History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 53

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 53

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

1 The authority for this is Findley himself, in a letter in the Register. Archibald Hamilton Rowan was a noted Irish patriot who had been imprisoned in his own country on account of his efforts as an agitator. In 1797 he established himself as a calico-printer and dyer on the banks of the Brandywine. Subsequent to this he went to Ireland. (See Harper's Monthly Magazine, January, 1881, article on "Calico-Printing."

Rowan is mentioned in "The Irish Bar," chap. iz. He there figures as a friend of Simon Butier, a barrister, who, for publishing a libel against the House of Lords (Ireland), was sentenced and fined by the Lord Chancellor. In the course of the sentence words were used which were construed as a personal insult, and Rowan for his friend waited on the Lord Chancellor, John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare, who had been some- thing of a duelist. Mr. Rowan is here called "a well-known Irish gen- tleman."

" Even the editor of Brackenridge's "Whiskey Insurrection" allows the above admission.

cration have passed, Breckenridge still gets the car of the people in his inimitable catire in which Findley is caricatured.

These two politicians first came into contact in the Assembly. Brackenridge was elected at the instance of the inhabitants of Pittsburgh and that region about, for the avowed object of securing the creotion of a new county. Findley then was a member for Westmoreland. Here they came into collision fre- quently, and especially on the subject of a loan-omics, a measure for which the people of the West were clamorous. Findley supported the bill; Bracken- ridge opposed it. Brackenridge cared little for the opinion of the people on questions upon which be regarded them unable to judge intelligently, and be frequently gave expression to his contempt for them. " What do they know about such things," mid he, indignantly. These expressions and the speech ou this occasion were reported against him, and much use was made of them. A long paper war then followed between him and Findley, and from the recrimination which passed between them, aggravated by their per- conal dislikes, was laid the foundation of their per- sonal and political enmity.

In a five-column lester in the Former's Register for Nov. 18, 1808, Findley acknowledges himself to be the author of many articles which had been pub- lished in that paper for more than three years past under the nom de plume of "Sidney."

He had indeed, from the establishing of the Regis- ter in 1798, furnished circular letters from time to time during the whole term of his official career. The paper was pledged to the support of the Domo- cratic-Republican ticket, and it was a powerful in- strument in his hands and in the hands of his friends, It was the only paper within the county, and the source of all public news and information. The mild- ness of its editorial articles did not make it offensive to the general reader, and its political course and preferences were to be gathered from the department of news, from the resolutions of the local meetings, and from the leaders which were disguised under the signature of professedly disinterested correspond- ents.

Of Findley's articles many appeared between 1805 and 1808. Some of these articles were lengthy and proliz, extending to two numbers of the paper, and filling as many as ten closely printed columns of mat- ter. While there undoubtedly was a censorship ex- ercised over the paper by the editors, there appeared to be a show of fairness in the offer that its columns were open to any one who felt disposed to take excep- tions at anything that appeared in it. Probably there was nothing Findley so much counted on as on an outspoken adversary. This offer, it is true, was some- times taken advantage of, but never without the con- troversial article being answered, and repaid with full interest in kind. The result in every event was that Findley always carried the election, and this notwith-

Digitized by Google

WILLIAM FINDLEY.

standing open charges of time-serving and of appa- rent changes of principles and measures.1

The most noted of these changes was from his opposition to his support of James Ross, one of the foremost leaders of the Republican-Democratic party in the West, in his candidacy for Governor. Through- out this region Ross was very popular, and was early acknowledged as a representative man. Findley was charged for supporting McKean for the Governorship as against Ross in 1799, and then for supporting Ross in 1808. In 1799, Findley had been one of a com- mittee which was made up of politicians over all the State to select one who would be the most acceptable candidate for that office. He says that, finding Mc- Kean to be without doubt the one, he gave him his support. This change in 1808 opened out many bat- teries. If the speeches, the resolutions, the publica- tions which passed in that campaign in Western Pennsylvania were before us we should be amused, and then astonished. There has probably been none other like it since that day. Politics had then one element in it which is now, so far as an element that makes results is concerned, totally absent. It was the day when the infidelity of the French encyclopæ- dists and politicians had taken possession of those Americans who professed deism, or downright athe- ism. We have seen attacks and replies as glibly al- ranged and far more scurrilous than those of the pop- ular haranguers and writers of the " Free Thought School" of our own day. To repeat these would be to shock the moral sensibilities of any free-thinker or rationalist with whom we are acquainted, and who carries the memory of a Christian father or mother. But in such a controversy, and in such a conflict, it could not be otherwise than that Findley should be the gainer. In the Register, one writer who styles himself the " Friend of Truth," attacked Findley for opposing Ross on religious grounds, ostensibly be- cause Ross had not subscribed to the religious test, and because he, on a current report, had somewhere in Westmoreland County given the sacrament to his dog, in contempt and derision of the most sacred or- dinance of Christians. Then Findley gathering his arrows, shot them in showers at Tom Paine and the infidels who attempted to overthrow the Christian re- ligion and to change the Constitution. What argu- ment could resist the political defense that covered itself behind texts from the Scriptures ?

In 1812, Findley was opposed in the election for congressman by Thomas Pollock. The announce- ment of Pollock was in the form of an advertisement, which said that Pollock " was descended from a family well known on the frontiers in times of danger." He had been county commissioner, a justice of the peace,

and a member of the Assembly three successive times. Pollock made a strong run, but as the result in the thirteen election districts which made up the con- gressional district of Westmoreland, Indiana, Jeffer- son, and Armstrong, Findley had 1260 votes, and Pollock, 1116.

It was indeed a time of vituperation and abuse in politics, and this vituperation and abuse was not con- fined to the hustings. The evidence of most of this being made public in political speeches and in the common newspapers, is not at present accessible to us. That which found its way into more permanent literature has been in part preserved. The individual and political character of no public man of his day was more bitterly and acrimoniously attacked than that of Findley.

In addition to his "History of the Insurrection of Western Pennsylvania," published in 1796, and " Ob- servations," vindicating religious liberty, published in 1812, he had published previously (1794) " A Re- view of the Funding System." Upon the question of the Federal Constitution, Findley took sides with Gallatin, and Gallatin was to Jefferson what Hamil- ton was to Washington. He attacked Hamilton se- verely in his " History of the Insurrection," and their respective statements sometimes do not coincide. He did not agree with some of the acts of the first Federal administration, but this disagreement was more on the construction of powers than in opposition to their ends. When the vote on Jay's treaty was taken in the House, to avoid giving his vote he left the House, and was brought up by the sergeant-at-arms.

But from the records it is very apparent that Find- ley was no idler. Besides these productions which we have mentioned there were other contributions of his which appeared in the papers printed in the East. These would indicate that he was a very assiduous and a laborious worker. He was present at every session of Congress. When at home he superintended his farm and overlooked the interests of his children, who were married and who lived near him. He took a very active interest in the affairs of his church, Unity, of which he was for many years an active elder. In the councils of the congregation his voice was all potent.

Findley's residence was in Unity township, and the site of his first house is very nearly indicated by the lo- cation of the ovens of the " Monastery Coke-Works" along the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. That house was lately burnt down. It was built of hewed logs, was two stories in height, and for its day must have been a very credible building. In this house he lived till he became old and infirm, when he took up his abode in the house of his daughter, Mrs. Car- others, which was on a farm taken off the original tract, and was located on the left side of the road going from the monastery to Latrobe, and nearly op- posite the residence of John George, Esq. In this i house he died. His body was buried in the grave-

1 A writer in the Gazette so late as 1823 (August 15th) has this to say : "In 1817 we were required to vote, but were denied the right of choice; we had freedom of thought, speech, and action, but were forbidden to ' favour opposition to William Findley.'"

Digitized by Google

212

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

yard of Unity Church, and over it is a plain gray tombstone with the following inscription :

The Venerable William Findley DEPARTED THIS LIFE April 5, 1821 In the 80th year Of His Ago

In size Mr. Findley was a large man ; his com- plexion was florid; he wore no beard, and was very tidy and tasteful in his drees. When at home he dressed in homespun, but on going out in fair weather wore a complete suit of white, with white hat having a broad rim, silk stockings, and cue. In the cold season his dress was the conventional shad-belly coat, long waistcoat, dark knee-breeches, long boots, but always the broad-rimmed white beaver hat. His manners, as one would infer, were agreeable and plain, although when he was busied at work writing upon a subject that kept his attention for days at a time he did not like it when he was disturbed, and when one came even on business he soon dismissed him. He had many visitors. Of his neighbors those who were near and who had taken a more or less active part in public concerns were William Todd, his colleague in the Constitutional Convention of 1789-90 ; Gen. St. Clair, who usually met Findley at the village of Youngstown, which was intermediate between the two; George Smith, Esq., a noticeable man in the Whiskey Insurrection on the side of law, and afterwards an officer in the War of Eighteen- Twelve; the Sloans and the Craigs, who lived farther down the Loyalhanna ; and the Proctors and Lochrys, who lived towards St. Xavier's Convent from his place.

An old lady who passed her childhood in the family of Findley, and to whom we acknowledge indebted- ness for items of a personal nature, has said that the periodical occasion of his going to Congress was one of the greatest magnitude not only in the family but in the neighborhood. He went of course on horse- back, and on a horse which he used for that purpose only. For weeks before he started arrangements were making, his horse was well housed and well cared for, and none was allowed to use him, and an abundance of the finest white linen was prepared for the use of the congressman until he should get home. On the day which had been fixed for his departure all the neighbors round came to see him off, to lift their hats and say good-by. The women part of the household would always be in commotion, for the journey at that day was great, the distance long, and the goodman would be away so long.

Findley was twice married. His second wife was a widow Carothers, a very beautiful woman, and much younger than he. By his first wife he had three chil- dren,-David, an officer in the regular army ; Nellie, who married a Carothers, a son of Findley's second wife by her former husband; and Mary, who was

married to John Black. If he has any descendants within our own county it is not generally known.

Findley's identification with the Whiskey Insur- rection is such that he must ever be regarded one of the principal characters figuring in it. That he sc- credited himself with honor and as a patriot none at this day would deny. That he was indiscreet, and at first inactive, something of a time-server, and gave the seditious some occasion to think he was for open rebellion and resistance, will likewise not be denied. But in this he went not so far as either Brackenridge, Gallatin, or Cook. From his local habitation and from the situation of his district he was at the outer edge of that whirlpool. He came to his senses quicker than most of the rest, and when he did he, with the greatest tact and with a display of knowledge of hu- man nature rarely exceeded, used all his influence for the establishing of "law, order, and the constitu- tion." In this he was eminently successful, for he had the confidence of Washington probably to almost as great an extent as any man of his day in Western Pennsylvania, and certainly more of the confidence of his constituents than any other man in it. In his plan of settlement he displayed what Macaulay says is the highest statesmanship, the statesmanship that nses every available means for a successful compromise.1

One extract from his correspondence extending throughout this period will probably give his views on the subject quite as well as the whole of his corre- spondence together. In a letter written to Governor Mifflin as early as Nov. 21, 1792,' he says,-

"Though Congress is fully vested with the Power of lavying Exciers, yet the necessity, the time, the subjects of excise, and the People's prejudices respecting it are questione of serious importance to gov- ernment. For my part, from a consideration of those things, I thought that power was about to be exercised promaturely, and with an honest seal for the success of the government, exerted myself in my station to prevent it ; but being once made and its effects not experienced I did not move last session for a repeal, but endeavoured to procure such altera- tions as I conceived would have had a tendency to give it effect. The industry and seal with which, in all my correspondence, I have endeav- oured to promote a regular line of conduct among the people has been such as will never occasion me to blush ; but that I should, in the present situation of things, undertake to advise the people to go on with distill- ing and pay the excise would be lost labour. Thus far, however, I freely declare that I shall certainly continue to use what influence I have to direct the opposition into a regular and orderly channel. And this, I premme, is all that is contemplated by the mass of the People."

1 Since this sketch of William Findley wes written, an antobiograph- ical sketch has appeared in the "Pennsylvania Magazine of History." From this article we give these additional details:

Purposing to go to the frontier of Pennsylvania as early as Bouquet's time, he was prevented by the Indian wars, and taught school in the Octorara settlement for several years, until the office was opened for the sale of western lands. In 1760 he married, and purchased laud in now Franklin County. Was elected County Commissioner for two terms of three years each. Came to Westmoreland County about 1781. Shortly after his arrival here refused to be sent to the Assembly, but was sent as one of the Council of Censors. From that time until 1812 (so he writes), he had never been but one whole winter with his family, and that was when he declined serving in Congress. He was then successively elected a member of the Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution; a member of the Supreme Executive Council; a member of the first State Legislature under the Constitution of 1790; a member of the Second Congress; and a member of the State Senate.

2 Papers relating to the Whiskey Insurrection, "Penn. Arch.," New Series, vol. iv., 49.

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by Google

MAJOR GENERAL ARTHUR ST CLAIR.

C e

Google

Digitized by

213

ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.

CHAPTER XXXIX. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR.

Nativity and Birth-History of his Family in Scotland-Is sent to Col- lege, and thence to London to study Medicine-Enters the British Army as an Ensign- Comes to America in the French and Indian War -Serves under Wolfe in Canada-Marries in Boston-Appears in Western Pennsylvania-Commands at Fort Ligonier-Appointed to Office in Bedford County under the Proprietary Government and in Westmoreland County-Takes an active part in the Border Troubles with Virginia, and in Dunmore's War-Agent of the Penns-Accom- panies the Congressional Committee to Fort Pitt, 1775-Resolutions of May 16, 1775, at Hannastowu-The Associators-Plan to go againet Detroit-Takes part with the Colonies in the Revolutionary War-Ap- pointed and Commissioned Colonel in Pennsylvania Service-Sent to Canada-At Three Rivers-Services in Canada-Joins Washington -His Services in the Jersey Campaign of 1776-Is sent to Command at Ticonderoga-Campaign of 1777-Burgoyne's Advance-Surrender of Ticonderoga-Court of Inquiry-St. Clair at Yorktown-And with Greene-Enters Civil Life-Member of the Council of Censors- Member of Continental Congress-Elected its President-Erection and Organization of the Northwestern Territory-Appointed its Gov- ernor-Enters upon his Duties as Governor-Indian War-Made Ma- jor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the American Army-Expe- dition against the Miami Indians-Account of the Battle and Defeat -His Politics-His Duties as Governor-Is Removed from Office-Be- turns to Ligonier Valley-His Residence-His Financial Embarrase- ment-Its Causes-Treatment of the Government in regard to these Claims-Is sold out by the Sheriff-Removes from his Home-His Last Days-His Death, Funeral, and Monument-Chattering over his Grave-Observations on his Character and Misfortunes.

ARTHUR ST. CLAIR is a historic character, and as such a great part of his public career belongs to the history of the republic. But as he was so intimately connected with the formation of our county, it is nat- ural that any one who inquires into our early history should be interested in the particulars of the life of this man, whose name is met with so often, and who is so inseparably connected with it.

St. Clair was by birth a Scot, and was of a family of early note in their native country, they taking their name itself back in the middle centuries. Arthur was born in 1734,1 at Thurso Castle, in the county of Caithness, and was the son of William St. Clair, of the same stock as the then Earl of Caithness, from a common ancestry.' The deeds of the ancient family

1 The day. or month is not known.

" A gentleman with a taste for research has thus traced the family of St. Clair down from very early times:

"The St. Clairs of Scotland are descended from a Norman family. Walderne de St. Clair, a Norman knight, married Margaret, daughter of Richard, Duke of Normandy. William de St. Clair, their second son, a brave and adventurous knight, settled in Scotland in the reign of Mal- com Canmore, and obtained from that monarch large grants of land. In the wars about the crown of Scotland between Balliol and Bruce the St. Clairs adhered to the side of Bruce, and on his final success participated in his good fortune by an increase of their domains. John de St. Clair was a member of the first Parliament summoned by Bruce. The chief of the St. Clairs married a Douglass, whose mother was daughter of Robert Bruce. William St. Clair married Elizabeth, daughter of Malice Spar, Earl of Orkney and Stratherne, in whose right their son was cre- ated Earl of Orkney by Haco, King of Norway, to which country the Orkney Islands then belonged. The title remained with the family of St. Clair until 1471, when it was annexed to the crown of Scotland by act of Parliament. In exchange for the Orkney Islands and title of their carl, the domains of Ravenscraig were bestowed upon William St. Clair, who was entitled Earl of Caithness. The St. Clairs built the castle of Kirk wall, in the Orkneys, and also the castles of Ravenscraig and Roslin, on the mainland.

were sung to the harp by many of the border minstrels, and the last and sweetest of them all, the "Wizard of the North," in "The Song of Harold," tells of the "storm-swept Orcades, where once St. Clairs held princely sway.""

But through the vicissitudes of fortune the family had lost their once high position, and their ancestral estates, situate mostly in the cold and barren Orkneys, no longer yielded a revenue after the abolition of the feudal tenures, and, like other of the most ancient families of that part of the island, they were of no influence in their native land. The St. Clairs, with

"About 1450 the St. Clairs were at the height of their power and opu- lence. At that time William St. Clair, the head of the family, was Prince of the Orkneys, Earl of Caithness and Stratherne, Baron of Roslin and Pentland, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Warden of the Marches, and High Chancellor of Scotland. When the chief St. Clair visited the royal court he traveled in great state, with more than a thousand gentlemen in his train, all of whom were his vaseuls and retainers.

"At length things changed, and Oliver St. Clair, the unworthy favor- ite of James V., lost by bad conduct the battle of Solway Moms, and so broke the heart of that monarch. From the civil war of 1642, between king and Parliament, in the Scottish rebellion in 1715, the St. Clairs adhered loyally to the house of Stuart, and hence suffered by defest banishment and confiscation."

Mr. William H. Smith (see "Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair") says that the generally accepted opinion that St. Clair was a grandeou of the then Earl of Roslin is erroneous, but they were descend- ants of a common ancestor.

The brief memoir which we contribute was written before the publi- cation of " The St. Clair Papera," published 1882 (Cincinnati : R. Clarke & Co.). We are of opinion that it would not have detracted from the in- trinsic worth of that excellent memoir-the most complete yet pub- lished, and which weanxiously looked for-if the compiler had expressed his indebtedness to some gentlemen of our own county whose work and labor he has appropriated to such good advantage; who dug out, so to speak, the ore which he cast into the crucible of history.

The title of Earl of Caithness, we may further remark, in the Scottish peerage extends back to 1455, when the family were raised to the mobility by James II. of Scotland, Henry VI. being the king of England. This did not entitle those bearing the name to sit in Parliament, but in June, 1866, the late earl was created Baron Barrowgill, and thus became a member of the House of Lords. This late earl, who died on the 10th of March, 1881, in the city of New York, where he had but just landed in- tending to make a tour of the United States for pleasure and health, was James Sinclair (the family having long since Anglicised their name), F.B.S., Earl of Caithness and Lord Berriedale in the peerage of Scotland, Baron Barrowgill, of Barrowgill Castle, in that of the United Kingdom, and Baronet of Nova Scotia. He was born Dec. 16, 1821 ; succeeded his father as fourteenth carl Dec. 24, 1855, and was created Baron Barrowgill June 12, 1866. Like his father, he became Lord Lieutenant of Caith ness- shire. Caithness is a maritime county in the extreme north of Boot- land, on the west side is a spot of green turf known to all school-boys as John O'Groat's House, one of the extreme ends of Great Britain. Barrowgill Castle, the present home of the family, is in Caithnoms, and is over six hundred years old, and the possessions include six continuous miles of sea-coast. The other country seats are Tister House, Caithness- shire, and Stagenhoe Park, in Welwyn, and there is a London residence besides. Jam Satis.

"" Then from his seat, with lofty alr, Rose Harold, bard of brave St. Clair; St. Clair, who, feasting with Lord Home, Had with that lord to battle como. Harold was born where restless sens Howl round the storm-swept Orcades ; Where once St. Clair held princely sway O'er isle and islet, strait and bay : Still nods their palace to its fall, Thy pride and sorrow, fair Kirkwall."

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

History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 53

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

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