USA > Pennsylvania > Greene County > History of Greene County, Pa. : containing an outline of the state from 1682, until the formation of Washington County in 1781. History during 15 years of union. The Virginia and new state controversy--running of Mason's and Dixon's line--whiskey insurrection--history of churches, families, judges, senators, assembly-men, etc., etc. > Part 15
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Rev. H. K. Craig acted as professor of Greek for three sessions and was then called to the Presidency of Monongahela College at Jefferson, Pa. Profs. J. C. Gwynn, D. S. Williams, H. D. Patton, Albert McGinnis, Jno. F. White, Z. X. Snyder, R. V. Foster, - Shepard, R. V. Atkisson and Geo. S. Frazer, D.D, have rendered valuable service in their respective places. But of all the persons that were ever connected with Waynesburg College, none occupied so important a position as the Principal of the Female Seminary, Mrs. M. K. B. Miller. This lady was a daughter of Andrew Bell, and was born in Washington, Pa .. where she graduated quite young. In 1850 she was invited to Waynesburg with a view of building up a school for young ladies, to be known as "Waynesburg Female Seminary." In the spring of 1855 she was united in marriage with Rev. A. B. Miller, with whom she spent the remainder of her life, dis- charging all the duties of wife and mother with the greatest fidelity. And yet there was one paramount object for which she lived and for which she died-the best present interests and ultimate triumphant success of Waynesburg College. In order to show the readers of this history that I am not, a mere panegyrist, I will insert from memory part of her ad- dress to the graduating class about the year 1859, viz: "Do not, I beseech you, young ladies, allow yourselves to think that your education is completed ; on the contrary, permit mne tu anticipate fondly that you will be life-long students, for I assure you your education has just commenced. I have borrowedl you from your mothers for the few years that have passed su pleasantly by. I now propose to return you to the source from which you came, that you may there in your mother's kitchen, dining room and parlor still pursue your education, for be as- sured of this one thing, that every young lady, be she high or low, rich or poor, ought to know how to make and mend, wash and iron, bake and scrub, and if she is ignorant of all thesc
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important duties, an essential part of her education has been omitted." She was possessed of a large amount of physical as well as mental vigor, that enabled her to endure an amount of hardship that would have prematurely crushed more feeble constitutions. Such must have been pre-eminently the case f we allow ourselves to retrospect the labor she performed : Usually she taught six hours each day, and in addition to this, ilid a great amount of work for her family and home, where she entertained, almost every day, some of the numerous friends of the students and visitors of the college. Misses Grace Oviatt, M. C. Foote, S. V. Abbott and Mary Å. Hume have, in the order named, served as Principal of this depart- ment the present worthy incumbent being Miss Bell M. Day.
Among the ladies who have from time to time contributed their influence and time in the department of music, I find the following : Miss Mary Fisher, Mrs. Laura D. Jacobs, Miss Fannie Lazear, Miss Anna Moore, Miss "Charlie" Pettigrew, Miss Lucy Morgan, Miss S. Virginia Butler, Miss Lucy Inghram, Miss Lide C. Miller, Miss Lizzie N. Day, Miss Williams, Miss M. A. Hume, Miss Ida V. Blake and Miss Maie Close. Miss Emma J. Downey, of the class of 1864, was a number of years teacher of French, a position she filled with entire satisfaction to her pupils.
Having spent this much time in writing something of the religious history of this county, I will now introduce a biography or two as a means of relieving our history of all ten- dencies to monotony. I spent the evening of January 15 1882, and the forenoon of the 16th with Anthony Trip who has long resided in Morris township, Greene county. He was born in 1815 on the bank of the river "Weiser," where he lived until October, 1840; when wearied with the constant demand made by the Prussian King (whose subject he was) for military service, young Mr. Tripp applied for a passport to the Uni-
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ted States of America. His application was rejected. The . authorities would dismiss old men, women or children, but would not grant passports to young men in any instance to the United States, and only in a few instances to any other country. Fully determined to emigrate, Mr. Tripp applied at another window for a passport to England, which was granted. Armed with this permit he arrived in safety, as he supposed, at the free city of Breemen where he learned a vessel was about to start from Bremerhaven for the United States. This vessel he determined to board, but just as he stepped into the boat to be conveyed to the ship, his passport was demanded. Finding that it read to England instead of America, he and his compan- ions were arrested and turned over to the tender mercies of the police whom King William had employed to arrest any of his subjects who were about to escape to the United States. Learn- ing the boat would return again in the evening, the young men determined to take the matter cooly, inviting the officers to drink wine at their expense, hoping as they were kidnapped the wine would kidnap the officers. The wine was supple- mented by large draughts of lager beer which scou had its effect on their captors who began to curse King Wiinem, declaring he only paid them & small fee for returning his abjects, when our young men, taking the hint, presented the officers with a thaler. a price in connection with the wine and beer rendered them entirely oblivious of all their duties. The boat was about to depart again, and one by one the young men were finally all aboard the ship, standing out into the North Sea on their way to "the land of the free and the home of the brave." Novem- ber 22d, 1840, they landed at New Orleans where Mr. Tripp spent the winter working at "whatsoever his hand found to do," which he did with his might. When spring came he con- cluded that, as he was a native of as high a northern latitude as Prussia, it would be imprudent for him to reniain as far South
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as Orleans, hence he started northward. After a short sojourn at St. Louis, he eventually arrived in the vicinity of Washing- ington, Pa. His first service was rendered at the nursery of Hugh Wilson, immediately north-west of the borough. He next hired with William Gabby, one mile west of Washington. Here he became acquainted with Mariah Johnston, whom he married in 1841. His first experience in housekeeping was on a rented farm on the north fork of Tenmile, close to the Greene county line, where he commenced keeping sheep on the shares for Jas. G. Strain. It was not long until he found himself in possession of enough money to make the first payment on the farm on which he now resides, to which he removed in 1856. The farm was in a deplorable condition when he arrived on it. What little cleared land there was had usually been plowed about two inches deep. What few fences there were were covered up beneath a tangle of sprouts, vines, elders and grape. vines. Not a peck of grass seed had ever been sown on this land, which required a very good season to produce fifteen bushels of corn, or eight bushels of wheat to the acre. So Sie predictions of poor Anthony's neighbors seemed likely to be verified, that he would "soon starve out." Nothing discom- aged, however, he went bravely to work ; turned over the soil eight inches deep instead of two; grubbed out the thickets, and planted them in corn and potatoes ; cut off the saplings, and turned his sheep in to keep down the sprouts ; carefully husbanded all the manure, and with it top-dressed his crop of winter wheat, on which land he sowed a bountiful supply of timothy seed. His wool was the finest that had ever been pro- duced at that date in this part of Greene county. Such was his care and such was the adaptation of his locality, that af- ter keeping the same stock of sheep on the same farm for twenty-five years, he has never had a single case of "foot-rot." He now owns two hundred and forty acres of land that was
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thought dear at the ten dollars per acre which he gave for it. And for this land he can obtain fifty dollars per acre any day he wishes to sell it. We often hear persons urged to invest money in western land with the understanding that it will increase so rapidly in value. I have some knowledge of the rapidity of these increases. A brother-in-law of mine went to Iowa thirty-four years ago, and purchased four him - dred acres of land at four dollars and fifty cents per acre. He has made just as expensive improvements upon it as Mr. Tripp has on his Greene county farm. My brother-in-law can only get thirty dollars per acre for his farm at this time, so that after a lapse of thirty-four years, his land has only increased twenty-five dollars and fifty cents on the acre, while in twenty- five years, Mr Tripp's land has increased forty dollars per acre. Verily, there is such a thing as advance on the price of Greene county land, the opinions of others to the contrary not- withstanding. So that in the plain, unvarnished history of this man, we have several lessons. 1st. Industry and economy will secure a man a livelihood any place. 2d. "The hand of the diligent maketh rich." 3d. That some men ought to be prose- cuted for slander that they bring on the soil they pretend to farm, which, by proper treatment, would now be bearing a good instead of a bad name. The last thing that I will write about Mr. Tripp is that he is a man of peace. He becanie professor of religion many years ago in a congregation of Cumberland Presbyterians, where he would certainly have remained, had it not been that for some cause or other therc was constantly on hand some quarrel, from which it was often with the greatest difficulty that he could keep clear. When he removed to his present location, he united with an- other congregation of the same denomination, where from some cause the same ecclesiastical dissensions were found to exist, when disgusted and disheartened he withdrew. and
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united with the Presbyterian Church of Unity, where he has ever since led a quiet and peaceable life. When an effort was made three years ago to build a new church, Mr. Tripp gave two hundred dollars towards its erection, notwithstanding the great distance that he lives from the church prevents him in unpleasant weather from being present, yet it seems to afford him satisfaction to know that he has assisted in giving other people comfortable church accommodations. In this samo township of Morris there lived for many years, even down to old age, William Stockdale, a man of considerable prominence in the community in which he lived forty years ago. He was one of the men who signed the letter of invitation to the Synod of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, asking them to send missionaries to this neighborhood, who made such a revolution in some of the affairs of the old churches. Mr Stockdale was for many years an elder in the C. P. Church of West Union, (situated close to the side of the Waynesburg & Washington Railroad). His children were very anxious to nave an education, in which their father gratified them, and they seem to have profited vastly by the money expended on them. John M. is the able editor of the Washington Reviero & Examiner, after having spent a number of years in the South. James Stockdale was for many years a prominent. business man in Baltimore, Md., while Sarah married a Mr. . J. B. Wise who recently resided near Ullery's Mill. But I a:n. admonished that I cannot write a history of every person in Greene county, including their ancestors and descendants .. hence some of the present generation must be content with. merely the brief mention of the names of their ancestors in. certain communities. One of these communities I find right. along the dividing line between Greene and Washingtom counties, in the vicinity of North Tenmile Baptist Church. Although the house of worship is in Washington county, a large
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portion of the worshipers are, and always have been in Greene since the counties were divided. I have already said in this history that Goshen Baptist Church, on Whiteley, was the first organization within the bounds of the present Greene county. The date given to that organization is October 7, 1776. Yet here we find an organization some four years older than even Goshen. I am fortunately saved from making a mistake by the fact that the present house, as well as the two buildings that have preceded it have all just been across the line int Washington county. I cannot give the exact date of the or- ganization of North Tenmile, but Dr. J. C. Milliken says, "its history runs back as far as the year 1772." Some of the earliest settlers around this spot on both sides of the present line were John Rutman, Dennis Smith, William Gordon, Rus- sie Rees, John Sorrison and John James. These men seem to have taken time by the forelock, and were not content to wait until the Penns had purchased this land at Fort Stanwix from the Indians, but being bold adventurers they purchased the land directly from the savages themselves, trading them a few guns, trinkets and notions. It was not long, however, be- fore they had reason to repent their folly in placing those firc. arms in the hands of the Indians to be used so soon against themselves. The two first named, however, escaped all the hor- rors of the wilderness, dodged every Indian bullet and toma- hawk, and lived to an unusual old age, the former reaching 90, while the latter attained to 104 years. These settlers seem to have located here as early as 1770. Soon after this other settlers began to arrive who took out their patents in the regu- lar way, so that between the years 1770 and 1790, I find the following persons had located here, most of whom I presume from the location of their descendants, were on the Washing- ton county side of the present line, viz. : Nathanial McGiffin, David Evans, James Milliken. Abel McFarland. George Cooper
f
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and John Bates. This last named, I presume, was a Greene county man who gave name to Bates' Fork of Tenmile creek, where we find another Baptist church as the off-shoot of the old parent church of North Tenmile. Also another Baptist Church on Ruff's creek as descended from the same old fruitful vine. A history of these two daughters I propose to give as soon as I am better informed, and will now redeem my prom- ise in part, made at the outset of this history, by giving some further details of the history of the old mother north Tenmile church. About the time of its organization in 1772 the settlers far and near were called together for the purpose of erecting a log cabin church. But where were their resources ? Where the long subscription papers each containing their thousands of dollars as a basis on which to begin to build a forty thousand dollar temple for the worship of Jehovah? Ah! these were questions not asked, not even thought of by those hungry pio- neers who had fled from persecution from the old Dominion to enjoy the benign fruits of liberty under the Quaker banner of the Penns .. If there were one doubting Thomas present that .bright morning who presumed to ask the question, where are your resources with which to build ? I think I hear the re- ·sponses, here they are ! Look at these beautiful oaks, see herc are the axes, here is a log-chain brought over the mountains or a pack-horse, and here is a log-sled I made yesterday on pur- pose to haul these logs ; here is the very tree for clapboards for the roof ; look at these little chestnut trees for ribs, and these straight maples for wait poles. But ho! come on ! we have waited too long already. So saying, the speaker seized an axe and sunk its glistening edge into a small tree near at hand. The action is contagious, and soon the trees are dropping in all directions. The log-sleds and oxen are at work; the best axmen are called out to carry up the corners. The old men are riving out the clapboards. The sisters and mothers are present with
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the homely dinner, and by sundown the house is up and cov- ered. The floor was a superfluity that crept in in after years- it was not needed now. Those hardy old fathers and mothers could sit on a round log and listen to the long sermons of those days with nothing but the earth beneath them ; for although it was deeply frozen, they were not troubled with that modern luxury, fire, which would have at least partially thawed out the ground and subjected them to the inconvenience of mud. I will mention the names of the majority of those who have preached the Gospel to this people first in this rude cabin and then in the two succeeding edifices which improved in their materials and superstructure as the country and its inhabitants advanced in wealth and refinement. Rev. James Sutton seems to have been their first regular pastor. He was elected February 4, 1774, and served in this capacity for seven years. He was suc- seeded by Rev. John Corbley who served two years. From the dates and Mr. Corbley's own words at the commencement of his letter written to Dr. Rogers, I would infer that he alterna- ted between this church and Goshen, for he says, "being near one of my meeting houses." Mr. Corbley was succeeded by Rev. David Sutton who, I infer, was brother of the first pastor, for I find Judge Veech speaking in general terms of the Bap- tist churches here, says : "Old Virginia had, for a long time, inade a special business of persecuting Baptists. Hence they took refuge on Muddy creek, Whiteclay, [this is his way of spelling Whiteley,] and Tenmile and on Pike run and Peters creck at an early day where they were ministered to by Elders Corbley and the Sutton brothers"-Veech's secular history in Presbyterian Centennial, Memorial volumn, page 328. How long David Sutton preached, is not known, as this part of the record is lost. Rev. Charles Wheeler became pastor in 1831, and served them for five years. He was succeeded by Rev. A. B. Bowman in 1836, who remained only three years." as I find
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Rev. Levi Griffith was elected in 1839, who resigned in 1842, when Rev. William Whitehead succeeded him for one year and a-half. The next pastor was Rev. S. Kendal Lenning, who remained with them six years and a-half. Rev. F. C. Gunford now took charge of this church for one year; Rev. W. Scott for six months, Rev. B. P. Ferguson for two and a-half years, Rev. I. Boyd for three years ; after his departure Rev. W. B. Skinner supplied them for two years. In 1868 Rev. Samuel Kennall was elected pastor, and was followed by Rev. C. W. Tilton who completed the labors of the first century of the ex- istence of this old church, in the history of which we may learn several lessons : 1st, those who are compelled by perse- cution to form independent societies, often make the most en- during associations ; 2d, we are sorry to learn that, as the gen- erations roll on, the people become more fastidious in their choice of ministers, and hence although preachers of late years were no doubt much more refined and better educated than those who first preached to this people, yet there is a constant shortening of pastorates until in late years they only amounted to a few months, and this thing is by no means confined to this congregation nor denomination ; for it is a notorious fact that in numerous instances where the fathers, with their large stock of common sense well supplemented by Scriptural knowledge, could listen for forty years to the same man and be edified all the time, their grand-children, with a mere smattering of class- ical knowledge rattling about in their empty skulls, are done with many of the best ministers in two or three years, and in- stead of trying to get some knowledge as a kind of ballast for their air castles, they are often heard to say, with disdainful squeamishness, "oh ! he is too prosey. Too much redundancy about him." Bah ! I say, and sensible people say amen. Let this thing go on for a few years more and it will be necessary for ministers to build their habitation (like the photographer)
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
on wagons, so whenever they detect discontent, they can move on before they are kicked out and the boots come thundering after them. Oh! that the millenium would soon come, or that our sages could invent some way to teach their descendants common sense, which Mark Twain says is about the most un- common thing he has any knowledge of. The worshipers at this old church were often compelled to leave their rude sanc- tuary on account of the incursions of the Indians who were ex- ceedingly troublesome during the first few years of their exist- 'ence. On such occasions they were accustomed to have their preaching and other services either in Fort McFarland or Fort Milliken, and as "eternal vigilance was the price of liberty," they were accustomed to place sentinels at a considerable dis- tance in the woods around their log cabin churches during ser- vices for the purpose of giving timely notice of the approach of the savages for whom they were always prepared by having with them their trusty rifles, even on the Sabbath day.
On the 2d of February, 1882, (ground-hog day) I started out in search of more material for my history, arriving in the event- ing at the house of George M. French at Lindley's Mills, a sta- tion on the W. & W. R. R. This man is eighty-three years 'old, and has resided at this spot for upwards of fifty years, close to the Greene county line just over on the Washington county side. On this farm there is a deep well in which the, water is remarkably cold. About sixty years ago John Fulton resided on this farm. He had been plowing corn on a very hot day, became thirsty, went to the house for a drink and found the bucket was at the bottom of the well. Being an impulsive man he determined to climb down the wall and bring it up. His wife protested against his rash resolution, as he was dripping with sweat; but her cautions were unheeded. He descended to the bottom, hooked on the bucket, arrived safely at tho mouth of the well, drew up the water, took a large draught of
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it and was almost immediately taken with a chill from which he never recovered, and in a few days he was laid in his grave. My old friend, assisted by my own recollection, gave me some items of interest along the valley of Ruff's creek from forty to fifty years ago. Crossing over the dividing ridge the first farm on the right was occupied by Phillip Archer at that date. In this same old house a few years ago, Rev. John Thomas, a Welsh Baptist preacher died. He was widely known through- out Greene and Fayette counties as an earnest, faithful la- borer in che vineyard of his Divine Master. Descending the. stream a little farther you come to the farm of old Timothy Ross, father of Benjamin and Thomas Ross. Mrs. Hannah Ross long outlived her husband. During her occupancy the locality was known as the "Widow Ross' farm." Benjamin Ross located on a fine farm further down the creek. He was a . man of considerable prominence both in the church and also in the affairs of the county. He became a leading member of the Baptist Church, of Bates' Fork in the early part of his life. The distance from his residence was so great that he en- tered into consultation with his neighbors and friends with regard to the propriety of asking an organization nearer the places of their abode. Finding their views agreed with his own, on the 16th of September, 1843, at a regular congregational meeting of the Bates' Fork Baptist Church, he and the fol- lowing persons were regularly dismissed for the purpose of organizing a new church on Ruff's creek, viz: James Huff. man, Jacob Meek, Absalom Hedge, Shadrack Mitchel, James Boyd, George Huffman, Isaac Sibert, Rebecca Huffman, Jane Meek, Rebecca Iams, Nancy Hedge, Elizabeth Mitchel and Phebe Sibert. In due time the church was organized and a house of worship built not far from Benjamin Ross' residence, in which he continued a faithful worker until the day of his death. But Mr. Ross' neighbors concluded he could serve his
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county without interfering with his duties to his family, farm or church, consequently elected him one of the Associate Judges, which position he occupied for several years. Between the locations on which old Timothy Ross and his son Benjamin resided, there were three old settlers, viz: Daniel Cary, Jacob Johns and -- Boyd. Of the history of these old men I have but little information, causing regret that descendants are not more careful to preserve the family records of their ancestors. About twenty-five years ago I had the pleasure of uniting Syl- vester Cary (a descendant of Daniel) to a Miss Cooper, a daughter of old John Cooper, of Washington county. De- scending Ruff's creek below the farm of Judge Ross, we come to the splendid farm of Benjamin Shirk. On this farm, near thirty years ago, the barn was struck with lightning and totally consumed. Between this locality and Waynesburg many years ago there lived a singular genius whose name was Peter Fitzer. It is said of him he would "rather fight than eat." To say the man was rough, could never be construed into a slander, and yet in that great rough man there beat a heart as tender as a child's, which could not resist a tear of sympathy when a case of suffering humanity was presented. He was kind of a stere- otype constable for Franklin township in those days when it was lawful to imprison a man for "suspicion of debt." Then money was almost as scarce as "hen's teeth." Many persons who were even considered good livers, would be for months without a single "fip" (6} cents) in their pockets. In view of a lack of the "needful," it was common for officers to take their costs in such articles as beeswax, ginseng, yarn, home-made lin- nen, hanks of tobacco, &c. This constable had made an agree- ment with the old Squire from whose omce most of his business came, that he (the Squire) would take his portion of the costs in the same kind of pay the Constable accepted for his ser- . vices. It so happened that an execution was placed in the hands
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