USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 67
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The first few years were fraught with danger as well as privation, for the frequent Indian attacks, threatened and actual, rendered life upon the frontier extremely perilous, and several times impelled the settlers to abandon their lands and seek refuge at Fort Venango, the nearest fortified place of any pretensions. The house of David Mead was fortified to some extent. and when suddenly or unexpectedly attacked it was there that the settlers were accustomed to take refuge. On one occasion it was necessary that Van Horne should go for horses to Pittsburg. In returning he was obliged to follow a wild path through the woods, from Pittsburg to Venango, and he described his ride as lonely, desolate and disagreeable. Crossing the Slippery Rock Creek the first day, he encamped for the night at the bottom of a deep ravine. He had obtained some bread and two pounds of butter in Pittsburg. and from this he made his supper, after which he rolled himself up in his blanket to sleep, with his gun by his side. He was soon awakened by the crackling of the fire, and found to his dismay that it had spread among the dry leaves and communicated itself to the butter. In his efforts to extinguish the flames his hands were burned so severely that it became impossible for him to sleep any more that night. In the morning he found that his harness had been much injured by the fire and that the horses, which he had turned out to browse, had wandered away from his camp. . All the morning was occu- pied in mending the harness and finding the horses, so that his progress was much delayed. On his route he encountered an Indian, and gained his good will by sharing with him his bottle and remaining store of bread. To the friendship of this Indian he afterward owed his life.
During the first ten years of the century many families settled in Vernon Township. Alexander McEntire came from New Jersey and settled on French Creek immediately north of his brother-in-law, Cornelius Van Horne. Phineas Dunham settled near Vallonia : William Henry, William McCall and Michael Seeley occupied land adjoining Van Horne's farm. Robert An- drews, an Irishman, was an early settler in the southern part of the township. He was for many years a justice of the peace. John Johnson, another Irish- man, settled in Vernon about 1800, and is still represented by numerous de- scendants. Edward F. Randolph settled at an early date near the head of Van Horne Run. Finlaw Beatty resided in the same vicinity. The northern and western parts of the township were owned by the Holland Land Com- pany, and were by them sold to the settlers.
The valley of French Creek, opposite Meadville, is the only thickly set- tled portion of Vernon Township. Kerrtown is a village of several hundred people, situated upon the banks of the creek opposite the southern part of Mead- ville, with which it is connected by an iron bridge. It was named in honor
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of William Kerr, who came to this county from Philadelphia in 1817, and purchased one hundred acres of land upon French Creek, the site of the present village of Kerrtown. He was a man of some education, having been a school teacher, and was an early instructor in the Meadville Academy. He afterward opened a store opposite the present tannery, which he kept for many years.
The growth of the village has been steady, many employees of the railroad residing there. It is the place of voting for Vernon Township, and contains a two-story schoolhouse and several general stores. It was made a postoffice in 1884. A tannery was established here by Frank Kerr and was afterward extensively operated by Frank Schanweker, employing fifteen or twenty hands, but it has recently been closed. A large wagon and carriage factory is owned by the Rice Brothers, and extensive brickyards are operated by Andrew Stolz. A large brewery is also among the industries.
Fredericksburg, or Stringtown, as it is more commonly called, is a set- tlement extending northward from Kerrtown along the bank of French Creek for more than a mile. These lots were laid out in 1863 by Frederick Huidekoper, and found a ready sale among the employees of the railroad, and the settlement now numbers several hundred. In 1817 H. J. Huidekoper built a grist and saw mill on French Creek, near the Dock Street bridge, which was operated by water power from Cussawago Creek. It passed into the hands of his son, Edgar Huidekoper, by whom it was sold to the present owners, Gill & Shryock. It was by them enlarged and steam power intro- duced, and is now an extensive flouring mill.
Watson's Run Postoffice is located in the northwestern corner of the town- ship. There is no settlement of any importance.
The Watson's Run German Reformed Church was organized in 1840 by the Rev. Philip Sicer. During the ministry of Rev. E. B. Ernst, about 1850, a church edifice was erected in the southern part of the township at a cost of $800. The Fausts, Onspaughs, Flaughs and Browns were among the prom- inent members of the early days. The present membership, of about seventy- five, is in a prosperous condition.
The United Presbyterian Church of Watson's Run was organized in 1869 by the Rev. J. B. Waddle, with an original membership of thirty-two. The Johnsons, Nelsons, Mckays, Beattys and Calvins were among these. Arthur Johnson and M. A. Calvin were elected the first ruling elders. The congrega- tion has steadily increased and is now in a flourishing condition. In 1870 a handsome church was erected in the northwestern part of the township at a cost of $2,200.
In the School Report for 1837 no mention is made of the Vernon schools beyond the fact that they received an appropriation from the State of $201.34, but this is probably due to the failure of the proper official to send in the
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statistics. In 1896 there were twelve schools, attended by two hundred and fifty pupils, one hundred and seventy-two boys and one hundred and seventy- eight girls. The average cost for each pupil per month was $1.05. the amount of money expended for school purposes being $4,283.86.
BOROUGH OF VALLONIA.
The borough of Vallonia is located in the valley of French Creek, at the mouth of Cussawago Creek. It was laid out by Frederick Huidekoper in 1866 and was incorporated as a borough two years later. The first election was held June 3, 1868, at which J. T. Colwood was elected Burgess and T. Rowen Justice of the Peace. Vallonia owes its institution and growth to the machine shops of the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad, situated in Meadville, opposite the borough, and most of the citizens are employed there. William Hotchkiss, Theodore Koehler, H. J. West and Adam Steele were among the first inhabitants. William Hotchkiss opened a store on Wadsworth Street in 1868. In 1874 he sold it to E. H. Langford, who con- tinued the business until 1875. when the building was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt by William Hotchkiss and business was resumed by J. S. Hotch- kiss & Brother, the present proprietors, who do a large business as wholesale and retail grocers. The greatest industry of Vallonia is the distillery, whose product is widely known under the name of Meadville whiskey. In the be- ginning it was owned successively by quite a number of firms, and under the present management a large business has been built up.
A postoffice was established in 1876. J. S. Hotchkiss being the first post- master. A frame schoolhouse was built in 1868 on Columbia Avenue, but has been replaced within recent years by a handsome brick edifice. In 1881 a mission chapel was erected on the banks of French Creek. It was a branch of the Christ Protestant Episcopal Church of Meadville, and was built during the rectorship of Rev. Carstensen, at a cost of $1,400. The services were not conducted regularly and after a period of inaction the property came into the possession of the Methodist denomination, under whose control it is at present.
CHAPTER XXXI.
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
W AYNE TOWNSHIP lies near the center of the southern border of the county, and includes 19,821 acres of land. The general shape of the township is that of a right-angled triangle. The hypothe- nuse or southeastern line, which borders on Venango County, consists of a series of right-angled triangles, and produces a somewhat singular conform- ation. The township was laid out in 1809, when it included all of what is now Wayne and East Fairfield, with the southern portions of Mead, Randolph and Troy. It was given its present limits in 1829. It is bounded on the north by Randolph Township, on the east by Venango County, on the south by Venango County, and on the west by Fairfield and East Fairfield townships.
The surface of Wayne is rough and hilly, with stone outcropping in some portions to such an extent as to render tillage difficult. The best land lies in the valleys of the streams which flow through the township. French Creek crosses the extreme southwestern corner, while Little Sugar Creek, which enters from East Fairfield in the northwestern corner, curves through the western portion of the township and again enters East Fairfield before uniting with French Creek. Near the center of the township Little Sugar Creek is joined by Deckard's Run, which flows in a northwesterly direction across the eastern and central parts. Sugar Lake Creek flows in a southeasterly direction across the eastern part. The township is threaded by the numerous tributaries of these streams, and in every part may be found copious springs of excellent water. The valley of Sugar Lake Creek broadens in some parts to almost a mile and contains much good land, though some is low and marshy. Before the sawmills had done their work of ridding the land of timber this valley contained large quantities of pine and hemlock, which also grew profusely along Little Sugar Creek and the other streams of the town- ship. Oak, beech, maple, chestnut and poplar were found on the higher land.
A branch of the Seneca Indians occupied much of the territory in this vicinity prior to its settlement by the whites. No more appropriate region could be selected for the residence of an Indian tribe. The rugged hills, clothed with forests and abounding in game ; the pure sparkling streams flowing among these hills, furnishing both excellent fishing grounds and the means of communication, bordered here and there with fertile bottom lands as sites for their villages and cornfields, and overlooked by remarkable headlands, and high hills for their graves and places of worship,-some of these hills con-
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taining lead, and perhaps, too, other metals greatly prized by them. - these were strong attractions for the red natives of the forest. And accordingly in many places we find traces of a numerous Indian population which once inhabited this region.
The branch of the Senecas residing in this locality was known as the Moncey, and of two of their chiefs, Ross and Locke, the following story is related : "They were employed by the British during the war of the Revolu tion to massacre the American settlers, and together they crossed the mount- tains on a trip for blood and booty. Somewhere on the borders of Hunting- ton or Franklin County they murdered, in cold blood, a schoolmaster and twenty-five or thirty children. Taking the scalps they proceeded with them to Niagara, disposed of them, and received the "bounty" given for American scalps by the British Government. Locke was somewhat of a bravado, and on their return exhibited himself as the principal hero of the scene. Ross was mortified and determined on revenge. In true Indian style he waited years for a suitable opportunity, and at last, in a drunken war dance, murdered Locke. He appeared before a council of the Senecas and was sentenced hy them to support Locke's widow for twenty years. At the end of that time he was to be slain by the nearest relative of Locke then living. This mild sen- tence was passed on account of his great bravery. At the end of the twenty years he surrendered himself to the council of the tribe assembled near Buffalo. In the meantime the only son of Locke had married the daughter of Ross. His son-in-law was unwilling to slay him, for time had long since worn off the edge of his revenge, and so the sentence was never executed. He lived to a great age, and died on the banks of his native stream, the noble Allegheny."
In the northeastern part of the township lies Sugar Lake, a beautiful sheet of water with a surface of more than one hundred acres. It is surrounded by low hills, which rise upon all sides in the form of an amphitheater, broken on the north by the inlet, Sugar Lake Creek, which again breaks through the hills to flow southeast into Venango County. The lake has an elevation above Lake Erie of 704 feet, and has a depth in some places of from twenty to thirty feet. In the early time the lake and its vicinity was a famous place for hunting and fishing, and pickerel, bass, perch and sun fish were taken from its waters in large numbers. Wild ducks and geese also abounded, and the forests which covered the surrounding hills were full of game. A band of Indians en- camped at the foot of the hill near the outlet for many years after the white men came, and they lived in peace and friendship with the settlers, never molesting them in any way. They acquired a fondness for the corn, potatoes and cultivated grain of the pioneers, and although they never helped them- selves from the fields or patches of the settlers, they frequently asked for some of the grain or vegetables. This was rarely refused, and many a pumpkin and measure of grain went to embellish the cuisine of the dusky natives. These
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kindnesses werealways repaid by generous gifts of bear meat, venison and other wild game.
The game was at first so numerous in this vicinity as to prove trouble- some, the deer very often destroying fields of grain, which had to be enclosed by high fences to keep them out. They were killed in large numbers along the lake and creek by hunting them at night, the hunter approaching the unsus- pecting animal by means of a canoe. \ lantern was fastened to the prow of the boat in such a manner as to throw the light in advance and leave the canoe and its occupants obscured in the darkness, and in this way the game could be approached until within easy range, and it was either an unfortunate or an unskillful hunter who failed to secure five or six deer in one evening. It is related that James Ferry killed eighteen bears and eight hundred deer of which he kept a record, during his residence there. The wolves were ravenous, and could scarcely be restrained from attacking the stock before the very eyes of the settlers. Panthers, too, were not unusual, and many a bear shot in the neighborhood has formed the subject of an oft-repeated tale. During the early times rattlesnakes were numerous in the vicinity, and were a dangerous pest. A den of them was found on the western bank of the lake in a clump of young hemlocks near a spring, and for many years the farmers were unable to exterminate them. Horses were very often bitten, usually on the nose, the result being fatal. The ground was covered with pea vines, on which the horses fed, and the poisonous reptiles lurking beneath repaid, with their deadly fangs, any intrusion into the foliage.
The whole of Wayne Township is included within the Eighth Donation District. It was settled slowly, like all the lands in Crawford County which were distributed by the State in reward for military services. Many of the lots drawn by the soldiers were never occupied by them, but were transferred to other settlers or to land speculators, while only the lands left undrawn by the soldiers were open to general settlement. Those who wished to locate together in one neighborhood could not do so here, as in other townships, as the unoccupied lots were separated by those taken by the soldiers, and there was not the opportunity for selection that was offered by the land companies and the individual tracts. As no concerted effort could be made it resulted that Wayne Township remained a wilderness long after Mead, Randolph, Fair- field and East Fairfield were covered with productive farms. Before 1820 very few of the tracts had been improved, and it was many years later before anything like a general settlement took place.
It is impossible to tell in just what year, or by whom, the settlement of the township was commenced. It is certain, however, that the first clearings were made in the western part, near French Creek. One of the earliest pioneers, Thomas Cochran, came from Adams County and located about a mile east of Cochranton, where he remained throughout life. He left a large family, which
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is still represented in the township by numerous descendants. Before 1810. and possibly as early as 1805, David Blair came to the township from Milton, Northumberland County, and settled near French Creek, in the extreme southwestern part of the township. Others came at about the same time. among them Isaac and Samuel Bonnell, Nicholas Bailey. Edward Ferry, John Greer, Michael Kightlinger, Hugh McDill, William Wheeling, Josephi Wood- worth, Louis Woodworth and Jacob Waggoner. All but three of these set- tled in the western part, in the vicinity of French Creek.
The first house built near the lake was the log cabin constructed by Michael Dill, who had previously settled near French Creek. On the occasion of the house raising he invited his friends to assist him in the important ceremony, and they came from a distance of several miles. Dill did not remain in this cabin, however. Edward Ferry, who had come from Lancaster County with his family, and intended settling on the hill above the lake, was induced by Dill to occupy the cabin and continue the work of improvement, in considera- tion of some live stock which Dill possessed. Ferry afterward bought the land, and remained its occupant throughout life. Hugh McDill, from Ireland, settled in the extreme eastern part and remained there until his death. The first settlement on Deckard's Run was made by Jacob Waggoner. Between 1810 and 1820 other pioneers came in and settled in the eastern part, among them Samuel Beers, David McKnight, Daniel McDaniels and John Allen.
No villages of any size are found in Wayne Township. Wilson's Mills Postoffice is located in the northeastern part, near Sugar Lake. Kastor's Cor- ners is a postoffice near the center of the township. Deckard's Postoffice, or Deckardville, as it was formerly called, is a hamlet in the eastern part. It was first settled in 1829 by Jacob Rees, who came from Philadelphia. It was then covered by a dense forest, through which he was obliged to cut his way to his place of settlement. It now contains a store, blacksmith shop, two churches and several dwellings.
A grist mill was erected on Little Sugar Creek in 1800, by Holmes & Herriot, and several years later they sold it to Isaac Bonnell, who also operated a distillery. It was an important industry in the early times, and has changed hands frequently since its erection. Henry Heath operated a powder mill in the southern part early in the century. Several saw mills have been built in various parts of the township and lumbering is still an important industry.
James Douglas taught school in a log cabin in the western part of the township at an early date. A frame schoolhouse was afterward built in the same place, but later was removed to Cochranton. The children in the ex- treme eastern part of Wayne attended school in Randolph Township for sev- cral years. The first school in the eastern part was taught by John Kane, in a little shanty on the eastern bank of Sugar Lake Creek, and John Moreland afterward taught in the same building. In 1896 fourteen schools were main-
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tained in Wayne Township during six months of the year. They were at- tended by three hundred and eighty pupils, while the amount expended by the township for the support of the schools exceeded four thousand dollars.
.A congregation of Free Will Baptists was organized in 1865 by Elder Chase. It had a prosperous existence for some time, erecting a church build- ing at Deckardville at a cost of $1.500, but the membership decreased and the society soon went out of existence.
The United Brethren Church at Deckardville was organized about 1848. .At first quarterly meetings were held in barns, and afterward in the log school- house of the village. In 1855 a church edifice was erected at a cost of $1, 100. Prominent among the early members were Jefferson Cousins, James Tingley, William Houtz, Joseph Shaffer and William Wheeland. The society is in- cluded in the Deckard Run circuit, which was formed in 1880.
A society of Wesleyans existed many years ago in the eastern part of the township, and in 1843 erected a log church on the eastern side of Sugar Lake. Among the more prominent of the society were Benjamin Beers, James Dye. Henry Sparling and David Holton. The membership, which was never large, decreased as time rolled on, until about 1860 the society ceased to exist, and the old log church was all that remained to testify of the past. About 1869 Revs. Muncie and Bedow, of the United Brethren Church, visited this vicinity and organized a society of their denomination, of which Simeon Brink, Andrew Wygant and David Sweet were early members. They worshiped for many ycars in the old log house of the Wesleyans, until in 1882 they erected a modest frame structure on the same site at a cost of $1,500.
The St. John's Reformed Church at Deckardville was organized in 1846. Services were held for several years in the schoolhouse, until in 1860 a church building was erected, at a cost of $1,000, as the joint property of the Luther- ans and German Reformed. In 1877 the Lutherans, who had decreased in numbers, withdrew from further support of the church property and soon afterward disbanded. The Reformed Congregation in 1883 extended and repaired the property and now have a large and flourishing society.
The Zion Reformed Church was organized in 1870 by Rev. Kretzing. Among the early members were Francis McDaniel and wife, William Mc- Daniel and wife, James Record and wife, and William McElroy. A neat frame church was erected in 1872 at a cost of $1.800, the previous meetings having been held in a schoolhouse. The lot upon which the church was built was given by Francis McDaniel, and is in the extreme northern part of the township. Rev. John Kretzing was the first pastor.
CHAPTER XXXII.
WEST FALLOWFIELD.
T HE WHOLE of the land of West Fallowfield Township was included within the domains of the Pennsylvania Population Company. This was an association of wealthy gentlemen, organized in May, 1792, of which the great land speculator, John Nicholson, was president, and Cazenove, Irvine, Mead, Leet, Hoge and Stewart, managers. Their stock consisted of 2,500 shares, which, as each share represented 200 acres, was vested in 500,- 000 acres of land. Anyone transferring to the company a donation tract of 200 acres was entitled to a share of stock. The title to their lands was vested in trustees, to be held in common, and the proceeds divided pro rata among the stockholders. John Nicholson, individually, soon after the passage of the law of 1792, had made application at the land office for 390 warrants, to be located in the "triangle," then known as the Lake Erie Territory, and for 250 warrants more on the waters of Beaver Creek, amounting in all to about 260,- 000 acres. But before paying the purchase money on these tracts he trans- ferred his application to the company, which paid for them and perfected the title. They also took up about 500 warrants more in Erie and Crawford counties.
In 1829 the original Fallowfield Township was shorn of much of its ter- ritory on the north and east, being reduced almost to the form of a square, six miles each way. This was the area it was intended to give to each town- ship, and is still retained by Conneaut, Beaver and several others. But in thus dividing the county like a checker board the natural boundaries had been ignored, and it was soon seen that Crooked Creek, flowing from north to south through the township, divided it naturally into two portions. As communi- cation was sometimes rendered extremely difficult between the two parts, Fallowship Township was divided, in 1841, into two separate townships, and the portion lying to the west of Crooked Creek received the name of West Fallowfield.
The township thus formed has an irregular outline, and contains 6,885 acres. It has an average width of one and one-half to two miles, and is about seven miles in length. Crooked Creek, which forms the eastern boun- dary line, is the principal stream, and the land is watered by it and its tribu- taries. Much of the land lies within the valley of Crooked Creek. the surface being rolling and the soil a clayey loam. Pine, oak and chestnut timber cov- ered the land in the early days, but little remains at present. The Beaver
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