History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 142

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USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 142

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

JONES' MILL,

post-office and village, takes its name from the mill that was in the ownership of the Jones family from a date prior to the beginning of the century. It is situated in the southern part of the township, near the line, on Indian Creek, and near the western base of the Laurel Hill. The turnpike which passes through Donegal east and west also passes through this village. There has been from time immemorial a public-house kept here, which always, with the ex- ception of local option times, also dispensed liquors. This is the only licensed house in the township. The place has been of late years much frequented by persons of ease, who stay there during the summer months to fish in the mountain streams for trout, to hunt in the woods, and to partake of the healthful and palatable cookery of that mountain region.

Some years ago an effort was made by a company of sporting gentlemen of the county to breed trout in some large artificial ponds and basins built for the purpose, and situated near the top of the Laurel Hill, but the effort was abandoned after having been pro- nounced inexpedient.

The village of Jones' Mill contains, besides the hotel mentioned, a grist, and a saw-mill, a store, and several shops, but the religiously inclined portion of the com- munity, outside of those who hold to the Methodist communion, have to go a distance of several miles to church, or wait for "bush-meeting" in summer, or "supplies" in winter. The Methodists have a church- building to the left side of the road going up the hill, about half a mile from the mills.

CHURCHES.

The religious preferences of the first settlers in this part of the Valley were Presbyterian, and they early had churches and congregations established on either side of Donegal township up and down the Valley. The churches of Tyrone and Laurel Hill were on the Fayette side, and the Old Donegal-now Pleasant Grove-Church was on the Ligonier side. Of this church we have in the history of Cook township in- serted an extended account. Historically it belongs to the name and the township of Donegal, but politi- cally to that of Cook. At these churches did the early settlers of this part attend.

A later generation, however, brought innovations, and in the latter part of the last, and through the beginning of the present century, the Methodist itinerants, full of the energy and piety of a new or- ganization, carried their version of the gospel all through these parts, had many converts, and estab- lished some congregations. Then followed the Bap- tist and Lutheran organizations, who theretofore had not been in sufficient number to form congregations. Among the inhabitants of the township nearly all denominations are represented, and nearly all beliefs avowed. The Dunkards have from early times kept up their organizations in the region in which the

three counties of Westmoreland, Somerset, and Fay- ette touch each other. It is believed that they, as a body, are weakening in numbers, and losing their distinctive characteristics.

Among the first settlers there were many of Ger- man nativity who held to the Reformed doctrine. These were occasionally visited by the Rev. Weber, the pioneer clergyman of that denomination in Western Pennsylvania. Mr. Weber established & congregation at Donegal, which belonged to the Mount Pleasant charge, and of which some account may be found in the records of that charge. They were subsequently ministered to by the successors of that eminent man, the Revs. Weinel and Voight, and latterly Rev. A. J. Heller. Mr. Heller stopped preaching at Donegal while he was pastor of the Mount Pleasant charge,-about the year 1870-72. This is the last account of any services held in this congregation.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF DONEGAL BOROUGH

was organized June 14, 1884. The first pastor was the Rev. John P. Rockefellar, who not only here, but in different parts of the county, brought to his church many converts. He immersed many persons in the winter season, when the ice had to be cut to get to the water. John R. Lohr was the first deacon of this church.

Two churches of Donegal township, a Methodist Episcopal and a Methodist Protestant, the former having a graveyard connected with it, are situated near the village of Stahlstown, Cook township. The road running through the village separates the town- ship.

SCHOOLS.

In giving a review of the common school system prior to the year 1834, when our system as we now have it went into legal and effective operation, James Silliman, Esq., the county superintendent at that date (1876) included the townships of Donegal and Cook together, for the reason that Cook was then in- cluded in Donegal, and did not have a separate town- ship organization until a much later period.

Some time during the year 1801, the citizens resid- ing near Four Mile Run, in the northern part of the township, erected a school-house on the farm now belonging to the heirs of David Fiscus, deceased, and installed a teacher by the name of James Wilson. This was the first school-house of which we have any knowledge. Other houses were erected after that time, in different localities, and teachers employed. These schools were supported by subscription, the teachers generally being supported by the year. The houses were of the most primitive description, being built of unhewn logs; the spaces between the logs were filled with clay, and either puncheon or earthen floors, slab seats and writing desks, and very poorly lighted, but pretty well " ventilated" from the spaces

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DERRY TOWNSHIP.

where the mortar dried and cracked; clapboard roofs, with weight poles to hold down the boards, and a large fireplace, extending almost the whole length of the building. The teachers, also, were of limited education; if they could read, write, and "cipher" as far as the "single rule of three," and were adepta at thrashing the boys, they were considered competent to teach, or were called " good masters."

Among the leading teachers at this time were James Wilson, Charles Johnston, James Alexander, James Henry, and others. The school-houses of the olden times were followed by more substantial ones, namely, Donegal, in 1818; Hays, in 1820; Stahlstown, in 1821; Union, in 1828 or 1829,-this house having been built by citizens and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and used as a place of worship on Sabbaths. Among the foremost teachers of this latter period were Hugh Larimer, Thomas Mathews, Thomas Johnston, and John McAfee.

At the time the free schools went into operation in 1834, there was a large number of the citizens of the township opposed to it, and at the first election for directors in 1885, Peter Keslar, James W. Jones, William Campbell, and Hugh Caven, all bitterly op- posed, and Dr. Thomas Richards and Peter Gay, Esquire, favorable to the system, were elected. The majority of the board being opposed to the system, the operations of the law were crippled in the begin- ning. But these men, being law-abiding citizens, and men of intelligence, finally yielded to the requirements of the law, and laid the township off in sub-districts, levied taxes, etc. In 1838 there was a vote taken for and against the system,-the friends of the system carrying it by a small majority. Since that time op-

position to the system has gradually diminished until the present time, and it would be difficult now to find a citizen in the township outspoken enough to oppose the present school law and system founded thereon. Among the leading teachers from 1884 to 1850 were David Bell, Thomas Johnston, Simon Snyder, William Fetter, and others. Among the prominent school officers were John Caven, W. R. Hunter, Esq., John Weimer, John Johnston, and others.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic were about the only branches taught, the "Bible and Testament" being the text-books in reading. The examinations were very superficial. The superintendent's infor- mant told him that he well recollected the first ex- amination, in 1845. The examining committee gave him one example in simple interest, and the correct solution of that was all that was required.

From that period up to the present time the pro- gress of education in the township has been onward and upward, and more especially since the office of county superintendent has been created. Among the leading teachers from 1850 to 1870, were Joseph N. Campbell, J. R. Bell, Dr. J. A. Weller (deceased), William Larimer, George Blackburn, J. W. Williams, George W. Weimer, and others. J. R. Bell is the oldest teacher in service in the township, having taught from 1845 to 1873, with the exception of short time he resided in the West. Among the prom- inent school officers since 1850 may be mentioned John Johnston (now of Ohio), John Gay (deceased), J. W. Jones (deceased), Henry Snyder, W. R. Hun- ter, Esq., John Snyder (deceased), Jacob Hoffer, Esq., Henry Keyser, Samuel Jones, H. M. Millhoff, Jacob Gettemy, and others.

DERRY TOWNSHIP.

THE largest township in the county at this day, in respect of its population and in regard to it as a political division by itself, is the township of Derry.

ERECTION.

It was established as a township and organized by the Court of Quarter Sessions in April term of 1775, and was the first township erected within the county after the formation of the original ones. The neces- sity of its erection had not, however, grown out of a mere spasmodic emigration to within its boundaries, for there were inhabitants within its limits who had occupied their lands continuously from before the date of the opening of the land-office (1769). At the date of the organization of the county (1773), that

part of Derry township lying next to Hempfield was more thickly settled in some portions than any other interior section of the same proportions within the county.

THE BOUNDARIES

were described by the court as follows :

"Beginning at the Loyalhanna; thence along the line of Fairfield township till it strikes Blacklick ; then along down Two Lick till it utrikes Conemaugh ; then down the maid Conemangh till it strikes Kis- kiminetas; then up the Loyalhanna to the place of beginning."

Thus the township of Derry, although it at the time of its erection was larger in extent than it is now, was but a very small portion of the township of Armstrong, out of which it was wholly taken. By the formation of Indiana'County, which came down

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

to the northern bank of the Conemaugh, and by the formation of the township of Loyalhanna on the Westmoreland side, which cut off the triangle be- tween the Conemaugh and the Loyalhanna, the limits of the township have been, as you will observe, greatly curtailed.

The township is now bounded on the north by the Conemaugh, which separates Westmoreland from In- diana County ; on the east by the townships of Fair- field (north) and Ligonier (south), the line of which division is the Chestnut Ridge; on the southwest by the townships of Unity and Salem, marked by the natural boundary line of the Loyalhanna River; and on the northwest by the township of Loyalhanna.

There are four incorporated boroughs in Derry township, namely, Latrobe, New Alexandria, Liver- more, and Derry. Besides these there are a number of villages, some of them deserving to rank as boroughs, and to have corporate privileges. Of these latter are New Derry, Bairdstown, Blairsville Intersection, and other hamlets or clusters of houses, to which attention will subsequently be called.

EARLY SETTLERS, ADVENTURES, AND HARDSHIPS.

It is probable, but not certainly provable, that set- tlements were made in Derry township shortly after the formation of the old military or Forbes' road (1758), that is to say, some who have examined into the early annals of the settlement place some of the settlements so early as 1762, or previous to Pontiac's war. We are of the opinion that if there were any locations taken up' previous to Pontiac's war, they were not occupied until but a very short period before the opening of the land-office, in 1769.

Among the very first, if not the first altogether, of the settlers north of this road was John Pomroy, a man who was not only the first in respect to time, but who remained among the first men of the settlement in many respects until his death, nearly the space of a generation later.

Pomroy had been raised a farmer in the Cumber- land Valley, where his father and some of his brothers lived. They were of Scotch-Irish stock. Having heard of the large quantity of good rich land lying in this region after the occupation of the country by the army of Forbes, he made up his mind to leave his father's roof, and come out and occupy some thereof. He came by way of Ligonier Fort, where it seems he already had relatives and friends who were there under the shadow of the garrison. He did not choose, however, to remain there, but crossed over the Chest- nut Ridge, made the selection of a piece of land, erected a cabin, and took possession.

Shortly after he came he had a visit from some passing Indians, who stopped as they passed him. It was not long either until a white man came to hix cabin. This man was James Wilson, who afterwards became a neighbor of Pomroy, and who long after- wards, in a ripe age and full of quiet honor, died.

This settlement for all needful purposes may be designated by the village of New Derry. Pomroy having marked off his lands and Wilson having made choice of his tract, Pomroy assisted his neighbor in building his cabin. Their. two cabins were about a mile apart, and they passed the nights alternately together.

During that summer these two pioneers raised some corn and potatoes and cleared a small piece, which they sowed in fall grain, the seed for which they had to pack on their backs from Fort Ligonier.

After they had killed some game and stored it away that they might get it in the spring, they set out for a trip to the east of the mountains, where their friends lived.

They passed the winter in their respective homes there, and when the spring came they met by previ- ous agreement, and set out together for their settle- ment in Derry, then known only as the frontier of Cumberland County.

On this trip they were accompanied by an Irish- man named Dunlap. He came out with the purpose of trading and bartering with the Indians. He had received such favorable reports of the cupidity of the natives, and of the profusion of their skins and furs, that he conceived the notion that he could get rich more speedily this way by thrift than he could by the slow and burdensome life of a pioneer. His stock in trade consisted of knives, brooches, beads, and other trinkets, but what he chiefly relied upon was a lot of rum, which he brought on the back of a horse.

The pioneers found matters much as they had left them. There were some evidences of the Indians having been about, but yet there was nothing dis- turbed. Pomroy and Wilson went at work to shape up their plantation, and Dunlap "waited for custom- era."

The desired word having reached the Indians, it was not long until a party made their appearace at "Pomroy's Camp." They brought the furs and pel- try of the last winter's taking with them, and ap- peared to be in good " spirits" already for bartering. But when they got a taste of the rum they deter- mined to have a frolic. And in the relation of this commercial transaction we have an instance of a pe- culiar custom among the Indians, and one seldom mentioned. They having learned the effects of fire- water, had latterly established this custom, which they exercised here. Before giving themselves up to the debauch, they selected one of themselves, and him they vowed to sobriety for the time being, while the rest were drinking. All then that was left to be done or to do was to agree upon the price for the skins per canteen of rum. This was concluded at an exorbitant price and consequently great profit to Duncan.

When they began drinking Duncan began diluting his rum with water, and, notwithstanding that for every canteen of rum taken out of the cask a can-

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teenful of water was poured in, yet the Indians be- came drunker and drunker. Long before the middle of the night the party were all laid out, excepting one of a very robust constitution and the other one whose business it was to stay sober. This first one was now the only one able to come for liquor. This he.now did in a demonstrative manner. He would come to the cabin, pounce against the clap-board door, make it fly from its rickety wooden hinges across the cabin floor, and with painted face and a fearful yell, a long knife in one hand, and an empty canteen in the other, confront poor, quaking, and trembling Duncan, shouting out loud, " Ellick" (meaning to say his name was Ellick), "stronger, stronger" (meaning that he was getting stronger and stronger), "more lum, more lum." Dunlap supplied the canteen filled, and the otter skin was flung at him in return. This Indian was soon thereafter entirely helpless, and they were all with the exception of the watcher laid out. This state of insensibility con- tinued until the next evening. When they recovered they sobered up on rum weakened with water. The day following, being in better condition to do busi- nees, they disposed of all their stock of peltry, and retired into the forest.

Duncan vowed that he would never go into this business " at first hands" again, but would resort to legitimate pursuits, and confine his mercantile trans- actions to within the pale of civilization. He had, however, come William Penn on them to very good advantage. Pomroy and Wilson escorted him through to Ligonier,1 where he fell in with a safe convoy from Fort Pitt to the East.

It is but proper to say that the recollection of Dun- can has been preserved in the families of both Pomroy and Wilson.

The two pioneers, however, returned to their clear- ings, and devoted all their energies to breaking the soil. The second winter they returned to their old homes east of the mountains, and when they came back again each of them brought a wife. . Pomroy's wife was Isabella Barr, the daughter of a neighbor in the Cumberland Valley, who subsequently migrated to Derry township, as well also as his two sons, James Barr and Alexander Barr, who were brothers-in-law of Pomroy, William Guthrie, Richard Wallace, and others.

These two women were among the first to locate in Western Pennsylvania. They are said to have ridden out with the men while they were tracing the bound- aries of their claims, for the Indians were at that time numerous and very treacherous, although for a length of time quiet.

George Findley early emigrated to the "Pomroy and Wilson" settlement, which, as we said, designated the whole region of whom the settlers were neighbors. It was probably before the treaty of 1768 that he se- lected the site now occupied by one of his descendants in East Wheatfield township, in the county of Indiana. He settled on this land merely by occupancy. He made a clearing, erected a cabin, went back regularly from time to time, and about 1776 brought his wife with him from. Hagerstown, Md. He had repeatedly to seek the shelter of Fort Palmer or Fort Ligonier in the Valley, as these were more direct and easier to ap- proach from his location than Fort Barr or even Fort Wallace.

Among those who were in the campaign of 1777 with Washington, and who after that was one of the leading military men in Westmoreland, was Samuel Craig, Sr. He removed with his family from Jersey into Westmoreland about the date of the opening of the land-office. He had purchased a large farm on the east side of the Loyalhanna nearly opposite where the Crab Tree flows into that stream. This was the old homestead farm. He and his three eldest sons, John, Alexander, and Samuel, all par- ticipated in the Revolutionary war. The life of the elder Samuel Craig was cut short. When he returned back to Westmoreland, where he took an active part in the defense of the frontier border, he was raised to several fiduciary appointments and of- fices of responsibility. Among others he held the trust of commissary. The duties of this office calling him to Fort Ligonier, he had frequently to go there, and on the last of these occasions he was taken on the road. His horse was found on the Chestnut Ridge, between his home and this post. The horse had eight bullets in it; but all efforts of the family to ascertain the fate of Captain Craig were unavail- ing.

The men of this family were, as we have said, among the first to enlist at the call for troops, and they thus suffered in common with their comrades in the campaign in the Jerseys. In one of the battles Alexander had a lock of hair cut from his head by a bullet from the enemy. On the night before the bat- tle of Princeton they slept on the wet ground. Alex- ander was not twenty years of age when he entered the army in Captain John Shields' company. He was promoted during the war, but to what rank in the Continental service we are unable to say. He was commissioned a lieutenant-colonel of the State militia in 1793, and a brigadier in 1807, and again in 1811. He was, however, better known as Captain, and with the Shieldses, the Sloans, the Wilsons, and the Wallaces, was one of the fighting men of the Derry settlement, and figured in the old stories among the heroes. He is buried in Congruity churchyard. Of any single instance of his brav- ery or command we are not sufficiently informed to give account. It would appear that on one occa-

1 Although we do not seenme responsibility for the particulars in the account of Duncan's commercial venture, yet it may not be far from the verities, and well serves to illustrate Que phase of border life. We see no reason to doubt the relation as it is substantially told. The oredit is due to Jonathan K. Row, Esq .. . Derry man, in a contribution furnished many years ago to the Greensburg Herald.

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sion John, brother of Alexander, narrowly escaped being taken by the hostiles. He was surrounded by them near Fort Wallace, but got from them into the fort with only the loss of his gun. He afterwards re- sided on a farm of his own near Freeport, and died much respected at the advanced age of ninety-five.

Fort Barr and Fort Wallace in this township were early erected. We suspect they were used as places of refuge prior to the Indian troubles of Dunmore's war (1774), although some authorities count their existence much earlier. Rev. William Cunningham, the historian of the Cunningham family, for in- stance, states that these forts were erected so early as .1764-65. We can see no good reason for fixing the date so early. Most authority for fixing the dates pertaining to such matters are purely traditionary and not documentary, and as such should be care- fully considered. The utmost care must be exer- cised in fixing dates and locations before the year 1769, which in general marks the beginning of local history in regard to the record of dates.

Fort Barr was located on the farm of one of the Barrs, and was about a mile north of New Derry. Its location was better known latterly as being on the Gilson farm, and by many persons it was called Fort Gilson. Fort Wallace was about five miles distant, and was located on the Wallace farm, on McGee's Run. Craig's fort, on the Loyalhanna, near New Alexandria, was of a date somewhat later. So also was the fort at John Shields', on the Loyalhanna, within four or five .miles of Hannastown, which was erected by the people of the neighborhood for a defense for their wives and families, about 1774.

Richard Wallace, soon after getting his farm in order, erected a mill, which was one of the first in that region. The first mill was a small one, and had but one run of stones. Before the mill was put up the settlers had to crush their grain in mortars or with hand-mills. The fort stood immediately above the present site of Wallace's mill. It was a fine block- house, situate within a clearing.

The signal for the settlers to flee was three rifle- shots fired in quick succession. Col. James Wilson used to relate how he stood rifle in hand watching while his wife went to the spring for water. The set- tlers said that as a general thing the Indians were more troublesome during harvest and in the fall than at any other season.

Many stories were related about the pioneers and their times in the neighborhood of these forts ; but the most of them are of doubtful authenticity.

In one excursion Richard Wallace was taken pris- oner by the Indians, and taken by them to their various stations in Western Pennsylvania and West- ern Ohio. This being towards the close of the Revo- lutionary war, he was sent on to Montreal, where he was exchanged, and whence he came home, after an absence of about eighteen months.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 142

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: