History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 59

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 59

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" And he accordingly did all he could to perplex the People, and ad- vise them to pay no obedience to Draughts that I had ordered for Genl. Clark's assistance, & has actually offered Protection to some of 'em, though he before on a request of Genl. Clark's, declared he could do nothing as an officer, wished well to the Expedition, & as a Private Person would give every assistance to promote it. * * * * * *

" There is one Circumstance more I would wish to meution, & that is -The Act of Assembly direrts that the Elections to be made for Jus- tices should be held on the 15th inst. (this was the Sabbath) ; the Day following, I am told, was the Day advertised, however, so obscurely that few, very few, knew of the Day or Place as will appear by the Number of Votes-not one Third of the People knew or attended the Election ; by this means an obscure sett of men, perfectly unacquainted with Business will be Returned for Justices. I tremble at the Conse- quence; I shudder at the Event, I lament the Situation of the poor People of this Country. I wish most sincerely that your Excellency knew the true State of Affairs here, & had it in your Power to rectify the abuse offered the honest People of this Country.

" I am come now. Sir, to apologize for this Letter, & have nothing to offer in my Defence, although I confess the Liberty I have taken greatly needs an apology, save that I am about to leave this Country on the Expedition & shall not have it in my Power to confront in Behalf of the People the insulting almses here offered them. I am bursting with anxiety for the welfare of this infant Country, and could not consistent with what I conceive to be my Duty suffer such a Career of Iniquity to go on with the Rapidity it now doth without letting the Supreme Ex- ecutive Council of this State know something of it, and for which Pre- sumption I beg Excuse for, Sir,

" Your Excellency's Devoted " & most obedient H'ble Servt. " DORSEY PENTECOST."1

1 Dorsey Pentecost, one of the most prominent of the men of our early days, it is thought was from Virginia, and settled in what is now Ros- traver township, Westmoreland County. In a deed conveying his "mansion tract," made when about to remove west of the Monongahela River, the tract is described as having been surveyed to D. P. on a war- rant out of the Surveyor's Office of the Province of Pennsylvania in the year 1769, and afterward an entry made in the "Surveyor's Office of Virginia." The reader will remember that he was a Justice of Cum- berland County in 1770, of Bedford County in 1771, though not for Westmoreland County when erected in 1773. When the boundary con- test began, he was from the first to the last, as has been observed, a partisan of Virginia, In 1777 he removed from the Yonghiogeny region to the eastern branch of Chartiers Creek, purchasing from Paul Froman a tract of about 1400 acres at the present Linden, in North Strabane township, near which, probably adjoining, he soon purchased other lands, of which those now owned by John Gamble, Esq., formed a part. In this locality he lived till his death. At the first general election for

Space has been taken to quote these letters from the leading parties on both sides, in order that the peculiar conditions of public affairs in which our county was organized might be fully realized. The close of the letter of Mr. Pentecost contains a refer- ence which will now receive attention.

Division into Townships .- The fourth section of the organic act required that the trustees, James Edgar, Hugh Scott, Van Swearingen, Daniel Leet, and John Armstrong, or any three of them, should, on or before the 1st day of July ensuing, divide the county into townships or districts; and the seventh section provided that the freeholders of each township or dis- trict should meet on the 15th day of July, "at some proper and convenient place, and elect two fit persons for justices of the peace for each township."

Just when the division into the original townships was made is not known, nor can any report of the trustees be found to show where the lines were. But enough appears to indicate that the original township boundaries followed the courses of the larger streams or the dividing ridges between the smaller ones. This is all that can now be said with certainty.

The division was made in due time, on or before July 1, 1781, and the townships as then named were as follows: Amwell, Bethlehem, Cecil, Cumberland, Donegal, Fallowfield, Hopewell, Morgan, Notting- ham, Peters, Robinson, Smith, and Strabane, thirteen in number.

Mr. Veach says : 2

"Among the most interesting minor studies of our early history is to trace the origin of first settlers in the names of localities. . . . Wash- ington County affords the most instructive derivations. . . . By the Act of 1781 erecting it, its trustees ... were required to divide it into town- ships. They touk the Continental number, thirteen, Of these were Amwell, the name of a township in Hunterdon County, adjoining Morris County, N. J., and of a Presbyterian church in the same vicinity, from which came the Lindleys, Cooks, Rev. J. Dod, and others. Cecil, from Cecil County, Md. Fallowfield, a township in Chester County. . .. Nottingham, a township in Chester County, and a district in Cecil County, Md. ... Hopewell, a township in York, Cumberland, and Bed- ford counties. . . . Donegal and Strabane are Irish all over, and com- mon in all our Scotch-Irish counties. Bethlehem, perhaps because

Washington County he was elected a member of the Supreme Executive Council, and took his seat Nov. 19, 1781; and on Oct. 31, 1783, he was appointed president judge of the courts, being the first judge specially commissioned for that office, Henry Taylor, his predecessor, being pre- siding judge by reason of having been first named in the general com- mission. In 1785, without doubt because of extensive land speculations and a miserable currency, he had become seriously involved, and having made arrangements for the disposal of all his lands he went into Fred- erick County, Va., and while there, Nov. 25, 1786, he was suspended from his office as president judge. In 1787 he returned to Washington County. He died in 1802, and left surviving him his widow Catharine (née Beelor); three sons,-Joseph, the lawyer of Washington, father of George Pentecost, of West Middletown ; Dorsey, grandfather of A. J. Pentecost, auctioneer, Allegheny City ; and George W., who served in the war of 1812, and died unmarried: five daughters,-Margaret, mar- ried Ashby, Virginia; Catharine, married, first, Rabb, Uniontown, second, Vance, Uniontown; Sarah, married Ezekiel Graham, mer- chant, Cincinnati; Lucy, married James Ashbrook, lawyer, Washing- ton ; Rebecca, married Mordecai Hoge, Steubenville. Of the family of Col. Dorsey Pentecost, the only representative in Washington County at present is Mr. George Pentecost, of Middletown.

2 Centenary Memorial, 405.

229

CIVIL AND LEGAL-ELECTION OF JUSTICES.

settled largely by Quakers. Running out of names, Mr. Edgar procured one to be named Smith, in which he and his pastor, Rev. Joseph Smith, resided."

The subsequent modification of the original town- ships, and the erection of new ones, into those at present existing will not be followed out here, but in their several histories, hereafter given, the time and method of their organization as well as their early residents will be fully shown.

Election of Justices .- It is seen from Col. Pente- cost's letter that the 15th of July, the day on which the organic act required the elections for justices to be held, fell on the Sabbath; and that, as he states, the elections provided for came off on the next day, being Monday, the 16th. It is not probable that, even in those days of rudeness, a people who so fre- quently imposed fines for " profane curses," as shown by the records of the old Virginia courts, would tolerate an election held on the Sabbath day, even when so required by an act of the General Assembly. The returns of the votes polled at that election are not to be found, but there is a letter from Thomas Scott, the clerk of the Quarter Sessions, to President Reed, dated July 31, 1781,1 from which the following extracts are made :

" DEAR SIR :

"I expect this will be handed you by a messenger from this county with the returns of our elections for Justices of the peace, which affords me an opportunity of acknowledging with Gratitude the receipt of the commission 2 with which Council is pleased to honour me in the county : and also of requesting that in order to make my business perfectly con- venient and more capable of Imploying my whole attention, Council be further pleased to Grant me a Commission of Justice in the Commnon Pleas, Clark of the Orphans Court, and of the Quarter Sessions, which last hath sometimes been Granted to one on the Court's recommenda- tion of several ; but as this mode would leave the Sessions for some time without a Clark, and appears unknown in our present constitution, I have thought this application not Irregular, and really necessary.

* * * * *

* *

" Whatever may be the end of Genl. Clark's expedition, his prepara- tions for it have been greatly Injurious to the Interests of Pennsylvania in this country and hyghly oppressive and abusive to many Individuals well affected to this Government. He hath made use of a paper (whereof the Inclosed is said to be a Copy) as authority for exercising a strange, very extraordinary and most arbitrary Jurisdiction over those who have formerly been subject to Virginia, no Matter where they live or whether they were subject by force or free will, which paper and others of the same kind, and his and his parties' proceedings in Conse- quence thereof hath contributed not a little to the prevention of the proper organization of Washington County and regulation of the militia of Westmoreland.

" A sense of duty constrains me just to mention this matter, the par- ticulars are numerous and horid, some of which its like will he given you by Col. Marshall ; but I am convinced the Instances of high Treason against the state are not less than forty."

The letter of Col. Marshall referred to was dated Aug. 8, 1781,8 and recited the difficulties he had en- countered in organizing the militia into battalions, originating out of the fact that the jurisdiction of Virginia had not yet been withdrawn, and that he had found it most prudent to postpone the elections for militia officers until the boundary line was run,

concerning which he had lately received intelligence, " or until the armed Banditti under the general [Geo. Rogers Clark ], that then awed the good people of this County, and were Chasing such of the Inhabitants as Pentecost, Shepherd & Evans, the Lieuts. of Yough- agani, Monongalia & Ohio, were pleased to point out by way of drafting as fit persons to go with the gen- eral, and on Missing their persons were Violating and totally destroying their property." Then, after recounting outrages committed by Lieut .- Col. Gabriel Cox and his command, under orders from Col. Pente- cost, upon a number of citizens of Westmoreland County who had been drafted for service in Clark's expedition, he proceeds :

"They being in Quest of John Douglass (Gent. Elected one of our Justices for this County), and not finding him the first attempt, broke open his house in the night-time, Fed away and Destroyed such A part of Rye and Corn (his property ) as they thought proper. Drew their swords upon his wife and children in order to make them Discover where he was; that ad Cox and his party have taken and Confined a Considerable number of the Inhabitants of this County, amongst which were Hugh Scott (one of the acting trustees of the County), altho' be was not drafted ; in a word, the Instances of high treason against the state are too many to be enumerated."

From the record about to be produced, it will be seen that John Douglass lived in Peters township. Gabriel Cox, who was afterwards tried at the second term of the Quarter Sessions when established, lived below Finleyville, in what is now Union township.

In the record of the proceedings of the Supreme Executive Council for August 24, 1781,4 is the fol- lowing :

"Returns of Justices for the following townships in the county of Washington were received and read, by which it appears that the fol- lowing gentlemen were elected: 5

" Peters township-John Douglass and Robert Thompson.

" Township of Nuttingame-Benjamin Parkinson and Joseph Park- inson.

"Strabane township-(in which is the place called Catfish Camp, or- dered by law to be the seat of justice)-Daniel Leet, Henry Taylor, John White, Nicholas Little, Alexander Eddy, and David Clark.

" Aimwell township-Abier Howell and John Craig.

" Donnegal township-Samuel Mason and Samuel Williamson.

" Hopewell township-William Scott and John Marshall.

" Fallowfield township-Juhu Parker, John Hall, east end; and John Stevenson and Patrick McCullough, west end of said township.

"Smith's township-Samuel Johnston and James Edgar.

"Cecil township-Matthew McConnell and Johu Read 6

4 XIII. Col. Records, 38.

6 Pity it is we have not the tally-sheets and lists of voters at these the first elections jever held in Washington County ; but it will be un- derstood that having no offices yet in which to file them, they would not be preserved in our files, and they are not printed in the State archives.

6 It will be observed that there were as yet no returns of elections held for the townships of Bethlehem, Cumberland, Morgan, and Robin- son, the others of the original townships; but on Nov. 21, 1781 (XIII. Col. Records, 121), there is this record: "A return of an election said to have been held at the house of Ezekiel Roe [ Ross], in Bethlehem town- ship, in Washington County, for electing Justices of the Prace for said township, was presented and read, and on enquiry, it appeared that the said election was not appointed by a Justice of the Peace for suid county, ' where a vacancy had happened,' the case provided for by law, but in consequence of a neglect to chuse according to the directions of the law ; wherefore the election is void." The council then proceeded to appoint a justice, agreeally to an act cited, and appointed and com- missioned Thomas Crooks, Esq., as a justice for Bethlehem township.

1 IX. Penn. Archives, 324.

2 Prothonotary, dated April 2, 1781; see XII. Col. Records, 681.

8 IX. Penn. Archives, 343.

230

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

" On consideration,

" Resolved. That Henry Taylor, William Scott, John Craig, John . White, Daniel Leet, Jolin Marshall, John Douglas, Benjamin Parkin- son, John Reed, Abner Howell, Matthew McConnell, Samuel Johnston, and Samuel Mason be appointed and commissioned to be Justices of the Peace, of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Orphans' Court, of the county of Washington, and that a general commission be issued accord- ingly."

Before, however, the foregoing record was made, and the commission recited issued, the following let- ter was written and sent (though not then received), which is copied as a further and final illustration of the difficulties existing at the time of the organiza- tion of the new county : 1

"August 15th, 1781.

* * * * * * * " HONBLE. SIR,

"Farr from Prejudice and Party Faction disengaged, at Present, in the following Narrative, willing to see Justice, without favour or affection Distributed, give us Leave to trouble your Honr. with a detail of meas- ures at present adopted for Magistrates in this Quarter (Washington County).

" At a Time when many People in this County look'd on Themselves bound by their oath of Fidelity to the State of Virginia, until the line between the states should be actually run, or some other Lawful Judi- cial Proceedings should be taken to relieve them from such Fidelity, At a Time when Genl. Clark had an Expedition Carrying on for the salva- tion of this Country, and when the Lieut. Col. had advertised Battalion Elections should be postpon'd until the Line between the States should be actually run, Notwithstanding all these obstructions, an Election for Justices was held on the day Geul. Clark ordered his Rendezvous & that by a very few, Electing men farr Inadequate to the Task, men who have ever Lived in obscurity. These being undeniable facts, We beg your Honr will postpone the Commissioning all such men until a fair and Candid Representation cau be made, and that to prevent such Fraud- ulent mal Practices, Fair and Impartial Elections may be held, Whereof Publick Notice shall be given, being well convinced many people in this County never heard of the Election until the day after it was Past. We further assure your Honr, Thus Privately have men of Ability, Fortune, & Character been deprived of an opportunity to serve their Country, and men elected who had no reason to Expect such office. We therefore, in order to give grace to Proceedings that may come from this Court & Harmonize the People, beg no Commission may issue until our Council & Representatives can be heard on the Occasion. We further beg leave to Pray yr Hour. In case you find it absolutely necessary for the admin- istration of Justice to Commission some few of those already Elected, of those Give us Leave to give our opinion of the most able to serve, ' to wit,' James Edgar Judge, Danl. Leet, John Reid, Jos. Parkerson, John Armstrong, Abner Howell, and James Brice.

" Pardon us for intruding on your Honour's Patience, being moved with Indignation at Party factions gives us the greatest reason to Ex- pect your Honour will grant the Indulgence, With Leave to Bay we remain

" your Honors,

" Most Obdt. Hble. Servis,

" VAN SWEARINGEN,

" JOHN CANON, " RICHARD YEATES, "ISAAC ISRAEL, " JAMES ALLI-ON, " B. JOHNSTON, "JOHN MCDOWELL, " GEO. W. MCCORMICK,

" THOMAS CROOK,

" DEMAS LINDLEY, "GEORGE MYERS."

The foregoing protest, signed by many names al- ready well known to us, came to hand too late, and was probably not received at Philadelphia until after the letter was written by President Reed to Thomas Scott, on Aug. 27, 1781,2 from which the following extracts were made :

" DEAR SIR :

" Your Favour of the [31?] Ult. has been duly received, & by this Opp'y you will receive the several Commissions requested in addition to that already sent you. We also send the Commission of the Peace for the County, & are extremely sorry that we could not consistent with the Act of Assembly insert Mr. Stevenson's & Mr. Parker's name, but by referring to both the Acts of Assembly which direct the Appointment of Justices, you will see that we are limited to two for each Township, saving the District of the County Town. We are also of opinion that the Return for Fallowfield is too incorrect to admit of any Appointment & have therefore returned it ; we cannot distinguish between the Ends of that Township, as it is an entire Thing; if too large it ought to be divided, or the Number of Magistrates increased by pursuing & Mode directed by a late Act of Assembly. A new Election will give the People an Opp'y of appointing Mr. Stevenson, if they think proper, & the Powers of the Council are sufficiently ample to place him at the Head of the Bench agreeable to the general Desire & Opinion.

* *

"With Respect to Genl. Clark's Proceedings we can only say that he has no Authority from us to draught Militia, much less to exercise these Acts [of?] Distress which you have hinted at & which other letters more particularly enumerate. His Expedition appears to us favorable for the Frontiers, as carrying Hostilities into the Indian Country rather than resting totally on the defensive. * * * * %

* * *

" At the same Time we cannot help expressing our Fears that too many excuse themselvas under Pretence of unsettled Boundary, some deny any Duty & seek to transfer it entirely to those who are willing & active. After the general Concurrence of the Lieutenants of West- moreland in the Expedition & agreeing to raise 300 Men, we should have been glad to have heard that the County of Washington had as- sisted in a measure which seems to us to have been calculated for their own safety in particular as well as the Publick in general."

* * * * *

The foregoing communication inclosed the commis- sions of Thomas Scott himself as clerk of the Quar- ter Sessions and of the Orphans' Court, dated Aug. 24, 1781; as justice of the Common Pleas, dated Aug. 27, 1781; and also the General Commission of the Peace, dated Aug. 24, 1781. This document, as it reached Mr. Scott, is now before the writer, and as it sets forth the constitution of our first courts of jus- tice it is here copied in full :

" Pennsylvania, ss. [SEAL]

1 In the name and by the authority of the Free- men of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Joseph Reed.

"To Henry Taylor, William Scott, John Craig, John White, Daniel . Leet, John Marshall, John Douglass, Benjamin Parkinson, John Reed, Abner Howell, Matthew McConnell, Samuel Johnston, and Samuel Ma- Bon, Esquires, of the County of Washington, Greeting :

" Reposing especial trust and confidence in your patriotism, prudence, integrity, and abilities, Know that we have assigned you jointly and severally, and every of you, Justices of the peace in the County aforesaid to keep, and all Laws and Ordinances made for the good of the peace and for the Conservation of the same, to keep and cause to be kept and to chastize and punish all persons offending against those laws and Ordi- nances within the said County as the Law doth or shall direct.

" We have also assigned you, or any three or more of you, Justices, to inquire by the oaths or affirmations of good and lawful men of the said County by whom the truth of the matter may be better known of all and all manner of felonies and other misdeeds and offences whatso- ever of which Justices of assize, Justices of Oyer and terminer or of goal delivery, or Justices of the peace according to the Laws of this Government may or ought to inquire. And to inspect all indictments before you, or any of you taken, or to be taken, or taken before others, late Justices of the Peace of the said County, and not yet determined or discharged, and to make and continue the process thereupon, aud to hear and determine according to law all crimes and offences whatsoever properly determinable before you according to the laws, usages, and customs of this Commonwealth ; and to chastize and puuish all persons offending in the premises by fine, forfeiture, or otherwise, as the Law doth or shall direct, and therefore you are hereby strictly commanded

1 IX. Penn. Archives, 355.

2 Ibid., 374.

231

CIVIL AND LEGAL-THE NEW STATE PROJECT.

that you attend the keeping the peace, laws, and ordinances, and all and singular the premises, and at certain days, times, and places, which by the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth are appointed, you make inquiry upon the premises, and hear, determine, perform, and ful- fill the same, doing therein that which to Justice according to Law shall appertain.

" And we have also assigned you, the said Henry Taylor, William Scott, John Craig, John White, Daniel Leet, John Marshall, John Douglass, Benjamin Parkinson, Jolın Reed, Abner Howell, Matthew McConnell, Samuel Johnston, and Samuel Mason, Justices of the Court of Common pleas for the said County of Washington, requiring and commanding you or any three or more of you to hold pleas of assize, Scire facias, replevins, and to hear and determine all and all manner of pleas, actions, suits and causes, civil, personal, real, and mixt, now de- pending or which shall hereafter be commenced or brought in the said Court according to law, and to hold special courts for the more speedy determination of all causes of such defendants as are about to depart this Commonwealth, pursuant to the said Laws.

" And we have also assigned you the said Henry Taylor, William Scott, John Craig, John White, Daniel Leet, John Marshall, John Douglass, Benjamin Parkinson, John Reed, Abner Howell, Matthew McConnell, Samuel Johnston and Samuel Mason, Justices of the Orphans' Court for the said County of Washington, requiring you or any three or more of you to hold Orphans' Courts, to hear and determine all matters and things now depending or which shall hereafter be commenced or brought in the said Court, make orders and do and perform all matters and things to the said Court appertaining and by law directed.

"Given by order of the Council under the hand of His Excellency Joseph Reed, Esquire, President, and the seal of the State at Philadel- phia this twenty fourth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one.

" Attest "T. MATLACK, Secy."

The New State Project .- The justices having been commissioned, courts are now ready to be opened, that protection to the rights of person and of property may be provided by the due and regular administra- tion of the law. But, omitting more than a mere reference to the difficulties arising out of land titles, occasioned by the fact that settlers were claiming under rights acquired from two different sovereignties exercising the right of eminent domain, difficulties which have already been noticed in a previous chap- ter, when treating of the surveys made under Virginia warrants during this period, resulting almost in a declaration of war by Pennsylvania against her sister State, there must now be treated another matter of serious contention which had its origin and existence chiefly within the limits of Washington County, and which has received the name of the "New State Pro- ject."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 59

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