Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 6

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930

USA > Pennsylvania > Indiana County > Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I > Part 6

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Mr. Moorhead died at the age of eighty-nine years, and left a numerous and respectable progeny, many of whom are yet residents of this county. Some of them oecupy the very spot which was the scene of so many trials and hardships in days of yore.

"Dr. Doddridge tells us that in his lifetime he had noted marked changes in elimate. When he first ventured into this section the snow lay long and deep amid the unbroken forests, and the summers were short and hot. With the first breath of spring, the season that brings such joy to the hearts of all in this day, the fathers and mothers of that day looked with a kind of terror on the trees. as they clothed themselves in verdure and deep- ened the gathering shadows of the pathless woods. Then it was that the Indian chose his season of warfare and rapine. Then was the season of their seanty harvests, planted in fear and worked in parties large enough to afford a respectable fighting force, while the families huddled together in the stockades and

OLD MOORHEAD FORT On the E. B. Campbell Farm, White Township

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

forts, watching and waiting for the return of horse was feeding; nor did he give rest to his the men. Not a single time did they open the gates of their forts in the morning without the fear that the savages were lying in am- bush. Then the adventurous pioneer, who re- fused to listen to warnings, boasted that his crop of corn was better worked than that of his more circumspect neighbor, who retired within the fort at the first call of spring. If the savages had been seen in the neighbor- hood, runners were sent out in all directions. At night the runner came stealthily to the window or door, and gently rapped to awaken the sleepers. Constant fear taught our fore- fathers to sleep lightly. A few whispered words exchanged, and he disappeared in the forest to warn the next cabin. All was then quick and silent preparation. No light dare be struck, not even to stir the fire, but dressing the children as quickly as possible, and pray- ing that the baby would continue to sleep, for his cry might mean destruction, they caught up a few articles in the dark, and taking the rifle from the peg feared every shadow, while they stole off to the fort. The other children were so imbued with fear, that the name, In- dians, whispered in their ears, made them mute."

Another attempt at making a settlement within the limits of Indiana county was made in the year 1769, in the forks of the Cone- maugh and Blacklick. The country had been explored as early as 1766-67, and the explor- ers were particularly pleased with it. It was clear of timber or brush, and clothed in high grass-a sort of prairie. Moses Chambers was an early settler. Having served several years on board a British man-of-war, he was qualified for a life of danger and hardship. Moses continued to work on his improvement till he was told one morning that the last johnnycake was at the fire. What was to be done ? There was no possibility of a supply short of the Conococheague. He caught his horse and made ready. He broke the johnny- cake in two pieces, and giving one half to his wife, the partner of his perils and fortunes, he put up the other half in the lappet of his coat with thorns, and turned his horse's head to the far east. There were no inns on the road those days, nor a habitation west of the mountains, save, perhaps, a hut or two at Fort Ligonier. The Kittanning path was used to Ligonier, and thence the road made by General Forbes' army. Where good pas- ture could be had for his horse, there Moses tarried. To him day was as night, and night as the day. He slept only while his

body nor ease to his mind until he returned with his sack full of corn. Moses Chambers was not the only one who had to encounter the fatigue and trouble of procuring sup- plies from Franklin county. All had to do so, such was the condition of this country, and such the prospect of settlers after the peace of 1763. A scarcity of provisions was one of the constant dangers of the early settlers, and. to make the case worse, there were no mills, even after they began to raise grain. The first year some Indian corn was planted. It grew and in the form of "roasting ears" was gladly gathered for food. One can al- most see the hardy dame, with her home-made apron of "lye color and white" pinned round her waist, stepping cautiously between the rows of corn, selecting the finest, that is to say the best, ears for dinner, ay, and for breakfast and supper, too. About the year 1773 William B. Bracken built a mill on Blackliek, which was a great convenience to the settlers. They marked out a path by which they traveled to Bracken's mill. Around and near him gathered John Stewart, Joseph Mc- Cartney, John Evans. Thomas Barr, and John Hustin. About the year 1774, Samuel Moor- head commenced building a mill on Stony run, but before it was completed the settlers were driven off by the Indians. They fled to what was then called the Sewickley settle- ment. This was during the Dunmore war. However, they returned in the fall to their im- provements, and Moorhead completed the mill.

Along and near Crooked creek located An- drew Sharp (killed by the Indians in 1794), Benjamin Walker, Israel Thomas, James Mc- Creight, Jacob Anthony, David Peelor, and John Patison. Among the early settlers along the Conemaugh river, Blackliek creek, and its tributaries, and in the southern part of the county, were Charles Campbell, Samuel Dixon, John McCrea, John Harrold, Phillip Altman, Patrick McGee, Archey Coleman, George Repine. Malachia Sutton, William Loughry, Jonathan Doty, Jacob Bricker, James Ewing, James Ferguson, Peter Fair, James McComb, Samuel McCartney, John Neal. Alexander Rhea, William Robertson, Daniel Repine. John Shields, Robert Liggett, David Reed. William Graham, Ephraim Wal- lace, George Mabon, the Hices, Hugh St. Clair, James McDonald, and William Clark.

The northern part of the county, in the early days called "the Mahoning country," was settled at a more recent date. Among the early settlers were the Bradys, the Thomp-

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 1

sons, William Work, Hugh Cannon, John Lea- actual settlement. These rights were often sure, William McCall, John Park, William bought and sold. Those who wished to make McCrery, the Pierces, Robert Hamilton, settlements could cut their favored tracts of Joshua Lewis, and John Jamison. In addi- land to take the tomahawk improvements rather than enter into quarrels with those that made them. Other improvers. took the land with a view to actual settlement, and happened to be staid veteran fellows, taking a very different course from that of purchas- ing the "tomahawk rights." When annoyed by the claimants under these rights they de- liberately got a few good hickories and gave them what was called in those days a "laced jacket," that is, a sound whipping. tion to those named, among the early settlers, in the central portion of the county, were An- drew Allison, Thomas Allison, Gawin Adams, George Trimble, Alexander Taylor, John Ly- tle, Daniel Elgin, Conrad Rice, Thomas Wil- kins, Daniel McKisson, James Mitchell, An- drew Dixon, John Agey, Blaney Adair, Thomas McCrea, Thomas Burns, William Lowry, John Wilson, Robert Pilson, John Thompson, Patrick Lydick, James Simpson, Christopher Stuchell and William Smith.

Little is known or recorded concerning the adventures of the settlers during the war of the Revolution, and the subsequent campaigns of Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is prob- able their residence here was precarious and unsettled. Every settler was a soldier, and preferred, indeed, occasionally the use of the rifle to that of the axe or the plow. John Thompson was one of the very few who re- mained here. He erected a blockhouse six miles northeast of Indiana borough, where he resided throughout all the troubles of the frontier. After Wayne's treaty, in 1795, the settlers again returned to their homes, and resumed the occupations of peace.

THE LAND

Object which invited early settlers .- Land was the object which invited the early settlers to cross the mountain, for as the saying then was, "it was to be had here for taking up"; that is, building a cabin and raising a crop of grain, however small, of any kind, entitled the occupant to four hundred acres of land and a preemption right to one thousand acres more adjoining, to be secured by a land office warrant. This right was to take effect if there happened to be so much vacant land, or any part thereof, adjoining the tract secured by the settlement right.

Early settlers came in spring .- Some of the early settlers took the precaution to come over the mountain in the spring, leaving their fam- ilies behind to raise a crop of corn, and then return and bring them out in the fall. This was considered the better way. Others, es- pecially those whose families were small, brought them with them in the spring. The Indian meal which they brought with them over the mountain was usually exhausted six weeks too soon, so that for that length of time they had to live without bread. Lean venison and the breast of the wild turkey they were taught to call bread. The flesh of the bear was denominated meat. This ar- tifice did not succeed very well. After living in this way some time they became sickly- their stomachs seemed to be always empty, and tormented with a sense of hunger. How nar- rowly the children watched the growth of the potato tops, pumpkin and squash vines, search- ing from day to day to get something to an- swer in the absence of bread! How delicious was the taste of young potatoes when they could get them! What a jubilee when they were permitted to pull the young corn for roasting ears, still more so when it had ac- quired sufficient hardness to be made into johnnycakes by the aid of a tin grater! They then became healthy, vigorous and contented with their station, poor as it was.

Why the settlers liked the land here .- Ow- ing to the equal distribution of early land, directed by our land laws, and the sterling integrity of our forefathers, in their observ- ance of them, we have no district of "sold lands," as it is called, that is, large tracts of lands in the state of unfruitfulness, neither sold nor improved, as is the case in Lower Can-

Tomahawk rights .- There was, at an early period of our settlement, an inferior grade of land title, denominated the "tomahawk right," which was made by deadening a few trees, near the head of a spring, and mark- ing the bark of one or more of them with the initials of the name of the person who made the improvement. For a long time, many bore ada, and the northwestern part of Pennsylva- the names of those who made them. We have nia; these unsettled tracts make huge blanks in no knowledge of the efficacy of the "toma- the population of the counties where they" hawk" improvement, or whether it conferred exist. The different lines between those whose any right whatever, unless followed by an lands adjoined were generally made in an

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

amicable manner before any question was stone wall, laid in clay or mortar, for a fire- raised. In doing this they were guided mainly place. The chimney, resting on props made in various ways, was commenced at a proper height above the hearth, very wide, to cor- respond with the broad fireplace beneath it. It was built with split sticks of timher, re- sembling common strip laths, but being much

by the tops of ridges and watercourses, hence the greater number of farms in the western part of Pennsylvania bear a striking resem- blance to an amphitheatre. The buildings ocenpy a low position, and the tops of the surrounding hills are the boundaries of the larger, they were laid up in the manner tract to which the family mansion belongs. Our forefathers were fond of farms of this description, because, as they said, they are attended with these conveniences, "that every- thing comes to the houses down hill." Most of the early settlers considered the land as of little value from this point of view, that after a few years' cultivation it would lose its fertility, at least for a long time. It was said that such a field would bear so many crops, and another so many more or less than that.

THE LOG CABIN

Trees of uniform size, as nearly as might be, were selected, cut into pieces of the de- sired length, and carried or hauled to the site of the proposed building. At each end was placed an expert hand with an axe to saddle and notch the log. The saddling was done by hewing the end of the log so as to give the upper half the shape of the roof of a build- ing. A notch was then cut into the log to fit the saddle, and of such depth as to bring the logs together. The usual height was one story. The gable was laid up with logs gradually shortened up to the top or peak, giving the shape or pitch of the roof. On the logs which formed these gables were laid stout poles, reaching from one gable to the other, at suit- able distances to hold the covering, which consisted of bark peeled from elm or bass- wood trees. The strips of bark were about four feet long and about two or three feet wide, and laid in tiers, each lapping over the preceding one, after the manner of shingling. The bark was kept down by a heavy pole laid across each tier, and fastened at the ends. Sometimes, instead of bark, a kind of shingle was used, split from straight-grained trees, and resembling undressed staves of flour or liquor barrels. These by some were called shakes. They were laid about two feet to the weather, and were then fastened down by heavy poles called weight poles, as in the case of bark roofs.

At one end of the building, a space of about eight feet in length and five or six feet in height was cut out and the space filled by a

of a cob house, the chimney being gradually narrowed upward to the top, where its size was about the same as was that of any ordi- nary brick chimney of a frame house fifty years ago. The inside was plastered with clay, or mud and chopped straw, the latter answering the same purpose as hair used in mortar in plastering the inside walls of a house. This "stick chimney," or "stick and clay chimney," was far from being fireproof. Fire would sometimes be communicated to the sticks from soot, and alarm the family. A speedy application of water thrown up plen- tifully inside soon allayed all fear.

A door was cut through one side of the house, and split pieces for doorposts, some- times called "door checks," were pinned to the ends of the logs with wooden pins. For the want of boards to make doors, a blanket was used to close the entrance until boards could be obtained. The hinges and the latch were both made of wood. The latch was raised from the outside by a string passing through the door and fastened to the latch inside. The safety of the family during the night was effected by drawing in the latch- string. Floors were made of split slabs, hewed on one side, and sometimes called puncheons. For a window a hole was cut in the wall large enough to admit a sash of four or six panes of seven by nine glass. When glass could not be had, the hole was closed with greased paper pasted over it. The cracks be- tween the logs were filled with mud or clay, the larger cracks or chinks being partly closed with split pieces of wood before the mortar was applied.

Immigrants, as a rule, brought no bedsteads. A substitute was made by boring holes in the walls in the corner of the house into which the ends of poles were fitted. Three corners of the bedstead being thus fastened to the walls, it required but a single post. It now needed only a cord, which was some- times made of elm or basswood bark.

A view of the internal arrangements of these primitive dwellings would be interesting to those who are acquainted with pioneer life. On entering (supposing it to be mealtime) the smaller children would be seen standing or

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

sitting around a large chest in which some of the more valuable articles had been brought, and which served as a table; the parents and .older children sitting at a table made, per- haps, of a wide puncheon plank, partaking of their plain meal, cooked by a logheap fire. In one corner of the room were one or two small shelves on wooden pins, displaying the tableware, when not in use, consisting of a few teacups and saucers, a few blue-edged plates, with a goodly number of pewter plates, perhaps standing singly on their edges, lean- ing against the wall, to render the display of table furniture more conspicuous. Under- neath the cupboard were seen a few pots, a spider and perhaps a bake-kettle. Not a suf- ficient number of chairs having been brought, the deficiency had been supplied with three- legged stools made of puncheon boards. Over the doorway lay the indispensable rifle on two wooden hooks nailed to a log of the cabin. On the walls hung divers garments of female attire made of cotton and woolen fabric, some of which had done long service before their removal hither.

Log cabins were lighted in the night time in different ways. In the absence of candles and lamps light was, through the winter sea- son, emitted from the fireplace, where the huge logs were kept burning. A substitute for candles was sometimes prepared by taking a wooden rod ten or twelve inches in length, wrapping around it a strip of cotton or linen cloth, and covering it with tallow pressed on with the hand. These "sluts," as they were sometimes called, afforded light for several nights. Lamps were prepared by dividing a large turnip in the middle, scraping ont the inside quite down to the rind, and then in- serting a stick about three inches in length in the centre so as to stand upright. A strip of linen or cotton cloth was then wrapped around it, and melted lard, or deer's tallow, was poured in up to the rim of the turnip rind, when the lamp was full. Lamps of this kind were only occasionally nsed; more often a dish of refuse grease, in which a rag was inserted and set on fire, and fed with the melted fat, would afford a sort of dismal light, and yet more disagrecable odor. By the light of these and other rudely constructed lamps, the women spun and sewed and men read when books could be obtained, or worked at some implement of household or field use. When neither lard nor tallow was on hand, the large blazing fire supplied the needed light. By these great fireplaces many skeins

of thread were spun, many a yard of linen woven, and many frocks and pantaloons made.

Living in houses like those described was attended with serious discomforts. A single room served the purpose of kitchen, dining room, sitting-room, bedroom, and parlor. In many families were six, eight or ten children, who were, with their parents, crowded into one room. In one corner was the father and mother's bed, and under it the trundle-bed for the smaller children. The larger ones lodged in the chamber, which they entered by a ladder in another corner, and sometimes made tracks to and from their beds in the snow driven through the crevices by the wind. Nor did the roofs, made of bark or "shakes," protect them from rain in the summer. How visitors who came to spend the night were dis- posed of, the reader may not easily conceive. Some, as their families increased, built on their houses an additional room of the same size and manner of construction as the former. Such were some of the dwellings and condi- tions of many of the pioneers of this portion of the State. Many were in a condition which, for comfort and appearance, were far inferior to that described in the foregoing. Imagine the state of those who, on foot and with packs on their backs, forced their way through the wilderness and tried to improve a piece of land.

CLEARING THIE LAND

The lands in this section were covered with a dense and heavy forest. To clear the soil of this timber required an amount of hard labor of which many of its present occu- pants have no adequate conception. Many now living on the hard-earned fortunes of their pioneer fathers and grandfathers could not be induced to enter upon a similar course of labor.

AXES

The early axes were rude and clumsy af- fairs, of twice and thrice the size, and double to quadruple the weight, of those in use now. The first improved were called Yankee axes by the early woodsmen, and were introduced into this county in 1815. Arnold Seale took a "Yankee axe" in 1820 for a debt of six dollars, interest for six years and justice's costs, and was glad to secure it at the price. In about ten years after the introduction of the improved axes, the double-bitted axes came into use and are now the favorite of the woods- man.

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

UNDERBRUSHING AND LOGGING

The first part of the clearing process was "underbrushing." The bushes and the small- est saplings were cut down near the ground and piled in heaps. The trees were then felled, their trunks cut into lengths of from twelve to fifteen feet, and the brush and small limbs thrown into heaps. After the brush had become thoroughly dry, the whole field was burned over, thus assur- ing an abundant crop. The next part of the process was "logging," or log rolling. This required the associated labor of a number of men, who in turn assisted each other. The neighbors, on invitation, attended with their handspikes. These were strong poles, about six feet in length, flattened at the larger end, in order that they might be more easily forced between the logs. Logs too heavy to be car- ried were hauled to a pile by a team (gen- erally oxen), and rolled upon the pile with skids, one end lying on the ground, the other on the heap. The heaps were then burned, and the soil was ready for seeding. Timber was so plentiful at this time that the settlers thought nothing of burning it. This was a great waste of timber. If we had all that was burned at that time, it would be very valu- able to us to-day. Most of the logging was done by "bees." A number of the neighbors would come together with their teams, at- tended by a sufficient number of extra hands, and a whole field of several acres would be logged in an afternoon. For these logging "bees," as at house and barn raisings, there was generally a two-gallon jug of whiskey. Most of the men were moderate drinkers; some, however, gave indications, by their many witty sayings, that they had overstepped the bounds of moderation. But there were also, thus early, a few teetotalers, whose incredulity as to the magic power of strong drink as an assistance to mannal labor had cansed them to abandon its nse.

ANIMAL LIFE

The wild animals inhabiting this section at the time of the first settlers were the deer, bear, wolf, wildeat, panther or painter, fox, otter, porcupine or hedgehog, raccoon, wood- chuck or groundhog, skunk, mink, muskrat, opossum, rabbit, weasel and squirrel. None were much feared except the bear and wolf. The former was the most dangerous. the lat- ter most destructive to property. The bear is generally ready to attack a person; the wolf seldom does so unless impelled by hunger or in self-defense. For many years it was

difficult to protect sheep from the ravages of wolves. Sheep had to be penned overnight. Many were destroyed in the daytime, near the house. It is the nature of the wolf to seize the sheep by the throat and suck its blood, and leave the carcass as food for other carniv- orous animals, provided the number of sheep is sufficient thus to satisfy the hunger of their destroyers. Pigs and calves also were some- times victims of these pests of the early set- tlers. Persons were followed by wolves to the very doors of their dwellings, and the sleep of families was often disturbed during a great portion of the night by their howlings.

To effect the destruction of these animals. bounties for their scalps were offered by the public authorities, and this induced hunters and trappers to devote much time to the de- struction of wolves. As wolves hunt in the night, when they cannot be shot, most of them were probably caught in traps, of which there were several kinds. One was a pen built of small logs or heavy poles, six or seven feet high and narrowed upward. Into this pen a bait was thrown. A wolf could easily enter it at the top, but was unable to get out. Another was a steel trap, with jaws a foot or more in length. The clamps were notched like a cross- cut saw. It resembled in form a common spring rat trap. Attached to it was a chain with hooks, not to fasten it, but to make it difficult for the wolf to drag it. Caught, as he probably would be, by the foreleg while trying to paw out the bait, if the trap were fast he would gnaw off his leg and be gone.

THE WOLF HUNT

All the settled portion of this section of the State suffered severely from the depredatious of wolves. The deep recesses of the ravines formed for them secure safety, where, dur- ing the daytime, they could quietly digest the mutton of the night before. Eighty and ninety years ago wolf hunts were common. The people became exasperated at the loss of their stock. and formed parties to exterminate the animals. Meetings were held at various points, and plans devised. A certain section of country, containing ravines. was determined upon, and simultaneous attack was made npon all sides. The men, early in the forenoon, formed a continuous line and entirely encir- cled the section. The number of men on the lines were sufficient to be within speaking dis- tance of each other. The signal for ad- vancing would be given by the leader, and it was carried from man to man, the lines moving forward in splendid order, growing

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Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 6

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930