History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 174

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 174

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Five years prior to his first marriage he had visited the West to purchase lands, and in 1787 his name ap- pears for the first time on the assessment-rolls of Spring- hill township, he being assessed on the " Friendship Hill" lands, purchased from Nicholas Blake in the previous year. For a few years after his first coming here his residence was somewhat migratory, being a part of the time in Springhill, and sometimes at Mor- gantown, Va. Upon his marriage he made his home (intended to be permanent) at "Friendship Hill." In October, 1789, he was chosen a delegate, with John Smilie, of Fayette, to the convention which framed the constitution of 1790. It was in that body that he was first brought to publie notice as a talented debater, though then but twenty-nine years of age. In 1790 he was elected, with Judge James

Finley, to the Pennsylvania Assembly, where he served in 1791, '92, and '93. The high qualities he there displayed cansed his election by the Legisla- ture, at the session of 1792-93, to the Senate of the United States, though a majority of the members were opposed to him in politics, he being a member of the Republican-soon afterwards known as the Dem- ocratie-party. He took his seat in the Senate in De- cember, 1793, but a question was raised as to his eligi- bility to the office, as he had not been for a sufficient length of time a citizen of the United States. The question was referred to a committee, who reported ad- versely, and in February, 1794, he was unseated by a. strict party vote of fourteen to twelve. It was during this visit to the East in his senatorial capacity that he- was married to Hannah Nicholson, as before men- tioned. In May, 1794, he returned to Springhill, and purchased from John and William George Wilson the site of the village of New Geneva, and started the enterprise of the old glass-works, as elsewhere- noticed. It was also at this time that he became unfortunately identified with the insurgent party in the "Whiskey Insurrection," but he afterwards deeply regretted the course he had at first taken, and did all in his power to quench the flame he bad to some extent been instrumental in kindling.

At the close of the Whiskey Insurrection (in Oeto- ber, 1794), Mr. Gallatin was again elected to the As- sembly of Pennsylvania, and was also at the same time elected a member of Congress. The Congress to which he was thus elected did not meet till De- cember, 1795, and he served through that session, and was re-elected in 1796, 1798, and 1800 from the same district, composed of the counties of Allegheny, Washington, and Greene, the latter county having been erected in 1796. His service in Congress em- braced the last two years of Washington's adminis- tration and the whole of the administration of Presi- dent John Adams. It was during this period that Mr. Gallatin, with others, established the old gun- factory near New Geneva.

When Thomas Jefferson became President, in March, 1801, he indicated to Mr. Gallatin his wish to appoint him Secretary of the Treasury. There existed, however, an obstacle in Mr. Gallatin's con- neetion with the Fayette gun-factory, which held contracts to furnish arms to the government. Mr. Gallatin thereupon returned to New Geneva, sold out all his interest in the factory and the contracts to Mr. Baker, and was appointed to the Secretaryship May 14, 1801. He remained at the head of the Treasury Department through both of Mr. Jefferson's Presi- dential terms, through Mr. Madison's first, and in his second term until February, 1814, though in the mean time (April, 1813) the President had appointed him a plenipotentiary, jointly with John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, and James A. Bayard, of Delaware, to sign a treaty of peace with Great Britain, which it was then hoped would be effeeted through the-

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SPRINGHILL TOWNSHIP.

friendly mediation offered by the Emperor of Russia. On this mission the President had sent him to Europe, but without allowing him to relinquish the Secreta- ryship of the Treasury. The Senate refused to con- firm his appointment, on the ground that the two offices of Secretary of the Treasury and peace com- missioner or minister were incompatible. He was not, however, recalled. England rejected the czar's mediation, but offered to treat untrammeled. There- upon Mr. Gallatin, having been relieved of the Sec- retaryship, was appointed, Feb. 9, 1814, one of the commissioners in the treaty negotiations, which re- sulted in the conclusion of a treaty of peace, signed at Ghent, in Belgium, Dec. 24, 1814. In 1815, Mr. Gallatin was appointed minister to France, where he remained from 1816 to 1823, during which time he was intrusted with special and important missions to England and to the Netherlands. On his return to the United States, in 1824, he declined a seat in the Cabinet, also the candidacy of his party for Vice- President. The new mansion at Friendship Hill had been provided for his reception, and there he took up his abode soon after his return from Europe, and there in 1825 he received the memorable visit of his illustrious friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, "the like of which old Springhill had never seen, may never see again."

In 1826, Mr. Gallatin was sent as minister plenipo- tentiary to the court of St. James, where he remained over a year, and successfully accomplished all the objects of his mission. He returned to the United States in December, 1827, but never again resided in Fayette County. He lived a short time in Baltimore (which was the place of residence of two of Mrs. Gallatin's sisters), but soon removed to the city of New York, where he spent the remainder of his long and brilliant life, devoting himself chiefly to litera- ture, science, historical and ethnological researches.

He was mainly instrumental in founding and be- came the first president of the Ethnological Society, and he was from 1843 until his death president of the New York Historical Society. He was perhaps the best talker of the century, at home on all topics, with a wonderful memory for facts and dates. He died at the residence of his son-in-law, at Astoria, L. I., on Sunday, Aug. 12, 1849, in the eighty-ninth year of his age.

COL. JOHN MORGAN.

encounters. He was one of the founders of Mount Moriah Baptist Church at Smithfield, and was noted for his piety. He died in 1798, aged fifty-four years.

When a young man Col. Morgan learned black- smithing, and was an apprentice in the same shop with the late Hon. Andrew Stewart. He worked at bis trade for a few years, and then engaged in flat- boating down the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, which he followed for three years or more, and then settled npon the old homestead, where he spent the remainder of his long life, except while occupied with public business. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, but obtained the title of colonel in the State militia, being commissioned as such by Governor Simon Sny- der. He was a member of the State Legislature for Fayette Connty in 1843, and was re-elected in 1844 and 1845. Col. Morgan was an earnest advocate of the public school system of the State, and was one of the first school directors of his township, and held other township offices. He died Jan. 5, 1880.

March 12, 1817, Col. Morgan married Elizabeth Lyons, of Springhill township, and by her had seven children,-fonr sons and three daughters. The sons all became farmers, and the daughters married farmers. At the time of his death Col. Morgan's possessions consisted chiefly in lands. He was strong of body, possessing wonderful powers of endurance, and had an abundance of good hard sense. He was not a church-member. He was always a sound Demo- crat, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. In short, his was a rare character, and he filled up the measure of his years ably and honorably.

LEBBEUS BIGLOW GANS.

Lebbeus Biglow Gans was born in Springhill town- ship, Fayette Co., Pa., March 31, 1825. He is the fifth son of William and Magdalene Gans, whose parents were among the early settlers of Southern Fayette County. William Gans' parents emigrated from Ger- many on account of religious persecution, and settled near Antietam, Md., and in the year 1785 came to Springhill township and pre-empted the beautiful tract of land near Morris' Cross-Roads on which they lived and died, and now owned by L. B. Gans. Mag- dalene, wife of William (tans, was the daughter of George Custer, who was a first cousin of Gen. George Washington, they being sisters' children. He was the fourth son of Paul Custer, and his mother was Sarah Ball, the daughter of Col. Ball, of Lancaster County, Pa. Her sister, Mary Ball, was married to Mr. Augustine Washington, by whom she had six children, the eldest being the renowned commander- ' in-chief of the Revolutionary army and the first Presi-

The late Col. John Morgan, of Springhill, was of Welsh parentage. His father and mother married in Wales, and had two or three children before they mi- grated to America, and here they had more, to the number of ten in all, of whom Col. John, born in Springhill township, Aug. 8, 1790, was the seventh. | dent of the United States. George Custer was born Col. Morgan's father, David Morgan, was one of the in Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 3, 1774, and died on his farm in Georges township, Fayette Co., Pa., in 1829, aged eighty-five years and two days. He was a large, healthy man, with abundant means, and was the first settlers of the southwestern part of Fayette County. At the time of his arrival in the county it was inhabited by the Indians, with whom he had many

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

father of fifteen children. L. B. Gans received a common-school education, and is a farmer by profes- sion. He has been twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth J. Ramsay, was the danghter of James C. Ramsay, Esq., whom he married Jan. 6, 1848, and by whom he had three children,-one son, who died in infancy ; and two daughters, both living. The elder, Dorcas Anna, is married to T F. Protzman, a mer- chant at Morris' Cross- Roads, Pa. The younger, Eliza- beth J., is married to W. Morgan Smith, of Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland Co., Pa. His first wife, Eliza- beth J., died March 25, 1857. He married his second wife, Emily S. Goe, daughter of Henry B. Goe, of Allegheny City, Oct. 15, 1868, by whom he has three sons and one daughter. Mr. Gans is an active, thrifty business man. In addition to the homestead, which has always been considered the standard in making real estate assessments in the township, he owns one hundred and thirty-four acres immediately adjoining it on the east, making in all three hundred acres, which is the best farm in Southern Fayette County. The farm is well improved and in an excellent state of cultivation. This farm is noted for its extensive maple-sugar orchard, containing about two thousand trees, which yields an average annual income of eight hundred dollars. In late years Mr. Gans has not made a specialty of agriculture, but is engaged in grazing stock. Mr. Gans is a member of the Presby- terian Church, and is held in high esteem by his neighbors and fellow-citizens. In all his business re- lations he is remarkable for candor and integrity. His domestic and social relations are of the most pleasant and agreeable character. He lives in good style, enjoys life, the society of home and friends, and the fellowship of the community.

ALPHEUS WILLSON SCOTT.

Alpheus W. Scott, of Springhill township, is of Scotch-Irish and Welsh descent, and was born at Morris' Cross-Roads, Sept. 30, 1822. Having received a good common-school education he commenced teaching in 1843, and continued in the profession the greater part of the time until 1867. On the 6th of March, 1846, he was married to Miss Martha E. Gans. In 1861 he entered the military service of the United States in the war of the Rebellion, and was commis- sioned captain of Company I, Seventy-seventh Penn- sylvania Volunteers, March 3, 1862, and stationed at Chambersburg, Pa., in the recruiting service. He re- signed Oct. 1, 1862, but was afterwards in the service in the One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, where he held the rank of quartermaster- sergeant, but performed all the duties of quarter- master, on account of the sickness of that officer, during his nine months' term of service. On the 12th of March, 1864, he re-enlisted at Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., and was assigned to the One Hun- dred and Twenty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Vol- unteers, yet he never did any duty with the regiment. In the fall of 1864, at City Point, Va., he was, by special order from army headquarters, assigned to duty on the commission of exchange of prisoners under Gen. John E. Mulford. On the occupation of Rich- mond by the Union forces in April, 1865, he went to that city, and remained there in the office of Gen. Mulford until the following August, when he was honorably discharged and mustered out of the service. For the past fifteen years he has been chiefly em- ployed as a newspaper correspondent, in which voca- tion he displays marked ability.

STEWART TOWNSHIP.

THIS township is on the eastern border of the county, the second from the south line, and on both sides of the Youghiogheny River. On the north are the townships of Dunbar and Springfield; east is Somerset County ; south is Henry Clay ; and south and west is Wharton. The township has within its limits the Laurel Hills and Chestnut Ridge, and its general surface presents a mountainons aspect. In the southeastern part is Sugar-Loaf Mountain, with an altitude several hundred fect greater than the sur- rounding hills; and in other localities are well-de- fined peaks. The sides of the hills are usually broken and covered with large rocks, but the summits are mainly level, somewhat of the nature of a plateau, the " beautiful falls."

and containing some fine farming lands. The soil is good but not strong or enduring, and but a small pro- portion has been brought to cultivation, the greater part of the country being yet covered with timber.

The Youghiogheny River has a tortuous course through the township, and is a rapid, turbulent stream, affording a magnificent water-power at Falls City, where are a series of talls or rapids, aggregating about thirty-six feet of descent. It includes a distinct fall of sixteen feet, to which the name of " Ohio Pile" has been given.1 The valley of the river is narrow, and

1 No satisfactory reason can be given why thus term has been selected. The most plausible appears to be that it is an Indian name signifying

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is closely environed by high hills. Its affluents from the north are Drake's, Sherman's, Bear, and Laurel Runs, all small but unfailing streams, heading in the mountains. On the opposite side the tributaries are Jonathan's Run, Great Meadow Run, with its branches, Laurel and Beaver Runs, and Cucumber Run. The latter makes a precipitous fall near its mouth, form- ing a beautiful cascade nearly forty feet high. These streams yield limited water-power, which has been utilized. Most of them have deep, narrow valleys, but the lower hillsides are usually quite fertile. Along these streams are many signs of prehistoric occupa- tion, a line of earthworks being traceable all through the township. One of the largest of these forts was on Bear Run, several miles below the Ohio Pile Falls. It was circular in form, inclosed about ten acres, and was surrounded by a trench. In it, many years ago, was found, under a heap of stones, a neatly-con- structed grave. It was nearly square, and about four feet in depth. The sides and bottom were lined with flag-stones, forming a box-like cavity ; a large skull was found inclosed, and other evidences indicated that it was the sepulchre of some mighty man among this little-known people. On Harris' Hill was another fort of large proportions, and along Meadow Run were, in the early settlement of the township, a series of earthworks so arranged that communication by signals was possible among them, plainly indicating that among these rough hills once dwelt a people of greater intelligence than that of the American Indian.

But little of the large area of Stewart was purchased for actual settlement when other parts of the county became the homes of the hardy pioneers. The lands in many instances were warranted, but were held by non-residents. These afterwards passed into other hands, a very large proportion of them becoming the property of the Hon. Andrew Stewart, who at one time owned more than half the township, and whose family yet maintains possession of many thou- sands of acres. These circumstances and the unin- viting appearance of the country deterred a general settlement at an early period, and many of the begin- nings in the township have a recent origin.

PIONEER SETTLERS.

It is hard to determine who was the first permanent settler. John Stewart, a Scotch-Irishman, lived on the Elijah Mitchell place as early as 1772, and set ont an orchard which bore signs of age in 1800. He was buried on his farm, and his family removed, leaving no descendants in the township. He had sons named James, Andrew, John, and Thomas. It was at the house of the latter that the old soldier, Tom Fossitt (who was said by some to have killed Gen. Braddock), died, and was buried on the present Jacob H. Rush farm, which was settled by a man named Taylor. Many years after Fossitt's death a rude headstone was erected to his memory reciting the time of his death and age.

In the same locality Paul Stull and Peter Bruner settled soon after the Revolution. The latter moved to Springfield township, where he is more fully noted.

In the southern part of the township, on the pres- ent Harvey Morris farm, David Askins settled after the close of the Revolution. There is a tradition that he came from the eastern part of the State, and was on his way to the Kentucky country, which was at that time regarded as the land of promise, when he was persuaded to cast his lot among the pioneers of Fayette County. He made a tomahawk claim of ten square miles of land, and jestingly said that it was his " Little Kentucky." This, it is said, was the ori- gin of the term as used in the township and applied to churches and schools. Askins finally limited his land claims to the Morris, Thorpe, and Mitchell farms, and on the former farm he was buried at his death. He had sons named Thomas, David, and Samuel, all of whom removed to the West soon after 1800.

Reuben Thorpe purchased one hundred and fifty acres of the Askins tract for £100. He was born in New Jersey in 1755, and became a weaver by trade. In the Revolution he served under the immediate command of Washington, and in 1792 came to Fay- ette County. He had seven sons and two daughters, namely, David, Reuben, Job, Wallace, who moved to Perry County, Ohio ; James, who opened a farm on the north side of the Youghiozheny, where he yet re- sides at an advanced age; Asa, lived on the William Taylor farm, and was the father of Andrew Thorpe, yet living in the township. Several of his sons died in the Rebellion. William, the youngest of Reuben Thorpe's sons, lived on the homestead until his death. The farm is now owned by his son, Thomas Thorpe, Esq., of Falls City. Other sons are Reuben, living west of Falls City ; David, in Dakota; W. Brown, the cashier of the Butler County (Nebraska) Bank ; and Elisha, who died in the army in 1863. On the ok Thorpe farm was an orchard of early bearing, which was almost wholly destroyed by a storm in July, 1851. Some of the trees were taken up and carried a dis- tance of half a mile, and nearly everything in the line of the storm was destroyed. Reuben Thorpe formerly had a public-honse, and carried on a distil- lery in the days when the old Turkey Foot road was one of the lines of travel from Somerset to Union- town.

The Mitchells were among the earliest settlers of Stewart. James Mitchell lived in the Kentucky dis- trict, on the farm which is now occupied by his grand- son, Elijah M. His sons were Benjamin, James J., Abner, John A., and Ralph, the youngest, who left no family at his death. The first three named opened farms near the homestead, and the two fir-t died there. Abner moved to Wisconsin about 1846. He was a Baptist minister ; and James J. also served in that calling. John A., the other son, made his home in Somerset County. Thomas Mitchell, a brother of James, purchased a part of the Askins tract, which

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had been owned before by Moses Mercer. He had served in the Revolution, and was under Daniel Boone in Kentucky. He died about 1824. His sons were Josiah, who lost his life at the old Laurel Fur- nace while attempting to resene a furnace-man who was overcome by the fire in the stack; Thomas, who removed to Illinois; John, who lived in Greene County, Pa., and who was one of the greatest ath- letes in that part of the State; Lewis, who removed to Illinois; James H., born in 1798, and yet a citizen of the township; Elijah and Elisha, removed to Hli- nois. Some of these were great hunters, and had ! to Confluence.

many stirring adventures with wild animals. The three daughters of Thomas Mitchell married James Spencer, William Thorpe, and Isaac Haney. The latter removed to the West; he was an early settler.

Not long after the Revolution, in which he served, John Potter, a native of New Jersey, moved to Henry Clay township, where he lived until his death in the fall of 1826. Eleven of his children grew to mature years, but all of his sons except Amos and Samuel removed to the West. The former resides in Wharton, and the latter is a well-known citizen of Stewart, and is the father of John B., George B., Charles, Amos, and Thomas T. Potter, all but Amos residing in the township. Samuel Potter was born in 1805, and as a young man was active in building mills and making other improvements, some of which are yet owned by the family.

Benjamin Leonard was reared in the family of Reuben Thorpe, and after attaining manhood made an improvement on the bottoms below the mill owned by Potter. He afterwards cleared up the farm which is now owned by his youngest son, Robert. Other sons were Eli, Amos P. (a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church), Reuben, Christmas, and Robert. Nearly all of these continue to reside in the town- ship.

On what is well known as the Joseph Price place, Peter Briner, a German, settled about 1800, and reared a family, but removed to the West more than fifty years ago. Among his sons was Andrew, who also cleared a farm on Cucumber Run, and lived there until his death in 1861. One of his sons, Samuel, yet resides near Falls City. Joshua Briner, the old- est of Andrew's sons, resided at Uniontown at the age of eighty years. John Briner, another son, re- sides in Dunbar. The deep place in the Youghio- gheny River near Cucumber Run, noted as abounding with fish, took its name from this family.

William Williams came from Bedford County to Connellsville in 1803, but in 1830 settled in Stewart, locating on Meadow Run, where he died in 1848. He reared sons named John, Isaac, James, Samuel, Wil- liam D., and Joseph, the latter two being the only ones living in the township, Joseph for the past twenty-four years being a merchant in Stewart. Wil- liam Williams was one of the parties who had a con- traet to open the clay pike in 1810.

In the Sugar-Loaf District among the early settlers were the Shipley family, Henry MeClatchey, and Henry Gilmore, all of whom removed early. Guyson Morrison came at a later day and settled on the Hall farm on the Turkey Foot road, and a mile south Wil- liam Morrison made some improvements about 1830. David Woodmansee has lived in that locality since 1850, and is now one of the oldest settlers there. Garrett Hall was a settler earlier on the place yet occupied by his family. Abram Tumbly lived on the Thomas Mitchell place as early as 1790. He removed

North of the Yough, David Thorpe improved the James Thorpe farm as early as 1805. The Peter Tissue farm was commenced by Jacob Streight, and farther east were James Fulton, the Marietta, Zarley, and Minor families as pioneers.

CIVIL ORGANIZATION.

At the October term of Court of Quarter Sessions in 1854 a petition for a new township was presented, to be composed of parts of Wharton, Henry Clay, and Youghiogheny townships, with bounds as set forth in the petition. The court appointed Thomas R. Davidson, Alexander McClean, and Daniel Dow- ner viewers, the order for their appointment bearing date Nov. 10, 1854. The order was renewed at the June session in 1855, and continued in August of the same year. At the September court in 1855 the commissioners reported :

" That having gone upon the premises and made an exami- nation of the same, according to law, we are of the opinion that a new township should be made within the following described boundaries, viz. : Beginning at a point where the Somerset County line strikes the Youghiogheny River, thence to Garrett Hall's, at the Cold Glade Ridge ; thence to Z. Luddington's tan- yard, by Henry Morris' to Joseph Bodkin's; thence to the Dun- bar line, near Centre Furnace; thence by the said Dunbar line to the Youghiogheny River ; thence to the Springfield line, near the stone meeting-house, and thence by the Springfield line to the Somerset line, and thence by the said line to the Youghio- gheny River, the place of beginning. And that the lower end of Youghiogheny struck off be added to Springfield township."

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 174

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314