USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 70
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The rotunda in the centre of the building is situated directly under the dome, and extends up through all the stories, receiving light from the four large semi-circular windows in the dome. This rotunda contains the stair- ways and elevators. Entirely separated from this public rotunda and stair- way is a private hall and stairway, to which the public have no access, and which communicates with all the court rooms, jury rooms, and with the bridge to the jail, thus enabling all official business, such as the going and coming of jurors, and the transferring of prisoners from the jail to the courtrooms, to be transacted without interference with the public.
The building is equipped with all the most modern appliances for use, convenience and comfort, such as a complete system of telephone service with private exchange, combination electric and gas lighting systems, most ap- proved system of steam heating and mechanical ventilation and temperature regulators, best of sanitary plumbing, with public lavatory and private lav- atories for officials, ice water on each floor, mail chute, high-speed ele- vators, etc.
The public hall and rotunda have walls finished with English veined Italian marble with colored inlaid panels : the floors and ceilings are finished with colored marble mosaic in ornamental designs. The grand stairway is constructed of marble, other stairways and elevators are of bronze. The first and second stories are finished in Saint Jago and San Domingo mahogany ; the remainder of the building in quartered white oak. All the furniture is of
618
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
special design to harmonize with the various rooms and apartments. All the file cases, book racks, etc., are constructed of metal.
The building is strictly fire-proof in every respect. It is designed on classic lines adopted to modern requirements, each facade having a central pediment flanked by wings. The entire mass is surmounted by a central dome, the top of which is 175 feet above the pavement. The exterior walls are faced with a light grey granite quarried at North Jay, Maine. The small domes crowning the circular bays and the main central dome are covered with ornamental glazed terra cotta, the roof being made of pure gold leaf with orna -. mentation, enrichment, high lights, etc., glazed in old ivory tone. The roofs of the remainder of the building are covered with red vitrified Grecian pan tile. The tympanum of the front pediment on Main street is enriched with sculp- ture carved in granite in bold relief, representing Art and Industry, under the protection of the Shield of the Nation. The pediment is crowned with a group of statues in terra cotta, composed of three female figures, the cen- tral figure representing the Goddess of Justice, the other two representing Law and the People. Upon the face of the two large cartouche, between the arches over the main entrance, is carved the seal of the county of Westmore- land and the seal of the state of Pennsylvania.
Not being completed it is impossible to give the entire cost of its construc- tion. It will approximately be one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Few events in our county have been so long remembered and so much talked of as the hanging of Joseph Evans on April 20, 1830. The event for nearly two generations marked an epoch in our history. A half a century afterwards old men, in talking of the past, would speak of incidents as having occurred before or after Evans was hanged. Large crowds of later dates were compared with that which assembled here when Evans was executed. It did more, it fixed the year of 1830 in the minds of our people so that they inadvertently referred to that year even when Evans was neither mentioned nor thought of. It was indeed a great event in the county. It was the first and the last public execu- tion in Greensburg. It is quite probable that for fifty years at least there was not so great an assemblage of people here. They came in wagons, on horseback and on foot, from all sections of the county and from all the surrounding coun- ties. Many came on foot a distance of thirty miles to witness the execution. The country people seemed to abandon their work at home and make long jour- neys in order to be present. The idea of attending the hanging seemed to per- vade the entire county. Young men and women caught the spirit and came with the middle aged and old, all bent alike on witnessing this great event. Two young girls of good family, living about twenty miles from Greensburg, were prohibited by their parents from attending, most likely because the con- veyances were all in use that day. But they stealthily arose about three o'clock in the morning, stole away from home and walked all the way to Greensburg to witness it.
619
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
At the time of his execution Evans was about twenty-two years old. In 1829 the Pennsylvania canal was being constructed and he came to our county as a day laborer, on that part of it which passed through Derry township. One Sunday evening he had a dispute with a man named Cissler about stealing a pair of shoes, but they became good friends again over a pint of apple brandy. On the night before Christmas he amused himself by whistling "Boyne Water," in the presence of three Irishmen who at once attacked him vigorously. Evans fought, defending himself and with success, but from that came his undoing. On the day before New Year he and others were preparing for the approaching holiday by drinking whisky and playing cards. Evans was in company with Cissler and with the Irish with .whom he had quarreled. A general fight soon ensued, in which Evans was almost alone, for he was unpopular and disliked by most of his associates. To defend himself he seized a shovel, and swung it back and forth before him to keep them away from him. Cissler was not in the fight against Evans at all, but interposed to stop the quarrel. Unfortunately he came too near and received a blow in the forehead from Evans' shovel. Cis- sler fell heavily and struck the back of his head on an iron kettle. Whether he was killed from striking his head against the kettle, or from the blow of the shovel, is not known. He breathed but a few times and died without having spoken.
Evans made no attempt to escape. A large crowd surrounded him and at- tempted to tie him. This he resisted so violently that they were glad to let him alone. He then took the rope and tied his own legs, whereupon the mob began to beat him. Upon this he untied the rope, and again defended himself by slashing around indiscriminately. Finally he was taken to Bairdstown for a hearing before Squire Scott, upon whose commitment he was lodged in jail in Greensburg, on January 2, 1830. In February following he was tried before Judge John Young, and found guilty of murder in the first degree.
On April 14, 1830, he made a confession, or, more properly speaking, a statement, which was published in the Westmoreland Republican, issued April 23, 1830. From this statement it is learned that he was naturally of a wild disposition, but perhaps no worse morally than his associates. He confessed that he had repeatedly engaged in fights, and had assisted in tarring and feath- ering and riding on a rail two disreputable men. He also shaved the mane and tail of a horse belonging to a Methodist preacher, and he says that he so "lath- ered" the preacher that he was laid up for two weeks. He comments very severely on some of the evidence against him, and affirms that it was entirely false. In all probability Evans' statement contained much more truth than the testimony against him. Public opinion long ago vindicated him against being a- real murderer.
By cur law then he was publicly executed. The execution took place on the hillside east of the old borough limits, near a cluster of oak trees which stood on the line now occupied by the Southwest Pennsylvania railroad. The exact spot is said to be four hundred and fifty feet south of the junction of
620
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Brewery and Urania avenues. Great preparations were made in Greensburg for the entertainment of the multitude and for the execution. At one o'clock p. m. on April 20, the Westmoreland Artillery company under Major John B. Alexander, and the Greensburg Blues under Captain Morrison Underwood, appeared in front of the court house. John Klingensmith, Jr., was the sheriff, and brought Evans from the jail. He was attended by Revs. Steck, Hacke, Laird and Meckling, and also by many county officials and leading citizens of Greensburg. A hollow square was formed by the military companies, and the procession moved slowly to the place of execution, with the condemned man walking behind a cart which contained his coffin. Evans was perfectly com- posed throughout the entire proceedings. He addressed the people from the gallows, and attributed his unfortunate end to drinking and gambling. He ad- monished all his hearers to abstain from these evils. The assembly was also addressed by Revs. Laird, Hacke and Steck, and at Evans' request all joined in singing a hymn. With his last words he asserted his innocence of intending to kill any one, and, least of all, Cissler. He also again stated that great in- justice was done him by the witnesses against him, whom he, however, forgave, he said, as he hoped for forgiveness. After he was hanged his body was in- terred under the gallows, but it is supposed to have been taken from the grave the night following.
In the early days of June, 1859, came a few days of unusually cold weather for that season of the year. The spring had been an early one and vegetation of all kinds was far advanced. The evening of June 4th was remarkably chilly and many a careful housewife covered her tender plants lest they might be frost- bitten. The next morning when our people stirred from their houses they found that the cold of the night before had so increased that all vegetation was totally destroyed. For almost a generation after that the year was designated not as 1859, but as "the year of the frost." It was in reality more than a frost ; it was a regular freeze, almost like one would expect in the latter part of winter. It covered a region reaching from the Northwestern lakes, southeastward through northern Indiana and Ohio, and, crossing western Pennsylvania, spent itself in Maryland and northern Virginia. It did not extend east of the Alle- gheny Mountains nor south of the Ohio river.
All fields of wheat, rye and corn were cut down and in an hour or so after the sun came up every blade, stalk or sprout had withered and died. These plants were entirely destroyed, even their roots being killed. In many instances, fields of wheat, corn or rye were plowed up and sowed with buckwheat ; others were planted with potatoes.
A great depression prevailed in all this community. It was the gloomiest day most of the farmers had seen in all their lives. They believed a great famine must generally prevail. Many talked that it was probably the begin- ning of the end of the earth, and as we had had "rumors of wars," and now an inevitable famine, it was a very easy matter to prove their forebodings in some degree, by quotations from the Bible. And they were acting in good faith,
621
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
too, as far as the famine was concerned, for many of them invested all they had in grain. Many borrowed money to invest in flour, which at once began to sell at exorbitant prices. In some instances the object was to speculate, for they purchased much more than they could possibly use. But many others laid up a stock sufficient, as they hoped, to tide them over the famine till another crop could be planted and harvested. Some men who were wealthy were broken up by the venture, and were not pitied very much by their neighbors. In a few days it was found that the granaries of the west were full, and those who had purchased flour, of any grade, so that it was flour, found they had a musty stock on their hands which they could not dispose of at any price. Flour which they had paid twenty to thirty dollars per barrel for was found to be musty, and they were glad to sell it at any price, even at two dollars per barrel.
All garden vegetables were frozen beyond sprouting, the same as grain. All fruits of the orchard were likewise killed and the wild fruits of the woods met the same fate. It was indeed a very gloomy outlook for a few days until news of plenty in other states and that the frost was but a local event, came to cheer the drooping spirits of our people. The loss of our crops scarcely changed the markets of our community, for even then our facilities for transportation were such that an abundance to supply every one was soon on its way to the afflicted district. Had such a misfortune come upon our community ten or twenty years earlier, when our best method of transportation from the west was by wagons, it would indeed have likely resulted in a famine. It has been said moreover, that we never had better crops of potatoes, buckwheat and all plants of late summer growth, than we had that summer, as though nature tried in part to atone for her affliction of June 5th.
A great event in Westmoreland's early history was the visit of Lafayette as he passed through on his way to Pittsburgh. The sacrifices which he made during the Revolution that he might aid the great struggle for freedom in America, are too well known to need a repetition here. Nearly fifty years had passed away since the war had ended. Lafayette's life had since been scarcely less notable in France than it had been with us during the Revolution. He came to America in 1824, this time as an elderly man of sixty-seven, and made a complete tour of our country as it then existed. Throughout the entire Union our people vied with each other in turning out to do him honor. There was no man living after Washington's death who was so deeply revered as Lafayette.
Passing through the eastern states and cities first, he came west from Wash- ington City and first visited Uniontown and Fayette counties, and came into Westmoreland on Saturday, May 27, 1825. He passed down the river on his way to "Braddock's Field." Major John B. Alexander, with his artillery com- pany on horseback and two field-pieces, left Greensburg the night before, so as to be there when the revered French patriot would first cross the line of our county. They went about eight miles, and then encamped till morning. Early in the morning they were joined at General Markles' by a part of Captain Pink-
622
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
erton's company with another field-piece. They were joined by many private citizens from the surrounding country, and all were under the command of Major Alexander. They halted at Lebanon schoolhouse at about eleven o'clock. The three field-pieces were placed on the hill immediately back of the school house. Men were placed on the surrounding hills who signalled from one to another the exact time when the nation's guest passed over the county line, upon which thirteen guns were fired. In a short time General Lafayette and his suite, escorted by fifty or sixty citizens of Fayette county, all mounted, ar- rived. Lafayette reviewed the troops, shaking each by the hand, after which all partook of refreshments, provided by General Markle. Many hundreds of people were introduced to and shock hands with him, and among others was an old Revolutionary soldier named Sterrett, of Rostraver township, who had fought under Lafayette at Brandywine. His meeting with this old veteran was said to be most interesting and affecting. Lafayette examined the brass four-pounder belonging to Major Alexander's artillery corps and said that, while it was evidently a Spanish piece, it had not been used by the British at the battle of Saratoga, as was generally supposed. The great Frenchman paid his respects to a number of ladies who had assembled to see him. Fresh horses were then hitched to his phaeton, and he was escorted to Beazel's tavern, where the party journeying with Lafayette were entertained with further re- freshments. From there they were escorted to Elizabeth, where he and his party embarked in a four-oared boat, and were rowed down the Monongahela to Braddock's Field, reaching there about sunset.
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
POPULATION OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, 1790-1900
(Taken from the United States Census by decades)
TOWNSHIP, BOROUGH AND CITY
1790
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
Allegheny Township
1388
2058
1483
3329
1888
1710
2050
2316
3175
Adamsburg (Borough).
263
236
299
199
223
184
Arnold (Borough)
1426
Arona (Borough)
832
Avonmore (Borough).
630
Bell Township
810
1064
1168
790
Burrell Township. Bairdstown
284
Bridgeport (Village). .
1001
Bolivar (Borough)
40
298
378
410
486
Cook Township ...
1036
875
1256
1226
1175
Cokeville (Borough)
664
674
Donegal (Borough)
192
183
163
157
Derry Township ..
2301
3890
1640
5467
4685
4959
6909
7163
9495
Donegal Township
2564
2052
2261
2652
1389
1112
1242
1319
1341
East Huntingdon Township
1383
1516
1774
1873
2000
9134
4404
8109
10,587
East Greensburg (Borough)
2652
2035
3552
2014
1895
1611
1757
1805
Greensburg ( Borough )
771
810
803
1051
1349
1642
2500
4202
6508
Hempfield Township
3885
4565
4772
5935
5651
5819
6286
9948
9256
Irwin ( Borough ) .
833
1414
2128
2152
Ligonier Township.
1916
9201
9582
2365
2434
2646
2790
2934
Ligonier ( Borough)
994
378
350
317
634
782
1959
Loyalhanna Township
1126
1258
850
813
848
930
767
Latrobe ( Borough)
757
1127
1815
3589
4614
Livermore (Borough)
165
211
164
211
175
Lower Burrell Township Ludwick (Borough).
299
533
603
891
461
Mt. Pleasant ( Borough)
554
534
497
717
1197
3652
2197
Mt. Pleasant Township.
2576
2469
2547
4224
7788
10,228
Mississinewa
862
Madison (Borough ),
190
201
901
Manor ( Borough ).
684
Monessen (Borough).
2197
North Huntingdon Township
2217
3170
1838
2570
2798
8443
6341
7125
7438
New Alexandria . Borough ).
406
305
335
338
361
New Florence (Borough)
333
531
683
800
North Bellvernon ( Borough )
208
435
810
New Kensington ( Borough )
4665
New Salem (Borough)
381
North Irwin ( Borough)
403
Penn Township.
2433
2798
3811
5321
Penn (Borough)
820
604
981
763
Parnassus (Borough ).
520
516
1791
Rostraver Township.
1679
1721
1880
2087
9583
2786
3231
3895
6231
Salem Township
1965
2294
1864
2065
2132
2124
1851
2395
2587
Sewickley Township
1936
2372
3457
3997
4548
St. Clair Township
956
777
783
836
1122
Scottdale (Borough ).
1275
2693
4261
Scott Haven (Village),
525
Sutersville.
812
. .
South East Greensburg (Boro.).
620
South Greensburg (Borough)
700
South West Greensburg ( Boro. ) .. Unity Township.
2336
2990
3003
4152
3400
3621
4079
5494 606
555
Vandergrift (Borough )
2076
Vandergrift Heights (Borough).
1910
Washington Township.
2076
1387
1416
1604
1624
1797
West Newton ( Borough ).
771
949
999
1175
0285
2467
Youngstown (Borough)
415
360
301
294
486
771
TOTALS.
16,018 22,726
26,392 30,540 38,400 39,326 51,726 53,239 58,719
78,036
112,819
160,175
2004
2294
2793
1470
2264
2210
3005
3674
4758
Salem (Borough).
419
188
440
311
831
Upper Burrell Township.
714
..
1478
2153
1930
2560
1760
1796
1704
1754
2719
Hecla (Village ). .
610
312
Jeannette (Borough)
3296
3865
Crabtree (Village. ) ..
514
Derry (Borough /
1968
1050
Fairfield Township
Franklin Township.
1757
2168
2320
901 1729
1819
....
Bunker Hill (Borough)
897
2317
Hyde Park ( Borough )
940
839
1019
2026
2381
2123
2109
Pleasant Unity ( Village)
388
South Hntingdon Township.
200 1608
299 1689
9402
NOTE .- In 1790 the County had one hundred and twenty-eight slaves; in 1800, one hundred and thirty-six slaves ; in 1810. twenty slaves, and in 1820, five slaves.
...
623
CHAPTER XLVI
SPECIAL BIOGRAPHIES.
Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair .- William Findley .- Alexander Johnston .- William F. Johnston .- Joseph Markle .- William Larimer, Jr .- Gen. James Keenan .- John W. Geary .- Richard C. Drum .- John Covode .- Dr. Alexander M. Milligan.
MAJOR GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR is the most noted historic name connected with Westmoreland county. Naturally, it is true, he belongs to the nation, and not to any particular locality. Nevertheless he lived here when not in the Revolution, or performing other public duties which called him away, for over fifty years. Here too he ended his days in poverty and neglect, and here on one of our hills in Greensburg he rests at last in peace, and, be it said to our shame, without a monument to suitably commemorate his greatness.
He was born at Thurso Castle, in Scotland, and sprang from one of the most noted British families. His people were of Norman birth. In the line of his ancestry were knights, earls, lords and dukes, many of whom had battled for English and Scotch supremacy, and whose names have been for centuries embalmed in the poetic and legendary lore of English story.
He was born April 3, 1736, the son of William and Margaret (Balfour) St. Clair, who by reverses of fortune on the part of their immediate forbears had lost most of their extended ancestral possessions, and were at the time of his birth without great influence at the court of St. James or in their native land. The remnant of the original estate possessed by William St. Clair was moreover entailed by the law of primogeniture, so that Arthur, being the young- est, could not hope to inherit any part of the impoverished possessions. He therefore took up the study of medicine in the University of Edinburgh. His father died, and he removed to London that he might have the benefit of hos- pital practice in the world's greatest metropolis. There he entered the office of Dr. William Hunter, then regarded as one of the first physicians of London.
But about that time a war broke out between England and France, the American part of it being known as the French and Indian war. Murray, Monckton and the brave and romantic young Englishman, General James Wolfe, were raising an army to carry the war against the rock-bound city of Quebec, in Canada, then under the dominion of the French government. Under the new ministry of William Pitt, enthusiastic young men from every calling in life abandoned their pursuits and enlisted in the service of the crown. War was shaking Europe and America. The streets of London were filled with the sounds of the bugle and the steady tread of grenadiers. St. Clair, like many other talented young men, could not resist. With the assistance of his family he purchased an ensign's commission, dated May 13, 1757, and sailed for America with Admiral Edward Boscawen's fleet, the same which brought to our shores the historic army of General John Forbes. He was in the gen- eral army of General Jeffrey Amherst, whose object was the capture of the northern forts, and was in the division of this army which was commanded by
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
General James Wolfe. His first experience in arms was therefore in one of the most daring and romantic military expeditions in American history. He was with the army the night they silently floated down the St. Lawrence and landed under the shadowy Heights of Abraham, since known as Wolfe's Cove. He heard Wolfe repeat the "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" which the poet Gray had just published to the world, and of which the General said he would rather be the author than to take Quebec :
"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, The plowman homeward plods his weary way. And leaves the world to darkness and to me."
He was with them, too, when under the cover of darkness they crawled up the hitherto impossible Heights, and was near the brave young Englishman when he died with the song of battle on his lips, at the very moment of victory.
"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour, The paths of glory lead but to the grave."
More than this, to add to his superior military training, he was in the Six- tieth Royal American Regiment, which was organized by the Duke of Cum- berland for service in the Colonies, and in the same battalion was General Lawrence, Colonel Robert Monckton, General Murray and Henry Bouquet, names without whose brave deeds the French and Indian war would be tame indeed.
After the taking of the city from the French it was immediately garrisoned by the English, and St. Clair, among other young officers, remained in the fortress. A part of the Sixtieth Regiment was sent to Boston, which was then the leading city of the Colonies after Philadelphia. St. Clair accompan- ied them bearing public documents to General Gage, who was his cousin. While stationed there he met. fell in love with and married Phoebe Bayard. She was a daughter of Balthazar and Mary Bowdoin Bayard, and was related to the Temples, the Winthrops, and was in every way a woman of patrician birth. They were married in Trinity Chapel, Boston, in May, 1760. With her he received a legacy of 14,000 pounds, indeed a princely fortune as fortunes were then. Shortly after his marriage he removed to Bedford, Pennsylvania, having become acquainted with the Penns, who were then Proprietors of the Prov- ince. As agent for them, he looked after their possessions in the western part of the Province, and took up lands for himself. In 1767 he was appointed commander of Fort Ligonier, which position he filled for over two years. After the opening of the Land Office in 1769 he was closely identified with the formation of new counties and in the sale and settlement of western lands. His brother-in-law, Captain Bayard, also came here, and together they took up large tracts of land in the southwestern part of the county. In these old boun- daries he is sometimes designated as Lieutenant and sometimes as Captain St. Clair.
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