USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > The history of Erie County, Pennsylvania, from its first settlement > Part 27
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Mr. Orsamus H. Marshall, a lifelong resident of Buffalo, and a painstaking historian, in a lecture February 3, 1863, says : " Two leagues above the falls (on the American side) we find the Cayuga Creek, a stream which answers perfectly Henne- pin's description. Opposite its mouth an island of the same name lies parallel with the shore, about a mile long and two or three hundred yards wide. It is separated from the main- land by a narrow branch of the river called by the early inhabitants 'Little Niagara' -- wide and deep enough to float a vessel of the tonnage of the Griffon. Into this channel and opposite the middle of the island, the Cayuga Creek empties. On the main shore, just above the mouth of the creek and under shelter of the island, is a favorable site for a shipyard. So eligible is the position that it was selected by the United States government, in the early part of the present century, as
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a suitable point for building one or more vessels for the trans- portation of troops and supplies to the western ports. For that reason it was known in early times as the 'Old Ship- yard'; and local traditions have been preserved in the memory of the early pioneers of the anterior occupancy, for the same purpose by the French. .. .
. The same site was selected by the United States government about the year 1804 for the con- struction of a small sloop of fifty tons burden, called the Niagara, which was used for conveying supplies to the west- ern ports. The owner of this estate is Mr. Jackson Angevine, who lias generously stated to me that it will be a pleasure for him to donate land sufficient for the erection of a testimonial commemorating the event."
The Erie Morning Dispatch of August 18, 1893, said : "A conference will be held in New York City early next week, when the agreement entered into yesterday at the Depart- ment of Internal Affairs between Col. Thomas J. Stewart, chief of that department, and Martin Schenck, of New York, who are charged with the duty of examining the boundary line monuments between Pennsylvania and New York and resetting and relocating them where it is found necessary, and to commence work at once. Allen W. Carson, of Norristown, the engineer who represented Pennsylvania in relocating and resetting the monuments three years ago, has again been chosen by Col. Stewart to act on the part of the Secretary of Internal Affairs. It would not appear too soon to examine, with a view to repairs, the work of one hundred and six years ago. The report from the 'mile trees marked ' will also be of much interest. The commissioners will travel on foot along the entire line between the two States from the Delaware River to Lake Erie, and are required to examine every monu- ment." [See page 59, chapter v.]
OWNERSHIP OF THE PENINSULA.
From The Erie Evening Herald, July 6, 1893.
Major John W. Walker a few days since received the follow- ing interesting public document from Henry W. Babbitt, Esq., son of the late Elijah Babbitt, who represented the Erie district in Congress a number of years ago. Mr. Henry Bab- bitt has been connected with the general land office for the
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last thirty years, and the letter here given is an authentic history of the purchase and sale of the land known as the peninsula :
"DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, "GENERAL LAND OFFICE, " WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec., 16, 1889. )
" Hon. W. C. Culbertson, House of Representatives, Washing- ton, D. C. :
"SIR-In reply to your verbal inquiry of December 7, 1889, as to whether the title to the peninsula or island in Lake Erie, near the City of Erie, Pennsylvania, known as 'Presque Isle,' is vested in the State of Pennsylvania or the United States, I have the honor to advise you that I find as follows:
In 1781 the State of New York ceded to the United States its claim for that portion of the State of Pennsylvania known as the 'Erie Purchase' (' Public Domain,' page 65). April 19, 1785, the State of Massachusetts ceded to the United States Also, 'a small portion on Lake Erie, just west of New York, being a triangular piece of land, also claimed by the State of New York, containing 315.91 square miles, which was sold by the United States to the State of Pennsylvania, March 3, 1792, for $151,640.25, or 75 cents per acre. The lands are now in the County of Erie, State of Pennsylvania, and patent was issued therefor by the President. It is known as the 'Erie Purchase,' and contained 202,187 acres.' (Public Domain, page 71).
" By act of Legislature of February 4, 1869, the State of Pennsylvania conveyed the said 'Presque Isle' to Marine Hospital at Erie, Pa. (Congressional Record, 49th Cong., first Sess., page 3,790). By act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania of May 11, 1871, title to said Peninsula or Presque Isle was tendered to the United States Marine Hospital at Erie, Pa. (Ibid.)
"By act of Congress approved August 5, 1886, (U. S. Stat- utes, v. 24, page 312), the Secretary of War is authorized and directed to receive and accept title from said Marine Hospital as tendered by said legislative enactment of May 11, 1871 ; $37,500 being the sum appropriated to pay for the same.
"From the letter of December 7, 1889, on this subject from
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Thomas Lincoln Casey, brigadier general, chief of engineers U. S. A., to Hon. B. F. Gilkerson, second comptroler U. S. Treasury Department, I am advised that the deed of said Marine Hospital, coveying title to said Peninsula, or Presque Isle, to the United States, is dated May 25, 1871 ; that the acting judge advocate of the U. S. Army, on the 18th of November, 1886, rendered an opinion that the acceptance of said deed, under the provision of said act of Congress of August 5, 1886, might be signified by entering upon and taking possession of the land in behalf of the United States ; that the honorable Secretary of War approved this opinion and directed, Decem- ber 14, 1886, that the necessary action be taken. Accordingly, in pursuance of this order, the land was entered upon, and taken possession of, in behalf of the United States, by the War Department.
" Very respectfully your obedient servant,
"GEORGE REDWAY, Chief Clerk. " Per H. W. Babbitt.
"[The act of August 5, 1886, was introduced and pressed to passage by the late Hon. W. L. Scott.]"
Dr. Thomas H. Robinson, D.D., in his "Family Memorial," published in Pittsburg in 1867, says : "Our ancestry settled at their first arrival, it would appear, a few miles east of the Susquehanna, in Hanover township. Their farms were on the banks of the Swatara and its tributary creek, the Mavada. Here dwelt and intermarried at an early day the Robinsons, McCords, Blacks, Martins, Logans, Crawfords, with many others, nearly if not quite all of them of Scotch-Irish origin. The fort at Mavada gap, sixteen miles northeast of Harris- burg, sometimes is called Philip Robinson's, sometimes Sam- uel Robinson's-Samuel, as the eldest son of the household, taking charge of the paternal estate. There were many other forts in that neighborhood and throughout the country. We learn elsewhere that this was in April, 1756, and that twenty- seven persons were killed or captured by the Indians. Among the captured was Ann McCord, wife of John McCord, who was retaken from the Indians about five months later at the celebrated battle of Kittanning, in September.
" The French and English war over, our fathers hoped now
-
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for a long and undisturbed peace. The French were driven from the continent. It was thought that the Indian tribes were conciliated. The valley of the Susquehanna and of the Juniata began again to wear the aspect of civilized life. Cabins were rebuilt, settlers pushed their way deeper into the forests and opened new farms. The militia of the middle and southern colonies were disbanded. The frontiers seemed to need protection no longer. The security of our fathers was doomed to be speedily and terribly broken up.
" The Indians beheld their old allies, the French, driven out of the whole country, yet scarcely had they received the rich presents that accompanied the treaty of peace before murmurs of discontent began to be audible among the tribes. A vast conspiracy was formed, greater in extent, deeper and more comprehensive in its design than any that before or since has been conceived by a North American Indian. The bloody belt of war was sent secretly from tribe to tribe, until every- where, from the falls of Niagara and the pine-crowned crest of the Alleghenies to the forests of the Mississippi and the borders of Lakes Michigan and Superior, all the Indian nations had agreed to rise and attack the various English forts, which extended then nearly to the Mississippi, on the same day, and having massacred their garrisons, turn upon the defenseless frontier and with all their warriors ravage and lay waste the settlements, until, as the Indians fondly believed, the English would be driven into the sea, and the whole country restored to its original owners. Pontiac, the colossal chief of the Northwest, was the mighty spirit of this for- midable conspiracy. The preparations for war were kept pro- foundly secret. Hatred of the English was excited to the highest pitch by stories of their rapacity and cruelty. Sud- denly the terrible storm burst. An English party sounding the entrance to Lake Huron was seized and murdered. Seven Indians admitted into the port at Sandusky as friends, in an unsuspecting moment, murdered the entire garrison, save its commander, whom they carried away a prisoner. The fort at the mouth of the St. Joseph was entered by Indians under the guise of friendship, and in about two minutes all the garrison except three men were massacred. At Mackinaw, with simi-
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lar deception, the fort was seized and all were murdered or borne away prisoners. The forts and garrisons at Lafayette, Indiana, and at Presqu'ile met the same horrible fate. Fort Le Bœuf, on the headwaters of the Allegheny, was attacked, but in the night the commander and garrison escaped secretly into the woods, while the Indians believed them all buried in the flames of the burning fort. As the fugitives passed Ve- nango on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw nothing but ruins. The fort at that place was consumed, and not one of its garri- son was left alive to tell the story of its destruction. Eight haggard and half-famished soldiers dying from fright and ex- haustion, the remnant of the men who escaped from Fort Le Bœuf, staggered to the walls of Fort Pitt, bringing news of the coming tide of savages. They roamed the wilderness massa- cring all whom they met. More than one hundred traders were met in the woods, struck down, scalped, their bodies horribly mutilated, and their life-blood quaffed in savage glee. They laid siege to Fort Pitt, . . but were beaten off after a hard day's fighting. . . . Rumors of these disasters and of the coming foe reached the country east of the mountains.
On Sunday, July 3, 1763, a soldier riding express from Fort Pitt galloped into Carlisle and alighted to water his horse at a well in the centre of the place. A crowd of country men were instantly about him to hear the news. 'Presqu'ile, Le Bœuf, and Venango are taken, and the Indians will be here soon,' he cried. Remounting his horse in haste, he rode on to make his report at the camp of Col. Boquet, who was raising a force for defense. All was consternation and excite- ment. .. Every pathway and road leading into Carlisle was filled with the flying settlers flocking thither for refuge. . . The Indian war parties at length broke out of the woods like gangs of hungry wolves, murdering, burning, and laying waste on every hand, while hundreds of terror-stricken families abandoning their homes fled for refuge toward the older settlements. Outrages were perpetrated and sufferings endured which defy all attempts at description. Cumberland County, which at that time formed the western frontier of Pennsylvania, was almost exclusively occupied by the de- scendants of the thrifty colony of Scotch, who for many
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years had occupied the north of Ireland, and were Presby- terians. These acquitted themselves admirably in their own defense. The march of Col. Boquet in 1764 and the victory of Bushy Run, some twenty-five miles from Fort Pitt, dispirited the Indian warriors and caused a temporary lull. Afterwards, when they saw they were in the power of Boquet, they reluctantly sued for peace. Twelve days were given them to deliver up all prisoners in their hands-Englishmen, French- men, women and children, and to furnish them with clothing, provisions, and horses to carry them to Fort Pitt. They hastened to fulfill the conditions, and upwards of two hundred were collected at the camp of Boquet. Many affecting inci- dents are on record of those who had become enamored of the wild forest life, and some even had to be borne back by force. When the army reached Carlisle, people met them there in great numbers to inquire for the friends they had lost. As the Indian tribes retreated, this hardy, freedom-loving race moved forward and took possession of the country. In the latter part of the eighteenth century we find them going south into Virginia, west to Kentucky, and a few families to the shores of Lake Erie. Dr. Thomas H. Robinson refers to several of our prominent divines, as Rev. Dr. Matthew Brown, at one time President of Jefferson College, Rev. D. H. Riddle, D.D., Rev. Francis Herron, D.D., the Hon. J. G. Blaine, and Col. Ephraim Blaine, of the Revolution, being of the same family or having intermarried, as in Northeast the families of Moorhead and Mills."
We have given this lengthy account to show what sufferings the ancestors of some of the best Erie County people endured, how a kind Providence preserved a remnant, and to contrast those trying times with the peaceful present.
LE BŒUF.
A very interesting visit was paid to Col. P. E. Judson, still landlord of the Eagle Hotel, Waterford, in the summer of 1892. A vestige of Fort Le Bœuf still remains, being the cellar with remnants of its stone wall as originally laid (Maj. Martin Strong selected a specimen with a shell impress for a cabinet). A chapter of the "Daughters of the Revolution "
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should have charge of it, though the quiet inhabitants have been very kind-the charm is to see it in its un- remodeled condition and full of tall weeds. When it was in good condition in 1796 there were four block houses with no light from outside, but an underground passageway crossed the road diagonally to a spring. A picture of the fortifica- tions hangs in the hall of the hotel. Col. Judson has lived in Waterford since he was fourteen years of age and for many years has occupied the fort as a public house. A cannonball that had served at his front door for seventy years was at last stolen a few months ago, and now a sword, very rusty but beautifully chased, is kept under lock and key ; a tailor's goose also was found upon the premises and was gilded and de- posited with other relics of the olden time in Washington. There is not a more beautiful drive than from Waterford south to Cambridgeboro.
An Erie merchant writes :
"ERIE, Sept. 10, 1813.
" DEAR BROTHER :
" I have been waiting all summer to get some news worth relating, but have been disappointed in this. It has been busy times here this summer. The Navy Department have built two brigs of 400 tons, carrying 18-32 carronades each, and four large gunboats carrying one and two long heavy cannon. There has been stationed here one regiment of Pennsylvania militia, about 800 men, and the militia have been called out frequently from the country in cases of alarm. The British squadron has been hovering round the mouth of the harbor frequently through the summer, sometimes near enough to exchange shots with the gunboats and batteries, but no dam- age has been done. Our squadron, consisting of ten sail, left this on the 12th ult., and are now off Sandusky, probably, waiting for Gen. Harrison to make a descent on Malden, which I think will be in a few days. I think it doubtful which will carry the day, as the English are rather superior on the lake and strongly fortified at Malden, where the fleet now lies.17
" ERIE, March 4, 1814. "SIRS :- Since my last, nothing of importance has transpired
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in this vicinity until by the arrival of a gentleman on Monday evening last from the westward, who brings us the news that a considerable British force was on the march for Detroit. My informant saw a man who left Detroit on the 16th ult., who states that on the night of the 15th, a corps of British soldiers had crossed the St. Clair River about fifty miles from Detroit, and were marching down. That about four hundred Indians were coming down on the Canada side and that the in- habitants were in great confusion, endeavoring to save their lives and property. The commanding officer, Col. Croghan, would not permit any of the inhabitants to take shelter in the fort, it being too small to protect the inhabitants and make defense. An order had been issued to burn Malden and Sand- wich, the first at ten and the other at eight o'clock on the 15th. From other sources we are informed that a heavy can- nonading was heard at the river Raisin and at Vermillion on the 18th in the direction of Detroit. We were informed a few days since by express from Sackett's Harbor that a British regular force of 1,500 men and 500 seamen had passed that place from the westward. These circumstances and others, particularly that the most loyal inhabitants near Detroit have moved into the interior, leave but little room to doubt that an attack has been made. Through an interposition of Providence we have been permitted to remain unmolested thus far (except by the patriotic militia from the neighboring coun- ties), the ice on the lake not having been strong enough for an army to come here, and the winter is so far spent that we ap- prehend no danger until the spring opens."
" In answer to your note," writes a pioneer March 30, 1861, " I would say that I know of no person nor can I learn of any person who attempted to reside in this county previous to the year 1795. Mr. Wm. Miles, I believe, was the first-at least he was the first settler so far as I can learn. Mr. Miles settled on the flats of French Creek at a point where two or more roads cross, a little northwest of the place where the Stranahans now live in Concord township, in the month of June, 1795. Accompanying him were his wife and children and Mr. Wm. Cook's family. The irregular manner in which Mr. Miles' children were carried is worthy of especial notice. A sack
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was made, open in the side instead of the end ; the sack was thrown across the horse, a child placed in each end of it, and in this manner they were conveyed to Concord from Frank- lin, Venango County. Mrs. Miles carried her youngest child before her on the horse. Mr. Miles resided in Concord town- ship about five years, removing in 1800 to a place which he called Union Mills, from the fact of a saw and gristmill being built there. The nearest station was eight miles distant. All provisions in 1795 were carried by means of pack horses from Pittsburg to Concord township. After the year 1795 provisions were brought up the Allegheny River, thence by its tributaries to Union Mills. In the year 1796 families named Hull, McCrea, Wilson, and Findley settled in the neighbor- hood of Union Mills. A Mr. Stephen Oliver settled near there in the latter part of 1795 ; but before I forget I would remark that Mrs. Miles and her sister Mrs. Cook were the two first white women in the County of Erie. Families by name of Hamilton and Reeder settled in and about Edinboro between the years 1795 and 1800. They were the first settlers at that particular point. Lexington was first laid out by McNair and others, the time I do not remember. In 1796 Mr. Wm .. Miles commenced clearing land, and built himself in addition to his dwelling house, a store for the storing of provisions on the tract of land where Wattsburg now stands. In the same year families by the name of Tracy and Reed (Adam Reed) built a small gristmill on the east branch of French Creek, and surveyed the tract of land known as ' Tenth Dona- tion Tract.' Mr. Wm. Miles and Mr. David Watts were ap- pointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania (Mifflin, I think) in the year 1785 to the survey. Their provisions being procured in Harrisburg were packed on horses and conveyed to a point near Wattsburg. An incident happened which might be worthy of note. The duties of the surveyors being severe they employed an Indian in the capacity of general cook and to furnish meat, etc. Mr. Indian, as is natural to the race, in time became remarkably lazy in his endeavors to procure meat, giving as his excuse the scarcity of it in the wilderness, but the trick was carried too far, and Messrs. Miles and Watts becoming cognizant that he was deceiving them cut short his
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allowance of food, which brought the ' native of the forest' to a strict sense of his duty, which he never afterwards neg- lected."
An original surveyor writes :
" FRANKLIN, February 6, 1862.
. To your first query, 'How long were you making survey ?' etc., I auswer, we were engaged all summer ; in the fall I went home to my father's. To the second, I answer, Rutledge and his son were out looking for land to settle, and in going from Le Bœuf to Erie were by the Indians shot and murdered within one mile or thereabouts from Presqu'ile and on the path leading from Le Boeuf to Presqu'ile. The elder Rutledge was killed on the spot ; the young man was taken to Le Bœuf and taken care of by the surgeon of the fort, Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy, and lived but a few days. You ask, Why did they venture so far from the fort? It was common for travelers to travel the path in small companies, but very often dangerous on account of hostile Iudians from the upper lakes, prowling through the woods to plunder and murder. I often saw signs of them when running lines in various parts of the · district. I will give you an anecdote. One night about eight or ten miles from our main camp at P., we, our compass and hands, had encamped as usual for the night ; after taking our supper we lay down by a good fire. In about half an hour we were alarmed by our dog running from the fire and barking very fiercely. We were very apprehensive that Indians were about, and concluded to move from the fire and lie down where we pleased. Each one of us took his own course ; I went about one hundred yards from the fire, and with my blanket around me laid me down by the side of a large log. In about half of an hour the dog who had been near the fire, ran with great speed from the fire after something, and directly we found it to be deer, as they scented so as to satisfy me it was so. I arose and called the boys to come to the fire; all came and we fell fast asleep and rested quietly until morning. But I often conversed with Seneca Indians who told me that there were hostile Indians in the district. . .
. . I will mention one thing further : Shortly after we got to Erie, perhaps in June or July, the State Commissioners came out to
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lay out the town, and about the same time the United States troops arrived to build the fort. However, I think it must have been about the first of June that Rutledge was killed. I am sorry I cannot furnish you with more items. Your object is a laudable one, and if you could give the circumstances of the country, it would be interesting. The young people now enjoying the blessings of civilization and refinement know but little of the privations the early pioneers suffered.
" WILLIAM CONNELY."
We cannot do better than copy from the Erie Dispatch, 1891, a description of the annual outing of the Natural History Society for some of our boldest scenery: "On leaving the morning Lake Shore train at Fairview station, Mr. G. I. How- ard's fourhorse vehicle was in waiting to take the party to his residence and stone quarry at Fall's Run, about six miles south of Fairview. The route lay through a pleasant farming country and over a succession of hills, rising higher and higher until an elevation was reached of several hundred feet above the surface of Lake Erie. The creek is the largest stream in Erie County, and to members of the State Geo- logical Survey it has been the most interesting. It rises on the highlands south of Erie City and runs in a westerly direction fifteen or twenty miles to a point south of Girard, where it forms a great oxbow curve around a long narrow ridge of rocks one hundred feet in height, known as the 'Devil's Backbone,' and then runs north through Girard to Lake Erie. The reason Elk Creek took a western direction while other streams that rose near that line ran directly north into the lake is because a high ridge lies between them, run- ning parallel with the lake shore and named by the Geological Survey, 'First Divide.' From this watershed the rainfall on the north side runs into the lake through Mill Creek and other small streams, while the rainfall on the opposite side goes south into Elk Creek. In this stream is the second and most important subject of interest to the geologist, in having cut a deep channel in the rocks with perpendicular walls more than one hundred feet in height, and a personal inspec- tion of the vertical walls has been made and the result pub- lished by members of the State Geological Survey. This is
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