USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 21
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In the thirties distance governed the postage on letters up to four hun- dred miles and more. The price of such a letter was twenty-five cents. The postmaster, who was also a merchant, took produce for letters the same as for goods, and for postage on such a letter as named would receive two bushels of oats, two bushels of potatoes, four pounds of butter, or five dozen eggs. To pay the postage on thirty-two letters, such as named, the farmer would have to sell a good cow. "In early times it was death by the law to rob the United States mails."
In the pioneer days, or previous to about 1860, there was no bank in Jefferson County. There was no way to transmit funds except sending them with a direct messenger or by some neighbor who had business in the locality where you desired to send your money. An adroit way was to secure a ten-, fifty-, or one-hundred-dollar bill, cut it in two, send the first half in a letter, wait for a reply, and then enclose the other half in a letter also. The party receiving the halves could paste them together. The pioneer merchants, when going to Philadelphia for goods, put their silver Spanish dollars in belts in undershirts and on other parts of their persons, wherever they thought it could be best concealed. In this way on horseback they made journeys. Every horseback rider (tourist) carried a pair of leather saddle-bags.
In the United States, July 1, 1837, the post-roads were about 118,264 miles in extent, and the annual transportation of the mails was at the rate of 27,578,621 miles,-viz .:
On horseback and in sulkies, 8,291,504; in stages, 17,408,820; in steam- boats and railroad cars, 1,878,297.
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
The number of post-offices in the United States on July 1, 1835, was 10,770; on July 1, 1836, 11,091 ; and on December 1, 1837, 11, 100.
In the year 1837 the Postmaster-General recommended a revision of the present rates of postage, making a reduction of about twenty per cent., to take effect on July I, next. To this end he suggested the following letter postage :
75 miles and under 5 cents. 150 miles and over 75 miles 10 66 300 miles and over 150 miles 15 66 600 miles and over 300 miles 20
Over 600 miles 25
Postage stamps were invented by James Chalmers, an Englishman, and first used May 6, 1840, in London.
The first issue of the United States stamps took place in 1845, but the postmasters of several places had issued stamps for their own convenience a few years before this. These "Postmasters'," or provisional stamps, of course, were not good for postage after the government issue took place.
The first stamp sold of this issue was bought by the Hon. Henry Shaw. This issue consisted of but two denominations, the five- and ten-cent ones, and were unperforated, as were the stamps of the next series, issued in 1851-56.
The pioneer post-office was established in this State under an act of Assembly, November 27, 1700.
CHAPTER XI
SUSQUEHANNA AND WATERFORD TURNPIKE-THE OLD TOLL-GATES ALONG THE ROUTE-A FULL HISTORY OF THE OLD TURNPIKE
IN 1792 the first stone turnpike in the United States was chartered. It was constructed in Pennsylvania, in 1794, from Lancaster to Philadelphia. In this year, also, began the agitation in Pennsylvania for internal improvement. An agitation that resulted in a great era of State road, canal, and turnpike construction, encouraged and assisted by the State government. From 1792 until 1832 the Legislature granted two hundred and twenty charters for turnpikes alone.
These pikes were not all made, but there was completed within that time, as a result of these grants, three thousand miles of passable roads. The pioneer turnpike through our wilderness was the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike. On February 22, 1812, a law was enacted by the Pennsylvania Legislature enabling the governor to incorporate a company to build a turn- pike from the Susquehanna River, near the mouth of Anderson Creek, in Clearfield County, through Jefferson County and what is now Brookville, and through the town of Franklin and Meadville, to Waterford, in Erie County. The governor was authorized to subscribe twelve thousand dollars in shares toward building the road. Joseph Barnett and Peter Jones, of Jefferson County, and two from each of the following counties, Erie, Craw- ford, Mercer, Clearfield, Venango, and Philadelphia, and two from the city of Philadelphia, were appointed commissioners to receive stock. Each of the counties just named was required to take a specified number of shares, and the shares were placed at twenty-five dollars each. Jefferson County was required to take fifty shares.
The war of 1812 so depressed business in this part of the State that all work was delayed on this thoroughfare for six years. The company com- menced work in 1818, and the survey was completed in October of that year. In November, 1818, the sections were offered for sale, and in November. 1820, the road was completed to Bellefonte.
The commissioners employed John Sloan, Esq., to make the survey and grade the road. They began the survey in the spring and finished it in the fall of 1818, a distance of one hundred and four miles. The State took one- third of the stock. James Harriet, of Meadville, Pennsylvania, took the con- tract to build the road, and he gave it out to sub-contractors. Some took
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
five miles, some ten, and so on. The bridge over the Clarion River was built in 1821, by Moore, from Northumberland County; it was built with a single arch.
In March, 1821, an act was passed by the Legislature appropriating two thousand five hundred dollars for improving the road. Appointments were made in each county through which the road passed of people whose duty it was to receive the money for each county and to pay it out. Charles C. Gaskill and Carpenter Winslow represented Jefferson County.
Early barn
Andrew Ellicott never surveyed or brushed out this turnpike. He was one of the commissioners for the old State Road.
Our turnpike was one hundred and twenty-six miles long. The individual subscriptions to its construction were in total fifty thousand dollars, the State aid giving one hundred and forty thousand dollars. This was up to March, 1822. The finishing of our link in November, 1824, completed and opened one continuous turnpike road from Philadelphia to Erie. Our part of this thoroughfare was called a " clay turnpike," and in that day was boasted of by the early settlers as the most convenient and easy-travelling road in the
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United States. That, in fact, anywhere along the route over the mountain the horses could be treated to the finest water, and that anywhere along the route, too, the traveller, as well as the driver, could regale himself " with the choicest Monongahela whiskey bitters," clear as amber, sweet as musk, and smooth as oil.
" Immediately after the completion of the turnpike mile-stones were set up. They were on the right-hand side of the road as one travelled east. The stones when first erected were white, neat, square, and well finished. On each stone was inscribed, 'To S. oo miles. To F. oo miles.' Of course, figures appeared on the stones where ciphers have been placed above. S. stood for Susquehanna, which is east, and F. for Franklin, which is west."
Only the commonest goods were hauled into this country over the old State Road, and in the early days of the turnpike, Oliver Gregg, with his six horses, and Joseph Morrow, with his outfit of two teams, were regularly employed for many years in carrying freight from Philadelphia to this section. It took four weeks to reach here from Philadelphia, and the charge for freight was about six dollars per hundred pounds. A man by the name of Potter in latter years drove an outfit of five roan horses. Each team had a Conestoga wagon and carried from three to four tons of goods.
THE TOLL-GATE
With the completion of the turnpike came the toll-gate. One was erected every five or ten miles.
Gangs of men were kept busy constantly repairing the pike, and they were individually paid at these gates. The road was then kept in good condition.
" AN ACT TO ENABLE THE GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH TO INCORPORATE A COMPANY FOR MAKING AN ARTIFICIAL ROAD, BY THE BEST AND NEAREST ROUTE, FROM WATERFORD, IN THE COUNTY OF ERIE, THROUGH MEADVILLE AND FRANKLIN TO THE RIVER SUSQUEHANNA, AT OR NEAR THE MOUTH OF ANDERSON'S CREEK, IN CLEARFIELD COUNTY
" SECTION 13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said company, having perfected the said road, or such part thereof, from time to time as aforesaid, and the same being examined, approved, and li- censed as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for them to appoint such and so many toll-gatherers as they shall think proper, to collect and receive of and from all and every person and persons using the said road the tolls and rates hereinafter mentioned; and to stop any person riding, leading, or driving any horse or mule, or driving any cattle, hogs, sheep, sulkey, chair, chaise, phaeton, cart, wagon, wain, sleigh, sled, or other carriage of burden or pleasure from passing through the said gates or turnpikes until they shall have respectfully paid the same,-that is to say, for every space of five miles in length of the said road the following sum of money, and so in proportion
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
for any greater or less distance, or for any greater or less number of hogs, sheep, or cattle, to wit : For every score of sheep, four cents ; for every score of hogs, six cents ; for every score of cattle, twelve cents ; for every horse or mule, laden or unladen, with his rider or leader, three cents ; for every sulkey, chair, chaise, with one horse and two wheels, six cents; and with two horses, nine cents ; for every chair, coach, phaeton, chaise, stage-wagon, coachee, or light wagon, with two horses and four wheels, twelve cents; for either of the carriages last mentioned, with four horses, twenty cents; for every other carriage of pleasure, under whatever name it may go, the like sum, according
TURNPIKE:
INDIANA ROAD 2081
BARNETT'S INN 1826.
Port Barnett
to the number of wheels and of horses drawing the same; for every sleigh or sled, two cents for each horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, or other carriage of burden, the wheels of which do not in breadth exceed four inches, four cents for each horse drawing the same; for every cart or wagon, the wheels of which shall exceed in breadth four inches, and shall not exceed seven inches, three cents for each horse drawing the same; and when any such carriages as aforesaid shall be drawn by oxen or mules, in the whole or in part, two oxen shall be estimated as equal to one horse; and every ass or mule as equal to one horse, in charging the afore- said tolls."
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COMPLETION OF THE TURNPIKE
The first stage line was established over the Waterford and Susquehanna turnpike from Bellefonte to Erie by Robert Clark, of Clark's Ferry, Penn- sylvania, in November, 1824. It was called a Concord line, and at first was a tri-weekly. The first stage-coach passed through where Brookville now is about November 6, 1824. In 1824 the route was completed to Philadelphia, through Harrisburg, and was a daily line.
" The arrival of the stages in old times was a much more important event than that of the railroad trains to-day. Crowds invariably gathered at the public houses where the coaches stopped to obtain the latest news, and the passengers were of decided account for the time being. Money was so scarce that few persons could afford to patronize the stages, and those who did
Stage
Coach
E.C.HALL.PHOTO
1824-50
were looked upon as fortunate beings. A short trip on the stage was as formidable an affair as one to Chicago or Washington is now by railroad. The stage-drivers were men of considerable consequence, especially in the villages through which they passed. They were intrusted with many delicate missives and valuable packages, and seldom betrayed the confidence reposed in them. They had great skill in handling their horses, and were the admira- tion and envy of the boys.
" The traffic on the turnpike began, of course, at its completion in Novem-
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
ber, 1824. It increased gradually until it reached enormous proportions. A quarter of a century after the road had been built it arrived at the zenith of its glory."
Pedlers of all kinds, on foot and in covered wagons, travelled the pike. From Crawford County came the cheese and white-fish pedler. Several people, including the hotel-men, would each buy a whole cheese.
The pioneer inns or taverns in Jefferson County along this highway were about six in number. Five of the six were built of hewed logs,-viz. : one where Reynoldsville is; the Packer Inn, near Peter Baum's; one near Campbell Run (Ghost Hollow) ; the William Vastbinder Inn ; James Winter's tavern, at Roseville; and John McAnulty's inn, kept by Alexander Powers, where Corsica is now located. The Port Barnett Inn at this time was a " frame structure," as its picture represents.
The old State Road was opened and finished to Holeman's Ferry, on the Allegheny River, in 1804. This point is now in Forest County. There was no provision made to complete the road from there to Waterford by the Legis- lature until 1810. At that time Clarion County was not organized, and the part of the State Road that now lies in Clarion County was then in Venango County.
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CHAPTER XII
PIONEER AGRICULTURE-HOW THE FARMERS IN THE OLDEN TIME HAD TO MAKE SHIFT-THE PIONEER HOMES-PIONEER FOOD-PIONEER EVENING FROLICS-TREES, SNAKES, AND REPTILES-SOLDIERS OF 1812-PIONEER LEGAL RELATIONS OF MAN AND WIFE-EARLY AND PIONEER MUSIC-THE FIRST SCREW FACTORY-POPULATION OF THE STATE AND OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR convenience in description I may here state that the soil of North- western Pennsylvania was covered in sections with two different growths of timber,-viz .: sections of oak and other hard-wood timber, with underbrush and saplings. Some of these sections were called the barrens. The other sections were covered with a dense and heavy growth of pine, hemlock, poplar, cucumber, bass, ash, sugar, and beech, with saplings, down timber, and under- brush in great profusion. The mode of clearing in these different sections was not the same. In the first-mentioned or sparsely covered section the pre- liminary work was grubbing. The saplings and underbrush had to be grubbed up and out with a mattock and piled in brush-piles. One man could usually grub an acre in four days, or you could let this at a job for two dollars per acre and board. The standing timber then was usually girdled or deadened, and allowed to fall down in the crops from year to year, to be chopped and rolled in heaps every spring. In the dense or heavy-growth timber the preliminary work was underbrushing, cutting the saplings close to the ground, piling the brush or not, as the necessity of the case seemed to require. The second step was the cutting of all down timber into lengths of ten or fifteen feet. After this came the cutting of all standing timber, which, too, had to be brushed and cut into twelve- or fifteen-foot lengths. This latter work was always a winter's job for the farmer, and the buds on these falling trees made excellent browsing feed for his cattle. In the spring-time, after the brush had become thoroughly dry, and in a dry time, a good burn of the brush, if possible, was obtained. The next part of the process was logging, usually after harvest. This required the labor of five men and a team of oxen,-one driver for the oxen and two men at each end of the log-heap. Neighbors would " morrow" with each other, and on such occasions each neighbor usually brought his own handspike. This was a round pole, usually made of beech-, dog-, or iron-wood, without any iron on or in it, about six feet long, and sharpened at the large end. Logs were rolled on the pile over skids. Sometimes the cattle
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
were made to draw or roll the logs on the heap. These piles were then burned, and the soil was ready for the drag or the triangular harrow. I have looked like a negro many a time while working at this logging. Then money was scarce, labor plenty and cheap, and amusements few, hence grubbing, chop- ping, and logging " frolics" were frequent and popular. For each frolic one or more two-gallon jugs of whiskey were indispensable. A jolly good time was had, as well as a good dinner and supper, and every one in the neighbor- hood expected an invitation.
As there was a fence law then, the ground had to be fenced, according to this law, "horse-high, bull-strong, and hog-tight." The effort made by the pioneer to obey this law was in four ways,-viz .: First, by slashing trees and placing brush upon the trees ; second, by using the logs from the clearing for the purpose of a fence ; third, by a post- and rail-fence, built straight, and the end of each rail sharpened and fastened in a mortised post ; fourth, by the common rail- or worm-fence. These rails were made of ash, hickory, chestnut, linn, and pine. The usual price for making rails per hundred was fifty cents with board. I have made them by contract at that price myself.
" I seem to see the low rail-fence, That worming onward mile on mile, Was redolent with pungent scents Of sassafras and camomile. Within a fence-rail tall and bare, The saucy bluebird nested there; 'Twas there the largest berries grew, As every barefoot urchin knew! And swiftly, shyly creeping through The tangled vine and the bramble dense, The mingled sunshine and the dew, The Bob-White perched atop the fence ; And, flinging toil and care away, He piped and lilted all the day."
In 1799, when Joseph Hutchison lived in what is now Jefferson County, wheat sold in this section of the State for two dollars and fifty cents per bushel, flour for eighteen dollars per barrel, corn two dollars, oats one dollar and fifty cents, and potatoes one dollar and fifty cents per bushel.
Wheat was brought into Massachusetts by the first settlers. Rye was also brought by them and cultivated. Our Indian corn was first successfully raised in 1608, on the James River, Virginia. Oats were brought by the first settlers and sown in 1602. Buckwheat, a native of Asia, was taken to Europe in the twelfth century, and was grown in Pennsylvania in 1702. Barley was intro- duced by permanent settlers and is a native of Egypt.
Columbus brought domestic animals in his second voyage, in 1493. He brought a bull, several cows, and an assortment of horses. In 1609, sheep, goats, swine, and fowls were brought.
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The early axes were called pole-axes. They were rude, clumsy, and heavy, with a single bit. About 1815 an improved Yankee single-bit axe was introduced, but it, too, was heavy and clumsy. In about 1825 the present double-bitted axe came to be occasionally used.
I have never seen the wooden plough, but I have seen them with the iron shoe point and coulter. These were still in use in the late twenties. I have driven an ox-team to the drag or triangular harrow. This was the principal implement used in seeding ground, both before and after the introduction of the shovel-plough in 1843.
" The greatest improvement ever made on ploughs, in this or any other country, was made by Charles Newbold, of Burlington, New Jersey, and pat- ented in 1797. The mould-board, share, landslide, and point were all cast together in one solid piece. The plough was all cast iron except the beam and handles. The importance of this invention was so great that it attracted the
Ciearing land
attention of plough-makers and scientific men all over the country. Thomas Jefferson (afterwards President of the United States) wrote a treatise on ploughs, with a particular reference to the Newbold plough. He described the requisite form of the mould-board, according to scientific principles, and calculated the proper form and curvature of the mould-board to lessen the friction and lighten the draught.
" The Newbold plough would have been nearly perfect had it not been for one serious defect. When the point, for instance, was worn out, which would soon be accomplished, the plough was ruined and had to be thrown aside. This defect, however, was happily remedied by Jethro Wood, who was the first to cast the plough in sections, so that the parts most exposed to wear could be replaced from the same pattern, by which means the cast-iron plough became a complete success. His plough was patented in 1819, twenty-
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two years after Newbold's patent. It is a wonder that so long a time should have elapsed before any one thought of this improvement. These two men did more for the farmers in relation to ploughs than any others before their time or since."
In harvest-time the grain was first reaped with a sickle; then came the cradle. In my boyhood all the lying grain thrown down by storms was still reaped with a sickle. I carry the evidence of this on my fingers. A day's work was about two acres. McCormick perfected his reaper in 1848. Grain was usually thrashed by a flail, though some tramped it out with horses. By the flail ten bushels of wheat or twenty bushels of oats was a good day's work. Men who travelled around thrashing on shares with the flail charged every tenth bushel, including board. The tramping was done by horses and by farmers who had good or extra barn floors. The sheaves were laid in a circle, a man stood in the middle of the circle to turn up and over the straw as needed, and then, with a boy to ride one horse and lead another, the " tramping" in this circuit commenced. This was hard work for the boy; it made him tired and sore where he sat down. To prevent dizziness, the travel on the circuit was frequently reversed. One man, a boy, and two horses could tramp out in this way in a day about fifteen bushels of wheat or thirty-five bushels of oats. Grain was cleaned by means of two hand-riddles, one coarse and one fine. These riddles had no iron or steel about them, the bottom of each being made of wooden splints woven in. The riddles were two and one- half feet in diameter and the rings about four inches wide. Three men were required to clean the grain,-one to shake the riddle, while two others,. one at each end of a tow sheet, doubled, swayed the sheet to and fro in front of the man shaking the riddle. These three men in this way could clean about ten or fifteen bushels of wheat in a day. This process was practised in the twenties. Windmills came into use about 1825. For many years there were extremely few wagons and but poor roads on which to use them. The early vehicles were the prongs of a tree, a sled made of saplings, called a "pung," and ox-carts. In fact, about all the work was done with oxen, and in driving his cattle the old settler would halloo with all his might and swear profusely. This profanity and hallooing was thought to be necessary. The pioneer sled was made with heavy single runners, the " bob"-sled being a later innovation. It might be proper to say here that the first agricultural society in America was organized in Pennsylvania in 1784.
" HAYING IN THE OLDEN TIME
" Haying in the old days was a much more formidable yearly under- taking than it is to modern farmers. Before the era of labor-saving haying implements farmers began the work of having early in the day and season, and toiled hard until both were far spent. Human muscle was strained to exert a force equal to the then unused horse-power. On large farms many 'hands'
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
were required. Haying was an event of importance in the farmer's year. It made great demands upon his time, strength, and pocket-book. His best helpers were engaged long in advance, sometimes a whole season. Ability to handle a scythe well entitled a man to respect while haying lasted. Experts took as much pains with a scythe as with a razor. Boys of to-day have never seen such a sight as a dozen stalwart men mowing a dozen-acre field.
" On the first day of haying, almost before the sun was up, the men would be at the field ready to begin. The question to be settled at the very outset was as to which man should cut the 'double.' This was the first swath to be cut down and back through the centre of the field.
" The boys brought up the rear in the line of mowers. Their scythes were hung well 'in,' to cut a narrow swath. They were told to stand up straight when mowing, point in, keep the heel of the scythe down, and point out evenly, so as not to leave 'hog-troughs' on the meadow when the hay was raked up. Impatient of these admonitions, they thought they could mow pretty well, and looked ambitiously forward to a time when they might cut the ' double.' "
HOW THE PIONEER BOUGHT HIS LAND
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