Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 7

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526

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James Glover, a Revolutionary soldier, born in Essex County, New Jersey, about 1754, came to Butler County in 1792, and in the fall of that year erected a cabin at Deer Lick in what is now Adams Township. He occupied this cabin until 1796, when he entered four hundred acres of land, be- came a permanent settler, and remained in the county until his death in 1844. Glover, who was a blacksmith, after the Revolution settled in Pittsburg, where he worked at his trade. He subsequently purchased a farm in what is now the heart of the north side of Pittsburg, and in 1815 or 1816 he leased this farm in perpetuity for $75 per year, retaining the ownership after he came to this county. The Glover lease and a few others of a similar character caused the legislature of Pennsylvania to pass a law prohibiting leases in perpetuity.

Peter Mckinney, who was a noted hun- ter, and a soldier in the Pennsylvania Line during the Revolutionary War, built a cabin in what is now Forward Township in 1792. It is said that in his youth he came with his parents from Ireland, and that he was left an orphan before he had reached maturity. He was a drummer and fifer in the War of the Revolution, and afterwards saw service in the Indian trou- bles, and was a drummer in Capt. Abra- ham Brinker's Company, raised in Butler County in the War of 1812. Mr. McKin-

ney was married at Braddock field, West- moreland County, in 1791, to Mary Shorts, who came with him to Butler County. His daughter, Elizabeth, is said to have been the first white child born in the county, the date of her nativity being March 23, 1792. His wife died in 1839 and his own death occurred in 1844. Petersville, in Connoquenessing Township, now the bor- ough of Connoquenessing, was named after this pioneer.

Another pioneer who is said to have come to the county in 1792 was Patrick Harvey, who settled in Clinton Township. He was guided to the location by John Harbison, the Indian scout and spy who afterwards came to the county, and they marked the boundaries of the farm they had selected by blazing the forest trees. The following year Harvey went into Sugar Creek Township, Armstrong County, and selected a farm on which his cousin, John Patton, afterwards settled. In the spring of 1794 he returned to his Butler County farm that he had selected two years previous, and in May, 1795, he brought his family to their new home where a year later his third child, Martha, was born. His wife died in 1831, his own death occurring in 1849.

David Armstrong came to Worth Town- ship in 1794 from Westmoreland County, bringing with him his son George, and his daughter, Rebecca. They made their tem- porary home in a wigwam until fall, when the father and daughter returned to West- moreland County, and the following year the entire family came to Butler County and settled on the land held during the winter by the son.

A pioneer hunter named Daniels came into the county in 1794, built a cabin. and cultivated a small garden on the land in Marion Township afterwards owned by Robert Vanderlin. He was scared away by the Indians before the arrival of the other settlers.

Thomas Girty and his wife Ann, and

HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY 8

their son Thomas, were among the first settlers of Connoquenessing Township. Thomas Girty was a brother of the notori- ous George, James and Simon Girty, and his death is supposed to have occurred some time previous to 1803. Various ac- counts of the Girty family and the death of Mrs. Ann Girty have been published in previous histories, none of which are cor- rect. The account given in the sketch of the Girty family in this publication has been verified by Mr. A. MeCollough of Butler, and others who have taken pains to hunt up the true story. The story of Ann Girty's death, told in another part of this chapter, was related in 1875 by David Shannon, who was one of the pioneers of Connoquenessing Township, and who was at Mrs. Girty's funeral.

In 1793 William Elliott, John Elliott and John Dennison, three land hunters from Wilkinsburg, came into Butler County and took up 1,400 acres of land in Middlesex Township. William Elliott, in order to se- cure more than the allotment of 400 acres, selected the tracts of land amounting to 1,400 acres and located the other members of his party on them to hold them for him.

James Hall, Abraham Fryer, James Harbison and William Hultz, hunters from east of the Allegheny Mountains, came into the county January 10, 1793, by way of Logan's Ferry, below Tarentum, and camped in the forests of Middlesex Town- ship. The next day they marked their camping place by engraving their names on the trees, and returned to their homes. A year later they returned to Middlesex Township, and settled on land on and around the site of their former camp. Dur- ing their absence George Hays, Thomas Martin and James Fulton came into the township and selected land, thus becoming the first settlers there.

During the year 1795 Samuel and Thomas Cross, Jacob and John Pisor, Henry Steintorf, settled in Worth Town- ship. James Hemphill, Rudolph Barnhart,

Adam and John Hemphill, Jacob Barn- hart, Sr., and Jacob Barnhart, Jr., made settlements the same year in Donegal and Fairview Townships, around the site of Chicora. James Hemphill, who was a noted hunter, with Rudolph Barnhart, had been in the county the previous year and marked out the land. Samuel Wallace set- tled in Fairview Township in 1795, and Robert Elliott in Buffalo Township; Ed- ward Graham located on land in Concord Township; George Bell settled in the vi- cinity of Bell's Knob, and Archibald Kel- ley built a cabin in Parker Township.

During the years 1795 and 1796 James McKee and William Kearns came to But- ler Township; Daniel McConnell, William McConnell, William McNees and Benja- min Jack came to Worth Township; Aaron Moore and John McCandless settled in Franklin Township; Dunning McNair, a land speculator, and John Ekin settled in Connoquenessing Township; William Thompson and Silas Miller, a noted hunter, were early settlers of Middlesex Township; John Parker, the pioneer and progenitor of the Parker family at Parker's Landing, settled in Parker Township; and Eli Scholar settled in Lancaster Township.

PIONEER ANECDOTES AND ADVEN- TURES.

THE RATHBUN FAMILY.

Clark Rathbun, who was a native of New England, moved to Pennsylvania and en- gaged in the milling business on the Youghiogheny River above Elizabethtown. Previous to 1797 he purchased a tract of land in what is now the southwestern part of Penn Township, Butler County, and erected a cabin and brought hither his son Thomas and his daughter Ruth, the latter being a girl of about thirteen years of age. Leaving his two children to keep posses- sion of the place, he returned to Allegheny County, to his business of milling at Rob- bins's mill during the winter. After a

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short stay, Thomas became weary of liv- ing in the woods, and desired to return to his father's and attend school. The plan was talked over, and Ruth consented to it. Accordingly, Thomas returned to his for- mer home, and Ruth kept house alone for three months, her only companion being a large faithful dog. The nearest neighbors lived two miles from the cabin, and as the house was secure against wild beasts, she had no fear of robbers. Wolves howled about the dwelling at night, and all her surroundings were of the wildest character conceivable, but the girl remained at her post showing a magnanimous courage and self-sacrifice that has been the wonder and admiration of her descendants. The fol- lowing season the Rathbun family took up their abode in the wilderness, and lived here a few years, after which nearly all of the members went to Ohio. Ruth Rath- bun married Robert Brown, who was one of the first settlers of Penn Township. They were the parents of thirteen children, all of whom grew up to maturity, and be- came residents of the county. Mrs. Brown died in 1850, and her husband in 1853.

AMBERSON AND THE INDIAN.

Among the celebrated Indian scouts that patrolled the woods in northwestern Penn- sylvania previous to 1792, when the terri- tory was opened for settlement, were James Amberson, James Jeffries, and Capt. Samuel Brady. Amberson after- wards settled in Forward Township in the Connoquenessing Valley and was one of the pioneers of that district. These Indian scouts had all the hatred of the Indian that was possessed by Brady and other noted frontiersmen, and in their estimation there was no more harm in killing an Indian than in destroying a noxious animal. The story is related that many years after the Indian tribes had left Butler County, Am- berson and a companion were out one day in the woods near the old Venango trail that passes through a portion of Forward

Township, and that they saw a big Indian approaching along the trail alone. Am- berson proposed to his companion that they kill the Indian, to which the compan- ion objected. After some parley about the matter, Amberson got his way and the In- dian was accordingly shot and his body was hid in a hollow tree not far from the trail. The act was a wanton murder, but the old Indian scouts and frontiersmen did not regard the killing of an Indian in the light of a crime.

CAPT. SAMUEL BRADY.

That Captain Samuel Brady, the famous scout, was often in the forests of Butler County in 1780 and 1781, is substantially a matter of historical record. At that time General Broadhead was the commander at Fort Pitt, and Brady was depended upon by him to undertake hazardous en- terprises against the Indians. His success in these enterprises, and his daring ex- ploits in general, aroused the jealousy of the officers at the fort, and it was a long time before they could be convinced that his methods of warfare against the sav- ages were more effectual than their own. They were, however, finally convinced of the fact from the following circumstance.

General Broadhead having organized a force to punish the Indians who had been guilty of massacring the settlers of Se- wickley in 1780, Brady, owing to the jeal- ousy of the officers as above referred to, was not allowed to accompany the troops. He obtained permission, however, to or- ganize an independent party. With five white men and a friendly Indian scout, he set out and in a short time located the war party of which he was in search at the In- dian camp near Kittanning. Making a cautious approach after dark, he waited until the morning and then, with the first pale light of dawn, made his attack, seven rifles ringing out simultaneously and with- out warning in the morning air. The In- dians, who were gathered around the camp-

HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

fire, exulting over the scalps and spoils taken at Sewickley, were effectually sur- prised, five of them dropping dead on the instant. Another, as it was afterwards ascertained, was mortally wounded, though he escaped for the time being. After a short pursuit Brady and his men returned to the fort with the canoes and other prop- erty of the Indians, while soon after the. soldiers came in empty-handed to report that the enemy had escaped them. It is said that they henceforth recognized Brady's superiority as an Indian fighter.

There is another story which has to do with the escape of this famous scout from a party of Indians who were pursuing him, by leaping twenty-three feet across a deep chasm. There has been some dispute as to the location where this remarkable leap took place. It is said by many to have oc- curred somewhere on Slippery Rock Creek, while others have placed it on Bear Creek. Wherever it was, he successfully leaped from one bank to the other of the stream, to the great mortification of the pursuing savages, who were close behind, and who thus saw one of their most feared and re- lentless enemies escape them to prove a thorn in their flesh on many a subsequent occasion. This is said to have occurred in 1781 or 1782.

THE RESCUE OF ISAAC ZANE.

The first white mnan to set foot within the present limits of Butler borough appears to have been Isaac Zane, who was a promi- nent character on the frontier of western Pennsylvania and Ohio in the days pre- vious to the Revolution. Zane was born in Virginia in 1753, and when nine years of age was taken prisoner by the Wyandot Indians and carried to Detroit. He grew up with the Indians and when a young man was employed by the government. About the time of the Revolution Zane and a party of frontiersmen were sent on a mis- sion to some of the forts in New York State. They came to old Fort Venango

in Pennsylvania, where they made a flat boat and descended the Allegheny River to Pittsburg, passing old Fort Duquesne and Logtown on the Ohio River and reaching the mouth of the Muskingum River at Marietta without any serious adventure. Here they decided to proceed up the Mus- kingum River to Detroit and thence to Erie. They were warned, however, that such a course would be dangerous on ac- count of the Indians being on the war path. Disregarding the warning, they set out, but had not proceeded more than a day or so on their journey when the party was captured by a band of Delawares, and Zane was selected as the prisoner to be taken back east to the Indian rendezvous near Kittanning, Pennsylvania. In their route to Kittanning they passed the pres- ent town of Coshocton, Ohio, struck the old Indian trail at the mouth of Connoqueness- ing Creek on the Beaver River, and thence followed the creek past "Murdering Town," near Amberson's bridge, and ar- rived at the present site of Butler in the evening, where they camped on the hill on the site of the court house.

It appears that Zane was well known among the Indians of Ohio, and when the fact of his capture was ascertained, an In- dian girl, presumably one of the Wyandot tribe, undertook to accomplish his rescue. She followed the Delaware war party across the trackless forests of eastern Ohio from the Muskingum River to Butler, a distance of almost two hundred miles and overtook the party at the camp here in the evening. She held a parley with the chief of the war party and persuaded him to release Zane and allow her lover to re- turn to Ohio. After his return to Ohio, Zane married the Indian girl, and it is said that many families in the vicinity of Zanes- ville or Marietta point with pride to the fact that they are descendants of this noted couple. After the Revolution Zane settled on a large tract of land near Zanes- ville, Ohio, where he died in 1816. Howe's

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

"Historical Collections of Ohio" states that Zane's wife was a half-breed French girl from Canada, but does not mention the romantic rescue above related. The story of the rescue was published in recent years in the newspapers of Marietta, Ohio, and its authenticity was unquestioned at that time.

DESTRUCTION OF KITTANNING.

The following account of the rescue of Fort Shirley, the destruction of the Indian town of Kittanning, and the adventure of James Kirkpatrick with the Indians is taken from a manuscript in possession of J. D. Kirkpatrick, of Renfrew, Butler County, who is a grandson of the pioneer mentioned in the narrative. The Kirkpat- rick family were in the Allegheny Valley about the time that the Harbison family located at Reed's Station, opposite Free- port, and were no doubt among the earliest settlers in the territory west of the Alle- gheny River. In the Kirkpatrick narra- tive, the last murder by Indians is said to have occurred in April, 1791, while the raid on Reed's Station, according to the story of Massy Harbison, occurred in 1792. These are discrepancies for which the reader of local history can make due al- lowance. Both narratives are authentic, and the Kirkpatrick story is published for the first time in a history of Butler County. The narrative reads as follows :

"After the defeat of Braddock on the Monongahela, the incursions of the Indians into the frontier settlements of Virginia and Maryland became more frequent and bold. Indeed, so terrible had become their ravages that most of the settlers had fled for protection, either to the nearest stock- ade forts, or to the older settlements east and south of the mountains.

"Emboldened by the success of their forays into these provinces, the savage hordes swept over the border into Penn- sylvania, and laid waste the beautiful val- ley of the Juniata and the Kiskiminitas,

carrying away whole families of women and children prisoners to their towns north of the Ohio, while statistics show that up- ward of 1,000 white settlers were killed during these incursions.

"Washington had been recently ap- pointed Commander-in-Chief of all the forces then raised or to be raised, in the colony of Virginia. But the militia laws of the province were so inadequate to the enforcement of proper discipline that he had a sorry time bringing to subordina- tion the beggarly array of recruits who reported for duty after an urgent call. At this time there came to the young com- mander heart-rending appeals from the border for protection. He was deeply moved at the deplorable condition of the helpless people, and resolved that a speedy and decisive blow should be struck at their stealthy and deadly foe.

"Scouts had brought in word that tracks of a numerous band had been discovered, tending toward Fort Duquesne, and an es- caped prisoner reported that they were hostile Delawares and Shawnees, that Washington's former ally, Shingis, and another chief called Captain Jacobs, were their leaders, and that they had a rendez- vous on the Allegheny, twenty-five or thirty miles above Fort Duquesne, called Kittan- ning, whither they carried their prisoners and plunder. Colonel John Armstrong, of the Pennsylvania militia, undertook the punishment of this murderous band. He took with him Washington's beloved friend and neighbor, Captain Hugh Mercer, who, the year before, had been severely wounded at Braddock's field and from the thicket, where he lay disabled, had witnessed the atrocities of the Indians.

"With 280 picked men, well mounted, and with reliable scouts in advance, they marched rapidly and silently over the mountains and through the forest to the Allegheny River.

"Irving says they kept on till they reached the Ohio. This is a geographical

HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

error, unless he applies the name to the Allegheny, which prior to 1748 was called the Ohio, as well as the river below Pitts- burg, by the Senecas and several other tribes. Yet as early as 1753 Washington, in the report of his mission to Venango, designates the north fork of the Ohio as the Allegheny, and other contemporary writers do the same. Setting out, as Arm- strong's party did, from Fort Shirley in the Juniata Valley, and celerity and se- crecy being the essence of the undertaking, their most direct and secluded route would be through the defiles of the mountains, in or near the Conemaugh region, and thence through the valley of the Kiskiminitas to the Allegheny.

"On the 7th, in the evening, being within six miles of Kittanning, the scout discov- ered a fire in the road and reported that there were two or at most four Indians at it. It was not thought advisable to sur- prise those Indians at that time, as if one should escape the town might be alarmed. So Lieutenant Hogg, with twelve men, was left to watch them, with orders not to fall upon them till daybreak, and our forces turned out of the path and passed by with- out disturbing them.

"It was afterward a cause of wonder- ment and chagrin to M. Dumas, then in command at Fort Duquesne, and to his red allies, that so large a force of mounted men could march undiscovered into their enemy's country, where Indian scouts and detachments of French soldiers were con- stantly on the alert.

"It was a clear moonlight night in Sep- tember when the avengers neared the end of their perilous ride. They were guided to the town by the whoops and yells of the savages, who had just returned from an- other murdering foray, and were celebrat- ing their triumphs with the hideous scalp dance. It would require the pen of Hugo or the pencil of Dore to do justice to this weird and awful scene, in which the war- riors, fantastically decorated with feathers,

beads and war paint, circled about a great fire in the monotonous dance, carrying aloft on the ends of poles the variously colored scalps of their recent victims. Armstrong's men had secreted their horses some distance back in the woods, and had cautiously made their way on foot to a dip in the land about 100 yards from the place. Here they were ordered to 'lie still and hush' till moonset. From this cover they had a full view of the horrid spectacle.

"The stalwart dancers went round and round, and as the moonlight and firelight gleamed suddenly on the snow-white tresses of an aged woman lifted high by a sinewy arm, the fury of the white men could hardly be restrained. But, remem- bering that the success of the attack de- pended upon its being a complete surprise, they controlled their wrath. The savage rites were long, but they ended at last, and such Indians as had huts retired to them, and those who had not, built fires in a neighboring cornfield to protect them from the myriads of gnats that infested the place, and lay down there to rest. The last guttural 'Ugh! Ugh!' had died away and all slept heavily. But there was another weary wait for the white men till the moon set and the fires burned low.

ARMSTRONG'S ATTACK.

"History says that as the first streak of dawn revealed the outlines of the lodges, Armstrong divided his men into two par- ties and they made a simultaneous attack upon the corn field and the village. Chief Jacobs being roused by the first shot, sounded the war whoop, and the braves in the field, although surprised, hearing the cry of their chief, fought desperately till several of their number were killed. But Armstrong's report says :

" 'As soon as day appeared and the town could be seen, the attack on the corn- field began, through which our people charged, killing several of the enemy, and

RAPP'S SEAT, HARMONY

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS HOME, HARMONY

MUDDY CREEK FALLS

STONE HOUSE, BRADY TOWNSHIP

CITIZEN PRINTING OFFICE

NEWS DEPOT

BUTLER CITIZEN BUTLER CO

MECHLING HOTEL (Where Gen. Lafayette was entertained in 1824)

LOG CABIN, BUILT BY MANASSAS DUGAN

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entered the town.' The lodges, some thirty in number, were set on fire, and Chief Jacobs and his people, within, ordered to surrender. They refused. But as the fire made headway, many of them rushed from their burning homes. A few escaped, but many were killed and scalped after their own fashion. Among the latter were Chief Jacobs and his giant son, said to have been seven feet high. The women and children fled to the woods, says Irv- ing, Bancroft and Lossing, but older ac- counts state that many of them perished in the town.

"Armstrong's account of the affair, which he sent by an express to Governor Denny in Philadelphia, and which is found published in the Portsmouth (New Hamp- shire) Gazette for October 7, 1756 (a copy of which is in possession of Mr. Joseph Forsythe of Pittsburg), relates that Jacobs's squaw was killed and scalped as she attempted to escape through a window, and says further :

" 'The Indians had a number of spare arms in their houses, loaded, which went off as the fire came to them, and quantities of gunpowder, which had been stored in every house, blew up from time to time, throwing some of their bodies a great height into the air.'

"Armstrong also says that 'a squaw was heard crying in one of the burning houses.' It is therefore inferred that she, and per- haps others of her sex, perished in the flames, as the leg of a child was blown by one of the explosions into the midst of the white troops. The discharge of spare guns and the heavy explosions referred to, at- test how well French emissaries kept the savages supplied with the munitions of war.

"In the action seventeen of the whites were killed, thirteen wounded and nineteen missing at roll call. Among the wounded were Colonel Armstrong and his second- in-command, Captain Mercer. It does not appear from the various accounts of the

affair that the faithless Shingis was pres- ent at the destruction of Kittanning. It is probable that he had gone to Fort Du- quesne, as his tribe was accustomed to transport thither their most valuable pris- oners and booty, and it is known that they obtained from the French commandant at that place part of their supplies. Arm- strong's dispatch to Philadelphia also says :

" 'Seven English prisoners were re- leased and brought away, who informed the colonel that besides the powder (of which the Indians boasted they had enough for ten years' war with the English) there was a great quantity of goods burnt, which the French had made them a present of but ten days before.'

"The timeliness of Armstrong's attack is proved by further testimony of the res- cued prisoners, given in his Philadelphia dispatch :

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 7

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1526

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526