History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 5

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1454

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The court appoints for submission township: Overseers of the Poor-Isaac Adams, Jesse Losey. Supervisors of roads-Timothy Ives, Titus Ives. Constable-Stephen Losey.

The following is the other indorsement:

September session, 1797. Petition for a new township on Tioga. Granted. Name, Tioga.

Such is the record that lies at the foundation of the history of Tioga as a county. From the indorsements quoted it would appear that the name first given to the new township was "Submission," but that it was afterward changed by the court to "Tioga." This is a reasonable surmise, although there is nothing in the document itself to indicate which of the indorsements was first written. The names of the peti- tioners for the most part are those of men prominent in the early affairs of the county.

Until the discovery of this valuable document, the only record in existence to show when the name of the township of Tioga first appeared, was a little book, not much larger than an ordinary pass book of the present day. It was found a few years ago, half buried in the mud, in a vault in the basement of the court house at Williams- port. There a large quantity of papers, relating to the first courts of Lycoming county,

BEGINNING OF TIOGA COUNTY.

had been stored, but the great flood of 1889 came and engulfed them. When taken out they were not only water-soaked, but covered with a thin, slimy mud, and to save them they had to be dried in the sun. In this mass of water-soaked papers was the little book spoken of. On examination it was found to be the quarter sessions docket for 1798, and although much faded and stained by the action of the water, nearly all the writing was plain and easily read. Turning to the record of September term, 1798, it opens with a list of the townships and constables, just as they are recorded in the proceedings of such courts to-day. At the bottom Tioga appears- as the eleventh township in Lycoming county, with this note: "Job Stiles appointed constable of Tioga township and sworn."

Tioga township, as thus created, in response to the petition heretofore quoted, embraced all that part of the present area of Tioga county lying north of the summit of Brier Hill and east and north of Pine creek. It also included all of Bradford county lying west of the old line of Luzerne county, and that portion of Potter county lying north of Pine creek and east of the 120th mile-stone on the New York State line.

TIOGA TOWNSHIP TAXABLES OF 1800.

With the beginning of the Nineteenth century the legislature deemed it proper to have an enumeration made of the taxable inhabitants of Lycoming county, and an act to that effect was passed March 8, 1800. The requirements of the law were promptly complied with by Commissioners Thomas Forster, Charles Stewart, and James McClure. The original report for each township, as forwarded to the secretary of the commonwealth, was recently found among the archives at HIarris- burg. It is time-stained and faded, but legible. Among the townships appears an enumeration of the taxables of Tioga township. The names, occupation and ages are as follows:

Elisha Alderman, farmer. 50; Ephraim Alderman, farmer, 44; John Allington, farmer, 24; Isaac Adams, farmer, 55; Rufus Adams, farmer, 24; Merwin Ammisey. farmer, 22; Moses Ammisey, farmer, 50; Ralph Brevear, farmer, 25; Dorman Bloss, millwright, 29; Lewis Bigelow, farmer, 38; Peres Bardwell, cooper, 33; Samuel Bartles, farmer, 38; Jonathan Bonney, farmer, 25; Joseph Bidings, farmer, 25; William Bulkley, farmer, 40; Abner Blanchard, cooper, 63; Charles Blanchard, farmer, 32; Ezekiel Blanchard, farmer, 23; Abner Blanchard, farmer, 21; William Burlingame, farmer, 56; John Bobster, farmer, 50: Peggy Boher, widow, 31; Thomas Berry, innkeeper; Hopestill Beecher, farmer, 24; Peter Cady, farmer, 23; Elijah Cady, farmer, 52; Philip Cady, farmer, 26; Zebulon Cady, farmer, 46; John Cady, farmer, 25; Manasseh C'ady, farmer, 69: Abel Cady, farmer, 25; Amasa C'ulver, farmer, 25: Calvin Chambers, farmer, 2}; William Campbell, farmer, 23; Benjamin Chambers, 40; David Chambers, farmer, 24; Reuben Cook, farmer, 51; Charles Cloger, farmer. 44; Lemuel Gaylord, farmer, 35; Aaron Gillet, innkeeper, 34: John Goodling, 21; Jonathan Guisel, farmer, 30; John Griggs, farmer. 50; Stephen Gardner, farmer, 30; John Gardner, farmer, 35; George Goodhue, tailor, 5}: Josiah Hovey, innkeeper, 52: Simeon Hovey, carpenter, 24; Gurdon Hovey, carpenter, 22;

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

William Holden, farmer, 28; Stephen Harrison, farmer, 43; Gideon Haines, joiner, 28; John Hulings, shoemaker, 27; Daniel Holiday, farmer, 21; Titus Ives, innkeeper, 33; John Ives, Jr., farmer, 26; John Ives, Sr., farmer, 55; Benajah Ives, farmer, 29; Benjamin Ives, farmer, 45; Timothy Ives, farmer, 33; Ambrose Ives, farmer, 63; Obadiah Inscho, farmer, 36; Daniel Ingersole, farmer, 60; Barret M. Ingersole, farmer, 22; James Jennings, farmer, 27; Philip Job, farmer, 24; Subil Johnston, joiner, 30; Daniel Jordan, farmer, 35; John Jervis, farmer, 21; Joseph Kelley, farmer, 28; David Kennedy, farmer, 50; William Kennedy, farmer, 25; William Knox, farmer, 30; Mr. Kingsley, carpenter, 40; James Kinyon, farmer, 72; Benjamin Kinyon, farmer, 26; John Kinyon, farmer, 28; Jacob Kiphart, farmer, 52; Gad Lamb, farmer, 55; Jesse Losey, farmer, 35; Stephen Losey, farmer, 30; Stephen Lane, farmer, 54; Joseph Lane, farmer, 23; Garret Miller, farmer, 42; Samuel Miller, farmer, 22; Elisha Marvin, farmer, 28; Richard Mitchell, farmer, 30; Thomas Mitchell, blacksmith, 29; Robert Mitchell, farmer, 24; Samuel Needham, farmer, 28; Nathan Niles, farmer, 44; John Newell, farmer, 35; William Penrose, farmer, 35; Job Phillips, farmer, 59; Daniel Phillips, farmer, 31; Samuel Palmer, 53; Lyman Pritchard, farmer, 26; Renben Pribble, farmer, 27; George Pike, farmer, 37; Stephen Randle, farmer, 30; Jacob Reed, farmer, 38; Jacob Radley, farmer, 40; William Rathbun, farmer, 24; Royal Southworth, joiner, 24; Uriah Spencer, farmer, 30; Ebenezer Seelye, farmer, 45; Jacob Stiles, farmer, 40; Titus Sesse, farmer, 40; Stephen Smith, farmer, 23; Daniel Strait, farmer, 39; Christopher Schoonover, farmer, 43; Jacob Server, farmer, 48; Stephen Socket, farmer, 28; Daniel Thompson, farmer, 49; Christopher Thompson, farmer, 26; James VanCamp, farmer, 60; John VanCamp, farmer, 24; Samuel Wilcox, farmer, 23; Ezekiel Webster, farmer, 24; John Wilson, farmer, 25; Thomas Wilson, farmer, 26; Elisha White, farmer, 52. Total, 122.

Accompanying the report is a table showing the number of colored people in the county, slave and free, at that time. Liberty Jordan, a freeman, aged 25, is the only one credited to Tioga township.

From an old minute book of the commissioners, under date of September 3, 1800, it appears that John Carothers was paid $16 for "taking Tioga enumeration." He was a resident of Lycoming township, and had a tract of land lying on the river, a short distance above Newberry. From October 27, 1801, to October 26, 1804, he served as coroner of Lycoming county. In the same minute book he is charged with being paid $9.20, under date of September 7, 1803, for holding an inquest on the dead body of Peter Grove. The latter was a famous Indian killer, and reference has been made to him as being concerned with his brother Michael in the slaughter of a number of savages on the Sinnemahoning. He settled near Dunnstown, and was drowned in the river late in the fall of 1802, by the upsetting of his canoe, as he was crossing from the south side, whither he had gone to attend a shooting match.

As Tioga had been taken from Lycoming, that was the reason, probably, why one of the residents of the parent township was selected to make the enumeration. When the wilderness condition of the new township is considered, the job was cer- tainly not a pleasant one. The only way to reach the district was by the Indian path up Pine and Babb's creeks, over the State road from Newberry, which had just been opened, or by the Williamson road from Trout Run and the Block House. The set-

BEGINNING OF TIOGA COUNTY.

tlers were widely scattered along the valleys of the Tioga and Cowanesque rivers, and in "out-of-the-way" nooks where it was hard to find them. That the enumerator, if he traveled through the new township in search of settlers, richly earned his sixteen dollars will be the verdict of all familiar with the extent of the forest region.

ADDITIONAL EXTRACTS FROM EARLY RECORDS.

Further evidence of the early efforts that were made to improve thia new town- ship are furnished by the fragmentary minute books of the commissioners of Lycom- ing county, which are still in existence. An entry under date of October 21, 1803, shows that Joseph Ross and Josiah White were supervisors of roads in Tioga town- ship, and that they were paid $420.18 for making an assessment of unseated lands. December 6, 1803, Henry Donnel was paid $51.04 "in full for running the Tioga township line;" but the most diligent search has failed to develop his report. In March, 1804, Uriah Spencer received $10.56 "in full for assessing the township;" and on the 12th of May, same year, Mordecai Sweeny was paid $3.60 "for carrying duplicate to the collector of Tioga township."

Under date of June 6, 1804, William Rathbun and Moses Wilson, "supervisors of roads," are paid "on account for unseated land tax for 'Tioga township for 1803, $219.45." And order No. 163, December 5, 1804, shows us that Titus Ives was paid $7.62 for attendance as a witness at Williamsport in the case of "Repub. vs. Gillet, at September and December terms" of court.

An act passed by the legislature April 3, 1804 (Smith's Laws, vol. IV., p. 192), made Tioga township a separate election district, and directed that elections should be held at the house of Thomas Berry. On October 16, following, the com- missioners paid Alexander Stone fifty cents "for making an election box for the Tioga district." As there were few votes to poll a small box evidently sufficed to contain the ballots. William Rathbun appears to have served as inspector and he was paid $3. Moses Wilson presided as judge and he received the same pay. Nathan Niles performed the duties of clerk and received $3, also. Uriah Spencer served as judge at one election and his pay was the same.

PANTHER AND WOLF SCALP BOUNTIES.

In those days wild animals were plenty in the wilderness of Tioga, and considerable money was paid out of the treasury as bounties for scalps. In the commissioners' minute book for 1808 many entries of this kind are found, a few of which are culled at random, to show who received bounties. On the 15th of March, 1808, Wilson Freeman received $16 "for two full grown panthers' heads;" and on the 5th of May, same year, Timothy Coats, Isaac Gaylord and James Whitney were paid $32 "for three wolf and one panther heads," certified by Nathan Niles, Esq., On June 3d, Aaron Freeman was paid $8 "for a full grown wolf head" upon the certificate of Justice Niles: Joshua Reynolds also received $8, and Nathan Brown a similar sum for wolf scalps. In the latter case Nathaniel Allen, Esq., made the certificate. On the 1st of July, Joshua Reynolds pocketed $8 "for a full grown wolf head" upon certificate of 'Squire Niles, and on the 12th of August, Timothy Culver had his exchequer replenished by a like amount on the same 'squire's cer-

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

tificate. Rufus Adams was paid $8 on the 29th of August, and Titus Ives was en- riched $16 on the 30th of the same month for the scalps of two wolves which he had trapped and slain.

During the first decade of the Nineteenth century hundreds of dollars were paid in bounties for the destruction of wolves and panthers in Tioga township; and the work of killing was continued well along in the second and third decades. These animals abounded in those early days, and while they did not often attack persons, the wolves particularly were a source of constant trouble to the farmers on account of killing their sheep if they were not securely housed at night. Fre- quently whole flocks were decimated in a night by these rapacious and prowling pests of the wilderness settlements. For this reason the legislature authorized the payment of a bounty for their destruction.

CHAPTER IV.

TIOGA COUNTY ORGANIZED.

THE LANDED INTERESTS-THEIR INFLUENCE ON LEGISLATION-TIOGA COUNTY CREATED -FORM AND AREA-DERIVATION OF NAME-THE TERM TIOGA-BOUNDARY LINE DISPUTE-ORIGIN OF THE TROUBLE-VARIOUS EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH LINES- A TANGLE OF PERPLEXING QUESTIONS-THE LATEST COMMISSION.

0 WING to landed interests the inhabitants of what became Lycoming county April 13, 1795, had to petition and importune the Assembly for nine years before their prayers were granted. The opposition came principally from such men as Robert Morris and others who seemed imbued with a consuming desire to own all the lands acquired by the purchase of 1784; and as these lands were annexed to Northumber- land county they feared that its dismemberment would operate against their in- terests. But after Morris disposed of his immense possessions in the State of New York and was overtaken by business troubles, he no longer interposed objections to the creation of new counties.

Lycoming county covered an immense area-about 12,000 square miles-and it soon became clear to the owners of the great bodies of land that settlements could be facilitated by making more counties. These landed proprietors were mostly resi- dents of Philadelphia, and as the assembly sat there, they had, on account of their wealth and standing, great influence with the members. Legislation then, as now, was often controlled by rings or syndicates; but it was more especially in the interest of land owners and projectors of new towns. Bath had been founded by a great English syndicate, whose manager, Charles Williamson, was one of the most saga-

TIOGA COUNTY ORGANIZED.

cious, enterprising and daring men of his time, and his bold operations in the wilder- ness began to attract the attention of the whole country. This aroused the owners of the land lying south of Bath. They saw that the tide of emigration was setting in for the "Genesee country," as it was then called, over the great road which William- son had built from Lycoming creek across the mountains and down the Tioga river, and they perceived that if something was not soon done to arrest this flow of travel a fine settlement would be founded north of them and their lands would remain in a wilderness condition.

TIOGA COUNTY CREATED.

The Pine Creek Land Company had been organized and Benjamin Wistar Morris installed as their agent on the ground. He was from Philadelphia, had been trained to business, and was a shrewd, far-seeing man. His backers resided in Philadelphia and wielded great influence. Their interests, combined with the interests of other land owners in the great territory embraced by Lycoming county, induced them to enter into a movement for the organization of more counties. The legislature was then sitting at Lancaster, and the movement culminated in the introduction of a bill-known as the "omnibus bill"- for the formation of a whole block of counties. It was approved March 26, 1804, and created the following counties: Clearfield, Jefferson, Mckean, Potter and Tioga. These counties were contiguous or adjoined each other, and the territory out of which some of them were formed was practically an unknown wilderness.

('entre county was organized February 13, 1800, out of parts of Mifflin, Nor- thumberland, Lycoming and Huntingdon; Clearfield out of parts of Lycoming and Northumberland. But Jefferson, McKean, Potter and Tioga were formed out of territory taken from Lycoming county alone. Lycoming, therefore, is the mother of Tioga, and stately old Northumberland, erected March 21, 1122, is her grand- mother.

Section five of the "Omnibus Bill," of March 26. 1804, thus defines the bound- aries of Tioga:

That so much of the county of Lycoming, included in the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning five miles north of the southeast corner of number four, in Brodhead's district line on the eastern bonndary of said number four; thence due east until it strikes the main branch of Lycoming creek; thence up the said creek to the head thereof, near the Towandy beaver dams; thence to the head of said beaver dams, or until it in- tersects the boundary line between Luzerne and Lycoming counties; thence a straight line to the eightieth mile stone on the State line: thence west along the State line to the northeast corner of Potter county; thence south along the line of the same to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby erected into a separate county, to be henceforth called Tioga county, and the place of holding courts of justice in and for said county shall be fixed by the legislature at any place at a distance not greater than seven miles from the center of the county, which may be most beneficial and convenient for said county.

Tioga is the fourth county of Pennsylvania in the northern tier of counties, on the New York State line, counting from the northeast corner of the State and Dela- ware river: the first being Wayne; the second, Susquehanna; the third, Bradford, and

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

the fourth, Tioga. It is bounded on the north by Steuben county, New York; on the east by Bradford and Lycoming counties; on the south by Lycoming county, and on the west by Potter county.

FORM AND AREA.

In shape Tioga is almost square, excepting the southeast corner, which is irregu- lar or jagged. Its north line, which is also the line between New York and Pennsyl- vania, was run upon the parallel of north latitude forty-two degrees. Its south line was intended to follow the parallel of forty-one degrees thirty-five minutes. Its west line was laid along the meridian of forty-seven minutes west from Washington. Its east line runs a little east of south, from a point on the State line about two and one-half minutes east of the Washington meridian to the marsh at the head of Ly- coming creek, near Canton; whence the county line descends Lycoming creek five miles and then ascends Roaring Branch about three miles, thus cutting off the theo- retical square southeast corner and producing a jagged or irregular edge.

The dimensions of the county, according to the geological report, are as follows: North line, 34} miles; south line (if straight to Lycoming creek), 33} miles; east line, 284 miles; west line, 31} miles; southeast line (on Lycoming creek), 5 miles. Its area is, therefore, about 1,124 square miles, or 719,360 acres. This, according to the figures of the land office, is only eighty-nine square miles less than the area of Lycoming county.

DERIVATION OF NAME.

The county derived its name from the Tioga river, which flows north and unites with the Conhocton near Corning; after the confluence it is called the Chemung, which sweeps around in a semi-circle and finally unites with the North Branch of the Susquehanna at what was formally known as Tioga Point, but is now called Athens, in Bradford county. Tioga Point was originally the gateway to the country of the Six Indian nations, through which visitors had to pass. Early explorers and pioneers found their way up the Tioga, as it was then called, into the neighborhood of what is now Corning, and thence up the valley of the present Tioga river. Indeed, in early times no other way of reaching this section of the country was known. But if Tioga Point, whose early history is so thrilling and deeply interesting, has lost its identity, the name of Tioga has been perpetuated in two counties-one in Pennsylvania and one in New York-a river, a township and a borough in the former. From its source to its mouth the river forms a figure like the letter C, and is nearly eighty miles in length, while the source and the mouth are only about thirty-seven miles apart. It bore its name all the way around in Indian times, and it never should have been changed to Chemung in New York.

THE TERM TIOGA.

This term, once applied to one of the most important points in Northern Penn- sylvania, is of Indian origin. It was first heard of as early as 1749, and was often mentioned during the French and Indian War of 1754-60, and in the time of the

TIOGA COUNTY ORGANIZED.

Revolution. Like most Indian names it has been spelled in various ways or to suit the idea of sound as expressed by German, French and English. During the Revolu- tion it settled down to its present uniform orthography. The earliest written forms of the word, as found in old documents and letters, are: "Diahoga," "Diahogo," "Diaga," "Tayego," and "Teogo." And once in a letter of David Jameson to Ed- ward Shippen, written under date of October 13, 1756, it was spelled as it is to-day. As to the meaning of the word various interpretations have been given by scholars and writers. Laidlaw's dictionary gives it "How swift the current;" and others follow in the same vein. Many years ago there was a tradition among the old settlers in the townships that it meant "Sweet water," but it is doubtful if this was the true meaning of the word. Josiah Einery, Esq., long a resident of Wellsboro, and a careful pains- taking investigator and writer, interpreted it to mean "Head water," which is more likely to be correct than Laidlaw's definition.

A better explanation of the meaning of the word was furnished by Lloyd P. Smith, for many years librarian of the old "Library Company of Philadelphia," founded in 1731. Ile says that according to Matthew S. Henry's manuscript dic- tionary, Tioga is an Iroquois word, and means "Gate." This is confirmed by other high authorities. N. T. True, Esq., of Bethel, Maine, says it is derived from Teyaogen-an interval, or anything in the middle or between two things. Hence tei-ohoho-gen-"the forks of a stream," or "the place where two rivers meet," that is, the point between them.

Rev. John Heckewelder, the famous Moravian missionary, who spent much of his life among the Indians, and wrote a history of them, says that the word is de- river from tiagoa, an Iroquois word, signifying "a gate way," or "a place to enter in at." This seems to be the most reasonable definition when the location and sur- rounding conditions are considered.

Ifere the Tioga united with the Susquehanna, and the Point or wedge of land lying within the forks of the two rivers became historically important in early times, because the traveler after crossing either of these two streams entered the territory of the Six Nations, as through a gate. The country south of the forks or Point belonged to the Delaware Indians. Rev. David Zeisberger, another zealous Mora- vian, who traveled this way as early as 1750 on a mission to Onondaga, the capital of the Six Nations, said that "at Tiaoga, or the gate, a guard of Indians were stationed for the purpose of ascertaining the character of all persons who crossed over into their country, and that whoever entered their territory by another way than through the gate, or by way of the Mohawk, was suspected by them of evil purposes, and treated as a spy or enemy."

This condition of affairs was very likely brought about by French influence in Canada, for the purpose of retarding the encroachments of the whites from the Dela- ware region. The French were anxious to occupy all that portion of the Province now embraced in what is termed northwestern Pennsylvania, and were jealous of the advance of the English towards that territory. French influence over the Indians was great during the time they occupied the northern country, and it was only broken by the fall of Quebec.

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

BOUNDARY LINE DISPUTE.

Almost from the date of the organization of Tioga county a dispute has existed with Lycoming regarding the boundary line. Commission after commission has made surveys and attempted to settle the dispute, but at this writing it seems no nearer solution than it was ninety years ago. There is some interesting history con- nected with this matter, which is worthy of being put on record. From the report of the late Hon. C. D. Eldred, of Muncy, who served as a member of the last commission, we have obtained the following history of the dispute.

The act of March 26, 1804, creating six new counties, five of which were formed out of territory taken from Lycoming, is unusually explicit and mandatory. It not only defines the boundaries of each, but gives no discretion to the commisssioners authorized by section seventh to be appointed by the governor, to run and mark the lines of each, to vary in the least, but directs that they shall do their appointed work "according to the true intent and meaning of this act." Commissioners were accord- ingly appointed by the governor, consisting of James Criswell, a resident of Hunting- don, or Union county, who peremptorily declined to serve; William Ellis, of Lycom- ing county, and George Ross, of Lancaster.

The section authorizing the appointment also provided that any two of the commissioners should have power to run the lines aforesaid, and as the act fixed the boundaries of each county by meter and bounds, the work to be done contemplated no ground for a difference of opinion or need of an umpire. Consequently the task devolved upon William Ellis and George Ross, by the resignation of Criswell, of run- ning and marking the boundary lines between Mckean, Potter and Tioga, and the mother county, Lycoming, as three other commissioners were appointed to perform a like duty for Jefferson, Clearfield and Cambria counties.

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History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 5

Author: Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown Number of Pages: 1454

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1454