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Chapter 2
Settling of the CountyCONRAD WEISER– THE SCOTCH-IRSIH– THE GERMANS– ESTABLISHING HOMES–
DIFFERENT CUSTOMS– THE PURCHASE LINE– THE HOLLAND LANDS– THE DONATION
LANDS– THE DEPRECIATION LANDS– THE FIRST SETTLERS– BUILDING OPERATIONS–
COSTUMES– SPORTS AND GAMES– NEUGHBORLINESS A STRANGE MARRIAGE CONTRACT.Â
Weary, travel-worn and haggard, a little party of whites and Indians
emerged from the deep forests of old Westmoreland county upon the banks of the
sparkling Allegheny river and at once proceeded to make camp. Not a sound
broke the silence of the wilderness, save the songs of the birds and the
sighing of the wind, accompanied in an undertone by the rippling of the clear
waters in the shallows of the stream. No factories obscured the clear sky, the
whistle of the locomotive was not heard and the scene was truly primitive and
peaceful. From the then undefiled waters they soon drew a bounteous supply of
fish, fires were lit, and a feast prepared and as night fell the little band
sank into repose, refreshed and prepared for the taking up of the trail on the
morrow.This party was led by an Evangelical Lutheran missionary, Conrad Weiser,
whose mission to the Indian tribes has been written of in many volumes of
early history. He was the advance guard of the flood of settlers who soon
thereafter invaded the county now included in the bounds of Armstrong county.
The writings of Weiser had great effect in inducing other Germans to enter the
country, and settlers of that nationality have always been in the majority in
this section of the State. They have left such an impress upon the population
that this county is considered the center of the “Dutch” portion of
Pennsylvania.However, although a German was the first to view the land, the Scotch-Irish
were the first of the real settlers, the Germans following closely upon them.
Previous to 1796 the Indian wars, the danger from savage raids, the
uncertainty of land titles, and the frequent and costly litigation growing out
of unwise land laws, retarded the settlement of the county and caused many to
pass on to Ohio and other territory west of there, where chances were more
evenly divided. Many who settled here were later compelled to abandon their
homes owing to the harassment of other claimants to the lands. Of the
different kinds of land grants in this county details will be found at the end
of this chapter. There were the “Holland” lands, the
“Depreciation” lands, and the “Donation” lands, all with
their many complex and baffling rules of entry or sale.The Scotch-Irish
The Scotch-Irish settlers came mostly from Westmoreland county, while the
Germans were from Lehigh and Northampton counties. There was a great
difference between the customs of the two classes of pioneers and their
methods of taming the wilderness were somewhat different. The Scotch- Irish
were great hunters and trappers, delighting in the chase and conforming
greatly to the methods of the Indians. Upon them devolved most of the wars of
defense and reprisal, although when aroused in defense of their homes, the
Germans were tireless and courageous adversaries. Among those who served in
the various expeditions against the savages the German names were as
frequently found as those of other nationalities. Each of the two branches of
the white race were fitted to fulfil their destinies in conquering the
wilderness and building the foundations of the present glorious heritage left
by them to their descendants.When these settlers reached their destination they at once erected
temporary “shacks” to shield their loved ones until the more
permanent log homes were built. When it is remembered that the woodsman’s axe
was the only tool at first used the crudeness of these habitations will be
more fully appreciated and their constructors given credit due them for the
arduous toil necessary in their construction.The Germans
The habitations of the settlers were all similar in design, but the Germans
usually added more comforts to the interior. Most of them had brought their
featherbeds with them over the moutons, and they soon adapted the custom s of
the Fatherland to their primitive surroundings. As soon as the family of the
“Dutchman” was properly housed he made provision for his stock. One
writer says that the “Dutchman’s barn was generally the best building on
his farm.” For many years he would endure all the discomforts of a small
log house and build a spacious barn for the stock. He always kept this barn
filled with hay, and all the domestic animals, even the swine were housed for
the winter.All the settlers were hard workers, but the Germans particularly so. The
Scotch-Irish simply deadened the trees and allowed them to rot away, but the
Germans cut them down, utilized every part and finally grubbed out the stumps
before planting a crop. Thus they saved their plow points. The women all
worked at their household tasks, but the German “hausfrau” generally
assisted in more laborious work of the farm as well. They were possessed of
wonderful capacity for labor and were truly helpmates to their husbands.The cultivated portion of the farm of the Germans was not as large as that
of their Irish neighbors, but it was more intensively cultivated. As a result
their descendants are the most prosperous of the inhabitants of this portion
of the State. Theodore Roosevelt, in his “Winning of the West” says
that of the twelve families of each nationality, nine Germans, seven Scotch
and four Irish prospered, while the others failed. Their frugality was another
source of wealth. They never wasted anything. While the Irish lived on
“hog and hominy” the Germans had sauerkraut und speck, schnitz und
knopf, grumbire supp und nudels, roggenbrod und schmierkaese, and none of them
ever thought of starving.As a general rule the two nationalities remained separate in customs and
living, but in a few instances there were intermarriages between them, some of
our most noted citizens of later days being descendants of such unions of the
Irish and Germans.The Purchase Line
The treaty of 1768 between the Six Nations and the English established the
famous “Purchase Line,” mention of which will frequently be found in
this history, so a description of the boundaries of this purchase will be of
interestNo. XLI of London Documents, published soon after the making of the treaty
of 1768, contains the entire deed then executed, establishing the boundary or
purchase line. Various good and prudential reasons and considerations are
given in the preamble or recitals why such a line should be established. The
grantors in that deed were the Sachems and Chiefs of the Six Confederate
Nations, and of the Shawaneese, Delawares, Mingoes of Ohio, and other
dependent tribes. The grant, consideration and boundaries are in these words:“Now, therefore, know ye, that we, the Sachems and Chiefs
aforementioned, native Indians or proprietors of the lands hereinafter
described, for and in behalf of ourselves and the whole of our confederacy,
for the considerations hereinbefore mentioned, and also for and in
consideration of a valuable present of the several articles in use amongst
Indians which, together with a large sum of money, amount in the whole to the
sum of ten thousand four hundred and sixty pounds seven shillings and
threepence sterling, to us now delivered and paid by Sir William Johnston,
Baronet, His Majesty’s sole agent and superintendent of Indian affairs for the
northern department of America in the name and on behalf of our sovereign Lord
George the Third, by the grace of God,” etc,, “the receipt whereof
we do hereby acknowledge:“We, the said Indians, have, for us and our heirs and successors,
granted, bargained, sold, releaded and confirmed, and by these presents do
grant, bargain, sell, release, and confirm unto our said sovereign Lord King
George the Third all that tract of land situate in North America, at the back
of the British settlements, bounded by a line which we have now agreed upon
and do hereby establish as the boundary between us and the British colonies in
America, beginning at the mouth of the Cherokee or Hogohege (Tennessee) river,
where it empties into the river Ohio, and running from thence upward along the
south side of said river to Kittanning, which is above Fort Pitt, from thence
by a direct line to the nearest fork of the west branch of the Susquehanna,
thence through the Allegheny mountains along the south side of the said west
branch until it comes opposite to the mouth of a creek called Tiadghton (Pine
Creek), thence across the west branch along the south side of that creek and
along the north side of Burnett’s Hills to a creek called Awandae, thence down
the same to the east branch of Susquehanna and across the same and up that
river to opposite where Tianaderha falls into Susquehanna, thence to
Tianaderha and up the west side of the west branch to the head thereof, and
thence by a direct line to Canada creek, where it empties into Wood creek at
the west of the carrying-place beyond Fort Stanwix, and extending eastward
from every part of the said line as far as the lands formerly purchased, so as
to comprehend the whole of the lands between the said line and the purchased
lands or settlements, except what is in the Province of Pennsylvania, together
with all the hereditaments and appurtenances to the same belonging,” etc.This document was sealed and delivered, and the consideration paid in the
presence of William Franklin, Governor of New Jersey; Frederick Smith, Chief
Justice of New Jersey; Thomas Walker, Commissioner of Virginia; Richard Peters
and James Tilghman, of the Council of Pennsylvania. It was executed at Fort
Stanwix Nov. 5, 1768, in the presence of Sir William Johnston by Tyorhansere,
alias Abraham, for the Mowhawks, Canaghaguieson for the Oneidas, Seguareesera
for the Tuscaroras, Otsinoghiyata, alias Brant, for the Onondagas, Tegarria
for the Cayugas, Guastrax for the Senecas.DIVISION AND SALE OF LANDS
The lands comprising the bulk of Armstrong county were held at different
periods by various companies and persons, chief among them the Holland Land
Company. Besides this, many methods of sale were adopted by the state under
various acts, thus causing a vast amount of litigation between the rival
claimants, and placing their titles in jeopardy until settled by the courts.
The principal classes of lands were those of the Holland Company, the
“donation” and the “depreciation” lands of which a
description is hereby given, in order to show the legal difficulties which
beset our forefathers in their attempts to create homes in this county.THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY was organized at the city of Amsterdam, in
the Kingdom of Holland, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Its
original members were Wilhelm Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter
Stadnitski, Christian Van Eghen, Hendrik Vollenhoven and Rutgert Jan
Schimmelpenninck, of that city; at least those are the names mentioned in a
prevention patent for a tract called “Normandy,” dated Oct. 7, 1799.The original members, it is said, had loaned large amounts of money, either
directly to the United States, or indirectly to Robert Morris, to aid in
achieving American independence. As they preferred to invest the amount which
they received, after the close of the Revolutionary War, in this country, they
purchased from Morris, in 1792, an immense quantity of land west of the
Genesee river, in the state of New York, on which they, as one of their agents
stated, lost $3,000,000. They acquired, about the same time, inchoate titles
to numerous tracts of land in Pennsylvania, on both sides of the Allegheny
river, in the territory included in the purchases from the Six Nations, at
Fort Stanwix, Oct. 23,1784, and from the Delawares and Wyandots at Ft.
McIntosh, at the mouth of Beaver river, in January, 1785.The boundaries of these purchases began ” at the south side of Ohio
river, where the western boundary of the State of Pennsylvania crosses said
river, near Shingo’s old town, at the mouth of Beaver creek, and thence by due
north line to the end of the forty-second and the beginning of the forty-third
degrees of north latitude, to the east side of the east branch of the river
Susquehanna, and thence by the bounds of the purchase line of 1768 to the
place of beginning.” which included all the northwestern part of this
State, except the triangle bordering on Lake Erie, which having been purchased
from the Indians by the United States, Jan. 9, 1789, by the treaty at Fort
Harmon, for 1200 pounds, was conveyed by the latter to Pennsylvania, March 3,
1792, for $150640.25. “The Holland Company,” said Judge Yeates, in
summing up a case in 1800, ” have paid to the State the consideration
money of 1,162 warrants, and surveying fees on 1,048 tracts of land, besides
making very considerable expenditures by their exertions, honorable to
themselves and useful to the community, in order to effect settlements.
Computing the sums advanced, the lost tracts, by prior improvements and
interferences, and the quantity of 100 acres granted to each individual for
making a settlement on their lands, west of the Allegheny river, it is said
that, averaging the whole, between $230 and $240 have been expended by the
company on each tract of land they now claim.”The Holland Company soon after its organization appointed Paul Burti, an
Italian gentleman, of Bloekley’s Retreat, Philadelphia, and Harm Jan
Huidekoper, a Holland gentleman, of Meadville, their agents and attorneys in
fact, the latter being designated in one of the former’s letters of attorney
to David Lawson as “the superintending agent.” They not only sold
lands belonging to the company, but in some instances acquired and held in
themselves the legal title to some of the latter’s tracts, and as grantors
conveyed tracts and parcels of tracts to purchasers. Patents for various
tracts were granted to them in trust for the company.The act of March 31, 1823, authorized the company to sell their lands and
their vendees to purchase them, though they or any of them were aliens,
notwithstanding any previous law to the contrary.In 1849 the surviving members of the company were Waldgrave Van Henkelom,
Wilhelm Willink, Jr., and Gerret Schimmelpenninck, Rutgert Jan’s son. On April
26th they, by their attorney-in-fact, John Jacob Vanderkemp, whom the company
had appointed as such and as the successor to Paul Burti, deceased, Sept 5,
1824, conveyed all their lands, tracts, pieces and parcels of land, tenements
and hereditaments that had not been previously conveyed, including all
outstanding contracts for the sale and purchase of their lands in Armstrong,
Indiana and Jefferson counties to Alexander Colwell, Dr. John Gilpin, Horatio
N. Lee, of the borough of Kittanning, Alexander Reynolds and David Richey,
then of Madison township, in this county, embracing 23083 acres and 45 perches
of unsold land, and about 55,000 acres subject to executory contracts for
$50,000. Reynolds entered into a conditional agreement with his copurchases,
Aug. 11, 1835, to purchase their interests in about twenty-one thousand acres
of these lands for $26,130. By divers transfers that agreement was
consummated, and these interests became vested in him and P. Jenks Smith of
Philadelphia. All the lands which were included in the purchase from the
Holland Company were sold at such an advance that the last purchases realized
handsomely from their ventures. Some of those lands have since become so
valuable that they cannot now be purchased for a hundred times the price for
which Reynolds and his copurchasers bought them.The actual legal interpretation of the ninth clause of the act of April 3,
1792, which required that the settler should “before the date of his
warrant, make or cause to be made an actual settlement thereon by clearing,
fencing and cultivating at least two acres for every 100 acres contained in
one survey, erecting thereon a ‘ message’ for the habitation of man, and
residing or causing a family to reside thereon for the space of five years
next following his or her settling of the same,” brought about a
long-drawn-out series of suits in which settlers and the Holland Land Company
were involved.The controversy as to title between the land company and the settlers was
finally decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in favor of the
Hollanders.THE DONATION LANDS
The act of the Legislature of March, 1783, donated to all officers and
soldiers of the Revolutionary war, free of taxation, various tracts of land,
to be laid off into districts, and apportioned according to a plan, with
reference to the standing of the applicant. These lands were called
“donation lands.”The surveyor general and each of his deputies were required to be sworn or
affirmed that in laying off those lots he would not select the best land,
either as to quality or situation, to favor anyone of those four classes of
lots to the prejudice or injury of the others, or this State, and in running
the boundary lines of the lots, each surveyor should cause them to be well
defined, by marking trees on the lines, at small distances, and particularly
the angles, and on the northwestern corner tree of each lot should be marked,
in roman figures, the number of the lot, but if there should be a post at any
such corner, on the tree in the lot nearest the post. When all lots had been
laid off, a draft of them should be made, which should be deposited in rolls
in the office after all the applications were satisfied. The supreme executive
council was required to cause numbers, corresponding to each of the four
classes, to be made on square pieces of white paper of uniform size, or as
nearly so as might be, and in their presence to roll and bind well those
numbers separately and carefully, with silken thread, as uniformly as
possible, and deposit them in four wheels, “like unto lottery
wheels” which, before, any applicant should be permitted to draw
therefrom, should be repeatedly “well turned round.”Those wheels were to be safely kept and remain sealed, except when drawn
from, under the direction of a committee of three members of the supreme
executive council, who were to judge and determine on the right of each
applicant to receive grants of land, with the right of appeal in all cases of
doubt and difficulty to the supreme executive council, whose decision thereon
was final and conclusive. The successful applicants were entitled to draw
thus: A major-general, four tickets from the wheel containing the numbers on
the 500 acres lots; a brigadier-general, three tickets; a colonel, two
tickets, a lieutenant-colonel, one from that wheel and one from the wheel
containing the numbers on the 250 acre lots; a surgeon, chaplain or major,
each two tickets from the wheel containing the numbers on the 300 acre lots; a
captain, one ticket from the wheel containing the numbers on the 500 acre
lots; a lieutenant two tickets from the wheel containing the numbers on the
200 acre lots; an ensign, or regimental surgeon’s mate , respectively, one
ticket from the wheel containing the numbers on the 300 acre lots; a sergeant,
sergeant-major or quarter-master-sergeant, respectively, one ticket from the
wheel containing the numbers on the 250 acre lots; a drum-major, fife-major,
drummer, fifer, corporal or private, respectively, one ticket from the wheel
on the 200 acre lots.Before the boundary line between Pennsylvania and New York was definitely
established, some of the donation lots were laid off on territory of the
latter State. It was provided by acts of April 5, 1793 and Feb. 23,1801, that
those who had drawn lots in that territory should be allowed, under prescribed
regulations, to draw others in lieu of them from the undrawn ones in any of
the donation districts within the State. After April 1, 1810, the undrawn
donation lots reverted to the commonwealth, which were to be disposed of in
such manner as the Legislature should thereafter by law direct.By the act of April 9, 1828, the secretary of the land office was
authorized to extend the provisions of the act to encourage the warranting and
patenting of lands north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers and
Conewango creek, passed March 1, 1811, to the settlers or owners of the
undrawn donation lands.THE DEPRECIATION LANDS
The major part–about three fourths– of that part of this county on the
north and western side of the Allegheny river consisted of depreciation lands,
a large tract appropriated by the act of Assembly of March 12, 1783, for the
redemption of depreciation certificates. Its boundaries, as specified in that
act, were: Beginning where the western boundary of the state crosses the Ohio
river, thence up that river to Fort Pitt, thence up the Allegheny river to the
mouth of Mogulbuchtilon (Mahoning) creek, thence by a west line to the western
boundary of the State, thence along it south to the beginning, of which three
thousand acres opposite Fort Pitt and an equal quantity on both sides of
Beaver creek, including Fort McIntosh, were reserved for the use of the State.
The surveyor district assigned to Joshua Elder consisted of the territory
between the Allegheny river and a line extending due from or near the mouth of
Bull creek to the northern boundary of the depreciation tract, a portion of
which, under a previous allotment of surveyor districts, had been embraced in
Stephen Gapen’s district.The bills of credits issued both by Congress and this Commonwealth
depreciated between 1777 and 1781 from one to nearly one hundred per cent. The
difference of opinion as to the degree of depreciation and the consequent cash
value of those bills of credit, the chief portion of the money then in
circulation caused much confusion in the settlement of accounts between both
individuals and public officers. The act of Assembly of Dec. 18, 1780,
provided that the hereinafter mentioned certificates of depreciation, given to
the officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania line in the army of the United
States in payment for their services, should be receivable at the land office
of this State, equal to gold and silver, in payment of, if they should wish to
purchase, unlocated lands, and the act of April 3, 1781, adjusted the scale of
the depreciation of these bills of credit at from one and a half to
seventy-five per cent, varying each month from 1777 to 1781, and in accordance
with that scale certificates, called certificates of depreciation, were issued
to those officers and soldiers for the indebtedness of the State to them.The above cited act of March 13, 1783, also provided that the unreserved
portion of the tract of depreciation lands should be laid out thus: The
surveyor general, in accordance with such directions as should be given him by
the supreme executive council, should cause it to be laid out into lots of not
less than 200 and not more than 350 acres each, numbering them in numerical
order. As soon as the whole tract, or a hundred lots of it, were surveyed, the
surveyor general, secretary of the land office and the receiver general were
directed to sell them, in numerical order, at such times and places, and under
such regulations, as should be prescribed by the supreme executive council.
The amounts bid at these sales were to be paid into the receiver general’s
office either in gold or silver or in those certificates; whereupon, and on
the payment of the expenses of surveying and the fees of the different
offices, patents should be issued to the vendees, and whatever specie the
receiver general thus received he was to pay into the State treasury for the
purpose of redeeming such of those certificates as remained unsatisfied at the
close of these sale.Three pounds and ten shillings, including the wages of chainbearers and
markers, were to be allowed for laying out and returning the survey of each
lot into the surveyor general’s office, to be paid in specie before patent
could be issued. But very few lots or parcels of that depreciation tract were
sold until after the passage of the act of April 3, 1792, respecting the
provisions of which enough has already been given in the sketch of the Holland
Land Company.PIONEERS AND THEIR TRAILS
Wiser laws and more liberal interpretation of those existing, caused the
country to be settled more rapidly after 1796. The pioneer settler of
Armstrong county was Capt. Andrew Sharp, who settled in Plum Creek region in
1784, with his wife and infant child. He resided there for some years,
suffering much from the depredations of the Indians, until finally tiring of
the exertions necessary for existence in that harassed region, he decided to
return to Kentucky. In May, 1794, he built a boat, in partnership with three
other men, Taylor, Connor and McCoy, and with their combined families started
down the Kiskiminetas river. At the mouth of Roaring run, near the rapids,
they decided to halt for the night, preferring to shoot the rapids by
daylight. However they were scarce started for the bank ere they were fired
upon by a band of Indians, who had lain in wait for them. In the ensuing fight
McCoy and Connor’s son were killed and Connor and Sharp severely wounded. The
boat was quickly pushed off from the bank and rapid progress made away from
the danger point. Owing to the wounding of the men, Mrs. Sharp was compelled
to row the boat all night, but at daybreak she succeeded in attracting the
attention of some men on the bank, who took charge of them and piloted the
freight of wounded and dying to Pittsburgh, where Sharp died July 8th. From
that city Mrs. Sharp went with her brother-in-law, Andrew, to Cumberland
county, remaining there three years, later returning to her former home at
Plum Creek after conditions were favorable.Her second daughter, the first white child born in Armstrong county, was
the wife of David Ralston, and later James Mitchell, Other pioneer settlers in
this county will be found mentioned in sketches of the different townships and
boroughs.HOME BUILDING
In early times neighbors were scarce and far apart and mutual cooperation
was a necessity. The interchange of the heavier labors was frequent. When a
log cabin was to be raised the inhabitants for several miles would assemble at
the proposed site, with their teams, axes, and other necessary implements.
Such a cabin was generally one and half stories high, roofed with clapboards
weighted down with poles, with openings cut in the sides and ends for doors
and windows. The logs were round, the loft covered with puncheons, and the
chimney of stones and sticks daubed with mud. Greased paper was used in place
of glass for the windows. The only tools to be had were the ax, the heavy saw,
the drawing knife, adze, broadaxe, and the now obsolete centerbit, which was
often made at some rude forge by the carpenter himself.A suitable spot was selected on which to erect the house and on the
appointed day a company of choppers felled the trees, cut them to proper
lengths, and hauled them to the chosen spot. Meanwhile the carpenter had
selected a straight-grained tree and was splitting out the clapboards. These
were split with a large ” froe” and were four feet long by the
greatest width the tree would allow. Next puncheons for the floor were made of
trees eighteen inches wide, halved and faced with a broadaxe. All being ready,
on the second day neighbors gathered and assisted in the ” house
raising.” On the third day the house was furnished . A table was made of
a slab, supplied with sapling legs driven into auger holes. Several
three-legged stools were made in the same manner. Pins stuck into the logs
served to support the clapboard shelves for the kitchen and were receptacles
for the few pewter dishes, plates and spoons; but often the tableware
consisted of wooden bowls, ” trenchers” and ” noggins.”
When even these were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled squashes made up the
deficiency. A few iron pots, knives and forks had been brought from east of
the mountains, together with salt and the bedding, by means of packhorses.A pole with a fork near the lower end was driven into an auger hole in the
floor and the upper end fastened to a roof joist. Poles were laid across the
fork to the walls and supported through the cracks between the logs, forming
the frame of the bed. Across these were laid other poles to bear the grass
mattress, which was later filled with corn shucks after the crop was gathered.
A few pegs around the single room, to suspend the few dresses of the women and
the coats of the men, completed the “furniture.”Then came the ” house-warming,” and a real one it was, lasting
for days, or as long as the limited supply of ” corn-juice” held
out. The nights were occupied with dancing until almost dawn.It required two days to notify the men then living within a circuit of
thirty miles of such a raising. Until as late as 1834 trees suitable for
building logs on this and adjoining tracts were considered common property. If
any one saw a tree which would answer his purpose , either on the tract on
which he had settled or on any other, he appropriated it to his own use,
without leave from any one.COSTUMES
The universal costume was a composite of civilized and Indian dress. The
hunting shirt was universally worn. It was a loose frock, reaching half way
down the thighs, with large sleeves, and so wide as to lap over in front a
foot or more when belted at the waist. It often had a cape collor, handsomely
fringed with some bright colored cloth. The expansive bosom of the shirt
served as a pocket to hold a chunk of bread, gun wadding or other necessities
of the hunt. The heavy buckskin belt had manifold uses. Mittens and a bullet
bag were stuck in front, the tomahawk on one side and the hunting knife on the
other, there being a space for smaller articles between. The shirt was
generally made of linsey, sometimes of coarse linen, and a few of dressed
deerskins. These last were very cold and uncomfortable in wet weather. A pair
of breeches, or drawers and leggins were the covering of the legs. Moccasins
answered much better than shoes for the feet. They were different from the
modern design of moccasin, being made of dressed deerskin in a single piece,
with a gathered seam in front and at the heel, as high as the ankle joint.
Flaps were left at each side, reaching some distance up the legs, laced with
deerskin so as to exclude the snow and dust. The ordinary moccasin cost but a
few hours to make, while shoes were expensive and hard to procure. In cold
weather the moccasins were stuffed with deer hair or dried leaves for warmth.
The linsey petticoat and gown were the universal dress of the women of pioneer
days. A small home-made handkerchief was the only ornament at the neck. In
summer they went barefoot, and in cold weather wore moccasins and hand-made
” shoepacks.” Stockings were a luxury. When any head covering was
worn, it was the universal sunbonnet.Most of the clothing of the pioneers was hung on the pegs around the cabin
walls, and visitors could readily estimate the wealth of the occupants by the
visible display of wearing apparel.HOME MANUFACTURES
In early days every cabin was a factory where clothing was manufactured.
Busy hands kept the spinning-wheel and loom buzzing and slamming early and
late. In almost every household there were a large number of mouths to feed
and bodies to clothe. Shoes were used sparingly by the lucky few who possessed
them, for leather was high and money scarce. Often girls and women would walk
to church barefoot, carrying shoes and stockings, which they put on when near
the house of worship. Tow and linen, buckskin and similar home-made goods
formed the clothing worn by males of all ages. The girls’ best dresses were
frequently spun, woven, dyed, cut and made by the wearers. An old resident
remarks: “The girls were just as pretty in those days as they are now,
and were probably satisfied with their costumes, but could one of our present
fashionably-dressed belles have stepped among them, they might have gone wild
with envy and excitement.”TRAVELING IN PIONEER TIMES
All of the travel of the settlers was performed on foot or horseback.
Wagons were almost unknown within the memory of men now living, while
carriages are a comparatively modern innovation. As in most new settlements,
the first lines of travel were paths marked by a blazed trees. Afterward trees
and underbrush were cut away, and some of the principal routes were converted
into highways. There is, however, scarcely a road in the county that follows
its course as originally traced. Thoroughfares were built at the cost of great
expenditure of time and labor.THE CHASE
Skill in hunting was the chief accomplishment of the men and boys, and from
childhood they were trained in the use of weapons. The boys emulated the
Indians in the use of the bow and arrow and became almost as expert as their
red rivals. Throwing the tomahawk and knife, running, jumping and wrestling
were also frequently indulged in by all. In addition, most of the males could
imitate the cries of the wild fowl and beasts of the forest, and thus bring
them within shooting distance.MORALS
Honesty was held in great esteem in those days, and a thief not only
received what justice the few laws imposed, but was often ostracized by his
neighbors as well. Lying was not a common practice, and offenders of that kind
were soon labeled by their companions. Female virtue was respected and as a
general rule the morals of the early days might well be set up as a criterion
for those of the present times. One curious custom was for an aggrieved party
to challenge the aggressor to a “fisticuffs” match, and if one or
the other thought he was physically overmatched he could obtain a substitute.FOOD
“Hog and hominy” constituted the principal diet of the first
settlers. Johnnycake or pone were the breads for breakfast and dinner; mush
and milk a standard dish for supper. Milk was often scarce and a substantial
dish of hominy took its place. Mush was frequently eaten with sweetened water,
molasses, bear’s oil or fried meat gravy.The early settlers found game abundant, and very little hunting enabled
them to keep a constant supply of fresh meat on hand. Grain food was not so
easily procured. The farmer’s supply of wheat and flour was often exhausted
before harvest time; and in such cases wheat was cut while in the milk, and
boiled, making a very palatable and wholesome food. Salt was a valuable
commodity and very scarce. The settlers were obliged to go to the eastern
counties to obtain it. When a man made a trip “east of the
mountains” or to Pittsburgh or Westmoreland county, he went literally
loaded with errands, generally taking several pack-horses along to bring back
supplies.AMUSEMENTS
The amusements in rural districts in early times consisted chiefly of
frolics, or “bees,” grubbings, railmaulings, corn-huskings,
quiltings, singing-schools at private houses, and occasional dances at
frolics. In 1828 there was a prevalent mania for circular fox and wolf hunts.
The areas of the several circles covered nearly the entire territory of the
county. Several columns in the papers were filled with notices of the routes,
times, and arrangements. Those hunts temporarily excited a deep and general
interest in the aged, middle-aged, and the young. They were designed not only
for amusement, but for the beneficial purpose of exterminating these
pestiferous and destructive animals.PROMINENT PIONEERS
One of the settlers of Sugar Creek township was David Rumbaugh, who was an
original genius in his way and a great practical joker. He had the likeness of
a clock painted on the gable end of his house next to the public road, being
what is now the Kittanning and Brady’s Bend one, The hands representing the
time to be 11:45 o’clock, and he was occasionally amused by travelers
comparing the time indicated by watches with and setting them by it.Such was the class of pioneers who formed the population of this of this
county in early times. They were rough but honest, poor but enterprising,
limited in education but religious, and had as a fine a standard of life as we
hold at the present day. To show that the feeling of neighborliness has not
been destroyed by modern civilization, we will relate a little incident that
occurred in December, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Levi J. Cook of Bethel township,
celebrated their golden wedding Christmas Day. They were both born on the same
day and also married on their birthday. In issuing the invitations they were
anxious that none should be omitted, so instead of writing the messages they
had the school teachers announce the affair in the schools, with a promise of
welcome to all who would come. In the language of modern slang, “Can you
beat it.”A STRANGE MARRIAGE CONTRACT
Among the early settlers in the southern part of the county, in the section
afterward allotted to Burrell township, was George Shoemaker, a very
successful farmer. At his death he left all his property to his wife Margaret
without reserve. In due time after his death the widow married the second time
a man named Barnard Davers. Before the wedding she insisted on his signing an
agreement that she was still to hold possession of the property left by her
former husband, to dispose of as she wished, and that at her death it should
go unreservedly to her children by the first husband. In the event of his
death she was to be free of his debts and the property was to remain in her
possession. She also agreed that she would never lay claim to any of his
individual property either before or after his death. The marriage occurred
early in 1825, and they used, managed, and occupied their separate estates
distinctly and independently of each other, pleasantly and harmoniously, until
Davers’ death in December, 1829.Again in proper season another suitor sought her hand—George A. King, a
substantial farmer. Her children had then grown up, some of them were married,
and with her cultivating and managing the fertile acres of
“Monmouth,” which their father had devised to her. In that
emergency– as related by the then editor of the Pittsburgh American, and
whose statement is reproduced in Sherman Day’s “Historical Collections of
Pennsylvania” –she consulted the late Samuel Houston, of Kittanning, her
factor and confidential merchant. When she had stated to him her intention to
marry again, he is reported to have said, “I should suppose that one so
happily situated as you are, with everything rich and comfortable about you,
and your sons and daughters grown up, would not think of such a think at your
time of life. I would advise you by no means to entangle yourself again in any
marriage alliance.” “You tink not, Mr. Houston?” “Why, it
is very sincerely the advise I would give you, if that is what you want.”
“Well, dat may be all very well and very goot; but, see here, a man I
vant, and a man I vill have!” ” O, that is a very different thing
altogether, and in that case, I would advise you by all means to marry.”She, however, would not accept her new suitor’s proposal, unless he too,
would enter into an ante-nuptial agreement, like that with Barnard Davers,
which he did. The date of this second agreement is March 8, 1832. They were
subsequently married, and managed their respective estates as she and Davers
had done. In both instances husband and wife were separate, on their farms,
from Monday morning until Saturday night each week; their accounts were kept
separately; they knew hardly any more about each other’s business affairs than
if they were single. There were no clashing interests, no coveting of each
other’s possessions, to cause trouble and discord. At the death of her third,
in the spring of 1843, as at that of her second one, the Shoemaker estate was
left intact. She never claimed dower in either Davers’ or King’s estate. From
loyalty to her first husband’s estate, not from stinginess, did she, by
ante-nuptial stipulations, require each of her last two husbands to pay, as
they cheerfully and regularly did, an annual stipend in flour for his boarding
and horsekeeping from Saturday night until Monday morning of each week of
their singular, and, in this county unprecedented, conjugal lives. She is said
to have been well educated in German. She survived her last husband several
years, having enjoyed the affection of her kindred, and the esteem of friends
and acquaintances, to which the good qualities of her heart and mind justly
entitled her.Source: Page(s) 10-18, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present,
J. H. Beers & Co., 19114.
Transcribed September 1998 by Rodney G. Rosborough for the Armstrong County
Smith Project.
Contributed by Rodney G. Rosborough for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy
Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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