USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and Its Centennial Celebration, Volume II > Part 3
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
" There is here a note by the editor, writing in 1810, or perhaps by the author himself. which says: "A small brick market-house has since been built, and after many trials, a well sunk from which the inhabitants are supplied with water." VOL. 11 .- 2.
630
History of Beaver County
thirteen dollars twenty-five cents. It is seven years since Beaver was laid out for a town.I
The author in his last statement has confused the date of the erection of the county of Beaver, which was seven years before (i. e., in 1800) with that of the laying out of the town. Leet's survey, as stated above, was in 1792, and was confirmed by the Assembly in the following year.
The tavern of General Lacock referred to in the above ac- count was on Third Street, nearly opposite the present Buchanan block, and, as we have already said, was later known as the Clark Hotel, and was the place where the court first sat. The Wilson mentioned was James Wilson, uncle of Associate Judge Joseph C. Wilson. He was the father of Samuel Beatty Wilson, who long resided in Beaver and who married Julia Ann, a daughter of James Lyon,? and died recently in Washington, D. C. James Wilson kept a store on the site of Lawrence's drug store, corner of Third Street and Branch Bank Alley.
1 Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country, etc., By F. Cuming, Pittsburgh, 1810, p. 79. The journey described in this book was begun at Philadelphia in the winter of 1807 and concluded in 1809. Cuming left Pittsburg for his trip down the Ohio July 18, 1807.
" James Lyon was an early and highly respected citizen of Beaver. He was born in Westmoreland County, where his father had made a settlement on Turtle Creek. In the year 1782, when he was about six years old, the Delaware Indians attacked the settlement, killing and scalping his father, and carrying his brother and himself captives to the Wabash River, where they were made to run the gauntlet. After the treaty of Fort McIntosh, in 1785, which provided for the surrender by the Indians of all prisoners "white and black," held by them, many prisoners were delivered at Fort McIntosh, and among these was James Lyon. He was so favorably impressed with the settlement at Fort McIntosh, that in 1800 he opened a store in Beaver and continued in business there for thirty-five years. He was sheriff of the county from 1818 to 1821.
In an account of his captivity, written by himself and dated "Beaver Town, September 27. 1846," * he being then in his 70th or 71st year, Mr. Lyon gives an interesting glimpse of Simon Girty, which shows that that cruel ruffian had at times some instincts of kindness in his bosom. The narrative says: "We had not been long in camp, until they [the Indians] commenced smoking, and amongst those that visited us, was a white man, immediately upon his coming into the camp I went up to him, and he took me on his knee; I was glad to see a white man, he kept me all the time on his knee while he stayed, and treated me kindly, when he got up to go away, I wanted to go with him, he had no other way of getting . me pacified, but by promising to come and see me again, but that was the last I saw of him, my brother told me that he was Simon Girty, that he had seen him frequently at my grandmother Myers' tavern, where we both often visited."
James Lyon married Electa Smith and had the following-named children: Mary. married John Darragh, died in Rochester, buried in Beaver; Matilda, died at nine years of age; Thomas, a steamboat captain, died at Moberly, Mo .; Louisa, married Atlas Lacock: Julia Ann, married Samuel Beatty Wilson, died in Washington City; Sarah K., widow of George W. Allison, M.D., still living and resides in Beaver; Martin Smith, died at Alton, Ills .; Electa, died at Beaver; Harriet M., living in Washington City; Henrietta M., died in Beaver.
* Published in full in The Olden Time (Craig) vol. ii .. pp. 87-92.
631
History of Beaver County
Mary Wilson, the "very pretty woman" referred to, had been a school-teacher, and is mentioned in our chapter on the educa- tional history of the county. She was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Adams. She died in Weston, W. Va., at ninety-five years of age. Joseph Hemphill was a well-known early citizen, whose biography is sketched in the chapter of this work on the legal history of the county. He kept an inn just across the street from Wilson's.
The following also, from Zadoc Cramer's Navigator for 1818, will be of interest and gives some history:
When about a mile above the mouth of Big Beaver incline toward the left shore, keeping about two-thirds of the river on your right hand, in order to avoid two bars, the one made by the entrance of the creek, which runs down near the right side for a few rods below the lower ware house, and the other called Johnson's bar, a quarter of a mile below the first, and also near the right shore. Below this last bar and opposite the town of Beaver, the right shore is shoal, and affords no landing place until you get down to Carr's ferry, three miles below the creek .- If you want to land at the town of Beaver, you must pull in just below the Beaver bar, where you will fall into an eddy, which will take you up a few rods to the Harmony ware house, where is a good landing place. On coming out from the ware house it requires care to clear Johnson's bar, which lies just below the Beaver bar; keep it well to your right and pull pretty well out into the river, and there is no other impediment until you get down to Carr's ripple, which is made on the left side by the entrance of Raccoon creek, where the channel is nearest the shore. Nib- low's ferry is opposite Harmony ware house, and Lawrence's ferry oppo- site Beavertown.
There has lately [probably just before 1810] been established in Beaver an extensive brewery, by Mr. George Grier, whose beer is esteemed at Natchez and New Orleans.I
The patriotic spirit of Beaver's early citizens will appear in the following extract from the edition of July 20, 1808, of The Commonwealth, a weekly paper published at Pittsburg, by Ephraim Pentland, a son-in-law of General Abner Lacock:
The Fourth of July, the anniversary of our independence, was cele- brated by a large number of the democratic republicans of Beaver Town and its vicinity, on the bank of Beaver creek, near the village of Sharon. Stephen Runyan, Esq., was unanimously chosen president, and Robert Moore, Esq., vice president. The Declaration of Independence was read and an appropriate address delivered by Gen. Abner Lacock, when the
1 Pp. 70-71.
632
History of Beaver County
company sat down to a neat and sumptuous dinner provided for the occasion, after which they were honored with the presence of Captain Beon's rifle company, and Captain Davidson's militia. The following toasts were drunk with unanimity and glee, accompanied with discharges of small arms:
By Thomas Henry-" The mechanics of the United States: may they ever possess our democratic principles."
By Robert Moore, Esq .- "Neutral commerce, unrestricted by British orders of council, or French decrees."
By John Lawrence, Esq .- "May the miscreant who espouses the British government, or the administration of it, in preference to that of the United States, be despised by all honest democrats and honoured with a coat of tar and feathers."
By John Wolf, (Sen'r)-"May the standard of liberty and equality flourish in every clime."
By Jonathan Mendenhall-"The Fourth of July: may it ever be held sacred by all true republicans, but never profaned by the mock celebra- tion of aristocrats and tories."
By Robert Darragh-"May the despotic arm extended to molest the flag of neutrals, be forever blasted."
By Wm. Smith (after Gen. Lacock retired)-"General Abner Lacock, the orator of the day: may his talents long be employed in the cause of liberty and the rights of man, to confusion of federalists, tories and apostate whigs."
EARLY BOROUGH OFFICIALS AND RECORDS
The men whose names have already been mentioned in the history of the borough were among its very earliest settlers, and some of them were identified with its most important affairs. A poll-book, which is the oldest one of the kind preserved in the county, contains the names of these, and of still others, spoken of in connection with a special election held July 10, 1805, in the court-house, for the purpose of filling the office of high constable. At this election Joseph Hemphill was inspector; David Hayes, judge; and James Allison, Jr., clerk. William Rhodes was elected. The poll-book contains the following names: William Henry, who was the first sheriff of the county; David Johnson, the first prothonotary; Jonathan Coulter and Joseph Hemphill, two of the trustees appointed in the Act of March 12, 1800, erecting the county, to erect the necessary buildings, Joseph Hemphill being also one of the early associate judges; Guion Greer, the first treasurer of the county; Abner Lacock, one of the first associate judges, and the first member of Congress and the first United States Senator from Beaver
633
History of Beaver County
County; James Allison, Jr., the first district attorney, a member of Congress from the county and altogether one of its most eminent and worthy citizens; Robert Darragh, also prominent and respected in all ways; Robert Moore, a representative of the county in Congress, and Thomas Henry, the same, both highly esteemed; Samuel Lawrence, the second to hold the office of prothonotary; and John Lawrence, John Everhart, Matthew Steen, Samuel Johnston, William Shannon, John Light, Jacob Small, James Wilson, David Hayes (one of the first at- torneys enrolled at the Beaver County bar), David Boies, Thomas Harvey, Thomas Evans, James Alexander, Stewart Rowan, and Jonathan Mendenhall, all worthy citizens.
In addition to these we find active in the various responsi- bilities of the borough and the county during the first half-cent- ury of their corporate existence (in some cases for a longer period) many others, notices of whom are given in the various chapters of this work. In the records of the town council for the first twenty-five years we find such names as those of John R. Shannon, an eminent attorney, clerk of council in 1807; James Lyon, treasurer of the council; William Clarke; John Berry, editor of the Minerva, the first newspaper published in the county; Joseph White; Robert Hamilton; William V. Smith; Milo Adams, one of the first physicians of the county; James Dennis; James Logan; A. Logan; Laughlin Kennedy; Robert Hamilton; John Hemperly; Thomas Hunter; Samuel McClure; David Marquis; Milton Lawrence, eminent physician, associate judge and citizen; David Somers; John Barclay; Joseph Vera; John Pauce; Hugh Picknoll, attorney and bor- ough official; and Joseph S. Moore. And then, after 1825, many new names begin to appear in the records of public affairs, as William Cairns, twice sheriff of the county and one of its associate judges; Jackson Sloan; William Allison, a very able lawyer; James Eakin, Jr .; Joseph Conrad; Daniel Agnew, bur- gess in 1839, in later years eminent at the bar and on the bench; John Clarke, Evan J. Henry (burgess in 1840-42), R. H. Agnew, John B. Foster, James M. Cunningham, W. K. Boden, William Reed, Thomas McCreery, Alfred R. Moore, S. S. Hamilton, D. L. Imbrie, Joseph Strock, M. B. Welsh, Oliver Cunningham, M.D., J. C. Weyand, David Ramsey, Samuel Davenport, W. S. Bar- clay, and others. These are from the imperfect records of the
634
History of Beaver County
borough, and doubtless do not give a full list of those who were public functionaries, but they show the tradition of civic virtue and usefulness in public affairs as having characterized for several generations many of the families still existing in Beaver County, who are the descendants of these early fathers.
A few items from the records of the borough council may be of interest. John Berry, named above, was a member of coun- cil in 1809, but he was afterwards removed, and Jonathan Coul- ter, at a special election, was chosen as his successor. On the 18th of May he appears as presenting a claim against council as follows:
"For publishing three ordinances, 3 squares, $3.00; pro- posals for building a market house, I square, $1.00; total, $4.00." January 9th, this claim is endorsed as "held under advisement." Did the city fathers think Berry was trying to become a millionaire?
November 10, 1815, an ordinance was passed authorizing: (1) Borough notes or bonds, in the aggregate of $500, in de- nominations of 61, 124, 25 and 50 cents each, to be signed by the treasurer and placed in the hands of the burgess, to be put upon the market; (2) the treasurer to procure paper and have the notes struck by the editor of the Beaver Crisis; (3) the highest number of the lowest denomination, and vice versa, to be issued. On these notes the first borough seal was used, viz., a stamp with a tree and a fountain.
A second ordinance, dated July 17, 1815, requires the burgess to charge all traveling shows $5 license for two nights' and the intervening day's exhibitions.
August 26, 1816, a contract was made with James Dennis to build a market house for $395, to be completed in workman- like manner by June 1, 1817.1
In 1823, the valuation of the borough is reported by the clerk of council as being $48,003.
September 23, 1836, a subscription for a fire-engine was taken, amounting to $130. The engine was bought for $125.
THE BOROUGH OF BEAVER IN 1837-38
It may be of interest to our readers to see an exhibit of the business and professional activities of the county seat two " It will be seen just above in the note to Cuming's remarks upon Beaver that before 1810 "a small brick market-house " had been built. This must have been too small.
635
History of Beaver County
thirds of a century ago. We therefore reproduce here entire the notice of Beaver in a rare old book, viz., Harris's Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania Business Directory for 1837, as follows:
Beaver, the county town of Beaver County, is situated on high and elevated ground, on the right bank of the Ohio river, and about half a mile from Beaver creek. It has a population of 1000 inhabitants. In this place are two churches and two Sabbath schools, numerously at- tended; also a Temperance society, pretty numerous; an Academy, in successful operation, where the ancient as well as modern languages and the higher branches of literature are taught,-L. B. Williams, Principal. It contains likewise an extensive hat manufactory, a tannery, four smithies, ten stores, a watchmaker's shop, three saddlers shops, five shoe and three tailors shops, four public houses, and two printing offices and weekly papers. Among the residents are three clergymen, ten lawyers, four doctors, and one notary public. A bank, being a branch of the Bank of Pittsburgh, is located here, H. Stow, Cashier.
DIRECTORY OF BEAVER
Merchants-James Lyon, James Allison, Jr., John Barclay, James Eakin, Thomas McCreery, Robert McCreery, Thomas Henry, Abraham Nass [Noss], David Minis, Benj. Adams. Brewer-Joseph P. Johnston. Saddlers-Daniel [David] Marquis, John Douds, J. T. Conn. Watch- maker -M. L. Todd. Tanner-M. T. Stokes. Boot and Shoemakers- Stephen Todd, William Fields, J. French, William Conn, J. H. Kemp [Camp], Michael Kemp. Tailors-David Eakin, Jr., Abraham Shelky [Shockey], D. Hall. Carpenters and House Joiners-Jackson Slew, Abraham Sutherland, James Anderson, J. Yarley. Plasterers-Andrew and Samuel Carson. Coopers-Henry and George Streck. Black- smiths-David Somers, C. Risinger, James Risinger, Morton & Eakin. Hatters-Shively, Allison & Wilson. Stone Masons- Morgan & Max- well. Tallow Chandler, etc .- Daniel Eakin. Innkeepers-John Light, David Porter, Widow Moore. Physicians-Oliver and Smith Cunningham, R. B. Barker, George Allison. Attorneys at Law-James Allison, Wil- liam Allison, Daniel Agnew, J. R. Shannon, William B. Clarke, N. P. Fetterman, H. Roberts, S. Meredith, Mr. Chamberlin, Mr. Jones, Thomas Cunningham. Clergymen-A. O. Patterson, William Maclean, Pres- byterian; Mr. Calender, Mr. Munroe, Methodist. Justices of the Peace -William Clarke, David Bacis [Backus ?], Jas. D. Eakin. Member of Congress elect-Hon. Thomas Henry. Associate Judge-Benjamin Adams. County Commissioner-James D. Eakin. Clerk for Commissioners- Richard Agnew. County Treasurer-John Barclay. Prothonotary and Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions and Oyer and Terminer-John A. Scroggs. Register and Recorder and Clerk of Orphans' Court-Thompson M. Johnson. Editors-William Henry, Argus; Alexander Niblow, Aurora.
Additional names are Eli Reed, hatter, sexton of the old
636
History of Beaver County
graveyard, and coroner; Samuel, William, and John Gibson, tinners; John and Martin Camp, butchers; John Richardson, blacksmith. The rivermen of the town were the Stone broth- ers, Charles, Stephen, and Daniel; the Somers brothers, David, Milo, and John; Thomas and Martin S. Lyons; Adam Shoemaker and son John; and George W. Hamilton. Milo Adams was one of the prominent physicians of the place.
As late as 1838 there was still a thick woods from the present passenger station of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railway up to the corner opposite the Beaver House, and, from the old Catho- lic Church site, on the other side, to the corner of Third and Beaver streets, there was nothing but sheep pasture, corn-field, and common land.
There was a daily mail, a four-horse stage-coach, which ran between Beaver and Cleveland; a daily hack to and from Pitts- burg, and a triweekly mail on horseback to New Castle, Pa., and New Lisbon, Ohio. The latest intelligence was brought by steamboat to Stone's Point from Pittsburg in the evening. At election times there were always crowds at the landing waiting for the boat. State elections at that period were held in Octo- ber, and Presidential elections in November. In 1840 the Presi- dential election was so close, and the two northern counties, Potter and Mckean, so difficult to be communicated with, that it was three weeks before official announcement was made that General Harrison had carried the State by 343 majority.
EDUCATIONAL
Beaver Academy .- In the Act of March 12, 1800, by which Beaver County was erected, provision was made for a grant of 500 acres of the reserve tract, to be laid off by actual survey,. adjoining the town of Beaver, "for the use of such school or academy as may hereafter be established by law in the town of Beaver." I This was accordingly done by laying off the land on the southwest side of the town plot, embracing all that piece running southwesterly down and by the Ohio River to the end of the beautiful plain below Beaver.' By the Act of February
" The patent for this grant is recorded in Patent Book P, volume 48, page 516, in the Department of Internal Affairs, Harrisburg, Pa. Therein the land granted is designated as "a certain Tract of Land called 'GOOD INTENT' situate in the Borough of Beaver, in Beaver County."
" See map of Academy lots in Appendix VII.
637
History of Beaver County
21, 1803,1 four trustees, viz., John Lawrence, Guion Greer, James Alexander, and Samuel Johnston, were appointed in addition to those who had been named under the Act of 1800 to take charge of the land granted under the latter Act for an academy, and they were authorized to erect a suitable building on one of the reserved squares in the town of Beaver for the use of an academy.
June 14, 1806, five of the trustees, viz., Joseph Hemphill, John Lawrence, James Alexander, Guion Greer, and Samuel Johnston, met and adopted two resolutions: (1) That two hun- dred and fifty acres be laid off the west side of the academy lands, in accordance with the Act of March 21, 1805, and that Joseph Hemphill survey the same; (2) that the sales should begin the last Monday of July following.
August 24, 1806, Joseph Hemphill, Jonathan Coulter, Guion Greer, James Alexander, Samuel Johnston, and John Lawrence, trustees, appeared before William Clarke, J. P., and presented a plot of the lands of the academy disposed of at this sale, contain- ing thirty-five lots aggregating 248 acres and 101 perches. The remaining part of the five-hundred-acre tract was not sold until May 18, 1832, and the aggregate sales then amounted to $3692.75. David Minis bought at this sale eight lots at $ro per acre, amount- ing to $769.75." This property is now known as Groveland.
Steps were taken toward the erection of an academy build- ing on the 7th of March, 1812. At that date the trustees con- tracted with Jonathan Mendenhall as principal, and William Smith, Samuel Eakin, John R. Shannon, Esq., and Jacob Small as sureties, to have made and delivered 140,000 brick at $4.50 per thousand: total, $630.
On the 20th of July of the same year, a contract was made with Persifor Taylor for the carpenter work for $350, and on the 27th with Jonathan Coulter for the stone and brick work for $498, grand total, $1478.
On February 25, 1813,3 an Act of Assembly was approved by Governor Simon Snyder, entitled "An Act establishing an academy in the borough of Beaver, in the county of Beaver." Section 1 of this Act gave legal existence to this institution. as "an academy or school for the education of youth in the useful arts, sciences, and literature, by the name and style of 'The Beaver Academy.'"
: P. L., 1802, 120. * See Appendix VII.
. P. L., 91.
638
History of Beaver County
Section 2 provided that the first trustees should "consist of James Allison, Jr., Robert Moore, Samuel Lawrence, Samuel Power, James Lyon, and James Dennis, in addition to Jonathan Coulter, Joseph Hemphill, James Alexander, Guion Greer, and John Lawrence, who were appointed trustees over a certain tract of land granted by an Act of Assembly for said institution, which said trustees and their successors, to be elected as herein- after directed shall be, and hereby are declared to be one body corporate and politic, by the name and style of 'The Trustees of Beaver Academy.'"
Section 8 reads as follows:
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the trustees are hereby authorized to appropriate one thousand dollars of the money which was raised by the sale of one moiety of the land, granted for the use of an academy or public school, in the town of Beaver, in addition to the thousand dollars heretofore appropriated, for the purpose of com- pleting the building already commenced, and the procuring of books and other necessary apparatus: and they shall have full power and authority to loan, or invest in some safe productive stock, all the residue of the money which has risen or hereafter shall arise, from the sale of the land aforesaid, and apply the proceeds thereof, with the rents, issues, and profits of that moiety of said tract which yet remains unsold until the whole shall be disposed of, to the payment of the teacher, and other necessary expen- ditures in, and about, the institution, saving always the said residue or principal, after deducting the two thousand dollars aforesaid, for the sup- port of the said institution.
It will be seen that the last section recognizes the steps already taken toward the starting of this institution, since it speaks of the completion of "the building already commenced." But something, probably the disturbing influences of the War of 1812, seems to have interrupted the work, since there is no record of anything further being accomplished until about two years later, when, on the 8th of February, 1815, a meeting of the trustees was held with Robert Moore in the chair, and Sam- uel Lawrence, secretary. At this meeting it was resolved: (1) That a school be opened in the academy, February 9, 1815, under the direction of David Johnson, for the purpose of teach- ing the Latin and Greek languages, English grammar, arith- metic, geography, etc. (2) That an English school also be opened in the schoolhouse, to be taught by an usher under the direction of David Johnson. At this meeting also Joseph Hemp-
639
History of Beaver County
hill, James Allison, Milo Adams, M.D., Joseph McFerran, and Thomas Henry were appointed to examine one James Stock- man as to his fitness to become such subordinate teacher; and the principal, David Johnson, was voted $600 per year for his own services and those of his assistant.
On the 19th of January, 1844, the Academy was opened for the reception of female students, and about ten years later the school was divided, the boys reciting in the Academy building, and the girls in a building in another part of the town.
The Academy building was erected on the middle lot of the southeast reserved center square, between the site of the old Presbyterian Church (on the west) and the present Methodist Episcopal Church (on the east). This building served its day, and sometime in the later fifties was abandoned for school pur- poses and was finally torn down. For a time the school was held in Ramsey's building, the house in which Lawrence's drug- store is now.
January 28, 1858, on the recommendation of a committee consisting of M. T. Kennedy, J. H. Wilson, J. H. Dickson, J. A. McGilland, and J. Murray, the board bought for the use of the Academy the Porter House, now the Park View Hotel. In 1863 this property was sold, and a two-story brick building was erected fronting on the public square in the southeast part of the town.' The cost of this building, including the price of the lot, was $2615.08. The superintendent of the work was David Ramsey. On the 10th of December, 1867, a committee was appointed to take steps toward permanently closing the school, and, if deemed advisable, to sell the property; and nearly ten years later, viz., February 27, 1877, the property was sold at public auction to Rev. W. G. Taylor, D.D., for $1800, and this, with the other funds of the institution, was turned over to the public-school fund, the whole sum being $6572.37. These and other funds are now in the hands of Hon. Henry Hill, sole trustee.
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.