History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 84

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 84

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" In witness whereof the said Zachariah Condell has hereunto set his hand and affixed his Seal, the twenty first day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three. " ZACHARIAH CONNELL. [SEAL.]

"Sealed and delivered in the presence of

" JONATHAN ROWLAND,

" ALEXANDER MCCLEAN."

" Fayette County, 88.

" The 6th day of January, Anno Domino 1800, Before me the subseriher, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said county, personally came Zachariah Connell and acknowledged the foregoing Instrument of writing to be his Act & deed.

" JONATHAN ROWLAND.

" Recorded and Compared in Register Office, Jany, 6th, 1800."

Among the earliest settlers in Connellsville after the town was laid out and chartered by Mr. Connell were Samuel and Caleb Trevor, brothers, who came from the East to this place in 1794 or '95. In 1796 they were chiefly instrumental in forming the Baptist Church of Connellsville. Whether they purchased lots immediately after their arrival or not is not known, but no record of deeds to them has been found of ear- lier date than 1802,1 when there is shown a purchase by them of nine lots from Mr. Connell for a consid- eration of €84. The lots in question contained one- fourth of an acre each, and were numbers 6, 59, 100, 108, 109, 116, 117, 126, and 157. On the north part of lot No. 100 the Baptist Church was built, the Trevors donating the land for that purpose. On lot No. 157 (corner of Hill Alley and Spring Street ) they built a log house, that stood on the site of the house now owned by Henry Wilkie. About 1808 they built the brick house on the corner, now owned by James Wil- kie. In this building they kept a store ? during the

: The earliest sale of lots by Connell in his new town of which any record is found dates May 8, 1801, of two lots to Joshna Lobdell. There must have been a considerable number of lots sold before that time, but what was the cause of the delay in the execution of the deeds is not krown.

" That the Trevor brothers were engaged in merchandising in Con- bellsville at least as early as 1797 is shown by an old bill of goods which was found among the papers of Thomas Parkinson, who was an early resident in " Parkinson's Hollow," Dunbar township. Of this bill (which is now in possession of Dr. Parkinson, of Iodependence town- Blij, Washington ('o., Pa.) the following is a copy:

" Mrs. Shiver, for Gaspar Hadling, " Bo't uf S. & C. Trevor.

"4 1797.

"3d July. 334 Th of pails. 0

1 th of tea .... =

8 5

" By cash ......

" 1 1h tea - 58, 7120.

" Cups, Platts, Indigo, Pins, Teapot, Ribbon, Tape, Snoff.

"Am't fl 13s. 73 2d."

remainder of their lives, which terminated within eight months of each other. Samuel died July 26, 1820, aged seventy-three years, and Caleb (who was a bachelor) died March 22, 1821, at the age of seventy- two years. Sarah, wife of Samuel Trevor, died in 1824.

The children of Samuel Trevor were seven in num- ber, four of whom were sons,-John B., Joseph, Ca- leb, and Samuel. The daughters were Sarah, Mary, and Susan. John B. Trevor was, in 1816, elected cashier of the Connellsville Navigation Company. He remained in that position till November, 1818, and was succeeded by his brother Caleb. He was postmaster of Connellsville from 1808 to 1820, when he was elected State treasurer. In 1822 he was elected prothonotary of Fayette County, and served one term, at the expiration of which he removed to Philadel- phia, where he became president of a bank. His son, John B., is of the firm of Trevor & Colgate, of New York. Joseph, the second son of Samuel Trevor, studied medicine with Dr. Robert D. Moore, of Con- nellsville. He is now living at Lockport, N. Y., well advanced in years. Caleb and Samuel Trevor were both merchants in Connellsville for many years, after which they removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. For nearly a century the Trevor family have been earnest Bap- tists, and have contributed liberally to the support and objects of that denomination. Large donations have been made by the Trevors of New York to the Rochester (N. Y.) University.

Benjamin Wells came to Connellsville in 1794, and opened the first store in the town. He had held the office of collector of excise for Fayette and Westmore- land Counties during the Whiskey Insurrection, and at that time lived at Stewart's Crossings, in what is now the borough of New Haven; but his house at that place having been burned hy a mob of the insur- gents in the year named, he abandoned his original location and moved across the river to Connellsville, where he built a log house on Water Street, near the eastern end of the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad bridge. Some fourteen or fifteen years later he built the stone building on Water Street, to the south ward of his log house. In this he and his son Charles carried on merchandising for some years. Besides Charles, Mr. Wells had also a son, John, who held the office of sub-collector under his father in 1793 and 1794. Both these sons emigrated to the western country. The last appearance of Charles Wells in Connellsville was when he left the town with a large number of teakettles, which he took from the Francis foundry, to be sold in the West. It appears that Benjamin Wells was an unpopular man (at least during a few years following 1794), not only here but throughout the county,-a fact which was proba- bly. in a great degree, the result of his having held, and attempted to execute the duties of. the govern- ment office above named. The date of his death is . not known, but that it was later than 1827 is shown

£ 8. . d.

5 715

369

CONNELLSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP.

by an entry in the borough records to the effect that ; elected a member of Congress. Of his other sons, in that year "Benjamin Wells presented to the John was largely engaged in the iron interests of this section ; George was a druggist in Connellsville; and Henry is now a physician in Smithfield, Georges township, Fayette County. council a fine piece of parchment, and it was ordered that the clerk have a Plan of the Borough made upon it, with the present owners' names."

In the year 1800, Zachariah Connell and Isaac Meason were authorized by an act passed by the Legislature to build a toll-bridge across the Youghio- gheny. This was the first bridge across the river at Connellsville, and it is more fully mentioned in suc- ceeding pages of this history.

David Barnes came from Strawbridge, in the spring of 1803, to Bullskin township (which then comprised all that is now Connellsville township), and located in what was known at that time as " Irishtown," near Breakneck Furnace. In 1802 he purchased land from Zacharialı Connell in the town of Connellsville, and in 1803 moved there and opened a tavern. After- wards he became prominent as a contractor in build- ing mills, furnaces, forges, bridges, and buildings. He built for Mr. Connell the first "go-back" saw-mill in all this region, and received in payment for the work several acres of land in the borough of Con- nellsville, upon which he carried on brick-making for a number of years. He was also engaged in the iron business, and was in many ways an active man in promoting the interests of the town. He had six sons. David, the eldest, still living in Connellsville, has been, like his father, prominent in the advance- ment of the place. He spent a number of years at Harrisburg in the various governmental depart- ments, has been engaged in the employ of several railroads, and is now the agent of the Southwest Pennsylvania line at Connellsville. William, the second son, became a preacher of the Baptist denom- ination. He visited Jerusalem, and after several years' residence in Palestine returned to his native country. Hamilton Barnes became prominent in pol- itics, and represented Somerset, Bedford, and Fulton Counties in the Senate of Pennsylvania in 1852-54. Afterwards he became a teacher in the Disciples' or Campbellite Church. Joseph Barnes removed to the West, and was employed in a responsible position on the Union Pacific Railroad during the time of its construction. Z. E. Barnes, another son of David Barnes, Sr., served in the Mexican war, and as quar- termaster in the war of the Rebellion. He now re- sides at the homestead in Connellsville.

George Mathiot, William Page, and Timothy Han- kins were purchasers of lots from Mr. Connell in 1802, and settled in the town about that time, prob- ably in that year. Mr. Mathiot bought lot No. 150, adjoining the Yough House property. He was a scrivener, and a justice of the peace for many years. He was a prominent man in the Methodist Church. His family was large. His son Jacob became a prom- inent business man in Westmoreland County and a member of the Legislature. His son Joshua emi- grated to one of the Western States, and was there

Abraham Baldwin was a native of New England, and came to Connellsville about 1806. He was prom- inent in politics, church matters, and business. He manufactured the first carding-machines ever made in this section of country. His shop was on Bald- win's Run, immediately south of the old burial- ground. The pond raised by his dam was the fishing and skating place of the boys of Connellsville in those days. On the same stream, farther up, he, with his son-in-law, Daniel S. Norton, built a four-story stone building, which they used as a cotton-factory. It was put in operation about 1812,1 and discontinued about four years later, when Norton removed to Ohio. John Stewart, Isaac Mears, and William Balsley were employés of Baldwin & Norton. The cotton-factory building passed into other hands, fell into disuse, and is now a ruin.

Connellsville was made a borough in the year 1806. The following account (in the original manuscript) of a preliminary meeting of the inhabitants of the proposed borough, in reference to the establishment of its boundaries, was found among a number of old papers and documents that were bronght to light in the demolition of the old house, the property of Jo- seph Herbert, that stood where Henry Goldsmith's brick block has been erected the past (1881) season. This paper, the original of which is in possession of George W. Herbert, is as follows :

" At a meeting of the Inhabitants of Connellsville pursuant to notice, held at the House of John Barnhart on the Ist day of January, 1806, It was agreed that the Lines to include the contemplated corporation shall begin at the mouth of the Run, where it empties into Joseph Page's Sen's Mill Race and the further Bounds of the Corporation, to be rnn nndler the direc- tion of the Seven following Persons : Anthony Banning, Samuel Trevor, John Barnhart, George Mathiot, David Barnes, James Blackstone, & Daniel Rogers.

" It is further agreed that the five following Persons shall be a Committee to draft a petition to the Assembly, and the Bill for the Incorporation of the Borough to be submitted to the Inhabitants at a meeting to he held at this HIonse on Tuesday evening next, viz., Samuel Trevor, Daniel Rogers, Doct. James Francis, Isaac Meason, Junr, Esqr., and Isaac Meares.

" Witness our Hands.

" JESSE TAYLOR, JOSEPH PAGE, SEN'R,

" MICHAEL BRYAN, DAVID BARNES,

" CHARLES WILLIAMS,

CHARLES WELLS,

" BENJAMIN WELLS, WILLIAM TIPTON."

By the act of incorporation ( passed March 1, 1806) it was provided and declared "that the town of Con- nellsville and its vicinity, in the county of Fayette, shall be, and the same is hereby, erected into a bor-

1 April 14, 1812, Abraham Baldwin and Daniel S. Nortoo made au agreement with John Feikh, of Allegheny County, Md., "to build a good carding-machine factory near this place" (Connellsville).

370

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ough, which shall be called ' The borough of Con- nellsville,' bounded and limited as follows, that is to say : Beginning at a place known by the appellation of ' Gregg's Butment,' on the west side of the You- ghiogheny River; thence in a direct line across said river to a sycamore near the mouth of Connell's saw- mill run; thence, by a number of described courses and distances, to the river ; thence, following the last said course, across the river to low-water mark ; thence up said river, following its different meanders, to the place of beginning."

The second section of the act provided for the elec- tion of borough officers, as follows: "One reputable citizen residing therein, who shall be styled the bur- gess of the said borough, and seven reputable citizens residing therein, who shall be a town Council, and shall also elect as aforesaid one reputable citizen as high constable. . . . "

There exists no record of the first electiou held in the borough of Connellsvile, but a document which was evidently the poll-list of the borough for 1806 was found among other papers in the old Herbert House. It was originally a sheet of foolscap, and having been folded lengthwise, it had been torn apart in the fold, and ouly one-half of it was found. On this half remains the original heading, as follows :

" Names of the roters of the borough of Connellsville, 7th day of April, 1806."

followed by thirty-two names, viz. :

1 .- William Tipton. 17 .-- George Mathiot.

2 .- Daniel Mathias.

18 .- Jonas Colstock.

3 .- David Barnes. 19 .- John Barnhart.

4 .- Joseph Page.

20 .- Andrew Ellison.

5 .- James Lofrarty. 21 .- Cornelius Woodruff.

6 .- Thymothy Hankins.

22 .- Daniel Rogers.

7 .- Anthony Banning.

23 .- William Morrow.

8 .- Charles Williams.

24 .- Joseph Mahaffy.

9 .- Samuel Trevor.

25 .- John Keepers.

10 .- Isane Mears. 26 .- Jonathan Moody.

11 .- James Francis. 27 .- Cornelius Woodruff, Jr.

12 .- lliram Connell.

28 .- David Stuard.

13 .- William Davis.

29 .- James Blackistone.

14 .- Abraham Snider.

30 .- Benjamin Evans.

15 .- Joshua Hunt.

31 .- John Page.

16 .- William Mifford.

32 .- Caleb Trevor.

On the back of this mutilated paper the following words are legible :

" Wee, Isaac Meare, do swear a . . .

that wee will true and g

Names of each voter that

by the Inspector."

This shows the names of the voters of the borough at that time, and renders it probable that the first election was held on the 7th of April, 1806.

Provance McCormick, Esq., now one of the oldest citizens of Connellsville, who was born within its present limits, and has a personal knowledge of its history farther back than any other person now living, gives the following among his recollections of the

place at about the time of its incorporation as a bor- ongh.

On Water Street, fronting the river, was the dwell- ing of Zachariah Connell. It was a log house that stood on the lot (171) adjoining the Public Ground on the north. In this house Mr. Connell lived many years, until he built the stone house at Hill Alley and Grave Street, where he resided during the re- mainder of his tife. The property is now owned by James Gray.

North of Mr. Connell's dwelling, on lot No. 170, was a log house (which appeared to be an old build- ing even at that early time) owned by John Gibson, who was the first of that name in this vicinity. The Gibsons were Quakers, and Friends' meetings were frequently held in this old log house. Next below Gibson's was a log house that stood on the corner of Water and Apple Streets. The name of its occupant at that time is forgotten, but it was afterwards owned by Joseph Rodgers. Next to the northward of the house last named was the log dwelling of Benjamin Wells, the ex-collector of excise, and the first store- keeper of Connellsville. The stone house (south of his log dwelling) in which he and his son Charles opened a store was built some time later. It is now the property of Mrs. Kelly, and kept as a hotel.

North of Wells', on lot No. 166, was the one and a half story log residence of Jonathan Moody, who was engaged in boat-building on the open space between his house and the river. On the next lot (165) lived David Stewart, on the site now occupied by the Central Hotel. Next north was a swamp lot, the same on which the Baltimore House now stands. To the northward of this was the log house of Peter Stillwagon, on the lot now to be described as the corner of Water and Peach Streets.

On Water Street next south of the Public Ground, at the time referred to, were two vacant lots, 172 and 173 (the Dean house not being built until about three years later). Next south, on lot 174, was the house of Thomas Page, a miller, whose mill (the old Rogers mill, built some fifteen years earlier, and mentioned by Mr. Connell in his charter of the town) was on the river-bank where the present grist-mill stands. Page's residence was the last one (going southward) on Water Street at that time. It was purchased in 1812 by Dr. Robert D. Moore, who occupied it during the remainder of his life.

On Meadow Alley, at or near McCoy's Run (out- side the then borough limits), was the tannery of Anthony Banning. Farther up South Alley, on a part of the present public-school grounds, stood the old log school-house, built by subscription. On Meadow Alley (lot 135) was a small stone house, occupied by Jonathan Page, a shoemaker. He atter- wards had a shop near where Joshua Gibson now hves.

There were then no other inhabitants on the blocks between Grave Street and Church Alley, except a

371

CONNELLSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP.

family living in a log house on lot 95 (Church Street, south of market-house), later occupied by Hiram Herbert. Between Church Alley and Spring ( Main) Street, on Jot 150 (adjoining the Yough House prop- erty), was the log house and justice's office of Squire George Mathiot, and adjoining it, on No. 142, lived William Davis, who carried on the tailoring business. Above, on the same block (lot 134), was a stone house, occupied by Otho L. Williams, a hatter.

On the present site of Goldsmith's briek block (lot 126) was an old log house, occupied by Elijah Cross- land, a butcher, and maker of wooden plows. It was afterwards owned by Joseph Herbert. Farther up, where Huston's drug-store stands, was a small frame honse. On the same lot, at a later time, Samuel McCormick had a potter's kiln. In another small frame house, that stood just above the site of the old market-house, lived Adam Snider, who worked at boat-building. The house here mentioned was his residence until his death.

At the corner of Spring Street and Mountain Alley, where Odd-Fellows' Hall now stands, was the log ! dwelling and shop of Charles Williams, who was a blacksmith and bell-maker. On lot 46 lived James Nixon, who kept a small store. It is now owned by Joshua Vance. On the lot east of where Dr. Lindley now lives, was a log hoase and blacksmith-shop, occupied by John Hinebaugh.

The Cornelius Woodruff1 tavern stood on the lot (No. 6) now known as the Asher Smith lot, it having been sold, Sept. 17, 1817, by the Trevors (whose tenant Woodruff was), to Smith. This lot was on the eastern boundary of the original plat, but still farther east there were three dwellings, one of which (a log building) was occupied by an old lady, Mrs. Dens- more, and another (a frame house that stood where the Rev. Mr. Morgan now lives) by Jonas Coalstock. The name of the occupant of the third house is not known.

On the north side of Spring Street, commencing at

1 WOODRUFF'S PROPHECY.

On the fly-leaf of one of Cornelius Woodruff's books is found the fol- lowing in his own handwriting:

" For those who will come after us we find vast and undeveloped mines of material for men to work upon, treasures of untold wealth that are now hid from us. All must have observed that the progress of the arts and sciences and the gospel, like the sun, is from the east to the west. As the celestial light of the gospel was directed here by the finger of God, it will doubtless drive the heathenish darkness from our land, and marching through the vast deserts now westward will develop the hiddeo gems and stores of gold and silver. Huge mountains and mines of these ores will be discovered. It will give employment to millions, not only for war, hnt peaceful occupations and the wants of life. These vast quarries will give work for the mechanic to build monuments for the renowned of America,-those heroes who gave their warm blood to save this land for the coming millions. Some great invention will be made to carry on con merce and communication in this to be great Country."

Thus, in that little tavern in Connellsville, three-fourths of a century ago, Cornelius Woodruff foretold, with an accuracy that seems almost marvelous, the development of the rich gold-mines of the Pacific States, the richer coal-mines of Western Pennsylvania, and the railroads that traverse the country from ocean to ocean.

the Public Ground and going east, the first lot (where the Trevors soon afterwards built their brick build- ' ing) was vacant. On the next lot (No. 149) was a log house, which at that time was occupied by Samuel and Caleb Trevor. Above the Trevors, on lot 141, was John Barnhart's tavern, the stable of which ob- tained a wide notoriety as being haunted by ghosts. On the corner of Meadow Alley and Spring Street, now occupied by J. D. Frisbie, David Barnes had a log tavern, which he kept for a number of years.

The entire space from Meadow Alley to Church Street (on the north side of Spring) was at that time vacant, as were also several of the lots east of Church Street. On the lot at the corner of Mountain Alley and Spring Street was a log house, occupied by Jesse Taylor. He was a stone-mason, and did the stone- work for the Banning house. On lot No. 53 (between Mountain Alley and Prospect Street) was the resi- dence of Dr. James Francis (where John Newcomer now lives), and also a log house occupied by " Honey" Clayton, a trader. On the next lot (No. 45) was the residence of Cornelius Woodruff, Jr., who was a shoe- maker, and had his shop and dwelling under the same roof. On lot 13, between Prospect Street and East Alley, was a weather-boarded log house, the oc- cupant of which at that time, is not remembered. It was later occupied by Philo Hall, and after that by Moses MeCormick, who died there. On lot No. 5, on the eastern boundary of the original plat, and directly opposite Cornelius Woodruff's, was a tavern kept by Thomas Keepers; and at the turn in the road above, and outside the plat, was another tavern kept by Nancy White.

In the foregoing mention are included nearly all the dwellings and business-places of Connellsville at about the time of its incorporation. In the northeast quarter of the town, which was then almost entirely vacant, there were, however, the residences of Wil- liam Mefford, John K. Helm, and a few others (all log houses), scattered through that part of the town at various points. It is not improbable that Mr. Me- Cormick, in the preceding recollections of what he saw in Connellsville three-fourths of a century ago, when he was a boy of but seven years of age, has omitted some of the inhabitants, dwellings, and other features of the town at that time ; indeed, it would be strange if such were not the ease; but it is believed that such omissions are very few, and that the ac- count which he gives is accurate and very nearly complete.

Jonas Coalstock, who is mentioned above as living outside and east of the town limits at that time, was a blacksmith and gunsmith. He had his shop on the corner of Church Street and Church Alley,-the lot now owned by Christian Balsley. When Abraham Baldwin was engaged in the manufacture of earding- machines the iron-work for them was furnished by Coalstock. His son-in-law, William T. McCormick, was a potter, and had his kiln on what is known as

372

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the "Pinnacle." His brother Samuel afterwards had a pottery, which he carried on for several years, di- reetly opposite where the Smith House now stands.

William Davidson, a native of Carlisle, Pa., and a elerk in the prothonotary's office at that place, left there about 1807, in company with John B. Gibson (afterwards of Beaver), to seek his fortune in what was then known as the West. While on his way, at Bedford, he fell in with Mr. Wurtz, of the firm of Mochabee & Wurtz, proprietors of the Laurel Fur- naee. Davidson, being then a young man about twenty-five years of age, and of prepossessing ap- pearance, made a favorable impression on Mr. Wurtz, who thereupon at once proposed to him to take charge of the affairs of his furnace, which proposition Mr. Davidson accepted. He, however, did not remain very long in that business, and in 1808 removed to Con- nellsville, where (having married not long after his arrival) he made his home during the remainder of his long life, following the vocations of merchant, farmer, and iron-master. He was connected with the army in some capacity in the war of 1812, and was made prisoner in Hull's surrender of Detroit. He served several years in the Legislature of Penn- sylvania, both in the House of Representatives (of James and Campbell Johnston, brothers of Alex- which he was chosen Speaker in 1818) and in the ; ander Johnston, came to Western Pennsylvania at his solicitation, about the year 1816, and for a time car- ried on the Maria Forge. Then they came to Con- nellsville and started two nail-shops, one at Meadow Alley and Spring Street, and the other on a private alley below the former. They continued business here till 1825, and then removed to Cincinnati, Ohio.

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 84

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