History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 24

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 24

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RAILROADS.

The slack-water navigation having proved a failure, authority was con- ferred upon the Franklin Canal Company by the legislature to construct a railroad from Franklin to Lake Erie and on the 5th of November, 1849, William Millar, engineer for the board of directors, began the work of locat- ing the line between Franklin and Meadville, in which he was assisted by C. H. Heydrick, of this county. Beginning at a point on the turnpike be- tween Elk street and the Allegheny bridge and crossing French creek, the line proposed crossed Sugar creek four and one- third miles from Franklin

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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

and two hundred and forty feet north of the tow-path bridge, passing the villages of Utica and Cochranton, with a total length of twenty-one miles, eleven hundred and twenty feet from the Allegheny bridge to the first lock at the outlet of the French creek feeder. It does not appear that the proj- ect ever passed beyond this stage.

The charter of the Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company authorized the building of a line from Warren to Beaver, by way of Franklin, Mercer, and New Castle; this, or an extension of the line to connect with the New York and Erie railroad, was next regarded as the most practicable route for the construction of a road through Venango county. A public meeting was held at the court house in Franklin by the friends of the project on the 20th of February, 1851; and at an adjourned meeting on the 5th of March, at which Arnold Plumer presided, after addresses by Alfred B. McCalmont and James Ross Snowden, a number of citizens were appointed as delegates to a railroad convention to be held at Warren in the following summer. It was accordingly held on the 5th of June; in the permanent organization the county was represented by E. C. Wilson, vice-president, and Myron Park, secretary. Action was taken favorable to the construction of a line from Pittsburgh to connect with the New York and Erie railroad, the length of which would be two hundred and fifteen miles. Although not productive of immediate results the agitation doubtless had its influence in determining future developments.

The Venango Railroad was the first projected through this county that promised definite actualization. It had its inception in the year 1852, and was largely a local enterprise. The corporators were Arnold Plumer, A. P. Whitaker, E. C. Wilson, Robert Crawford, John Hoge, Thompson Graham, John Forker, Hugh Brawley, George Merriam, Alexander Powers, William McDiel, William F. Clark, and C. V. Kinnear, and the charter was granted by act of the legislature on the 30th of March, 1853. An organization was effected on the 25th of June with Arnold Plumer, president; J. Porter Braw- ley, John Hoge, Joel White, and Samuel F. Dale, directors. The route pro- posed was described as follows: "Beginning at or near the borough of Franklin in the county of Venango or at the mouth of Big Sugar creek; thence by the best and most practicable route so as to intersect the Sunbury and Erie railroad at any point they may think most advisable and from any point on the said railroad or route; thence by the best and most practicable route to the coal field near Sandy lake, Mercer county." The directors were also authorized to extend their road to any point on the Allegheny Val- ley railroad that might be deemed most advisable. The capital stock was fixed at three hundred thousand dollars, subject to increase by action of the board of directors. The terms of the charter in defining the route were ex- ceedingly vague; there was, in fact, but one point definitely located, the borough of Franklin or the mouth of Sugar creek, leaving the terminus in

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

either direction entirely with the directory of the company. At first it seems to have been regarded as a merely local road, designed as a connect- ing link between the Sunbury and Erie and Allegheny Valley railroads; but as the extraordinary discretionary powers conferred upon the management became better understood, it was apparent that the projectors contemplated nothing less than a link in an inter-state line between the east and west, in which both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, whose interests were considered of paramount importance in all railroad legislation, were utterly ignored. This discovery produced a furore of indignation in those cities; and at the follow- ing session of the legislature a committee was requested to ascertain by what chicanery and fraud such a monstrous combination of ingeniously con- structed sentences had acquired the authority of law. No irregularities were discovered, however, and the legality of the charter placed the privi- leges it conferred beyond recall.

In July, 1853, the location of the line was begun by two corps of engi- neers under the direction of a Mr. Appleton, of Boston. The route finally determined upon extended from Ridgway, Elk county, to Warren, Ohio, by way of Franklin, connecting at either termini with other roads and forming part of a through line from New York to Council Bluffs, Iowa; Easton, Pennsylvania; Tiffin, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, were prominent points, and indicate the general course of the proposed line. At a meeting of presidents of the various affiliated lines at Fort Wayne in December, 1855, Arnold Plumer presiding, a consolidation was definitely arranged under the name of the American Central Railway Company.

The enterprise received enthusiastic local support. Public meetings were held throughout the county, and there was scarcely a community that was not represented by subscriptions to the stock. On the 29th of January, 1856, at a meeting of citizens at the court house in Franklin, it was decided to seek authority from the legislature for a subscription in stock on the part of the county, but it does not appear that this design was executed. The first installment was paid to the treasurer of the company, and a contract for the construction of the entire line was let upon advantageous terms. The project seemed on a fair way to realization when certain questionable trans- actions in Vermont in which the contractors had been interested were exposed, resulting in the withdrawal of the contract and ultimate collapse of the enterprise.

The New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad had its inception in 1852. Prominent citizens of Meadville had made ineffectual efforts to obtain a charter for a connecting line between the states of New York and Ohio through that city. Under the branching privileges of its charter the Pitts- burgh and Erie Railroad Company had authority to construct the proposed line, and in the summer of 1852 it was proposed to join interests, resulting in a survey of the line in the following autumn. Ground was broken south

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of Meadville on the east bank of French creek August 19, 1853. Work was suspended in 1854 and not resumed until 1857, when the franchise was vested in a new corporation, the Meadville Railroad Company. Negotia- tions were opened with European capitalists, by whom T. W. Kennard, a civil engineer, was sent out in 1858 to report from personal observation. March 10, 1859, the name of the Meadville railroad was changed to the Atlantic and Great Western railroad of Pennsylvania, which was opened to Meadville October 22, 1862. The charter provided for an " Eastern Coal- field Branch and Extension," and a liberal construction of this clause enabled the management to project a line to the oil regions of Venango county, then just beginning to attract attention as the possible source of a large railroad traffic.

It was evident that whatever town became the terminus of the line thus opened would acquire a great impetus in its business interests; and that the long deferred opportunity might not be allowed to pass or to be improved at the advantage of some other town, the people of Franklin deputed a committee to confer with Mr. Kennard, who had his headquarters at Meadville, and exercised a general supervision as representative of the English investors in the Atlantic and Great Western, and urge the feasibility of constructing a line to Franklin by the valley of French creek. This committee was composed of Arnold Plumer, Samuel F. Dale, C. Heydrick, and George H. Bissell. An arrangement was effected by which Mr. Kennard agreed to open the pro- posed line within six months upon condition that the committee or their constituents would secure the right of way, executing a bond to indemnify the railroad company against all claims that might be presented on that ac- count, and also that a turnpike road should be constructed from Franklin to the mouth of Oil creek. The agreement was entered into; the right of way was promptly secured for about two-thirds of the distance without any con- siderable expenditure of money, and a general subscription was made in Franklin to reimburse the committee. The work of construction was also begun and pushed with vigor almost to completion, when the workmen were suddenly withdrawn and transferred to the Oil Creek railroad, of which the Atlantic and Great Western had become lessee, and which was secured with the evident purpose of controlling every available approach to the oil regions from the north and west. As a result of this the Franklin branch was not completed within the specified period, thus releasing Messrs Plumer, Dale, Heydrick; and Bissell from any obligation regarding the right of way not yet released, while at the same time it made them individually responsible for the money already paid out, as the people at large were not disposed to contribute anything for a railroad of which the completion had been delayed in flagrant violation of obligations assumed by its projectors. The work was at length resumed, however; May 30, 1863, the track was laid to.Franklin, and on the following Monday, June 1st, the road was formally opened by a

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

special train carrying the directors and numerous prominent citizens of Meadville. It was extended to Oil City in March, 1866. The entire Atlan- tic and Great Western system was sold at judicial sale January 6, 1880, and reorganized as the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio railroad. In March, 1883, it was leased to the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway Com- pany for a period of ninety-nine years and has since been operated by that company.

Western New York and Pennsylvania Lines .- The Oil Creek Railroad Company was chartered April 2, 1860, John W. Howe, Andrew L. Smith, W. C. Hunt, H. R. Rouse, and Thomas Struthers being among the incor- porators, for the construction of a road from Garland station on the Phila- delphia and Erie railroad to Titusville, Crawford county. Largely through the efforts of Thomas Struthers and W. S. Streator it was completed in 1862 under the auspices of the Atlantic and Great Western. Miller Farm, Shaf- fer Farm, Boyd Farm, and Petroleum Center were successively the southern terminal point, the extension to the last named place having been made in 1866. In 1865 a majority of the stock was purchased in the city of Erie by Dean Richmond and Thomas A. Scott, the former representing the New York Central and Lake Shore companies, the latter the Pennsylvania rail- road, and placed in the hands of Samuel J. Tilden of New York as trustee for the three corporations.

A railroad was constructed from Pithole City to the mouth of Pithole creek in 1865-66 by the Clarion Land and Improvement Company. The work was begun in November, 1865, and pushed with energy. Location and construction went on simultaneously. Before the end of the first month more than six hundred laborers, many of whom had been brought a distance of a thousand miles, were at work. The engineering staff were busy day and night and their utmost exertions were required to keep ahead of the la- borers. It was important that a means of communication should be com- pleted between Pithole City and the river before the close of navigation in order that fuel, provisions, and other necessaries of life might be within reach of that populous but ill-provided community. The energies of the company were therefore concentrated upon that portion of the line between Pithole City and the river. Within ninety days from the commencement of the work it was completed a distance of six miles and a half; thirteen substantial pier bridges had been thrown across the creek, beside a large amount of trestle work; three miles of track had been laid, and a locomotive was moving thereon. When construction was begun between Oil City and Pithole creek it was immediately followed by interference on the part of the Warren and Franklin Railroad Company and on one occasion a collision be- tween the employes of the rival companies almost approached the propor- tions of a riot. A temporary compromise was effected, however, and the first through train from Pithole City to Oil City passed over the line March 10, 1866.

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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The Warren and Tidioute Railroad Company was incorporated April 18, 1861, numbering among its projectors Glenni W. Scofield, Orris Hall. S. P. Johnson, J. Y. James, W. D. Brown, and Jacob Henrici. The route proposed began at Tidioute and continued to an intersection with the Phila- delphia and Erie, with the privilege of extending to Franklin. March 31, 1864, a change of name was authorized, and on the 23rd of May, by a reso- lution of the directors, the name of Warren and Franklin was adopted. On the 25th of May, 1866, an injunction was granted by the supreme court restraining the Clarion Land and Improvement Company from operating that part of their line in the river valley; its entire property was purchased and during the same year a line was completed from Irvineton on the Phila- delphia and Erie to Oil City. An extension of the Pithole branch was partially constructed as far as Pleasantville, but with the decline of that oil district the line to Pithole City was abandoned and dismantled.

The Farmers' Railroad Company of Venango County was incorporated April 10, 1862. Joshua Rhoads, William Bagaley, Sam. Q. Brown, Jona- than Watson, Thomas Hoge, James S. Myers, S. P. McCalmont, John L. Mitchell, and P. H. Siverly were among those to whom the charter was granted. The contemplated line extended from the mouth of Oil creek by the course of that stream to the county line and by the Allegheny river to Franklin. There was a provision that no locomotive should be run without the consent of all the owners of oil wells within two hundred feet of the track, but this clause was repealed August 10, 1864. The road was con- structed to Petroleum Center, the terminus of the Oil Creek railroad, in the summer of 1866, and opened for travel on the 27th of August in that year.

A consolidation of the Warren and Franklin, Oil Creek, and Farmers' railroads was formed in 1867-68 under the name of the Oil Creek and Al- legheny River Railway Company, and received legislative sanction April 3, 1868. In 1876 the property was sold at judicial sale under a decree from the United States court and reorganized under the name of the Pittsburgh, Titusville and Buffalo railroad, connecting with the Crosscut railroad of New York. In 1881 the Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Western railroad was con- structed from Buffalo to Brocton, New York, also the Salamanca and Alle- gheny River railroad, from Salamanca to Irvineton, and the Genesee Val- ley Canal Company's railroad, from Rochester to Olean. The Olean and Salamanca railroad was built in 1882, when all these various lines were consolidated with the Pittsburgh, Titusville and Buffalo, which was merged into the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway Company in the same year. The entire system was sold under foreclosure in 1887, and reorgan- ized under its present name, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway Company.

A line from Stoneboro, Mercer county, to New Castle, Lawrence county, is also operated. The tracks of the Lake Shore were used between Stone-

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

boro and Oil City until November, 1889, and the discontinuance of that arrangement will probably result in the construction of an independent line between those points. This is the latest railway project in the county.

The Jamestown and Franklin Railroad, operated by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company, enters the county at Raymilton, in Mineral township, follows the course of Sandy creek to Polk, where it crosses to French creek; that stream is crossed at its mouth by the finest railroad bridge in the county, and from that point the northern bank of the Allegheny river is followed to Oil City. The charter was granted. April 5, 1862, to William Gibson, John P. Vincent, George A. Bittenbender, W. L. Scott, Henry C. Hickok, A. W. Raymond, and David Hadley, by whom the Jamestown and Franklin Railroad Company was organized at Sheakleyville with William Gibson, of Jamestown, president; A. W. Raymond, of Frank- lin, secretary; Thomas Hoge, James S. Myers, A. W. Raymond, S. A. Pot- ter, T. H. Fulton, and David Hadley, directors. Jamestown is a station on the Erie and Pittsburgh railroad, and it was with the design of providing a western outlet from the oil regions, as well as developing the intervening country, that the road was projected. It was completed for freight pur- poses as far as Stoneboro in 1865, and for passenger traffic the following year. The extension to Franklin was opened in the summer of 1867; the bridge over French creek was completed in January, 1870, and the first train entered Oil City over this line on the 24th of May, in that year. In August, 1872, a road was constructed from Jamestown to Ashtabula, con- necting with the main artery of the Lake Shore system.

The Allegheny Valley Railroad Company was chartered April 4, 1837, as the Pittsburgh, Kittanning and Warren, and under its present name, April 14, 1852. Construction was begun March 17, 1853, when Mayor Riddle, of Pittsburgh, broke ground for the first time at the Allegheny arsenal. The line was opened to Kittanning, January 30, 1856; to Mahoning, May 12, 1866; to Brady's Bend, June 27, 1867, and to Oil City, February 2, 1870. It was opened to Franklin and South Oil City in 1867, but the present terminal facilities at Oil City were not acquired until two years later. The distance from Pittsburgh to Oil City is one hundred and thirty-two miles, of which about one-third is in this county.

Several dismantled railroads remain to be noticed, beside the Pithole branch previously described. In 1867 a road was constructed from the mouth of Sage run on the Allegheny river immediately above South Oil City to the mines of a coal company situated three or four miles inland. It was operated several years.

The Reno, Oil Creek and Pithole Railroad, projected from Reno to Pit- hole City, was completed and opened to Rouseville January 31, 1866, and extended through Plumer to a point one mile from Pithole City. It was never operated farther than Plumer, and was abandoned within a year after its completion to that place.

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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The Emlenton and Shippenville Railroad, afterward known as the Emlen- ton, Shippenville and Clarion railroad, was constructed from Emlenton to Turkey City, a distance of seven miles, in the summer of 1876; it was extended to Edenburg in the autumn of that year, and to Clarion, thirty miles from Emlenton, in 1877. The original organization of the company occurred June 17, 1875, with James Bennett, president; J. W. Rowland, secretary, and R. W. Porterfield, treasurer. It was principally an Emlenton enter- prise, and had more of the character of a local railroad undertaking than any other of equal magnitude in the county. Financially it was a success, and reflected credit on the projectors. But another line, since consolidated with the Pittsburgh and Western, was contemplated from Foxburg through Clarion, and having been given an opportunity to dispose of their property advantageously, the owners allowed it to be absorbed by the rival company, by which that part of the line between Emlenton and Clarion Junction was shortly afterward dismantled.

The Allegheny, Kennerdell and Clintonville Railroad was projected with the idea of constructing a line from Kennerdell station, on the Alle- gheny Valley, to some point on the Pittsburgh, Shenango and Lake Erie, by way of the valley of Scrubgrass creek, Kennerdell, and Clintonville, a dis- tance of eighteen or twenty miles, traversing the Bullion oil district and deriving its principal traffic from that region. A substantial bridge over the Allegheny river was constructed, and some two or three miles of road; the rolling stock was furnished by the Allegheny Valley, and thus equipped the road was operated about two years. Then, the Bullion district having had its day, the track was taken up and the bridge was changed into a wagon bridge. It was afterward carried away in a flood, so that nothing now remains of this road save the abandoned embankment. Richard Kennerdell was president of the company. Local capital was invested almost exclusively.

POSTAL FACILITIES.

A weekly mail route was established in 1801 between Pittsburgh and Erie by way of Butler, Franklin, Meadville, and Waterford. Within the next two years it had been reduced to a semi-monthly route, but the first schedule was again adopted soon afterward. Horseback was the mode of transporta- tion for some years; at first the pouch was carried on the same horse with the driver, but as the amount of mail increased a second horse became nec- essary. Robert Clark, of Clark's Ferry, established the first stage route over the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike, presumably the first in the county, in 1820, the first coach arriving at Franklin in November of that year. The first stage line to Pittsburgh was established by Samuel F. Dale. Postal facilities have been improved with the successive introduction of the steamboat and the railroad, and at the present time there is scarcely a ham- let in the county that does not have a daily mail.

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

The first postoffice in the county was established at Franklin in 1801, and the commission of Alexander McDowell as first postmaster bears date January 1, 1801. Among his early successors were James G. Heron, com- missioned October 1, 1802, and John Broadfoot, commissioned March 31, 1809. The earliest postoffices throughout the county were Big Bend, in Scrubgrass township; Rockland, Cranberry, Canal, Plum, Cherry Tree, and Cornplanter, in the respective townships of those names; Cooperstown, Pleasantville, Utica, Emlenton, Clintonville, and Dempseytown; Lamb's, in Allegheny township, Rynd's, in Cornplanter, and Plumer.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PRESS.

FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA-JOURNALISM IN FRANKLIN -EMLENTON PAPERS-THE PRESS OF OIL CITY-PAPERS AT PITHOLE CITY, PLEASANTVILLE, ETC.

T THE first newspaper west of the Allegheny mountains was the Pittsburgh Gazette, established by John Scull July 29, 1786, two years before there was a postoffice at that place. Although he was an enterprising publisher and distributed his paper by special courier to the distant quarters of its extensive territory, it is not probable that the Gazette or its contemporaries at Pittsburgh during the score of years that followed circulated in Venango county to any extent. In the northwestern part of the state the earliest venture was the Crawford Weekly Messenger, established at Meadville in 1805 by Thomas Atkinson. It was through this medium that sheriff's sales and other legal notices from this county were first advertised. This was followed in 1808 by the Mirror at Erie, and in 1811 by the Western Press at Mercer; the former was started by George Wyeth, and enjoyed but a brief existence; the latter, founded by Jacob Herrington, is still continued and is one of the leading newspapers of that county.

JOURNALISM IN FRANKLIN.

The Venango Herald was the first newspaper published in the county.

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THE PRESS.

The twenty-second number of the first volume appeared February 21, 1821, so that if the paper was published regularly it was first issued in September, 1820. A description of its appearance at a somewhat later date states that the sheet was a three-column quarto, each column fifteen inches long and three inches wide, with a liberal margin; the type was large but not clear, which is perhaps attributable to the quality of the paper rather than a lack of skill on the part of the printer. The subscrip- tion price was two dollars per year, "invariably in advance," but it is. problematical whether this rule was rigidly enforced. The office of publica- tion was a diminutive log building at the site of the Plumer block, corner of Twelfth and Liberty streets.

John Evans, by whom the Herald was established, was born in Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1798, son of Evan and' Frances (Colvin) Evans; his parents removed to Crawford county, where they were among the pioneers of Meadville, and there he was brought up, receiving a. very limited education. At an early age he was apprenticed to learn the trade of printer, probably to the proprietor of a small paper published in opposition to the Messenger from 1809 to 1811; at all events when the ma- terials of that office were removed to Mercer in 1811 by Jacob Herrington he accompanied him and completed his apprenticeship upon the Western Press. When his term of service had expired he set out with a brother apprentice, Robert Burchfield, upon a tramp as journeyman printer, but both returned after a brief absence. Evans assumed charge of the mechanical depart- ment of the Press office and remained in that position till 1820. Among those who received their instruction from him was W. S. Garvin, afterward its editor for many years. It cannot be definitely stated how long Mr. Evans was connected with the Herald, but he entered public life after a brief res- idence in Franklin, and continued to reside there until his death. He was- commissioned postmaster of Franklin, January 12, 1822, continuing in that office until 1831. He served as county treasurer in 1826 and as sheriff from 1838 to 1841. In 1839 he was commissioned colonel of militia by Governor Porter. In 1825 he engaged in the hotel business at the site of Martin & Epley's drug store on Liberty street and also conducted a well- known hostelry at the site of the Exchange hotel. He married Rachel Hemphill, daughter of William Connely, February 16, 1822, and reared twelve children. He was well known throughout the county, and took an active part in politics. His death occurred November 30, 1871.

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History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 24

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co. Number of Pages: 1323

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323