USA > Pennsylvania > Huntingdon County > History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania : from the earliest times to the centennial anniversary of American independence, July 4, 1876 > Part 9
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"A letter from two of the magistrates in Huntingdon county, stating that the daring and violent outrages were committed by a lawless sett of men, that the officers of the Government have been insulted and their lives endangered, and that part of the records of the Court have been de- stroyed and erased, was read, praying the support of the Government, &c. Thereupon,
"Resolved, That the most proper and effectual measures be immediately taken to quell the disturbances in Hunting- don county, and to restore order and good government, and that the Honorable the Judges of the Supreme Court be in- formed that the Supreme Executive will give them aid and assistance, which the laws of the State will warrant, and shall be found necessary to accomplish this end."
The language of this resolution was more vigorous than the action which followed it. Nothing further was then done to suppress these high-handed acts, approaching so nearly to a revolt that they can scarcely be called by any other name.
After the Council had been informed of them and before the passage of the resolution, other violence had been com- mitted. Samuel Clinton, who had made himself notorious as a rioter, Abraham Smith and William McCune, came into town at the head of about twenty men, and beat Alexander Irwin, a citizen. The same party, joined perhaps by others, assaulted the houses of the county officers at night, with showers of stones. The persons against whom there seemed to be the greatest hatred, were Robert Galbraith, Thomas Duncan Smith, Andrew Henderson and Benjamin Elliott.
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Threats were sent from all parts of the county that death, cropping, tarring and feathering, should be inflicted upon these or any other officers who should attempt to enforce the laws.
And these threats were not made without an intention of carrying them into execution. About the middle of August, one hundred and sixty men, collected from all parts of the county, some of them from Huntingdon, led by General McAlevy, Abraham Smith, John Smith and John Little, paraded the streets, not armed as before, but with muskets secreted, as was supposed by those who had reason to fear them. The officers and a few others who gave their support to the Government under the constitution, took refuge in the house of Benjamin Elliott, and there, with arms, were determined to defend themselves and to repel force with force.
Thus protected, no attack was made upon them. The enemy was content with marching through the streets, under flying colors and to the music of the fife. They met at William Kerr's house and elected delegates to a convention to be held at Lewisburg. At this election all were permitted to vote who had marched in the ranks that day, and all others were excluded.
This political animosity continued for more than a year. The subject was again before the Council in June, 1789. On the 12th day of that month, a committee to whom the matter had been referred, made a report, which, if it had been published or preserved, would have thrown greater light upon these transactions than can now be obtained from any source. By order of Council, the next day was assigned for further action upon the report. On the 13th the following resolution was adopted :
" Resolved, That the consideration of the report of the committee to whom was referred the representation from the justices and others of Huntingdon county, relative to some late disturbances in that county be postponed."
As the Council had delayed so long, and as the excite- ment had subsided, perhaps no wiser course could had been
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pursued at that time. This daring opposition to the execu- tion of the laws, formidable as it seemed, was not sufficiently powerful to accomplish its purposes, and its interference with the functions of government in Huntingdon county could not retard their progress elsewhere. Unassisted by similar combinations in other parts of the state or nation, its ultimate failure and discontinuance were necessary con- sequences, and while it was the duty of the Executive to protect the incumbents of places of trust in their official capacities and the lives and liberty of the people, yet it was good policy to refrain from the employment of military power until it became absolutely unavoidable. That the fury of this political tempest would soon exhaust itself must have been apparent. It ended without loss of life or limb and with but slight personal injury to any. We cannot ex- cuse those who instigated and encouraged this unlawful con- duct, but the civil authorities were competent to bring them to punishment. We have not ascertained whether this was done. One of them was under bonds in February, 1790, for his appearance at the next Supreme Court in this county, but whether he was brought to trial, and, if so, whether it resulted in conviction, we are not informed.
It has generally been stated and believed by those who have had nothing but traditionary accounts of these occur- rences, that the records of the court were burned by McAlevy and his men, but there is no official evidence that such was the case. There are in existence authentic and re- liable documents which seem to prove conclusively that some of the records were torn and others obliterated by erasures. It has been said that a copy of the Constitution of the United States was burned, and this may be correct, and may have given rise to the statement that other papers were destroyed in the same way.
CHAPTER XI.
CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY-PEACE AND PLENTY-PROSPERITY AND IMPROVEMENT-NAVIGATION OF THE JUNIATA AND RAYSTOWN BRANCH-OF THE LITTLE JUNIATA AND STANDING STONE CREEK-FIRST IRON WORKS-BEDFORD FURNACE-BARREE FORGE-HUNTINGDON FUR- NACE-FIRST ARK ON THE SUSQUEIIANNA AND JUNIATA-FIRST NEWSPAPER -ESTABLISHMENT OF THE POST OFFICE AT HUNTINGDON.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century, we arrive at a transition, a change of scene, in the drama that has been enacted in Huntingdon county. If it can be called a play at all, it had theretofore been a most serious and real one upon the actual stage of human life. From the beginning, it had been a conflict of antipathies and antagonisms, a struggle of irreconcilable elements. In the contest between the English and the French for supremacy on the western continent, the county, occupying an intermediate position, necessarily became a part of the field of action. When that contest ended, there remained in the aboriginal denizens of the forest a foe more cruel and unrelenting and more diffi- 'cult to subdue than were the soldiers of a civilized nation. But, greatest mutation of all, the arms of Britain and of the colonists, which had been directed towards a common enemy, were turned against each other, and were not withdrawn from the deadly strife until British power in America had shared the fate of that of France. But there was another struggle of longer duration and not less arduous, the stuggle with the wilderness, the great obstacle to progress, and with the soil for the means of subsistence. At the close of the Revolutionary war the former was perceptibly disappear- ing, and the latter had commenced to yield bountifully to the hand of man. Entering upon a period of peace and plenty, we also enter an era of material growth and pros- perity, of improvement in the means of internal commerce, of travel, of communication between distant points, and of the dissemination of intelligence.
That this history may fully illustrate the measures that
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have been taken to increase the facilities for trade within the county and with the country and world at large, we will revert to the legislation of provincial times on this subject. We will find their beginning in a scheme for making a num- ber of the streams of Pennsylvania, among which were the Juniata and some of its tributaries, navigable. An Act of Assembly for this purpose was passed March 9, 1771. It was very thorough and comprehensive in most of its provi- sions, and had they been carried out we would have had water craft floating upon our rivers long before the con- struction of canals along them was thought of. The Juni- ata to Frankstown and the Raystown Branch to Bedford were declared public highways for purpose of navigation, and all obstructions and impediments to passage up and down them were to be deemed nuisances. Commission- ers were appointed to receive any money that might be contributed by residents on or near those streams, and to expend it in the improvements contemplated by the act. They were to enlarge, straighten and deepen the chan- nels, to remove trees, rocks, sand and all other obstructions, whether natural or artificial, and to make tow-paths for the drawing of boats, vessels and rafts, which paths were to be open and free to all persons who might have occasion to use them.
This was a magnificent plan for that day, more magnifi- cent in the inception than in the execution of it. The de- fect in it was that it did not sufficiently provide for the raising of the funds that were necessary for its success. To depend upon voluntary contributions for effecting a work of such magnitude and involving an expense which at that time would have been enormous, was futile. The province itself would scarcely have been able to have accomplished it.
After a lapse of twenty-three years, the Little Juniata, from its mouth to the head of Logan's Narrows, and Stand- ing Stone creek, from its mouth to Laurel Run, near the house of William McAlevy, were declared public highways. The act was passed February 5, 1794. It merely authorized the inhabitants who were desirous of availing themselves of
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the navigation of those streams, to remove obstructions and erect such slopes and locks as might be necessary for the passage of boats and rafts.
To those who are acquainted with the rivers and creeks of this county which were thus to have been rendered navi- gable, it need not be said that the people have never taken practical advantage of the privileges conferred by these acts of Assembly. At the time of their passage, the Juniata proper was less obstructed than at present, dams having since been placed in it for the purpose of supplying water to the canal, and effectually closing it even to the passage of rafts down the stream. The Raystown branch, the Little Juniata and Standing Stone creek are of no more utility now as public highways than they were when the Indian furrowed them with his light canoe, and the day has passed when there is any requirement for such improvements as were of the highest importance before inventive genius and engineering skill had devised the wonderfully rapid means of transportation of recent times.
The manufacture of iron, which has remained one of the leading industries in the county, had its origin in 1780. In that year a furnace, the first west of the Susquehanna river, was erected within the site of the present borough of Or- bisonia. It was called " Bedford Furnace," after the name of the county in which it was then located. It had a ca- pacity of about thirteen tons per week. The ores used were of the fossil variety, from which the metal was the most easily extracted, and were smelted with charcoal. The firm by which this furnace was built consisted of Edward Ridg- ley, Thomas Cromwell and George Ashman. They were known as the " Bedford Company," and were the owners of many thousands of acres of land. Other firms have suc- ceeded them and other furnaces have been erected upon the same property and in its vicinity. The latter have been six in number, including the new mammoth works of the Rock- hill Coal and Iron Company. The history of all of them will be given in the sketch of Cromwell township.
The next establishment, in order of date, was for the con-
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version of pig-metal into wrought-iron. It was built on the Little Juniata, nine miles west of Huntingdon, by Edward Bartholomew and Greenberry Dorsey, in 1794, and was called " Barree Forge." This property also embraced ex- tensive tracts of land, through which the Pennsylvania Rail- road now passes. A furnace has been built near the forge.
In 1795 or '96, George Anshutz and John Gloninger erected Huntingdon Furnace, in Franklin township, three miles from the mouth of Spruce creek. Yielding large profits, the owners invested them in other iron works in ad- joining counties and in several forges on Spruce creek. The furnace is now owned by G. & J. H. Shoenberger, but has not been in blast for some years.
Notwithstanding the failure to make the Juniata more navigable than it was in its natural condition, its waters were used for the conveyance of the surplus products of the country to market as early as 1796. In that year, the first ark appeared in the Susquehanna. It had been taken there from the Juniata by -- Cryder, an enterprising German, and was laden with flour manufactured at his mill above Huntingdon. The mouth of the Swatara, at Middle- town, was then considered the termination of navigation on the Susquehanna, being believed to be impracticable below that point. Bit Cryder surmounted the difficulties by which others had been deterred, passed the falls and cata- racts and other obstacles which had been regarded as so dangerous, descended safely to Baltimore, and reaped a rich reward from the profits of his meritorious undertaking. The success of this enterprise becoming known throughout the region from which the Susquehanna and its tributaries flow, numerous arks were built in the following year, and reached tide-water with their cargoes. From the Juniata and its branches, they floated down the current whenever those streams were at a stage to permit, carrying principally flour, grain and whisky, three of the staple productions of the times. This mode of transportation continued until after the Pennsylvania canal was made. For several years sub- sequently arks went down from the Raystown branch, but H
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the facilities afforded by the artificial water-course so far surpassed those of the natural channel that the latter was soon abandoned for the other.
Not only have we the first furnace and the first ark previous to the year 1800, but also the first newspaper. It was called " The Huntingdon Courier and Weekly Advertiser," the first number of which appeared July 4th, 1797. It was published by Michael Duffey, at No. 305 Allegheny street. Of the method of obtaining the material with which the columns of his paper were filled, we find the following remi- niscence in the Huntingdon Gazette, of February 11th, 1829:
"Thirty two years ago, no mail, public or private, entered the confines of this county. A newspaper, about that time, was established in Huntingdon, the editor of which depended entirely on the accommodating disposition of a few hardy mercantile gentlemen, who after a three months' preparation, making their wills, etc., ventured to the city of Philadelphia for goods, and on their return brought as many of the city newspapers as kept him in 'blast ' until they were ready to return for a supply of goods," etc.
Although the intelligence which Mr. Duffey furnished to his readers was inexpensive to him, his paper was unremu- nerative. It could scarcely have been otherwise at a time when the county was so sparsely populated and when there were no mails to carry it to the few persons whose literary tastes or desire for news might have inclined them to be- come subscribers. As a consequence, he and his enterprise failed. Whether he continued to publish it until after a mail route and a post office were established in the county, is uncertain. He went, or perhaps returned, to Baltimore, previous to 1799. While at Huntingdon, he had in his em- ploy as a "journeyman " printer, John McCahan, who, a few years later, founded the "Huntingdon Gazette," which he conducted successfully for more than a quarter of a century. The information as to the merchants carrying newspapers to Duffey from Philadelphia was furnished by McCahan, and appeared in the Gazette within a year after he transferred it to his son, J. Kinney McCahan.
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The precise date of the establishment of the post office at Huntingdon, which was the first in the county, cannot be ascertained, as it is not known to the Department at Wash- ington, " owing to the fire which consumed the post office building in December, 1836, and which burnt those of the earliest record books of this office. But, by the Auditor's ' Ledger Book,' it is ascertained that the post office at Hunt- ingdon began to render quarterly accounts on the first day of January, 1798, and John Cadwallader was the first post- master. As the postmaster must have transacted some business prior to this date, it is believed that the office was established during the month of October or November, 1797. This comprises all the information that the records furnish on this point."
The above extract is from a letter of James H. Marr, Acting First Asst. P. M. General, to J. Hall Musser, esq., present Postmaster at Huntingdon, who kindly communi- cated with the Post Office Department on the subject.
CHAPTER XVI.
NEWSPAPERS OF THE PAST-HUNTINGDON GAZETTE-LITERARY MUSEUM- REPUBLICAN ADVOCATE-HUNTINGDON COURIER-HUNTINGDON MESSEN- GER-STANDING STONE BANNER-SINIRLEYSBURG HERALD-THIE UNION -BROAD TOP MINER-WORKINGMEN'S ADVOCATE-YOUNG AMERICA- THE AMERICAN AND THE REPUBLICAN.
The first number of "The Huntingdon Gazette and Weekly Advertiser " appeared February 12th, 1801. The writer has in his possession the fourth number of the first volume, dated March 5th, of that year, not having been able to ob- tain a copy of either of the three preceding issues. It was then a folio, each page being about ten and a half by six- teen inches in size, and containing four columns. At its head it bore the motto, "'GIVE ME THE LIBERTY TO KNOW, TO UTTER, AND ARGUE FREELY ACCORDING TO CONSCIENCE.' -Milton," under which appeared the following notice of the place of publication : " HUNTINGDON, (Pennsylvania) : Printed by JOHN MCCAHAN, Washington Street ; opposite to GUINN'S Alley."
As Mr. McCahan was a practical printer, he exercised a personal supervision of the mechanical execution of his paper, to which may be accredited the clearness and correct- ness with which it was done. On the 28th of April, 1809, he enlarged the sheet and added about two inches to the length of the columns. He remained the editor and pro- prietor until the 9th of July, 1828, when the establishment passed into the hands of his son, J. Kinney McCahan, who, to a great extent, had had the management of it for several years previous to that time.
John McCahan, the originator and founder of the Gazette, was born in November, 1780, at Drumnahaigh, a small village in the north of Ireland. He landed in the United States in August, 1792, and in 1795, was bound to Steel & McClain, of Carlisle, Pa., to learn the art of printing. The failure of that firm in the following year ended his appren-
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ticeship. In 1797, he worked with Michael Duffey, publish- er of the Courier, at Huntingdon. His latter employer, like the first, failed, and went to Baltimore. McCahan followed him, and in 1799, worked for William Peckin, on a Digest of the Laws of the United States. In 1801 at the age of but little more than twenty years, he established the Gazette and continued its publication for twenty-seven years. These facts are obtained from memoranda written by Mr. McCahan in September, 1853.
His successor, J. Kinney McCahan, improved the paper immediately after taking charge of it. He added a column to each page, without, however, enlarging the sheet. The margin had been very wide, and by a rearrangement of the style, admitted of the change.
A comparison of one of the earlier copies of the Gazette with a daily or weekly publication of the present time, is a . most correct illustration of the changes that have taken place between the two periods, and enables us to pass at a single step from the one to the other. Then the distinctively local newspaper was unknown. The more remote the locality from which it emanated, the greater was the necessity that it should be devoted to general intelligence, to the news from the whole world. The reader who was so fortunate as to receive his journal once a week, expected it to present all that he could desire to know of occurrences in his own and foreign countries at a date about three months previous to that of the paper. And if the weekly mail, upon which the editor depended for the material with which he supplied his columns, should be delayed, as frequently. happened, beyond the day for "going to press," it was a disappointment for which he felt obliged to apologize to his readers.
Now the great dailies furnish us each morning with dis- patches from every civilized quarter, detailing the events of the preceding twenty-four hours. The editor no longer receives his news by mail, but it comes to him on the electric wire, and within a few minutes after leaving the pen of his corres- pondent, may be in the hands of the public. The mails have almost lost their utility in connection with newspaper
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enterprise, except to carry the printed sheet to all parts of the globe.
The weekly publication must confine itself to a narrower field. If it undertakes to give the general news of the day, it does so after they have been read and re-read at almost every fireside. It is compelled, in order to maintain its own existence, to leave the broader domain entirely to those whose rivalry therein it cannot oppose. This is the contrast presented by the Gazette and its recent successors.
On the 23d of April, 1834, after having been under his con- trol nearly six years, and under the control of himself and father more than thirty-three years, the Gazette was sold by J. Kinney McCahan to Alexander Gwin, Esq. Its publication was continued by the latter until after the political campaign of 1838, which resulted in the election of David R. Porter to the office of Governor of this commonwealth.
Mr. Gwin, who was the last editor of the Gazette, was the son of Patrick Gwin, for several terms sheriff of the county. He was born in Huntingdon, and was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, where he graduated with marked distinc- tion. He then returned to his native town and studied law, sustaining, in that pursuit, the high reputation he had ac- quired at college, and afterwards, in the practice of his pro- fession, he attained a position of which his early career had given promise. The vigor of his intellect was acknowledged by his political opponents. Having advocated with ability, through the Gazette, the election of David R. Porter, he was appointed by the latter, after his inauguration as Governor, Prosecuting Attorney for Huntingdon county. In 1845 he was elected a Representative to the Legislature. During the session in which he was a member of that body, he la- bored with great industry in the committee room, and by his integrity and talents secured the confidence of, and great influence with, his colleagues. As a politician he was fair, constant and undeviating. "In principles, radical; in prac- tice, consistent." He died March 28, 1848.
A more ambitious literary project was originated in 1809. Its character will be apparent from the following :
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PROPOSALS
For. Publishing by Subscription a New Work to be Entitled,
"The Huntingdon Literary Museum and Monthly Miscellany."
Exclusively devoted to amusement and Instruction, by
W. R. SMITH & M. CANAN.
CONDITIONS.
1. This Work will be published in Monthly numbers, on a fine white paper and with a good Type.
2. Each Number will appear on the first Monday of every Month, and shall contain not less than 48 Octavo Pages, so as to form a handsome Volume at the end of each year- when will be given a General Title Page and Index.
3. The Price, to Subscribers, will be $3 per year ; One Dollar of which to be paid on the delivery of the first Num- ber; one other on the delivery of the sixth, and the third, at the expiration of the year.
4. No subscription to be discontinued, except at the end of a Volume, and on payment of what may then be due.
5. The first Number shall appear on the first Monday of November next, or sooner if a sufficient number of Sub- scribers can be obtained.
Huntingdon, Pa., 1st August, 1809.
This advertisement appeared in the Gazette and was fol- lowed by an " Address," occupying nearly a column in that paper, setting forth more explicitly the objects and nature of the proposed publication The first number was not ready at the time announced for its appearance and it was consequently postponed until January, 1810. The twelve numbers were issued regularly during that year, making a volume of 576 pages. A bound copy is on the shelves of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and two copies, com- plete with the exception of the first number, are in the library of the late General A. P. Wilson, of Huntingdon.
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