USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
In the mean time the authorities of the State were busy in perfecting the machinery necessary for carrying into effect the scheme for the allotment and distribution of the lands to those persons entitled to receive them. On the 3d of May, 1785, John Lukens, the surveyor-general, is informed that by the report of the comptroller-general the number of lots to be surveyed and the quantity of land that each should contain would be " one hundred and seventy-seven lots of the first description, each containing five hundred acres ; eighty-eight of the second description, each containing three hundred acres ; one hundred and eighty-six of the third description, each containing two hundred and fifty acres, and two thousand one hundred and nineteen of the fourth description, each containing two hundred acres," making two thousand five hundred and seventy lots of the various descriptions, and containing in the
* This sketch has not been found.
95
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
aggregate five hundred and eighty-five thousand two hundred acres of land. On the second of the same month the surveyor-general informed Council that he had nominated the following persons to Council " for their approbation, to be appointed deputy-surveyors of the donation lands west of the Allegheny River,-viz .: Major William Alexander, Benjamin Lodge, Captain James Christie, Ephraim Douglass, Griffith Evans, James Dickinson, John Hender- son, William Power, Junior, Peter Light, Andrew Henderson, James Dickin- son, James Hoge, David Watt, of Sherman's Valley, Alexander McDowell." The territory in which the donation surveys were to be made was divided into ten districts by the surveyor-general, after consultation with General Irvine, soon after the latter gentleman had received the appointment of agent. The districts were numbered in regular order to the north from the north line of the depreciation lands,-District No. I, adjoining that line, and Dis- trict No. 10, covering parts of the present counties of Erie and Warren. From a letter of the surveyor-general to Secretary Armstrong, dated May 14, 1785, in relation to the districts, there seems to have been some slight friction between the authorities in naming the deputy-surveyors. According to Mr. Lukens, the surveyors were named by him and General Irvine, "four of whom were officers of the Pennsylvania Line, and were recommended by their superior officers and were Practical Surveyors in the back counties, to which we added six more as per List sent to Council ye 5th inst." He then says, " At which Mr. Watts coming in, desired me to enter his son's name, which I did, and have also sent in the names of James Hoge & Peter Light, since for fear some of the first ten should disappoint us; four of the first ten are Commissioned & the others sent for-now why the eleventh should be pushed before we hear some thing from the others, I should be glad to be informed, unless Council have some objection to some of the first." The trouble, whatever it may have been, soon disappeared, and the ten surveyors appointed were William Alexander, for the first district; John Henderson, for the second district; Griffith Evans, for the third district; Andrew Hen- derson, for the fourth district; Benjamin Lodge, for the fifth district; James Christy, for the sixth district; William Power, for the seventh district; Alexander McDowell, for the eighth district; James Dickinson, for the ninth district ; and David Watts, for the tenth district. With a single exception the persons named must have entered upon the performance of their duties very promptly and pursued them with commendable energy. Considering the character of the country in which their work was to be done, its wild and unsettled condition, and the difficulties to be encountered and overcome, the task before them was by no means an easy one. Except a few white traders along the Allegheny River, they would meet only Indians, and with their presence in those days there would always be an apprehension of lurking danger. The surveys of nine districts were, however, made with little or no difficulty so far as the record's show, and were returned to the land-office early
96
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
in the year 1786, one district really on the 28th of December, 1785. There was an equal allotment of the number of tracts of each description to be sur- veyed to the ten districts,-twenty tracts of five hundred acres each, ten of three hundred each, twenty-one of two hundred and fifty acres each, and two hundred and seventeen of two hundred acres each to each district. The first district, William Alexander, surveyor, was returned in February, 1786; the second, John Henderson, surveyor, February 6, 1786; the third, Griffth Evans, surveyor, December 28, 1785; the fourth, Andrew Henderson, sur- veyor, January 12, 1786; the fifth, Benjamin Lodge, surveyor, February 7, 1786; the sixth, James Christy, surveyor, March 18, 1786; the seventh, William Power, surveyor, March 13, 1786; the eighth, Alexander McDowell, surveyor, February 15, 1786, and the tenth, David Watts, surveyor, February 12, 1786. The ninth district is omitted from the above statement. The sur- veyor of that district, James Dickinson, does not appear to have reached the locality assigned to him until after the others had completed their work. He started some time in the fall of 1785 to make his surveys, and reached Ve- nango, at which point it seems he was deterred from proceeding any further by fear of trouble with the Indians. After a consultation with several Indian chiefs, he determined to return home without making any surveys in the district. His explanation of this default on his part is found in a letter to the surveyor-general, dated "Pits Burg, 24th January, 1786," (?) in which he gives a statement of his interview with the Indians, his address to them, and the answer of the Chief Whole Face. The letter of explanation and inter- view appear in Volume X., pages 740 and 741, Pennsylvania Archives, and reads as follows :
" JAMES DICKINSON, TO JOHN LUKENS :
" DEAR SIR,-Agreeably to Commission and Instructions for Surveying Donation Lands No. 9, District I proceeded on my Errand as far as Venango; but not without hearing on my way a very great uneasiness among the Indians at the procedure of the State in the Purchase of those lands, whereupon I thought it necessary to stop there a few Days & consult some Indians Chief on the subject before I proceeded further where after with the advice of the Pittsburg Traders There, I sent for by a Runner Whole Face, The Corn Planter, & Long Hair, three Senica Chiefs who were then out a hunting, two Days March from Venango. Whole Face & Long Hair came in & the Corn Planter refused,-At their coming in by an interpreter Elijah Matthews I in- formed them my Errand, they returned for answer, they could not then give me an answer to my Proposal but would in a few Days; I waited on them 4 & then they gave me a Hearing, which was as follows Verbatim .- At Mr. Thomas Wilkey's store at Venango, Present Mr. Thomas Wilkey, Captain Jacob Springer & Elijah Matthews .- Indians, The Chiefs Whole Face & Long Hair, with seven others .-
7
97
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
" My Friend Mr. Whole Face,
" I was sent here by the great Council of the State of Pennsylvania held at Philadelphia, to Measure some Lands a little to the Northward of this Place, which Land I am told the great Council had bought of our Brothers the Indians, whose sole Property they understood it to be-But on my way Here I was told the Indians were not well Pleased we should measure those Lands. I thought it therefore best to stop with you a few Days in Order to know what your uneasiness was if in my Power to remove any obsticle in the Way; being fully assured the Great Council of the State would do every Thing on their side to keep alive Friendship, To maintain Peace, To Increase Friendship, To support a Union & to make Trade Flourish between their Brothers the Indians and themselves, as long as Time shall measure the rolling year, & uttermostly endeavorer the Happiness of both Nations-Now my Brother and Brothers if there is any thing in the way of all these Things I have mentioned, I do wish & intreat you, to inform me frankly and if it can be in my power to serve to removing any such Thing as may obstruct our mutual Happiness, I shall always think myself happy of having it in my power so to do; or if you think some other Person more suitable to represent this Matter should be glad it was soon done & your objections to my Errand sent to the great Council at Philada."
To which Mr. Whole Face after consulting with the others gave the following answer :
" Brother of the Big Knife,
" Several Surveyors have been up here to Measure Lands the Last Sum- mer and have gone Home. We knew not what was their meaning, as none of them told us, but went on without so much as informing their Intent. When they came to our hunting Fires, we used them well without any Question & when they wanted any of our assistance we gave it freely. Many of our young Warriors are dissatisfied with (their) Conduct, who are in the English Interest and also with the Reward we received for the Lands Thinking it inadequate for so large a Body; it not being one pair of Mokosons a piece; they there- fore would advise me not to proceed on my Business and to inform the thir- teen Fires it was their opinion I was not safe to proceed, though they present would pledge their Faith for my safety against all Indians at Venango & the Hunters to the Southward of that place; yet would not answer for it to the Northward, not even one Mile. That in the Spring as early as possible the six Nations would hold a great Council at Fort Pitt where & when they & all their Brethren hoped to make an endless Peace with their Brothers of the thirteen Fires & hoped till then I would put by every Thought of proceeding on my Errand as being very Dangerous ; & then they hoped every obstruction would be removed & we should walk the Woods together as Brothers aught
98
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
to do, in Love & Pleasure. And now my Brother tell your great Council of the thirteen Fires tis our Fault you do not go on and not yours.
His
" Segonkquas X mark
- His
mark
" Conhonew X " Tests, " Thos. Wilkins.
" Jacob Springer. " Traders.
" Elijah X. Matthews, Interpreter. " A true copy from the Original.
" This Dear Sir, with much more was pronounced in words and gestures of much warmth & earnest which made me conclude to proceed no further & return-My feet being much bit with Frost detains my not coming at pres- ent, but will come down as soon as they are recovered a Little. In the mean time remain yours to serve with the utmost affection ?
" JAMES DICKINSON.
" P. S. I have not wrote you the private conversation Directed.
" To John Lukens, Esqr., Surveyor-General, Philadelphia."
The explanation of Mr. Dickinson was not satisfactory, as will be seen by a reference to the proceedings of the Supreme Executive Council at meet- ings held in Philadelphia, March 9 and 10, 1786, to be found in Volume XIV., pages 653 and 654, Colonial Records. Among the proceedings of the 9th the following appears: "On consideration of the delinquency of James Dick- inson, a deputy-surveyor of donation lands, stated in a letter from Mr. Lukens, it was ordered, That he be removed from office, and that the surveyor-general proceed to nominate a successor thereto;" and on the following day we find that " Griffith Evans, Esquire, was appointed a deputy-surveyor of donation lands, in the room of James Dickinson, removed by an order of yesterday." This accounts for the omission of surveys from the ninth district in the first returns made to the land-office, nor were any surveys for donation purposes subsequently made in the district. The reason for this may be found in a minute of the Supreme Executive Council, May 5, 1786, Volume XV., page 16, Colonial Records. The following appears among the proceedings of that day : " A memorial from sundry officers of the late Pennsylvania Line, stating that large bodies of excellent land remain yet unsurveyed on the waters of Beaver River, in the donation land, very far superior in value, quality, and situation, to the lands in district number nine, and praying that the number of lots de- signed for the ninth district may be surveyed on the aforesaid waters, by the surveyor appointed to said district, was read and referred to the surveyor-
99
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
general, who is directed to comply with the prayer of the said petition." Ac- cordingly Griffith Evans, the successor of James Dickinson, immediately proceeded to locate the lots assigned to the ninth district in the unsurveyed parts of districts numbers one, two, and three, and on the 24th of July, 1786, made his returns to the land-office. The return of the surveys made by Mr. Evans, in districts one, two, and three, in place of those originally intended for the ninth district, completed the survey of all the districts and the con- nected drafts of each district, in a good state of preservation, are now remain- ing in the Department of Internal Affairs. The number of lots returned was slightly in excess of the number the surveyor-general was directed to have surveyed. There were two hundred lots of five hundred acres, one hundred of three hundred acres, two hundred of two hundred and fifty acres, and two thousand one hundred and seventy of two hundred acres, making two thousand six hundred and eighty lots comprising six hundred and sixteen thousand five hundred acres of land. Preparations were now begun for the distribution of the lots. The surveyor-general made his return to Council, and on the 31st day of August, 1786, the following order was placed upon the minutes : " Ordered, That the drawing of the lottery for, and the patenting of the said (donation) lots, shall commence on the first day of October next, to be continued one year from the 29th instant." The committee of members of the Supreme Executive Council selected to superintend the drawing of the lottery consisted of John Boyd, Jonathan Hoge, Stephen Ballitt, and William Brown, to which was shortly afterwards added Peter Muhlenberg and Samuel Dean. The records do not show definitely how many applicants availed them- selves of the privilege of drawing during the period first fixed for the lottery to remain open; but evidently Lieutenant Joseph Collier was early on hand. He drew two lots of two hundred acres each, No. 97 in the first district and No. 1462 in the seventh district. A patent was issued to him on the 2d day of October, one day after the drawing began, and it was probably the first one granted. That a large number of claimants made their drawings during the first period is evident, however, from the number of patents that were granted after the opening in October, 1786, and during the year 1787, though it was found necessary as the closing day approached to grant an extension of time to enable other claimants to appear who had failed to do so. A minute of Council, of August 29, 1787, Volume XV., page 263, Colonial Records, reads as follows: "WHEREAS, It is represented to this Board that there are many of the line of the State intitled to land that have not yet appeared by themselves or sent orders to draw for their lots; and by resolve of the board of the 3Ist of August, 1786, they will be precluded unless the time be prolonged so as to include one year from the commencement of drawing ; therefore, Resolved, That the lottery continue open for applicants until the first day of October next, and this resolution be published, so that all con- cerned may have notice thereof."
100
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
The time was again extended for a period of one year by an act passed on the 13th of September, 1788, and by subsequent legislative enactments there were numerous extensions, some of the acts making them also providing for the proper authentication of claims, and for other purposes affecting the rights of claimants. The extensions of time in which to present applications. really continued under the various laws until April 1, 1810, which was the last limit of time fixed, and from that day the offices were closed against any. further applications.
Owing to the uncertainty which existed in regard to the northern boun- dary of the State when the tenth district was surveyed, a serious mistake occurred in the location of a large number of lots in that district. It was dis- covered after the boundary line between Pennsylvania and New York had been located in 1787, that many of the lots fell within the State of New York. This mistake involved * one hundred and twenty lots that were wholly or in part within that State, thirty-one of them lying within the Erie triangle, which did not become a part of Erie County, Pennsylvania, until 1792. Nearly the entire number of these lots had been drawn from the lottery wheels by persons whose claims had been established, and patents had been granted to them before the error in the surveys became known. In order that such persons should not suffer by an unfortunate and mistaken location of the land they had drawn, and thus be deprived of the reward promised to them, the General Assembly on the 30th day of September, 1791, passed a law for their relief. The first section of the act provided that the surveyor-general should ascertain and report to the governor the number of patents that had fallen within the State of New York, together with the number of acres contained in each patent and the names of the persons to whom such patents were issued, which report was to be printed in three newspapers in Philadelphia, with notice to all persons concerned to apply before the first day of December following to the surveyor-general, who was authorized to ascertain by lot the order of priority by which such persons should choose other lots. The second section provided that applicants should in their order of priority choose other lots out of any of the surveyed tracts not otherwise disposed of within any of the donation districts. The third section, that after such persons had made their choice, patents should be granted to them without fees, on the surrender for cancellation of the patents previously granted to them. They were also
* The estimate of the authorities at the time was that one hundred and forty lots' fell wholly within the State of New York and twenty-three partly so, making one hundred and sixty-three in all. This was an overestimate. An actual count of the lots as laid down in the map of the district, if the line drawn thereon is correct, shows the number affected by the mistake to have been as above stated. It was also afterwards discovered that a number of lots that had been drawn and released as lying in New York were found to be wholly in Pennsylvania, a fact shown in the preamble of an act passed April 2, 1802.
IOI
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
required to give quit claims to the Commonwealth for compensation on account of any losses they may have suffered. This act was followed by another on the 10th of April, 1792, extending the limit of time fixed for receiving appli- cations from December 1, 1791, to July 1, 1792, and directing the report of the surveyor-general to be printed in newspapers of Philadelphia, Lancaster, York, Chambersburg, Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Pittsburg, with notice that applica- tion must be made within the time designated. Other legislation for the pur- pose of fully indemnifying the persons who held patents to these lots, and to secure to them all the benefits to which they were entitled under the acts of March 12, 1783, and March 24, 1785, followed the acts above mentioned. The acts of April 5, 1793, and February 23, 1801, were of that character. In the last act the comptroller-general was directed to furnish to the secretary of the land-office a list of the names of such persons whose lots fell outside of the State as had received no equivalent. It also provided that applica- tions under the act should be made within three years by the applicant per- sonally, his widow or children, or by his, her, or their attorney. When made by an attorney he was " to declare under oath or affirmation that he had no interest in the claim otherwise than to serve the applicant." The Board of Property was given power to act in all cases of dispute between applicants, and when lots were drawn the secretary of the land-office was directed to grant patents under the inspection of the Board of Property in the same manner as was formerly done by the Supreme Executive Council. There was no further legislation with special reference to the lots that were surveyed within the State of New York. Under the provisions of the laws recited the claims of all applicants who drew such lots were received when made within the limit of time prescribed, and properly adjusted.
Another difficulty arose in relation to a large number of the lots surveyed in the second district because of the alleged inferior quality of the land laid off by the surveyor, John Henderson. In his notes and observations General Irvine says, in reference to the character of the country which became part of that district, that "East of this path * along Mr. McLane's line for five or six miles, the land is pretty level, well watered with small springs, and of tolerable quality, but from thence to the Allegheny River which is about twenty-five miles due east, there is no land worth mentioning fit for culti- vation." As it was the expressed intention of the General Assembly when the donation was made that only the best lands within the territory set apart by law should be surveyed for the purpose of the donation, it was thought wrong that so laudable a design on the part of the law-makers should be defeated by giving lands that could not be cultivated. The attention of the surveyor- general had early been called to the poor quality of the land in this district by General Irvine. In a letter to General Armstrong, dated at Carlisle, July
* The path leading from Fort Pitt to Venango.
102
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
18, 1786, he recommended that all the surveys made by John Henderson be rejected by Council, and that Major Alexander be appointed to lay off an equal number of lots in other parts of the reserved tracts without being con- fined to any particular district. He further says in the same letter, "If the surveyor-general has not found my letter in which I complained of John Hen- derson's surveys as improper to be accepted-he has had sufficient verbal testimony as well from me as sundry other persons to justify his informing Council that the land is not such as the Assembly intended the troops should get, or they could possibly think of receiving, particularly as he surveyed all bad and left a large quantity of good land within his district." The views of General Irvine were not fully adopted, though his representations did to a certain extent influence the action of Council. In the preparations for the drawing of the lottery, one hundred and thirty-four tracts of two hundred acres each, lying in the eastern part of the district, nearest to the Allegheny River, and now part of Butler County, were stricken from the scheme, and the numbers representing the tracts not placed in the wheels. By this action of Council the district became known as the "Struck District" and was ever after so called. The struck numbers remained out of the wheel until after the act of April 2, 1802, the title of which was "An Act to complete the benevolent intention of the Legislature of this Commonwealth, by distributing the donation lands to all who are entitled thereto," became a law. The pre- amble to this act set forth that some of the officers and soldiers of the Penn- sylvania Line had not received their donation land, and that it was represented that among the lots in the tenth district, for which the owners had received patents and which they had released as being in the State of New York, and received other lots in lieu thereof, many were still in Pennsylvania, and also that there were a number of other lots within the bounds of the donated sur- veys not numbered, returned, or otherwise appropriated. Under this act it was made the duty of the land officers to ascertain the number of such lots of each description that remained undrawn and not otherwise appropriated, or which, having been drawn, had not been applied for within the time prescribed by law, and to cause numbers corresponding to each lot to be made and placed in the wheels from which they were to draw on application being made to them by persons entitled to the donation. Acting under this law the Board of Property, which by this section of the same act was given the same powers relative to donation lands that it exercised over other lands within the Com- monwealth, decided to include the lots of the "Struck District," and put corresponding numbers in the wheels. These numbers remained in the wheels until the act of March 25, 1805, directing them to be withdrawn and not again put in. During the years 1803-4-5, many of the lots had been drawn, and patents for them granted, in some instances causing trouble and litigation. Presuming the lands in the eastern part of the district to be vacant and open to settlement and improvement under the act of April 3, 1792, many settlers
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.