USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 9
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In September, 1882, a contract was made with Messrs. Thorn & Burchfield for the construction of an addition on the rear of the court-house, and remod- eling the roof and upper part of the former building. By this addition, the sher- iff's present office, the large arbitration room, part of the district attorney's office, and closets were annexed on the ground floor. On the floor above there was added the grand and traverse jurors' rooms, attorneys' rooms, with a library room above, reached by a spiral iron stairway, witnesses' waiting-room, and closets. Changes were also made in the roof to the old part, and the whole is now slated. The county officers' rooms are provided with a fire-proof deposit- ory for records. The building is heated throughout with steam. The price paid the contractors for the additions made in 1882-3 was about $35,897.
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
The upper floor is reached by three stairways, one on either side in the front of the building, and one in the rear leading to the attorneys' and jurors' rooms. The exterior presents a plain, neat, and tasteful appearance without evidence of any elaborate architectural display. The building was constructed with a view to utility and convenience rather than outward appearance and show.
Many are the important causes tried within its walls, which have called here some of the ablest lawyers of the State ; and among these suits, civil and crim- inal, a few may appropriately be recalled.
Pruner and Burleigh vs. Dr. David Houtz was several times tried here and in Centre county, and also in the United States Court. Dr Houtz will be re- membered as the founder of Houtzdale. The plaintiff was represented by John G. Miles, esq., of Huntingdon county, one of the leading lawyers of the State, and Hon. Joseph B. McEnally, of Clearfield. For the defense were Hon. Will- iam A. Wallace and and Hon. H. Bucher Swoope. This was a land case and involved a large tract in the vicinity of Houtzdale. The final determination was a verdict in favor of the defendant.
In 1867 was tried the celebrated forgery case, the Commonwealth versus Daniel Polhamus. Judge Barrett presided by special request of Judge Sam- uel Linn. William A. Wallace for the Commonwealth, and H. Bucher Swoope for the prisoner. Polhamus was convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary, but subsequently pardoned.
About the same time the Hagerty will case was tried. Hagerty was an eccentric person, and possessed a large amount of lands, two thousand acres or thereabouts. He made large bequests to religious and charitable societies, but died within thirty days after making his will. This made the instrument void- able. One bequest to the Presbyterian Church society at the " Cross Roads," was made on condition that they, in church meetings, should sing only Rouse's version of David's Psalms. The will was contested, Judge McEnally appear- ing for the contestants, and Senator Wallace and H. Bucher Swoope for the executors. The suit was brought in equity, and judgment and decree rendered in favor of the contestants. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, and the judgment of the lower court affirmed.
The Commonwealth versus Mary Miller, indicted by the grand jury for the murder of her husband. This case was tried before Judge Samuel Linn and a jury. William M. McCullough and H. Bucher Swoope for the people, and William A. Wallace and J. B. McEnally for the prisoner. Mrs. Miller was con- victed and sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was executed in the month of October, 1867. Mary Miller was the first person hanged in Clearfield county. Cathcart, the wife murderer, was formally convicted and sentenced, but suicided before the day fixed for execution of the sentence.
The largest verdict ever rendered in the county was in the case of Ynicen- cio Casinova versus the Derby Coal Company, an action growing out of a coal
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ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
transaction. William A. Wallace appeared for the plaintiff, and Hon. George R. and Walter Barrett for the defendant. Although the cause was an important one from the amount involved, it did not attract much attention from the pub- lic. The verdict for the plaintiff was the sum of $285,000.
No case tried in the county has caused such widespread comment and excitement as that known as the conspiracy trial. In all there were fifty-six persons, miners in the Houtzdale region, who were organized strikers. They were indicted for conspiracy from force of numbers by overawing the people. Riotous acts were proved. The first case against John Maloney and fifty three others was tried in 1875, before Judge Orvis and a jury. Wallace, Krebs & Fielding for the Commonwealth, and Hon. George R. Barrett and Walter Bar- rett, esq., for the prisoners. They were all found guilty. Four were sentenced to one year's imprisonment, eight for six months, and sentence suspended as to the balance. As every member of every organized labor society was inter- ested in the result, the events of the trial and verdict were telegraphed all through the country.
This was followed by the trial of the remaining two offenders on that occa- sion, John Siney, and Xingo Parks. Siney was not one of the strikers, but was known as a State organizer. He came to Houtzdale and delivered an in- flammatory address, for which he was arrested. On the trial Siney was acquitted, but Parks was found guilty of inciting unlawful assembly. He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, but pardoned within a month from the time sen- tence was pronounced. Judge Orvis presided. Wallace, Krebs & Fielding for the Commonwealth, Hon. Mattew Carpenter, of Wisconsin ; ex-Attorney Gene- ral Frank Hughes, Hon. George R. Barrett, and Walter Barrett, esq., counsel for the accused.
The Commonwealth against Martin D. Turner, for the murder of Maria Waple, the divorced wife of Thomas Waple. The case was tried before Judge Orvis and a jury, at the March Sessions, 1877. Counsel for the Commonwealth, Thomas H. Murray, Frank Fielding, and William M. Mccullough. For the accused, William A. Wallace, David L. Krebs, George R. Barrett, and Walter Barrett. Verdict, guilty of murder in the first degree. The prisoner was sen- tenced to be hanged, but on an appeal to the Supreme Court, the judgment was reversed and a new trial ordered. The place of trial was changed from Clear- field to Clinton county, and, on the trial thereof, the jury rendered a verdict of " not guilty." In Clinton county Judge Mayer presided.
The several suits of Bascom versus Arthurs, and the cross-suits of Arthurs versus Bascom, in their day created some comment, and occupied the time and attention of the courts for several terms. They were all controversies relating to land titles. They became prominent through the eminent counsel engaged on the trial. Bascom was represented by Hon. George R. Barrett, Hon. J. B. McEnally, and in the early stages of the litigation, by Hon. Isaac G. Gordon, of
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
Brookville, Pa., and Hon. H. Bucher Swoope. The Arthurs interest was championed by Hon. George A. Jenks, of Brookville, and the law firm of Wal- lace & Krebs.
The last case of special importance was the Commonwealth versus John A. Nevling, on an indictment charging him with the murder of Samuel Penning- ton, at Houtzdale, on the 17th day of February, 1880. Nevling was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was executed by Sheriff James Mahaffey, on the 24th day of March, 1882, at Clearfield. Judge Charles A. Mayer presided at the trial. The counsel were, for the Commonwealth, Dis- trict-Attorney Joseph F. McKenrick, assisted by Mr. Chase, a local lawyer, then living at Houtzdale; and for the prisoner, Messrs. McEnally & McCurdy, of Clearfield.
CHAPTER X.
FROM. 1810 TO 1843.
Pioneer Settlements After 1810 -- Population in 1810- The First Murder - Events of the War of 1812-15 -- Peace - Election Districts Prior to 1843 - Record of the Floods on the West Branch - The Pumpkin Flood - Drowning of John and Ellis Graham - Gorges at the Pee Wee's Nest.
D URING the early years of the present century, settlement by families in the newly created county was exceedingly slow, and every effort toward improvement was opposed by incredible hardships, privations, and toil. Upon the families who came here earlier than the year 1810, fell the brunt of the battle for colonization and existence. All honor, then, to those sturdy, deter- mined pioneers-all honor to their families, their wives, their children, who by patient and unceasing toil laid the foundation upon which the county has since been built and enlarged by new-comers. At this time a comparatively small portion of the county had been settled, and no attempt had yet been made at improvement in the districts of the county away from the water-courses. The vast wooded country on the north and northwest was, as yet, unexplored, and only an occasional path leading into timbered districts, was known; but, as the land on the streams was gradually taken up and improved, the new immi- grants were obliged to work their way into the hitherto unoccupied regions. Of the many that came, some few turned back down the river and across the county, to the more thickly settled country on the east. The early families on the east side of the county were mainly from Centre county, while those on the south and southeast came from Huntingdon and the counties beyond.
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FROM 1810 TO 1843.
Settlement began but exceedingly slow in the western part. James Wood- side, Joab Ogden, and a very few others had made homes there, but the larger streams and their valleys received the new-comers. For about two years preceding the war with Great Britain, in 1812-15, many new residents came and settled in various sections; but during, and subsequent to that struggle, settlement and improvement by particular families became almost wholly lost in the general growth and prosperity. In 1810 the county had a population of about nine hundred, and at the end of the next decade of years it was increased nearly threefold. In 1808 there were but three election districts in the county-Chincleclamousche, Bradford, and Beccaria. Among the settlers and families that came to the county about the years 1810-15, the names of some can be given.
Thomas Kirk came from the township of Half Moon, Centre county, and made a clearing upon which he built a cabin. His family came the year fol- lowing, 1811. He died after a few years, and was buried at the old grave- yard near the present county seat.
Soon after, John Kirk, a brother of Thomas, came to the county and located on the west side, in what is now Brady township.
The family of Lebbeus Luther came to the settlements on the river about this time, but in 1820 he left the river and moved to the locality of Luthers- burg, which was named in his honor, on the old Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike. He was made agent for the Fox lands, and also kept a tavern at that place. In 1828 Lebbeus Luther was made sheriff of the county. He afterwards went to Elk county.
Samuel Johnson made a settlement near where Pennville now stands, about the year 1810. From him has descended some of the substantial families of the county.
George Philip Geulich came to the county in 1811, as a representative of the Allegheny Coal Company, for the purpose of examining the coal fields which were reported to be in the county. He, and a companion, remained through the winter, staying with the family of Alexander Read. On informa- tion given by Geulich, the Ringgold tract on Clearfield Creek was bought, and the company afterward purchased about four thousand acres across from the Moshannon, in the Karthaus locality. George Philip Geulich married Sarah Haney, who bore him ten children. In 1830 he was chosen county treasurer. Geulich township, in the south part of the county, was named in honor of George Philip Geulich.
Alexander B. Reed was born in Lancaster county in 1786. At the age of twenty-five years, while at Big Island, he met John Ferguson and came with him to this county, in the winter of 1811. He made his home for a time with the family of Hugh Hall. In 1815 he married Rachel Read, and took up lands about a mile north of Hall's place, but did not occupy it at once. The chil-
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
dren born to Alexander B. and Rachel Reed, were : Maria Jane, who married William Bigler, late governor of the State; Henrietta Ann, Read A., George Latimer, William Milton, and Rebecca, who married John F. Weaver. Wil- liam Reed, father of Alexander B. Reed, did not come here until 1813. Alex- ander B. was familiarly known as "Black Alex.," to distinguish him from Alexander Read, who was called "Red Alex." The children of Maria J. (Reed) Bigler by her marriage with William Bigler, were: Reed, John W., William D., Edmund A., and Harry F. William Bigler was elected governor in 1851. George Latimer Reed married Sarah E. Weaver. The children of William Reed, the father of Alexander B., were : Isabella, Jane, Sally, James, Alexander B., Betsey, Polly, and William.
About the time that the war of 1812-15 broke out, a number of families came to the county from New Jersey, and other parts of the east. Among them was William B. Wright, who located in the vicinity of Glen Hope. One of his sons, A. K. Wright, became a prominent figure in local affairs, having held the offices of sheriff and associate judge. Another son, John W., was chosen county treasurer and justice of the peace. Benjamin B. Wright was also a prominent personage.
Dr. Keagy, a relative of the Wright family, came here about the same time, or soon afterward. He located about a mile below Wright's, on the creek.
Amasa Smith also settled near the site of the present hamlet of Janesville, and became proprietor of "Smith's Mills."
George Shaffer became one of the pioneers of the west part of the county, now Sandy township, in 1812. He had a wife and four sons-George, John, Frederick, and Michael-all of whom came here together. They settled south of Sandy Lick Creek.
Three brothers-James, Benjamin, and Thomas Carson-located about a mile west of Luthersburg. They came from Westmoreland county in the year 1814.
In the same year Joseph Packer located in that vicinity. He bored for salt at Luthersburg, but found none of that commodity.
Daniel Barrett was born in Centre county. He came to this county in about the year 1813 or '14, and located at Curwensville. His children were : Maria, Keziah, George R., James C., Isaac L., Enoch L, Henrietta, and Philo W.
James I. Thorn came to the mouth of Little Clearfield Creek in the year 1814, at which place he built for Robert Elder, of Half Moon, Centre county, a tavern, a saw-mill, and a woolen, or fulling-mill, as it was better known. Mr. Elder never resided in this county, but owned a tract of land and employed Thorn to erect the buildings. This was about the first fulling-mill built in the county. The children of James I. Thorn were : Joseph, George, Boswell C., Thetes P., and Hannah.
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FROM 1810 TO 1843.
In the year 1813 the townships of Lawrence and Pike were carved out of old Chincleclamousche, and the early settlement of the families within their boundaries becomes a part of those townships.
It was about this time that the first murder was committed within the boundaries of Clearfield county. James Monks shot and killed Reuben Giles while the latter was passing along the old State road, about three miles from Curwensville. The facts, as near as can be ascertained, are these : Giles was traveling along the highway on horseback. He was well dressed, and his appearance indicated that he might be possessed of considerable money. He met Daniel Barrett and inquired for the nearest tavern, and was informed that he would have to turn back a distance of about one and a half miles to Nancy Ross's. He then asked the distance to the next tavern ahead, and Mr. Barrett told him it was about three miles to the place kept by Wrigley. Giles said he thought he could get there before dark, and started on his journey. Daniel Barrett was the last man that saw Giles alive, except Monks. The latter had been in the settlement attending a shooting match, and hunting. When Giles's body was found, suspicion rested on Monks, and a search was made for him. He was traced down the river to the Karthaus vicinity, and from thence to Milesburg. He took this unusual route in order to keep as much as possible away from the regularly traveled road, and avoid discovery. He was arrested, and tried at Bellefonte, and found guilty. In a confession made just before he was to be hung, Monks said he waited until Giles had passed him on the road, and then shot him in the back, robbed the body and concealed it it among some logs just off the road.
A
War of 1812-15. During the five years next preceeding the year 1812 the whole country was in a state of nominal peace and an era of prosperity ; but still throughout these years there was gathering in the political horizon a dark cloud, which was to plunge the nation into another foreign war.
In 1776, and the years following, America fought Great Britain for her in- dependence, and achieved a recognition among the powers of the earth.
In 1812 she again engaged in war against the mother country, to maintain that independence which in years past had been forcibly acquired.
The United States had scrupulously observed the provisions of the treaty of peace made with Great Britain at the close of the Revolution. There had been maintained, too, a strict neutrality during the progress of the Napoleonic war with the British kingdom, when perhaps every consideration of gratitude. should have induced a participation in it as against the mother country. For- several years the aggressive acts of the British had been a subject of anxiety and regret, and feelings of animosity increased on this side of the Atlantic. The embargo laid by Congress upon the shipping in American ports was found so injurious to commercial interests that it was repealed, and the non-inter- course act passed in its stead. In April, 1809, the English ambassador in 12
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
Washington opened negotiations for the amicable adjustment of existing diffi- culties, and consented to the withdrawal of the obnoxious " orders in council," so far as they affected the United States, on condition that the non-intercourse act with Great Britain should be repealed. This was agreed upon, and the president issued a proclamation announcing that, on the 10th day of June, trade with Great Britain might be resumed. The English government, however, refused to ratify the proceedings and the minister was recalled, whereupon the president revoked his proclamation, and the non-intercourse act again became operative.
Beside the odious acts in the British parliament, injurious and insulting in their character, the English officers claimed the right to search American ves- sels, seize all who were suspected of being subjects of the king, and force them into their service. Under cover of this claim the greatest outrages were per- petrated, and by it many true and loyal persons were pressed into the service of Great Britain, both against their inclination and the well-established proof of their identity.
On the 12th of June, 1812, President James Madison sent a confidential + communication to Congress, in which he recapitulated the long list of the Brit- ish aggressions, and declared it the duty of Congress to consider whether the American people should longer passively submit to the accumulated wrongs and insults perpetrated by the British, and at the same time he cautioned the House to avoid entanglements in the contests and views of other powers.
War was formally declared on the 19th day of June, 1812, but the measure was not universally sustained in some parts of the Middle and New England States. The opposing element was embraced in the Federal party, its chief ground of opposition being the fact that the country was not prepared for war. The Federalists constituted a large and influential minority of the political element of Congress, and had a considerable following in the several States not in active politics. They asked for further negotiations, and met the de- nunciations made by the ruling party (that is, the Democratic and Republican, for it went by both names) upon the English government, with savage and bitter attacks on Napoleon, whom they accused the majority with favoring.
The events of the war that followed we need not recall here. There was no conflict of arms within this Commonwealth, and no hostile foot was set on Pennsylvania soil. Governor Snyder issued a call for fourteen thousand militia, and so prompt and hearty was the response, that nearly three times that number prepared and volunteered for the service.
The results of the struggle for right and justice, over wrong and oppression, are written in the conflicts on Lake Erie, the repulse of the invaders on the Delaware, the distressing scenes on the Chesapeake, the invasion of New York, and the attempt to control the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. The battle at Plattsburg, the capture of Niagara and Oswego, the burning of Newark,
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FROM 1810 TO 1843.
the battle at Black Rock, Lundy's Lane, and the occupation of poorly defended posts on the southern and southeastern frontier, the battle at New Orleans, the withdrawal and surrender of the British forces, and the final treaty of peace, which was ratified February 17, 1815. The Americans had fought their last battle with a foreign foe.
Early Election Districts .- An occasional reference has been made to the early election districts of the county. These locations were fixed from time to time as settlement increased in various localities, and a statement of the places at which they were held and established, will prove of some interest.
On the 14th day of March, 1805, an act of the General Assembly declared the whole county of Clearfield to be an election district, and provided that the electors of the county should hold their elections at the house of Benjamin Jordon.
Beccaria and Bradford townships were formed in 1807, and in the year fol- lowing they were, with a part of Half Moon township of Centre county, formed into a separate election district, and the electors were, by the act of March 28, 1808, directed to hold their elections at the house of John Gearhart, in Brad- ford township.
No further changes were made until the year 1813, when, by a law passed March 29th, that part of the township of Chincleclamousche lying on the waters of the Sinnamahoning, and a large country to the westward, was formed into a separate election district, and the electors thereof were directed to hold their elections at the house of Andrew Overdorf, at the forks of the Sinnamahoning Creek.
A division was made in the Bradford district by an act approved March 24, 1817, which provided that Beccaria township and that part of Bradford lying south of an east line, beginning at the mouth of Wheatland Run and running thence direct to the Moshannon Creek, should form a separate election dis- trict, and the elections were directed to be held at the house of John Cree, in Beccaria township. The same act also provided that the portion of Rush township in Centre county lying west of the Allegheny mountains, and that part of Bradford township in Clearfield county, lying north of a line beginning at the mouth of Wheatland Run, and running thence direct to the Moshannon, should constitute a separate district, and that the elections should be held at the house of George Smeal, in Bradford township.
In this same year a change was made in old Chincleclamousche township, by which the place of holding elections was changed from the house of Ben- jamin Jordon to the house of William Bloom.
The organization of Covington township was completed in May, 1817, but it was not made a separate election district until 1818. The electors were directed to hold their elections at the house of Hugh Biddle, esq., in that town- ship.
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
By virtue of a law passed April 2, 1821, the township of Lawrence was declared to be a separate district, and the electors were directed to meet for election purposes at the court-house, in the town of Clearfield.
In 1822 the township of Fox and the west part of Gibson were formed into a separate district, and the elections were held at the house of James Green, sr., in Fox township.
The place of holding elections in Covington township was changed by the act of March 31, 1823, from the house of Hugh Biddle to the house of Jacob Maurer. The same act further provided that the freemen of Gibson township should hold their elections at the house of Levi Hicks. The west part of Gib- son had heretofore been annexed to Fox township for election purposes. Pike township was also directed to hold elections therein, at the house of James Blair in Curwensville.
In 1828, by a law passed April 14, the place of meeting for elections was changed to the house of John Kyler.
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