USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 25
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
ten cents per pound. Some time before this there was a fulling mill at Jones' Mills, and there was also one erected in North Huntingdon township, on Robinson's creek. Every house in the community had one or more spin- ning wheels, but there was not one family in ten that had a loom. Through many a long evening, aided only by the flickering light of a tallow dip, did the industrious mother nod and bend over the spinning wheel, or grasp the countless threads with weary fingers and weave them into lasting webs of cloth for her children.
In the winter men wore caps made from the skins of animals, and in summer they wore straw hats, but all of home manufacture. Later the hatters came and made wool felt hats, which never wore out. Men wore buckskin trousers, and these were worn by men in all ranks of life. They often wore a hunting shirt, as it was called, though its use was not con- fined to the chase. This was sometimes made of doeskin, and was very slow to wear out. The well-to-do men wore shoes with buckles in the sum- mer, while the poorer class wore moccasins, a soft-soled shoe of home manu- facture, made of buckskin. Along with shoe buckles and knee breeches went blue coats and brass buttons. There was much more difference between the well-to-do and the poor as to dress than there is now.
Women wore short skirts of linsey-woolsey in summer, and of all wool in the winter. They wore beaver or felt hats upon special occasions, and their hats did not differ very much from those worn by men. It was then fashionable to tie a fringed silk handkerchief over the head. Most of the women before 1800 went barefooted in the summer when about their house work, and prior to that many of them attended church, the only dress oc- casion they had, without shoes. In the winter they wore moccasins. It was at least thirty years after the first settlers came here that silk dresses began to be worn by women. It is true, as we have said, that a silk dress was taken from a house in Hannastown by an Indian, but this was remarkable, and its being silk was perhaps what preserved the incident to us. Calico and all kindred fabrics were unknown to our ancestors of the Revolutionary period. Part of the time in the early years of the last century calico sold here for one dollar per yard, and as late as 1825 it was selling for fifty cents per yard.
Another crude industry by which they lived was boiling the sap of the maple or sugar trees, and making syrup and sugar. It was done in a very primitive manner compared with the same industry of our age, yet the result was nearly the same. They bored a small hole into the tree and inserted a hollow reed or stick through which the sap dropped rapidly into a trough made of the halves of a split log, each about three feet long. These pieces were hollowed out with an ax, and could be made to hold three or four gallons. This they boiled in kettles over wood fires. The season for making it was very short, being confined to the first mild weather of spring time,
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and when the farmer had many trees they kept the sap boiling night and day. The sugar camp was a favorite place for young men and women to meet at night to make sugar, and keep the fire going and the water boiling after the older people had gone home, for the boiling was always done in the midst of the grove of trees. The trees on the eastern slopes of the hills and in the bottoms where the warm spring sun struck them best were the most productive.
A Scotch-Irishman located here about 1840 and was very much delighted with the sugar making, which to him was a new way of securing the saccha- rine substance. He worked his trees all he could in the early spring time, and then told his neighbors that he would "stop off" till his corn was planted and then would begin again. The English novelist, Thackeray, made a greater error than this. In his charming story entitled "The Virginians." written to portray the ill-fated expedition of General Braddock to Fort Duquesne, he represents his hero, George Warrington, as being taken a prisoner by the French and confined in the fort until his escape in October, 1756. The hero started on foot at once by long night journeys through the wilderness to his home in Virginia. The novelist represents him as very greatly admiring the hues of October frosts on the forest of western Pennsylvania. Traveling mostly at night to escape pursuers, he saw one night a distant light in a valley. The hero was very hungry, yet feared to go to the light lest it be the camp of Indians or hostile French. But finally, spurred on by hunger, he ventured close enough to discover, to his great joy, that they were farmers boiling sugar, for this, says the novelist, "is the season of the year that the Pennsylvania farmers secure their sugar by boiling the sap of the maple tree."
The Indians, too, made syrup from maple sap. They cut a small niche into a tree and caught the drops of sap in pots or troughs, boiling very much as our forefathers did. The sugar, or syrup, was like all other products made for home consumption only. It was long years before there was a sale for it. The industry, with many modern improvements, is yet extensively carried on in many parts of western Pennsylvania, though the product now is almost exclu- sively syrup.
The woods also at that time were full of wild fruits, and moreover all small berries and fruits grew more abundantly and were more luscious than now. Horace Greeley noticed this same change in the New England states, and attrib- uted it entirely to the destruction of the original forests. This so changed the moisture of the atmosphere and the earth, and thus so subjected the tender buds to intense heat, stormy blasts of wind and severe cold, that small fruits scarcely thrive at all now compared with what they did when the country was in its original condition. Blackberries, whortleberries, raspberries, wild plums, wild strawberries, haws, wild grapes, and sarvesberries, the latter rip- ening early in June, were plentiful then, and of a much finer quality than the few stragglers which the woodsmen may now occasionally find. Peach trees bear fruit in their third year, and were easily raised, while, owing to climatic
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changes, can scarcely be grown at all now. Then they grew in every com- munity. So also with cherries, another early bearer and rapid grower. As we have seen from Dr. McMillen's statement, our ancestors lived sometimes for days without bread. Often an escaping captive traveled hundreds of miles through an almost unbroken forest subsisting entirely on wild fruits.
Most of the early families depended mainly for their meat supply on the trusty rifle. All men were presumed to know how to handle a gun. Small boys looked forward to a great day in the future when they could be entrusted with firearms. There was a necessity for this long after the Indians were driven away. Judge John B. Steel tells of a well founded tradition of an old land- owner near Greensburg who had nine sons, and in boasting about it always added "that each son had a gun." The country was full of game. The most prominent animals were the black and brown bears which were very common and especially so in the eastern parts of the county, where spurs of the Alle- gheny mountains afforded them a ready passage from their natural haunts. They by nature inhabited deep ravines, and had dens among the rocks and in caves, common in the mountains. They ventured out into the settlement per- haps only in pursuit of food. The settlers' sheep, pigs and calves were always in danger, and much more likely to be carried off in the winter than in the sum- mer, for obvious reasons.
Charles Mitchell lived on the Loyalhanna, not far above Latrobe. One morning he saw a large bear seize one of his half-grown pigs and carry it off. The bear swam the creek with the pig, and there hid it behind some rocks by covering it with leaves. Mitchell would have shot the bear, he said, had it not happened on the "Sabbath day." All parts of the county till at least 1810 suf- fered from such depredations. Bears were often seen and killed in the county, notably in the eastern part, after 1833. In late years they have been seen on Laurel Hill, and occasionally one has been chased over Ligonier valley. But all of them probably belonged to the Allegheny mountains, and were driven from their lair by hunger or by dogs. It is safe to say that no bears inhabited Westmoreland county except temporarily after 1850. The meat of the bear very much resembled pork, and was highly relished by the pioneers. They invariably laid in a stock for winter, and preserved it by salting and smoking it. The bear skin also made at least the half of a very warm blanket, because of his thick covering of fine soft hair. The bear was hunted with dogs. He could travel long distances through dense underbrush, and was therefore not by any means an easy prey for the hunter. When closely pursued by dogs he climbed a tree for safety, and could then be easily brought down by a ball from a rifle. They were also caught in large steel traps, and were so furious when thus snared that they frequently bit the foot off above the jaws of the trap and thus escaped. They were caught more securely in pens made of strong logs. built on the side of a hill, or so that the bear could easily reach the top of the pen which was bated with a tempting cow's head. But the roof or top of the pen was so arranged that it tilted with the bear's weight and dropped him into
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the pen, the roof immediately closing over his head. It was thus ready to an- trap another bear. They were not crafty or cunning animals, and were often entrapped by these simple devices.
There were also many deer in the country, and they were not confined to the mountains, but roamed all over the present limits of the county. Later, of course, they were driven to the mountains exclusively. They fed on grass, herbs and buds. They were wild and quick of movement when frightened, but, with the hunter who understood their habits, were comparatively easily shot. Dozens of them were sometimes shot in a single year by one hunter. The deer had certain places that it crossed from one hill or spur of mountains to another, and the hunter who knew these crossings could easily get a shot at them. There were then certain places where the water was slightly salted, and these places, called "deer-licks," were much frequented by them, for they had the same taste for salt that cattle, sheep and horses have. The meat was unlike bear meat ; it more nearly resembled mutton or beef. It was dried, or "jerked," for preservation for future use. The skin of the deer was, like that of the bear, of great service to the hunter. It was covered with a thick growth of hair that was almost impervious to cold or rain. When prepared in the form of buckskin or doeskin it was manufactured into breeches, coats, moccasins, etc.
Small game such as wild turkeys, pheasants, partridges, rabbits, squirrels, etc., abounded, and in some localities were a nuisance to the growing crops. Ammunition was too expensive to be wasted on such small game, though wild turkeys were always considered a great delicacy. Twice each year they had droves of wild pigeons to shoot, that is, on their migrations north in the spring, and south in the fall. To give some idea of small game hunting let us quote the following from an old newspaper published in 1820. "On July 4th (1820) fourteen hunters, citizens of Donegal township, divided into two parties and commenced the pursuit of game. In the evening they met, and the scalps being counted, it appeared that they had killed 239 squirrels, 216 blackbirds, 255 ground squirrels, 258 woodpeckers, 7 ground hogs, 18 hawks and 16 crows. Total number, 1009."
The hunters of that day did not hunt for pleasure alone. From the Farm- ers' Chronicle of January 25, 1828, we learn of a meeting of many citizens of the county, held at the house of Jacob Coon, in Unity township, to devise some means of destroying wild animals which had been committing great depreda- tions among the sheep and poultry. At this meeting it was resolved that the citizens of Derry, Unity, Salem and Hempfield townships, and others, be re- quested to turn out and form a line or circle around a certain district therein agreed on, and to have a great circular hunt. The line from Greensburg to New Alexandria was to be under the direction of Peter George, John H. Wise, William Williams, William McKinney, John Morrison, George Wallace, John Bigham, James Craig, James Kean and Jacob Frantz. The line then continued along the Loyalhanna and Nine Mile Run to Youngstown, and was to be su- perintended by James Moorhead, John Craig, Abraham Mansfield, Daniel H.
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Barr, James Haney, Samuel Cockran, Edward Braden, William Johnston, James Guthrie, John Welsh, Robert Dixon, William Cochran and William T. Smith. The next line was to reach to Tranger's, on the Buzzardstown road, and to be in charge of George Guiger, John Gibson, John Cline, Henry Tranger, John Aukerman, Archibald Shearer, William Dinsmore, John Brindle and Henry Fiscus. From Tranger's, the line passed through Pleasant Unity to Greensburg, and was in charge of Michael Poorman, Henry Graff, John Welty, Robert Jamison, Solomon Camp, Daniel Barns, John Barns, Daniel Kuhns, Eli Coulter, John H. Isett, Hugh Y. Brady, William F. Johnston and William Jack.
All were invited to turn out and assist in the work. The place of meeting was about the center of the ground surrounded, at McKissock's place, on the road leading from Johnston's, or Shaeffer's Mills, to Greensburg. No one was to bring firearms, nor dogs unless they led them. All who had tin horns were to take them along. Peter George, Jacob Coon, James McGuire, Peter Bridge, Adam Coon, Jacob Markle, Robert Storey, Oliver Niccolls and Peter Rogers were to stake off the meeting place and manage the final arrangements. To manage the hunt, superintend the line and prevent disorder and confusion, were appointed Major John B. Alexander, Dr. David Marchand, Alexander John- ston, Captain Alexander Storey, Jacob Eichor, George Smith, Major William Kean, John Chambers, John Markle and John Rogers. The reader will no- tice that the most prominent men in the county took part in this hunt.
From the same paper of February 8th following we learn that the "Grand Hunt" was a great success. The movements began by slow regular steps under a clear blue sky, and were accompanied by horns, bells, rattles, etc. When they met at the center there were about two thousand five hundred men, and foxes were running in every direction. There were thirty red foxes killed. The lines also enclosed a bear and a deer, but both escaped before the line was thoroughly guarded. Wild turkeys, pheasants and rabbits were passed by the score, and were kept very little account of.
There were then few tools in use by the farmer compared with those found on a well regulated farm now. Scarcely any farmer had a wagon, but hanled his crops on a sled, which he could easily manufacture himself if he had an auger, a saw and an axe. Hay was often hauled with a grape vine instead of a rope, and a comparatively good sized pile weighing several hundred pounds could be thus dragged in at once by drawing the grape vine around it. There were no ropes in the community then. They had a rude shaped plow, but very few harrows. To mellow the ground after plowing it, they dragged a thorn or other scrubby tree over it. The land was covered with deadened trees and stumps, and was very unproductive compared with the same land when thor- oughly cleared and farmed. Grass was cut with a scythe, and grain with a sickle. Finally grain cradles were introduced, but were used only in cutting buckwheat. So it will appear that a farmer with an axe, saw, auger, sickle, scythe and plow could manage to get along reasonably well.
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
There was little else done in the county then except farming. There were no towns of any consequence, nearly all the people depending upon agriculture for a livelihood. Women invariably worked in the fields and helped to per- form much of the labor which is now done by men exclusively. To destroy the forest was the pioneer's first duty, for it will be remembered that the entire country was practically an unbroken wilderness at that time. The work on the farm was very hard. A day's work was from daylight till dark. In the winter months they cleared lands, and later threshed their grain with flails. No one who worked a day or a few days for a neighbor, was paid in money, but in return labor when the neighbor needed help. Any one who lived within three or four miles was a neighbor.
Prior to 1790 there was scarcely a market for any farm product, but each was content if he raised enough to live on from year to year, and improved his farm or enlarged it. After that, when there came a market for rye, if distilled, or when the manufacture of iron made a market for horses, oats and corn, then the farmers began to build better houses, and all over the county we can see the crumbling ruins of old stone houses and barns built in the early years of the last century. The farmer during these primitive years had few expenses. He had no doctor bills, because there were no physicians. His fuel was cut from the surrounding forest. His clothes were homespun or grew on the backs of wild animals. Salt, a few iron implements and lead for bullets, were among the few necessaries which he could not produce, but even these were subjects of barter, and he could procure them in return for rye, potatoes, or skins of animals.
A good hunter in those days used nothing but a rifle, and for small game a gun of very small bore and bullet was used. It was not uncommon for a hunter to bring in a dozen squirrels or small birds like partridge or pheasant, and all of them shot in the head. Squirrels were often killed by "barking them." that is, by shooting a ball into the bark, or between the squirrel and the bark. This was almost sure death to the squirrel, and did not destroy its meat.
Wolves were a great nuisance to the farmer. Taken singly, a wolf was a cowardly, skulking animal, but a pack of them, when driven to desperation by hunger, would attack either man or beast. The wolf of Pennsylvania was brown in color, rather than the gray wolf of the west with which we are familiar. They hunted their prey by scent like a dog. A pack would approach the cabin of a farmer in quest of pigs or sheep, and announced their presence by prolonged howls which terrified the community almost as much as did the warwhoop of the Indian a few years previous. In that frenzied condition produced by hunger, a gang of them would spring on a horse or cow, fasten their teeth and claws into its flesh, and, though fought off by all the strength the suffering brute could command, in a few minutes the animal was brought to the ground and devoured. A man alone after nightfall was equally in dan- ger. All wild animals were bolder, and more likely to assault either man or
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beast a century ago than they are now. This was due, as President Roosevelt repeatedly says in his "Winning of the West," to the fear which has been bred and born in the animal by generations of gun-bearing enemies. The only safety for a man pursued by a pack of wolves was to climb a tree. They could not follow him there, though they could watch him till morning, and it was not a pleasant place to spend the night. An early settler named Christian Shockey, a resident of Unity township, was returning home from a hunt one cold even- ing in the first or second year of the last century. A pack of wolves pursued him a long distance. He could have shot one of them, but he knew this would not arrest the pack, so he hurriedly climbed a tree. The animals howled around the trunk of the tree all night. They would jump, with jaws opened, as far up towards him as they could, and he would hear the sharp sound of their closing teeth. Far up the sides of the tree the bark for years afterwards showed the marks of their teeth and claws. In the morning they skulked off to their rocky dens, and Shockey was permitted to come down and go home. Near Shockey's cabin was a large spring which never froze over, though it was about twenty-five or thirty feet either way, being in fact the largest spring in the county at that time. Here the wolves came for water, and here he caught hundreds of them in steel traps, and sold their skins. The spring is to this day called Wolf Spring.
Shockey was, as his name indicates, a German, and we can not pass him without a few words concerning his character. He was the son of a Revolu- tionary soldier who had been wounded at Brandywine. Christian dealt in skins more or less all his life, trapping all the animals he could, and buying many from his neighbors. In 1807 he went to Hagerstown, Maryland, with two packhorses laden with furs. He had been a lifelong patron of Jacob Gruber's Hagerstown Almanac. Now that he was in the city where they were published, he determined to get at least enough to supply his neighbors. They were offered at a low price, much lower than he expected, so, with an eye to a good business investment, he invested the proceeds of his skins largely in almanacs, printed some in German and some in English. But, unfor- tunately when he reached home he found that they were for the current year, which was near its close, so he could not sell them. It is said that he bore it good naturedly, and blamed only himself.
Wolves were always gregarious animals. They generally inhabited moun- tains where they could find dens among the cavernous rocks, and where they were not too far removed from the domestic animals of the settler. The settle- ments contiguous to Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge therefore were most sub- jected to their depredations. In 1782 the state offered five dollars for the scalp of a wolf whelp and twenty-five dollars for that of a full grown wolf. This was in continental currency, which was greatly depreciated, but in 1806 a reward of eight dollars in gold was offered for every wolf killed, and this was afterwards raised to twelve dollars. In addition to this, some counties which were sorely afflicted with them offered special rewards. As a result the
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premium offered for scalps was much larger in Westmoreland than it was in Somerset county, though the animals were more plentiful in Somerset, because there were more mountains and it was not so well settled. So many old hunters baited the wolves near the county line, but on the Westmoreland side, and drew them over to Westmoreland, where the bounty was greater, each hunter having to prove that the scalps were from animals taken in the county where the bounty was demanded. One old hunter named Dumbold, of Somerset county, drew the carcass of an old horse over to the Westmoreland side, and there trapped ten wolves from it. He also received one dollar for each wolf skin.
Squirrels and crows were also a great nuisance to the farmer. They dug out the newly planted corn grains and feasted on the ripening fields of grain. Premiums were put on their scalps also. Westmoreland and Fayette counties were authorized by a special act of the legislature to assess and collect a squirrel scalp fund. The premium offered was two cents for squirrels and three cents for crows. The premium was but little more than the cost of ammunition. This ammunition question alone was a perplexing one, for they could not pro- duce the ingredients of powder, nor could they dig lead from the earth. All firearms were then discharged by flint locks, and hence they were not compelled to buy caps. But lead must be purchased. Powder was often manufactured by the pioneer. Its explosive qualities are brought about by the chemical action of a union of three non-explosive ingredients, viz., saltpeter, charcoal and sulphur. Taking about six-tenths of the former and two-tenths of each of the latter, they first pulverized each separately, then mixed them in water, and dried the mixture in a skillet or pot on the house fire. To keep the mixture from becoming a solid mass they were compelled to stir it constantly. When finally dried they had a fair quality of powder. The charcoal they could pro- duce, but had to purchase saltpeter and sulphur. It could still be made at a less cost than the selling price of powder. One old hunter in the eastern part of the county was thus manufacturing powder and drying it on a cook stove. Forgetting himself, or perhaps not realizing that it was dry, he stirred the fire below with the same paddle he was using in stirring the powder. When he again began to stir the powder a small coal perhaps adhered to the paddle. At all events it exploded, and very nearly cost him his life.
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