History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 120

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

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A new organization was effected in the fall of 1862, and work was commenced in all departments in February, 1863, continuing with no noticeable in- terruption until October, 1873.

From a small beginuing, this industry grew to be a blessing to the whole surrounding country, giving employment to from 1,200 to 1,500 opera- tives, supporting a population of over 5,000, and benefiting not only Armstrong county, but the neighboring counties of Clarion and Butler. The output of coal for the sole use of these works rose to the aggregate of upward of 110,000 tons per annum ; of ore, to over 70,000 tons. The product of the mill was shipped to all parts of the country, returning millions of dollars to enrich the laborer, and which, circulating through all the channels of trade, proved a source of wealth to hundreds not connected with the works. From a dense wilder- ness sprung up a town, built by the proprietors for their employés, of about 700 houses, with churches of every denomination, and schoolhouses which rank with the best in the county for size and convenience, while the neighboring town of East Brady can also be said to owe its existence to this great enterprise.

This hasty sketch would be incomplete without a mention of the managers, to whom in a great measure the success attending the operation of the works was dne. Although now the hum of the mill is silent and the furnaces are cold, these differ-

* Contributed by a resident of Brady's Bend.

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

ent managers can feel the proud satisfaction that this result is due to no fault of theirs.

Foremost on the list stands the honored name of Mr. H. A. S. D. Dudley, a gentleman whose name is nowhere mentioned but with respect by all who knew him. From 1850 to 1864, under his manage- ment, the works rose to their highest state of prosperity, ably seconded as he was by Mr. Joseph Winslow in the management of the mill, and by Mr. Richard Jennings in the management of the furnaces and internal development of the lands. His successor, Mr. John H. Haines, sustained the high reputation of these works, and on his retire- ment in 1869 to engage in other business, Col. W. D. Slack took charge, a gentleman whose energy was liberally expended in sustaining, under most adverse circumstances, the falling fortunes of the place. This was a task beyond any one man's powers, and in October, 1873, when the financial crash, whose effects are yet but slowly disappear- ing, burst upon the country, these works succumbed to the pressure.

It would have been difficult to find in any part of this country a corps of employés more devoted to the interests of their locality or who could show longer terms of service. Among those who for over twenty-five years occupied responsible posi- tions, can be named Mr. Alexander Campbell, whose hand guided the first T-rail rolled west of the Allegheny mountains, and who very appro- priately in this centennial year, thirty years from the date of this achievement, assisted at the Edgar Thompson steelworks in rolling the enormous steel rail exhibited at the centennial exposition, meas-

uring 120 feet in length and weighing 64 pounds to the yard; the Hon. A. W. Bell, who has just been returned for the second time to our state leg- islature, and Mr. James Keen, whose skillful hand shaped the rolls through whose massive jaws passed the hundreds of thousands of tons of rails which have borne the iron horse to the remotest sections of this country.

In closing, a few words as to the resources of this property will be very appropriate. Com- prising in all about 6,000 acres of diversified sur- face, covered with much valuable timber and dotted with highly cultivated farms, it is the hidden riches which make its great value as a manufac- turing center. The beds of bituminous coal have been pronounced by experts capable of withstand- ing the same drain as in the past for a hundred years longer, with valuable ores in proportion, while the beds of limestone, whetstone, fireclay, etc., etc., are practicably inexhaustible. The oil development is yet in its infancy, but enough has been shown to make it probable that the wealth from this source may yet compare favorably with, if not surpass, its other mineral riches.

With all these abundant resources it certainly seems but a question of time when the valley shall again be alive with the tread of thousands of prosperous operatives, and the present stagna- tion and decay seem but a nightmare, which has vanished before the dawn of a brighter day.

That such may be the future fortune of these works must be the earnest prayer of all who have ever been connected with them.

CHAPTER XXVII.

PERRY.

Organization of the Township- The Pioneers - Their Work and their Hardships - Early Roads and Primitive Manufactures - The Pioneer Schools - Truby's Mill - The Borough of Queenstown.

P ERRY TOWNSHIP was formerly a part of Sugar Creek. In 1845 it was organized as Perry, with the following limits : Brady's Bend township on the south ; Butler county on the west and the Allegheny river on the east, thus includ- ing all that part of the county lying north of Brady's Bend township. In 1870 that portion lying north of Bear Creek was taken from Perry and erected into a township by the name of Hovey. The land lying west of the Allegheny river in the northern part of this county, on account of its rugged and hilly character, was little sought by the pioneers of Western Pennsylvania. Conse- quently few settlements were made within the territory of Perry township until after other por- tions of the county had become considerably populated. The progress of settlement and im- provement was very slow, and this part of the county remained the favorite hunting-grounds of the early settlers and the wandering Indians many years after the encroaching population had banished game from the surrounding neighborhoods.

A few courageous pioneers located in this town- ship as early as 1796, and began the arduous task of subduing its stubborn soil. They subsisted largely upon game at first; but as years went by their strong arms and axes made perceptible in- roads upon the forests, and here and there small fields appeared to brighten the monotonous aspect of the surrounding wilderness.

William Love was among the first settlers. He located on a 400-acre tract and made a small im- provement, for which he received a deed for the land from its owner, Charles Campbell. Charles, James, Robert and Samuel Campbell each owned a tract of 400 acres. The land lay in a body, and was settled by Love, Truby and others. Love sold his right to the land to John Binkerd, who came to this township about 1798. Binkerd was a native of Virginia, who moved from Eastern Pennsylva- nia to Butler county, and thence with his father and mother to the tract above mentioned. The original farm is now mainly owned by his sons, Isaac and John K. Binkerd. Another son, Dr. A.

D. Binkerd, now of Cincinnati, Ohio, is well known in this county, having practiced medicine in Parker several years, besides being long identi- fied with the interests of Perry township.

Binkerd was of German descent, as were most of his neighbors. Chistophel Truby, best known as "Stophel " Truby, settled upon an adjoining tract, and owned the land which is now the Wal- ley and George farms. He once offered to sell " Dogwood flat," containing over 200 acres, for John Binkerd's small black horse, but the offer was declined. After some years Truby sold his property here and moved to Catfish, where he died. He left no children.

Jacob Truby, a brother of Stophel, was likewise an early settler and lived upon the farm now be- longing to John Williamson. He reared a large family. Four of his daughters, Mrs. Rambaugh, Mrs. Seibert, Mrs. Barger and Mrs. Walley, still reside in the neighborhood.

William Parker * built the first gristmill in this part of the county. It stood on Bear creek, nearly a mile from its month. A few years later Stophel Truby's log mill was erected.

These mills proved a great convenience to the settlers, who, prior to their erection, had depended for flour and meal either upon the few mills run by horse-power then in the county, or else upon the result of long journeys on horseback to the distant mills of Westmoreland county. Mr. Isaac Steele states that Truby's mill, occupying the site of Bar- net Fletcher's present mill on Binkerd's run, was erected by William Love some years after the arrival of the first settlers.

About the year 1797 Isaac Steele came from Westmoreland county and took up a tract of land in the woods of this township. He brought all of his goods and his family (consisting of his wife and two children) by means of two horses and packsaddles. Michael Shakeley had settled on a tract in the edge of Butler county a few years before and had made a small improvement which Steele had agreed to purchase. But when the lat-

* See history of Parker City.

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

ter arrived he found that Shakeley had changed his mind, concluding that the price agreed upon was too little. The Steele family sought admis- sion to the house, which was refused. Shakeley was inside and had the door fastened. Steele found a mallet and broke in the door. A consulta- tion ensued, during which . Shakeley persuaded Steele to settle upon another tract. Mr. Steele resided in this township until his death, and reared eight children, two of whom are still living-Isaac and Elizabeth (Hyle). Isaac Steele, born in 1805, is the oldest native resident of this township, and has a vivid recollection of the experiences of pioneer life. Despite his advanced age he proved himself too smart for a gang of burglars who, a few years ago, broke into his house and sought to rob him of a large sum of money. Mr. Steele fought them single-handed until the neighbors were summoned and arrived, and the robbers fled without having accomplished their purpose.

The early settlers found game abundant, and very little hunting enabled them to keep a constant supply of fresh meat on hand. Grain food was not so easily procured. The farmer's supply of wheat and flour was often exhausted before harvest-time; and in such cases wheat was cut while in the milk, and boiled, making a very palatable and wholesome food. Salt was a valuable commodity and very scarce. The settlers were obliged to go to the eastern counties to obtain it. When a man made a trip " east of the mountains," or to Pittsburgh or Westmoreland county, he went literally loaded with errands, generally taking several packhorses along to bring back supplies.

Cabins were made without nails being used in any part of the structure. The principal imple- ment employed in constructing them was the ax. With this tool the timbers for walls, floors and doors were fashioned. A saw and a drawshave shaped the shingles for the roof. When the weight-poles had been adjusted and the open spaces between the logs forming the walls carefully chinked with mud, the cabin was warm and com- fortable. Chimneys of sticks and mud, fireplaces of stone and mortar, greased paper in place of windows added the finishing touches to the dwell- ing. Rude benches served as chairs and tables, and tronghs hewed from logs largely took the place of pans, pails, tubs and other kitchen vessels.

On the farm wooden plows were used after one or two crops had been planted with the hoe and mattock. The first scythes were known as the "Dutch scythes" and were of soft material. They were sharpened by 'means of a hammer and an anvil. When clearing, it was customary to burn

the brush at night. As soon as the fires were lighted the wolves set up their mournful howls from every hilltop and valley, nor did they cease as long as the brush continued burning. Such were some of the accompaniments of pioneer life.

George Knox, whose descendants are very nu- merous in Armstrong and Butler counties, was one of the earliest pioneers of old Sugar Creek town- ship. He had one of the first orchards in the new settlement and visitors came many miles to test the quality of his fruit. Not infrequently were these visits made withont the knowledge or con- sent of the proprietor of the orchard. He manu- factured apple and peach brandy, which articles were in great demand.

Thomas Miller and Jacob Edinburg were the first settlers at Miller's eddy. Dr. Hovey was the proprietor of considerable land in that neighbor- hood.

About 1808 Jonathan Hyle came from West- moreland county with his family and located on land adjoining the Steele tract. The family lived seven weeks in a wagon while a cabin was being erected.

In early days every cabin was a factory where clothing was manufactured. Busy hands kept the spinning-wheel and loom buzzing and slamming early and late. In almost every household there were a large number of mouths to feed and bodies to clothe. Shoes were used sparingly by the lucky few who possessed them, for leather was high and money scarce. Often girls and women could be seen walking to church barefooted, carrying shoes and stockings, which they put on when near the house. Tow and linen, buckskin and similar home-made goods formed the clothing worn by males of all ages. The girls' best dresses were frequently spun, woven, dyed, cut and made by the wearers. An old resident remarks : "The girls were just as pretty in those days as they are now, but could one of our fashionably-dressed belles have stepped among them, some might have gone wild with envy and excitement."

All the travel of the settlers was performed on foot or on horseback. Wagons were almost un- known within the memory of men now living, while carriages are a comparatively modern inno- vation. As in most new settlements, the first lines of travel were paths marked by blazed trees. After- ward trees and underbrush were cut away, and some of the principal routes of travel were con- verted into highways. There is, however, scarcely a road in the township that follow its course as originally traced. Thoroughfares were built at the cost of a great expenditure of time and labor.

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PERRY TOWNSHIP.

Jolin Beatty and Daniel Revere were among the early settlers of this township, and resided here until their deaths. Gideon Gibson, near the river, was an early settler and had a fine farm.

Henry Byers located in this township about fifty years ago. Samuel and William Crawford and David Hutchison are also among the oldest resi- dents.

James Steele and John Hyle were the noted hunters of early years. A man named Foster was the first settler on the farm afterward owned by David White. White erected a frame house, which was perhaps the first in the township. No later than 1845 nearly everybody lived in log houses.

The oil developments in this township since 1870 have produced many changes. Many old residents disposed of their farms and moved away. Others remained, and received in one year such incomes as the results of scores of years of labor in tilling the soil had not produced. The little oil village of Criswell sprang up on the farms'of James A. Parker and Sidney Crawford. All the wells in that vicinity are fourth sand-wells, and two of them were very large. A few are still producing, though the yield is small.

In 1880 the population of Perry township was 1,309. The oil business largely increased the number of inhabitants.

SCIIOOLS.

Perry township now contains six schoolhouses, and the schools are generally well conducted. At Miller's eddy there is a school building which is also used as a church, and is free for all religious denominations, having been specially constructed for the double purpose of affording educational and religious privileges.

Before the free school system was inaugurated, the schoolhouses of the township were few and far apart. Many of the children of the pioneers attended schools in Butler county, and were taught by Archibald Kelly, "Dominie " Cook, Thomas MeCleary, and others of the " old masters."

One of the earliest schoolhouses stood on the farm of James Hunter, near Queenstown. Hunter was the teacher. He was jovial, good-natured and popular. Edward Jennings was an early teacher at the Peters schoolhouse. He taught several years. At noon he often gave a very long recess that he might go to Jacob Peters' distillery and fortify himself with whisky for the remaining duties of the day. Any man who could read and write, and possessed a very slight knowledge of arithmetic, was a competent teacher in those days.

QUEENSTOWN.

The borough of Queenstown was incorporated in 1858. The town was named after John Queen, who located in the place in 1848. At that date the only persons residing within the present limits of the borough were Daniel Day and Abraham Teegard and their families. Teegard, now de- ceased, was a farmer. Day is now a resident of East Brady. While he resided at Queenstown, he worked for the Brady's Bend Iron Company, build- ing log houses for employés, and performing other kinds of work.

The first houses built in the place were the log buildings of Day and Teegard. Day's cabin stood on a six-acre lot, afterward owned by Rev. David R. Davis. Teegard's house stood where Edward Jennings now lives. No regular survey of lots was ever made, but pieces of land were sold to purchasers as they were wanted, by J. Queen, R. Jennings and Daniel Day, who owned the land now comprised in the borough. These lots were taken up by employés of the Brady's Bend Iron Works, and in a few years Queenstown became a small but flourishing village.

The first store was established by R. Jennings, in 1851. It stood a short distance north of his present place of business. The second store was started in 1866, by John Queen, who still continues the mercantile business. When he first came to the place, Mr. Queen followed carpentry and building. The third store was established also in 1866, by M. H. J. Meldron. Mr. Meldron died in 1867, and the business has since been conducted by his brother, William J. Meldron. The stores receive custom from a wide extent of country, and do a much larger business than is usual in small places.

The first hotel in Queenstown was opened by James Morley, in 1852. Subsequently it was con- ducted by Richard Meldron, Jr., then by Thomas Jennings. Mrs. Mitchell, daughter of Thomas Jennings, is the present proprietor.

In 1853, a gristmill, run by steam power, was erected by J. Queen, R. Jennings and Daniel Evans, who operated it until 1866 under the firm name of Queen & Co. J. L. Meldron is the present owner.

The first blacksmith in Queenstown was Giles Morgan, who began business soon after the settle- ment of the place.

Oil production, while it did not greatly increase the population of Queenstown, materially aided its business interests. The Armstrong well, on the Meldron farm, was the first producing well struck in the neighborhood. This well began flowing

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

April 17, 1870. It caught fire and burned three or four days. Good judges estimated the first day's flow at one thousand barrels. Other wells were soon completed in the vicinity of Queenstown, some of which are still producing. In 1872, Chas. Phillips began manufacturing all kinds of oil pro- ducers' implements at Queenstown. He employed from eight to ten men, and carried on a very successful business until 1881, when he moved away.

The first schoolhouse was erected soon after the borough was incorporated, and continued to be used until 1876, when the present school building

took its place. The new schoolhouse was erected partly by subscription and partly by taxation. It is two stories in hight. The lower story is used for school purposes, and the upper part as a place for public worship, free to all religious denomina- tions. There are no churches in the place. A Catholic church, erected in 1845, was occupied until 1864, when its congregation united with other churches more conveniently situated.

Queenstown is situated on a small tributary of Sugar creek. The southern limit of the borough is the northern line of Brady's Bend township. In 1860, the population was 127; in 1880, 217.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

HOVEY.

Organization - Dr. Simon Hovey -The Early Settlers-Discovery of Oil - Wonderful Production of the Robin- son Farm-Thom's Run -The Bridge Across the Allegheny - Miscellaneous Information.

H OVEY is a new township, formed in 1870, from a part of Perry. In 1873 its dimen- sions were much reduced by the formation of Parker City from the southern part of its territory.

The township derives its name from Dr. Simeon Hovey, who was one of the pioneer settlers, and a very prominent man in the early history of the county. Dr. Hovey was a native of Connecticut, a man of liberal cducation and fine abilities. He served as a surgeon under Gen. Wayne during the Indian campaigns of the latter, and afterward settled at Greensburg. In 1797 he came into the then sparsely settled region west of the Allegheny river, and located on a tract of land within the present limits of this township. Why a man of his talents should desire to escape from civilization and bury himself in the wilderness, it is not. our province to determine. It may have been that he was actuated by a love of adventure. He estab- lished himself upon his land and remained about three years. He then returned to Greensburg, where he practiced medicine about five years, then returned to his former habitation in this county. His knowledge and skill as a medical adviser be- came known, and as physicians were then very few in this section, he was kept constantly busy minis- tering to the sick and afflicted in all the surround- ing region. His opinions were highly valued, and he ranked among the best and most skilled physi- cians in the county. He was employed night and day visiting patients in localities far remote from his home, besides often being called to consult with the physicians of Kittanning, Clarion, Butler and neighboring towns. His life was one of usefulness and good works, and he was widely esteemed. He was a perfect gentleman in appearance and charac- ter. He died about 1837, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. His nephew, Elisha Robinson, inherited his property. Dr. Hovey was married, but left no children, and, but for the memory of the older people of this county who knew him and rightly estimated his worth, his name might long since have been forgotten.

Alexander Gibson was one of the first settlers of the township. He took up land and made a, small improvement, but disposed of it to Dr. Ilovey.

Elisha Robinson, a native of Windham, Con- necticut, came to this county in 1812, while a young man, and began improving a part of the tract belonging to his uncle, Dr. Hovey. Soon after his arrival he started a tannery, where he carried on the business of tanning and making shoes for over fifty years. He was a man possessed of true Yankee spirit and enter- prise. Commencing life with nothing but his hands and his trade as a means of support, he gradu- ally acquired land and property until he became the possessor of 1,100 acres in his home farm, be- sides holding other interests which it is not neces- sary to specify. He was honest, upright and benevolent. He married Elizabeth Rohrer, of Greensburg, a niece of Dr. Hovey's wife, and had a family of six children, who reached mature years : Mary A. (Bovard), Manorville ; Olive (McConnell), deceased ; William D., Kittanning ; Simeon HI., Samuel M. and Elisha, Hovey town- ship.

Mr. Robinson died in 1874 at a very advanced age. His sons, Elisha and Samuel, wealthy and prominent farmers, now own the homestead farm.

Mr. Robinson's first purchase of land was the " Thom's run " property, a 400-acre tract, which he paid for in shoes and leather. The Grant farm in Butler county, which became famous as oil terri- tory and produced from $200,000 to $300,000 worth of petroleum, was sold by Mr. Robinson to Abel Grant for $100, and was never paid for until its value as oil property was discovered. The Robin- son farm became one of the most noted properties in the entire oil region. Upon it was made the first discovery of oil which led to the development of the Parker and Butler county fields. In 1865 a portion of the farm was purchased by a Philadel- phia company and a well was sunk under the super- intendence of W. D. Robinson. Oil was struck October 10, 1865. The well proved to have a pro- duction of about twenty-five barrels per day, which

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

was an important yield at the price of oil which then prevailed-$8.50 per barrel. This well was controlled by the Clarion and Allegheny River Oil Company, and was known as Clarion No. 1. Three other wells were put down in the neighborhood prior to 1869, one on the Robinson farm and two on the Parker farm. Then came the excitement and wells multiplied in every direction. Mr. Rob- inson received one-eighth royalty from the produc- tion of the wells as his share, and for a continuons period of six or seven months this royalty netted him from $30,000 to $40,000 per month. Mr. W. D. Robinson, of Kittanning, estimates that the oil pumped from this farm from the first discovery up to the present time must have reached the value of nearly $2,000,000. There are still several pro- ducing wells yielding from 200 to 300 barrels daily.

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 120

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