USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and its centennial celebration, Volume I > Part 30
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
241
History of Beaver County
David Hays, Thomas Henry, and Jonathan Mendenhall were appointed commissioners to "perform like duties, and enjoy like privileges with those enjoined on and granted to the commis- sioners" of the company that erected the bridge at Brighton. The provisions of this Act were in all respects the same as that of the Act creating the Brighton Bridge Company.
No particulars of the early history of this bridge are obtain- able, but as the charter was approved, January 21, 1814, and a supplement to the same dated February 28, 1816,1 speaks of "the bridge which has been erected over Big Beaver creek, near Wolf Lane," it is evident that the actual work was done between 1814 and 1816. This bridge was blown down in a severe wind storm sometime between May Ist and October 18th, 1821. The records of the company show that on April 29, 1824, a resolu- tion was adopted to advertise for bids for the construction of a new bridge, and advertisements were made for the same in Warren, Ohio, Beaver, Pittsburg, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, and Hartford, Connecticut. July 6, 1824, the contract was let to William LeBaron for $20,000, and the work was com- pleted in July, 1826.
The officers at this time were Joseph Hemphill, President; Robert Darragh, Treasurer; and William Clark, John Way, William Leet, Thomas Henry, Robert Moore, and David Shields, Managers.
During the great flood of 1884 the bridge at this point was again the prey of the elements. The bridge above it at Fall- ston was swept away, and, lodging against it, broke it down. Both were then swept against the Cleveland & Pittsburg Rail- road bridge, and, carrying it with them, crashed into the great iron bridge of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railway, from which a number of spans were torn away.
The Fallston Bridge .- On February 6, 1836,2 the Hon. John Dickey offered an Act to incorporate a company to build a. bridge over the Big Beaver Creek at Fallston, in Beaver County, and the following persons were named incorporators in the order given:
John Miner, Robert Townsend, John Pugh, A. W. Townsend, Evan Pugh, M. F. Champlin, Thomas Thorniley, Jacob Townsend, Elihu T.
1 P. L., 86. 2 P. L., 187.
VOL. I .- 16.
242
History of Beaver County
Pugh, David Ramsey, E. K. Chamberlin, Joseph T. Pugh, John Stevenson, David Worcester, William Blanchard, Charles Lukens, James C. Fulton, C. C. Wolcott, Isaac Wade, Harvey White, David Mitchell, Steven Jennings, Richard Moreland, David Boise, James Logan, Simon Mere- dith, Thomas Johnson, Andrew Graham, Thomas Beacom, William LeBaron, Edward Hoopes, Samuel Cramer, William H. H. Chamberlin, Francis Hoopes, Charles Hoopes, William L. Townsend, Hamilton Hoopes, John Ross, John C. Hunter, J. W. Maynard, John Boles, Benjamin Town- send, Joseph Hoopes, James Irwin, and David Hoopes.
The subscription list embraces nearly all the names of the incorporators, but although the capital stock was "not to ex- ceed $15,000," it is evident that great difficulty was experienced in raising even $6000, and the contractors seem to have finally come to the help of the stockholders and to have taken quite a large portion of the stock of the corporation.
On August 27, 1836, the stockholders elected the following officers: Charles Lukens, President; John Miner, Treasurer; Elihu T. Pugh, Secretary; and M. F. Champlin, John Pugh, A. W. Townsend, Edward Hoopes, Thomas Thorniley, and Robert Townsend, Managers.
October 1, 1836, the board entered into a contract with William LeBaron and Sylvanus Lathrop for erecting the bridge, and under this contract it was erected and opened to the public the following year. The wooden structure served the public for about forty-seven years, but as previously stated, was finally carried away by the disastrous flood of February, 1884. A new iron bridge has taken its place, built by the Penn Bridge Com- pany of Beaver Falls.
The charter was quite liberal as to charges for crossing per- mitted, but the company never exercised this right. The char- ter prices were as follows: "For pleasure carriages, with four horses, 75 cents; same with two horses, 50 cents; wagons with two horses, 373 cents; same with one horse, 182 cents; horse and rider, 6 cents."
The names of incorporators and subscribers embraced nearly all the men of prominence in business at that early day, but they have all passed away.
The Beaver Falls Bridge Company was organized in Septem- ber, 1879, for the erection of the bridge generally known as the Fetterman bridge, which spans the Beaver Creek between Beaver
243
History of Beaver County
Falls and Eastvale. Work was begun on this structure by the Penn Bridge Company, Beaver Falls, in the same year, and it was opened for business in May, 1880. The original cost of the bridge was $47,500. It is eight hundred feet long, and is built of iron. About two years ago it was repainted at a cost of $750, and refloored with three-inch planks at a cost of $2000. In January, 1903, this bridge was bought by the commissioners of Beaver County, for the county, and opened to public traffic free of toll. The price to be paid was $37,750. In a short while thereafter, however, the Act of Assembly under which the commissioners had made this purchase was pronounced by the courts unconstitutional, and the sale became abortive. The Beaver Falls Bridge Company again assumed charge of the bridge and began taking toll, March 9, 1903. The officers of the Company are H. W. Reeves, President; James F. Merriman, Secretary; and John Reeves, Treasurer. Its capital is $30,000.
The Sharon Bridge Company was organized under the Act of the General Assembly of April 29, 1874, and its supplements, by a charter granted by the State dated the eleventh day of Feb- ruary, A.D. 1888. The charter members were John M. Buchanan, Robert S. Kennedy, Alexander W. McCoy, Alfred C. Hurst and Hiram S. McConnel. The capital stock was $20,000. John M. Buchanan was the first president thereof, and Alexander W. McCoy the first secretary. The five stockholders above named were the five directors thereof. On the twenty-first day of February following, the location of the bridge was determined upon, and the contract for the building of the same given out a few days later to A. J. Jolly and A. M. Jolly, doing business as Jolly & Son. The eastern approach at the time of the loca- tion of the bridge had but one public highway leading thereto, the ancient lane leading to the Rochester and New Brighton road. Application was made shortly thereafter for a road from the eastern end of said bridge to the borough of New Brighton, upon the east bank of the Beaver River, and said application granted. In 1891, when the Beaver Valley Traction Company was organized, its tracks were laid from Beaver Falls to Beaver over this bridge, and it operated its main line thereon until after the absorption of the Peoples' Electric Street Rail- way Company in 1901 by the Beaver Valley Traction Company
244
History of Beaver County
when the main line of the company was continued along the New Brighton and Rochester road to Rochester, and thereafter the Sharon Bridge was used but little by the Beaver Valley Traction Company until 1903, when the stock of the Sharon Bridge Company was purchased by the owners of the Beaver Valley Traction Company, with the intention of continuing the Riverview Electric Street Railway thereover and through the borough of Bridgewater to Beaver. The building of this bridge had largely to do with the change of travel from Beaver Falls and New Brighton southwardly, as theretofore it had passed over the Fallston Bridge, through Fallston to Bridgewater and Beaver.
The first definite steps toward the erection of a suspension bridge across the Ohio River between Rochester and Monaca were taken by Walter A. Rose, M.D., Herman J. Speyerer, A. M. Johnson, and others, who, in 1889, had surveys made by Leaf Bros., Civil Engineers, of Rochester, Pa., and applied for a charter for the construction of such a bridge from a point at or near New York Street in Rochester, to a point at or near Phil- lips Street in Monaca. The expense of construction at that time was found to be too great, however, and the project was abandoned. But the agitation in its favor continued, and iron becoming cheaper, it was determined to proceed with it. For this purpose a company was organized in 1894. The minutes of its first meeting read as follows:
PITTSBURG, Pa., April 7, 1894.
W. C. Jutte, E. K. Morse, C. A. Danals, H. M. Camp, J. C. Whitla, J. W. Patterson and Dan H. Stone met at the office of E. K. Morse, Room 706 Penn Building, Pittsburg, Pa., for the purpose of considering the advisability of constructing a bridge across the Ohio river at Roches- ter, Beaver County, Pa., and forming a corporation for that purpose.
W. C. Jutte acted as President and C. A. Danals as Secretary.
It was moved by C. A. Danals that the name of the corporation be "The Ohio River Bridge Company." Moved that the capital stock of the company be $700, to be divided into 14 shares of $50 each, and that the number of directors be seven.
A charter was granted, May 1, 1894, for a bridge to be built from a point at or near New York Street in Rochester to a point opposite in Monaca at or near Phillips Street.
The following shares were subscribed: W. C. Jutte, of Pitts- burg, 2 shares; E. K. Morse of Pittsburg, 2 shares; J. W. Pat-
The Ohio River Bridge, Looking toward Rochester.
245
History of Beaver County
terson of Pittsburg, 2 shares; C. A. Danals of Rochester, Pa., 2 shares; H. M. Camp of Rochester, Pa., 2 shares; J. C. Whitla of Beaver Falls, Pa., 2 shares; Dan H. Stone of Beaver, Pa., 2 shares. The above-named gentlemen were made directors for the ensuing year.
E. K. Morse was chosen engineer, and Dan H. Stone, Esq., attorney for the company.
September 2, 1895, J. J. Hoffman took J. C. Whitla's place as director.
October 1, 1895, capital stock was increased to $75,000. Oc- tober 4, 1895, A. M. Jolly took E. K. Morse's place as director, Samuel Moulds took J. W. Patterson's place as director, H. Cooper took Dan H. Stone's place as director, and J. J. Jolly took W. C. Jutte's place as director.
The board having charge of constructing the bridge was: J. J. Jolly, President; John T. Taylor, Secretary ; Henry Cooper, Treasurer; and H. M. Camp, A. M. Jolly, Samuel Moulds, and George MacMullen, Directors.
The bridge was built in 1896, and opened for traffic early in 1897.
W. C. Jutte & Company were contractors for foundations, anchorages, and piers; and the Penn Bridge Company did the iron work and built the bridge.
The total length of the bridge is 2280 feet, and it is 90 feet above low-water in the Ohio River. The channel-span is 800 feet, which is a few feet shorter than the total length of the famous Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge.
E. K. Morse was the engineer who designed and constructed the bridge, and James P. Leaf was the resident engineer during construction.
CANALS
Canals have played an important part in the development of internal commerce in this commonwealth. Between 1790 and 1816 several private companies had undertaken to build canals, but without much success. In 1826 the State began the con- struction of water-routes from Pittsburg to Philadelphia and to Lake Erie, and built 608 miles of canals and navigable feeders. The old canal route from the east to the west, with its famous portage railroad over the Alleghenies, thirty-seven miles in
246
History of Beaver County
length, was the great thoroughfare of travel in its day, and its story makes an interesting chapter of Pennsylvania's history.
Beaver County figures in this great era of water-transporta- tion. Against strong opposition from the eastern sections of the State, there was finally approved on March 21, 1831,1 by Gover- nor Wolf, a bill appropriating $100,000 for the construction of a canal from the mouth of Beaver Creek to New Castle. Great joy was felt by the people of Beaver County over this victory, and the names of General Samuel Power and Hon. John R. Shannon, the Representatives of the County, and of Hon. Moses Sullivan of Butler, State Senator from the Beaver and Butler district, who had been instrumental in securing it, were hailed as those of heroes. April 15, 1831, John Dickey, superintendent of the Beaver division of the Pennsylvania canal, gave notice that sealed proposals would be received up to sunset of Wednes- day, July 20, 1831, for the construction of a canal or slack- water navigation, from the mouth of the Big Beaver to New Castle. On that date the entire distance was put under con- tract, including locks,2 dams, towing-path, bridges and sections, to some seventy-three firms and individuals. On the 26th of July, 1831, a great canal celebration was held in a grove oppo- site Fallston to break the ground on the Beaver section of the Pennsylvania canal. The crowd that assembled was immense. Major Robert Darragh was made President of the day; M. F. Champlin was chief marshal; and Major B. G. Goll, assistant.
The ground was broken by the Revolutionary soldiers pres- ent, with oxen, plows, shovels, and picks, accompanied by the
1 P. L., 196.
2 The Girard Locks at the mouth of the Beaver, as they appear in 1904, are shown in the picture opposite this page. They were so called after Stephen Girard, the eccentric Frenchman who founded Girard College, Philadelphia, and who bequeathed $300,000 to Pennsylvania for Internal Improvements, the greater part, if not all, of which went into this canal. On the west side of the upper lock there is set in the wall a large sandstone slab on which is the following inscription:
GIRARD LOCKS. Commenced in 1831. Completed in 1833. GEORGE WOLF, Governor.
JAMES CLARK JOHN MITCHELL ROBERT MCCOY
Canal Commissioners.
CHARLES T. WHIPPO M. R. STEALLY JOSEPH HOOPS Engineers.
JOHN DICKEY, SAMUEL POWER,
Superintendents. E. APPLETON, Contractor.
This inscription is still quite legible.
*th tất.
Photo by Brown, Beaver,
The Bridgewater Bridge and Girard Locks, 1900.
247
History of Beaver County
firing of cannon and the shouts of the people.1 After breaking ground the procession returned to the grove, where a great din- ner had been prepared, and speech-making followed. John Dickey, Esq., the orator of the day, delivered an inspiring address, and then, after the custom of that day, toasts were proposed. There were sixteen regular, and twenty-eight volun- teer, toasts. The last of the former was this: "Samuel Power and John R. Shannon, Esquires, our able and faithful repre- sentatives. Their indefatigable exertions in aiding and obtain- ing an appropriation for the Beaver and Shenango division of the Pennsylvania canal. The citizens of Beaver County duly appreciate their talents as statesmen, and their characters as gentlemen." Mr. Shannon responded to this toast in a neat, concise, and comprehensive address, and in most felicitous language.2
From Gordon's Gazetteer of the State of Pennsylvania (1832) we give the following contemporary notice of the canal:
The capacity of the county [Beaver] for commerce and manufactures is extraordinary. the state canal connects it with the eastern cities, and the Beaver division, when completed, will give access to the state of Ohio, the Ohio canal and to the lakes. The canal on the Beaver division was commenced in pursuance of the act of 21st March, 1831.
The length of this work, which extends a short distance upon the Shenango Creek, is 243 miles; of which there are 8 ms. 16 perches of canal, and 16 ms. and 224 perches of slack-water and towing path. The contracts on it were let on the 20th of July and the 19th of October, 1831. There are on it 7 dams, varying from 7 to 14 feet in height, 2 aqueducts and 17 guard'and lift locks, overcoming a rise of 132 feet. The 2 outlet locks are 25 feet wide, and 120 feet long within the chambers, and de- signed to admit the smaller class of steamboats that ply on the Ohio, into the pool of the first dam, for the accommodation of the trade of the town of Beaver, and the flourishing villages on the banks and near the mouth of the creek, and the extensive manufactories propelled by the water taken from the Beaver falls. The cost of this division of the Pennsyl- vania canal is estimated at $335,317. The commissioners expect to complete it by December, 1832. A rail road from Pittsburgh through the Beaver valley, to connect with the Ohio canal has been projected.
The actual cost of this work was considerably greater than
1 Among the Revolutionary survivors present were Lieutenant James Moore, Nathaniel Coburn, previously mentioned in this chapter, and Henry Woods. There may have been others.
2 Western Argus of July 29, 1831.
248
History of Beaver County
the above estimate, being over $500,000, and the time of com- pletion was, some say a year later, others several years. This canal is now a thing of the past, but it did incalculable good for the Beaver valley while it lasted. After its usefulness as a canal was done it was sold, the Harmony Society becoming the owner of the title of the dams, canal bed, and tow-path from the lower end of New Brighton to the mouth of the Conoquenes- sing Creek. But this means of transportation will yet play an important rôle in western Pennsylvania, if the future shall bring the fulfillment of the hopes which have been entertained for the building of the Lake Erie and Ohio River Ship Canal. Some history has been already made in this enterprise. The initial step toward it was taken when the Legislature of Penn- sylvania, in 1889,1 authorized the appointment of a commission to make a survey for a ship canal to connect the Ohio River with Lake Erie, and appropriated $10,000 for that purpose. Hon. Hartford P. Brown of Rochester introduced this bill, and Hon. W. S. Shallenberger was a member of the first ship canal commission appointed to report on the same. In view of the tedious character of government enterprises, it was suggested by the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce that it would be easier and better to secure private capital to carry out this project. A provisional committee was appointed, of which Hon. W. S. Shallenberger of Rochester, and Hon. John F. Dravo and Major J. R. Harrah of Beaver were members. Efforts were made to secure stock sufficient to proceed with the work, but they were not successful. The matter is not dead, however, as it is now, under the direction of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, being urged upon the attention of Congress.
In March, 1895, a fund of $28,000 having been raised engin- eering parties were placed in the field and the work of surveying the routes begun. It was demonstrated that the most feasible route is that following the Ohio River from Davis Island Dam to the slack-water of the Beaver, thence up the Beaver and Mahoning creeks by a slack-water system of pools and dams to Niles, Ohio; thence by canal to the summit level, nine hundred feet above tide; thence across the summit and down to the level of the lake. This would make a total distance from the entrance on the Beaver to Lake Erie of only 98.9 miles, which
1 P. L., 441.
249
History of Beaver County
is 37 miles shorter than the old State canal, the lift being accom- plished with one hundred less locks.I
OHIO RIVER DAMS
The Chanoine wicket dam with Pasqueau hurters at Davis Island a few miles below Pittsburg, is the first of a series of movable dams devised for the radical improvement of the Ohio River by creating a chain of slack-water pools, making naviga- tion independent of low water stages in the stream. The Act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, ceding to the United States jurisdiction to condemn land for building locks and dams was approved by his Excellency, J. F. Hartranft, March 17, 1877. The caption of the Act is as follows:
An Act to grant the consent of the State of Pennsylvania to the acquisition by the United States of certain lands within the State and bordering on the Ohio, Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers for the
1 It is interesting to note that Washington, with his practical and inquiring mind, had taken up the subject of the possibility of forming a connection between the waters of the Ohio River and those of Lake Erie. In a letter to General Butler, dated January 17, 1788, he says:
"As you have had opportunities of gaining extensive knowledge and information re- specting the western territory, its situation, rivers, and the face of the country, I must beg the favor of you, my dear sir, to resolve the following queries, either from your own knowl- edge or certain information, (as well to gratify my own curiosity as to enable me to satisfy several gentlemen of distinction in other countries, who have applied to me for information upon the subject), viz:
"First .- What is the face of the country between the sources, or canoe navigation, of the Cuyahoga, (which discharges itself into Lake Erie), and the Big Beaver, and between the Cuyahoga and the Muskingum?
"Second .- The distance between the waters of the Cuyahoga and each of the two rivers above mentioned?
"Third .- Would it be practicable, and not very expensive, to cut a canal between the Cuyahoga and either of the above rivers so as to open a communication between the waters of Lake Erie and those of the Ohio?
"Fourth .- Whether there is any more direct, practicable, and easy communication be- tween the waters of Lake Erie and those of the Ohio, by which the fur and peltry of the upper country can be transported, than these?
'Any information you can give me relative to the above queries, from your own knowl- edge, will be most agreeable; but if that is not sufficiently accurate for you to decide upon, the best and most authentic accounts of others will be very acceptable."-(Western Annals, p. 460.)
Earlier still, Lewis Evans had perceived the possibility of this connection. In the analysis of his map of 1755, he says, speaking of the Beaver and its upper branches, "The eastern Branch is less considerable, and both are very slow, spreading through a very rich level country, full of swamps and Ponds, which prevent a good Portage that might other- wise be made to Cayahôga; but will no doubt, in Future Ages, be fit to open a Canal be- tween the Waters of Ohio and Lake Erie."
And the language of Gen. Irvine, in a report dated Aug. 17, 1785, to the Supreme Executive Council, in relation to the Donation lands, while it does not mention a canal, shows his perception of the possibilities: he says, " I am persuaded the State of Pennsylvania might reap great advantages by paying early attention to the very easy communication with Lake Erie, from the western parts of their county particularly Conewagoo, French Creek, and the west branch of Beaver. From a place called Mahoning, to where it is navigable for small craft, is but thirty miles to Cuyahoga River, which empties into the Lake."-Penna. Arch., vol. xi., p. 513, et seq.
250
History of Beaver County
purpose of erecting thereon dams, abutments, locks, lock-houses, offices and necessary structures for the construction and maintenance of slack- water navigation on said rivers and ceding jurisdiction over the same and for imposing fines and penalties for wilful injuries to the grounds, buildings and appurtenances acquired under the provisions of this Act.I
Work on construction of Davis Island Dam was begun August 19, 1878, and continued intermittently until completion, a period of about seven years. The dam was formally opened October 7, 1885. Much of this period was lost in contests with the coal operators, with whose interests it was supposed by them the work would conflict: in all, about five and a half years were consumed in building the entire lock and dam. The cost of the lock and dam was $910,000.
Davis Island Dam is No. I in the series, and the numbers and location of the others are as follows: No. 2, Glenfield, Pa., at Neville Island; No. 3, Glen Osborne, near Sewickley, Pa .; No. 4, Legionville, Pa., near Logstown bar; No. 5, Freedom, Pa., near Lacock's bar; No. 6, Merrill, Pa., near the mouth of Rac- coon Creek; and No. 7, Neel's station, Pa., near Georgetown Island. Of this series, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are within the limits of Beaver County. The contract for dams Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 is dated December 7, 1897. Work was commenced on Nos. 2 and 4 in April, 1898, and on 3 and 5 in March, 1899.
The status of these works in the latter part of 1903 was as follows:
Dam No. 2. The lock completed and five hundred feet of the dam built. The lock operating machinery, the remainder of the dam, and the buildings yet to be constructed.
Dam No. 3. Only the lock built; all else to be done.
Dam No. 4. The lock completed and two hundred and fifty feet of the dam partially built.
Dam No. 5. The lock built and four hundred feet of the dam under contract, and the work partially done.
Dam No. 6. The work on this dam was begun June 2, 1892, and, with the exception of putting in the lock gates and erecting the buildings, is practically complete.
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.