Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I, Part 79

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 650

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I > Part 79

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).

undertook to break the road for the other two, but hunger and cold overcame him when with- in a mile of Barnett's, and this last mile he had to make on his hands and knees. He reached Barnett's at midnight, half frozen, and so exhausted as to be scarcely able to tell of the condition of his two companions. A res- que party of four or five men was at once start- ed. Roll was met a few rods from the house, making his way on his hands and knees. Shultz was found some two miles farther, almost frozen. Ile lost several toes, and eventually died from this exposure. Roll and Van Camp lived to be old men. In 1802 John, William and Jacob Vastbinder settled on what is now the Ridgway road. near Kirkman post office. In the year 1803 Ludwig Long, a hunter, set- tled on the Ridgway road, two miles from Brookville. lle was father of our great hunters, Mike, John, Dan and William Long. He started the first distillery. At an early dlay he moved to Ohio, leaving his sons here. Jacob Mason and Master John Dixon came in 1802. In 1805 or 1806 John Matson settled where Robert now lives.

The second mill built in the county was at the head of what is now A. Wayne Cook's millpond. It was erected by Moses Knapp in 1800. In the thirties the Matsons and Mc- Culloughs erected mills on the North Fork and Mill creek. These were only mills in name, being the old up-and-down-commonly called thunder-gust- mills. The mill at Bellport was erected in 1830 by Benjamin Bailey. It was carried away in a flood, and then John J. Y. Thompson rebuilt it in 1838.

The pioneer graveyard in the county was located on the property of the late William C. Evans, near the junction of the Ridgway road with the pike. I found this graveyard in my boyhood. and thought they were Indian graves. My mother told me its history. The graves are now lost and the grounds desecrated. The second graveyard in the township was laid ont in 1842, on the late Nathaniel Butler's farm, and is still called Butler's graveyard.

In 1816 Cyrus, Nathaniel and David Butler, and John Lattimer settled on farms near the Barnetts.

The pioneer effort to secure a county road at September term. 1807, of Indiana court is thus recorded : William C. Brady, Thomas Lucas, Samuel Scott, James Mcllenry, Capt. llugh Brady and James Johnston were ap- pointed to lay out a road from Joseph Bar- nett's, on Sandy Lick creek, Jefferson county, to Brady's mill. on the Little Mahoning. In- diana county.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

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The pioneer road was the Indiana and Port Barnett, for the creation of which the petition of a number of citizens of Jefferson county and parts of Indiana county was presented to the Indiana county court at the September term, 1808. The points of the road were from Brady's mill, on Little Mahoning creek, Indi- ana county, to Sandy Lick creek, in Jefferson county (Port Barnett), where the State ( Milesburg and Waterford) road crosses the same. The court appointed as viewers Samuel Lucas. John Jones, Moses Knapp and Samuel Scott, of Jefferson county, and John Park and John Wier, of Indiana county, to view and make a report at the next term. This road was built probably in ISIO.

The early settlers to erect cabins on the Indiana road in Pinecreek township were Joseph Carr in 1817, Manuel Reitz, George Gray and Samuel McQuiston in 1827, John Matthews in 1830, Elijah Clark in 1833. An- drew Hunter and William Wyley in 1834, and Isaac Swineford in 1835. The pioneer school- house in this settlement was built in 1830: the pioneer graveyard was on the McCann farm in 1830.

The pioneer justice of the peace was Thomas Lucas, appointed January 16, 1809. The fines for misdemeanor, etc., shown on his docket are highly typical of the times. In the early days of the county's history the penalty pre- scribed by the laws of the Commonwealth for any offense against any of the statutes was rig- orously enforced, seemingly without regard to the social standing of the offender. Sabbath- breaking, swearing and intoxication seem to have been the sins most vigorously punished by the arm of the law. In an old docket, opened on the 15th day of January, 1810, by Thomas Lucas, the first justice of the peace of Pinecreek township, are the following entries :

"(L. S.) JEFFERSON COUNTY, SS:

"Be it remembered that on the seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight thousand and ten, Gabriel Puntus, of sd county, is convicted before me, Thomas Lucas, Esq., one of the Justices of the Peace in and for sd county, going to and from mill un- necessarily upon the sixth of May instant. being the Lord's day. commonly Coled Sun- day, at the county aforesaid. contrary to the Act of Assembly in Such cases made and pro- vided, and I do adjudj him to forfeit for the same the sum of four dollars.

"Given under my hand the day and year aforesaid. THOMAS LUCAS."

"COMMONWEALTHI US. JOIN DIXON. "(L. S.) JEFFERSON COUNTY, SS:

"Be it remembered that on the 13th day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twelve, John Dixkson, of Pine Creek township, in the county of Jeffer- son, is convicted before me, Thomas Lucas, one of the Justices of the Peace, in and for sd county, of being intoxicated with the drink of spirituous liquors, and for cursing one pro- fane curse, in these words: 'God dam,' that it is to say this Day at Pine Creek township, aforesaid, contrary to the Act of General As- sembly in such cases made and provided, and I do aguge him to forfeit for the same the sun of sixty-seven cents for each offence.

"Given under my hand and seal the day and year afore s'd. THOMAS LUCAS. "Justice's Cost 35 cents; Constable's Cost 31 cents."

Lewis Long is also convicted in 1815 for "having hunted and carried the carcis of one deer on the 23d day of July instant, being the Lord's day, commonly Coled Sunday, up Pine Creek township aforesaid," and sentenced to pay four dollars penalty.

The first entry in this old docket is an action for debt, "Thomas McCartney vs. ' Freedom Stiles, to recover on a promisory note, dated June 20th. 1805, for $4.25."

The next entry is an action of surety of the peace :

"COMMONWEALTH U'S. HENRY VASTBINDER. "Surety of the peace and good behavour on oath of Fudge Van Camp, January 25th, 1810. "Warrant issued January 25th, 1810.

"Fudge Van Camp, principal, tent. in $100. to appear, &c. Samuel Lucas, (bail), tent. in Sioo, to prosicute, &c. referred to Samuel Scott, John Scott. Elijah M. Graham. Peter Jones, and John Matson.

"Justice's Costs .- information 15 cents, Warrant 15 cents, 2 recognizances 40 cents, notice to refferees 15 cents. One Sum. 3 names 19 cents, One Sum. I name 10 cents, Swearing 3 witnesses 56 cents, Five referees 35 cents, Entering rule of renewment 10 cents, Con- stable's Cost $1.96. referees $2.50, Witnesses $1.50.

"We, the refferees within named having heard the parties, the proofs and allegation to wit: We find from the evidence that the run is to be the line between Fudge Van Camp and Henry Vastbinder, from the line of the

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tract of land to the corner of - by the camp, and thence along the old fence to the corner, thence by a direct line the same across the ridge to the run, and each party to enjoy these clearings till after harvest, next, Fudge Van Camp to enjoy the benefit of his sugar camp till the line is run, and John Jones and Moses Knap is for to run the line between the parties, and eavery one of the partis is to move there fence on their own ground, sd Van Camp is to leave sixteen feet and a half in the clear between the stakes of the fences for a lane or outlet between the partis, and each party is to give sureity for there good be- havior unto each other, there goods and chat- tles, for the term of one year and one day from entering of sureity, to be entered amed- itly if it can be had; if not to be had at the present time, bail is to be entered on Tuesday, the sixth day of February, A. D. 1810. The plaintiff 10 pay fifty cents costs, and the de- fendant the remainder of the costs of Sute.

"Witness our hands and seals this second day of february, A. D. 1810.

"SAMUEL SCOTT, (I .. S.) "JOHN SCOTT. (L. S.) "ELIJAH M. GRAHAM, (L. S.) "PETER JONES, (L. S.) "JOHN MATSON, (1 .. S.) "Before me THOMAS LUCAS."

The fines for Sabbath-breaking .* profane swearing and intoxication seem to have been rigidly enforced all through the term of office of Mr. Lucas, as we find numerous entries, in some instances the fines amounting to twelve dollars for one person. Numerous other offenses are entered, the most curious being the indictments of the Commonwealth vs. Fran- ci- Godyear and Mollie Taylor for Poligamy," September 12, 1835.

* Previous to and as late as 1850 it was the rule for millmen, woodsmen, and laboring men generally to stop work every Saturday at noon. The idea was to better prepare for the observance of the Sabbath. As far as my observation reminds me. I can assure you that spiritualizing was practiced freely on these Saturday afternoons.

The carliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Con- stantine in 321 A. D. enacting that all courts of justice and all workshops were to be at rest on Sunday, Charlemagne, in the West, forbade labor of any kind on Sunday. At first the tendency was to observe the Sabbath (Saturday) rather than Sunday. Later the Sabbath and Sunday came to be observed at the same period, but after the time of Constantine the observation of the Sabbath practically ceased. Sunday ob. servance was directed by injunctions of both I. dward VI. and Elizabeth.

In the same old docket is the account of Thomas Lucas's fees on probates on fox, wolf, and wildcats, from February 14, 1832, to June 11, 1838. Among the hunters are the names of William and Michael Long, Adam, Philip, llenry and William Vastbinder, John, Samuel and James Lucas, John and Thomas Callen, Jacob Shaffer, James Linn, Ralph Hill, John Wyncoop, William Dougherty, Frederick Heterick, Nelson T. McQuiston, William lloran and William Douglass. The list em- braces thirty wildcats, forty-eight wolves, seventy-six foxes, and one panther (shot by Thomas Callen). The justice's fee on each probate was twelve and a half cents.

The following were the early settlers up 10 1818: Jacob Mason, Richard Van Camp, Samuel States, John Hice, Henry Lott, Joseph Clements, Charles Sutherland (colored), Rob- ert Dickson, Enos Van Camp (colored), Fred- erick Frants, George Evans, Robert Knox, William Hayns, Israel Stiles, Hulet Smith, John Templeton and Joseph Greenawalt, and perhaps a few more. Fudge Van Camp, who has been previously mentioned, was the pioneer colored settler.

The pioneer school in the county was started here. A description will be found under the chapter on education.

PORT BARNETT

Port Barnett, where the pioneer settlers of Jefferson county founded a home for them- selves, was the property of Joseph Barnett and Samuel Scott. The county records de- scribe the ownership of this property as fol- lows:

"The Port Barnett property containing two hundred and fifty-six acres and one hundred perches. One part conveyed to Samuel Scott by Jeremiah Parker, by deed dated 16th day of -- , 1818, recorded in Indiana County, in Deed Book No. 2, page 727, and by sundry conveyances to Andrew Barnett. Other moiety conveyed to Joseph Barnett by Jere- miah Parker, by deed dated 26th of June, 1821, recorded in Indiana County, in Deed Book No. 4. page 482, and by will of Joseph Bar- nett devised to Andrew Barnett."

As already noted, the first election in the county was held at Port Barnett, and up to 1818 it was the only polling and election pre- cinci in and for the county. At the last elec- tion when the township was still the whole county, held Friday, March 14, 1817. the names of the contestants for office and the votes were as follows: Constable, Elijalı M.

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Graham, twenty-two votes; John Dixon, thir- teen votes ; supervisors, Joseph Barnett, twenty- five votes ; Thomas Lucas, twenty-eight votes ; overseer of the poor, Henry Keys, nine votes; John Matson, six votes; fence appraisers, Moses Knapp, seven votes; William Vast- binder, seven votes; town clerk, Elijah M. Graham, twenty-two votes. Signed and at- tested by the judges, Walter Templeton and Adam Vastbinder.

During the early part of 1814, Franklin county soldiers on the way to Erie for service in the war of 1812 passed through Pinecreek township, resting four days at Port Barnett.

From 1831 to 1842 Andrew Barnett kept a licensed inn at Port Barnett. Jacob Kroh kept the tavern from 1842 until 1843. Isaac Packer kept the log tavern near Peter Baum's from 1834 until 1842. In 1834 there were but two buildings between Port Barnett and Rey- noldsville, Packer's tavern and Hance Vast- binder's house near where Emerickville now is. A. J. Brady kept the hotel at Port Barnett in 1850. The pioneer store was opened by the Barnetts and Samuel Scott, who, in 1826, sold it out to Jared B. Evans, and he, in the fall of 1830, removed it to Jefferson street, Brook- ville, Pennsylvania.

Joseph Carr was township assessor in 1837. Money was scarce then and prices were low. HIotel-keeping was not the money-making business it is now. Settling up time came twice a year, spring and fall, when men got a return from the lumber they ran to Pitos- burgh. Spring was the great settling time. Almost the only drinks then were whisky, brandy and wine. Whisky was three cents a drink, wine four cents, and brandy six and a quarter cents. Single meals were eighteen and three quarters cents, and a night's lodging was twelve and a half cents, sometimes only six and a quarter cents. Drinking was much more common then than it is now. Nearly every man took his drink of whisky or brandy occasionally. "Good" church members had to have their "bitters," even on Sunday. If there was a raising, a grubbing, a wood chop- ping. or harvesting, whisky was always pro- vided. Whisky was pure and cheap. Drink- ing did not affect men so seriously nor so rapidly then as it does now. I am not apolo- gizing in any sense for what the fathers did. but stating facts as I knew them.

In 1818 there were but three sawmills in the country, and nineteen miles of county road. "The only road then in this region was one from Port Barnett, which crossed the Sandy near where Fuller's dam is now built, and thence went on to Indiana. There were four- 27

teen men employed in cutting it out, under the direction of Judge Shippen, of Meadville. The party had a wagon to haul the provisions, which was done by Mr. Kennedy and two men named Halloway and Williamson. No respect was had for the future comfort of the traveler, or the poor horses that had to toil over the road, no digging was done, and it was up one hill and down another. The second road was from Port Barnett to Troy, and was made in the same manner as the other. These roads were made so as to pass the homes of as many settlers as possible. The unseated taxes were sufficient to pay all expenses. The near- est gristmill was run by a man named Parks, and was the Knapp mill. This mill was in what is now Brookville. The bolting was done by hand, and William Kennedy says he often took his turn at this work when waiting for his grist.

In 1820 there were twenty-five sawmills in the county, and one hundred and fifty miles of county road. The early paths of the settlers ran over the steepest part of the hills, and these paths were usually enlarged into roads. These paths and roads were run over the hills by sighting from peak to peak with a compass to keep from being lost in the wild woods.

THE PIONEER SQUARE TIMBER RAFT

In the early days timber tracts could be bought for from twenty-five to fifty cents per acre. Ludwig Long and sons about 1834 ran the first square timber raft. It took them six days to reach the mouth of the creek. Up to the year 1830 our people were unable to run much timber to market in any other way than in boards. A Yankee by the name of Samuel Seeley moved into this county about the year 1830 or 1832 and located at Port Barnett. This man Seeley either invented or intro- duced into this wilderness the idea of rafting timber sticks together with white oak bows and ash pins.

About the year 1834 Long's timber raft was taken out near Port Barnett, hauled to the creek, and rafted in. It was three platforms long. The timber sticks were of uniform length, which left no stiffness in the structure. The oar-blades and stem. as was the custom then, were hewed out of a good-sized pine tree in one body. The cables were hickory, and the halyards wild grapevine. The pilot stood on the front end of the raft, and steered from there. The timber was marketed at Pittsburgh.

"Although more or less of the lumber has from the origin of the business until now been

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

annually exported, the trade in square timber and spars was not until 1842 considered re- munerative. Prior to that it was carried on from necessity. It was important to clear the land that bread might be raised and popula- tion supported, and, whilst the growing trees were considered of little or no value, our citi- zens were satisfied if the pittance they then received for their timber would pay them for the labor of cutting and exporting.

"During all the early years of the settle- ment, varied with occasional pleasure and ex- citements, the great work of increasing the tillable ground went slowly on. The imple- ments and tools were few and of the most primitive kinds, but the soil that had long held in reserve the 'accumulated richness of cen- turies produced splendid harvests, and the husbandman was well rewarded for his labor. The soil was warmer then than now, and the seasons earlier. The wheat was occasionally pastured in the spring to keep it from growing up so early and so fast as to become lodged. The harvest came early, and the yield was often from twenty to thirty bushels per acre. Corn grew fast, and roasting ears were to be had by the 10th of August in most seasons."

The lumbering operations in Pinecreek

township, then conducted by the Humphreys, ceased on April 5, 1905. Humphrey Brothers drilled the pioneer gas well at Port Barnett June 30, 1900. Their clay or brick plant at Port Barnett was established in 1902.

The village of Emerickville is the only other town in Pinecreek township.

PRESENT TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS

On November 2, 1915, the following officials were elected: Justice of the peace, S. T. Stormer : school directors, Jeremiah Wolfe. R. O. Markle and Mr. Mohney ; constable. John S. Dinger ; supervisor, Bert Milliron.

COUNTY HOME

The present Jefferson County Home was built in 1900 and finished in 1901, the first inmate being received in August of that year. The present superintendent, S. L. Stewart, formerly of Perry township, assumed his duties January 6, 1916. The farm contains two hundred and forty acres of good land, with a number of large buildings, there being accommodation for two hundred inmates. Dr. II. P. Thompson is the physician at the Home.

CHAPTER XXIII PERRY TOWNSHIP

ORGANIZATION AND POPULATION-JOHN BELL-OTHER EARLY SETTLERS - FIRST ELECTIONS - PRESENT OFFICIALS-TOWNS

Formed in 1817, Perry township was taken from Pinecreek, and as originally organized was bounded on the north by Pinecreek town- ship, on the west by the Armstrong county line, on the south by the Indiana line, and on the cast by the Clearfield county line. It was so named in honor of Commodore Oliver Haz- zard Perry.

EARLY TAX LISTS

The pioneers in Perry township according to the assessment of 1818 were: Jesse Arm- strong. John Bell, Esq., James W. Bell (single man), Joseph Bell ( single man), John Bell ( single man ), Elijah Dykes, Benjamin Dykes, Archibald Hadden, Jacob lloover, David Hamilton, Elizabeth Mellenry, James Hamil-

ton ( single man), Adam Long, Michael Lantz, Henry Lott, Stephen Lewis, Isaac Lewis, Jacob Lane, James McClelland, David Mill- iron, Hugh McKee, James Hutchison, John Postlethwait. David Postlethwait (single man), Porter Reed, John Piper, James Mc- Kee. Thomas Page, Samuel States, James Stewart, John Stewart, James Wachob.

In 1820 the list was as follows: Jesse Arm- strong, James Brady, Jr., John Bell, Esq., James Bell (single man), Joseph Bell (single man). John Bell (single man), Asa Crossman, Sr., Asa Crossman, Jr., Joseph Crossman. Elisha Dikes, Benjamin Dikes, Nathaniel Fos- ter, Charles C. Gaskill, David Hamilton, James Hamilton, Archibald Hadden, Jacob Hoover ( sawmill), Elijah Heath, John Hoover. James Hutchinson, James Irven, Dr. John W.

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Jenks, Stephen Lewis, Isaac Lewis, Michael Lantz, Jacob Lantz ( single man), Adam Long, James McClelland, Elizabeth McHenry, John McDonald, David Milliron, John Milliron, Hugh McKee, James McKee, John Newcome, John Postlethwait, David Postlethwait (single man), John Pifer, Thomas Payne, Peter Reed, Samuel Stokes, William Smith, James Stewart, John Stewart, Jacob Smith, William Thomp- son, James Wachob, John Young.

POPULATION

The population in 1820 was 205; 1840, 1,076; 1850, 1,738; 1860, 1,073; 1870, 1,222; 1880, 1,293; 1890, 1,228; 1900, 1,545; 1910, 1,711.

JOIIN BELL

The pioneer settler in what is now Perry township was John Bell, who erected his cabin there in 1809. His nearest neighbor was nine miles distant, in Indiana county, and the Bar- netts were the nearest on the north side. Bell came from Indiana town. He died on the 19th of May, 1855, in his eighty-sixth year, having been born January 28, 1770, in Virginia. He was an intelligent, industrious farmer, a jus- tice of the peace, appointed in 1818 by Gover- nor Findlay, and held this office for twenty- five years by appointment or election. Once, while on his way home from Port Barnett, he observed an Indian taking aim at him with his rifle from behind a tree. Mr. Bell said in his lifetime, "That Indian was never seen afterwards." John Bell was an infant when his father moved to Cumberland county, in this State, and soon after to Sewickley settle- ment, Westmoreland county, where his family grew to manhood. He married there, and about the year 1800 moved to the vicinity of where Indiana now stands. He was the first constable elected in Indiana county after its formation in 1806, but in 1809, with the rest- less spirit which belongs to the American character, he penetrated still further into the wilderness. and in May of that year settled upon the farm where he died, about one mile north of Big Mahoning creek. This was the first improvement north of that creek in Jef- ferson county. For many miles around him the country was a wilderness without a hu- man habitation. until 1812 his nearest neighbor lived nine miles distant, and the only road in that part of the country was not within four miles. In that year Archibald Hadden settled and began a clearing within one mile of his solitary home. As may be inferred, the silence

of the wilderness was as often broken by the crack of Squire Bell's rifle as by the strokes of his ax. In those days clearing land and hunting game were employments which claimed an equal share of the pioneer's attentions. In- deed, for a long time after he settled there, the rifle was almost his only means of subsistence, for the heavy and thickly grown timber of that region was not easily cleared away. And thus in the simple but rugged employments of the forest life passed many of his years. Of his hunting exploits no better idea can be given than to state that during his residence in Jefferson county he killed two panthers, nine- ty-three wolves, three hundred and six bears and over eight hundred deer. Incredible as this statement may appear to the degenerate hunters of the present day, none who knew John Bell will doubt its truth ; for it was taken from his lips by a gentleman whose taste for hunting and whose care and industry as a col- lector of statistics are well known. But he was not a hunter merely, for in addition to his labors on his farm he fulfilled all the duties of a citizen. In 1818 Governor Findlay ap- pointed him justice of the peace, an office which he held for twenty-five years with credit and usefulness.

John Bell was a representative of the early American character as developed in pioneer life, but he was more a type of its virtues than of its faults. Brave and enterprising, he avoided neither exposure nor fatigue and cheerfully underwent labors from which most men would shrink, and he was too familiar with the dangers of forest life to know fear. But his most striking characteristics were love for truth and sterling honesty, displayed alike in his own business and in his intercourse with others. The common fault of professing what we do not feel, he did not possess. He called no man friend whom he did not respect; for his sturdy independence of character disdained to conceal any opinions he might have of others, either from themselves or from the world. But for those who possessed his friendship, no personal inconvenience or sacri- fice was too great. For twenty-five years his hospitable home was the resting place of the Indiana bar in their periodical pilgrimages to Brookville.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I, Part 79

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 650

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 650