USA > Pennsylvania > Warren County > History of Warren County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 40
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It has been related of Mr. Tanner that in the spring of 1817 he descended the Allegheny and Ohio rivers with a raft of pine boards, thence down the Mississippi to New Orleans. After disposing of his lumber he proceeded to New York in a sailing vessel, where he purchased a stock of merchandise, transported the same overland to Olean and floated from that point down the river to Warren in a boat built for the purpose. That stock of goods was the
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BOROUGH OF WARREN.
beginning, the nucleus, of the handsome estate which a long life of industry, perseverance and honorable dealing enabled him to accumulate. He served as the first treasurer of the county, and also held the office of postmaster for years prior to 1829. In building he had no equal in the early history of Warren. The first steamboat to navigate the upper Allegheny was a monument to his enterprise and public spirit. He was an early member of the Presbyterian Church, and when the first church edifice of the society was erected he was much the largest contributor. He died in Warren February 15, 1861, aged seventy-five years.
Lothrop S. Parmlee, Archibald Tanner's competitor in the mercantile busi- ness for about twenty years, located here permanently in 1817. He passed some months at Warren as early as 1808. Subsequently he had resided at Marietta, Ohio, and Jamestown, N. Y .; was engaged in merchandising at the latter place just before removing to Warren. A native or former resident of Oneida county, N. Y., he was gentlemanly in his manners, high spirited, im- pulsive and loquacious. Both he and Mr. Tanner were enterprising, fair- dealing business men, and by their example and public spirit did much to mould and shape and give character and stability to the early residents of the town.
In 1819 Ebenezer Jackson had nearly completed a building on the Carver House corner. In it the first term of court was held, commencing Monday, November 29 of that year, and here Jackson and his successors kept tavern for many years. It finally became known as the Warren Hotel, but after the lapse of thirty years from its completion gave place to the Carver House.
Among others who became residents during the years from 1819 to 1822 were William Arthur; Joseph Adams, a carpenter; Philo Brewer, cordwainer ; John Brown, prothonotary; Samuel Graham, tailor; John Hackney, tailor; Daniel Houghwout, carpenter; Josiah Hall, a law student with Abner Hazel- tine; David Jackson ; Abner Hazeltine, attorney at law ; Abel Mansfield, car- penter ; William Olney, carpenter; Joseph Hall, stone mason; Asa Scott, blacksmith; Hezekiah Sawyer, carpenter; Samuel Saxton; Lansing Wet- more ; Johnson Wilson ; A. Stebbins, shoemaker; R. Chipman, shoemaker ; J. Dinnin, tailor; Adam Deitz, gunsmith; Miner Curtis, shoemaker.
At a later period, yet prior to 1830, some old numbers of the Warren Gazette furnish valuable information concerning the town and its inhabit- ants. Thus, early in the spring of 1826 Archibald Tanner informed the public through the columns of the Gazette that he continued to keep on hand " an extensive assortment of Dry Goods, Hardware, Queen's Ware, Glass Ware, Men's and Women's Shoes, Straw Bonnets, &c. Spades, Shovels, Tongs, Tea kettles, a few barrels of Dried Apples, Old Pittsburgh Whiskey, Tea, Chocolate, Coffee, Pearlash, Pork, Cheese, Codfish, Lard, Flour, Salt, &c., all of which will be sold as low for ready pay as can be purchased in the Western country."
336
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
At the time Tanner began his career as a merchant in Warren, flour was worth $15 per barrel; salt, $2.75 per bushel; tobacco, 50 cents per pound ; bacon and pork, 25 cents per pound ; tea, $3.00 per pound ; black cambric 50 cents per yard ; cotton sheeting, unbleached, 62 cents per yard; India sheet- ing, 70 cents per yard ; coffee, 372 cents per pound ; whisky, $1.75 per gallon ; ginger, $1.00 per pound ; pepper, 62 cents per pound ; allspice, 62 cents per pound.
On the 6th of May, 1826, the Gazette announced " the arrival in this port, on Tuesday last, of the Transport, 12 tons burthen, D. Jackson of this place master, in 13 days from Pittsburgh, laden with flour, whisky, iron, nails, glass, &c., for A. Tanner and others; " also on the same day two other kcel boats with two passengers and more whisky from Freeport.
On the 27th of the same month and year, the editor said : " On Wednesday last the citizens of our village [he was more modest than present ones, who term a small borough a city] for the first time were cheered by the arrival in it of a four-horse stage. It will be seen by the advertisement of Edson & Ea- ton [Obed Edson and Harry Eaton] that they have commenced running their line of stages regularly between Dunkirk (on Lake Erie) and this place. This speaks much in favor of the population and improvement of our country." He further remarked that if any one had talked in favor of such an enterprise five years previously he would have been regarded as "visionary and chimerical." Under the management as then announced, stages were run twice a week between Dunkirk and Jamestown, and once a week between Dunkirk and Warren.
A few weeks later Uriah Hawks made his bow to the public, and informed the readers of the Gazette that he had " opened a shop on Water street, east of Jackson's Hotel, where he has on hand and will continue to keep spinning- wheels of all kinds, made of the best stuff, which he will sell cheap for cash or country produce."
During the latter part of May, 1827, Joseph Hackney advertised that he had " taken the commodious stand in the town of Warren known as the ' Man- sion House,' lately occupied by William Pierpont, and has supplied himself with a stock of liquors and other accommodations suitable for travellers, and all those who please to honor him with their custom."
In 1828 Orris Hall gave notice " that he has just received from New York and offers for sale in this village, as cheap for cash as can be purchased in the Western country, a general assortment of Foreign and Domestic goods," etc., etc. " Also Liquors, Loaf and Brown Sugar." L. S. Parmlee likewise an- nounced for sale in the same number "an elegant assortment of Dry Goods, as cheap as the cheapest."
There was also noted in the columns of the Gasette, in the summer of 1828, the arrival " from Europe of eighty German and French cmigrants,
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BOROUGH OF WARREN.
who have pitched their tents at the mouth of the Conewango, where they are visited by the citizens of the village old and young, and while looking at their quaint dress and wooden shoes, they can but gaze and wonder." During the same year, too, Thomas Struthers and Samuel A. Purviance, attorneys at law, became residents of the town.
On the 22d of January, 1829, in a description of the town, furnished at the solicitation of the publishers of the United States Gazette, the editor of the Warren Gasette said: "The only public buildings we can boast of is a brick court-house and public offices of stone, fire-proof. The court-house is not large, but neat and convenient, substantially built and well finished, with a well-toned bell in it weighing with the yoke 362 pounds. We have a jail, also, although it has once or twice been mistaken for a turkey pen. Our village con- tains fifty dwelling houses, mostly frame, two stories high, painted white, and tenanted. Five stores (well filled), three taverns, two tanneries, two black- smith shops, five shoemakers, one saddler and harness maker, two chair makers, one wheel wright, one cabinet maker, two carpenters and joiners, one hatter, one wagon maker, six lawyers, two doctors, one baker, two masons, six free- masons, two saw mills, and a grist mill."
The chief event of this year (1829) was the celebration of the 4th of July. It had been decided to assemble at " one of the Sisters," a small romantic isl- and in the Allegheny River, about one mile and a half above the village. Ac- cordingly about half-past one P. M. the party embarked on the Warren Packet. A small band struck up Hail Columbia and the boat moved off. But the voy- age up the river suddenly terminated at the " ripples," where the craft stuck fast in the gravel, and the passengers, instead of going up, were only too glad to come down again ; the men of the party being compelled to get out into shallow water and shove the boat off. This done they floated down with the current, and landed at the point formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Conewango rivers. Here in a beautiful grove " tables were erected and covered with the choicest provisions. After the repast the tables were cleared and the company again took seats, his Honor Judge Hackney, being appointed president, and Thomas Struthers, esq., vice president. Then followed volun- teer toasts by Hon. Joseph Hackney, A. Tanner, esq., Thomas Struthers, esq., W. L. Adams, M. Gallagher, esq., Parker C. Purviance, William P. McDowell, Jefferson Smith, J. H. Shannon, and S. S. Barnes, which were respectively drank amid much good humor. In the evening the party re-embarked on board the boat, and, as the band played several national airs, slowly moved into the current towards the village. .. On landing a procession was formed, and to an appropriate air struck up by the band it proceeded to Mechanics Hall, from which place the company retired to their homes at an early hour, all well pleased with the amusements of the day."
In 1830 the merchants doing business in Warren were Archibald Tanner,
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Lothrop S. Parmlee, Robert Falconer, Orris Hall, Samuel D. Hall, Daniel Chase, and N. A. Lowry, dealers in general merchandise; O. Stanton & Co., grocers, and Milton Ford, grocer and druggist. The physicians during the same year were Abraham Hazeltine and Thomas Huston.
By a legislative enactment approved April 3, 1832, the town was erected into a borough. The first borough election was held at the court-house May 7, 1832, when the following officers were chosen: John Andrews, burgess ; Joseph Hackney, Lansing Wetmore, Zachariah Eddy, James Stewart, and Albinus Stebbins, town council. On the 12th of May following the burgess and council appointed Thomas Struthers clerk, and John King street commis- sioner, and June 2, of the same year, Dr. Abraham Hazeltine was appointed borough treasurer. At the time of its incorporation the town contained three hundred and fifty-eight inhabitants. The first separate assessment roll of those residing or owning taxable property within the borough limits - the original in lots comprising three hundred acres- was completed in 1833, and from this list it is ascertained that the names of the taxable inhabitants at that time were as follows :
Andrews, John, county commissioners' clerk,
Arthur, James, lumberman. [etc.
Arthur, Robert, lumberman. Adams, Warren L., cabinet maker.
Adams, Joseph, mechanic.
Booker, Philip, shoemaker.
Brown, Alfred, single man. [nery.
Bostwick, Henry, owner of shoe shop and tan- Blackley, John, single man.
Bell, William, mechanic.
Brown, Henry. Brownell, Silas.
Chase, Daniel, merchant. Coe, Ariel. [fice.
Clemons, Thomas, proprietor of printing of- Curtis. Asa.
Curtis, Miner, shoemaker.
Crippen, Daniel.
Ditmars, John, single man.
Deitz, Adam, gunsmith. Davis, John F., tailor.
Hackney, Margaret, widow. Houghwout, Daniel, carpenter.
Eddy, Zachariah.
Ilook, Orrin.
Hook, Francis.
Eddy. Isaac S., single man. Eddy, William. Edgar, John, mechanic.
Ferguson, Morgan, mechanic.
Farrington, Jesse, shoemaker. Ford, Milton, grocer. Falconer, Robert, merchant. Graham, Samuel. Gray, Simon.
Gregory, Porter. Gregory, Asa.
Gordon, Joseph C., tavern keeper. Graham, James W., single man. Gordon, Lewis, single man. Geer, Benjamin.
Geer, Caleb.
Hunter, John. Hodges, Walter W. Hall, Joseph. Hawley, Alpheus, prop'r carding mills.
Hall, Samuel D., merchant. Hackney, Joseph W., tavern keeper.
Hodge, William.
Hall, Josiah, attorney at law.
Hackney, John.
Hackney, Joseph C. Hawk, Peter.
Hazeltine, Abraham, physician.
Hall, Orris, merchant. Hook, Moses. Jackson, David.
Jackson, Ebenezer. Jackson, Thomas W. Kidder, Truman.
King, John. King, J. Hamilton.
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BOROUGH OF WARREN.
Kidder, Nelson. Luther, Jacob, shoemaker. Lilly, Henry. Lane, Asahel, single man. McDowell, William P., merchant.
Stewart, James.
Struthers, Thomas, attorney at law. Sayles, Scott W. Sands, Alanson. Smith, William. Stebbins, Albinus, mechanic. Snyder, Simon, single man. Scott, Asa, blacksmith.
Masten, Cornelius,
Morrison, Abijah.
Morrison, William, single man.
Mead, Darius.
Summerton, J. D., grocer ; came here from Cayuga county, N. Y., in 1832.
Mead, William.
Merrill, Gilman, attorney at law.
Stone, Ellery, shoemaker.
Magee, Dudley.
Stanton, Daniel, single man.
Miles, Robert.
Snyder, George, mechanic.
Newman, Hiram S., profession.
Sargent,1 Henry, physician.
Nugent, James, mechanic.
Skinner, Archibald, single man.
Olney, Rufus, potter.
Stevenson, Simeon G., tin smith.
Osmer, John P., mechanic.
Stevenson, Reuben, mechanic.
Olney, William A.
Steadman, James.
Portman, John.
Smith, Abel.
Pier, William, justice of the peace.
Turner, Thomas, tavern keeper.
Parmlee, Lothrop S .. merchant.
Turner, Joshua, burgess.
Parker, Timothy F., physician.
Taylor, Justus, mechanic.
Pierce, Thompson, single man.
Ray, Nesbit.
Tanner, Archibald, merchant.
Reese, Martin.
Russell, Robert.
Temple, Stephen, single man. Wetmore, Lansing, attorney at law.
Reed, Samuel, single man.
The year 1834 was made memorable in the history of the borough by the building of the academy and the organization of the Lumbermen's Bank, de- tailed accounts of which will be found in succeeding pages.
In 1835 the town must have been almost as badly overrun with snarling, snapping hydrophobia breeders as it is at present; hence many of its best citizens attached their signatures to a paper of which the following is a copy :
" We whose names are undersigned do hereby agree to indemnify and keep free from all damages that may or shall legally accrue, to any person or per- sons, who shall kill any dog or dogs that shall be found running at large in the streets of the borough of Warren, the property of any citizen or other person residing in said borough for the space of three months from the date hereof, or any dog or dogs found as aforesaid without any owner or person along with them, claiming the ownership of them, for the space of time above men- tioned.
WARREN, February 2, 1835."
This agreement was signed by William Bell, W. E. Griffith, William Sands, T. H. Fenton, Samuel D. Hall, James O. Parmlee, William P. Clark, John A.
1Dr. Henry Sargent was born at New Chester, N. H., in 1790; was a graduate of Dartmouth Medical College ; became a resident of Warren in 1833, and died here suddenly in August, 1851. His only child, a daughter, became the wife of Hon. C. B. Curtis. Dr. Sargent was highly respected as a citizen, and his great skill as a physician was widely known.
Tanner, Cyrus, single man.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Hall, Harrison French, J. M. Olney, Milton Ford, Robert Falconer, Archibald Tanner, Archibald Skinner, Robert Miles, William P. McDowell, Darius Mead, Thomas Morton, Joseph W. Hackney, Josiah Hall, James Vanhorn, William Pier, Gilman Merrill, Thomas Struthers, Samuel P. Johnson, George W. Snyder, Francis Everett, Thomas Clemons, Morgan Ferguson, Warren L. Adams, David Jackson, Z. H. Eddy, William Smith, R. Mckinney, W. G. Morrison, James Steadman, and Carlton B. Curtis.
Of those whose names appear in the above paragraph, only two now reside in the borough ; but what is still more remarkable than the fact that there should be but two survivors after the lapse of fifty-two years, is the coinci- dence that these men were then associated together as members of a law firm, and that their names were affixed to the agreement side by side. We refer to Hon. Thomas Struthers and Hon. Samuel P. Johnson.
The Lumbermen's Bank failed in 1838, and, as we are informed by a relic of the past - a copy of the Warren Bulletin published in the early part of that year-Timothy F. Parker, Robert Miles, Cornelius Masten, jr., Archibald Skinner, and Benjamin Bartholomew were the commissioners appointed to investigate its affairs. This paper also announced the arrival of the steamboat New Castle from Pittsburgh, and the presence of a corps of engineers in the employ of the Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company. During the following year (1839) the first bridge across the Allegheny was built.
The decade which followed was not marked by any extraordinary events nor an unusual degree of prosperity. The town kept along in the even tenor of its way, slowly increasing in population as a result of being the commercial center of a lumbering region. In the destruction of the pine forests in this part of the county a few of its citizens acquired considerable wealth, but the many -those who did the work, the chopping, sawing, hauling and rafting-barely earned enough to provide shelter and food for their families. A few minor manufacturing industries were established, while about an equal number from time to time suspended, by reason of the migratory habits of their operators. Many changes were likewise noted among mercantile firms, lawyers and doctors, as they came and went in the endeavor to better their financial con- ditions. There were a considerable number of men, however-such as Archi- bald Tanner, N. B. Eldred, C. B. Curtis, Thomas Struthers, Walter W. Hodges, Gilman Merrill, Orris Hall, Lansing Wetmore, Samuel P. Johnson, Henry Sargent, Abraham Hazeltine, Timothy F. Parker, J. D. Summerton, Hiram Gilman, Benjamin Bartholomew, Rasselas Brown, J. Y. James, Thomas Clemons, Andrew H. Ludlow, Joseph Carver, Stephen Carver, Robert Fal- coner, Richard S. Orr, Charles W. Rathbun, Lewis Arnett, Jerome B. Carver, Cornelius Masten, jr., D. V. Stranahan, John H. Hull, G. A. Irvine, G. W. Scofield, and a number of others - who, having become permanently estab- lished here prior to the close of the decade referred to, were active in the pros-
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BOROUGH OF WARREN.
ecution of their respective professions and occupations, and gave character and stability to the whole community.
Until the year 1848 the only brick structures in the town were the court- house and the academy, while up the river a short distance a few Indian wig- wams with tenants were yet to be seen. During the year mentioned, however, an innovation upon the old order of things began, by the erection of the Carver House, upon the corner previously, occupied by the old Warren House, or, in other words, the tavern built by Ebenezer Jackson in 1819. The new hotel was opened for business in March, 1849, with John H. Hull (the former landlord of the old Warren House) installed as proprietor. In referring to the erection of the new building, the editor of the Mail, under date of August I, 1848, said : " Our village -or rather our borough - presents many indications of improvement. Among them we notice a fine block going up on the corner of Front and Hickory streets; the basement of chiseled stone and the body of brick. It is to be used for a hotel and store, and bids fair to be what might be expected from the energy and enterprise of its proprietors - Messrs. Carver & Hall. It will greatly improve that part of Front street [an absurd expres- sion, still in vogue, the calling of Water street, Front street], and contribute in making Warren as distinguished for the elegance and convenience of its build- ings as it is for the beauty and romance of its scenery."
In the same number of the Mail the editor also said : " The early settlers of this country who still remain among us, can probably discover some improve- ment in the facilities for traveling at the present day. Formerly it required about four days to come from Pittsburgh to this place, though some have come in less time. The roads were bad, carriages could not be procured. Forests, hills, valleys, rocks, brush, and mud greeted the weary footman. Accommo- dations were scarce. Darkness often overtook him on Pennsylvania's hills, while thoughts of home and loved ones there, were all that cheered him on his lonely way. Now, by the new line of stages, recently established by Richard S. Orr and others, the traveller can go from Pittsburgh to Buffalo in less than three days. Stages leave this place for Buffalo every evening (Sundays ex- cepted), arriving at Buffalo the next evening in time to take the Eastern cars. Also for Pittsburgh every morning at seven o'clock, going through in forty- eight hours. Good teams, good carriages, and low fares make this a good route."
This is a pen picture of the wonderful traveling facilities afforded the citi- zens of Warren, and other points on the route between Pittsburgh and Buffalo, less than forty years ago. Yet, if the people of to-day had no better way than is here described - the delights of being jolted, thrown forward, backward, to the right or left, without intimation or warning, for twenty-four hours at a time, and still the journey not half over - there can be no doubt that they would consider themselves in even a worse condition than were the first set- tlers who uncomplainingly made their journeys afoot.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
In the fall of 1848 an old building, which stood on the point at the junction of Water and Third streets, was torn down, and it was then first proposed to make the place a " public common."
On Tuesday, March 6, 1849, between three and four o'clock A. M., the Ex- change Building - in which were the stores of Taylor & Arnett; S. L. Axtell, and Baker & Hunter; S. G. Stevens, tin-shop and store; Summerton's tin- shop; the Standard printing office, S. J. Goodrich proprietor ; the shoe-shop of E. N. Rogers, occupied by N. Ford ; the tailor shop of county treasurer H. L. Church, and Benjamin Nesmith's harness shop - was discovered to be on fire, and two hours later was entirely destroyed. Loss from $50,000 to $75,000.
In May of the same year a resident, enraptured by his or her surroundings, indulged in a bit of poetic gush as follows :
" WARREN.
" Sweet village of a sweeter vale, Where flows the Allegheny bright, Thy beauteous scenes can never fail To fill this bosom with delight.
" Let others talk of Southern climes, Where flowers blossom all the year ;
Let poets pour their flood of rhymes, Where brighter lands to them appear ;
" But I will sing of thee, my home, For thou hast joys enough for me ; Nor will I breathe a wish to roam, While thus inspired with love for thee.
"Yon river. on whose bosom sweet I've often watched, with childish glee, The sunbeams dance with merry feet. Is Nature's loveliest child to me.
" Then can I breathe a wish to roam, While thus inspired with love for thee ? No, thou art still my chosen home, Sweet village, and must ever be."
In the summer following, the three-story brick block on the northeast cor- ner of Water and Hickory streets, was commenced by Archibald Tanner. It was the second brick structure erected in the town for individual purposes, and to make room for it the old Jackson tavern, built by Daniel Jackson in 1805, was moved back.
At this time, too, Warren had other residents possessed of literary ability, as witness the following :
"THE END NOT YET.
" The subscriber believing that the world will not come to an end in '49, but that '49 will end the last day of December next, and that Gen. Taylor
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BOROUGH OF WARREN.
cannot ruin the Nation (alone) and that Tom Benton and Calhoun will not be president until after they are elected ; that a National Bank or 'Independent Treasury ' is very convenient in every family (under proper restrictions) properly managed, and having of late embraced the ' one idea ' principle that every man must look out for himself, he has concluded to continue the
SHOEMAKING BUSINESS,
and spare no effort to please all who may favor him with their custom. You will find him ' armed and equipped ' as St. Crispin directs, in his shop over the Ledger office on Second street. Therefore, in the language of the poet,
" All you who dote on a good fitting boot, Whose pockets are filled with the Rhino, Pass ye not by, like an ignorant coot,
He'll fit you most finely that I know. " Warren, July 24, 1849.
N. FORD."
Among the merchants doing business in the town in 1849-50 were Watson & Davis, Summerton & Taylor, Hull & King, Baker & Hunter, Parmlee & Gilman, S. C. Brasington, and John A. Hall, postmaster, dealers in general merchandise ; William & T. S. Messner, grocers ; Charles W. Rathbun, liquors and groceries ; D. M. Williams, grocer, and Hazeltine & Co. (G. W. Hazel- . tine and S. P. Johnson) dealers in drugs, books, stationery, etc., at Variety Hall.
In 1850 Watson, Davis & Co.'s block at the junction of Second and Water streets was built, being the third brick structure of the borough. In excavat- ing for the foundation walls the bones of a human body were found, supposed to have been the remains of a French hunter or explorer, or of an employee of the Holland Land Company.
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