USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 62
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woods, by Andrew and Aaron Aikin, who came from Erie County soon after 1830. They followed the milling business for some time, then disposed of it. since which time it has passed through many hands. The Aikin brothers then started a store, as the location of the mill here had made the place a sort of center for the neighboring farmers. They were followed in the mercantile business by Eli D. Catlin, who also operated an ashery for several years, and acquired possession of most of the land in the borough west of the creek. It was he who surveyed and laid out the village. Jothamn Blakeslee was the first village blacksmith. Smallman and Mc Williams built a carding and fulling mill on the creek in 1849, which they afterward sold to Harvey Lamb. The latter, in 1862, enlarged the building and converted it into a well fitted woolen mill. Several small industries were commenced which have since ceased to exist, William Basset having a chair factory, John McWilliams a tannery and Chauncey Aikin a small bowl factory.
The village, which in the early days was called Akinsville, has had a slow but steady growth. Upon the establishment of a postoffice there its name was changed to Spartansburgh, under which title it was incorporated. A fire broke out in the central portion of the village in March, 1878, which swept up both sides of Main Street, burning about thirty buildings, including all the business portion of the village. But the town soon recovered from the destructive effects of this conflagration, and finer and larger structures sprang up in the place of those which had been burned. It is the chief trading and business point for the people of Sparta Township, and is well provided with stores, markets, shops and various industries. It is located on the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad as well as on Oil Creek, and as much of the surrounding country has not yet been cleared of timber, lumbering is an important industry, and numerous saw mills are engaged in converting the primeval forests into sawed timber.
Four schools are maintained for the education of the youth of Spartans- burgh, with a school year eight months in length. The number of pupils in attendance in 1896 was one hundred and sixteen, at an average monthly cost to the borough for each pupil of $1.06. About $1.700 was required during the year for the support of these schools.
The First Baptist Church of Spartansburgh was formed in 1849. It originated in the Bloomfield Baptist Church, which was organized in 1820 by Rev. James Williams. A large portion of its membership was from Erie County, and in 1823 the meetings were transferred to Concord Township, of that county. The society conducted services just across the line, two and one half miles north of Spartansburgh, until about 1849. when the Spartansburgh congregation was formed by the removal of the Concord society to thiat borough. A. J. Millard and wife, A Matteson, Joseph Cook and wife, Isaac
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Shreve and wife and Benjamin Darrow and wife were the leading members. In 1851 a commodious frame church edifice was built.
The Spartansburgh Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by Rev. I. H. Tackett about 1827. Zebulon Miller, Abner Miller, James Miller, Orrin Miller, Corey Goldin, Green Alsdurf and wife and Robert Goldin were prom- inent among the early members. The first meetings were held in a schoolhouse west of the village. then in the borough schoolhouse, and afterward in the Presbyterian Church. In 1877 a church was erected east of the creek at a cost of $2,600, and since its completion the membership has increased largely.
The Presbyterian Church of Sparta was organized in 1844 by Revs. George W. Hampson and Amos Chase. It had a good membership at that time, and meetings were held in the old schoolhouse until the large frame church was erected on Main Street. The church did not have an installed pastor, but was dedicated in 1849 by Rev. George W. Hampson. Supplies followed for a period of eighteen years, after which the regular services were discontinued.
A Congregational Church was organized in 1875 with twenty-six mem- bers, and for some time services were held in the Presbyterian Church. J. T. Waid, W. W. Youngson and William Major were the first elders. The pul- pit was filled by supplies during several years, but regular services were finally given up.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SPRING TOWNSHIP.
S PRING TOWNSHIP lies on the northern border of the county, west of the center, and is one of the largest, most important and earliest set- tled of the townships of Crawford. The first settlement was made in 1795 by Alexander Power, on land then included in Beaver Township, and during the succeeding years a steady stream of immigration flowed in. In 1829 the township was laid out, the western part being taken from Beaver and the eastern part from Cussawago. The name of Snowhill was given to the newly formed township, but the citizens, displeased with this seemingly dreary title, petitioned the judge of the court to change it to one more genial and prepossessing. He accordingly reconsidered it and gave to the newly organized township the name of Spring.
The territory composing Spring Township forms almost a perfect square. being about seven miles each way, and contains upward of twenty-six thou-
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sand acres. It is drained in the western part by Conneaut Creek, which flows northwardly into Lake Erie, and in the eastern portion by the headwaters of Little Cussawago Creek, flowing eastwardly into Cussawago Township. The soil is of good quality and is well and profitably cultivated, while grazing re- ceives considerable attention. The Erie and Pittsburg Railroad and the Pittsburg, Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad extend north and south through the western part, while the old Beaver and Erie Canal followed the course of Conneaut Creek through the township. It includes within its limits two important boroughs, Conneautville and Springboro, and the postoffices of Shadeland, Hickernell and Rundells. Erie County forms the northern boun- dary, with Cussawago Township on the east, Summerhill on the south and Beaver on the west. In the northern and western portions most of the land was patented by individuals, while the remainder of the township. with the exception of the six Holland Land Company sections in the south- eastern part, belonged to the Pennsylvania Population Company.
Several tracts of land near Conneautville were located by William and Alexander Power in 1794 and 1795, while the latter was engaged in sur- veying the land of the Pennsylvania Population Company. He afterward returned to his home in Perry County, but came back to Spring Township in 1804 and became the founder of Conneautville. Samuel Fisher came with his family from Cumberland County in 1797, and settled on land about a mile north of Conneautville, where he remained throughout life. His son, Thomas Fisher, was a major in the militia and served three months at Erie during the second war with England, and was the first justice of the peace in what is now Spring Township. James Orr was another pioneer, who settled at an early date on the land upon which a part of Springboro now stands. He remained a few years and then left the vicinity. Christopher Ford settled north of him in 1798, where he raised a large family.
The Pennsylvania Population Company had contracted for the settlement of much of its land before 1798, and a large number of settlers had then come into the township at or before that date. There was an interminable train of disputes, discussions and lawsuits between the pioneers and the land com- pany. Many who had entered into contract with them to settle this land were made to believe that the title of the company was not good, and hence abandoned the contracts and attempted to hold their farms by virtue of their settlement and improvement. Others settled on tracts without having made any contracts for them, supposing that under the land laws they could hold them by reason of residence and improvements made. In both cases the settlers had the worst of it, lengthy litigation in the courts proving that the land company possessed a just title and that the irregular settlers had en- tered upon the land unlawfully.
The Holland Land Company's land in the eastern part of the township
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had received a fair sprinkling of settlers before 1800. Samuel Patterson, Joseph Stanford. John Summers, Andrew Parker and Joseph Baker were the first to arrive. Many emigrants had located on the individual tracts before the close of the century, among theni a considerable colony from Ire- land. During the first fifteen years of the present century but little increase was perceptible in the population of the township, and the work of improve- ment was almost wholly confined to the clearing of the land and the substitution of hewed log houses for the rough huts at first constructed. About 1816 a stream of immigration set in from the East, and ten years later the township was thoroughly settled in every part. Among the first of these were the Bowmans, Halls, Powells, Wells, Sturtevants. Woodards, Temples, Hotch- kisses. Woods, Sheldons, Hurds, Ponds, Baldwins, Mylers, Wetmores, Greens. Jenks, Bolards and Thomases. Some of these purchased farms which had already been settled upon and partially improved, while the others took up claims in the unsettled districts and went through the toils and privations attendant upon clearing a farm in the wilderness.
Game abounded at this time and hunting was a favorite pastime of the pioneers. George Foster was one of the most successful deer slayers of the time, once killing eight in the course of one day's hunt. Two tragic accidents befell members of the Foster family early in the century. In 1805 John Foster was engaged in building a new house, about a mile from the location of his old cabin. At noon his wife sent their little boy, about four years old, to call his father to dinner, but the boy not reaching his destination, Mr. Foster, after continuing his work for some time, started home alone. Upon reaching the cabin unaccompanied by the child, his wife informed him that he had been sent to call his father. and an anxious search for the boy was at once commenced. The neighbors turned out on all sides and searched the woods far and near. but without finding a trace of the missing child. His fate was never discovered, but among the conjectures as to his disappearance the most probable is that he was picked up and carried off by a straggling band of Indians. In 1830 Robert Foster. another son of John Foster, and brother of the lost child, went hunting on a cold winter's day, and did not return in the evening as expected. It had turned bitter cold and a heavy snow storm had set in, and after waiting for him some time the family be- came alarmed and instituted a search. Two hundred men turned out and traversed the forest in every direction, and on the third day his body was found within eighty rods of the house. It was supposed that, overcome by bewilderment and fatigue while wandering circuitously through the blinding storm, he had fallen, exl.austed, and frozen to death.
The provisions of the early settlers, such as flour, salt and meal, were usually brought from Pittsburg. They conveyed them up the river to Mead- ville in flat boats, pushed along by poles, and thence upon their backs over-
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land, a distance of sixteen miles, through the woods, being guided by the blazed trees. Foot paths were the only roads through this wilderness at that time. Numerous varieties of game abounded here, and formed an import- ant item on their bill of fare. Black salts was the chief article of commerce, being the only product which commanded ready money. They made consid- erable maple sugar, and traded what they did not require for other necessi- ties, sometimes, it is said, exchanging it for fresh fish, pound for pound. Money was so scarce an article that many walked barefoot to Meadville to attend the general training, rather than subject themselves to a fine of fifty cents.
Alexander Power erected a grist mill on Conneaut Creek in 1799, the first in the township. It proved a great convenience to the settlers in the vicinity, and was replaced in 1805 by a double geared mill, built of hewed logs and having a shingle roof. Samuel Fisher built a mill on Conneaut Creek in 1801, about a mile north of Conneautville. It was both a saw and grist mill, and when built was one of the best mills in northwestern Pennsyl- vania, doing most of the grinding for northwestern Crawford and south- western Erie. Frederick Bolard, who came from Erie County in 1816, carried on, in addition to his farming, the industry of making bells. They were at that time used by every farmer for the oxen, cows and sheep, and were even put on horses when pastured in the woods. Christopher Ford built the first distillery before 1800, and John Foster and Luther Rundle erected others soon afterward. At one time. Spring Township contained no less than seven distilleries, all of which, it is said, did a good business. All have long since disappeared. In 1817 and 1818 the Wood brothers built a wool carding and cloth dressing establishment on Conneaut Creek, two miles north of Con- neautville. Another was erected by Collins Hall at Spring Corners, and both did a good business in their day. Before the mills were started the operation of carding the wool was done by hand by the women of the household, and afterward spun into yarn.
The sawmill connected with the Fisher plant was the first in opera- tion in the township, and others were soon afterward erected in various parts. The opening of the Beaver and Erie Canal gave an impetus to the lumber trade, and sawmills were built wherever power could be secured and the timber would warrant it. The country was rapidly cleared, farmers going into the lumber business to the neglect of their farms, until only enough lum- ber remained for home use. White wood, ash, lumber and staves found a ready sale in the Eastern markets, and there was a great demand for oak timber for building canal boats, railroad cars and vessels at Erie. Hemlock timber was shipped South, where it was used for fencing and building. The canal carried away enormous quantities of lumber, and the township was al- most stripped before the business slackened.
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The first schoolhouse was built in 1811 or 1812, about two miles north of Springboro, and school was taught by Jane Garner. The Ford, McKee, Garner and Fleming children attended here. About 1817 Mrs. Mitty Beals taught a term of school in her own cabin within the present limits of Spring- boro. Another early schoolhouse was erected on the Powell farm, a mile north of Springboro. In 1896 there were fourteen schools in operation in the township, exclusive of the boroughs of Conneautville and Springboro, the school year being seven months in length. Two hundred and fifteen scholars were in attendance, the average cost per month to the township for each scholar being $1.47. During the year about $4,200 was expended by the township for educational purposes.
A local Methodist preacher, George Stunty by name, held the first relig- jous services in the township in 1817, preaching at the cabin of Henry Cook. He organized a band, composed of members of different denominations, which held services during a number of years. In 1822 a Methodist preacher at- tempted to make the class exclusively Methodist in its cast, with the result of entirely breaking up the organization. The Presbyterians, including Wat- kin and Sarah Powell, David Hurd and wife, and Henry Nickerson and wife, organized a congregation and erected a small church about a mile north of Springboro. Rev. John Boyd was the pastor, and the services were main- tained during a number of years.
A Baptist congregation, known as the Spring and Cussawago Baptist Church, was organized in the spring of 1837 by Rev. Albert Keith. There were twenty-seven original members, among them William Case, John Turneur, Stutley Carr, Sr., Stutley Carr, Jr., and others. Many others united soon afterward, until the membership had increased to eighty. A building was erected in 1838 near the eastern line of Spring Township. After a season of prosperity the tide turned, and the church began to decline, until in 1852 they united in a body with the Springboro congregation.
A Wesleyan Church was organized at Hickernell's Corners in 1839. Rev. William Howard was the first pastor, and Benjamin Haak, Abraham Hick- ernell, Sr., Abraham Hickernell, Jr., John Michael and others were among the original members. Until 1842 the meetings were held in a schoolhouse, when a frame church was erected. The society increased in membership for a time, then languished and went out of existence.
A United Brethren Class was organized in 1850 by Rev. Willis Lamp- son, which included among its early members many who had been connected with the Wesleyan Church. A church building was erected, accessions to the membership received, and a prosperous organization maintained.
Rundle's Postoffice is a hamlet in the southeastern part of the township, containing a store, shop and several houses. North of it is Hickernell's, a post village of about the same size, formerly known as Hickernell's Corners.
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Shadeland is a settlement in the western part of the township, one inile north of Springboro, which has been made famous by the establishment there of the Powell Brothers Stock Farm. It was first settled by Watkin Powell. who came in 1816 and took up the land upon which the old homestead is located. Here his son, Hon. Howell Powell, the father of the present owners, was raised, and here he spent most of his life, holding a prominent position among the neighboring farmers, and serving as a member of the Pennsyl- vania Legislature. He was a successful farmer, raising some of the finest stock in this part of the country, and his sons grew up in the business. He handled blooded stock, and after his death the business was continued by his sons, who in 1874 began importing from Europe. The firm, known as the Powell Brothers, consists of Watkin G., Will B. and James Lintner Powell, who, by a clear comprehension of what the country needed, their indomitable energy and perseverance, coupled with a thorough knowledge of the busi- ness, and strict integrity in all their dealings, have made "Shadeland" the largest, best appointed and most noted establishment of this kind in the world. The business of importing blooded stock has grown up mostly within the past twenty years, and at first but little attention was paid to it in this section, but the energy and perseverance of these gentlemen have given to Crawford County and the State of Pennsylvania an establishment which overshadows all competitors, and has attained a national and even world-wide reputation.
The brothers seem to have inherited a love for fine horses, and from the be- ginning they have bred with extraordinary success several of the varieties of horses and cattle usually classed in the first rank. For some time the breeding of roadsters, nearly all of the celebrated Hambletonian strain, occu- pied much of their attention, but as time went on they increased their business by taking up other varieties, until now to do more than mention the various breeds of horses constantly on hand and for sale at Shadeland would be im- possible. Having, many years ago, become satisfied by a knowledge obtained from long experience, extensive travel and close observation, that there was great need of improvement in the heavy draft horses employed in this coun- try, they at once set about devising means to remedy the evil in the most thorough manner. Convinced, after a careful examination, that there was 110 worthy foundation in this country upon which to build, they made an extensive tour of the Old World, visiting England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Belgium and other countries of Europe, as well as western Asia, Arabia and Lower Egypt, with the object of learning from a close, critical and personal inspection the merits and demerits of the different varieties of horses bred and used for draft and other purposes in these countries, and with a view of making an importation of those they thought best adapted to meet the demands of their own country. It is a characteristic of the American that he is always willing to take up a new idea, a new method, or a new article
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of any kind, when he has become convinced that it is better than that which he has been employing, and it is to that quality that we owe much of our national greatness. The European nations have a prejudice against what they did not themselves originate, to the exclusion of new ideas, but the American, with his spirit of progress, takes the best of everything, no matter what its origin. and makes it his own. With this progressive American spirit, convinced that nothing is too good for the American farmer. they commenced, notwithstanding a former preference for French and Norman horses, the importation of the famous Clydesdale breed of heavy draft horses. Their first, and up to that time one of the largest shipments of Clydesdale horses ever made to this country, found congenial quarters on the beautiful meadows of Shadeland. As their superior merits became known other ship- ments followed, until hundreds after hundreds have been received, and after a short period of rest and recuperation from their long ocean voyage, they have been sent out to all parts of the continent, gracing the farms and im- proving the stock in every State of the Union. The Clydesdale Stud Book of Great Britain shows more horses registered by "Powell Brothers, Spring- boro, Crawford County, Pa., U. S. A.," than any five' firms combined, and gives them the enviable reputation of being the most extensive importers and breeders of choice Clydesdales in the world.
The Clydesdales, however, are but one of several breeds to which the Powells have devoted much attention. In order to be able to meet all the tastes and demands of the public they import the French Percherons, or Nor- mans, and give the same degree of care to their selection and breeding that they devote to the Clydes. But it is not on their draft stock alone that the Powell Brothers have built their world-wide reputation. They have been as long and equally as well known on account of their wonderful success in breeding trotting roadsters of the finest form and action. Their Hamble- tonians, without doubt the best trotting horse blood in America, are celebrated abroad as well as in this country for their size, speed, fine form, endurance and magnificent action. Besides the mammoth draft horse and swift stepping roadster, they possess the Shetland ponies, so diminutive in size that some of them do not weigh more than one hundred and fifty pounds at maturity, a striking contrast to the draft breeds, that sometimes weigh one and one-half tons. It would be no small task to count up, on their books, the number of hundreds of each variety which they have handled, but a hasty inspection shows that it would run into many thousands. The prices realized for these animals vary according to breed, size and age, ranging from fifty to as high as fifteen thousand dollars.
Another department of this great stock farm is not less interesting, namely. the cattle. For some time the Devons were the favorites of the proprietors of Shadeland, and numbers of this famous breed are still to be
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
found there, but the greater demand for producers of milk and butter, during the past twenty years, has brought the Holsteins prominently to the front. The Powell Brothers have not been idle in developing this breed, which pos- sess the most striking characteristics of any cattle they own. being especially adapted for dairy purposes. Some of the remarkable milk and butter records made need only to be quoted to prove this. "Shadeland Daisy" pro- duced in one day one hundred and three pounds and six ounces of milk, and in one week five hundred and twelve pounds and twelve ounces, being an aver- age of seventy-three pounds four ounces per day. "Shadeland Bloom" pro- duced in one day one hundred and seven pounds and eight ounces, in five days five hundred and twenty-two pounds eight ounces, being an average of one hundred and four pounds eight ounces per day. In one week she produced seven hundred and sixteen pounds and four ounces, and from July 4th to August 3d she made the record of two thousand eight hundred and seventy- eight pounds four ounces. "Shadeland Boon" in thirty one days produced one hundred and twenty-five pounds twelve ounces of unsalted butter, it aver- aging only fourteen pounds of milk for a pound of butter.
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