History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 107

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790

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Joseph Audibert, by Loeben, his attorney-in-fact, conveyed 283 acres of No. 304, called " Audibert," after its patentee, Peter Benignus Audibert, to Daniel Lemmon, January 21, 1828, for $156, and Marie Touissant Audibert, by Loeben, attorney- in-fact, conveyed 127 acres and 155 perches of " Audibert " to Lemmon, August 24, 1848, for $446, probably in pursuance of an agreement made prior to her death. Lemmon probably settled on the smaller one of these parcels ten or eleven years before it was conveyed to him, for in 1817 he was assessed with two tracts, each 200 acres, in what was then Buffalo township, one of them and 2 horses and 3 cattle at $248, and the other at $200. He kept a hotel in the eastern part of " Audibert," its sign, with two cross-keys, having been painted by James McCullough at his shop in Kittanning, April 7, 1828, and he was first assessed with his ferry at this point in 1827. He retained those two parcels, the westernmost one containing the small

parcel which had been part of No. 303, until his death, after which, in proceedings in partition, they, without regard to their original quantities, were divided into two purparts. The western one, marked " A," containing 114 acres and 111 perches, was valued by the inquest, September 20, 1852, at $16.08 an acre, and the other one marked "B," 40 acres and 94 perches, at $13.41 an acre, as sur- veyed to Daniel Lemmon's heirs by J. E. Mere- dith, October 19, 20. His surveys on these days included those of several other tracts on both sides of the Allegheny river. The court decreed purpart A to John H. Lemmon, and purpart B to Mrs. Margaret Nulton, December 20.

The Allegheny Furnace lands consisted chiefly of several depreciation lots, lying north of " Audi- bert," for all but one of which patents were granted to John Nixon, Sr., December 14, 1786, and others, May 28, 1788. The northern adjoiner of " Audi- bert" is No. 309, on the eastern part of which David Helm settled probably about 1797 and es- tablished a ferry, which became in those early times a prominent point. As early as, probably earlier than, 1805 Helm was assessed with 259 acres, 1 horse, 1 cow and 1 ferry, at $120.75, Di- vers citizens of Buffalo, Sugar Creek and Toby townships presented petition to the court.of quar- ter sessions of this county, representing that they labored under great inconveniences for want of a public road from David Helm's ferry to intersect with the old Franklin road at a path "known by the name of Bullock path." That application was held under advisement until March 18, 1807, when John Corbett, Elijah Mounts, Alexander McKean, Abraham Stanford, Thomas and William Thomp- son were appointed viewers. At the next June sessions Jacob Anthony, John Heffler and Chris- topher Reichert were substituted for Mounts, Stanford and Thomas Thompson. ' A remonstrance of sundry persons was presented, December 26, setting forth that the viewers had laid out the road neither on the best ground nor along the shortest route, and prayed for persons to be appointed to review that road from James Watterson's ferry to David Helm's ferry, and William Cochran, John Foster, James Matthews, Robert McDonald, Thomas Thompson and James Watterson were appointed reviewers. Their report was held under advisement from March till June sessions, 1808, when the court did " not approve." The petition of a number of inhabitants of this county was pre- sented to that conrt at March sessions, 1807, setting forth that they labored under great inconveniences for the want of a road from David Helm's ferry to Joseph Brown's, opposite the town of Kittanning,

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EAST FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

a distance of about two miles; that it frequently happened that the river was passable at one of these places when not at the other; and that by the then only route it was a distance of six or seven miles " over prodigious hills." Robert Brown, William Cochran, David Lawson, James Matthews, John Orr and James Sloan were appointed viewers, whose report in favor of the proposed road, with a draft of its courses and distances, 2 miles and 192 perches, abated June 6, was approved nisi, Septem- ber 24, and "confirmed of the width of 33 feet," December 24.

The petition of a number of the inhabitants of Sugar Creek township was presented at June ses- sions, 1810, praying for a road from David Helm's ferry to the bend of the Allegheny river opposite the mouth of Mahoning. Frederick Christman, David Helm, James Matthews, Robert McDonald, Robert Orr, Jr., and James Thompson were ap- pointed viewers, whose report in favor of the pro- posed road, 7 miles and 26 perches, with a draft of the courses and distances, was approved June 21, and confirmed as a public road, 20 feet wide, Sep- tember 19. It having been represented to the court at December sessions, 1810, by inhabitants of Kittanning and vicinity that there was need of a road from Helm's ferry on the east side of the Al- legheny river, where the road from Kittanning intersected the road from Ourey's up the river to Robert Beatty's grist and saw mills at the mouth of the Cowanshannock, Matthias Bowser, Adam Elliott, Daniel Lemmon, Michael Mechling, John and Robert Patrick, viewers. Their report in favor of the road, with a draft of its courses and distances, 1 mile and 40 perches, was read and approved, March 18, 1811, and confirmed as a public road, 33 feet wide, June 20. Helm was last assessed in 1815, and then with two tracts of land, each 200 acres, 1 horse and 2 cattle, at $222, but not with the ferry for several years before. He left this part of the country soon after his last assessment. Peter Humman was first assessed in the Buffalo township list with 150 acres, 1 horse, 2 cows and a ferry, in 1814. Did he succeed Helm at this point?

This and several other adjacent tracts having become vested in Alexander McNickle, he erected the Allegheny furnace in the northeastern part of No. 309 in 1826-7, went into blast in the latter part of July, 1827, and with which he was first assessed, together with 700 acres, 10 horses, 23 yoke of oxen in 1828, at $5,950, and with a tanyard in 1831, and a ferry in 1834. James W. Biddle, who had pre- viously erected Rock furnace, had some connec- tion with McNickle either in building or operating the Allegheny furnace, which was a hotblast

charcoal one, whose capacity was about 15 tons of metal a week, which was transported to Pittsburgh, its nearest market, in flatboats. MeNickle was last assessed with this furnace in 1836, which, be- fore the next assessment, went out of blast. It and all the lands belonging were conveyed by Chambers Orr, sheriff, to Robert Buchanan, of Cincinnati, Ohio, December 17, 1841. This tract is described in the sheriff's deed as containing 250 acres, 50 of which were cleared, and 15 were meadow. The buildings and other improvements were: A hewed log house, with a kitchen annexed, a store-room, two small buildings, one of which was frame and the other of round logs, used as a warehouse, a large smokehouse, a large quarter stack furnace, first rate, i. e. at $3,000, a twelve-inch cylinder engine, with the necessary buildings at- tached, furnace and coalhouses, blacksmith and carpenter shops, 1 kiln, 14 log-cabins, each one- story, and 2 stables, all which brought $1,000 under the sheriff's hammer. Buchanan conveyed 179 acres and 32 perches of the western part of No. 309, a long, narrow tract extending westward to the Kittanning, Middlesex and Brady's Bend road, to Robert O. Quigley, October 16, 1856, $942, 125 acres and 58 perches of which he conveyed to Joseph R. Ambrose, December 10, 1858, for $2,757.55, 32 acres and 113 perches of which Ambrose conveyed to George W. Burford, September 25, 1859, for $327, and about 96 acres to Obadiah Barnhart, the present owner, June 26, 1876, for $9,000. Buchanan conveyed 5 acres and 10 perches of the southeast- ern part to Thomas MeLemmon, January 20, 1858, for $75.93, and the residue of 63 acres on which the furnace was situated was included in his sale to Darwin Phelps.

About May 1, 1859, Rev. John N. Dick, James Dick, James T. Dickey, - Duff, Marcus Hulings and James S. Quigley organized themselves into a company for the purpose of mining cannel coal and making coal-oil, for which purpose they erect- ed suitable buildings near the site of the stack of the Allegheny furnace, put in position four corru- gated cast-iron retorts about 8 feet long and 4 feet in diameter, opened a seam of coal of good quality about 18 inches thick, made from 80 to 100 barrels of crude oil, and sold $200 worth, which they lost. The company also erected a refinery, which caught fire and was destroyed. Their losses aggregated about $7,000. Another obstacle was the develop- ment of petroleum in 1860. So that company ceased its operations.

Adjoining the western part of No. 309 on the north is depreciation lot No. 310, included in the Nixon purchase, on which John Bish settled in

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

1806, when he was first assessed in Buffalo town- ship with 1 cow at $6. He was first assessed with 40 acres of this tract in 1808, and 200 acres in 1809. He resided on it until 1819, when he left it. This tract in the sheriff's sale to Buchanan was bid off at $280. Adjoining on the east is No. 311, which was bid off at that sale at $250, 25 acres of which Buchanan sold to William Toy. Adjoining No. 311 on the north is depreciation lot No. 313, 24616 acres, called "Clover Hill," the patent for which to Nixon is dated May 28, 1788, and the considera- tion expressed is £18 9s 9d, which Nixon's heirs by their attorney-in-fact conveyed to Dr. John Gilpin, July 6, 1857, for $1,500.

Adjoining "Clover Hill" and No. 311 on the east is depreciation lot No. 312, 2487's acres, called " Arragon," the patent for which was granted to James Stokes, December 14, 1786, for €59 19s 4d, which he by his will, dated August 5, 1828, direct- ed his executors to dispose of either at private or public sale. They conveyed " Arragon " to Alex- ander McNickle, April 27, 1836, for $1,900, which brought $100 at sheriff's sale. This tract was named after Arragon, which was, until about 360 years ago, the second principal division of Spain. " Arragon " is traversed in a southeasterly course by Organ's run, so-called after John Organ, who settled on it probably before 1800. He was assessed with 244 acres of "Arragon " and 1 cow in 1805 at $61, and the next year with the same and 1 horse, at $71. His last assessment on this side of the river* was with 200 acres and 1 cow in 1808, at $200.

Buchanan conveyed to Darwin Phelps all of " Arragon," the residue of "Clover Hill " after selling 100 acres of it to Loeben Tarr, 63 acres of No. 309, 199 acres and 110 perches of No. 310, 215 acres, the residue of No. 311 after selling 25 acres of it to William Toy, aggregating 876 acres and 110 perches, December 13, 1858, for $8,500, who conveyed 71 acres of "Arragon " to James E. Brown and James Mosgrove, December 22, 1863, for $1,500 ; 29 acres and 7} perches thereof to Loeben Tarr, April 4, 1864, for $590. There is at present a public schoolhouse on that part of " Ar- ragon " at the cross-roads near Organ's run.

Phelps conveyed the rest of the lands which he had purchased from Buchanan, 835 acres, to Mc- Knight, Martin and others, of the Monticello Fur- nace Company, July 30, 1860, for $12,000, 810 acres of which the assignees of McKnight, Porter & Co. conveyed to the present owners, James E. Brown, James B. Neale and Grier C. Orr, November -, 1877.

Adjoining Nos. 309 and 310 on the west, and No. 305 and "Morlaix " on the north, is deprecia- tion lot No. 308, 218 acres and 141 perches, called " Sainte Marie," included in Sheriff Brown's sales to Joseph Audibert, 123 acres, and 106 perches of which the latter by Loeben, his attorney-in-fact, conveyed to Peter Bowser, October 16, 1837, for - -; the consideration in the deed is blank, and the receipt is for purchase money mentioned in the deed. Bowser conveyed 68 acres and 155 perches of this parcel to Robert Campbell, May 18, 1847, for $758.60, who by his will, dated- - -, 1865, and registered July 21, 1873, devised his parcel to his wife during her widowhood, and after her to his two daughters equally, or to the survivor of them ; and in the event of his having children born after the making of his will, they were to have each' an equal share.

Audibert, by his attorney, conveyed 66 acres and 132 perches of "Sainte Marie" to William Toy, December 28, 1845, for $200, who, at an advanced age, still resides on that portion of this parcel, in the angle formed by the intersection of the Kittan- ning, Middlesex and Brady's Bend road, and the one extending northwesterly and southwesterly from the one along the Allegheny river to the Kit- tanning and Butler turnpike.

Adjoining "Sainte Marie" on the west is de- preciation lot No. 307, 21818 acres, called " Tou- louse." It descended to Marie T. Audibert, who, by her attorney, Loeben, conveyed it to Anna Re- gina Erfmans, September 13, 1845, for $1,500 ; and the latter to James Miller, the present owner, March 13, 1868, for $5,250.

Loeben, as attorney-in-fact, conveyed 50 acres and 25 perches, parts of "Sainte Marie" and "Tou- louse," to Jacob Bowser, January 21, 1836, for $100.

This tract was named after the ancient city of Toulouse, which is situated on the Garonne river in France.

Adjoining "Toulouse " on the west, and "Great Meadow," "Polignac " and "Huntingdale" on the sonth, is a hexagonal tract, 397 acres and 100 perches, called "Campbelltown," on which John Campbell, father of Hugh and Nathaniel Camp- bell, made an improvement, March 12, and a settle- ment April 9, 1796, and which was surveyed to him by Ross, deputy surveyor, June 11, 1802, and for which the patent was granted to Campbell November 20, 1807. He conveyed, June 6, 1808, 150 acres to Jonas Bowser, for $260, and 114 acres and 9 perches to Adam Bowser for $228. The former by his will, dated July 1, 1846, and regis- tered March 7, 1848, devised all his real estate,

# See Red Bank township.

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EAST FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

including his parcel of "Campbelltown," to his wife during the rest of her life and widowhood, and, after her death or marriage, to her son, Henry Stauffer. The latter, by his will, dated October 4, 1850, and registered June 12, 1852, devised his parcel of "Campbelltown," on which he then lived, to his danghter, Priscilla, wife of James Russell.

Campbell also conveyed 50 acres of "Campbell- town" to David Claypoole, who conveyed the same to Adam Bowser, March 23, 1816, for $200, which he conveyed to John Swigert, July 26, 1833, for -, who conveyed the same to William Bo- ney, August 23, 1840, for - and which he con- veyed to Abraham Bowser about March 3, 1845, for $350, which, having become vested by proceed- ings in partition, in Matthias S. Bowser, he con- veyed to Peter Bowser, September 11, 1862, for $1,000.

Campbell conveyed what was left of "Campbell- town," after selling the foregoing parcels, to Abra- ham Swigard, January 31, 1814, for $300, two shares of which, and whatever other real estate he owned, he devised to his son Jacob, by his will dated March 15, 1830, and registered May 27, 1832, and one share to each of his other four children.

Adjoining "Campbelltown " on the west is the eastern portion of the Barr-Scott tract,* 84 acres of which Scott conveyed to Margaret Herron, Feb- ruary 5, 1828; she to James S. Herron, August 19, 1851 ; he to John Richey, February 28, 1865 ; he to Robert Huston, April 1, and Huston to A. J. Nicholson, the present owner, September 14, 1869, for $3,500.

Adjoining that eastern portion of the Barr-Scott tract and the western part of " Campbelltown " on the north is a tract, hexagonal, nearly a reet- angular parallelogram, lengthwise north and south, 202} acres, with which, and 200 acres other land and 2 horses and 2 cows, John Mann was first assessed in 1814, at $856, to whom a warrant issued November 24, 1828, and to whom this tract was surveyed by Robert Richards, deputy surveyor, April 25, 1829. He conveyed 207 acres and 63 perches thereof to William Patton, May 2, 1829, for $600-one of the adjoiners being John Kerr, who held "the residue of the tract of which this is a part,"-to whose sons, William and John, this parcel as divided by J. E. Meredith, May 21, 1863, still belongs. The portion of the tract cov- ered by that warrant which Kerr held adjoins the Patton portion on the east, a rectangular parallelo- gram, 202{ acres, with which John Kerr was first 'assessed, in 1822, at $150. He and his brothers,

James and William - a trio of bachelors,-re- mained in possession until their interest in it passed from them by sheriff's sale, being the same which Chambers Orr, sheriff, conveyed to William Wylie, June 23, 1841, to whom the patent was granted March 8, 1844, and which he conveyed to John N. Wylie, the present owner, November 7, 1853, for $1,600, 111 acres and 60 perches of the northern half of which, as surveyed by J. E. Meredith, Au- gust 15, 1874, he conveyed to his son, William Wylie, for $200 "and natural love and affection."

Adjoining the Kerr-Wylie parcel on the cast and the eastern part of " Campbelltown " and the west- ern part of " Toulouse " on the south, is a tract a decagon in shape, 348 acres and 46 perches, on which John Titus, Jr., made an improvement, in May, 1792, and a settlement, in March, 1796, and which was surveyed to him by Deputy Surveyor Ross, July 7, 1801, for which the patent issued to Titus, March 9, 1826, which he conveyed thus : 100 acres to Timothy Titus, November 29, 1826, for $16, in the southwest corner of which is school- house No. 8, of the old Franklin school district ; 100 acres to Jenkins Reese, April 7, 1829, for $300; 82 acres and 8 perches to Simon Steelsmith, No- vember 9, for $290, and 82 acres and 154 perches to Gabriel P. Loeben, April 28, 1840, for $200. Steelsmith conveyed his parcel to Peter John, June 19, 1830, for $200, but the records do not show how it passed from him. Loeben conveyed 41 acres and 20 perches to Peter Bowser, , 1845, for $471.50, and 82 aeres, more or less, to William Bowser, November 27, 1848, for $800. The Timothy Titus parcel appears now to be owned by Peter Titus ; the Jenkins-Rees parcel by Wil- son Bowser, and the Steelsmith-John parcel by Peter Bowser.

Adjoining the northern part of the John Titus tract on the east is a hexagonal tract, nearly a rect- angular parallelogram, traversed west of its center by Glade run, on the Gapen map, " Elijah Rabb," "410" acres. Thomas Herron made an improve- ment in the western part of it in August, 1796, and a settlement in November, 1797. It is said that he inadvertently built his cabin first beyond the western line on the Robert McDowell tract, from which he removed when the mistake was discov- ered, and the question of boundary was settled after a course of litigation. It was surveyed to Herron by Ross, deputy surveyor, as containing 399 acres and 71 perches, June 15, 1802. The patent for it, called "Union," was granted to Herron and McCall, May 16, 1807. They afterward made par- tition, and McCall conveyed, or released, 150 acres of the western part, traversed by a western tribu-

* Fide West Franklin.

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

tary of Glade run, September 3, 1829, the whole of " Union " having been included McCall's convey- ance to George Clymer McCall, of June 23, 1817, and the latter's subsequent reconveyance. The Mc- Call purpart was included in the sale from Mc- Call's heirs to William F. Johnston, 100 acres of which he conveyed to John Ambrose, April 15, 1852, for $702.32 ; 90 acres and 104 perches to John Neil, October 21, 1853, for $725.50.

Adjoining the main portion of " Union " on the south is the main portion of a tract, a rectangular parallelogram, lengthwise east and west, traversed by Glade run, with " Absalom Woodward " and " 400" acres and "152" perches on the Gapen map, and on the other " Thomas Willard " and "390ª. 52." Thomas Willard, of Woodbury town- ship, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, came on to it about July 22, 1797, and he and John Titus, who was then living on the tract adjoining it on the west, entered into a written agreement, on that day, by which the former agreed to sell to the latter all his right therein for £60 Pennsylvania currency, of which the latter agreed to pay £20 in hand and the remainder on May 15, 1798, and to make an actual settlement agreeably to law. Willard immediately made an improvement, which was followed by his actual settlement, December 9, 1797, on which he soon erected a small log grist- mill. Ross surveyed this tract to him, as contain- ing 390 acres and 52 perches, June 14, 1802, with which, 1 mill, 2 horses and two cows, he was assessed, in 1805, at $182, and he continued to be assessed with the land, mill and 1 horse until 1810. He and his son John entered into a written agree- ment, March 27, 1808, by which he transferred to John all his land on Glade run, 390 acres and 53 perches, the mill, the old improvement, all houses and buildings thereon, his horses, cattle and sheep, in consideration whereof John agreed to give his father a house, the site to be chosen by himself, in which to live, to furnish him annually with 25 bushels of wheat, 10 pounds of coffee, 20 pounds of sugar, 400 pounds of pork, the use of and feed for 2 cows, a horse for him and his wife to ride when they wished ; John to keep one-third of the land himself, and divide the rest equally between his two sisters Hannah and Sarah when the latter should arrive at the age of 18 years, and give each of them a good bed, 2 cows, a good horse and 2 sheep. John ceased to be assessed with the mill after 1812.

The warrant for this tract was issued to McCall and Titus, May 20, 1806, on which another survey was made December 13, and the patent, in pur- suance of the above-mentioned sale of Titus' inter-

est, was granted to McCall and Willard March 20, 1818. John B. Mann and Hannah his wife, and Henry Shoutz and Sarah his wife, released their in- terests in the Willard purpart of this tract, 150 acres, to John Willard, April 9, 1821, for $50; he and Mann and his wife released their interest in 50 acres to Shoutz, the same day, for $50 ; and Mar- garet Willard, widow, John Willard, and Shoutz and wife conveyed 100 acres to John Y. Stewart, April 23, 1822, for $325, which he conveyed to Esther Boyd, Sarah, John and William Neil, Au- gust 22, 1833 ; they, by their attorneys-in-fact, to Loeben ; he to Henry Fluck, of Bedford county, April 13, 1836 ; his executors to Christian Bowser, 104 acres and 40 perches, July 4, 1850, for $1,570.26, and he to Harvey Dougherty, 110 acres and 58 perches, for $ -; and Bowser to Robert Dongh- erty, 50 acres, April 5, 1851, for $850.

The MeCall purpart was sold by Sheriff Robin- son on a judgment for $85.66 debt and $7.873 costs in favor of John Titus, 240 acres, of which 14 were cleared, to John Y. Stewart, the date of the deed being March 22, 1822, for $222, which was reconveyed to McCall, who conveyed 100 acres to Abraham Cornman, June 22, 1839, for $500. The other portion was included in the sale to Wm. F. Johnston, who conveyed 142 acres and 159 perches to Robert Dougherty, July 11, 1850, for $1,001.

Adjoining " Union " on the east, and the eastern part of the McCall-Willard tract on the north and east, is an octagonal tract, 359 acres and 106 perches, called " Moran," with a long, narrow, rect- angular tongne extending south between the Mc- Call-Willard tract and depreciation lot No. 314, with "Sold Lots" on the Gapen map, on which Andrew Milligan made an improvement, November 10, 1793, and a settlement in January, 1798, and which Ross, deputy surveyor, surveyed to him July 8, 1801. Milligan conveyed "Moran" thus : 203 acres and 70 perches to Archibald Moore, April 2, 1804, for " nine pounds and forty cents," who was assessed, in 1805, with 400 acres at $100, and, the next year, with the same and 1 horse at $120. By his will, dated February 13, and registered Febru- ary 26, 1852, he devised all his real estate, subject to the maintenance of his son William during the rest of his life, to his son John, who still re- tains it.

Milligan also conveyed 156 acres and 36 perches of " Moran " to John Wylie, April 2, 1804, for £22 9s. 11d, which having become vested in William Wylie, he devised it by his will dated 22d, and registered March 27, 1858, " 150 acres more or less," on which he then lived to his son William, to- whose estate it belongs.

511

EAST FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

Adjoining that southern tongue on the east and the main portion of " Moran " on the south is de- preciation lot No. 314, called " Wheatfield," 24616 acres, the patent for which was granted to John Nixon, of Philadelphia, May 28, 1788, who by his will, dated December 4, 1807, devised it to his five children, each one-fifth, who by Charles Willing, their attorney-in-fact, conveyed it, " found to con- tain 258 acres and 115 perches," to William Mont- gomery, December 16, 1847, for $1,811, 100 acres and 50 perches of which his executors conveyed to Robert R. Fleming, the present owner, September 10, 1856, for $1,454.53, on which is schoolhouse No. 11-Moore's-of the old Franklin school dis- trict, between which and the Allegheny river the writer was caught, while on a tour of official duty, in the heaviest part of the rainstorm that caused the flood of March 17, 1865. The rain ceased and the sun shone cheerfully soon after he entered the schoolroom. This is the place designated for hold- ing the elections in East Franklin township.

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 107

Author: Smith, Robert Walter Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins Number of Pages: 790

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790