History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 179

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 179

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When he came into the community the citizens were somewhat divided on the question of temper- ance. Whiskey had been the household beverage of the best families of the community in which he was raised; but he had seen the evils of its use, and promptly ranged himself on the side of good morals. Contrary to the prevailing customs of the neighbor- hood, he refused to furnish liquor to harvest hands or to the guests of his house, and took every oppor- tunity to speak against the evil of using intoxicating liquors as a beverage, and as long as he lived was a radical temperance man,

He was especially distinguished in the community as an anti-slavery man. His intuitive sense of fair- ness, his natural love of right, and his benevolent nature led him instinctively to espouse the cause of the downtrodden and oppressed race, and at a risk of fine and imprisonment he helped many a fugitive in his flight for liberty. He had been a Whig; but when the Whig party refused to come out against slavery he left it and joined the Free-Soil party. Henceforth standing out against his party, against the pastor of his church, whom he loved and rever- enced, against his relatives and neighbors, facing all the odium that gathered around the name of aboli- tionist, he boldly avowed his principles in every presence, and voted the Free-Soil ticket from 1844 to 1856. He brought Dr. Le Moyne down from Wash- ington to make an abolition speech in Canonsburg when he could not get permission for him to speak in school-house, church, or public hall, nor even in the theological seminary, and finally stood by him while he spoke to a crowd assembled on the street. When a call was made for a convention in Pitts- burgh, in 1855, to organize a party in Pennsylvania representing the old Whig party, with a plank in its platform declaring in favor of "non-extension of slavery in the Territories," he was promptly on hand.

The other declarations of the party in favor of " Free Homesteads" and "Internal Improvements," proposing to give free homes for laboring men, to build a Pacific Railroad, and to develop the resources of the great West, so happily accorded with his ideas of progress that he at once became a zealous Repub- lican.

At the Pittsburgh Convention he secured the ser- vices of Mr. Ichabod Codding, and brought him out with him. to Canonsburg and Washington at an ex-

pense of twenty dollars, which he paid out of his own pocket, to make the first Republican speeches that were made in the county, when there was not enough Republican sentiment in those towns to give the speaker a free supper, and there was no happier man than he when the old Free-Soil party was vindicated by the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He was not properly a party politician, but rather a man of principles, a man who without rank or official posi- tion made his influence felt in society. He did his own thinking, made up his mind intelligently on every question, and was always ready to give a reason for his opinions. When he believed any position to be right he frankly avowed it, and stood up for it even if he had to stand alone. He was a born leader and reformer, and was so recognized by all who knew him. He knew how to give and take hard knocks in the advocacy of his views, but never appeared to know such a feeling as resentment, and his neighbors with whom he had his severest tilts in controversy always knew that they could depend upon his friendship.

He was charitable to the poor, liberal in the sup- port of every good cause, and his home was always characterized by generous hospitality.

He was an elder in the Chartiers Seceder Church from 1841 to the time of his death, always taking an active interest in the affairs of the church and the cause of Christ, and frequently represented the con- gregation and the Presbytery in the higher courts of the denomination.

He died at his home in Canonsburg (where he re- sided in a kind of retirement since 1860) on the 10th of September, 1877.

In the presence of a very large assembly that had gathered in the church at his funeral, the Rev. Samuel Collins; D.D., who knew him for many years, said of him, "as was said of John Knox, 'There lies one who never feared the face of clay.'"

The respect of the old colored men of the town was so great that they requested the privilege of walk- ing bareheaded by his bier on its way to the grave, and a grateful widow, speaking for herself and for others whom he had befriended, requested his sons to inscribe on his monument, "The Widow's Friend."

ALEXANDER McCONNEL, SR.

Alexander McConnel, Sr., a native of Charlotte County, Va., born July 10, 1755, came to Washing- ton County when a young man, and married for his first wife Esther Reed. They were married May 16, 1786, and Esther died Nov. 30, 1786. April 28, 1789, he married his second wife, Elizabeth McCrory, who was born Feb. 26, 1767. By this marriage there were six children, -- Alexander, born Feb. 2, 1790; David, born Oet. 5, 1791; Jeane, born Oct. 11, 1793; Pru- dence, born Nov. 14, 1795; Nancy, born Sept. 20, 1797; Matthew, born Oct. 25, 1799.

ALEXANDER McCONNELL, SR.

ALEXANDER McCONNELL, JR.

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CHARTIERS TOWNSHIP.

The oldest of the children, Alexander, whose por- trait is here given, was a farmer-a professional one- who took great interest in improved methods of farm- ing ; was the first in the region in which he resided to lay aside the flail for the threshing-machine, and the scythe for the mower. After his marriage he first lived upon a rented farm in Allegheny County, near the county home. After remaining there about two years he removed to the Huffman farm, in the same county, where he lived two years, when he purchased and moved to a farm in Cecil township, Washington, County, where he remained for seven years, when he purchased a farm in North Strabane township, where he lived until his death, June 4, 1874.

He was a member of the United Presbyterian con- gregation of Canonsburg, Pa., from its organization by the Associate Reformed Church in 1830. Soon after, April 5, 1832, he was ordained as ruling elder in the same congregation, and continued in that relation until his death. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served in what was then called the "Northwest Territory." During this campaign he and Dr. Abra- ham Anderson were messmates. He was twice mar- ried, first to Ann Berry, Nov. 29, 1815. She was the mother of his children,-seven sons and four daughters. They were,-

Alexander, a sketch of whom appears in Chartiers township.

Elizabeth, born Jan. 7, 1819, unmarried.

Jane, born Feb. 6, 1821, was first married to Daniel Boyles, and after his death to - Collins.

Mary A., born Oct. 4, 1822, married Richard Fife.

Isabel, born Sept. 7, 1825, married Dr. Vaile. She is dead.

John B., born March 19, 1826, married Mary Pol- lock.

David, born Nov. 4, 1827, married Bell Watson. He is dead.

Rev. William L., born Sept. 19, 1829, married Anna M'Lurkin.

Matthew, born April 30, 1831, married Nela Brazle- ton.

James L., born Oct. 25, 1833, married Maria Hen- derson.

A. A., born April 20, 1839, married Lide Johnston.

In 1859, Mr. McConnel married his second wife, Miss Sarah Torrens, of Westmoreland Co., Pa., who by her kindness and attention proved to be a source of great comfort to him in his declining years. She survived her husband seven years, and had for her consolation the many sweet promises God has made to the widowed heart. He was much attached to the church of his choice, and took great interest in her prosperity ; and, when the infirmities of age prevented him from attending upon the ordinances of grace, he could say, "Lord, I have lovedt he habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy honor dwelleth." During his last years his mind, especially his mem- ory, became impaired, yet his faculties seemed as

bright as ever when conversing upon spiritual sub- jects, and his memory of divine truth was remarkably clear. While his mind lost its hold upon earthly things, it still clung to heavenly things. As an indi- cation of his estimate of the value of religious truth, and the importance of storing it in the youthful mind, he made a provision in his will for giving to each of his grandchildren twelve dollars for committing the shorter catechism within a specified time, and eigh- teen dollars for committing Fisher's catechism with like condition. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age."

ALEXANDER McCONNEL, Jn.

Alexander McConnel, Jr. (a sketch of whose an- cestors appears in North Strabane township) was born in Allegheny County, Pa., Dec. 29, 1816. He was trained to farm-work until sixteen years of age, when he engaged in milling. He began without previous preparation for his work, but by diligent study of the process of flour-making he was soon what he set out to be, a good miller. When twenty-one years of age he was employed to build a mill, which work he entered upon without especial preparation; but he was a natural mechanic, and when the work was completed his employer said, "Well done!" This caused for him a reputation as a skillful, substantial workman, and he was employed for a number of years in differ- ent parts of the country in building mills. He built for Hazlett, Dil, Prigg & Co. the first successful steam-mill in Washington, Pa. In 1859 he engaged in farming, which has since occupied his time. While he has lived a busy life, devoted to his own and his family's interests, he has not been unmindful of his duties as a citizen, and measures for the en- hancement of the public weal have found in him a ready and liberal supporter. He gave liberally of his own means, and was instrumental in obtaining the assistance of others, for the construction of the Chartiers Valley Railroad. Before he attained his majority he united with the Associate Reformed, now the United Presbyterian Church of Canonsburg, Pa. In 1847 he removed his membership to the Chartiers Cross-Roads United Presbyterian Church, it being nearer to his home, and of that organization he has been a ruling elder for about thirty years. He was married Dec. 8, 1853, to Eliza MeKnight, of Chartiers township. Two of their children died in infancy and two are living,-Joseph M., a farmer, living with his father, and John O., who is a member of the senior class of New Wilmington College, Lawrence Co., Pat.

Mr. McConnel has in his possession the old Bible which has been in the family for generations. It bears the following inscription upon its title-page :

"Imprinted at London by the Deputies of Chris- topher barker, Printers to the Queenes most Excellent Majestie, 1599."

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

HON. JONATHAN ALLISON.

In 1773, James Allison came from Cecil County, Md., and settled upon a farm in Washington County, Pa., which he had purchased from Thomas Moffit, and which is now owned and occupied by his grand- son, Hon. Jonathan Allison. He was of Irish parent- age, and married Jane Bradford, who was of Scotch ancestry, a sister of David Bradford, of Whiskey In- surrection notoriety. He was a prominent citizen,

Jonathan Allisons

being an associate judge of the courts of Washington County, and in the years 1786, 1787, 1788, and 1789 a member of the Supreme Executive Council at Philadelphia. He was a ruling elder in Dr. John McMillan's church for a number of years. His son, Thomas Allison, married Mary Johnson, by whom he had ten children. He was a good farmer, a man of exemplary life, and died Oct. 21, 1849, aged sixty- eight years. His wife is still living, an active woman of eighty-four years. Hon. Jonathan Allison, the

sixth in the order of birth of Thomas and Mary Alli- son's children, was born in Chartiers township, Wash- ington County, Feb. 3, 1828. When seventeen years of age he entered Jefferson College, where he re- mained for two years, when owing to the death of a brother he returned home and engaged in farming, which has been the principal business of his life. Since the completion of the Chartiers Valley Rail- road he has been engaged in developing the bitumi- nous coal with which his farm is underlaid. This vein of coal was first discovered by his grandfather, James Allison, about eighty-five years ago, and was the first bituminous coal discovered in Washington County. It was hauled for many miles for black- smithing and other purposes, and, as an instance of its then estimated value, it may be stated here that soon after the discovery James Allison sold four acres of it to Judge Baird, of Washington, Pa., for seven- teen hundred and fifty dollars.

Jonathan Allison has always taken an active part in politics. He was an ardent Old-Line Whig, being a delegate from his township to the last county con- vention of that party held in Washington, Pa. He has been a radical Republican from the organization of that party, and was by it elected a member of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania for Washington County in 1873, and re-elected in 1874. While in the House he served on the Committees of Ways and Means, Foreign Relations, Mines and Mining, etc. In 1882 he was nominated by acclamation by the Republican convention of Washington County for State Senator for the Forty-sixth Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Washington and Beaver. He has also held the office of justice of the peace and school director in his native township. In public and private life he has borne himself with unques- tioned fidelity to duty, and enjoys among the people of the county a high character for probity and hon- orable dealing. He is and has been for thirty years a member of the Presbyterian Church.

He was married April 7, 1857, to Margaret, dauglı- ter of William and Margaret Gabby, of Franklin township, Washington Co., Pa. To them were born eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. One son, William E., was drowned Feb. 10, 1881. His age was ten years. Their living children are Maggie, Albert J., Thomas G., Edwin E., John B., Ralph M., and Jennie.

CROSS CREEK TOWNSHIP.

THE territory now embraced in the townships of Cross Creek, Jefferson, and part of Mount Pleasant was included in the original township of Hopewell for more than eight years from the election of the last-named township. The first movement towards the formation of Cross Creek township from a part of Hopewell was the presentation of a petition to the court on the 31st of March, 1789, setting forth

"That your petitioners, as well as many others who may have busi- ness to do before a single justice of the peace, labour under a very con- siderable inconvenienry, being situate such a great distance from the present justice, who lives very near to the extremity of the township; and as the township is very extensive and will admit of a division, and both be compact, which of course will be, moreover, less trouble and ex- pense to the inhabitants at large;"

and for these reasons praying that the township be divided and a new one erected according to certain suggested boundaries. The petition was laid over to the next term, when "the court request the following men to point out a proper division of said township and make a report to next court, viz .: Col. John Marshall, James Gillespie, James Marshall, Esq., William Cuttraugh, and John Buchanan." These viewers performed the duty assigned them, and re- ported in the matter to the court as follows :

" Agreeably to your request we have the honor to report that the proper division of the township of Hopewell in our opinion should be as followeth, viz .: Beginning at a certain spring of the head waters of Cross Creek, which rises near about ten perches from the township of Strabane, between the dwelling houses of James Anderson and Timothy Spinner ; thence down the south branch thereof to Wells' Mills; thence across the creek [by .Cross Creek ] to the State line."

This report was approved by the court, and the new township ordered erected, "to be called Cross Creek township." The court also recommended "the northern division of the divided township as a district for a justice of the peace." The action of the court was certified to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and was confirmed by that body on the 10th of December, 1789, thus creating the town- ship of Cross Creek, and making it a separate jus- tice's district. The first justice of the peace for the new district was Henry Graham, appointed Aug. 24, 1790. He resided at Cross Creek village.

The township of Cross Creek retained its original territory and limits until May, 1806, when a portion of it was taken to form the township of Mount Pleasant; and in 1853 the township of Jefferson was formed from the western part of Cross Creek, re- ducing the township to its present limits. It is .

bounded on the west and northwest by Jefferson, on the north and northeast by Smith, on the east by Mount Pleasant, and on the south by Hopewell and Independence townships, from which it is separated by Cross Creek, which is its only stream of any im- portance. The north, middle, and south branches of this creek flow through the township in a southerly direction to their junction with the main stream.

Early Settlements .- Alexander Wells was one of the earliest, if not the first, of the pioneer settlers of Cross Creek township, as he came here prior to the year 1772, and located a very large area of land. He came from Baltimore, where he had purchased sol- diers' rights from men residing in that city ; and upon these he located tracts amounting to two thousand acres of land, which are now within the boundaries of Cross Creek, Jefferson, and Independence townships. Fifteen hundred acres of the land was situated on the middle branch of Cross Creek, and the remaining five hundred was located near Cross Creek village, on the head-waters of the north branch of Cross Creek. The patent for this land was granted to Alexander Wells in 1780; and on April 23, 1796, five hundred acres of the land, situated on the middle branch of Cross Creek, was sold by him to Thomas Bay. That property is now owned by Arnold Law- ton, Joseph Brownlee, James Stevenson, and John F. Sharp. The five-hundred-acre tract situated near Cross Creek village was conveyed by deed to Rev. Thomas Marques, Aug. 27, 1794. Whether sold by Alexander Wells to Marques is not definitely known ; but tradition has it, and it has become an established belief, that it had previously been sold by Wells to William Parks, a brother-in-law of Thomas Marques.

Subsequent to the first location of land made by Alexander Wells, he at different times took out war- rants for other tracts, some of which were in his own name and others in the name of some member of his family. For the tract " Stillton" he received a Vir- ginia certificate, Dec. 21, 1780, and also one for " May- field" upon the same date. "Stillton" received its name from a still which was in operation upon the tract, at the head of the creek.

A Virginia certificate, dated March 23, 1780, granted Alexander Wells the tracts "Wellwood" and "The Cliffs," but the dates upon which he warranted "The Grove" and " Rocky Ridge" are not given. "Jeru- salem" was warranted May 9, 1785, in the name of James Wells, son of Alexander. The tract contained

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

two hundred acres, and was adjoining the lands of Alexander Wells, Thomas Wells, and Mrs. Mary Pat- terson. "Wellington" (two hundred and twenty-two acres) was warranted to James Wells on March 29, 1786, and surveyed June 1st of the same year. " Well- ton" was warranted by Thomas Wells March 29, 1786; " Black Walnut Thicket," by James Wells on Aug. 4, 1788; "Sugar-Tree Run," by Richard Wells, Jan. 9, 1788; and "Buffalo Lick," by Richard Wells, Jr., Jan. 22, 1788. In the first survey book of Yohogania County, opened in 1780, is found the following record of land taken up in Cross Creek township: "No. 12 Pre-emption Warrant. Alexander Wells produced a warrant from the land-office for one hundred acres of land, in right of pre-emption, dated March 23, 1780, No. 314, which he enters on lands adjoining his settlement made in 1776, on the waters of Cross Creek."

In the location of the large amount of land which Alexander Wells warranted in this vicinity, he was very careful to so run his lines that he cut off and prevented all other persons from gaining any of the water privilege of the streams upon which his lands were situated. Three of the tracts were made to corner in very acute angles on the Creek Bottom, near the old Patterson Fulling-Mill, while the dividing lines of the tracts cross and recross the stream at several points. But in 1794, Thomas Patterson, who was equally alive to the advantages of water-power, established the Patterson Mills upon the stream, se- curing a site for it and a right to reach the creek by purchasing two abutting patents. The first mills in this section of Cross Creek township were built by Alexander Wells in 1775, at the junction of the north branch of Cross Creek with the main stream. These mills were operated by himself in 1796, when the Western Telegraphe, published on January 11th of that year, contained the following advertisement of his property : " I will sell sixteen hundred acres of land with my mills, and the property on which I live."

A store of general merchandise had been for some time in operation at these mills at the time the above offer of sale was announced, the proprietors announc- ing the fact through the following advertisement of Oct. 25, 1795: "John Kerr & Co. have opened and are now selling at Alexander Wells' mills, on Cross Creek, a neat assortment of merchandise suitable for the season, for cash or country produce."

Richard Wells was a nephew of Alexander Wells, and his son-in-law also, having married his daughter. When Alexander Wells advertised his property in 1796, it was purchased by Richard Wells, mills, home- stead, and all entire. He continued the business until his death, when all the property except the mills was inherited by his youngest daughter, who was the wife of Thomas Patterson. The mills were left to Bazileel Wells, who operated them for some time and then sold them to Thomas Patterson. After conduct-

ing the business for a while, he in turn sold them to his brother, James Patterson, who prosecuted a very successful business for a year or two, when the mill again changed hands, David Campbell being the pur- chaser. William Bushfield afterwards came into pos- session of this property, and in time it was owned by William Fullerton, who was a member of a family of bachelor brothers and maiden sisters. Under this last proprietorship the mill ceased its functions as a grist-mill, after nearly a hundred years of continual service, and was remodeled into a woolen-factory. In this business it was run for a few years, but has now passed into disuse. The saw-mill is still in existence and operation, the water by which it is driven run- ning through the same old race used when Alexander Wells started it. Alexander Wells died in 1813, aged eighty-six years, and was buried on the old home- stead. Many of his descendants still remain in this section.

The fort known as Wells' Fort was located on Alexander Wells' land, a little east of the stone house built by Richard Wells, and now occupied by Oliver Clemmens.

Vance's Fort was situated one mile north of Cross Creek, upon land later owned and occupied by Alli- son Vance. It was at Vance's Fort that the first gospel sermon ever given in this township was preached. It was in the year 1778, and Rev. James Powers was the minister. His great-grandson, J. Torrance Powers, has since been Assistant Secretary of the Treasury at Washington, D. C. A copper half- penny, bearing the date 1740, was picked up not long ago where the old Vance Fort stood. It was at Vance's Fort that William Parks, a brother-in-law of Rev. Thomas Marques, was killed by Indians in 1782.

John Tennel came from Maryland to Cross Creek township with Alexander Wells and family about 1772, and settled upon a tract of land containing six hundred acres. Included in that property were the farms now belonging to William C. Jackson, the heirs of Hugh Thompson, and a part of those owned by R. M. Patterson and Giles and Thomas C. Law- ton. Four hundred acres of the land Tennel located was patented to him March 26, 1789, under the title of " Prague." In 1790 he purchased more land, it being a tract that had been patented by William Patterson. In 1796, Mr. Tennel sold four hundred and fifty-four acres of his land, part of the tract " Prague," and the remainder made up from the Patterson tract, to Capt. John Johnston, who came with his family from Lancaster, Pa., and settled in this township. Having disposed of the rest of his land, Mr. Tennel removed with his large family to Kentucky.

Capt. Johnston was a Revolutionary soldier who took part in the battle of Brandywine. Upon the small stream that ran through his farm he built a mill, which was first run by water-power, but later

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 179

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216