Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 66

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 66

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In 1796 Ebenezer Roberts settled upon the' farm where the County Infirmary and Work House were established in 1870, and was prob- ably the earliest resident in that part of the Sugar Creek valley. His early neighbors there were Samuel Hays, who lived near the Canal township line ; Darius and William Mead, sons of the founder of Meadville and brothers-in- law of William Moore, first prothonotary of Venango county ; John Hathorn, who came from Kentucky and had the farm later owned by Robert L. Cochran, and the Cousins family. whose head had been in the military service at Fort Venango and remained in the county when that garrison was disbanded.

Augus McKinzie, another pioneer, was born at Inverness, Scotland, in 1736. coming to America after he was married. He left Balti- more for Pittsburgh soon after landing there. and after a residence of about eight years in this country arrived in Venango county. set- tling upon land purchased from Oliver Orms- by, of Pittsburgh. It was situated in the Sugar creek valley adjoining the Jackson township line, and formed part of an extensive body of

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level land called "the prairie." Mr. McKin- zie died Aug. 22, 1846, at the age of one hun- dred and ten years; his wife, Christina, died Feb. 27, 1851, aged ninety-three years. They are buried at the Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church. They reared four children : Alexan- der, who was two years old when the family arrived at Baltimore; John, who was an en- ergetic business man and served as justice of the peace; William, who carried on the lumber business on the Allegheny river; and Mrs. Elizabeth Frazier.

William Thompson, born June 7, 1777, died in April, 1823, was the first settler on a tract of land purchased in 1837 by Henry Homan and Henry Snyder. Homan, a native of Mary- land, of German descent, continued to live in the township until his death in 1872; he was the father of Thomas R. Homan, who was elected county commissioner in 1878.

Thomas Wilson originally owned and first settled the Valley Furnace farm, and the land on the opposite side of the creek was the property of the Rodgers family at an early date. A numerous family of the name of Crain lived on the high ground east of Valley Furnace.

The locality on the old Cooperstown road known as Bowman's Hill took its name from a numerous family, one of whose members was Andrew Bowman, sheriff of the county and a prominent citizen of Franklin.

In the year 1803 the McCalmonts came to Franklin. How much this meant may be judged from their association with the history of the county. A full account of the family also appears in the biographical volume of this work.

William Shaw, the earliest settler on the Dempseytown road, was from Center county, and acquired property here before 1808, the land that he settled being now known as the Deets farm. One of his sons was a pioneer in Cornplanter township.

The old hotels on the Meadville turnpike were essential institutions in their day. There was one half a mile east of Sugar Creek, con- ducted by a man named Dinsmore, James Mc- Clelland and others before it passed into the ownership of James M. Russell, who carried it on for some years. The other, two and a half miles from Franklin, was owned by An- drew Webber.

Early Industries .- In 1846 John McKinzie built a mill on Sugar creek two miles below Cooperstown which was enlarged at various times. A later proprietor was Francis Mc- Daniel.

Valley Furnace was a flourishing establish- ment from 1846 to 1852.

Population .- In 1850 Sugar Creek town- ship had 875 residents; 1870, 1,656; 1880, 1,923 ; 1890, 2,349; 1900, 2,835; 1910, 3,903.

Villages .- Reno, a little town of three hun- dred population reached by the Erie and New York Central railroads, lies on the north bank of the Allegheny river about the same dis- tance from both Franklin and Oil City. It was the terminus of the Reno, Oil Creek & Pithole railroad during the brief period that line was operated. Hugh Clifford, an Irish Catholic and a soldier of the war of 1812, was the first settler in the locality, and his right, acquired by settlement and improvement, was trans- ferred in 1817 to Joel Sage, who obtained a patent in 1836. The land was successively occu- pied by Robert Alcorn, Andrew Howe and Joseph Shaffer, who purchased it in 1836 and remained in possession until the oil excitement. The Reno Oil & Land Company, organized at New York in December, 1865, and reorgan- ized under different names at various times, was eventually succeeded by the Reno Oil Com- pany, which with the exception of a few lots acquired the site of the village and a con- siderable tract of land adjoining, and adhered strictly to its policy of not selling land, hence the place did not grow rapidly. A couple of stores, a cooperage, a mill, and two refineries have done a prosperous business there. The two refineries and the barrel works (operated as the Pennsylvania Cooperage Company) are now owned by Hon. A. L. Confer, of Oil City, who originally established the Empire Oil Works there in 1879. He also acquired a tract of land suitable for building lots, which he has offered to the eighty or more workmen in his refineries and cooperage on easy terms, with advances to assist them in building. Probably a score of atractive houses have been built by his workmen in the last few years. Lots are also offered on long-term monthly payments by the realty department of the Oil City Trust Company, and until the war stopped operations many lots had been sold and houses of a good class were building. The Wanango Country Club has a beautiful house and complete golf links here, members joining from Oil City and Franklin. The local soil is also very good, and has been utilized for truck gardening with success a number of years, but the demand for building lots has done away with most of the market gardens. One remains, devoted to flower culture. However, there is still a good deal of land, hundreds of acres, available for gardens or homes. All vegetables and fruits

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grow well here. There is plenty of pure spring water.

This seems an ideal place for living. The north bank of the river, sloping gently from the top to the water below, affords room on its deep, rich soil, flooded with sunshine, for a thousand homes. Through hundreds of thou- sands of years the gentle fingers of the river were laying the soil for the gardens to come, rich, deep, sandy loam, such as every gardener who has worked all his life in sticky clay has looked for, often in vain. This spot is nearly two miles in length, probably three fourths of a mile wide, embraced by the protecting arm of the river giver, and looks toward the south and the setting sun. Reno is now having a steady growth. A new brick school houses three schools at present, with space for more, the number of pupils indicating from five hun- dred to six hundred patrons. There is a Meth- odist Church with a cemetery near by, with headstones bearing the names of some early settlers. Over much of its area Venango county impresses a stranger as an unsettled country ; and yet it abounds in ruins, abandoned farms, old houses with underbrush growing up to the hingeless doors, rose bushes straggling over the lots-"wild" roses again from the self- sown seed, some pink roots which have sur- vived somehow. Sometimes old-fashioned flowers lift up starved, pinched faces, and cat- nip, brought by the pioneers from the East, is found almost everywhere. Reno is in marked contrast to all this. It has no ruins. Its apple

trees have not been choked by the encroaching forests. It is a promising place, destined to grow into a beautiful town. It is a pleasure to notice its presence.

Rocky Grove is a village of fifteen to eight- een hundred population, with street car con- nection to Franklin, one mile distant, and will probably soon become a part of that city. It has several stores and churches. It is com- posed largely of the homes of workers in the Eclipse refinery.

Eclipse is a station on the New York Cen- tral railroad, simply a stop at the Eclipse re- finery, accommodating several owners of places near by. It has mail service from Franklin.

Wyattville, in the northwestern part of the township, served by rural free delivery from Franklin, contains a few scattered houses.

Galloway (formerly Fee post office, but now on a rural delivery route from Franklin) was named from the owner of the farm upon which it was built. During the first development of the heavy oil district there was quite a village at this point, but it has almost entirely dis- appeared. Two churches continue to bear the local name, which still retains popular sig- nificance.

Sugar Creek, in the southwestern part of the township, is a station on the Erie road and had a post office until the present sys- tem was inaugurated, being now served by the rural free delivery from Franklin. The county poorhouse is near by, situated along French creek, about four miles west of Franklin.

CHAPTER XXIV

TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS (Continued)

SCRUBGRASS TOWNSHIP-FRENCH CREEK TOWNSHIP-UTICA BOROUGH-POLK BOROUGH-RICH- LAND TOWNSHIP-CHERRYTREE TOWNSHIP-THE FIRST OIL WELL-THE BENNINGHOFF ROB- BERY-PLUM TOWNSHIP-SUNVILLE-CHAPMANVILLE-DIAMOND

SCRUBGRASS TOWNSHIP

A commission was appointed at March ses- sions, ,1806, to divide the county into town- ships, and reported in favor of the erection of Scrubgrass with the following boundaries : "Beginning at the southeast corner of Irwin township, thence by the county line east to the Allegheny river, thence up the same to the south boundary of Sandy Creek township,

thence by the same westwardly to the north- east corner of Irwin township, thence by the same south to the place of beginning," thus including about half of what is now Clinton township in addition to the present area. The erection of Clinton in 1855 reduced Scrubgrass to its present limits. This triangular area, bounded by the Allegheny river on the north and east, Clinton township on the west, and Butler county on the south, was one of the

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earliest settled portions of Venango county. The field notes of Samuel Dale, deputy sur- veyor, show the following surveys at the re- spective dates given, and constitute a reliable record of the early residents :

John Craig, 397 acres, adjoining lands of Hugh McManigal, Richard Monjar, John Kerns and James Glenn, surveyed Nov. 1I, 1800, by virtue of settlement and improvement.

Hugh Watson and William. McKee, 399 acres, adjoining lands of Nathan Phipps, John Phipps, Samuel Doty and William Dickson, surveyed Oct. 23, 1801, by virtue of settlement and improvement.

Robert Atwell, 194 acres, adjoining lands of Samuel Doty and William Dickson, surveyed Oct. 24, 1801, by virtue of settlement and im- provement.

John McQuiston, 369 acres, adjoining lands of William Russell, Robert McNitt and Sam- uel Doty, surveyed May 12, 1803, by virtue of settlement and improvement.

Michael McMullen, 430 acres, adjoining lands of James Craig, David Say, R. Irwin, William Black and Charles Coulter, surveyed May 23, 1804, by virtue of settlement and im- provement.

David Say, 405 acres, adjoining lands of James Craig, Hugh Dalrymple, William Craw- ford, R. Irwin and Michael McMullen, sur- veyed May 23, 1804, by virtue of settlement and improvement.

William Sloan. 400 acres, adjoining lands of James Fearis. Hugh Dalrymple, Alexander Culbertson and John McDowell, surveyed Aug. 3. 1805. in pursuance of warrant bearing date Feb. 22, 1805.

Mayberry and Thomas Graham, 391 acres, adjoining lands of Nathan Phipps, James Gra- ham, Andrew Allison and Craft Ghost, sur- veyed May 19, 1807, in possession at this time of Daniel Wasson, whose title was contested in the courts.

George McCool, 201 acres, adjoining lands of Thomas Barrow, Miles McCabe, Matthew Riddle and Samuel Jolly, surveyed May 20, 1807, by virtue of settlement and improvement.

Miles McCabe, 236 acres, adjoining lands of Thomas Barrow, William Courtney. Matthew Riddle and George McCool, surveyed May 20, 1807, by virtue of settlement and improvement.

Moses Perry, 415 acres, adjoining lands of James Scott, Samuel Jolly and James Polk, surveyed April 29, 1814, in pursuance of war- rant bearing date Feb. 26, 1814.

James Scott, 400 acres, adjoining lands of Moses Perry, James Graham, Andrew Allison. William Jones and Joseph Redick, surveyed

April 14, 1815, in pursuance of warrant bear- ing date Dec. 15, 1814.

James Craig, 420 acres, adjoining lands of Thomas R. Parks, David Say, Thomas Mil- ford, Francis Tracy, James Anderson and the heirs of Hugh Dalrymple, surveyed April 24, 1815, in pursuance of warrant bearing date Dec. 15, 1814.

Joseph, Thomas R. and Ann Parks, 415 acres, adjoining lands of Joseph Redick, Matthew Blaine, William Sloan, James Craig and James Anderson, surveyed April 13, 1815, in pursuance of warrant bearing date Dec. 15, 1814.

Nathan Phipps, 366 acres, adjoining lands of Alexander Graham, Daniel Wasson and Wil- liam McKee, surveyed Dec. 29, 1815, in pur- suance of warrant bearing date Sept. 4, 1815.

James McDowell, 356 acres, adjoining lands of John Fritz, William Shannon, William Sloan, Isaac Fearis and Joseph Redick, sur- veyed July 26, 1816. in pursuance of war- rant bearing date Dec. 29, 1815.

This part of the county does not appear to have received much attention from land job- bers. As evidenced by Colonel Dale's notes, the majority of these surveys were made on settlement and improvement, and with scarcely a single exception the foregoing were actual settlers. As a matter of course, the date of settlement was earlier than that of the survey, and in some instances a tract of land was held by no tenure save the fact of possession a number of years before title was formally se- cured. Some of the early families are no longer represented here.

From a comparison of the best evidence it appears that the first settlement of Scrubgrass . resulted from the explorations of James Scott, formerly a resident of Westmoreland county. Indian depredations having become frequent in the settlements of the Kiskiminetas, he was sent by the State authorities in company with another scout to ascertain whether the perpe- trators were from Cornplanter's people or from the tribes in Ohio. An nearly as can be determined it was in 1793 or 1794 that they were sent on this mission, and nearly a year was occupied in their investigations. On his return to Westmoreland Scott gave his neigh- bors such a favorable account of the Scrub- grass region that when he removed here ten or twelve of them accompanied him, thus in- augurating the emigration from Westmoreland county which contributed so large an element to the population of the southern townships of Venango county. Scott's first improve- ment was made on a 400-acre tract near the

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Butler county line. Several years later he sent for his father, who also located here, while the son took up another tract, the same later owned by Moses Perry (now the David Perry farm), the stone house in which Moses Perry lived being built by Scott, who died here in 1837.

Among the party who accompanied Scott in 1795 were James Craig and James Fearis, brothers-in-law, the former a son of John and Jane (Honeyman) Craig and married to Elea- nor Fearis, of Westmoreland county. They built a small cabin without floor, and cov- ered with a bark roof, and cleared a field from the surrounding woods, returning to pass the following winter at their former homes in Westmoreland county. Mrs. Craig accom- panied her husband to Scrubgrass in the sum- mer of 1796, being the first white woman who came into the township, and their son John, born in Westmoreland county Nov. 5, 1795, was the first white child brought into the new settlement. Jane, an older child, who married John Porterfield, came out later. Several chil- dren were born to the Craigs in this county : Isabella, who married T. P. Kerr, and was the first white child born in the township, her birth occurring in 1801 ; Elizabeth, who married Wil- liam Perry ; James. and Eleanor. James Craig erected the first sawmill in his neighborhood. During the war of 1812 he served in Captain Witherup's company. He had the property where John McCoy now lives, and was a resi- dent of Scrubgrass until his death, June 2, 1835, his wife surviving him until 1856. When they removed to this county they used canoes for the transportation of their personal effects, which included an old Bible, various pieces of chinaware and an iron kettle still preserved as suggestive souvenirs.

James and George Fearis, with their wid- owed mother, were the first settlers upon the farm later owned by James P. Riddle. Mrs. Craig and other members of her own and the Fearis family returned to. Westmoreland county frequently, bringing back with them the currant bush, asparagus and other garden vegetables, and Mrs. Craig brought the first geese into the township from the old home.

Samuel Jolly, born Oct. 16, 1766, came in 1795, made a small clearing the first season, planted a crop, and built a cabin. After pass- ing the winter with his family at the old home he brought them out in 1796. His brother Thomas Jolly settled in Venango township, Butler county, where his son Capt. Thomas Jolly lived to an advanced age.

David Say, a native of the Kishacoquillas

valley, in Mifflin county, Pa., was the son of James Say, an Englishman by birth and a connection of the family of Lord Say. He lo- cated in Westmoreland county, whence he came to Venango county in 1795 with Scott's party. The first season he cleared several acres of land and sowed wheat. The follow- ing spring he brought out his family, carrying the oldest child on his back, while an ox car- ried all their household effects. Tradition declares that Mrs. Say wept when the ox in falling destroyed some of her cherished dishes. The 400-acre tract surveyed to Say passed into the possession of his descendants, a number of whom are still living in the neighborhood. He was township collector a number of years.

William Crawford, who settled in Scrub- grass township in 1799, was a son of John Crawford, a native American of Scotch-Irish extraction, and one of the early settlers of Greene county, Pa. Some time prior to 1800, probably as early as 1795, he came to this region with several of his sons, made a clear- ing and planted a crop and returned, leaving the son Samuel in charge of the stock. This place, which subsequently became his home- stead, is situated in Butler county, two miles south of Emlenton. The following year he returned with his family, leaving several mar- ried sons in Greene county, among whom was William. The latter's land, adjoining the But- ler county line, passed into the possession of his son David M. Crawford. The substantial stone house on this farm, built in 1824, is one of the oldest dwellings in the township.

Thomas Mckean, a native Scotchman, set- tled in Scrubgrass prior to 1800 at a point on the Allegheny river, being accompanied by a sister who married a man named Hall. Mc- Kean was a member of the Scrubgrass Presby- terian Church.

Thomas Milford, a native of Ireland. upon his emigration to America first settled in one of the eastern counties of Pennsylvania, re- moving thence to Venango county about 1800 with two brothers, William and James, the latter locating in Butler county. Thomas Mil- ford secured land adjacent to Scrubgrass Church, and there reared a family of eleven children. His homestead farm passed into the possession of his son Thomas Milford.

Near the close of the eighteenth century Moses Perry bought the farm later occupied by his son David Perry. He married Sarah Russell, daughter of William Russell, and they became the parents of a large family. The father died in 1840, the mother some two years later. William Perry, their eldest son, who

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lived and died in the township, attained con- siderable local prominence and became one of the leading citizens of the county, being elected county commissioner in 1838 and later repre- senting the district in the State legislature. He married Elizabeth, daughter of James Craig.

David' Russell, a veteran of the Revolution. removed to Scrubgrass township from West- moreland county and about the close of the century settled upon the lands afterward ac- quired by the Middleton family. For a short time he also lived in Butler county. He had a family of seven children. Samuel Russell, the second son, born in 1780 in Butler county, was first lieutenant of a company formed in Butler county during the war of 1812. In 1824 he se- cured the farm later owned by his son David. He died in 1877.

James Anderson, born in January, 1761, was another pioneer of Scrubgrass. He removed from the Tuscarora valley, in eastern Penn- sylvania, in 1804, locating in Butler county, and in 1814 purchased 400 acres of land in Scrubgrass from David Irvine, the considera- tion being $2,100, of which $300 was to be paid in cash; another payment two hundred gallons of whiskey at seventy-five cents a gallon ; and the remainder in installments at regular inter- vals. His land included the site of a mill on Little Scrubgrass creek, which he operated and rebuilt, adding also saw and carding facilities. He was a very active business man in his day, dying in 1842.

John and Alexander McQuiston were the first of their name in Venango county. The former was born in 1776 in New Jersey, and with his brothers Alexander and David re- moved from that State to Westmoreland county, John and Alexander coming from there in 1802 to the northwestern part of Scrub- grass, to land later owned by C. E. McQuiston. John McQuiston was a carpenter and cabinet- maker by trade, and one of the first artisans in the township. He died in 1849.

With the early settlers should also be men- tioned Rev. Robert Johnson, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, who preached in the first building erected in the county for relig- ious worship. He was born Aug. 7, 1774, and was a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell through Bridget, eldest daughter of the Pro- tector, who first married General Fleetwood and later General Ireton. The grandfather of Rev. Mr. Johnson settled in New Jersey. This well known minister acquired his edu- cation at Canonsburg, Pa., received his license to preach in 1802, and began his life work at Scrubgrass in 1803. In 1811 he moved to

Meadville, Pa., and he died May 20, 1861, at New Castle, Pa. He was the father of Judge S. P. Johnson, of Warren.

Later arrivals included Jacob Jacobs, from New Jersey, who came in 1814 and located upon a 400-acre tract. Samuel Eakin, a na- tive of England, settled where James Vogus now lives, and had married Nancy Riley before coming here. William Clay, who came from Westmoreland county in 1814, lived adjacent to the Butler county line. Levi Williams, born Oct. 19, 1781, in Northumberland county, came thence with the family of his father, Benjamin Williams, to Clinton township in 1803, and from there in 1812 removed to the extreme southwestern part of Scrubgrass. He owned 109 acres of land later held by his sons, and in 1836 built the stone house where Simeon Williams eventually took up his residence. He died in 1867. James Pollock, a native of Ire- land, was a son of Charles Pollock, one of the early settlers near Farmington, Butler county, and brother to John Pollock, at one time sheriff of that county; he located on the road from Lisbon to Clintonville, and married a daughter of Matthew Riddle.

Population .- In 1870 the population of Scrubgrass was 997; 1880, 1,503; 1890, 1,072 ; 1900, 1,047; 1910, 858.

Villages .- Lisbon was laid out in 1854 by Thomas Robinson and John Smith on land formerly included in the farms of Moses Perry and Elizabeth Riddle. It lies at the intersec- tion of the roads leading from Scrubgrass to the Butler line with the main road from Em- lenton to Clintonville, fourteen miles south of Franklin. Emlenton, the nearest railroad point, is five miles distant. The first house was built in 1834 by Ephraim Galbraith and Sam- uel Marshall, who also opened the first store. James Kingsley was the first blacksmith, and Thomas Robinson kept the first hotel. The place was originally known as Fort Chisel, though no one seems to know why. The post office maintained at this point was called Big Bend, but it is now served on a rural route from Emlenton. The village has a store, black- smith shop and mill, with perhaps a dozen houses, and a population of fifty.

Crawford's Corners, three miles from Em- lenton on the Butler county line, became a post office in 1870, when H. C. Wick was appointed postmaster. It is now served by rural free delivery from Emlenton. Two residences and a store constitute the village.

Industries and Resources .- James Ander- son bought from David Irvin the first mill in the township. It was built by Charles Camp-

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Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 66

Author: Babcock, Charles A. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: