History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 81

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 81
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 81
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 81

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).

sions were dated April 17, 1795. Other county officers were not sworn in until after their election or appointment in October of that year. They were : Thomas Kennedy, sheriff ; John Fletcher, John Read and John Leech, county commissioners ; Abraham Morrison, commissioners' clerk ; Josiah Epsy, county treasurer, and David King, coroner.

In September, 1795, the commissioners ap- pointed by the governor, in conformity with the provisions of section ten of the act "for erecting part of the county of Bedford into a separate county," performed their task, and at its conclusion sent forward the following report to the secretary of the commonwealth :

SUMMERSET TOWN (FORMERLY CALLED BRUNERSTOWN), September 12, 1795.

SIR: We, the undersigned commissioners ap- pointed by his Excellency, Thomas Mifflin, Esq., governor of the State of Pennsylvania, agreeable to an act of the General Assembly passed April 17, 1795, have viewed the County of Summerset, and, taking the Centre and other important circumstances under view, do unanimously fix on the Town of Summerset (formerly called Brunerstown) as a proper place for the Seat of Justice for said County. We are, sir,

Yours truly, &c.,

WILLIAM FINDLEY, JOHN BADOLLET, JAMES CHAMBERS, THOMAS CAMPBELL.

A. J. DALLAS, Secretary.

On the same day, September 12, 1795, the town of Somerset was plotted,* when Abraham Schneider, the proprietor of the northern half of the town, donated, for the perpetual use of the county, grounds now occupied by the court- house and jail. On the 14th of September, 1795-two days after the establishment of the county seat of Somerset-two of the commis- sioners appeared at Bedford and obtained their warrants for services rendered. James Cham- bers, Esq., was allowed fourteen pounds twelve shillings and sixpence for thirteen days' ser- rice, while Thomas Campbell, Esq., was allowed nineteen pounds two shillings and sixpence for seventeen days' service.

The county commissioners first met for the transaction of business on the 26th day of October, 1795. Respecting their proceedings on that and subsequent early days we copy from the minutes, as follows :

* There is in existence a plat of the town executed by Herman Husband, under the name of the " Town of Milford." As he was the original proprietor of the lands lying immediately north of the borough, it is probable that his was the first plat .- ED.

Digitized by Google

1. SOMERSET COUNTY COURT HOUSE.

3. PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, SOMERSET.

R. SOMERSET FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.

Digitized by Google

Google

Digitized by

391

ERECTION AND ORGANIZATION, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ETC.

John Fletcher, John Read and John Leech, being duly elected and qualified as Commissioners for the said County, met at the Town of Somerset, on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1795, and entered on the duties of their said office.

27th Octr. Whereas by the 1st section of the act of General Assembly for raising County rates, &c.,

* * * * * * * * * *

Wherefore, we the Commissioners do appoint, for the Township of Quemahoning, as Assessor, David Wright, for the ensuing year, and Isaac Husband and Alexander Hunter as Assistant Assessors. For the Township of Elk Lick we appoint John Hendricks assessor and Shaphet Dwire and John Griffith for assistant assessors. For the Township of Turkey- foot, John Nicklo, assessor, and James McMillen and Lewis Mitchell, assistant assessors. For the Town- ship of Stoney Creek, James Black, assessor, and George Kimmell and John Roads for assistant asses- Bor8. For the township of Milford, Adam . Keefer, assessor, and David Jones and Samuel Wright, assist- ant assessors. For the Township of Brother's Valley, John Groner, assessor, and Jacob Matthews and Jacob Keffer, assistant assessors.

28th. On this day Josiah Espy was appointed Treasurer for the County of Somerset. On this day the Commissioners have contracted with Josiah Espy, Esq., & John Campbell, of the town of Somerset, for the building of a temporary Goal in the said town, on or before the 15th day of February, 1796. * * .

29th Oct. Abraham Morrison appointed as attor- ney to the commissioners for the term of one year, to be entitled to ten shillings per day for so many days as he shall do business for the county. * * *

2d March, 1796. The commissioners, on mature consideration, determined and have levied half a cent on the dollar on the valuation of all property, real and personal, in the County of Somerset, and do appropriate two thousand dollars of the sum arising therefrom for the purpose of erecting public buildings for the use of the County, and the remainder for the contingent expenses thereof. *

4th March. The commissioners have appointed to hold the appeals at the House of John Nichola, on Fri- day, the first day of April next, for the township of Turkey-foot. On the Monday following, at the House of Philson & Fletcher, in the town of Berlin, for Brother's Valley township and Elk Lick township. On the Thursday following, in the House of Alexander Ogle, in Stoystown, for the townships of Quemahoning and Stoney Creek, and on Friday, the 8th of April, at the town of Somerset for the township of Milford and that part of Quemahoning now called Somerset township. Commissioners adjourned sine die.

March 29, 1798, an act of the general assem- bly was passed " for running and ascertaining certain lines of the counties of Bedford, Hun- tingdon, Somerset and Westmoreland." The sections of this act referring to the boundaries of Somerset county are as follows :

SECTION II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners shall mark, run, and ascertain part of the lines between the coun- ties of Huntingdon and Somerset, according to the following boundaries, that is to say : beginning on that part of the line between the counties of Bedford and Huntingdon, near the southerly side of Blair's Mills [which were about four miles directly west of Holli- daysburg], at the foot of the Allegheny mountain : thence across the said mountain in a straight line to and along the ridges dividing the waters of Cone- maugh from the waters of the Clearfield and Chest creeks to the line of Westmoreland county ; thence by the same to the Old Purchase line, which was run from Kittanning to the west branch of the Susque- hanna.

SECT. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners shall mark, run, and ascertain part of the lines between the counties of Westmoreland and Somerset, according to the fol- lowing boundaries, that is to say : beginning where Black Lick intersects the said line or north end of Laurel Hill; thence along the ridge of the said hill northeastward, so far as it can be traced, or until it runs into the Allegheny-Hill ; thence along the ridge dividing the waters of Susquehanna and the Alle- gheny rivers to the purchase line, at the head of Susquehanna.

Two years later - March 1, 1800-an act was passed which directed that "all that part of Bedford county in Londonderry township, lying westward of a line to begin on the top of the Little Allegheny mountain, where the Maryland line crosses the same; thence running along said mountain a northerly direction, to where the mountain breaks ; thence a straight line to the breastworks," to intersect the present line between Bedford and Somerset counties, shall, from and after the passing of this act, be an- nexed to the county of Somerset, and the elect- ors thereof shall hold their general elections in Berlin."

On March 26, 1804, an act was passed erect- ing the county of Cambria from parts of Hun- tingdon, Somerset and Bedford. As a result, Cambria township of Somerset county was set off into the new county, and Somerset was reduced to its present proportions.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

By a perusal of the minutes of the board of county commissioners, it is ascertained that on October 29, 1795, the first commissioners of Som- erset county-John Fletcher, John Read and John Leech-entered into a contract with Josiah

.The "breastworks" referred to were thrown up during the advance of Forbes' army in 1758.

Digitized by Google

392

HISTORY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

Espy and John Campbell, of the town of Somer- set, for the construction of "a temporary gaol in the said town on or before February 15, 1796." On the same day they hired a room from Jacob and Henry Schneider for the use of the county. It was in this room, probably, that the first term of court was held, and at a rental of thirty dol- lars per year the same room was occupied for public purposes until the completion of the first court-house, which event transpired seven years after the organization of the county. In September, 1796, the commissioners paid Messrs. Espy and Campbell for building "a temporary court-house and gaol." We will also add in this connection, that in February, 1796, George Woods, of Bedford county, and Alexander McClean, of Fayette county, made returns to the commissioners of all lands surveyed in the county of Somerset.

On April 17, 1798, a contract was made between the commissioners of Somerset county and Robert Spencer, of Bedford county, by the provisions of which the latter agreed to build a court-house in the town of Somerset for the sum of five thousand six hundred dollars. It was further stipulated that the walls of the struc- ture should be of stone, " to be forty-four feet in front on Main Cross-street, and forty feet deep on Union street." This building was not finished until 1802. Meanwhile, or in April, 1801, Peter Kimmel entered into a contract with the county commissioners to build two public offices of brick for the use of the county. These offices were also completed in 1802. In July of that year the commissioners contracted with Peter Kimmel and Robert Jourdan, " for the painting of the roofs, doors, windows, shutters, etc., of the offices, and the shutters on the court-house, and the Venetian blinds on the cupola."

The contract for building the first substantial jail was awarded to Abraham Miller, on October 7, 1802. The building cost two thousand three hundred and twenty-nine dollars, and was fin- ished in the fall of 1806.

The plans for the new or present court-house were adopted by the board of county commis- sioners, February 28, 1851. On April 5th fol- lowing, the contract for building the same was awarded to Samuel S. Benson. The structure was completed in 1852, at a cost to the county of about sixteen thousand dollars. Subse- quently the builder, Benson, was killed by a fall from a building he was constructing.

On April 28, 1856, the contract for building the present county jail was awarded to John Mong for the sum of. six thousand five hundred and ninety-nine dollars.

TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS.

In the order named the following were organ- ized as townships in Bedford county prior to the formation of the county of Somerset : Brother's Valley, Turkey-Foot, Quemahoning, Milford, Elk Lick and Stony Creek.

BROTHER'S VALLEY, the first township erected west of the Allegheny mountain in Pennsyl- vania, was formed in 1771, during the first ses- sion of the Bedford county courts. Originally it embraced all the territory lying between the Allegheny mountain on the east, the Youghio- gheny river and west foot of Laurel hill on the west, and from the Maryland line north- ward to the Conemaugh river.

TURKEY-FOOT was erected from Brother's Valley during the July sessions of court in 1773.

QUEMAHONING was organized from Brother's Valley just prior to the beginning of the revo- lutionary war, during April sessions, 1775.

MILFORD was erected about 1780, ELK LICK about 1785, and STONY CREEK about the year 1792.

The foregoing were the six townships of Bed- ford county lying west of the Allegheny moun- tain, which by the passage of the act of April 17, 1795, became the county of Somerset. A description of the original boundaries of Broth- er's Valley, Turkey-Foot and Quemahoning townships will be found in chapters nine and seventeen of this work, but concerning Milford, Elk Lick and Stony Creek townships the records are defective. In consequence the precise date of formation or a knowledge of their original "meets and bounds" cannot be ascertained. The same difficulty is encountered in the court records of Somerset county. They fail to show when townships were created, or to describe (except in a few instances) their original boun- daries.

Since the organization of Somerset county townships and boroughs have been formed as follows :

SOMERSET township, from Quemahoning and Milford, in the early part of 1796.

CAMBRIA township, now part of Cambria county, about 1799.

ADDISON township, named after the first

Digitized by Google

393

GEOLOGY, NATURAL FEATURES, ETC.

president judge to hold court in the county, Hon. Alexander Addison, was organized about the year 1800.

CONEMAUGH township was formed during February sessions in 1801. The court then ordered "That all those parts of Quemahoning township included within the following bounds, viz .: Beginning at the Bedford county line due east of the Head Spring of the North Branch of Shade Creek, thence to the head spring thereof, thence down the said North Branch to where it empties into Stony Creek, thence north sixty-four degrees west to the Westmoreland county line, thence along the Westmoreland county line to the river Conemaugh, thence a straight line to the junction of the North and South Branches of Little Conemaugh river, thence up the south branch thereof to the head spring thereof, thence due east to the Bedford county line, and thence along the Bedford county line to the place of beginning, be and it is hereby erected a new township, and that the same be hereafter known and designated by the name of Conemaugh township."

During the same sessions of court all that part of Bedford county which was annexed to Somerset March 1, 1800, lying north of the Glade road, was attached to Stony Creek town- ship.

SOUTHAMPTON township was erected during. the May sessions of court, 1801, and originally included all that part of Bedford county an- nexed to Somerset county in 1800, lying south of the Glade road.

SOMERSET town was created a borough by a legislative act approved March 5, 1804.

ALLEGHENY township was formed May 6, 1805.

JENNER township was erected by order of court May 29, 1811, and was so named in honor of the discoverer of vaccination. It has been stated that at an early day smallpox prevailed to an alarming extent in this township.

GREENVILLE township was erected about 1818.

SHADE township was erected about 1814. BERLIN borough was erected about 1886. PAINT township was erected about 1836. STOYSTOWN* borough was erected about 1836. SUMMIT township was erected about 1842.

*Stoystown was first incorporated March 29, 1819. The charter became inoperative for some reasons, and the town was reincor- porated about 1896.

JEFFERSON township was erected about 1847. UPPER TURKEY-FOOT and LOWER TURKEY- Foor townships were organized by the division of old Turkey-Foot about 1848.

NORTHAMPTON township was erected about 1852.

MIDDLE CREEK township was erected about 1853.

LARIMER township was erected about 1854. NEW CENTREVILLE borough was erected about 1854.

WELLERSBURG borough was erected about 1857.

SALISBURY borough was erected about 1863. DALE CITY* borough was erected about 1872. URSINA borough was erected about 1872. CONFLUENCE borough was erected about 1874. NEW BALTIMORE borough was erected about 1874.

JENNERTOWN borough was erected about 1875.

CHAPTER XLIX.

GEOLOGY, NATURAL FEATURES, ETC.

Extracts from the Last Geological Report - The County's Moun- tains, Streams, Coal Deposits, Fireclay, Limestone and Iron Ore, etc. - Statistics.

R ESPECTING the topography, geology and mineral resources of the county we quote from the brief yet lucid report of Professor W. G. Platt, rendered in 1875, during the progress of the "Second Geological Survey of Pennsyl- vania," as follows :

The geographical limits of Somerset county are, for the most part, broadly defined by natural boun- dary lines.

Thus its eastern and western borders are marked for many miles by prominent mountain ridges, the even crests of which follow the same general strike, and tower far above the highest hilltops in the valley between.

To the north lies Cambria county. From this broad area it is separated, in part, by important streams, all affluents of the Conemaugh, while along its extreme southern border runs the Mason and Dixon line.

The relative position of Somerset county is clearly shown on the state map. It belongs to the group of counties which make up the south western corner of Pennsylvania; and, with the others, forms a large part of the bituminous coal regions of this state.

These bituminous coal regions, extending westward

. Subsequently the name was changed to MEYERSDALE.

Digitized by Google

394

HISTORY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

from the Allegheny mountain, have been cut diago- nally into uneven portions, by a regular series of anticlinal folds in the rocks, or lines of upheaval, which divide the broad area so included into a num- ber of basins or synclinal troughs.

The first or most eastern of these great coal basins is bounded on the west by the broad, high mountain of Laurel Hill (or First Axis), which for many miles skirts the western borders of Somerset county. In this, its most southern limit in Pennsylvania, the First Basin is at its broadest, and is twice split, nearly lengthwise, by two subordinate lines of anticlinal elevation, both of which traverse the county in a northeast and southwest direction, and run almost parallel to the Allegheny mountain and Laurel Hill. The topography of the country is alone sufficient to determine the courses of the subordinate axes. But the ridges of hills by which they are represented be- come at times somewhat obscure, and the three minor troughs, into which the First Basin here naturally falls, lose under such circumstance their distinctive features, although geologically the separation is com- plete throughout the entire county.

Now, with the exception of the small triangular strip of country situated just back of the crest line of the Allegheny mountain, Somerset county lies wholly within the limits of the great bituminous coal basin just described. The geological structure of the coun- ty is exceedingly simple, and its outlines have already been broadly drawn. It consists, in going north westward from the southeastern corner of the county, of a regular series of symmetrical waves in the rocks, produced by a succession of anticlina] and synclinal fiexures, all of which follow the same general trend.

Throughout all this region, the rocks have nowhere suffered from violent and sudden disturbance, but are remarkably uniform and regular. The subterranean forces which have produced their elevation along certain lines must have worked slowly and evenly, throughout comparatively long periods of time, for coal beds and other fragile strata have been but little crushed.and broken in the operation. The measures therefore have been only slightly tilted, even on the flanks of the anticlinals, hence gentle dips, usually northwest and southeast, are found to prevail. This latter fact is an important one economically, and deserves especial emphasis as affecting favorably the mining interests of the county.

The coal measures proper point out finally into the air on the summit of the Allegheny mountain, and the crest line of this ridge may be therefore de- fined as marking the eastern rim or limit of the bitu- minous coal regions of Pennsylvania. East of this line, however, a few small and detached, though im- portant, basins of bituminous coal are known to occur in this state, and one of these areas, the famous Cum- berland coal basin, situated in the deep synclinal trough between the Savage and Little Allegheny mountains, finds its extreme northern limit near Wellersburg, in Somerset county, a few miles north

of the Maryland state line. But the famous Pittsburgh coal bed does not cross at this place the Pennsylvania border, and the basin has therefore lost its signifi- cance, economically, before reaching its northern limit. The smaller beds of the lower group of coals alone outcrop in the vicinity of Wellersburg, and this region is consequently of minor importance as com- pared to the vast spread of coal-bearing rocks in the broad trough of the First Basin further west.

In this connection it must be stated that for information respecting the geology of Somerset county in detail, as well as the nature and thick- nesses of the different strata of rock which make up its hills, the reader must be referred to Report "H" of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsyl- vania.

(Report of Progress in Cambria and Somerset dis- trict, Harrisburg, 1875.)

In a short sketch necessarily limited in space, the merest outline of the mineral wealth of the county is all that can be attempted. But for a better compre- hension of the text that here follows, a brief explana- tion of the scheme of the coal measures adopted by the geologists of the state survey is rendered neces- sary, and may here be inserted.

Two distinct groups of coals, separated by a wide interval of rocks, usually non-coal-bearing, have been recognized and traced throughout the south western portion of the state. The upper of these groups, with the rocks enclosing the coals, is known as the Upper Productive Coal Measures. These rocks, when regu- larly and normally developed, are several hundred feet in thickness, and hold, in addition to several coal beds of local importance and a large amount of limestone, the great Pittsburgh coal seam, which forms the base of the upper group.

This entire group, which at one time stretched across the top of the Allegheny mountain, and covered the country to the west, has been eroded little by little in the lapse of time, until a few small isolated patches that serve to advise us of its former great area are all that now remain of it east of Chestnut ridge or the second great anticlinal axis. Fortunately for Somer- set county, the conditions remained favorable along the Castleman river, between the Allegheny mountain and Negro mountain, for the preservation over a small area of a portion of this valuable group.

From the rest of the county, however, all of this group has been washed away, and not a single trace of it remains.

Far below this upper group occurs a second series of coal beds, the limits of which are, in the First Basin at all events, clearly defined by persistent and well- recognized sandstone deposits.

Now, separating these two groups is an interval amounting, in Somerset county, to nearly six hundred feet, and these intervening rocks, consisting chiefly of soft clay, slates and shales, with occasional bands of limestone, are almost everywhere devoid of workable. coal beds, and have hence been termed the " Barren Measures."

Digitized by Google

- -

395

GEOLOGY, NATURAL FEATURES, ETC.

Included within the rocks of the "Barren Meas- ures" occur sometimes, though very rarely, valuable and important seams of coal, besides an abundant supply of limestone. This is notably the case in the vicinity of Berlin, where no less than five workable coal beds have been found, three of which can be mined with profit. Moreover, valuable deposits of carbonate iron ore have elsewhere been found in the " Barren Measure."

The Mahoning sandstone, a heavy sand rock, often conglomeritic in character, closes the " Barren Meas- ures," and forms the top or roof of the lower coal series, which throughout Somerset county is full three hundred feet thick, and embraces five persist- ent coal seams, besides well developed strata of lime- stone and fireclay.

Some of the coal beds included in the rocks of the Lower Productive Coal Measures are small and un- important, but to each persistent bed, recognizable over large areas, has been affixed an alphabetical letter beginning at the base of the group. A massive silicious deposit, full two hundred feet in Somerset county, forms the floor or base of the Lower Produc- tive coal series.

This sandstone goes by the name of the Seral Con- glomerate or Millstone Grit, and in the numerical classification of the rocks is Formation XII of the series.

Below the Seral Conglomerate are the Umbral red shales of Formation XI, and directly below these oc- cur false bedded greenish sandstones, belonging to Formation X. Still lower down in the measures red clay rocks again abound, and largely make up Forma- tion IX. These formations outcrop along the eastern flank of the Allegheny mountain, and in the anti- clinal valley, separating it from Savage mountain on the east. They are also seen in part in the deep gorges of Laurel Hill and Negro mountain.

The Allegheny mountain is one of the most marked and prominent features of the topography of Somerset county. It strikes in a northeast direction, N. 30°- 35° E., and, after crossing the Pennsylvania border, runs for nearly forty miles in an almost unbroken straight line. Throughout this distance and for many miles more, it forms a distinct watershed between the eastern and western flowing streams, and although its flanks are here and there indented by shallow ra- vines, hollowed out in the course of time by mountain torrents, the continuity of the ridge is nowhere broken in Somerset county by deep gaps extending through the mountain mass. At the Pennsylvania border its summit attains an elevation of nearly 2,800 feet above sea level, an altitude maintained by it with slight variations throughout the whole length of Somerset county.

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 Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 81

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 967

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967