History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 59

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

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It was thereupon directed that an opinion in accordance with the foregoing utterances be certi- fied to the eirenit court, in which the case was again tried, and Judge Washington charged the jury in accordance with that opinion. Verdiet for plaintiff. Thus the vexed question of the validity of the Holland Company's prevention certificates and of the titles founded on them was settled by the highest judicial tribunal in the United States. Still there was considerable controversy thereafter as to what constituted a settlement under the law. Much light was shed upon this point, which was at issue in the trial, in the opinion of Judge Washington, in the case of Balfour's Lessee vs. Meade, in the circuit court of the United States.

One of the earliest occupants of Holland lands in this township was Philip Essex, who was first assessed in Toby township, with one eow, at $10, in 1806; the next year with 200 aeres "imp.," and one eow, at $36, and thereafter with 100 aeres "imp.," and one eow for several years, and then purchased the land. Benjamin B. Cooper con- veyed to him ninety-seven aeres of allotment 6, traet 287, warrant 2872, called "Burton Hall," May 20, 1817, for $97. It was that part of " Bur- ton Hall " adjoining the Nicholson traet, No. 1150, on the north, south of Red Bank creek, and about

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In Motivastry

Lydia Mckinstry

WILLIAM MCKINSTRY.

The subject of this sketch is a namesake of his grandfather, who was a native of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania ; emigrated at an early day to West- moreland county, where he lived for a short time and then removed to Armstrong county, and settled two miles east of Apollo. After a three years' stay he went on a business trip to his original home and died while there. At the time of his settlement here he entered 136 acres of land, built a cabin and made quite a clearing. He married Elizabeth Ross, who was born in Mifflin county, but died here in 1847. She was twice married, her second hus- band being James Harel. Her children by her first marriage were James, Margaret, Alexander, Sarah and William, who are all deceased. By her second husband she had four children-Jane, John W., Mary and David.

James McKinstry, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Mifflin county, May 17, 1794. He married Sarah Jackson, January 16, 1819. She was born January 16, 1800. The offspring of this union were ten children : William, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jackson, Polly, James, Thompson, Jane, Catharine and Alexander, all of whom are now living. The father and mother of this family lived in the neighborhood of Apollo all of their married lives, except five years when they were upon a farm in Jefferson county. They experienced the hard- ships and privations incidental to the lives of the early settlers. During her early married life Mrs.

Mckinstry had no stove, but did all of the cooking for the family over the old-fashioned fireplace. She used the spinning-wheel expertly, and spun and wove the flax and wool from which the clothing for all of the members of the family was made. She is still living and makes her home with her son William.

This son was born October 20, 1819, and mar- ried February 5, 1844, Miss Lydia Andre, who was born in this state, July 16, 1823. They have had eleven children : Sarah E., John B., James B., Samuel T., Matilda A., William C., Mary E., Eunice T., Emily E., Zilla S., and an infant who died unnamed.

After their marriage this couple lived for a num- ber of years upon Mr. Mckinstry's grandfather's farm, but in 1856 he purchased his present home of 100 acres. Mr. Mckinstry has followed farming and also occupied himself with the manufacture of grain cradles, and from these industries combined he has made a livelihood and paid for a valuable farm, which he has well improved.

Mrs. Mckinstry's parents were John and Eliza- beth (Iseman) Andre, the former born in Northamp- ton county and the latter in Westmoreland, this state. They had ten children, as follows : Mary (now dead), William, Eliza, Lydia, Catharine, Samuel, Andrew, Sarah, Daniel and Hannah. John Andre died in 1849, at the age of fifty-six, and Elizabeth, his wife, October 7, 1881, at the age of eighty-eight years and eight months.

RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM MCKINSTRY.

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MADISON TOWNSHIP.

three miles from its mouth. It was noted on the assessment for the next year as transferred to Som- mers Baldwin, who probably did consummate his contract with Essex by paying the purchase money before his death, for Essex, April 17, 1827, then of Morgan county, Ohio, conveyed it to Robert Brown, who conveyed it, June 20, for $200, to Fred'k Crisman, to some of whose heirs it now belongs. It was adjoined by allotment 3 on the north, which was first occupied, if not owned, by Francis Stan- ford, who was first assessed with twenty acres of it, two horses and two cows, at $55, in 1807; with 130 acres in and for several years after 1810, and then with 200 acres until 1820, and then his widow with that number until 1823, when it appears to have been transferred to Alexander Duncan, who was then first assessed with the same and fifty acres additional, two horses and two cows, at $316. Cooper conveyed 224 acres, parts of " Burton Hall," and tracts 284 and 285, covered by warrants 2876 and 2875, to Duncan, January 23, 1834, for $280, portions or all of which still belong to his heirs. When he first settled here there were not more than six or eight other permanent settlers within the present limits of this township. Allot- ment No. 1 is a parallelogram in the northwestern part of the tract, now in Clarion county, and was one of the tracts purchased by Philander Ray- mond for the Great Western Iron Works, at Brady's Bend. Allotment 2, 170 acres, adjoined No. 1 on the east, and it appears from the map of original tracts, though not from the tax-list of Toby township, to have been occupied by Harman Farber. So, also, allotment No. 4, 140 acres, chiefly in the northwestern bend of the Red Bank, which adjoined No. 1 on the south, and both 1 and 4, ad- joining the Nicholson-Hamilton-Reynolds tract, No. 1151, on the west, appear to have been occupied by John Davis. It was, however, conveyed by Willink & Co. to Jacob Christman, as containing 157 acres and 41 perches, November 22, 1834, for $251. Christman having died intestate, it became vested in Jacob H. Christman, whose guardian, by virtue of an order of the orphans' court of this county, conveyed it to John M. Christman, October 3, 1874, for $2,500, who, with Ann Craig, late the widow of Jacob Christman, conveyed it to Alex- ander Reynolds, October 5, for $5,000, and it is now a part of the present Red Bank Furnace property. Allotment 5, 200 acres, in the broad, deep bend of the Red Bank, now in Clarion county, was settled by Fleming Davidson about 1806. He was first assessed the next year with it and two horses, at $266. Not having perfected his title to it, Willink & Co. conveyed it, as containing 201

acres and 35 perches, to John Reed, November 17, 1837, for $301.87. The heretofore-mentioned Indian path from the mouth of Mahoning via the Dog- wood corner in "Springfield," and along the ridge, traversed the central portion of allotment 6 and the western portion of allotment 3 of "Burton Hall," a short distance east of the present public road from Duncanville to Lawsonham. Willink & Co. conveyed 111 acres and 96 perches to Hugh C. Jackson, March 29, 1849, for $111.50. Wil- link & Co. conveyed 146 acres and 44 perches partly of "Burton Hall" and of tract No. 288, warrant No. 2871, to Alexander Duncan, Novem- ber 24, 1837, for $109.87, and 254 acres of the lat- ter tract, March 10, 1840, for $392.25. Duncan's executors conveyed 190 acres of the latter tract to George Duncan, June 5, 1851, which was, after his death, awarded to A. McNickle, who conveyed it as containing 201 acres and 154 perches to D. C. Collingwood, May 7, 1870, for $5,600, to whom 196 acres are assessed in 1876 at $2,352. Colwell & Co. conveyed 50 acres and 95 perches of this tract to Samuel Balsiger, June 22, 1849, for $20.50.

Adjoining " Burton Hall " on the north were the Holland tracts 284 and 285, covered by warrants Nos. 2876 and 2875, with 300 acres partly of each, two horses and three cattle. David Lawson was first assessed in 1812 at $300, to whom Cooper con- veyed 454 acres, June 23, 1824, for $500. Lawson resided on the westernmost of those tracts when he was a member of the house of representatives of this state, from Armstrong county, in 1824-5 and in 1828-9. He subsequently conveyed por- tions of the land embraced in that purchase to his sons, Robert D. and John Lawson. The present town of Lawsonham is situated, probably on tract No. 284, on the north or Clarion side of the Red Bank. There was a small portion of this parcel on the south side of the Red Bank, containing about five acres, which was sold as unseated for taxes assessed on it to Lawson's heirs, and which Thomas McMasters, treasurer of this county, con- veyed to Robert Lawson Brown, June 19, 1854 ; the latter to Hunter Orr, January 17, 1861, for $100; and he to George W. Bain, November 9, 1868, for $300. This little parcel now belongs to the Brookville Oil company, on which they drilled an unproductive oil well. The first conveyance of any part of this tract was of 151 acres of allot- ment 1, in the northeastern part, by Willink & Co. to Jacob Bowser, of Washington county, Mary- land, December 27, 1829, for $110. It does not appear from the assessment list that he ever resid- ed on this parcel. It has nevertheless been known for many years as the " Bowser Flat." He having

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

died intestate, without issue, his father and next of kin conveyed it to John A. Colwell & Co., March 26 and October 11, 1855, and they to Peter Shoe- maker, September 1, 1859, for $1,200, and he to the present owner of the main portion of it, Jo- seph B. Shoemaker, Jume 10, 1869, for $1,800.

In the southern part of this township, between the heretofore-mentioned tracts covered by a war- rant to Joseph Coosh and the tract of vacant land covered by the patent to Jacob Moyers, was a Holland tract No. 318, warrant to Le Roy & Co., No. 3001, which was not placed on the unseated list of Red Bank township until 1816. Its first white settler appears to have been Philip Anthony, who was first assessed in 1814 with two horses and two cows, at $12, and the next year with 100 acres as an improvement, one horse and one cow, at $41. Proceedings to dispossess him were instituted soon after the company's agent ascertained that he had settled on it, in 1817-18, while Philip Mechling was sheriff, during the pendency of which Anthony died. Portions of it may have been occupied by settlers during the next quarter of a century. Willink & Co. conveyed 148 acres and 147 perches of allotment 3 to Jeremiah Bonner, June 28, 1843, for $149; 113 acres of allotment 6, in the south- western part, to Jacob Moyers, December 9, for $71 ; to James Anthony 183 acres and 80 perches of allotment 2, in the southeastern part, August 12, 1846, for $202; to Reynolds & Richey, 122 acres and 22 perches of allotment 4 in the southern part, Jume 5, 1846, for $115, which had previously been occupied by I. M. Sparr, and 72 acres and 136 perches, November 24, 1848, for $36,50, the former of which parcels, being partly in Madison and partly in Pine township, they conveyed to George Reedy April 2, 1861, for $1,000, on which, near the mouth of a run emptying into the Mahoning from the northwest, a gristmill was erected in 1874, which was first assessed in 1875. A considerable portion of this tract (318) is now included in the Stewardson Furnace property.

Contiguous to that tract on the north was the main portion of tract No. 316, covered by warrant No. 2865. Willink & Co. conveyed 103 acres and 13 perches off the east end of allotments 4 and 6, to Joseph Moorhead, November 30, 1836, for $103.50; to George Nulf, 108 acres and 41 perches, June 5, 1837, for $108.35, which the latter con- veyed to David Yuant (who had settled on it in 1839), May 17, 1841, for $550, and he to Samuel Myers, 180 acres and 34 perches, May 14, 1864, for $1,700. Isaac E. Shoemaker opened a store on this parcel, with which he was first assessed in 1868. Here, too, has sprung up the little town of Center-

ville, containing a dozen or more buildings, among which is one of the public schoolhouses of this township. It is said that this town was named Centerville because its position is about central on one of the routes between Kellersburgh in this and Oakland in Mahoning township. Mail matter from several postoffices was brought for awhile by private conveyances to Shoemaker's store for per- sons living at Centerville and its vicinity, for which reason it is noted on the township map of 1876 as "Private P. O."* Willink & Co. con- veyed 193 acres of allotment 2 to Jeremiah Bonner, August 5, 1840, for $463, which he con- veyed to Thomas Black twelve days afterward, for $1,300. Willink & Co. conveyed to George W. Truitt 138 acres and 148 perches off the east end of allotments 3 and 5, March 7, 1859, for $163.47, on which is his present homestead. The north- eastern part of this tract was formerly occupied by George Painter, who came here from one of the Wistar tracts, north of the Red Bank, in 1833, with a portion of which and of the Joseph Cook tract he was assessed for several years, but the rec- ords do not show that he perfected his title to either of these parcels. A glance at the township map shows that various parts of this tract are comparatively well populated.

Next north of the foregoing was tract No. 309, covered by warrant No. 2864, of which Willink & Co. conveyed 170 acres and 131 perches, parts of allotments 4 and 6, to Daniel Reedy, Novem- ber 20, 1837, for $178.75; to James Delp 180 acres and 18 perches of the same allotments, February 17, 1840, for $177, and he to Peter George, May 1, for $810.47; to Reynolds & Richey 953 acres off another part of this tract, November 4, 1848, for $95.50; to Thomas McKee, 207 acres and 120 perches of allotment 1, February 28, 1846, for $208; to Jacob Williams 190 acres of allotment 5, March 10, 1849, for $199; to Samuel Rhodes 175 acres and 140 perches of allotment 2, May 25, 1840, for $175.80, and he to George Nulf 50 acres and 80 perches, September 20, 1841, for $50.80; Willink & Co. to Samuel Balsiger 178 acres and 131 perches of allotments 4 and 6, June 17, 1840, for $178.75.

Next north of the foregoing was tract No. 290, warrant No. 2852. Willink & Co., conveyed 135 acres and 96 perches of allotment 1 to Reynolds & Richey, March 8, 1844, for $300; 121 acres and 100 perches to William Paine, June 18, 1845, for $74.11, with 60 acres of which he was first assessed

* Deanville postoffice was established here August 3, 1877, Isaac E. Shoemaker, postmaster, so called after Rev. J. F. Dean, a Baptist clergyman, who occasionally preached to the people here.

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MADISON TOWNSHIP.

in 1840; and he to John and Jacob Pence, present owners, the same, December 29, 1859, for $1,100; 62 acres and 40 perches, the same day, to Peter G. Reed, for $37.98; 1013 acres of allotment 1 of this tract, and allotment 3 of the contiguous tract No. 382 to Robert Drain, September 14, 1846, with which he was first assessed, at $160, in 1840; B. B. Cooper's executor conveyed 150 acres and 40 perches to George C. Nulf, February 15, 1853, for $300.50, and he conveyed 75 acres and 20 perches to John Bish, September 17, for $751, with which the latter had been first assessed in 1839, at $75. Cooper's executor conveyed 253} acres of allotment 2 to Anderson, David J. and James A. Truitt, Novem- ber 17, 1855, for $800, with which Anderson had been first assessed in 1837 at $370.50, and his father, Thomas Truitt, with one cow at $8. A part of this parcel now belongs to Anderson Truitt's heirs.

Next north was tract No. 282, warrant No. 2848, the northeastern portion of which was in what is now Clarion county. It was skirted on the north by the eastern half of "J. Maxwell's, 400 acres, Improvement." The latter, as represented on the map of original tracts, was a notably long and narrow parallelogram, which extended from the original line between Toby and Red Bank town- ships to the western line of the " W. & R. White" tract, thirty or forty rods east of the Leatherwood, by which it and allotment 2 of tract 282 were trav- ersed.

Digressing somewhat some distance north from the mouth of Leatherwood, David Shields settled in 1810 on vacant land, with 200 acres of which he was then assessed, and some years afterward with a less quantity, until 1834, after which his name does not appear on the tax-list of Red Bank town- ship. Tradition, which appears to be well anthen- ticated, says that one of his sons, when five years of age, was captured or kidnapped by the Indians who took him to some point within what are now the limits of Jefferson county and elsewhere. Nineteen years afterward his father, having ascer- tained where he was, and some others who aided him, succeeded in effecting the rescue and return home of the captive. The latter remained there but a week or ten days. He said there was a lead- mine near the mouth of Leatherwood, and promised to point it out to his brothers, but did not. Sub- sequent diligent but vain searches were made for it. Having married a squaw and having become fond of Indian life, the home of his parents became irk- some to him, so he escaped one night with a party of Indians who were whooping around his father's house, and never returned.

One of the earliest settlers on tract No. 282 was

John Switzer, who was first assessed with 100 acres of allotment 3, 1 horse and cow, at $338, in 1837. He does not appear to have perfected his title, for Willink & Co. conveyed the 156 acres and 110 perches with which he was last assessed in 1841 to Owen Meredith, August 12, 1845, for $314, which is now owned by Thomas Meredith, which is assessed this year (1876) at $1,248.

The earliest permanent white settler on tract 282 appears to have been Philip Bish, who was first assessed with 70 acres of it and 1 horse, in 1817, at $72, which quantity of land and 17 acres more Willink & Co. conveyed to him August 23, 1847, for $87.

George Kogh was first assessed with 50 acres in that part of allotment 1 in the deep northwesterly bend of the Red Bank, 1 sawmill, 1 yoke of oxen, and 1 cow, in 1830, at $146.25, to whom Willink & Co. conveyed 68 acres and 60 perches, July 12, 1848, for $51. This point is called " Broken Rock." There is a small parcel of this allotment in the deep bend of the creek belonging to the Broken Rock Oil Company, who several years ago drilled a well, striking a moderate vein of gas, but not a paying quantity of oil. Kogh conveyed 14 acres of his parcel to Mary Bleakney July 4, 1862, for $50, which she conveyed to the present owner, James Courson, March 20, 1871, for $305. John Payne was first assessed with 120 acres, 1 yoke of oxen and 1 cow, in 1838, at $154, the land being then valued at 75 cents an acre. Willink & Co. conveyed 198 acres of allotments 1 and 3, Sep- tember 9, 1847, for $250. He died intestate. His son, Alexander B. Paine, conveyed 120 acres of this parcel to Mary Thompson, August 13, 1860, for $1,240, who conveyed 20 acres and 73 perches thereof to James Courson, May 5, 1873, for $200.

Passing down the left bank of the creek, tract No. 289, covered by warrant No. 2859, is reached. Willink & Co. conveyed 175 acres and 24 perches of allotment 6, the southeastern one, to George Arnold, October 3, 1835, for $109.46. Willink & Co. conveyed 250 acres of allotments 2 and + to Jacob F. Keller, April 8, 1841, for $156.73, in pursuance of a previous agreement to sell and purchase. Keller having agreed to sell 200 acres of his parcel to Joseph Sowash, January 18, 1838. and Sowash having agreed, June 15, 1841, to sell the same to Christian Shunk, and the latter and Alexander Reynolds having entered into an agree- ment of copartnership, July 3, for purchasing the same and to erect thereon a furnace for the manu- facture of pig-iron from the ore under the name and style of Reynolds & Shunk, Keller conveyed to them, July 3, the 250 acres and 123 perches

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

which he had purchased from Willink & Co., for $752, which thus became the parcel on which Rey- nolds & Shunk erected the Old Red Bank Furnace in 1841. Shunk retired soon after the furnace went into blast, and was succeeded by David Richey. The firm name was then Reynolds & Richey until the furnace ceased to be operated in 1853. It was a steam, cold-blast, charcoal furnace, 9 feet in the bosh by 32 feet high, and made, on an average, 50 tons of pig metal a week, giving employment, on an average, to 150 persons, and was in the end a source of profit to its proprietors, who purchased a large quantity of land in the cir- cumjacent region, considerable portions of which they have sold at a reasonable advance.

Contiguous to that tract were other Holland Company tracts, Nos. 283 and 288, covered by war- rants Nos. 2847 and 2876, partly in what is now Clarion county. Willink & Co. conveyed 1509 acres and 31 perches, parts of them, and No. 289, to the late Judge Buffington, October 15, 1845, for $1,131, 776 acres and 135 perches of which in this county he conveyed to Reynolds & Richey, fifteen days later, for $3,395.68, which of course became a part of the furnace property, the greatly enhanced value of which was attributable to the successful operation of the old Red Bank Furnace. The present Red Bank Furnace - which is, so to speak, a descendant of the old one- was erected by Alexander Reynolds and the late Thomas McCul- longh, in 1858, on the tract originally owned by James Watterson, about 300 yards above the mouth of Red Bank, in Clarion county, just below the neck of Brady's Bend, a large portion of its sup- plies being obtained from this county. It is the first coke-furnace near the Allegheny river. The proprietors met with some difficulty in finding a ready market on this side of the mountains for their coke-made iron. Its present owners are Rey- nolds & Moorhead. Its product has been from 90 to 105 tons a week of gray mill metal, wasting less than 6 per cent in puddling, with coke made from the Upper Freeport coalbed coal and buhrstone ore and limestone, all mined in the hillsides back of the furnace. The stack is 39 feet and 8 inches high, and 11 feet across the boshes, with a square- cut stone base and a round looped cylinder, of 3 feet brick wall, with 18 inches lining and 6 inches packing between. The fuel used in 1865 was one-half coke and one-half coal, in alternate charges, thus : First charge, raw coal, 10 bushels ; ore, 633 lbs. ; limestone, 253 lbs. ; three of these making a charge. Second charge : three times 10 bushels coke and 633 lbs. ore, and 253 lbs. lime- stone. The upright furnace engine worked 30 lbs.

steam, and the gauge stood between 34 and 4 lbs. pressure on the cylinder ; a very beautiful engine, with a 28-inch steam cylinder, mounted endwise on a 53 feet blowing cylinder, the stroke common to both being 42 feet. The gases are taken off on each side of the tunnel-head some feet down, and introduced beneath the hot-blast house and boilers, standing on a terrace about 6 feet above the cast- ing floor, but under the same roof. The length of the air cylinder is 20, and its diameter 10 feet. The three boilers are 3 by 36 feet, with an extra flue boiler in case of accident. The coke is shot upon high screens ; the raw coal is deposited on the stockyard floor, part of which is used for a calcining yard .*

Adjoining tract 289 on the south was No. 310, covered by warrant No. 2860. Peter and David Bish appear to have been first assessed with 166 acres in the southeastern part of it, and one cow, in 1828, at $91. Willink & Co. conveyed to the former 186 acres of allotment 6, February 1, 1830, for $116.25, 50 acres and 106 perches of which he conveyed to Samuel Bish, March 15, 1844, who conveyed the same to the present owner, Thomas Truitt, Jr., June 21, 1847, for $400. They conveyed 121 acres of the northern part of allotment 2 to Nicholas Keller, June 3, 1834, for $75.62, who set- tled thereon the same year.

Red Bank postoffice, C. Shunk, postmaster, was established here May 13, 1842. It was changed to Kellersburgh, February 24, 1871 ; David Gaunt, postmaster.

Keller laid out on the parcel which he had pur- chased the town of Kellersburgh, consisting of twenty-three lots, thirteen of which are on the east and ten on the west side of the Olean road, which is the main street, three rods wide. The only other street is the one between lots Nos. 5 and 6, one rod and a half wide. The area of each lot is 4×10 rods, and contains one-quarter of an acre. The bearings of the main street and the easterly and westerly boundary lines of the town are north ten degrees east, and south ten degrees west. These lots were surveyed by J. E. Meredith for Nicholas Keller, Sr., July 19, 1842. The first sale of them was advertised by the proprietor in this wise : " The site is a beautiful one and in an excellent settlement, as there is no part of Armstrong county improving as rapidly at this time as that section. The surrounding country abounds with iron ore and coal, and the great road, leading from the borough of Kittanning to Olean Point, passes through the same, also the road from the former place to the new and thriving town of Clarion, and

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 59

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