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 57
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About the year 1802, Joseph Barnett consented to act as banker for the Indians around Port Barnett. The Indians were all " bimetallists," and had the " silver craze," for their money was all silver ; and bringing their monometallism to Mr. Barnett, he received it from them and de- posited it in their presence in his private vault,-viz., a small board trunk covered with hog-skin, tanned with the bristles on. On the lid were the letters "J. B.," made with brass tacks. The trunk was now full ; the bank was a solid financial institution. In a short time, how- ever, the red men concluded to withdraw their deposits, and they made a " run" in a body on the bank. Barnett handed over the trunk, and each Indian counted out his own pieces, and according to their combined count the bank was insolvent ; there was a shortage, a deficiency of one fifty-cent piece. Mr. Barnett induced the Indians to recount their silver, but the fifty-cent piece was still missing. The Indians then declared Mr. Barnett must die; they surrounded the house and ordered him on the porch to be shot. He obeyed orders, but pleaded with them to count their pieces the third time, and if the fifty-cent piece was still missing, then they could shoot him. This the Indians considered fair, and they counted the silver pieces the third time, and one Indian found he had one more piece than his own; he had the missing fifty-cent piece. Then there was joy and rejoicing among the Indians. Banker Barnett was no longer a criminal; he was the hero and friend of the Indians.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
The following sketch of the first white settlement within the county was principally derived from Andrew Barnett, Jr., Esq., in 1840 :
" Old Mr. Joseph Barnett was the patriarch of Jefferson County. He had done service on the West Branch under General Potter during the Revolution, and also under the State against the Wyoming boys. After the war he settled in Northumberland County, at the mouth of Pine Creek, and very probably might have been one of the Fairplay boys ; at any rate, he lost his property by the operation of the common law, which superseded the jurisdiction of fair play. Again, in 1797, he penetrated the wilderness of the Upper Susquehanna by the Chinklacamoose path, and, passing the headlands between the Susquehanna and the Allegheny, arrived on the waters of Red Bank, then called Sandy Lick Creek. He had purchased lands here of Timothy Pickering & Co. He first erected a saw mill at Port Barnett, where Andrew Barnett, Jr., now resides, at the mouth of Mill Creek, about two miles east of Brookville. His com- panions on this expedition were his brother, Andrew Barnett, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Scott. Nine Seneca Indians, of Cornplanter's tribe, assisted him to raise his mill. Leaving his brothers to look after the new structure, he returned to his family in Dauphin County, intend- ing to bring them out. But Scott soon followed him with the melan- choly news of the death of his brother Andrew, who was buried by the friendly Indians and Scott in the flat opposite the present tavern. This news discouraged him for a while; but in 1800 he removed his family out, accompanied again by Mr. Scott. They sawed lumber and rafted it down to Pittsburg, where it brought in those days twenty-five dollars per thousand. The usual adventures and privations of frontier life attended their residence. The nearest mill was on Black Lick Creek, in Indiana County. Mr. Barnett knew nothing of the wilderness south of him, and was obliged to give an Indian four dollars to pilot him to Westmoreland. The nearest house on the eastward was Paul Clover's (grandfather of General Clover), thirty-three miles distant on the Susquehanna, where Curwensville now stands ; westward Fort Venango was distant forty-five miles. These points were the only resting-places for the travellers through that unbroken wilderness."
Their children were as follows: Sarah and Thomas, twins, born in Pine Creek township, Northumberland County, in 1790, now Clinton County. John was born in Linesville, Dauphin County, June 16, 1795. Andrew, born in Dauphin County, November 22, 1797, where Joseph Barnett was engaged in contracting for and building bridges in the nine- ties. He emigrated with his family from Dauphin County to Mill Creek, Port Barnett, Lycoming County, in 1800, now Jefferson County ; and Rebecca was born at Port Barnett, Lycoming County, August 6, 1802. She was the first white female child born within the present limits of Jef- ferson County. J. Potter was born at Port Barnett, Lycoming County,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
May 23, 1800. Margaret Annie was born October 22, 1805, at Port Barnett, Pine Creek township, Jefferson County. Joseph Scott, the youngest child and the first white male child born in the county, was born April 12, 1812, at Port Barnett, Pine Creek township, Jefferson County ; and Juliet was born April 12, 1808, at Port Barnett, Pine Creek township, Jefferson County.
The original Pine Creek township was erected in Northumberland County at the August term of court in 1785. In 1795, when Lycoming was organized, Pine Creek township became a part of that county. In 1804, when Jefferson County was organized and taken from Lycoming, Pine Creek township was divided, and that part taken from Lycoming was thrown into Jefferson and made into Pine Creek township, and was the whole of Jefferson County until the year 1818.
. The census of 1800 shows that Lycoming had a population of 5414. The population of Pine Creek township, Lycoming County, in 1800, when Joseph Barnett migrated and located at Mill Creek, now Jefferson County, was : whites, 682 ; colored, 24 ; slaves, 5 ; total, 711.
The following advertisement is a relic of the institution of slavery in Pennsylvania at the time Joseph Barnett migrated to what is now Jefferson County :
" 2 S. (SHILLINGS) REWARD.
" Ran away on the 2d inst. negro man John, about 22 ; also negro girl named Flora, about 18, slender made, speaks bad English and a little French. Has a scar on her upper lip and letters branded on her breast. Whoever secures the runaways in any place where their master can get them shall have the above reward and reasonable charges paid by
" JOHN PATTON. " CENTRE FURNACE, MIFFLIN COUNTY, July 26, 1799."
-History of Centre County.
When Joseph Barnett settled on Mill Creek, Pine Creek township, Lycoming County was divided into two election districts,-the third and fourth,-viz .: " 3. That part of Lycoming township west of Pine Run, and that part of Pine Creek east of Chatham's Run, and the township of Nippenose, to form the third district. Elections to be held at the house of Thomas Ramey, Pine Creek.
" 4. All that part of Pine Creek township west of Chatham's Run to constitute the fourth district, and elections to be held at the house of Hugh Andrew, Dunnsburgh." Dunnsburgh, or Dunnstown, as it is now called, is in Clinton County, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1768 by William Dunn, and is about one-half mile down the river from Lock
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Haven, and on the opposite or east side of the river. This fourth district was the polling- or voting-place for the Port Barnett settlement.
Hon. Jacob Rush was then president judge. He was the president judge of the third judicial district, formed, in part, of Northumberland County, from which Lycoming County was taken, the act of April 13, 1795, providing that it shall be within his jurisdiction. He was born in Philadelphia in 1746, was a brother of the famous Benjamin Rush, of that city, and a graduate of Princeton College.
The first road we have any account of in Lycoming County was the " pack-horse" road into the valley of Loyalsock ; it was cut across the mountain from Muncy to Hillsgrove, for the use of explorers and sur- veyors, and was called the " Wallis road," because it was made by Samuel Wallis. In 1793 another "pack-horse" road was cut. It left the Wallis road at the foot of the Alleghenies, then ran northward to the left of Hunter's Lake and on the forks of the Loyalsock, where Forksville is now situated. It was called the " Courson road." In 1792, Williamson cut his famous road through from Trout Run to the Block House and be- yond to enable him to conduct a company of colonists to the Genesee country.
In stature, Mr. Barnett was five feet eight inches, and would weigh about one hundred and eight pounds. His presence was prepossessing, and with his smooth-shaved face, and a countenance open and frank, his appearance was such as to attract the attention of all.
In 1800 the only road was Meade's trail. Before the axe of the lum- berman had visited these forests, the trees stood tall, lordly, and free from undergrowth, the great trunks standing straight in the air, with the ground cool and damp in the shade. You could ride a horse almost any- where through the woods. In 1801, Barnett got out of salt. The nearest place to obtain it was in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Barnett could not make the trip through the woods himself, and he bargained for three days with an Indian to guide him. The Indian wanted just as much more as Barnett felt able to give. At the end of three days the bargain was closed for what the Indian believed to be half-price,-viz., two dollars. The trip to Westmoreland was then made, and after Barnett secured his salt, the Indian coolly remarked, " Me no go back ; me no go back." All then that was left for Barnett to do was to give him his original price of four dollars. Joseph Barnett was rather a homely man in face and features. He was Scotch-Irish. He was a practical business man, a strict Presbyterian, a true Christian of that time. He had his left eye gouged out in a rough and-tumble fight on his saw-mill. He died as he had lived, a true-hearted man, on the 15th of April, 1838, and was buried in our old graveyard above Church Street. His wife passed away four months later, in her sixty-fifth year, and was buried there also.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
BIOGRAPHY OF BILL LONG.
THE "KING HUNTER"-THE HUNTER OF HUNTERS IN THIS WILDERNESS- SOME OF THE ADVENTURES AND LIFE OF "BILL LONG" FROM HIS CHILDHOOD UNTIL HE WAS SEVENTY YEARS OLD.
William Long, a son of Louis (Ludwig) Long, was born near Read- ing, Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1794. His father and mother were Germans. In the summer of 1803, Louis Long, with his family, moved
Bill Long.
into this wilderness and settled near Port Barnett (now the McConnell farm). Ludwig Long's family consisted of himself, wife, and eleven children,-nine sons and two daughters,-William, the subject of this sketch, being the second child. The Barnetts were the only neighbors
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of the Longs. Louis Long brought with him a small " still" and six flint- lock guns, the only kind in use at that time. It was not until about the year 1830 that the percussion-cap rifles were first used, but they were not in general use here for some years after that. As soon as Mr. Long raised some grain he commenced to operate his " still" and manufacture whiskey, this being the first manufactured west of the mountains and east of the Allegheny River.
This part of Pennsylvania was then the hunting-grounds of the Seneca Indians,-Cornplanter tribe. The still house of Long soon became the resort for these Indians. Pittsburg was the nearest market for pelts, furs, etc., and the only place to secure flour and other necessaries, etc. From the mouth of Red Bank Creek these goods had to be poled up to Bar- nett's in canoes. By scooping the channel, wading, and polling, a round trip to the mouth could be made in from one to two weeks. Al- though the woods swarmed with Seneca Indians, as a rule, they never committed any depredations.
In the summer of 1804, when William was ten years old, he killed his first deer. One morning his father sent him into the woods for the cows. Nature was resplendent with verdure. William carried with him a flint- lock gun, and when a short distance from the house he found the cows and a deer feeding with them. This was William's opportunity. He shot and killed this deer, and, as a reward for merit, his father gave him a flint-lock gun as a present. This circumstance determined his course in life, for from that day until his death it was his delight to roam in the forest and pursue wild animals, and hunting was his only business. He was a " professional hunter," a " still hunter," or a man who hunted alone.
In this summer of 1804, William went with his mother to Ligonier, in Westmoreland County, to get some provisions. The only road was an Indian path, the distance sixty miles. They rode through the brush on a horse, and made this trip in about five days.
The Indians soon became civilized, as far as drinking whiskey and getting drunk was an evidence. They visited this still-house for de- bauchery and drunken carnivals. As a safeguard to himself and family, Louis Long had a strong box made to keep the guns and knives of these Indians in while these drunks were occurring. The Indians desired him to do this. Mr. Long never charged the Indians for this whiskey, al- though they always offered pelts and furs when they sobered up. In consideration of this generosity, the Indians, in broken English, always called Louis Long, "Good man ; give Indian whiskey. Indian fight pale-face ; Indians come one hundred miles to give ' good man' warning."
Ludwig Long kept his boys busy in the summer months clearing land, farming, etc. The boys had their own time in winter. Then William, with his gun and traps, traversed the forest, away from the
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
ocean's tide, with no inlet or outlet but winding paths used by the deer when he wished to slake his thirst in the clear, sparkling water of the North Fork.
The boy hunter, to keep from being lost while on the trail, followed up one side of this creek and always came down on the opposite. When he grew older he ventured farther and farther into the wilderness, but always keeping the waters of the North Fork, Mill Creek, and Sandy Lick within range until he became thoroughly educated with the country and woods.
In his boyhood he frequently met and hunted in company with In- dians. The Indians were friendly to him on account of his father's rela- tions to them, and it was these Indians that gave young William his first lesson in the art of hunting. Young William learned the trick of calling wolves in this way. One day his father and he went out for a deer. William soon shot a large one, and while skinning this deer they heard a pack of wolves howl. William told his father to lie down and be ready to shoot, and he would try the Indian method of " howling" or calling wolves up to you. His father consented, and William howled and the wolves answered. William kept up the howls and the wolves answered, coming closer and closer, until his father became scared ; but William wouldn't stop until the wolves got so close that he and his father had to fire on the pack, killing two, when the others took fright and ran away. The bounty for killing wolves then was eight dollars a piece. A short time after this William and his father went up Sandy to watch an elk lick, and at this point they killed an elk and started for home. On the way home they found where a pack of about twenty wolves had crossed their path, near where the town of Reynoldsville now is. Look- ing up the hill on the right side of Sandy they espied the whole pack, and, both father and son firing into the pack, they killed two of them. William then commenced to " howl," and one old wolf through curiosity came to the top of the hill, looking down at the hunters. For this bravery William shot him through the head. On their return home that day Joseph Barnett treated them both to whiskey and "tansy," for, said he, " the wolves this day have killed one of my cows." When Long was still a young man, one day he went up the North Fork to hunt. About sundown he shot a deer, and when he had it dressed there came up a heavy rain. Being forced to stay all night, he took the pelt and covered himself with it, and lay down under the bank to sleep. After midnight he awoke, and found himself covered with sticks and leaves. In a minute he knew this was the work of a panther hunting food for her cubs, and that she would soon return. He therefore prepared a pitch- pine fagot, lit it, and hid the burning fagot under the bank and awaited the coming of the panther. In a short time after this preparation was completed the animal returned with her cubs, and when she was within
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
about thirty feet of him, Long thrust his torch up and out, and when it blazed up bright the panther gave out a yell and ran away.
John Long and William started out one morning on Sandy Lick to have a bear-hunt, taking with them nine dogs. William had been sent out the day before with two dogs, and had a skirmish with one on Sandy Lick, near where Fuller's Station now stands. The two brothers went to this point and found the track, and chased the bear across the creek at Rocky Bend, the bear making for a windfall ; but the dogs stopped him before he reached the windfall and commenced the fight. They soon heard some of the dogs giving death-yells. They both hurried to the scene of conflict, and the first sight they beheld was three favorite dogs stretched out dead and the balance fighting. William ran in and placed the muzzle of his gun against bruin's breast and fired. The bear then backed up to the root of a large hemlock, sitting upright and grabbing for dogs. John and William then fired, and both balls entered bruin's head, not more than an inch apart. In this mêlée three dogs were killed and the other six badly wounded. When William was still a boy he went up the North Fork and killed five deer in one day. On his way home about dark he noticed a pole sticking in the hollow of a tree, and carelessly gave this pole a jerk, when he heard a noise in the hole. The moon being up, he saw a bear emerge from this tree some distance up. Young Long shot and killed it before it reached the earth. In that same fall, Bill Long killed in one day, on Mill Creek, nine deer, the largest number he ever killed in that space of time. At that time he kept nothing but the pelts, and carried them home on his back. Panthers often came around Louis Long's home at night, screaming and yelling. So one morning, after three had been prowling around the house all night, William induced his brother John to join him in a hunt for them. There was snow on the ground, and they took three dogs with them. The dogs soon found the "tracks." Keeping the dogs back, they soon found three deer killed by the brutes, and then they let the dogs go. The dogs soon caught these three panthers feasting on the fourth deer. The dogs treed two of the panthers. John shot one and Billy the other, the third escaped. The hunters then camped for the night, dining on deer- and panther-meat roasted, and each concluded the panther-meat was the sweetest and the best.
In the morning they pursued the third panther, treed it, and killed it. These were the first panthers the Long boys ever killed. This stim- ulated young William, so he took one of the Vastbinder boys and started out again, taking along two dogs. They soon found one, the dogs at- tacking it. Young Vastbinder fired, but missed. The panther sprang for Long, but the dogs caught him by the hams and that saved young Long. The panther broke loose from the dogs and ran up on a high root. Long then fired and broke the brute's back. The dogs then
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
rushed in, but the panther whipped them off. Then Long, to save the dogs, ran in and tomahawked the creature. Long was about eighteen years of age now. At another time a panther sprang from a high tree for Long. Long fired and killed the panther before it reached him, but the
Shooting a panther.
weight of the animal striking Long on the shoulder, felled him to the earth.
In 1815 six brothers of Cornplanter's tribe of Indians erected wig- wams in the Beaver Meadows, where Du Bois now stands. These brothers called themselves respectively "Big" John, "Little" John, " Black" John, "Saucy" John, "John" John, and "John" Sites. In 1823, Long coaxed these Indians to go with him to Luther's tavern to shoot at mark with Lebbeus Luther. Luther made on purpose several careless shots, when the Indians were greatly elated at their victory ; but then, to their amazement and fear, all at once he pierced the centre every time. The Indians were then afraid, and casting superstitious glances at Luther, said, " We are not safe. Luver is a bad medicine.man. Let us go." This was great fun for Long. Long told me this story in 1862 in Hickory Kingdom.
In 1826, Ludwig Long moved to Ohio, and young Bill went with the family. He remained there about twenty months; but finding little
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
game, concluded to return to the mountain-hills of Jefferson County, then the paradise of hunters. In 1828, William Long married Mrs. Nancy Bartlett, formerly Miss Nancy Mason, and commenced married life in a log cabin on the North Fork, three miles from where Brookville now is, and on what is now the Albert Horn farm, formerly the Gaup place. About this time, game being plenty, and the scalps, skins, and saddles being hard to carry in, Bill Long induced a colored man named Charles Sutherland to build a cabin near him on what is now known as the Jacob Hoffman farm. Long was to provide for Charlie's family.
Nhmsn
Long sees one.
The cabin was built, and Sutherland served Long for about five years. Charles never carried a gun. I remember both these characters well in my childhood, and doctored Long and his wife in my early practice and as late as 1862. In 1830, taking Charlie, Long started up the North Fork for bear; it was on Sunday. After Long killed the first bear, he called Charlie to come and bring the dogs. When Charlie reached him he yelled out, "Good God, massa, hab you seed one?" They con- tinued the hunt that day, and before dark had killed seven bears. Charlie had never seen any bears killed before, but after this day was crazy to be on a hunt, for, he said, if " dem little niggers of mine hab plenty of bear-grease and venison, they will fatten well enough." This
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
fall Long killed sixty deer and twenty-five bears, all on the North Fork, and the bears were all killed near and around where Richardsville now is. This locality was a natural home for wild animals, -
" With its woodland dale and dell, Rippling brooks and hill-side springs."
" A life in the forest deep, Where the winds their revels keep; 1
Like an eagle in groves of pine, Long hunted with his mate."
In 1832, the day after Long killed the seven bears, he took Charlie Sutherland, and travelled over the same ground that he had been over the day before. He heard nothing, however, during the day but the sigh of the breeze or the speech of the brook until near evening, when, within about a mile of home, he saw a large buck coming down the hill. He fired and wounded the buck, and then motioned Charlie to come up to him while he was loading. Charlie came with a large pine-log on his back. Long asked him what he was doing with that log. Sutherland replied, he wanted it for dry wood. Long told him to throw the wood away, and made him carry the buck home for food. Long then yoked his two dogs up and told Charlie to lead them, but soon discovering bear signs, told Charlie to let the dogs go. The dogs took the trail, and found two bears heading for the laurel on the head of the North Fork. Long knew the route they would take, and beat them to the laurel path. Soon Long heard them coming, the dogs fighting the bears every time the bears would cross a log, catching them from behind. The bears would then turn around and fight the dogs until they could get over the log. When the bears came within about thirty yards of Long, he shot one through the head and killed him. At this time Long only took the pelts, which he always carried home, the meat being of no account. This same year Long took Charlie with him to get some venison by watching a lick, and he took Charlie up a tree with him. In a short time a very large bear came into the lick. Long shot it while he and Charlie were up the tree. Much to Long's amusement, Charlie was so scared that he fell from the tree to the ground, landing on his back with his face up. He was, however, unhurt, and able to carry home to his cabin the pelt and bear oil. The next morning they saw a bear, and Long fired, hitting him in the lungs: This same fall, on the head of the North Fork, Long saw something black in the brush, which, on closer inspection, proved to be a large she bear. On looking up, he saw three good-sized cubs. Long climbed up, and brought the whole three of them down, one at a time. He then handed them to Charlie, who tied their legs. Long put them in his knapsack and carried them
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