USA > Pennsylvania > Greene County > History of Greene County, Pennsylvania > Part 44
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
imitating turkeys by day, and wolves or owls by night. In similar situations, our people did the same. I have often witnessed the con- sternation of a whole neighborhood in consequence of a few screeches of owls.
"Throwing the tomahawk was another boyish sport, in which many acquired considerable skill. The tomahawk, with its handle of a certain length, will make a given number of turns in a given dis- tance. Say in five steps, it will strike with the edge, with the han- dle downward; at the distance of seven and a half, it will strike with the edge, the handle upwards, and so on. A little experience en- abled the boy to measure the distance with his eye, when walking through the woods, and strike a tree with his tomahawk in any way he chose."
CHAPTER XLI.
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.
SWAN AND HUGHES-LINDSEY FAMILY-HEATON'S MILL-JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON-COLLEGE -- RICE'S LANDING -- BOUNDARIES- SCHOOLS-DIRECTORS-TEAGARDEN FIGIITS FOR HIS CLAIM -- MANUMISSION.
THOMAS HUGIIES, JR., son of the original settler Thomas, married a daughter of John Swan in 1771 and settled in the Carmichaels Valley on the site of the present brick residence of John Ilathaway, and was a neighbor of Colonel Charles Swan. He was a man of undaunted conrage, and when all his neighbors would flee to the forts for safety he would stand by his cabin and defend his family there. On one occasion his wife dreamed of Indian massacres, and so vivid was her dream that she prevailed on her husband to escape into the ryefield, where they laid down and slept beneath the shelter of the tall grain. In the morning she crept steathily from her hiding place to the summit of the field, and was horrified to behold their cabin in flames and the Indians dancing around a feather bed which they had ripped open, and amusing themselves by tossing the feathers into the air, tickled beyond measure to see them carried upwards by the currents engendered by the ascending flames.
In 1776 he moved to where the town of Jefferson now stands and built a home near the old stone house of the widow Stephens.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
All this stretch of country was then a dense pine forest, the lurking place of bears and wolves and deer. In December of this year his third child, Mary, was born, who became the mother progenitor of the Lindsey family of this county.
A little to the west of Hughes came Colonel Heaton and built a cabin on the site of the present village of Jefferson. He built a mill, soon after coming, near the site of that now known as Horn's Mill. Hughes is said to have been implicated as being one of the blackened party which attacked the house of Captain Faulkner, in consequence of which he was required to give bail in the sum of $3,000 for his appearance to answer. Faulkner was an officer of the government, and the opposition to him was his disposition to collect the excise tax on distilled spirits. The county at this early day was so uni- versally devoted to distilling that the county records for 1788 show seventy registered distilleries. So enormous was the cost of trans- porting the grain, the products of their fields to a market, that the income from produce was all eaten up. Hence the husbandmen resorted to distillation, as a horse could barely carry six bushels of rye to market; whereas after it had been converted into whisky the same beast could transport twenty-four bushels ..
Up to the year 1795 the village was known as Jefferson, though there were but two or three cabins on its whole domain. At about this time a violent contention arose about the name which the new town should bear; for already streets had been opened and town lots sold. The point of demarkation on either side was Colonel Joseph Parkinson's store, Hughes owning all to the east, and Heaton all to the west. Heaton being a bold Federalist insisted that the town should be called Hamilton. But the Hughes party claimed just as pertenaciously that it should be called Jefferson. For some time the controversy waxed hot. It was finally agreed about the year 1800 that the eastern half should be called Hamilton and the western half Jefferson. In 1827 the town was incorporated as a borough by an act of the Legislature under the name of Jefferson. It has a population of some 700, and is a place of considerable activity. The buildings of Monongahela College stand on a well selected site just outside the borough limits. It has four churches-Baptist, Presby- terian, Methodist and Cumberland Presbyterian. Few towns in the county are more pleasantly located than this. Rice's Landing, a village of some 350 inhabitants, is situated at Lock No. 6 of the Monongahela slackwater. Previous to the construction of the Wash- ington & Waynesburg Railroad this was of considerable importance, being the shipping point for a large portion of the county. It still distributes many goods to villages in the immediate neighborhood. The part of the town below the run was laid out by Abijah McLean, and was called Newport, and the part above the run was originally
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
owned by John Rice, from whom the place takes its name. Rice's patent bears date of 1786.
Jefferson is the most irregular in form of any of the townships of the county, being a long narrow strip of land, hemmed in be- tween South Ten Mile Creek and Pumpkin Run, scarcely more than two miles in width and fifteen in length. It is bounded on the north by Morgan, on the east by Cumberland, on the south by Cumberland, Greene and Whiteley, and on the west by Frank- lin and Morgan. By the report of 1855 Jefferson is given eight schools with 391 pupils. The report of 1859 says of this district: " The houses are neat, comfortable, well arranged and admirably fitted to be the training places of youth. The requirements of the law are well enforced by the directors. The schools are visited, but not as frequently as would be advantageous by parents and di- rectors." The present board of directors of the township is con- stituted as follows: J. C. Burson, President; H. Waychoff, See- retary; John Dulaney, A. W. Greenlee, Jacob Crayne and J. Ran- dolph Bayard. That of the borough as follows: R. H. Jordon, President; S. R. Hill, Secretary; T. II. Sharpneck, John Cottorell, John Sloneker and Frank Bradley.
Abraham Teagarden, who had settled at Redstone, had a con- siderable family, which he had transferred to this new land. In- deed Abraham, father of Isaac, was born in Redstone Fort. His sons, as they had come to marriageable age, had taken themselves wives. David married Miss Treble, by whom he reared a family of ten children; William married Miss Craig, by whom he had twelve children. About the year 1770 these two, David and William, anxious to secure a homestead while it could be got for the taking, crossed over into what is now Greene County.
The manner in which George Teagarden, who had married a young and blooming maiden, and was ambitious of securing a comfortable habitation for her, maintained his claim to the tract of land he had chosen, is romantic, and illustrates the customs which prevailed among the early settlers. Along the' valley of Ten Mile Creek were many excellent and valuable tracts. One of these George had appropriated by making the usual tomahawk improve- ment. He had selected the site for his house and had called in his neighbors to assist in rearing it. When the work was abont to begin, a raw-boned denizen of the forest made his appearance and claimed the ground which Teagarden had selected as his own, and no further progress could be made in building until the question of ownership was settled. As no legal tribunal had yet been established over this territory, the only method of deciding was by personal combat, and it was accordingly agreed that who ever proved himself the better man should be entitled to his claim. The contest was
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
long and bloody, but the youthful vigor of Teagarden was in the end triumphant, and he was acknowledged the rightful claimant. His antagonist, after having washed and dressed his wounds, in which the young wife of Teagarden is said to have assisted, re- mained and helped build the cabin, subsequently acquired a tract adjoining, and ever after the families were on friendly terms. Such were the ideas of justice and government which prevailed among our hardy ancestors.
Many of the early settlers brought with them from Virginia and Maryland their house servants. In the records of the Recorder's office are several manumission papers. Below is one executed by a citizen of Jefferson :
MANUMISSION.
Jefferson, May 20, 1823 .- Know all men by these presents: That I, William Fletcher, of the town of Jefferson, Greene County, Penn., from motives of humanity and benevolence, have this day manumitted, and do hereby manumit and set free from slavery dur- ing his natural life my negro boy, Jarrot Rhoads, he being now of the age of twenty-one years and over, and I do hereby relinquish forever all my right, claim, title and interest in the aforesaid Jarrot Rhoads, and any claim that I ever had or could have had to his labor or services in any wise whatever. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, the day and year first above written.
EDWARD FLETCHER. THOMAS FLETCHER.
WILLIAM FLETCHER.
Greene County, ss. Personally came William Fletcher before me, a justice of the peace in and for said county, and acknowledged the above manumission to Jarrot Rhoads to be his act, deed, and desired the same might everywhere be received as such, and that the said Jarrott may pass and repass as a free man of color should he demean himself well. Acknowledged by me the 26th day of June, 1823. Witness my hand and seal.
WILLIAM KINCAID, JR. KENNOR S. BOREMAN, Rec.
Deed Book E, page 371.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Barnett, James P., died at Carlisle, Pa., Nov. 18, '62.
Brooks, William, died at Lavergne, Tenn., Jan. 5, '63, of wds rec'd in action.
Bell, Joseph, tr. to Co. B. date unknown.
Bell, John H., tr. to Co. I, date unknown.
Brown, John E., mus. in Oct. 3, 62; tr. to Co. F, date unknown.
Bond, Edward, mus. in Oct. 10, '62; tr. to Co. H, date unknown.
Beitz, Augustus O., mus. in Aug. 6, '64; not on mus. out roll.
Campbell, William P., mus. in Oct. 3, '62; mus. out with Co. June 21, '65.
Cleverstone, Daniel, mus. in Sept. 24, '64; mus. out with Co. June 21, '65.
Clark, Adrian S., mus. out with Co. June 21, '65.
Carr, Charles, mus. in Oct. 10, '62; disch. on Surg.' Cert. Aug. 6, '63.
Clark, Edward B., disch. on Surg. Cert. March 3, '63.
Cholette, Cor. M., tr. to U. S. Army Oct. 30, '62.
Cover, Michael, mus. in June 4, '64; tr. to Co. A. June 21, '65.'
Crawford, Edwin E., died in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 12, '63; bur. in Nat. Cem.
Conner, William B., died in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 3, '63; bur. Nat. Cem. Sec. B., grave 1,177.
Cotterel, William, mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. G, date un- known.
Cumston, John, mus. in Oct. 10, '62; tr. to Co. E, date unknown.
Chambers, William H., mus. in Oct. 10, '62; tr. to Co. H., date unknown.
Cotterel, Jonas, mus. in Ang. 30, '62; tr. to Co. M.
Duer, Florence, mus. in Sept. 23, '64; disch. by Gen. Order, June 24, '65.
Dye, William L, disch. by Gen. Order, June 24, '65.
Denney, Clark, mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. I, date unknown.
Drake, Alexander S., mus. in Oct. 10, '62; died at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 31, '62; bur. in Nat. Cem., Sec. B, grave 88.
Evans, Benjamin B., tr. to Co. F, date unknown.
Estle, Daniel L., tr. to Co. I, date unknown.
Farrer, John G., mus. out with Co. June 21, '65.
Faas, John, mus. in Sept. 10, '64; mus. ont with Co. June 21, '65. Fisher, David F., inus. in Sept. 19, '64; mus. out with Co. I, June 21, '65.
Fullerton, Bryam M., mus. in Aug. 20, '64; mus. out with Co. June 21, '65.
Frankenberry, A. D., tr. to Signal Corps Oct. 27, '63.
Filbey, Barton E., mus. in Oct. 3, '62; des. Dec. 8, '62. .
Gosline, Nelson, mus. ont with Co. June 21, '65.
*
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Gibbons, Anthony J., mus. in Sept. 25, '64; prisoner from April 12 to 30, '65; disch. June 20, '65; to date May 18, '65.
Grim, David, mus. in Sept. 19, '64; mus. ont with Co. June 21, '65. Griffin, Samnel C., mus. in Jan. 27, '64; tr. to Co. A, June 21, '65. Gass, Samuel W., inns. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. F, date unknown. Grim, William, mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. D, date unknown.
Grim, Lycurgus, mus in Aug. 30, '62; tr. to Co. F, date unknown.
Househalter, Philip, mus. in Sept. 22, 64; mus. out with Co. June 21, '65.
Himes, John, mus. in Oct. 3, '63; mus. out with Co. June 21, '65.
Howard, George W., mus. in Sept. 6, '62; pr. to 2d Lient., 4th Regt. U. S. Col. Art., April 5, 65; mus. out Feb. 25, '66.
Heiter, Joseph J., mus. in March 24, '64; tr. to Co. A, June 21, '65.
Hoke, George N., mus. in Sept. 6, '62; died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., April 2, '63; bur. in Nat. Cem. Stone River.
Hawkins, A. LeRoy, mus. in Ang. 30, '62; tr. Co. I, date un- known.
Hewitt, Jacob, mus. in. Aug. 30, '62; tr. to Co. F, date unknown. Hewitt, Eli, mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. B, date unknown.
Hewitt, Samuel, mus. in Oct. 10, '62; tr. to Co. HI, date unknown.
Houlsworth, James, mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. G, date un- known.
Houston, Samuel, mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. H, date un- known.
Houston, Joseph, mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. H, date unknown.
Hartzell, Edwin, mus. in Ang. 30, '62; tr. to Co. I, date un- known.
Hartley, John M., mus. in Aug. 30, '62; tr. to Co. D, date un- known.
Hughes, James, mus. in Oct. 29, '64; not on mus. ont roll.
Johns, Albert M., mus. in Aug. 30, '62; disch. on Surg. Cert. Oct. 12, '63.
Johnstone, Valentine, mus. in Aug. 8, '64; tr. to Co. A, June 21, '65.
Jamison, Wilbur T., mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. H, date unknown.
Jameson, John A., mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. F, date un- known.
Jordan, Robert H., mus. in Oct. 3, '62; tr. to Co. H, date un- known.
Kimmel, Jacob, mus. in Oct. 10, '62; mus. ont with Co. June 21, '65.
Kinney, Eaton, mus, in Oct. 3, '62; dis, on Surg. Cert. Feb.23, '63.
522
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
stock of the company. It was this interest which was finally trans- ferred to Greensboro and became the nneleons of the company men- tioned above, and was the earliest manufactory in this section-the forerunner of the vast business at Pittsburg and vicinity.
Mr. Gallatin was born in Geneva, Switzerland, January 29, 1761, was instructor of French in Harvard University in 1782, married a beautiful young woman in Richmond, Va., in 1783, in 1785 bought his plantation at New Geneva, where he lived several years in a log cabin; but eventually built a quaint stone castle on a commanding eminence which he named Friendship Hill. Here he was visited by LaFayette in 1824. On the death of his wife she was buried here and her grave never marked, which caused among busy bodies unfavor- able comments. But on one occasion while out hunting he paused near her grave and was lost in deep meditation. Finally he said, "There lies one of the best and purest women ever God made. I would have erected a monument to her memory, only she requested ine not to do so, preferring that her grave should not be so marked. She said I would know where she was laid, and as to the rest of the world, it was of little importance." The stone edifice where he lived still remains, though much changed. He attained eminence as a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, member of Congress-the first representative of Greene County, as Secretary of the United States Treasury, and as Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia, to Ghent and to London. In 1816 he was made Minister to France, and in the meantime was sent on extraordinary missions to the Netherlands in 1817, and to England in 1818. In 1826 he was appointed envoy extraordinary to England. He died August 12, 1849, at New York. He was probably the most eminent of the adopted citizens with whose services the nation has been favored.
Monongahela Township from the earliest times has been noted for the prosperity which has marked its progress. Its home markets have been good and the facility with which from every part it could reach transportation practically brought the markets beyond the bounds of the county to its own doors. Near the center of the township on Whiteley Creek is located the pleasant little village of Mapletown, named probably from the ancestors of Robert . and Thomas Maple. The intelligence and culture of the people is marked. The earliest school report under the present system gives the township seven schools and 250 pupils, and Greensboro with two schools and 101 pupils. The report of 1859 says " There are a few active and zealous friends of education in this township who evince a deep interest in the schools by frequent visitations." The present school board is constituted as follows: W. H. Cummins, Pres- ident; N. M. Hartley, Secretary; Silas Rose, William Ramsey, Stephen Maple, Lee Gabler; of Greensboro: W. L. Hamilton, Pres-
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
ident; C. A. Wolverton, Secretary; David Garrison, James Hamil- ton, John C. Blake, James Atchison.
As Monongahela was among the earliest portions of the county settled, it doubtless suffered as much from Indian depredations as any other section. If the record of these midnight massacres and burnings could be veritably gathered up and set in order it would form one of the most thrilling pages in American history. But having given accounts of these in connection with the early history of many of the other townships of the county we propose to omit all mention of Indian horrors in this, and show instead the other side of the picture which may serve as a key to the blood-thirsty disposition of the savage. Mr. Evans in his Eighth Centennial article gives several very striking incidents under the title of " White Savages," and from this are given below copious extracts.
" Gennine settlers were seeking homes for themselves and poster- ity. Feeling that in a certain sense they were intruders unon the territory and hunting grounds of the red man, they chose to court his friendship and cultivate a spirit of amity with him. But in their train followed a class of desperate and despicable outlaws-cormorants upon the peace and well-being of the settlements-who preyed upon the Indians as upon wolves and bears, and improved every opportu- nity to commit gross insults, rapine, and murder upon them. De- ceived by these bad men, and maddened to frenzy by their frequent and brutal atrocities, these uncultivated children of the forest would give unrestrained vent to rankling vengeance, and would visit indis- criminately tortures the most fiendish and murders the most appall- ing that savage genins could invent. I shndder for civilization when I chronicle the revolting erimes perpetrated in its name. But the truth of history demands the shocking revelation, that no uncertain light may be shed on the pathway of succeeding generations.
" Between the years 1765 and 1774 there was comparative peace and harmony between the frontiersman and the neighboring tribes. They were dwelling together in unity, and a social intimacy was being cultivated by the chiefs and encouraged by the whites. Indian and white man mingled and commingled with perfect freedom and confiding security. But this period of good feeling was from time to time interrupted, and eventually altogether destroyed by the das- tardly and reckless piracies of the wieked outlaws above described.
"A fiend in human shape, John Ryan by name, killed at different times three friendly and influential Indians. One of these was Owish- togah, the 'Captain Peter' of our region. to whom many of our fore- fathers owed a debt of gratitude for his hospitalities and friendly warnings, and judicious advice. Though sadly consternated at the damnable perfidy of these monster crimes, retaliation was not at- tempted. Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, offered a reward for the ap-
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
prehension of the murderer, which caused him to leave the country, and the Indians smothered their just indignation and forebore redress.
" On the south branch of the Monongahela a most wanton and un- provoked massacre was committed on some peaceable Indians on a friendly visit there, by Henry Judah and Nicholas Harpold. The former was arrested for the crime, but the excited and inconsiderate populace rescued him, and he was permitted to go unhung. Bald Eagle was a chieftain of great celebrity, who was known and highly esteemed by all the well-disposed settlers along the Monongahela. He was on familiar and confidential terms with the inmates of every cabin. IIis visits were frequent, and his presence always welcome. Yet this universal favorite was inhumanly murdered by the three dastardly wretches, Jacob Scott, William Hacker and Elijah Runner. They met him all alone in his canoe somewhere near the mouth of the Cheat, and committed the cowardly deed. Not content with the horrible crime of cold-blooded murder, they proceeded to add insult to injury by thrusting a johnny-cake in his mouth, propping him up in the stern of his canoe and setting him afloat on the river. In this condition he was discovered by a Mrs. Province, about the mouth of Big Whiteley Creek, who had his remains brought ashore and de- cently buried. Soon after the death of Bald Eagle, one William White waylaid and assassinated a peaceable Indian, for which he was apprehended and committed to Winchester jail for trial. But the prejudiced and infuriated populace forced the prison doors, knocked off his shackles and set him at liberty.
" About the close of the year of 1772, I think, a most atrocious butchery occurred on a branch of Dunkard Creek. A semi-civilized Indian family, by name of Jacob, lived there by hunting and culti- vating a patch of Indian corn. He would frequently supply the settlers along the creek with meat and skins. But his peaceful wig- wam was invaded, and his whole household slain, with the exception of two children, who escaped, half frozen and nearly starved, to tell the story of their wrongs to the kindred tribes beyond the Ohio. The miscreants who perpetrated this deed are now unknown. About this time also Bulltown, an Indian village consisting of five fami- lies, on the Little Kanawha, was ruthlessly invaded by five demons, among whom were White and Hacker, before mentioned. All the villagers, men, women and children, on the frivolous pretext of a mere suspicion, were put to death, and their bodies sunk in the river. In the spring of 1774, Capt. Cræsop and a party of land sharks first waylaid and murdered a couple of peaceable Indians crossing the Ohio in a canoe, and afterward fired upon a harmless encampment of Indians at the mouth of Captina Creek, killing and wounding several.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
" But perhaps of all the black catalogue of unprovoked crimes, the affair a few days later, at the mouth of Yellow Creek, was the most infamous. Here the family of Logan, who up to that time was known as 'the white man's friend,' was killed. One Daniel Great- house led a party of bushwhackers to the scene, ostensibly to protect a family named Baker, who resided at the mouth of the creek, and subsisted chiefly from the miserable occupation of selling the Indians rum. Secreting his men, he crossed the creek in the guise of friend- ship to the Indian camp. Being advised by a friendly squaw that the Indians were getting in liquor and were somewhat exasperated on account of the trouble at the mouth of Captina, he returned to Baker's and told him if any of the Indians should come over, to give them all the rum they wanted. The hypocritical scheme succeeded. Lured by his treacherous representations, a party of Indians with two females crossed over to Baker's, and when sufficiently intoxicated were set upon by Greathouse and his minions, and the whole party slaughtered. Another party ventured over, and shared a like fate. By this time, suspecting foul play, a large detachment attempted to eross, but they too were fired upon from the deadly ambuscade, and many of them slain and the rest driven back. The perpetration of this act of fiendish perfidy was fittingly closed by the savage cere- mony of scalping all the victims. These were a few specimens of the treatment the Indians, when disposed to be peaceable, received at the hands of the whites. The soul sickens in contemplation of these revolting scenes! The blood curdles to believe mankind guilty of such nameless horrors! What marvel that speedy retribution was visited upon the settlements? What marvel that swift destruction overtook them at noonday? What marvel that the terrible war-whoop of the blood-thirsty savage pervaded the whole land; that the toma- hawk and the scalping-knife on every hand were reeking with the blood of the innocent; that fire and rapine and general desolation ruled the hour?
" From this time forth Logan was transformed into an avenging demon. His name became a terror. At his beck settlements dis- appeared as with 'a besom of destruction.' The soil of Greene County drank the blood of almost numberless victims to his power. Well could reeking scalps, vacant hearths and smouldering ruins attest his boast: 'I have sought revenge. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance.'"
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