USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Braddock > The unwritten history of Braddock's Field (Pennsylvania) > Part 5
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The location of the Town at the mouth of Turtle Creek and on the Monongahela River seems to be the natural one, and in the year 1840 Port Perry was a town composed of eight families, as above stated, and the
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
site of the present town of Braddock was covered with its original forest; and while Braddock to-day looks down upon Port Perry with irony, yet the demolition of Port Perry helped to make Braddock and vicinity.
Of the business carried on in Port Perry prior to 1840, not much can be learned but that of mining coal. One of the first coal mines was located at Port Perry, the coal being floated down the river in flat boats. Coal mines along the river began to flourish after the building of No. 2 lock and dam, and navigation was brisk, when the river was navi- gable. The Monongahela river was first navigated by steam in 1825, and then only when the river was high. A boat store was located in Port Perry, where they used to furnish supplies to the boats and it be- came a favorite Post Office for the rivermen to get their mail. Some of the packets that used to navigate the river here, were the Luzerne, Col- onel Bayard, Elector, Chieftain, Elisha Bennett, Fayette, Albert Gallatin, W. J. Snowden, Elizabeth, Germania, Geneva, James G. Blaine and James F. Woodward, the fastest of all these being the Elizabeth. They were all side wheel steamers except the Snowden and it was a stern wheel boat and was too large to operate in the swift currents of high water. The boat Tom Schriver operated between Pittsburgh and West Newton on the Youghiogheny River. Transportation by way of these boats was heavy both in passengers and freight and many of the early citizens of Port Perry followed the river in one capacity or another.
A Post Office was established in Port Perry in 1850 and this was the occasion of the change in the name from Pieriestown to Port Perry. The first Postmaster was John McCloskey appointed by President Polk. He served until 1861 when John Craig, brother-in-law of George T. Miller was appointed by President Lincoln. Craig died in 1864 and John Rus- sell, brother of James A. Russell of Braddock, was appointed to take his place. He served until 1868, and was followed by Jackson Young 1868- 1885 when J. K. Wood was appointed Postmaster by Grover Cleveland. J. L. Porter was appointed by President Harrison in 1889. He served until the inauguration of President Cleveland for his second term; Mrs. C. McCue was then appointed and served until President Mckinley was inaugurated in 1897 when Samuel Davidson was named Postmaster, who served until January 1902 when P. Stucki was appointed Postmaster by President Roosevelt. At his decease his daughter Mrs. M. C. Toner was made Postmistress April 20th, 1903, and is still serving hier country in that capacity. P. Stucki, the father of Mrs. M. C. Toner emigrated from Swit-
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
zerland to the United States in 1857 settling in Port Perry, and it is stated that for forty-one continuous years their home was never vacant at night.
The first church in Port Perry-the Methodist Episcopal, to the best information obtainable, was built about the year 1848, and seems to have had its beginning from a Sabbath School that was started by Mrs. Corey, the mother of J. B. Corey. It seems that Mrs. Corey builded bet- ter than she knew for many citizens have told me that the little brick church was the scene of all their entertainments and gatherings and helped to make Port Perry for them the garden spot of the world. The Pitts- burgh and Connellsville Railroad which passes through Port Perry was opened in 1857 and at that time the road only extended to Port Perry and the trains went up around to Brinton and thence to Pittsburgh over the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The line of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad was extended from Port Perry to Pittsburgh in 1861 and was built by William J. Morrison. This road is now owned and operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. The Pittsburgh, Mckeesport and Youghiogheny Railroad now operated by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad was opened in 1883. The main line of the Penn- sylvania Railroad is connected with the Monongahela division of the same road by a bridge across the river at Port Perry. It passes over the town from the mouth of the tunnel. This tunnel has now been done away with. The Union Railroad also by a bridge connects the Edgar Thomson Steel Works with the Duquesne and Homestead Steel Works. It is claimed and no doubt it is true that the heaviest tonnage in the world passes through Port Perry, and the encroachments of the railroads with their tracks and yards have all but annihilated the town. James A. Russell who came . to Braddock in 1862 says that at that time, Port Perry was larger than Braddock, and people went from Braddock to Port Perry, to buy their groceries, etc. The McCloskey Coal Works were then located in the up- per end of Port Perry and the same were operated by John McCloskey who was the father of Mrs. Timothy E. Kenney of Holland Avenue, Braddock, Pa. Col. Wm. L. Miller was the big man of Port Perry and owned the store which supplied the steamboats, and was called the boat store. George T. Miller operated the saw-mill, and at the time of the Civil War 1861-1865 Miller made about two million gun stocks at this mill. He also had extensive boat yards and used the saw-mill for that purpose, and also for reducing logs into building material. About fifty per cent of all coal boats on the Monongahela River were built in these docks. Car shops for building Railroad cars were in operation for some few years, also a
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
pump shop for making wood pumps, for use on coal boats did a good bus- iness. A cooper shop producing barrels had an extensive trade as well as did the stone quarries on the hill side near the town. Abraham Moore, father-in-law of Thomas George, opened the first quarry for the purpose of filling in the first dam with stone.
John King operated a blacksmith shop. The lock master at No. 2 dam and locks always resided in the town of Port Perry. The first lock master was John Derrickson, who served from 1849 to 1856. The next lock master was Captain B. L. Wood, 1856 until his death in 1872, when he was succeeded by his son Charles W. Wood. During the administration of the latter the locks and dams were sold to the United States Government. C. W. Wood was succeeded by Edward Finnin a brother of John T. Finnin, note-teller in the First National Bank of Braddock, Pa. He in turn was succeeded by James A. Sweeney, and he by the present lock master Robert McGreevey. The first physicians, were Doctor Snodgrass and Doctor Oliver.
Mr. A. P. Aiken who resides in Mills Ave., Braddock, Pa. states that in the early sixties the population of Port Perry was about thirty- five hundred people. It will require a little thought on our part at the present time to believe this possible, but Mr. Aiken's word is as good as his bond and the facts of his statement were by me confirmed, from other old residents. Mr. Aiken also states that there were thirteen saloons which did a flourishing business in the town. That the mud at the upper end of the town was black, at the lower end yellow, and at Hamburg a little settlement near the border of Port Perry it was red; the color of the mud on a man's shoes denoting where he got his whiskey.
Walter R. Collins, an old resident of Port Perry, now residing in Braddock and a member of the Grand Army of The Republic, moved to Port Perry in 1867, it being the time that about fifty feet in the center of the old dam had broken out. He was employed in rebuilding the dam, under Squire Richard Harrison. They completed the work that summer and then he opened a bakery business in Port Perry, he therefore being the first baker in this community. Madge Struble was ticket agent for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and as an assistant she had Wilson Marks, a man well known to many in this district. She afterwards married Wil- son Marks. Mr. Marks's fatlier Philip was employed as watchman at the old Port Perry trestle. One of Mr. Collins's friends who resided in Port Perry was Thomas J. Lewis afterwards Justice of the Peace in Braddock, and the father of Frank E. Lewis, employed in newspaper work in Brad- dock. The Lewis home in Port Perry was sold to the Pennsylvania Rail-
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
road Company while they were putting the tunnel through Miller's hill in order to connect with their main line in Brinton. The assistant en- gineer or superintendent of this work was Charles M. Schwab now of the Bethlehem Steel Company. A coping stone on the face of the tunnel slipped and crushed to death, the foreman, a Mr. Miller. His widow is still living in Braddock. Mr. Collins's father-in-law, Gilbert Stephens, and his brother Richard Stephens, were boat builders of Elizabeth, Pa. and built the boat and rowed it conveying General La Fayette from Elizabeth to Braddock, May 28th, 1825. This is the occasion on which General La Fayette stopped at the Kirkpatrick Mansion at the corner of Bell and Jones Avenues, North Braddock, Pa. Samuel L. Heath a son of Samuel Heath who was born in Fort Pitt, August 1st, 1773 was a member of the "Jefferson Guards" and helped to receive LaFayette and shook hands with him on the occasion of his visit to this part of our country.
Captain B. L. Wood, the father of Chas. W. Wood and Wm. P. Wood of Pittsburgh, and Mrs. Ada R. Preusse of 308 Holland Ave., Brad- dock, was superintendent of Lock No. 2, and we note a clipping from a Pittsburgh, Pa. newspaper dated Monday, August 20, 1888 at which time it seems that the Monongahela Navigation Company had refused to open the locks on Sunday for the proposed Sunday Excursion of August 19, 1888, of the County Democracy, in honor of Congressional Guests, which recalled an incident occurring at Port Perry Locks, some years ago, when the late B. L. Wood was superintendent. The rule then as in 1888 was, that the locks should be kept closed on Sunday, except for the passage of mail-boats or during a coal boat rise. Captain Wood it seems enforced the rule at lock No. 2 to the letter, and his inflexibility was so well known to captains and others employed on boats plying the river that while they might succeed in passing through Lock No. 1 at Soho, they al- ways managed to tie up at No. 2. On the occasion referred to, the Cap- tain of a tow boat with a tow of empty barges made a boast when passing through No. 1, that he would get through Port Perry all right. He was known as a man of determined manner, and as he had one equally de- termined to deal with, the Navigation officials told him it was of no use to make the attempt. The boat reached the lock early on Sunday morn- ing and as the office was closed the captain sent word to the Superintendent that he had a tow of empties and desired to go through. A reply was sent that the lock would not be open until twelve o'clock Sunday night. The boat Captain was not to be rebuffed, and he sent word to the Super- intendent that he would like to see him. When the Superintendent ap-
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
peared the Captain said in his blandest manner; "Captain I have an emer- gency trip to-day and would like to get up the river." "You know the rule in force here." said Captain Wood. "You know too that it is one that I never violate; I cannot make any exception in your case and will not." "All right then." said the steam boat Captain, whose anger was at fever heat, "I'll make things pleasant for you during the day, if I am compelled to stay." The steam boat Captain then secured his tow of barges and ran his boat into the open lock chamber, preparatory to opening up hos- tilities. He directed the engineer to keep a full supply of steam and then attempted to hold another conference but failed. The Superintendent's house was located just across the street, and when the second effort failed the tow boat Captain pulled the steam whistle wide open and gave a few premonitory blasts, as a sample of the plan of warfare he had mapped out. As it was not heeded, his whistle was again turned on and then from nine o'clock Sunday morning until between twelve and one o'clock on Monday morning there was not a moment's cessation. The shrieks were varied with all the ingenuity that the steam boat man could devise, to increase the annoyance. One second there would be an ear splitting shriek, at another time a wail would be sounded that seemed to emanate from the lost ones in the lower regions. As hour after hour passed there was not the slightest show of annoyance on the part of the Superintendent, while the steam boat man raved up and down the wall anathematizing the Navi- gation Company and the Superintendent in particular. He sent a mes- senger to the city to get an order but the messenger returned with the information that the direction of the Superintendent must be obeyed. The novel contest attracted people from Braddock and vicinity and throughout the day crowds were going to and from the scene. The noise was simply terrible but the Sunday rule was not violated, and the steam-boatman swore that he had never met such a stubborn man. Some residents of Port Perry threatened to prosecute the boat Captain but the next day he looked so crestfallen that the threats were not carried into execution. We presume that there are residents in this vicinity who will recall the day.
Henry C. Shallenberger, president of the State Bank of Braddock, operated a store for W. H. Brown & Sons for about ten years, and the last year that he was there, sold about $50,000 worth of groceries, etc. He received as his salary $125 a month, and was sent by the Browns to a point above Brownsville to manage a store at that place. Mr. Shallen- berger, however, after being a year at Brownsville, resigned his position,
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
accepting a position in the First National Bank of Braddock at $70 per month, having told Mr. Harry Brown that it was worth $250 a month to have to live at the place above Brownsville.
'An incident is recalled in the career of W. J. Dixon, who was born in Port Perry and is now one of the Honorable Councilmen of Braddock. During his first campaign for office they twitted him of not being a citizen, he having been born across the water. The Pennsylvania Water Company maintained a pumping station for quite a number of years with Mr. M. B. Scott as the man in charge. Mr. Scott has served in this capacity for about twenty-six years. The pumping station has been sold to the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad and they now are demolishing the same. It will soon be but a memory. Mr. Thomas George, who went to Port Perry in 1852 is still living there and is now nearly eighty-seven years of age. He is hale and hearty and his memory is keen, and his recollections of the early citizens of Port Perry are interesting and some times very amusing. Mr. George states that everybody that came to Port Perry went out rich and I immediately commenced to look for a house to rent but could not find one. Mr. George has three children living, Mrs. Elizabeth Kerr, Miles George and Mr. John George, now living at 535 Talbot Avenue, Braddock, Pa. Other well known citizens who have been connected with the history of Port Perry are the following: Jacob Mangus, who was the Captain of the steamboat, Enterprise; Thos. Moore, John Jenkner, Patrick McGreevy, George Brenneman, John Shields, now Councilman in Braddock, Patrick McLaughlin, Daniel Simms and John Simms, Sledge McMichaels, Charles Loughrey, Samuel Hart, Patrick Pur- cell, who was the father of the late James Purcell, a former Burgess of Braddock, Elisha Pancoast, a renowned gun maker, George Nimon, David F. Cooper, Phillip Sharah, now of San Jose, Cal., the father of William H. and Edward M. Sharah, Samuel C. Wilkinson, A. P. Aiken, Dr. Maggini, father of B. A. and Robert Maggini, and also Timothy Gallagher, who came to Port Perry, August 18, 1854, and whose daughter Mary, now the wife of Ezra Davis, lives on Hawkins Avenue, North Braddock, Pa., William Finnin, J. N. Elrod, whose widow still lives in Port Perry, William M. King, who died June 18, 1917, Patrick Cain, Matthew Melvin, whose widow Sarah, is about seventy years of age and still living there; William Fritzius, (the father of George B. Fritzius), George Fritzius, and Jordan Fritzius the father of Oliver B. Fritzius, of Homestead, Pa., and Adaline Corey, the mother of Ellis Corey, the Steel man; James Dickson, the father of William Dickson and one of the first men from Port Perry to
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
answer President Lincoln's call for troops in 1861; James Alexander, Peter Kidd, William Franey, and M. J. Ward, proprietor of the Old Jef- ferson House for years, John Noey, John Loew, who was pit boss for the McCloskey Coal Co., and father of Mrs. Joseph Striebich, John A. Loew and Mrs. Joseph L. Mayer; William H. Bishoff, the father of Fogal G. and Lowery H. Bishoff, Squire Joseph McCloskey, who is a distant relative of John Mc Closkey the coal man. Squire McCloskey says that he well remembers the steamboats unloading freight at Port Perry, which among other things consisted of large hogsheads of sugar and molasses, which came direct from New Orleans. He also remembers very well the day the steamboat did the whistling in the lock as spoken of earlier in this narrative. I also note the fact that William Mayhugh, who resides in Forward Township and is the father of Joseph F. Mayhugh, the attorney at law of North Braddock, Pa., formerly lived in Ohio, and shipped lumber from Long Bottom, Meigs County, Ohio, to the McCloskey Coal Works at Port Perry.
Port Perry, does not have a saloon within its border at the present time, nor has it had one for the past two years, although it is stated that in the early days, there were quite a few saloons in and about Port Perry, and the whiskey drunk was full proof of their existence. In politics the town was Democratic, and in jest it has been said that the tally sheets were made out before the polls were closed. However, while the town has been much maligned, and the butt of many a rude jest, yet some of our staunchest citizens first saw the light of day in this place.
Oh! Port Perry thou ancient one By the Riverside so bright, All thy great acts basely undone By Jacob taking Esau's right.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
TURTLE CREEK.
In the first session of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Allegheny County, on December 16th, 1788, Justice George Wallace presiding, the County of Allegheny was divided into seven Townships, the most important of which was Pitt Township, and included within its confines part of the present Borough of Turtle Creek.
Pittsburgh became a City in 1816, and five years later, 1821, Pitt Township was in part decreased by the forming of Wilkins Township, tak- ing up to Brush Creek, now called Thompson Run. The part of Turtle Creek lying on the Easterly side of Thompson Run was included in Plum Township, whcih was one of those irregularly organized Townships on the Eastern border of the County. An attempt to create Patton Township out of a portion of Plum Township was made in April 1807. In 1808 a counter petition was filed representing that the Township was only eight . or ten miles long and from three to five miles in breadth. At an election held, it was reported that a division at that time was improper and un- necessary, and for nearly forty years thereafter the question was not agitated. At the March Term 1847, a petition was referred to the cus- tomary number of viewers who failed to give the matter any consideration. A second petition was filed at the June Term, representing the Township as being thirteen miles long and six miles wide, that there was not that identity of interest which should exist among the people of the same Town- ship, and praying the Court to appoint a second commission for its divi- sion. August 26, 1848, R. E. McGowen, N. Patterson and G. W. Hawkins, were appointed for that service. A favorable report was filed November 4, 1848, and on March 4th, 1849, by a decree of court Plum Township was divided. The Southerly part of Plum Township received the name of Patton Township. History states that this part of the County was popularly known at an early period by no other name than Turtle Creek, and that its settlement occured at a comparatively early date. Between 1765 and 1785 the following were settlers in Patton Township: William McElroy, William and Robert Johnson, Christopher Striker, Joseph Mc- Clintock, who was the grand-father of John C. McClintock now living in Turtle Creek, Robert Beatty, whose descendents are still living in Patton Township, Robert Clugston and William Clugston, the Clugston Post Office being named after this family; also Sarah C. Clugston is of this same family of Clugstons, and was the wife of John C. Mcclintock above named. The first family is supposed to have been Mrs. Martha Myers who got one of the old patents for a tract of land called "The Widow's Dower".
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
In Washington's Journal of his tour of November 23, 1770, the following appears: "After settling with the Indians and the people that attended me down the river and defraying sundry expenses accruing at Pittsburg, I set off on my return home, and after dining at the Widow Mier's on Tur- tle Creek, reached Mr. John Stephenson in the night." This tract of land called "The Widow's Dower" took in a portion of the premises now owned by A. O. Tinstman, at present occupied by C. P. M. Tinstman and John M. Larimer. The First U. P. Church of Turtle Creek is also on a portion of the tract. The Widow Myer's house where General Washington stopped, was located at the corner of Sycamore Street and Monroeville Road on the John M. Larimer lot.
The Widow Myer's Hotel, or Tavern, as it was called in those days, was the first stage stop out of Pittsburgh. These stops were located along the road from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia at various places, pre- sumably at about fifteen mile stations. It was customary to change the teams consisting of from four to six horses at these stations. These stages would make from four to six miles an hour, including stops. This was a little better than what the old pedestrians used to make. (The writer has heard his mother's uncle, who was in the cattle business in the early days and bought up cattle through the Western part of Penn- sylvania, the Northern part of West Virginia and the Eastern part of Ohio, state that on numerous occasions they would, while looking for cattle, walk a mile in fifteen minutes, or four miles an hour. They would keep this pace up for four, five and six hours at a time.) The time consumed in journeying from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, or vice-versa was naturally much greater than at the present, with railroad trains running from sixty to seventy miles an hour, and automobiles making the trip from Pitts- burgh to Philadelphia in twelve hours.
Turtle Creek Borough is situated on the opposite side of the Creek from the Station of that name on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Turtle Creek was the terminus of a Coal Road leading up Thompson Run and this Coal Road, called the Allegheny River Railroad, now belongs to the West- inghouse interests and connects their industries with the Union Railroad. The Town itself came into existence after the construction of the Greens- burg Turnpike. This was also the first Post Office in this section of the County. The Borough of Turtle Creek was incorporated in 1892 and the first meeting of Council was held September 12, 1892, the first Burgess being W. H. Semmens, the present State Senator, who was also a member and president of the first Council. The first Secretary was John A. Clug-
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
ston, with the following members of Council: Charles R. Church, Peter Double, Dr. W. L. Hunter, W. J. Smith and R. G. Zischkau. The present Burgess is R. G. Reid; the present Borough Secretary is Joseph J. Schmidt, and the present members of council are W. H. Kenyon, president; A. P. McMullen, W. C. Jones, J. D. Henderson, J. M. Skelton, S. J. Black, E. A. Dias, Thos. Cole and Philip Jones. The First School Board of Turtle Creek was organized on September 16, 1892. The directors were P. W. Boli, president ; John T. C. Bowman, secretary ; J. C. Hunter, J. C. Miller, J. C. Mates and Harry Church. The present members of the School Board are S. M. Cunningham, president ; E. R. Smith, secretary; Robert R. Pat- terson, M. D., H. M. Cunningham and Charles R. Trevaskis. The Principal is Prof. W. A. Rodgers. They employ thirty regular Teachers and four Special Teachers. The enrollment at this time is eleven hundred fifty- seven (1,157) pupils.
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