USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 23
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Samuel McHattan and Alexander agree to open and bridge a part of the said road near Hicks' cabin at eight dollars.
Charles Holeman agrees to open and dig a part of said road at sixty-six cents per perch for digging and a reasonable price for any part which may be opened.
Samuel McHattan and Alexander agree to open and dig a part of said road at fifty- seven cents per perch on the north side of Little Toby's creek.
Alexander McElhaney agrees to bridge a part of said road supposed to be twenty- six rods at ninety-nine cents per perch, and to open and repair at a reasonable price.
Samuel McHattan and Alexander agree to dig and open a part of said road on To- by's creek hill at twenty-four and a half cents a perch.
The road from Milesburg to Waterford crossed the Allegheny river at Alexander Holeman's, as originally laid out. Its course through this county . has been vacated to such an extent that it would be difficult to indicate it by present land marks. It was an important and much traveled thoroughfare. The road leading from Franklin through the villages of Salem City and Ten Mile Bottom, in Cranberry township, and thence on through Pinegrove to Fryburg, was the only other highway of importance opened through the county at an early date under state auspices.
The road from Franklin to the mouth of Oil creek, laid out by William Martin, George King, James Martin, Sr., and John Snow, was confirmed at December term of the court of quarter sessions, 1807. The old Warren road crossed Oil creek at Rynd Farm, and thence pursued a meandering course through Cornplanter and Allegheny townships. Frequent revision ulti- mately rendered this a direct route between Franklin and Warren so far as the topography would admit.
The Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike was the first internal improve- ment under corporate auspices constructed through this county. The com- pany was incorporated by act of the legislature, February 22, 1812; com- missioners at various places were authorized to receive subscriptions in stock, those for Venango county being William Moore and George Power, and the amount of stock apportioned to this county was three hundred shares at a par value of twenty-five dollars. The governor was authorized to subscribe one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to the project, one hundred thousand dollars for that part of the line between the Allegheny and Susque- hanna rivers, and the remainder for the distance between Franklin and Waterford, the expense of constructing a section five miles in length east and west of the Allegheny river to be the basis of apportionment. The route led "from Waterford, through Meadville and Franklin to the river Susque-
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hanna at the mouth of Anderson's creek, in Clearfield county." The pre- scribed width was sixty feet, and of the portion to be artificially constructed, twenty feet. The company was authorized to collect tolls upon sections five miles in length as they should be completed and approved.
The state appropriation was conditioned upon a subscription of two thousand shares by private individuals within three years; but the war of 1812 so depressed business of every kind in this part of the state that the charter would have been forfeited but for a further extension of three years from the expiration of the first period. Even with this liberal allowance of time the projectors experienced great difficulty in, securing the necessary support. It is related that at a meeting in Meadville, August 19, 1815, resort was had to the novel expedient of inducing an impecunious tailor, pos- sessing neither money nor credit, to become the nominal owner of seven hundred and fifty shares, by which the progress of the work was materially accelerated. The requisite subscriptions had been received in January, 1816, but actual operations were not begun until two years later. The sur- vey was completed in October, 1818; contracts for several sections were let in November of that year, and in 1820 the entire line was opened to travel. The course through this county is through the townships of Rockland, Cran- berry, Sugar Creek, and Canal; East Sandy creek is crossed at the hamlet of that name, the Allegheny river and French creek at Franklin, and Sugar creek some distance from its mouth. From the summit of the river hill below Franklin to Salina in Cranberry township, a distance of four or five miles, the course of the pike is upon a straight line and practically level, the longest distance between the terminal points without a deflection in its course. The Erie and Waterford turnpike had been constructed in 1809, and by 1824 this great internal thoroughfare had been continued to Phila- delphia. It was a toll road for many years, but finally proved unprofitable to the stockholders and was relinquished to the different townships through which it passes.
The imperative necessity of improved roads for the tranportation of oil resulted in the construction of several lines of turnpike and plank-roads during the decade beginning with 1860. The first of these was the Frank- lin and Oil creek turnpike, projected to afford a means of hauling oil to Franklin during the time that it was the terminus of the Atlantic and Great Western railway. The act of incorporation was passed February 19, 1862, and names Thomas H. Martin, Arnold Plumer, W. M. Epley, Thomas Hoge, James Bleakley, Richard Irwin, S. P. McCalmont, George H. Bis- sell, J. L. Hanna, C. Heydrick, William Hilands, Joseph Shafer, P. Mc- Gough, James Wilson, C. C. Waldo, M. W. Kelsey, William Hasson, Sam. Q. Brown, and Robert Lamberton as the corporators. The superintendent of construction was Miles W. Sage, and work was begun May 19, 1862. During the few years that this was continued as a toll road its receipts
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were enormous. Two men were constantly required to collect the tolls. The succession of teams was almost unbroken sometimes for a distance of several miles. Although constructed at a time when such operations were very expensive and abandoned after a few years, it proved to be a remuner- ative investment for the stockholders.
The Titusville and Pithole plank-road was constructed in the summer of 1865 by Sam. Q. Brown, William H. Abbott, F. W. Ames, and Oliver Keese; the company was incorporated March 2, 1866. In this case the usual order of procedure was reversed; the road was first constructed and the charter obtained afterward. The opportunities of the times were too great and the necessity too urgent to wait for legislative authority. The course of this road led from Titusville to Pithole City through Pleasantville, affording a means of travel to the Pithole region at the time when it was attracting thousands of people from all parts of the country. A double track was laid and at considerable expense, notwithstanding which the venture was eminently successful. A similar road was constructed from Miller Farm to Pithole City, passing through the Shamburg region. This has been entirely abandoned. The Titusville and Pithole road between Pleasantville and Pithole has also been abandoned, but is still continued as a toll road between Titusville and Pleasantville.
The Salina and Laytonia Turnpike Company was incorporated March 25, 1864, the projectors being Thomas M. Parker, William Gates, Henry Mays, William L. Lay, C. B. Mckinney, James S. Johnston, W. H. Stef- fee, and William Cartwright. A macadamized road was constructed between the designated termini and is still continued as a toll road. This is the only turnpike in the county, as the plank-road from Titusville to Pleasant- ville is the only one of that description.
WATER HIGHWAYS.
The navigation of the Allegheny river may be said to begin with the expedition of Celoron in 1749. French creek was also frequently utilized in the military operations and movements of the French. Celoron em- barked at Chautauqua lake and passed through Conewango creek to the Allegheny, but with this exception the usual route of the French was across from Lake Erie to Waterford, at the head of navigation on French creek, and thence down that stream to the river. With the transition to English rule military purposes continued to be the principal end subserved by the navigation of these streams, and it was not until American authority had been established that they acquired commercial importance. As early as 1790 an appropriation of four hundred dollars was made for the improve- ment of Le Bœuf and French creeks. The principal exports from this. region were peltries and grain or its products, flour and whisky, which were loaded on flat-boats and thus taken to Pittsburgh and other river points.
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
The transportation of salt was an important industry. The supply was ob- tained at Salina, New York, hauled in wagons to Buffalo, brought in vessels to Erie, transported by ox-teams to Waterford by way of the old French road, and transferred at that point to flat-boats for shipment down French creek, the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. In the Crawford Weekly Messenger of December 12, 1805, it is stated that "eleven flat-bottomed and six keel- boats passed this place [Meadville] during the last freshet in French creek- the former carrying on the average one hundred and seventy and the latter sixty barrels of salt each, making in the whole two thousand two hundred and thirty barrels." In the issue of January 1, 1807, the statement was made that during the last rise in French creek twenty-two Kentucky boats or arks passed Meadville loaded with salt and carrying an aggregate of four or five thousand barrels. Under date of November 23, 1809, it is said that "there are at present at Waterford upward of fourteen thousand barrels of salt, containing five bushels each, or seventy thousand bushels, waiting for the rise of the waters in order to descend to Pittsburgh, Wheeling, and Marietta. This traffic was continued until about the year 1819, when salt wells on the Kiskeminitas and Kanawha had been developed sufficiently to supply the demand for the article in this territory.
During the war of 1812 the naval stores and munitions used in the con- struction of Perry's Lake Erie fleet were transported from Pittsburgh by way of the river and French creek. At a later date and until the open- ing of railroads through this part of the state, farm produce of every description and lumber in large quantities were shipped from Erie, Craw- ford, Mercer, and Venango counties, and rafts were not unusual on French creek as late as 1860, while crafts of various kinds continued to navigate the river until the completion of the Allegheny Valley railroad.
The first successful steam navigation of the Allegheny river occurred in 1828, and marks the beginning of a new era in economic development and internal communication in western Pennsylvania. The following account of the first steamboat appeared in the Venango Democrat of March 4, 1828:
A STEAMBOAT ON THE ALLEGHENY.
On Sunday evening the 24th of February, the citizens of this place were some- what alarmed by the discharge of a ficld-piece down the Allegheny river-another report soon followed-then the cry of a steamboat resounding in all directions, and the citizens, great and small, were seen flocking to the river to welcome her arrival. She proved to be the William D. Duncan, of one hundred and ten tons, Captain Crooks. She left Pittsburgh on Friday at three o'clock P. M., arrived at Kittanning, a distance of forty-five miles, the same evening-left Kittanning at ten A. M., and ar- rived at this place on Sunday at five P. M., after stopping at Lawrenceburg and other places. The actual time occupied in running the whole distance, one hundred and forty miles, was twenty-eight hours, averaging five miles an hour. We understand she could have made the trip in much less time, but it being the first, her engineer was afraid of ap- plying her full power to the current. She had on board several tons of freight, and about one hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen from Pittsburgh, Freeport, Kittan-
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ning, and Lawrenceburg came passengers. On Monday morning a party was got up in town who took an excursion of eight miles up the river to Oil Creek furnace, for the double purpose of the pleasure of the trip and as a remuneration to the enterprising owners for the visit. She steamed the current at the rate of between five and six miles an hour, aud came down in twenty-one minutes. The day was fine, the trip pleasant, all were highly gratified; and the accommodation was excellent. On Tuesday morning she took her departure for Pittsburgh, where, we understand, she arrived next morning, without meeting with a single accident to mar the pleasure of their experiment. We learn that two other boats are making preparations for ascending the Allegheny, and that one of them may be expected here on Friday or Saturday next. It is expected they will ascend the river as far as Warren, for which place we understand they have been chartered. This, it is expected, will put an end to the controversy between the citi- zens of Pittsburgh and Wheeling who is located at the head of steamboat navigation.
Stern-wheel steamboats were introduced upon the western waters in 1830. This innovation in nautical construction was the invention of a Mr. Blanchard. Robert L. Potter and David Dick, of Meadville, became interested in it, and through their efforts the Allegheny was built on the new principle at Pittsburgh. The trial trip was made in April, 1830; Franklin was reached on the 18th of that month, whence the voyage was continued to Warren. Seven trips were made during the year, on one of which the river was ascended as far as Olean, New York. The stern-wheel boat was found to be well adapted to a stream of such rapid current and winding channel as the Allegheny. It was only during three or four months of the year, however, that navigation was possible. River traffic reached its largest proportions during the years of the oil industry immediately prior to the opening of the Allegheny Valley railroad.
The construction of an artificial waterway to connect the waters of Lake Erie with the Ohio river was suggested by Washington as early as 1788. The project was one of vital interest to the people of western Pennsylvania, and its agitation entered largely into the consideration of political measures. The Beaver and Shenango rivers appear to have been regarded as the most practical route until the success of steam navigation on the Allegheny attracted public attention to the feasibility of a slack-water improvement in French creek, with such expenditures upon the channel of the river as would render it possible for boats to continue running during the whole or a large part of the year. It is needless to observe that this was regarded with great favor in Venango county. Internal improvements were the order of the day, and the policy of the state in projecting an elaborate system of internal communication was everywhere sustained by public sen- timent. It was the great concern of every community, and a duty specially enjoined upon members of the legislature, to see that their constituents were not neglected in the framing of the appropriation bill. In 1829 Doc- tor George R. Espy, representative in the general assembly from this county, was charged with voting contrary to the wishes of his constituents; but at a public meeting, held at Franklin in August of that year, a committee,
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composed of J. J. Pearson, James Kinnear, John Evans, George Power, Andrew Bowman, Doctor John D. Wood, Alexander McCalmont, William Raymond, and George McClelland, to whom the matter was referred, fully exonerated him from the charges in question. This may serve to illustrate the jealous care with which the people sought to guard their interests.
The desired result was finally obtained; a slack-water navigation was established between the mouth of French creek and Meadville by the con- struction of dams at necessary intervals and of an artificial channel at sev- eral points, involving the expenditure of a million and a quarter dollars. As a work of engineering the improvement doubtless possessed decided merit; the masonry was substantially constructed and withstood for years the force of the current and of successive floods. But the calculations of the projectors had been based upon insufficient data regarding the volume of the stream at various seasons, as observed since the settlement of the country, resulting in deficient provision for navigation during the summer months, which deprived the work of all practical utility. Only two boats ever passed through from Franklin to Meadville, the first of which arrived at Meadville June 6, 1834, and the second, the French Creek Pioneer, November 14, 1834.
The work had scarcely been completed before alterations and repairs became necessary. But the Beaver and Shenango route had been deter- mined upon for the water communication between Lake Erie and the Ohio river, and the prosecution of that enterprise was deemed sufficient for the northwestern part of the state. Appeals to the legislature were unavailing; the feelings of the people, as they contemplated the decay of public works from which so much had been expected, were naturally indignant and found expression in the formal action of mass meetings at various times. A meeting of this nature was held at the court house in Franklin, on the eve- ning of December 3, 1842; T. S. McDowell presided, with James S. Myers and Myron Park vice-presidents, James Bleakley and Alexander Cochran, secretaries. The condition of the canal was taken into consideration and the sense of the meeting was expressed in a a series of resolutions reported by James Ross Snowden from a committee composed of John W. Howe, Richard Irwin, Samuel Hays, Samuel F. Dale, and James Ross Snowden, several of which resolutions, with the preamble, are herewith subjoined:
WHEREAS, Various appropriations have been made bythe commonwealth since the year 1826 to her public improvements, among which is the French Creek division of the Pennsylvania canal, which is composed of the Franklin line and the French Creek feeder; and whereas the said work for want of sufficient repairs has become in a great measure dilapidated; and not only the commercial advantages sought to be secured by the construction of the same have not been attained, but it is now causing an actual injury to the navigation of the stream by rendering it more difficult and tedious than the natural navigation. And whereas, should the Eric extension be completed and this line kept in good repair, the interests and property of the country bordering on the
Maymundy (
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Allegheny and French creek and their tributaries would be subserved and encouraged and the general interests of the commonwealth protected; and it is believed that further appropriations from the state treasury in its present state of embarrassment cannot reasonably be expected. And whereas, the importance of this work impera- tively demands its preservation and protection, and it would be unjust, unwise, and impolitic to suffer it further to decay, and thus, instead of subserving the interests of the county by promoting its commerce and navigation, become an absolute evil by producing stagnant pools and obstructing the natural navigation; therefore,
Resolved, That the restoration and repair of the French Creek division of the Pennsylvania canal is of the deepest importance to an extensive region of country, thereby affording an outlet to market to the citizens residing thereon for their various productions, as well as opening up an important channel to the commerce of the state. But we would especially refer to the market it would afford to the iron, which is now manufactured in large quantities in the counties of Armstrong, Clarion, and Venango, and which may be enlarged to an almost unlimited extent.
Resolved, That we view with alarm and surprise the startling fact that the water of French creek, a large and navigable stream to which God and nature have given us an indefeasible title, is about to be diverted from its natural channel and carried down the Shenango and Beaver creeks, through the partial policy of these who have been en- gaged in conducting the public works, whilst the French creek division, although actually completed, has been suffered to go out of repair and become an absolute ob- struction, rendering the navigation greatly inferior to what it was in its natural state; that if this policy and course are passively submitted to and further pursued the water of this large stream during the season of the year when most required for navigation will be entirely diverted from its natural channel, and thus also its water power for mills and other works be entirely destroyed.
Resolved, That should this project be consummated and the French Creek divi sion be thus destroyed, it would be an act of the most gross injustice and a direct vio- lation of all equitable and just principles, not only to the citizens generally who reside in this section of country, but especially to those who reside on the borders of the stream and who have paid for those rights which are now sought to be taken away.
It was further charged that previous boards of canal commissioners were responsible for the decayed state of the line, having withheld its just proportion of the repair fund; and especially, that the board had solemnly assured the representatives from this district in the session of 1840 that the line should be put in repair, in violation of which they had refused any amount whatever when the appropriation bill became a law. It was urged that the Shenango route had never been authorized except with the under- standing that improved navigation should be simultaneously constructed to the mouth of French creek as a substitute for its natural navigation and as an equivalent for the water to supply the Erie extension. Any other ar- rangement, it was declared, would be an act of flagrant injustice on the part of the commonwealth, depriving a large number of citizens of the benefits of natural navigation, and bestowing upon another section of the state ad- vantages which it had no right to enjoy. As the improvement of the French creek canal was a matter of urgent necessity and the embarrassed condition of the public treasury would not warrant any appropriation from that source, it was suggested as the most feasible means of effecting that object that a
13
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
company should be incorporated for the purpose of completing the work already done and making such repairs as would be found advisable. James Ross Snowden, Samuel Hays, William Elliott, Thomas S. Espy, and John W. Howe were selected as a committee to memorialize the legislature at its approaching session and prepare a suitable address to that body.
Without discussing the successive phases of the agitation it may be stated that neither public appropriation nor private enterprise ever attempted the rehabilitation of the property in the manner proposed. The stream was kept open for descending navigation for some years; the dams and locks were occasionally repaired, but the former were ultimately regarded as ob- structions and accordingly demolished, the " big dam " a mile above Frank- lin being the last that was destroyed. Nothing remains of this once elabo- rate artificial system of navigation except the dam and outlet lock at Frank- lin, from which the power of the Venango mills is derived. It is doubtful whether the whole history of internal improvements in this country presents another instance in which the returns were so utterly disproportionate to the amount of capital invested.
Oil creek first attained the dignity of a navigable stream as the first link in the system of water communication by which petroleum was shipped to Pittsburgh and other southern markets. In order to facilitate and acceler- ate shipments, the producers resorted to artificial methods of increasing the volume of the current, known as pond freshets, which originated with lum- bermen and were here conducted in a more extensive and systematic man- ner than ever before. A main dam was constructed across the creek a short distance below Titusville; the co-operation of mill owners on the various branches of Oil creek above that point was secured, and at an appointed time the water in their dams was discharged; when the volume of water col- lected at the main dam was deemed sufficient it was discharged into the creek, creating an artificial current of depth enough to float an oil barge over the rapids under skillful management. The expense incident to these prep- arations was distributed pro rata among the different shippers. Pond freshets were not discontinued until the construction of railroads introduced a different method of oil transportation.
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