USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 66
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settled upon Wilson's Run, in the northern part of the township, and was a lifelong resident. He was one of the few citizens of Crawford County who owned slaves. Samuel Kincaid, who located a farm on Conneaut Creek, taught singing school during the early days, and also filled the office of constable. John McFadden settled in the southern part of the township. Leonard Smock, who settled about a half mile north of Conneaut Creek, was a native of New Jersey, and removed here from Westmoreland County about 1805.
Theodore Scowden came from the Susquehanna in 1800 and remained a lifelong resident of the township, leaving a numerous family. Robert Stitt settled near him at about the same time. James Smith, who settled in 1805, came from the valley of the Tuscarora, in Juniata County. At this time the Indians were still numerous and wild beasts abundant. The nearest mill was at Peterson's, in Greenwood, and although the distance was not great, they would defer a journey thither until the meal box had been thoroughly scraped out. It was the custom at that time for the miller to keep brcad in the mill for his customers to lunch upon. Daniel Holton, a native of Rhode Island, settled at first in Meadville, but in 1815 removed to Union.
About 1832 a number of German settlers came to Union, almost with- out exception coming from Bavaria, and for thirty years constant accessions were received from the mother country. They soon outnumbered the citizens of other origin, and at present own and occupy about two-thirds of the land in the township. They took up all the unoccupied land as they arrived, and since then have bought up whatever land has been offered for sale. As they increased in numbers, they were no longer able to provide sufficient land for the rising generations, so they have established colonies in various localities, one at Sugar Lake, and one in Missouri. They are sober, industrious farmers, frugal and well-to-do, as is attested by the fine condition of their farms and buildings.
Probably the largest piece of forest still standing in Crawford County is that which covers the elevation known as Dutch Hill. It rises precip- itately from the western bank of French Creek, and its irregular outline and heavy growth of timber give it an appearance of wildness and primitive sim- plicity which makes it a favorite resort for those fond of forest scenery. Until comparatively recent years wildcats were sometimes seen here, while at the present day pheasants, squirrels and other small game attract the sportsmen of the vicinity. The bank facing on French Creek is a favorite camping ground, where, with the creek on one side and the high hill on the other, those who wish to spend a holiday away from the distractions of the outside world find an isolation as complete as could be desired.
There are no villages within the territory of Union Township. The first sawmill is said to have been built by James Smith, who was an early justice of
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the peace and also carried on the trade of a blacksmith. Theodore and Iliram Power kept a store, where the old Beaver canal was crossed by the turnpike. A public house was kept at Dutch Hill by William Birchfield. A sinall corn- cracker was operated at an early date on Wilson's Run, in the northern part. and Gabriel Davis built a grist and saw mill in the southern part of the town. ship.
The prosperous citizens of Union Township have not been negligent in educational and religious work, and they have founded churches and es- tablished schools wherever necessity has required. In 1896 seven schools were in operation within the township, one of which was under independent management. Ninety-eight scholars were enrolled in the six township schools and twenty-eight in the independent, the school year consisting of seven months. During the year more than two thousand dollars was raised and expended in the cause of education.
Soon after the year 1800 a society of Methodists was organized in the cabin of David Mumford. It at first included but three families, those of David Mumford. Andrew McFadden and John Leach, the latter from across the Mercer County line. Meetings were held for many years in Mumford's cabin and afterward in schoolhouses, but it soon went out of existence. It was succeeded in 1826 by the Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Church. which was organized with twelve members by Rev. John Leach and H. Kinsly, of the Mercer circuit. For many years the services were held in cabins and schoolhouses, but about 1858 a church edifice was erected.
The Zion German Reformed Church was organized about 1840 by the Rev. Philip Zeiser, who remained its pastor during eighteen years. It in- cludes in its membership the larger number of the German citizens of the township. Francis and Frederic Stein, Andrew Kahler, John Kebort, William Hubers, Peter Stein, Peter Weber and John Weaver were among the first members. The first church building was a log structure. Services are held in both the English and German languages, and there is a large and flourishing membership.
CHAPTER XXIX
VENANGO TOWNSHIP.
B EGINNING at the corner of a tract of land surveyed in the name of John Fries, on the line of a tract surveyed in the name of David Cun- ningham, about sixty perches or thereabouts west of the northeast cor- ner of the same: thence north to the southwest corner of a tract in the name of James West ; thence eastwardly to French Creek; thence up the different windings of the same to the northern boundary of Crawford County; thence by the same westwardly to the northeast corner of Cussawago Township; thence southwardly to the northwest corner of a tract of land surveyed in the name of John James ; thence east to the place of beginning." These are the boundaries by which Venango Township was laid out in 1800, when the first subdivision of the county took place. Within these boundaries was included not alone the present territory of Venango, but the northeastern part of Hay- field, the eastern part of Cussawago, and the northern part of Cambridge. In 1829 Hayfield and Cussawago received their present boundaries, and in 1852 the formation of Cambridge Township reduced Venango to its present size.
Venango Township lies near the center of the northern border of the county, and contains 9,829 acres of land. Erie County bounds it on the north, Cambridge Township lies to the east, Hayfield on the south, and Cussa- wago on the west. The eastern boundary is formed by the windings of French and Conneautee creeks, the other sides being formed by straight lines. The surface, which is generally rolling, is somewhat uneven in the central and northwestern parts. The northeastern section is more level and con- tains some very fine farms. It is abundantly watered by French and Con- neautee creeks and their tributaries, the principal of which is Stoke's Run. Along Conneautee Creek is some marshy land, formerly heavily timbered with hemlock, oak and butternut. Hickory, chestnut, maple and beech are found in the higher sections. The soil, which is easily cultivated and very pro- ductive, is a sandy and gravelly loam, except in the northwestern part, which is more elevated, where a clayey loam predominates. The township is thor- oughly settled in every part, there being but little more timber land left than is required to supply the wants of the farmer, so lumbering is an industry of the past. The farmers of the township are chiefly engaged in stock raising and dairying, large quantities of most excellent cheese being produced, while good crops of wheat and corn are also raised.
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The name Venango is derived from an Indian word, by which the Seneca Indians designated French Creek, and is expressive of an indecent figure carved on the bark of a tree near its banks. Venango River is a name for- merly extensively, and even now occasionally, applied to that picturesque stream. Upon the fertile land in its valley the first settlements in Venango Township were made about 1797, the same year in which almost every part of the French Creek Valley received a sprinkling of settlers. The earliest to locate in Venango Township were Christopher Siverling, Daniel Siverling, Jehiel Terrell, William Bole, Henry Bole, Thomas Coulter, Thomas Logue and Philip Straw. These all came in the summer of 1797 and located claims, most of them remaining throughout life and founding families which are still prominent in the township.
Christopher Siverling is supposed to have been the first to settle in the township. He and his brother Daniel, of German birth, removed from West- moreland County and located on land just south of the present site of the village of Venango. They endured many of the hardships incident to pioneer life; two bushels of corn, a small quantity of beef and a few turnips, which had been sown by members of the family who had visited the place in the summer, constituted the entire stock of provisions on which the family subsisted dur- ing the first winter, except such as was afforded by the streams and forest. Thomas and Robert Logue, who were of Irish nationality, settled in the northwestern part of the township. Philip Stein settled on the site of Venango borough. Henry Bole came to Crawford County from Ireland in 1793 and resided in Meadville some time, being in the employ of General Mead. In 1797 he came to Venango Township and settled on a tract in the western part. He built a cabin and made a small clearing here, then procuring a tenant, Michael Hare, to hold the land for him, he removed to the eastern part of the township and settled on a tract adjoining French Creek, just south of the mouth of Conneautee Creek. Charles Stewart had previously made improvements upon this claim, but after a short residence had moved away. Bole remained here several years, then traded his farm to Christian Blystone for a distillery about a mile further down French Creek, where he took up his residence and remained until his death, in 1848. His brother, William Bole, settled in the township at the same time, but removed to Ohio after a few years' residence.
Thomas Coulter, who was born in Philadelphia, where he spent his early life, came to Venango in 1797 and settled about a mile northwest of the bor- ough. He remained a citizen of Venango Township until his death. Robert Coulter, his son, who was the first white child born in the township, relates that one evening, three or four years after his father's settlement, a bear raised the logs of their pig pen and took from it one of the pigs, with which he beat a hasty retreat. Aroused by the squeals of the captive pig, Mr.
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Coulter followed in hot pursuit with an ax. and Mrs. Coulter came after with a lighted torch. The progress of the bear was retarded by a brush fence, and overtaking him, she applied her torch to his shaggy hair, which readily took fire and caused him to beat a hasty retreat, leaving his booty behind, the fire meantime spreading all over his body. The rescued pig, however, had been handled so roughly that he died. At that time Pittsburg was the nearest trading post, roads had not yet been established, and the forest was full of wild animals. The wolves especially were very troublesome and made it necessary to yard the sheep at night. Later on the bounty on wolf scalps diminished their number, the organized wolf hunts affording sport to the pioneers, and at the same time ridding them of a dangerous enemy. The last wolf hunt took place about 1821, when twenty men and twenty dogs engaged in it and drove the disturbers of their flocks across the Cussawago, whence they have never returned to molest them.
Other settlers soon came in, and before 1810 the work of clearing and cultivation had been well begun in every part of the township. Jacob Hogel- berger came from Westmoreland County in 1799 and settled in the western part. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and was in garrison at Erie for some time. Isaac, Henry and Christian Blystone were brothers, who came from Lebanon County in 1800 and settled about two miles north of Venango borough, on the banks of French Creek. Henry went back to the East, but the others remained lifelong residents of the township. Andrew Sherred settled at the same time about a mile north of the borough, and re- mained throughout life. John Stokes came from the central portion of the State in 1804 and settled in Cussawago Township. After a short residence there he secured a farm about two miles northeast of Venango borough, where he passed the remainder of his life.
James Skelton came to the township from Philadelphia in 1801, and located on a tract of land about two and a half miles north of Venango borough. His first habitation was a shelter of brush, which he hastily con- structed upon his arrival. He next built a house of such poles as two men could lay up, and in this he lived for a number of years. It afforded very little protection against the wind and rain, and his son in after years related that he remembered very distinctly of standing up while it rained, while the water trickled down his body to his feet. The kitchen cupboard consisted of the base of a hollow birch tree. During the first summer he secured work fourteen miles down French Creek. On one occasion, upon returning to his home, he bought from Mr. Van Horne a bushel of wheat and had it ground at Meadville on his way back. When within five miles of his home he was overtaken by darkness, and, too tired to go any further, staid there all night in the open air. In the morning he made his way with his flour to his famish- ing family. At times they were so hard pressed for food that they searched
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
the forest for wild vegetables, and having found an esculent variety they used them, boiled in milk, for food.
One of the first schools in the township was taught by Jehiel Terrell. beginning as early as 1810. He came to the township from New Jersey in 1797, and settled about three and one-half miles north of the borough. His schoolroom, like all those of that primitive day, was a rough log cabin, with a fireplace extending along one end and a chimney constructed of sticks and clay, while the furniture was of the rudest manufacture. After residing in the township several years he returned to New Jersey. William Gross was his successor in the Venango schoolroom. About 1818 William Reynolds, from Cussawago Creek, taught two summer terms in a cabin in the southeastern part. In 1836 Venango boasted of seven schools, which were maintained two and one-half months of the year. They were attended by one hundred and seventeen pupils. The progress of the scholars and the character and qualifications of the teachers were reported as good, the branches in which instruction was given being reading, arithmetic and writing.
In 1896 the number of schools was five, the separation of Venango borough from the township causing the decrease. The term was six months in duration, and one hundred and fifteen scholars were in attendance. More than $1.400 was expended during the year for purposes of education.
The Venango Presbyterian Church was erected in 1853. and was dedi- cated by Rev. John Reynolds, of Meadville. It was located just north of the borough, and was originally a branch of the Woodcock borough congrega- tion. The Bole and Coulter families were prominent among its membership and contributed largely toward erecting the church edifice.
The Skelton Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1843 by Revs. Scofield and Bear, with an original membership of twenty-five. The same year a church was built, at a cost of $600. William Scott, Jacob Wood, and Jacob and Christian Blystone were leading members. Many of its mem- bers removed from the vicinity, and its existence has been interrupted by periods of inactivity.
BOROUGH OF VENANGO.
The borough of Venango was incorporated in 1852, when Isaac Peiffer was elected the first Burgess. The first settlement in this locality was made by Philip Straw, who established himself on the site of the village in 1707. In 1817 Solomon Walters and John Lasher purchased the land, and as there was at that time probability of a turnpike passing through it, they laid out a village plot. The road went another way, and the land, after changing hands several times, was purchased in 1832 by John Kleckner, together with a mill which had been built there. He repaired the sawmill and built a grist mill, operating them together many years. In 1838 he had the village plot sur- veyed and named it Klecknerville, which was fortunately changed to Venango
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when incorporated. John Lasher, a farmer. John Bender, a blacksmith, and George Thomas, a shoemaker, were early residents of the village. The first store was kept by Reynolds & May, of Erie, while the first tavern was opened by Philip Kleckner in 1840.
The growth of the village has been slow but steady. It now contains seventy or eighty families, with several stores, shops, factories, mills, hotels, churches and schools. The first schoolhouse was a log structure built about 1820. Charles Fletcher and John and Evan George were among the early teachers. A frame schoolhouse a mile west of the village was the next one used. In 1857 a brick building was erected at a cost of $1,350. Two schools are now operated during eight months of the year, with sixty-three pupils in attendance. Almost one thousand dollars was expended by the borough authorities during the past year for educational purposes.
The Zion Evangelical Church was organized at Venango borough in 1816 by Rev. Colson, with fourteen original members. A log church was commenced the same year, but was not completed, the services in the winter being held in the schoolhouse and in the summer in the unfinished log church. In 1839 a large frame structure was erected, and in this regular services were held for the next forty years. In 1879 a frame church was erected on the same lot. on the eastern side of Church Street, at a cost of $2,500. This is the oldest religious society in Venango borough.
The First Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1875. by sixty- two former members of the Zion Church, who left it to form a new society. Rev. 1. J. Delo became its first pastor. M. L. Faulkner and John Mucken- houpt were the first elders, and David Good and H. J. Brookhouser the first deacons. In 1877 a handsome edifice was erected by this society on the eastern side of Meadville Street, at a cost of $3.500.
The Venango Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by Rev. Ahab Keller about 1842. with twelve original members. Among them were Joseph Perkins and wife, Jacob Wood and wife. Benjamin Hays and wife, John Ter. rell and Nicholas Peiffer. The first services were held in an old schoolhouse about a mile west of the village, and later on in the Lutheran Church. In 1847 a large frame church building was erected on the west side of Church Street. The society is connected with the Cambridge circuit.
CHAPTER XXX.
VERNON TOWNSHIP.
V ERNON is one of the interior townships of Crawford County, and in common with all those which border on the French Creek Valley, is remarkable for fertile land and picturesque beauty. French Creek forms its eastern boundary and Conneaut Outlet a portion of its southern. Watson's Run traverses the western part of the township, flowing in a south- easterly direction and emptying into Conneaut Outlet. The central part of Vernon is drained by Van Horne Run, which flows eastward into French Creek, while the northeastern corner of the township is traversed by Cussa- wago Creek just before its junction with French Creek, immediately below Vallonia. The old Beaver canal crossed the southwest corner, while the southern portion is traversed by the Meadville branch of the Pittsburg, Bes- semer and Lake Erie Railroad. The valleys of the township possess a rich, alluvial soil, and the rolling lands are covered with a productive clay. Springs of excellent quality abound, and give rise to numerous little brooks which traverse almost every farm. . The land is well improved, and the many fine residences give evidence of the prosperity of the inhabitants. Almost all the land in the township is arable and there is very little marsh land.
This fine agricultural region was formerly included in Mead and Sads- bury townships, and was organized as a separate township in 1829, when the divisions of Crawford County were generally rearranged. French Creek was made the dividing line from Mead, thus forming the eastern boundary. Union and Greenwood bound it on the south, Sadsbury and Summit on the west, and Hayfield on the north.
Much of the early history of Crawford County was enacted within the present limits of Vernon Township. Washington traversed the eastern bor- der in 1753, while on his mission to the French authorities at Fort Le Boeuf. "We passed over much good land," says his journal, "since we left Venango, and through several extensive and very rich meadows, one of which 1 believe was nearly four miles in length, and considerably wide in some places." This valley, it is generally believed, is the one whereon Meadville is now built, and the portion west of French Creek is a part of Vernon Township. The first band of pioneers, which came into this region in 1788 under the leadership of David Mead, arrived on the 12th of May, after a weary march, upon the banks of French Creek, opposite the mouth of the Cussawago. They camped for the night under a wild cherry tree, on the east side of the stream, probably
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near the present location of the Kerrtown bridge. They spent the next few days in exploring both sides of the creek, and struck by the beauty of the locality and its natural adaptability for a place of settlement, decided that they would make it their home. Cornelius Van Horne, one of that hardy group, thus described its early appearance : "This lovely valley, now redolent with life and industry, was then reposing in the stillness of primeval solitude, with nought to designate it as the former residence of man save occasionally a de- serted wigwam of the aboriginal owners of the soil. They had already de- serted its shady groves and murmuring streams and retired still further into
the wilderness." The majority of the explorers were evidently not so touched by the beauties of the place. the solitudes, remote from other settle- ments, must have proved uninviting, for they sooner or later returned to the East. But several remained, determined to found homes for themselves and their posterity in this spot so favored by nature, and two of them, Cornelius Van Horne and John Mead, settled in what is now Vernon Township. John Mead, a brother of David Mead, the founder of Meadville, was a farmer by occupation, and settled upon the tract immediately north of Vallonia. He built his first cabin close by the west bank of French Creek, between it and the ravine, and just east of the Fair Grounds. He lived here and followed his occupation of tilling the soil until his death, in 1819. He left five sons, William. Joseph, Jolin, Asahel and Chambers, and one daughter.
Cornelius Van Horne came from Sussex County. New Jersey, where he had followed the occupation of a miller. He had served as a lieutenant in the War of the Revolution, and had afterward, like the Meads, taken up lands in ยท Wyoming under the Pennsylvania title. He proved his title in the Supreme Court and a decision was made in his favor. But the settlements on the dis- puted land were in a state of anarchy and the dispossession of the rival claim- ants would have been difficult, so, having secured a remuneration from the State, he abandoned the lands and came with the Meads in search of a new home in the West. During the spring he remained upon the island in French Creek, but in the course of the summer removed to a tract of land a mile and a half below John Mead, where he took possession of a deserted Indian cabin. This land, which consisted of four hundred and twelve acres, he afterward patented and made his home, and part of it is still known as the Van Horne farm. In the fall of the same year he returned to New Jersey to visit his mother, and for several years Indian depredations rendered the occupation of his tract impracticable. His adventure with the Indians and capture by them are narrated in the chapter on Mead Township. When the Indian troubles were over he again settled on his tract in Vernon, the patent for which is dated February 27, 1800, and which states that a settlement was made upon it April 15, 1793. He lived upon his tract until his death, in 1846. at the age of ninety-six. His brother, Thomas Van Horne, settled upon a
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tract adjoining his on the south, and lived there for several years, afterward removing to Zanesville, Ohio.
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