USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Gazetteer and business directory of Crawford County, Pa., for 1874 > Part 4
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CRAWFORD COUNTY ..
of the western part of Crawford county, the south-western part of Erie and the north-western part of Mercer, in Pa., and the eastern part of Ashtabula county, Ohio, embracing a pop- ulation of fully 70,000, who are principally engaged in dairy farming. It is Republican in politics and is ably conducted.
The first paper published in Conneautville was the Union, which was started in October, 1846, by Platt & Son, and dis- continued the following May.
THE CRAWFORD JOURNAL, published at Meadville, is the successor of the Crawford Weekly Messenger, before alluded to, which in 1834, passed into the hands of Joseph C. G. Kennedy, (late Superintendent of U. S. Census Bureau,) who conducted it for a year and a half, when Jos. C. Hays purchased the material, and July 27, 1836, changed the name to Crawford Statesman, which was Whig in politics. In 1841, Mr. Hays sold to a com- pany, and the paper was successively edited by Samuel Magill, A. P. Whitaker, H. B. Brooks, James Onslow and James Burchfield, Democratic in politics. In 1848, the material was purchased by Mr. Hays, who, on the 13th of January of that year, commenced the publication of The Crawford Journal, as a
Whig paper. The Meadville Gazette, another Whig paper, started by L. L. Lord, in 1845, was purchased by Mr. Hays and consol- idated with the Journal in 1850. Mr. Hays conducted the Journal as a Whig, American and Republican organ, until No- vember, 1864, when it was purchased by John D. Nicholas. In December, 1865, the office was entirely destroyed by fire. In the spring of 1866, the Journal was re-issued by Edward Bliss and John D. Nicholas. Since April, 1867, it has been successive- ly under the editoral control of Thomas Mckean, McKean & Frey, Johnson & McKean, Mckean & Andrews, Robert Andrews & Co., Hollister & Metcalf, Chalfant & Tyler, C. W. Tyler and Thickstun & Hollister. In April, 1873, it was purchased by Hempstead & Co., the present proprietors.
THE CRAWFORD DEMOCRAT was started at Meadville, in 1833, by James E. McFarland, who sold it, in 1859, to Wm. Wilson, by whom it was sold, in 1861, to Thomas W. Grayson, the pres- ent editor and proprietor. The paper has always been Demo- cratic.
THE CRAWFORD INDEX is the outgrowth of The Index, a monthly advertising pamphlet, which was started at Cam- bridgeboro, in 1869, by A. W. Howe, who issued a few numbers at remote periods, until declining health and financial embarrassments compelled him to relinquish the project. At his death in February, 1872, D. P. Robbins, M. D., purchased the press and material, and in April, 1872,
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CRAWFORD COUNTY.
issued the first number of the Weekly Index, which, by untir- ing zeal, he established upon a paying basis. At the beginning of the second volume he admitted B. T. Anderson as a partner, enlarged the paper to its present size and changed its name to the Cambridge Index, under which title it is now published. In June, 1873, Mr. Anderson withdrew from the firm, leaving Mr. Robbins the sole proprietor, and by whom it is still published.
Evidences of settlement at a time long anterior to the advent of the present race exist in various parts of the county, but too little is known in regard to them to assign them to a definite era. Among the nomadic Indians who occupied the country when the present settlements were commenced a tradi- tion was extant that these traces of civilized occupancy were the works of a larger and more powerful race of people than they, and their character precludes the idea that they were wrought by the uncultured red men. In Gordon's Gazetteer of Pennsyl- vania, is " the following notice of a curious mound in the county," " taken from the N. Y. Jour. of Commerce, 1830."
"On an extensive plain near Oil Creek, there is a vast mound of stones' containing many hundred thousand cart loads. This pyramid has stood through so many ages that it is now covered with soil, and from its top rises a noble pine tree, the roots of which running down the sides, fasten themselves in the earth below. The stones are many of them so large that two men can scarce move them, and are unlike any in the neighborhood ; nor are there quarries near, from which so large a quantity could be taken. The stones were, perhaps, collected from the surface, and the mound one of the many that have been raised by the ancient race which preceded the Indians, whom the Europeans have known. These monu- ments are numerous further north and east, and in the south and west are far greater, more artificial and imposing."
We extract from Huidekoper's Incidents in the Early History of Crawford County the following relative to the Indian occu- pancy of the country embraced in this county :
" There were originally two circular forts about a mile below the present village of Meadville. The one in the valley, on the farm of Mr. Taylor Randolph, and the other a quarter of a mile below, on the bluff point of a high knoll, where a small stream puts into the canal. The plough and annual tillage of the soil, have now destroyed them. There was also a mound to be seen a short distance above the fort, which stood in the plain. It is now nothing but a smooth eminence, some two or three feet high, and extending from north to south some fifteen or twenty feet, and about twice as much from east to west. It is described, however, by Mr. Isaac Randolph, one of the oldest settlers, on whose farm it stands, as having been composed originally of two mounds connected by a narrow neck between them. The material of one of the mounds he represents as having been of gravel, and the other of alluvial earth. The ground around the mound is alluvial, without stone, and it is evident the material was carried some distance to construct the mound, as there was no ditch or excavation near it, from which it could have been taken. The mound stands some thirty rods from the stream, where gravel is abundant.
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" The fields in the neighborhood abound with small pieces of Indian crockery, resembling common earthenware, except that it is not glazed nor so well burned.
"In ploughing in the neighborhood of the above mound some years ago an Indian grave was discovered, covered with a large stone, under which, among the bones, were found some interesting relics. Among the rest, some sharp instruments of agate or other hard stone, shaped in the form of the segment of a circle, from three to five inches long, and having one edge, and the points very sharp ; they were probably used either for surgical instruments, or for tattooing, &c. Indian arrow-heads of flint, and axes of greenstone, are frequently found in the flats along the creek, and occasionally the remains of pipes for smoking carved out of stone. A small idol, carved in the form of an owl, of soapstone, was found a few years since, and is now in the cabinet of Mr. Frederick Huidekoper, in Meadville. A small turtle, either a petrifaction, or a relic of Indian sculpture, has lately been discovered in excavating for a furnace on the Big Sugar Creek ; it is now in the possession of Mr. J. Russell, at Russell- ville, in Venango County. The fossil is a siliceous stone, and was un- fortunately and wantonly broken by the laborers who exhumed it; the pieces, however, have been obtained and preserved by Mr. Russell. The head and front part of the body are entire ; the head a little distorted, but very distinct. From a hasty inspection I had of it in passing Mr. Russell's, a few days since, I should be inclined to believe it a specimen of Indian sculpture, and an idol of the Delaware, or some other tribe of Indians, who regarded the turtle as sacred.
" The most perfect of the Indian fortifications in the county is a cir- cular fort, still in a tolerable state of preservation, which stands on a point of land projecting into the Pymatuning Swamp in North Shenango town- ship. The area of the fort includes some two acres of ground, now covered with large timber. The breastwork is about three feet high, and the fosse from two to three feet deep ; there are from four to five places of egress from the fort, where there are intervals in the ditch. The breast- work has probably originally been fortified with a stockade, and the portals occupied with gates. On the land side, or the side opposite to the swamp, is another breastwork, some twenty or thirty yards from the fort, and now less distinct.
"In the interior of the fort there are a great number of places where there is a slight depression in the surface, as though a hole had been dug some two feet in diameter. In excavating in these places the ground has a burnt look, and among the earth are small pieces of charcoal, indicating that these holes have been receptacles for fire, and were probably made use of in cooking. On the top of the breastwork trees are now growing, one of which, a white oak, measured more than ten feet in circumference. In the neighborhood of the fort are Indian graves and remains, that have not yet been explored."
At " Green Mount," upon the farm of Mr. Rufus Smith, about two miles south of Meadville, have recently been ex- humed human skeletons, which, from their position and other circumstances connected with their burial, have induced in some the belief that they are Indian remains. While the evidence thus far adduced does not fully establish this as the fact, the position is not rendered less tenable by the counter theory, which seeks to show, upon the authority of Mr. Alexander Shaw, of Shaws Landing, and other early settlers, that the
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remains are those of early white settlers, and the locality a burial ground which was laid out upon the farm when it was the property of James Randolph. There is little doubt that the spot was used as a place of burial by the early white settlers ; and the irrefragable evidence which exists that this was once the home of the red man, renders it highly probable that this mound, so characteristic of the Indian sepulture, and yet, pos- sibly, only a natural conformation of the ground, was used by them for interring their dead. It is not impossible, therefore, nor improbable, that the remains of both white and red men re- pose there. The remains which have been disinterred are placed in the Natural History Department of the Meadville Theological School, and may prove to be interesting aboriginal relics.
In Cussewago township and other localities numerous Indian relics have, from time to time, been disclosed by the agency of the plow and otherwise. Huidekoper relates that in 1834, while engaged in surveying the extreme western part of the county, near Sorrel Hill, he discovered trees which had been blazed one hundred and twelve years before that time. On blocking these trees the mark of the ax or edged instrument was very distinct. Very recently Mr. Eli Brown, while engaged in fell- ing a large oak tree, upon his farm in Summit township, dis- covered near its center a cut which was apparently made with an ax or other sharp instrument of similar design. The num- ber of rings marking each year's growth, from the cutoutward, as counted by Mr. Brown, indicates that the incision was made more than three centuries ago, as early as 1573, but by whom can only be conjectured.
This section of country seems to have been considered by the Indians as neutral ground, and was probably only the tempe- rary home of nomadic tribes. It is not definitely known that any permanent Indian village existed within the limits of the county, though suppositions that such is the fact have been and are still entertained. Their nearest village on the east, of which we have any authentic record, was Cornplanter's, at Tin- neshantago, on the Allegheny River, and the nearest settlements of the western Indians were at Cuyahoga and Sandusky. Among the Indians who were living at the mouth of Conneaut Creek was a chief, named Canadaughta, to whom, and his three sons, (Flying Cloud, Big Sun and Standing Stone, ) the early white settlers were indebted for many acts of kindness and friendly protection.
Settlement by the whites was commenced in 1787, by David and John Mead, who, in the summer of that year, impelled by the acrimonious disputes engendered by conflicting claims between
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CRAWFORD COUNTY.
Connecticut and Pennsylvania, left their homes in Northum- berland county to explore the valley of French Creek. "They found the soil rich and productive, and many of the finest por- tions of the valley covered with herbage and grass, the forest trees having apparently been long previously removed, giving the cleared portions, at this time, much the appearance of a natural prairie." Their favorable report of the country induced Joseph Mead, Thomas Martin, John Watson, James F. Ran- dolph, Thomas Grant, Cornelius VanHorne and Christopher Snyder to accompany them the following spring with a view to making it their permanent home. They located upon French Creek, in the vicinity of Meadville, some upon the east bank, but principally upon the west side, at the mouth of Cusse- wago Creek. Owing to the frequent outrages perpetrated by the hostile Indians upon the settlements of this frontier, by which these pioneers and the few who subsequently united their fortunes with them were several times driven from their im- provements and compelled to seek protection at Franklin, the nearest fortified place, the settlements were much retarded dur- ing the first eight years, nearly every one of which was marked by the brutal ferocity and vindictiveness of the Indians; and not until the consummation of the treaty of Gen. Wayne with the western Indians, which was made Aug. 3, 1795, and ratified Dec. 22, of the same year, and which brought tranquility and security to them, did a rapid, healthy and enduring improve- ment take place. Early in 1794 the settlers organized them- selves into a military company, of which Cornelius VanHorne was chosen captain, and a block house was built, in the upper story of which a cannon was mounted. The blockhouse was a rough log building, with the upper story projecting beyond the
lower one, and was provided with a centry box on the top. It was situated east of Water street, in the city of Meadville, and remained standing till the summer of 1828, when, in the pro- gress of improvement, it was removed. The settlers worked their farms as best they could, keeping together in small com- panies, fearing the isolation which was sure to provoke attack from a covert enemy, and ever on the alert to anticipate and avert the danger with which they were constantly threatened.
Wishing to avoid repetition we refer the reader to the respec- tive towns, where further details pertaining to the early settle- ments will be found.
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ATHENS.
GAZETTEER OF TOWNSHIPS.
ATHENS, was formed in 1831. It is an interior town, lying north-east of the center of the county and contains 17,113 square acres. The surface is pleasantly diversified by upland and valley. The soil is of good quality, being well adapted to the growth of grass, barley, rye, oats, corn and buckwheat, and is well watered in the western and central parts by Muddy Creek, its tributaries, and the numerous springs from which they take their rise, and in the eastern part by Oil Creek, which crosses the north-east corner of the township. It is populated by a thrifty and intelligent people, who are engaged principally in agriculture, lumbering and the various industries growing out of the latter. Among the principal manufacturing interests are Wright & Harter's cheese box factory and planing mill, situated at Little Cooley, and giving employment to five men in the manufacture of 200 boxes per day; Samuel Clement's steam saw and shingle mill, located on road No. 11, which employs two men and turns out 3000 feet of lumber and 20,000 shingles per day; J. M. Parker's shingle mill, located in the south-east part, which employs eight men and is capable of pro- ducing 20,000 shingles per day ; D. & J. Riggs' steam saw and shingle mill, located on road No. 35, which gives employment to three men and is capable of cutting 2000 feet of lumber and 10,000 shingles per day ; and the Athens Mills, located on road No. 26, near the south line, consisting of steam saw, shingle and lath mills, in which twenty-five men are employed and 15,000 feet of lumber, 20,000 shingles and 10,000 lath can be made per day.
The township is traversed by the Union & Titusville R. R., which crosses the north-east corner, and the Pennsylvania Petroleum R. R., which crosses the south-west corner.
The population of the township in 1870 was 1317, of whom 1290 were native, 27, foreign and all, white.
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ATHENS.
During the year ending June 3, 1872, the township contained nine schools and employed sixteen teachers. The number of scholars was 460; the average number attending school, 335; and the amount expended for school purposes, 81,677.77.
LITTLE COOLEY, (p. v.) situated in the western part of the township, on Muddy Creek, and on the line of the P. P. R. R., is a promising village containing a church, (United Breth- ren,) school house, hotel, six stores, a grist mill, cheese box fac- tory and many comfortable dwellings.
TAYLORS STAND (p. o.) is situated on the State Road, in the north part.
The settlement of the township was commenced about the lat- ter part of the last century by a man named Smith, who lived in lonely seclusion without neighbors or companionship save that of the nomadic Indians who frequented his locality, and with no better roads than the Indian paths afforded. Franklin was the nearest reliable place from which he could obtain supplies, and these were conveyed upon the backs of horses which were eventually lost in the wilderness. His house stood upon the Dr. Taylor farm and its ruins were discernible when the doctor took possession. He finally abandoned his improvements, but whether he reached the settlenients in safety, or became a victim to the treachery of his savage companions is not known. Smith was followed by Elisha Root, Dr. Silas Taylor, Jonah Edson, Wm. King, John Shawburger and Abraham Wheeler, who battled heroically with the hardships incident to pioneer life and effected permanent settlements. Taylor and Wheeler, far advanced in years, have lived to see the wonderful transfor- mations, by which a wilderness forbidding in aspect and habited by wild beasts has given way to the fruitful farms of the pros- perous husbandman and the busy hum of the mechanic arts, and to enjoy in sweet tranquility the fruits of their early ardu- ous labors. The absence of roads of any kind was one of the first difficulties which demanded the attention of these brave and sturdy yeomen. By an act of the Legislature a State road was authorized and had been cut out, but the underwood had obtained vigorous growth and obstructed its passage. Steep hills needed leveling, deep morasses making passable and streams bridging; while dense forests covering all the lands denied them subsistence. Nothing daunted they set themselves to the task of removing these obstacles. Dr. Taylor and John Brown (the latter of Harpers Ferry notoriety, who settled at a later day in the township of Richmond, which adjoins this on the west,) were active in opening the State road through their respective townships, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing a serviceable
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ATHENS-BEAVER.
highway which answered well its purpose, and laid the founda- tion for more permanent improvement. The settlement of the township was retarded by the conflicting titles arising from discrepancies in the surveys made by Doe and Herrington. Many who came purposing to take up and improve the lands were deterred from doing so and sought homes in other locali- ties where patrimony was less likely to be affected by legal con- tention. Happily, however, all these clashing interests have been harmonized by wise legislation, and the bitter controver- sies which threatened the peace of the whole community have long since ceased and their memory is partially obliterated by the lapse of time.
Robert Cage, a native of Harpers Ferry, Va., who died in August, 1869, settled in April, 1824, on the 200 acre tract, " No. 1718," on which his son John now lives.
The first improvement on the site of the village of Little Cooley was made by Isaac A. Cummings, in 1848, and for some time his was the only habitation in that locality.
The " Church of God" (Advent,) was organized with three members, in 1855, by Elder Charles Crawford, the first pastor. The Society is without a house of worship, meetings being held in the grove during the summer and in the school house during the winter. There are seventy members. To certain inquiries propounded relative to this church, Elder C. N. Burrell, the present pastor, facetiously replies that the house of worship was erected " when God made the world," and will seat "all that will come." Its cost, he says, "God only knows " as " the trees are his first temple."
A beautiful and conspicuous church edifice graces the village of Little Cooley. It is under the supervision of the United Brethren, though it was built with funds contributed by all denominations and its doors are open to all orthodox sects and to moral entertainments.
BEAVER was formed in 1811. It lies in the north-west corner of the county, bordering upon Ohio on the west and Erie county on the north, and contains 21,668 square acres. The surface is level and watered by several small streams tribu- tary to Conneaut Creek, which have their rise in the south part of the township and flow north, parallel to each other, through it. In the south-western part is a salt spring, which has yielded considerable quantities of salt. The waters were not strongly impregnated with saline matter and as it was believed that by boring deeper a stronger brine would be obtained, a well was sunk an additional depth of 200 to 300 feet, but instead of vield- ing a stronger brine oil was obtained, not, however, in sufficient C
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BEAVER.
quantity to render it profitable. The oil mixing with the salt water rendered the latter valueless for commercial purposes. An effort was made to restore the salt spring to its former pur- ity by filling the well to its former depth, but that proving futile it was abandoned. The soil is well adapted to grazing, and dairying and stock raising form the chief pursuits of the agriculturist as well as the principal occupation of the inhabit- ants. Lumbering is carried on to some extent. The lands in the northern part of the township, having been in the hands of speculators, evince but slight improvement, though they are now being rapidly brought under cultivation.
The population of the township in 1870 was 1177, of whom 1101 were native, 76, foreign and all, white.
During the year ending June 3, 1872, the township contained eleven schools and employed twenty-two teachers. The num- ber of scholars was 373 ; the average number attending school, 307; and the amount expended for school purposes, $1,834,07.
BEAVER CENTER (p. o.) is located in the center of the town- ship, four miles from the Erie & Pittsburg R. R., and contains two churches, (both recently built,) two stores, two saw mills, (one operated by steam and the other by water,) a manufactory of hand-rakes, bent fellies, spokes and wagon neaps, a cheese factory, two blacksmith shops and about twenty-five dwellings.
J. W. Wood & Co.'s manufacturing establishment, located here, gives employment to about eight persons and annually produces about 12,000 to 15,000 hand rakes, 5,000 sets of fellies and wagon shafts, 2,000 wagon poles and 1,500 sets of spokes.
The settlement of the township was commenced about the beginning of the present century. George and William Fos- ter are believed to be the first who located within its limits. They came from the eastern part of the State about the year 1800 and settled near the center. William preceded his father a few months. He brought with him upon a hand sled a barrel of flour and superintended his own cuisine, which, it is fair to presume, was of a most primitive character. His meat was supplied by the game which was then abundant. About the same time the Fosters catre settlements were made by a Mr, McGuire in the southern part of the township, by two families named Silverthorn, in the south-east part, on Silverthorn Run, and by a Mr. Thompson, in the south-western part. A Mr. Durham, settled south of Beaver Center near the same time.
The Gateses, Hollenbecks, Browns and Larkins came in a little later. Lotan Reid, a native of Massachusetts, located in the south-western part in 1834, having previously resided in Canada. At that late day there were no roads in the locality
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BEAVER-BLOOMFIELD.
in which he settled, and the blazed trees of that period were the only guide the traveler had in traversing the dense forests.
The first store in the township was probably kept at Beaver Center, by Lester Griswold. The first grist mill was built at the same place, by Robert Foster, it contained a single run of stones, which were obtained from rocks found in the vicinity. The first saw mill is believed to have been built by Wm. Plymat, about a mile west of the center.
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