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 65
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
if I should rub rather close on some individuals I hope they will excuse me. But to my story.
" It was court week, or rather the week appointed for court ; but, as there was no president judge, and only one associate in attendance, no business could be transacted. I observed that a general feeling of dis- satisfaction prevailed, and many, indeed, were the imprecations heaped upon the president judge. But I shall leave those interested to settle this matter among themselves and pass on to something more interesting.
" About two or three o'clock on Monday afternoon I observed a num- ber of sleds and sleighs coming into town, loaded with Germans ; my first impression was that an emigrant vessel had just landed, but on in- quiry I was informed that it was 'Gulliver and the Lilliputians' coming to remove the county seat, and that they were going to have a meeting in the court-house that evening for the purpose.
" After supper, in company with several others, I went to the court- house, anticipating some fun, as I had learned that several 'big guns' would be there; and sure enough, there they were, ready primed, and only waiting the application of the torch to send forth their powerful discharges.
" As we entered we found that the meeting had already been organ- ized, although it was quite early ; and after a few minutes' conversation among those gathered in the centre of the bar, a motion was made that a committee of six be appointed to draft a preamble and resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting, etc.
" I observed the president reach out his hand and receive a small slip of paper, from which he read the names of the committee. He then handed the paper to one of the committee, who took a candle and pro- ceeded towards the jury-room ; on arriving at the door which led into the hall he called over the names, but from the slow and reluctant response it was evident that the committee had been selected before the meeting had been opened.
"' In the absence of the committee a motion was made that William A. Stokes, Esq., of St. Mary's, address the meeting. Mr. S. responded to the call, and then the ' bear-dance' commenced ; the ball was opened.
" Mr. Stokes commenced by referring to the preamble and resolutions of the meeting held at Ridgway on the 20th of January, ult., asserting that an unprovoked and wanton attack had been made by that meeting on an absent citizen ; he believed it was intended for him, and if so he hurled back the charges to those who made them as false.
" He appeared ready to defend himself, and called upon the six per- sons who framed those resolutions to meet him, as he was prepared to meet his accusers face to face. He hoped the opportunity would be afforded to any of the opposite party to reply to his remarks ; he desired them to do so, and he would claim the privilege of answering them.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Mr. Souther : Mr. President, I was one of those who held that meet- ing, and I hurl back the charges of the gentleman who has just addressed you with as much fury as they were given. (Tremendous cheers. )
" Here such an excitement was created that it was impossible for him to proceed.
" Mr. Stokes hoped the audience would hear Mr. Souther : he had called upon him to speak, and he wanted to hear him. The Ridgway people had paid attention to him while speaking, and he thought those from St. Mary's would be as liberal.
" Mr. Souther : Mr. President, I am not going to be gagged. I have been called upon to speak, and I am going to do it. Just grounds were had for holding the meeting on the 20th. Letters received from Harris- burg informed them that a strong effort would be made at the present session to remove the county seat to St. Mary's, and urged the propriety of holding meetings and sending on remonstrances immediately.
" He thought this looked very much like forming legislation without giving the citizens of the county an opportunity to canvass the subject. He could prove by documents that Mr. Stokes had been at Harrisburg boring for the passage of the bill; while there he called upon Messrs. Wilcox, Hastings, McCalmont, and others, asking their support and in- fluence in the measure.
" He (Mr. Stokes) had called upon Mr. Wilcox, and had told him he could vote as he pleased ; the bill could be passed without him. Con- siderable excitement ensued, which prevented our hearing his further remarks.
" Mr. Stokes admitted that he had been at Harrisburg, and proceeded to read a bill which had been read in Senate on the 7th of February by Hon. Timothy Ives.
" The bill provided that the citizens of St. Mary's should procure a suitable lot of ground for the erection of public buildings ; they should erect a good and sufficient court-house and public offices, under the supervision of a committee appointed for that purpose, and should also erect a suitable county prison, to be built by direction of the county commissioners, by donation, etc. ; and after said buildings were completed and accepted the seat of justice of Elk County should cease to be at Ridgway, and the public records should be removed and safely deposited in the buildings erected for their reception.
" The same bill also provides that so soon as the county seat shall be removed from Ridgway the present public buildings shall be sold and the proceeds thereof placed in the county treasury ; and that the commis- sioners of Elk County shall not pay out any moneys for the erection of the new buildings at St. Mary's.
" Mr. Stokes further said that the population of the county was nearly all east of St. Mary's, therefore justice to the citizens demanded a removal.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
While the country in the neighborhood of Ridgway was one unbroken forest, that about St. Mary's was fertile and thickly settled.
" Four hundred farms were already opened and being improved. One man on the Driftwood Branch had to travel sixty-one miles to Ridgway when he came to court ; but if the county seat were removed to St. Mary's no person would have to travel more than twenty miles. Ridgway, he humorously remarked, was twenty one years old,-just of age,-conse- sequently full grown, as large as she ever would be ; but St. Mary's, yet in her infancy, being only six years old, beat her two hundred to one. Petitions had been sent to all parts of the county relative to removal.
" Mr. Souther (interrupting) asked if any petitions were at Harris- burg previous to the reading of the bill in the Senate.
" Mr. Stokes said he could not tell, but presumed there were, as they were sent through the county on the 27th of January, and ample time had passed between that and the 7th of February to have them signed and forwarded. After various other remarks, which were not distinctly heard, he resumed his seat.
" Mr. Souther obtained the floor, and dwelt chiefly on the injustice of the proposed removal. The question, he said, should be submitted to the people ; they ought to have an opportunity of deciding upon its merits by ballot. He entered into a detail of the manner in which the public buildings at Ridgway had been erected. They cost five thousand four hundred and thirty-two dollars and thirty-two cents.
" Of this sum, John J. Ridgway donated three thousand dollars, Dick- inson and Wilmarth eight hundred dollars, and James L. Gillis two hun- dred dollars. John J. Ridgway advanced to the county one thousand dollars in payment of his taxes.
" Mr. Souther gave it as his opinion that if the public buildings were sold and the proceeds placed in the county treasury, the donors could bring an action for the recovery of the money, and any panel of jurors would decide that it should be refunded. The use of it by the county would be nothing less than a bold attempt to rob the givers of the amount subscribed. He referred to the project of annexing Shippen township, Mckean County, to Elk, for the purpose of making St. Mary's a more central point, and unfolded a scheme which, if carried into effect, would ultimately create disturbance in parts then uninterested.
" The noise again commencing, his concluding remarks could not be heard, but, quiet being again in a manner restored, Mr. Stokes obtained the floor.
" He said that Mr. Souther gave it as his opinion that, suits being brought, the money donated for the present public could be recovered.
" Mr. Souther : I did, and I don't charge anything for it.
" Mr. Stokes : Well, there is one thing, and every lawyer present will
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
bear me out in it, that a lawyer's opinion which he charges nothing for is not worth much. (Great cheering). But I will give my opinion, and if any one tenders a fee, I will take it. If suits are brought, they will not lay, and the donors cannot recover a cent. This is my opinion, and I will take a fee in order to make it good.
" Mr. Souther (interrupting, and handing him a copper coin) said, ' Mr. Stokes, here is a fee some gentleman requested me to give you.'
" The applause elicited by this sally was so loud and continued so long that the further remarks of Mr. Souther were lost. A tumult then arose. Some shouted for Souther and Gillis and others for Stokes. Mr. Gillis mounted a table and endeavored to make some remarks of a general char- acter, when the committee appeared and asked leave to report.
" The preamble and resolutions were read by Mr. Reuben Winslow, but in so low a tone that a call was made to have them read by a louder voice. Mr. Barr then read them, when a motion for their adoption was made.
" Mr. Gillis then resumed his speech in opposition to the resolutions, but the noise was so great that I could not hear his remarks sufficiently correct to report them, but I heard him say that he had been told by a person from St. Mary's that they had the power in Elk County, and they were going to make use of it.
" Here one of the secretaries, dressed in a blue overcoat, rose and interrupted him and said, ' You mean me ; I told you so.'
" Mr. Gillis replied that he mentioned no names, and did not person- ally implicate any one, but he had been told so, and could prove it.
" The same person interrupted him, saying, ' You meant me ; I can tell by the wink of yer eye, Jim Gillis, who you referred to.'
" Mr. Gillis : If the coat fits, wear it. But it will not do for St. Mary's to come out so bold at this early day.
" Here a call was made for a vote on the resolutions, which was taken, but the confusion became so loud that the chairman was unable to de- cide upon the vote.
" Mr. Johnson, of Warren, rose to make a few remarks : said he felt a delicacy in participating in a matter which in no way concerned him. He thought the measures adopted by the removal party were only calcu- lated to breed disturbance and prolong the consummation of their object. His sympathies were with the citizens of Ridgway, and believed it would be an injustice to remove the county seat from its present location. He recommended that the passage of the resolutions should not be insisted upon, and would move that they be laid upon the table.
" Several voices : He has no business to make a motion ! He don't live in the county !
" Mr. Gillis : I live in the county. I have a right to speak, and I make the motion.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" Mr. Stokes : I move as an amendment that Mr. Gillis's motion be laid on the table.
" Here a discussion ensued in relation to parliamentary usage (a thing very common in such places), in which some half a dozen voices partici- pated at the same time.
" The chairman called for a division of the house on the passage of the resolutions, but no division could be made ; the house was too full. But it was amusing to see the few of the removal party who understood English running to and fro, gathering their flock together.
" The chairman then put the motion viva voce, when one of the leaders of the 'Lilliputian' band jumped upon the judge's desk and waved his hand, when one tremendous, unearthly, unmeaning 'yaw' burst forth, which caused the walls of the building to tremble for its fate ; which being partially subsided, without calling for the negative, the president declared the resolutions passed unanimously.
" We doubt very much whether the resolutions could have been passed fairly, as the largest portion of the meeting was opposed to the removal.
" Immediately after the announcement of the chairman several persons endeavored to obtain the floor, and each party called for its speaker ; but before it could be decided which should have it the candles were blown out, and all was darkness.
" A general rush was made for the doors and windows, and if the court-house was not removed, we are certain that considerable glass in the windows was destroyed.
" I am sorry that I could not procure a copy of the resolutions, etc., as they were no doubt drawn up for publication, but at the time when dark- ness prevailed, neither resolutions, president, secretaries, nor anything re- lating to them could be found. But I have no doubt the above report will be received by your readers as well without as with them. It was a ' bear fight' certain, and, like the old woman, I did not care which whipped, but I am of the opinion that the removal party met with a warmer reception than was anticipated, and when I left the next day the court house and jail were still in Ridgway. The meeting adjourned to meet in two weeks, whether in St. Marys or in Ridgway, I cannot say, but if I can get to it I will let you hear from me again.
" Yours truly,
"A RAMBLER. " February 22, 1849."
ELK COUNTY MEETING.
" At a large meeting of the citizens of Benzinger township and the county of Elk generally held at the borough of St. Marys, on Monday evening, February 12, 1849, George Weis, Esq., was called to the chair, and Ignatius Garner and James P. Barr were appointed secretaries.
" William A. Stokes, Esq., in compliance with the unanimous call of
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the assemblage, addressed them in plain and practical speech on the sub- ject of the county seat.
" Anthony Hanhauser, Esq., moved for the appointment of a commit- tee of three to draft resolutions, whereupon the following were appointed : Dr. B. D. Holcomb, I. Garner, and A. Volmer, who, having retired, reported on their return the following preamble and resolutions :
" ' WHEREAS, Petitions now before this meeting from the various town- ships of this county, prove by the names thereto, that a large majority of the permanent inhabitants and substantial farmers and freeholders of the county desire the removal of the county seat from Ridgway to St. Marys, and whereas the former location is inconvenient, expensive, and im- proper, and the latter location is central, easy of access, convenient, and suitable in all respects ; and whereas, we are able, willing, and ready to erect the public buildings without cost to the county, by individual and private subscription ; therefore,
"' Resolved, That we unite in application to the Legislature for the removal of the seat of justice of Elk county from Ridgway to St. Mary's, according to the provisions of the bill before the Senate.
"' Resolved, That the attempt of a part of the small population of Ridgway to anticipate expected action of those who are favorable to the removal of the county seat and to forestall public opinion on this has been ludicrously ineffective, except in so far as it has precipitated what otherwise might have been delayed, a movement of the people to an end always desired by them, the removal of the county seat from Ridgway, where it was located against their wishes, and by intrigue and arrange- ment, directed only to answer the selfish purposes and private ends of a few interested individuals.
'' Resolved, That the people of this county feel quite competent to the management of their own business, and consider it derogatory to their character that gentlemen from other States, and other persons, not resi- dents of this county, should have largely participated in the efforts made to keep the county seat at Ridgway.
"' Resolved, That the will of the people should always be the supreme law, and that what the citizens of this county desire in regard to the re- moval of the county seat should be done without respect to the influence of wealth, or the representations of self-appointed leaders, who have for years, by the mere power of presumption, managed all the public affairs for their own private ends ; and we call on our senators and representa- tives in the General Assembly to hear and respect that popular voice which at the polls is decisive, and now emphatically demands that justice be done to the oppressed people of this county, by removing the courts and offices from the inconvenient, expensive, and improper location at Ridgway to the central and convenient point which the borough of St. Mary's presents, free of cost for that purpose.'
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" The preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted.
" On motion of George F. Schaefer, a committee was appointed to attend to the petitions and other business connected with the removal of the county seat.
" The following gentlemen constituted the committee : J. Walker, Charles Fisher, G. Schaefer, G. Schæning, X. Brieberger, J. Fitzpatrick, J. Dill, A. Pearsall, E. C. Winslow, A. Fochtmann, MI. Spuler, J. Schaus, J. Ganser, M. Schissle, A. Ostermann, M. Wellendorf, L. Stockmann, A. Andrews, L. Diez, Dr. Sap, M. Munich, P. Steavens, M. Frey, J. Seel, A. Hoffman, J. Meyer, John A. Durgind, David Hubbard, James C. Parkhurst, S. B. Gardner, C. Clinton, John Keller, William Rodroch, William Hicks, and William Myers.
" On motion of Mr. William A. Stokes, Esq.,
"' Resolved, That copies of these proceedings be sent to the Senate and House of Representatives, and be published in the Jefferson Democrat, Mc Kean Yeoman, Harrisburg Union, and Philadelphia Pennsylvanian.'
" GEORGE WEIS, " Chairman."
PUBLIC MEETING IN KERSEY.
" At a large meeting, held at Kersey, on the 3d of March, 1849, Joseph T. Comely, Esq., was called to the chair, and C. Spely and P. Malone were appointed secretaries.
" A committee, consisting of John T. Comely, Matthew McEwen, and Charles Lewis, was appointed to prepare resolutions, who reported the following, which were considered and unanimously passed :
"' Resolved, That the county of Elk, being poor and thinly settled, it is particularly important that the public expenses should be as moderate as possible, and with this view the seat of justice should be central and convenient to the mass of the people, and not (as it is at Ridgway) on one side of the county and remote for the people generally, thereby sub- jecting the county for the public charges and the citizens for their private expenses, to great and unnecessary loss and inconvenience.
"' Resolved, That we are in favor of repairing the great injustice which was done by locating the county seat at Ridgway, and of removing it from that place at the earliest moment to St. Mary's.
"' Resolved, That we protest against a division of this county,-a movement made for the mere purpose of retarding the removal of the seat of justice. The county is already too small, and if reduced in size and the courts are held at Ridgway, the taxes will necessarily be increased to a most ruinous and oppressive extent.
"' Resolved, That we hereby instruct our Senator and Representative to use all honorable means to carry out these views by having the bill for that purpose passed without delay, according to the resolutions of the county meeting, which truly represented and fairly spoke the views, in-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
terests, and opinions of the large majority of the people of the county, who are in favor of the removal of the seat to St. Mary's.'
" The meeting was addressed by William A. Stokes, Esq., Joseph T. Comely, Patrick Malone, Edward McQuone, and Charles Lewis.
" On motion, ' Resolved, That these proceedings be communicated to the Legislature, and be published in the Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, Harrisburg Keystone and Intelligencer, Mc Kean Yeoman, and Brookville Jefferson Democrat.'
" J. T. COMELY, " Chairman."
Meetings were held in Fox and other townships, of which there is no printed record.
During the progress through the State Legislature of the bill for the removal of the county seat of Elk County, an important amendment was proposed by the Hon. Timothy Ives, repaying to the donors the whole amount of money expended by them in erecting the present county buildings.
The bill being brought up on second reading in the Senate on Mon- day, the 26th of March, Mr. Ives offered an amendment so as to make the fifth section read as follows :
" The commissioners of Elk County are hereby required, so soon as the aforesaid seat of justice is removed, to sell the court-house and jail of Ridgway, and to pay the proceeds thereof to the several persons who have contributed towards the erection and completion of said buildings ; the balance, if any, to be paid into the county treasury, for the use of said county," which was agreed to.
The bill, as amended, was then read a second time (yeas, fifteen ; nays, ten), and afterwards a third time, and passed finally.
Colonel A. I. Wilcox, who is still living in his eightieth year, was opposed to the change, and the removal act failed in the House. This agitation in Elk County started an epidemic of "removal of county seats." A petition was introduced in the Senate of Pennsylvania asking the removal of the county seat from Warren to Youngsville. Agitators were desirous to remove the county seat from Smethport, Mckean County, the county seat from Clearfield to Curwensville, and from Brookville to Punxsutawney. The cause of this agitation was land speculation and the " cursed love of gold."
LOCAL HISTORY.
PIONEERS OF RIDGWAY TOWNSHIP, ELK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AS PER ASSESSMENT IN IS43, IN JEFFERSON COUNTY SEATED LIST.
Names of Taxables. - William Armstrong, Watts Anderson, Thomas Graniff, Pierce T. Brooks, Ephraim Barnes, David Benninger, William S. Brownell, William Crow, James Cochran, John G. Clark, Jesse Cady,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
James Crow, John Cobb, Job Carr, William H. Clyde, Absalom Conrad, 'Squire Carr, William Daugherty, Henry Dull, Caleb Dill, George Dick- inson, Eli Frederick, John Evans, Daniel Fuller, Ridgway O. Gillis, Caroline Gillis, James L. Gillis, Silas German, Rufus Galusha, Enos Gillis, William H. Gallegher, James Gallegher, Esq., Charles Gillis, Rich- ard Gates, Miles German, Arthur Hughes, Peter Hardy, Joseph S. Hyde, Ralph Hill, Charles H. & L. Horton, Frederick Heterick, Chester Hayes, Harvey Hoyt, Hughes & Dickinson, James A. Johnston, Henry Karns, Frederick Kiefer, Benjamin Kiefer, John Knox, Reuben Lyles, Thomas Lynn, Ebenezer Lee, William McLatchey, Erasmus Morey, John Mc- Latchey, Joseph Meffert, William Meade, Horace Olds, Riverus Prindle, Paine & Watterson, Chester Paine, George Phillips, Willoughby Redline, D. S. Ramsey, Amos Sweet, John Snyder, John Sharley, George L. Smith, Samuel Stoneback, Ephraim Shawl, James Shawl, David H. & L. Thayer, Cornelius Van Orsdale, Jamison Veasey, Van Schirk, Elisha Weaver, David Worden, Maria Wilcox, Boston Lumber Company.
THE FIRST PAPERS PUBLISHED.
As I have given you the history of the first paper published in the county,-viz., the Elk Advocate,-I will now give the name of the first paper published for the county,-viz., the Jefferson Democrat and Jeffer- son and Elk County Advertiser.
This paper was published every Wednesday morning, in Brookville, by Evans R. Brady and Clark Wilson ; terms, one dollar and fifty cents a year. This paper was published to and ended with the issue of April 6, 1850. I find in vol. iv., No. 1, of the Jeffersonian, in the issue of January 5, 1848, the following :
" Having made arrangements with some of the officers of Elk County to furnish blanks, to do their advertising, etc., we have changed the name of our paper to suit this arrangement."
I see by the paper that David Thayer was sheriff, Charles Horton, prothonotary, and Henry Souther, treasurer.
The only item of interest that I can find in these papers is in rela- tion to two or three Democratic meetings in Ridgway.
The total vote of the county in 1848 was four hundred and twenty- eight.
THE FIRST POLITICAL, MEETING.
The first political gathering in Ridgway of which there is any pub- lished record was held in the court-house, February 28, 1848. It was a Democratic meeting. Hon. Isaac Horton was appointed president, Nathaniel Hyatt and John S. Brockway, vice-presidents, and Charles Horton and W. A. Simpson, secretaries.
The object of the meeting having been stated by S. M. Burson, Esq., on motion, a committee of eight-viz., Thomas Dent, Samuel Overturf,
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