Chapter 31
Pioneer Outline History of Northwestern Pennsylvania
PIONEER OUTLINE HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
By J. W. McKnight, M.D., Brookville, PA
Copyright 1905 Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia
CHAPTER XXXI
JEFFERSON COUNTY - FORMATION AND ORGANIZATION - PIONEER SETTLERS - TREES - JOSEPH BARNETT -- INDIAN NAMES OF STREAMS - WAGONS - ROADS - STORES - MURDERS - COURT-HOUSE AND JAIL - PHYSICIANS - MILITIA - BRIDGES - ASSESSMENT AND SETTLERS - OLD FOLK'S PICNIC.
When William Penn came to what is now the State of Pennsylvania and organized what has become our present Commonwealth, he erected three counties, which were Bucks, Philadelphia, and Chester. Chester county extended over the western portion of the State at that time. In reality, it had jurisdiction over only the inhabitable portion, but its boundary lines extended west of what is now Jefferson County.
On May 10, 1729, Lancaster County was erected from Chester. On January 27, 1750, Cumberland County was erected from Lancaster. On March 9, 1771, Bedford County was erected from Cumberland. March 27, 1772, Northumberland County was erected, and for twenty-four years our wilderness was in this county. On April 13, 1796, Lycoming County was erected from Northumberland County, and on March 26, 1804, Jefferson County was erected from Lycoming County. Thus you see that this wilderness was embraced in six other counties before it was erected into a separate county. The name of the county was given in honor of Thomas Jefferson, who was then President of the United States. The original area of Jefferson County contained twelve hundred and three square miles, but it now has only about 413, 440 acres; highest altitude, from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred and eighty feet above sea-level; length of county, forty-six miles; breadth, twenty-six miles.
"Jefferson County is now in the fourth tier of counties east of the Ohio line, and in the third tier south of the New York line, and is bounded by Forest and Elk on the North, Clearfield on the east, Indiana on the south, and Armstrong and Clarion on the west. Its south line now runs due west twenty-three and one-third miles from the Clearfield-Indiana corner; its west line, thence due north twenty-eight and one-quarter miles to the Clarion River; its north line, first up the Clarion River to ElkCounty, thence due south one-half mile, thence southeast thirteen and three-quarter miles, to Clearfield County; its east line runs first southwest ten miles, thence due south fifteen and one-third miles, to the starting-place at the Clearfield-Indiana corner.
"The original boundary lines enclosed an area of more than one thousand square miles, embracing much of what is now Forest and Elk, beyond the Clarion River. At what time the present boundaries were erected is not certain; but much shifting took place, especially along the northern border, until comparatively recent years.
"The pioneer people were mainly of Scotch-Irish descent, with a considerable intermixture of the German element, industrious, prudent, and thrifty."
It was first attached to Westmoreland County for judicial purposes, and afterward to Indiana.
Population in 1810, 161; in 1820, 561; in 1830, 2025; in 1840, 7253.
There are no mountains in the county, but the surface is hilly. The rocks pertain to the series of coal measures lying on the outskirts of the Pittsburgh coal basin. Coal is found all through the county.
In 1840 wild lands sold at from one dollar to two dollars per acre. For many years after its establishment the county was but a hunting ground for whites and Indians.
FOREST TREES
"The southern portion of Jefferson County was mostly covered with white oak, black oak, rock oak, chestnut, sugar, beach and hickory.
"The rock areas of northern Jefferson were covered with pine and hemlock, with scarcely a trace of white oak. There is still a considerable quantity of marketable hemlock left.
"White oak, chestnut, sugar, beech, and hickory were the principal kinds of wood on the cleared lands.
"White oak was found mostly on the high uplands.
"W. C. Elliott says of trees, ' There were four kinds of maple, four of ash, five of hickory, eight of oak, three of birch, four of willow, four of poplar, four of pine, and from one to three of each of the other varieties. The following are the names of all of them; some of the trees are not correctly named, but the names given are the only English names by which they go. Their Latin names are all-correct and would be given, but would not be understood. Sweet bay, cucumber, elkwood, long leaved cucumber, white basswood, toothache tree, wafer ash, spindle tree, Indian cheery, feted buckeye, sweet buckeye, striped maple, sugar-maple, white maple, red maple, ash leaved maple, staghorn sumach, dwarf sumach, poison elder, locust coffee nut, honey locust, judas tree, wild plum, hog plum, red cherry, black cherry, crab apple, cockspur, thorn, scarlet haw, blackthorn, Washington thorn, service tree, witch hazel, sweet gum, dogwood, boxwood, sour gum., sheep berry, stag bush, sorrel tree, spoonwood, rosebay, southern buckthorn, white ash, red ash, green ash, black ash, fringe tree, catalpa, sassafras, red elm, white elm, rock elm, hackberry, red mulberry, sycamore, butternut, walnut, bitternut, pignut, kingnut, shagbark, white hickory, swamp white oak, chestnut oak, yellow oak, red oak, shingle oak, chinquapin, chestnut, ironwood, leverwood, beech, gray birch, red birch, black birch, black alder, speckled alder, black willow, sandbar willow, almond willow, glaucous willow, aspen, two varieties of soft poplar, two varieties of cottonwood, two varieties of necklace poplar, liriodendron (incorrectly called poplar), white cedar, red cedar, white pine, hemlock, balsam, fir, hickory, pine, pitch-pine or yellow pine, red pine, Virginia date, and forest olive. In addition to the above were numerous wild berries, vines, etc."
Many of these trees were lofty, magnificent, and valuable, and were not surpassed in any State in the Union. There were over one hundred varieties. The State school- book of 1840 taught that two of our varieties were distinctive and peculiar to Pennsylvania, --viz., the cucumber and umbrella tree, or elkwood. I will stop to say here, that the woods then were full of sweet singing birds and beautiful flowers; hence some old pioneer called the settlement, "Paradise."
For the last fifty years a great army of woodmen have been and are yet, today, "hacking down these monarchs of the forest," and floating or convey them or their product to market. I need not mention our tanneries or sawmills of today. But now
"Look abroad: another race has filled these mountain forests, wide the wood recedes,
And towns shoot up, and fertile lands are tilled by hardy mountaineers."
In regard to the first settlement and early history of the county I have made diligent research, and find, what is not unusual, some conflicting accounts and statements. These I have endeavored to compile, arrange, and harmonize to the best of my ability.
From the best information I am enabled to gather and obtain, Andrew Barnett and Samuel Scott were sent in 1795 by Joseph Barnett, who was then living in either Nothumberland, Lycoming, or Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, to explore the famous region then about French Creek, now Crawford County, Pennsylvania. But when these two "explorers" reached Mill Creek, now Port Barnett, they were forcibly impressed with the great natural advantages of the place for a saw mill. They stopped over two or three days to examine the creek. They explored as far down as to where Summerville now is, and, after this careful inspection, concluded that this spot, where "the lofty pine leaned gloomily over every hill side," was just the ideal home for a lumberman.
They went no farther west, but returned east, and informed Joseph Barnett of the "Eureka" they had found. In the spring of 1797, Joseph and Andrew Barnett, Samuel Scott, and Moses Knapp came from their home at the moth of Pine Creek, then in Lycoming County, to the ideal mill site of Andrew, and so well pleased were they all that they commenced the erection of the pioneer cabin and mill in the wilderness, in what was then Pine Creek Township, Lycoming County. The cabin and mill were on the present site of Humphrey's mill and grounds at Port Barnett. The Indians assisted, about nine in number, to raise these buildings, and not a stroke of work would these savages do until they had eaten up all the provisions Mr. Barnett had. This took three days. Then they said, "Me eat, me sleep; now me strong, now me work." In the fall of the same year Joseph Barnett returned to his family, leaving his brother Andrew and Scott to finish some work. In a short time thereafter Andrew Barnett became ill and died, and was buried on the north bank of the creek, at the junction of Sandy Lick and Mill Creek, Scott and two Indians being the only attendants at the funeral. Joseph Barnett was, therefore, soon followed by Scott, who was his brother-in-law, bringing the melancholy tidings of this event, which for a time cast a gloom over the future prospects of these sturdy pioneers.
In 1798, however, Joseph Barnett, Scott, Knapp, and a married man by the name of Joseph Hutchison, came out with them and renewed their work. Hutchison brought his wife, household goods, also two cows and a calf, and commenced housekeeping, and lived here one year before Joseph Barnett brought his family, who were then living in Dauphin County. Hutchison is clearly the pioneer settler in what is now Jefferson County. He was a sawyer. In that year the mill was finished by Knapp and Scott, and in 1799 there was some lumber sawed. In November, 1799, Joseph Barnett brought his wife and family to the home prepared for them in the wilderness. Barnett brought with him two cows and seven horses, five loaded with goods as packhorses and two as riding or family horses. His route of travel into this wilderness was over Meade's trail.
The first boards were run in 1801 to what is now Pittsburg. About four thousand feet were put in a raft, or what would be a two platform piece. Moses Knapp was the pioneer pilot.
Joseph Barnett, the patriarch of Jefferson County, was the son of John and Sarah Barnett, and was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1754. His father was born in Ireland, and located in Pennsylvania in the early part of the eighteenth century, and was a farmer up to the time of his death in 1757. His mother died a few years later, and Joseph was "brought up" by his relatives. He was raised on a farm, and was thus peacefully employed when the Revolution commenced. As a son of a patriotic sire he could not resist taking part in the struggle, and so joined the army and served for some years. The exact duration of his service cannot now be ascertained, but this we learn: "he was a brave and efficient soldier, and never faltered in the path of duty." He also served in the State militia in the campaign against the Wyoming boys. After the war he settled in Northumberland County, where he owned a large tract of land, but was dispossessed of it by some informalities of the title. Here he was married to Elizabeth Scott, sister of Samuel Scott and daughter of John Scott, July 3, 1794.
I find Joseph Barnett assessed in Pine Creek Township, Northumberland County, April 28, 1786. I find him, in 1788, assessed in the same township and county with a sawmill and as a single freeman. This was his sawmill at the mouth of Pine Creek, and the mill on which he lost his eye. The property is now in Clinton county. After losing his mill and land Barnett returned in the nineties to Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and engaged in contracting for and building bridges. In 1799 I find him again assessed in Pine Creek Township, then Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, with two hundred and twenty five acres of land. This was his Port Barnett property, which he migrated with his family in November, 1799; and here he engaged in the erection of mills and in the lumbering business that eventually made Port Barnett, then in Lycoming County, the centre of business for a large extent of territory. In a short time a tub grist mill was added to his sawmill, and, with his "Port Barnett flint-stone binns," he made an eatable, in not a very desirable, quality of four. The Indians (Cornplanters and Senecas) then in the country were good customers, and what few whites there were for forty miles around would make his cabin a stopping place for several days at a time. His log cabin became a tavern, the only one in the seventy five miles journey, and was frequented by all the early settlers.
His Indian guests did not eat in the house, but would in winter make a pot of mush over his fire and set it out in the snow to cool; then one fellow would take a dipper and eat his fill of the pudding, sometimes with milk, butter, or molasses; then another would take it and go through the same process until all were satisfied. The dogs would then help themselves from the same pot, and when they put their heads in the pot in the Indian's way he would give them a slap over the head with dipper."
He kept a store, rafted lumber on Sandy Lick and Red Bank, and at the same time attended to his saw and grist-mills. I find him assessed in Pine Creek Township in 1800 as a farmer.
"The Senecas of Cornplanter's tribe were friendly and peaceable neighbors, and often extended their excursions into these waters, where they encamped, two or three in a squad, and hunted deers and bears, taking hams and skins in the spring to Pittsburg. Their rafts were constructed of dry poles, upon which they piled up their meat and skins in the form of a haystack, took them to Pittsburg, and exchanged them for trinkets, blankets, calicoes, weapons, etc. they were friendly, sociable, and rather fond of making money. During the war of 1812 the settlers were apprehensive that an unfortunate turn of the war upon the lakes might bring an irruption of the savages upon the frontier through the Seneca nation.
"Old Captain Hunt, a Muncy Indian, had his camp for some years on Red Bank, near where is now the southwestern corner of Brookville. He got his living by hunting, and enjoyed the results in drinking whiskey, of which he was inordinately fond. One year he killed seventy eight bears, -- they were plenty then; the skins might be worth abut three dollars each, -- nearly all of which he expended for his favorite beverage.
"Samuel Scott resided here until 1810, when, having scraped together, by hunting and lumbering, about two thousand dollars, he went down to the Miami River and bought a section fine land, which made him rich.
"It is related that Joseph Barnett at one time carried sixty pounds of flour on his back from Pittsburg. Their supplies of flour, salt, and other necessaries were frequently brought in canoes from that place. These were purchased with lumber, which he sawed and rafted to that city, and which in those days was sold for twenty five dollars per thousand. The nearest settlement on Meade's trail eastward of Port Barnett was Paul Clover's, thirty three miles distant, on the west branch of the Susquehanna, where Curewensville now stands; and westward Fort Vanango was forty-five miles distant, which points were the only resting places for the travellers who ventured through this unbroken wilderness. The Seneca Indians, of Cornplanter's tribe, heretofore mentioned, often extended their hunting excursions to these waters, and encamped to hunt deer and bears and make sugar. They are said to have made sugar by catching the sap in small troughs, and, after collecting in a large trough, hot stones were dipped into it to boil it down." -Day's Collections.
About the year 1802 Joseph Barnett consented to act as banker for the Indians around Port Barnett. The Indians were all "bimetallists," and had the "silver craze," for their money was all silver; and bringing their monometallism to Mr. Barnett, he received it from them and deposited it in their presence in his private vault, -- viz., a small board trunk covered with hogskin, tanned with the bristles on. On the lid were the letters "J. B.," made with brass tacks. The trunk was now full; and the bank was a solid financial institution. In a short time, however, the red men concluded to withdraw their deposits, and they made a "run" in a body on the bank. Barnett handed over the trunk, and each Indian counted out his own pieces, and according to their combined count the bank was insolvent; there was a shortage, a deficiency of one fifty cent piece. Mr. Barnett induced the Indians to recount their silver, but the fifty cent piece was still missing. The Indians then declared Mr. Barnett must die; they surrounded the house and ordered him on the porch to be shot. He obeyed orders, but pleaded with them to count their pieces the third time, and if the fifty cent piece was still missing, they could shoot him. This the Indians considered fair, and they counted the silver pieces the third time, and one Indian found he had one more piece than his own; he had the missing fifty cent piece. Then there was joy and rejoicing among the Indians. Banker Barnett was no longer a criminal; he was the hero and friend of the Indians.
The cheapest and most expeditious method of obtaining such supplies as could not be produced on the ground was to go to Pittsburg for them. Rafts of sawed lumber were run to Pittsburg in the spring of the year. A canoe was taken along, and when the raft was sold most of the avails would be invested in whiskey, port, sugar, dry goods, etc. these goods were then loaded into the canoe, and the same men that brought the raft throught to market would "pole" or push the loaded canoe up the river and up the creek to Port Barnett. This was a "voyage" that all men of full-strength were very desirous of making, and was the subject of conversation for the remaining part of the year.
These canoes were hewed out of a large pine tree, large enough to receive a barrel of flour crosswise. A home made rope of flax was attached to the front end of the canoe to be used in pulling the canoe up and over ripples. The men with these canoes had to camp in the woods wherever night over-took them, and their greatest terror and rear was rattlesnakes, for the creek bottoms were alive with them.
INDIAN NAMES OF STREAMS
Da yon on dah the go wah (Big Toby, or Alder) gah yon hah da (creek), Big Toby Creek.
Da yon on dah the we oh (Little Toby, or Alder) gah yon hah da (creek) Little Toby Creek
Oh non da (Pine) gah yon hah da (creek) Pine Creek.
Oh twenge ah (red) yoh non da (bank), gah yon hah da (creek), Red Bank Creek.
Oh ne sah geh jah geh da geh gah yon hah da, Sandy Lick Creek.
Ga de ja hah da gah nos gah yon hah da, Mahoning Creek
Oh to weh geh ne gah yon hah da, North Fork Creek.
Oh nah da gon, Among the Pines.
Among the pioneer industries was tar burning. Kilns were formed and split fagots of pitch pine knots were arranged in circles and burned. The tar was collected by a ditch and forced into a chute, and from there barrelled. John Matson, St., marketed on rafts as high as forty barrels in one season. Freedom Stiles was the king "tar-burner." Pioneer prices at Pittsburg for tar was ten dollars a barrel.
PIONEER WAGONS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY, AND PIONEER DRAYING IN BROOKVILLE
The pioneer wheeled vehicle made in what is now Jefferson County was a wooden ox-cart, constructed by Joseph Barnett in 1801. The wheels were sawed from a large oak log, and a hole was chiselled in the centre for the hickory axle. Walter Templeton, a very ingenious man, and forced to be a "jack-of-all-trades" for the people who lived in what is now Eldred Township, made two wooden wagons in 1829, one for himself and one for his neighbor, Isaac Matson. These wagons were all wood except the iron linch pin to keep the wheel in place. The wheels were solid, and were sawed from round oak logs. The hind wheels were sawed from a larger log, and a hole was chiselled in the centre of each for the axle.
Matson hauled, in 1830, the stone spawls for our pioneer jail in his wagon, with two large black oxen, called "Buck" and Berry." Matson's compensation was one dollar and fifty cents a day and "find" himself.
Draying in those days was usually by two oxen and a cart; but Daniel Elgin bought these black oxen from Matson, and used one of them for some time for a one-ox dray in Brookville.
The pioneer tar to grease these axles was made in this way: Pitch-pine knots were split fine and dropped into an iron kettle; a piece of board was then placed over the mouth of the kettle, and then the kettle was turned upside down over a little bed of earth prepared for it. This bed had a circular drain around it, and this circular drain had a straight one, with a spout at the end. Everything being completed for the burning, the board was taken from under the kettle, and the kettle was then covered with fagots. The wood was fired and the heat from the fire boiled the tar from the split knots and forced it into and through these drains, and from the spout of which it was caught in a wooden trough.
The pioneer road was the Indiana and Port Barnett, for the creation of which the petition of a number of citizens of Jefferson County and parts of Indiana County was presented to the Indiana County Court at the September term, 1808. The points of the road were from Brady's mill, on Little Mahoning Creek, Indiana County, to Sandy Lick Creek, in Jefferson County (Port Barnett), where the State (Milesburg and Waterford) road crosses the same. The Court appointed as viewers Samuel Lucas, John Jones, Moses Knapp, and Samuel Scott, of Jefferson County, and John Park and John Wier, of Indiana County, to view and make a report at the next term. The road was probably built in 1810.
The pioneer justice of the peace was Thomas Lucas, appointed January 16, 1809.
The early settlers to erect cabins on the Indiana road in Pine Creek Township were Joseph Carr in 1817, Manuel Reitz, George Gray, and Samuel McQuiston in 1827, John Matthews in 1830, Elijah Clark in 1833, Andrew Hunter and William Wyley in 1834, and Isaac Swineford in 1835. The pioneer school-house in this settlement was built in 1830; the pioneer graveyard was on the McCann farm in 1830.
"FINES FOR MISDEMEANORS. - In the early days of the county's history the penalties prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth for any offence against any of the statutes was rigorously enforced, seemingly without regard to the social standing of the offender. Sabbath-breaking, swearing, and intoxication seem to have been the sins most vigorously punished by the arm of the law.
"The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321 A.D. enacting that all courts of justice and all workshops were to be at rest on Sunday. Charlemagne, in the West, forbade labor of any kind on Sunday. Later the Sabbath and Sunday came to be observation at the same period, but after the time of Constantine the observation of the Sabbath practically ceased. Sunday observance was directed by injunctions of both Edward VI. And Elizabeth.
"The first election in the county was held at Port Barnett, and up to 1818 it was the only polling and election precinct in and for the county. At the last election (when the township was the whole county), in 1817, Friday, March 14, the names of the contestants for office and the votes were as follows, -- viz.: Constable, Elijah M. Graham, 22 votes; John Dixon, 13 votes. Supervisors, Joseph Barnett, 25 votes; Thomas Lucas, 28 votes. Overseer of the Poor, Henry Keys, 9 votes; John Matson, 6 votes. Fence Appraisers, Moses Knapp, 7 votes; William Vastbinder, 7 votes. Town Clerk, Elijah M. Graham, 22 votes.
"Signed and attested by the judges, Walter Templeton and Adam Vastbinder."
The pioneer store was opened by the Barnetts and Samuel Scott, who, in 1826, sold it out to Jared B. Evans, and he, in the fall of 1830, removed it to Jefferson Street, Brookville, Pennsylvania.
The pioneer murder in Jefferson County was committed on May 1, 1844. Daniel Long, one of the mighty hunters of Pine Creek Township, and Samuel Knopsnyder were murdered in Barnett Township, now Heath, near Raught's Mills. There was a dispute between Long and James Green about a piece of land. The land was a vacant strip. James Green and his son Edwin took possession of Long's shanty on this land while Long was absent. On Long's return to the shanty in company with Knopsnyder, Long was shot by young Green as he attempted to enter the shanty, with Long's own gun. Knopsnyder was so terribly cut with an axe in the hands of the Greens that he died in a few days. The Greens, father and son, were arrested, tried and convicted of murder in the second degree, and each sentenced to four years in the penitentiary.
James Green, the father, served a year and was pardoned. Edwin served his time and returned to Jefferson County a few days only, as he was in terror of the Longs. He therefore returned to Pittsburg, and settled down somewhere and lived and died highly respected.
The second murder was in Washington Township in 1845. It occurred at a frolic at the house of James Ross. A dispute arose between Thomas Brown and James Smith. Brown struck Smith with a hand-spike, which caused his death in twenty-four hours. Too much whiskey was the cause of the dispute and blow. Brown was tried in Brookville, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary for six years, but was afterwards pardoned out.
The pioneer graveyard in the county was located on the property now of William C. Evans, deceased, near the junction of the Ridgway road with the pike. I found this graveyard in my boyhood, and thought they were Indian graves. My mother told me its history. The graves are now lost and the grounds desecrated. The second graveyard in the township was laid out in 1842, on Nathaniel Butler's farm, and is still called Butler's graveyard.
BROOKVILLE
This borough, the seat of justice of Jefferson County, commenced its first building in June, 1830. After the lots were sold, it being then in the boundary of Rose Township, its citizens voted with the township till 1848, when it was set apart as a distinct polling-place. It was named after, or on account of, the springs on its hills, ---Brook, attached with the French villa, a country seat, in common English town, -- these put together form the name. The taxables in 1849 were 177; in 1856, 273. The population in 1840 by census was 276.
PIONEERS AND PIONEER EVENTS IN BROOKVILLE
"The deeds of our fathers in times that are gone,
Their virtues, their prowess, the toils they endured."
Day says, in 1843, "Brookville is situated on the Waterford and Susquehanna Turnpike, forty-five miles east of Franklin, and at the head of Red Bank Creek. The town was laid out by the County Commissioners in 1830; the lots were sold in June of that year at from thirty to three hundred dollars per lot. The town is watered by hydrants, supplied by a copious spring."
A road leads from Brookville to Ridgway, a settlement of New England and New York people, made some years since on the Little Mill Creek branch of the Clarion River, in the northeastern corner of the county. It took its name from Jacob Ridgway, of Philadelphia, who owned large tracts of land in this vicinity.
Punxsutawney is a small village with fifteen or twenty dwellings, on a branch of Mahoning Creek, about eighteen miles southeast from Brookville.
Brockway is a small settlement on Little Toby's Creek, at the crossing of the road between Brookville and Ridgway.
Somerville, or Troy, is a small cluster of houses on the right bank of Red Bank, seven miles below Brookville, Not far from this place is Seceders' church, one of the first built in the county.
BROOKVILLE'S PIONEER SCHOOL
The pioneer school-house in the town was built in the summer of 1832. It was a small, one-story brick building about twenty feet square, and stood where the American House barn now (1905) stands. I remember it well. This house was erected under the provisions of the law of 1809, was paid by voluntary subscriptions, and was heated by a ten plate stove that burned wood. My father, Alexander McKnight, taught the first term of school in Brookville in this building, in the winter of 1832-33. I can name but a few of his scholars, -- to wit, James Wilson, W. W. Corbet, Rebecca Jane Corbet, mother of Cyrus H. Blood, Esq.; John Heath, Sarah Clements, Daniel Smith, Oliver George, Susan Early, John Hastings, Barton T. Hastings, and John Butler. There was no classification of books and no system in teaching. Each scholar recited from his own book.
School-masters who taught in Brookville subscription schools under the law of 1809: 1832-33, Alexander McKnight, pioneer; 1834, Miss Charlotte Clark, Charles E. Tucker; 1835, John Wilson; 1836, Hannibal Craighead.
Masters who taught under the common school law of 1834: 1837, Cyrus Crouch, had sixty scholars; Rev. Jesse Smith, a Presbyterian minister; 1838, Rev. Dexter Morris, a Baptist preacher; 1839, John Smith, father of Mrs. S. C. Christ; 1840, S. M. Bell, Mrs. M. T. H. Roundy; 1841, D. S. Deering.
In this little brick house the Mehodists for years held their weekly prayer-meetings. The principal members were Judge Heath, Aarad Marshall, John Dixon, John Heath, David and Cyrus Butler, David Henry and wife, and Mary, Jane and Sarah Gaston.
The first persons to teach in the academy building that succeeded it were, in 1843, R. F. Nicholson, Miss Elizabeth Brady, afterwards Mrs. A. Craig, who died in April, 1905; 1846-50; , R. J. Nicholson and Miss Nancy Lucas.
In 1835 Brookville contained about one hundred and thirty-five people. The village had six merchants, -- viz., Evans & Clover, William Rodgers, James Corbett, Jared B. Evans, Jack & Wise, and Steadman & Watson. Each storekeeper had a large dry pine block, called "upping block," in front of his store-room, to assist men and women to mount or alight from their horses. The stores were lighted with candles and warmed with wood-fires. Wood-fires in stoves and chimneys were very dangerous, on account of the accumulation of wood-soot in the chimney; for when this soot gathered in quantity it always ignited, burned out, and endangered the shingle roof. Towns and cities then had men and boys called professional "chimney-sweeps." These "sweeps" entered the chimney from the fireplace, climbing up and out at the top by the aid of hooks, announcing their exit in a song and looking as black as an African negro. In 1835 some of the legal privileges of the town were: "That no citizen of the town shall be permitted to keep on Main Street, at one time, more than ten cords of wood, not more than enough brick to build a chimney, or before his door more lumber than will build a spring-house; not more than two wagons and a half-shed; a few barrels of salt, five thousand shingles, or twenty head of horned cattle." Of course, there was no legal restriction as to the number of "chickens in the garden" or geese and hogs on the street. On darks nights the people then carried lanterns made of tin, holes being punched in them, and the light produced by a candle. The lantern had a side door to open, to light, blow out, and replace the candle.
"MAIL ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES IN 1835'"
"The Mail arrives from Philadelphia by way of Harrisburg, Lewistown, and Bellefonte every Monday evening, Wednesday evening, and Friday evening in a four Horse Coach.
" From Erie, by way of Meadville, Franklin, &c., every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening, and returns the same day, in a four Horse Stage.
"From Washington City, by way of Chambersburgh,Indiana, &c., every Friday and returns same day - carried on a Horse.
"Arrive at this place every Tuesday, from Smethport, McKean County, by way of Gillis Post-office, and returns on Friday - carried on a Horse.
The pioneer court-house was contracted for in 1830, and finished in 1833. Our first jail was a stone structure, built of common stone, in 1831. It was two stories high, was situated on the northeast corner of the public square lot, near Joseph Darr's residence, and fronting on Pickering Street. Daniel Elgin was the contractor. The building was divided in eight rooms, two down-stairs and two up-stairs for the jail proper. The sheriff occupied the northpart. It cost eighteen hundred and twenty-four dollars and twenty-three cents.
Previous to and as late as 1850 it was the rule for mill-men, woodsmen, and laboring men generally to stop work every Saturday at noon. The idea was to better prepare for the observance of the Sabbath. As far as my observation reminds me, I can assure that spiritualizing was practised freely on these Saturday afternoons.
In 1799, when Jospeh Barnett settled at the mouth of Mill Creek, there were but two Indian families at that place, --viz., Twenty Canoes and Tomahawk. The two Hunts were there, but only as individuals, and they were cousins. Jim Hunt was on banishment for killing his cousin. Captain Hunt was an under chief of the Muncey tribe. These Munceys were slaves to our Senecas, and captain was the highest military title known to the Indians. Other Indians came here to hunt every fall, even to my early days. Of two who came about 1800, I might mention John Jamison (Sassy John) who had seven sons, all named John; the other was Crow; he was an Indian in name and in nature. He was feared by both the whites and Indians. He was a Mohawk, and a perfect savage. Caturah and TwentyCanoes stayed here for several years after the Barnetts came. The Hunts were here most of the time until the commencement of the war of 1812. Jim dare not go back to his tribe until the year 1808 or 1809, when his friends stole a white boy in Westmoreland County and had him adopted into the tribe in place of warrior Jim had slain….
Twenty Canoes and Sassy John were back once to see "Joe Blannett" - they could not pronounce the name of Barnett. The last visit of Caturah was in 1833, he being then over ninety years of age.
The following is from Hazzard's Register, 1830:
"Brookville, the spot selected by the commissioners as the seat of justice for Jefferson County, and confirmed by act of Assembly, etc., has lately been laid out in town lots and out lots bearing this name. At the sale, which took place last week, town lots were sold from thirty dollars to three hundred dollars each; the last day's sale averaged about fifty dollars, without including a mill-seat (Barr's) sold for one thousand dollars. Proceeds of sale will no doubt be sufficient to build a court-house. This may be considered high rate for lots, most of which still remain in a state of nature - but the advantages and prospects of this new county town attract a crowd of strangers. Persons were known to be present from twelve neighboring counties. The location of Brookville is a good one, and it has been judiciously laid out by Mr. Sloan, the artist."
These purchasers stopped with James Parks, near what is now Christ's brewery, and with David Butler, on the east side of the North Fork, at the head of what is now Wayne Cook's dam. A number also stopped with John Eason in his shanty on Main Street. The first sale of produce in what is now Brookville was in June, 1830. Samuel Sloan, of Armstrong County, was then teaming to and from Bellefonte. John Eason had erected a shanty in the woods to board the surveyors of the town plot. He observed, one day, Samuel Sloan on the pike, and Eason bought from his wagon, butter, hams, and flour.
The pioneer physician in the county was John Jenks, M.D. In 1818 Dr. John W. Jenks came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and settled what is now Punxsutawney, where he built a cabin, made improvements, and reared a family. He was quite a prominent man, and filled positions of profit and trust. He was one of the first associate judges, and father of Judge W. P. Jenks, Hon. G. A. Jenks, and Mrs. Judge Gordon.
PIONEER MAJOR SURGICAL OPERATION
Moses Knapp moved to what is now called Baxter in the spring of 1821, and while cutting timber he got a foot and leg crushed so that his limb had to be amputated above the knee. Dr. Stewart, of Indiana, and Dr. William Rankin, of Licking, now Clarion County performed the amputation in the summer of 1821. Knapp that year was constable, having been elected in the spring election.
PIONEER MILITIA LEGISLATION - AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE FORMATION OF THE MILITIA OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
'A FURTHER SUPPLEMENT TO THE ACT ENTITLED,' AN ACT FOR THE REGULATION OF THE MILITIA OF THIS COMMONWEALTH'
"SECTION 1. And be it futher enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the part of the ninety-ninth regiment of the fifteenth division of Pennsylvania militia, lying within the county of Jefferson, shall form a separate battalion,and shall be entitled to elect one lieutenant-colonel and one major, and the election of the officers thereof shall be held as soon as convenient, agreeably to the act to which this is a supplement; the field officers of this batttalion shall, as soon as practicable, proceed to organize said battalion into companies, so that the number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates in the several companies therof may,if they think it expedient, be reduced to fifty.
"Approved April 10, 1826."
The election under this act was held at Port Barnett, November 6, 1826 when the following officers were elected for the pioneer battalion of Jefferson County:
Lieutenant-colonel, Hance Robinson; major, Andrew Barnett.
There appears to have been no company numbered I, but the officers elected for company No. 2 were as follows: Captain, Obed Morris; first lieutenant, John Hess; second lieutenant, Benoni Williams. This was a company from and around Punxsutawney.
Of the third company, Samuel Jones was captain; Thomas Robinson, first lieutenant; John Walters, second lieutenant.
Fourth Company, Frederick Hetrick, captain; Caleb Howard, first lieutenant; James Crow, second lieutenant.
About 1828 the second election was held for this battalion, when Andrew Barnett was elected lieutenant-colonel, and James Corbet was elected major.
Late in the twenties, or early in the thirties, a volunteer militia company was organized in Punxsutawney, known as the Indiana and Jefferson Greens. I am unable to give precise dates, as these cannot be found on the records at Harrisburg. The pioneer officers were, Samuel Kerr, captain; David McPherson, first lieutenant; Abraham Brewer, second lieutentant This company had numberous other officers, and had an existence for seven years.
The second volunteer company organized in Punxsutawney, and distinctly belonging to Jefferson County, was the Jefferson Rangers. It was in the third battalion, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiment, fifteenth division, and must have been organized in 1839. The pioneer officers were: James H. Bell, captain; William Long, first lieutenant; John Weaver, second lieutenant. In 1842 William Long was captain; James L. Perry, first lieutenant; John Simpson, second lieutenant. About 1846 or 1947 Phineas W. Jenks was captain; Charles B. Hutchinson, first lieutenant; James B. Miller, second lieutenant. This company, under Long, offered its services during the Mexican War, but was not accepted. Long was in office for seven years. It disbanded about 1848.
All marching in the militia was done to the tune of "Yankeee Doodle" or the "Girl I left behind me." Marching was in single file. In drill it was "by sections of two, march." Instead of "file right" or "file left," it was "right" or "left wheel." Instead of "front" it was "left face."
The militia of Pennsyvlania ceased to muster in 1849, under the provisions of the act of April 17 of that year, entitled "An act to revise the military system and provide for the arming of such only as shall be uniformed."
The pioneer county bridge was petitioned for January 19, 1836; approved by the court, September, 1836, to Messrs. Thomas Hall and Richard Arthurs, contractors. The contract called for the completion of the bridge by September 1837. The accepted contract bid was seven hundred and ninety-five dollars. When finished the bridge was a good solid structure, but was a curious pile of wood and stones.
This pioneer, county, covered bridge was a wooden one, made of pine timber. It was erected across Red Bank Creek in the Borough of Brookville, a few feet west of where the present iron structure on Pickering Street now stands. There were no iron nails used in its construction, and only a few hand-made iron spikes. The timbers were mortised and tenoned, and put together with wooden pins. This was a single-span bridge of one hundred and twenty feet in length, with no centre pier, and of the burr-truss plan. It had two strings of circle arches, resting on the stone abutments.
Many memories to the old citizen clustered around this bridge, but time has effaced the bridge and will efface the memories. On its planks generations have met, passed, and repassed, and from its stringers fishers dropped many a hook and line. Up to and later than 1843, Brookville had three natatoriums, or swimming-pools, -- viz., one at the head of what is now Wayne Cook's dam on the North Fork, one at the "Deep Hole" near the Sand Spring, on the Sandy Lick, and one at or underneath the covered Bridge on Red Bank. In those days, from the time we had May flowers until chilling blasts of November arrived, one of the principal sports of the men and boys was swimming in these "pools.
We boys in summer months, all day long played on the bosom of these waters or on the border-land. The busy men, the doctor, the statesman, the lawyer, the parson, the merchant, the farmer, the mechanic, and the day laborer, all met here in the summer eve with boisterous shouts of joy and mirth to welcome up the moon. Of course, we had some skilful plungers and swimmers, who were as much at home in these waters as the wild ducks and geese of that day. An artist could swim on his back, on either side, under the water, float on his back, tread or walk in the water, and plunge or dive from almost any height.The beginner or boy, though, always commenced his apprenticeship in this graceful profession by swimming with his breast on the piece of plank, board, or old slab. But alas to the pioneer, ---
"Swimming sports, once deemed attractive,
Haunts amidst the bloom of laurel flowers,
Radiant charms that pleased my senses
In my boyhood's sunny hours,
Have departed like illusions,
And will never more be ours."
Alexander McKnight located in Brookville in 1832. He taught the first term of school in the first school building, was the first school director elected for the new borough, held the office of justice of the peace, lieutenant-colonel in the militia, had served a year as private in the regular army of the United States, and was county treasurer when he died, in 1837, aged twenty-seven years.
Samuel Craig located in Brookville in 1832, Hugh Brady, Esq., in 1832, and John Ramsey, the pioneer wagon-maker, in 1834. Hugh Brady and family came from Indiana, Pennsylvania, in a Conestoga wagon drawn by four horses, -- the lead horses having bells on. That was the wagon of the period. There was a bridge across the North Fork. They came via Port Barnett. John Showalter located here in 1843. He lived in Snyder's Row, was a gunsmith, and had a confectionery. James R. Fullerton located in Brockville in 1833. The pioneer gunsmith was Isaac Mills. He located where Thomas L. Templeton now resides. The pioneer doctor was Alvah Evans; he came in September, 1831. He was a young, handsome, portly man. He remained four or five months and left. Where he came from or where he went to nobody knows. The second doctor was C. G. M. Prime. He came in the spring of 1832. Dr. Prime amputated the arm of Henry (Hance) Vastbinder. During his residence here he married a Miss Wagley. He was a hard drinker. He left here April 3, 1835, for Mississippi where he was shot and killed at a card-table. He became a lawyer while here and delivered political speeches and Fourth of July orations.
The pioneer merchant to sell drugs and medicines in Brookville was Major William Rogers, in 1831. He sold Dover's powder, Hooper's pills, mercurial ointment, wine, brandy, whiskey, quinine, etc.
The pioneer fire-engine was bought June 29, 1839. Cost, two hundred and fifty dollars. It was a hand-engine. This same year it was resolved by the council that "the timber standing or lying on the streets and alleys be sold for the use of said borough." The first volunteer fire company in the United States was at Philadelphia, 1736.
The pioneer saddle and harness manufactory in Brookville was opened by John Brownlee, on May 8, 1834, in the rear of his lot facing Mill Street and opposite D. E. Breneman's residence.
--------------McDonald started the pioneer cabinet and furniture factory in 1831-32.
The pioneer foundry was started by a man named Coleman, in 1841.It was located where the Fetzer building now is.
The pioneer grist-mill and saw-mill were both built by Moses Knapp.
The pioneer borough election was in 1835.
The pioneer silversmith and watch- and clock-maker was Andrew Straub, in 1833-34. Watchers were then assessed as property.
The pioneer graveyard was on lands now owned by W. C.Evans, on Litch's Hill. The second one is now called the "old graveyard."
The pioneer dentists were Dr. A. M. Hills and T. M. Wan Valzah. These were traveling dentist, and came her periodically. The first dentist to locate was William J. Chandler.
In 1832 Peter Sutton built and kept a tavern on the corner of Taylor Street, across the North Fork, now Litchtown. In 1832 or 1833 there was a frame tavern adjoining the Franklin Tavern. It was kept for a number of years by a man named Craig, Mrs. Wagley, and others.
The pioneer tannery was built in 1831 by David Henry, on the lot now occupied by the United Presbyterian church. As late as 1843 a great gully crossed Main Street, carrying the water from this institution over and through the lot now occupied by that model institution of the town, the National Bank of Brookville.
Miss Julia Clark opened the pioneer millinery and mantua-making business in Brookville. Prices: bonnets, leghorns, $5; silk, $2.50; gimp, $1.50; straw, $1. In her advertisement she says, "She can be seen at her residence, four doors east of E. Heath's store, on Main Street. Persons, so wishing can be supplied by her with ladies's leghorn hats, flats and crown, from No. 32 to 42; ladies Tuscan and French gimp; Italian braid hats; Leghorn braid, Tuscan and Italian edge, Misses' gimp hats, Tuscan; French gimp by the piece. She hopes by giving her undivided attention to the above business, to merit a share of public patronage. Brookville, July 13, 1834."
The pioneer tinner was Samuel Truby. He came from Indiana, Pennsylvania, arriving here on January 1, 1834. The last thirteen miles of the journey was through a dense forest, without house of clearing. They stopped at John Eason's tavern, and as soon as possible he commenced to cut down the trees on and clear his lot, corner of Jefferson and Pickering Streets, preparatory to building a house, a contract for the building of which was taken by the late R. Arthurs, he agreeing to furnish all the material and finish it as specified by April 1 for the sum of forty dollars, which was paid in silver quarters. The house was sixteen feet square and one and a half stories high.
Hon. Thomas Hastings came in May, 1831. "Nearly all of what is now the principal part of the town --- Main Street and Jefferson Street --- was then a forest. Only three houses had yet been built, -- the Red Lion Hotel, where Dr. Gregg's barber shop now is, the hotel now occupied by P. J. Allgeier."
The pioneer settler to locate where Brookville is was Moses Knapp. The pioneer to locate in the county seat was John Eason, father of Rev. David Eason. He bought the lot on the corner of Main Street and Spring Alley, and erected a pioneer house in the county seat, --viz., in August, 1830, and opened it for a tavern. Mr. Eason died in 1835. In 1831 William Robinson lived in a little log house on the corner of Mill and Water Streets. This log house and log stable had been built by Moses Knapp in 1806. The next person to locate was perhaps Thomas Hall. Benjamin McCreight was an early settler. Mr. McCreight was a tailor and carried on the business. He was an honorable and useful man, and held many responsible positions during his life here. Thomas M. Barr came here in 1830. He was a stone-mason and bricklayer, and assisted to build up the town by taking contracts. The pioneer blacksmith was Jacob Riddleberger, in 1832-33. William Clark, Sr., came to Brookville in 1830, and erected a tavern on the northwest corner of Pickering and Jefferson Streets. In the fall of 1830 Jared B. Evans moved his store from Port Barnett to Brookville, and was appointed the pioneer postmaster for Brookville. Brookville, by post-road, was one hundred and sixty-five miles northwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and two hundred and thirty-eight miles northwest of Washington, D. C. Mr. Evan's was the pioneer store. The second store was opened three days later by Major William Rodgers. Thomas Hastings located in 1831, and built the Jefferson Tavern. Robert P. Barr came in 1830. He was a useful and public-spirited man. He built the saw-mill and flouring-mill on the North Fork. Joseph Sharpe was the first shoemaker and the first constable. He lived on the lot now occupied By the National Bank of Brookville.
The first assessment for the county was made for the year 1807, and was as follows:
Jospeh Barnett, one hundred acres of land, distillery, one horse, and five cows; total valuation, $329.
John Dixon, weaver, one horse and one cow; total valuation, $66.
E. M. Graham (no property assessed).
Joseph Hutchison, one horse, but no valuation.
Peter Jones, blacksmith, one hundred acres of land, one horse and two cows; total valuation $195.
John Jones, one horse and one cow; total valuation $19.
Moses Knapp, two horses and one cow, total valuation, $108.
Thomas Lucas, grist and sawmill, two horses and two cows; total valuation, $499.
William Lucas, tailor, one cow; valuation $19.
Samuel Lucas, three cows; total valuation, $59.
Ludwick Long, distillery, two horses and one cow; total vauluation, $185.
Jacob Mason, one cow; valuation, $14.
Alexander McCoy, three cows; total valuation, $54.
John Roll, carpenter, two horses and two cows; total valuation, $132.
Samuel Scott, miller, one hundred acres of land, saw and grist-mill, four horses and five cows; total valuation, $600.
John Scott, one hundred acres of land, two horses and two cows; total valuation, $222.
Jacob Vastbinder (single man), one hundred acres of land, one horse; total valuation, $247.
William Vastbinder, one hundred acres of land, one horse and three cows; total valuation, $201.
Adam Vastbinder, one hundred acres of land, two horses and tow cows; total valuation, $222.
John Vastbinder, (single man); total valuation, $100.
Taxables, twent; land taxed, seven hundred acres; grist and saw-mills, two; horses, twenty-three; cows, thirty-five; aggregate valuation. $3313. Samuel Scott seemed to be the richest man in the county, with a total valuation of $600.
The pioneer settlers in what is now Punxsutawney were Dr. John W. Jenks and Elijah Heath, in the spring of 1818. The pioneer log cabin was erected for and by Dr. John W. Jenks, who was a pioneer physician. He was a graduate of Pennsylvania University of 1816. He kept open house and free entertainment for years. The pioneer minister was the Rev. David Barclay, in 1818 (Presbyterian).
The town was laid out as a white man's town by Rev. Barclay, in 1821, and the plot recorded in Indiana County. The present public square was a gift by him to the people. The Rev. Barclay and Mr. Jenks built a sawmill on Elk Run, in 1824. The pioneer white male child in what is now Punxsutawney was Phineas W. Jenks. The pioneer white female child was Cornelia Gaskill. The pioneer cemetery was what is known as the old graveyard, the land for which was donated by Messrs. Jenks and Barclay. Pioneer interment, Hugh McKee, in 1821.
Other settlers were Charles C. Gaskill, James E. Cooper, Isaac P. Carmalt, J. B. Henderson, John Hess, William Campbell, Thomas McKee, John R. Reece, Ephraim Bear, William Davis, George R. Slaysman, John Drum, and James St. Clair.
The pioneer store was opened by Charles R. Barclay, in 1820. The second by Dr. Jenks, in 1830.
Punxsutawney was made a borough February 25, 1850.
The pioneer hotel was opened in a log house by Adam Weaver, in 18--. This tavern stood a little east of where Joseph Shield's drug store now (1902) stands. Weaver had no license until in the thirties.
The pioneer hotel that was licensed was the Eagle, now known as the City Hotel, kept by Elijah Heath, in 1822, and Elizabeth Winslow and Joseph Long, in 1829. Other early tavern-keepers were James St. Clair, Isaac Keck, William and James Campbell, and John McCoy
Pioneer lawyer, David Barclay, December, 1849. Pioneer law student, Phineas W. Jenks, in 1852-54.
The pioneer church was built of hewed logs in 1826. It was Presbyterian. The pioneer school house for that locality was built about 1823.
In 1832 Punxsutawney contained fifteen dwellings, two taverns, one church, one school house, Barclay & Jenks' store, and one doctor.
The pioneer lodge of Odd Fellows in Punxsutaweny was Mahoning Lodge, No. 250, I.O.O.F., and was organized May 31,1847.
OLD FOLK'S PICNIC
David B. McConnell, one of the very oldest residents of the Beechwoods settlement now living, was eighty-three years of age September 24, 1904. His parents moved into the Beechwoods in 1832, when he was a boy of eleven years. They came from Centre County, over the Waterford and Susquehanna turnpike, when there was an almost continuous wilderness from Curwensville to Brookville. Only two or three houses occupied the present site of Reynoldsville, and there were only four or five small clearings on the turnpike between Reynoldsville and Brookville.
The picnic in honor of his eighty-third birthday anniversary, Thursday, September 29, 1904, was held in the fine grove on the farm of his son, Ray McConnell on the Ridgway Road, nearly three miles from Brookville. Ray had prepared the grove for the occasion, by erecting a platform, placing seats, putting up nice tables, and providing chairs for the old people to sit on. We have seldom seen such comforting arrangements.
Had rain not threatened, a big crowd would have been present. As it was, about a hundred and fifty people, a large number of the elderly persons, but sill a good many young folks, were in attendance
A splendid dinner was furnished, nearly all those who came bringing well-filled baskets with them, and everything was enjoyed in common. There was enough and to spare. After dinner a meeting was organized by electing J. G. Allen president, and all the men who were eighty vice-presidents. Rev. A. E. Bartlett acted as secretary. Short addresses were made by Archie, of the Beechwoods; Dr. W. J. McKnight made the following list of persons in attencance who are sixty years old and upward. The list is not complete, as some who were there did not report to him:
Mrs. Frank Kelty, age 61
Mrs. C.H. Shoert, age 62
Ninian Cooper, age 79
James McFadden, age 81
Jerry Oiler, age, 80
James Butler, age 76
Samuel Butler, age 72
A. J. Barlett, age 73
Jacob Moore, age 70
Jesse Thompson, age 85
Dr. W. J. McKnight, age 69
Archie McCullough, age 76
Mrs. Archie McCullough, age 70
Andrew Moore, age 72
George Cook, age 87
John Ostrander, age 83
Robert Richards, age 89
David Chitister, age 71
Mrs. David Chitister, age 67
David McConnell, age 83
Ed Snyder, age 78
J. P. Lucas, age 68
E. Perrin, age 68
Mrs. W. Butler, age 72
John McMurray, age 67
Mrs. J. M. Pierce, age 67
James Harris, age 72
Perry Butler, age 66
Joseph Thomas, age 78
E. Weiser, age 71
Mrs. J. T. Carroll, age 68
E. Mcgarey, age 66
Nelson O'Connor, age 71
Wm. Kirkman, age 63
Robert Matson, age 85
C. H. Shobert, age 62
W. A. Andrews, age 72
Joe Ishman, age 75
John Clark, age 80
J. B. Jones, age 74
Dr. John Thompson, age 70
Dr. T. C. Lawson, age 61
John Shick, age 66
S. R. Milliron, age 60
James L. Moore, age 69
W. H. Arthurs, age 61
J. G. Allen, age 64
Daniel Burns, age 63
J. B. Henderson, age 62
Mrs. Rachel Barber, age 73
Mrs. W. J. McKnight, age 68
Mrs. S. Butler, age 65
C. B. McGiffin, age 69
T. T. Montgomery, age 65
R. F. Milliron, age 62
Mr.s. M. L. Hinderliter, age 60
M. L. Hinderliter, age 60
D. S. Orr, age 82
Frank Walters, age 69
Wm. E. McGarey, age 63
Mr. E. Perrin, age 62
Geo. McClellan, age 63
Mrs. John McMurray, age 61
Mr. McConnell was present, in excellent health, and enjoyed the occasion greatly. He was warmly greeted by all in attendance, and every one heartily wished him many more years of pleasant life.
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