USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > History of Butler County, Pennsylvania. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 8
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The pioneer women were clothed in linsey petti- coats, coarse shoes and stockings, and wore buckskin mittens or gloves, when any protection was needed for the hands. To a wardrobe of this kind were added a few articles obtained from the village of Pitts- burgh, or from east of the mountains. Nearly all of the women's wearing apparel. however, like that of the men, was of home mannfacture, and was made with a view to being comfortable and serviceable. Jewelry was very rarely seen, but occasionally orna- ments were worn which had been brought from for- mer homes.
The Bible was to be found in the cabins of the pioneers almost as frequently as the riffe. In the cabins of some families, a few other books were oc- casionally to be met with, such as "Pilgrim's Prog- ress," Baxter's "Saints' Rest, " Hervey's " Medita-
tions," .Esop's "Fables," and the like. The long winter evenings were spent in poring over a few well- thumbed volumes by the light of the great log tire. or in knitting, mending, curing furs, etc.
The pioneers had many discomforts to endure, and some dangers to encounter. When Butler Coun ty was settled, it is true that the danger of Indian depredations had passed away forover; but a vaguely detined apprehension existed in the minds of not a few of the first settlers, that they were not entirely secure in their forest homes. The larger wild beasts were a source of dread, and the smaller ones a source of much annoyance to those who first dwelt in this region. Added to this was the liability to sickness : which always exists in a new country. Then, too. in the midst of all the loveliness of their surroundings, there was a sense of loneliness which could not be dispelled, and this was a far greater trial to many men and women on the frontier of civilization than is generally imagined. The deep-seated, constantly re- curring feeling of isolation made many stout hearts turn fondly back to remembrance of the older settle- ments, the abodes of comfort, the companionship and sociability they had abandoned.
occasions. Nearly every settler who could afford it had a barrel stored away, and there were very few so poor that they could not have at least a jugful. The liquor at first in use was brought from the Mononga hela country. It was the good old-fashioned whisky -- " clear as amber, sweet as musk, smooth as oil " that the octogenarians and nonogenarians of to-day re- call to memory with an unetnous gusto, and a smack of the lips which entirely outdoes the descriptive power of words. A few years after the first settle- ments were made, stills were set up to supply the home demand, and corn whisky was manufactured. which, although not held in a- high esteem as the Monongahela article, was used in large quantities.
During all the early years of the settlement, var ied with occasional pleasures and excitements, the great work of increasing the area of the tillable ground went steadily on. The implements of agri- culture were few and of the most primitive kind, but
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
the soil, which had held in reserve the accumulated richness of unnumbered centuries, produced splendid harvests. Progress. however, was slow. Produce brought low prices. and it was difficult to place it in the market. The pioneer farmer who drew a load of wheat or corn to Pittsburgh, making the round trip in from four days to a week or more. could obtain only a few small articles in exchange for his grain. and paid dearly for them. They were seldom able to obtain cash, and how to seeure a sufficient sum of money to pay taxes was a matter for very serious con- sideration.
Although the development of the country and the improvement of individual condition was slow. it nevertheless was sure. The log houses became more numerous, and the forest shrank away before the woodman's ax. The settlers brought stock into the country as they became able, and each one had his horses, oxen. eows. sheep and swine. Among the earliest evidences of the reward of patient toil were the double cabins of hewed logs, which took the places of the earlier hut-like structures. Then frame houses began to appear, and hewed-log barns. and. later. frame barns were built for the protection of stock and the housing of the erops. Simultaneously with the earliest indications of increasing thrift. society began to form itself; the schoolhouse and the church appeared, and advancement was noticeable in a score of ways.
Still there remained a vast work to perform. for as yet only a beginning had been made. The brunt of the struggle. however, was past. The pioneers had made a way in the wilderness for the advaneing hosts of the army of civilization.
CHAPTER VI.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Means of Communication Early and Late-Inconvenience of "No Thoroughfare "-First Roads and Bridges in Butler County-The Stage Coach-Earliest Measures for Securing Important Internal Improvements in Western Pennsylvania-The Telegraph-The Iron Rail Reaches Butler-Jollitication-Butler Branch-Karns City Railroad-The Pittsburgh & Western-Shenango & Alle- gheny Railroad.
YLOSELY following the individual improvements CI made by the pioneers came the laying out of pub- lie roads through the wilderness. The gradual increase in the number of these avenues of communication and the advance in their condition kept apace with the growth of the settlements and the needs of the people. At last came the era of railroads, and an effort which was tardily successful was made in Butler County to secure the advantages of the iron trail.
How great were the disadvantages under which the early settlers labored in having no direct means
of communication, no roads over which teams could be driven, may be illustrated by a fact in the history of Butler County.
In the year 1507. there was no road from Ney- man's saw-mill, about six miles northeast of Butler. to the Sugar Creek Catholic Church, just over the Armstrong County line, opposite Donegal Township. There was a mere path through the woods and over the hills. Patrick and Charles Duffy. when they wanted to haul some boards from the mill to the church. were obliged to tax their ingenuity to invent a way in which to accomplish the work. They lashed the ends of a few boards securely at each side of the pack-saddle of their horse, and with the other ends dragging upon the ground. conveyed them along the path a distance of ten miles. In those days, nearly all of the commodities brought into the settlements were carried upon the paek-saddle.
Nevertheless, a few roads existed at the time of which we write ( 1807).
The road from Pittsburgh to Mercer was laid out as a State road in 1805-6, and even prior to that time the road leading directly south from Butler over the hill had been laid out, and some of the money of Robert Morris, who owned large bodies of land in the county, had been expended in its improvement through his agent, Cunningham.
Various county roads were authorized by the Court of Quarter Sessions upon the petitions of the people.
At the February sessions, 1804, a petition was pre- sented for a road from Butler to Freeport and Andrew Crookshank, Benjamin Server, John MeQuistion. John Burkhart, John Cunningham and John Negley were appointed Viewers. They made report at the May sessions. This road was opened and laid out sub- stantially as it is now traveled.
A petition for the appointment of Viewers for a road from Butler to the Armstrong County line in the direction of Bear Creek was also presented at the February sessions of 1804. The Court appointed as Viewers William Reddick, William Kearns, Benjamin Fletcher. Jacob Mechling, William Hutchinson and John Ray. Their report was made at the May sessions following, and the order to open the road was issued at the September sessions of the same year.
At the same sessions, petitions were presented for roads from Butler to the Venango County line. "at or near the house of Thomas Barren:" from Butler to the Venango County line in the direction of Franklin: from Butler to the falls of the Slippery Rock; from Butler to Matthew Whites ( Whitestown): from Butler to the Beaver County line, nearly all of which were acted upon and Viewers appointed at the same or sue- creding sessions.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
At the May sessions, 1804. a petition was pre- sented for the appointment of Viewers for a road from Butler to the Mercer County line in the direction of Mercer, and at the same time a petition was presented for a road from the Mercer County line through Zelio- nople to the line at Butler County. near Dixon's, on the old Franklin road.
At the September sessions, 1807, for a road "from William Elliott's meadow, where a cabin once stood on the line of Mercer County, to the Venango County line at William Courtney's plantation."
For all of these roads. Viewers were appointed and they were laid out. At the various sessions of the court from 1804 to 1828 and after, other petitions were received, and, in fact. a very large number of them, but the majority were for cross roads intersect- ing with the more important ones we have mentioned.
Bridges were almost as great a necessity as roads. for during the greater part of the year the streams could not be crossed without them. Hence we find early action taken to span the larger streams. The first bridge built in the county was across the Con- noquenessing, south of Butler. The mode of proceed- ing to secure the building of a bridge was the same as for the opening of a road, and so we find that the first step toward the building of the bridge at Butler was the presentation to the Court of Quarter Sessions in 1805 of a petition entitled. "The petition of citizens for a bridge across the Connoquenessing Creek, where the road from Butler to Pittsburgh crosses the same."
The court appointed John Stewart, Edward Gra- ham, Paul McDermott, John Buckly, Benjamin Wal- lace and David Kerr Viewers on the 26th of May, 1805.
The petitioners stated that the expense would prob- ably be $500. The bridge was built, and inspected, but. the committee who made the report stated that the work was not properly performed.
The next bridge petitioned for was one " over the Connoquenessing Creek where the Bear Creek road crosses, near the salt works." This was about a mile northeast of Butler on the Kearns farm. The petition was received in September. 1809, and in accordance with its request the court appointed as Viewers Will- iam Campbell, Josiah Crawford, John Gilmore, Jacob Sweeney, John Potts and Thomas Smith. About this time. Harmony having begun to assume importance as a trading village, a petition was presented for the building of a bridge across the Connoquenessing upon the road from Butler to Beaver. William Ayres. Eleakim Anderson, Matthew White, William Camp- bell and Josiah Crawford were appointed Viewers; re- ported favorably, and the bridge was built.
The people of Buffalo Township became interested in bridge-building the next year, and the creek was
spanned at a point "where a road from William Anderson's to the Armstrong County line intersects the road from Leonard Sylveter's to Butler.
The Slippery Rock people also petitioned for a bridge in 1510, but for some reason or other it was not ordered built until 1812.
In 1810. a petition was presented to the court for a bridge over the Connoquenessing at Anderson's, the crossing of the old Franklin road, but it was not granted and the people did not obtain a bridge there until 1814.
A bridge was needed across Wolf Creek, and in 1814 a petition was presented asking for the appoint- ment of Viewers. They were appointed and, their re- port being favorable, the stream was bridged where it is crossed by the Butler and Moreer road.
The next was a bridge built over the Connoquenes- sing between Zelienople and D. B. Muller's, in 1815.
In 1817, the Little Connoquenessing was spanned at Christy's mill.
These bridges were the most important, and placed at such points along the several streams as would afford the largest number of people facility in cross- ing.
What may be called the second period of road im- provement began shortly prior to 1520, and resulted in the construction of turnpikes. so called, although they scarcely deserved the name.
The Butler and Pittsburgh Turnpike was the first of these improved roads. It was laid out as a turn- pike in 1821 on a less direct but more easily traveled route than the old road. and was ultimately ex. tended through to Erie by act of the Legislature. The line was apportioned off to different companies to be worked. The Butler County company was composed as follows: President, William Ayers, Esq .; Secre tary, John Bredin: Treasurer. Robert Seott; Directors, Jacob Mechling, John Negley, John Potts, David Me Junkin, Hugh MeKee, William Beatty. Alexander Haggerty, John Brown (of Oliver), William McMillen. John Bredin and David Courtney.
Upon the road which this company constructed. the first " stage coach and four" whirled into Butler (presumably " in a cloud of dust." after the manner of all the stage coaches of which we have read) in the year 1822. The line from Pittsburgh to Erie was a very important one. and extensively traveled until the stage was superceded by the iron horse.
In 1825, a contract was made by the United States Government with W. W. Bell for carrying a mail once a week between Ebensburg and Butler by way of Indiana and Kittanning.
A turnpike was completed from Butler to Kittan- ning in 1828. The Viewers were John Gilmore Francis McBride. Esq .. John Gilchrist. William
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
Beatty. James MeCurdy and Joseph Brown, the latter of Kittanning. James E. Brown, of Kittanning. wa.s the surveyor, and G. W. Reed and William Crisswell were axe men. Maj. Reed is the only one of the party now living.
Other turnpikes followed. That between Butler and Freeport was constructed in 1833. In 1945. a turnpike was constructed from Butler to the Great Western (Brady's Bend), the Commissioners being David Dongal and G. W. Reed, of Butler County, and William Hart, of Armstrong; Felix Nogley was the surveyor.
It is probable that early road improvement was very materially stimulated by an essay which appeared in 1825 in various papers of the States, among others the Butler Sentinel, dated Philadelphia. December 20, 1824. It was signed by Matthew Carey, Joseph Hemphill, Richard Peters. Jr., Stephen Duncan and William Strickland. The same gentlemen in their capacity as a committee of the Pennsylvania Legisla- ture issued a series of articles on the canal policy of the State.
January 29, 1825, in accordance with the sugges- tions of one of the letters of the above committee, a meeting of the citizens of Butler was held at A. M. Neyman's to consider the construction of a canal to connect the waters of the Allegheny with the Susque- hanna. John Potts was Chairman, and Jacob Mech- ling Secretary. The meeting appointed as a commit- tee to draft a memorial to the Legislature, John Gil- more, John Bredin, John Gilchrist. John Neyman and William Beatty. This committee issued an address. but there was nothing definite in its character.
In March, 1825, Commissioners of Canals were appointed to examine routes from the Ohio River to the Susquehanna, as follows: Albert Gallatin, William Darlington, Robert Patterson, John Sargent, David Scott.
In Butler, John Gilmore, Jacob Mechling. Hugh McKee, William Gibson and John Bredin constituted as a local committee for the purpose of appointing delegates to the State Convention of Internal Improve- ment, appointed John Gilmore and John Bredin, and they attended the State Canal Convention, held in August, 1825.
This movement resulted in nothing so far as Butler County was concerned, and there is no need of follow- ing it farther. We have written the history thus far merely to show the thought of the time upon the im- portant subject of internal improvements upon means of communication with the great centers of commerce.
The Butler & Pittsburgh Plank Road Company was organized in 1851 through the joint endeavors of citizens of Butler and Allegheny Counties, and work npon the road was commenced at once. It was not
completed until 1853. Samuel M. Lane was the first President of the company, but resigned a few months after election, and John N. Purvianee, who was elected to the position. superintended the affairs of the company until the road was finished. This was the tirst plank road in Butler Connty. Its cost was $116,000.
As far back in the history of the county as the year 1836. steps were taken which were the forerunners of the Butler Branch Railroad. In the year mentioned, there was made by State authority a survey of a route for a railroad from Freeport via Butler to New Castle, designed to make a short ent between the Pennsylvania and Erie canals. The surveyor, Charles T. Whippo, and his adviser and assistant, William Purviance, made a report to the State authorities, and there the matter ended, and the project came to be regarded as a broad farce and humbng. Yet that survey was the foundation of the first railroad in But- ler County. In 1952. Gov. Tod, of Ohio, and Mr. Perkins, President of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, visited Harrisburg, asking such legislation as would lead to a connection with the Pennsylvania Central at Pittsburgh, but they returned discouraged and with nothing accomplished.
Soon after. however, Thomas S. Fernon, Senator from Philadelphia, and a practical railroad man, sug- gested to William Haslett, then in the State Senate as the representative of Butler County, that a survey had already been made through Butler County which was a feasible route for the connection proposed by the Ohioans. He suggested that if Gov. Tod would adopt that line, with an extension connecting east of Pittsburgh at Blairsville Junction, he would be likely to secure the end that he desired, and also that the long-cherished hopes of the Butler County people might be realized.
Gov. Tod was shown Mr. Whippo's report, and said that the route was what he and his associates wanted. As a result. followed the procurement, dur- ing the session of the Legislature for 1853, of the charter for the Northwestern Railroad Company. This organization finally went into bankruptcy, and its property and franchises passed into the possession of a new company, chartered under the name of the Western Pennsylvania Railroad Company, but con- trolled by the Central.
Col. Thomas A. Scott came to William Haslett and John H. Negley, members of the General Assem- bly from Butler Conuty, in 1864, to consult them regarding legislation which would concern the inter- ests of their constituents. He desired to have passed a bill authorizing the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany to abandon the canal from Freeport to Alle- gheny, which, under the conditions of purchase. they
39
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
were bound to keep in perpetual repair, and to authorize the Western Pennsylvania Company to ex- tend their road on the canal bed to Allegheny, besides granting various other franchises.
Haslett and Negley replied that their people had been so often disappointed that they were distrustful; that the Western Pennsylvania Railroad, by means of Butler enterprise, money, credit and influence, had been graded from Blairsville to Freeport, and that Butler citizens were paying a heavy railroad tax without having a foot of railroad in their county. They then proposed the following proviso, as an addi. tion to Col. Scott's bill. which he accepted and incor- porated, viz. :
Provided, That the additional franchises herein granted shall not be enjoyed or exercised until an extension of the road shall be made from Freeport to the town of Butler: the same to be placed under contract for construction, to responsi ble parties, within two years after the passage of this act.
When the bill was called for consideration, Mr. Glass, of Allegheny, who had it in consideration, moved to strike out the "proviso," making the remark that "if the people of Butler wanted a railroad, they might build it themselves." A lengthened and ani- mated discussion took place, in which Mr. Negley had an active and leading part. Hon. Arthur G. Olmstead, of Porter: Hon. William D. Brown. of Warren: Hon. John W. Guernsey, of Tioga, and Hon. Thomas J. Bingham, of Allegheny, by speech and action materi- ally aided in the retention of the proviso, with a modification made at their suggestion, extending the time for completing the road from two to five years.
There was not so warm a contest over the passage of the bill in the Senate, but it met with some oppo- sition. The able and judicious management of Sena- tor MeCandless was a great power in carrying through the Upper House the proviso, by the conditions of which Butler County finally obtained a railroad.
The railroad of whose early history we have given such an extendedl account was completed by the Penn- sylvania Company after many difficulties and delays by the opening of the year 1871, and formally de- livered into the hands of the company by the engineer, Antes Snyder, upon the Ist of March
It was, however, opened to travel upon January 12. 1871, and that was a memorable day in the his- tory of Butler. An excursion was organized from Butler to Pittsburgh to celebrate the long-hoped-for and finally consummated connection of Butler with Pittsburgh and the outer world by rail.
Some three hundred invitations were sent out to people to be present and engage in this excursion. The train left Butler at 7 o'clock A. M .. passed over the branch to Freeport. and thence to Pittsburgh-
At the union depot in that city, a splendid repast was served and a number of speeches made in response to toasts.
Hon. Ebenezer MeJunkin responded to the toast, "Railways; the bonds of civilization:" Gen. John N. Parviance to " Old Butler awakened to new life. and made a citizen of the world:" W. M. Stewart to " The Pennsylvania Central Railroad, the pride of our Com- monwealth;" Thomas M. Marshal to " The old stage coach-it could not long survive Arthur McGill:" Samuel A. Purviance to " The old Circuit Court (But- ler, Clarion and Armstrong). The Court now travels by rail, but justice prefers the mind road:" Engene Ferrero to " The Butler Branch:" Lewis Z. Mitchell to "Antes Snyder (the engineer)-by his skill he over- came the mountains of our county, and organized successfully the excursion in hand and the dinner just discussed."
In the afternoon, the excursionists, joined by a number of Pittsburghers, returned to Butler. At the various stations along the new line, the people turned out en masse to greet them, and at Saxon Station a cannon was fired in honor of the event.
Butler had been filled with people the night be- fore the excursion, and a great throng greeted the in- coming train. Here again a substantial repast was served. Afterward, speeches were made, as at Pitts- burgh. Eugene Ferrero spoke upon the " Butler Branch," as did also Mayor Callow, of Allegheny. Charles MeCandless. Esq., spoke in response to the toast, "The Engineers of the Pennsylvania Railroad." Others who addressed the assemblage were John M. Thompson. Esq., Gen. John N Purviance. H. W. Oliver. Esq .. of Pittsburgh. and Col. Thomas M. Bayne.
In the evening occurred the " funeral " of the old stage coach which had been superseded by the iron horse. The huge vehicle was draped in black, and hauled by horses decorated with crape. np the hill to the cemetery. It was not actually buried. al- though its days of usefulness (in this field) were practically over, but a travesty of the funeral service was gone through with, and then the jovial throng who had attended the " funeral,"a member of Pitts burghers and citizens of Butler, among them the stage proprietor, D. S. Walker, returned to the village, and marched through the streets blowing tin whistles and penny trumpets.
Brief notes are appended upon the other and newer railroads which traverse portions of Butler County territory.
The Parker & Karns City Railroad Company was organized August 1, 1873, and commenced building a road between the terminal points named upon Octo- ber 1, 1873. When the severe financial panie of that
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
year swept over the country, many of the stockholders were obliged to forfeit their stock, and the company would have been obliged to succumb to the pressure had not four of the citizens of Parker -Mr. Fullerton Parker. Mr. S. D. Karns, Mr. W. C. Mobley and Mr. H. R. Fullerton -come to the rescue, throwing their private means and their energies into the enterprise. They carried it to a successful completion, and the road was formally opened for business on April S. 1874. It started with a good patronage. paid its projectors a handsome profit upon their investments. and demonstrated the practicability of narrow guage railroads in the oil regions.
In April, 1876, the Karns City & Butler Railroad Company was organized by the same parties interested in the above, the citizens of Millerstown and Butler also subscribing liberally for its bonds. It was opened for business in November, 1876, and continued in successful operation upon the plan of original organization until June 10, 1881, when, with the Par- ker & Karns City Railroad, it was consolidated with the Pittsburgh & Western Railroad.
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