USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 2
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Prehistoric Races .- The aborigines of North America were undoubtedly the Mound builders. Their seat of empire was in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, and their sentinel outposts were never planted further eastward than the crest of Laurel Hill ridge. Clear and unmistakable traces of this lost race were discovered by the early settlers of the Ligonier valley, but it seems that they confined themselves to that particular section in their occupation of this county. Whence they came or where they went none can tell.
They were succeeded in the proprietorship of the soil by the Indians, whose origin is as fruitful a theme for speculation, as the problem of the Mound builders fate has been an unsatisfactory topic for investigation. The Indian, like the Mound builder, seems to have never made a permanent home in the county, and used it chiefly for hunting purposes. The Six Nations exercised sovereignty over it, and the Delawares and Shawnees were their tenants upon its hunting grounds. There were two great Indian trails through the county ; the main one was the Ca- tawba war-path, that crossed Jacob's creek, and passed northward through the Ligonier valley, and towards the Susquehanna river. It ran from the Carolinas to New York ; the other was a trail running from the Ligonier valley to the Forks of the Ohio. The Indians had but few villages within the present limits of the county ; they were of a temporary rather than a perma- nent character, and were abandoned by the time that the first English settlers made their ap- pearance in the country west of the Alleghenies.
Anglo-saxon Pioneers .- The first white men who came into Westmoreland county were hunt- ers and Indian fur traders. Christopher Gist, and a few Virginians settled in 1752 at Mount Braddock, in what is now Fayette county, Pa.
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They were sent out under the auspices of the Ohio Company and in the interests of Virginia, who aimed to acquire title to the Ohio valley by right of occupation. The French had already taken possession of the coveted territory, and in 1754 they broke up Gist's settlement and captured Fort Necessity. The next year the French and Indians ambuscaded and slaughtered Braddock's army, at the battle of the Monon- gahela, drove the English settlers east of the Alleghenies, and for nearly three years re- mained in undisputed possession of the entire Ohio valley.
Forbes' Expedition .- In 1758, Gen. John Forbes, with an army of seven thousand men, was sent by England to regain what Braddock had lost and to capture Fort Duquesne. Wash- ington urged Forbes to take old Braddock road, but Col. Bouquet prevailed upon Forbes to cut a new road from Bedford, Pa., through what is now Westmoreland county, to Fort Duquesne. Bouquet led the advance, and in September made his camp on the bank of Loyalhanna creek, where his engineers erected a stockade which he named Fort Ligonier, in honor of Sir John Ligonier, under whom Bouquet served in Eu- rope. On the eleventh of September, Bouquet sent Maj. Grant with eight hundred men to reconnoitre. He drew up in order of battle be- before Fort Duquesne, on September 13, where he was attacked and his force routed, with the loss of three hundred men. The French and Indians, fourteen hundred strong, marched from Fort Duquesne after defeating Grant, and on the twelfth of October made two attacks on Bouquet, at Fort Ligonier, but were repulsed and retreated. The English lost twelve men killed and fifty-five wounded. In November, Forbes arrived with the main division of the army, and Washington was sent forward to open the road to Fort Duquesne, which was cut out past the sites of Hannastown and Murrysville. On November 24, Gen. Forbes captured Fort Duquesne and the soil of Westmoreland county.
and the Ohio valley passed into the hands of the Anglo-saxon race.
Battle of Bushy Run .- The country was garrisoned by the English from 1758 to 1763. In that year Pontiac led the Indian tribes north of the Ohio against the English forts, from Detroit to Ligonier. Col. Bouquet was dis- patched to the relief of the forts of Western Pennsylvania. He raised the siege of Fort Ligonier, and marched for the relief of Fort Pitt, with a force of five hundred Scotch high- landers and Colonial volunteers. On August 5, 1763, near the site of Harrison city, West- moreland county, he was drawn into an Indian ambuscade. Darkness saved his army from ter- rible defeat, and on the next day by masterly strategy he drew the Indian force into an am- buscade, by a feigned retreat, and finally routed them with great slaughter. This battle, so nearly lost on the first day by the carelessness, and so brilliantly won on the second day, by the moas- terly generalship of Col. Henry Bouquet, is classed by Parkman (the historian), as one of the " decisive battles of the world," for mighty Pon- tiac's grand dream of Indian empire was wrecked when his warrior hosts were crushed and scattered at Bushy Run.
Early Settlements .- With the army of Forbes came the first settlers of Westmoreland county. Many of them located at Fort Ligonier, without. any legal right to the soil but that of possession, and were reinforced the next year by quite a number of Forbes' soldiers, who settled by mili- tary permit. One of the earliest settlements in the county, after the one at Fort Ligonier, was made by Andrew Byerly (see sketeh of C. Cribbs, in this volume) in 1759, on Bush creek, now in Penn township. His military permit was for two hundred and thirty-six acres. As to who was the first settler, history is silent and tradition fails to supply the name. The earliest settler of whom we can find any trace was Joseph Hill, who settled in Rostraver township, in 1754. Among those who came in 1758 were
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George Wendell and his son Peter Wendell. In 1759, Andrew Byerly and Robert Hanna were west of Fort Ligonier. Among those who settled from 1761 to 1769, were Matthias Cowan and Abner Gray, 1761; John Pomeroy, 1762; James Wilson, 1763; Gen. Alexander Craig and Capt. John Shields, 1766; James Pollock, Robert Campbell, Richard Wallace, Frederick Roher, and Capt. James Christy, between 1766 and 1769. On April 3, 1769, the Pennsylvania land office was opened to receive applications to take up land in what is now known as West- moreland county. Many tracts of land were taken and settlers came in rapidly, until 1763, when Pontiac's war drove them into the forts, and stopped further settlement until 1765. For the next decade settlers came into every section of the county, and then the westward tide of emigration received a second check by the opening of the war of the Revolution.
County Formation .- Westmoreland county was created by an Act of the Legislature on Feb- ruary 26, 1773, and was described as having been "that part of Bedford county lying west of the Laurel Hill." The new county began "where the most westerly boundary line of the Youghiogheny crossed the boundary line of the province; thence down the eastern bank of the river till it crossed Laurel Hill, which it fol- lowed north-eastward till it runs into the Alle- gheny mountains ; and these it followed along the ridge dividing the Susquehanna from the Allegheny river to the purchase line at the head of the Susquehanna river ; from the same due west to the limits of the province ; and by the same to the place of beginning." The territory of the new county before it was stricken off from Bedford was included in eight townships: Arm- strong, Fairfield, Hempfield, Mount Pleasant, Pitt, Rostraver, Springhill, and Tyrone. The first court of Westmoreland county met at Han- nastown, on April 6, 1773, and created three additional townships : Donegal, Huntingdon and Manillin. Mississiniwa township was
erected March 16, 1847, and was annulled in 1850. The county now contains twenty-three townships and twenty-four boroughs. The courts were held at Hannastown until it was burned by the Indians in 1782, and then for five years at Robert Hanna's house. Hannas- town had a round log jail, a whipping post and a pillory. In 1787, Newtown or Greensburg be- came the county-seat.
Public Buildings .- The first court-house was at Hannastown ; the second court-house was a one-story brick house at Greensburg. The next, or the "old court-house," was a two-story brick building, erected about 1795 or '96, and was torn down in 1854 to make room for the present stone and brick court-house, which, in connec- tion with a jail, cost about $100,000, and has been occupied as a temple of justice since 1856. The first jail at Greensburg was small and insig- nificant ; the next one, a plain two-story brick building, was not much of an improvement on its predecessor, and stood until late years, when it was torn down to make room for its successor, the present fine brick architectural structure, which was erected at a cost of many thousand dollars, and is one of the finest jails in the State. The first poor house was erected in 1850, on a farm of one hundred and eight acres of land, which was bought of William Snyder, of Hemp- field township, for $6,000. It was a brick building, cost $9,000, and was destroyed by fire on August 20, 1862. It was rebuilt at an ex- pense of $6,000, and in its turn was destroyed by fire. The present county poor-house is a fine and tasteful three-story brick structure. It was built near the site of the old one, and is two and one-half miles south of Greensburg, at County Home station on the South-west railway.
Boundary Troubles .- The Revolutionary war not only checked emigration, but it also arrested a struggle between Virginia and Pennsylvania for civil supremacy over the territory of West- moreland county that threatened to end in bloodshed. Virginia claimed all of Western
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Pennsylvania, and in 1776 embraced it in her counties of Ohio, Monongalia and Youghiogheny, which she created in that year. Often the same tract of land was in dispute between two rival claimants, one armed with a Pennsylvania war- rant and the other holding a Virginia certificate. The noted John Connolly attempted several times to take possession of Hannastown and the surrounding country as a part of Youghiogheny county, Va., but was foiled and defeated in every instance by Gen. Arthur St. Clair. The Revo- lution engaged the attention of both provinces to the exclusion of everything else, and in 1779 Pennsylvania and Virginia commissioners met at Baltimore and settled the claim of disputed territory by establishing Mason and Dixon's line as the boundary between their respective colonies, which gave the territory in contest to the " Quaker" colony.
Settlers' Forts .- In 1774 Dumore's war alarmed the settlers, and petitions containing four hundred and thirty names were sent from Westmoreland to the Governor of Pennsylvania asking for aid. The following forts and block- houses were built in the county from 1774 to 1778: Forts Shippen, Allen, Wallace, Barr, Palmer, Walthour, McDowell and Miller; block- houses, Rughs, Williams, Carnahans, Shields, Teague Island and Markles.
Revolutionary War .- The rifle shots on "Lexington Common" awoke patriotism in the hearts of the Westmoreland pioneers, whose an- swer was emphatically given in the Hannastown Declaration of Independence. It was made on the 16th of May, 1775, and in the form of reso- lutions condemned the system of English tyranny imposed on Massachusetts, and declared that Westmorelanders " would oppose it with their lives and fortunes." The inhabitants of West- moreland at this general meeting also resolved to form themselves into a military body, to consist of several companies, and to be known as the "Association of Westmoreland county." This regiment of Westmoreland Associations
was organized under Col. Proctor, and most of its members afterwards served in different Penn- sylvania regiments, and fought in nearly all the battles of the Revolution. Westmorelanders were with Arnold amid the snows of Canada, suffered untold privations at Valley Forge, were with Washington at Trenton and Princeton, won im- perishable renown at Saratoga under Arnold and Morgan, fought with Wayne at Stony Point, and were at Yorktown. Six companies were enlisted in Westmoreland county for the Con- tinental army. Their captains were: John Nelson, William Butler, Stephen Bayard, Joseph Erwin, James Carnahan and Matthew Scott. Seven of the eight companies of the Eighth Pennsylvania were raised in the county. This regiment was organized in July, 1776, to pro- tect the western frontier, but in three months was called to the front, served under Wash- ington and Gates, and in 1778 were sent to Fort Pitt for the defense of the western frontiers. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was the leading character of Westmoreland county in the Revolutionary war, while prominent among her many brave sons in that great struggle were : Lieut. John Hardin, afterwards Gen. John Hardin, of Kentucky, Capts. Van Swearingen and David Kilgore.
Lochry's Expedition .- In the spring of 1781 Gen. Rogers Clarke proposed to lay waste the Ohio Indian country, and thus protect the fron- tiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Penn- sylvania authorities ordered Col. Archibald Lochry to raise fifty volunteers in Westmore- land county and join Clarke's forces. Lochry collected one hundred and seven men at Car- nahan's block-house, eleven miles northwest of Hannastown. He had two companies of rang- ers, commanded respectively by Capt. Thomas Stokely and Capt. Samuel Shearer, and one company of horse under Capt. Charles Camp- bell. On July 25, 1781, Col. Lochry departed to join Clarke at Wheeling, then Fort Henry. Arriving there he found Clarke gone, and ac- cording to orders left by the General, proceeded
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down the Ohio river, but did not overtake him. Gen. Clarke had failed to receive troops from Kentucky, and was compelled to push rapidly down the Ohio, as his men were deserting in considerable numbers. Lochry's force, when it arrived at the mouth of the Kanawha river, was nearly out of provisions and needed ammunition. Lochry sent four men in a boat to overtake Clarke and notify him of their condition. The Indians captured these men, learned from Lochry's letter, which they carried, of his des- titute condition, and made preparations to at- tack him. On the 24th of August Lochry landed at the inlet of a creek on the Ohio river, some nine miles below the mouth of the Muskin- gum. He was here attacked by the Indians, and a desperate encounter ensued, in which Lochry and forty-two of his men were killed and the remainder of his command taken prisoners. The Indians held these prisoners until 1783, when they were ransomed by the British in Canada and exchanged. But more than half of Lochry's command never returned to Penn- sylvania, and Westmoreland county lost over fifty of her bravest sons by that unfortunate expedition.
Crawford's Expedition .- In May, 1782, Col. William Crawford led an expedition of four hun- dred and eighty men against the Ohio Indians. In May, 1782, his force was attacked on the San- dusky plains by the Indians and badly de- feated. Col. Crawford was captured and burned at the stake. His men were from what is now Fayette and Washington counties, and his home was near the site of Connellsville, Pa.
Burning of Hannastown .- From 1781 to 1783 was the midnight period in the early his- tory of Westmoreland county. It seems that in the summer of the latter year, that the British, in Canada, projected an expedition against Fort Pitt, in which they were joined by a considerable force of Indians and a large number of Tories. A report of reinforcements at Fort Pitt deterred them from an attack on that place, and several
small bodies were detached from the main force against defenseless points along the western frontiers. One of these detachments, numbering about one hundred, and composed of Tories and Indians, was sent against Hannastown. On Saturday, July 13, 1782, this mongrel band arrived at Michael Huffnagle's, about one and one-half miles north of Hannastown, where the settlers had gathered on that day to cut Huff- nagle's harvest. The Indians were discovered in time for the settlers to make good their escape to the fort at Hannastown. Tradition has sug- gested, but history is silent, as to who the leaders of the Tories and Indians were. By the time the renegades and Indians arrived at Hannas- town, the court, which was in session that day, and all the inhabitants of the town, were safely within the palisades of the fort. The exas- perated enemy set fire to Hannastown, which consisted of about thirty log houses and cabins. All the buildings were burned, except Robert Hanna's and another house, which stood close to the stockade. Within the fort were twenty men, who had only nine guns; without, one hundred savages and Tories, who were well armed. Foiled in their attempt to surprise the place, they invested the stockade, and sent out a party of forty or fifty, who surprised and captured Miller's block-house. Burning the block-house and surrounding cabins, they returned with several prisoners. None of the inmates of the stockade fort were killed or wounded by the desultory fire of the force, except Margaret Shaw, who lost her life in rescuing a child which was crawling toward the stockade pickets (see sketch of S. W. Shaw). In the evening the enemy fixed their camp in the Crabtree hollow, where they killed one prisoner and made the others run the gauntlet. During the night thirty men from George's station succeeded in approaching and entering the Hannastown fort. Capt. Matthew Jack and David Shaw risked their lives in notifying the settlers outside the forts. Toward morning the Indians became
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apprehensive of their retreat being cut off by forces from Fort Ligonier, and fled. They killed Capt. Brownlee and several of their captives during their retreat. They crossed the Kiski- minetas near the site of Apollo, and distanced the pursuit of the whites. They took about twenty prisoners, and killed over one hundred head of cattle, with a loss of only two warriors, who were shot at Hannastown. The Indians traded their scalps and prisoners to the British in Canada. The prisoners were afterward ex- changed and returned to Westmoreland county. Hannastown made the first protest against British tyranny, and was really the last battle- field of the Revolution.
Harmar's Defeat .- From 1782 to 1784 the settlers west of Chestnut ridge, in Westmore- land county, planted no crops and were gathered into the frontier forts and block-houses. From 1784 to 1790 was a period of peace in West- moreland, and many settlers came into the county. In 1790 Gen. Harmar collected one thousand one hundred and thirty-three militia, and marched from the site of Cincinnati toward Miami to punish the Indians for their continued depredations in Ohio. In October he was at- tacked and badly defeated, with a loss of two hundred men and half his horses. One of his bravest officers was Col. Christopher Truby, of Greensburg.
Saint Clair's Defeat .- The next year Gen. Saint Clair set out with two thousand men to retrieve Harmar's failure, but at the battle of the Wabash, on November 4, 1791, he suffered a terriblo defeat at the hands of the Indians, by which he lost over seven hundred men and his artillery. One company of Westmoreland mi- litia was in his army and fought very creditably in this disastrous battle.
Last Indian Troubles .- The success of the Indians in Ohio emboldened the tribes along the Allegheny river, and the northern part of West- moreland county was frequently raided by war parties from 1790 to 1795. During this period
ranger and militia companies were stationed at the forts and blockhouses through the northern parts of the county. In 1792 a party of Corn- planter Indians came into Derry township, where they killed Mrs. Mitchell and took her son Charles prisoner. In the same year they captured Massy Harbison, whose captivity and sufferings have so often been related in the his- tories of the frontier.
Wayne's victory at the battle of the Fallen Timbers forever broke the Indian power and gave peace to the Westmoreland frontier.
Whiskey Insurrection .- The first rebellion against the United States Government was the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794. It was confined to Fayette, Washington and Allegheny counties, Pa., and Monongalia and Ohio counties, Va. (Now West Virginia.) As early as 1785 Graham the excise collector for Westmoreland county, was driven out of Greensburg, and in June, 1794, John Wells, who was serving in the same capacity, was captured and escorted beyond the county line. William Findley and many other citizens of Westmoreland were prominent in this insurrection, that died for want of military leaders. Its undeveloped elements of strength were such, that Alexander Hamilton said that it endangered the foundations of the newly es- tablished republic, and that Washington pur- posed leading in person against it an army of fifteen thousand men, whose divisions were com- manded by his ablest generals of the Revolution- ary war. On October 22, 1794, a meeting was held at Greensburg, and resolutions were passed by the citizens present to yield obedience to the laws of the country. The insurgents dispersed before the United States army arrived, and all of the guilty participants were eventually par- doned by the Government.
War of 18122 .- On May 12, 1812. Governor Snyder directed the organization of the Penn- sylvania militia on a war basis. Westmoreland county was included in the Thirteenth Division, which was commanded by Major General David
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Marchand. Westmorelanders served with credit along Lake Erie, at Baltimore, and around Washington city ; but the soldiers, who had the opportunities and reflected glory upon the county, were those who fought under Harrison, " whose trumpets never sounded the notes of re- treat." The Greensburg Rifle Company, com- manded by Major John B. Alexander, distin- guished itself at Fort Meigs, where one day it defeated a body of Indians commanded by the mighty Tecumseh in person. It also fought at Fort Sandusky, against Proctor and Tecumseh. The Westmoreland troop of cavalry, commanded by Capt. Joseph Markle, fought gallantly under Gen. Harrison, who regarded them for behavior and military appearance as the first troop of United States volunteer cavalry in the North- western army. Maj. Alexander's company was forty-four strong and Capt. Markle's numbered thirty-five. There were other soldiers from Westmoreland who served under Harrison be- sides those in these two companies, but their names and companies could not be secured at this writing.
Pikes .- The first main road through the county was the Forbes' military road, on which was built Hannastown and Ligonier. From 1773 to 1782, many roads had been cut in different parts of the county. In 1785 an Act of Assembly was passed for the " State Road," which passed through the villages of Ligonier, Youngstown, Greensburg, Adamsburg, and just south of the site of Irwin. This road with slight variations became a part of the Harrisburg and Pittsburg turnpike, which was created by an Act of Assembly on February 24, 1806. This pike was the great road of the county until the era of railways; it is generally known as the Greensburg turnpike. The "Northern turn- pike " was projected but was never made. Its course was to be nearly over the old Frankstown road, which ran through New Alexandria, New Salem, Newlandsburg and Murrysville.
Pennsylvania Canal .- In 1826 the Legisla-
ture provided for the construction of the Penn- sylvania canal at the expense of the State. In 1831 the main line of the public works, from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, was completed at an expense of over thirty-five millions of dollars. The Kiskiminetas was slacked, and in 1834 canal boats ran from the Quaker to the Iron city. Along its route sprang up the most of the fol- lowing villages of Conemaugh, Nineveh, Flor- ence, Lockport, Bolivar, Blairsville, Bairdstown, Livermore, Saltsburg, Leechburg and Freeport.
Mexican War .- When war was declared against Mexico over one hundred of Westmore- land's favorite sons enlisted in the armies of their country, and over one-third of them never returned from the land of the Montezumas. The Westmoreland Guards were raised and com- manded by Capt. J. W. Johnson. They became Co. E, second reg., Pa. Vols., and were en- gaged in all the battles from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. They entered the service ninety-four in number and were mustered out, forty-four men all told, July 14, 1848. Among the noble sons of Westmoreland who fell fighting in Mexico were Capt. Simon H. Drum and Lieut. Richard Johnson. Six natives of the county served in the Duquesne Grays, and one of the number was Richard C. Drum, now Ad- jutant General of the United States army. Isaac George was one of the soldiers in Doni- phan's wonderful march. (See sketch of Mr. George.)
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