USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 5
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The extensive system of internal improvements which has swallowed so many millions of money in this State was commenced about the year 1790. The first efforts were directed to the improvement of navigation in the rivers of the State; then, as time went on, the construc- tion of a system of canals and turnpikes was entered on, and prosecuted beyond that of any other State in the Union. The grand project of securing the trade of the West, through a connection between Philadelphia and the waters of the Ohio at Pittsburg, by a line of public works, was realized in 1831. In order to secure the in- fluence and votes necessary to authorize this it had been found necessary to construct other canals in various parts of the State, the inhabitants of which desired to par- ticipate in the benefits of the system of internal improve-
ment, and thus that system in this State came to exceed in magnitude that of any other.
It was not possible, however, for the wisest of those who projected and promoted this system of improvements to foresee the rise and rapid progress of another system. which was to take the place of and wholly supersede that which, at such an enormous expense, they inaugurated and carried forward.
In 1827 a railroad, nine miles in length, the longest then in existence in America, was constructed from Mauch Chunk to some coal mines. Only two had pre- ceded this-one, with a wooden track, at a stone quarry in the county of Delaware, Penn., and another, having a length of three miles, at a quarry in Quincy, Mass. Since that time the railroad system of this country has devel- oped to its present magnitude. A majority of the canals are dry, many have been converted into railroad beds, and even the rivers and lakes of the country have dwin- dled into comparative insignificance as avenues of travel or transportation. In 1857 the principal line of public works between Pittsburg and Philadelphia was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for a fraction of its cost, and measures were at once taken for the sale of the other works belonging to the State Thus do systems, one after another, develop and pass away, and no prevision can point out what is to come.
While it is true that in some of the States of the Union the present system of internal improvements, which has been fostered and encouraged by those States, has proved to be almost the ruin of their best interests, the reverse is true in Pennsylvania. The development of the im- mense mineral resources of the State required the con- struction of these avenues of transportation, and the cost of those built by the State, though they were afterward sold for only a part of that cost, was returned many fold in the increase of wealth which was the direct result of their construction. When the first canal was projected the use of anthracite coal was hardly known, and the cost of its transportation to market was so great as to preclude the possibility of its profitable use. With every increase in the facilities for the transportation of this important mineral it has been cheapened to the consumer, and its production has been rendered more profitable; and now large areas which have no value for any other purpose are sources of immense and constantly increasing wealth.
Previous to the year 1834 many acts were passed by the Legislature pertaining in some way to the subject of edu- cation. Some of these were local in their application, and some were little more than resolutions in favor of education. Isolated schools were established in various localities, in most of which provision was made for the education of the children of the poor. The people of the different religious denominations made provision for the education of their children, often establishing paro- chial schools. This was the case with the Quakers, the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, the German Lutherans, the Mennonists, the Moravians, the Dunkards, etc. Nothing having the semblance of a public school system was established previous to the adoption of the constitution
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
of 1790, which required that provision should be made by law for the general establishment of schools wherein gratuitous instruction should be given to the children of the poor. From that time till 1827 efforts were from time to time made to establish a system in accordance with this requirement, but with only partial success, the radical defect in all being the distinction between the children of the rich and poor. In 1827 earnest and sys- tematic efforts began to be put forth for the establish- ment of free schools for all, and in 1834 the foundation of the present common school system was laid, in the enactment of a law for the maintenance of schools by a tax on all taxable property. This law, which was at first imperfect, was revised and amended in 1836, 1849, 1854 and 1857, in which last year the present system of nor- mal schools was established.
In 1863 the Pennsylvania Railroad Company dorated to the State $50,000 for the education of soldiers' or- phans. In 1865 the Legislature added to this an appro- priation of $75,000. Schools and homes were established for these wards of the State, and during several years an annual expenditure was made for this purpose of half a million of dollars. At these homes and schools soldiers' orphans were boarded, clothed, educated and taught habits of industry, and at a proper age were placed in situations to acquire trades or professions.
In 1749 an academy was established by subscription in Philadelphia " for instruction in the Latin and English languages and mathematics." This was the foundation of the University of Pennsylvania. This and Dickinson College, at Carlisle, which was founded in 1783, were the only colleges in the State previous to the commencement of the nineteenth century. There are now twenty-seven, of which five are purely secular or non-sectarian. There are also seventeen theological institutions, ten medical schools and one law school.
CHAPTER IX
PATRIOTIC ACTION IN THE MEXICAN AND CIVIL WARS- GOVERNORS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
I N 1846 war was declared by this government against Mexico, and by virtue of authority vested in him by Congress, the President called on Pennsylvania for six volunteer regiments of infantry, to hold themselves in readiness for service during one year, or to the end of the war. Such was the alacrity with which the citizens responded to this call, that within thirty days a sufficient number of volunteers had offered their ser- vices to constitute nine full regiments. Of these, be- tween two and three regiments were sent into the country of the enemy, and their conduct at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Chepultepec and the city of Mexico was highly
creditable to themselves as well as to the State which they represented.
The promptitude with which Pennsylvania responded to the call of the federal government in 1812 and 1846 was fully equaled by the readiness with which her citi- zens flew to arms at the breaking out of the great Southern rebellion. In anticipation of that event the citizens of Pittsburg had refused to allow arms to be taken from their arsenal and sent south by traitorous government officials ; and, when the storm of war burst upon the country, the patriotism of the citizens of this State was aroused to such a pitch that, in response to the call for Pennsylvania's quota of the 75,000 first called for, fourteen regiments, enough for twenty-five, offered themselves.
A place of rendezvous, called, in honor of the gover- nor of il. State, Camp Curtin, was established at Harris- burg, and on the morning of April 18th, 1861, six days after the attack on Fort Sumter and three days after the proclamation calling for 75,000 men was issued, five companies of volunteers left Harrisburg for Washing- ton They passed through Baltimore amid the jeers and imprecations of the mob, that followed them and hurled bricks, clubs and other missiles at them as they boarded the cars, and arrived at Washington on the evening of the same day. They were the first troops that reached the national capital, and for this prompt response to the call of their country, and for their coolness and courage in passing through the mob, they were afterward thanked, in a resolution, by the House of Representatives. Within twelve days, or before the first of May, twenty-five reg- iments, amounting to more than twenty thousand men, were sent from this State to the field. The expense of clothing, subsisting, arming, equiping and transporting these troops was sustained by the State.
By the advance of General Lee toward the southern border of the State in September, 1862, an invasion of its territory was evidently threatened, and Governor Curtin, by proclamation, called for fifty thousand men to meet the emergency. These not only marched to the border, which they covered, but most of them crossed into the State of Maryland, and by their presence assisted in preventing the advance northward of the rebel army Another emergency arose in June, 1863, to meet which Governor Curtin issued a proclamation calling out the entire militia of the State. By reason of a lack of con . cert in the action of the State and national authorities, only a portion of this force was brought into service pre- vious to the battle of Gettysburg. Of that battle the limits of this sketch will not permit a detailed account. It was the result of the second attempt to invade northern territory, and it was a disaster to the rebels from which they never recovered.
The territory of the State was again invaded in July, 1864, and all the available troops in the State were sent forward to repel the invasion. The inhabitants along the southern border were considerably annoyed and injured by this invasion, and the town of Chambersburg was burned. More than two hundred and fifty houses were
25
WAR OF THE REBELLION-GOVERNORS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
fired by the rebels and the town was entirely destroyed. involving a loss of about $2,000,000. It was an act of wanton vandalism.
Of Camp Curtin, that was established at the commence- ment of the war, it may be said that it was not only a place of rendezvous for soldiers and of deposit for mil- itary stores, but a depot for prisoners and a hospital for the sick and for the wounded after some of the great battles, especially the battles of Gettysburg and Antietam. It was early placed under the control of the federal government, and so continued till the close of the war.
A brief mention should be made of the part which the loyal women of the State bore in this conflict. Not only did they part with their husbands, sons and brothers, who went forth to do battle for their country and the pres- ervations of its institutions, and in many cases to lay down their lives, but they put forth their efforts to pro- vide and send forward to those who languished in distant hospitals those comforts which the government could not furnish; and many a sick or wounded soldier had occa- sion to bless his unknown benefactress for some delicacy or comfort of which he was the recipient.
During the continuance of this war the State of Penn- sylvania furnished for the army two hundred and seventy regiments and many detached companies, amounting in all to 387.284 men. The following quotation from a special message of Governor Curtin, at the close of the war, is a well deserved tribute to the self-sacrificing pa- triotism of the people of this State:
" Proceeding in the strict line of duty, the resources of Pennsylvania, whether in men or money, have neither been withheld or squandered. The history of the con- duct of our people in the field is illuminated with inci- dents of heroism worthy of conspicuous notice; but it would be impossible to mention them in the proper limits of this message, without doing injustice or perhaps mak- ing invidious distinctions. It would be alike impossible to furnish a history of the associated benevolence, and of the large individual contributions to the comfort of our people in the field and hospital; or of the names and ser- vices at all times of our volunteer surgeons, when called to assist in the hospital or on the battle field. Nor is it possible to do justice to the many patriotic and Christian men who were always ready when summoned to the exercise of acts of humanity and benevolence. Our armies were sustained and strengthened in the field by the patriotic devotion of their friends at home; and we can never render full justice to the heaven-directed, pa-
triotic, Christian benevolence of the women of the State."
The following is a list of the governors of the colony, province and State of Pennsylvania, with the year of the appointment or election of each :
Under the Swedes: 1638, Peter Minuit; 1641, Peter Hollandare; 1643, John Printz; 1653, John Pappegoya; 1654. Johan Claudius Rysingh.
Under the Dutch: 1655, Peter Stuyvesant Deryck Schmidt pro tem. ; 1655, John Paul Jaquet; 1657, Jacob Alrichs; 1659, Alexander D. Hinyossa; 1652, William Beekman: 1663, Alexander D. Hinyossa; 1673, Anthony Colve Peter Alrich's deputy .
Under the Duke of York: 1664, Colonel Richard Nichols Robert Carr, deputy ; 1667, Colonel Francis Lovelace.
Under the English: 1674, Sir Edmund Andross:
Under the proprietary government: 1681, William Markham, deputy; 1682, William Penn; 1684, Thomas Lloyd, president of the council; 1688, five commissioners appointed by the proprietor-Thomas Lloyd, Robert Tur- ner, Arthur Cook, John Symcock, John Eckley; 1688, John Blackwell, deputy; 1690, Thomas Lloyd, president of council; 1691, Thomas Lloyd, deputy governor; 1693, Benjamin Fletcher, William Markham lieutenant gov- ernor; 1695, William Markham, deputy; 1699, William l'enn; 1701, Andrew Hamilton, deputy; 1703, Edward Shippen, president of the council; 1704, John Evans, deputy; 1709, Charles Gookin, deputy; 1717, Sir William Keith, deputy; 1726, Patrick Gordon, deputy; 1736, James Logan, president of the council; 1738, George Thomas, deputy; 1747, Anthony Palmer, president of the council; 1748, James Hamilton, lieutenant governor; 1754, Robert H. Morris, deputy; 1756, William Denny, deputy: 1759, James Hamilton, deputy: 1763, John Penn; 1771, James Hamilton, president of the council; 1771, Richard Penn; 1773, John Penn.
Under the constitution of 1776 presidents of the supreme council : 1777, Thomas Wharton; 1778, Joseph Reed; 1781, William Moore; 1782, John Dickinson; 1785, Benjamin Franklin; 1788, Thomas Mifflin.
Under subsequent constitutions: 1790, Thomas Mif- flin; 1799, Thomas Mckean; 1868, Simon Snyder; 1817; William Findlay; 1820, Joseph Heister; 1823, John An- drew Schultze; 1829, George Wolf; 1835, Joseph Ritner; 1839, David R. Porter; 1845, Francis R. Shunk; 1848, William F. Johnston; 1852, William Bigler; 1855, James Pollock; 1858, William F. Packer; 1861, Andrew G. Cur- tin; 1867, John W. Geary; 1873, John F. Hartranft; 1878, Henry M. Hoyt.
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GENERAL HISTORY - -OF-
TIOGA COUNTY.
BY JOHN L. SEXTON JR., Mindtur of Ilu Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and the Dauphin County Historical Society, Harrisburg.
CHAPTER I.
THE INDIANS IN POSSESSION-LAND PURCHASES FROM THEM-THE STATE LINE LOCATED.
N order that the reader may have a clear idea in relation to the territory now comprised within the limits of Tioga county it is necessary that we refer to the aborigines who roamed over its domain for centuries before William Penn founded Pennsylvania, or settlements were made by the Anglo-Saxon race within its borders.
At the time of William Penn's arrival upon the shores of the Delaware River, October 4th 1682, the Five (after- ward Six) Nations of Indians, dwelling on an east and west Addison, N. Y., crossed the Tuscarora and led over the line through the central part of New York State, exer- hills to near where Elkland is now situated, on the Cowanesque; thence running in a south westerly direction, crossing Pine Creek and descending Kettle Creek to Westport, on the west branch of the Susquehanna. In fact there were numberless trails leading southward from the lakes in New York, many of them passing through the territory now embraced within the limits of Tioga county. These facts were ascertained from the late Benjamin Patterson, of Lindley, New York, whose father, Robert Patterson, was an Indian scout during the Rev- olutionary war, and assisted in cutting the Williamson road from Northumberland over the Laurel Ridge Mountain to the Tioga River, and thence to Painted Post and Bath, in the year 1792. Mr. Patterson's state- cised eminent domain, as it were, and control over all the wild lands from the Potomac at the south to Canada and the lakes at the north. Their council fires were lighted and the smoke from their wigwams was seen to ascend in all the valleys of that vast region. They were to be found in great numbers on the banks of the Gen- esee, Mohawk, Hudson, Delaware, Chenango and Black Rivers and the tributaries of the Susquehanna-the Canisteo, Conhocton, Chemung and Tioga-in New York, as well as on the shores of the numerous lakes in that State; while upon the Susquehanna, Lehigh, Delaware, Juniata, Schuylkill, Lackawanna and Allegheny and other streams in Pennsylvania their sway was absolute.
Their hunting trails or war paths from central and ment was corroborated by the late Loren Lamb, whose father settled at Lamb's Creek, in this county, in the year 1796.
western New York were to be traced along the valleys of the Lchigh, Susquehanna, Tioga and Allegheny. From their settlement at Big Tree, on the Genesee, their paths led southward down the Conhocton and Canisteo, at or near where Painted Post is now situated, and from thence down the main stream of the Susque- hanna to Northumberland; or up the Tioga, passing near where the present villages or boroughs of Lawrenceville,
Tioga, Mansfield, Canoe Camp, Covington and Bloss- burg are situated, and thence southward up Johnson's Creek to where the mining town of Arnot stands, thence to Babb's Creek, down that stream to Pine Creek, and down Pine Creek to the west branch of the Susquehanna at Jersey Shore; or from Blossburg on the route of the present Williamson road to Liberty or Block House, and across the Laurel Ridge Mountain, striking the Ly- coming a few miles north of its intersection with the west branch of the Susquehanna, within the limits of the site of the city of Williamsport. Another trail left the Tioga River near where the present borough of Tioga is located, ascended the valley of Crooked Creek, thence led to Wellsboro and on south, by the way of Stony Fork, to Pine Creek; and still another left the Canisteo at
Although William Penn received a royal charter from King Charles the Second for the territory comprising Pennsylvania, yet Penn found it in the possession of a great and warlike confederacy of Indian nations, who held sacred and dear all that pertained to the mountains, streams and forests. He therefore proceeded to treat
27
RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS.
with these Indians for their lands and hunting grounds. By himself and through his deputies and agents, up to and including the year 1749, the Indian title was extin- guished by treaty and sale, and not by conquest, to those lands now composing the counties of Chester, Delaware, Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Northampton, Lehigh, Monroe, Adams, York, Cumberland, Franklin, Lancaster, Dauphin, Lebanon, Berks, Schuylkill, Carbon and Pike; in 1754 the Indian title was relinquished in Bedford, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, Blair, Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Snyder and Centre; in 1768 in Allegheny, Wash- ington, Greene, Fayette, Somerset, Westmoreland, In- diana, Union, Northumberland, Montour, Columbia, Luzerne, Wyoming, Lackawanna, Wayne, Susquehanna, Sullivan and a portion of Lycoming; leaving the northern and the western area of the State-composed of the counties of Bradford, Tioga, Potter, Mckean, Warren, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Forest, Elk, Cameron, Clar- ion, Clinton, Clearfield, Jefferson, Armstrong, Butler, Beaver and Lawrence-to be extinguished by the State of Pennsylvania in the year 1784, and by the later pur- chase of a triangle composing the county of Erie by the commonwealth from the United States government in the year 1792, to perfect the title against all claimants to the entire present domain of Pennsylvania. The derivation of Tioga county is: first, from Lancaster county, which was formed May roth 1729 from a part of Chester, one of the three original counties; second, from North- umberland, which was formed March zist 1772 from parts of Lancaster, Cumberland, Berks, Bedford and Northampton; third, from Lycoming, which was formed from parts of Northumberland April 13th 1795. Tioga county was created March 26th 1804.
From the earliest recorded data in relation to the In- their strife for territory. The American scout in pursuit of dians within the limits of Northumberland county, the the red man had penetrated the forests of Tioga, but not with the idea of settlement, for it was Indian territory and guarded with jealousy and vigilance by the wily savage: and it was not until the treaty of 1784 at Fort Stanwix that the life of a white man was for a moment safe within its limits. grandmother of Tioga, we find that Shikellimy, a dis- tinguished Oneida chief, had his home near Milton. He had been sent by his tribe down the Susquehanna as the governing chief of the Delawares and Shawanese. From that time until after the close of the Revolutionary war there are tnany facts connected with the settlement of We append a letter of Samuel J. Atlee, William Mac- lay and Fra. Johnston, commissioners on the part of Pennsylvania, and the answer of the Six Nations, affect- ing a question of boundary in Pennsylvania: the west branch of the Susquehanna, and with the nu- merous battles fought between the Indians and the early settlers of the counties of Northumberland, Union, Ly- coming and Clinton, to show that Tioga county was " SENELPY, Nov. 15th 1784. directly in the pathway of the Six Nations, and also of the French. In the year 1866 the writer, in assisting in the "His Excellency John Dickinson, E.g., President in Council. "SIR, We have the honor to inform you that, after enduring very great fatigue, we have happily effected our negotiations with the 1x confederate tribes of In- dians. The consideration agreed on by us to be paid them for the land purchased, with such other particular- as you would wish to have communicated, Colonel John ston will lay before you. In regard to the Tiadaughton Creek, on the went branch of the Sinquehanna, mention- ed in the deed of 176%, we beg leave to inform you that the Six Nations publicly declared Pine Greek to be the same, as will appear by the enclosed paper. We are now in company with the continental commissioners, and mean to proceed with all the dispatch the approaching season will admit to Cayahoga, the place fixed on by them for holding a treaty with the western Indian', survey of lands belonging to the Fall Brook Coal Com- pany, found a tree between Blossburg and Arnot that had received a blow from an axe in the year 1744 or 1745. This mark was evidently made by an Indian or Frenchman, and tended to confirm the belief of many that the apple trees and cornfields (especially the trees, found by General Sullivan in 1779 upon the upper wa- ters of the Susquehanna, near Painted Post, and in the Genesee country, were planted by the French, in con- nection with their general plan to take possession of western Pennsylvania, as evidenced by their surveys in the year 1749 under Captain Louis Celoron, who was
dispatched by the governor-general of New France (Canada) to take possession of northern and western Pennsylvania and the country bordering on the Ohio. In compliance with instructions from the governor-general Captain Celoron did actually take possession and cause surveys to be made and fortifications to be erected within the territory comprising the western counties of this State, along the Allegheny, Clarion, and Oil Creek; and it is reasonable to suppose -and in truth the records of both New York and Pennsylvania show-that from Schenectady westward in New York, and from the head waters of the Allegheny in MeKean and Potter countics in Pennsylvania, to Pittsburg and down the Ohio, the French did for a long period exercise control, and that they instructed the Indians in rude agriculture and many things much to the detriment of the English settlers.
Passing over the events of the French and Indian war, and those of the Revolution, in which the citizens of our mother county were engaged, we come to the period when at Fort Stanwix 'Rome, New York, a treaty was made, on the 23d day of October 1784, with the Indians, by which the territory now embraced in the counties of Bradford, Tioga, Potter, Clinton, Cameron, Mckean, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Clearfield, Clarion, Armstrong, Butler, Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, Crawford and Warren was ceded to Pennsylvania.
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