henry P. Huffman, between 18 or 19 years of age, stout made and black hair, had on when he went away a light cotton roundabout, and panta- loons of the same, and a new fur hat. Whoever apprehends the said runaway and delivers him to the subscriber in Kittanning shall receive the above reward.
" KITTANNING, July 25, 1832."
" JOHN WILLIAMS.
In the forties the election for State officers was held on the second Tuesday of October of each year, and in the absence of telegraphs, rail- roads, etc., it took about four weeks to hear any definite result from an election, and then the result was published with a tail to it,-" Pike, Potter, McKean, and Jefferson to hear from." It is amusing to recall
539
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the reason usually given for a defeat at these elections by the unsuccess- ful party. It was this : "The day was fine and clear, a good day for threshing buckwheat ; therefore our voters failed to turn out." The editor of the defeated party always published this poetic stanza for the consolation of his friends :
" Truth crushed to earth will rise again, The eternal years of God are hers, While error, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies amidst her worshippers."
In a Presidential contest we never knew the result with any certainty until the 4th of March, or inauguration-day.
In 1840, according to the census, the United States contained a pop- ulation of 17,062,666 people, of which, 2,487, 113 were slaves. The em- ployments of the people were thus divided : Agriculture, 3,717,756; commerce, 117,575 ; manufactures and trades, 791,545 ; navigating the ocean, 56,025 ; navigating rivers, canals, etc., 33,067; mining, 15,203; learned professions, 65,236.
The Union then consisted of 26 States, and we had 223 Congress- men. The ratio of population for a Congressman was 70,68o. In this computation five slaves would count as three white men, although the slaves were not allowed to vote. Our Territories were populated thus: District of Columbia, 43,712; Florida, 54,477; Wisconsin, 30,945 ; Iowa, 43, 112. The chief cities and towns were thus populated :
New York
312,710
Philadelphia
228,691
Baltimore
102,313
New Orleans
102,193
Boston
93,393
Cincinnati
46,338
Brooklyn
35,234
Albany
33,721
Charleston
29,261
Washington
23,364
Providence
23,17I
Louisville
21,210
Pittsburg .
21,115
Lowell
20,796
Rochester
20,19I
Richmond
20,133
Buffalo
IS,210
Newark
17,293
St. Louis .
16,469
Portland .
15,2IS
Salem
16,083
Brookville
276
540
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Household or family goods were produced in 1840 to the amount of $29,230,380.
Total amount of capital employed in manufactures, $267,726,579.
The whole expenses of the Revolutionary War were estimated, in specie, at $135, 193,703.
In 1840 it was the custom for newspapers to publish in one of their issues, after the adjournment of the Legislature, a complete list by title of all the enactments of that session.
In the forties fruit was scarce and inferior in these woods, and as " boys were boys then" all kinds of means, both fair and foul, were re- sorted to by the boys to get a fill of apples. Johnny Lucas, Johnny Jones, Yankee Smith, and Mrs. Fuller used to bring apples and peaches into the village and retail them out on the street. I have seen this trick played frequently on these venders by two boys,-viz. : a boy would go up to the wagon, holding his cap with both hands and ask for a sixpence worth of apples or peaches. The vender would then count the apples and drop them in the cap. The boy would then let go of the cap with one hand as if to pay, when boy No. 2 would snatch the cap and apples out of his hand and run for dear life down the street and into the first alley. The owner of the cap, in apparent anger, would imme- diately take after this thief, forget to pay, and in the alley help eat the apples.
In 1840 "shingle weavers" brought their shingles to Brookville to barter. A shingle weaver was a man who did not steal timber. He only went into the pine-woods and there cut the clearest and best tree he could find, and hauled it home to his shanty in blocks, and there split and shaved the blocks into shingles. He bartered his shingles in this way : he would first have his gallon or two-gallon jug filled with whiskey, then take several pounds of Baltimore plug-tobacco, and then have the balance coming to him apportioned in New Orleans molasses, flitch, and flour. Many a barter of this kind have I billed when acting as clerk.
Timothy Pickering & Co., Leroy & Linklain, Welhelm Willink, Jeremiah Parker, Holland Land Company, Robert Morris, Robert Gil- more, William Bingham, John Nicholson, Dr. William Cathcart, Dr. James Hutchinson, and a few others owned about all the land in Jef- ferson County. This goes a great length to disprove the demagogy you hear so much nowadays about the few owning and gobbling up all the land. How many people own a piece of Jefferson County to-day ?
In 1840 the only newspaper published in Jefferson County was the Backwoodsman, published in Brookville by Thomas Hastings & Son. Captain John Hastings, who is still living in Punxsutawney, was the son. The terms of this paper were one dollar and seventy-five cents in advance,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
two dollars if paid within the year, and two dollars and fifty cents if not paid within the year. Hastings & Son sold the paper to William Jack. Jack rented the paper to a practical printer by the name of George F. Humes, who continued the publication until after the October election in 1843, when he announced in an editorial that his patrons might go to h-ll and he would go to Texas. Barton T. Hastings then bought and assumed control of the paper, and published it until 1846 as the Brookville Jeffersonian. Mr. Hastings is still living in Brookville.
I reprint here a large portion of the proceedings of an old-time cele- bration of the Fourth of July in 1843 in Brookville. We copy from the Backwoodsman, dated August 1, 1843, then edited by George F. Humes. The editorial article in the Backwoodsman is copied entire. The oration of D. S. Deering, all the regular toasts, and part of the volunteer toasts are omitted because of their length. Editor Humes's article was headed
" FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.
" The citizens of Brookville and vicinity celebrated the sixty-seventh anniversary of American independence in a spirited and becoming man- ner. The glorious day was ushered in by the firing of cannon and ring- ing of bells. At an early hour the 'Independent Greens,' commanded by Captain Hugh Brady, formed into parade order, making a fine ap- pearance, and marched through the principal streets, cheering and en- livening the large body of spectators, whose attention appeared to be solely drawn to their skilful rehearsals of military tactics; and, after spending some time in a course of drilling, joined the large assembly, without distinction of party or feeling, under the organization and direc- tion of John McCrea, Esq., president of the day, and Samuel B. Bishop and Colonel Thomas Wilkins, marshals; when they proceeded to the court-house, where the Declaration of Independence was read in a clear and impressive tone by L. B. Dunham, Esq., after which David S. Deer- ing, Esq., delivered an address very appropriate to the occasion, touch- ing with point and pathos upon the inducements which impelled our fathers to raise the flag of war against the mother-country. The com- pany then formed into line, and proceeded to the hotel of Mr. George Mclaughlin, at the head of Main Street, where they sat down to a well- served, delicious, and plentiful repast, the ladies forming a smiling and interesting ' platoon' on one side of the table, which added much to the hilarity of the celebration. After the cloth was removed, and the president and committees had taken their seats, a number of toasts applicable to the times, and as varied in sentiment as the ages of the mul- titude, were offered and read, accompanied by repeated cheering and a variety of airs from the brass band, thus passing the day in that union and harmony so characteristic of Americans. It was indeed a 'Union celebration.'
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" VOLUNTEER TOASTS.
" By John McCrea. Our Brookville celebration : a union of parties, a union of feeling, the union established by our Revolutionary fathers of ' 76. May union continue to mark our course until time shall be no more.
"By W. W. Corbett. Liberty, regulated by law, and law by the virtues of American legislators.
" By William B. Wilkins. Henry Clay : a man of tried principles, of admitted competency, and unsullied integrity, may he be the choice of the people for the next Presidency in 1844.
" By Evans R. Brady. The Democrats of the Erie district : a form, locked up in the chase of disorganization ; well squabbled at one side by the awkward formation of the district. If not locked tight by the side- sticks of regular nominations, well driven by the quoins of unity, and knocked in by the sheep's foot of pure principles, it will be battered by the points of whiggery, bit by the frisket of self-interest ; and when the fore- man comes to lift it on the second Tuesday of October, will stand a fair chance to be knocked into pi
" By Michael Woods. Richard M. Johnston, of Kentucky : a states- man who has been long and thoroughly tried and never found wanting. His nomination for the next Presidency will still the angry waves of politi- cal strife, and the great questions which now agitate the nation will be settled upon democratic principles.
" By Hugh Brady. The citizens of Jefferson County : they have learned their political rights by experience ; let them practise the lesson with prudence.
" By B. T. Hastings. The Hon. James Buchanan : the Jefferson of Pennsylvania and choice for the Presidency in 1844. His able and manly course in the United States Senate on all intricate and important subjects entitles him to the entire confidence and support of the whole Democracy.
" By Andrew Craig. Henry Clay : a worthy and honest statesman, who has the good of his country at heart, and is well qualified to fill the Presidential chair.
" By A. Hutcheson. American independence : a virtuous old maid, sixty-eight years old to-day. God bless her.
" By David S. Deering. The Declaration of Independence : a rich legacy, bequeathed us by our ancestors. May it be transmitted from one generation to another until time shall be no more.
" By the company. The orator of the day, David S. Deering : may his course through life be as promising as his commencement.
" By D. S. Deering. The mechanics of Brookville : their structures are enduring monuments of skill, industry, and perseverance.
" By George F. Humes. The American Union : a well- adjusted
543
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
form of twenty-six pages, fairly locked up in the chase of precision by the quoins of good workmen. May their proof-sheets be well pointed and their regular impressions a perfect specimen for the world to look upon.
" By John Hastings. James Buchanan : the able defender of the rights of the people and the high wages candidate for the Presidency in 1844. His elevation to that post is now without a doubt."
In 1840 the mails were carried on horseback or in stage-coaches. Communications of news, business, or affection were slow and uncertain. There were no envelopes for letters. Each letter had to be folded so as to leave the outside blank and one side smooth, and the address was written on this smooth side. Letters were sealed with red wafers, and the postage was six and a quarter cents for every hundred miles, or frac- tion thereof, over which it was carried in the mails. The postage on a letter to Philadelphia was eighteen and three-quarter cents, or three " fip- penny bits." You could mail your letter without prepaying the postage (a great advantage to economical people), or you could prepay it at your option. Postage-stamps were unknown. When you paid the postage the postmaster stamped on the letter " Paid." When the postage was to be paid by the person addressed, the postmaster marked on it the amount due, thus : " Due, 614 cents."
In 1840 nearly half of our American people could neither read nor write, and less than half of them had the opportunity or inclination to do so. Newspapers were small affairs, and the owners of them were poor and their business unprofitable.
The candles used in our houses were either "dips" or "moulds." The " dips" were made by twisting and doubling a number of cotton wicks upon a round, smooth stick at a distance from each other of about the desired thickness of the candle. Then they were dipped into a kettle of melted tallow, when the ends of the sticks were hung on the backs of chairs to cool. The dipping and cooling process was thus repeated till the " dips" attained the proper thickness. This work was done after the fall butchering. " Moulds" were made in tin or pewter tubes, two, four, six, eight, ten, or twelve in a frame, joined together, the upper part of the frame forming a trough, into which the moulds opened, and from which they received the melted tallow. To make the candles, as many wicks as there were tubes were doubled over a small round stick placed across the top of the frame, and these wicks were passed down through the tubes and fastened at the lower end. Melted tallow was poured into the trough at the top till all the tubes were filled. The moulds were usually allowed to stand overnight before the candles were "drawn." The possession of a set of candle-moulds by a family was an evidence of some wealth. These candles were burned in " candlesticks," made of tin, iron, or brass, and each one had a broad, flat base, turned up around the rim to catch the grease. Sometimes, when the candle was exposed
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