USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania > Part 55
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North of the LeRoy & Co. tract, No. 3141, lay the major portion of four contiguous tracts which formerly belonged to the North American Land Company, and which were included in the Orr purchase,¿ aggregating 3,800 acres, according to the original surveys. A narrow strip of the east- ern end of each was in what is now Wayne town- ship. Three of them were covered by warrants to Robert Morris,§ Nos. 4528, 4533, 4534; and one to
John Nicholson, No. 4580. The earliest settler on either of them appears to have been William Charlton, who was assessed with 999 acres of the Nicholson tract in 1810, at $256, and the next year with 750 acres, $350, 1 horse and 1 cow, $26. Abraham Zimmerman was assessed with 250 acres of one, or perhaps parts of two of the Morris tracts, at $125, 1 horse and 1 cow at $16. He was assessed with 1,200 acres of the Morris tracts, Nos. 4533-4, $1,200, 1 horse and 1 cow, $22. James White was first assessed with 100 acres of one of the Morris tracts in 1825, and with 350 acres in 1828 ; David Dormire, with 1 cow in 1827, at $6, and with 300 acres of the Morris tract, No. 4528, at $300, and 1 cow, $6, in 1828; Barnabas Reedy with 1,000 acres of the same in 1825, $500, and 1 cow, $6 ; Daniel Reedy with 100 acres in 1831, $100, and 2 cattle, $16. That tract was in what is now the northeast- ern part of this township. John Edwards was first assessed with 60 acres of the Nicholson tract, No. 4580, 1 horse and 1 cow, $80, in 1830, and James Stockville with 550 acres and 1 cow $420.50, in 1834.
Such appear to have been the first, and perhaps the only, settlements on these tracts before they became vested in Gen. Orr. So far as the records show, he conveyed as follows : June 24, 1840, to Abraham Zimmerman, 300 acres, partly of No. 4533, and partly of No. 4580, for $150; April 12, 1843, 158 acres and 43 perches of No. 4534, to David Baum, for $395.62, who probably settled on during that or the next year; May 9, 1843, to James White, 110 acres and 80 perches of No. 4580, for $700; October 9, 57 acres and 143 perches of No. 4534, to Hugh R. Rutherford, for $300 ; September 18, 1845, 116 acres and 82 perches of No. 4533, to Jonathan C. Titus, for $582.50 ; August 28, 1847, 235 acres and 80 perches of No. 4528, to George Reedy, for $824; November 13, 1847, 346 acres and 54 perches of No. 4580, to Jonathan C. Titus, for $582.50; November 13, 1847, 9 acres of No. 4580, and 337 acres and 54 perches of No. 4528, to David Dormire, for $1,019.81. The. 1st December, 1849, was a com- paratively brisk day in the conveyances of these lands, for on that day Gen. Orr conveyed 50 acres and 12 perches of No. 4580 to Elizabeth Reedy, for the nominal sum of $1, the rest of the pur- chase money having been paid by her husband
*See sketch of Valley township.
+ See sketch of Valley township.
į No. 4534 was the southernmost. The other three lay north of it in the following order: Nos. 4533. 4580, 4528.
¿ Robert Morris, mentioned in this chapter and the one on Wayne township, as the warrantee of several large tracts of land, was born in Liverpool, England, January 31, 1734. His father, prior to 1740, emi- grated to this country and settled in Maryland. Soon afterward he sent for his son, whom he placed in a school in Philadelphia. He was Washington's secretary of the treasury during the revolution,
and his skillful financiering undoubtedly did as much toward es- tablishing American independence as did Washington's military achievements or Franklin's diplomacy. His large private fortune was used to sustain the credit of the young nation. Notwithstand- ing the splendid and priceless services of this true patriot, his closing years were permitted to be darkened and his life shortened by the operation of that inhuman law which punished debt by im- prisonment. After three years and six months' incarceration for a debt he was unable to pay, he was released in 1801, under the pro- visions of the bankrupt law passed that year. He died May 7, 1806.
JAMES Y. JACKSON.
MRS. JAMES Y. JACKSON.
RES. OF JAMES Y. JACKSON.
257
PINE (INCLUDING BOGGS) TOWNSHIP.
in his lifetime; 96 acres and 74 perches of the same tract to Robert Reedy, for $289; 77 acres and 118 perches ditto to Geo. Rupp for $233 ; 142 acres and 92 perehes ditto to John Edwards, for $997; and 171 acres and 74 perches ditto to George W. Goheen, for $229, with which, and one horse, he was first assessed, in 1850, at $230. During that year he erected his grist and saw mills, which were assessed the next year (1851) at $500, with a new house in 1852, and as a merchant in 1857.
Such is the origin of Goheenville, as yet but a hamlet, in the forks of the head branches of Scrub Grass, containing a public schoolhouse, a store, physician's office, three mills, blacksmith shop and a few dwelling-houses. Scrub Grass postoffice was established about a mile and a quarter northeast of this point in the summer of 1844, Wm. J. Calhoun, postmaster. It was removed hither in 1850-1. Its name was changed to Goheenville June 20, 1866, George W. Goheen being the second and present postmaster.
Gen. Orr also conveyed 249 acres and 137 perches of No. 4534 to William Heffelfinger, July 1, 1851, with which he was first assessed in 1833 for $898, and on which the latter erected a sawmill in 1855; 57 acres and 143 perches ditto to John Mortimore, September 26, 1855, for $725; 200 acres and 68 perches of No. 4528 to Thomas Richey, November 24, 1856, for $1,600 ; 15 acres and 11 perches ditto to John Gould, October 8, 1867, for $470; 117 acres and 110 perches of No. 4533-4 to Anthony. Hoover, May 3, 1868, for $2,589.12; 41 acres and 194 perches of No. 4533 to William H. Barrett, No- vember 2, 1870, for $921.80.
STATISTICS.
The population of this township, by the census of 1860, the first after Valley township was taken from it, was, white, 1,406; colored, 115. In 1870 it was, native, 1,562; foreign, 80; white, 1,549; colored, 93. The present number of taxables, 413, and the present population about 1,900.
The mercantile appraiser's list shows the num- ber of merchants to be (in 1876) 9, of which there is one, respectively, in the tenth, eleventh and thirteenth classes, and six in the fourteenth class.
The assessment list for 1876 shows : Miners, 71; laborers, 67; teamsters, 8; blacksmiths, 4; carpenters, 4; physicians, 4; preachers, 3; railroad bosses, 3; stonemasons, 3; clerks, 3; peddlers, 3; fillers, 3; agents, 2; keepers, 2; engineers, 2; mill- ers, 2; gentlemen, 2; apprentiee, 1; barkeeper, 1; cokedrawer, 1; innkeeper, 1; eoke boss, 1; mana- ger, 1; quarryman, 1; painter, 1; undertaker, 1;
wagonmaker, 1; stable boss, 1; superintendent, 1; telegraph operator, 1.
In 1860 the number of schools was 7; average number of months taught, 4; male teachers, 4; female teachers, 3; average monthly salaries of male $16.50, female $16; male scholars, 190; female scholars, 168; average number attending school, 168; cost teaching each per month, 38 cents; tax levied for school purposes, $639.74; received from state appropriation, $125.95; from collectors, $334.75; cost of instruction, $464; fuel and con- tingeneies, $86.95; repairing schoolhouses, $10.87.
In 1876 the number of schools was 12; average number months taught, 5; male teachers, 5; female, 7; average monthly salaries of male, $28, female, $25; male scholars, 244; female scholars, 231; average number attending school, 247; cost teach- ing each per month, 74 cents; tax levied for school and building purposes, $2,284.10; received from state appropriation, $335.73; from taxes and other sources, $2,499.28; cost building schoolhouses, etc., $771.05; teachers' wages, $2,080; fuel, collector's fees, etc., $384.
GEOLOGICAL.
The following section, the lower portions of which were taken from the exposures on the north side of the Mahoning ereek near its mouth, and the upper portions on the south side of that creek, behind the tavern-house occupied by William Tem- pleton, where the section was made in the course of the first geological survey of this state, under the superintendence of Prof. Henry D. Rogers : Ferriferous limestone, 15 feet; shale (ore), 35 feet; Clarion coal, 23 feet; shale, etc., 20 feet; Burkville coal, 1 foot; Tionesta sandstone, massive, 60 feet; shale, silicious, 25 feet; olive bituminous shale, 15 feet; Tionesta coal, 13 feet; Serel conglomerate, massive, also shaly, 100 feet; shale, sandy, partly carbonaceous, with seams of caleareous sandstone, from 1 inch to - inches thick, 20 feet; bitumin- ons shale, 3 inches; Sharon coal, 23 inches; shale, sandy above, bituminous below, 33 feet; coal, 6 inches; thin bituminous slate, with stone silicious layers, 11 feet; eoal, 1} inches; blue sandy clay, 2 feet; slaty sandstone, 25 to 30 feet, to the level of Mahoning ereek. These soon disappear beneath the waters, with a dip of 5° S., 120° E.
None of the hills around are high enough to have the Lower Freeport coalbed, but both the Free- port limestone and Upper Freeport coalbed are seen on Scrub Grass creek, which enters the Mahon- ing two miles above its mouth. The coal is often so thinned away as to disappear and let the Mahon- ing sandstone rest upon the Freeeport limestone. This is the case at the exposure on the north
258
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
branch of Pine creek, where the Mahoning sand- stone is exposed, sixty feet thick, cropping the hill. Here the lower shales of the interval between the two Freeport coalbeds are mostly dark brown and black, and contain layers of argillaceous iron ore. There seems to be just here a local dip to the west.
Says W. G. Platt, of the second geological sur- vey of this state, who had this county in charge : The same rocks make the surface of Pine town- ship as in Wayne, such of the lower barrens as are represented, being found in the ridges which form the watersheds between the north and south forks of Pine creek, and the north fork of Pine creek and the Mahoning, are of no commercial value. The lower productive measures outcrop in all the slopes overlooking the principal streams. The entire group is represented. The Upper Freeport and Lower Kittanning coals are in work- able condition, and they have been developed, each unaccompanied by its limestone. The Upper Freeport coal has with it here a bed of fireclay of rather good quality, but somewhat unreliable in its outspread. It has been worked near Temple- ton. Stewardson furnace uses coke from the Upper Freeport coal. The ore smelted is the buhrstone, from six to eight inches thick. The limestone used for the flux is obtained from the ferriferous. The metal produced is the cold-sheet. The coal beneath the ferriferous limestone, viz., the Clarion and Brookville, are valueless, by reason of their small size, though above water-level. The Potts-
ville conglomerate is magnificently exposed in the neighborhood of Templeton, forming cliffs forty feet high. It runs along the slopes northwardly from Templeton to and up the valley of the Ma- honing, past Stewardson's furnace, beyond which it sinks to water-level. The shales immediately un- derlying it are supposed to represent the Mauch Chunck red shales, or their equivalent, although the carboniferous limestone is not here seen. The sandstones which make the base of the slopes would, in this case, be the equivalent of the Po- cono.
Structure-The rocks lie mainly in the synelinal of which the Barton House or Peart's eddy is the cen- ter. lIere the ferriferous limestone is at its lowest level along the river front in this township; being close to the water's edge north and south from this point, the rise is short and rapid up and down the stream.
The levels above tide, along the Allegheny Val- ley railroad in this township, are : Opposite Pine creek station, 812.1 feet; northwest outside corner Pine creek bridge abutment, one-tenth of a mile higher up the track, 812.1 feet; southwest corner of water-station platform, two and a half miles higher up the track, 822.4 feet ; southwest corner of bridge abutment, one mile and two-tenths higher up the track, 821.6 feet ; opposite Templeton Sta- tion, five-tenths of a mile higher up the track, 823.8 feet ; opposite Mahoning Station, nine-tenths of a mile higher up the track, 824.3 feet. (Pennsyl- vania Second Geological Survey, N, p. 183).
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CHAPTER XII.
MADISON.
Named after the Fourth President-Territory of the Township Carved from Toby and Red Bank - One of Cap- tain Brady's Notable Indian Fights-An Official Account by Col. Brodhead -The Services of a Young Delaware Chief-Col. Brodhead's Expedition Against the Seneca and Muncy Towns on the Upper Alle- gheny - The Land Tracts and Settlers upon Them - Mahoning Coal Company - A French Trader's Grave -History of the Holland Land Company -The American Furnace-Settlement Law of 1792- Contested Titles -Titles from the Holland Land Company - Vain Searches for Indian Lead Mines - Petroleum - Red Bank Furnace - Kellersburg - Middle Creek Presbyterian Church -Duncansville- First School in the Township - Description of the Building - Educational and other Statistics.
M ADISON township was, of course, named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, whose public career is familiar to the people of this township and county.
The petition of inhabitants of Toby and Red Bank townships was presented to the court of quarter sessions of this county December 23, 1836, setting forth that the boundaries of these town- ships were so large and the increase of population and business was such as to render it extremely inconvenient for and burdensome on the township officers to properly discharge their respective du- ties, and praying for the appointment of viewers to lay out a new township, to be called Madison. The court appointed J. E. Meredith, William Templeton and John Sloan viewers, whose report in favor of erecting the proposed new township was confirmed by the court September 22, 1837. The original boundaries of this township were : Beginning at the mouth of Mahoning creek on the Allegheny river; thence up the river to Joseph Robinson's saltworks, a short distance above what is now Sarah Furnace Station, in Clarion county ; thence 7 miles and 220 perches to the Toby and Red Bank township lines; thence south 47º east three miles to Red Bank creek, at the mouth of Middle run, where the Olean road crosses ; thence up Red Bank creek to the southern extremi- ty of Big Bend; thence south 1 mile and 273 perches to the Mahoning creek, at the mouth of a run opposite Philip Anthony's ; and thence down this creek to its mouth. All that part of it north of the Red Bank creek is now in Clarion county, and a section of the eastern part of it is now in Mahoning township, in this county.
At the mouth of the Mahoning in the south- western corner of this township was the terminus of the Indian path heretofore mentioned. Here, too, Captain Samuel Brady had one of his notable
and successful fights with the Indians, near the middle of June, 1779. About the 10th of that month, three men whom Col. Brodhead had sent from Fort Pitt to reconnoiter the Seneca country returned, having been closely chased some distance below Kittanning, and nearly captured, by several Indian warriors who were descending the Alle- gheny in canoes. In a few days thereafter Captain Samuel Brady obtained with difficulty, on account of the envy excited in some of his fel- low-officers by his previous brilliant successes, per- mission from the commandant of that fort to pro- ceed with twenty men and a young Delaware chief toward the Seneca country, to catch the Indians. While he and his command were moving these Indian warriors advanced to the settlements. They killed a soldier between Forts Hand and Crawford, that is, between the mouths of the Loyal Hannon and Poketas creek, and at the Sewickley settle- ment they killed one woman and her four children and took two other children prisoners, their father being absent. Brady and his party-they were all well painted-crossed the Allegheny and advanced up its west side, carefully examining the mouths of all its principal, especially its eastern, tributaries, supposing that the Indians would descend it in their canoes. On reaching a point opposite the month of Mahoning, they discovered the Indians' canoes moored at the southwestern bank of the creek. Brady and his force then went some dis- tance down the river, halted until dark, made a raft, crossed over to the east side, advanced along it to the creek, found the canoes had been removed to the opposite side of the creek, vainly attempted to wade it, then moved up along its left bank and shore a considerable distance. Richard B. McCabe, who obtained his information from one of Brady's brothers in 1832, says three or four miles, tradition says to the point where the Olean road crosses the
260
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.
creek, which is less than a mile from its mouth. After crossing the creek, wherever they did cross it, a fire was made, their clothes dried, and arms in- spected. They then moved down toward the Indian camp, which was pitched on what was then a second bank of the Allegheny, a short distance east of where the Allegheny Valley railroad track now is. Brady posted his men on the first bank, which has since been worn away. A stallion, which had been stolen from the whites at Sewickley, was fettered on the last-mentioned bank and seemed to enjoy the company of the whites, to which one of the In- dians, probably his captor and quasi-owner, ocea- sionally went, so that the former were obliged to be very cautious and watchful lest their presence should become known to their foes. To avoid this the utmost silence was necessary. Brady was in- clined to tomahawk that Indian, but discreetly forbore. He, however, ventured near the fires after all was again quiet. The Delaware chief, not even daring to whisper, having endeavored in vain to restrain him by plucking his hair, crawled away. While Brady was thus examining the number and position of the Indians, one of them threw off his blanket and arose. As Brady could not make the slightest movement without being discovered, he remained as quiet as possible, but drew his head under the brow of the bank, placing his forehead to the earth to avoid discovery. " His next sensa- tion was that of warm water poured into the hollow of his neck, as from the spout of a teapot, which, trickling down his back over the chilled skin, pro- duced a feeling that even his iron nerves could scarce master. He felt quietly for his tomahawk, and had it been about him he would probably have used it, but he had divested himself even of that when preparing to approach the fires, lest by strik- ing against the stones or gravel it might give alarm."* So he was compelled to submit to that great humiliation until his humiliator again slept. He then quietly posted his men. At the dawn of day the Indians arose. While standing around their fires, seven rifles at a given signal were dis- charged and five of those Indians fell dead. The other two fled. One of them was traced by the blood from his wound, which he stanched. The Delaware chief, who was Brady's pet, imitated the cry of a young wolf, which being answered, he was again pursued, and on another answer of the wolf-cry the pursuit was continued into a windfall, where, probably having observed his pursuers, he ceased to answer and they ceased to pursue. Tra- dition says he concealed himself in a dense thicket on the hill, where he died. McCabe says that
Brady, three weeks afterward, discovered his re- mains, being led to the place by ravens that were preying upon his carcass.
Col. Brodhead, in his letter to President Reed, June 24, and to Gen. Washington, June 25, 1779, gave this account of that fight: Capt. Brady fell in with seven Indians of this party-that had com- mitted the depredations at Sewickley-about fifteen miles above Kittanning, i. e., from where Fort Armstrong was situated, where the Indians had chosen an advantageous situation for their camp. He, however, surrounded them, and attacked at break of day. Thus in his letter to Reed, but in that to Washington he states: He surrounded them as well as the situation would admit, and finding he was discovered by break of day, he attacked them. To Reed: The Indian captain, a notorious warrior of the Muncy nation, was killed on the spot, and several more mortally wounded, but the woods were remarkably thick, and the party could not pursue the villains' tracks after they had stop- ped their wounds, which they always do as soon as possible after receiving them. To Washington: And killed the captain, who was a notorious war- rior of the Muncy nation, and mortally wounded most of them ; but they being encamped near a remarkable thicket, and having, as customary with them, stopped their wounds just after they received them, they could not be found. To Reed : Capt. Brady, however, retook six horses, the two prisoners, the scalps, all their plunder, and took all the Indians' guns, tomahawks, match-coats, moccasins-in fine, everything they had, except their breech-clouts. To Washington: Capt. Brady retook six horses, the two prisoners and all the plunder, which was considerable, and took six guns and everything else except, etc. To Reed : Capt. Brady has great merit, but none has more distinguished merit in this enterprise than the young Delaware chief, whose name is Nanowland, or George Wilson. To Washington: Capt. Brady and most of his men acted with great spirit and intrepidity, but it is confessed that the young Delaware chief Nanow- land, or George Wilson, distinguished himself in this enterprise.
That camp-ground was in the northwestern cor- ner of the tract subsequently called "Springfield,"* several rods east of what was still more recently the old steamboat wharf. The thicket into which the wounded escaped was on the hill still higher up the creek than the camp.
The two prisoners that were here recaptured were Peter and Margaret Henry, children of Fred- erick Henry, referred to in a footnote, page 505,
* MeCabe.
* See Pine township.
GEORGE SHOEMAKER.
MRS. GEORGE SHOEMAKER.
RES. OF GEORGE SHOEMAKER.
261
MADISON TOWNSHIP.
Vol. VII, Pennsylvania Archives, where it is stated that Lyman C. Draper had obtained state- ments from them. He intended to do so, but, as he informed the writer, did not. They had been captives about two weeks before they were recap- tured. Peter settled in Butler county, Pennsyl- vania, and was a member of Capt. Brinker's com- pany in the war of 1812. He was a farmer, raised a large family, and was highly respected. He died in his ninety-fourth year in 1858. Peter Henry, Jr., of Brady's Bend, father-in-law of Andrew W. Bell, is one of his sons. Margaret married and lived in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. An erroneous idea prevails among some of these cap- tives' descendants that they were recaptured at Brady's Bend.
Col. Brodhead left Fort Pitt on his expedition against the Seneca and Muncy nations on the upper Allegheny, August 11, 1779. His report of it to Gen. Washington is dated at Pittsburgh, Sep- tember 16, two days after his return, in which he says he left that point with 605 rank and file, in- cluding militia and volunteers, and one month's provisions, which, except the live cattle, was trans- ported by water under the escort of 100 men to a place called Mahoning, about fifteen miles above Fort Armstrong, where, after four days' detention and the straying of some cattle, the stores were loaded on packhorses, and the troops proceeded on the march for Conawago on the path leading to Cushcushing, that is, the place of that name on the upper Allegheny. Respecting the route of the main force to the mouth of Mahoning, William M. Darlington, in a letter to the writer of this sketch, says: "In the absence of positive evidence, I think there can be little doubt that the route taken by Gen. Brodhead's forces was by the Kit- tanning path from near Fort Pitt to the shore of the river opposite Kittanning. There was no path or road on the east side of the Allegheny then, nor is there one now, except the Valley railway." From Kittanning to this point it was, he thinks, along the left bank of the river. That was a very im- portant and successful expedition, although Brod- head's force did not, as contemplated, form a junc- tion with the larger forces under Gens. Sullivan and Clinton from the east. In his above-men- tioned report, and in his letter to Sullivan, October 10, he states what was done, the substance of which is: He marched to the upper town on the river called Yahrungwago, meeting no opposition, after killing six or seven and wounding a number of forty warriors that were advancing against the set- tlements, which occupied the advanced guard but a few minutes, without any loss on his side, except
that three men were slightly wounded; destroyed 165 cabins, most of which were new and each one large enough for the accommodation of three or four Indian families, and about 500 acres of corn and vegetables, the plunder taken amounting to $30,000, which he directed to be sold for the bene- fit of the troops. To Washington: "On my return I preferred the Venango road, the old towns of Conawago, Buchloons and Mahusqueechikoken, about twenty miles above Venango, on French creek, consisting of thirty-five large houses, were burnt "- meaning, the writer thinks, that Venango was on French creek, and these towns twenty miles above it, not on French creek, but on the Allegheny river, where they were situated according to ancient maps. The "Venango road " on the historical map of Pennsylvania extends from Venango, or Frank- lin, southeasterly to the Kittanning path, which it intersects in the northern part of what is now Indiana county. This is the only " Venango road " on that map, or any other which the writer has examined. It therefore seems that he preferred to return by this route instead of the one via Meadville and Slippery Rock, or any other west of the Allegheny river, at least to Kittanning, where he, perhaps, recrossed the Allegheny and thence followed the Kittanning path to Fort Pitt. The fact is, Buchloons, Conawago, Mahusqueechikoken and Venango are the only places which he men- tions as being in his route on his return. To Washington: "Too much praise cannot be given to both officers and soldiers of every corps during the whole expedition. Their perseverance and zeal during the whole march through a country too inaccessible to be described can scarcely be equaled in history. Notwithstanding many of them returned barefooted and naked, they disdained to complain, and to my great mortification I have neither shoes, shirts, blankets, hats, stockings, nor leggings to relieve their necessities. * * It is remarkable that neither man nor beast has fallen into the enemies' hands on this expedition, and I have a happy presage that the counties of West- moreland, Bedford and Northumberland, if not the whole western territories, will experience the good effect of it." To Sullivan: "I congratulate you on your success against the Indians and the more sav- age tories, and am quite happy in the reflection that our efforts promise a lasting tranquillity to the frontiers we have covered." To Rev. John Heck- ewelder, April 14, 1780: "The stroke up the Alle- gheny last fall has answered my expectations, and I believe the confederate nations are brought to their senses, they having already solicited peace with congress."
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