History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 75

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

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

mencing their operations by girdling the trees. In the course of a few weeks two strangers appeared and asked the privilege of joining them in their labors. The names of these are not related, nor has inquiry found out. The "Life" referred to states that after a brief time the provisions of the party were exhausted. Wild game, of course, was abundant, deer being especially so, but fresh meat became a monotonous diet when depended upon altogether. So the whole party walked to Meadville and packed their goods home on their backs. They purchased seed potatoes and corn, paying $3 per bushel for the former and $2 for the latter. These trips were repeated at different intervals. Upon one occasion young Roberts started back from Meadville with some sugar in his arms. It was on Sunday. A rain which fell dissolved it, leaving the party to do without their sweets. Roberts believed that the accident was a direct punishment from God for their wickedness in traveling on His holy day.

In the following June Roberts and Hubanks returned to Westmoreland County, leaving Caughey to look after their interests, and, in accordance with the act of 1792, to occupy their tracts and keep them free from intruding squatters. Caughey, however, was not destined to long remain alone in the township, for in the same spring a party, consisting of Stephen Riley, William Lindsay, Lewis and Thomas Roberts, from Ligonier, and Rev. Jacob Gurwell, entered and began settlements. Some accounts say that John Caughey had returned to the populous regions, and came back to his new land in company with the party. At any rate, the new-comers entered the region of Salem Township and prepared to secure land claims. The two Roberts brothers and Gurwell shortly afterward returned to the place whence they had come, intending to replenish their store of provisions, which had run low. They promised to be back in a short time. Weeks and months ensued, but they came not. Riley also returned home, and Lindsay was left to meet star- vation. He subsisted for an almost unendurable period on squirrels and other small game. But this proved so weakening that he was almost prostrated, when, upon looking out his cabin door, he beheld a party of whites approaching, which made his heart beat with joy. It comprised the Roberts family, includ- ing the father, three sons and one daughter, Elizabeth, the first woman ever in the territory. The new-comers brought abundant supplies, and also a few head of stock, with which to begin farming in earnest.

During the two following winters Robert, the future bishop, and his sister Elizabeth were left in the wilderness to guard the cabins, the remainder of the party having returned to Ligonier. It is related that during the long winter days, when there was nothing to do inside, Robert would take his rifle and depart on a hunting expedition into the surrounding forests, leaving his sister to pass the day alone. There was, fortunately, nothing to frighten her, as the few Indians who lived in the vicinity at the time were generally peaceful, and all had a high respect for the plucky woman. At night she used to take her station on the cabin roof, and by shouting at the top of her voice guide her brother in to his home. His answer to this signal was always a gunshot, which he fired to let her know he was coming. In the spring of 1798 Lind- say, Caughey and Robert Roberts settled permanently in the township, and became thereafter prominently identified with its history and development. Lindsay became Elizabeth's husband, while Caughey married her sister.

Among the other early settlers the following only will be noticed. Will- iam McLean and family came in 1798, purchasing his land from John Caughey. The spring of 1799 witnessed the arrival of Caleb Rhodes, with a family of wife and nine children, from Fayette County. He settled on a 400 acre

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

tract afterward occupied by his grandsons, and located in the northern part of the township. In 1799 Thomas Limber, of Centre County, settled upon a 200 acre tract on which Minard Freeland afterward lived. In the year following he brought out his wife and children, the land having been donated to her on account of her father's services in the Revolution. He erected a hewed log cabin, which stood for nearly eighty years. In it the celebrated Dr. John Taylor, an Irishman, born in County Armagh, an astronomer, philosopher and master of arts, also author of Taylor's Almanacs, was killed by lightning on the night of August 10, 1838. Of the other pioneers, James Stevenson, a blacksmith; Henry Williamson, an early settler upon the Beatty places; Will- iam Stewart, on the Rhodes place; Samuel Watt and Andrew McLean were among the most prominent. They all did heroic service in the cause of civil- ization, and could they arise from their long sleep would behold sights of progress and enlightenment of which they never, in the wildest flights of their fancy, dreamed. George Williamson, brother of James, settled in Salem Township. His sons were: Samuel, who was the colonel of the first volunteer regiment in the county. He was twice a candidate for Congress, but the time had not then come for Mercer County to be honored with a live Congressman. James, another son, died early in Mercer. He was a merchant. Jacob, who, in company with David Crawford, started the second newspaper published in Mercer, in the interest of Gregg, who was a candidate for governor.

Mills .- The importance of early mills upon every community's growth is generally conceded. In the present township a great inconvenience was at first experienced in securing ground grain. But the grist-mill erected in 1805, by Bishop Roberts, on a small stream known as Big Run, obviated this difficulty and became a genuine public blessing. It enjoyed a large patronage. In the southeastern part of the township one was built in 1824 by John Long. In a short time he added a saw-mill attachment, and later still a carding-mill.

A saw-mill was built in the summer of 1828, on the Big Run, by James Caughey. This is claimed to be the first erected in the Roberts neighbor- hood. It, too, did good service, but in a few months became unmanageable and was abandoned. In 1834 James Stevenson replaced it, being assisted in the trouble of operating it by his partner, Lewis Lindsay. This one was a success, and received an extensive patronage. Two other mills were built in the neighborhood, one in 1846 by Adam Thompson and James Young, in the southwestern part of the township, and the other in 1850, in the same region, by George Fulke. These landmarks in the history of the township's indus- trial development, while not of themselves of extreme importance to a reader of to-day, yet illustrate as well as anything else the progress that has been achieved during the closing decades of our present century. They are, there- fore, instructive.

SANDY CREEK TOWNSHIP.

The old township of Sandy Creek, with its gigantic area of fifty square miles, was erected in 1804. It extended from the line of Crawford County on the north to the old township of Cool Spring on the south, and was bounded on the east by French Creek Township and on the west by Salem. It existed in this shape until the year 1850. On December 18, of that year, a number of petitions, asking for a division of the old organization into four new ones, was presented in court. Francis Beatty, James A. Leech and Joseph Kerr were appointed commissioners. They reported a division, which, being confirmed June 23, 1851, resulted in the formation of the four townships of Sandy Creek, Deer Creek, New Vernon and Mineral (afterward Perry). The surface of the old township, as well as the new one, was broken. There are several valuable de-

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posits of coal, and also considerable valuable strata of building stone. Agri- culturally the soil is quite fertile, and well adapted to grazing, cereal raising or sheep growing. Excellent drainage is supplied by Big Sandy Creek, which, with the numerous tributaries that shoot off from the parent stream into the country adjacent, forming a veritable net-work, is well qualified to carry off all surplus water-fall.

The territory in question lay in the very heart of the old donation and war- rant lands. Land speculators and traders were among the first to perceive the fertility and value of the soil of the new region, and as a result their efforts were instantly turned toward securing the inflow of a body of settlers, through a traffic with whom they anticipated immense profits. It must be remembered that in no region in the State, among the less historical portions, were the orig- inal land titles more confused and jumbled together. Two deeds, and even three, were often issued for the same piece of land within the same year. Squatters, too. were numerous, encroaching, wherever opportunity offered, upon the rights of legitimate settlers, That much litigation and a vast amount of trouble arose is not, therefore, astonishing. Such was the only logical outcome of the general looseness with which the land business was carried on, The first land-jobber to begin speculations in the region of which we speak was a Phil- adelphian named Fields, who took out warrants for a large body of land lying In Sandy Creek Township in 1790, or thereabouts. There were others that followed in his footsteps, though, and in a short time much of the land was claimed by outside owners. By an act dated April 3, 1792, all land not thus under warrant was placed under settlement. This caused many desirous of penetrating the great Northwest to cast their eyes toward the region, and to investigate as to its desirability for settlement.

Pioneers .- In 1796 two Irishmen, who had emigrated from their native coun- try to Allegheny County, heard from a party of surveyors, who had been engaged in surveying the region afterward known as Mercer County, that beautiful lands awaited settlers in the locality where they had just been. Impressed by these recitals the two emigrants started forth, and after a long journey arrived at and settled upon land lying a short distance north of the present town of Sheakleyville. This was in the spring of 1796. They effected clearings and began preparations to remain. They were soon joined by others. Among these was Martin Carringer, a veteran of the Revolution, who had settled within the present limits of Perry Township. One John Smith also arrived. But the win- ter promised to be too severe in that exposed region, consequently nearly every settler in the whole region returned to the inland settlements. In the spring of 1797 the two Irishmen, reinforced by William Byers and John E. Larimer, returned, erected cabins, and began cultivating the land. During the summer Thomas Phillips, Ross Byers, David Chase, Andrew Dawson, John Chase, Hugh Richardson, Alexander McCracken and Joseph Nelson joined the party, or rather entered the neighborhood. Further away had entered John Custard, John Arbuckle and Richard Custard, all from the Susquehanna Valley. Each of these set out a patch of potatoes, and when the vegetables had attained their growth, buried them in the earth and returned to the populous regions a second time to pass the winter. . The following spring witnessed the return of most of the number. An anecdote is related of McCracken relative to his third spring's experience. A land-jobber named Irish, attempting to bluff the set- tlers away from their lands, raised claim to them upon warrants, and made ready to secure the lands as though they were vacant. The settlers were apprised of this. When the intruder appeared upon McCracken's tract, and began to lay out the boundary, McCracken also appeared with a gun loaded with

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

buck-shot. This had the desired effect, and the land-grabber withdrew in such haste that he left behind him his Jacob's staff, which McCracken kept standing as a warning to all new-comers that he would not be intimidated. Mr. Minnis had left his family behind until he could make necessary preparations to receive them. When he had done this he sent for them. They had nearly reached their new homestead when the father, who had been a stout, vigor- ous man, was taken ill. His son, who had been with him all the time, at once set out to hasten the family's steps. When he returned with them he found nothing but a new-made mound, which contained his father's corpse. The son of the deceased, John, at once set about completing the labors which his father had not been permitted to finish. With heroic resolution he toiled day after day, barely being able to support the large family. His reward at length came, for in after years the name of Capt. John Minnis became known far and wide as the title of a man of worth, integrity and honesty.

The year 1800 witnessed a great influx of settlers. The first blacksmith in the territory, James Hazen, was numbered among these. His coming was a great convenience to the settlers, who had hitherto had little means for securing their smithing done by a master hand. Daniel Perkins was another of these immigrants. He located just north of Alexander McCracken, upon the land claimed by the land speculator, Field. It is claimed that covering the cabin, which he shortly afterward erected, was the first shingle roof ever built in Mercer County, and under it the first cellar. He was a native of Ireland, emigrated to this country, settling at Little York, Penn., and removed from that locality to his Mercer County home. He did not remain long, how- ever, but sold his farm to William Church, father of Judge Gaylord Church, whose career reflected lustre upon the pages of Sandy Creek history,

In the region afterward known as Deer Creek Township, the new comers during the year mentioned were Aaron Boylan and David Caldwell, from Fay- ette County, Penn. They paddled their way up the Allegheny River and French Creek to the cabin of James Herrington, in Crawford County, by whose direction they found the vacant land on which they settled. They erected two cabins, each twelve feet square. Their provisions shortly after- ward gave out, and as they were not near any settlement, they found them- selves in a peculiar dilemma. They subsisted for a long time on corn bread made by cracking the rough corn between two stones and mixing the product with water, the dough being then baked to a crust. But even this gave out. They looked about in vain for means with which to ward off the severe attacks of hunger, but none were found. At length, after trying every expedient without success, the two pioneers resolved to return to the settlement from which they had just come, intending to bring back with them fresh supplies. This they accordingly did. When at last they succeeded in packing the food they had secured back to their new cabin home, they were met at its door by a man named Davis, who coolly informed them that he was the owner. An un- written law of the border land declared that whenever the fire of a settler located upon land which he claimed by mere right of possession went out, the claim became forfeited, and the land was thus opened to settlement by the next new comer. On the strength of this, Davis argued his right to the land, averring that he had come along through the forest, spied a cabin, and finding no fire on the hearth-stone, had concluded that the abode was tenantless. Boylan, whose cabin had thus been wrested from him, knew the conformity of Davis' claim with the border law, and further knew that nothing short of artifice would dispossess him. He accordingly entered, and requested the privilege of warming himself by the fire. This was readily granted. In a

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

short time Davis excused himself and started to a spring near by for a bucket of water. No sooner had he passed out of sight than Boylan arose, dashed the embers from the hearth and closed the door. When Davis came back and demanded admittance, Boylan pointed to the fireplace, which then con- tained no fire, and said that according to the very law which he (Davis) had quoted, his right to the cabin had ceased. Davis saw he had been outwitted, and after a few vain attempts to shake the original owner from his claim, departed and left Boylan again in the possession of his rightful property.

The year 1801 brought Ithiel Dodd, who settled near what afterward became the village of Middleton; Lincoln Axtell, a prominent man in early township annals, who located upon the farm afterward owned by J. K. Ross; Stephen Riggs, upon land afterward occupied by J. L. McCormick; Daniel Axtell, father of Lincoln, also a prominent citizen, and several others, whose names have not been found so frequently in public records.

In the years that followed during the first decade of the present century many important accessions were made to the ranks of Sandy Creek pioneers. Among these were Israel Tuttle, who came from Venango County in 1804 and settled in the southern part of what afterward became Deer Creek Township, upon the Livingston place, and the Montgomerys, John, Joseph, James and William, four brothers, who arrived in 1802 from Juniata County, and located upon a 400-acre tract situated near the present line between Mill Creek and New Vernon Townships. Of these James became the most distinguished. He was a member of the Legislature in 1813, a member of the constitutional con- vention in 1837, a captain in the war of 1812, a colonel of militia, and for many years a justice of the peace in Sandy Creek Township. He also filled several minor offices, and was prominent in local political circles. Besides the names mentioned, there were scores of others who arrived in time to assist materially in clearing the obstacles off the pathway of progress. John Sheak- ley and family located on the site of Sheakleyville in 1804. For a full sketch of this family the reader is referred to the biographical department of this work.

The original inhabitants of the territory of which we have been speaking was a remnant of the great race of Seneca Indians. Their wigwams were scattered at various intervals over the entire face of the country. It must not be inferred from this that they existed in large numbers. On the contrary, they were weak in strength, and generally peaceable. Only when under the influence of liquor did they become troublesome. But a rigid enforcement of the common proprieties on the part of the whites made the intercourse of the two races safe, and, in some instances, pleasant. An instance of this is related concerning an Indian warrior named Jake Shandy. He came one day to McCracken's cabin, carrying a large dead bear on his shoulder. The husband was not at home. The Indian threw his prize down in front of the fire- place, on the clean floor, and began preparations toward skinning it. Mrs. McCracken was not appalled by this impudence, but coolly walked up and gave Shandy a tremendous kick, telling him at the same time that he had better get out at once. The savage apparently relished this courage in the white squaw, for he obeyed, and took his bear outside the cabin. When he had completed skinning it, he returned with a choice portion of the flesh, which he presented to Mrs. McCracken as a conciliatory offering.

Abundant game was found in early days. Bear, deer and foxes were exceedingly common. Wild turkey swarmed, and smaller animals fairly flocked together in herds. Otters were also seen. Many anecdotes are told by the older citizens concerning the antics of their boyish days when they delighted to join in the chase, and roam through the forest in search of game.

JA Brown

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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY.

It might be remarked that in view of the numerous signs which stare at one on every side as he passes through the country, each bearing the significent warning, "No trespassing on these grounds, under penalty of fine and imprisonment," the ways of the past in respect to hunting, at least, are by no means the ways of the present.

Industries. - No one will dispute the influence which the early mills exerted upon the communities in which they were located. They were essential to their development. The first establishment of this sort in Sandy Creek Township was the old saw-mill erected by William Byers on the bank of a little run within the present limits of Sheakleyville. When built, in 1802, it was considered quite a novelty. The concern passed into the hands of John Sheakley in 1804, and in 1822 was taken down. The first grist-mill, owned by a man named McCartney, was built in 1806 on this same run, about a half mile east of the town. The apparatus consisted of two hard stones, run by water-power. The mill met with considerable patronage, but lived only a short time. In 1807 Lincoln Axtell erected the mill located on the Ross place in New Vernon Township. A man named John Holloway was its purchaser when Axtell re- tired from the proprietorship. David Condit erected a saw-mill in the same region in 1811. A steam mill took its place. John Sheakley, Sr., built a grist-mill in Georgetown (now Sheakleyville) in 1815. In 1824 a saw-mill was erected by George Y. Streight, in the south-eastern part of Deer Creek Town- ship. This was twice burned and as many times rebuilt, but finally succumbed to inanition. In 1830 a grist-mill was built a short distance above it. It had a large overshot wheel, twenty-four feet in diameter, which operated two sets of millstones-a marvel of mechanical ingenuity at the time. An old mill, presumably a saw-mill, was built in 1842 in Perry Township upon the Long farm. The only fulling-mill in the region was the one built in 1803 by Benoni Tuttle near the Axtell grist-mill. Tuttle sold it to John Robinson, who in turn disposed it to oblivion, the business becoming unprofitable.

Next to the mills, the distilleries of the early times were probably the most important branch of industrial enterprise. Of these there were several in Sandy Creek Township, each one of which turned out, in its day, a liberal sup- ply of the genuine "bug-juice." The first one was built by Hugh Richardson in 1801, and stood on his own land. Several were afterward begun on the tract known as the "Narrow Vacancy," a name conferred to a strip of land which lay between the claims of the early land speculators, and which was, therefore, open to general settlement. Aaron Ross became the proprietor of one in 1809. It was located in Deer Creek Township. James Montgomery was the cham- pion distiller in the present township of New Vernon, he having built one there in 1828. George Sheakley erected a similar institution in Sheakleyville in 1817. All these sold the fluid at what would be considered now as phe- nomenally low rates. Sheakley, for example, retailed the product of his still at from twenty to thirty cents per gallon.

There were one or two tanneries in the township at one time. In 1818 Joseph Culbertson built one in Georgetown, and in 1828 Daniel Axtell erected a similar concern in New Vernon Township. The business, however, was never profitable, and both the enterprises became defunct long ago.

SANDY LAKE TOWNSHIP.

The territory which is known under the above name was at first a part of Sandy Creek Township. A division was affected in 1805 when Sandy Lake was erected. The surface of the township thus erected is broken. There is a stretch of country lying just near the lake which is level and low. But

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at other points one can see a marked difference. Hills spring up, forming sharply marked valleys. Indeed, there is apparent to the traveler a wide diversity. The soil is a rich, sandy loam, which is particularly fertile, and on account of the ease with which it is worked, well adapted to the purposes of agriculture. There is considerable underground wealth, vast measures of coal underlying the township's surface in numerous places. This coal is of a good quality, and for ordinary uses is generally satisfactory. The drainage of the township is excellent. Big Sandy Creek flows through the entire territory, while Sandy Lake, lying inland, is a vast reservoir for the collection of surplus water-fall. These, with the smaller streams that pierce the terri- tory through and through, are what makes the drainage system. Like most of the northeastern townships, Sandy Lake yet retains a large quantity of its early timber. At one time the forests of this region equaled those of any other portion of the State. Even now there are patches of forest land which will compare favorably with any others found in the county.

Ante-dating the whites in possession of the territory of which we speak, was a race of Indians, who, for a period of time which cannot be measured, trod their paths through the woodlands, and pursued their own occupations, whether of hunting, fishing or inter-tribal fighting, undisturbed by any save themselves. How long and in what numbers they lived this free and happy life no one can tell. The memorials of antiquity give no answer. Primeval chronicles, traced by the fingers of patient industry on the tablets of rough rock and hard flint, or fashioned out of the plastic clay, reveal naught but the skill by which they were constructed. Whether or not any premonitions of their coming extermination ever crossed the minds of these early residents, cannot be told. But by the time the first white settlers had pushed their way into the territory now comprising Sandy Lake and adjoining townships, the Indians had learned by the severe lesson of experience what their fate was to be. Their spirit had already been broken. The repeated defeats which they had sustained at the hands of the soldiers of Wayne and others sent against them had quelled their ferocity, and they were subdued into submissiveness. The Mercer County Indians were a remnant of the old Seneca nation, and went under the title of the Corn-planter tribe. The name Corn-planter was derived from a distinguished chief whose name was the same. Corn-planter, according to all accounts, was a peaceable chieftain who invariably counseled moderation among his followers. He was much different from the commonly understood savage leader. There was no element of vindictiveness in his nature, and little of the revengeful spirit. He was at all times friendly to the whites, calm in his demeanor, even when sustaining injury, and in nearly every respect the direct reverse of the generally accepted idea which clothes all Indian chieftains. The Indians had a village at the margin of what is known as the Pine Swamp. Various remains, such as spearheads, tomahawks, stone skinning-knives, shears and other paraphernalia of the chase have since been picked up in the region. The village was not a large one.

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History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, Part 75

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