History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 77

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc > Part 77

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A number of persons who have held official positions are not included in this list, because, although at one time residents of the township, they were not such when elected. Among the number is Gen. D. B. McCreary, a native of Mill Creek, who has been Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Reg- iment, Assemblyman for three terms, and Adjutant General of the State from 1867 to 1870; Hon. G. J. Ball, elected State Treasurer in 1849, and Assem- blyman in 1847 and 1848, and 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856 and 1860, was a citizen of the township for many years; A. B. Gunnison, elected County Commis- sioner in 1875 and re-elected in 1878, resided in Mill Creek from 1854 to 1873, when he moved to the city.

MISCELLANEOUS.

From Weigleville, there are two routes into the city, the one by way of Federal Hill, and the other by Brown's avenue. The latter is due to the foresight of the late Conrad Brown, who rightly judged that a more direct route from the western part of the city to the Ridge road would be a popular project. He laid out the avenue eighty feet wide in 1868, and was rewarded by selling off a large portion of his farm for city lots at good prices. The car works starting about the same time helped greatly in effecting the sales. The road which turns to the south by the rolling mill affords a short cut from the Lake road to the Ridge road, which is about a mile distant. It was laid out in 1833. This road and the one by the Catholic Cemetery are each about a mile in length.

A formidable swamp once extended across Mill Creek Township from east to west, at the foot of the First Ridge. Within Erie City, it lay between Twelfth and Eighteenth streets, and was so gloomy and impenetrable that the land was regarded by the first settlers as almost valueless. As early as 1810, however, William Wallace, who owned a strip from the east branch of Cas- cade Creek westward, dug a ditch which had the effect of reclaiming a portion of the swamp. About 1840, the inhabitants of the vicinity, alarmed by the sickness occasioned by the swamp, formed a bee and dug another ditch across the Lake road through the, farms of E. J. Kelso and James C. Marshall, which still further reclaimed the waste land. These and other measures have nearly dried up the swamp, and in a few years no trace of it will remain. In the early days, deer, bears, wild geese and ducks, rabbits and partridges were plenty in the woods and wilds of the lake shore region. There were numer- ous deer licks convenient to the city, especially on the east side.

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

The town hall is a good brick building on Federal Hill, within the city limits. The township business is transacted there, and it is the voting place for East Mill Creek, that of West Mill Creek being at Weigleville. Erie and Mill Creek voted together at the court house as late as the Presidential elec- tion of 1832.

The Schwingel farm, near Kearsarge, was the scene of a dreadful tragedy on the night of Friday, the 15th of October, 1880. Charles Schwingel, with some neighbors, had spent the evening drinking hard cider and playing cards. Philip, his brother, came home from Erie late at night very drunk. After the neighbors had left, at the request of Charles' wife-the hour being late- Charles and Philip fell into a dispute, which resulted in the death of the for- mer by a pistol shot fired by the latter. Philip was tried, convicted of man- slaughter and sentenced to the Allegheny Penitentiary.

The assessment of Mill Creek Township for 1883 gave the following re- sults: Value of real estate, $2,548,445; cows, 1,393; value, $34,157; oxen, 40; value, $2,025; horses and mules, 901; value, $49,820; value of trades and occupations, $26,535; money at interest, $49,400.

CHAPTER II.

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF WATERFORD.

THE township of Waterford was established and received its name at the T organization of Erie County. It is the largest in the county, containing 29,516 acres. The boundary lines are nearly the same as when the township was organized, the only exceptions being a small district annexed from Wash- ington, and another from Summit. The latter is the jog or handle in the north- west, embracing the Strong place, which has been at various times in Mckean, Greene and Summit, and was finally attached to Waterford through the exer- tions of Capt. Martin Strong, who wished to close his life in the township of his original residence in the county. Waterford is bounded on the north by Sum- mit and Greene; on the east by Amity and Union; on the south by LeBœuf and Washington, and on the west by Washington and McKean. The greatest breadth of the township from north to south is five and three-fourths miles, and the greatest width from east to west nine and one-half miles. Its popu- lation, as given in the United States census report, was 579 in 1820, 1,006 in 1830, 1,144 in 1840, 1,545 in 1850, 1,950 in 1860, 1,884 in 1870, and 1,822 in 1880, these figures after 1830 being exclusive of Waterford Borough. The post office at the latter place is the only one in the township. The assessment of 1883 gave the following results: Value of real estate, $830,718; number of cows, 1,322; of oxen, 36; of horses and mules, 519; value of the same, $80, 185; value of trades and occupations, $18,890; money at interest, $13,838.

LANDS OF THE TOWNSHIP.

The best lands in Waterford Township lie below Lake LeBœuf, along its outlet, are level and very fertile, and have an average width between the ridges of perhaps a mile and a half. Above the lake the flats range from one to two miles in width, and the land is of a good quality, but a great deal of it is swampy and unfit for cultivation at present, though being gradually drained.

Samuel M Broun

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WATERFORD TOWNSHIP.

Good valleys also exist along Benson, Boyd and Trout Runs. The valley of French Creek becomes very narrow as it courses through Waterford Town- ship, not reaching more than half a mile in the widest place. Every kind of fruit, grain and vegetable peculiar to our climate can be raised on the flat lands, but they are seriously affected by the frosts. Aside from the valleys here de- scribed, which embrace but a small portion of the township, the balance of the land is hilly, though almost every part is capable of cultivation. The hill farms have a clay soil, and are more free from frosts than the valleys. Wheat is readily raised on all of them, and fruits do better than within the valleys. The hills rise in some places to a considerable height, the loftiest elevations being at Strong's, in the northwest; I. Y. Lunger's, in the south; Robert Hood's, in the east, and at Oak Hill and Cottrell's Hill, in the southeast. A good deal of timber is still left in the township. The price of land ranges from $40 to $60 along the outlet, and from $25 to $50 in the balance of the township, being most valuable in the vicinity of the borough.

The Tenth Donation District commenced in Waterford Township about a mile east of the borough, and extended across Amity and Wayne Townships to the Warren County line. The Reserved Tract was a body of 1,800 acres in Waterford Township, and 400 in LeBœuf, all lying south of the present bor- ough, which was set apart from the operation of the general settlement law for reasons elsewhere given. A similar Reserve was withheld around Erie. An act was passed in 1799 authorizing the land to be sold in lots of 100 acres each. The first sale took place in 1800, and most of the tract was disposed of by 1804.

In 1856, during the construction of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, a sink-hole was encountered on the Benson farm, about a mile northeast of Waterford Borough, which has ever since remained a subject of interest and argument. Tamarack Swamp, in the northeastern part of the township, and extending into Mckean, is about two miles long by 100 rods wide. About two- thirds of the swamp are in Waterford and the balance in Mckean. The swamp will ultimately be drained, and the land will be very productive.

TAX LIST IN 1813.

The following is a list of the tax payers in Waterford Township in the year 1813: James Anderson, Nancy Alexander, Reuben Alexander, E. and D. Alvord, Benjamin Avery, Benjamin Blythe, William Boyd, John Boyd, John M. Baird, James Boyd, George Buehler, Richard Braden, Robert Brotherton, Holbert Barnett, William Benson, Ichabod Brackett, Mathew Blair, James Benson, William T. Codd, Isaac Craig, George Cochran, Judah Colt, James Campbell, D. Collison, Henry Colt, John Clemmens, Jeremiah Curtis, Will- iam Culbertson, Ebenezer Dwinnell, John Eagleson, Peter Ford, Philip Greg- ory, Samuel Grimes, Carson Graham, John Greenwood, Walter How, Aaron Himrod, Moses Himrod, Anor Hull, Isaac Hawley, Samuel Hewlings, John Henry, Francis B. Holmes, Hugh Hamilton, Thomas Humphreys, William Hood, James Hamilton, William Himrod, Samuel Jewet, Amos Judson, Thomas R. Kennedy, Daniel King, Thomas King, William Knox, Thomas Layland, John Lattimore, James Lattimore, John Lenox, John Lytle, Alex McElroy, David Middleton, Francis Morrison, John McNair, David McNair, John Mullen, Israel Mullen, John Mace, Charles Martin, James McDonald, Charles Martin, Jr., James McKay, Naylor & Wilson, Joseph Osborn, James Oliver, Isaac Pherron, Adam Pollock, David Phillips, Thomas Prentiss, Jabez Parker, Joseph Reynolds, Rufus S. Reed, George W. Reed, Thomas Rees, James Ross, Jonathan Stratton, William Simpson, Lemuel Stancliff, Martin

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

Strong, Andrew Simpson, Elizabeth Skinner, Wilson Smith, Russell Stancliff, Solomon Snell, Levi Strong, Rufus Trask, Sr., Rufus Trask, Jr., James Thom- as, Samuel Trask, Turnpike Company, Robert Townley, Jr., Joshua Tilden, John Tracy, William Vankirk, John Vincent, Eli Webster, Ellis William, Jacob Watkins, Archibald Watson, Henry Woodworth.

The total tax assessed in 1813 was $410.25, and the militia fines $384. Farm land was assessed at from $1.50 to $2 per acre, inlots at $20 to $60 each and outlots at $30 to $50 each.

STREAMS AND LAKE.

The streams of Waterford Township are French Creek, which flows through its southeast corner for about three miles, from Amity to Le Bœuf; the outlet of Lake Pleasant, which courses for about a mile through its northeast corner, from Venango to Amity; and LeBoeuf Creek with its branches. LeBœuf Creek-known to the French as the River aux Bœufs, and named by them from the number of cattle discovered on the flats below Wa- terford-runs through the center of the township from Greene on the north to LeBœuf Township on the south, where it joins French Creek. It has two main branches, one rising on the edge of Greene and Venango, and the other in Summit, which unite near the Greene and Waterford boundary, almost at the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad bridge. Just below Waterford Borough, the creek enters Lake LeBœuf, and after leaving it is generally known by the title of "The Outlet." Its length in the township is not far from ten miles, and its total length about twenty. Boyd Run and Trout Run rise in the west part of the township, and empty into Lake LeBoeuf on its north side, the first being about five and the second about two miles in length. Trout Run is formed by the junction of Black Run and Bagdad Run, the one rising in Tam- arack Swamp and the other in the extreme western part of the township. They unite on the farm of Mrs. Phelps, west of the borough. Benson Run starts on the M. Avery place, and after a course of some two miles, falls into LeBœuf Creek near Brotherton's Mill. Davis Run empties into French Creek near the Newman Bridge, and Moravian Run joins the same stream in LeBœuf Township. The first stream rises near the Colt Station road, and is about four miles long. The second has its head in the Ormsbee settlement, and a length in Waterford of perhaps two miles. The valleys of Benson Run and Moravian Run form the route bv which the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad crosses from LeBœuf Creek to French Creek. Lake LeBœuf is about two-thirds of a mile long by half a mile wide, with a picturesque island near its center. It receives LeBœuf Creek and Boyd and Trout Runs, and its outflow is appar- ently greater than its inflow, from which it is surmised that the lake must be fed by springs in the bottom.

ROADS, BRIDGES AND MILLS.

The only railroad of Waterford is the Philadelphia & Erie, which enters it from Greene by the valley of LeBœuf Creek and passes across the township from north to southeast into LeBoeuf. Its nearest approach to Waterford Borough is at Waterford Station, a mile east. The leading public roads are the old Erie & Waterford Turnpike, the Erie & Waterford plank, the Colt's Station, the Waterford & Wattsburg, the Flats road to Mill Village, the Waterford & Meadville pike, the old State road to the Ohio line, the Edinboro & Waterford, the Waterford & Meadville plank, the Waterford & Mckean, the Waterford & Union and the Station road from the borough to the railroad. Some of the above-named roads were among the earliest that were opened in the county.

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WATERFORD TOWNSHIP.

The important bridges are as follows: Over French Creek, the Newman covered bridge, on the Wattsburg & Waterford road. Over LeBœuf Creek, the Himrod bridge, on the cross-road from Greene to the plank road; the Ben- son, near the sink-hole; the Lattimore, on the Colt Station road; the two of the P. & E. Railroad, one at the Greene line and the other near Waterford Station; the Station, on the Station road; the Judson, on the Flats roads, and the Outlet bridge on the Meadville pike. All of the above are wooden, and all are open with the exception of the Newman and station bridges.

The mills and factories are Davis' steam saw mill, on French Creek; Benson's steam saw mill, on Le Bœuf Creek, near the sink-hole; Lattimore's water saw mill, on Le Bœuf Creek, about a mile above the Station; a sulky hay rake factory at the Station; Brotherton's saw mill and Hasting's tub and firkin factory, about a quarter of a mile below the Station, both run by the same race from Le Bœuf Creek; Judson & Hipple's steam and water grist mill in the valley of Le Bœuf Creek, just outside the borough; Rice's horse-power cider and jelly mill, at the foot of the lake; Himrod's steam saw mill, between the plank road and Le Boeuf Creek, two miles north of the borough; Harvey Boyd's and Julius Hull's water saw mills, on Boyd Run; T. H. Marsh's steam saw mill, near the Mckean line; a cheese factory at Newman's bridge (started in the spring of 1881); and Hare's cider mill, on Oak Hill.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

The Free- Will Baptist Church at Newman's Bridge was organized in 1832 or 1833 by Rev. W. Stickney, but was subsequently allowed to go down. It was re-organized in 1853 as a branch of the Bloomfield Church, by Rev. J. Smith. Until the erection of the present house of worship, the congregation held services in the neighborhood schoolhouses. The building was erected in 1860, at a cost of $1, 200, and was dedicated in December of that year. Among the pastors of the congregation have been Revs. J. Smith, A. Losee, C. C. Burch, -Cutler and W. Parker, the latter being the present incumbent.

There is another Free- Will Baptist Church in the township located in the northeastern part thereof. The church edifice was erected in 1877, although the congregation is nearly, if not quite, as old as the one above named and its history is almost identical with it.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Sharp's Corners, was organized in 1838 or 1839, with eight members, by Rev. L. D. Prosser. The first pastor was Rev. Russell Stancliff. The church building was erected in 1868, costing $1,625. For the past twenty-five or thirty years it has been an appointment on Waterford Circuit.

The Christian congregation at Oak Hill was organized in 1854 by its first pastor, Rev. Stephen Washburn, with a membership of seventeen. Its house of worship was erected in 1861. Rev. Mr. Washburn and others preached for the congregation for several years. For several years the congregation has been without regular preaching.

The Catholic Church at Waterford Station dates from the building of the church edifice in 1878. The congregation has been served by the pastors of the church at Union City.

Most of the buriale take place in the cemetery at Waterford Borough, although there are graveyards at each of the above churches except the Catho- lic. The Walker Graveyard is about a mile south of the Greene line. The Catholics generally inter at Union.

SCHOOL HISTORY.

One of the early schools of Waterford Township was held in a building

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

which stood near the present site of the residence of Webster Hunt. School was here taught by Russell Stancliff (afterward a minister of the Gospel) about the year 1806 or 1807. Michael Hare, a Revolutionary soldier, taught a school in his house about the year 1827, the site of which is the J. Bootz farm, in the southeastern part of the township. About the year 1827, a schoolhouse was built near the site of the present Hare Schoolhouse by the neighborhood. Following is a list of the township schools of to-day: Sharp, at Sharp's Cor- ners; Strong, on turnpike, near Jason Way's; Himrod, on plank road near Squire Whittelsey's; Bonnell, in the northeast, on Wattsburg road; Lattimore, at Lattimore's Corners; Sweatland, near West Greene; Hood, near Gray's Corners, on the Wattsburg road; Middleton, in the southeast, near George Middleton's; Hare, in the southeast, near J. Bootz's; Avery, on Union road, in the southeast; Woodside, near Charles Thompson's, on Meadville Turnpike; Davis, on plank road near Emanuel Barnes'; Sedgwick, near Irvine Port's; Bagdad, at Bagdad Corners; Clute, in the east, near George Austin's; Phelps, in the west, near Charles Fish's; Mahan, in the northeast, near Samuel Ma- han's; East Waterford, at the railroad station (a graded school). The town- ship has an interest in two union schools, as follows: The Flats School, just across the line in Le Boeuf Township, and the Mckean School, in Mckean Township, near the line.

WATERFORD STATION.

Waterford Station, or East Waterford, on the Philadelphia & Erie Rail- road, a mile east of the Diamond in the borough, and nineteen miles from Erie City, consists of one station building, one hotel and grocery com- bined, a sulky rake factory, a warehouse and ice house, a schoolhouse, with graded school, a Catholic Church, about a dozen good dwellings and nearly the same number of shanties for railroad employes. The railroad company have stock yards at this point, and it is one of the most important stations on the line for shipping cattle and produce. A great many spikes, bullets, cannon balls and other instruments of war have been found in the vicinity of the depot, where some of the soldiers were encamped during the war of 1812.

The elections and public business of the township are held in the borough, in a building which is owned by the latter and used by both as a town hall.

In the southeast corner of the township, bordering on Le Boeuf, are three fine quarries of sandstone, which have furnished some of the finest flagging in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

BOROUGH OF WATERFORD.

When the French entered Northwestern Pennsylvania, they found an Indian village where Waterford now stands, traces of which remained some thirty-five years ago. The first French explorers regarded Le Bœuf Creek as the main stream of French Creek, and called both by the same title. At a subsequent period they changed the name of the main stream to the river Venango, by which it had been known to the Indians.

The French took possession of the country in 1753, their purpose being to establish a chain of forts between Niagara and New Orleans-along the south shore of Lake Erie, Le Bœuf Creek, French Creek, and the Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. That season they built forts at Presque Isle and Le Bœuf, now Erie and Waterford. They also cut a wagon road between the two places, which is still known as the old French road. On the 11th of December, the fort at Le Boeuf was visited by George Washington, then in his twenty- second year, as a representative of the Colony of Virginia, to protest against

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WATERFORD TOWNSHIP.

the French invasion of its territory. He remained until the 16th of December, returning down the creeks and rivers by means of canoes furnished him by the French.

THE FRENCH FORT.

The French fort Le Boeuf is described in Washington's journal as having been situated "on the West Fork of French Creek, near the water, almost sur- rounded by the creek and a small branch of it, which forms a kind of an island. Four houses comprised the sides; the bastions were of poles driven into the ground, standing more than twelve feet above it, and sharp at the top, with port holes cut for cannon and loop-holes for small arms. Eight six-pounders were mounted on each bastion and one four-pounder before the gate. In the bastions were a guard house, chapel, surgeon's lodgings and commandant's private store." In a journal written in November, 1758, Le Bœuf is represented as a strong stockaded fort, but much out of repair, and occu- pied only by an officer, thirty soldiers and a few hunting Indians.

The fort was successively in command, during the winter of 1753-54, of Marin, the original leader of the expedition, and of Legardeur de St. Pierre, who was killed on Lake George the next summer. In the spring of 1754, the French moved southward and built Fort Venango, at the mouth of French Creek, and Fort Duquesne, on the site of Pittsburgh. The French retreating, possession of Forts Le Boeuf and Presque Isle was taken by Maj. Rogers, with a force of English and Colonial troops, in 1760.

PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY.

In 1763, by the eloquence and ability of the celebrated Pontiac, all of the In- dian tribes west of the Alleghanies were united in a grand confederacy, whose purpose was to fall upon every English fort on the frontier upon a given day, and sweep them and their occupants out of existence. The plan was so far suc- cessful that by the middle of summer all the forts were taken and burned ex- cept Niagara, Pitt, Bedford and Detroit. Le Bœuf was assaulted on the 17th of June, and its block-house fired at night. While the Indians were dancing around their camp fire in fiendish glee, momentarily expecting the surrender of its garrison, the ensign in command and his handful of men crept through a drain leading to the creek, and hid themselves in the swamps until it was safe to venture across the country. The fort at Presque Isle was taken on the 22d of June.

From the period last referred to until 1796, the settlement of this section went on very slowly, almost all of the white residents being hunters and trad- ers with the Indians. In 1785, David Watts and William Miles came on under the auspices of the Commonwealth, to survey the Tenth Donation District, re- turning to the East on the completion of their labors. A committee on the part of the State was sent out in 1790 to explore the route from French Creek to Erie, as a result of whose labors an appropriation of $400 was made by the Legislature in 1791 to improve that stream from Franklin to Waterford, and a similar sum for building a road from Le Bœuf to Presque Isle. The Penn- sylvania Population Company was formed March 8, 1793, and immediately ad- vertised an offer of 150 acres to each of the first twenty families who would settle on French Creek, and of 100 acres each to the next forty.

BEGINNING OF THE TOWN.

April 8, 1794, an act was approved by the Governor to lay out towns at Presque Isle, Le Bœuf and Venango, its principal object being to establish a line of defensive posts for the frontier. William Irvine, Andrew Ellicott and

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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.

Albert Gallatin were appointed to prepare the plans, and a part of their mis- sion was to survey a road from Reading to Presque Isle. State troops reached Le Bœuf in May, and built a secoud fort, where they remained until the spring of 1795.

The American Fort Le Boeuf consisted of four block-houses surrounded by pickets, with a six-pounder on the second floor of each building, and a swivel over each gate. The exact site of the American fort is a matter of some dis- pute, one authority fixing it on the spot occupied by the old French fort, while some of the older citizens of Waterford contend that it was a little to one side, on the west edge of High street, south of the Eagle Hotel.

While the troops were delayed at Le Boeuf in 1794, Mr. Ellicott, one of the Commissioners, laid out a town at that place, to which the name of Water- ford was given. This was nearly a year previous to the laying out of Erie by the same gentleman. The plan made by Mr. Ellicott was confirmed by the Legislature in 1795. On the 25th of July, 1796, a sale was advertised to commence in Philadelphia of lots in Erie, Waterford, Warren and Franklin. During the same year, Ellicott located the Susquehanna and Waterford Turn . pike, from Curwensville, Clearfield County, to Lake Le Bœuf, by way of Franklin and Meadville. April 10, 1799. an act was passed appropriating $5,000 to open a road from near the Bald Eagle's Nest, in Mifflin County, to Waterford.

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History of Erie county, Pennsylvania. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, villages schools, churches, industries, etc, Part 77

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902; Whitman, Benjamin, 1940-; Russell, N. W. (Nathaniel Willard); Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Weakley, F. E; Warner, Beers & Co. (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1280