USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 61
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653
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
imposed its duties upon them. This condition of affairs at last became too onerous and irksome to be longer borne without an effort being made to effect a change. Hence in the winter of 1818-19 Colonel Joseph Hackney, of the town of Warren, then representing Venango County in the State Legislature, introduced a bill providing for the separate and independent organization of the county of Warren. His efforts were crowned with almost immediate success, and on the 16th day of March. 1819, an act containing the legislation desired was passed.
" This act provided that Warren should be organized as a separate county from and after October 1, 1819, and be attached to the Sixth Judicial District. Also, that the legal electors should choose county officers at an election to be held on the second Tuesday of October of that year, whose duties were to be considered as commenced from the first day of October, 1819. We have no evidence, however, that such an election was held, and from the fact that Lansing Wetmore's commissions as prothonotary, clerk of courts, register and recorder, etc., were signed by the governor, September 25, 1819, it is believed that all the chief officers of the county at the beginning were ap- pointed by the same authority.
" The Hon. Jesse Moore was the first judge in the order of time, from 1819 to 1824. He was a gentleman of the old school, dignified but courteous, learned but not brilliant, characterized by stern integrity and freedom from all prejudice. He was a short, thick-set man, and some still remember his benignant countenance, partially bald head, well-powdered hair, and broad- brimmed, drab-colored hat. He died suddenly, when still in the prime of life and maturity of intellect, honored and lamented by all.
" Henry Shippen succeeded him from 1825 to 1835. His characteristics were common sense and sound judgment. Many here will remember his inflexible honesty, his fidelity to truth, and his contempt for trickery and fraud. A single instance will suffice to illustrate: In 1834 a notorious person- age of a neighboring county, by fraud and false interpretation, had procured a judgment note from the venerable old Cornplanter for three thousand dol- lars, entered judgment, and issued execution on it. Application was made by counsel, in behalf of the old chief, to open the judgment and let him into a (lefence. As the evidence of the villany was disclosed, the judge became very nervous. Anger flashed from his eye, and before the counsel got through his evidence the judge told him to stop, and, leaning over the bench, in a voice hoarse with indignation, said, 'Mr. Clerk, set aside that writ and strike that judgment from the records of this court !'
" Next came, in 1835, Judge Nathaniel B. Eldred, the accomplished gen- tleman, brimful of honor, honesty, and sympathy. His quick perception, sound judgment, and stern impartiality guided him to the justice of a case, without the aid of much legal learning, so that his decisions were seldom appealed from and were seldom reversed. With but a year of interruption he remained
654
-
N. B. Eldred
L. D. Wetmore
S. P. Johnson
W. 1). Brown
Rasselas Brown
Warren pioneer judges
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
with us until 1843, when he was removed by appointment to the Harrisburg district. His social qualities and public spirit, as well as official conduct, had greatly endeared him to the hearts of the people of this and other counties, who parted with him with much reluctance and regret.
" In 1839, after the death of Judge Shippen, Judge Eldred was appointed his successor in the sixth district, out of which this county had been taken in 1835 to form part of the eighteenth, and without our solicitation or knowl- edge Alexander McCalmont was appointed to fill his place in the eighteenth district, including Warren County. His administration was so short and un- satisfactory that I will be excused for passing it over in silence. The next year, by legslative act, this county was restored to the sixth district, and thus
Methodist church, 1835
again came under the jurisdiction of Judge Eldred. He was the only judge of the first seven that ever resided in Warren."
The pioneer Methodist minister to visit Warren was Rev. R. R. Roberts. in 1806. The pioneer Presbyterian minister to visit Warren was in 1822. The pioneer school-teacher was in 1804,-a Mistress Cheeks ; she had a Dil- worth Speller and a copy of the New Testament. The pioneer frame school- house was erected in 1820 on the public grounds. The pioneer jail was made of stone in 1829. The pioneer court-house was of brick, in 1827; all courts held previous to that were convened in a house that stood where the Carver Hotel now stands. A steamboat was built in 1830 to run from Warren to
42
657
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Olean; she was called the " Allegheny," and made but one trip. Warren Borough has an existence since April 18, 1795. The town of Warren, as originally laid out, consisted of five hundred and twenty-five lots, each fifty- eight by two hundred and thirty-three feet. An order for the sale of the lots in Warren, Erie, Waterford, and Franklin was issued by Governor Mifflin on the 7th day of May, 1796. All this territory was then Allegheny County. These lots were directed to be sold at Philadelphia, Carlisle, and the borough of Pittsburg. The pioneer permanent building was erected in 1796, and belonged to the Holland Land Company. Warren contained but few white people then, but many Indians. In 1813 the town had but five houses. In 1832 Warren was made a borough, with a population of three hundred and eighty-five. In 1840 it had a population of seven hundred and thirty-seven. The pioneer saw-mill on the upper waters of the Allegheny was erected about 1799. A grist-mill was built at Ceres in 1801. The pioneer raft to float down the Allegheny, from near Warren, was in 1801. In that year there were two saw-mills in the county,-one on the Brokenstraw, and one on Jackson Run. A small raft from each of these mills was run down in 1801.
The pioneer four-horse stage-coach arrived from Dunkirk to Warren May 24, 1826. In 1840 you could go by stage from Buffalo to Pittsburg in less than three days. In 1848, by a line established by Richard T. Orr and others, a traveller could go from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to Buffalo, New York, in less than three days. The distance from Pittsburg by way of Erie to Buffalo was two hundred and twenty-four miles.
TAXABLE INHABITANTS IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
1835
1842
1849
Butler
4,322
5,535
7,490
Crawford
5,164
7,516
8,130
Clarion
not erected
3,3II
5,087
Elk
not erected
877
Jefferson
902
1,788
2,622
Lawrence
not erected
4,425
McKean
1,089
1,213
Mercer
5,196
7,356
6,923
Potter
556
681
1,346
Tioga
2,485
4,091
5,237
Venango
3,014
3,127
4,027
Warren
1,600
3,593
3,149
23,239
38,087
50,526
658
CHAPTER XXXIX
ALLEGHENY CITY-BEAVER CITY-DUBOIS CITY-TOWANDA CITY
ALLEGHENY CITY, IN THE PURCHASE OF 1784
Allegheny City is situated on the right bank of the Allegheny River, near the junction with the Monongahela, opposite Pittsburg, with which it is connected by three bridges. It was incorporated in 1828. This city pre- sents many fine residences, in commanding situations, occupied by many persons doing business in Pittsburg, who are pleased to retire from the bus- tle, smoke, and coal-dust of the principal city. Its commercial and manufac- turing business, properly its own, is considerable.
The pioneer mayor was Robert Simpson Cassatt, father of the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Day, in 1843, says,-
" Passing over to Allegheny City, there may be seen the Western Theo- logical Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, founded by the General Assem- bly in 1825, and located in Allegheny town in 1827. The edifice was com- pleted in 1831. It stands on a lofty, insulated ridge, about one hundred feet higher than the Allegheny River. It is, indeed, quite a task to ascend this hill of science and religion, but one is amply repaid by the pure air and mag- nificent prospect. It contains a library of about six thousand volumes, and has connected with it a workshop for manual labor. Rev. Francis Herron, D.D., is president of the board of directors; Rev. David Elliott, Rev. L. W. Green, Rev. Robert Dunlap, professors.
" The Theological Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church, located in Allegheny City, was established in 1826. It is under the charge of Rev. John T. Pressly, D.D., possesses a valuable library, and numbers about thirty students.
" The Allegheny Theological Institute was organized by the general synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1840; Rev. James R. Wilson. D.D., senior professor; Rev. Thomas Sproull, junior professor. The sem- inary possesses a valuable library. Measures are in progress to erect a large edifice in Allegheny City.
" The Western Penitentiary is an immense castle, built in the ancient Norman style, situated on the plain behind Seminary Hill, and on the west- ern border of Allegheny City. It was completed in 1827, at a cost of $183 .- 092, including its equipments. Notwithstanding some glaring defects in
659
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
its original construction and arrangement, it has now become an efficient institution. It is conducted on the 'Pennsylvania system' of solitary con- finement and labor. Weaving, shoe-making, and oakum-picking are the em- ployments of the prisoners. About eight hundred prisoners had been re- ceived, in 1842, since the commencement of the institution."
The population in 1830 was 2801 ; in 1840, 10,089. It has fifty-eight stores, with a capital of eighty-three thousand four hundred dollars; nine lumber-yards, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars; one furnace, and one forge; value of hardware and cutlery manufactured, fifty thousand dollars ; three cotton factories, with fourteen thousand two hundred and seventy spin- dles; two tanneries ; one brewery; one rope walk,-total capital in manu- factures, $726,640, and several churches.
A PIONEER HISTORY OF DU BOIS CITY
(Written for the Courier by the well-known historian, Dr. W. J. McKnight.)
George Shaffer and wife, with their six children, Frederick, Michael, George, Jr., and three daughters, migrated from Dauphin County, Pennsylva- nia, in 1812 to where Du Bois City now stands. On May 13, 1812, a part of the family arrived and erected a "bark shanty" near where the old Heberling farm and "Inn House" stood, and "beside the spring which bubbles and sparkles to-day as it did then." On the night of the 14th Frederick and Michael Shaffer slept in this shanty, which they erected in what is now the First Ward of the city, the other members of the family stopping with Jacob Ogden, a pioneer who lived at what is now Carlisle Station on the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway, south of Du Bois. The Shaffers cleared two acres of land on the ridge or hill-side in that year. Charles C. Gaskell was agent for the land, and George Shaffer, Jr., afterwards bought the land from him.
In 1815 and for many years after Clearfield was known as " Old Town ;" the county was not organized until 1822 and this township was not formed until 1826 and was named after the celebrated Captain Sam Brady, the great Indian fighter. The Shaffer property passed from their hands in 1853 to Jacob Heberling, who sold to his son David, who owned and occupied the land until 1865, when he sold the two hundred and fifty acres of it to John Rumbarger. David Heberling was a prosperous farmer and kept a house of entertainment. John Rumbarger was a jobber for Bell and Rogers, and upon his purchase moved in 1865 into the Heberling house, where he farmed, jobbed and " entertained strangers." His house was always open to Methodist preachers and for the holding of religious service. From a personal knowl- edge of Rumbarger I can say that he was truly an " honest man." His first attempt to change his general surroundings into a town was in the spring of 1872. P. S. Weber, of Du Bois City, bought the first two lots sold in the coming city; the deeds bear the date of July 10, 1872. The conditions of
660
Alexander Johnston Cassatt, now President of the Pennsylvania Railroad System, born in Allegheny City, in 1839
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
that time will be best shown by the following advertisement Rumbarger had inserted in the Clearfield Journal and the Brookville Republican. Who wrote this advertisement for him I do not know :
"ONE HUNDRED LOTS FOR SALE IN THE TOWN OF RUMBARGER, IN BRADY TOWN- SHIP, CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
" The subscriber has laid off one hundred lots, which he offers for sale at reasonable rates to all those who feel disposed to move in that direction. The town is beautifully situated on Sandy Creek within eighty rods of the Allegheny Valley Railroad now under completion. It is also situated on the public road leading from Luthersburg to Brockwayville. In this town liberal inducements are offered to mechanics and enterprising business men, being in a thickly settled farming community. Those in want of lots should buy early, as they are being disposed of very rapidly. He also offers for sale a lot of ten acres adjoining the town with a stream of water running through it, sufficient to run a machine shop, carding-mill, etc., and excellent situation for a tannery. He will sell his Tavern House and about one acre of land in said town, well situated for a hotel, being large and commodious, and having the necessary out-buildings and stabling attached.
" There is a large steam saw-mill and general lumbering establishment now under construction by John Du Bois, adjoining the town, that will give employment to not less than one hundred hands.
" There are several springs of good water in the town, and those wish- ing to sink wells can obtain water in from ten to fifteen feet.
" The town is in a healthy part of the county and easy of access from Luthersburg, Salem, West Liberty, Reynoldsville, Rockdale, and the Beech- woods Settlement.
" Come and see the place before purchasing elsewhere. " JOHN RUMBARGER, Proprietor. " July 17, 1872, 3 months."-Brookville Republican.
In the last of February or the first of March. 1873, Mr. Rumbarger came to my office in Brookville, Pennsylvania, and told me that he thought the time had arrived to more thoroughly advertise his proposed town, "and as you are a good writer I would like you to write one for me." As he and I were close personal friends I wrote the following, which he inserted in the Brookville Republican:
"ONE HUNDRED TOWN LOTS FOR SALE IN THE TOWN OF RUMBARGER, CLEAR FIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
" To those unacquainted with Rumbarger we would say that it is a beautiful site for a town. Not too level or too hilly, but just right for proper
663
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
drainage, and that it is situated in a healthy locality. The soil is rich and the country is fruitful, located on the banks of the Sandy Lick Creek. A public road from Luthersburg to Brockwayville passes through it.
" The great 'Low Grade,' or Bennett's Branch Extension of the Alle- gheny Valley Railroad, skirts the entire length of the town, and we have assurances that first class depot buildings will be constructed this summer for the accommodation of the citizens. Further, it is confidently asserted that the Falls Creek Railroad will be commenced, and probably completed this summer. In any event, whenever completed, this road will cross the ‘Great Low Grade' at and pass through Rumbarger. This, it will be observed, gives the town the advantage of two great lines of railroad, a northern outlet as well as the main line.
" Rumbarger, being located in a rich mineral country, and surrounded by vast forests of the choicest pine and other timbers, and supplied with such railroad facilities, must of necessity become a great commercial centre and shipping point. The country around it is good for agricultural purposes, much better than is generally found in this western part of the State.
"Among the improvements now under construction are two saw-mills, one of which will be the largest in the State. These mills will contain all the modern improvements, such as lath, sash and door, and planing mills, and other improvements. It is enough to say that these mills are owned and will be conducted by John Du Bois, Esq., of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who is also erecting about thirty dwelling-houses to accommodate his workmen. Other mills and buildings are now under construction, and from the way lots are selling and present appearances a great many dwellings and business houses will be commenced as soon as the spring will permit.
" The lots we offer are 60 feet front and 180 feet deep. Good water can be had from springs or by digging wells. Favorable time and reasonable terms will be given purchasers of lots. Strangers visiting the town will find good hotel accommodations and persons to show them the town and sur- roundings.
" The cars will be running as far as Rumbarger on the Bennett's Branch Railroad by July or August next.
I also offer for sale one hundred and fifty acres of land adjoining the town, fifty acres improved and the remainder well covered with pine, hem- lock, and oak timber. This land is like all the surrounding lands, valuable for its minerals, containing coal in large quantities, the veins being from seven to ten feet thick.
" For particular information address JOHN RUMBARGER, Jefferson Line, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.
" March 12, 1873."
664
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
After I read to him the above advertisement, he was highly pleased. took out his pocket-book, and proposed to pay for my labor. I said, " Oh, no," and remained firm. He then insisted that I come up, make him a visit, and pick out a lot which he would donate to me. To this generous offer I replied, " My dear friend, what do I want with a town lot up there in the woods?" Mr. Rumbarger lived long enough to walk with me in Du Bois City and ask me this pertinent question: "Doctor, which one of these lots would you have picked for yourself had you made me that visit as I re- quested ?"
Du Bois City lies within the 1784 purchase.
Pioneer post-office, Rumbarger, 1874; George L. Glasgow, postmaster. Post-office name changed to Du Bois in 1876. Pioneer merchants in the town, J. B. Ellis, Thomas Montgomery, C. D. Evans & Bro., in 1873. Pioneer doctor, W. J. Smathers, 1873. Pioneer hotel-keeper, William Corley, 1874. The town was incorporated as a borough and named Du Bois, after the post- office, at January Court, 1881. Lewis A. Brady was elected first burgess.
Beaver City, in Beaver County, also lies within the 1784 purchase. Of this city, Day, in his " Collections of 1843," says,-
BEAVER
" The place known by this name to travellers and others at Pittsburg, whence so many little steamers are seen plying for this destination, is not.
Beaver in 1843
properly, one town, but a little cluster of towns-a sort of United States in miniature, situated around the mouth of Beaver River, and for four or five miles up that stream. And it is a singular fact, that to a traveller passing on the Ohio scarcely any village at all can be descried at the place, although there is here a population of some six thousand.
665
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"Beaver borough, the seat of justice, is a quiet, orderly, old-fashioned county town, with its respectable society and the usual number of stores and taverns. It is built principally upon a long street running parallel with the Ohio River, upon an elevated plateau, some forty rods back from the river. A dangerous gravel shoal, formed by the confluence of the Beaver with the Ohio, lies directly abreast of the town, which accounts for the fact of there being no business street along the river. The court-house, jail, and three churches, all substantial buildings, stand around an open square, through which runs the main street. Population in 1840, 551. The borough was incorporated March 29, 1802.
" The annexed view [page 665] shows the court-house, jail, etc., on the left, and the churches on the right, with the main street beyond.
"' By the act of 28th September, 1791, the governor of the State was instructed to cause to be surveyed two hundred acres of land in town lots, near the mouth of Beaver Creek, "on or near the ground where the old French town stood," and also one thousand acres adjoining, on the upper side thereof, as nearly square as might be, in out-lots, not less than five, nor more than ten acres each. By the same act, five hundred acres, near the town, were granted for an academy. Daniel Leet surveyed the town plot. The probable motive at that day for locating the county seat at a distance from the great manufacturing advantages at the Falls, was the existence of the well- known shoal just below the mouth of Beaver, a difficult and dangerous pas- sage to the keel-boats and other craft in use at that day. By the location here, the town was accessible alike to the lower and upper trade, and the obstructions themselves would probably throw considerable business into the place. The idea of erecting Lowells and Rochesters had not as yet entered the heads of speculators in land. Samuel Johnston first settled at Beaver in 1796. He kept an inn on the bank of the river, near Fort McIntosh. Some traces of the old fort are still to be seen near his house. Jonathan Porter, Abraham Laycock, David Townsend, Joseph Hemphill, John Lawrence, Mr. Small, Mr. Alison, were also early and prominent settlers. Judge Laycock filled many important offices in the county and State, and held a seat in the Senate of the United States. On the present site of New Brighton, there existed an ancient " blockhouse," at which Sergeant-Major Toomey com- manded when Mr. Alison first came here, on a visit, in 1793. General Wayne was encamped at Legionville, on the river, below Economy. The only road in those days was " Broadhead's," which led across the country from where Phillipsburg now is.'"
CITY OF TOWANDA, IN 1784 PURCHASE
" Towanda, the county seat of Bradford County, is situated near the centre of the county, on the right bank of the Susquehanna. A part of the village is on the river bank, and a part on several successive benches gently
666
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
rising from the river, and presenting a most enchanting prospect. The dwellings are built with taste, generally of wood, painted white, imparting a remarkably bright and cheerful appearance to the town as one approaches it from the Wysox valley, just opposite. Besides the usual county buildings, the town contains Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal churches, an acad- emy, and a bank, very extensively known. A noble bridge crosses the river at the town. Just below the bridge is the dam and lock of the North Branch Canal, which here crosses the river by a pool, thus forming a convenient basin opposite the town. Part of the dam was swept away in the flood of 1841 or 1842. In former times the people of Towanda numbered fresh shad among their luxuries, but the construction of the dams in the river has excluded them entirely. Population, 912.
" Towanda was first laid out in 1812, by Mr. William Means, who re-
Southeast view of Towanda in 1843, from the hill near the Wysox road. In the foreground is the bed of the North Branch Canal, laid bare (in 1841) by the destruction of the dam below. Over the centre of the bridge is the Presbyterian Church; on the hill is the Academy, and on the right the Methodist and the Episcopal churches
sided here at that time. The act organizing the county directed the courts to be held at his house until public buildings were erected. Old Mr. Fauks. a German, and his son-in-law, Mr. Bowman, lived then on the point below Towanda. Mr. Fauks had settled there before, or during the Revolution, having been attached to the British side in that contest. The village for several years was called Meansville, and so marked upon the maps. Other names were also occasionally tried on, but did not fit well enough to wear long. The Bradford Gasette of March 4, 1815, says, ' The name of this vil- lage having become the source of considerable animosity, the editor ( Burr Ridgway), willing to accommodate all, announces a new name,-Williams- ton; may it give satisfaction and become permanent.' But subsequently, in
667
HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
that same year, the Gazette appears dated Towanda; and in 1822, again the Bradford Settler was dated at Meansville. Towanda was incorporated as a borough in 1828, and its name was thus permanently fixed. The location of the canal, the discovery of coal-beds in the vicinity, and the establishment of a most accommodating bank gave a great impetus to the growth of the place between the years 1836 and 1840; but the subsequent disastrous failure of the bank, in the spring of 1842, following, as it did, the already severe com- mercial distress, and the suspension of the public works, spread a gloom over its prospects. The natural advantages of the place, however, are too great to be annulled by any temporary cause, and Towanda must soon shake off the load, and eventually become a place of considerable business. Besides the great valley of the Susquehanna, three smaller valleys, rich in the products of agriculture, centre here, and must pour their trade into the stores of Towanda."-Day's Collections, 1843.
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