History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 117

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

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iamsburgh," but not having done so before he died intestate, his heirs, March 1, 1866, conveyed 88 acres and 14 perches to Isaac John, for $790; 72 acres and 27 perches to Philip John, for $500.

Contiguous to "Williamsburgh " on the south is an octagonal tract, about onc-fifth of which ex- tends south into what is now East Franklin town- ship, which appears on the Gapen map to have been surveyed to "David Cooper, 413" acres, whose interest passed to McCall, which appears to have been seated by Joseph McKce, who was assessed with 400 acres of it in 1804 at $80, to whom and McCall it was surveyed as containing 411 acres and 89 perches by Ross, deputy surveyor, May 1, 1805. McKee was afterward assessed with a less quantity, the last time in 1810, with 200 acres, when it was noted on the assessment list "transferred to Jacob Andoni " (Anthony). John Christman must have acquired the settler's interest, for McCall, to whom the patent was granted May 28, 1833, conveyed 200 acres of the "south end " to him July 16, 1835, for $1, who conveyed 100 acres " partly in Franklin township," to ex-sheriff George Smith, February 28, 1848, in consideration of the proper maintenance of his son, Michael Christman, during his natural life, who had been tried for arson and acquitted on the ground of in- sanity, and was then a charge upon Franklin town- ship, which parcel Smith conveyed to John P. Davis, April 6, 1850, for $600. Christman con- veyed 6 acres in Franklin township to his son John, April 20, 1866, for $284, and by his will, dated December 11, 1860, and registered March 13, 1862, devised the remaining part of this pur- part and his other real estate to his daughters, Catherine, Jane, Margaret and Susannah, for " the valuable services" which they had rendered as well as for "natural love and affection."

McCall conveyed his purpart, 210 acres, of this tract to John John, June 14, 1839, for $1,050, which he parceled out to his sons in his lifetime, for two parcels of which he did not execute decds. Hence his heirs, March 1, 1866, conveyed 71 acres and 52 perches to Frederick John for $356.62, and 69 acres and 88 perches to Peter John for $436.76.

The site of the German Baptist or Dunkard church edifice is in the southwestern part of " Will- iamsburgh," which is frame, 30×40 feet, one story, erected in 1865. The present pastor of this church is Rev. J. B. Wampler. Its membership is 75; Sabbath-school scholars, 40.

Between "Williamsburgh " and the Cooper-Mc- Call-McKee tract and the Allegheny river is a hexagonal one, "Vacant " on the Gapen map, on which Caleb Paull was an early settler, who was

555

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.

assessed in 1804 with 1 horse and 3 cows at $66. On the other map this tract bears the name of "John Orr, 400"," of which and the Mahoning island, about 27 acres in the Allegheny river, op- posite the northern part of this tract, he became seized, but did not obtain a patent for the same before his death, after which his administra- tors, Robert Orr, Jr., and Samuel C. Orr, by virtue of an order of the orphans' court of this county, to sell his real estate on the first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of April, 1825, for the payment of his debts and the maintenance of his children, con- veyed both this tract, 410 acres and 144 perches, and that island and another small one near it, to Archibald Dickey, February 12, 1838, for $671, to whom the warrant and patent were subsequently granted, who agreed, May 14, 1830, to sell the same to Ezekiel Dickey for $800, which the latter paid in the former's lifetime, who did not execute a deed therefor. The specific performance of that agreement was decreed by the proper court De- cember 15, 1845, whereupon George Means, admin- istrator, the same day conveyed this tract and the island to the vendee. The latter conveyed 117 acres of this tract to Rev. John Dickey, May 21, 1846, for $500, which he conveyed to Samuel H. Dickey, June 12, 1849, for $300. Ezekiel conveyed 8 acres and 121 perches to Charles Morrall, May 6, 1853, for $87, and 96 acres and 38 perches to Sam- nel H. Dickey, May 26, 1853, for $886, to whom he agreed, June 18, 1868, to convey 200 acres more for the consideration of working the farm and providing him with proper maintenance during the rest of his life. Simon Torney either leased or owned 57 acres of the northeastern part of this tract, on which he drilled a salt-well in 1831, which does not appear to have been operated after his death, which soon after occurred.

Mahoning Island was early surveyed to Thomas Thompson, whose interest became vested in John Orr, who conveyed it to Hans J. Huidekooper, Sep- tember 22, 1813, for 5 shillings and a debt of $320, whose reconveyance to Orr, if any was made, is not on record.

North of the Orr-Dickey tract, north and east of " Williamsburgh," and east of the southern part of the George Elliot-John John tract, is one, nearly a rectangular parallelogram, lengthwise from east to west on the right bank of the Allegheny river, which appears on the Gapen map to have been sur- veyed by Gapen, deputy surveyor, to "Jane Den- niston, 434" acres, on which Thomas Thompson made an actual settlement and improvement, March 21, 1796, who conveyed his interest to Henry Christman, of Franklin county, Pennsylvania,

January 1, 1810, for £200. Thompson was suc- ceeded by Jolin Burns, to whom the land, 1 horse and 2 cows were assessed in 1805, at $112, and the next year, at $127. It was surveyed as containing 430 acres to Henry Gristman (Christman) by Ross, deputy surveyor, January 2, 1808. The patent, in which it is called "Coll Hill," was, however, granted to Burns and McCall, February 13, 1809. Burns remained thereon several years. Christman retained the settler's and acquired nearly all of the McCall purpart. His heirs in their conveyance to John Christman, August 7, 1845, state that their father, late of Franklin county, died intestate, seized of 404 acres, that is, " Coll Hill," leaving nine children, of which John conveyed 350 acres to Charles Bonner, May 15, 1850, for $2,806.80, of which he conveyed 170 acres and 90 perches to Thomas D. M. Gibson, May 31, 1862, for $2,065.54, which he conveyed to James Mosgrove, April 19, 1864, for $3,000. Bonner conveyed 186 acres and 25 perches to George Best, September 17, for 83,500, who conveyed 482 acres to John K. Best, for $862.84, which he conveyed to Mosgrove, April 19, 1864, for $1,213. George Best conveyed 482 acres to John L. Gaughegan, September 26, 1864, for $1,000, and 100 acres to Brown and Mosgrove, for $3,000.

The McCall purpart of " Coll Hill " was included in the sale by McCall's heirs to William F. Johns- ton, stated in their deed to be 239 acres, which must be a mistake as to quantity, for 33 acres that he conveyed to Peninch Hooks, November 19, 1856, for $330, appears to be all thereof that he really had to convey.

"Coll Hill" was included in McCall's and Du Pont's conveyance and reconveyance.

Contiguous to "Coll Hill " on the north is a hexagonal, almost pentagonal tract, surveyed by Gapen, deputy surveyor, to " William Elliot, Jr., 3534 " acres, whose interest became vested in Mc- Call. The early settler on this tract was Frederick Christman, who was assessed with 350 acres, 2 horses and 1 cow in 1804-5, at $198. Ross, deputy surveyor, January 2, 1808, surveyed 170 acres and 88 perches of the southern part to Christman, and 175 acres and 81 perches of the northern part to McCall. The patent was granted to both of them for the entire tract, March 7, 1820, and they re- leased and quit-claimed to each other, May 29, 1835. Frederick and Henry Christman entered into a written agreement, Jannary 5, 1810, "by and in company with Peter Pence and James Thompson," for the exchange of an equal quantity of land. Frederick to leave an open road on the parcel con- veyed to him by Henry, and to have the use of the

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

improvement on the parcel conveyed by him to Henry for three years. Frederick and John Christ- man exchanged 128 acres, July 4, 1840. Frederick conveyed 51 acres and 59 perches to his daughter, Katy Wyant, December 28, 1848, for $8 "and natural love and affection." By his will, dated June 6, 1850, and registered, January 22, 1851, he devised all the rest of his real estate to his " poor dumb son, Henry Christman."

McCall conveyed his purpart with those of other tracts to George A. McCall, November 4, 1834, which was included in the latter's conveyance to William F. Johnston, July 10, 1847, which now appears to belong to Brown & Mosgrove, and on which is the western terminus of a ferry across the Allegheny river.

Contiguous to the Elliot-McCall-Christman tract on the north is one on the Gapen map, which ap- pears to have been surveyed on warrant to "Wm. Denniston, " 371ª 80," whose interest passed to Mc- Call, on which Francis Thompson was the original settler, who was assessed with 380 acres and 1 cow, in 1804, at $158, and the next year at $150. Ross, deputy surveyor, December 31, 1807, surveyed 187 acres and 21 perches, the northern part, to McCall, and 181 acres and 30 perches to Thompson, to both of whom the patent was granted March 7, 1820. Thompson having conveyed his interest to Jacob Wolf, McCall conveyed to him the Thompson pur- part, June 20, 1845, for $1. Wolf by his will, not dated, registered December 19, 1838, devised his real estate to his wife during her life or widow- hood, and to be sold after her death-if she re- mained till then his widow -and the proceeds to be equally divided among his son's, David, George, Jacob, Joseph, Matthias and Solomon, and his danghters, Christina and Elizabeth. But if she should remarry, all his real estate was to vest in his children, which was the case, for his heirs, children and grandchildren and the alienee of one of them conveyed their respective interests to and in this purpart and in other 42 acres to David Wolf, at different times from May 4, 1848, till May 11, 1867, for $1,578. The Wolf schoolhouse is on this purpart. The other purpart, extending to the foot of the deep northern bend or loop in the Alle- gheny river, was conveyed, among others, by Mc- Call's heirs to William F. Johnston, which he con- veyed to Thomas Armstrong, who, by his will, dated September 2, 1847, and registered November 19, 1851, devised 30 acres of the upper or northwest- ern corner to his danghter, Eleanor Shall, 30 acres adjoining Mrs. Shall's to his son John, 30 acres adjoining John's to his son William, and the rest of this purpart to his son Adamı. There is a ham-

let of a few years' growth along the south side of the public road, near the foot of that loop, con- sisting of eight or nine dwelling-houses, one store, opened this year (1876) by Benjamin McElroy, and a frame church edifice, called Union, because erected by the contributions of and used by vari- ous religious denominations. There appears to be the conveyance of only one of the lots in this hamlet on record, which is the one consisting of 1 acre that William B. Summers conveyed to Rebecca Summers, January 19, 1866, for $150, which she conveyed to Robert Fulton, May 26, 1873, for $750, which he conveyed to McElravy, September 11, 1875, for $600. It was then ascertained that the first of the above-mentioned conveyances of this lot had not been acknowledged so as to make it a legal conveyance, so that William B. and Rebecca Summers joined in a legally acknowledged deed therefor to McElravy, September 13, 1875, for the nominal consideration of $1. Fulton was first assessed with a store on this lot, in 1870, whose successor is McElravy.

There is on the Gapen map a rather narrow strip of land between those William Denniston and William Elliot, Jr., tracts and the Allegheny river on the west, whose southeast corner touches the southwest corner of " Coll Hill," and its south- western corner is on the right bank at the foot of the sharp southern bend in the Allegheny river, noted "vacant," but on the other is the name of " Benjamin Edwards," which does not appear on the either early or late assessment lists of Sugar Creek township. It is noted- on the assessment list of 1817, " Three hundred acres transferred from Maria Edwards to Frederick Christman." Jacob Wolf acquired a title to at least a portion of the northern part of this strip, and Frederick Christ- man to southern part, for which he obtained a war- rant January 15, and the patent June 7, 1836. He conveyed 105 acres to Simon Singer, May 9, 1838, for $100, which passed under the sheriff's hammer to Thomas Williams, and which he conveyed to Alexander Reynolds, November 28, 1864, for $350, as the alienee of the interests of John Jamison therein under an agreement between him and. Williams, June 26, 1856.

The remainder of Washington township is north of the depreciation line and consists of what were formerly donation lands, so that the Gapen map again and finally ceases to be used in developing the early land history of the remaining portion of this county. The Lawson & Orr map of surveys is the only one meant in subsequent references to such a map.

About 550 rods above the heretofore-mentioned

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WASHIINGTON TOWNSHIP.

sharp southern bend in the Allegheny river is the depreciation line, adjoining which on the north is a long and comparatively narrow traet, lengthwise from east to west, rendered trapezoidal by the southeasterly course of the river, which skirts it on the northeast, bearing on its face on the map "Charles Campbell, 361ª. 67"," whose interest in which or a part of which probably became vested in Michael Fair, who was first assessed with 100 acres, 1 horse and 1 cow, in 1806, at $66, and with a distillery first in 1831. The patent was granted to him February 4, 1831. He conveyed 189 acres and 33 perches of this tract to his son Isaac, May 10, 1836, for $1, "and natural love and affection," on which, opposite the American furnace, now Rimerton, he erected his sawmill in 1855, now operated by steam. Isaac Fair leased all the land thus conveyed to him, except 20 aeres, on which were his orchard and improvements, to J. M. Gil- lette and A. J. Warner, June 18, 1870, for the term of 30 years, for oil and mining purposes, for $1, and one-eighth of all oil and minerals obtained therefrom. Those lessees soon after drilled a well, which was unproductive.

Michael Fair also conveyed 127 acres and 25 perches of the western part of this tract to his son Simon, May 10, 1836, for $1, " and natural love and affection."

Adjoining that Campbell-Fair tract on the north is an irregularly shaped one, with 400 acres of which, 1 distillery, 1 horse and 1 cow, Thomas Miller appears to have been assessed in 1804, at $241, and the next and the following year for the last time with the same, less the horse and cow, at $160. On the map this traet bears the name of " Peter Miller, 404ª. 65"," whose interest probably became vested in Robert Brown, who is mentioned as an adjoiner in conveyances of portions of some of the contiguous tracts. John Foster, Jr., was first assessed with this traet in 1827-8, to whom and James E. Brown the patent was granted Octo- ber 18, 1831. Foster was assessed with 150 acres at the time of his death. He, by his will, dated October 1, and registered November 5, 1851, devised all his real estate to his wife as long as she should remain his widow, and one-third if she should remarry, and the rest to be equally divided among his children. The other purpart, about 250 aeres, belongs to Brown & Mosgrove, who leased a strip along the river to J. M. Gillette and A. J. Warner, August 2, 1870, to be used by the lessees "for oil and saline purposes only," for one-eighth of all oil and salt-water" that they might therefrom pro- duee.

Stretching north along the river is a narrow 35

strip of land bearing the name of "John Fulton " on the map, the warrant for which was granted to Daniel Dahle, February 27, 1838, who conveyed his interest to John Evans, August 7, 1841, which the latter conveyed to Nicholas Cloak, to whom the patent for about 105 acres was granted September 23, 1853, 17 aeres and 61 perches of which he con- veyed to John D. Mhelly February 17, 1854, which he conveyed to David Kelly May 19, and which he conveyed to Walter Litley, May 24, 1855, for $300. Cloak conveyed the rest of this traet, 88 acres and 25 perches, to Joseph Fair, April 1, 1865, for $2,900, to whose heirs it now belongs.

Adjoining that Fulton-Dahle tract on the north, and extending to a point on the right bank of the Allegheny river about 80 rods below the mouth of Red Bank creek, is another narrow tract which be- came fully vested in James McClatchey, Sr. He was probably the original settler on this and one of the hereinafter-mentioned contiguous traets, for he was assessed with 600 acres, 1 horse and 1 cow, in 1804, at $271, and the next year with the same and 3 more cattle, at $291. He made his first improvement on that contiguous traet proba- bly before 1800. He was first assessed with 200 acres in 1810, probably soon after he commeneed his exclusive occupancy of this tract, for which he obtained a patent April 2, 1831, and which, 225 aeres and 33 perches, he conveyed to his son James, May 10, 1831, for $75, who conveyed 47 acres and 23 perches to William MeClatehey, July 5, 1841, for $424.22. He also conveyed 91 acres and 42 perches to Hugh, James and Stephen Forrester, which they conveyed to David Lewis, November 14, 1848, for $1,025. He may have conveyed an- other small parcel or two to others. There were about 50 acres left at the time of his death. By his will, dated July 8, 1841, and registered May 7, 1842, he directed that his land should be sold im- mediately after the death of his wife, and the money arising from the sale should be divided equally among his seven children, and in case of the death of any of them before the sale, the chil- dren of each deceased should receive his or her share, that is, one-seventh, and appointed his wife Elizabeth executrix, and his son James executor. The former survived the latter, so that the land was not sold during the life of either .* Both the Fulton and MeClatehey portions of this narrow strip are denominated "the Adam Maxwell Im-

* It remained unsold several years after her death. Samuel Mc- Laughlin, the executor's administrator, declined to sell that land, and in his written declination suggested the appointment of James Watterson as trustee for that purpose, who, having been appointed by the orphans' court of this county, and, after taking all the re- quired preliminary steps, sold this parcel to Mrs. Margaret Tyler, May 25, 1880, for $900.

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

provement" on the map of connected drafts of surveys made by James Buchanan.

The rest of the territory of Washington town- ship, except the eastern strips of three tracts already mentioned in Sugar Creek township, among which is the presently again-mentioned Adam Maxwell tract, consists of six tracts between the deprecia- tion line on the south and the large northern bend in the Allegheny river, which were warranted and settled thus : Archibald Denniston, warrantee, James Watterson, succeeded by William Holder, settler ; John Elliott, warrantee, John Foster, set- tler ; Robert Patrick, warrantee, James Craig, settler ; Samuel Kincade, warrantee, John Bowser, settler ; Alexander Denniston, warrantee, Michael Guyer, settler; William Denniston, warrantee, Hugh Gillespie, settler. These six tracts and the Adam Maxwell one became vested in Levi Hol- lingsworth, of Philadelphia, who entered into a written agreement, November 15, 1819, with James Craig, John Foster, Hugh Gillespie and James Watterson, the terms and conditions of which were : These settlers having settled on several of these tracts, and desiring to compromise their respective claims, were to furnish Hollingsworth with the proper, necessary proof of the settlement of such tracts as they respectively had settled. The patents were to be issued in the names of the settlers for the warrantees, who were each to have 150 acres of the tract he had thus settled, to in- clude the improvement he had made, and to be of equal quality with the rest of the tract, and to be included between parallel lines so as not to in- jure the rest of the tract, which was to be con- veyed to Hollingsworth or his assigns in fee simple, who was to refund to them their respective proportionate shares of the taxes which they had paid on the entire tracts.

The southwestern one of these tracts adjoins the depreciation line on the south, and its central part is traversed from south to north by Denniston's run, the original name of Huling's or Riggle's run. The warrant for 376 acres and 71 perches was granted to Archibald, February 28, 1794, on which James Watterson settled a few years later, who was assessed with it, 2 horses and 3 cattle, in 1804, at $248, and the next year with the same, less one cow, at $236. In October, 1815, he and William Holder entered into a written agreement, the terms of which were that Watterson should be at one-half of the expense and furnish one-half of the material for building a mill on this tract, then occupied by Holder, who was to furnish the other half for building and keeping it in repair, and to have the privilege of taking all the timber needed

for its erection from this tract, and each party was bound in the penal sum of $100 for the due per- formance of his part of the contract. Holder erected a log mill, and was assessed with this tract from 1815 until 1817, when it was transferred from him to John Crawford. Watterson, it will be borne in mind, was one of the parties to the above- mentioned contract with Hollingsworth. The pat- ent for this tract was granted to Watterson, Febru- ary 7, 1820, who conveyed 205 acres and 59 perches of it to James McClatchey, March 25, 1843, prob- ably in pursuance of a previous agreement for the sale and purchase from Watterson to him, for he was first assessed with the gristmill thereon in 1832-3, which was known as " McClatchey's mill " for thirty years afterward, and which with 205 acres and 59 perches McClatchey conveyed to George B. Sloan, April 7, 1863, which he conveyed to David Shields, April 9, 1864, for $4,050, who subsequently rebuilt the mill on an enlarged and improved scale, and it was known for several years as the Shields mill. He conveyed several parcels, aggregating 64 acres and 116 perches, to Christopher, James and Thomas H. Foster, Janu- ary 14, 1868, for $2,100, and D. S. Reed, sheriff, conveyed to Christopher and James Foster 50 acres, another parcel of Shield's land, April 4, 1868, for $1,445, which he sold on a judgment in favor of James Y. Foster for $346.84 of debt. Christopher and James Foster conveyed the undivided one- third part of 63 acres, that is of two of the first of the above-mentioned parcels, to James Y. Foster, May 13, 1869, for $4,590. The heirs of James Foster conveyed one undivided third of 193 acres, the " McClatchey mill property," to Thomas V. McKee, in 1875, for $8,200. The present steam and water mill with two runs of stone, was erected in 1868-9. Redick, Foster & Co. were first assessed as mer- chants here in 1866. The mill property was first assessed to James Foster & Co., in 1867 ; to Foster, McKee & Co., in 1873; to McKee & Foster, in 1876, when McKee & Litley were first assessed with their store.

The Hollingsworth purpart of this tract became vested in McCall, whose heirs by Amos N. Mylert, their attorney-in-fact, conveyed 100 acres of the western part to Alexander Foster, August 10, 1848, for $100, which was included in his devises to his sons, and to Robert Foster the rest of the tract, supposed to be 113 acres, after deducting Watter- son's 197 acres and 55 perches, and Alexander Foster's 100 acres, July 13, 1848, for $340. There must have been a surplus of nearly 39 acres in this tract.

* See Sugar Creek.

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WASHIINGTON TOWNSHIP.

Adjoining the Denniston-Watterson tract is another similar one, a rectangular parallelogram, lengthwise from the depreciation line north, war- ranted in the name of John Elliott, 382 acres, on which John Foster was the original settler, who was assessed with 400 acres in 1804, at $76, and the next year, at $84. He afterward resided per- manently on this tract, and his residence on the Watterson Ferry road was the beginning of the cir- cle for a circular fox hunt in the spring of 1828. It extended thence to Andrew Harshy's; thence to Henry Wiles'; thence to Thomas Hindman's; thence to Joseph Shields'; thence to John McDowell's; thence to Thomas Milliken's; thence to John Mateer's, and thence along the Watterson Ferry road to John Foster's, the entire circle being within the then limits of Sugar Creek township. The coming-in place was at Bushy run near the present site of the Templeton schoolhouse. The chronicles of these times do not state whether these huntsmen were silently intent upon encir- cling coveted game, or were too carelessly colloquial to prevent its escape." They captured one deer, which they did not retain, and either five or seven foxes.

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 117

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