History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 70

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1288

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In 1869-70 a Catholic Church was built in Neshannock, and the first service held therein by Father Hartmann, of St. Rose Parish, in 1870. The mission was then placed under the charge of the pastor at Sharpsville, and so remains up to the present. The building was a frame, but not a very sub- stantial structure. It was blown down early in 1887, and has not been rebuilt, and it is not very probable that it ever will be. The mission embraces only a few families, and services are held in private houses.

Villages .- Hickory Township has several villages in addition to the boroughs given.

Hermitage Post Office is a cross roads settlement on the Mercer and Sharon road, four miles from the latter borough. It contains a store, post-office and several dwellings, besides a school building. Its list of postmasters will be found in the chapter on Internal Affairs.

New Virginia is a mining village of considerable activity in the past. It has no post-office of its own, but receives its mail at "Five Points," half a mile distant. The village has the usual supply of dry goods and grocery facilities, an Odd Fellows lodge, which sprang from the Sharon Lodge, a Methodist Church and a goodly number of comfortable residences. The peo- pl'e are employed chiefly in mining interests.

Keel Ridge was once quite an active place, but the exhaustion of the coal in the region has had the effect to injure the growth of the community. At one time it was the scene of unusual activity, and gave every evidence of financial thrift. It has supported one store. The religious interests of the community were supplied by a Lutheran Church, which was established in 1854.

Neshannock, the original terminus of the Sharpsville railroad, was former- ly of considerable importance, but like its sister villages, which have depended for their prosperity upon a business that was likely to be temporary, it has re- ceded. It has supported the usual complement of dry goods and grocery stores,

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

public schools, hotel and post-office, and has furnished communicants for four different religious organizations, Methodist, Catholic, United Brethren and Baptist, three of which were supplied with church edifices. The Baptists were accustomed to meet in the school building.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP.

The township whose name heads this sketch was erected from a part of what was originally old Cool Spring Township, September 21, 1850. It was the southeastern portion of the old division, and adjoins what is at present called Cool Spring Township. The name given to the new subdivision was applied in honor of Gen. Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, who was born in South Carolina March 15, 1767. In 1788 he began the prac- tice of law at Nashville, Tenn. Eight years later he became that State's sole representative in Congress, and one year afterward entered the Senate. Was in turn judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, major general in the United States army, commander of the American forces at the decisive triumph of New Orleans, governor of Florida, unsuccessful candidate for the presidency in 1824, elected President in 1828, re-elected in 1832, and died June 8, 1845.

Jackson Township is one of the best agricultural districts in the county. Its surface is level, and its soil fertile. There are rich deposits of coal and minerals in the ground. Grains and fruits are grown with much success. Peaches, pears, plums and apples flourish in rich profusion, while in the cereal line no township in the county surpasses it in the quality of the wheat and corn which it produces. The sole drainage is afforded by Mill Creek, which enters the limits of the township near the northeastern corner, flows in a diag- onal course through the center down to the southwestern corner, whence it departs to form a junction with Otter Creek at Mercer. Cool Spring Creek also flows through a very small portion of the township, and discharges its waters into Mill Creek near the point where the latter intersects the township line.

Pioneers. - The early history of this township is so nearly identified with that of the old original division, Cool Spring, that any attempt to form a sep- aration of narratives will necessarily involve much repetition. The first set- tlement made here was unquestionably that of the Zahniser family, but their movements are more particularly traced in the pages devoted to Lake Township.

At the time of the arrival of the Zahnisers, or within a year or two, the neighbors, within a radius of five miles, were Peter Wilson, William Wilson, Charles McBride, Thomas McBride, John McMillan, William Parker, Alexan- der Turner, John McDonald, George Myers, James Rice, Joseph Alexander, Thomas McClain, Francis Huey, Andrew and Robert McClure, Thomas and Jabez Coulson, William McMillan, Thomas McMillan and Benjamin Stokely.

The two McBrides came into the county at the same time. Charles re- moved to the West about 1814. Thomas died about 1830. His son, Arch. McBride, now lives near Sandy Lake. John McMillan was Scotch-Irish. He was a worthy citizen. His cousin Thomas was a bachelor, and built a hotel in which his brother William accommodated some of the attendants at the first courts held in Mercer County. The farm is now owned by John Mc Ewen. William McMillan was one of the commissioners who laid out the town of Mercer. He and Thomas were both Revolutionary soldiers. William drew a pension.

George Myers was a Hessian, and taken prisoner at Yorktown, never return- ing to Europe. He died in 1830, aged eighty years.

James Rice had a large family. His sons were Clement, James, Thomas, Patrick and John. All have sold out and removed from the county.

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

For an account of Joseph Alexander, see Cool Spring Township.

Thomas McClain had four children, John, Abijah, Anna and Julia. The last, married to Mr. Law, is still living in Venango County. Mr. McClain died about 1812, and his widow married Asa Arnold.

Francis Huey died about 1842, aged about seventy-five. His sons, John and David, are still living, unmarried, and occupy the homestead.

For an account of the McClures, Stokelys, Coulsons, etc., see Cool Spring and Lake Townships.

William Wilson settled in what is now Jackson Township in 1797, a por- tion of the farm being now occupied by a grandson, also named William Wilson. The original William Wilson had a number of children, of whom the following were the elder ones: John, Samuel, William, Betsey and Rebecca. Of these children, William was a soldier in the War of 1812. His wife was Ellen Dawson, by whom he had nine children, some of whom are still living.

Peter Wilson, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, arrived in what is now Jackson Township as early as 1797. He secured a homestead, or settler's "right," as it was popularly called, from a man named Spencer, and settled on the farm owned many years later by James Dougherty. Wilson was a native of Ireland, who had emigrated from the country that gave him birth as early as 1775, taking up his residence in what is now Allegheny County. He quickly espoused the cause of freedom, and after serving with credit in the hard campaigns of the closing years of that great struggle, returned to his Allegheny home. Becoming impressed with a desire to secure a better home in the Northwest, he, in company with his wife and two children, George and James, removed to Mercer County. The tract which he secured from Spencer comprised 200 acres of fine land, beautifully located and well adapted to the purposes of agriculture. But somehow it was not in all respects satisfactory to its owner, for we find that in 1799 he traded it to a man by the name of Littleford, and removed to Worth Township, where he died about 1835. Some of his descendants are still living in Worth and Jackson Townships. His brother William came at the same time, and lived until 1825. His direct descendants are gone. Littleford occupied it until 1812, when he, too, aban- doned it and left the county. On the 1st of May, 1797, John Pew, accom- panied by his wife and four children, arrived from Washington County and settled a short distance from the present town of Mercer. Seven years later they removed to the portion of Cool Spring Township which subsequently formed Jackson, and took residence on a 200-acre tract. The land on which this settlement was made is yet in the possession of the family, having been occupied by the son Samuel, who was so closely allied to all the public enter- prises and popular movements of the township until he died, in the winter of 1887. As early as 1798 William Parker made a settlement on the place afterward occupied for many years by Col. Thomas Hosack. Alexander Turner, a native of Ireland, entered Mercer County in 1800, and took up his abode in Jackson Township, on the farm afterward owned by Frank Vernon, where he continued to reside for quite a period of time. Among the other early settlers the names of John Todd, Charles McBride, Henry Glancey, George Wharton and John Armstrong are found.

Indians. - In the early times Indians were very abundant. There were three principal villages in the county, the chief one of which, consisting, according to best accounts, of seventy lodges, was located at what is now Mercer. The other two were, one at Big Bend, and the other at "Pine Swamp," in this township. The forests in the vicinity of the places named abounded in all kinds of game, and afforded excellent opportunity for hunt-

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

ing. The creeks, too, were well stocked with fish, and attracted the angling savages in great number during the spring and summer months. Altogether, the county was then a favorite Indian haunt. As a result of this early occu- pation by the copper-colored race, many wild traditions remain concerning their peculiarities. That these are, in many instances, purely mythical no one will deny. But running through them all is a thread of truth, from which is gathered the fact that many of the noble qualities which have been ascribed to the savages were not at all characteristic of them. They were, in the main, a lazy, worthless set, and as such were nearly always regarded by the whites.

An instance illustrating this fact is given. The chief of the Indian village at Mercer was an old fellow named Petty. He had a son-in-law named Har- thegig, who was a drunken sot that was disliked by his own race as heartily as he was detested by the whites. While the Pew family was living near Mercer, an acquaintance sprang up between its members and the Indian chief. As a result friendly relations were at once established between the entire village of red men and the whites. One morning as Samuel Pew, then a mere boy, was sitting by the fireside, "toasting his shins," as he expressed it, Harthegig and two companions entered the cabin door. No attention was paid to them until the former, who was pretty well under the influence of liquor, advanced to the boy, seized him by the bair, lifted his hunting knife in a menacing manner and threatened to scalp him. The household was alarmed by these actions, and a hunter named James Jeffers, who was present, and who bore an implacable resentment toward all the Indian race, on account of a loss he had sustained from its hands, leaped forward, grappled with the savage, dis- armed him and kicked him out the door. Nothing further was heard of him that day. On the following, however, he was observed to pass the house, fol- lowed shortly afterward by Jeffers, fully armed, who inquired the direction he had taken. Upon being told, Jeffers plunged into the forest, and returned in a few hours with a seemingly pleased expression on his countenance. He never related what had happened, but Harthegig was never seen more, and a skeleton found in the woods several years afterward was identified as that of the savage, whom Jeffers had doubtless killed. It is a significant fact, though, that no one, not even the Indians themselves, took any offense at the act.

Early Mills .- The first mill established in the township was one erected on his own farm, in 1799, by Peter Wilson. It was an undershot grist-mill, and its apparatus was simplicity itself, consisting merely of two flinty boulders, smoothed down by being rubbed together, and a cheap sieve for a bolter. There was much trouble had with this imperfect machinery, as small pieces of stone were constantly scaling off and mixing with the meal. This mill passed into the possession of Littleford, upon his securing the Wilson farm. He conducted it for a series of twelve years, and finally abandoned it. William Parker claims the honor of establishing the second. This, too, was a grist- mill, and was located a short distance west of Jackson Centre. Its machinery was, at start, nearly as simple as that of Wilson's mill, a hand-sieve serving as bolter for a number of years. But in time a pair of French burrs was secured and placed in operation, and the result was eminently satisfactory. In 1817 Thomas Hosack erected one on his farm, and conducted it until his death. In addition to these were numerous saw-mills, some stationary, some itinerant, all of which, though, serving good purposes. An extended account of these is deemed unnecessary.

Jackson Centre. - The site whereon the village of Jackson Centre stands

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

was owned by Eben Turner, who located there in 1835-36. £ When he erected his house a controversy arose as to the name of the prospective town. It was finally agreed to leave it to the judgment of the first man coming along the road. He called it " Shandaggan," a name which the place bore for a long time. When the post-office was established it was called Satterfield, in honor of Rev. James Satterfield. The first grocery store was kept by Elliott Davis, and the first general store by M. L. Zahniser and his father. The first black- smith shop was operated by John Gill, and the first shoeshop by Samuel Turner. Jackson Centre was surveyed February 28, 1882, by S. B. Stephen- son, Esq., of Mercer. The petition for incorporation, based upon the plat submitted by Mr. Stephenson, was signed by Johnson Graham, Thomas Clark, A. P. Jones, John Infield, W. J. Gill, C. R. Heasley, W. C. Turner, W. J. Graham and others. The petition was referred to the grand jury March 8, 1882, and the same day recommended to be granted. On the 5th of June, 1882, the court granted the decree, appointing Johnson Graham judge, and A. M. De France and L. L. Milner to be inspectors of the first election, held June 27. The village is a thriving place, and has a flouring-mill run by water power, the property of J. R. Dight; several dry goods stores, two hotels, kept by John Infield and John Gill, respectively, both of which have butcher shops connected with them; a stock breeders' association, one furniture store, one drug store and other business interests.

Churches .- Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized about 1841. The first edifice was a frame structure 35x40. It answered the demands of the church until 1868, when, during the pastorate of Rev. J. M. Gallagher, some- thing needed to be done to secure a more suitable place. It was first proposed to repair the old structure at this point. Dr. A. G. Egbert, now of Franklin, a native of Worth Township, offered to donate $3,000 toward the erection of a new building. His suggestion was accepted, and a brick structure, costing $8,000, took the place of the old one. Dr. E. K. Squires, of Pittsburgh, assisted at the dedication ceremonies, at which time considerable money was raised, but not enough to liquidate the indebtedness. Dr. Egbert finally suggested that he would make up the deficit, which was about $2,000. His contribution to the $8,000 structure was about $5,000. Among the preachers in charge of this con- gregation have been Revs. Jacob Murphy, Carle Moore, Jacob F. Waugh, J. A. Bowman, A. M. Blackford, J. M. Gallagher and J. M. Norris. In 1876 quite a colony went out and formed a congregation in Lake Township, whose sketch is found elsewhere [see Bethany Church]. The Jackson Centre con- gregation is represented as being in a healthy condition.

Cottage Methodist Episcopal Church was organized before 1856, by Rev. Dil- lon Pearson, in what was known as Cape-Horn School-house. The original mem- bers were George Jones and wife, John Webb and wife, Mrs. Doratha Pete, Mary Black, Rev. Robert Boyd and John Dight and wife. The following summer a small church edifice was constructed, costing about $300. It was subsequently sold to John Wilson for a dwelling, and on the same site, two miles west of Jack- son Centre, on the Franklin and Mercer road, in 1870, a fine frame building was erected, costing $2,000. Rev. McGill was probably the first regular pas- tor. The present minister is Nathaniel Morris, and the membership is 100. A Sabbath-school is kept up, with William Pew as superintendent.

Societies .- Jackson Centre Lodge No. 171, I. O. O. F., was instituted on the 30th of June, 1871, and is still in existence. In the summer of 1876 a Grange organization was organized, but, like its associates, has long since ceased to exist.

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.

The formation of Jefferson into a separate organization was effected April 4, 1850, at which time the court confirmed the report of three viewers, J. F. Satterfield, John Forker and John Findley, appointed agreeable to a petition presented May 16, 1849, praying for a division of Delaware Township, in order to facilitate the collection of taxes and to render elections easier. The new subdivision was given its present name in honor of that illustrious patriot and memorable statesman, Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States. He was born in Virginia in 1793; in 1769, after practicing law for a number of years, became a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses; in 1773 was ap- pointed delegate to the first Continental Congress; in 1775 took his seat in the Congress, was appointed chairman of the committee that drew up the Declara- tion of Independence, and was largely instrumental in framing that document; in 1779 became governor of Virginia; in 1785 became Minister to France; on returning became Washington's Secretary of State; in 1797 became Vice- President; in 1800 was elected President, and re-elected in 1804; retired to private life in 1809, and died in 1826.

The surface of the township is generally rolling. Agriculturally speaking, some of the finest farm lands to be found in the county are visible in the val- leys of Jefferson Township. The soil is very fertile and productive, and the crops, unless impaired by outside agencies, are nearly always abundant. The drainage is furnished principally by the Shenango River, which thrusts itself into the limits of the township by means of a sharp, long bend, which has been given the suggestive title, "Big Bend of the Shenango." In addition to this large water course are numerous smaller ones, chiefly tributary to the former, of which the most important is Lackawannock Creek. Altogether the surface is as well drained as that of any other township in the county.

Pioneers. - There is a dispute as to who was the first actual settler of the township. The facts presented in support of each contestant's claim seem to establish that an error is made on one side or the other. In the year 1798, accord- ing to the best authenticated accounts, Robert McDonald, Sr., settled upon the boundary line dividing Cool Spring and what is now Jefferson Township, he having entered the county an emigrant from Washington County, Penn. On the farm which he thus occupied he erected a log cabin. This, the first one in the vicinity, was located within the limits of the present township of Jefferson, and was, consequently, the first cabin in it. In this rude shelter his son Rob- ert was born on October 29, 1800, according to records which cannot be questioned. The other claimant to the honor of having been the first settler of the township was one John Mitchell, who located at a date nearly as early, on what is now the Greenville and Mercer road, about four miles from the latter place. Here he also effected a clearing, built a cabin, and began the struggles of a pioneer life. It would be a waste of energy to speculate upon the probable priority of either of these. It is enough to know that both at an early date braved the perils of their new surroundings, and manfully began the work which was to be, in later years, the foundations of a vigorous civilization and a healthy prosperity.

Among the other early pioneers might be mentioned Robert Fruit, who, in the year 1811, was living a short distance northwest of Pearson's mill, upon donation lot 210, 4th district; his brother, Thomas, a new-comer from North- umberland County, who settled about the same time on a tract of adjoining land; William Bagnall, who occupied the farm on which he is at present liv- ing early in 1828, at which time very few settlements had yet been made, and William Boyd, also an early resident of the region in question.

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

It is singular that Jefferson Township should be behind its neighbors in point of settlement, but it is a significant fact that such is the case. As late . as 1830 comparatively few settlements had been made.

Early Mills .- The most important industry that could be developed in a primitive community, next to the necessary efforts at clearing and securing sheltering homes, was the milling industry. Upon this so much depended that, next to his house, the early settler looked first to his mill, or to the mill at which he expected to trade. A mill in the vicinity, within reasonably easy access, was absolutely indispensable to him, and the erection of such a necessity was one of the foremost projects of his mind. The first mill located within the limits of the territory now under discussion was that belonging to a man named Pearson, which was built in 1816, upon the bank of Lackawan- nock Creek. It comprised both a grist and a saw-mill, and thus served a double purpose. The advantages which this enterprise bestowed induced Dr. Evans, an old physician living in the neighborhood, to build a rival, which he did, locating it further down the same stream. The Evans mill was exclusively a saw mill, and its apparatus consisted of a single upright saw, run by the motor power furnished by a large wooden water-wheel. A fulling and carding mill was established some time later. This is yet in operation, under the management of the Broadbents. A third saw-mill was erected several years later by James McFarland. It has long since become obsolete, as have also its two competitors. The Clay furnace, so famous in the industrial history of the county, is treated of elsewhere.

Villages. - In June, 1808, Joseph Morrison surveyed and laid out a town at the Big Bend, consisting of 245 lots and spacious streets. It was projected on an extensive plan, and was expected to become the seat of justice of the county. This prospective capital and metropolis, which "died a bornin," was christened Shenango. Its complete history will be found in the annals of unrealized expectations.

The chief village of the township is Charleston. This was laid off in the winter of 1838, by Henry Campbell. The first purchaser of the lots, which were sold for $25 each, was Charles Beatty, who was given the honor of nam- ing the new town. He called it "Charleston." The postmasters of the place, which became a post-office in 1858, are given in the list of postmasters in Chapter V. The village sustains one store, kept by David Beil, and a har- ness-shop by Samuel Hunter, and is at present in a fairly healthy vitality for an inland country town.

Churches .- All Saints' Catholic Church, in Jefferson Township, about three miles from Mercer, to the left of the road leading to Greenville, was organized about 1838. At that time its principal members were John and Ellen Jen- nings, William Jennings, Richard Jennings, Patrick McCloskey (a pioneer of 1796), William Kane, William Mckeever, John Griffin, Patrick Griffin, Thomas Connolly, Daniel O'Connor, John Donahoe and others, some of whom were among the first settlers of the county. The same year a small frame church edifice was erected on land donated by one of the Jennings family. It was used, likewise, for school purposes. James Hanavan, one of the pioneer teachers of the county, and a resident at present of Sharon, taught there as early as 1843. This building, having undergone suitable enlargements and improve- ments in 1855, answered the purposes of the congregation for thirty years more.

In 1885 the present structure was erected at a cost of $12,000. It is a com- modious, ornamental and substantial brick structure, in harmony with the most improved notions of church architecture. It, with the extensive grounds sur- rounding, constitutes a valuable property. The congregation has grown to be

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History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 70

Author: Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1288

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1288