USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 77
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It was in 1846 that Ralph Clapp settled at President with his family, consisting of wife and six children. In 1854-55 he built a blast furnace on Hemlock creek, about a mile from its mouth, whose ruins are yet distinguishable. It was about equal in size and capacity to the majority of such establishments in the county, but the period for profitable iron manufacture was past, and the President furnace was banked within a few years, never to resume. Mr. Clapp died in 1865.
The first oil obtained in President town- ship was found about two miles above the mouth of Pithole. The first well drilled be- gan production at six hundred barrels a day. and yielded sixty thousand barrels before it was abandoned. Directly opposite, on the Henry farm, Hussey & McBride obtained a very large production in 1860. In the years that followed a number of oil companies pros- pected in different parts of the township, with varying success. In 1890 the Clapp tract was probably the largest undeveloped territory in
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the oil regions. The Deshner farm adjoin- ing was the scene of active developments un- der Standard auspices, the product being piped to Oil City by a line constructed by the Na- tional Transit Company. The pump station, a mile from the village of President, was placed in operation May 7, 1889, with T. J. Richards in charge.
After E. E. Clapp's death in 1897 or 1898 his immense holdings of land, from eight thou- sand to ten thousand acres, were sold to a large company which disposed of the timber rights to the Wheeler & Dusenberry Lumber Com- pany. After the timber had been removed the land owners bored for oil with a fair degree of success. The company leased lots along the river front and up Hemlock creek on long- time leases. The lots contained from a quarter of an acre to an acre or more, oil rights re- served, to be occupied by cottages and as gardens and little farms. At least twenty of these cottages have been built, and are occu- pied from spring to fall. With fine gardens, purest spring water, air full of ozone, good fishing and hunting in season, there is here an ideal health resort, more than realizing E. E. Clapp's fancy. The big hotel is falling into decay; but most of the people that he brought there still find profitable employment garden- ing or working for the summer lessees, or at the oil wells.
Cutting the timber required several years. Miles of rails were laid throughout the estate, for hauling the logs to the steam mills erected at Eagle Rock. Many houses were built also, to accommodate the lumbermen. When the lumbering ceased these houses were sold very cheaply, and used in other places. Eagle Rock and Henry's Bend received a notable accession of business while the logs were being brought from the woods, manufactured into lumber and shipped by the lumber company's cars to the yards.
In the early operations about Walnut Bend, between 1860 and 1865, though a number of fairly productive wells were brought in (the largest of which yielded about two hundred barrels a day), the operations were limited to a comparatively small area along the river, in accordance with the theory then prevailing, that oil courses coincided with water courses. Moreover, the crude methods then employed were by no means efficient enough to exhaust even such territory as was exploited. In Au- gust, 1888, these circumstances were brought to the attention of C. C. Joy, who was influ- enced by consideration of them to re-lease all old territory in that section, together with ex-
tensive tracts inland, aggregating a thousand acres, and make tests of its productiveness. In the spring of 1889 five test wells were drilled, all of which yielded satisfactory returns. Most of the wells are still producing. The pump station, one mile up Hemlock, is still in active use.
Eagle Rock is a post office and station on the Pennsylvania railroad, maintaining one store and a population of less than fifty. Patrick McCrea left an account of the early settlement of the locality. The village came into exist- ence during the excitement incident to the first oil developments on Pithole creek, and was an active place while the railroad was in course of construction. The old McCrea burial ground, several rods from Hugh McCrea's house which is still standing, contains the re- mains of members of several of the pioneer families. It is the oldest burying ground in this part of the county.
Henry's Bend is half a mile above Oleopo- lis. The two or three farmhouses occupied in the winter are served their mail from Eagle Rock. There are also farmers and oil men living back from the river. Then there are from twenty to twenty-five summer homes, oc- cupied by their owners, their families and friends, or rented part or whole time to "fresh air fiends," fishers or hunters, from early spring to late fall. The number of these com- fortable cottages increases annually. The Pennsylvania trains run to accommodate the men of the family, who leave Oil City at four p. m., returning to business in the morning. It is a great place for the women and children. Each house has a fine garden, the soil being very productive.
Baum is just an occasional stop on the Penn- sylvania railroad at the mouth of Stewart's run. A famous sulphur spring about three miles upstream, and little springs all along, trout and birds and pure cold water attract the sportsman in the early spring days. Near the railroad are two dwelling houses and a school- house. In one of the dwellings lived a lone man for a number of years. To his rare visi- tors he complained of the whippoorwills, say- ing they made him lonesome and homesick with their constant mournful calls toward dark.
CLINTON TOWNSHIP
Three townships of Venango county touch the Butler county line. Of these, Clinton oc- cupies the middle position. Its northeast boundary for two or three miles is the Alle- gheny river, and with this exception the town-
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ship lines conform to those of adjacent town- ships. From east to west the width slightly exceeds four miles; the distance from north to south is seven miles. Allowing for the cor- ner cut off by the river, a safe estimate of its area is twenty-eight square miles, or 17,920 acres. Scrubgrass creek with its numerous branches drains almost the entire area. This stream rises in Butler county and takes a gen- eral northeasterly course. Trout and Bullion runs are its principal branches from the west. Steep, high hills covered with pine forests form its narrow valley. The uplands are nearly level, containing much rich, arable land and valuable trees. The creek is named from a variety of coarse grass that once grew along its banks, but which is now rare. It was used for scrubbing and scouring in early days, by pioneers in many parts of the country. Its local name in southern Venango was appro- priate. It does not survive in cultivated or pastured fields. The people of New York and the northeastern States called it "bullrush," telling the seven-year-old that grandma used it for scouring rough floors, when soap was scarce. Scrubgrass is an etymological tri- umph.
Pioneers .- With the possible exception of Franklin and its immediate vicinity, the region drained by Scrubgrass creek was settled earlier than any other portion of the county, nor is it surprising that attempts at improvement should have been made here earlier than in less favored localities. Following the Allegheny river, the tide of immigration to this section of the State passed over Butler county and into Venango without apparent regard for county lines. Here was a stretch of country well watered, conveniently accessible from the old- er settlements by a great water highway, and, judged by the usual standards, of fairly pro- ductive soil. From the records of his work left by Col. Samuel Dale, deputy surveyor, it appears that the pioneers along Scrubgrass creek generally perfected their titles by occu- pation and improvement, rather than by war- rant and purchase, the following memoranda being taken from his notes :
, Craft Ghost, 370 acres adjoining lands of John Phipps, Daniel Wasson, Robert Calvert and Robert Donaldson, surveyed Nov. 20, 1800, by virtue of improvement and settlement.
John Phipps, 361 acres, adjoining lands of Samuel Eakin, Patrick Jack and Craft Ghost, surveyed Nov. 20, 1800; 401 acres, adjoin- ing Samuel Eakin. Nathan Phipps, Craft Ghost and Patrick Jack, surveyed Aug. 22, 1804; 376 acres, adjoining Patrick Jack, Aaron Austin,
Daniel Wasson and William McKee, surveyed March 5, 1807, in pursuance of warrant grant- ed Dec. 2, 1805.
Patrick Davidson, 429 acres, adjoining lands of David McConehey, surveyed Nov. 15, 1800, by virtue of improvement and settlement.
John Witherup, a large tract at the mouth of Scrubgrass creek, adjoining lands of Sam- uel Doty and Aaron Austin, surveyed June 25, 1801, by virtue of improvement and settle- ment.
Samuel Eakin, 385 acres, adjoining Aaron Austin, Wasson & McKee, John Phipps and Patrick Jack, surveyed May 11, 1803, by vir- tue of improvement and settlement.
John Kerns, 409 acres, adjoining lands of Thomas Baird, Philip Ghost, Patrick McDow- ell and Adam Kerns, surveyed Aug. 23, 1804, in pursuance of warrant bearing date May 31, 1804.
Adam Kerns, 414 acres, adjoining lands of John Craig, Samuel Monjar, John Kerns, Adam Huffman and John Cubison.
John Vogus, 400 acres, adjoining lands of Philip Ghost, James Hoffman, Matthew Rid- dle and Philip Hoffman, surveyed April I. 1808, in pursuance of warrant bearing date May 6, 1807.
Patrick Farrelly and John W. Hunter, 425 acres, adjoining lands of David Phipps. John Phipps and Robert Donaldson, originally im- proved by Patrick Jack; surveyed by virtue of settlement of Stephen Sutton, Dec. 22, 1813.
Patrick Farrelly and Henry Hurst, 425 acres, adjoining lands of David Phipps, John Phipps and Robert Donaldson, surveyed Jan. 22, 1818, in pursuance of warrant bearing date March 24, 1817.
Robert Calvert, 403 acres, adjoining lands of William Carter, Matthew Riddle, Robert Donaldson, Daniel Wasson and Andrew Alli- son, surveyed April 27, 1814, in pursuance of warrant dated Feb. 26, 1814.
Samuel Grimes, 408 acres, adjoining lands of Patrick Davidson, David McConehey, John McClaran and Robert Scott, surveyed March 6. 1807. in pursuance of warrant bearing date Sept. 29, 1806.
The first settlers, Thomas McKee, Matthew Riddle, Thomas Baird, Robert Calvert, John Vogus, Archibald and Patrick Davidson, and Patrick McDowell, arrived in 1796. As the names indicate, they were principally of Irish extraction.
Thomas McKee was born in 1771 in Frank- lin county, Pa., and was a surveyor by calling. coming to Venango county to secure employ- ment. Much of the county west of the Alle-
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gheny was surveyed by him, and he himself made a settlement on a tract of 400 acres in- cluding the site of Clintonville, some of his property being still owned by descendants. He was a most enterprising man in both business and public affairs, having been largely inter- ested in the purchase and sale of land, one of the first merchants in his locality, the builder of one of the first sawmills and possessing ex- tensive lumber interests, served a number of years as justice of the peace, and was one of the first associate judges of the county. He brought the first wagon into the township in 1809.
Matthew Riddle, who came to the county in the capacity of chain bearer for McKee, was a native of Roxburghshire, Scotland, and had served in the Revolutionary war. His first acquaintance with Clinton township was made in 1795, and he brought his family from West- inoreland county the following year, securing a tract of 1,200 acres, lying partly in Scrubgrass. His wife died in 1817, his own death occurring in 1820, when his property was divided among his four children, John, Robert, Annie ( Mrs. Pollock) and Elizabeth. Matthew Riddle, a grandson of the pioneer, born in 1814, was one of the early teachers of the township. Many of the name are still in Venango county.
John Vogus, who was of German origin, set- tled in 1796 upon land which descended through his only son, Francis, to William Vo- gus. W. B. Vogus, a well-to-do farmer in this township at present, near Emlenton, is prob- ably a descendant of William. There is also a William in Victory township, and the name is found in other parts of the county-in Franklin four, in Reno three.
The Davidsons were of Irish extraction, and coming here from one of the counties east of the mountains settled on two adjoining tracts of 400 acres. Archibald Davidson was mar- ried, but Patrick was not. While clearing his land the latter broke his arm, and during his convalescence at his brother's house his claim was taken possession of by Peter Walters, who eventually adjusted the ensuing difficulty by the payment of a cow to Davidson. His land passed into the possession of William Cunning- ham's descendants, his brother's tract to J. B. Henderson and P. M. Hollister.
Thomas Baird was born in Franklin coun- ty, Pa., and became well known in Clinton township, where he served many years as jus- tice of the peace. He was a member of the company that went from this locality to the de- . fense of Erie during the war of 1812.
Robert Calvert, who moved here from the
Ligonier valley, in Westmoreland county, had accompanied Matthew Riddle to this region in 1795, and brought his family the following year. His descendants are still prominent in the county and much of the land which he se- cured is in their possession.
John Phipps, who settled upon a 400-acre tract in Clinton township in 1797, founded a family useful and conspicuous in the devel- opment of Venango county to this day. His son David, born in 1793, owned a furnace and grist, saw and woolen mills, and was emi- nent in public life as well as successful in busi- ness. Samuel, another son, born in 1795, was also prominently identified with local inter- ests, having been elected sheriff in 1844; while John, born in 1806, served a number of years as justice of the peace. Hon. Marshall Phipps, the present State senator, was reelected to a second term in November, 1918.
Patrick Coulter, who came to that part of Clinton then known as Scrubgrass township in an early day, was a native of County Derry, Ireland; his son John, born in 1797, was edu- cated for the medical profession and was one of the earliest practitioners in this part of the county, where he also carried on farming. John L. Coulter, great-grandson of the pioneer, is now operating the homestead. The family has numerous representatives, many in the re- gion of the original settlement, others else- where, and all fine citizens. Dr. Clarence Coulter was a prominent physician in Oil City for a number of years.
The Ghosts are another family creditably represented from pioneer times to the present. Maj. Philip Ghost, a native of Germany and a veteran of the Revolutionary war, came here from Westmoreland county in 1796 and lo- cated upon the farm acquired in time by his descendant Ghost Hoffman. By his marriage to Barbara Kelt. of Lancaster county, Pa., Major Ghost had a family of eight children, among whom was Craft Ghost, born in West- moreland county. He was a miller and fol- lowed that calling, building the second mill in the township, at the point where the road from Clintonville to Mercer crosses Scrubgrass creek. In his later life he engaged in farm- ing. Being a man of comparatively good edu- cation, he also taught school in the early days. P. E. Ghost is now a prosperous farmer in Clinton township.
John Witherup was probably the only na- tive of England among the pioneers of the Scrubgrass region, where he settled in 1800, at the mouth of Scrubgrass creek. There he built the first gristmill in the township, and in
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addition to milling carried on farming and lumbering. He was the first sheriff of Venan- go county, and also served a number of years as justice of the peace. Before coming here he had lived in New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and frequently made journeys be- tween the two cities as a wagoner, transporting freight across the mountains. While in Pitts- burgh he was also interested in the lumber business, in which connection he had a contract to furnish building materials for the first courthouse in Allegheny county, for which he hewed the first stick of timber placed in posi- tion. He married Mary Brockington, also a native of England, and it was their son Capt. Abraham Witherup who led a local company to the defense of Erie during the war of 1812. The pioneer died in 1843, and his numerous posterity is fully mentioned in the biographi- cal section of this work.
John Hovis was the progenitor of another family still numerously represented in this sec- tion. He was of German extraction, his father, John Theodore Hofius, having been born in Prussia, and died in Mercer county, Pa. John Hovis settled in Clinton township on land later owned by David Hovis, and was one of the early constables of the township. He married Susanna Cogan, of Bedford county, and had a family of eleven children. This is one of the most numerously represented family names in the county, twenty-eight of the names appear- ing on one page of the county directory, most of them belonging to Clinton and Irwin town- ships.
According to family tradition, Alexander Porter came to Clinton in 1798, when it was very sparsely settled, locating upon land which passed into the possession of his grandsons Samuel and Thomas Porter. His father was a pioneer in Washington county, Pa. Alexan- der Porter was the first blacksmith in this vi- cinity, and the difficulties under which he per- formed work at his trade were typical of the privations endured by all the pioneers. An iron wedge driven into a stump served for an anvil, a piece of an old axe was used for ham- mering, and the bark of trees had to answer for fuel; iron was brought from the furnaces of Huntingdon county on packhorses.
James Hoffman, who came here in 1797, was born in 1773 of German parentage, and re- moved to Venango county from Westmoreland, making his first improvements on land later owned by Andrew Hoffman. By trade he was a wagonmaker. He married Mary Ghost, daughter of Maj. Philip Ghost, and they had a large family.
John McClaran, an early school teacher and magistrate of Clinton township, was born in Westmoreland county. He first lived in Irwin township after his removal to this county, in about 1800 settling in Clinton, where he settled on the tract later occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Mary Major. He married Martha Da- vison and had six children.
Benjamin Williams arrived here with his large family from Northumberland county in 1803, and was one of the first residents along the river above the mouth of Scrubgrass creek. He remained here until his death, which oc- curred on his seventieth birthday.
Early Industries .- Taking wheat from Clin- ton township to Westmoreland county to have it ground was one of the features of farm life in the early days. Besides the mills already mentioned, James Hughes had a mill below Kennerdell, and at that location opened the first store in the township in 1820. About 1834 James Perry built what was afterward known as the Crawford mill. John Phipps had a tan- nery at an early date where William Daigh- erty later lived, and Jacob Sowash also fol- lowed that business, a mile and a half from Clintonville. At an early date Philip Sur- rena built a sawmill with an old-fashioned up- right saw on his home place in what is now Clinton township, and it was in operation un- til about 1875, his son John running it after his father gave up active work. The leading business men of their day were David Phipps of Kennerdell and William Cross at Janes- ville. Their labors are recounted in the stories of those towns.
Organization .- Clinton township was or- ganized in 1855. On Jan. 28, 1854, upon peti- tion of citizens of Scrubgrass and Irwin town- ships, John Adams, J. D. McWilliams and C. Heydrick were appointed commissioners to prepare a draft of a proposed new township to be erected from the adjoining portions of those townships, and report upon the advisa- bility of such erection. A remonstrance there- to was filed at the following term of court, and at October sessions the report submitted by the commissioners was set aside. The same commissioners were reappointed at the De- cember term, but having made no report the court appointed C. Heydrick, Matthew L. Whann and John McElphatine in their stead at January sessions, 1855. At April sessions that year they filed a report, with a plat of the new township, which was approved by the court and the organization forthwith ordered. The first election was held at the houses of Robert .
Cross and Thomas Hoge, with David Phipps
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as judge, and William Atwell and Richard Surrena officiating as inspectors.
Population .- In 1870 the population of Clin- ton township had grown to 901 ; 1880, 1,752; 1890, 835 ; 1900, 916; 1910, 1,046.
Clintonville, a prosperous borough for the last forty years, is the business center of Clin- ton township and of the southwestern part of the county. It occupies an elevated location in the south central part of the township, in the midst of a fine agricultural region, and with a bank and a number of substantial business houses compares favorably from the commer- cial standpoint with any of the towns of the county. John Atwell, a gunsmith and black- smith, built the first house in the town, at what is now the corner of Emlenton and Butler streets, and had a blacksmith shop on the op- posite side of Franklin street. William Cross and James Perry opened the first store, in 1833, in a frame building at the corner of Franklin and Mercer streets, Mr. Perry's family living there and being in charge. They were the sec- ond family in the village. The third house, erected in 1835, was the "Lumberman's Eddy," a large log building on Butler street where An- drew Irwin kept hotel. What is now the cor- ner of Franklin and Emlenton streets was then covered with a fine growth of timber. Con- siderable travel to and from Pittsburgh came this way over the "graded road," which passed through the town, so known in distinction from the pike, which it met near Harrisville in But- ler county. It is said that this road was pre- ferred to the pike by lumbermen returning from Pittsburgh. On the journey down their feet became so tender from being constantly in the water that it was impossible for them to wear shoes, and it was no uncommon sight for them to walk into the "Eddy" with stock- ings torn and feet bleeding. Indians from the Cornplanter reservation also came to this hotel occasionally.
A post office was established at this point in 1838, with Robert Cross as postmaster, and by 1843 the place had reached the proportions of a modest village. William Cross had meantime enlarged the house previously occupied by Perry, making it 59 feet long, and it was sub- sequently incorporated into the "Clinton Ho- tel" building. Cross lived in the rear, and had a large general store adjoining the portion of the house in which he resided, while Charles Lacy Cochran kept hotel in that part on the corner of Franklin and Mercer streets. William Weakley, a hatter, lived in the frame house above the Cross store. John At- well had been succeeded by James Canan, gun-
smith and tinker. On the west side of Butler street, where the brick building owned by Maj. R. J. Phipps was later erected, there was a frame house owned by Robert Campbell and occupied by Jackson McMillan, the first physi- cian to locate here. Some distance farther down, on the same side of the street, Robert Cross lived in a frame house, and James Mc- Kinley had built a small frame dwelling on the north side of Mercer street for his maiden sis- ter. There were two churches, Methodist and Presbyterian.
The merchants here before 1850 were Wil- liam and Robert Cross, James Perry, William Russell, Joseph Aiken and Thomas McKee. Robert Cross, previously mentioned as the first postmaster, kept store in Clintonville near- ly forty years, dying in 1874, and Thomas J. McKee was engaged in merchandising at the same location for over forty years, establish- ; ing himself in that business in 1846. At the present writing, several well stocked general stores, and other enterprises in special lines of trade, draw a large patronage from the sur- rounding territory as well as from the inhabi- tants of the borough.
The following buildings occupied the town site in 1866: On Franklin street, the resi- dences of Thomas McKee, Dr. James Foster, A. F. Hollister, Squire John Hovis and John Shaffer; S. Thorn's hotel and barn, and a large stable built by William Phipps. Dr. J. B. McMillan lived at the corner of Emlenton and Butler streets, and the only other buildings on the east side of Butler were the house and blacksmith shop of John F. Hovis. On the west side, at the corner of Mercer street, stood an abandoned storehouse, and adjoining it on the south was the store building of Judge Rob- ert Cross, the first brick building in the town. The only residents on this street were Judge Cross and A. D. Williams, shoemaker. An- other shoemaker, Joseph Kinder, lived in what was afterward used as the Methodist parson- age, on Mercer street, and on that street also lived E. P. Newton, George Mckinley (black- smith) and Samuel Foreman (shoemaker). There were three church buildings, as now, and Jane's Union Academy was in the midst of its usefulness. Telegraphic communication was established here in 1873.
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