History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 9

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

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Morris and his party, however, did not secure the county seat without en- countering opposition. Parties living at what was then known as Willardsburg, but now the borough of Tioga, made an effort to induce the trustees to select their place for the county seat, but failed on account of the influence against them being too great. The contention, of course, engendered some bitterness, which lasted for years, but the softening influence of time has removed all feeling.

A TOWN LAID OUT.

The Tiogn county trustees were authorized by the act to enlarge the ground plot of Wellsboro and to lay off and fix convenient lots, not exceeding two acres. for the public buildings. The balance of the ground was to be laid out in lots

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

and offered for sale, and the trustees were authorized to appropriate part of the moneys arising from these sales to open the streets and lanes of the town and to clean the land of timber and lease the same.

These duties having been performed, the act empowered the people to elect a board of county commissioners at the October election, 1808, when the powers of the commissioners of Lycoming county over Tioga should cease; but the court of Lycoming county was required to appoint auditors from time to time to audit the accounts until the new county was entitled to exercise full judicial privileges. The costs of laying out and opening roads, and of criminal prosecutions and other incidental expenses relative to Tioga, were to be paid by the treasurer of Tioga on orders drawn by the commissioners of Lycoming county and countersigned by the commissioners of Tioga.

ACTIVITY OF MORRIS.

While negotiations were pending for the location of the new town, Morris and his friends were not idle. As soon as the act of March 21, 1806, fixing the seat of justice, had become a law, Morris proceeded to announce the sale of lots. The following advertisement appeared in the Lycoming Gazette, under date of Novem- ber 13, 1806, offering superior inducements to purchasers:

Lots and Lands in and near Wellsborough, the County Town of Tioga, State of Pennsylvania, for sale.

The County Town of Tioga, called Wellsborough, having been established by an act of the Legislature, on that part of the lands of the subscriber on which he resides, and he be- ing desirous that the county should be as early as possible entitled by its population to a separate representation in the Legislature, offers to the first ten families who shall pur- chase and reside in the said County Town, the following advantageous terms, etc.

Their choice of one lot each, at twenty dollars, situate in such part of the town as they shall select; every lot is sixty feet front and 250 in depth; and also the privilege of purchasing an out lot of fifty acres adjoining to the town, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, payable in four, five and six years, the first three without interest. The proprietors of the lands [Pine Creek Land Company] in the vicinity of the town also offer to the first ten families, so purchasing and residing, the privilege of accommodating themselves with Farms of from 100 to 200 acres at the same price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and on the same terms of payment.

The town of Wellsborough is laid out on the same plan as the City of Philadelphia, and near the center of the new county, and is surrounded by a large body of lands of the first quality. A grist mill, a saw mill, and a store, are situated within one mile of the town, and the State road to the Genesee country passes through it. For more particular in- formation apply to .

BENJAMIN W. MORRIS, On the premises, or to SAMUEL W. FISHER, In Philadelphia.

November 13, 1806.

Compared with the price of land here to-day, the above offer is calculated to excite surprise at its cheapness ninety years ago. And it shows, also, the great appreciation in values during that period-an advance that mounts up into a high percentage.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION COMPLETED.

The act of February 1, 1808, authorized the appointment of James Dixon, of Delaware, and Samuel Wells Morris, of Wellsboro, trustees, in place of William Ellis, deceased, and William Hill Wells, who had resigned and settled at Trenton. 'T'he act conferred upon Dixon, Morris and I'leming, the same powers that had been exercised by the original board.

DELMAR TOWNSHIP FORMED.

It has been shown in Chapter 111. when Tioga township was set off from Lycoming. in all previously published Instories of Tioga county it is stated that Delmar was formed by dividing Tidga in 1808. This is incorrect. In the records of May sessions, 1805, is this entry: "Petition to divide Tioga township granted by the court as per petition filed. The court appointed William Benjamin to run the township line." The decree for the division of Tioga township was made by Judge William Hepburn, sitting at Williamsport, where all the judicial business of Tioga county was transacted until the close of 1812. In Benjamin's report he says: "Began at the 93d mile-stone, on the New York State line; thence south twenty-five miles to the Brier Hills, and thence to the line of Mifflin and Lycoming townships," in Lycoming county.

This is positive and official evidence that Delmar was created in 1805. At that time Tioga township embraced the whole of Tioga county, and as Delmar was the name of the divided portion of the original township, there is no doubt that its organization was authorized at this time. Delmar was not interfered with until 1814, nine years after its creation, when Deerfield and Elkland townships were set off. When this division was made, in 1814, the surveyor drew a draft of Delmar, as it appeared when dismembered, which is now on file at Wellsboro. The eastern line commenced at the 93d mile-stone, on the New York boundary line, and extended south to the line of Lycoming county. The western boundary was the Potter county line, which commences at the 115th mile-stone. The township, by this . measurement, was twenty-two by thirty-one miles, almost square, and contained 682 square miles, or 436,480 acres. As the entire county is shown to have but 719,360 acres, it will be seen that Delmar was then much larger than Tioga, the parent township.

We have further evidence that Delmar was a township before the time (1808) assigned for its beginning in previous histories of the county. In a little book containing a record of orders issued by the commissioners of Lycoming county in 1807, we have the following:

July 6, 1807, John Norris and Timothy Coats, supervisors of roads for Delmar town- ship. Road tax on unseated lands for the year 1807, on account Tioga county :

$50 00

Order No. 97,

50 00

Ordor No. 99,

50 00

Order No. 100,

137 69

Order No. 101,

200 00

Order No. 102,

100 00

Order No. 103,

21 69

Total,

$659 88

Order No. 96,

50 00

Order No. 98,

HISTORY OF TIOQA COUNTY.

It does not appear why these eight different orders should be issued on the same day-July 6, 1807. But they show very clearly that a township organization existed in the first half of 1807. It is probable, therefore, that the township machinery was started in 1806 and was fairly in running order in 1807.

Immediately following the foregoing road tax orders is No. 104, which reads as follows:

July 6, 1807, Timothy Coats in full for one full grown wolf head, certified by John Norris, Esq., Tioga county, $8.00.

The securing of wolf and panther scalps, and the collection of the bounties thereon, was one of the industries of the pioneers in those days; and, as has been shown elsewhere, it amounted to a handsome sum in the aggregate. Norris and Coats, as road supervisors, had an excellent opportunity to acquire a few dollars in this line, as the country was wild and these animals were among its principal productions.

FIRST COMMISSIONERS.

At the October election of 1808 the first commissioners for Tioga county were chosen. The board consisted of Nathan Niles, Caleb Boyer, and Ira Kilburn. The board does not seem to have done much the first year, probably on account of the unsettled condition of affairs with reference to Lycoming county.

One of their first acts -- the first of any importance-which is found entered on the minute book, still preserved in the office, is dated June 23, 1809, and reads as follows:

At a meeting of the commissioners at the house of David Lindsey it was resolved that every person who purchases a lot in the town of Wellsborough shall be obliged to build a house fit for a family to dwell in; and at the time of the purchaser's receiving his deed he shall sign an article with the commissioners which shall compel him to build his house within the term of one year from the time he engages his lot.

NATHAN NILES, CALEB BOYER, IRA KILBURN, Com.

This was an imperative order, and was probably made for the purpose of preventing speculators from buying the lots and then holding them for an advance in prices. It was particularly desirable to have bona fide settlers in order to build up the town as rapidly as possible.

In 1809 the board consisted of George Hart, Nathan Niles, and Uriah Spencer, Kilburn having retired at the end of one year. At a meeting held January 1, 1810, it was resolved by the board "that the sum of $1,772 appears to us to be necessary to meet the current expenses of the ensuing year, and that it is necessary to lay the rates, both on real and personal property made taxable, at three-fourths of a cent on each dollar of the present valuation." This estimate is officially signed by the board, and compared with the annual estimates of to-day it will surprise the commissioners as well as the taxpayers.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION COMPLETED.

EARLY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

The general expenses of Tioga county in account with the funds of said county, commencing November 30, 1808, and ending October 5, 1809, shows her financial condition the first year her commissioners had charge of county affairs. The statement as printed in the Lycoming Gazette of that year is as follows:

Dr.

To sundry incidental expenses,

$13 00

To East and West road, .

3 75

To Ira Kilburn, commissioner,. 77 19

To John Norris, for clerk hire,

133 22

To Nathan Niles, commissioner,

81 33

To supervisors of Tioga township,

358 39

To Caleb Boyer, commissioner,

5 33

To Samuel W. Morris, treasurer,

106 54

To total expenses of East and West road,

2,416 49

To wolf and panther heads,

144 00

To expenses of assessment, 22 00

To supervisors of Delmar township,

472 20

Total,

$3,833 44

Contra-Cr.

By the tax on unseated lands for Delmar township for the year 1509, $651 111/2

By road tax for the year 1809,

651 119%

By road taxes

540 57

By the amount of taxes on the seated lands, and other taxable property of Delmar township for the year 1809,

181 63,2

By the amount of taxes on the seated lands, and other taxable property of Tioga township for the year 1809, 152 28

Balance,

1,100 157%

Total,

$3,833 44

The amount of orders issued by the commissioners from November 30, 1808, to October 5, 1809, which follows the above expense account, shows a total of $3,097.21. It is interesting to look over this itemized account. There are many orders for work on the roads-in fact the bulk of the disbursements was for work of this kind. The fact that fierce wild animals abounded at that time is evidenced by the payment of $61 for eight panthers heads, and $ ?? for the heads of nine wolves. Eight dollars per head was the bounty paid for the destruction of these animals. John Norris, whom it seems was called upon in those early days to fill many offices, was paid $60 for clerk's wages, and he received $270 for performing the duties of super- visor. Aaron Bloss, the founder of Blossburg, was paid $50 for serving as super- visor also. Roads were in their primitive condition at that time, and many were little better than Indian paths.

The account of Samuel Wells Morris, the first treasurer of the county, com- mencing October 20, 1808, and ending October 5, 1809, contrasts strangely with sim- ilar statements of to-day. It was published in the Lycoming Gazette of December 13, 1809, and is as follows:

By the tax upon unseated lands for Tioga township for the year 1-09, 540 57

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

Dr.

To amount of taxes received on unseated lands,

$97 63

Ditto, of collectors, . 124 35

Sale of town lots and lands,

188 71

Balance due treasurer,

93 12

$503 81

Contra-Cr.

$379 67

By amount of orders paid,.

49 14

Salary,

75 00

$503 81

Two of the commissioners, Nathan Niles and Ira Kilburn, certify that they have examined the account of the treasurer and find it correct, whereupon they set their hands and seals. The statement is also attested by John Norris, the first clerk of the board. Compared with the pay of the county treasurer of to-day, the salary of $75 paid Treasurer Morris eighty-eight years ago sounds strange. To-day the office is probably worth $2,500 to the incumbent, and the increase shows the advance in material development and prosperity.

Nothing further of importance is found on the minute book until we come to 1812, when the following itemized estimate of expenses for 1813 appears:

COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE, Nov. 5, 1812.

Memorandum of the probable expenses of the county of Tioga for the year 1813, done by the board of commissioners at this meeting, viz:

$100 00

Four grand juries, 24 men, three days each,.

200 00

Four common juries, 36 men, four days each,.

576 00

Wood, candles, crier, etc., for court,. 100 00

Prothonotary and commissioners office, to be built,

300 00

Commissioners and clerk's wages,

400 00

Treasurer's salary,

400 00

Wolf and panther scalps,.

300 00

Jail fees,

50 00

Viewing roads, ..

100 00

Building of a jail,

400 00

Assessors wages,

30 00

Seals for the different offices,

60 00

Total,

$3,016 00

One cent. on the dollar was laid. The estimate is signed by Eddy Howland alone, as commissioner, and attested by John Norris, clerk.

The minute books of the commissioners, from 1815 to 1820, are missing, so that a detailed statement of the financial transactions of those years cannot be given. From the journals, however, the following figures, representing expendi- tures for the years named, have been gathered:

$412 69

By amount of orders paid,.

Boards and work for court room,.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION COMPLETED.

1814,

$3,514

1827

$6,130

1815,

4,725

1828,

6,350

1825,

4,937

1829,

7,480

1826,

8,080

1830,

7,505

A published statement of the quota of taxes for the several townships in the county for the year 1819-found in a copy of the Lycoming Gazette of March 10. 1819, supplies, to a certain extent, the missing information for one of the years in the above table. It is as follows:

Township.

Improved.

Unseated.

Total amt.

Delmar,

$254 30

$1,095 35

$1,349 65

Deerfield,

184 73

325 12

459 85

Elkland,

102 06

232 40

354 46

Lawrence,

149 66

134 17

283 83

Tioga,

95 83

141 04

236 87

Covington,

120 38

506 28

626 65

Sullivan,

86 19

347 81

427 50

Jackson,

49 19

203 76

252 95

$3,991 77

Assessments on the unseated lands, as returned by the supervisors of roads for the year 1819,

1,841 43

Total,

$5,833 20

The statement of orders issued by the commissioners, from September 18, 1817, to September 19, 1818, shows a total of $5,913.00. Among the items is one of $566 for grand and traverse jurors, this being the largest sum paid by the county for any single purpose, except for payments made to supervisors, which was $1,841.43. For panther and wolves heads $136 was paid. Candles for the offices cost $4, and $142.87 was paid for wood for the offices and jail. Stationery cost $10, and John M. Kilburn received $27 for serving as court crier. Public printing cost $45, and William Patton, the first resident lawyer, was paid $12.54 counsel fees. The total pay of the three commissioners for the year was $373, and the highest amount paid was $151 to John Knox; the other two received, respectively, $120 and $102.

The earlier growth of the county was slow. In 1800 the census returns showed 122 taxables, scattered along the valleys of the Tioga and Cowanesque rivers. In 1804, when the county was created, it had a population of about 800 souls. In 1820, the census returns show 4,132 inhabitants. Ten years later the number was 9,071, an inercase of 4,939. In 1840 the population was 15,498; in 1850, 23,987; 1860, 31,121: 1870, 35.09 ;: 1880. 45,814. and 1890, 53,313.

With the increase in population came a proportionate increase in wealth. Year by year the area of cleared land was enlarged, and a better class of farm houses replaced the log cabins of the first settlers. Villages and towns sprung up, and new industrial enterprises were established. Then came the railroad, the develop- ment of the coal deposits, and a greater activity in all departments of industry. The result is the county of to-day, rich. prosperous and progressive, with a past to be proud of and a future promising still greater achievements.

CHAPTER VII.

EARLY COURTS AND CASES.

ARRESTS AND TRIALS UNDER THE INTRUSION LAW-THE CASE OF EZRA SPAULDING -HISTORY OF THE DEFENDANT-OTHER TIOGA SETTLERS INDICTED-FIRST COURTS OF TIOGA COUNTY-DOCKET ENTRIES-A HORSE THIEF CONVICTED- SIX MAGISTERIAL DISTRICTS ESTABLISHED-THE GREAT SLAVE HUNT-IMPOR- TANT COUNTY RECORDS STOLEN-AN OBDURATE JUDGE.

D URING the years preceding 1813, when the several courts of Tioga county were organized, jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, was exercised over its territory and its inhabitants by the courts of Lycoming county. The earliest in- dictments found and cases tried were those brought against claimants under Con- necticut titles, who had located on lands within the boundaries of what was then Tioga township, in violation of the Intrusion Law. These offenders were merci- lessly prosecuted and, in many instances persecuted, by rapacious, grasping and greedy land sharks, losing not only their invested means, but the homes and im- provements that represented years of toil in the midst of a dense wilderness.

One of these offenders "against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth" was a settler named Ezra Spaulding, the history of whose indictment, trial and conviction is gathered from the little book quoted from in a preceding chapter. In this book, as a part of the docket of the court of quarter sessions of Lycoming county, for the September term, 1798, is a record of the indictment of Ezra Spaulding for violating the Intrusion Law, by settling on a tract of 300 acres of land lying in Tioga township. The following indorsement appears on the back of the indict- · ment, which is still preserved:

And now, to wit: At September session, 1798, defendant in his person pleaded that the tract of land of which he is alleged to have taken possession with force of arms, etc., and by virtue of neither color of a title or conveyance of a half share, etc., derived from the Commonwealth, nor of the late proprietors before the Revolution, is not in the county of Lycoming.

Under this indorsement is another from Deputy Attorney General Jared Inger- soll, in these words: "It is [in Lycoming] and defendant stood indicted." The case, however, did not come to trial at this term. The record shows that it was put off to the next term on Spaulding being held "in £100 in his own recognizance," and John Mitchelltree entered as bail for his appearance in the sum of £50. Gershom Gillet, Jonas Geer, John Shader, and Moses Emerson were held "in £50 each for their appearance at the next court of quarter sessions," as witnesses. At the December sessions it was continued until February, 1799, and at the Feb-

Finden

EARLY COURTS AND CASES.

ruary sessions until April, when, according to an entry in the docket, Gillet, Geer and Shader "made default, and recognizance forfeited." Emerson appears to have been present. The case was again continued, the defendant and John Newell, his surety, each renewing their bonds in £100 for their appearance at the next court.

The case finally came up for trial at September sessions, 1799, all the parties, according to the record, being present. The verdict, as entered on the docket, reads:

And now to wit: The 5th of September, 1799, a jury of the country being called, came to wit: Henry Antes, James Stewart, John McCormick, George Crane, Mathew Adams, John Sutton, Stephen Duncan, Thomas Reed, John B. Culbertaon, Robert Crawford, Robert Hamilton, and Daniel Doane, who being duly impanelled, ballotted for and sworn, on their oaths do say that they find Ezra Spaulding guilty in manner and form as he stands indicted. Judgment: That he pay a fine of $200, one-half of which to be for the uae of the informer, and the other for the use of the county; pay the costs of prosecution, undergo imprisonment for two calendar months, and stand convicted until the sentence ia complied with.

All of these jurymen, with possibly one or two exceptions, dwelt along the river only a few miles from Williamsport. Antes, who appears as foreman, was the celebrated Col. John Henry Antes, who built the stockade fort at the mouth of Antes creek. Stewart was a brother of Samuel Stewart, the first sheriff of Lycoming county, and Thomas Reed resided on what is now the site of the city of Lock Haven. Crawford and Hamilton lived near the river in what is Pine Creek township, Clinton county. Sutton lived on Lycoming creek, and his farm is now within the present limits of Williamsport and is partly built upon. Several of the others were equally as prominent as those referred to.

HISTORY OF THE DEFENDANT.

That Ezra Spaulding was a badly abused man there is conclusive evidence, and the reader will naturally inquire who he was and whence he came. Rev. David Craft, in his "History of Bradford County," (p. 294), informs us that he settled in what is now Canton township in 1796. The territory then belonged to Lycoming county. Spaulding was born in Connecticut in 1154, and received a good common school education. He also studied navigation and surveying, until he became well versed in those subjects, but never had much practice in either. He was brought up a farmer, and became one of the best in the county where he resided. In 1776 he enlisted in the Continental army, served three months, and in a short time his country again called for his services and he promptly responded, serving nine months in the militia and receiving his discharge in the fall of 1777. He returned to his father's farm and remained there until 1793, when he removed to Springfield, Otsego county, New York, bought a farm and worked it about three years. Continued sickness in his family, however, made it necessary for him to sell out and leave that part of the country, which he did, removing to Sheshequin in the fall of 1795. He left his family there during the following winter, and

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

with his son, Horace, went to Canton and located a farm under the Connecticut title.

He built a log cabin near Towanda creek, chopped a fallow of about four acres, and then returned to Sheshequin for his family, and in the month of February moved his goods to his new home on an ox sled, while his family were transported in a sleigh drawn by horses. They made the trip in about four days, picking their way through the woods and frequently being compelled to stop to clear out a road for the teams.

His family consisted of two sons and three daughters, viz: Horace, William, Lucy, Betsy and Delight. Besides these there were two negro slaves, who came from Connecticut-Beulah and her son, Caesar. Mr. Spaulding suffered all the inconveniences of living in a new country, and endured many privations. He could raise no more grain than was needed for the sustenance of the family, while maple sugar was the only product with which to buy groceries and clothing, glass, nails, etc., and Tioga Point or Williamsport were the nearest places at which they could do their trading. The latter place was less than forty miles away, but the road or path down Lycoming creek was rough and narrow, the stream had to be forded many times, and the gloom caused by the thick forests of pine, hemlock and overhanging vines, was not inviting.

When he purchased his Connecticut right Mr. Spaulding supposed he had a good title to his farm, but when the question of title began to be raised he was, at the suggestion of a neighbor who had been an inmate of his house, sued for a small debt, the summons being returnable to Newberry, before 'Squire Robert Martin. While there he was arrested and tried under the "Intrusion Law."

After his trial and conviction he served his time in the little log jail at Williamsport, and gave security for the payment of his fine. During the time he was imprisoned a gentleman visited his family, and, on hearing the history of the case, said that he would aid Mr. Spaulding in obtaining the Pennsylvania title from the Asylum Company. The Pennamite party, who had instituted the prose- cution, enraged at Mr. Spaulding's return to his old home, and his persistency in holding to his Connecticut title, determined to drive him from the country. The payment of his fine was demanded, and in default, Sheriff John Cummings, of Lycoming county, levied on all his property, which he sold, and then set fire to his house and burned it to the ground, and his family, in the beginning of winter, were left homeless and shelterless. A friend bought in his property and left it at his disposal, and as the season was too late to build, he accepted the offer of a small log house that stood near by. About a year after he built a large house, which he made a place of entertainment and kept it for many years. It stood on the public road leading from Williamsport to Elmira and became a famous landmark. Everybody knew Ezra Spaulding, and made it a point, when traveling, to tarry over night at his house. In 1801 he obtained a lease of the Asylum Company for his farm, which was resurveyed in 1804, and conveyed to him in legal form.

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History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 9

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