USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > The courts of justice, bench & bar of Washington County, Pennsylvania > Part 2
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7
IN THE BEGINNING.
" Resolved, that his Excellency the Governor be requested to send with all convenient Expedition, Powder Equivalent to the before mentioned Led, which agreeable to the Riffe use is one pound of Powder to two pounds of Led, with Ten Thousand flints.
"Resolved, That in Consequence of his Excellency's Re- quest and That it is highly Necessary, and it is accordingly Strongly recommended to Col. Pentecost to send a Capt. & 50 Men down the Ohio to find out if Possible where Capt. Gibson's cargo of Powder is & Conduct it up to the Settlements, and that it is the Opinion of this Council that the Officers and Men to be Employed in this Business De- serves double Wages.
" Resolved, as the Opinion of your Committee, That upon the best Information they Can at this Time Collect, that one third of the Militia of this District is without Guns, occa- sioned by so many of the Regular Troops being furnished with Guns out of the Militia of this District, and that one half of the Remaining Part wants Repairs.
" Resolved, therefore, that Government be requested to send up to this district One Thousand Guns, these Rifles, if possible to be had, as Muskets will by no means be of the same service to defend us against an Indian Enemy.
"Resolved, for the Purpose of Repairing Guns, making Tommehocks, Sculping Knives, &c., that Proper Persons ought to be Employed in each County, at the Public Expense, and that Thomas & William Parkerson be appointed in the County Yohogania, and that they Immediately Open Shop at their House on the Monongahela, for the above purpose, and that they make with all Possible Expedition all the Rifle Guns they can, and a sufficient number of Tommehocks and Sculp- ing Knives, &c., and that the County Lieut. Receive them, or Direct the Distribution thereof.
" Resolved, that Robert Currie [or Carrie ] be Employed for the above Purpose in Monongahela County, and that he Open Shop at his own Dwelling House in the forks of Cheat.
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
" Resolved, that Thomas Jones (or some other proper per- son to be appointed by the County Lieut. ) be appointed for the above purpose in the Ohio County, to Open Shop at the House of Col. Shepherd.
" Your Committee having Maturely & Deliberately Con- sidered the Truly Critical and Distressed Situation of this Country, and with the deepest Anxiety have viewed the very Recent Cruel Depredations Committed on our people by our relentless Neighbors, the Indians, and with the utmost regard have Considered his Excellency's Recommendation to prepair for Hostilities in the Spring and to prepair to make Defence while we have Time, & to form a place of Defence for this Country, are of Opinion that if no field Officer appear to take Command of the Troops now Raised and Raising in this Dis- trict, at the next meeting of the Different Committees, that the sd Committees forthwith Order the sd Troops to such places on the fronteers as they shall think proper, for the Present Protection of the Inhabitants ; and at least one hundred of sd Troops be Ordered to Grave Creek Fort. And in case the said Troops are not stationed as aforesaid, then the County Lieut. of Yohogania County is requested to order a Lieut. and 25 men to Baker's Fort, and a Lieut. & 25 to Isaac Cox's on the Ohio, and that the County Lieut. of Ohio County Order a Lieut. & 25 Men to the Beech Bottom, and a Lieut. & 25 Men to the Grave Creek Fort, and that the County Lieut. of Monongahela County order a Capt. & 50 Men to be stationed at the House of Capt. Owin Davis's at the head of Dunkard Creek, and a Lieut. & 25 Men to Grave Creek to augment that Garrison to 50 Men .- Those Men to be ordered at such Time as the County Lieuts. shall think Proper and the Exigency of the Times Require ; and that Militia be Drafted Officered (and held in Constant Rediness) to Rendezvouse at the following Places and in the following manner :
" (Here is mentioned the active Officers, the place of Ren- dezvouse in each County, which are the places of the magazines, the drafts and who heads them from each Company, which is
9
IN THE BEGINNING.
15 Privates, one Sargt. and a Commissioned officer, making in the whole about 1,100 men. )
"Resolved unanimously that upon the first Hostilities being Committed on our Settlements, that the County Lieut. in whose County the same may Happen, Immediately call a Council of the three Countys, as Proper measures may be persued for the Chastisement of the Cruel Perpetrators.
" Agreed to in full Council.
" A copy.
DAVID MCCLURE, Clark."
With the foregoing paper are two letters. The first is one of those referred to in that paper; the latter is of a later date; both are explanatory of the then existing conditions, and are here given in full:
"WILLIAMSBURGH, December, 13th, 1776. "SIR:
"The more I consider of the state of things in your Quar- ter the more I am convinced of the necessity there is to prepare for Hostilities in the Spring; and, although Continental Troops will be stationed on Ohio, yet the Militia must be the last great Resource from which your Safety is derived. In order to form something resembling Magazines for the Present I have ordered about six Tuns of Led for West Augusta; and that that article may be deposited in the Proper places, I wish you to Summon a Council of Field Officers and Captains, and Take their Opinion which places are the fittest for magazines in the three Counties of Yohogania, Monaungahela, and Ohio, and Transmit the result to me. I wish you would please to find out where Capt. Gibson's Cargo of Powder is, and let me know. In the Council of Officers I would desire it should be considered whether the Militia with you want any article Government can furnish, and what it is; for be assured it will give me great pleasure to Contribute to your Safety. I am of Opinion that unless your People wisely Improve this Winter you may probably be Destroyed; prepare then to make resistence, while you have Time. I hope by your Vigorous Exertions your frontier may be defended, and if necessity shall
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
require some assistance be afforded to Combat our European Enemies, I have great Expectations from the number & Known Courage of your Militia; and if you are not wanting in foresight and preparation they will do great things. Let a plan of Defence be fix'd and settled beforehand; I mean Principally the places of Rendezvouse, and the Officers who are to act, as well as to provide speedy and certain Intelli- gence. Let the Arms be kept in Constant repair and redi- ness, and the Accoutrement properly fix'd. It will be proper to send out Scouts and Trusty spies Towards the Enemies Country, to bring you acc's of their Movements. I wish great care may be used in the nomination of Military Officers with you, as so much depends on a proper appointment. You will please to give strict attention to the great Objects here recom- mended to you, and I shall be happy to hear of the safety of your People, whose Protection Government will Omit nothing to accomplish. "I am, Sir,
" Your mo. hl Servt,
"COL. DORSEY PENTECOST. P. HENRY, JR."
" A Copy,
" DORSEY PENTECOST."
" WILLIAMSBURGH, Febr'y 28th, 1777.
" SIR:
"You are forthwith to send one hundred men properly Officered, in order to escort safely to Pittsburgh the Powder purchased by Capt. Gibson. I suppose it is at Fort Louis, on the Mississippi, under the protection of the Spanish Govern- ment. The Canoes ready for the Voyage, the Provisions and every other matter must be provided, & the Officers orders must be to loose not a moment in getting the Powder to Fort Pitt. If the present Garrison leave that Fortress, you are to order two hundred Militia to guard it 'till further orders. Let all necessary repairs be forthwith done that it may be put into a good posture of defence. I've ordered four 4-pound Cannon to be cast for strengthening it, as I believe an attack will be made there ere long. Let the ammunition (Lead
11
IN THE BEGINNING.
included) be stored there, & let it be defended to the last extremity; give it not up but with the lives of yourself and people. Let the provisions be stored there & consider it as the Bullwark of your country. No Militia will be paid but those on actual duty, & I wonder any one should think other- wise. Let me know the quantity of Ammunition & Stores at Pittsburg; upon any alarm of dangerous Invasion, take care to defend Pittsburgh. Capt. Lynn has a good Boat capable of bringing the Powder.
"I am, Sir, " Your hble Servt., " [Sign'd ] P. HENRY, JUNR. 1
"County Lieutenant of Monongahela."
-What a temptation to stop and enlarge upon the names and places and conditions disclosed in the foregoing old papers! At whose "Dwelling House," or at what hotel or hall, at Catfish Camp, was held this council of war, about four years before we had a Town of Washington on the site of Catfish Camp, indeed, any County of Washington? The only dwelling here at that date, so far as now known, was the cabin of William Huston, which was at the old spring, nearly opposite the new residence of Mr. Winfield McIlvaine, on East Maiden Street; for in the spring or early summer of 1774, Michael Cresap, on his way home after his alleged kill- ing of Logan's kindred, stopped over night with Mr. Huston. But we do know that the blood of some of the men who took part in that council of war flows in the veins of members of our bar practising at this date. A great-grandson of Major (afterward Colonel) Henry Taylor was admitted to the bar in 1879, and now occupies a seat on our bench; of Captain (after- ward Colonel) David Williamson there are at the bar to-day a great-grandson, Mr. Julius P. Miller, admitted in 1879, and a great-great-grandson, Mr. Julius P. Miller, Jr., admitted iu 1895; while two cousins, W. Parkison Warne, admitted in
1 It should be noted that these two letters from Patrick Henry had been copied, doubtless by Dorsey Pentecost.
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
1890, and Boyd E. Warne, admitted in 1895, are great-grand- sons of Joseph Parkison, who was a brother of Thomas and William Parkison, called upon by this council of war to open shop at their house at Parkison's Ferry, now Monongahela City, to make " Rifles, Tommehocks and Sculping-Knives."
And this may lead us now to the courts of justice, bench, and bar of Washington County, brought into being by the act of the Pennsylvania general assembly of March 28, 1781: P. L., 1781, 400; 1 Dall. L., 874; 2 Carey & B., 282; 1 Sm. L., 517; Crumrine's History of Washington County, 222.1
1 Two general histories of Washington County have been published; the first by Dr. Alfred Creigh, in 1865, and the other in 1882, by the author of this volume, who can think of no more modest way of referring to the latter history than the one he has adopted.
!
Bragdans
JAMES ROSS, ADMITTED, 1784; DIED, 1847. [Half-tone by Bragdon, from photograph from oil painting in possession of the Dr. Thomas MeKennan family.]
II. OUR EARLY COURT-HOUSES.
FOR six years prior to 1787, Washington County, though then embracing within her limits all the lands in Pennsylvania lying west of the Monongahela River and south and east of the Ohio River, had no buildings of her own in which to hold her courts.
At the time of her first term of court, beginning on October 2, 1781, and indeed for three years thereafter, the south- western corner of Pennsylvania with Virginia had not yet been finally established, and the western boundary line finally run and marked on the ground; and for many years what is known as the Boundary Controversy had raged between those states so furiously that, had it not been for a common interest in protection against Indian incursions, and the revolution from the mother country, the people of the two states in our section would have fallen into serious periods of riotous bloodshed; for during many years and up until just before Washington County was erected by the Pennsylvania legislature, the governments of both Pennsylvania and Virginia claimed and exercised jurisdiction, in both civil and criminal causes, over the territory which, on March 28, 1781, was formed into Washington County, Pennsylvania; and each state had its own judges, magistrates, and subordinate officers, acting side by side, not very peaceably, however, over the same collective people. A regularly constituted Virginia Court was organ- ized at Fort Dunmore (Fort Pitt, afterward Pittsburg), on February 21, 1775, for the Virginia District of West Augusta; and when, in October, 1776, that district was divided into three Virginia counties, the Virginia Court for Yohogania County was held at first in a court-house on the farm of Andrew Heath, near what is now West Elizabeth, Allegheny
13
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
County, and afterward, until August 28, 1780, at a Virginia court-house on the late Gabby farm, just beyond the Citizens Water Company's reservoir, on the southwest of Washington. A full history of the Boundary Controversy may be found in Crumrine's History of Washington County, 158-222.
The first terms of our courts were held at the house or cabin of David Hoge, occupied by Charles Dodd and after him by John Dodd. This cabin was on the lot on the north- west corner of what are now Main Street and Strawberry Alley, where the Strean Building now stands. On this lot the courts were held until the first court-house was erected on the public square in 1787. But little business was done at the first term; but at the second term, held on April 2, 1782, several cases in the Court of Quarter Sessions, against Gabriel Cox and others, were tried, the cases arising out of troubles having their origin in the Boundary Controversy.
For, the arrest and trial of these persons brought about complaints to the Virginia authorities, who in turn complained to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania; where- upon that body called upon Thomas Scott, the clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions, for a report of the facts and cir- cumstances. Thereupon Mr. Scott wrote to President Dickin- son on August 15, 1783, as follows:
" The case of Col. Cox is shortly thus : prosecutions were Instituted against him for assaults and Batteries in useing compulsory measures to draw forth the militia of Washing- ton County, By virtue of orders issued by Col. Penticost in Character of Lieutenant of Yohogania county, for the Service of Genl. Clark's expedition down the Ohio in 1781. Which orders, as well the people who were thus compelled to ser- vice, as the Generality of the people of the county, could not conceive to have proceeded from the authority of Virginia; not only because of the previous agreement of the Several Legislatures, but from the orders Given by that State on that occasion, to the Lieutenant of Monongalia county, viz : that he should confine his authority to the South side of Dixon's and Mason's Line Extended, although the Greater part of that
JOSEPH PENTECOST, ADMITTED, 1792; DIED, 1823. [Half-tone by Bragdon, from photograph by Hallam of oil painting with T. M. Pentecost, a grandson.]
15
OUR EARLY COURT-HOUSES.
county lay north of that line ; on this Ground as well as on full conviction of the Legal extension of the Jurisdiction of this State, the people very Generally disobeyed these orders, and these prosecutions were commenced.
"This being the true State of this Gentn's Case, and although his conduct on the occasion was exceedingly disre- spectful to the court, He coming at the head of a party in a Tumultious & contemptious Manner, continuing about the Streets in that Mauner until evening, and the same night an attempt was made upon the house in which the court was held, and part of it Thrown down ; yet so far was personal resent- ment and party Spirit from mingling with the proceedings of the Court, that a disposition to soften the prosecution was observable in most of the officers, and Col. Cox was actually acquitted. How this can be termed a Judgment against him for a Considerable sum, &c., I cannot understand. It is true that on account of his behaviour already mentioned, I charged him Clark's [clerk's ] fees. There was Indictments against one other Gent, who was also acquitted and discharged with- out fees; and there is a Suit depending against two others for things of the same nature, done at the same time; But there never was a decision of any court against any Virginia officer, as such, for any cause whatever ": Crumrine's His- tory, 239.
Mr. Scott does not tell us, what may have been the case, that the jurymen who sat on the Cox trials, the most of them former Virginia adherents, may have been out with him the night that a part of the house in which the court was held was " Thrown down."
The history of our early court-houses and other public buildings has lightly been touched upon in the addresses delivered on the occasion of the dedication of the court-house of the year 1900, as hereinafter contained, and it is more fully to be found in Creigh's History of Washington County, pp. 136-141, and in Crumrine's History, 463-468.
Some discrepancies may exist in the different accounts as to
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
the description, material, and cost of construction of these earlier public buildings, but no more than is to be expected from a knowledge of all the conditions. For, four court-houses have now been erected in a period of one hundred and twenty years, and each because the preceding one would no longer contain the public records so arranged that at all times they could be reached for examination; the overflow from those in constant use had been packed or put away in an irregular man- ner, and would not come forth when wanted. For instance, when the new jail building was erected in 1868, there was constructed to the left and south of its main entrance from the court-house an office for the county treasurer, behind which was placed a large vault, supposed to be fire-proof, and intended for the overflow from the court-house vaults. But the over- flow was too great for this new vault, and many books and records, valuable to the citizens of the county, were packed in pine store-boxes and placed in the cellar of the old court-house, where they seem to have been forgotten and left to the rot and rats. Then, when the Town Hall, which had stood for thirty years to the left of the late court-house, and all the other buildings with it, were removed from the public square, all the public records and papers, including those from the treas- urer's-office vault and the boxes from the cellar, were removed to the Town Hall in its new location, south of Cherry Avenue, where they lay in constant danger of destruction by fire until removed to the new court-house. There they are now safe from loss, although not yet arranged so that they can be readily found and examined.
It is earnestly desired that the authorities in control will faithfully see that as soon as possible all the public books and records of the county shall be carefully rearranged and filed in their proper places, so that all persons having either a prop- erty or any other interest in them may readily find them.
PARKER CAMPBELL, ADMITTED, 1794; DIED, 1824. [Half-tone by Bragdon, from photograph with Mr. Percy Digby, Librarian of Allegheny County Law Library.]
17
OUR FIRST COURT-HOUSE.
OUR FIRST COURT-HOUSE.
Washington County, though created by an act of the gen- eral assembly in 1781, made its first tax levy in 1783. In the latter year it began to provide for a court-house and jail upon the "public square," at the corner of Mononga- hela (now Main) and Ohio (now Beau) Streets, fronting 240 feet on the former and extending back the same width and distance on the latter, the frontage on Monongahela Street reaching to Johnston's (late Cherry ) Alley. This court-house was completed in 1787.
The "public square " referred to was conveyed by David Hoge to James Edgar and others, in trust for Washington County, upon which to erect a court-house and prison; the conveyance being made on October 18, 1781, the fifth day after Mr. Hoge had laid out the town of Washington. If the legal title to the lot had never been conveyed to the county, and the lot had been left vacant for the general use of the town, the county would all the same have had the right to appropriate at least a part of it to the uses of a court- house: Mahon v. Luzerne Co., 197 Pa. 1.
What was the appearance of things when this first court- house was begun? In the year 1845, William Darby, a dis- tinguished geographer of his day, writing in the National Intelligencer, said:
"In the fall of 1782, the site where Washington now stands was a vast thicket of black and red hawthorn, wild plums, hazel bushes, shrub-oaks, and briers; often have I picked hazel-nuts where the court-house now stands. . The whole country was a dense forest, only broken by small patches with dead trees, made so by the axe of the early pioneer: " Creigh, 129; Day's Historical Collections, 660.
This William Darby was born in 1774, was at Washing- ton, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1782, and died in 1854, aged eighty years. Before his death he published a valuable and interesting work entitled "A View of the United States,
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
with a Particular Account of the Various River -basins: " Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary, 775. "Darby's View of the United States should not be overlooked in our western historical collections ": 2 American Pioneer, 321.
What kind of a court-house was this first one, and what was its exact position? Most likely it was made of logs, and it is said that the jail occupied the first floor, and the courts the second, the building standing on the southwest corner of the lot; but there are discrepancies in the written accounts: Creigh, 136; Crumrine, 464. What did it cost the tax-payers? At present we have no record, but among the papers coming down from John Hoge, one of the sons of David Hoge, the proprietor of the town, is a paper indi- cating that John Hoge and Andrew Swearingen were in part- nership as the contractors with the county for the building of this court-house, and that its entire cost was £701 8s. 98d. This paper was but lately brought to public notice, and the original being now in the possession of the Washing- ton County Historical Society, a verbatim copy is here given, heading and all:
MONEYS PAID OUT FOR BUILDING THE COURT HOUSE IN THE TOWN OF WASHINGTON BY ANDREW SWEARINGEN AND JOHN HOGE, ESQ.
1786
Paid Alex. McCoy for 4 months 21 days work
13 2 6
Do To Job Hays 1 Days work 0
5
5 0
Big Alex. McCoy 24 Days @ 2-6
3 0 0
James Gelaspy 10 Days @ 2-6
1
5 0
James Gass and son 19 Days @ 2-6
2 7
6
Ben Steward 7 Days @ 2-6
17 6
James McCoy 7 Days @ 2-6
17 6
William Hammon 1 month and 4 days
3 0
0
Joseph Nation 11 1-2 Days a 2
1
2 6
1 16 0
John Stokely as pr account for Labour 8 John McMullen Do
1 12
6
2 0
Do To John Porter 2 months work
JAMES ASHBROOK, ADMITTED, 1798. [Half-tone by Bragdon, from photograph furnished by Mrs. Mary L. Race, of Mansfield, Ohio.]
19
OUR FIRST COURT-HOUSE.
1787
Ralph Columns Do
1
12
6
Jany. 28 Paid John Reed mason
57
2
6
Paid Captain Blakeney for materials
124
16 5
Paid Joshua Barnes for making Shingles
12
16 6
Paid John Whiton for burning lime_
17
16 4
Paid John Singers for queriing Stone __
4 0
6
Paid Philip Coe for hughing Timber __
29
7 54
Paid Charles Rickets for 13800 brick.
12
0
6
Whiskey that Swearingen found 102 gallons
12
16 4
March 26 Paid William Huston for stone
6
0
0
30 Paid McCormicks nigro for 1 Days work Paid Amos Gregg for 1230 feet popular plank.
5 10
6
Ap. 20 Paid Winton for 1000 feet boards
4
3
4
May 13 Paid Jacob Shiveley for 346 Do Paid John Dilley for 1056 Do
3
18
9
28 Paid Amos Gregg for plank
2
16 0
29 Paid Caleb Balden for plank
7
18
9
Mar. 2 Paid Mr. Richmond for Drawing wood for Drying boards 1 17 6
14 Paid Mr. John Flake for 500 bricks
1
0
0
May 21 Paid Mr. Richmond for drawing lathe stuf
5
0
23 Paid Winton for drying Kill boards 2
10
0
June 2 Paid Workmans boys for hair
1
7
0
Ang. 23 Paid Mr. Steel for 1} days waggonining one hand with him.
1
5
0
Sept. 2 Paid Mr. Heany for drawing 2 loads sands
7
6
Dec. 4 Paid James McDermit for 13 days work Paid John Mcquiston for 40 days tend- ing mason
7 0
0
Paid Anthony McConnebew for 5 Do ..
12 6
Paid 2 men for Sawing lathe Stuff
5
0
Paid James Wilson for lathe Timber __
7 6
Paid Daniel Harris for hueing Timber
2
14
0
Paid Alex Fulton for brick
1
7 0
Paid Do Do for a riddle
4 0
Paid Do Do for 60 Shingles __
1 10
1
9
0
2 6
1
12 6
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
Paid Matthew Winton carpenter 160 0 0
Paid Jno. Reed mason for plastering Joal room 2 0 10₺
Do for making lathes and plastering Cort-house
28
9
4
Paid Mr. Wherry for 500 ft. Lin plank
1 18
0
Paid Mr. Gaut for 13 bushels hair
13
0
Paid Mr. Connel for Do
3
9
Paid Conolel Cannon for plank.
7 16
3
Paid Wm. Early for digging Trench from Dungeon
1
7
6
Do for splitting puncheons to cover the Trench and drawing paid Jno. White Paid Samuel Black for lathing nails ___ Paid Jno. Reed for plastering Cornish 2
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