History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 87

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania > Part 87

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

She was unable for a considerable time the next morning to raise herself from the ground. Hav- ing, with a hard struggle, gained her feet, with nature so nearly exhausted and her spirits so

completely depressed as they were, her progress was very slow and discouraging. After proceed- ing a short distance, she struck a path over which cattle had passed, following which for about a mile, she reached an uninhabited cabin on the river bottom. Not knowing where she was, and overcome with despair, she went to its thresh- old, having resolved to enter it and then lie down and die. But the thought of the suffering to be endured in that event nerved her to another des- perate effort to live. Hearing the sound of a cow- bell, which awakened a gleam of hope in her ex- treme despondency, she followed that sound until she reached a point opposite the fort at Six-Mile Island, where, with feelings which can be more readily imagined then expressed, she beheld three men on the left bank of the river. They appeared to be unwilling to come for her when she called on them, and requested her to inform them who she was. When she told them that she was the one who had been taken prisoner up the Allegheny on the morning of the 22d-in the narrative it is Tuesday morning-and had escaped, they requested her to walk up the bank of the river for awhile that they might see whether or not the Indians were making a decoy of her. When she told them her feet were so sore that she could not walk, James Closier came over for her in a canoe, while the other two stood on the river bank with cocked rifles, ready to fire in case she proved to be a decoy. When Closier approached the shore and saw her haggard and dejected appearance, he exclaimed: " Who, in the name of God, are you?" So great was the change wrought by her six days' sufferings that he, one of her nearest neighbors, did not recognize either her face or voice. When she ar- rived on the other side of the river she was unable to move or to help herself in any way. The people at the fort ran to see her. Some of them took her child and others took her from the canoe to Mr. Carter's house. Then, all danger being passed, she enjoyed for the first time since her capture the relief which comes from a copious flow of tears. Coming too suddenly to the fire and the smell of the victuals, she fainted. Those hospitable people might have killed her with their exuberant kind- ness, had not Maj. McCulley, who then commanded the line * along the Allegheny river, fortunately arrived. When he saw her situation and the bountiful provision those good people were making for her, he immediately ordered her out of the house, away from the heat of the fire and the smell of the victuals which were being cooked, and pro- hibited her from taking anything but the whey of

* Manor township.

407

FREEPORT TOWNSHIP.

buttermilk, in very small quantities, which he himself administered. By that judicious treat- ment she was gradually restored to health and strength of mind and body. Saralı Carter and Mary Ann Crozier-whether single or married is not stated-then began to extract the thorns from her feet and legs, to the number of 150, as counted by Felix Negley, who watched the operation, and who afterward resided at the mouth of Bull creek, Tarentum. Many more were extracted the next evening. Some of the thorns went through and came out on the top of her feet. The skin and flesh were excruciatingly mangled and hung in shreds to her feet and legs. So much exposure of her naked body to rain by night and heat of the sun by day, and carrying her child so long in her arms without relief, caused so much of her skin to come off that nearly her whole body was raw, and for two weeks her feet were not sufficiently healed to enable her to put them to the ground to walk.

The news of her escape spread rapidly in various directions, reaching Pittsburgh the same evening of her arrival at the fort at Six-Mile Island. Two spies proceeded that evening to Coe's-now Taren- tum - and the next morning to Reed's station, bearing the intelligence to her husband. A young man employed by the magistrates at Pittsburgh came for her to go thither for the purpose of mak- ing before one of them her affidavit of the facts connected with her captivity and escape, as was customary in early times, for publication. Being unable either to walk or ride on horseback, she was carried by some of the men into a canoe. After arriving at Pittsburgh she was borne in their arms to the office of John Wilkins, a justice of the peace and a son of the late Judge Wilkins, of the United States court, before whom she made her affidavit, May 28, 1792. The facts which she thus stated, being circulated, caused a lively sensation in and for twenty miles around Pittsburgh. Her husband arrived there that evening, and the next morning she was conveyed to Coe's station. That evening she gave to those about her an account of the mur- der of her boy on Todd's Island, whither a scout went the next morning, found and buried the corpse, which had lain there unburied nine days.

From her above-mentioned affidavit and her sub- sequent and more elaborate narrative, prepared from her statement by John Winter, the writer has condensed the foregoing facts, credited by the early settlers who were her neighbors, and which were made during those six terrible days of her life.

She resided during several subsequent years at Salt Lick, a mile and a half north of Butler, on

the Connoquennessing, at or near the site of the Indian camp mentioned in her affidavit and narra- tive. The last years of her life were passed in a cabin on the lot on the northeastern corner of Fourth street and Mulberry alley, Freeport, oppo- site the Methodist Episcopal church, being the same lot now occupied by William Murphy, where she died on Saturday, December 9, 1837.

THE TODD PURCHASE.

Among the earliest sales of depreciation lands northwest of the Allegheny, within the limits of Armstrong county, was one to William Todd, “ of Unity township, Westmoreland county, esquire," and David Todd, of Armstrong township, and county aforesaid, " farmer," as they were described in their early conveyances of parcels of land. David Todd resided on the tract called "Brabant," on the eastern side of that part of Crooked creek called the South Bend .* They, having taken the necessary preliminary steps, obtained patents, Sep- tember 16, 1786, for lot No. 70, called " Union," 3483 acres, and lot No. 71, called "Friendship," 302 acres, both of them in Elder's district, No. 5, and in the forks of the Allegheny and the Buffalo, further mention of which is deferred for the present.

The following entries are among the minutes of the proceedings of the supreme executive council, at Philadelphia, Friday, February 26, 1790: "Upon application of William Todd, Esquire, of the right of pre-emption to a certain island in the river Alle- gheny, nearly opposite to and above the mouth of Buffalo creek, containing 25 or 30 acres, upon which he has made a small improvement, it was

" Resolved, That the said island be granted to the said William Todd upon his paying for the same at the rate of 25 shillings per acre in certifi- cates of this state, interest to be computed from this date," which has since borne the name of Todd's Island.

Todd conveyed one-half of his interest to Francis Johnson the same day for €5, and the patent was issued to them as tenants in common, January 15, 1795, and on April 1, 1796, Johnson reconveyed his interest to Todd.

William Todd conveyed an undivided half part of "Union " and "Friendship" to Francis John- ston, of Philadelphia, September 16, 1786, for £300, which he reconveyed to Todd, April 5, 1796, the latter having conveyed an undivided half to David, March 9, 1794. Thus it was that these Todd brothers became seized of "Friendship " and " Union " as tenants in common.

* See South Bend township.

408

HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

A man by the name of Edmonson kept a ferry here across the Allegheny as early as, if not earlier than, 1795, for the writer is credibly informed by an eye-witness that one Sunday evening in Febru- ary, 1796, he skillfully ferried a young surveyor of eighteen, through much ice, from a point about 95 rods above what is now Garver's ferry, to some point on the above-mentioned parcel or tract called " Friendship," who tarried over night at the house of Robert Thornburg, who was then almost the sole, if not the sole, head of a family in the forks. That young surveyor was then migrating from Franklin county to seek some profitable field for the exercise of his knowledge of and skill in the art of surveying, which he thereafter practiced extensively and for many years within what is now Butler county.

In the summer or autumn of 1796 William and David Todd laid out a town, the plan of which is recorded in Allegheny county, on parts of " Friend- ship " bordering upon the Allegheny and the Buffalo, extending up both of those streams from their confluence. The streets parallel to the river were Water and Market, and those intersecting them at right angles and nearly parallel to the creek were First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth.

The lots were numbered from 1 to 135, and were chiefly 66 feet, fronting on the first-named streets, by 159 feet between those streets and the alleys. This place may have been thereafter "for a long time known as Toddstown,"* but that is not the name given to it by its proprietors. David Todd declared, as related to the writer by Peter E. Wea- ver, that all the ground between the houses on Water street and the river should be free to all the lot-owners, and that boats, rafts and other river craft landing here should be free of wharfage. This has been ever since the laying out of the town a free port for all the river craft. So this town was christened by the proprietors, and it has ever since been called Freeport. The eddy, one of the best on that river, formed by the mouth of Buffalo and Todd's island, it was expected would make this a very important point.

The records of this county and Allegheny county show that William and David Todd conveyed 27 of their Freeport lots, January 10, 1797, for $24 each : to James Armstrong, No. 19, north side of Water street, and Armstrong to Thomas Robinson, July 29, 1829, for $200 ; to James Bole, No. 2, north side of Market street; to Thomas Campbell, No. 35, south side of Market street, and his administra- tors, in pursuance of an agreement before his death, to Henry S. Weaver, August 5, 1829, for $55; to

James Cooper, No. 130, north side of Market street, he to James Ross, December 30, 1797, for $50, and Catherine Ross, of Carlisle, to Henry S. Weaver, December 6, 1829, for $90; to William Crawford, Nos. 1, 116; to William Cunningham, No. 93, west side of Sixth street; to Nicholas Day, No. 87, north side of Market street; and he to Jacob Weaver, March 13, 1811, for $20; to James Dun- lap, No. 50, south side of Market street, and he to William F. Smith, September 18, 1829, for $20; to Thomas Dunlap, No. 45 ; to Thos. Graydon, No. 99 ; to Robert Hill, No. 103, west side of Fourth street, and he to James Hill, October 14, 1812, for $10 ; to Robert Hunter, No. 55, south side of Mar- ket street; to Alexander Hunter, No. 13; to David Hutchinson, No. 9, north side of Water street, and he to Henry S. Weaver, March 18, 1829, for $100 ; to William Jamison, No. 75, north side of Market street, his heirs to John Karns, April 15, 1816, and April 1, 1829, and he to Stephen Furlong, August 21, 1833, for $225 ; to Benjamin Lodge, No. 43, south side Market street, and he to Joseph Lyon, May 24, 1827, for $100; to John Mehaffey, No. 27, north side of Water street, and he to Henry S. Weaver, March 23, 1827, for $50 ; to John Miller, No. 62, north side of Market street, and he to Stephen Furlong, April 3, 1835, for $300 ; to John Craig Miller, No. 115; to Will- iam Morrison, No. 75 ; to Samuel Murphy, Nos. 2, 96, 104 ; to Sarah McDowell, No. 95, west side of Sixth street, and she one-half to Dr. Chas. G. Snow- den, December 5, 1859, for $1,000, probably in pursu- ance of a previous agreement ; James McCormick, Nos. 2, 3, 7, 23, 60, 106 ; to Alexander McKinney, No. 111, west of Second street ; to Robert Parker, No. 6, north side of Water street, and No. 2, north side of Market street ; to Thomas Powers, No. 83 ; to Hamilton Robb, No. 127, and he to Alexander Hunter, December 13, 1799, "for a valuable con- sideration to me in hand paid ; " to Samuel Robb, No. 73, north side of Market street, and he to Jacob Weaver, March 23, 1812, for $5; to same, No. 26; to Charles Rogers, No. 132, east side of Sixth street; to George Smith, Nos. 4, 66; to Thomas N. Sloan, No. 67, north side of Market street ; to Abraham Walker, No. 14, north side of Water street, and he to George Ross, November 5, 1810, for $30 ; to Hugh Wasson, No. 102, west of Fourth street ; to Benjamin F. Weaver, No. 86, north side of Market street, and he to Henry S. Weaver, June 2, 1832, for $200; to Eliza Weaver, No. 58, south side of Market street ; and to Jacob Weaver, No. 94.

The first house was built by Andrew Patterson, adjoining the old blockhonse.

#Appendix to Early History of Western Pennsylvania, p. 344.

409

FREEPORT TOWNSHIP.

James McCormick, the second sheriff of this county, settled here, probably in 1797, and opened a hotel, and established a ferry. By the act of April 4, 1798, such parts of Allegheny county as were then within Elder's district, being part of Deer township, were made an election district, and the place fixed for holding the elections was "at the house of James McCormick, in the town of Free- port," which was the first house built on Water street. It was situated on lot No. 23, below Fifth street.

Some time during that year Charles Duffy and his family arrived here from Ireland and stopped at McCormick's, where his daughter Barbara, then in her eleventh year, remained several months. Her father located on the headwaters of one of the western tributaries of Buffalo creek, then in the wilderness. Barbara, as she advanced in years, evinced, like many other pioneer women of this region, great force of character and a generous patriotie spirit. She married, quite early, Neil Gillespie, and removed to a small par- cel of land that belonged to him north of the "Gillespie tract," that is, the one owned by his father, John Gillespie. Her husband responded to the call for men to serve in the war of 1812, and was elected first lieutenant of his company. She and her young son, James, who is now one of the oldest citizens of Freeport, were left alone. Dur- ing his absence in the service, she, with a yoke of young cattle, did all the plowing required on their place, and cultivated their little cleared patch so successfully that on her husband's return she had a bountiful supply of provisions as well as a cordial welcome for him and his men when they returned from "the lines and tented field." Their farm in the course of time proved to be too small for the maintenance of their family, so they removed to Freeport and opened a hotel on what is now the Gillespie homestead, on Water, above Second, street, Freeport. Her son, Charles B. Gillespie, was captain of Company "F" in the 78th regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers in the war of the rebellion. She read much, had a very retentive memory, could entertain attentive listeners with her correct presentations of early scenes and events, and of the personal characteristics of pioneer settlers. Generons, warm-hearted, she was also charitable in all things "to the Jew and Gentile, so they did the good work." So appre- ciative was she of the protection of the beneficent government of her adopted country that she per- sistently declined to apply, when often urged, for a pension as the widow of an officer in the war of 1812. To the close of her life, eighty-seven years, she retained all her mental powers.

Among other later arrivals at this place were those of Jacob Mechling, formerly of Greensburgh, and afterward of Butler, and his co-commis- sioners, Hamilton, Lane, Morton and Weaver. Mechling, in his "journal of proceedings to fix the seats of justice in the counties of Armstrong," etc., notes their arrival at the mouth of Puekety, June 3, 1802, and then "eleven miles to Freeport, where we lodged that night," which is all he noted in his journal respecting this town, in which there were then but a very few log houses, besides McCormick's tavern, where he and the other com- missioners probably lodged.

In 1805 there were, as related to the writer by Peter E. Weaver, only eight indifferent houses of hewn logs. The first one was McCormick's tavern ; the second one, built by Thomas Johnston, ad- joined McCormick's; the third, by one of the Thornburgh's on or near Water, above Fifth street ; the fourth, by Henry A. Weaver, on lot No. 24, on the north side of Market street ; the fifth on the second lot above the last-mentioned one; the sixth, by Alexander Hunter, on Water, between Second and Third streets ; the seventh, by - - Porterfield, on Water, between Third and Fourth streets; the eighth, on Water, near Fifth street.

The assessment list of Buffalo township for 1805 shows the valuation of lots, personal property and occupations in Freeport to have then been : Alex- ander Hunter, one house, one lot and four cattle, $102; the next year, $96; Thomas Johnston, one house, one lot, two horses, two cattle and 400 acres elsewhere in the township, $262 ; the next year, $150; James McCormick, one honse, five lots, one horse, one cow and one ferry, $216; the next year, $222. Jacob Weaver was first assessed here in 1806, with one house, one lot, one horse, one cow, and as storekeeper, at $111. Some persons have the impression that Henry A. Weaver settled here before Jacob Weaver did; that he had a French- man as a partner in trade, and who was an inter- preter to the Indians ; that, as Peter Clawson, who was raised near Greensburgh, lived for years on his father's farm at Rumbaugh's ferry on the Kiski- minetas, and was well versed in early events, used to relate that, about 1806, a considerable quantity of wheat and flour was transported from Greensburgh or Hannahstown to Rumbangh's ferry, thence to Freeport, and shipped thenee by Weaver and his partner to Blennerhasset's island for the use of the expedition fitted out by Aaron Burr, and that Weaver in consequence of being engaged in that shipment was obliged to be absent for a while. If Henry A. Weaver had lived here before

410

HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

that time, and he was living and doing business here then, he was overlooked by the assessors of Buffalo township for several years, for the first time that the name of any Henry Weaver appears on the assessment list of that township in which Freeport then was is on the one for the year 1812, when there were assessed to "Henry Weaver" two horses and two cattle, cows probably, at $44, though Joseph Morrison had been the assessor for 1807, John Matthes for 1809, John Smith for 1810, and David Reed, with John Galbraith and Samuel Murphy assistants, for 1811. He was assessed the next year (1813) by Samuel Murphy, with two horses, one cow, one house and one lot, at $109, and the next year by Adam Maxwell, with John Craig and John Smith assistants, with 300 acres of the land "formerly occupied by Thomas Johnston." At the first term of the court of quarter sessions in this county, December, 1805, the petition of sundry inhabitants of Buffalo township was pre- sented, setting forth that they labored under great inconvenience for want of a public road from James McCormick's ferry, at the town of Free- port, to intersect the state road at Robert Brown's ferry. The court appointed James McCormick, Casper Earley, Samuel Murphy, Adam Ewing, John Young and John Painter, viewers, whose re- port in favor of opening the road was presented June 16, 1806, and considered under advisement until December 17, when it was disapproved by the court.

POSTOFFICE.

The exact day on which the Freeport postoffice · was established cannot be ascertained, for the rea- son elsewhere given," but it must have been in the fall of 1806, as Jacob Weaver, the first postmaster, began to render his quarterly accounts January 1, 1807.

McCormick, having been elected sheriff in 1809, retired from the hotel, in which he was succeeded by James Bole, Jr., to whom he conveyed it, May 8, 1813. The eddy and free wharfage made this a good point for raftsmen to stop at. Among the many who stopped with Bole was one who wanted some liquor, but had no money to pay for it, and, as he could not obtain it on credit, he offered to ex- change an ax for it. His offer was accepted, and the liquor and ax were exchanged. It happened, some time after the raftsman had left, that an ax was needed, but could not be found. Bole, being apprised of the fact, handed over the one which the raftman had left, remarking that there was one which he had bought. He soon discovered that he had parted with his liquor, for he had bought his

own ax, and laughed heartily as he occasionally re- lated the affair to his guests. Many years ago, when the Stockbridge Indians dwelt along the Oneida creek, in Madison county, New York, one of that tribe, after graduating creditably at Dart- mouth college, returned to his people, became the slave of "fire water" and a sot, and resorted to various ingenious expedients to obtain the poison- ons beverage. Jacob Konkerpot was his name. His brother was the chief of the tribe who, before their departure to the west, had erected a large frame mansion, in which the writer resided during several years of his boyhood. One day, Jake was in the adjoining town of Augusta, and asked the landlord for liquor, but not having money to pay for it was refused. "Well," said he, "there's a man over here that owes me, perhaps I can get some money from him." After a short absence he returned to the inn and told the landlord that the man was absent, so he couldn't get his money then, but he had got a duck which he would pawn until he could get his money. The duck was taken and the liquor furnished, and Jake didn't stay long. After he had left, the landlord took the duck back to his yard, when he was surprised to find that Jake had pawned to him one of his own flock. It is presumed he bore Jake's sharpness and the loss of his liquor with a cheerful fortitude.

Returning to soberer facts, that first tavern site in Freeport was conveyed by Bole to Peter Eichart, April 1, 1816, for $1,500, who agreed, February 17, to sell it to John Drum for that amount, who soon after took possession, and to whom Eichart's execu- tor conveyed it in pursuance of that agreement, September 7, 1832. Drum conveyed it to Robert Lowry, September 25, for $2,000, and Lowry to John Keever four days afterward for the same amount, who conveyed it, September 7, 1837, to Jacob Weaver, Thomas B. Williamson and James Bole in trust for his creditors. A correspondent of the Commercial Gazette says that Bole's successor was a man by the name of Stoeffer, a brother-in- law of Jacob Weaver, and father-in-law of Henry S. Weaver, and kept a very orderly house. But his name is not found in the conveyances of this property, or on the assessment lists.

The public records show that Robert Loughrie was assessed with 2 acres, 1 house, 2 horses and 1 cow, and he and James Loughrie (single man), with a tanyard, in 1816, at $245. The land, house and tanyard were sold by Philip Mechling, sheriff, on Vend. Ex. No. 21, December term, 1818, common pleas of this county, as the property of James Loughrie to Andrew Arnold and Henry Jack for $178. This parcel of land was described as adjoin-

* Sce borough of Kittanning.

411

FREEPORT TOWNSHIP.

ing the town of Freeport, lands of Henry S. Weaver, James Armstrong and other land of Ar- nold. This tanyard was assessed to Arnold until he and Jack conveyed it with the 2 acres and dwelling-house to Thomas Robinson, September 21, 1830, for $650, who was not thereafter assessed with that tanyard, which was the first one operated in Freeport. On that parcel of land " Robinson's Row " was laid out, in which John and William L. Trimble were afterward assessed as tanners from 1846 until 1853, and from then until 1860 that tannery was assessed to William Crow, when he conveyed the property to David Taylor, since when there has been no tannery in Freeport.

Freeport, notwithstanding the great expectations of its founders, based upon its natural advantages, increased very slowly during the first two decades of its existence. One who was born and raised on the opposite side of the river, says it was in 1812 a mere village, with a liquor store and blacksmith shop. Benjamin Harbison remembers that in 1816 its southwestern part, that part west of Fifth street, was covered with a bountiful crop of wheat, and there were only five houses then on Water street.

James Armstrong's wife, an heir of William Todd, instituted proceedings in partition to No. 8, of September term, 1817, in the common pleas of this county. After the issuing and service of the summons to William Todd and the other children and heirs of David Todd, deceased, George Arm- strong appeared as attorney for all the defendants, and on September 17 confessed judgment that par- tition be made, and agreed that the writ of parti- tion be executed on the then next first Monday of October, which was accordingly done, and on De- cember 16, on motion of Eben S. Kelly, judgment that the partition remain firm and stable forever was ordered by the court. Thus James Armstrong, the plaintiff, became vested with a large portion of the land in and around Freeport.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 87

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