History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 25

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658

USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > History of Butler County, Pennsylvania > Part 25

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In September, 1872, Alfred Pearce, Adam Endres and Dr. Amos Lusk were appointed commissioners in Butler for the Allegheny and Harmony railroad, which, in time, took the title-Pittsburg, New Castle & Lake Erie Railroad Company. It was incorporated under this name, September 7, 1877, and Austin

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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Pearce, General Negley and others pushed forward the enterprise. The new road was completed as a narrow gauge to Zelienople in November, 1875, and formally opened January 1, 1879. By April 1, 1880, track was laid to a point within one mile of Hazen's mill, and before the close of the year to beyond Wurtemberg.

Meantime the troubles. incidental to a new road, fell upon this, and. on August 27. 1879, the sheriff laid his hands upon this promising property. Prior to this affair, the service rose above its primitive form. Good coaches and agree- able conductor- and brakemen were making the road popular, and, in the lan- guage of regular travelers, " putting on style." No longer did the travelers ask for " Breakneck." " Big Mill." " The Glades," " Pine Creek," and such pioneer villages. for the train brakeman called out " Elfin Wild," .. Hiawatha." " Wild- wood." " Hathorne," " Cres-dale," "Gibsonia," ". Evans City," " Eidenau," with the vim of one familiar with such names for years. In July, 1879, the disagree- ment between the directors and chief engineer. Joseph Ramsey, Jr., culminated in the trouble at Harmony and Eidenan, when conductor Myers was discharged, and J. C. Lewis, the brakeman, appointed to fill his place. The superintendent. local agent and other employes were put off the train, and General Negley took charge.

The road was sold in 1>74 to Major _A. M. Brown, as the representative of John Dean. Subsequently Major Brown, James Callery and John M. Chalfant claimed they were the owners of the property. In January, Iss1, the Pittsburg and Western Railroad Company, which, according to the Butler county newspapers, bought the road with the money of the original stockholders, was threatened with dissolution. The Baltimore and Ohio and the Pennsylvania Central Companies were eagerly awaiting an opportune moment to secure possession of the property. In the fall of 1ss1 it was a link in the Wabash chain, extending from Wurtem- berg to Allegheny. In April, 1-2, the old stockholders were offered, by Major Brown and his friends, $10,000, or fourteen per cent of the actual moneys invested by them. The offer was refused. The road is now operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, though nominally under the control of the Pitts- burg and Western Railway Company, whose president, Thomas M. King, was at the time of his election, in July, 1893, second vice-president of the former company. His election completed the amalgamation of the two roads, giving the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company complete control.

The Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad had its inception in the charter of the Bear Creek Railroad Company, March 20, 1865. This name was changed by legislative act April 9, 1-67, to the Shenango and Allegheny, which it bore until February 11, 1588, when a re-organization occurred and the present name was adopted. The road was originally intended as a coal feeder to the Atlantic and Great Western, and was finished from Shenango to Pardoe in Octo- ber, 1×69. In July, IS72, it was completed to Harrisville, and in January, 1876, to llilliard. in Washington township, Butler county. Several branches were built in ISSO. 1882 and 1>>3. tapping the coal fields in Butler and Mercer counties.

In February, Is82, the Connoquenessing Valley Railroad Company was chartered to construct a road from Butler northward to the Shenango and Alle-

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

gheny railroad. J. T. Blair, superintendent of the latter road, subscribed for $100,000 stock, Thomas P. Fowler, $100,000, A. H. Steel, $100,000 in his own name and $193,000 as agent. In August the contract for building the branch from a point within a mile of Coaltown junction to Butler, was awarded to W. W. Reed, of Erie. This link in the Shenango railroad connecting it with Butler, was completed August 9, 1883. Though thirty laborers struck that day, a new force of men was pushed into the field and the work finished before six o'clock the same evening. On August 27, an excursion train from Greenville arrived over the new road, which was, that day, dedicated to travel and traffic. Among the features of the celebration was the granting of the borough's freedom to the 900 visitors, the picnic in the grove and public games.

CHAPTER XV.

AGRICULTURE.

PIONEER FARMING METHODS AND MACHINERY-GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF AGRI- CULTURE IN BUTLER COUNTY-AGRICULTURAL AND FARMERS' SOCIETIES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT-FARM STATISTICS.

[T may be said with truth, that in the United States, agriculture and agricul- turists have found their proper sphere. Cincinnatus, retiring to his farm, after saving Rome, did not bring with him to his fields a greater independence of spirit or more self reliance than the pioneers of Butler county brought with them into the wilderness. Agriculture, in pioneer days, required of its followers physical strength, great endurance and sublime patience. The mother and the children of the pioneer home in the forest had also to be possessed of these qual- ities in a certain degree, for disappointments and obstacles were always present- ing themselves.

Clearing the land of the primitive forest appears to men of the present time to be a herculean task. To the first settlers it was an ordinary duty of the hus- bandman. Felling the trees in windrows and firing the fallen giants appear to have been play for those sinewy men, who opened Western Pennsylvania for the thousands who now occupy it. When the fire had done its duty, the work of cultivation was begun. The primitive wooden mold-board plow, and the harrow or drag were brought on the scene, and the sowing of the potato, wheat, corn and oats commenced without ceremony. Nor should the buckwheat be forgotten. From 1796 down to the present day this county has been famous for her fields of buckwheat. The three-cornered berry of Butler, which creates such placid dreams of griddle-cakes, grows here in perfection, not indigenous, it is true, like the sham-

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rock in Ireland, or the thistle in Scotland, or the lily in France, or the olive in Spain. but rather like the flax in northern Ireland.

Harvesting was a serious time in pioneer days. There were no harvesting machines then to be called upon as aids to the farmer : for the sickle was the reaper until the cradle was introduced. Corn husking and shelling methods have not much improved. It was laborious work then and it is now. even with the sheller at the disposal of the farmer. Threashing was performed with ordinary flails, but, at times, horses or oxen would be utilized to tramp out the grain and this system obtained until the threshing machine was brought here. The winnow- ers came next. Sometimes four persons would hold a sheet on which a bushel or so of grain was placed. By a sudden uplifting of the fabric, the grain was raised upward and the wind carried off the chaff. Another system was the sieve, filled with grain, in well balanced hands. Holding the sieve at an angle. the grain flowed out as water out of a dishpan, the breeze caught the chaff and the grain fell in a golden heap below. These methods gave way in time to the fan- ning mill.

In 1840 more modern ideas of farming won attention here. It was a year when the turning point was observed in manners and customs and methods. Many young women and indeed many old ladies, if there were any who acknowledged seniority then, were inclined to cast aside the linsey-woolsey dress and to look with contempt on the products of the home spinning-wheel and loom.

In May, 1856, the new mowing and reaping machines, of Dietz & Dunham's patents were advertised in the Butler papers. These machines were constructed without cogs or cranks, were very light and adapted for broken as well as level lands. They were not exhibited, however, at the fair of 1856. The Wood mow- ing machine was sold by W. & J. G. Campbell of Butler in 1860, who had one at work on their farm in July of that year.

Stories of the railroad and of the telegraph finally penetrated the settlements and suggested ideas of travel. This was a period of awakening, in which the past was a dream and the future an extraordinary picture of progress, when machinery would accomplish everything and man would merely direct it. Ilow far all those things have been realized is patent. Fine farm houses, substantial schools and churches, well cultivated fields, modern machinery, large orchards, fine horses and cattle and swine tell unmistakably of the wonderful progress during the past fifty years. From that early day, when D. B. Muller of the Har- mony district, brought Merino sheep a distance of 700 miles, to introduce sheep farming in the Connoquenessing valley, great strides in the science of agriculture and stock growing have been made. The county has been converted into a fruitful field for the husbandman, where he may reap the rewards of his own enterprise and labor.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

The first movement toward forming an agricultural society in this county dates back to April 7, 1830, when a society, for the promotion of agriculture and domestic manufactures, was organized at Butler. William Ayres presided, with John Parker and John Ziegler, vice-presidents, and Alexander Mc Bride and James Bovard, secretaries. On resolution, the name, "The Butler County Agri-

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

cultural and Domestic Manufacturing Society" was adopted, and, for its govern- ment, a committee was appointed to prepare by-laws. \ committee of twenty- eight persons, two from Butler and two from each township, was appointed to secure members and 100 subscribers were enrolled to assist the president in push- ing forward the interests of the society. The local committee men were : John Gilchrist and Hugh McKee. of Butler borough ; Sylvanus Aggas and Alexander Hagerty, of Centre township : John McNees and David Mc Junkin, of Slippery Rock ; Abraham Ziegler and Barnet Gilliland, of Connoquenessing : John Boston and Robert Glenn. of Muddy Creek : John Dodds and Arthur McGill, of Middle- -ex: William Walker and Robert Elliott. of Buffalo: Matthew Smith and Will- iam Robb. of Donegal : Edward Graham and John Parker, of Parker ; Benjamin Lowe and John Pollock, of Venango : Samuel McMurry and James Harris, of Mercer, and John L. Maxwell and John McQuistion, of Butler.

The North Butler Agricultural Club was a well ordered association of farmers organized in 1-46, and the successor of the old agricultural organization.

The Butler County Agricultural Society .- The question of organizing an agricultural society was discussed in the spring of F-52. and on March 17, that year, decided in the affirmative. The meeting to organize. held at the house of Henry Kohlmeyer, was presided over by Samuel . Anderson, of Venango township, with John Say, vice-president. and Henry Kohlmeyer, secretary. A\ constitution was submitted by Samuel Halderman and T. J. Layton, in which the name, "But- ler County Agricultural Society." was used. This was adopted and signed by the following original member- : John Craig, John Say, Samuel Halderman, Samuel Anderson. John Martin. J. N. Pollock. A. J. Halderman, J. McKee, A. G. Say. R. P. Anderson. John Anderson. William Anderson, Henry Kohl meyer, T. J. Layton, Samuel Leason, A. B. Grant, James Milford, Abel Grant C. C. Hoover, David Grant, William Clay. W. L. Anderson, Thomas Stewart, Simon Williams, John Pollock, William Meals and HI. Dicus. The election which ensued resulted in the choice of Samuel Anderson, president, and John Craig, Samuel Halderman, John Jack. Joseph Cummins, George Parker, Samuel McMurry and John Scott, vice-presidents. This organization accomplished very little, except to arouse an interest in the matter,

The Butler County Agricultural and Horticultural Society was founded, March 30, 1:53, on the ruins of the former one. John Murrin was chosen pres- ident : Samuel M. Lane, treasurer ; Archibald Blakeley, William Campbell and Thomas Bracken, correspondents, and C. E. Purviance. secretary, The vice-presi- dent were William Campbell. Joseph Douthett. William Jack, John Thompson, W. C. Adams. John Jack. Samuel Halderman. George Parker, John Kerr, David Stewart, Rev. W. P. Breaden, William Moore. Robert Pampson, Edward Ken- nedy, T. 11. Bracken, A. H. Ziegler. Samuel Boyd. John Thompson ( Middlesex ) , Jonathan Walker, Daniel O'Donnell, R. S. McCoy, John R. Harris, David Mar- shall. Henry Wolff, William Bastian and E. Maurhoff.

The prizes awarded by this society, at the first fair, held at North Washing- ton, October 13, 1853, are given as follows :- For Durham cattle, to Isaac Hilliard, John Craig, G. T. Frazier and Samuel Halderman. For National cattle : Will- iam Christy, G. T. Frazier and John Jack. For horses :- Robert Henry, Joseph

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Flick, Henry Kohlmeyer, John Mechling, Samuel Halderman, John Jack, Joseph Cummins, A. Campbell, George Parker and W. C. Adams. For swine :- Sam- uel Halderman, John Craig, James Moore and E. Christy, For a seed planter :- G. H. Mellinger. For butter :- William S. Jack. For Indian corn crop :- John Craig. For best fruit display :- Abel Grant. For winter pippin- :- Isaac fill- iard, and for yellow pippins, John McKee. To William Biers or Byers, was awarded a prize for best blacksmith work ; to Platt Sutton for best shoemaker work ; to J. McMahon for best band of music ; to Miss McConnell for best bed- quilt, and to Mrs. Grant for next best quilt. W. C. Glenn, Joseph Jack, S. N. Moore and John Jack were awarded prizes for special cattle, John Mechling for blankets, and Hugh Gallagher for grain sowing box.

The second fair was held at North Washington, in September, I 54, and, in one or other of the northern boroughs, fairs were held in 1855 and 1856. The fifth annual fair was held at North Washington, in September, 1857. The society, in November, 1857, elected Robert Ray, president ; Allen Wilson, treasurer ; Henry Kohlmeyer, correspondent ; William C. Adams, recorder ; and S. G. Meals, librarian. It struggled on some time, but the societies at the county seat won the battle for precedence.

The Semiconan Agricultural Society held the first annual exposition at school-house Number 1, East Connoquenessing, October 19. 1852. John Martin was then secretary. In 1853 the second fair was held, and in October, 1854, Prospect was honored with the third annual meeting. Soon after, the society merged into a broader organization.

The Butler Agricultural Association was organized in March, 1856, as the Fair Society, with John Anderson, president ; James G. Campbell and George W. Crozier, secretaries ; Archibald Blakeley, recorder ; Eugene Ferrero, corres- pondent ; James Campbell, librarian, and thirty-seven vice-presidents. This society held its first fair at Butler in September, 1856. and in December, Joseph Douthett was elected president, and J. B. MeQuistion secretary. llenry Buhl was elected president in December, 1857, and in 1858, Samuel Marshall was chosen.

The people of Butler borough and their friends of the southeru townships held their second annual fair at Butler in September, 1857. In 1858 a successful meeting was recorded. John L. Maxwell was elected president in December, 1859; John Purviance, correspondent ; IIerman J. Berg, recorder ; and 1. J. Cum- mings, treasurer. John Negley was elected president in December, 1-60; John B. McQuistion, recorder, and William S. Jack, correspondent. During the war there was little attention given to such matters, so that from 1861 to 1863, inclu- sive, no fairs were held. The sixth fair was held October 4 and 5, 1864. At that time, Thomas McNees was president ; Thomas Robinson, acting secretary ; and R. C. McAboy, treasurer of the association. In April, 1865, W. O. Breckenridge was elected president. John W. Forrester was elected in March, 1866, with James Mitchell, Milton Maxwell and Samuel Marshall, vice-presidents; C. E. Anderson, treasurer ; and John B. McQuistion, secretary. The name of the society in November, 1866, was the " Butler County Agricultural and Stock Associa- tion." James Bredin was president, and H. C. Heineman, secretary, who held that position three or four years, or until its end.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

In 1866 the association leased five or six acres of the Thomas Stehle farm, where fairs were held for several years or until twenty-one acres, near the present fair grounds, were purchased and fenced in. Fairs were held there for several years until the old society dissolved and the land was sold by the sheriff. Dur- ing the hey-day of this association. farmers' horses were entered for races, but no other horses were permitted to run. For several years there was no organization, and indeed, until 1877. there was no society.

Prior to 1857 trotting horses were not considered in the community, although horse racing took place at intervals. It was the wild gallop in which the people delighted and on this gallop bets were offered and taken. The era of trotting matches in this county was introduced in May, 1857, when Thomas Fawcett, of Birmingham, and John Vensel, of Clarion county, bet $300 each on their respect- ive horses, " Bobb and Jack." The course was the plank road from Stewarts- town to Zimmerman's inn ( now the Willard), at Butler, a distance of twenty- seven miles, and the time made was two hours and ten minutes. This extraordi- nary race drew the attention of the people to trotting matches, and scarcely a vear has passed since in which races of this description have failed to draw a large crowd.

The Emlenton Agricutural Society was organized March 27, 1858, by citi- zens living in the northern part of the county, assisted by their friends in Ven- ango, Clarion and Armstrong counties. Its supporters comprised many of those who belonged to the old Butler County Agriculural Society of 1853. Henry Kohlmeyer, of Butler county, was elected president, and among the long list of vice-presidents were the following from Butler county : John Murrin, J. F. Layton, John Mechling, and George Parker. The first fair, held at Emlenton in the fall of 1 58, was successful, but interest in the project then subsided and the organization disbanded.

The Butler County Colonization Society was organized January 25, 1860, with Rev. Loyal Young, president ; Rev. Isaiah Niblock, and Rev. William A. Fetter, vice-presidents ; and John Graham secretary. Robert R. Reed, agent of the State Colonization Society, was the organizer, and the object was to obtain an appropriation of $5,000 to be applied to the colonization of free negroes in Pennsylvania, which it was believed would benefit the agricultural interests of the State, as well as the negro.

The Wool Growers' Association of Slippery Rock township, was organized in April, 1866, with David McKee, president; Dawson Wadsworth, vice-president; John Bigham, secretary, and Lewis Patterson, treasurer. In 1867. Thomas Moore presided, with John T. Bard, secretary. This organization merged into the Agri- cultural Society and lost its identity.

The Butler County Farmers' Club held its first meeting in April, 1869, when the following named officers were elected : John Q. A. Kennedy, presi- dent; John Q. A. Sullivan, recording secretary ; Edwin Lyon, corresponding secretary ; Ilugh Morrison, treasurer, and W. H. Black, librarian. The vice- presidents then chosen were : Herman J. Berg, of Butler township; John Martin, of Connoquenessing ; David McKee, of Slippery Rock ; W. H. Graham, of Wash- ington: James D. Anderson, of Penn ; John B. Mclaughlin, of Clearfield ; II. C.

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McCoy, of Cherry; Abraham Moyer, of Lancaster; Samuel Marshall, of AAdams ; and Josiah M. Thompson, of Brady. The following year this organization was merged into the Farmers' Institute.

The Farmers' Institute held its first fair at Butler in September, 1870. The Institute succeeded the Farmers' Club and the officers were simply the men who would have been selected by the Club had it continued its organization. John Q. A. Kennedy presided in 1870, with Herman J. Berg and A. Cuthbert, vice-presidents; W. II. II. Riddle, secretary ; Edwin Lyon, correspondent ; Ilugh Morrison, treasurer, and G. W. Shaffer, superintendent. The Institute has, through the passing years, grown into a profitable and most deserving organization. It is an educational society, important in its aims and successful in its workings. Meetings are held at stated intervals to which all agriculturists are invited, and at which ideas relating to farms and farmers are expressed and discussed. W. II. II. Riddle is the founder of the Institute in this county. In November, 1893, D. B. Douthett was elected president ; A. D. Weir, Christie Robb, James Steph- enson and Benjamin Douthett, vice-presidents, and J. A. McCafferty, secretary.

The Connoquenessing Valley Agricultural Association was organized in 1874, with Abraham Moyer, president ; Dr. Amos Lusk, secretary ; Ira Stauffer, treas- urer ; S. M. Weihl, John N. Miller, Adam Endres, Abraham Schontz. John Enslen, James Smith, George Eicholtz, Martin Sitler, Joseph S. Lusk. Daniel Achre, L. P. Hazlett, 11. M. Ziegler and Jacob Hyle. For many years fairs were held regularly, and at length the association dissolved.

The Patrons of Husbandry ruled in this county during the Seventies, attaining great strength in 1876-77. At that time Pomona Grange, the name of the county organization, claimed the following named officers :- James Porter, of Portersville, master; John Q. A. Kennedy, of Butler, secretary: Robert McKee, of Butler, overseer ; A. J. Ilutchison, of Coultersville, chaplain ; John Book, of Jacksville, lecturer ; William J. Hutchison, of Butler, steward ; Alfred Aggas, of Coultersville, assistant steward ; William R. Patterson, of Butler, treasurer: A. T. Pearce, gate keeper ; Miss Lizzie Hutchison, ceres ; Mr>. Mollie A. Pearce, pomona ( all of Butler) ; Mrs. Mary McMurry. of Slippery Rock, flora ; Leah A. Book, lady assistant steward ; John Stevenson, J. D. Stevenson, Alfred Aggas, Robert McKee and William F. Campbell, executive committee ; John Stevenson, chairman, business manager and deputy for the southern town- ships, and D. W. Forrester, deputy for the northern townships.

The local granges with the names of masters and secretaries are given as fol- lows : Thalia Grange, 636, of Fairview, Samuel Barnhart and R. W. Barnhart ; Prospect, 126, N. S. Grossman and D. W. Forrester ; Mt. Chestnut, 133. J. M. Dunn and T. S. Dodds; Mt. Olive, 143, of Clay, Alfred Aggas and E. S. Flee- ger ; Good Intent, 183, of Slippery Rock, Abner Seaton and R. A. Hartley ; Eureka, 244, of Butler, II. 11. Bryson and Levi A. Bryson ; Cherry, 315, Levi Stewart and Levi B. McCoy : Bloomfield, 355, of Lancaster, Thomas Allen and J. D. Lytle : Forest, 370, of Brady, J. M. Thompson and N. H. Thompson ; Worth, 409, James Porter and John Humphrey ; Forward, W. S. Waldron and Joseph Art; Oakland, 578, T. A. Templeton and M. H. Ney- man; and Penn, 542, J. Q. A. Kennedy and Simeon Nixon. North

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

Hope Grange, organized about 1872, with Samuel Smith, master, and David F. Campbell, secretary, did not exist in 1877, and Concord, another early organiza- tion, had also dissolved. It is related by George W. Campbell, of Butler, that the secretary of Concord grange mailed an order to Pittsburg for ten barrel- of salt. It appears that he wrote it "ten barrels of salts," and, without question, the enter- prising inerchant shipped him ten barrels of epsom salts. It was a most disagree- able consignment, so far as the secretary was concerned, and was a standard joke long after the grange had dissolved.

The Butler Driving Park Association was organized October 15, 1-77, with the following named officers : G. J. Cross, president ; Joseph L. Purvis, James H. Tebay and G. A. McBride, vice-presidents ; P. W. Lowry, recorder ; W. P. Roessing, correspondent ; Joseph L. Purvis, treasurer ; L. M. Cochran, G. A. Mc Bride, W. II. H. Riddle, and the president, treasurer and correspondent, directors. In October, 1877, this society leased a tract of twenty-three acre-, just east of the old fair grounds, from Mrs. Nancy Bredin and transformed it into an excellent race track. In June, 1575, a race meeting was held, and a fair in the fall. The officers named, with J. S. Campbell and R. P. Scott, were the first stockholders. In December, 17%, G. J. Cross was elected president ; R. P. Scott and J. H. Tebay, vice-presidents ; John S. Campbell, treasurer ; W. P. Roessing, recorder and correspondent; G. A. McBride, superintendent, and J. H. Tebay director, vice Roessing resigned. Under date, June 5, 1879, a motion providing for a fourth day races, and such telling references as " Dan Mace's Hopeful to beat 2:18 for $500," are recorded. Later in June, a resolution to hold a fair in the fall was carried, and the original idea of confining the business of the corporation to racing and trotting, without regard to farm exhibits, showed signals of distress.

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History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 25

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown Number of Pages: 1658

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658