USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > History of Clarion County, Pennsylvania > Part 14
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30. Redbank Furnace, at the mouth of Redbank ; built by Thomas Mc- Culloch, formerly of Lyon, Shorb & Co., in 1859 ; Alexander Reynolds shortly became a partner; McCulloch was replaced by Moorhead, and the firm became Reynolds & Moorhead. This stack was a successor to the old Redbank fur- nace across the creek in Armstrong county. The first stack on the present site of Redbank furnace was thirty-nine feet high, and eleven feet across the bosh ; since it has been raised to a height of sixty-four feet, and its equipments have been much improved and modernized. The old furnace used coke made in pits, and produced an average of ninety-five tons a week ; at present there are forty coke ovens in connection with the plant, and the capacity is 150 tons of metal per week.
The ore, coal, and limestone are all found together on the river hillside above the furnace, and are carried down an inclined plane tramway to the ter- race or yard. The coal is prepared for coking by a machine capable of crush- ing and washing eighty tons per day. The hearth is of flagstone, and the tun- nel mouth has a " bell and hopper " cover; the gases are conducted down a pipe called the " down-comer," and distributed between the boiler and hot- blast. An upright engine 225 horse power, sixty feet pressure, and five feet stroke forces the air into the hot-blast and fan, and thence to the furnace ; there are six boilers in a " double-decked battery," three feet wide, and thirty and forty-four feet in length.
Redbank Furnace, from the hands of Reynolds & Moorhead, passed into those of Alexander Reynolds, and finally to Alexander Reynolds's Sons, the present proprietors. It suspended operations in January, 1883, but is expected (February, 1887) to resume in a few months.
David reynolds
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FROM IRON ERA TO CIVIL WAR.
31. Sarah Furnace was completed in 1860 ; erected by S. F. Plumer after his retirement from Prospect. It took its name from the wife of the proprietor. Sarah furnace stood on the Allegheny, at the bottom of the bend, about one mile above Catfish ; it used coke as fuel. Passed into the hands of Jennings, Morey & Co., and was abandoned about 1867.
CHAPTER XII.
FROM THE IRON ERA TO THE CIVIL WAR .- 1845-1861.
Mexican War - The Underground Railway - The Tornado of '60 - Floods - War Senti- ment - Politics - Statistics - County Finances - Old Fashioned Temperance - A Fourth of July Celebration - Fox Hunt - A Mass Meeting in '60.
T THE Mexican war excited little interest and less enthusiasm in Clarion county. T. S. McCalmont, then a lawyer of Clarion, who was a West Point graduate, attempted to raise a company, but failed. Colonel Joseph W. Coul- ter obtained about fifteen signers to a volunteer paper ; not sufficient to effect an organization.1
THE " UNDERGROUND RAILROAD " IN CLARION COUNTY.
" The Underground Railroad " was the title given by Southerners to the secret organized dispatch of escaped slaves, through the north to Canada, and safe northern points. Few, even among the oldest citizens, have known that for years there was a systematic transportation of fugitive slaves through Clar- ion county, in other words, that one of the main lines of the Underground Rail- road passed through this county ; that there were no fewer than four stations here, and that the conductors were among the most respected and substantial citizens of the county.
The harboring and aiding of fugitive slaves was illegal (penalty by act of Congress, 1850, fine not exceeding $1,000, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, also civil damages), and the greatest care was exercised to conceal the operations of the movement ; the conveyance of the slaves from point to point was necessarily done by night, and so circumspectly and secretly was the work carried on that it was rare for those engaged in it to know who the agents were beyond their immediate stations.
The slaves who passed through western Pennsylvania were all from Vir-
1 The following are all I have been able to di cover who went to the Mexican war from Clarion county : Joseph Shaw, of Clarion ; James Mooney, of Strattanville, now of Clarion ; - Rodebaugh, a boy drummer, of Monroe township ; - Burns, near Curllsville.
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
ginia, and of the male sex. In escaping from their masters, they would start soon after nightfall, provided with horses whenever possible, and by the time their absence would be discovered they would have considerably handicapped their pursuers.
The first assisted fugitives (six in number) arrived in Clarion county in June, 1847, and from thence to 1855 they came from time to time, in num- bers from two to seven. For our purpose it suffices to trace the links of this mysterious chain back to Armstrong county.
Rev. John Hindman was an Associated (Seceder) minister, resident near Day- ton ; he received and forwarded the negroes to William Blair, of Porter town- ship, this county. Mr. Blair in turn sent them on to Rev. John McAuley, a Seceder clergyman, of Rimersburg. It appears that the majority of active abolitionists in this vicinity belonged to that denomination, a sect whose mem- bers, of the old school, were noted as men of strong and decided views, and resolute in carrying out their principles.
Mr. McAuley kept the " contrabands " in his barn, and under cover of dark- ness generally, sometimes in the twilight-through by paths-he, or his eldest son, brought them to the house of James Fulton, a member of his congrega- tion, who lived a little north of Rimersburg. Mr. Jackson Fulton, his son, in speaking of the first party, says : "One of these was a powerful man ; stood six feet, three or four inches, and weighed 240 or 250 pounds ; he told me that frequently when his master would go to whip him, he would catch him and hold him, and thereby he escaped many a whipping." The last, a twain, came in the spring of 1855. Mr. Fulton says : "One of these left a wife ; he told me if the Lord spared him to get through he would return and steal her. I said to him he would certainly be running a great risk. He said he would risk his life that they might enjoy their freedom together." Mr. James Fulton fed and cared for the fugitives, and then conveyed them by wagon to Benjamin Gardner, sr., of Licking township, two or three miles north of Callensburg.1 Mr. Gardner was an ardent abolitionist.
The next station was Elihu Chadwick's, of Rockland township, Venango county, sixteen miles away. Mr. Chadwick had several rooms in his commo- dious barn fitted up specially for the reception of his dusky protégés. The ven- erable Benjamin Gardner, jr., enables us to follow the fortunes of the last pair, mentioned by Mr. Fulton. He writes : "He (his father) concealed them in one compartment until dark, and then escorted them by the underground train to next station, but Mr. Chadwick was absent and father put them through that night to Franklin, twenty-five miles. He left his passengers at this end of the bridge and went over to see if the coast was clear, and on returning the darkies were missing, but upon reconnoitering the place he found them behind the abutment near the water's edge. Poor fellows! they thought they were abandoned."
1 Once or twice Mr. Fulton was bold enough to conduct them in daylight.
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THE TORNADO OF REDBANK VALLEY.
On the morning of May 30, 1860, a tornado swept up the valley of the Redbank, on its northern side, with disastrous effect, leveling houses and barns, uprooting trees and causing considerable loss of life. In appearance it was a large storm cloud of dense blackness, discharging little water, except along its borders, where there were heavy showers of rain and hail accompanied by con- tinuous flashes of lightning. The tornado varied in width from thirty rods to half a mile. Where it was narrowest its force was greatest, and it ploughed up the earth to the depth of two feet, hurled large stones through the air, forc- ing smaller ones into trees and wood to such a depth that they could not be ex- tricated. The tempest had a rolling, bounding movement, vaulting through the air at the height of about one hundred feet, and thus skipping portions of its terrestrial path.
It took its rise on the farm of Christopher Foster, in Sugar Creek township, Armstrong county ; ricocheted northeasterly over 'Madison township, that county, doing comparatively little injury there, and crossed the Redbank near the mouth of Leatherwood Creek. Its dire force was first felt in Clarion county, here, at the store of J. B. Hassen, which it wrecked. Hence it passed up the valley of the small tributary of Leatherwood in a northeast by east direc- tion. Mr. William Shoemaker's house was the next to suffer ; it was swept away with the exception of the rafters and the lower floor. Mr. Shoemaker had both legs broken; an infant was saved by being lowered through an open- ing in the floor. Neither the cradle in which the child had been lying, nor any parts of the house, barn or spring-house were ever found. The orchard was uprooted and carried off, and stones driven into some stumps.
The current seemed to follow the upper edge of the valley, hugging the first range of heights, and maintaining a general parallel course with Redbank. Flying embers from ruined houses set fire to barns, hay-mows, and stacks. These airy conflagrations were caught up by the cyclone and shot through the air in streams, in many places blasting vegetation and burning woodwork. The awe-stricken people mistook these fiery meteors for electric flames, and their appearance added to the terrors of the situation.
Another peculiarity of the storm was, that as a rule, where it passed a few feet above the ground, groves of trees were prostrated with their tops turned towards the quarter from whence the tempest came, having been snapped off near the earth and wrenched around, so as to make it appear to the casual ob- server that the tornado had come from a diametrically opposite direction. This wrenching effect, occasioned by the revolving motion of the cloud, was also seen in the moving of buildings from their foundations.
The next victim of its rage was Valentine Miller. The superstructure of. his log house was blown away, but the family, huddled about the chimney,
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
escaped unhurt. The daughter of Thomas Dougherty, about sixteen years of age, was killed by a falling log in attempting to escape from her father's house.
Continuing on its course, the destructive element leveled the homes of J. M. Henry, Joseph Smith and John McMillen, wounding the occupants more or less. Here the storm deflected slightly to the south, as the stream does. New Bethlehem fortunately escaped, the tempest passing half a mile north of it, destroying Charles Stewart's house and burning the barn. As the storm ap- proached it burst the door open. Mrs. Stewart exclaimed "What a storm is coming ! " and attempted to close the door, but while so doing the full fury of the tornado fell on the house and removed it some distance from its foundation. She was found lying between two rafters and beneath a heavy oak timber, whose crushing weight caused her death in a few hours. Her child, with its cradle, dropped into the cellar and miraculously escaped ; the rest of the family were hurled about in various directions, but not fatally injured. Stewart's barn was ignited " by what appeared to be a fluid, two feet thick, borne along by a dark cloud."
John Hilliard's house and barn were in turn destroyed. " The family es- caped death by taking refuge under a bed, and were rescued from the ruins of a stone chimney, which had tumbled around them." From Hilliard's the tor- nado appears to have leaped to John Mohney's, two miles distant, as we can trace no disasters in the interval. Mr. Mohney and his wife were absent at the time ; the children gathered in the cellar, the house was torn away from above their heads, but they escaped injury. A wheelbarrow here was found lodged unbroken in the top of a maple tree seventy-five rods distant. John Shick and his horses were blown over and over through a field about half a mile east of Mohney's, without serious harm. Jacob Hartzell's barn was razed, and his house to the first story.
Maysville, then a village of about twenty buildings, is situated on a flat at the foot of a precipitous hill bordering the Redbank. But its sheltered location was of no avail. The tornado, as if endowed with a perverse, demoniac in- stinct, instead of leaping over the stream from hilltop to hilltop, plunged sheer over the bank, tearing up the ground as it went, into the doomed village. It reached it about half past eleven A. M., and passed in a few minutes up the op- posite heights, leaving ruin and death behind it. Not a structure escaped. Mrs. Irvin McFarland was fatally injured by a jagged timber driven into her breast. Ida McFarland, her two-year old child, was lying in her cradle when the storm struck the house, and afterwards could be discovered nowhere. A great mass of brick lay where the cradle had been, and the work of removing them began. After a number had been thrown off, a smothered cry under- neath urged the frantic father to redouble his efforts ; when, lo ! the cradle was discovered bottom up, and underneath lay little Ida, alive and unhurt, except from a stray brick which had burned her arm. The wife of Mr. Haines, pro-
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prietor of the inn, was severely injured and her child killed. David Bachman was struck by a wagon and killed. Mr. John Hess and family, Mary Farris, and Mathew Light (an itinerant daguerreotypist) were severely injured.
The bridge across the Redbank here was torn away. Hess's grist-mill was destroyed ; one of the heavy buhrs was turned upside down, another carried to the dam, and the third fell into the mill pit.1 Mr. Haines's hotel was borne diagonally across the street and precipitated over the bank into the creek, above the bridge. The residence of Joseph Grabe was taken up bodily into the air.
The tornado, after leaving Maysville, continued up the valley of the Red- bank, but with abated violence, crossed the turnpike at Roseville, thence turned eastward, passed three miles south of Brookville, through Clearfield, Centre, and Union counties, and reached the ocean on the Jersey coast. It was only in Armstrong, Clarion, and Jefferson counties that it had the intensity of a tor- nado; elsewhere it was only a violent storm.
This calamity, happily the only one of the kind in our annals, is estimated to have destroyed $125,000 worth of property in Clarion county.
There was a destructive flood in the Clarion and Redbank the second week of October, 1847. All the bridges over those streams were swept away.
The greatest flood that ever occurred on the Clarion was that of Septem- 28-30, 1861. All the bridges then existing on the river-two near Clarion and the Callensburg, were carried off, and an immense quantity of rafts and timber were floated down. Beech Bottom mill, in Elk county, and a dwelling house were swept down by the waters, which ran at the rate of fourteen miles an hour.
The great frosts occurred on the nights of June 4 and II, 1859, killing nearly all vegetation, even to the leaves of trees. It was general over the country, and for a while caused great distress. For a time flour commanded $14 to $16 per barrel.
The feeling on the outbreak of the war is best illustrated by an account of the proceedings of a mass-meeting, held at the county seat, as reported in the Banner of April 26, 1861:
" Adjourned Meeting .- The war meeting met according to adjournment, on Monday evening, 22d, in the Presbyterian Church. The crowd was very large and enthusiastic. The opening address was made by Colonel Lamber- ton. A committee of nine was appointed to draft resolutions, and consists of Messrs. Lamberton, Reid, Campbell, R. D. Lawson, Samuel Wilson, Jacob Black, Rulofson, Maj. Turney, and W. J. Reynolds. During the absence of the committee, Amos Myers, esq., addressed the meeting and his remarks were re- ceived with applause. The committee on resolutions reported the following, which were read and adopted :
1 One account says that the book kept by the miller was found in Union county, one hundred miles distant.
9
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
" WHEREAS, Rebellious hands have been raised in armed violence against the legally constituted authorities of that Government, purchased with blood and framed by the wisdom of our forefathers. Therefore,
Resolved, That believing we truly represent the unanimous feelings of a people devoted in their loyalty to the Union and its government, we hereby pledge ourselves without reservation, to the maintenance of that Union and Government, with all the means that 'God and nature have placed in our power.'
Resolved, That prompt and effective measures should be at once taken, to organize military companies in Clarion county, to respond to the wants and call of the government; and we hereby recommend that means should be raised to give 'aid and comfort' to the families of those who gallantly march to the call of their country.
" Resolved, That for the purpose of aiding the patriot cause in our midst, of repressing lawless violence, of assisting in the military organization of the county ; and, in short, of adopting such measures as circumstances may war- rant, the following named citizens be constituted a committee of safety, who shall be invested with all needful and necessary powers for the advancement of the public good."
Then follows a long list of the members of this committee.
" The said Committee to have power to add, alter or change the names thereof as circumstances may warrant, and to organize immediately.
" It was suggested that all persons desiring to become members of either of the companies now forming, should come forward and sign the roll. Sev- eral additional names were received. After the transaction of some unim- portant business, the meeting adjourned in order to allow the companies to complete arrangements."
" Meeting of the Committee of Safety .- In accordance with the meeting held on the 22d, the Committee of Safety met on the morning of the 23d and elected the following officers and Committees :
" James Campbell, president ; J. B. Loomis, vice-president ; G. W. Arnold, secretary ; W. L. Corbett, treasurer.
" Finance Committee .- Amos Myers, C. L. Lamberton, James Sweney, R. Thorne, J. M. Freeman.
" Executive Committee .- Geo. W. Arnold, B. J. Reid, D. B. Curll, J. B. Lyon, Chas. M'Laughlin, Jas. Ross, Saml. Wilson, Jacob Black, J. P. Lyon.
" Relief Committee .- J. B. Knox, C. Kaufman, W. Alexander, W. T. Alex- ander, J. W. Coulter."
The executive committe issued the following :
" CIRCULAR.
"CLARION, April 24, 1861.
" SIR : War is upon us. Civil war, in stern and awful reality, already rages
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in our midst, and threatens to devastate the borders of our beloved Common- wealth. Our revered - our glorious flag has been fired upon and struck down by traitors to their country,- and an insurgent army, headed by a rebel chief, is marching against the CAPITOL itself. The very existence, as well as the honor of our country, is at stake, and it behooves every citizen to be a pat- riot, and to act a patriot's part now when our country demands, in an especial manner, our love, our fidelity, and our services.
" Clarion County should not be behind any of her sister counties in this mo- mentous crisis. The love of country beats as warmly in the bosoms of her her sons as it does in those of Jefferson or Armstrong. Yet the noble youth and manhood of these and other counties have set us an example, in the alac- rity with which they have responded to their country's call. Let us not sleep at our post. Let us emulate their chivalrous conduct. Let it never be said that Clarion County has faltered in her duty, or hesitated in her action in such a crisis. Let us prove now, in the hour of trial, that we value as dearly as any the priceless legacy bequeathed to us by the patriots of the Revolution, and that we are ready to do our full share in protecting and defending it, and hand- ing it down unimpaired to posterity. Let us arouse to deliberation and to ac- tion, each in his own sphere, and according to his means and opportunities,- and laying aside all former distinctions let us be united as one man under our country's banner, and animated by one spirit,- the spirit of earnest, patriotic, self-sacrificing devotion to the Government, the Constitution and the Union.
"It is therefore, that the undersigned Executive Committee, acting under the authority of the County Committee of Safety, address this circular to you, con- fident that you take an active interest in our country's cause, and that from your position and influence in your locality you can render efficient aid in pro- moting the objects for which the Committeee of Safety was appointed. These objects are :
"I. To call the attention of every citizen to the urgency of the crisis, and the importance of showing his fidelity and rendering his services to the country, in one shape or another.
" 2. To canvass every locality for efficient and patriotic volunteers, to form themselves into military companies in their own or adjoining neighborhoods, for drill and practice,-so as to be in readiness for answering the call of the Governor whenever more troops may be needed.
"3. To give assurance that ample arrangements will be made by the proper Committees for the support of the families of all who may enter the service.
" In addition to the Executive Committee, the County Committee of Safety have appointed a Finance Committee, to raise funds for this and other necessary purposes, and a Relief Committee, to apportion the supplies of money, provisions, clothing, &c., among the families of volunteers. These Committees will ap- point and duly notify sub-committees in the different election districts, and you
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
will please request the citizens of your vicinity to contribute only at the call of those duly commissioned for that purpose by the Finance Committee.
"We enclose you herewith some blank muster-rolls to take charge of your- self, and to put in the hands of active and earnest volunteers or military men of your neighborhood, at your discretion. Let each man who holds a muster-roll report to Geo. W. Arnold, Secretary of this Committee, by mail or otherwise, the names of the persons enrolled, at the close of every week. This is impor- tant. Where companies are formed or started, no matter how few in numbers, they should be urged to meet frequently for drill. The Secretary or any mem- ber of this Committee may be corresponded with or called upon at any time, for further information upon anything connected with these and kindred matters.
" Relying upon your hearty co-operation in this important juncture, we are, "Very respectfully yours,
66 JAMES CAMPBELL, President, GEORGE W. ARNOLD, Secretary,
B. J. REID,
DANIEL B. CURLL, JAMES ROSS, JACOB B. LYON,
J. PATTON LYON,
JACOB BLACK,
SAMUEL WILSON,
CHARLES M'LAUGHLIN. " Executive Committee."
POLITICS.
In 1854 the Native American movement revived. George W. Zeigler, of Jefferson county (and Thomas McGee, of Clarion) were nominated by the Democracy of the district for the Legislature. Zeigler was elected by a sur- prisingly heavy majority, and it transpired that the Democrats had been duped into voting for a man of Know-Nothing proclivities, and who had been secretly, but strongly supported by the Know-Nothing element. In 1855 the Whig party became completely merged in the Native American, and came out openly as such. Their county ticket polled 1,630 votes, against an average of 2,075 Democratic. 1856 saw the birth of the Republican party.
The Free Soil, or Anti-Lecompton wing of the Democratic party, did not gain large accessions in Clarion county. The majority of the leaders, the press, and the machinery of the party were with Buchanan and the Lecompton con- stitution ; and at the polls the masses fell into line. Even the leaders who took courage to proclaim themselves Anti-Lecompton, with a few exceptions fin- ally succumbed to partisan pressure. Temporarily, though, the dissenters were respectable in numbers and influence. Judge Gillis, of Ridgway, had been elected to Congress from this district. In canvassing the county he made repeated and emphatic pledges of his intention, if elected, to resist the admis- sion of any more slave States to the Union. When President Buchanan, in 1858, sent in a message to Congress, recommending the admission of Kansas, with a slavery constitution, Gillis wavered between allegiance to the administra- tion and fidelity to his pledges. In this dilemma he consulted his constituents.
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FROM IRON ERA TO CIVIL WAR.
He addressed a letter, stating the difficulties of his situation, to Charles L. Lamberton, a leading politician of Clarion. Lamberton hastily summoned J. B. Knox, J. C. Reid, James Sweny, B. J. Reid, and a few other local Democrats of prominence to consult ; they unanimously agreed that Gillis's only course was to stand firm, and so advised him. The mail was kept open till a late hour that night in order that the reply might go the next morning. It appears that Gillis had similar advices from his other lieutenants; but all in vain. The news soon came that Congressman Gillis had voted pro-slavery, and it aroused con- siderable indignation. When he ran the second time he was rebuked by de- feat. Chapin Hall, of Warren, was his successful opponent. The opposition ticket in this county ran as an independent one. B. J. Reid, of Clarion, and R. S. McCormick, of Franklin, both Democrats, stumped Clarion county against Gillis.
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