History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 97

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 97

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1784, March sessions .- Return of "a road from Washington to Waller's Mill. Complained of by Rev. Joseph Smith as injurious. Review ordered." June sessions, same year .- " Petition for a road from Canon's Mill to Bowsman's ferry. Laid out and reported in the nearest and best way to Richard Greggs mill on Muddy Creek to intersect a road leading to Washing- ton." Same sessions .- Road reported laid out " from

Parker," which was ordered reviewed.

Strabane and Cecil townships for " a road from Wash- ington to Canon's Mill." Persons appointed to lay it out. Same sessions .- Petition of "inhabitants of Ten-Mile Creek for a road from Oliver Crawford's ferry, on Monongahela, to Jackson's Fort, on the south fork of Ten-Mile Creek." Same sessions .- Petition from Donegal, Buffalo, and Canton townships for "a road from Washington to the State Line, to intersect the road from Wheeling to said Line."

1786, June sessions .- Petition for a road " from Wells' Mill, on Cross Creek, to Canon's Mill, on Char- tiers Creek." Viewers appointed and order issued. At the March sessions, 1787, the viewers reported the road laid out. Confirmed, and order issued to open.

1790 .- Petition for a road " from Mr. Smith's Meet- ing-House, on Buffaloe, to intersect the Washington and Pittsburgh road at Jane Weaver's, on Chartiers Creek." June, 1791 .- " Late petition for road from Rev. Joseph Smith's Meeting-House to where the Raccoon road crosses Chartiers Creek." Reported

1791, March sessions .- Petition for a road "leading from Muddy Creek and Whitely road by Everard Hupp's mill, James Crawford's ferry, Westland Meet- ing-House, and Nathan Heald's mill, to intersect the Pittsburgh road." Reported laid out in January, 1792.

1792, September sessions .- Road ordered " from or near Bavington Mill, on Raccoon Creek, to strike the State Line near Philip Beall's." Laid out in the fol- lowing year. Same sessions .- Road ordered "from John Baldwin's Mill to the mouth of Mingo Creek." Laid out and reported in June following.

1793, March sessions .- Road ordered "leading from Cannonsburg road near Capt. Aaron Williams' house on Peters Creek, the nearest way to the forks of Mingo Creek, into the road that leads from John Baldwin's mill to the mouth of Mingo Creek." Reported laid out in June following. Same sessions .- Road ordered "from Chartiers Creek at John White's mill to the Fort Pitt road near Hamilton's mill." Reported laid out in following year.

1793, June sessions .- Order by court "to lay out a road leading along the bank of the Monongahela River from the landing of William Nailor, Esq., at the hatter-shop of James Nailor, to intersect the road leading from Raccoon settlement to Devore's ferry on river aforesaid at or near the mouth of Mingo Creek."' Reported laid out in following year. Same sessions. -Road ordered "leading from the Monongahela River opposite the mouth of Middle Run, as a con- tinuance of a road already laid out from Uniontown in Fayette County to the said mouth of Middle Run,

September following." At same sessions .- "Road from Redstone ferry to Bowsman's ferry" confirmed at September term, "except that part opposite William . Robert Montgomery's mill to James McClelland's, on road leading from Mr. Canon's to Mr. Wells' mill."

1784, September term .- Petition of inhabitants of . Same sessions .- Road ordered "from Humphrey

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Blackway's to Fredericktown; to be laid out about one mile from William McFarlane's, and half a mile from Caleb Baldwin's saw-mill, to intersect the Pigeon Creek road that leads from Bentley's mill to Devore's Ferry, near Barout's still-house." Reported laid out in following year. Same sessions .- Road ordered leading from Pigeon Creek meeting-house to the county line near Jacob Long's widow, or James Mitchell, Esq. Laid out in following year. Septem- ber sessions, 1793 .- Road ordered "from Demas Lind- ley's mill, to intersect at Ryerson's road on the Divid- ing Ridge between Wheeling and Ten-Mile Creeks." Reported laid out in following year. December ses- sions, 1793 .- Road ordered "from the church near Edward West's to James McFarlane's mill." Laid out in the following year. Same sessions .- Road or- dered " from near the three-mile tree on the Redstone road to a new ferry [John Krepps'] about to be erected on the Monongahela River above the mouth of Dun- lap's Creek." Reported laid out in following year. Same sessions .- Road ordered " from Valentine's mill on the Indian Camp Run to intersect the road leading to the mouth of Buffalo Creek, near Charles Wells, Esq." Reported laid out in June of the following year.

1794, March sessions .- Road ordered "from John Brown's mill on Brush Run to the great road leading from Washington to Charlestown (Wellsburg), at or near Andrew Dickey's." Laid out and reported in June of same year. Same sessions .- Road ordered " from John Heaton's, Esq., mill on the south fork of Ten-Mile to Col. William Wallace's mill on north fork of said creek." Reported laid out in same year. Same sessions .- Road ordered " from Chartiers Meet- ing-House to Mingo Meeting-House." Reported laid out in June of same year. Same sessions .- Road or- dered laid out " from Canonsburg road touching Pat- ' to form a water-carriage between the Potomac and terson's Mills on Cross Creek, to intersect Mingo Bottom and Cove roads, near or on the plantation of Richard Wells." Laid out and reported in June fol- lowing.

1794, June sessions .- " Road from Headley's Mill to intersect the road leading from Jackson's Fort to Washington." Laid out and reported in following year. September sessions, 1794 .- Road ordered " from It was in the year 1784 that Washington made his Cumberland to the Laurel Hill, he passed through a ford at Ruff's Creek, Hathaway's Road, to intersect ' exploring-trip from the Potomac to the Ohio. From Wheeling Road on Whitely Creek, at George Lems- ley's old place." Laid out in following year. Same sessions .- Road ordered "from James Hook's mill to 1 The Hon, Andrew Stewart in a speech delivered by him at the village of Confluence, Somerset Co., on the occasion of the opening of the rail- road from Pittsburgh to Cumberland in 1871, said that there had come into his hands a box of papers, among which were many original re- ports, letters, and other manuscript in the handwriting of Washington, who had himself given the box referred to to Gen. John Mason, of Georgetown, D. C., and that he (Mr. Stewart) had found upon examina- tion of these letters and communications-many of them addressed to the Legislatures of Maryland and Virginia, as well as to members of Congress and others-that Washington had constantly advocated the building of substantial roads across the mountains to the Ohio Valley as the only means of keeping the Eust and the West united, and that without them, in the opinion of the writer, for many reasons, separation was in- evitable. intersect the road from Garrard's fort to Washington, at or near William Cree's, in a direction to the Mo- nongahela River, at the mouth of Little Whitely Creek." Laid out and reported in March following. December sessions, 1794 .- Court issued order "to view branches of two roads from Chartiers stone meeting-house to Washington, or where they intersect each other, near John Sutherland's." In March, 1795, the commissioners reported, declaring the north branch "troublesome and expense, wholly unneces-

sary, and should be vacated ; also a part of the south branch."

1795, March .- Road reported "from John Smith's mill to a place known by the name of Cooper's field, on the great road that leads from the mouth of Mill Creek to the Town of Washington." Confirmed. Same session .- Road reported " from Louis Riffle's, on Mo- nongahela River, to the road commonly called Van Swearingen's Road." Confirmed. Same sessions .- Road reported " from George Burgett's mill to John Comly's mill on Harmon's Creek, and from thence to strike the road to Mingo Bottom." Confirmed. Same sessions .- Road reported "from James Stevenson's mill on Raccoon Creek to intersect the great road leading from Burgett's mill to Mingo Bottom."

It would of course be impracticable, if not well- nigh impossible, to give an account of the multitude of roads which have been opened from time to time in later years, but mention of some of the most im- portant ones will be found in the histories of the sev- eral townships.

The National, or Cumberland Road .- The pro- ject of a great national highway to cross the Alle- ghenies and connect the remote settlements of the Ohio Valley with the country east of the mountains was conceived soon after the close of the war of the Revolution; and the first and most earnest, as he was also the most illustrious of all its advocates, was Gen. George Washington. One of the first objects to which he gave his attention after his retirement from the command of the Revolutionary armies was a careful examination of the country between the Potomac and the Monongahela, to note the advantages offered and the obstacles to be surmounted in the great public enterprise which he had in view. Even at that early time he had in contemplation the possibility of a canal,

Youghiogheny Rivers, but as such an enterprise would involve a heavy expense (the extent of which he probably but faintly realized) a good substitute would be a substantially built road, the opening of which he believed to be necessary to bind together the eastern and western sections of the States which his sword had made free and independent.1

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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

region with which he had been made familiar thirty On the 30th of December, 1805, the Senate of the United States passed a bill entitled " An Act to regu- late the laying out and making a Road from Cumber- land, in the State of Maryland, to the State of Ohio." It was then debated and passed in the House of Rep- resentatives, and became a law March 29, 1806. The commissioners appointed by the President under this act to lay out the proposed road from Cumberland to the Ohio River were Col. Eli Williams and Thomas . years before, by marching through it in his own cam- paign of 1754, and with Gen. Braddock in 1755. Ar- riving at the Youghiogheny, he embarked in a canoe with an Indian pilot, and passed down that river to Ohio Pile Falls, where he landed, and thence rode across the country to the Monongahela, and up the valley of that stream into Virginia. It is related of him that in September of the year named he was on one occasion seated in a hunter's cabin near the Vir- 1 Moore, of Maryland, and Joseph Kerr, of Ohio, who proceeded to examine the country through which it was to pass, and without having fixed upon that part of the route west of the Monongahela, made their first report, which was presented to Congress, with the message of President Jefferson, Jan. 31, 1807. In a special message to Congress, Feb. 19, 1808, referring to the report of the commissioners, he said, " I have approved of the route therein proposed for the said road as far as Brownsville, with a single deviation, since located, which carries it through Uniontown. From thence, the course to the Ohio and the point within the legal limits at which it shall strike that river is still to be decided."

ginia line, examining maps and asking questions of a number of frontiersmen who stood around him rela- tive to the passes of the mountains and the adapta- bility of the country for the construction of the road which he had in mind, when a young man of foreign appearance, who was among the bystanders, volun- teered an opinion indicating a certain route which he believed to be the best for the purpose. At this in- terruption Washington regarded the speaker with surprise, and with something of the imperious look of the commander-in-chief, but made no reply, and continued his examination. Upon its completion the general saw that the opinion expressed by the un- known speaker was undoubtedly well founded, and turning to him said, in a polite but decided way, "You are right, young man; the route you have in- dicated is the correct one." The young stranger proved to be Albert Gallatin, afterwards Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, and one of the princi- pal promoters of the construction of the great Na- tional road to the Ohio. It was here that Washington first formed his acquaintance, and the friendship con- tinued uninterrupted during the lifetime of the chief.

From the upper Monongahela, Washington passed | State of Ohio, by virtue of the seventh section of an

through the county of Washington to the Ohio River. Four years later he, was elected President of the United States, and during the eight years of his ad- ministration he continued a steadfast and earnest advocate of the project of a great highway, to be con- structed by the government, across the Alleghenies, for the purpose of binding more firmly together the eastern and western sections of the United States.

During the administration of President Adams (in 1797) the proposition for a road across the Alleghe- nies, to be built by the government, was brought up in Congress, but no action was taken. Again, in 1801, the subject was brought to the attention of Congress in President Jefferson's first message to that body. Some discussion ensued, but without result at that time. On the 30th of April, 1802, an act of Con- gress was passed admitting Ohio into the Union as a sovereign State, and by the provisions of that act a one-twentieth part of the net proceeds of sales of public lands in the new State was set apart to be ap- plied to the construction of roads from the Atlantic sea-board over the Alleghenies to and across the Ohio. This was the beginning of the legislation which re- sulted in the construction of the National road west from Cumberland.

east

In 1811, Congress passed " An Act in addition to the act to regulate the laying out and making a road from Cumberland, in the State of Maryland, to the State of Ohio," by which it was provided "That the sum of fifty thousand dollars be, and is hereby, appropriated in making said road between Cumberland, in the State of Maryland, and Brownsville, in the State of Penn- sylvania, commencing at Cumberland, which sum of fifty thousand dollars shall be replaced out of the fund reserved for laying out and making roads to the act passed on the 30th of April, 1802."

The first contracts in sections for the first ten miles from Cumberland bear date April 16 and May 8, 1811. These were finished in the fall of 1812. The next letting was of eleven miles more to Tomlinson's in August, 1812, which were nearly completed in 1814. From Tomlinson's to Smithfield, eighteen miles were let in August, 1813, but not finished until 1817, owing to the scarcity of laborers during the war, war prices, and the fear of failure of some of the contractors. The next letting was of about six and a half miles west of Smithfield in September, 1815, in sections, to John Hagan, Doherty, McGlaughlin and Bradley, Wil- liam Aull, and Evans and Ramsay. In February, 1817, about five miles more were let to Ramsay and McGravey, John Boyle, D. McGlaughlin, and Brad- ley and Charles Mckinney. And in May, 1817, it was let about nine miles farther, to Uniontown, to Hagan and McCann, Mordecai and James Cochran, Thomas Mckean, and Thomas and Matthew Blake- ley.

It has already been noticed in President Jefferson's special message to Congress on the 19th of Febru- ary, 1808, that he had approved and adopted the · route recommended by the commissioners from Cum-

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

berland to Brownsville, on the Monongahela, with the exception of a part of it in Fayette County, but west- ward from the Monongahela to the Ohio it was left undetermined. There was great rivalry and jealousy existing between the several eligible points on the Ohio, for it was believed that wherever the road should strike the eastern shore of that river there would spring up a flourishing city. The people of the inland towns lying between Brownsville and the Ohio (especially those of the town of Washington1) were exceedingly anxious lest the road should be finally located at a distance from them. The question of the location of the road between the Monongahela and the Ohio was a very delicate and difficult one for the commissioners to decide, and in their report to Presi- dent Jefferson they left it open, with the remark that "in this is to be consulted the wishes of that populous section of Ohio and the connections with roads lead- ing to St. Louis under the act of 1806." Afterwards

(in the same year) they made, by direction of the country rendered the last-named route the more fa-

1 When it became known by the publication of President Jefferson's message (above referred to) that the route of the National road had been fixed between Cumberland and Brownsville, but not west of the latter point, the people of Washington took measures (as those of Uniontown had previously done) to secure the location of the route of the road through their town. David Acheson, Esq., who had been elected to the State Legislature in 1795 on the Republican ticket with Albert Gallatin to Congress, and who in that capacity represented Washington County at different times during the administrations of Washington and Jeffer- son, wrote to Gallatin (who was then Secretary of the Treasury, and always on terms of intimate friendship with Mr. Acheson), soliciting his influence and co-operation in favor of the location of the road through the town of Washington to Wheeling. To this letter and request of Mr. Acheson, Gallatin replied as follows :

" NEW YORK, Septr. 1st, 1808.

" DAVID ACHESON, ESQ.,

" Washington, Pa.

" DEAR SIR : On receipt of yr letter respecting the western road, I im- mediately transmitted it to the President at Monticello. I was under the impression that he had previously directed the Commissioners to examine both routes, & to report to him .- It seems however that it had not then been yet done. But on the 6th ult. he wrote to them ' to make an examination of the best route through Washington to Wheeling & also to Short Creek or any other point on the river offering a more ad- vantageous route towards Chillicothe & Cincinnati, & to report to him the material facts with their opinions for consideration.'

"That it is the sincere wish of the President to obtain all the necessary information in order that the road should pursue the route which will be of the greatest public utility no doubt can exist. So far as relates to myself, after having with much difficulty obtained the creation of a fund for opening a great western road & the act pointing out its general direction, it is sufficiently evident from the spot on the Monongahela which the road strikes that if there was any subsequent interference on my part it was not of a selfish nature. But the fact is that in the exe- cution of the law I thought myself an improper person, from the situa- tion of my property, to take the direction which would naturally have been placed in my hands, & requested the President to undertake the general superintendence himself.

" Accept the assurance of friendly remembrance & of my sincere wishes for your welfare & happiness.

" Your obedt, servt., "ALBERT GALLATIN."

From this letter it appears that the action of the commissioners, prior to the correspondence between Mr. Acheson and Mr. Gallatin, was un- favorable to the claims of Washington, and that President Jefferson on receipt of Mr. Acheson's letter had promptly interfered in order to have the route surveyed which was finally adopted, his specific instructions to the commissioners favoring Washington as an intermediate point, and Wheeling thus became the point of intersection with the Ohio River.

President, an examination of the route from Browns- ville by way of the town of Washington to Wheeling ; but no final location of that part of the route was made then, nor until several years later. When James Madison became President of the United States he confirmed the action of his predecessor, Jefferson, in reference to the location of the road from Cumberland to Brownsville, and in 1815, soon after the declaration of peace with Great Britain, he directed the commis- sioners, Williams, Moore, and Kerr, to proceed with the examination and survey of the route between the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. This was done under their direction in the fall of that year and in the winter of 1815-16, by their engineer, Caspar Wever, of Weverton, Md. Two principal routes were sur- veyed, one through the borough of Washington, and the other through the south part of Washington County, leaving the town of Washington several miles to the northward. The topography of the vorable of the two, and it was so regarded by the engineer and the commissioners ; but the influence of Washington borough again prevailed (as it had done seven years before in causing President Jefferson to order an examination of the route by way of the town), and President Madison, after carefully consid- ering the commissioners' report on the survey, de- cided in favor of the northern route by way of Washington. His decision was communicated to the commissioners in a letter written by Mr. Dallas, under direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, as follows :

" TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 2, 1816. " GENTLEMEN,-The President has confirmed the road surveyed and returned by you,-Ist, so far as it runs from Cumberland through Union- town tu Brownsville, in Pennsylvania, with certain deviations which have been made by Mr. Shriver, the superintendent, and approved by the President; and 2d, so far as it runs from the 113th mile on your sur- vey to Wheeling, on the river Ohio. He has also determined that the route of the road shall run from Brownsville through Washington and Alexandria to intersect the course of your survey at the 113th mile, continuing thence to Wheeling. I am therefore instructed by the Pres- ident to request that you will proceed, as soon as you conveniently can, with the assistance authorized by law, to explore, lay out, and report for his consideration, upon the principles of the act of the 29th of March, 1806, the course for the road from Brownsville to the 113th mile, as above stated, and also the course of the deviations from the original route proposed by the commissioners which have been made or are contemplated to be made between Cumberland and Uniontown. It is the President's object to obtain a return of the entire course of the road to constitute a record, and to perpetuate the claim of the United States to the ground over which it runs. To avoid delay the attend- ance of any two or more of you is deemed sufficient for the present ob- ject. You will be so good as to give notice to Mr. Shriver, the superin- tendent, of the time of your entering upon the survey, and he will be instructed to give you all the information and assistance in his power. As Mr. Parker Campbell and Mr. [Thomas H.] Baird, of Washington, have made proposals to construct the road from Brownsville to Wash- ington, I wish you also to notify them of your commencement and progress in the survey.

"I am, very respectfully, " Gentlemen, " Your obedient servant,

" A. J. DALLAS.

" To Messrs. Eli Williams, Thomas Moore, Commissioners." Joseph Kerr,

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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The one hundred and thirteenth mile of the com- missioners' survey (meaning the route laid through the southern part of Washington County, and not that passing by Washington borough) was near the Virginia line, west of the village of West Alexander 1 (mentioned in the above letter as " Alexandria"). Thus, by the decision of President Madison, as com- municated by Mr. Dallas to the commissioners, the entire route of the road from Cumberland to the Ohio was fixed as to prominent points, and only lacked the final survey of that part lying between Brownsville and the point indicated west of West Alexander. This final survey was made under direction of the commissioners, immediately after receipt of their in- structions to that effect, and being returned to the President, was by him approved and adopted.

The route of the road was divided for construction into an eastern and a western division, the former (which was to be first completed) extending from Cumberland to a point about one mile east of Browns- ville, and the western division extending from that point through the town of Washington to the Ohio at Wheeling. The superintendent appointed for the eastern division was David Shriver, of Cumberland, Md. The western division was in June, 1816, placed in charge of Col. Eli Williams, one of the commis- sioners, who acted as "agent of the United States" for that division until the appointment of Josias Thompson (previously engineer of the division) as superintendent, in May, 1817.

The contract for building the road from Cumber- land to Uniontown was awarded to Messrs. Kincaid, Beck & Evans, by whom the work was prosecuted with extraordinary energy. The firm of Kincaid & Co. (composed of James Kincaid, James Beck, Ga- briel Evans, John Kennedy, and John Miller) after- wards contracted with Superintendent Shriver for the construction of the road from Uniontown to the west- ern end of the eastern division, and also for masonry at the Monongahela, and between that river and the town of Washington.

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 97

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