USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 56
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PIONEERS.
The triangular area bounded by the Allegheny river on the north and east, Clinton township on the west, and Butler county on the south, was one of the earliest settled portions of Venango county. The field notes of Samuel Dale, deputy surveyor, show the following surveys at the respective dates given:
John Craig .- Three hundred and ninety-seven acres, adjoining lands of Hugh McManigal, Richard Monjar, John Kerns, and James Glenn; sur- veyed November 11, 1800, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
Hugh Wasson and William McKee .- Three hundred and ninety-nine acres, adjoining lands of Nathan Phipps, John Phipps, Samuel Doty, and
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William Dickson; surveyed October 23, 1801, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
Robert Atwell. - One hundred and ninety-four acres, adjoining lands of Samuel Doty and William Dickson; surveyed October 24, 1801, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
John McQuiston. - Three hundred and sixty-nine acres, adjoining lands of William Russell, Robert McNitt, and Samuel Doty; surveyed May 12, 1803, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
Michael McMullen. - Four hundred and thirty acres, adjoining lands of James Craig, David Say, R. Irwin, William Black, and Charles Coulter; surveyed May 23, 1804, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
David Say .- Four hundred and five acres, adjoining lands of James Craig, Hugh Dalrymple, William Crawford, R. Irwin, and Michael McMul- len; surveyed May 24, 1804, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
William Sloan .- Four hundred acres, adjoining lands of James Fearis, Hugh Dalrymple, Alexander Culbertson, and John McDowell; surveyed August 3, 1805, in pursuance of warrant bearing date February 22, 1805.
Mayberry and Thomas Graham. - Three hundred and ninety one acres, adjoining lands of Nathan Phipps, James Graham, Andrew Allison, and Craft Ghost; surveyed May 19, 1807; in possession at this time of Daniel Wasson, whose title was contested in the courts.
George McCool .- Two hundred and one acres, adjoining lands of Thomas Barrow, Miles McCabe, Matthew Riddle, and Samuel Jolly; sur- veyed May 20, 1807, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
Miles McCabe. - Two hundred and thirty-six acres, adjoining lands of Thomas Barrow, William Courtney, Matthew Riddle, and George McCool; surveyed May 20, 1807, by virtue of settlement and improvement.
Moses Perry .- Four hundred and fifteen acres, adjoining lands of James Scott, Samuel Jolly, and James Polk; surveyed April 29, 1814, in pursuance of warrant bearing date February 26, 1814.
James Scott .- Four hundred acres, adjoining lands of Moses Perry, James Graham, Andrew Allison, William Jones, and Joseph Redick; sur- veyed April 14, 1815, in pursuance of warrant bearing date December 15, 1814.
James Craig .- Four hundred and twenty acres, adjoining lands of Thomas R. Parks, David Say, Thomas Milford, Francis Tracy, James An- derson, and the heirs of Hugh Dalrymple; surveyed April 24, 1815, in pur- suance of warrant bearing date December 15, 1814.
Joseph, Thomas R., and Ann Parks .- Four hundred and fifteen acres adjoining lands of Joseph Redick, Matthew Blaine, William Sloan, James Craig, and James Anderson; surveyed April 13, 1815, in pursuance of war- rant bearing date December 15, 1814.
Nathan Phipps. - Three hundred and sixty-six acres, adjoining lands of
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
Alexander Graham, Daniel Wasson, and William McKee; surveyed Decem- ber 29, 1815, in pursuance of warrant bearing date September 4, 1815.
James McDowell .- Three hundred and fifty-six acres, adjoining lands of John Fritz, William Shannon, William Sloan, Isaac Fearis, and Joseph Redick; surveyed July 26, 1816, in pursuance of warrant bearing date December 29, 1815.
As evidenced by Colonel Dale's notes, the majority of these surveys were made on settlement and improvement, and the foregoing were actual set- tlers with scarcely a single exception. This part of the county does not appear to have received much attention from land jobbers. As a matter of course, the date of settlement was anterior to that at which the survey occurred, and in some instances a tract of land was held by no tenure save the fact of possession a number of years before title was formally secured.
Some of the early families are no longer represented, and after the lapse of so many years it has been found difficult to obtain any reliable and complete details regarding such as are. From a comparison of the best evi- dence, however, it appears that the first settlement of Scrubgrass resulted. from the explorations of James Scott. He was a resident of Westmoreland county. Indian depredations having become frequent in the settlements of the Kiskiminitas, he was sent by the state authorities in company with another scout to ascertain whether the perpetrators were from Cornplanter's people or from the tribes in Ohio. As nearly as can be determined it was in 1793 or 1794 that they were sent on this mission, and the time spent in pursuing their investigations was nearly a year. After his return to West- moreland, Scott gave his neighbors such a favorable account of the Scrub- grass region that ten or twelve of them accompanied him thither, thus inau- gurating the emigration from Westmoreland county that contributed so large an element to the population of the southern townships of Venango county. Scott's first improvement was made near the Butler county line on a four hundred acre tract. Several years later he sent for his father, who located here, while the son took up another tract, the same now owned by Moses Perry. The stone house in which the latter now lives was built by him, and here he died in 1837.
James Craig and James Fearis, brothers-in-law, were among the party who accompanied Scott in 1795. They built a small cabin without floor and covered with a bark roof several rods from the present residence of Mrs. Ira D. McCoy, and cleared a field in the surrounding woods, return- ing to pass the following winter at their former homes in Westmoreland county. Mr. Craig was a son of John and Jane (Honeyman) Craig. He married Eleanor Fearis, of Westmoreland county, who accompanied him to Scrubgrass in the summer of 1796. She was the first white woman who came into the township, and their son, John, born in Westmoreland county, November 5; 1795, was the first white child brought into the new settle-
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ment. Jane, an older sister, who married John Porterfield, came out later. Several children were born to them in this county: Isabella, who married T. P. Kerr, and was the first white child born in the township, her birth oc- curring in 1801; Elizabeth, who married William Perry; James, and Eleanor, all of whom are dead. James Craig erected the first saw mill in his neigh- borhood. He served in Captain Witherup's company in the war of 1812, and was a resident of Scrubgrass until his death, June 2, 1835. His wife survived him until 1856. On their journey to this county their personal effects were transported by canoes. An old Bible, various pieces of china- ware, and an iron kettle, of which one foot was broken while being trans- ferred to the river bank, were among the goods brought in this way and are still preserved.
James and George Fearis, with their widowed mother, Jane (Honey- man) Fearis, were the first settlers upon the farm of James P. Riddle. Mrs. Craig and other members of her own and the Fearis family returned to Westmoreland county frequently, bringing back with them the currant bush, asparagus, and other garden vegetables. Mrs. Craig introduced the first geese into the township in this manner.
Samuel Jolly, born' October 16, 1766, was also among the arrivals in 1795. The first season he made a small clearing, planted a crop, and built a cabin. After spending the winter with his family, he brought them out in 1796. Thomas Jolly, a brother, settled in Venango township, Butler county, where his son, Captain Thomas Jolly, lived to an advanced age.
David Say, born in the Kishocoquillas valley, Mifflin county, Pennsyl- vania, was the son of James Say, a native of England and a connection of the family of Lord Say. He removed to Westmoreland county, and thence, with the party organized by Scott, to Venango in 1795. The first season he cleared several acres of land and sowed wheat. The following spring he brought out his family, carrying the oldest child on his back, while an ox carried all their household effects. Unfortunately the ox was not entire- ly sure footed and fell, breaking some of the dishes, upon which Mrs. Say is said to have sat down and cried. The four hundred acre tract surveyed to David Say is yet in possession of his descendants. He was township collector a number of years.
William Crawford settled in Scrubgrass township in 1799. He was a son of John Crawford, a native American of Scotch-Irish extraction, and one of the early settlers of Greene county, Pennsylvania. Some time prior to 1800, probably as early as 1795, he came to this region with several of his sons, made a clearing and planted a crop and returned, leaving one son, Samuel, in charge of the stock. This subsequently became his homestead, and is situated in Butler county, two miles south of Emlenton. He re- turned the following year with his family, leaving several married sons in Greene county, among whom was William. His land adjoins the Butler
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
county line and is now owned by his son, David M. Crawford. The sub- stantial stone house on this farm was built in 1824, and is one of the oldest in the township.
Thomas Mckean, a native Scotchman, settled in Scrubgrass prior to 1800 at some point on the Allegheny river. He was accompained by a sister who married a man named Hall. Mckean was a member of the Scrub- grass Presbyterian church.
Thomas Milford, a native of Ireland, emigrated to America and settled in one of the eastern counties of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Ve- nango county about 1800. He was accompained by two brothers, William and James, and the latter located in Butler county. Thomas Milford se- cured land adjacent to Scrubgrass church, and here he reared a family of eleven children. The homestead farm is now owned by his son, Thomas Milford.
Moses Perry bought the farm upon which his son, David Perry, now resides, near the close of the last century. He married Sarah, daughter of William Russell, and they were the parents of a large family, one of whom, David, lives upon the old homestead. Mr. Perry died in 1840, and his widow some two years later. Their eldest son, William, was a man of considerable local prominence, and was recognized as one of the leading citizens of Venango county. He took an active interest in public affairs, was elected county commissioner in 1838, and some years later represented the county in the legislature. He married Elizabeth, daughter of James Craig, and died in this township.
David Russell, a veteran of the Revolution, removed from Westmoreland county to Scrubgrass township and settled upon the lands now owned by the Middleton family about the close of the last century, living also for a short time in Butler county; Samuel Russell, the second son of their family of seven children, was born there in 1780 and secured in 1824 the farm now owned by his son, David Russell. He was first lieutenant in a com- pany formed in Butler county during the war of 1812. His death occurred in 1877.
James Anderson, another of the pioneers of Scrubgrass, was born in January, 1761, and died in 1842. In 1804 he removed from the Tuscarora valley in eastern Pennsylvania to Butler county. In 1814 he purchased four hundred acres of land from David Irvine, the consideration being two thousand one hundred dollars-three hundred dollars cash, two hundred gallons of whiskey at seventy-five cents per gallon, and the remainder in pay- ments at regular intervals. This land included the site of a mill on Little Scrubgrass creek which he operated and rebuilt, adding also saw and carding mills. He was a very active business man in his day.
John and Alexander McQuiston were the first representatives of that family in Venango county. With another brother, David McQuiston, they
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removed from New Jersey to Westmoreland county, and thence in 1802 the two first named settled in the northwestern part of Scrubgrass upon the land now in possession of C. E. McQuiston. John McQuiston was a car- penter and cabinet maker by trade, and was among the first artisans in the township. He was born in New Jersey in 1776 and died in 1849.
Among these early settlers was Reverend Robert Johnson, pastor of the Presbyterian church, who preached in the first building erected in this county for religious worship. He was of English extraction, being a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell, by Bridget, eldest daughter of the Protector, first the wife of General Fleetwood, and afterward of General Ireton. His grandfather settled in New Jersey. He was born August 7, 1774, and received his education at Canonsburg. He was licensed to preach in 1802, and began his lifework at Scrubgrass in 1803. In 1811 he removed to Meadville. His death occurred May 20, 1861, at New Castle, Pennsyl- vania. He was the father of Judge S. P. Johnson, of Warren.
Of those who arrived later may be mentioned Jacob Jacobs, from New Jersey, who came in 1814, and located upon a four hundred acre tract; Samuel Eakin, a native of Ireland, who settled where James Vogus now lives, and had married Nancy Riley before coming here; William Clay, who came from Westmoreland county in 1814, and lived adjacent to the Butler line; and Levi Williams, born October 19, 1781, in Northumberland county, whence he came with the family of his father, Benjamin Williams, to Clin- ton township in 1803, and from there, in 1812, he removed to the extreme southwestern part of Scrubgrass. He owned one hundred and nine acres of land, now in possession of his sons, and built the stone house, in which Simeon Williams lives, in 1836. His death occurred in 1867. James Pol- lock, a native of Ireland, was a son of Charles Pollock, one of the early settlers near Farmington, Butler county, and brother to John Pollock, sheriff of that county. He married a daughter of Matthew Riddle, and located on the road from Lisbon to Clintonville.
INDUSTRIES AND RESOURCES.
The mill that James Anderson bought from David Irvine was built by Charles Campbell, and was the first in the township. Anderson's purchase was made in 1814. Ten years later he built the mill now in operation a short distance below the old site. He also erected a carding mill farther up the creek and a saw mill farther down. James Craig built the first saw mill on Little Scrubgrass creek. James Anderson's son, James, erected and operated a distillery on his farm, now the property of his son, James Anderson, in the western part of the township, where a fine spring furnished excellent water for this purpose. The fine quality of "Scrubgrass whiskey " manufactured at this still, is yet wistfully spoken of by many of the present
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
generation, some of whom smack their lips and gaze away into vacancy whenever asked about this celebrated product of bygone days.
James Perry's tannery, at Lisbon, and David H. McQuiston's, in the northern part of the township, not far from the river, were also among early industries. A noteworthy feature at the present day is the creamery of Messrs. McCoy & McQuiston, near Lisbon, which manufactures dairy prod- ucts for the city markets, and has given an impetus to stock farming in this and the adjoining townships.
Veins of bituminous coal, varying from thirty inches to four feet in thickness, underlie the surface in many places. This was first mined about 1825, near Crawford's Corners. Mining operations are still continued, but not beyond the requirements for local consumption.
The first oil well in the township was drilled in 1859 on the Rhodabar- ger farm near the Allegheny river by an association known as the Sugar Camp Oil Company. It numbered about sixty members. The rules were such that failure to pay assessments worked forfeiture of shares; and after several assessments had been paid, the well was sunk to a depth of six hun- dred feet without striking oil. This discouraged the investors; J. P. Craw- ford, Henry Kohlmeyer, and David P. Williams, the only members who had not allowed their assessments to remain unpaid, wound up the affairs of the company. In June, 1863, on the Russell farm, Aaron Kepler drilled the first productive well, and on the farm of Samuel Lawrence adjoining he also drilled the second. The largest well in the township was on the farm of John Crawford; it produced one hundred barrels daily at first. Many wells drilled fifteen or twenty years ago are still producing; and while no great excitement has ever attended developments in this section there seems to be a permanency about the production that fully compensates for the ab- sence of this.
VILLAGES.
Lisbon was laid out in 1854 by Thomas Robinson and John Smith on land formerly included in the farms of Moses Perry and Elizabeth Riddle. It is situated at the intersection of the road leading from Scrubgrass to the Butler line with the main road from Emlenton to Clintonville. Emlenton, the nearest railroad point, is five miles distant. The first house was built in 1834 by Ephraim Galbraith and Samuel Marshall, who also opened the first store. James Kingsley was the first blacksmith and Thomas Robinson kept the first hotel. The earliest local name was Fort Chisel, but the oldest in- habitant is unable to account for its origin. The present postoffice designa- tion is Big Bend. The village comprises a store, blacksmith shop, and per- haps a dozen houses.
Crawford's Corners, three miles from Emlenton on the Butler county line, has been a postoffice since 1870, when H. C. Wick was appointed post- master. Two residences and a store constitute the village.
James Anderson
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SCRUBGRASS TOWNSHIP.
EDUCATIONAL.
The report of the state superintendent of public instruction for the year 1877 gives the following account of early educational efforts:
In Scrubgrass township a school was taught in 1804 in a log house near Witherup's by John McClaran. The only pupils yet living are Samuel Phipps, born in 1795, and his sister, Polly Williams. A house was built on the Barkley farm in 1807. A little later a very large log house was erected near the present residence of James Anderson, and in this James White taught a very large school. On a Saturday afternoon the larger hoys visited a distillery near by, chopped wood for whiskey, and returned to the school house ahout "spelling time." They hesieged the house with snow balls and the teacher could not control them. On the next Monday morning, however, each returned to his allegiance and received a severe flogging. This house was in use until 1817. In 1820 P. G. Hollister taught in a new building near the Witherup house. The first hooks used were Dillworth's speller and the New Testament. The first arithmetic introduced was the Young Man's Companion, in which all the problems were solved as well as stated. It was an arithmethic and key combined, similar to many of the arithmetics of the present day. Later Webster's spelling book and the Western Cal- culator were introduced.
In 1828 hewn log houses were built. Among the teachers who taught in them were Reverend William Dickson and William Grandon. The wages, half in grain and half in money, were from ten dollars to fifteen dollars per month. On a day fixed upon the patrons took their subscriptions of grain to the teacher. After the enactment of the law of 1834 the people took more interest in their schools. Better houses were huilt. Wages from ten to twenty dollars per month were paid. In 1859 frame houses were huilt, some of which are still in use. The buildings erected in 1873-74 are excellent.
Scrubgrass Academy was opened in April, 1875, and a building erected at Scrubgrass church in the following year. J. C. Kettler, now president of Grove City College, was first principal. Among his successors were Rever- end J. A. Ewing, S. Anderson, and S. W. Gilky. The academy was in successful operation several years.
CHURCHES.
Scrubgrass Presbyterian Church, a venerable organization, is one of the oldest in the county. In his History of Erie Presbytery Doctor Eaton thus describes its origin: "Among the first families that came to settle in Scrubgrass was that of Mrs. Abigail Coulter, a pious woman from Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania. She came out in 1797. The first sermon ever heard in this neighborhood was delivered at her house in the year 1800 by Reverend William Moorehead, a son-in-law of Doctor McMillan. The house was about forty rods from the site of the present church building. After this was an occasional sermon by Reverend A. Boyd and Mr. Gwynn. The first communion was conducted by Mr. Johnson, assisted by Mr. Cook, in 1803. It was in a grove. The people assembled from a great distance. Thirty persons came from Slate Lick, thirty miles distant. Snow fell on Sabbath night, and at the services on Monday the logs used as seats were thickly covered with snow, but the people brushed it off and sat down."
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
After a pastorate of seven years and three months, Mr. Johnson's con- nection with the church ceased, January 2, 1811. During this period there was a great revival, at which the "falling exercise " prevailed. More than a hundred were added to the church, and a number of young men entered the ministry, some of whom afterward held responsible positions in the church at large. The successor of Reverend Robert Johnson was Reverend Cyrus Riggs, who was installed April 6, 1814, and released April 2, 1834. He introduced Watts' hymns, arousing much opposition on the part of the older members, accustomed to Rouse's version of the Psalms. The use of stoves in the church was almost as strongly opposed. Previously there had been no method of warming the room; people came a distance of several miles, sat in a cold room two or three hours, and returned without experi- encing discomfort. When stoves were finally decided upon, it is related that one old gentleman, who had occupied a pew near the pulpit, removed to an- other near the door with a window at his back.
Reverend John R. Agnew, the next pastor, served from April 3, 1838, to October 21, 1845. The prin- cipal event of his incumbency was the erection of the present church edifice. On a certain communion occasion the congregation had adjourned to the adjoining grove, but was compelled to return to the church by a sudden shower. The room was uncomfortably crowded, and embracing the oppor- tunity. Mr. Agnew urged the necessity of erecting a new church building. The result of these efforts is a stone building, well proportioned and sub- stantial, with a seating capacity of six hundred. Reverend Ebenezer Henry was pastor from November 10, 1847, to November 5, 1856. The present pastor, Reverend J. R. Coulter, preached his first sermon at Scrubgrass on the last Sabbath of 1856; he was installed August 25, 1857. A frame building was erected in 1876 for Sunday school and other purposes.
The number of members has fluctuated from time to time. In 1821 Scrubgrass and Unity churches reported one hundred and ten members; in 1834, eighty-seven; in 1843, one hundred and sixty-two. This church alone had a membership of one hundred and fourteen in 1857, one hundred and seventy in 1876, and one hundred and fifty in 1888. Its constituency has been much reduced by the formation of other organizations.
The first elders were John Lowrie, John Crawford, and Robert Manach. The succession to date is as follows: John Sloan, Thomas McKee, John Mc- Quiston, William Crawford, James Leslie, John Anderson, John Moyer, Robert Leason, Samuel T. Riggs, John McKee, Samuel Leason, Robert P. Anderson, Henry Kohlmeyer, David M. Crawford, George S. Jamison, James Crawford, T. C. Morrison, James Miller, and Frank Riddle.
Big Bend Methodist Episcopal Church .- John Middleton removed to Scrubgrass township from Forest county May 30, 1835; he had been con- nected with a Methodist society in that county, and is justly entitled to the honor of having introduced Methodism into Scrubgrass. At his personal
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SCRUBGRASS TOWNSHIP.
solicitation the Reverend J. H. Jackson, of Butler, was induced to visit the Big Bend neighborhood at intervals of four weeks. He preached in Mr. Middleton's house; the latter made rough wooden benches which were car- ried into the yard from one preaching service to another. A class was formed in 1835 with two members, John Middleton and Elisha Lawrence, of whom the former was leader. The latter gave half an acre as burial ground and a site for a church; by a strange fatality his wife was the first person buried here, and William Middleton, who died May 5, 1835, was the second. The church building, a frame structure, twenty-four by thirty-six feet, was built in 1836. The present edifice was dedicated October 17, 1883. It is a frame building and cost seventeen hundred dollars. The present stewards are Joseph Ogden and Zenith McGinnis; class leaders-George Cubbison and Abram Mattern; Sunday school superintendent, Seymour Pottorf.
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