USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Armstrong County, Pennsylvania her people past and present, embracing a history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I > Part 61
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John Ross, youngest son of John and Mar- garet (Small) Ross, was born in 1747, and in 1774 married Margaret Young, who was born in 1751, the youngest daughter of Samuel Young, of New Castle, Del. They became the parents of four sons and four daughters, namely : Samuel, the eldest, born in 1775, married Margaret Brown, of Philadelphia, in 1793: George is mentioned below; Elizabeth married John Cunningham, of New London, Jan. 6, 1800; John married Susan Harp, of Wilmington, Del., in 1812, and moved to west- ern Pennsylvania; Margaret married John Patterson, of Wilmington, Del. ; Anne married Rev. Robert Graham in 1810; Amelia died unmarried in her twenty-third year; Wash- ington, born Aug. 24, 1792, was married May 10, 1821, to Margaret Cochran, of Cochran- ville, Chester county, born Jan. 6, 1795 (he died Jan. 22, 1862, she on Jan. 24, 1883). The father of this family died Feb. 16, 1830, aged eighty-three years, the mother Oct. 24, 1808, aged fifty-seven. He was a cousin of George Ross, signer of the Declaration of In- dependence, who was representing Lancaster county in the Continental Congress which adopted same.
George Ross, son of John and Margaret (Young) Ross, was born March 4, 1778, in Chester county, Pa., where he passed his early life. In 1800 he removed to Armstrong county, where he acted as deputy State sur- veyor, as such surveying and laying out Kit- tanning in 1803. He passed the remainder of his life in the county, becoming one of its. prominent, influential and highly respected citizens. In 1805 he was elected associate judge of the county and continued to serve. creditably in that capacity until his death, which occurred in 1849, when he was in his seventy-second year. As early as 1807 he came to what is now the southwestern part of Manor township. He was first assessed in Kittanning township, in 1808, with 100 acres valued at $4 an acre, and for some time he and his family lived in one of the cabins near Fort Green. After William Green and his sons moved (prior to 1804) to the west side of the river, Judge Ross was the first per- manent white settler in that part of the Manor. Within a few years, in 1809, he erected the first stone house in his part of the county, the place afterward owned and occupied by his son, Washington, the latter's widow still liv- ing there. In 1807 he purchased Ross' island, opposite the mouth of Crooked creek, in
Samuel Young, father of Mrs. Margaret (Young) Ross, came to this country from Dublin, Ireland, about 1680. He married Jane Manor township, from William Green, pay- Kincade, of New Castle county, Del., and they ing one hundred dollars for it. What is.
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thought to be the largest panther ever killed in this county was shot on this island. Judge Ross was at one time one of the largest land- owners in the county, having over seven hun- dred acres. In 1820 he was assessed with a saw and grist mill, erected probably in 1819, at what was afterward known as Ross' Mills, on the right bank of Crooked creek, almost 200 rods above its mouth. The settlers within a radius of from twenty to thirty miles brought old homestead. John, who never married, re- sides at Polk, Clarion Co., Pa. Miss Sarah A. resides at the old homestead. Albert C., a farmer at Rosston, married Mary Mabel King ; he is a member and trustee of the Manor Memorial Church of Rosston, has served as school director, and is one of the prominent citizens of his locality. Judith Dull, who died unmarried, was a talented artist. Jane mar- ried John W. Herron, son of Col. W. A. their grists to his plant. When the Ross Mill. Herron, of Pittsburgh, and they have two daughters, Alice V. and Dorothy Ross. Sami- uel died unmarried. Edward, an attorney, resides at Rosston. Two daughters, the eldest and youngest children, died in infancy.
post office was established June 16, 1843, his son George Ross became postmaster. Judge Ross was an active member of Appleby Manor Presbyterian Church and influential in this connection as in all the other relations of life, being mainly instrumental in having its first house of worship erected.
GEORGE Ross, son of Washington and Mar- garet (Copley) Ross, was born Sept. 6, 1846, in Manor township, on the farm which Was About 1800 George Ross married Mary Moss, of Washington county, Pa., a first cousin, and their family consisted of four sons and seven daughters, of whom Jane, born in 1801, married David Reynolds ; she was his second wife. also his father's birthplace, and died in No- vember, 1896. He was brought up on tlie home place, and received his education in the public schools of the township and at Kittan- ning Seminary. Entering the employ of W D. Robinson, a merchant of Rosston, he re- WASHINGTON Ross, son of George and Mary ( Moss) Ross, was born May 29, 1817, on his father's farm in Manor township, and died March 9, 1911, in the old Ross mansion at Rosston. In his early life he owned and operated a steam sawmill for a time, but soon engaged in farming, which he continued throughout his active career, being a gentle- man farmer in the highest sense of the term. mained with him one year and then began farming, which was his principal occupation throughout his life. In 1888 and 1889, how- ever, he served as assistant postmaster at Ford City. In 1884 he was elected justice of the peace, which office he held for five years, and his fellow citizens chose him at various times as school director and auditor. He was a suc- cessful man in his business enterprises, and He owned a farm of 170 acres, and after he possessed substantial qualities which won him became interested in other undertakings gave the highest esteem of his fellow citizens. In politics he was an independent Republican.
part of his time to its management. For eighteen months he lived at Kittanning. In 1854 he laid out Rosston on land he owned in Manor township. His tract, extending from the mouth of Crooked creek, up along the left bank of the Allegheny river, on its west side, and the Allegheny Valley railroad on its east side, was laid out into thirty lots, and includes the site of old Fort Green. Mr. Ross was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, to which he belonged for many years. In politics he was a Republican.
In June, 1844, Mr. Ross married Margaret Copley, a native of Philadelphia, born in 1826, daughter of Josiah and Margaret (Sibbet) Copley, and they became the parents of twelve children, five sons and seven daughters, namely: George is mentioned below. Mary (now deceased) married Dr. Eugene H. Van Antwerp, who died two years later, and she then married Samuel McBride, now also de- ceased ; she had one son, who died in infancy. Margaret, who never married, resides at the
In February, 1873. Mr. Ross married Eva E. McKee, daughter of Thomas Vincent and Mary (Craig) McKee, the former of whom served two terms as member of the board of commissioners of Armstrong county. Three sons and three daughters were born to George and Eva E. (McKee) Ross, viz .: May Van- Antwerp, who married Marcus D. Wayman, and died Nov. 13, 1906; James G .; Elisabeth M. : Thomas V .; Washington M. ; and Helen Josephine.
Mrs. Eva E. (McKee) Ross is a descend- ant of Revolutionary ancestry in several lines. Her paternal great-grandfather, An- drew McKee, served throughout the war ; Col. Ephraim Blaine, from whom she is de- scended through her grandmother, Margaret (Blaine) McKee, gave notable service during that struggle ; and her mother, Mary (Craig) McKee, was a great-granddaughter of Capt. John Craig and great-great-granddaughter of Lieut. Samuel Craig, both of whom were in
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the army, the latter losing his life in the John, mentioned below ; Alexander, born Nov. service. Her ancestry in the McKee and Blaine 20, 1755; Samuel, born (it is claimed) in 1757 ; lines is fully given elsewhere in this work. Rose; Elizabeth; and Esther. Some time be- (See Blaine and McKee family sketches.) fore leaving New Jersey for Pennsylvania CRAIG. The Craig family, with which Mrs. Ross is connected in the maternal line, is of Scotch extraction, but for a time sojourned in Ireland, from which country her ancestors emigrated to the then British colony of New Jersey in the year 1680. A descendant of this family, Lieut. Samuel Craig, Mrs. Ross's great-great-great-grandfather, came to what is now Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1769, and purchased a farm. He was the founder of a large family in western Pennsylvania, and it Samuel Craig married Jane Boyd, and their children were: Andrew, Joseph, William, Jane, Nancy and Rebecca. Their dates of birth are not known, except that it is believed Jane was born about 1767, Joseph in or near 1770, and Nancy Feb. 15, 1773. Most of these raised large families, who became useful and respected citizens. After the Revolution Alex- ander Craig became one of the leading military men in Westmoreland county, attaining the rank of general. In 1793 he was commissioned
has been found some of the name settled in colonel in the militia and was made a briga- Pennsylvania at an earlier date than he did. dier general in 1807, and again commissioned
He and his three sons, Capt. John, Alexander and Samuel, all served in the army during the Revolutionary war. He was killed by In- dians about Nov. 1, 1777. He held the rank of lieutenant in the Proctor battalion. It is recorded that in the latter part of 1777 many of the soldiers from western Pennsylvania were sent back to protect the inhabitants of the western frontier and among them was Samuel Craig. He does not appear to have been at home long until he was captured by the Indians, and never reached home again. After his return he was under an order acting commissary, and the duties of his office led him to Fort Ligonier. Before starting it is said he refused a guard, saying "they would think the old man was cowardly," and he never reached Ligonier, as he was taken prisoner at Chestnut Ridge. In a diary kept by Samuel Galbreath at the building of Fort Ligonier is the following entry in reference to a scout- ing party : "Nov. 3d, 1777. Monday. They likewise found a mare belonging to Samuel Craig who had been going to Ligonier for salt on Saturday, Nov. Ist, 1777. He is sup- posed to have been taken prisoner as his body could not be found." In the writings of his granddaughter, Mrs. Margaret C. Craig, is the following in reference to his capture: "He was taken prisoner by the Indians at Chestnut Ridge; his beautiful bay mare was found dead perforated by eight bullets. Fragments of paper were found strewn along the path to indicate the direction taken by the Indians. All efforts of his family to ascertain his fate were unavailing."
Samuel Craig was twice married, his first wife, Elizabeth (McDonald), and two little children dying of smallpox within the space of three days. Her surviving children were: his deathbed, many years afterward, sent for
in 1811. He married Jane Clark, the second daughter of James Clark, and he lived to be ninety-five years old.
In the history of Westmoreland county, Pa., is an account of the family of Samuel Craig, Sr., Derry township. Speaking of the gallant services of the sons, John, Alexander and Samuel, it states that the youngest, a lieutenant in Capt. Robert Orr's company, was captured with Colonel Lochry and Captain Orr and sold to the British by the Indians for the usual gallon of whiskey. Lieutenant Craig was painted black by the Indians preparatory to execution, but he preserved his courage, and being a good singer saved his life with his voice. He afterward returned home, and mar- ried a daughter of John Shields, Esq .; they had five sons and two daughters.
Capt. John Craig, eldest son of Lieut. Sam- uel, was born April 27, 1753, at Belvidere, N. J., and became a distinguished citizen of Arm- strong county. "Some time prior to the estab- lishment of permanent peace by Wayne's vic- tory over the treaty with the Indians, a block- house was erected on the Allegheny, about 120 rods above the mouth of the Buffalo, which is now on Water, below Fifth street, Freeport. Its commandant was Capt. John Craig, whose command consisted of forty or fifty men, most of whom were inexperienced soldiers." The account goes on to relate how a false alarm, made purposely to test their valor, so fright- ened them that they abandoned the fort. Another of Craig's military experiences is worth recording : "On a certain occasion Craig ordered a scouting party to make a tour of observation as far up the country as the mouth of Red Bank. They went, and on their return reported that they had not discovered any Indians. One of them, however, while on
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Craig and confessed to him that, while on that tour, he and his comrades had captured an Indian, and after obtaining all the information possible from him, and not wishing to have the trouble of taking him as a prisoner to the blockhouse, they concluded to keep his capture a secret, and to dispatch him by tying him to a tree and each one shooting him, so that, all being equally guilty, there would be no danger of anyone disclosing their dread secret. Others of that scouting party having been questioned about that affair, acknowledged to finding the Indian, but averred that John Harbison, who had just cause for a deadly hate toward all Indians, tomahawked him while he was con- versing with another of the party who under- stood the Indian language, and they had all agreed to keep that deed secret on Harbison's account." This John Harbison was the hus- band of Massey Harbison, whose capture by the Indians and escape are narrated elsewhere in this work.
Near the close of the eighteenth century Capt. John Craig moved to the west side of the Allegheny river, into what is now Arm- strong county. He acquired title of his tract of 394 acres, 30 perches, in South Buffalo township by the purchase of Samuel Paul's interest in it, Oct 2, 1794, for $90, and by set- tlement and improvement which he commenced in the summer of 1795. It probably attracted his attention while he was commandant of the blockhouse at Freeport. He brought with him that summer a two months' supply of pro- visions and built a cabin near a spring on the parcel later owned by L. W. Patterson. Craig, while returning to his home in Westmoreland county, met Charles Sipes, who was moving his family to this region. Not having a cabin of his own, he asked for and obtained leave to occupy Craig's until he could build one. On the arrival of Craig with his family the next spring, Sipes declined to give up his possession of the cabin and survey. Craig encamped his On May 24, 1836, a patent was granted to John Craig, Sr., for an eight-sided tract in West Franklin township, in the southern part of which, about sixty rods from its southwest boundary, is the junction of Big and Little Buffalo creeks. The improvement began March 3, 1793, and the settlement in October, 1795, and in 1801 it was surveyed by George Ross to William Stevenson, who occupied it several years for Craig. James Karr. Sr., also occupied a part of it under Craig. It had been settled by the latter's son Samuel at or before family and built another cabin on the opposite side of the spring, and prosecuted Charles Sipes, Sr., No. 3, June sessions, in the court of Quarter Sessions, of Allegheny county, and Charles Sipes, Jr., No. 4, same sessions, for forcible detainer. Those cases were tried at the next September sessions, and there was a verdict of guilty against the elder, and of not guilty against the younger, Sipes. Still that litigation cost Craig about $100, which in the then great scarcity of money was a heavy burden to a pioneer in the wilderness. The the beginning of the nineteenth century, and war between those claimants of the tract was on the southwestern part of it. on or near the a very civil one, for they were, during the left bank of Big Buffalo creek, he erected a
whole of their contest, on friendly terms, using the same springhouse for their milk, and their families shared with each other such rarities and delicacies as either obtained. Sipes re- moved soon after the trial to another tract of land. Craig was assessed with two distilleries from 1808 to 1810. Later he had a mill at Freeport.
The name of John Craig figures in various other land transactions, though he resided upon and continued to improve the tract above mentioned until his death, in 1845, when he was "almost a centenarian, with failing mind and memory." He was buried there. Captain Craig was one of the earliest justices of the peace in Armstrong county. The seat of jus- tice of the county was directed by act of Assembly March 12, 1800, to be located at a distance not greater than five miles from "Old Kittanning Town." By this act also John Craig. James Sloan and James Barr were named and constituted trustees to receive and hold the title for the necessary public build- ings; and for that purpose they were author- ized to receive proposals in writing from any person or body corporate for the conveyance or grant of any lands within the limits of that act. That portion of that act was repealed by the act of April 4. 1803. and James Sloan, James Matthews and Alexander Walker were appointed trustees for the county, for locating the county seat and organizing the county. At the first court held in Armstrong county, in December, 1805, the grand jurors were: Wil- liam Parker, Esq., James McCormick, Adam Maxwell, Joseph Shields, Gideon Gibson, James Elgin, John Laughlin, Isaac Townsend, John Corbett, William Freeman, Samuel Orr, Esq., Samuel Walker, Capt. Thomas Johns- ton, James Coulter, Jacob Allimony, John Craig, Esq .. James Lindly, Col. Elijah Mounts, Thomas Barr, John Henry, James Clark, Esq., James Thompson and David Todd.
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fulling mill with which, 400 acres, and one church to the political assemblages of the anti- horse, he was assessed in 1805 at $20, and in slavery movement, though it was then un- 1806 at $200. The carding of wool into rolls popular with the great mass of the American people. The "Free Democracy" disclaimed association with any of the existing political parties and announced its approval of the then new movements, the freeing of the slaves and prohibition of the liquor traffic. was begun there about 1814. The fulling mill was assessed to him until 1821, when it with 200 acres, with which he had been for several years assessed, was assessed to his brother John Craig, Jr., who continued the fulling and carding until 1835, when, according to recol- In his younger days Capt. John Craig had belonged to what was then called "the flying camp." He was taken prisoner by the In- dians, and was confined in a guardhouse on an island sixty miles above Montreal, from which he was released after the surrender of Cornwallis. The Indians who captured Col. Archibald Lochry, Capt. Robert Orr and Sam- uel Craig were there (this refers to Lieut. Samuel Craig, brother of Capt. John Craig). At the time of his capture he was one of the party under Col. Archibald Lochry and Capt. Robert Orr taken by the Indians in 1781, while they were on their way to join Gen. George Rogers Clark. lection of John Craig (son of Samuel), his uncle, John Craig, Jr. (later known as Sr.), and Robert Cooper entered into a partnership for manufacturing flannels, blankets and other woolen goods. Cooper sold his interest in the factory to John Craig, Jr., and James Craig, Sept. 1, 1837, and they operated it for several years. John Craig, Sr., conveyed eighty acres of this tract to John Craig, Jr., July 18, 1836, for $400. The factory building was burned Dec. 14, 1843, and a larger one was erected soon after on the same site. John Craig, Sr., by his will, dated Sept. 5, 1836, and registered April 5, 1850, devised to John Craig, Jr., his second son, that part of this tract on which the latter then resided. This point was called Craigstown, and afterward Craigsville, which name it still retains. The Craigsville post office was established there Nov. 29, 1869.
The will of Capt. John Craig (Will Book I, pages 406-407) bequeaths to his son Samuel Craig and Mary his (Samuel's) wife a parcel of land where they reside beside his ( Sam- uel's) brother John, giving Samuel's children John Craig, Elizabeth Craig, Martha Craig, Margaret Craig, Mary Craig. "I give and bequeath to my grandson $100 I give and bequeath to my son John Craig near or south of his brother James, it being the same where he now resides. . . To my daugh- ter Isabella where I now reside I give and bequeath to the children of my daughter Eliza- beth viz .: Martha Clark, Isabella Clark, Jain Clark, Eliza Clark, equally between them. I give and bequeath to my daughter Martha all that tract land I bequeath to my daughter Isa- bella. I appoint my son John Craig sole ex- ecutor," etc. There was a codicil dated 1839.
John Craig, Jr., like the members of his family generally was a member of the Pres- byterian Church. He was a stanch supporter of every good cause, and his name appears as one of the vice presidents chosen at the con- vention of the "Free Democracy of Arm- strong County" held in the edifice of the Free Presbyterian Church of Worthington. The pastor, church members and congregation generally were antislavery in sentiment and did not hesitate to open the doors of their
Samuel Craig, eldest son of Capt. John, set- tled at Craigsville, on Buffalo creek. The will of Samuel Craig, late of Franklin town- ship, Armstrong county, dated Oct. 9, 1865, is found in Will Book II, page 383 : "I here- by nominate, constitute and appoint my son John Craig, Jr., of Franklin township, execu- tor, my will hereby revoking and making void all former wills by me. I bequeath unto my two daughters Margaret Craig and Mary Craig."
John Craig, eldest son of Samuel (known as John Craig, Jr., his uncle John being the senior of that name in his lifetime), was born in Armstrong county, and settled on a farm adjoining his father's. He followed agricultural pursuits all his life. Mr. Craig was a leader in the Presbyterian Church. He heard the first Presbyterian sermon preached in Kittanning, long before the organization of any church of the denomination there. He married Eliza Huston, who was born in what was then called Cumberland county, in the Cumberland valley, third daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Patterson) Huston, who came to America in 1801. They were Scotch, also, but resided for a while in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. John Craig had children: James M., of Champaign, Ill .; William H., of Rimersburg, Clarion Co., Pa .; Mary, who married Thomas Vincent McKee; Nancy ; Adah L. ; and others.
HON. JACKSON BOGGS, who at the time of his death was serving as President Judge of Armstrong county, was born April
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7, 1818, in Plum township, Allegheny Co., Pa., near him, and he buried his valuables for safe near Pittsburgh. He was a son of David keeping. Boggs, and grandson of Thomas Boggs, Sr.
great-grandfather of Judge Boggs at an early day left Scotland and in 1722 settled in the town of Glassdrummond, Ireland. Thomas Boggs, Sr., left Ireland in 1805, and coming to America settled in western Pennsylvania, near Brighton, in Beaver county, where he died. He married Elizabeth Chambers, and their union was blessed with six sons and two daughters, viz .: William, Thomas, Elizabeth, John, Ann, James, David and Robert.
David Boggs, father of Judge Boggs, was born in Ireland in 1783, and came in 1799 to western Pennsylvania, settling in what is now Plum township, Allegheny county. He was one of the pioneers of that section, where he purchased two tracts of woodland near the site of Murraysville and cleared out fine farms on them. In 1849 he sold his farms and removed to Apollo, Pa., where he died Nov. 3, 1856, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. He was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and served for thirty years as a justice of the peace in Allegheny county. In his early days he united with the Presbyterian Church, of which he continued to be a most earnest and useful member. In 1806 he married Mary McKee, daughter of Squire McKee, of Mur- raysville, and they were permitted to enjoy fifty years of wedded life. They had nine sons and four daughters, of whom we have the following record: Thomas, born in No- vember, 1806; Eliza G., born in May, 1809, who married David McKee, a farmer of the Tuscarora valley ; Fannie M., born in Sep- tember, 1811, wife of Jacob Freetly, a prom- inent lawyer of Apollo; John, born in July, 1813, who married Ann Boggs, daughter of William Boggs and a native of Ireland; Ann; Janie G., born in October, 1815, who married Samuel Beatty, a farmer of Allegheny county ; Jackson, mentioned below; Robert, who died in infancy ; James, born in September, 1822, who married Margaret A. Bailey and was a lawyer in Clarion, Clarion Co., Pa .; David C., former register and recorder of Armstrong county ; a twin brother of David that died in infancy ; and Lavina, born in September, 1830, who married Henry Townsend, of South Bend, Armstrong county. Squire McKee, of near Murraysville, was one of the very earli- est settlers in western Pennsylvania, living there in perilous times, surrounded by savage Indians. For years he always had his rifle
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