USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 60
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Rockdale is a rural township and contains no boroughs nor villages. Miller's Station, on the western bank of French Creek, is the most important settlement. It is a station on the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad, and contains an hotel, postoffice, stores, church and a number of residences.
Brown Hill Postoffice, established about 1867, is situated in the eastern part of the township. The hamlet contains a store, a school and several dwellings, while numerous farm houses are in the near vicinity.
The first, and for many years the only, church in the township was the Baptist congregation, organized by George Miller in 1812. Meetings were held in various cabins, until in 1820 a frame structure was erected at Miller's Station. George Miller officiated as pastor for many years and was succeeded by Amos Williams. In the course of a few years the membership centered further south, and a meeting house was built at Cam- bridge, for the greater convenience of the members. The services at Miller's Station were abandoned later on, and the home of the society passed beyond the limits of Rockdale Township.
Brown Hill Baptist Church was erected in the southeastern part in 1874. A United Brethren Church was organized at Brown Hill in 1800, and after meeting in the schoolhouse for some time they purchased a half interest in the Baptist Church. For several years services were held by the Free Will Bap- tists in the northern part of the township, in the Macky Hill schoolhouse. Rev. Lansing McIntire organized a class of the United Brethren persuasion in 1876, which held meetings in the Kelley schoolhouse, in the southeastern part. . \ Methodist society was organized in 1881 by Rev. J. F. Perry, and during the same year a commodious frame church was erected in the southern part of Rockdale, at a cost of about $1,800.
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A union or undenominational church was erected at Miller's Station in 1880, which has been used in common by several denominations.
A branch of the United Brethren Church erected a frame meeting house in 1881, on the east side of French Creek, at a cost of $900. The congrega- tion was organized a short time before the building of the church, Rev. David Smock being the first pastor.
CHAPTER XIX.
ROME TOWNSHIP.
R OME TOWNSHIP lies upon the center of the eastern border of the county, and contains 24,565 acres of land, being one of the largest in the county. Its territory formed a part of Oil Creek Township when the first division was made in 1800, and in 1811, when Bloomfield was formed, it included the northern half of what is now Rome. In 1829 Rome Township was organized, having on its north Sparta, on its east Warren County, on its south Oil Creek Township and on its west Steuben and Athens. The township was settled by a colony of Irish Catholics, who, prompted by their religious faith, named it after the "Eternal City," and the name of Rome was confirmed by the courts when the township was organized.
It is abundantly watered by Oil Creek and its numerous tributaries, the principal of which are McLaughlin's Creek and Thompson's Run. The main stream traverses the western portion, while the above named tributaries flow through the central and eastern parts, all having a general southerly direction. The surface is generally rolling, with little low or marshy land, and the soil is productive. The whole extent of the township was heavily timbered, oak and chestnut prevailing in the central and eastern portions, with cherry, beech and maple in the valleys, and hemlock in every part. Large quantities of pine were found in the northern and western parts, sometimes interspersed among the other varieties. Large tracts of timber still exist in the sparsely settled parts of Rome, and the lumber industry is an important one, several saw mills being in operation. Along the streams the soil is sandy, becoming clayey in the more elevated sections, with sandstone outcropping in places. The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad passes through the western end of the township.
Like most of the land in the eastern part of Crawford County, Rome Township was settled at a comparatively late date, although it was com- menced here earlier than in some of the surrounding townships. The northern portion formed part of the Eighth Donation District, and most of the southern
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part belonged to the Holland Land Company. Under its auspices settlement: were made in the central portion before the opening of this century, but in the other parts it was delayed for a long period, as in 1815 only eight of the thirty tracts composing the township had been settled upon. At that date many of the unsold tracts were disposed of to land speculators and non-residents, and by 1820 the length and breadth of the township was dotted with clearings and log cabins.
Patrick Brannon, Patrick McGee, Daniel McBride, James Lafferty and James Mclaughlin formed a colony of Irish emigrants, which, in 1795, left County Donegal, Ireland, and settled in Northumberland County, on the banks of the Susquehanna. There they remained for three years, and in 1798 came to Pittsburg. In the autumn of the following year they ascended the Allegheny River and Oil Creek to the present location of Rome Township, and having selected their future homes on Holland Land Company tracts, they made con- tracts for their settlement with the agent of the company. They cleared off little patches of land, built cabins to serve as a temporary shelter, and then returned to Pittsburg to pass the winter. In the following April they set out with their families for the homes they had selected in the wilderness, taking with them their scanty household goods. Here they settled within short dis- tances of one another and faithfully began the work of clearing away the forest and tilling the soil, until they had transformed their patches of forest into productive and valuable farms, which are still possessed by their descendants. Patrick Brannon was the leader of the colony, and was of considerable educa- tion and intelligence. He had been educated for the priesthood, but had not embraced the profession for which he had been destined. He settled about two miles east of Centerville, where he remained until death, and where he is still represented by numerous descendants. Patrick McGee settled a little south of him, and spent his life on his farm, leaving a numerous posterity. James Lafferty built his cabin south of and near that of McGee. Daniel MeBride settled on the present site of Centerville. James McLaughlin located about three miles southeast of McBride and lived to a good old age on the farm which he first settled. All of these early settlers were Roman Catholics, all re- mained lifelong citizens of the township, and are to-day represented by many children of the second and third generation, who have reason to be proud of their sturdy ancestors, who left their oppressed motherland to become re- spected citizens of the American Republic.
The newly commenced Irish settlement in Rome was reinforced in 1800 by Robert Coil, who came from Pittsburg up the valley of the Allegheny. Ile also was a native of Ireland, and made a clearing and built a cabin near the farm of James McLaughlin, with whom he boarded while making his im- provements. He brought his family to his new home in 1801, and remained throughout life clearing and cultivating his extensive farm. He became in-
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volved in a lawsuit with the Holland Land Company, but succeeded in defend- ing his title to his land. He also was a Catholic, and left a large family. Of his three sons, Hugh became a member of a Baptist Church, John became a Methodist minister, while Patrick remained true to the faith of his ancestors.
Daniel Carlin came from Ireland and in ISO1 settled in what is now the northwest corner of Oil Creek Township. A few years later he removed to Rome and took up land directly south of Centerville. He lost his way in the woods one cold winter day and was frozen in the snow. He left two sons, John and Daniel, and four daughters. Robert Conn came early in the century, but did not remain. During the early days the infant settlement received but few accessions. Several who came remained but a short time and then de- parted. In 1830, when the first tax duplicate of the county was made, there were about seventy-five names, including the settlers above mentioned and many of their descendants. Among the others were Daniel Bement, a New Englander, who followed the trade of a tanner a little south of Centerville: Rev. Amos Chase, a well known pioneer Presbyterian divine, who dwelt just south of the borough: David Winton, who operated a saw mill near him ; Cornelius Cummings, a carpenter, and Daniel Rogers, a native of Ireland and one of the earliest settlers.
An English settlement was commenced in the central part of the town- ship in 1833 by Benjamin Harrison, Sr., who came from Northumberland County, England, and settled with his family in Rome Township. The eastern part of the township was still a vast wilderness, and many years passed before its solitudes were disturbed. David Winton built a saw and grist mill on Oil Creek, about 1815, just south of Centerville, which was the first in the township. James and David Tryon came from Litchfield, Conn., and built a fulling and carding mill near the same locality. This they operated for about fifteen years, then removing further down the stream into what is now Steuben Township. Patrick Coyle had a carding mill on Oil Creek about 1825 which lie operated during twenty years.
The first school was held in a little cabin which stood on the McGee farm, where reading, writing and ciphering were taught to the children of the set- tlers. Patrick Brannon was the first schoolmaster, and the liberal education he had received in Ireland well qualified him to fill the position. Dennis Car- rol, an old soldier of the Revolution, was another early instructor in Rome Township. When the system of common schools was introduced in 1836 Rome had three schools, employing three teachers and attended by one hundred scholars. They were kept open but two and one-half months during the year. The qualifications and character of the teachers were reported as being good. and the progress of the pupils in reading, writing and arithmetic as being "reasonably good."
In 1896 a wonderful advancement had been made. Twelve schools were
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in operation during seven months of the year, and two hundred and sixty- two pupils were in attendance. The average cost to the township for each pupil per month was $1.52. More than $3,500 was raised and expended during the year for purposes of education.
Aside from the borough of Centerville there are no villages in Rome Township. Buell Postoffice is in the northeast corner and Vrooman Postoffice in the southeast. In the northwestern part of the township is a United Brethren Church, of which Frederick Lyons, Lyman Phillips and Manning Childs were prominent early members. In the southern part the Hemlock Baptist Church was erected, largely through the contributions of Isaiah Rowe. In the central part of the township a Covenanter Church was founded in 1860, the leading members at that time being the Harrisons, the Stewarts, Jacob Boggs, Henry Wright and John Edmunds. The Church of the Immaculate Conception was organized in 1822, with twenty-five members, at Magee- town, two miles east of Centerville. It was composed of the colony of Irish settlers, who have been mentioned, and their families, almost all of whom were devoted adherents of the Catholic Church. It is to their religious feel- ing that the township is indebted for its name. Priests from Pittsburg and other points officiated for many years, and later on Rev. Peter Sheridan be- came the first resident priest. During his pastorate a house of worship was erected at a cost of $1,200 on a lot donated by Francis Magee.
BOROUGII OF CENTERVILLE.
The borough of Centerville occupies the site of one of the oldest settle- ments in Crawford County. Daniel McBride was the first to erect a dwell- ing there, constructing a little tent of poles and brush, and clearing a small patch of ground. The next year he built a log cabin, and from that time he labored zealously at the work of clearing and cultivating a large farin. He built an addition to his house, and before the War of 1812 opened it to the public for the entertainment of guests. Charles Peck, to whom he afterward sold the farm, continued the business of inn-keeping. The second perma- nent settler was Nathan Winton, who came from Connecticut with his family and settled on land in the eastern part of the borough. He built a sawmill which was operated many years. The first store was opened in 1820 by Mr. Merrick. David Winton erected a grist mill in 1813 at the confluence of the two branches of Oil Creek, and this was patronized by the farmers for many miles around, making Centerville the trading point of the community. Joseph Patton settled at an early date and was a justice of the peace. Settlers came in rapidly during the years from 1820 to 1840, many from New England, and the village had a steady growth.
Centerville was incorporated as a borough in 1865. A petition for its incorporation having been filed in the Court of Quarter Sessions, and a favor-
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able report by the grand jury having been given, it was confirmed by the court. George W. Rockwell was the first Burgess, A. P. Waid, James Clark, L. B. Main, O. F. Himes and T. L. Noble composed the first council. There are several stores, shops and markets, while several mills and factories are among its industries. It is a shipping point of some note, and annually ex- ports large quantities of hay, wood, lumber and produce.
Centerville contains two schools, which are in session eight months of each year. In 1896 eighty-one scholars were in attendance, and about $830 was expended for ordinary school purposes. In 1872 a substantial frame building was erected at a cost of $3.500.
The Presbyterian Church of Centerville was organized about 1815 by Rev. Amos Chase, who served as supply until 1827. and then officiated as regular minister until 1830. They erected a frame church in the village near the site of the Congregational Church. The congregation diminished in numbers and finally services were abandoned. Elder Davenport, Lorin Wood and Charles Peck were prominent among the early members of the society.
The Centerville Congregational Church was organized in 1841 in the Presbyterian Church building, by Rev. Lucius Parker, who became the first pastor. It had eighteen original members, among whom were the Phillips, Woods, Tryons, Taylors, Sextons and Scotts. After an existence of sev- eral years the services came to an end. In 1859 it was reorganized with thirty-eight members through the exertions of Rev. U. T. Chamberlain, who remained as its pastor until 1865. Meetings were held in the old structure of the Presbyterian Church until 1869, when a handsome frame house of worship was built at a cost of $4,000.
A Methodist society flourished at Centerville about 1830, meeting at the schoolhouse and in the houses of the members. It was a small society and existed only a few years. A class was organized in 1863, of which Johnson Merrill and wife, Samuel Winton and wife, Samuel Post and John Buell were early members. The meetings were held in the Presbyterian and Congrega- tional churches for several years, but in 1875 a large frame building was erected at a cost of $2,500.
The First Baptist Church of Centerville was organized in 1862 by Elder Cyrus Shreve. The seven original members were Franklin Weatherbee and wife Melissa, D. B. Weatherbee and wife, Freeman Bradford and wife, and Penila Chapman. The first meetings were held in the house of Franklin Weatherbee and sometimes in the Congregational Church, until in 1875 a Baptist Church was built, which cost about $1,600.
CHAPTER XX.
SADSBURY TOWNSHIP.
S ADSBURY TOWNSHIP was established by the Court of Quarter Sessions in 1800, and included within its somewhat indefinite boun- daries parts of what are now Vernon, Hayfield, Summit, Sadsbury and Summerhill. Upon the erection of the new townships in 1829 Sadsbury was reduced to about its present territory, including also the southern por- tion of Summit. The residents of Harmonsburgh and vicinity found it in- convenient to go to Evansburgh for elections, so for their convenience Summit Township was formed in 1840, thus reducing Sadsbury to its present limits. The township now contains (2,770 acres, the territory which forms it having been, before [829, apportioned between the four townships of Conneaut, Fallowfield, Sadsbury and Shenango. The Beaver and Erie Canal passed north and south through the western part, and the feeder crossed the town- ship east and west. The Meadville and Linesville Railway, now a part of the Pittsburg, Bessemer and Lake Erie system, crosses the township in a northwest and southeast direction, and the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad enters it by a curve in the southern part. A branch from the Meadville and Linesville track connects the system with Exposition Park, one of the popular summer resorts of Conneaut Lake.
Sadsbury is an interior township, lying southwest of the center. It is bounded on the north by Summit, on the east by Vernon and Greenwood, on the south by the Fallowfields, and on the west by West Fallowfield, North Shenango and Pine. The surface of the township is level, gently undulating in parts, and its rich alluvial soil, becoming clayey in the higher portions, is well adapted for grain raising. The soil is watered by numerous small springs, Conneaut Outlet being the only stream of any size. The timber. which has mostly disappeared, consisted of beech, oak, pine, chestnut and maple.
Conneaut Lake is a beautiful sheet of water about three miles in length and one mile in breadth. It covers an area of 1,200 acres, and its depth varies from a few feet in its shallow portion to one hundred in some of the deepest parts, but its average depth would fall far short of the latter figure. The water is of remarkable clearness, being fed almost entirely by springs under its surface. It received its name from the Indian word "Kon-ne-yaut," meaning "Snow Place," the name by which they designated it on account of the fact that the snow remained frozen on the ice of the lake long after it
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liad melted from the surrounding land. It is nearly oval in shape, and lies almost wholly in Sadsbury Township, the northern point projecting into Summit. It is the largest lake in Pennsylvania, is about five hundred feet above the level of Lake Erie. abounds in fish, and is much frequented by sportsmen for the wild game which alights upon its waters. When the Beaver and Erie Canal was constructed Conneaut Lake was utilized as a reservoir, and continued in use until the abandonment of the canal. At that time the surface of the lake was raised about ten feet by building a dam across the outlet, but when the canal was abandoned the dam was torn away and the waters receded to their original level.
During the summer season Conneaut Lake is a pleasure resort of great popularity. Cottages have been built along the shores and summer hotels with accompanying attractions provided; Conneaut Lake, Oakland Beach, Conneaut Lake Park, Midway and Exposition Park being the best known points. Hotels and other accommodations for picnickers, pleasure parties and campers are amply provided, and nothing is wanting to help while away a few happy hours. Numerous steamboats ply between the various points, while row and sail boats supply an additional source of amusement.
The Iroquois Boating and Fishing Association is composed of sixty gentlemen from Meadville, Pittsburg, Franklin and other points, who have erected a club house on the banks of Conneaut Lake, about one-half mile north of Evansburgh. Their handsome house, with its broad verandas and spacious quarters, furnishes an ideal place for rest and recreation, and the hours of repose from the cares of business and professional life are spent here in hunting, boating and fishing. By their efforts measures have been taken to protect the fish from illegal catching, and preserve them from ex- termination.
Sadsbury Township was settled at a very early date, as it attracted some of the foremost pioneers, and most of its territory had been entered before the land companies were in the field. Two tracts in the northeast corner belonged to the Holland Land Company, the Pennsylvania Popula- tion Company owned four in the northwest corner, and the remainder was located and settled by individuals. In 1800 S. B. and A. W. Foster, of Meadville, bought the land of the Holland Company in the northeast corner and made a settlement upon it. Joseph Allen, Daniel Williams, Samuel Williamson and Matthew Williamson purchased tracts of the Pennsylvania Population Company in 1797, and settled upon them and remained for years. Samuel Williamson, who came from the southern part of the State, owned and operated a distillery. Dennis Hughes, a native of Ireland, came from New Jersey in 1802 and settled in the northwestern part of the township.
One of the foremost pioneers of Sadsbury Township was Abner Evans, for whom the village of Evansburgh was named and who was probably here
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as early as 1796. He built the first inill in the township on Conneaut Outlet, but the fall was not sufficient to afford it great power and it was not a com- plete success. In 1797, or perhaps earlier, John Harper came to Sadsbury and settled just east of the lake. Luke Stevens, an Englishman, settled about a mile south of Evansburgh, where he remained until death. William Shot- well settled near Evansburgh and remained a lifelong resident of the township. William Campbell made his home in the western part of the township, where he operated a distillery.
During the first years of the century many settlers came in and occupied land in various parts of the township. Jacob Shontz came in 1800 and settled on a tract near Evansburgh. His descendants still reside in the township. Jacob Stewart, an Irishman, was a justice of the peace in Evansburgh, after- ward removing to West Fallowfield. Negro Dick, a peaceable old colored man, roved about from place to place, selling straw baskets and bee-hives. Charles Frew, who lived about three miles west of the lake, was a plow- inaker and afterward removed to Pittsburg. David Garner settled in the northern part of the township, just west of the lake, and spent his life in farming. John Jones occupied land in the same locality. Samuel Lewis, a half brother of Garner, followed the trade of a blacksmith for several years, afterward moving to Illinois. James McEntire, Sr., died in 1800, and his is said to have been the first death in the township. A rough coffin was made from planks brought from Powers' sawmill and he was buried near where the Soldiers' Monument at Evansburgh now stands.
John Quigley, a native of Ireland, settled east of the lake and remained a lifelong resident. Henry Royer, a German, cultivated a farm near Evans- burgh throughout his life. George Shellito, an Irishman, settled about three miles west of Evansburgh, where his descendants still live. Richard Coulter, Joseph Marshall and John Williams were also early settlers. Daniel Miller, a German, came with his family and settled on a tract patented in the name of his son Michael, before 1800. It was situated about a mile south of Evansburgh. Joseph T. Cummings built a distillery on Conneaut Outlet, and the business was carried on after his death by a Mr. Sutleff and others. Another still was operated by David Steward, about two and one-half miles west of Evansburgh.
James McEntire was probably the first school teacher in the township. He settled west of the lake in 1800 and two years later removed to East Fal- lowfield. He taught a term at Daniel Miller's cabin in 1805 .. receiving a compensation of $10 per month. Several of those who attended this school went the next year on Burr's expedition, John Gelvin among the others, and several of his pupils served in the War of 1812. He. had a wide reputation as a teacher and held school in Sadsbury and adjoining townships from 1802 to 1827, the year of the four-foot snow. William McMichael, a Pres-
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byterian minister. Mr. Higgins, Robert McEntire and Mr. Plum may be mentioned among the early school teachers of the township.
Seven schools were in operation in 1836, during a school year of four and a half months. They were presided over by twelve teachers, and three hundred and sixty-three scholars were in attendance. The character and qualifications of the teachers were described as good. the branches taught being reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, natural philosophy and book- keeping. Since this report the township has been reduced in area and the borough of Conneaut Lake taken from it. In 1896 the number of schools taught was seven, kept open during seven months of the year, and attended by one hundred and sixty-three pupils. More than two thousand dollars were expended during the year for the support of the schools.
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