Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 3

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036

USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 3

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Formerly many sheep were raised, but the decline in the price of mutton and wool, to- gether with the ravages of dogs have caused a lack of interest and now, even with higher prices, sheep raising is on the decline. The keeping of dogs has practically destroyed the sheep industry. About 1890, on account of low prices the breeding of choice horses received a check. Now, with the exception of some blooded Percherons, little attention is paid to raising good horses. The farmers are content with heavy grades of good quality. Many ivestern horses are brought in each year.

Dairying has always been followed, though not as a specialty, except in Morrison's cove and vicinity, where there are many dairy farms. The cows are of various breeds, with a pre- dominance of Jerseys. Transportation has de- veloped the milk industry near the towns and shipping centers, the farmers either delivering milk to a skimming station for pasteurization or shipping it direct to the cities. The milk is often bought according to its butter-fat con- tents, and this fact should give an incentive to the breeding of high-grade cows yielding rich

milk. Milk usually retails at eight cents a quart in summer and nine cents a quart in winter. Doubtless dairying will be conducted on a more scientific basis, as silos are becoming general and the tendency is toward improvement in breeding and management.

Raising cattle for beef has never been an im- portant industry and not enough is supplied to meet home demands. Since beef has become more expensive some farmers have bought steers in Pittsburg in the fall, fed them until spring, and sold them at a good profit, in addi- tion to utilizing their coarse fodder and obtain- ing more manure. On farms remote from mar- kets which have good pasture the production of beef cattle is to be recommended.

Enough hogs have always been kept to supply home needs, the number depending upon the supply of grain available and the number of cows on the farm. Grade Chester Whites predominate, but there are many Berkshires on the farms in the western part of the county. Although few farmers raise more than half a dozen pigs, the sale of spring-weaned pigs is a growing industry, as the villagers usually keep one or more.

Every farm supports a considerable flock of poultry. Eggs are always in demand and find a ready sale at remunerative prices. The large urban population consumes nearly all the poul- try products, and very little is shipped to out- side points.

Many new orchards are being, planted. Apple and peach orchards predominate. Grapes are produced for local consumption. At present the demand for grapes cannot be supplied. The common varieties of apples are the Sum- mer Rambo, Winter Rambo, Astrachan, York, Baldwin, Pound, Oats, Northern Spy, Pippin and Gravenstein. Plums are grown near Holli- daysburg, and quinces and cherries do well. The number of pear orchards is increasing. Raspberries and blackberries are grown for domestic use, and the soils are well suited to their production.

Market gardening has been greatly stimu- lated by the demand from the large towns where manufactures of various kinds are con-

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

ducted. The development of the coal mines, quarries and the steel industry has done much to bring about this demand. As a result the majority of the farmers plant from a fraction of an acre to several acres of truck, which is either marketed by the farmer or sold to hucksters. Tomatoes, cabbage, beets, rhubarb, turnips, onions and squash are produced, the first three predominating. Among the small fruits the strawberry is the most profitable.

The acerage of potatoes has nearly doubled in ten years; fair yields are the rule and very profitable prices obtained. There is an im- mense loss each year from blight and rot-a loss that could be lessened, if not prevented, by spraying the vines with Bordeaux mixture. Clover is an important crop for hay and seed, especially in Morrison's cove. Timothy hay is a money crop and seldom brings less than $15 a ton. In the winter of 1909 the price has reached $24 a ton.

In the larger towns there is such a demand for truck crops and all kinds of farm products that nearly all the produce is consumed in the towns and little is shipped outside. Although the marketing of crops is attended by more or less difficulty, owing to steep roads and in many cases long hauls, the main roads are kept in good condition through the use of crushed rock, which is everywhere obtainable. Toll roads are still in existence in certain localities, but these are not popular and will all doubtless be done away with in the near future.

The development of market gardening has called attention to the adaptation of soils to crops. This is especially noticeable in the market gardening districts near Altoona and Hollidaysburg. The new orchards are being set out with a view to good location, a well- drained soil, preferably originating from shale rock, having a southern or southwestern ex- posure, being selected. Much fruit is seen on the eastern slope of Lock and Dunning mountains.

Crop rotation is practiced by some farmers,

but is confined largely to the general farm crops. Truck farmers do not practice syste- matic crop rotation. The system usually em- ployed is corn, wheat, oats and timothy. Fre- quently corn will be planted on the same land for two successive years, but it is not con- sidered best to keep an inter-tillage crop on the land for more than one year, because of danger from washing and leaching, except in the limestone valleys, where the practice is much safer. Wheat and oats are usually manured and fertilized. Timothy is left on the same land as long as a remunerative crop is obtained, ordinarily from two to five years. In Morrison's cove clover has a place in the rotation along with timothy. No leguminous catch crops are used, although these offer an excellent opportunity to increase the humus in the soil. When unseasonable conditions pre- vent a stand of corn, buckwheat is usually planted to take its place.

Commercial fertilizers are commonly used though not in great quantities. Those high in potash are most frequently used and apparently give the best results. Fertilizers are usually applied to wheat, buckwheat, oats and potatoes.

A few farmers have tried alfalfa on a limited scale with fair success. It is very probable that with a thorough knowledge of its culture, and of its soil and fertiilzer requirements it would be a valuable crop for forage and for improving the soil. It would probably do well on deep, well-drained productive soils that will grow red clover.

The average size of farms in Blair county is 118 acres, but the introduction of trucking is causing them to be divided into smaller tracts which greatly increases their value. Near Hol- lidaysburg and Altoona truck land has trebled in value in the last ten years. There has been also a corresponding increase in the price of all farm products. The exhibits at the annual fairs are showing a marked advancement as the result of applying scientific methods in tilling the soil.

CHAPTER II.

SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.

The Struggle with Nature and the Indians-Lot of the Pioneer-The First Settlement at Franks- town-Later Settlements-Indian Raids-Annoyance from Tories-Hardships Endured by the Early Settlers-Scotch Valley and its Settlers-Organization of the County-A His- torical Review by C. B. Clark, Esq .- Erection of Court House and Jail-Addition Built to Court House-Review of Court History by Judge Martin Bell-Address on "The Judi- ciary," by Hon. Daniel J. Neff.

THE STRUGGLE WITH NATURE AND THE INDIANS.

The pioneers of a forest country must of necessity have hardships and privations. As a means of livelihood they have nothing to look to or expect from but the soil, which is covered with a dense growth of timber that must first be removed. This means hard and tedious labor. Mostly poor and poorly equipped with means or implements, the new arrival sets about to provide shelter for himself and family. With no other tool than an axe, his house and barn are reared. The architectural designs and me- chanical construction were rude in the extreme, but they answered the purpose and were the harbingers of a civilization that their de- scendents now enjoy. Happy and contented in their lot, simple in life and hopeful for the future, they cheerfully submitted to their hard- ships. Trees of immense size and of fine variety and quality, that if converted into lumber now would command from $25 to $50 per thousand, were chopped and rolled into piles and burned to clear up the land. The soil in its virgin state was very productive and yielded bounti- fully. Much of the products were cooked and eaten without the process of manufacturing. Grain to be ground had to be packed on horse- back to the valleys further east. Salt could

not be produced and had to be procured from afar or food eaten without it. Game abounded in the forests and trout fish in the streams. From these sources meat as food was secured, and the skins of animals were used as articles of clothing. Fruit was unknown at first and was propagated later on solely from seeds. The fruit thus produced was mostly of an inferior grade, but answered the purpose for many years. Trees then planted are yet to be found and still bear fruit.

The first settlement in the territory now em- braced in Blair county was beyond all doubt at Frankstown. There are no records to consult but there is a well-authenticated tradition that a German trader by the name of Stephen Franks was the first white man to make a tem- porary home in this part of the Juniata Valley. This was in 1750. The Indians called the place Assunnepachla, meaning the meeting of many waters, or where the waters join. As a trad- ing place with the red men, it was doubtless be- fore the above date; some assert as far back as 1730.

James Lowery received the first land war- rant issued for the upper part of the Juniata Valley in the purchase of 1754. Lazarus and James Lowery were licensed as Indian traders in 1744 and were temporary residents as early as 1754. Among the early settlers we note

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

the names of Etter, Ullery, Albaugh, Geesey and Stiffler. The entire valley or valleys lying between the Allegheny and Dunnings and Lock mountains was originally called Frankstown. As a place of refuge for the scattered settlers a barracks was built of logs and called a fort. It was located on the flat at the east of the Berwind-White railroad yard about one-half mile from the present Frankstown.

Adam and William Holliday settled where Hollidaysburg now stands, in 1768 and shortly after this Samuel Moore and his seven sons and two daughters came to Scotch Valley, from which they were driven by the Indians in 1778. James, the second son, was killed by an Indian during their retreat. In 1780 Samuel Moore returned with a colony of Scotchmen, consisting of the Crawfords, Irwins, Fraziers, Stewarts, McPhersons and others, numbering about twenty-five or thirty persons, all clad in full Highland costumes, with bonnet and kilt, and armed with claymores and Queen Anne muskets.

Some time between 1763 and 1775 Jacob Neff, Martin and Jacob Houser and Christian Hoover settled in what is now Taylor town- ship in the vicinity of Roaring Spring. It was Neff who built the mill here, the first one erected in the county. About 1770 the Ives, Divelys, Lingenfelters and Nicholases settled in. Greenfield township and many of their de- scendents are now residents of that vicinity. Permanent settlements were made in Logan township by the Colemans and others prior to 1776 and the Brumbaughs, Clappers, Rhodes, Shirleys and others settled along Clover creek in Huston township. During the progress of the Revolutionary war the early settlements of the county were terribly retarded. The Indian raids were frequent and fierce. The whites . who escaped the tomahawk and scalping knife were all driven east and did not return for two years or until 1780. The Indians had de- serted or given up the Juniata Valley and re- tired west of the Allegheny mountain, but would make frequent raids on the unsuspecting settlers. In 1763 the chief Pontiac led the Indian tribes north of the Ohio against the

English forts from Detroit to Ligonier. Col- onel Bouquet was dispatched to the relief of the forts of western Pennsylvania. He raised the siege of Fort Ligonier and marched to the relief of Fort Pitt with a force of five hundred Highlanders and colonial volunteers. On August 5, 1763, near the site of Harrison City, Westmoreland county, he was drawn into an Indian ambuscade. Darkness saved his army from terrible defeat, and on the next day, by masterly strategy, he drew the Indian force into an ambuscade by a feigned retreat, and finally routed them with great slaughter. This battle, so nearly lost on the first day by the careless- ness, and so brilliantly won on the second day by the masterly generalship of Col. Henry Bou- quet, is classed by historians as one of the "de- cisive battles of the world"; for the mighty chief Pontiac was defeated and his dream of Indian empire was wrecked. His noble braves were killed and scattered at Bushy run.

In consulting the bloody pages of our country's history it seems as though every step made in the advance of civilization was marked with bleeding feet. It is difficult for us to fully appreciate the privations and hardships of our ancestors, especially as they were ex- posed to the depredations of the merciless blood-thirsty savages. Those stormy days are past and we have settled down to peaceful pur- suits under the sheltering wings of a mild gov- ernment. We are enjoying the prosperity and luxuries that were purchased at the cost of mental and physical suffering. Those stormy days are past and the lethean flood of years has almost carried away the memory of the bitter trials and made us feel that the stories of the massacres were fictitious or exaggera- tions. They were not recorded at the time, and perhaps not so much thought of till in after years and then told as they were, imper- fectly remembered. Some were even based upon the recollection of aged people to whom the story was told when they were young. When we consider the number of forts that were built at different places as retreats for safety it is very suggestive that the settlers were apprehensive of danger. One can readily

HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY

conceive the terror of women and children and even strong men situated in a vast forest re- gion thinly populated with white men and in- fested with murderous Indians whose number was unknown. It is certain that the early settlers of this region did live in constant and well-grounded apprehension of harm from this source for a period of at least twenty years. There are authentic records of perhaps forty who at different times were slain by Indian raiders. How many more will never be known. In the earliest written history of the Juniata Valley, there is a record of thirty settlers being massacred in Morrison's Cove between Mar- tinsburg and Roaring Spring during a for- aging raid of the reds from Allegheny Valley region west of the mountain. At another time a posse of settlers concluded to follow a band of Indians and punish them if possible for dep- redations committed. The expedition was a failure. They followed the Kittanning war path and not far from Eldorado the Indians sprang from their ambush and completely sur- prised the whites and in the battle most of them were killed and their scalps carried away. One of the Hollidays from whom the county seat took its name, was taken by surprise by a scout- ing party and two of his children killed. They were buried on the place now owned by Jerry Mattern.

In the year 1788 the Indians came to the home of Matthew Dean in Canoe Valley, now Catharine township, while he with his older children were working in the field and mur- dered his wife and three small children. A young man by the name of Simonton, who was at the Dean residence at the time, was taken prisoner and never heard of afterwards. Mr. Dean, though a strong robust man, could not survive the terrible ordeal. After the lapse of a century and a quarter his grateful descendants have erected a monument to their memory with appropriate inscriptions.

Mr. S. D. Caldwell, in his address at the dedication of the Dean monument in memory of Mrs. Dean at the Keller church cemetery, Sept. 9, 1909, said : "The event we commemo- rate is indeed a sad one, but it was only one

of thousands which occurred from 1750 to 1780, the Dean massacre being about the last which happened in this valley."

Braddock's defeat and Pontiac's conspiracy mark the two periods of most disastrous Indian incursions. The years 1756 and 1763 were fateful ones for the Cumberland, Path and Juniata valleys.

In 1755 Braddock undertook to drive the French back and failed, and in 1763 Pontiac tried to push the English back into the Atlantic and failed as completely.

Isolated abductions and murder occurred in 1752, became more fearful and horrible in 1753-4 and culminated in 1755 in Braddock's disastrous defeat and slaughter. The valley of Juniata and Cumberland were now swept by fire and drenched with the blood of women and children, yet the hardy settlers gave back blow for blow.

In 1755 the country west of the Susquehanna had 3,000 men fit to bear arms; a year later there were not 100, exclusive of the provincial forces, the greater part having been driven from their homes into the interior. Along the thinly settled borders in 1763, 2,000 persons had been killed or carried off and an equal number of families dispersed. Nine block houses or forts had been burned by the Indians, and in July of that year there were quartered in barns, stables and cellars in Shippensburg 1,500 persons, refugees from the Juniata Val- ley. George Woods and Thomas Scott, two justices of the peace from Bedford county, which originally embraced Blair, wrote as fol- lows to the president of the council in 1777 :

"Gentlemen, the present situation of this country is so truly deplorable that we should be inexcusable if we delay a moment in ac- quainting you with it. An Indian war is now raging around us in its utmost fury. Before you went down they killed one man at Stony creek; since that time they have killed five on the mountain against the head of Dunning's creek, killed or taken three at the Three Springs, wounded one and killed some children at Frankstown, and had they not been provi- dentially discovered in the night, and a party

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

gone out and fired on them, they would in all probability have destroyed a great part of that settlement in a few hours. A small party went out into Morrison's Cove scouting, and un- fortunately divided, the Indians discovering one division, and out of the number eight were killed and seven wounded. In short, a day hardly passes without one hearing of some new murder, and if the people continue to fly one week longer as they have been doing for the past week, this country will be a frontier. From Morrison's, Croyle's and Friend's Cove, Dunning creek and one-half of the Glades they are fled or forted, and, for all the defences that can be made here the Indians may do al- most as they please. We keep out ranging parties, to which we go out by turns, but all that we can do in that way is but weak and ineffectual for our defence, because one-half our people are fled. Those who remain are too busily employed in putting their families and the little of their effects that they can save and take it to some place of safety."

In 1781 Jacob Roller was out hunting some where in the eastern part of the county, perhaps in Tyrone township, and was met by a company of Indians, who shot and scalped him. A man by the name of Rebault living alone near the same place shared the same fate from the hands of the same band.

During the summer of 1777 or '78 John Guil- ford had taken possession of a tract of land near the Blair Furnace station, P. R. R., a short distance east of Altoona. After doing some clearing and seeding he became alarmed by a report of an invasion of the common enemy and fled for safety to Fetter's fort near the Y switches at the lower end of Duncans- ville. After some time thinking that danger was past he returned home and was killed by a ball from an Indian's rifle as he was about to enter his cabin door. He was found the same day by two of his neighbors, Coleman and Milligan. They buried him and started in pur- suit of the murderer to avenge the death of their friend, but were unsuccessful. Shortly after this occurrence, and perhaps near the same place, Thomas Coleman met two Indians carry-

ing away several children whom they had stolen. He raised his rifle and sternly de- manded a surrender. They quickly dropped the children and made their escape in the forest. Coleman was known as a fearless Indian fighter. It was said that the Indians had killed his brother years before on the Susquehanna and he was ever ready to avenge his death. The Indians greatly feared him. The first mill built in the county was at Roaring Spring. In 1777 two Indians attacked Jacob Neff, the owner, who attempted to run away, but was followed by them. He, however, succeeded in killing both and made his escape, but others followed and burned his mill.

There can be no doubt that the Indians had just cause for complaint with the treatment they received from the first discoverers and usurpers of the country, but in wreaking their vengeance they would or could not discriminate between the innocent and the guilty.

The Indian was essentially a child of nature. Culture he had none. What training he did receive was calculated to debase and make him more cruel. He was taught that sternness was a virtue and that tears or tenderness were womanish, and that the great object of life was to distinguish himself in war and slay his ene- mies, and that to use any deceit or practice any treachery upon an enemy was honorable and that it was no disgrace to kill an enemy wher- ever found, even if unarmed. His bravery could not be questioned, yet he was given to the dark and crooked ways which are the re- sort of the cowardly and the weak. Much as he loved war, the fair and open fight had no charms for him. To his mind it was madness to take the scalp of an enemy at the risk of his own, when he might waylay him in an ambuscade, or shoot him with a poisoned arrow from behind a tree.

In justice to all it must not be forgotten that during the Revolutionary war England paid the Indians a bounty in gold for the scalps of the Americans without distinction as to age or sex, which was a powerful motive for their deeds of cruelty and violence. It is, therefore, left to the verdict of the following generations

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HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY

when the passions and prejudices of that stormy time shall be mellowed by impartial judgment to say upon whom the greater re- sponsibility for those inhuman and bloody deeds shall rest, Christian England, or the savage Indians of the North American forest. The blood of the slain called to heaven for ven- geance, England lost her Colonial possessions and the Indian must yield to the demands of civilization or become an extinct race.

The early settlers of Blair county were not only harassed by the Indians but had enemies among their own number. During the struggle for independence there were those who sym- pathized with England and lost no opportunity to annoy and persecute the true patriots. The most of those in the county resided in Canoe Valley where they held secret meetings at the home of John Weston, who it seems was the most notorious Tory leader in the Juniata Val- ley. These meetings were frequently attended by emissaries from other parts of the country, even as far west as Detroit. It appears that a general plan was formed to concentrate a large force of Indians and tories at Kittanning, then cross the mountain by the Indian path and at Burgoon's Gap divide one party to march through Morrison's Cove and Conochocheague Valley, the other to follow the Juniata Valley, and form at Lancaster, killing all the inhabi- tants on their march. The tories were to have for their share all the fine farms on the route, and the movable property was to be divided among the Indians. Their plans, however, did not always turn to their advantage. In 1778, John Weston, as captain of about thirty men, set out at night on a murderous raid and near Kittanning was by some mistake set upon by the Indians and he with a number of his men were killed and the remnant of his force scat- tered, few of them ever returning to Blair county. There were different explanations given as to the cause of this disastrous clash between friendly forces. Richard Weston, a brother of Captain John Weston, was arrested and he said that the Indians opened fire upon the party before they reached Kittanning, mis- taking them as enemies. Samuel Caldwell in a

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Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 3

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Number of Pages: 1036

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036