Forest County HistoryÂ
Formation of Forest County
Forest County is the only county in the state of Pennsylvania created by
a joint resolution of the Legislature. Approved on 11 April 1848, this
resolution detached Forest County from Jefferson and Elk Counties. In
April 1850 the Legislature fixed the southern boundary of the county at
the north bank of the Clarion River, from a point where the east line of
Clarion County crosses that river to the west line of Elk County. Forest
County remained attached to Jefferson County for judicial purposes until
it was fully organized. The Act of 15 April 1851 placed the new county
in the 18th judicial district, with Marienville established as the
county seat. In 1866 five additional townships were detached from
Venango County and the county seat was transferred to Tionesta.Early Settlers in Forest County
Cyrus Blood was one of the earliest settlers in Forest County. He
brought his family into the wilderness in 1833, to an area later called
“The Blood Settlement.” When he settled here, the region was full of
panthers, bears, wolves, wild cats and deer. Mr. Blood was a powerful
man, possessing great energy and courage. He was well educated and a
surveyor by trade. Cyrus was born in New Lebanon, NH on 3 March 1795. He
was educated in Boston, and at twenty-two he migrated to Chambersburg,
Pa. where he served as principal at the academy there. He later became
the school principal at the Hagerstown Academy, and later a professor at
Dickinson College, in Carlile, Pa.Ambitious to found a county, Cyrus Blood made several visits into the
Pennsylvania wilderness. Finding the northern part of Jefferson County
an almost unbroken wilderness, he purchased a tract of land where
Marienville is now located, and decided to settle there.It was
understood that when Cyrus purchased his property from the Holland Land
Company that a road would be opened into it for him. But when he arrived
in 1833 where the village of Corsica now is, he found, to his annoyance,
that no road had been constructed. Leaving his family behind, he started
from what was then Armstrong’s Mill, now Clariongton, and with an
ox-team sled and men to cut their way step by step through twelve miles
of wilderness to his future home. Every night the men camped on and
around the ox-sled. When the crew reached Blood’s purchase, a patch of
ground was cleared and a log cabin was raised. In October Cyrus Blood ,
along with his wife and five children, took possession of this forest
home. Panthers were so plentiful at this time that the children could
watch them playing outside in the garden.Municipal History
The first county election was held in Forest county on 13 October 1857,
and the following officials were chosen: Associate Judges, Cyrus Blood
and Milton Gibb; Prothonotary, G.W. Rose; Sheriff, John Gaul; Coroner,
Archibald Black; Commissioner, Samuel Kincaid ; and Auditor, Timothy
Caldwell. Prisoners were kept in the Jefferson County jail in
Brookville.The first court session was held 21 December 1857, in what was then
called Marien (now Marienville). President Judge, John S. McCalmont;
Associate Judges, Cyrus Blood and Milton Gibbs. W.W. Corbet, as
prothonotary of Jefferson County was present and swore in the associate
judges. Thomas B. Mayes was appointed court crier and William Walton, of
Jenks Township, to act as tipstaff. At the suggestions of the judge,
W.P. Jenks and L.D. Rogers of Brookville, were the first lawyers
admitted to the “bar” of Forest County. The rules governing Jefferson
County bar were adopted to govern the Forest County court. James D.
Flick was appointed constable of Barnett Township, with Cyrus Blood
chosen as county surveyor. John Conrad moved to Forest County in the
summer of 1857, and served as the first district attorney, from
1858-1860. Although elections were held in Forest County as early as
1852, the state vote was still counted with Jefferson County for a
number of years afterward. The pionerr courthouse of Forest County was
built in Marionville by Bennett Dobbs, of hewed logs and afterward
weatherboarded and painted white. On 8 March 1815 the sun was darkened
for a week with pigeons. On 1 April 1854 the same event again occurred.Educational and Religious
The first school was established in what is now Tionesta Borough in
1820. The first schoolmaster was John D. Hunt. He taught school in the
winter of 1833-34 in Cyrus Blood’s home. The first school building was
in Marienville in 1840, with Cyrus Blood, school master. The first
missionary to locate and preach here was Rev. David Zeisberger, in
October 1767. The first preacher was Dr. Otis Smith and the first sermon
preached to white people was at Mr. Blood’s home. The appropriation for
schools in 1850 was as follows: Jenks Twp: $10.56, Barnett Twp: $63.96,
Tionesta: $4.10. Heath had a population of 187 and Barnett, 479.Early Business Ventures
Among the first settlers to arrive in Forest County were two hunters,
John Aylesworth who resided in Jenks Township, and Ebenezeer Kingsley,
who settled in Tionesta in 1825. Beavers made there home here along the
great flag swamp and the beaver meadows along Salmon Creek. The pelts
were then sold by the trappers in Brookville. The first saw mill was
built in 1823 by Isaac Ball, Luther Barnes and William Manross, at the
place now called Balltown. The usual food at the mill was said to be one
barrel of flour and two barrels of whiskey. Retailers of foreign
merchandise in 1854 were: Howe & Co, C.C. Johnson, shipper, and Morrison
& P. Woodward. Licensed hotels: Clarington, 1855, Peter G. Reed & Oramel
Thing. the first store was opened in Cooksburg by the Honorable Andrew
Cook in 1852. The first coal in Forest County was mined in Balltown. The
first tavern was located in the house of Cyrus Blood. He also built the
first grist mill at Salmon Creek in 1840. Colonel John D. Hunt was
appointed postmaster on 25 September 1851. Early mail service was begun
from Brookville by Claringtion to Marienville, twenty-six miles and
return, once a week. Dr. D. Bachman who moved to Clarington 29 May 1857,
and served as the first physician in Forest County; however, his stay
here was short.Boat Building Along the Clarion
As early as 1830, boats were being built at Port Barnett and North Fork
for the transportation of Centre County pig metal, salt and coal to
markets. Anthony and Jacob Esbaugh constructed these boats of the finest
Forest County lumber. Each gunwale was hewed out of the straightest pine
trees that could be found, vis 28 inches high at the “rake” fourteen
inches at the stern, ten inches thick, and forty feet long, two gunwales
to a boat. The ties were hewed six inches thick, with a six inch face,
mortised dovetailed, and keyed into the gunwale six feet apart. The six
“streamers” for a boat were sawed three by twelve inches, sixteen feet
long, and pinned to the ties with one pin in the middle of each
streamer. These pins were made of white oak 1 1/2 inches square and ten
inches long. The plank for the “bottoms” were constructed of first
class, white pine 1 1/2 inches thick and pinned to the streamers and
gunwales with white oak pins, caulked with flax or tow. All these early
boats were built on the ground and turned by about ten men- and a gallon
of whiskey- over on a bed made of brush to keep the planks in the bottom
from springing. All boats were “sided up” with white oak studding two
and a half by five inches and six feet long. Each studding was mortised
into a gunwale two feet apart. Inside the boat a siding eighteen inches
high was pinned on the boats. These boats were sold at Broken Rock and
sold again in Pittsburgh as coal barges, for transporting coal down the
Mississippi. The boats were manned by two or three men, with the pilot
always at the stern. The boats were tied with halyards made of twisted
hickory saplings. In later years the boats were built on the Big Toby at
Maple Creek, Clarington, Millstone, Wynkoop, Spring Creek, Irvine and
Ridgeway.Contributed for use by the Forest County Genealogy
Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/forest/)Forest County Genealogy Project Notice:
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