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"DEERFIELD township was organized by the Court of Warren county on
the 8th day of March, 1821, and first called " Number Eleven."
The
whole township was then a vast wilderness, very little land having been cleared."
--History of Warren County Pennsylvania,
Edited by J.S. Schenck, assisted by W.S. Rann; Syracuse, N.Y.; D Mason & Co., Publishers; 1887
Boroughs and Villages
Resources:Cemeteries
Church Records Early History from History of Warren County, Pennsylvania, J.S. Schenck, 1887
Early History from Genealogical Gleanings of Siggins, and other Pennsylvania Families Family Histories and Biographies
Maps
Photographs Other |
The links, below, are to the Deerfield Township section in the Schenck History where the individual's name first appears; however, many of these pioneers are mentioned numerous times throughout this site. To find these additional entries, use the Find (Ctrl-F) search feature for this page or the Google search box on the Warren County Genealogy homepage to search the entire site. Pioneers and those who came later...
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| Tidioute, flooded |
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| Photographer and date unknown |
If you have any Deerfield Township genealogy information you wish to share, please email the Warren County coordinator.
The following are selected excerpts from the book Genealogical Gleanings of Siggins, and other Pennsylvania Families A Volume of History, Biography and Colonial, Revolutionary, Civil and Other War Records Including Names of Many Other Warren County Pioneers, compiled by Emma Siggins White, assisted by Martha Humphreys Maltby, excerpts pages 31 - 36; published by Tiernan-Dart Printing Co., 1918. To aid in finding your ancestor, names are in bold.
"The first settlement on the West side of Tidioute Creek was made by William Kinnear who moved from the mouth of Oil Creek and built a saw mill and later with the aid of his sons, he built a grist mill. The Kinnear farm was sold to an oil compnay in 1864. Later the town of Tidioute as it appears to-day, occupied the site. John Elder's residence was near the mouth of Gordon Run. After him Samuel Parshall, then James Magill lived there; Samuel Grandin next occupied and owned the Elder farm. He built a saw mill in 1840 and opened a general merchandise store to accommodate his lumber camp and the nearby neighbors. His business prospered. The river banks were convered into wharves and landing places for the boats which carried the lumber to distant markets. Most of the heavy round and square timber was rafted down to the river markets. Tidioute landing was a busy place. The surrounding hills rich in natural resources furnished commodities far exceeding the needs of the settlers. Those frugal and industrious pioneers through their lumber and oil activities soon became well known in commercial and financial circles.
From the Warren Chronicle, April, 1918, we clip the following interesting items:
The Tidioute Weekly News which has run continuously for the past 44 years has been discontinued indefinitely. The first issue was printed on October 31, 1874.
For our readers who would like to know a little past record of Tidioute:--
On June 2, 1826, Tidioute borough was organized and the first borough election was held on June 27, of the same year.
The first well struck Oct. 4, 1866 on Triumph Hill was 250 bbls.
Jan. 1, 1870, Grandin Bros. Bank was opened and on Oct. 24, 1871 the People's Savings Bank which was followed the next day, Oct. 25, 1871, by the opening of the Tidioute Savings Bank. The latter being the only one doing business at the present time. The first bank in Tidioute was run under the title of Wadsworth, Baum & Co., afterwards was changed to Grandin & Baum and then to Grandin Brothers.
Nathan Park Morrison was born in Deerfield township, in what is called Morrison Hill, Jan. 17, 1835. He died April 3rd, 1918. Mr. Morrison's father was one of the first settlers in these parts, coming here before there was a wagon road and taking his goods on horse-back up an old Indian trail to this farm, where he settled. On this farm Nathan was born and lived all his life. He was one of a family of nine, five brothers and four sisters, of whom all have passed away before him with the exception of one sister, Mrs. M.M. Osborne, of Janesville, Wisconsin.
Mr. Morrison was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ellen Gillespie, who died about 30 years ago. A number of years later he married again. Besides his wife, Sarah A., Mr. Morrison leaves two sons, G. Clyde Morrison, of Tidioute, and Claude P., who resides on the home farm.
TIDIOUTE BOROUGH
Tidioute Borough was incorporated June 7, 1826; Peter Smith who lived there wrote the following interesting facts in 1847 concerning the settlement along the Allegheny river from Brokenstraw Creek to the county line, he writes:
I was born in Crawford County, about four miles west of Titusville, in what is now called Hydetown, in the year 1802, July 25. My father, with myself and others of his family moved into Warren County, about four miles north east of Tidioute, (then Brokenstraw Township) on the north side of the Allegheny river in the spring of 1807, and I remained at or near the same place till the fall of 1865, when I moved into Tidioute, where I now reside.
When my father moved into the above mentioned place, it had first been occupied by a Thomas Coulter, and then came into the possession of a John Crawford, and afterwards to my father, Charles Smith. The next neighbor north was William Adams, who settled at a place known as Connely Run; and next after Adams, my brother James, His son, Madison M.J. Smith now resides on the place, and at the mouth of what is now called Conklin Run, a man by the name of Rider then lived; next a man by the name of Conklin; then by James McGee; and it is now in the possession of an oil company.
What is now known as Thompson Station was in 1807 occupied by Samuel Welch; next by John Elder; next by Robt. Thompson, and in 1864 passed into the possession of an oil company whose name I have forgotten. The next place north at what is now known as Dunn's Eddy, was occupied by a widow McIntyre in 1807. The place next came into the possession of Jeremiah Dunn, and some of the members of the Dunn family now reside there.
The next place now owned by W.A. Irvine, was, at that time in the possession of a John Adams, then it passed into the hands of Jacob Goodwin; then to Adam Schutts, a Philadelphia farmer sent out here by Callender Irvine. At what is now known as McGee Run, James Elder resided; then after him a George Berry; next Samuel McGee, J.A. McGee and J.P. McGee. It is now owned by John Fuellhart. The next place west toward Tidioute, was owned and occupied by George Heterborn; next by Thomas McGee, and in 1865 passed into the hands of an oil company. And at the present time James Middleton reside there, and is the owner of one or two acres thereof with a house and barn on it.
On the next place west, there lived a Hildebrand; then a Christopher Young; then a John Thompson. The heirs of Thompson next sold it to James MaGill, and he to an oil company, whose name has passed from my recollection, but situate thereon at present is my friend, Barney A. Snow.
The next place west, (now Tidioute borough) was occupied by Isaac Rhinehart; next by John Gilson; next by John McGee; next by Anthony Courson; now by Clark Benner, John T. Courson, and other heirs of Anthony Courson, besides hosts of others.
The next place, which is now known as Maguire Run, was owned and occupied by two brothers, by the name of Levi and John Hicks. Levi occupied the east side of the run and in 1810 was sold and occupied by Samuel Maguire. In 1862 Maguire sold to Josiah Hall and C.B. Curtis of Warren, and in 1864 the place was sold to the Maguire Run Oil Co. Maguire lived on his old place until removed by death in 1865, and the farm is at present divided into building lots.
Among the early settlers on the Upper Allegheny was Jesse Dale and his wife Mary Lamb Dale. They owned a homestead a short distance above Tionesta. They were the parents of ten children. Their daughter Nancy was born Oct. 25, 1813. She married James Guest Dawson, a son of Thomas and Hannah Connelly Dawson. Another daughter, Sarah A. was born in the old Homestead may 17, 1817. She is said to have been the first regularly hired school teacher in Tionesta. She also taught in Tidioute and at Allender Run. She was a life long consistent member of the Methodist Church. She went with other members of her family to the little log church on Jameson Flatts. [sic] She made her home at Jacob S. Hood's where she died August 1, 1901. Of her immediate family, a brother, Marion W., of Brown's Valley, Minnesota, a sister Mrs. Margery Walters, of Winona, Minn., and Mrs. Emily Gorman of Endeavor, Penna., survived her.
During the year 1859 Col. D. L. Drake made the important discovery in Oil Creek that there were to be found in seemingly large quantities extensive deposits of petroleum beneath the earth's surface. In 1860 the people of Tidioute and vicinity began drilling for oil. So energetically was the business carried on that at the end of six months, there were over sixty oil wells in operation."
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