The
revolution of 1775, and the subsequent difficulties occasioned by a
patriotic republican community, struggling for liberty, and to free
themselves from the tyrannical oppression of British bondage, without
the means of supporting an army, led to considerations, which
eventually resulted in a resolution to give to the soldier a permanent
reward for his toil and pain, in defending the country. The
rapid
depreciation of continental money, and the consequent rise in articles
of necessity, from January, 1777, until February, 1781, rendered it
essential that some additional provision should be made, not so much as
a bonus or premium to induce men into public service; but as an act of
justice towards those who bore the heat and burden of the day; those
who had, from zealous patriotism, left their families, connexions, and
homes, to save a beloved country from ruin and disgrace.
Impressed with a deep sense of indispensable duty on this occasion, the
legislature, as early as the 7th of March, 1780, passed a law
declaratory of their design that the officers and soldiers of this
state in the service of the United States, who should serve during the
war or die in the service, should have lands granted to them at the end
of the war, as a donation or gift, to remunerate them in some degree
for services rendered, for the payment of which the continental wages
were so inadequate.
By an act of the 12th March, 1783, the metes and bounds of the space in
which these donation lands were to be located, were particularly
described, viz., from the mouth of Mohulbuckitum on the Allegheny
River, up that river to the mouth of Conewango, thence north to the
south boundary of the state of New York; thence west, along that line
to the northwest corner of Pennsylvania; thence south, along the west
boundary of the state last mentioned, to a point due west of the mouth
of Mohulbuckitum aforesaid; and thence due east, along the north
boundary of the Depreciation lands, to the place of beginning.
By an act of March 24th, 1785, deputy surveyors were to be appointed,
of the districts comprised within these limits, from District No. 1, to
that of No. 10; each deputy was enjoined by law and directed by the
Surveyor-General to complete the work committed to his care, on, or
before the first day of February, 1786.
By this act a Major-General is to have 2000 acres; Brigadier 1500;
Colonel 1000; Lieutenant-Colonel 750; Surgeon, Chaplain, Major, 600
each; Captain, 500; Lieutenant, 400; Ensign and Surgeon's mate, 300
each; Sergeant, Sergeant.Major, Quartermaster Sergeant, each 250; and
<pg. 67> each Drummer, Fifer, Corporal, and private
soldier, 200
acres, and allowance.
Twenty-seven miles of the west ends of Districts No. 5 and 4, and about
nineteen miles of the western parts of Districts No. 3 and 2, lie in
Mercer County.
In September, 1785, the undersigned was called on by G. Evans, Esq., of
the city of Philadelphia, who had been appointed by John Lukens, the
then Surveyor-General, to be deputy surveyor of the 2d and 3d Districts.
On the first day of October, 1785, I left Washington, Pa., in company
with Robert Smith, Samuel Craig, Francis Beadle and others, to assist
Mr. Evans in making surveys. We arrived at Pittsburg (called
Fort
Pitt) on the second day of the same month, and on the eighth, we
arrived in the 3d district, and commenced our business.
Beginning on the east, we worked westward with two compasses, and
carried ten ranges with us, keeping the tents and the provisions in the
centre; in this way, we progressed until the 26th of October, when we
closed our fall's work, at a place near where Joseph Shannon now lives,
three miles southwest of the borough of Mercer.
That day at about 12 o'clock, we set out for Fort Pitt, our horses
loaded with skins killed by our Indian hunter, who supplied us the
whole time with venison, fat and more than we could use; we had no
bread for twelve days, but experienced no inconvenience from this
deficiency. Bears, wolves, deer, and Indians, in every
direction,
in plenty; peaceable and useful.
On the day we set out for the white settlement, we saw three bears on
and near one tree; we hastened to the tree, but before we arrived at
the spot, one ran off, one came <pg. 68> down, and the
other fell
about forty feet, and all took to the swamps, every one its own
course. There were ten of us including the Indian; we pursued
the
bears about fifteen minutes, but gave up the chase, and gathered
together and pursued our course, which went about south, 25 degrees
east.
At about three miles distance from the bear tree, we discovered a man
was missing; we discharged our guns, and hallooed, but all to no
purpose; we saw him no more. On the 29th we arrived at Fort
Pitt, and separated each to his own
home, never to meet again.
On the sixteenth day of April, 1792, I received a commission to be
deputy surveyor of the 4th and 5th Districts, then under a new
arrangement called the 3d. General Brodhead was
Surveyor-General. This commission was given under the Act of
3d
April, 1792, for the sale of vacant lands north and west of the Ohio
and Allegheny Rivers, and Conewango Creek. Although this
district
extended eastward to the Allegheny River, including the town of
Franklin, then called Venango, consisting of the garrison and a few
cabins, yet the western and better part of it, was included in Mercer
County as now laid out; the residue of this county is comprised within
the 4th and 6th Districts, new arrangement: the deputy surveyors of
which were Thomas Stokely and John Moore. Although the former
of
these gentlemen understood neither theory nor practice, yet he received
the appointment for his activity and bravery in the massacre of Paoli,
in the Revolution. Thus went the offices and rewards in those
days, and thus go pensions and places in these days, without very much
respect to necessity or fitness, in many cases.
From the 3d of April, 1792, until October, 1794, no attempt was made to
settle Mercer County; this inaction of the public, when a fine country
was opened by law for their reception, for nearly three years, was
occasioned by the danger of the savages in that region.
In June, 1794, John Powers was killed and scalped, eighteen miles from
Fort Franklin, towards Pittsburg. The bones of this man were
left
exposed on the surface of the ground, until May, 1796, when his head,
which bore the plain mark of the incision of the scalping knife, and a
hole in the skull two inches square, was found by a surveyor and his
party and taken to Washington, Pa.
In October, 1794, and February, 1795, 453 land warrants were entered in
my office in Pittsburg for land, chiefly in Mercer County. In
the
spring of 1795, I made arrangements to execute the surveys on those
entered the preceding February. Those entered in October, one
hundred in all, were laid on Chenango a year after they were entered,
by a deputy. On the first day of May, 1795, after having
collected hands and provisions, tents and the necessary apparatus for
the woods, our party set out for the Indian country, and on the fourth,
crossed the Ohio at Christlo's Ferry, and arrived at Mackintosh (now
Beaver town). Whence we proceeded up Beaver, to the old
Moravian
and Cuscusca towns; and on the tenth unloaded our horses at Beech
Swamp, four miles southwest of the spot where Mercer now
stands.
John Paxton and Dorsey Blackman our pack-horsemen, returned home with
the horses a different route from that which we pursued in going out;
this was through fear of meeting the Indians, or that the Indians would
waylay them on the trail as they <pg. 70> returned home;
these
fears were excited from seeing Indians, as we traveled out.
On the thirteenth day of May 1795, I made the first survey in my
district. We continued our business until the 7th of June,
without any visible risk or danger; but on that day, when my men and
myself were sitting in the tent late in the evening, I discovered
something white waving in the air, about forty yards from the
camp. I immediately went to the place; there was an Indian
behind
a large oak, who had a letter from the officer commanding at Fort
Franklin; he had split a small stick, and having put the letter in the
split, was waving it about until I discovered it. I took the letter and read as
follows:–
"Sir –
"Having received information of two men's being killed by Indians, last
Wednesday evening, near the mouth of Little Coneaught, in passing it on
the borders of the district where I've heard you are at work, I send
the bearer hereof, a friendly Indian, to find you if possible and give
you this notice, that you may be on your guard, in case of the approach
of any other hostile parties.
"I am, sir, your humble servant,
(Signed,) "JH. Heth.
"Captain 3d
S. Legion,
"Commanding
Fort Franklin."
"June 6th,
1795."
"Findley
and McCormick were the unfortunate men.
"J. H."
"Mr.
Benjamin Stokely, by a friendly Indian."
Having taken the Indian into the camp–given him something to eat, and
invited him to stay with us till morning, I wrote to Captain Heth, by
the Indian, whose name was "Scandashawa," as follows:–
"To Captain
Heth, Franklin:–
"Sir,–This evening I received your kind letter by the Indian, for which
you will please to accept my unfeigned thanks. It is, sir,
with
much satisfaction that I find a friend so near, and in possession of
the means of securing our safety, should it be found necessary to claim
your protection.
"The times look dark and
dangerous, and we have no doubt of the facts stated, but being engaged
in the business of surveying land, on a large and extensive scale, it
would be extremely inconvenient at present to lose much time in
watching the motion of the enemy. I have therefore consulted
my
brave companions in this critical conjuncture, and we have concluded to
proceed on with our work at all hazards; but on any unfavourable change
in the aspect of the perils which seem to surround us now, we intend to
avail ourselves of that protection which we are well assured it will be
no less your duty than your inclination to render.
(Signed,)
"BEN. STOKELY,
"In the woods.
"June 7th,
1795."
The next day, June the 8th, I received a letter from General Taylor,
then at Franklin; an associate Judge of Washington County, an elderly
gentleman, and an old and <pg. 72> particular
friend. As
the General was a man, honest, friendly, and sincere, his letter had
some weight with my men, and on a second balloting whether we should
relinquish our business at present, or proceed, it was determined six
for going home, and six for going on with the surveys: The
question being put, shall we proceed with the surveys. Yeas,
W.
Ewing, Adam Deim, Samuel Craig, N. Lewis, Robert Linton, and B.
Stokely. Nays, David Norris, Jos. Swearingen, Wm. Connell,
George
Hackney, Levi Jacobs, Wm. Jacobs.
Thus
divided, and three surveyors being in the affirmative, our company was
so broken that we concluded to return home, and therefore set out June
the 9th, for Pittsburg.–Judge Taylor's letter, the efficient cause of
this decision among us, read as follows, to wit–
"Fort
Franklin, 8th June, 1795.
"DEAR SIR,–I wish to inform you that I conceive you and your partiee in
dangar. There is a partiee of Indians out who seem to entend
hostil meshures with the surveyors; how fare the may go it is
doubtfull, but I would recommend your coming in heare as soon as
posable; perhaps in a few day it may be better known how fare or how
many the partiee is. There is a number of people going off; I
would be glad to see you before I go off. I shall remain at
this
place a few days untill it may be better known the disposition of the
Indians,–if it appears favourable will go to Cusawago. I
would be
glad to know your opinion, with respect, in what way you will make your
return of the surveys made on improvements rights, as I am about
<pg. 73> purchising som; and a number is waiting for you
approving of these surveys that the have already made.
"It will not be necessary to tell you the damage done, as Mr.
Swearingen has heard all the news of this place; but the number now
known to be killed is five.
"I am truly your sincear
"Friend and humble servant,
"HENRY TAYLOR."
B. Stokely,
D. S. Y.
There are three objects in view in giving the copy of this letter,–the
first is to show the danger and peril of the times in which the
preparatory measures were taken to settle Mercer County; the second, to
show the singular friendship from the General towards me,
notwithstanding a very disagreeable misunderstanding between him and my
brother, Col. Thomas Stokely, on a point of military discipline; and
the third object is to manifest to the public that a man may be good
and great without much knowledge of literature.–In October, 1795, I
returned to the woods with a full set of hands only for one
compass. The provisions we left in June preceding could not
be
depended on, and therefore we brought fresh flour with us and depended
in some degree on wild meat for our support; but such was our bad luck
in procuring venison or bear, that our hunter, Jno. Moore, killed but
one deer the whole time from Oct.19 to Nov.30, 1795. Under
pressing necessity, were we obliged to search for Beech Swamp, where we
had left our meat in kegs, in May of that year. This bacon,
when
found, was blue with putrefaction, and stunk so as to be distinctly
noticed near twenty yards; of this, such <pg. 74> was our
hunger,
did we eat, nay more, we feasted for some days; at length, closing our
range, five miles north of Mercer, we set out for Mackintosh, on the
28th of November, 1795, and, after sinking our raft in crossing
Chenango, wetting many things, and losing some, we arrived at that
place the second day of December, hungry and tired, but, on getting
refreshment at a public house, the only one then in the place, kept by
Samuel Johnston, we were very soon as well as ever. Our party
this tour was composed of seven, viz., W. Ewing, Joseph Davidson, Noah
Lewis, Jos. Brooks, John Moore, Jabez Coulson, and myself. On
the
9th of May, 1796, we returned to the woods, a third tour. The
ratification of Wayne's Treaty, on the 22d of December, 1795, having,
as we supposed, secured our safety, we surveyed and improved the
county, without fear or trembling. Returned to the white
settlements the 13th of June, 1796, and on the 14th of October
following, I sat down as an actual settler, with my family, a wife and
three children, on the very spot where I now reside, at Coolspring,
three miles northeast of the borough of Mercer.
My wife was the first white woman that settled in Mercer County; she
saw no white female but one, as prisoner among the Indians, until
April, 1797. During the winter of 1796-7, Indians were very
numerous, troublesome sometimes, and useful sometimes; we purchased two
thousand eight hundred and forty-six pounds of venison of them, fifty
skins, some fur, and a few bear-skins.
I had two oxen and two cows; on the 7th of December, 1796, they left
me, in a course towards Pittsburg. I pursued one day and gave up the
chase; on the 17th they returned. The snow fell 22d of
November,
went off 13th <pg. 75> of February; fell the 19th, went
off in
March. It was an early spring ; good grass and plenty the
10th of
April. On the 9th of March, one cow died, for the want of
food
on1y. Having an opportunity, I sent a letter to the white
settlement, offering twenty dollars for six bushels of Indian meal, but
failed to get any. The 28th, the other was near dying; to
save
her life, I ripped open a pack-saddle pad, took out a part of the straw
stuffing, cut it short, put on warm water and a pint of flour,
reserving the residue of the padding for a future day; she
recovered,–sharp times! In the spring of 1797, as early as
the
middle of February, the county began to settle, so that in a few months
the neighbourhood began to assume the appearance of
civilization.
To me, who had been so long alone, and none but Indians to commune
with, and particularly to my wife, the change was exceedingly
acceptable. It might be conceived, but cannot be easily
expressed, when one day she saw two white women, the Misses Rice,
coming to see her on a visit, the pleasure and satisfaction she felt at
this circumstance. The settlement at Coolspring being among
the
very earliest in the county, it may be considered as begun in the
spring of 1797, though many had made small beginnings in 1796, but
returned to the old settlements in the fall of that year, and returned
again when I had resolved the great problem, that the Indians were no
longer dangerous neighbours. In the summer of 1797, I sent my
plough irons forty-two miles to be sharpened, and paid upwards of two
dollars for it. The first mill was built in 1798, by Peter
Wilson, an old and respectable settler, who settled in this county
early in April, 1797. On the 23d and 24th of August, in the
year
last mentioned, took place <pg. 76> the memorable
compromise
between the agent of the N. A. Land Company and the settlers who had
been placed on the land by certain individuals, in opposition to the
Company's title. The leaders of the opposing party were
Messrs.
M'Williams, Dunning, Morrow, and Tannehill, of Pittsburg. In
this
general settlement, however, of conflicting claims, peace was restored,
and the settlers were made sure of their lands without any further
contention. Although the Act of 1792 never could be so
construed
as to sustain any but two kinds of title, viz.,–one under the eighth
section, beginning with an actual bona fide resident settlement, and
ending with money to be paid to the state within ten years from the
passage of the act, free of interest ;–and the other under the ninth
section, commencing with money, and ending with labour and residence;
yet did the leading influential men, from a spirit of mere speculation,
endeavour to monopolize large bounds of this and the adjoining
counties, obtained settlers, made agreements, established settlements
on surveys made without authority, promised a title, and in a word went
on to complete the claim for their settlers, as if they had been
supported by law until, as I have before observed, the compromise of
August, 1797, put to rest all disputes, with the exception of a few
individuals, who chose to try title at law, but failed.
In 1798, the Rev. Jacob Garwell, member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, preached at Peter Wilson's, in the woods, and shortly
afterwards in my barn. This year seed potatoes sold for $1 33
a
bushel; wheat was first reaped in this county this year, the seed of
which had in 1797 cost $2 25 per bushel; corn had no price; wild meat
was yet easily obtained. In the year of 1798, the smallpox <pg.
77> broke out and spread among the Indians, who had it in many
cases
extremely severe.
In 1797, on the 19th day of September, was born the first white child
in Mercer County,–Ariadne, my fourth child,–not a woman but the mother
present. This was a severe trial to me. In 1799,
the first
missionaries were sent to preach to the settlers; these were the Rev.
J. Stockton, E. Macurdy, J. M'Lene, Wm. Wick. But the labours
of
the reverend gentlemen were not greatly blessed, or, in other words, no
visible change was seen among the people until the next year, 1800, nor
indeed until 1801, to any extent; but in that year and the next, 1802,
under the preaching of the Rev. Samuel Pait, many of the most wicked,
loose, and irregular, were brought to see the wickedness of their
former life, and the necessity of fleeing from the wrath to
come.
The first storekeeper was E. Magoffin,–the first lawyer that settled in
Mercer was E. S. Sample. The first Board of Commissioners was
composed of Robert Bole, for three years, Andrew Denniston, two years,
and Thos. Robb, for one year. The first D. Surveyor, John
Findley. The first President Judge, Jesse Moore; Associates, A. Wright,
A. Brown, and W. Amberson. It may be necessary here to
remark,
that Mr. Amberson, not residing in the bounds of Mercer County at the
time it was struck off Crawford, nor within the latter county one year
previous to that event, the tenure of his commission was not quite
consistent with the constitution.
It does not appear from any discovery made in the first settlement of
this county, that it ever was a place where many elk and buffalo
haunted; one buffalo horn and a few elk horns were found in 1795 and
1797; and a few <pg. 78> elk have been seen, and one
killed, near
the western boundary of the county, since the settlement
commenced. The animals which are now seen and sometimes
taken,
are foxes, red and gray, raccoons, opossums, wild-cats, deer, a very
few white hares, and an animal called a wolvereen, of the feline or
vulpine species, supposed to be engendered between a wolf and a fox, or
a fox and a wild-cat. It is one of the swiftest animals in
the
woods, a common cur-dog is left with ease, and being sensible of its
own superiority in running, it will play around, as if it were mere
amusement. It is bold and cunning, and has never been taken
by
any white man since the county was first settled; and only by Indians
before.
The climate of this county may be considered, in its general character
as cold and wet. Winter usually sets in about the latter end
of
November, and corn is seldom planted much before the latter end of May,
which makes nearly six months of cool, cold, and wet weather.
Snow is seldom more than eighteen inches deep; but on the 3d of
February, 1800, and the 3d of February, 1818, it was about three
feet. Frost is seen, some years, in every month.
This county has always been subject to annual tornadoes, which seldom
happen before the middle of May, nor after the summer
solstice.
In 1785 a tremendous one took place: the course was from northwest to
southeast, commencing in Lackawanack township, thence through
Springfield and the east end of Slippery Rock into Butler County,
tearing ani prostrating everything that stood in its way; but as there
were no buildings nor any improvements, the damage was not felt; but on
the night of the 4th of June, 1801, a severe snow-storm began in
Pymatuning township, and <pg. 79> passing from northwest
to
southeast through Delaware, Coolspring, Springfield, and Wolf Creek,
laid the limber level with the surface of the earth, in almost every
place. It was about forty perches wide, and in the centre,
about
two rods wide it was unusually severe. My own loss was in
part as
follows:–The destruction of timber, about forty perches in width and
upwards of two miles in length, two hundred pannel of fence laid flat
and scattered near fifty yards; rails were forced into the hard ground
eighteen inches–every house, barn, or stable, stripped of its covering
in less than the space of one minute–clapboards blown above a
mile,–bars torn down, and one heavy black oak bar found seven years
afterwards, in a swamp about two hundred perches from the place from
which it was blown. In one place about two hundred rails had
been
blown in a pile, and a large cow lay on the top of all; she had been
blown across ploughed ground near forty yards. A dead log
twenty-two feet long, and twenty one inches in diameter, being a large
limb of a very big oak which had fallen, and by the weight had been
forced into the ground, and had lain so for some years; this fork, as I
have described it, was blown endwise four feet and turned over–and such
was the fury of the elements, that the rough bark was blown from the
white oaks, that stood the blast until they were quite smooth in many
places. This excessive force was principally confined to a
space
in the centre of the gale, about forty feet wide. Among other
valuable timber, I lost about four hundred fine sugar trees. One man
lost a mare, and had his place completely ruined; and many others were
greatly injured. The noise of the wind and rain and thunder
was
such that no distinction could be <pg. 80> noticed; it
was one
universal roar, impossible to be described.
Thus pent and sequestrated from all aid in this awful crisis, with a
wife and five small children, drenched with rain, our fire nearly out,
the night dark, except when the vivid flash gave us a glimpse of the
havoc all around,–I cannot describe my feelings on that dreadful
visitation. From the least estimate I can make of the time
this
ruin was effected on my premises, I think it did not exceed two
minutes. Such a change in so short a time appeared to me
different from anything I had ever before or since
experienced.
There are some places where the wind had fallen from above, and crushed
everything before it, and having spent its force on the ground left no
farther signs of destruction, but just in these spots, some not more
than two perches square. Such is the nature of the timber
prostrated in a hurricane which happened in 1785, now near forty-eight
years ago, and yet very visible in its effects, it is quite sound in
hundreds of places, but chiefly in these cases it is chestnut.
The county is generally healthy, and nothing of an endemical character
can be distinctly known to exist in this county; coal-pits are few and
near the surface, and in quality partakes of the bituminous
kind.
The bridges in this county are numerous, and some good, but they are so
frequently destroyed, repaired, and new ones building, that on this
head little need be said, as the present situation will not remain the
same six months. One small beaver-dam may be seen in ruins on
Otter Creek, two and a half miles from Mercer. Some attempts
have
been made to procure salt water, but to no purpose.
<pg.
81>
The Courts of Justice are now held at Mercer, the fourth Mondays of
March, June, September, and December; President-Judge, John Bredin;
Associates, A. Brown, W. Amberson; Pro., W. S. Rankin; Reg. and Rec.,
S. Holstein.
Physicians not residing in the borough are Dr. Axtell, Dr. H. Cossitt,
Dr. Wiley, Dr. Mitcheltree, Dr. Hull, Dr. J. Cossitt. Those
who
reside in the borough are Dr. Magoffin, Jr., and Dr. Magoffin, Dr.
Gleazon, Dr. Coffey, and Dr. Johnston.
Ministers of the Gospel not residing in the county, but who have
congregations or hearers in the county, and occasionally preach within
the county, are Mr. Glenn, Presbyterian; Mr. M'Lene, Seceder; Mr.
Black, Covenanter;–and a number of itinerant Methodist preachers, whose
labours are divided throughout the county to the best advantage.
With respect to the variation of the needle, I would just remark, that
in 1785 we found the variation to be 2½° east; in 1795 we found it 3°;
but knowing that a difference existed among corn passes, in some 30'
and in others 1°, we were not able to determine what the precise
difference was. We have since pursued the oldest lines with
the
same degrees we run in 1795, and find no material variation.
In Mercer County no measures of defence or security were taken against
the Indians, except in one place, where a Mr. Mackmillon erected a
block-house in Coolspring township; but they never had the honour of an
attack.
The Indian mode of killing bear is to have twelve or twenty dogs, a
bow, and sheaf of arrows; thus equipped, <pg. 82>
accompanied by
a squaw, the man enters the swamp, preceded by all his dogs, and on
starting Bruin, the dogs immediately seize him by the hind parts; the
bear turns to relieve himself from the disagreeable incumbrance, which
detains him some time, while the hunter comes up and discharges an
arrow into his body–the arrow having a dart on the point with barbs on
the edge. The animal is then under the painful necessity of
stopping to pull it out; at this time the dogs seize him again, and the
hunter gives him another shot; the squaw, to her business, gathers up
the arrows and hands them to her husband,–and thus they proceed until
the poor animal, lacerated and torn by the arrows and the dogs, yields
up his breath, and the contest is over.
There are some large piles of stones, called Indian graves, where the
ground has been totally cleared of stones for several acres to make the
pile.
The amount of taxes laid on seated, unseated, and personal property for
1832, is $17,926 66, composed of the following items, and applicable to
the following purposes, viz.,
1st.
County tax on seated and personal
property
$7790 67
2d.
Road tax on seated and personal property
6217 87
3d.
County tax on unseated property 1324 32
4th.
Road tax on unseated property 1056 43
5th.
State tax 1537 37
Note.–The 1st and 3d items go to pay the county expenses, such as the
jurors, elections, &c.
The 2d and 4th are exclusively applied to repairing the roads already
made, and in opening new ones.
The 5th is to pay the interest on the State loan for internal
improvements.
B. STOKELY.
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