USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Pioneer sketches : scenes and incidents of former days > Part 7
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Mr. Wells was generous and enterprising, always on hand to do more than anyone else in his neighborhood in improvements and in educational matters pertaining to the common school. He visited our district school often, and would give the scholars a good lecture in his crude, yet sensible manner. He would spell with us, much to our amusement. Frequently, after spelling a syllable or two of a word, he would stop and eye the teacher for an assent- ing or dissenting nod of right or wrong, creating an hilarity that he enjoyed as much as the scholars.
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He was a large man, weighing about 250 or 260 pounds, and when his great stomach revolted he was sick all over. On one occasion Elder Church called to see him, and inquired how he was feeling. Mr. Wells replied, "Sick as h-1, and not a drop of rum in the house, either." The elder replied that rum would not make a heaven; but Mr. Wells said he would take his chances if he had some.
Mr. Wells was not an habitual rum drinker, but an outspoken man to all persons and on all occasions-to the honorable judge, the minister or to the wayfaring man -- and if there were more such men there would be less dyspepsia and wrangling in the community. He was a man who possessed an excellent judgment and a kind regard for the poor and unfortunate. His contributions to the widow, the sick or the unfortunate generally were five times greater than those of the average citizen. Therefore, he was an important, useful factor in his neighborhood. He gave to the Sturtevant School District an acre of land as long as should be wanted for school purposes, on which to erect that old country school house herein mentioned, which was situated on the Albion and Conneautville road, on Mr. Wells' land, a portion of his 100-acre meadow field, which site extended over the bank, where down they do go out of sight, three feet under the show, in our exer- cises, cracking the whip, etc. This sport he seemed to equally enjoy with us.
Late in the fall, just before the close of navigation on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal, you could notice a canal boat moored on his premises about ten rods in front of his residence, loading aboard cheese, beef, pork, potatoes and poultry for the Pittsburg market. There being no rail- roads at that time in Northwestern Pennsylvania to Pitts-
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burg, Mr. Wells preferred to take passage on board of the canal boat, 120 miles, than via the stage coach, intending from the start to thereby take his time, and also to have a good time on his journey.
When his cargo (which was a good share of the boat's load) arrived at Pittsburg it was well sold, in exchange for which he received cash, sacks of coffee, chests of tea, barrels of fish, casks of sugar, molasses, and perhaps a little blackstrap to mix with the 'lasses, as he didn't do things by halves.
Cargo sold, he would proceed to look over the fresh imports of Dutch from De Faderland on the market for hire, where he soon found the requisite number, a half dozen, who, with his goods, he shipped to Spring, to his farm, where he had fifty-six cows to milk and in the spring- time as many calves to feed, making no allowance for twins, which occasionally came to the fertile premises of Mr. Wells.
These Dutchmen safely domiciled on his farm, whose dialect the young ideal could understand about as well as a horse could geometry, proceeded to be initiated into the art of milking the cows. In this art the experience of some of these Teutons had only extended to milking goats in Dutchland. "But this milking scene is to commence." The Dutchman seats himself beside the noble cow with a full udder anxious to be relieved of a pailfull or more of the lacteal fluid, and quietly she submits to the manipula- tions of the stranger. She soon becomes aware that her manipulator is un-American and a novice, but quietly she forbears, still anxious to be relieved. The Dutchman is first given an easy milker and as he presses his hand around the large, full teat the milk is as liable to squirt onto the
MILKING SCENE.
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ground, stable floor or onto his boots as into the milk pail. The eye of his employer soon discovers this and he exclaims, "Fritz, can't you steer straight enough to hit a sixteen- quart milk pail?" The Dutchman can't understand what was said to him in plain English, but knew by its tone something was going wrong. He therefore sort of hustles himself and during the momentary excitement he pinches the cows teat, whereupon she lifts her hind foot, same as to say "that it'll never do." Finally the milker becomes more composed and settles down to business and the milk is flying in every direction, onto his pants and the floor around is as white as a march frost. "I say, Fritz, you must steer straighter than that," and poor Fritz is determined to do better this time and pressed closely, his finger nails cutting the cow's teat. Quickly came up her hind foot and the Dutchman went rolling around the floor, exclaiming, "Mine Got! Mine Got! Mr. Wells!"
Mr. Wells appears on the scene laughing, and views the situation. There were no bones broken, but some milk lost by the impatience of his best cow and a scared Dutch- man, who soon came to, and, according to the characteris- ties of the Teuton, he persevered and in time became a good milker, a good cheese maker, and could get away with as much Dutch cheese, bologna, cider and saurkraut as the next one.
During the initiation of this foreigner Mr. Wells could console himself with the thought that his services, while learning to milk and undergoing this and other subsequent somersaults, cost him during such scenes only at the rate of $4.00 per month. Subsequently their wages were raised according to the usefulness and the calibre of the Dutchman.
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There was a large amount of haying to be done on the Wells farm, and later in the season hundreds of bushels of potatoes and turnips to be harvested, and the other farmers in the neighborhood would get their harvesting done several weeks earlier than would Mr. Wells, and us youngsters could have an opportunity to go and help Mr. Wells to finish up and thereby earn a few dollars cash to buy an extra hat or suit, or go to the coming circus with our own funds for pocket change. Therefore on one bright morning at 6:30, the 15th day of August, 1847, Rit. Sturdevant, Bob McCoy, Alfred Sargent and the writer were on hand at the 100-acre meadow, where were standing about fifty acres of
grass. Mr. Wells' hands met us there-all with scythes to mow down the grass. A couple of Dutchmen were among the mowers, and when mowing near the big spring south of the school house one of the Dutchmen jumped aside, fiung down his scythe, grabbing himself around his cotton pants (overalls) at the ankle, and much excited yelled out :- "Snake! a snake !! " One of the party caught hold of his hands that the snake could drop down his pant leg, as it was confined there by the hands of the Dutchman, where- upon a bull frog slid down the Dutchman's leg and leaped forty feet away, and then kept on leaping, apparently more frightened than the Dutchman, who fairly shivered. "Cold, cold," he said. Yes, no doubt that frog felt as cool and slippery up that fellow's leg as would a chunk of greased ice.
The poor bullfrog, from discoveries he had made While up that Dutchman's trouser leg, Quickly made a frightful leap,
Forty feet into a bullrush heap.
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On the flats of Conneaut Creek great crops of potatoes and turnips were raised. The potatoes were of the white and blue pinkeye varieties which come out of that rich, loamy, virgin soil, as clean as if they had been washed, and a most remarkable yield, as high as four hundred bushels to the aere.
Flat turnips yielded enormously. Mr. Wells gave notice to a lot of us boys to come on and help pull turnips. In a pleasant spell of weather in November, 1844, some fifteen or twenty were on hand for the pulling match. Mr. Wells and son Shepard were present and the work of pull- ing turnips.commenced, and at 1 o'clock P. M. the fertile brain of Mr. W. concocted a scheme by which he was to get more turnips pulled, viz .: He and his son Shepard took their positions side by side and said they would choose sides for a pulling match. They proceeded to choose, and would look about among the boys as earnestly as at a spelling school match, or at pieking out a prospective porker from a whole litter of pigs.
Sides chosen, an equal number of rods of ground were measured off, and the two contesting sides pitched in to see which side could get his patch of turnips pulled first. Could you have been there and seen those turnips fly-
Like a storm of hail, Through the air they'd sail; The contest deepens-on ye brave Will, Jim, Mart and Dave.
And were you to search this country round, A bigger lot of turnips could not be found; So sleek and fair, and so round,
Than lay there at night upon the ground.
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Many other scenes and incidents we might mention, but time and space forbid.
Anthony Obed Wells is no more among us here,
For his good deeds his memory we will revere, For his departed soul we can only say He was not surpassed in that former day In working boys or raising calves, And he never done it by the halves.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE BOUNDING HART.
ROM the year 1820 up to 1845, in the town- ships of Spring and Beaver, Crawford Coun- ty, Pa., wild game, especially the deer, was plenty. Charles Sargent and Chester Morley were two of the great hunters in those days, and many a time have they penetrated the forest on Monday morning and during the week come in with a half dozen deer, wild turkey and other game. To see these grand, innocent look- ing animals lying side by side seemed to me rather cruel sport.
Grand are the antlers of the bounding hart, Majestically he bears them on the alert. He would rather shun you than to fight, But to see him use his antlers is a novel sight.
This grand animal has been destined to a steady but sure extinction from our forest, like the buffalo from the plains. The expert nimrod has mercilessly been upon his track until it is high time for a halt.
English gentlemen protect and propagate the deer in their parks, which would be a good example for Americnas to follow to replace and replenish the land with equally as fine an animal as the lamb.
CHAPTER XXIII.
DANIEL STURTEVANT.
) ANIEL STURTEVANT was a man of more than ordinary sagacity and energy. He was born in Cortland County, N. Y., and emi- grated to Spring, Crawford County, with his parents at quite an early age. Shortly thereafter ho engaged to work on a farm for a term of years for Obed Wells. For his services he got 50 acres of land which, when paid for. he commenced to improve. He married a Miss Susan Hall, of Spring, who was a healthy and vigorous lady, proving a great helpmate to him through life. Mr. Sturtevant soon became enabled to buy additions to his land and soon found himself the possessor of a 150-acre farm, which in a few years was mostly cleared up, affording him a pasturage for raising stock, which vocation he managed with considerable skill.
Mr. Sturtevant was a hard worker and an early riser. He used to like to hear the song of the morning warbler. He enjoyed a hearty laugh and a good joke, and one did not need to be in his company long before he got a few of them.
It was notable in him to take the lead in planting and harvesting his crops. Then he would be out buying sheep, calves, yearlings, two, three and four-year-old steers, which he would hold a while and let some other fellow have them at a pretty good advance on cost. He would generally
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make two or three trades to the average farmer's one. He worked on business principles, and when he could not drive a trade did not stop to parley and banter. Few words spoken and off again with a good day and hearty laugh. His place became the headquarters of an old Philadelphia Quaker and his two sons, cattle drovers, who every summer for years, made their appearance, and Mr. Sturtevant had the inside track with these friendly cattle buyers as he could take them where they could buy a sheep, a fat steer, a dry cow, a milker or a springer, and also convince the Quakers that he could give them a good bargain on the various kinds of stock he had in store upon his premises. Well, the Quaker must have thought so, too, for a clean sale was generally made of the stock on the farm in the roundup of the drove preparatory to starting for over the Alleghenies to Philadelphia, and a young Sturtevant gen- erally went along to aid the Quaker and his two shepherd dogs in driving the drove and prevent them when on Laurel Hill from nipping the poison laurel buds to inflame the gastrie juices and the modus operandi of the creature. All in all, from start to finish, Mr. Sturtevant received a pretty good thing at the hands of the Quaker for his being an early riser, a prompt, reliable, active man, a good cattle buyer, a hearty laugher, a good joker and a man who could entertain a Quaker drover.
Mr. Sturtevant met with an accident, a cut on the knee-pan with a drawing-knife, and he took cold in the wound, having a long and painful illness, and months afterward with a stiff leg, while seated on a milking stool, the cow stepped upon his leg and broke it. For years after- ward he labored but this trouble probably hastened his death, and when at about sixty years of age he died,
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leaving considerable property and an example of industry, energy and frugality.
And a hearty, good will Which runs in the family still, To cheer them on with good endeavor, To stem the storm, or adverse weather,
My memory goes back to others, and doth cling, To those sterling pioneers of Spring;
But my space will not allow Of them to say but little now.
Among these veterans were : John Woodard, Win. McCoy. Elijah and Eri Thomas, Rey. Jesse Church, Henry MeLaughlin, John Vaughn, Win. Tucker, Lyman and Arch Jenks; Howell Watkin, David, Edward and James Powell, Isaac. David and Albert Hurd, Lyman, Ealand. Timothy and Asa Sturtevant, Elisha and Thomas Bowman, Porter Skeels, Geo. Nicholson, Win. Cornell, John Curtis. Chester Morley, Ira Locke, Charles and Anson Sargent and others, who were all good soldiers in their day. all of whom contributed their might in making Spring Township blossom like the rose and who, every man of them, done his part well to clear up and replenish the land.
Nearly all of whom are gone Onward to their happy home.
A similar line of Pioneers settled throughout Spring Township and Crawford County, of whom are: Harry Pond, Hiram Butler, Hawley Dauchy, the Halls, Sheldons, Andrew Christy. Geo, and Robert Foster, John and James Ford. Fred Williams, Mr. Powers, Win. Powers, J. E. Patton, and many others about Coneantville and Northern Crawford. In Southern Crawford and in Mercer and Venango Counties there was something more of a mixture of the German and Hibernian stock. Many of these
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pioneers settled upon their lands at an earlier date than the pioneers of Spring and many of them became wealthy and thrifty farmers. But there is not a township in the State, of the same age, that surpasses Spring in culture, general improvement and wealth. The reason is obvious and easily explained. Fifty years ago there was not a wealthy man in town, and during these years no windfall of colossal wealth having dropped into the lap of its citi- zens, they have hewn out and paddled their own canoes-
Many of whom landed on safe ground, Where, now they, or their descendents, may be found, Generally engaged, in tilling the soil,
Which has proved renumerative for their toil.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ERI THOMAS.
€ RI THOMAS was one of the early settlers of Spring, Pa. His father, Jacob Thomas, emigrated to West Springfield in 1800 and settled apon lands afterward called Zacks- ville and raised a large family.
The subject of this sketch, Eri, was the second son, and settled upon 100 acres of land about one-half mile north of Shadeland in 1818, and moved on to said land amid the forest, and, like other stalwart pioneers, cut his way through from the forest to the wheat-field, the orchard, the meadow and the pasture, well stocked in due time. This place, now occupied by W. G. Thomas, affords one of the finest views of Spring Valley, of Western Crawford county. Situated, like Shadeland, upon the beautiful cast- ern slope of the valley, the eye can behold objects far to the westward across the valley; affording. also, a sweeping view northward and southward.
Yet upon these spots of earth. as beautiful as ever "Old Sol" shone upon, during the days of those good old- fashioned winters the "beautiful snow." set in motion by the western breezes, was sifted over the fences into the road in a superfluous manner. when men and boys, with shovels and ox-teams, turned out to shovel and break their way through the snow drifts that the traveler might get through to Spring Corners or Albion. Many a time the
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writer, with other schoolmates, has tusseled with those snow drifts on that historic spot near the old Sturtevant school-house, where the snow-drifts would remain through many pleasant, warm days in the spring; and many a bucketful was gathered on which to drop our hot maple 'lasses to make a good gob of maple wax. Delicious !. Good enough for ye gods!
At those sugar parties their lips would smack In working a gob of maple wax. Talk about something nice and sweet, But that maple wax never was beat!
I well recollect a characteristic incident of Eri Thomas. In March, 1840, Ithael Young called at the house of Alfred Sargent, and while there Mr. Thomas drove up with his horse and sleigh and came in. The snow was about a foot deep, and it was thawing-the snow was wet. Mr. T. discovered that the boots Mr. Young wore were open at the toes and sides and his stocking plainly visible. Said he to Mr. Young: "I think you are jeopardizing your health in this deep, wet snow in wearing such boots. Why don't you get a pair of new ones?" Mr. Young said he hadn't the price at the time, whereupon Mr. Thomas promptly exhibited the boots he wore and said: "I will sell you these; what will you give for them?" "Ten pounds of maple sugar, the first sugar I make." "It's a bargain," said Thomas, "for I don't want to see you going around with your feet sopping wet at this time of the year." Mr. Thomas pulled off his boots and told Young to put them on, which he did, and laughingly said: "How are you going to get home, Thomas, bare-footed ?" "Never mind me," said Thomas. And when he was ready to start for home the writer got a twelve-foot board and placed one end on his cutter and the other end on the door-step, when
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Mr. Thomas walked into his sleigh, wrapped his feet up in his robes and drove home to put on his other pair of boots.
Mr. Thomas was much interested in the district school, and would give the teacher as well as the scholar a whole- some lecture when he thought they required it. On one occasion our school master, Rusk Cole, whipped a young man, a son of Mr. Thomas, who heard of the affair while he was engaged in his slaughter house rendering tallow. Mr. Thomas started for the school house with hands smeared with tallow and walked into the school room and said to the teacher, "You have abused my boy, whipped him beyond reason ; you ought to be whipped and turned out of school, and if the Trustees don't turn you out I will put you out." This declaration had a salutary effect on the school master, and the beech gad was not used so much the remainder of the term.
Beech gads were as common in those days in the school room as firewood, and if the average school master had put forth as much effort in cultivating his brain as he did in using the gad he would have accomplished more as a school teacher.
Mr. Thomas was quite benevolent and kind hearted to children and to poor people. A widow lady called on him for some apples. He said to the lady "Come on with a team and get all that you want, free of charge." Soon thereafter the lady came with a team and got all the apples she desired. Then said she, "this is my brother's team and little boy; will you give some apples to pay him for haul- ing ?" "No," said Mr. Thomas, "if your brother can't furnish a kid and a yoke of antiquated stags to haul some apples for his sister it's a pity." What portion of the widow's apples went to pay for the use of the team is a mat- ter of family history and brotherly love.
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CHAPTER XXV.
EARLY SETTLERS.
A MONG the earliest settlers of Spring and Western Crawford were a Mr. Flemming, who settled upon the place still known as the Flemming lot, and who made a clearing of 50 acres of land ; a Mr. Jackson settled on the adjoining tract north ; Mr. Kennedy, on the tract of land north of the Jackson lot.
These pioneers settled upon their respective tracts in 1795, whose improvements aided the subsequent settlers of that vicinity very much, especially the Flemming lot. These settlers left their places. Their lands reverted back to Huidekoper, of whom they were originally purchased.
Mr. MeKee, a pioneer who settled upon the place sub- sequently owned and occupied by Watkin Powell, a portion of the now Shadeland estate, grandfather of the Powell Brothers, stoekmen. This man McKee and his son cut the hay upon the Flemming lot. Wolves were plenty. The latter part of July, 1797, the Mckees were haying on the Flemming lot, and while on their way to work one morn- ing, with scythes in hand, young McKee thought he would go to his trap, which he had set for bear and wolf near the line of the Flemming and Jackson lots. On arriving at the spot he found a wolf in his trap. Having no firearms he coneluded to dispatch the wolf with his scythe, and accord- ingly struck for his neek. He struck too high, cutting off his ears and scalp, which so infuriated the animal that he
GODDARD +
M'KEE AND THE WOLF.
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made a desperate lunge at McKee, loosening the clog of the trap. The brute seized him by the arm and he could not extricate it from the jaws of the wolf. He shouted to his father, who came to his rescue and killed the wolf with a club. Young McKee's arm was badly chewed up, which took him six months to recover the use of.
Other early settlers were Messrs. Orr and Fords. The former settled on the site where Springboro now stands; the latter on what is known as the old Elisha Bowman place, near Shadeland. One Thomas Ford, however, set- tled and built his cabin so as to cover one corner of four different tracts of land, with the grasping idea of holding all four tracts. It was decided that he could not pre-empt but one tract of 400 acres of land instead of 1,600, and therefore that place, situate on the tract corners of the old Obed Wells, Charles Sargent and Barnes tracts of land, was, and is to this day, called "Ford's Folly;" also John Foster, who settled on the place now occupied by Richard Bolard. After the year 1800, and previous to the war of 1812, were James and Samuel Patterson, who settled in the eastern part of Spring. While they were at Erie defend- ing their country from a threatened invasion by the British in 1812, when every man rushed to arms, the Pattersons' wheat crop ripened. Their heroic wives, with sickles, cut and harvested the wheat; and they found they must have flour to make bread, whereupon they spread down blankets upon the ground for their threshing floor and the canopy of heaven for a barn roof, and with flail in hand they threshed out a grist of wheat; then with a sheet and screen cleaned the chaff from the wheat, ready for grinding. They then sent the boys on horseback through the woods, by blazed trees, fifteen miles to a grist-mill at Venango, on
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French Creek. And when the boys, with their grist of flour, had arrived within one-half mile of home the flour bag caught a snag on a tree, tearing it open. The horse jumped and threw off the boys; the grist of flour was scat- tered through the woods, and only two quarts of flour was left of this grist when the horse reached home. The plucky Mrs. Pattersons had to sit down and take a good cry over their hard fortune preparatory to trying the same job over again to get material to make bread for their families while their husbands were off to war.
The first three frame houses in Powerstown, Spring township, were built and occupied by Alexander Power and William Crozier.
An incident, showing the fraternal spirit of the early settlers, in a later day, about 1835. Robert Foster, son of the pioneer John Foster, started out one morning in No- vember with his rifle to hunt deer. He did not return that night and a search was made the next day without any trace of the lost man. The people throughout the town- ship were notified, who all turned out. The next morning 100 men formed in line and swept the forest in search of the lost man. After marching through the forest about two miles they turned about to the left flank, and when within a half mile of his father's house they found the young man lying dead upon the ground with his gun at his side, death being occasioned by a fit or heart trouble. And at the proper time these people turned out generally to per- form the last burial rites. When one of their number was burned out by fire they joined together and helped to re- build his home or barn. When a pioneer was injured by accident or prostrated by sickness they were his insurance company, and would turn out and do up his harvesting or any other work that the unfortunate man was unable to do. They were friends to be relied upon in times of peace, and foes to be feared by an enemy in time of war.
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