CHAPTER XXXII

HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF WARREN

UPON the old French and English colonial maps of this part of America, made, of course, before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, a point on the right bank of the Allegheny River, just below its junction with the Conewango, is marked by a word variously written “Kanoagoa,” “Canawagy,” “Canawago,” etc., meaning an Indian village, which it seems was chiefly occupied by the Munsey tribe. It is our belief, however, that this Indian settlement was located from one to two miles below the mouth of the Conewango. When Colonel Brodhead led his troops into this region in 1779 and justly retaliated upon Cornplanter (the leader of the Senecas at the Wyoming and Cherry Valley massacres), by destroying his towns and cornfields, he reported that Canawago “had been deserted about eighteen months past.” Again, in 1785, when General William Irvine explored a portion of the Allegheny valley in quest of good lands to be donated to Revolutionary soldiers, he said: “From Brokenstraw to Conewagoo is eight or nine miles, here (at Conewagoo) is a narrow bottom, interspersed with good dry land and meadow ground all the way, and there is a remarkable fine tract at the mouth of the Conewagoo, of a thousand or more acres.” Thus a distinction, clear and unmistakable, was made between the Indian town of Conewagoo and the mouth of the Conewango.

Since the year 1795 the same place – at the junction of the Allegheny and Conewango – has, upon the maps of the Commonwealth, been occupied by the word Warren – the town of Warren. The location is picturesquely beautiful at all seasons; hence for nearly a hundred years complimentary terms in its praise have been uttered by stranger and resident alike. Nestling at the southern foot of a high, precipitous, and wooded ridge – the former shore of the ancient Allegheny, when it was a mighty stream – its residents are protected almost wholly from the chilly northern and northwestern blasts of winter. The Conewango forms its eastern boundary. In front the waters of the Allegheny flow ceaselessly on, around a bend grand and symmetrical in its proportions. Away beyond the river the hills of Pleasant township, which once formed the southern shore of the old Allegheny, stand out in bold relief, while extended views, up and down the stream, of successive ranges of high hills, fading gradually away in the distance in a blue mist, completes a picture of rare loveliness.

In truth nature has done much, man but very little, in adding to or perpetuating the beauties of Warren and its surroundings. The men to whom more credit is due than all others in preserving for all time one natural feature, at least, of which the eye never wearies, were General William Irvine and Colonel Andrew Ellicott, the commissioners appointed by Governor Mifflin to lay out the town. This they accomplished by simply running Water street parallel with and next to the river bank, thus leaving an unobstructed view of river and street for a distance of more than half a mile. Judging from the past, however, residents have but little appreciation of the value and beauty of their inheritance, this magnificent sweep, side by side, of river and avenue. For scores of years – indeed since the first settlement of the town – this bank, rising gradually from fifteen to twenty-five feet above the river’s surface – has been a common dumping-ground of all the filth and rubbish which usually finds its way to such places, and each year mother earth, as if ashamed of the desecration, of man’s abominable practices, sends up a rank growth of wild grasses, weeds, and briars to cover the forbidding spots.

In the future, doubtless, a transformation will be brought about by driving a row of piles, extending from the outer face of the suspension bridge abutment to a point on the bank some eight or ten rods below (thus doing away with the dirty little eddy which, while it may have been of value in the past, is now but a summer’s nuisance, a depository along the shore of all the sewage, garbage, and trash which comes within its influence), tearing out the unsightly “lock-up,” disposing in some way of the old Tanner building, filling up the yawning chasm of filth there to be found, grading an easy slope from the street level to the water’s edge, sodding or seeding the same with blue grass, and thence continuing the work of grading and sodding to the railroad bridge; finishing by cutting down the telegraph poles, building a sidewalk, planting shade trees, and placing park benches along the way. Few towns in America are afforded such a grand opportunity as this for the construction of a magnificent promenade. And when such an improvement is made it will add more to the beauty of the town, to the pride of its inhabitants, to their health and wealth, than the erection of five hundred buildings.

In a number of the preceding chapters of this work frequent mention of Warren and its site has been made, during the period beginning with the French occupation of this valley and extending down to the date of its survey and settlement by the Americans. Hence, to avoid unnecessary repetition, this sketch of the history of the town of Warren begins with the year 1795. During that year, “in order to facilitate and promote the progress of settlements within the Commonwealth, and to afford additional security to the frontiers by the establishment of towns,” an act was passed by the State Legislature, April 18, providing for laying out towns at Presque Isle, at the mouth of French Creek, at the mouth of Conewango Creek, and at Fort Le Boeuf.

Of the town to be laid out at the mouth of the Conewango, it was ordered that the commissioners to be appointed by the governor “shall survey or cause to be surveyed three hundred acres for town lots, and seven hundred acres of land adjoining thereto for out lots, at the most eligible place within the tract heretofore reserved (in 1789) for public use at the mouth of Conewango Creek; and the lands so surveyed shall be respectively laid out and divided into town lots and out lots, in such manner, and with such streets, lanes, alleys, and reservations for public uses, as the said commissioners shall direct; but no town lot shall contain more than one third of an acre, no out lot shall contain more than five acres, nor shall the reservations for public uses exceed in the whole, ten acres; and the town hereby directed to be laid out, shall be called ‘Warren,’ and all the streets, lanes, and alleys thereof, and of the lots thereto adjoining, shall be and remain common highways.”

As if still doubtful of the friendship of the Indians occupying this part of the country – owing, probably, to the hostile feeling displayed by Cornplanter and his band during the previous year – the act further provided that the troops stationed, or to be stationed, at Fort Le Boeuf should be used to protect and assist the commissioners, surveyors, and others while engaged in executing the provisions of the act. General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott were the commissioners appointed to lay out town plots at the four points indicated, and it is believed, though we have seen no evidence of the fact, that their task was completed in 1795. Be that as it may, however, the lots in the new towns of Warren, Erie, Franklin, and Waterford were not offered for sale until August, 1796, when they were cried at auction at Carlisle, Pa.

The original lots of the town of Warren were five hundred and twenty-four in number, each being 58-1/4 feet in width, street frontage, and 233-1/4 feet in depth. Water, Market, and High streets are presumed to be 100 feet in width, the others 60 feet. Six streets running nearly east and west, and ten nearly north and south, all crossing at right angles, comprised the highways of the original plot. After the county began to be settled John Andrews, one of the first settlers of the county, was appointed State commissioner, to dispose of the lots at public sale, and during the ten years succeeding 1797 sold all of them. They were purchased by the farmer settlers of this county, Venango, Crawford, and other counties, and some by Indians. The prices ranged from $2.50 to $6 per lot. One-third of the purchase money was required to be paid at once, the balance at the convenience of the purchaser – which with some, it seems, was never convenient. Indeed, but few of the original purchasers ever procured patents for their lots, but suffered them to be sold at county treasurer’s sale for taxes, and the purchasers at such sales, or their assignees, procured patents. Hon. David Brown, the father of the present president-judge, was the original purchaser of more than one hundred lots. Subsequently he transferred them to other persons, and finally these went the way of a majority of the others – were sold at treasurer’s sale – and the titles passed to new owners.

Until about 1794-95, the site of the town was covered with a luxuriant growth of white, black and red oak of large size. At that time a party of the Holland Land Company’s surveyors, under the orders and personal supervision of Andrew Ellicott, the noted surveyor, and his son-in-law, Dr. Kennedy (subsequently the builder and owner of Kennedy’s mills), were encamped upon the bank of the river near where the old Tanner storehouse now stands. One night a terrific storm of rain, accompanied with thunder, lightning and wind of irresistible force, came sweeping up the valley from the west and prostrated every thing in its path from the western part of the town’s site to Glade Run. The inmates of the “camp,” or shanty of poles and bark, fled for safety to the small bar or island where Rathbun’s grocery was for many years a landmark. It was fortunate for them that they hesitated not upon the order of their going for their shanty was blown down and two of their pack horses were killed by the falling trees. A few years later a fire swept over this windfall, burning the small brush and much of the fallen timber. The remainder furnished dry firewood for the early inhabitants. Then sprung up the growth of scrub oaks remembered by some persons still living.

About the year 1796, the surveyors employed by the Holland Land Company erected a building of hewn timbers for the storage of their supplies – tools, provisions, etc. This building, the first permanent structure reared on the site of Warren, stood down on Water street in the near vicinity of Page’s blacksmith shop. For two years it had no floor other than the ground, no chimney other than a hole in the center of a leaky roof. It has been related that Daniel McQuay, then in the employment of the land company, occupied this building as a dwelling house during the first or second year after its erection, thus earning the distinction of being the first inhabitant of the town. He then located on the Little Brokenstraw just above its mouth. He was the wit of the valley. A genuine son of Erin, full of recklessness and adventure, fond of fun, fight and whiskey, and the only man who ever made from two to ten trips from the Brokenstraw to New Orleans on boats of lumber and traveled back afoot. This was a perilous undertaking prior to 1810, which was subsequent to the first trip or two made by him, for saying nothing of walking nearly two thousand five hundred miles, the few towns along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers were then but insignificant villages, and all else between them tangled thickets, swamps and dense forests infested by Indians, wild animals, and frequently by worse foes – white desperadoes and highwaymen.

When James Morrison, jr., accompanied by his brother-in-law, Galen Murdock, arrived on the site of Warren in June, 1798, the only evidences of civilization and improvement to be seen here were the Holland Land Company’s unoccupied storehouse, and a small abandoned improvement near Reig’s old tannery, made by George Slone, a blacksmith, afterwards a well-known resident of the Beech Woods settlement. Morrison and Murdock came from Lycoming county, and accomplished the journey by pushing a canoe up the Sinnemahoning and the Drift Wood Branch until the immense piles of driftwood prevented their further progress by water. Leaving their canoe, they packed their effects on their backs, and a little more than one day’s walk brought them to the waters of the Allegheny. There they felled a large pine tree, made a commodious canoe, and continued their way to Warren. From that time the place where they embarked on the Allegheny was known as “Canoe Place,” and many other early adventurers pursued the same route and plan in journeying from the West Branch of the Susquehanna westward. In 1800 James Morrison, sr., a soldier of the Revolutionary War, his brother Jeremiah, and several others of the Morrison and Murdock families, eight or ten men in all, besides women and children, came on from Lycoming county over the route previously described, and settled on the outlots below Warren. At about that time, too, Martin Reese, sr., and family settled in the same locality. In 1804 James Morrison (whether father or son is not known) built a house of hewn timbers on the site of the pipe line office, below R.P. King’s residence. During the same year, however, a majority of that family – perhaps all of them – removed to the Kinzua valley and located there permanently.

In the mean time Isaac Buckalew had squatted on the bottoms opposite Warren, and for a number of years enjoyed the distinction of being the only resident in Warren county on the east side of the river south of Kinzua. Zachariah Eddy also tarried at Warren for a brief period as early as 1801, but did not become a permanent resident until some twelve or fifteen years later.

John Gilson, who resided in Sheffield for many years and attained an age of nearly ninety, stated, years before his death, that his father, John Gilson, sr., was a native of New England, either Massachusetts or Connecticut, but before removing to Warren had resided for some years at a point on the Delaware river in New York. Gilson’s family, accompanied by two other families, reached Warren in May, 1803, floating down from Olean on a raft. John Gilson, jr., was the youngest of a family of eleven children, all of whom lived to be seventy-five or more years of age. During the first year of their arrival here (1803) his father built a house on the site of Ephraim Cowan’s former residence on Water street. This was the second building erected upon the inlots of Warren, counting the Holland Land Company’s storehouse as the first. In 1804 James Morrison built his house, previously referred to, and Gideon Gilson, son of John, sr., built a house on C.P. Henry’s corner. These three houses were built of pine timbers hewn square. Stephen Gilson, son of Gideon, was born soon after their arrival here, and without doubt he was the first white native of the town. John Gilson, sr., died in March, 1811, and was buried in a small plot set apart for such purposes on the farm of Daniel Jackson.

Daniel Jackson, the pioneer, whose name has been written more frequently, perhaps, in connection with the early history of Warren than that of any other person, was a native of Connecticut, but came here from the vicinity of Ithaca, N.Y., in the spring of 1797, and settled upon a tract of land (since known as the Wetmore farm) bordering the run which still bears his name, and distant about one mile north of the town of Warren. Here, about half a mile above the mouth of the run, he built a saw-mill (and subsequently a small grist mill) said to have been the first one erected in the county; at least there was but one other to dispute for the priority, and that was the mill built by the Meads on the Brokenstraw. Jackson’s mill was completed about the year 1800, and, it has been related, the sawing of the first board was thought to be an event of sufficient importance to call for some unusual demonstration on the part of those present. Accordingly it was placed on the ground, a bottle of whisky brought out, and two individuals, after partaking of its contents sufficiently to give elasticity to their limbs, went through the primitive performance of dancing a jig. From this mill, it has been claimed, the first raft of pine lumber ever known to descend the Allegheny from Warren county was safely landed at Pittsburgh. Some aver that this event took place in the year 1799, others in 1801. The raft contained thirty thousand feet and was guided by sitting-poles instead of oars.

In coming to this county Jackson traveled by the way of Buffalo and Erie to Waterford; thence with canoes down French creek and up the Allegheny and Conewango to his place of settlement. His children were Daniel, jr., Ethan, David, Ebenezer and Sylvia, and another daughter who died when quite young. Being so far away from marts of trade and neighbors, he and his family for a few years suffered many and great privations. At one time he was obliged to make a winter’s journey on snow shoes to Waterford, a distance of fifty miles, in quest of salt. Steep hillsides, deep ravines and roaring torrents intervened, and over all were cast the shadows of a dense primeval forest unbroken by a single improvement.

In 1805 he built the first frame house, and the fourth for dwelling purposes in the town of Warren on the northeast corner of Water and Hickory streets, the lot now occupied by the dilapidated brick block erected by Archibald Tanner in 1849-50. He was licensed to keep an inn in this house by the courts of Venango county in 1806, and continued to be so engaged for a number of years. Lansing Wetmore, Esq., has said that when he first visited Warren in 1815, “Esq. Jackson” kept a tavern at the place described, “and, what was rare in those times, was a temperate landlord.” He died on Sunday, June 20, 1830, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, under circumstances peculiarly distressing in their nature. In an obituary notice of his death, published soon after in the Voice of the People, certain incidents connected with his life and last illness are noted as follows:

“The deceased was a native of the State of Connecticut and at an early day removed to this county and settled on the banks of the Conewango creek, in the immediate neighborhood of this place. With its earliest history and the settlement of the country he was thoroughly conversant, and with the narrative precision of vigorous old age, could tell of ‘times and things gone by.’ In his hunting excursions he had explored the forests that environ us, and learned the windings of the several streams. Beneath his guidance the first raft of lumber ever sawed in this county was molded into form and conveyed on the bosom of the Allegheny to Pittsburgh.

“He was commissioned a justice of the peace under the administration of Governor Snyder, and continued to discharge the duties of the station. It was in the honorable discharge of his official duty as a magistrate that he was assailed by Nehemiah Waters and inhumanly bitten in the thumb of his right hand. So envenomed was the wound that his strength of body and constitution (although superior to that of most men of his age) could not resist its influence, and its baneful effects soon set at naught the sedulous attention and skill of his medical assistance and took entire possession of his system. To the last he retained the entire possession of his faculties, and bore the most agonizing pain with a patience and resignation becoming the dignity of christianized old age.

“As a magistrate, an honest zeal for justice characterized the performance of his official duties. As a man and a neighbor he was hospitable, friendly, and benevolent; honest and punctual in his dealings, and social in his intercourse with his fellow-men. As a parent he was tender and affectionate. His eulogy is that name which poetic language has inscribed upon the noblest work of creation – ‘an honest man’:

“By nature honest, by experience wise,

Healthy by temperance and by exercise,

His life though long, to sickness pass’d unknown,

His death was peaceful and without a groan.”

In the winter of 1805-6 George W. Fenton, father of the late Hon. Reuben E. Fenton, of New York, taught the first school in a vacant room of Daniel Jackson’s new house. While here he became acquainted with Miss Elsey Owen, of Carroll, to whom he was married in November following. She was a niece of John King’s wife.

The name of John King, a “single man,” first appeared upon the rolls of the county as a tax-payer in 1808. From that time until his death, which occurred October 22, 1842, he continued to reside in the town of Warren, and held several positions of honor and trust. He married Betsey, a daughter of John Gilson, sr., August 15, 1811, who survived until October 23, 1873. The children born to them were J.H. (now the oldest native of the borough, he having been born May 20, 1812), Rufus P., George W., Mrs. Harmon, of Warren, J.E. King, M.D., of Buffalo, Mrs. Eveline Mead, of Youngsville, and Mrs. Betsey Hunter and Mrs. Malvina Cowan, of Warren.

Although the town had been made the county seat of Warren county in 1800, it improved but slowly, and few, if any, families were added to its population, other than those already mentioned, until after the close of the War of 1812-15. During the next four years, however, many changes took place in the appearance of the little town; and when the county was organized, in 1819, such men as Archibald Tanner, Colonel Joseph Hackney, Lothrop S. Parmlee, Henry Dunn, Zachariah Eddy, Robert Arthur, James Arthur, James Stewart, Ebenezer Jackson, son of Daniel, sr., Dr. Ayres, the son-in-law of the latter, John Andrews, James Follett, Robert Falconer, William Pier, besides a number of blacksmiths, cordwainers, and tailors, were counted as additional residents.

Henry Dunn, who at an early day was connected with Hackney & Harriott in their lumbering operations on the Conewango, came here from Meadville and became a permanent resident about the year 1815. For a number of years he kept tavern in a house said to have been erected by Martin Reese about 1812. This building, of hewn timbers, stood upon the grounds now occupied by the First National Bank. Dunn’s Tavern was a popular resort, and at one time he entertained as a guest the notorious Aaron Burr, who, being storm-bound, was compelled to tarry here several days while en route down the river to the home of Blennerhasset. Subsequently Dunn built quite a pretentious hostelry on the northwest corner of Second and Liberty streets, afterwards known as the Hackney House and the Russell House corner.

Robert Falconer was a native of Scotland. For some years prior to the beginning of the War of 1812 he, in partnership with his bachelor brother Patrick, had been engaged in the mercantile business in the city of New York, having also a branch house at Charleston, S.C. When the war began, Patrick, whose sympathies for Great Britain were very strong, determined to remain in this “blarsted country” no longer, and, returning to Scotland, continued there until his death. He never married. After the restoration of peace, Robert, having disposed of his business affairs at New York and Charleston, began to look about for a country home for the benefit of his wife, who was in a declining state of health. He had been advised by physicians to find some place where hills or mountains, pine forests, and clear running streams abounded. In some way, probably through his Long Island friend, Abraham D. Ditmars, he heard of this then forlorn, out-of-the-way place, and concluded to make a personal inspection of a region so highly extolled by land agents. Accordingly, he first came here with Ditmars and his family in 1815. The journey was a memorable one. Ditmars started with two good wagons, well loaded, good teams, etc., and reached Chandler’s Valley with one horse and the fore wheels of one wagon only. The route followed led through New Jersey to the crossing of the Delaware at Easton, thence to Bellefonte, and on over the mountains to Holman’s Ferry on the Allegheny, thence via Titusville and Brokenstraw to Chandler’s Valley. It required five weeks to accomplish the journey, and when it was concluded Ditmar’s effects, as well as some members of his family, were scattered along the way from Bellefonte westward. They were finally gathered up, after much trouble and expense. Falconer came through with the advance-guard of the party, including Ditmars. Notwithstanding the difficulties encountered in getting here, he seems to have been favorably impressed with the appearance of things, and purchased quite largely of lands in town and country. Man is a strange, perverse animal, to say the least, and his freaks when migrating are quite aptly illustrated in Falconer’s case. It does not appear that he came here with any intention of becoming a farmer, but merely to found a home in a retired, wholesome locality. Hence, unless it was his wish to place a great distance between himself and his former haunts, he could have gone up the Hudson River but a few miles, comparatively speaking, and there found hills and mountains, umbrageous forests of pine and hemlock, swiftly-flowing streams of pure, sparkling water; and a region, too, where the health-destroying clouds do not bank upon the ground in the valleys at nightfall, and remain until eight or nine o’clock each morning for seven months in the year. The lands along the Hudson were then equally as cheap as those in Warren county. To-day they are worth so much more, with no oil or gas considered in the prospective, that a comparison would be, in most cases, as one to one hundred.

Falconer returned to New York and completed his arrangements for a removal to Warren; but his wife died ere the second trip was commenced, hence he reappeared at Warren alone. He soon became one of its prominent and highly-respected citizens; was elected a county commissioner in 1823, and was numbered as one of the merchants of the town prior to 1830. In 1834 he completed the stone building on High street, known during late years as the “Tanner House,” and, when the Lumbermen’s Bank (of which he was president) was organized during the same year, its office was established in that structure. As shown elsewhere, the bank failed in 1838. Being severely and probably unjustly censured by reason of this failure, Mr. Falconer never regained his former exuberance of spirits and business activity, and finally sank into a state of utter helplessness, physically speaking, which only ended with his death. He married a second wife in this county, but left no children. The present Falconers are descendants of Patrick, a son of Patrick the brother of Robert, who, when the last war with England began, would not live longer in a country where dukes and lords and kings and queens were spoken of irreverently, and returned to Scotland. Robert Falconer purchased for this nephew a fine farm, now occupied, in whole or in part, by the State Asylum at North Warren.

Colonel Joseph Hackney, a leading and highly-respected citizen among the pioneers in both Crawford and Warren counties, was born at the “Little Falls,” on the Mohawk River, N.Y., of Holland Dutch parentage, in 1763. The opportunities afforded him of acquiring the most common rudiments of an education were very meager indeed, and at the early age of seventeen years he entered the American army and served during the remainder of the Revolutionary War. Subsequently he served against the Western Indians, during the years 1785-90. In 1790 he joined a detachment of troops at Pittsburgh which proposed moving down the Ohio River to Fort Washington (now Cincinnati) and there join General Harmer, who was then preparing for a campaign against the northwestern tribes. At Pittsburgh supplies for the troops were placed on board of “Durham” boats and started down the river, while the main body of the armed force marched by land. Hackney went in one of the boats commanded by Captain Doughty. At or near the mouth of the Muskingum they were fired upon by a party of Indians lying in ambush on shore. The steersman was mortally wounded and fell. Hackney sprang forward to take his place, and ordered the men to pull for the opposite shore. He had scarcely taken the oar in his hand when a rifle ball shattered his arm above the elbow, rendering that member useless. He seized the oar with his other hand and, amid the whistling of bullets, exhorted the men to pull for life. Encouraged by his heroism they did pull, and as fast as one was shot down another took his place, until they were out of reach of the enemy’s balls. Of the seven men in the boat five were killed or mortally wounded, and Hackney and Captain Doughty were the only survivors of the party. Wounded and disabled, Hackney was unable to join the main body of the army and participate in the battle which followed and resulted in the disastrous defeat of General Harmer’s army of about fifteen hundred officers and men.

Returning to Pittsburgh, he soon after engaged in the mercantile business with Oliver Ormsby, and remained there until 1794, when he removed to Meadville. There he erected a small frame building (which is still standing) in 1797, and kept store in it until his removal to Warren county. When Crawford county was organized in 1800, with four other counties attached to it, including Warren, he was one of the first county commissioners to be elected, and served as such from 1800 to 1802, also from 1811 to 1814. In 1815 he, in partnership with Major James Herriott, of Meadville, purchased the saw-mill on the Conewango near Irvineburg, which was in operation and owned by Colt & Marlin (the Col. Ralph Marlin particularly mentioned during the sessions of the first term of court held in Warren county) as early as 1808. In 1817 Colonel Hackney became a permanent resident in the town of Warren, and in 1818-19 he, together with Jacob Harrington and James Cochran, represented the district composed of Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango and Warren counties in the State Legislature; thus being in a position to introduce and advocate a bill providing for the organization of Warren county. When this event took place he was one of the two associate judges first commissioned, and served as such until his death, which occurred May 20, 1832. His title of colonel seems to have been honorary, at least it does not appear that he held that rank during his active service as a soldier.

Archibald Tanner, Warren’s first merchant, and, we believe, its first postmaster, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, February 3, 1786, and removed with his father’s family to New Connecticut, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1802. He came to Warren in 1816 and at once began a successful business career here by occupying part of Daniel Jackson’s bar-room and offering for sale at retail a small stock of merchandise. Jackson’s tavern, as before stated, stood on the corner of Water and Hickory streets, now occupied by the Tanner block. During that or the following year, Mr. Tanner built a small store on the river bank nearly opposite the tavern mentioned, and occupied it for the sale of his goods as soon as it was completed.

There is quite an interesting story connected with the history of this building which has been related to us in substance about as follows: The ground utilized by Mr. Tanner had not been laid out as a town lot or as a fractional part of one, but was and is yet considered part of the public domain of 3,000 acres reserved in 1789, besides being the natural bank of a navigable stream. Some years subsequent to the building of Tanner’s store, a man named Hunter, considering that he had as good a right to occupy the bank in question as Tanner, proposed to erect a building just above Tanner’s, or near the north end of the present suspension bridge, and there collected a considerable quantity of building material – timbers and lumber. Tanner objected to Hunter’s occupancy of the site selected, and a bitter personal quarrel followed. Finally Hunter desisted from his purpose of building, but had Tanner indicted as a trespasser upon the lands of the Commonwealth. But Tanner seemed to be a man who could easily surmount difficulties, both great and small, and employing counsel (Thomas Struthers, we believe); the latter proceeded to Harrisburg and secured the passage of a legislative act by the provisions of which Tanner was permitted to remain in peaceful possession of the building he had erected, and to repair it from time to time when necessary, but was denied the privilege of rebuilding. With the decay or destruction of the structure the occupancy of its site for private purposes should cease. Need we add the building still stands in a good state of preservation and is now known as the La Pierre restaurant? Conflagrations have repeatedly swept away rows of buildings in front and to the right of it, yet by reason of its somewhat isolated location it has escaped them all. It has been carefully and systematically repaired at divers times, from foundation walls to roof top, and to-day, probably, is much in the same condition as the famous old United States frigate Constitution was represented to be in when she went out of commission and was broken up – containing not a single panel, plank, or timber of the original vessel.

It has been related of Mr. Tanner that in the spring of 1817 he descended the Allegheny and Ohio rivers with a raft of pine boards, thence down the Mississippi to New Orleans. After disposing of his lumber he proceeded to New York in a sailing vessel, where he purchased a stock of merchandise, transported the same overland to Olean and floated from that point down the river to Warren in a boat built for the purpose. That stock of goods was the beginning, the nucleus, of the handsome estate which a long life of industry, perseverance and honorable dealing enabled him to accumulate. He served as the first treasurer of the county, and also held the office of postmaster for years prior to 1829. In building he had no equal in the early history of Warren. The first steamboat to navigate the upper Allegheny was a monument to his enterprise and public spirit. He was an early member of the Presbyterian Church, and when the first church edifice of the society was erected he was much the largest contributor. He died in Warren February 15, 1861, aged seventy-five years.

Lothrop S. Parmlee, Archibald Tanner’s competitor in the mercantile business for about twenty years, located here permanently in 1817. He passed some months at Warren as early as 1808. Subsequently he had resided at Marietta, Ohio, and Jamestown, N.Y.; was engaged in merchandising at the latter place just before removing to Warren. A native or former resident of Oneida county, N.Y., he was gentlemanly in his manners, high spirited, impulsive and loquacious. Both he and Mr. Tanner were enterprising, fair-dealing business men, and by their example and public spirit did much to mould and shape and give character and stability to the early residents of the town.

In 1819 Ebenezer Jackson had nearly completed a building on the Carver House corner. In it the first term of court was held, commencing Monday, November 29 of that year, and here Jackson and his successors kept tavern for many years. It finally became known as the Warren Hotel, but after the lapse of thirty years from its completion gave place to the Carver House.

Among others who became residents during the years from 1819 to 1822 were William Arthur; Joseph Adams, a carpenter; Philo Brewer, cordwainer; John Brown, prothonotary; Samuel Graham, tailor; John Hackney, tailor; Daniel Houghwout, carpenter; Josiah Hall, a law student with Abner Hazeltine; David Jackson; Abner Hazeltine, attorney at law; Abel Mansfield, carpenter; William Olney, carpenter; Joseph Hall, stone mason; Asa Scott, blacksmith; Hezekiah Sawyer, carpenter; Samuel Saxton; Lansing Wetmore; Johnson Wilson; A. Stebbins, shoemaker; R. Chipman, shoemaker; J. Dinnin, tailor; Adam Deitz, gunsmith; Miner Curtis, shoemaker.

At a later period, yet prior to 1830, some old numbers of the Warren Gazette furnish valuable information concerning the town and its inhabitants. Thus, early in the spring of 1826 Archibald Tanner informed the public through the columns of the Gazette that he continued to keep on hand “an extensive assortment of Dry Goods, Hardware, Queen’s Ware, Glass Ware, Men’s and Women’s Shoes, Straw Bonnets, &c. Spades, Shovels, Tongs, Tea kettles, a few barrels of Dried Apples, Old Pittsburgh Whiskey, Tea, Chocolate, Coffee, Pearlash, Pork, Cheese, Codfish, Lard, Flour, Salt, &c., all of which will be sold as low for ready pay as can be purchased in the Western country.” At the time Tanner began his career as a merchant in Warren, flour was worth $15 per barrel; salt, $2.75 per bushel; tobacco, 50 cents per pound; bacon and pork, 25 cents per pound; tea, $3.00 per pound; black cambric 50 cents per yard; cotton sheeting, unbleached, 62 cents per yard; India sheeting, 70 cents per yard; coffee, 37-1/2 cents per pound; whisky, $1.75 per gallon; ginger, $1.00 per pound; pepper, 62 cents per pound; allspice, 62 cents per pound.

On the 6th of May, 1826, the Gazette announced “the arrival in this port, on Tuesday last, of the Transport, 12 tons burthen, D. Jackson of this place master, in 13 days from Pittsburgh, laden with flour, whisky, iron, nails, glass, &c., for A. Tanner and others;” also on the same day two other keel boats with two passengers and more whisky from Freeport.

On the 27th of the same month and year, the editor said: “On Wednesday last the citizens of our village (he was more modest than present ones, who term a small borough a city) for the first time were cheered by the arrival in it of a four-horse stage. It will be seen by the advertisement of Edson & Eaton (Obed Edson and Harry Eaton) that they have commenced running their line of stages regularly between Dunkirk (on Lake Erie) and this place. This speaks much in favor of the population and improvement of our country.” He further remarked that if any one had talked in favor of such an enterprise five years previously he would have been regarded as “visionary and chimerical.” Under the management as then announced, stages were run twice a week between Dunkirk and Jamestown, and once a week between Dunkirk and Warren.

A few weeks later Uriah Hawks made his bow to the public, and informed the readers of the Gazette that he had “opened a shop on Water street, east of Jackson’s Hotel, where he has on hand and will continue to keep spinning-wheels of all kinds, made of the best stuff, which he will sell cheap for cash or country produce.”

During the latter part of May, 1827, Joseph Hackney advertised that he had “taken the commodious stand in the town of Warren known as the ‘Mansion House,’ lately occupied by William Pierpont, and has supplied himself with a stock of liquors and other accommodations suitable for travellers, and all those who please to honor him with their custom.”

In 1828 Orris Hall gave notice “that he has just received from New York and offers for sale in this village, as cheap for cash as can be purchased in the Western country, a general assortment of Foreign and Domestic goods,” etc., etc. “Also Liquors, Loaf and Brown Sugar.” L.S. Parmlee likewise announced for sale in the same number “an elegant assortment of Dry Goods, as cheap as the cheapest.”

There was also noted in the columns of the Gazette, in the summer of 1828, the arrival “from Europe of eighty German and French emigrants, who have pitched their tents at the mouth of the Conewango, where they are visited by the citizens of the village old and young, and while looking at their quaint dress and wooden shoes, they can but gaze and wonder.” During the same year, too, Thomas Struthers and Samuel A. Purviance, attorneys at law, became residents of the town.

On the 22d of January, 1829, in a description of the town, furnished at the solicitation of the publishers of the United States Gazette, the editor of the Warren Gazette said: “The only public buildings we can boast of is a brick court-house and public offices of stone, fire-proof. The court-house is not large, but neat and convenient, substantially built and well finished, with a well-toned bell in it weighing with the yoke 362 pounds. We have a jail, also, although it has once or twice been mistaken for a turkey pen. Our village contains fifty dwelling houses, mostly frame, two stories high, painted white, and tenanted. Five stores (well filled), three taverns, two tanneries, two blacksmith shops, five shoemakers, one saddler and harness maker, two chair makers, one wheel wright, one cabinet maker, two carpenters and joiners, one hatter, one wagon maker, six lawyers, two doctors, one baker, two masons, six freemasons, two saw mills, and a grist mill.”

The chief event of this year (1829) was the celebration of the 4th of July. It had been decided to assemble at “one of the Sisters,” a small romantic island in the Allegheny River, about one mile and a half above the village. Accordingly about half-past one P.M. the party embarked on the Warren Packet. A small band struck up Hail Columbia and the boat moved off. But the voyage up the river suddenly terminated at the “ripples,” where the craft stuck fast in the gravel, and the passengers, instead of going up, were only too glad to come down again; the men of the party being compelled to get out into shallow water and shove the boat off. This done they floated down with the current, and landed at the point formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Conewango rivers. Here in a beautiful grove “tables were erected and covered with the choicest provisions. After the repast the tables were cleared and the company again took seats, his Honor Judge Hackney, being appointed president, and Thomas Struthers, esq., vice president. Then followed volunteer toasts by Hon. Joseph Hackney, A. Tanner, esq., Thomas Struthers, esq., W.L. Adams, M. Gallagher, esq., Parker C. Purviance, William P. McDowell, Jefferson Smith, J.H. Shannon, and S.S. Barnes, which were respectively drank amid much good humor. In the evening the party re-embarked on board the boat, and, as the band played several national airs, slowly moved into the current towards the village… On landing a procession was formed, and to an appropriate air struck up by the band it proceeded to Mechanics Hall, from which place the company retired to their homes at an early hour, all well pleased with the amusements of the day.”

In 1830 the merchants doing business in Warren were Archibald Tanner, Lothrop S. Parmlee, Robert Falconer, Orris Hall, Samuel D. Hall, Daniel Chase, and N.A. Lowry, dealers in general merchandise; O. Stanton & Co., grocers, and Milton Ford, grocer and druggist. The physicians during the same year were Abraham Hazeltine and Thomas Huston.

By a legislative enactment approved April 3, 1832, the town was erected into a borough. The first borough election was held at the court-house May 7, 1832, when the following officers were chosen: John Andrews, burgess; Joseph Hackney, Lansing Wetmore, Zachariah Eddy, James Stewart, and Albinus Stebbins, town council. On the 12th of May following the burgess and council appointed Thomas Struthers clerk, and John King street commissioner, and June 2, of the same year, Dr. Abraham Hazeltine was appointed borough treasurer. At the time of its incorporation the town contained three hundred and fifty-eight inhabitants. The first separate assessment roll of those residing or owning taxable property within the borough limits – the original in lots comprising three hundred acres – was completed in 1833, and from this list it is ascertained that the names of the taxable inhabitants at that time were as follows:

Adams, Joseph, mechanic.

Jackson, Thomas W.

Adams, Warren L., cabinet maker.

Kidder, Nelson.

Andrews, John, county commissioners’ clerk, etc.

Kidder, Truman.

Arthur, James, lumberman.

King, J. Hamilton.

Arthur, Robert, lumberman.

King, John.

Bell, William, mechanic.

Lane, Asahel, single man.

Blackley, John, single man.

Lilly, Henry.

Booker, Philip, shoemaker.

Luther, Jacob, shoemaker.

Bostwick, Henry, owner of shoe shop and tannery.

Magee, Dudley.

Brown, Alfred, single man.

Masten, Cornelius,

Brown, Henry.

McDowell, William P., merchant.

Brownell, Silas.

Mead, Darius.

Chase, Daniel, merchant.

Mead, William.

Clemons, Thomas, proprietor of printing office.

Merrill, Gilman, attorney at law.

Coe, Ariel.

Miles, Robert.

Crippen, Daniel.

Morrison, Abijah.

Curtis, Asa.

Morrison, William, single man.

Curtis, Miner, shoemaker.

Newman, Hiram S., profession.

Davis, John F., tailor.

Nugent, James, mechanic.

Deitz, Adam, gunsmith.

Olney, Rufus, potter.

Ditmars, John, single man.

Olney, William A.

Eddy, Isaac S., single man.

Osmer, John P., mechanic.

Eddy, William.

Parker, Timothy F., physician.

Eddy, Zachariah.

Parmlee, Lothrop S., merchant,

Edgar, John, mechanic.

Pier, William, justice of the peace.

Falconer, Robert, merchant.

Pierce, Thompson, single man.

Farrington, Jesse, shoemaker.

Portman, John.

Ferguson, Morgan, mechanic.

Ray, Nesbit.

Ford, Milton, grocer.

Reed, Samuel, single man.

Geer, Benjamin.

Reese, Martin.

Geer, Caleb.

Russell, Robert.

Gordon, Joseph C., tavern keeper.

Sands, Alanson.

Gordon, Lewis, single man.

Sargent,* Henry, physician.

Graham, James W., single man.

Sayles, Scott W.

Graham, Samuel.

Scott, Asa, blacksmith.

Gray, Simon.

Skinner, Archibald, single man.

Gregory, Asa.

Smith, Abel.

Gregory, Porter.

Smith, William.

Hackney, John.

Snyder, George, mechanic.

Hackney, Joseph C.

Snyder, Simon, single man.

Hackney, Joseph W., tavern keeper.

Stanton, Daniel, single man.

Hackney, Margaret, widow.

Steadman, James.

Hall, Joseph.

Stebbins, Albinus, mechanic.

Hall, Josiah, attorney at law.

Stevenson, Reuben, mechanic.

Hall, Orris, merchant.

Stevenson, Simeon G., tin smith.

Hall, Samuel D., merchant.

Stewart, James.

Hawk, Peter.

Stone, Ellery, shoemaker.

Hawley, Alpheus, prop’r carding mills.

Struthers, Thomas, attorney at law.

Hazeltine, Abraham, physician.

Hodge, William.

Hodges, Walter W.

Tanner, Archibald, merchant.

Hook, Francis.

Tanner, Cyrus, single man.

Hook, Moses.

Taylor, Justus, mechanic.

Hook, Orrin.

Temple, Stephen, single man.

Houghwout, Daniel, carpenter.

Turner, Joshua, burgess.

Hunter, John.

Turner, Thomas, tavern keeper.

Jackson, David.

Wetmore, Lansing, attorney at law.

Jackson, Ebenezer.

The year 1834 was made memorable in the history of the borough by the building of the academy and the organization of the Lumbermen’s Bank, detailed accounts of which will be found in succeeding pages.

In 1835 the town must have been almost as badly overrun with snarling, snapping hydrophobia breeders as it is at present; hence many of its best citizens attached their signatures to a paper of which the following is a copy:

“We whose names are undersigned do hereby agree to indemnify and keep free from all damages that may or shall legally accrue, to any person or persons, who shall kill any dog or dogs that shall be found running at large in the streets of the borough of Warren, the property of any citizen or other person residing in said borough for the space of three months from the date hereof, or any dog or dogs found as aforesaid without any owner or person along with them, claiming the ownership of them, for the space of time above mentioned. WARREN, February 2, 1835.”

This agreement was signed by William Bell, W.E. Griffith, William Sands, T.H. Fenton, Samuel D. Hall, James O. Parmlee, William P. Clark, John A. Hall, Harrison French, J.M. Olney, Milton Ford, Robert Falconer, Archibald Tanner, Archibald Skinner, Robert Miles, William P. McDowell, Darius Mead, Thomas Morton, Joseph W. Hackney, Josiah Hall, James Vanhorn, William Pier, Gilman Merrill, Thomas Struthers, Samuel P. Johnson, George W. Snyder, Francis Everett, Thomas Clemons, Morgan Ferguson, Warren L. Adams, David Jackson, Z.H. Eddy, William Smith, R. McKinney, W.G. Morrison, James Steadman, and Carlton B. Curtis.

Of those whose names appear in the above paragraph, only two now reside in the borough; but what is still more remarkable than the fact that there should be but two survivors after the lapse of fifty-two years, is the coincidence that these men were then associated together as members of a law firm, and that their names were affixed to the agreement side by side. We refer to Hon. Thomas Struthers and Hon. Samuel P. Johnson.

The Lumbermen’s Bank failed in 1838, and, as we are informed by a relic of the past – a copy of the Warren Bulletin published in the early part of that year – Timothy F. Parker, Robert Miles, Cornelius Masten, jr., Archibald Skinner, and Benjamin Bartholomew were the commissioners appointed to investigate its affairs. This paper also announced the arrival of the steamboat New Castle from Pittsburgh, and the presence of a corps of engineers in the employ of the Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company. During the following year (1839) the first bridge across the Allegheny was built.

The decade which followed was not marked by any extraordinary events nor an unusual degree of prosperity. The town kept along in the even tenor of its way, slowly increasing in population as a result of being the commercial center of a lumbering region. In the destruction of the pine forests in this part of the county a few of its citizens acquired considerable wealth, but the many – those who did the work, the chopping, sawing, hauling and rafting – barely earned enough to provide shelter and food for their families. A few minor manufacturing industries were established, while about an equal number from time to time suspended, by reason of the migratory habits of their operators. Many changes were likewise noted among mercantile firms, lawyers and doctors, as they came and went in the endeavor to better their financial conditions. There were a considerable number of men, however – such as Archibald Tanner, N.B. Eldred, C.B. Curtis, Thomas Struthers, Walter W. Hodges, Gilman Merrill, Orris Hall, Lansing Wetmore, Samuel P. Johnson, Henry Sargent, Abraham Hazeltine, Timothy F. Parker, J.D. Summerton, Hiram Gilman, Benjamin Bartholomew, Rasselas Brown, J.Y. James, Thomas Clemons, Andrew H. Ludlow, Joseph Carver, Stephen Carver, Robert Falconer, Richard S. Orr, Charles W. Rathbun, Lewis Arnett, Jerome B. Carver, Cornelius Masten, Jr., D.V. Stranahan, John H. Hull, G.A. Irvine, G.W. Scofield, and a number of others – who, having become permanently established here prior to the close of the decade referred to, were active in the prosecution of their respective professions and occupations, and gave character and stability to the whole community.

Until the year 1848 the only brick structures in the town were the court-house and the academy, while up the river a short distance a few Indian wig-wams with tenants were yet to be seen. During the year mentioned, however, an innovation upon the old order of things began, by the erection of the Carver House, upon the corner previously occupied by the old Warren House, or, in other words, the tavern built by Ebenezer Jackson in 1819. The new hotel was opened for business in March, 1849, with John H. Hull (the former landlord of the old Warren House) installed as proprietor. In referring to the erection of the new building, the editor of the Mail, under date of August 1, 1848, said: “Our village – or rather our borough – presents many indications of improvement. Among them we notice a fine block going up on the corner of Front and Hickory streets; the basement of chiseled stone and the body of brick. It is to be used for a hotel and store, and bids fair to be what might be expected from the energy and enterprise of its proprietors – Messrs. Carver & Hall. It will greatly improve that part of Front street (an absurd expression, still in vogue, the calling of Water street, Front street), and contribute in making Warren as distinguished for the elegance and convenience of its buildings as it is for the beauty and romance of its scenery.”

In the same number of the Mail the editor also said: “The early settlers of this country who still remain among us, can probably discover some improvement in the facilities for traveling at the present day. Formerly it required about four days to come from Pittsburgh to this place, though some have come in less time. The roads were bad, carriages could not be procured. Forests, hills, valleys, rocks, brush, and mud greeted the weary footman. Accommodations were scarce. Darkness often overtook him on Pennsylvania’s hills, while thoughts of home and loved ones there, were all that cheered him on his lonely way. Now, by the new line of stages, recently established by Richard S. Orr and others, the traveller can go from Pittsburgh to Buffalo in less than three days. Stages leave this place for Buffalo every evening (Sundays excepted), arriving at Buffalo the next evening in time to take the Eastern cars. Also for Pittsburgh every morning at seven o’clock, going through in forty-eight hours. Good teams, good carriages, and low fares make this a good route.”

This is a pen picture of the wonderful traveling facilities afforded the citizens of Warren, and other points on the route between Pittsburgh and Buffalo, less than forty years ago. Yet, if the people of to-day had no better way than is here described – the delights of being jolted, thrown forward, backward, to the right or left, without intimation or warning, for twenty-four hours at a time, and still the journey not half over – there can be no doubt that they would consider themselves in even a worse condition than were the first settlers who uncomplainingly made their journeys afoot.

In the fall of 1848 an old building, which stood on the point at the junction of Water and Third streets, was torn down, and it was then first proposed to make the place a “public common.”

On Tuesday, March 6, 1849, between three and four o’clock A.M., the Exchange Building – in which were the stores of Taylor & Arnett; S.L. Axtell, and Baker & Hunter; S.G. Stevens, tin-shop and store; Summerton’s tin-shop; the Standard printing office, S.J. Goodrich proprietor; the shoe-shop of E.N. Rogers, occupied by N. Ford; the tailor shop of county treasurer H.L. Church, and Benjamin Nesmith’s harness shop – was discovered to be on fire, and two hours later was entirely destroyed. Loss from $50,000 to $75,000.

In May of the same year a resident, enraptured by his or her surroundings, indulged in a bit of poetic gush as follows:

“WARREN.

“Sweet village of a sweeter vale,

  Where flows the Allegheny bright,

Thy beauteous scenes can never fail

  To fill this bosom with delight.

“Let others talk of Southern climes,

  Where flowers blossom all the yar;

Let poets pour their flood of rhymes,

  Where brighter lands to them appear;

“But I will sing of thee, my home,

  For thou hast joys enough for me;

Nor will I breathe a wish to roam,

  While thus inspired with love for thee.

“Yon river, on whose bosom sweet

  I’ve often watched, with childish glee,

The sunbeams dance with merry feet,

  Is Nature’s loveliest child to me.

“Then can I breathe a wish to roam,

  While thus inspired with love for thee?

No, thou art still my chosen home,

  Sweet village, and must ever be.”

In the summer following, the three-story brick block on the northeast corner of Water and Hickory streets, was commenced by Archibald Tanner. It was the second brick structure erected in the town for individual purposes, and to make room for it the old Jackson tavern, built by Daniel Jackson in 1805, was moved back.

At this time, too, Warren had other residents possessed of literary ability, as witness the following:

“THE END NOT YET.

“The subscriber believing that the world will not come to an end in ‘49, but that ‘49 will end the last day of December next, and that Gen. Taylor cannot ruin the Nation (alone) and that Tom Benton and Calhoun will not be president until after they are elected; that a National Bank or ‘Independent Treasury’ is very convenient in every family (under proper restrictions) properly managed, and having of late embraced the ‘one idea’ principle that every man must look out for himself, he has concluded to continue the

SHOEMAKING BUSINESS,

and spare no effort to please all who may favor him with their custom. You will find him ‘armed and equipped’ as St. Crispin directs, in his shop over the Ledger office on Second street. Therefore, in the language of the poet,

“All you who dote on a good fitting boot,

  Whose pockets are filled with the Rhino,

Pass ye not by, like an ignorant coot,

  He’ll fit you most finely that I know.

“Warren, July 24, 1849.                                                               N. FORD.”

Among the merchants doing business in the town in 1849-50 were Watson & Davis, Summerton & Taylor, Hull & King, Baker & Hunter, Parmlee & Gilman, S.C. Brasington, and John A. Hall, postmaster, dealers in general merchandise; William & T.S. Messner, grocers; Charles W. Rathbun, liquors and groceries; D.M. Williams, grocer, and Hazeltine & Co. (G.W. Hazeltine and S.P. Johnson) dealers in drugs, books, stationery, etc., at Variety Hall.

In 1850 Watson, Davis & Co.’s block at the junction of Second and Water streets was built, being the third brick structure of the borough. In excavating for the foundation walls the bones of a human body were found, supposed to have been the remains of a French hunter or explorer, or of an employee of the Holland Land Company.

In the spring of that year the maple trees, now densely shading the little park at the point separating Water and Third streets, were placed in position. Of the traveling “shows,” which during that period regularly visited Warren in their rounds, the tent exhibitions of Quick & Co., Levi J. North, Barnum, and Dan Rice, and the hall entertainments of the Baker Family, the Burt Family, etc., seemed to be the most popular.

In the summer of 1851 a form of diarrhoea became epidemic in the town and carried off many of its residents, particularly young adults and children.

The Johnson block, on the southeast corner of Second and Liberty streets, was built in 1854, and was then considered to be the most imposing and best building in the county.

The year 1859 closed with railroad communication established between Warren and Erie, and great was the rejoicing thereat. The lower railroad bridge was completed in September of the following year, and, resting on rather low abutments or piers, terminated steamboat navigation to points above.

The United States census of 1860 revealed the following facts concerning the borough and its inhabitants: Total number of inhabitants, 1,742; total number of the same, foreign born, 417; total number of deaths during the year, 22; total number of persons whose estates exceed $30,000, 9; total number of persons whose estates equal or exceed $20,000, 19; total number of persons whose estates equal or exceed $10,000, 29; total number of dwelling houses, 308.

In July of that year the chief topic of thought and conversation for a short time was in relation to a bold burglary committed in their midst. The office of Hon. Thomas Struthers had been broken into and a safe containing $3,000 in gold and many valuable papers carried off by thieves who left no traces behind them. After two or three days, however, the safe was found on James H. Eddy’s farm in Glade. It had been broken open and the coin taken away, but the papers were found nearly intact. Suspicion was soon directed upon three Irishmen living near by, who upon being arrested were found to be the guilty parties, and a portion of the money was recovered.

During the fall of 1860 the marshaling of the ante-bellum militia companies of the district under Brigadier-General R. Brown and staff (the latter composed of George V.N. Yates, judge advocate; Nelson S. Woodford, quartermaster; Leroy L. Lowry, paymaster; Harrison Allen, aid, and Samuel W. Brown, surgeon), the parades of the wide-awake marching companies, the great political campaign then in progress, and last, but not least, the oil excitement – all conspired to make matters exceedingly lively in and around the borough.

In the fall of 1864 wood was worth $7 per cord, and coal $12 per ton. For a small inland town literally surrounded by thousands of acres of timber land all in sight, this seems to have been an exorbitant price for common fire wood, even though it was at a time of inflated prices.

In March, 1865, occurred the great flood remembered so vividly by many, and still to be seen – as pictured by the photographer. The roily, rushing waters rose to their greatest height on the 18th, when the Irvine bottom opposite the town was one vast lake. The “Island” was covered to the depth of several feet, and all the buildings, lumber, cooperage, etc., near the banks of the Conewango and Allegheny were swept away. Hook’s old saw-mill, which for nearly fifty years had been a familiar land-mark on the Allegheny some five miles above Warren, was lifted from its ancient site and transferred to Morrison’s flat, below the town.

Among the dealers in various kinds of merchandise at this time (1865) were O.H. Hunter, Beecher & Coleman, E.T. Hazeltine & Co., George L. Friday & Co., P.J. Trushel & Co., George Ball, Arnett & Galligan, Pierce & Shafer; William Messner, John Honhart, Schnur & Ruhlman, J.M. Turner, F.A. Randall, S. Burgess, J.B. Brown, D.D. Babcock, Otto Huber, Kelly Weaver, Christian Retterer, Jacob Lesser, C.L. Hassel & Co., George Reig, L.D. Crandall, S.G. Stevens, L.W. Arnett, Adolph Saltsman, brewer, Smith & Messner, Abijah Morrison, A. Kirberger, and Rowan & Converse.

The years 1867-68 witnessed marked improvements throughout the borough. Many new buildings, both for dwelling and business purposes, were erected, a number of them of a size and ornate style of architecture to this time here unseen. The handsome residences of Hon. R. Brown, Judge William D. Brown, Boon Mead, and Colonel L.F. Watson were among the number then built.

War prices still prevailed, which, in comparison with present rates, were almost frightful, Thus, flour was worth from $12 to $16 per barrel; butter 60 cents per pound; potatoes $1.00 per bushel; lard 22 cents per pound; pork 18 cents per pound, and sugar 15 to 20 cents per pound. All other commodities bought and sold – dry goods, hardware, etc., were equally as high in price, while the laborer and mechanic received but little more pay for his daily toil than he does to-day.

About the 1st of November, 1869, the buildings on Water street, occupied by Bennett, Carrie Denison, A. Ruhlman, S.M. Cogswell, P. Bysecker, Mrs. A. Ruhlman, Taylor & Messner, M. Carpenter & Co., O.H. Hunter, F. Fettee, J.F. Wells & Co., and Allen & Reeves, were destroyed by fire. In February, 1870, another conflagration raged, at the corner of Liberty and Water streets. A newspaper writer of that day said: “There were a few men who worked faithfully to subdue the flames and save property, and a very large audience collected to see them do it.”

By the census enumeration of 1870 it was ascertained that the borough contained two thousand and one inhabitants. The wire foot-bridge across the Conewango was built during the same year, and a stock company organized to build a suspension bridge across the Allegheny, which structure was finished in 1871.

During the year 1872 a number of notable events occurred – Decoration Day was formally observed for the first time. The new union school building, which was completed a few months before at a cost of $23,000, was badly damaged by the fire which destroyed the old Germania Hotel. The old pioneer, Zachariah Eddy, died at the age of ninety-four years. A street railway extending from the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad station, via Water street to Glade, was built. Two one-horse, or “bob-tail,” cars were brought into use, but it appears that there were then two cars too many. The enterprise proved to be a complete failure, and after about two years the rails were taken up, and all the material shipped to some locality more populous or appreciative. During 1872, also, the Irvine family, of Irvineton, proposed to donate to the borough, for a public park, thirty acres of land, lying on the left bank of the Allegheny, about one mile below the town; but as the proposal was accompanied by conditions requiring the immediate expenditure of a large sum of money, it was considered that for a town having no gas or water supply, nor fire apparatus worthy of mention, the luxury would prove to be too expensive, quite out of character; hence the proposition was respectfully declined. Gifts bestowed under conditions are not always acceptable.

The building termed the Town Hall, on the southeast corner of Third and Hickory streets, was built in 1877-78, at a cost of about $9,000.

In 1884 the substantially-built structure now occupied by the Warren Library Association was completed. For a number of years there had been a chartered public library in the town, but it had neither home nor income. Its destitution excited the sympathy of the Hon. Thomas Struthers, and aroused his beneficence. He therefore proposed to the citizens that if they would furnish the grounds he would build and donate to the association a structure of which all might feel proud. The site, a rather costly one, corner of Liberty and Third streets, was purchased with money contributed by L.D. Wetmore, H.A. Jamieson, William D. Brown, S.P. Johnson, F. Henry, Rasselas Brown, Willard White, C.W. Stone, M.B. Dunham, A.J. Hazeltine, O.W. Beatty, L.F. Watson, David Beatty, M. Waters, Benjamin Nesmith, A. Hertzel, H.L. Bartholomew, Robert Dennison, S.T. Allen, O.C. Allen, S.W. Waters, Christian Smith, E.T. Hazeltine, Beecher & Copeland, J.H. Eddy, F.H. Rockwell, Thomas H. De Silver, W.H. Pickett, C.H. Noyes, E.B. Frew, J.K. Palmer, Charles P. Henry, E. Cowan, O.H. Hunter & Son, Sol Cohn, J.E. Berkstresser, G.I. Mead, J.W. Jenkins, J.A. Weible, G.G. Mead, F. Barnhart, Albert Kirberger, Alice W. Jefferson, W.A. Rankin, Henry Knupp, James C. Wells, Hazeltine & Baker, George H. Ames, A.J. Davis, Medora I. Mead, H.E. Brown, M.V. Van Etten, P.H. Towle, Manville Bros., L.G. Noyes, Henry Cobham, W.W. Wilbur, William Schnur, Rufus P. King, M. Shaeffer, S.T. Daggett, George L. Friday, John Kropp, Thomas Keelor, S.P. Schemerhorn, Fred Morck, M. Mead, S.H. Davis, S.V. Davis, George H. Leonhart, J.W. Stearns, Jane Orr, P. Greenlund, S. Keller, A.B. Miller, Rick Donovan, and A.H. McKelvy.

Not including the site, the building cost about $90,000. Besides affording spacious and elegant rooms for the books of the association and visitors, it also contains one of the handsomest and best appointed halls for the use of opera and theatrical troupes to be found in Western Pennsylvania. The post-office officials, and the publishers of the Ledger, likewise find commodious quarters within its walls.

A glance at the assessment roll of the borough for the year 1885 discloses the following pertinent facts: Value of lots and buildings, $1,514,759; number of horses and mules, 221; number of cows, 37; number of resident taxables, 1,167. The resident taxables for the year 1886 are 1,134 in number, thus showing a decrease of 33 in twelve months. This can be accounted for, however, from the fact that for ten years or more Warren has been the rendezvous of large numbers of oil men. As residents they are an uncertain quantity – birds of passage, coming and going constantly. Hence many former short-term Warrenites can now be found in Washington county, Pa., and the Ohio oil fields.

Though the town is built upon lands the surface of which is but a few feet above the bed of the Allegheny, it is credited with an elevation of eleven hundred and ninety-eight feet above tide water, and six hundred and thirty-three feet above Lake Erie. Its population numbered considerably less than three thousand in 1880. The present inhabitants are estimated to be full five thousand in number, or more than the entire county contained in 1830. The last decade has witnessed the introduction of illuminating gas; water, of the finest quality, from Morrison’s Run; the formation of an efficient fire department; the inauguration of a system of drainage and sewage, and the utilization of natural gas as a fuel.

In the “Warren County Directory,” published at the Ledger office in 1886, Judge S.P. Johnson closed a brief article relating to the borough, as follows: “Warren has always kept up even with, and sometimes a little ahead of, the enterprise and progress of the surrounding world of the same age. She had a bell in her court-house, a chartered bank, a public hall, an academy, and a street railroad before Franklin, twenty years her senior in judicial organization, enjoyed these luxuries… For the last twenty-five years it has furnished the bench with more judges, and the legislative halls, both State and National, with more representatives than any other town of its size in the State. For some years it was the head of steamboat navigation, until bridges obstructed the river’s channel. It has now within its limited territory eight churches, well supported, four hotels, four restaurants, and of saloons five too many. It abounds in dry goods, grocery, drug, hardware, shoe, millinery, clothing and fancy goods stores, mostly permanent and successful business houses. In mechanical and manufacturing establishments Warren is well supplied – of which the iron works of Struthers, Wells & Co., the Wetmore door and sash factory, and the Jamieson pail and tub factory are the largest. Besides these there are four planing-mills, two furniture factories, and other shops and factories in almost every branch of productive industry, including Piso’s cure for consumption, and the Warren flouring mills.

“Outside local history has given Warren the reputation, for some years past, of being a wealthy town, having large capital in proportion to its population. As an evidence of that it has had, and now has, three banks – the First National, the Citizens’ National, and the Warren Savings Banks – owned entirely by her own citizens. For the fact, if it be so, it is indebted to no factious aid or circumstance; it is the result of intelligent and persevering industry and attention to business for a lifetime, for which, notwithstanding the slurs of the ephemeral parasites that have floated into it upon the tide of oil developments, they are entitled to much credit. All the so-called wealthy men of the town commenced life poor, and have acquired what they have, not by gambling in an oil exchange or bucket-shop, but in the prosecution of honest and legitimate business. These men came, or were here, before there were any brick buildings in Warren, and by their enterprise have made it what it is – the most permanently prosperous and beautiful little city in the western portion of the State.”

MUNICIPAL HISTORY. – The following is believed to be a full and correct list of those who have served as burgess, town councilmen, and clerks for the borough, from its incorporation in 1832 to 1886 inclusive.

1832. – John Andrews, burgess; Thos. Struthers, clerk; council, Joseph Hackney,** Lansing Wetmore, Zachariah Eddy, James Stewart, and Albinus Stebbins.

1833. – Joshua Turner, burgess; Thos. Struthers, clerk; Robert Arthur, Rufus Olney, Eben Jackson, Thomas Turner, and Scott W. Sayles.

1834. – William Pier, burgess; Thos. Struthers, clerk; Francis Hook, W.W. Hodges, Gilman Merrill, J.C. Gordon, and Warren L. Adams.

1835. – G. Merrill, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Henry Sargent, Orris Hall, John Edgar, Joshua Turner, and David Jackson.

1836. – G. Merrill, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Hiram Gilman, N.B. Eldred, Geo. L. Chapel, W.W. Hodges, and J.D. Summerton.

1837. – G. Merrill, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Geo. L. Chapel, J.D. Summerton, Hiram Gilman, W.W. Hodges, and N.B. Eldred.

1838. – Hiram Gilman, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Abraham Hazeltine, Thos. Clemons, A.H. Ludlow, Joseph Carver, and John King.

1839. – Zachariah Eddy, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Lansing Wetmore, Abijah Morrison, Stephen Carver, Thos. Clemons, and A.H. Ludlow.

1840. – Robt. Falconer, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Abijah Morrison, Lansing Wetmore, Richard S. Orr, Stephen Carver, and Zachariah Eddy.

1841. – J.D. Summerton, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; John Edgar, John H. King, Robert McKinney, S.G. Stevens, and H.L. Towle.

1842. – Joseph Carver, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; J.Y. James, John H. King, Richard Alden, Zachariah Eddy, and A.H. Ludlow.

1843. – John Edgar, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Henry L. Church, William Bell, S.G. Stevens, Silas Lacy, and Charles W. Rathbun.

1844. – S.L. Axtell, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Aaron S. Parmlee, Lewis Arnett, S.J. Page, James H. Eddy, and A.H. Summerton.

1845. – Aaron S. Parmlee, burgess; C.B. Curtis, clerk; Wm. S. Parmlee, Jerome B. Carver, S.G. Stevens, Geo. Lobdel, and J.H. Eddy.

1846. – Rasselas Brown, burgess; C. Masten, jr., clerk; H.T. Baker, R.P. King, Richard S. Orr, John H. Hull, and D.V. Stranahan.

1847. – Carlton B. Curtis, burgess; J.D. James, clerk; Zachariah Eddy, Stephen Carver, Calvin C. Lovell, Thos. Clemons, and J.D. Summerton.

1848. – W.W. Hodges, burgess; L.T. Parmlee, clerk; P.R. Bennett, G.W. Scofield, Benj. Nesmith, W.S. Parmlee, and Stephen Carver.

1849. – Richard S. Orr, burgess; L.T. Parmlee, clerk; D.V. Stranahan, John A. Hall, C.W. Rathbun, Rufus P. King, and Philip Bucher.

1850. – G.A. Irvine, burgess; John F. McPherson, clerk; Thos. Clemons, P.R. Bennett, Geo. L. Chapel, John Edgar, and Wm. Mead.

1851. – R.P. King, burgess; John N. Miles, clerk; John H. Hull, Milo Parks, J.D. James, Benj. Nesmith, and Starling Waters.

1852. – G. Merrill, burgess; J.A. Morrison, clerk; Boon Mead, J.D. James, Richard S. Orr, S.J. Page, and Milo Parks.

1853. – Milton W. Hull, burgess; I.S. Alden, clerk; S.J. Page, Richard S. Orr, Boon Mead, Milo Parks, and Andrew Hertzel.

1854. – Orris Hall, burgess; F.A. Randall, clerk; H.L. Church, John H. Hull, Stephen Carver, Rufus P. King, and Wm. S. Parmlee.

1855. – Gilman Merrill, burgess; Theodore C. Spencer, clerk; L.D. Wetmore, Thomas Clemons, J.B. Carver, A. Hertzel, and Peter Somers. Appointed under amended charter – Rufus P. King, John H. Hull, J.Y. James, and Chester Park.

1856. – G. Merrill, burgess; Theodore C. Spencer, clerk; Rufus P. King, John H. Hull, L.D. Wetmore, Peter Somers, Andrew Hertzel, M.W. Hull, A.J. Davis, W.F. Kingsbury, and Thos. Clemons.

1857. – J.D. James, burgess; S.N. Dickinson, clerk; S.D. Hall, John M. Olney, George Offerlee, M.W. Hull, A.J. Davis, W.F. Kingsbury, Rufus P. King, John H. Hull, and L.D. Wetmore.

1858. – J.D. James, burgess; D.J. Hodges, clerk; A.J. Davis, John H. Hull, John M. Olney, J.B. Carver, George Offerlee, C.W.H. Verback, S.D. Hall, W.F. Kingsbury, A. Brock.

1859. – Thos. Clemons, burgess; G. Merrill, clerk; C.W.H. Verback, A. Brock, George Offerlee, John M. Olney, S. Burgess, J.B. Carver, John Sill, E.T.F. Valentine, S.D. Hall.

1860. – G.N. Parmlee, burgess; H. Allen, clerk; E.T.F. Valentine, A. Brock, C.W.H. Verback, Starling Waters, Christian Keller, John Sill, Christian Smith, S. Burgess, and Andrew Hertzel.

1861. – J.B. Carver, burgess; J.A. Neill, clerk; L. Arnett, J.H. Hull, C. Smith, John Sill, A.J. Davis, Andrew Hertzel, Christian Keller, Seneca Burgess, and E.T.F. Valentine.

1862. – G.N. Parmlee, burgess; S.T. Allen, clerk; L. Arnett, A. Hertzel, George Offerlee, Christian Keller, John F. Davis, John Honhart, A.J. Davis, J.H. Hull, O.H. Hunter, C. Smith resigned.

1863. – S.J. Page, burgess; Thos. Clemons, clerk; L. Arnett, A. Hertzel, J.H. Hull, J.F. Davis, George Offerlee, O.H. Hunter, Rufus P. King, M.W. Hull, and A.J. Davis.

1864. – L. Arnett, burgess; Chas. Dinsmoor, clerk; G.N. Parmlee, A.B. McKain, Thos. Clemons, John F. Davis, O.H. Hunter, A. Hertzel, R.P. King, George Offerlee, and M.W. Hull.

1865. – L. Arnett, burgess; Chas. Dinsmoor, clerk; R.P. King, R.D. Bartlett, J.H. Hull, Thos. Clemons, A.B. McKain, P. Bucher, A. Hertzel, G.N. Parmlee, and M.W. Hull.

1866. – L. Arnett, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; J.H. Hull, R.K. Russell, A.P. Wetmore, R.D. Bartlett, Philip Bucher, G.N. Parmlee, John B. Brown, Thos. Clemons, and Chas. Dinsmoor.

1867. – J.S. Page, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; Philip Bucher, J.H. Hull, B.F. Morris, M. Schaffer, S. Keller, jr., C. Dinsmoor, R.K. Russell, R.D. Bartlett, and A.P. Wetmore.

1868. – A. Hertzel, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; R.K. Russell, Philip Bucher, C. Dinsmoor, F.A. Randall, S. Keller, jr., B.F. Morris, J.H. Hull, A.P. Wetmore, and M. Schaffer.

1869. – S.J. Page, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; J.H. Hull, S. Keller, B.F. Morris, C. Dinsmoor, John M. Olney, M. Schaffer, L.W. Arnett (died), F.A. Randall, and Philip Bucher.

1870. – E.T.F. Valentine, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; J.H. Hull, John M. Olney, Philip Bucher, George Offerlee, C. Dinsmoor, F.A. Randall, J.H. Eddy, Seneca Burgess, and S.H. Davis.

1871. – E.T.F. Valentine, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; J.H. Hull, John M. Olney, J.H. Eddy, Geo. Offerlee, S. Burgess, S.H. Davis, J.H. Mitchell, C. Dinsmoor, F.A. Randall.

1872. – Charles Dinsmoor, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; J.H. Mitchell, S. Burgess, J.H. Hull, F.A. Randall, James Nesmith, C.W. Stone, James Clark, jr., S.H. Davis, and J.H. Eddy.

1873. – John Sill, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; Seneca Burgess, Wm. Ryan, H.A. Jamieson, C.W. Stone, James Clark, jr., James Nesmith, F.A. Randall, John M. Davidson (removed), J.H. Hull (died Aug., 1873), D.W.C. James and Geo. Ott elected to fill vacancies.

1874. – John Sill, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; James Clark, jr., A. Hertzel, C.W. Stone, M.B. Dunham, George Ott, Wm. Ryan, S. Burgess, G.H. Ames, and James Nesmith.

1875. – E.B. Eldred, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; James Clark, jr., A. Hertzel, M.B. Dunham, George Ott, Wm. Ryan, W.C. Rowland, G.H. Ames, E.G. Wood, and S. Burgess.

1876. – W.H. Pickett, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; James Clark, jr., A. Hertzel, M. Spaulding, W.C. Rowland, M.B. Dunham, P.J. Falconer, G.H. Ames, E.G. Wood, and Geo. L. Friday.

1877. – C.H. Noyes, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; James Clark, jr., A.J. Davis, M. Spaulding, Geo. L. Friday, E.G. Wood, Peter Greenlund, W.C. Rowland, Wm. L. Lewis, and P.J. Falconer.

1878. – M. Miles, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; James Clark, jr., A. Hertzel, A.J. Davis, S. Burgess, Peter Greenlund, M. Spaulding, J.H. Palmer, G.L. Friday, and P.J. Falconer.

1879. – S.T. Allen, burgess; Geo. O. Cornelius, clerk; A.J. Davis, D.S. McNett, S. Burgess, T.J. Clemons, A.W. Morck, F. Barnhart, W.H. Heck, A. Hertzel, Peter Greenlund.

1880. – S.T. Allen, burgess; Geo. O. Cornelius, clerk; D.S. McNett, A. Hertzel, A.W. Morck, Robert Dennison, C.A. Waters, W.H. Heck, T.J. Clemons, S. Burgess, and F. Barnhart.

1881. – S.T. Allen, burgess; Geo. O. Cornelius, clerk; D.S. McNett, A.W. Morck, C.A. Waters, W.H. Heck, A. Conarro, Robert Dennison, George H. Leonhart, A.J. Hazeltine, F. Barnhart.

1882. – H.A. Jamieson, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; A.J. Hazeltine, Robert Dennison, G.H. Leonhart, L.T. Borchers, A. Conarro, C.A. Waters, J.A. Bell, A.W. Morck, J.H. Eddy.

1883. – Geo. P. Orr, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; S.H. Davis, G.H. Leonhart, J.C. Siechrist, J.A. Bell, S.M. Cogswell, A.J. Hazeltine, L.T. Borchers, A. Conarro, J.H. Eddy.

1884. – Geo. P. Orr, burgess; Rufus P. King, clerk; S.H. Davis, J.A. Bell, S.M. Cogswell, F.M. Knapp, J.H. Eddy, Joseph Walkerman, L.T. Borchers, J.C. Siechrist, August Morck, jr.

1885. – C.C. Thompson, burgess; F.A. Cogswell, clerk; S.H. Davis, S.M. Cogswell, J.C. Siechrist, August Morck, jr., F.M. Knapp, Joseph Walkerman, Robert MacKay, Wm. Schnur, A.A. Davis.

1886. – A.W. Morck, burgess; F.A. Cogswell, clerk; F.M. Knapp, Joseph Walkerman, August Morck, jr., Robert MacKay, William Schnur, A.A. Davis, Christian Smith, J.W. Crawford, P.J. Bayer.

Since the incorporation of the borough, by the provisions of various acts of the General Assembly, passed from time to time, the corporate limits have been widely extended, and the authority of the town council largely increased. The public grounds on the southeast and southwest corners of Market and High streets, as shown upon the original plot of the town, likewise valuable strips of land along the Allegheny and Conewango not included in the original survey, as well as lands bordering upon Water street east of Market, have been, under such authorization, transferred by the borough to individuals.

By scanning the minutes of proceedings of early councils, a few matters of interest, perhaps, to present residents have been ascertained. Thus, at a meeting held June 16, 1832, $80 were appropriated to grade and turnpike portions of Fifth, Liberty, and High streets; but a few weeks later the resolution was rescinded. At the same meeting – June 16, 1832 – ten dollars were voted to improve the road leading from Water street down to the eddy near A. Tanner’s storehouse on the bank of the Allegheny river, by cutting a ditch on the upper side, “and prevent the water from running over and across the same, and by filling up the holes already washed next the wall in the lower side thereof.” Fifteen dollars were also appropriated to be applied in reducing the grade of hills near John Andrews’s office and the house of Lansing Wetmore. On the 4th of August, 1832, council met and “took into consideration the remonstrance of sundry citizens against the improvement of High street – No. 15 on the files, and the same being under consideration, adopted the following resolution, viz.: Resolved, That the said Remonstrance is couched in disrespectful and indecorous (terms) and that therefore the same be discharged from further consideration.”

On the 8th of June, 1833, council by an unanimous vote directed that the mills of Hawley & Parker – carding-machine works – fronting on the borough, be assessed. On the 6th of July following it was “Resolved that the Equestrian Company of Mills & Harrison shall receive a license to exhibit and perform for two evenings within the Borough of Warren, upon paying to the Treasurer Six Dollars. License to issue in like manner as licenses are issued in pursuance of the Ordinance, framed 28th May, 1832, any thing in said ordinance of 28th May, 1832, to the contrary notwithstanding.” The members of this council (1833), after making settlements May 3, 1834, for the year preceding, unanimously resolved that they would make no charge against the borough for services rendered “as councillors.”

On the 3d of April, 1843, council “Resolved that the Borough of Warren hereby appropriate Two Hundred Dollars for the purpose of Building a Bridge over the Conewango Creek, at the old location, at the foot of Second street, provided a sufficient amount can be raised to build said Bridge at the foot of said street, said amount to be paid to the Contractor as the work progresses.” On the 28th of March, 1844, it was enacted “that from and after the first day of May next, it shall not be lawful for any hog or swine of any age to run at large within the limits of the Borough of Warren.” To that time it is to be presumed, free and unrestrained, they had rooted and wallowed to their hearts’ content.

Fire Department. – For many years Warren, in its ability and state of preparation to fight fire, was in about the same condition as other country towns at an early day – i.e., it had a small hand engine and a few feet of hose, the whole, usually, being out of repair when a fire occurred. We have ascertained that the borough possessed an engine of the class described in 1848; but there was no organized company to man it. This engine, with apparatus, etc., cost $1,000. During the year 1853 “Vulcan Fire Company No. 1” was organized, of which David Law was mentioned as foreman, and Rufus P. King, Richard S. Orr, M.W. Hull, L. Rogers, Julius B. Hall, G.W. King, C.A. Horton, and M.D. Waters as among the original members. The German residents organized “Rescue Fire Company No. 1” in August, 1859, and an engine house was projected during the same year. This company was incorporated by an order of court March 6, 1861, and they continued to render efficient service until 1869, when, becoming dissatisfied because the citizens seemed disinclined to render assistance either at fires or at any other time, they disbanded. The sum of $258, remaining in their treasury, was donated to the German Lutheran Church to aid in the purchase of a bell. Then followed the organization of “Allegheny Fire Company No. 1,” and the “Conewango Hose Company,” about the 1st of January, 1870.

The steam fire engine “R.P. King” was received at Warren in December, 1873, and the severe trial tests imposed proved to be eminently satisfactory. To the department has since been added the serviceable yet elegant apparatus manned by “Niagara Hose, No. 1,” “Watson Hose, No. 2,” “Struthers’s Independent Hose, No. 1,” and “Exchange Hook and Ladder, No. 1.” The members of the department are handsomely uniformed. Commodious quarters for the storage of apparatus, etc., are afforded by the borough building, known as the Town Hall.

It is a fact worthy of remark, perhaps, that of all the conflagrations which have heretofore raged in the business part of the town, the flames almost without exception have spent their force upon old buildings, those that could best be spared; and in their places have arisen spacious brick structures, with modern improvements.

Warren Academy, and Public Schools. – The famous old academy building, so often referred to in the local annals of Warren, was built during the years 1834-36. It was of brick, and stood upon the southeast corner of High and Market streets – beautiful, spacious grounds, since divided into three large lots, sold to individuals, and now occupied by private residences. The history of the institution briefly told is as follows:

By an act of the General Assembly, approved April 11, 1799, the governor was authorized to direct the surveyor-general “to make actual survey of the reserved tract of land adjoining the town of Warren, which has not been laid out in town or out lots,” etc., and providing, further, “that five hundred acres of the same be laid off for the use of such schools and academies as may hereafter be established by law in said town.” Under this act Alexander McDowell, of Franklin, then deputy surveyor-general, surveyed and marked the boundaries of the academy lands (lying west of the town and bounded on one side by the river), in the summer of 1799. By a legislative enactment, passed in 1822, Joseph Hackney, Lothrop S. Parmlee, and Abner Hazeltine were named as trustees, who, with their successors in office, to be elected, were to assume control of the lands and the academy when built. In 1829 an act was passed authorizing the trustees to lease “said 500 acres” (541 acres by correct measurement) for a period not to exceed ninety years. Thereupon, during the following two or three years, the tract was leased in lots of one hundred acres each for ninety years, at an annual rental of not much over $100 for the whole. By an act of the State Legislature, passed February 15, 1832, the sum of $2,000 was appropriated to erect an academy building at Warren. This was followed by another act, approved April 8, 1833, which authorized the trustees to erect the building on grounds reserved at the laying out of the town for public buildings, and directed that the sum of $2,000 already appropriated be used in the construction. This sum was increased to a considerable extent by individual subscriptions before the structure was completed.

Hon. Rasselas Brown, the first principal of the academy, commenced teaching in the court-house in February, 1836, the academy not yet being ready for occupancy, and continued there until June of the same year, when a transfer was made to the academy, and its doors were opened for the admission of pupils for the first time. Judge Brown, then a very young man, continued to preside over the academy until 1838, when he retired to engage in the practice of law, and was succeeded by W.A. McLean. The latter’s successors were John Dixon, Cyrus Brown, L.A. Rogers, Charles B. Curtis and a number of others. Meanwhile the new Union School building of the borough having been completed and provided with a corps of very competent teachers, the now old academy fell into disfavor. Free tuition in a fresh, new building, as compared with $3.00 per term for the higher branches, and $2.50 per term for common studies in a somewhat dilapidated structure, left it almost without patronage; hence its doors were finally closed about the year 1857. It was condemned by the grand jury in 1864. An act of Assembly, passed March 22, 1865, authorized the burgess and town council to sell and convey to the highest bidder at public sale the lands on which the academy stood, the proceeds of sale to go into the borough treasury. Accordingly the square was divided into three lots and sold separately August 17, 1865, the sum realized being $5,785. The building was purchased by Hon. William D. Brown for $300.

Of the early history of the common, district, or public schools of Warren but little can be said in the entire absence of data, either traditional or authentic. We have in another place made mention of the fact that the father of the late Hon. Reuben E. Fenton, of New York, taught a school in Warren, in the winter of 1805-06. Thereafter no other reference or intimation regarding the schools or school-houses of the town is made until 1820, when the county commissioners agreed to assist the school committee to “finish building the school-house,” to the end that courts might be held in the same until a court-house could be built. This little school-house stood on the site of the first and of the present court-house. It is probable that when the first court-house was commenced, in 1826, the school-house was removed to some resting-place not far away, and its use continued for educational purposes, until the building of the academy. The latter then became the school-house of the town, for those who were able to pay for the instruction of their children.

The old part of the present Union School building was built in 1854-56. Stephen Carver was the contractor for the stone and brick work, and J.L. Kappel for the wood work. The first teachers to preside within its walls were Charles Twining, of Lancaster, Pa., principal; assisted by Miss M.C. Shattuck, of Groton, Mass., Miss S.E.A. Stebbins, of Clinton, N.Y., Miss Kate Miller, of Sugar Grove, Pa., and Miss S.O. Randall, of Warren, Pa. Hon. S.P. Johnson stood at the head and front in the movement which led to the erection of the building and the securing of the first very excellent corps of teachers. The first building cost $7,500, and was completed in December, 1856. The new structure, which adjoins the one above described, was built in 1871 at a cost of $23,000. Together they afford room and educational facilities for a large number of bright-faced pupils. Prof. A.B. Miller, a veteran instructor, has been in charge some twelve or fifteen years. His assistants during the present year are Miss Kate C. Darling, Miss Arline Arnett, Miss Carrie W. Coats, Miss Nannie C. Locke, Miss Libbie M. King, Miss Mary O. King, Miss Jennie Thomas, Miss Ellen Glenn, Miss Berta Thomas, Miss Mary O’Hern, Miss Mary Kopf, Mrs. Blanche Hawkins. At the West End school, also under the supervision of Mr. Miller, the assistant teachers are Miss Bessie Richards, Miss Mary Conrath, and Miss Laura Snyder.

BANKS. – The Lumbermen’s Bank of Warren, the first banking institution established in Warren county, was incorporated by an act of the State Legislature approved February 28, 1834. Robert Falconer, Josiah Hall, Robert Russell, Guy C. Irvine, Archibald Tanner, and Robert Miles, all of Warren county, were named as commissioners to execute the many provisions of the act. With Robert Falconer as president, and Fitch Shepard cashier, the bank began business during the same year (1834), with a paid-up capital stock of $100,000, divided into shares of $50 each. Subsequently the directors were authorized by a legislative act to increase the capital stock to $200,000. Its notes were widely circulated, and it transacted a large (and as it was supposed very successful) business until 1838, when the financial panic, which swept the whole country at that time, caused its sudden collapse and failure. Much of Mr. Falconer’s private fortune went to swell the aggregate of losses; besides being unjustly censured because of the failure, his proud, honorable, and sensitive nature met with such a shock that it gradually destroyed his mind and hastened his death.

The Warren County Bank was chartered by an act of the State Legislature passed during the winter of 1852-53. The officers then mentioned were J.Y. James, president; Orrin Hook, Rufus P. King, Thomas Clemons, John N. Miles, Myron Waters, and Lewis Arnett, directors. Soon afterwards an installment of $5 on each share of the capital stock of $100,000 was paid in. During the following winter another legislative act was passed providing that the institution should be a bank of issue as well as deposit. All preparations having been completed, the bank opened its doors for the transaction of business during the last days of November, 1854, with J.Y. James, of Warren, officiating as president, and Herman Leonard, of the city of New York, as cashier. Said the editor of the Mail under date of November 24, 1854: “To-day (Friday) our bank is in the flood tide of operation… Certainly there never was more need of a Bank here, or a more favorable time for one to commence operations, and we hope it may have a long career of usefulness and prosperity.” In 1855 a building for the accommodation of the bank was erected. Under date of July 30, 1859, we find the following mention of this bank in the columns of the Mail: “At the last term of court the Warren County Bank was changed to the North Western Bank, and under that name it re-opened last Monday. The bills of the old bank are redeemed when presented.” From this statement it appears that business under the old title had been suspended for a time. In March, 1860, the officers of the bank were Rasselas Brown, president; John F. Davis, Rasselas Brown, F. Hook, J.Y. James, Carter V. Kinnear, Lewis Arnett, Rufus P. King, Carlton B. Curtis, Andrew Hertzel, Joseph Hall, George V.N. Yates, Hosea Harmon, and Lewis F. Watson directors. In December of the same year it was published as a noteworthy fact that all the banks in Western Pennsylvania had suspended, with the exception of the old Bank of Pittsburgh and the North Western Bank of Warren. The further existence of the latter, however, was destined to be but brief in duration; for during the latter part of May, 1862, the North Western Bank closed its doors. A day or two later they were reopened and an effort was made to redeem home circulation, but after two days this plan was abandoned. The affairs of the bank were always fairly and honorably conducted in Warren. The trouble originated in New York city, where its finances were really controlled, and where they put into circulation more of the bank’s issue than could be taken care of at home.

Private Bankers. – In 1855 Augustus N. Lowry, of Jamestown, N.Y., established a private banking office in Warren. In December of the same year Chapin Hall, of Warren, also opened a similar establishment in Johnson’s building, under the title of “C. Hall’s Bank.” After the failure of the North Western Bank Messrs. Beecher & Coleman opened a banking house in their hardware store opposite the Carver House, and continued it until the organization of the First National Bank, when their banking business, which had proved very satisfactory to the people, was transferred to the new institution.

The First National Bank of Warren was organized at a meeting of stockholders held at the Carver House on Saturday, August 6, 1864. At this meeting the following named gentlemen were elected to serve as directors: Chapin Hall, Thomas Struthers, Carlton B. Curtis, William D. Brown, Lewis F. Watson, Rasselas Brown, James H. Eddy, S.J. Page, and M.F. Abel. Subsequently, during the same day, this board of directors elected Chapin Hall president, and M. Beecher, jr., cashier. The capital stock of the association was fixed at $100,000, in shares of $100 each. During the two months which immediately followed the date of organization, Messrs. Hall and Beecher were actively engaged in collecting subscriptions to the capital stock, investing the funds thus obtained in United States bonds, and attending to the many and varied details preparatory to opening for business. This event took place on Monday, October 10, 1864, in the middle room of Johnson’s Exchange block, Second street, George W. Tew, of Jamestown, N.Y., officiating as teller. The net profits for the first year amounted to $27,022.08, and the total business aggregated $17,655,749.62, being much larger than any year since, owing to the enormous sale of government bonds on which were allowed a large premium, and the immense purchase and sale of exchange during the great oil excitement of 1864-65. Until 1872 the annual sale of drafts averaged over $1,500,000, and the paper discounted per annum amounted to $1,000,000.

In April, 1871, the lot upon which stood the old building of hewn timbers, known as early as 1815 as Dunn’s Tavern, was purchased from John F. Davis and S. Burgess. The old structure (then the oldest building in the borough) was speedily removed, the work of erecting a new bank building commenced, and in October, 1872, the handsome edifice now owned by the association was completed at a cost, including grounds, of $16,000.

Of the officers who have been connected with this bank, Mr. Beecher has served as cashier from the very beginning of its existence down to the present time. Chapin Hall, its first president, continued in office until January 2, 1866, when, having sold his stock, he resigned, and was succeeded by L.D. Wetmore, esq. The latter continued until July 22, 1871, when he resigned, deeming himself ineligible by reason of holding the office of president judge of this judicial district. Boon Mead was then elected to fill the vacancy and continued as president until his death, which occurred August 19, 1880. His successor, James H. Eddy, was elected September 6, 1880, and held the position until July 4, 1885, when he resigned. Thereupon Hon. L.D. Wetmore was again elected president and has continued to discharge the duties of that office to the present writing. Other officers of the bank (1886) are as follows: George H. Ames, vice president; M. Beecher, cashier; F.K. Russell, teller; L.D. Wetmore, J.H. Eddy, R. Brown, G.H. Ames, M. Beecher, A.T. Scofield, and Mrs. Medora I. Mead, directors.

The Warren Savings Bank was chartered by an act of the State Legislature early in 1870. Those named as corporators were Lewis F. Watson, R. Brown, O.C. Allen, W.F. Dalrymple, Patrick Falconer, David Beatty, P.J. Trushel, J.J. Taylor, B. Nesmith, S.J. Page, O.H. Hunter, J.R. Clark, M. Waters, W.W. Wilbur, Richard E. Brown, A.D. Wood, J.H. Nichols, L.B. Hoffman, W.H. Shortt, John A. Jackson, and James Kinnear. On the 12th of March, 1870, an organization was effected by the election of Lewis F. Watson, O.H. Hunter, B. Nesmith, P. Falconer, O.C. Allen, P.J. Trushel, and W.H. Shortt, to serve as directors. Subsequently Lewis F. Watson was chosen president of the association, and he has continued to discharge the duties of that office to the present time. Business was commenced in the Watson & Davis block in April following, George E. Barger officiating as cashier. The latter served until February, 1872, when he resigned and was succeeded by A.J. Hazeltine, the present efficient incumbent of the office. The bank building now occupied was completed in 1876, at a cost of $10,500.

The officers serving in 1886 are as follows: Lewis F. Watson, president; Benjamin Nesmith, vice-president; A.J. Hazeltine, cashier; George B. Ensworth, teller; Lewis F. Watson, Benjamin Nesmith, James Clark, M.B. Dunham, O.H. Hunter, A.J. Hazeltine, and L.R. Freeman, directors.

The Citizens’ Saving Bank was organized March 8, 1870. Among its stockholders were S.P. Johnson, L.L. Lowry, Boon Mead, Orris Hall, J.A. Neill, E.B. Eldred, J.H. Mitchell, R. Brown, L.B. Hoffman, J.R. Clark, R.K. Russell, David McKelvy, G.H. Ames, L.D. Wetmore, F.A. Randall, and William D. Brown. Of the stockholders named Messrs. Johnson, Lowry, Hall, Neill, Clark, McKelvy, and Eldred were chosen directors. L.L. Lowry was elected president and H.R. Crowell cashier. This association was not chartered. Its place of business was one door west of the Carver House; capital $25,000; stockholders individually liable. About the first of May, 1875, a reorganization took place and the title of the institution was changed to the Citizens’ National Bank. Its business is transacted in the corner of the building known as the Carver House.

Manufacturing Interests. – Although Warren has never been noted as a manufacturing center of unusual importance – indeed, in this respect hardly up to the average of towns peopled chiefly, as this was, by New Englanders, New Yorkers, and their descendants – yet it has always had its quota of artisans skilled in their respective crafts. Among its first residents were blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, stone-masons, millwrights (those who could build, repair, and operate water-power grist-mills, saw-mills, etc.), wheelwrights, or those who made and repaired spinning-wheels, cabinet-makers, etc.

In 1829 the only mills within the limits of the town proper were two saw-mills and a grist-mill. One of these saw-mills had been built and operated by James Stewart for ten years or more prior to the date mentioned. The other saw-mill and the grist-mill were more recent acquisitions, having been built about the year 1828. Then followed a small tannery, and in 1833 the wool-carding and fulling-mills of Hawley & Parker were noted as in operation.

In the summer of 1851 the old structure known as Stewart’s Mills was remodeled by W.F. Kingsbury, for use as a foundry and machine shop. His facilities as well as his manufactured products at first were limited, the latter being mainly mill-irons, plow-points, and repairing. His iron was brought up the river on flat-boats, and the coal used was hauled from Dunkirk. Subsequently he began the manufacture of stoves. Still later Henry W. Brown became associated with him in the business, under the firm name of Kingsbury & Brown. In the fall of 1856 this firm completed a foundry, etc., at the lower part of the town, at a cost of $6,000. Not long after the completion of this building Mr. Kingsbury retired, when Mr. Brown formed a partnership with his brothers John and Thomas, and the business was continued under the title of Brown Bros. During the year 1864 John and Thomas Brown retired from the firm, when another brother, Joseph, became associated with Henry W., thus still keeping intact the firm name of Brown Bros. In 1865 the firm employed sixty men, and their manufactures consisted of steam engines, circular saw-mill and shingle-mill machinery, stoves, plows, castings to order, oil pipe and oil tools.

During the fall of 1868 the successors of Brown Bros. – Brown, Arnett & Co., or, in other words, Henry W. Brown, L.W. Arnett, and Thomas Struthers – completed the quite extensive brick buildings known at that time as the “Allegheny Iron Works.” The facilities were greatly increased thereby, and a still larger number of men were furnished employment. A few minor changes occurred during the next seven years, and in 1875 the works passed to the control of the firm since and now owning them – Struthers, Wells & Co.

The “Struthers Iron Works,” under this management, have gained a wide reputation for the excellence of their products, and their machinery for oil wells, saw-mills, and tanneries reaches all sections of the United States, and also finds its way into Cuba, Europe, Mexico, and South America. Their specialty, however, is oil and gas-well machinery, and the large share of orders assigned to this department has frequently forced the management to run overtime. They build engines with cylinders from five by ten to thirty by thirty-six inches, ranging in horse-power from six to three hundred and fifty, and make boilers of any size required. The works are one square in extent, and the principal buildings, which are constructed of brick, range from one to three stories in height. They are conveniently located for the reception and shipment of freight – near the junction of the Philadelphia & Erie, Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia, and the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh Railroads – and natural gas is utilized as fuel. Individually speaking, Thomas Struthers, J.C. Wells, A.H. McKelvy, and J.P. Jefferson are the men who control these works.

In September, 1856, the sash and door manufactory of B.P. Bell & Co., on the “Island,” was destroyed by fire. It had just been completed, and the losses sustained amounted to about $10,000.

In July, 1864, the editor of the Mail, in an article on home matters, said: “The grist-mill and old saw-mill, owned for several years by Arnett & Orr, between the town and island, have been torn away. A new grist-mill is being erected on the site of the old one, and a new saw-mill and factory will be erected where the old saw-mill was built so long ago as 1828. Arnett then (in 1828) came to Warren from Alsace, France, and worked on the mill-dam as a day laborer… Now he superintends the erection of two mills and a factory on the same ground as principal proprietor, besides running one end of the Warren County Court.” The new mills, and the sash, door and blind manufactory were completed in the summer of 1865, at a cost of $25,000. James Clark, of Warren, superintended the building of the saw-mill and “factory.” A few weeks after their completion – in September, 1865 – these mills were sold by Arnett & Orr (Mrs. Jane Orr) to Boon Mead & McDaniels, for about $50,000. The saw-mills, etc., are now owned and extensively operated by the Mr. Clark above mentioned, who for many years has been known as one of Warren’s most active and respected citizens.

The grist-mill, after some changes in ownership, passed to the control of George Ensworth, and while owned by him was burned in the conflagration which some four or five years ago again destroyed the “Exchange Row” on the south side of Water street. Upon its site was erected in 1882 the structure now known as the Warren Flouring Mills, by a company composed of George Ensworth (its present manager), S.P. Johnson, Andrew Hertzel, and M. Waters. The main building is of brick, 46 by 72 feet in dimensions, and four stories and basement in height, to which is added another structure, also of brick and the same height, covering grounds 32 by 32 feet in extent. The latest designed roller process for the production of the finest grades of flour, two run of stones for custom and feed work, etc., are among the equipments of this establishment. The machinery is propelled both by water and steam, an eighty horse-power Buckeye engine and a boiler of one hundred horse power being ready for instant use when the water supply fails. There are facilities for storing twenty thousand bushels of grain, and one hundred and fifty barrels of merchantable flour, branded as “Conewango,” “Snow Flake,” and “Patent,” can be manufactured per day.

On the island, in the near vicinity of Clark’s saw-mill, are located the buildings devoted to the manufacture of the world-famous remedy known as “Piso’s Consumption Cure.” About the year 1863 Mr. E.T. Hazeltine (then associated in business with Hon. S.P. Johnson, under the firm name of Hazeltine & Co., druggists, etc.), having learned of some remarkable cures being effected by this remedy, secured the formula and determined to manufacture the medicine for the general public. He began by preparing a few dozen bottles, and offering the same for sale at his drug store. The demand, when once its virtues became known, increased rapidly. An adjoining room was rented; then a room on the third floor of the Johnson block. In 1870 the business had grown so large that more room was necessary; hence a factory on the island was established, and the facilities increased to one thousand bottles per hour. Since 1872 Mr. Hazeltine has devoted his entire attention to the manufacture and sale of Piso’s Cure. Like all other proprietary medicines that have been made successful, its sale has been extended to every part of the United States and Canada by active agents and a constant and judicious use of the newspaper columns throughout the country. In 1880 a branch office and laboratory was established at Chelmsford, England, thirty miles from London. Mr. Hazeltine personally superintends every department of the business, and has invented machinery now capable of filling two thousand bottles per hour. He employs altogether about fifty people. He likewise distributes annually millions of almanacs which are printed in his establishment. During the past year an extensive brick building has been erected, the business demanding a still further enlargement in capacity, etc.; and doubtless the production will be greatly increased in the near future.

The very complete and extensive sash, door, and blind manufactory of L.D. Wetmore & Co. is situated in the lower part of the town, on and near High, Beech and Chestnut streets. The capacity is sufficient for the manufacture of 150 doors, 150 windows, 40 pairs of blinds, besides large quantities of siding and flooring, daily. Their mills, office, dry-kilns and lumber yards cover more than four acres of ground, the main building alone, which is fitted with the very best of modern machinery, being 192 by 65 feet in dimensions. The interior of this building is so arranged that no unnecessary handling of material is required; the rough lumber is passed in at one end of the mill, it goes from one machine to another, and finally comes out at the other end a finished and exact piece of workmanship. During the past year these mills consumed over 2,000,000 feet of lumber. Large shipments of manufactured products are annually made to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, etc., and intermediate points, besides supplying a considerable home demand. From fifty to sixty men are usually employed.

Besides H.A. Jamieson’s pail and tub factory, James P. Johnson’s furniture manufactory, Philip Leonhart’s brewery, the gas works, etc., there are other and varied minor manufacturing establishments in the borough, about the same as are found elsewhere, which the future chronicler of local events can unearth by turning to the directory and newspaper files of the present time.

MERCHANTS. – In preceding pages the names of nearly all who have been prominently identified with the mercantile interests of the town, from its first settlement until years quite recent, have been mentioned. As a rule the merchants of Warren, no matter in what department of trade they have been engaged, have proved to be men of conscience, conservative, fair, and honorable in their dealings. In the dry goods trade but three failures (one of them by a non-resident) have occurred in forty years, and a number of well-known citizens laid the foundation of large fortunes while so engaged; among them Lewis F. Watson, for twenty-one years a member of the firms of Watson & Davis, Watson & Rogers, Watson, Davis & Co., retiring in 1860; Benjamin Nesmith, of the firms of Arnett & Nesmith and Crandall & Nesmith for sixteen years, retiring in 1870; D.M. Gross, of the firm of D.M. Gross & Bro. for eleven years, retiring in 1884; M. Waters, as Hunter & Waters for four years, and O.H. Hunter, a member of the firms of Baker & Hunter, Hunter & Waters, Hunter & Mathews, O.H. Hunter, and O.H. Hunter & Son for forty-one years, and still in trade. The names of many others might be added, but those mentioned sufficiently illustrate the class of men who have heretofore represented the dry goods trade in Warren, in a manner quite satisfactory to themselves and their customers.

Mr. O.H. Hunter, the widely-known dry goods merchant above referred to, has had a longer continuous business experience than any other merchant in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and possibly in the State. More than forty-one years ago, when but a boy, he commenced business here. He has continued with varying success until the present, and now stands at the head of an extensive dry goods establishment, employing a large number of salesmen and women, the annual sales of which would be creditable to houses in any of our cities. He has seen Warren grow from a small hamlet to a populous town, containing among its residents a larger proportion of wealthy men than any other place of its size in Pennsylvania.

Among the other leading merchants now engaged in business in the borough are David Shear, a popular and heavy dealer in dry goods, etc., who with his brother succeeded an old firm in 1882; George L. Friday, C.P. Henry, George P. Orr & Co., Messner & Kopf, and J.J. Taylor & Co., grocers; Johnson & Siegfried, A.W. Morck, and Richard B. Stewart, druggists; Christian Smith, C.P. Northrop, and Offerlee & Son, boot and shoe dealers; Beecher & Copeland, and H.A. Jamieson & Co., dealers in hardware and oil-well supplies; Morck Bros., and Wyman & Davis, jewelers, etc.; George Ball, for many years an extensive dealer in clothing, custom work, etc.; Jacob Keller, J.K. Ronne, C. and J.F. Retterer, merchant tailors, and A.A. Davis & Co., books, stationery, etc.

PHYSICIANS. – Abraham Hazeltine and Thomas Huston were the first physicians to reside and practice here of whom we have authentic data. Both were here as early as 1828. The latter remained but two or three years. Dr. Hazeltine, however, continued for a decade or more. He as well as Abner Hazeltine, esq., the first lawyer to locate in Warren, were representatives of the family of that name, which for three-quarters of a century has been so prominently identified with the history of Warren, Pa., and Jamestown, N.Y., all being descendants of a Vermont family of sterling worth, which traces its origin back to the Pilgrim fathers and beyond.

Then came Dr. Parker from Vermont, about 1832, closely followed by Dr. Henry Sargent, a native of New Hampshire, in 1833. Next in order came Dr. D.V. Stranahan, a native of Columbia, Herkimer county, N.Y. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Sargent in 1833, graduated at the Fairfield Medical Institute in 1835, commenced to practice his profession in Warren in 1840, and died here May 19, 1873. Dr. G.A. Irvine died in Warren in February, 1867. It was then stated that he had resided in the county thirty years and in the borough twenty-five years. He was a skillful physician, an accomplished gentleman, the possessor of decided abilities, and enjoyed the respect and esteem of all who knew him.***

Dr. S.A. Robinson, it appears, who came to Warren in the fall of 1858, was its first homoeopathic practitioner. Dr. B.G. Keyes, of the same mode of practice, came in the autumn of 1859. Since that time many changes have occurred; but the trails of those who have come and gone are considered too intricate to be followed.

A County Medical Association was organized at Warren May 31, 1871, and a constitution, by-laws, medical code of ethics, and fee-bill adopted. The officers then elected were D.V. Stranahan, president; William V. Hazeltine and A.C. Blodget, vice-presidents; H.L. Bartholomew, recording and corresponding secretary; C.H. Smith, treasurer; J.L. Burroughs, H.C. Daveny, and R.C. Sloan, censors.

The physicians now in practice in the borough are William V. Hazeltine, W.M. Baker, H.L. Bartholomew, D.V. Stranahan, Richard B. Stewart, J.M. Davies (homoeopathic), W.S. Pierce, E.D. Preston (homoeopathic), F.C. Stranahan, and F.W. Whitcomb.

HOTELS, TAVERNS, ETC. – Daniel Jackson, sr., was the first to receive a license to keep an inn in the town of Warren, and when this privilege was granted him, in 1806, he was the only licensed “mine host” in the eastern half of the county. In the western half at the same time Giles White was the only one lawfully entitled to dispense liquors and entertain the public as a tavern-keeper. Jackson had no opposition in town until about 1815, when Henry Dunn opened a tavern on the site of the First National Bank, in a house built of hewn timbers. In 1819 the third hostelry was opened by Ebenezer Jackson (son of Daniel), in a frame house which stood on the Carver House corner.

Some five or six years later Archibald Tanner, having gained a firm footing here and amassed some surplus capital, erected a row of buildings – small frame houses mainly – extending from Daniel Jackson’s tavern to the site of a structure now occupied by F.R. Scott’s book-store and G.W. Cogswell’s meat market. On the grounds last described Tanner built a frame house intended for the entertainment of the public. It was the famous old “Mansion House,” and it was first opened for business about 1826, by William Pierpont. His successor a year or so later was Joseph Hackney. After various changes in its management, this stand finally passed to the control of Richard S. Orr. It was a low, rambling, story-and-a-half structure, with no pretensions to elegance; but “Dick” Orr, in southern parlance, made a “heap of money” in it, and it is said dispensed more “hard licker” within its walls than the combined output of all his predecessors and contemporaries in the business, from 1806 down to the time of his retirement. Old Guy Irvine, and other coarse-grained and belligerent lumbermen and raftsmen, frequently “made things howl” around the Mansion House; but the able and good-natured proprietor was equal to the emergency, and would soon bring order out of chaos. But few landlords on earth, probably, have ever been bothered with a customer more unreasonable, noisy, bulldozing and murderously inclined than were those of Warren with old Guy Irvine when he was loaded with “Old Monongahela.” By his own exertions and the driving of those in his employ he amassed considerable wealth in the lumber business, and his money gave him some standing in the community. Occasionally he was given to generous, commendable acts. Nevertheless he was naturally coarse and brutal, and withal seemed proud of the reputation he had gained – the power to intimidate and terrorize the timid and peacefully inclined when within reach of his arm. He has long since passed beyond the line dividing the known from the unknown; but his reputation, traits of character, etc., still linger on this side.

The Mansion House was closed as a tavern about 1856, when its lower rooms were utilized as stores, shops, etc. It was finally destroyed in the conflagration which swept that part of the street in March, 1869. Surmounting its low, broad roof was a quaint-looking bell-tower in which swung a bell. This bell was transferred to the “Tanner House” – the Falconer stone building nearly opposite the court-house – in 1859, when Editor Cowan indulged in some facetious reminiscences concerning it, as follows: “Who has not heard of the old Mansion House bell of Warren? For many long years it was the regulator of the town. The sleepy heads couldn’t get up in the morning till the bell rung, and sometimes not then. The cook couldn’t set the dinner on until she heard its familiar clang. The boys couldn’t quit work for meals until the bell turned on its old wooden wheel and told them the glad hour had come. If the clock ran down in the cold night it couldn’t be got right until the bell rung. Then it was all right again, for didn’t everybody go by the bell, and didn’t the bell go by Bennett, and didn’t Bennett go by the sun? Yea, verily, and let him dispute the tell-tale rattle of the old bell who dare! A watch wasn’t good for anything if it didn’t agree with the bell. A clock was forthwith dismantled if it varied a hair from that standard. If we had a jollification, felt merry and all got drunk, forthwith the old bell echoed our joy in merry peals from hill to hill. If the shrill, startling cry of fire went up from any part of town, forthwith the old Mansion House bell re-echoed the cry in tones that roused us like a signal gun.”

The building known as the Carver House was commenced in 1848, and was first opened for the entertainment of the public in March, 1849. It has ever since enjoyed the distinction of being termed the leading hotel of the town. John H. Hull, its first proprietor and manager, continued in charge until January 1, 1857, when he leased it or gave way to N. Eddy & Son. In February, 1859, Mr. Hill again assumed control, and remained until December, 1864, when M.W. Hull and J.B. Hall made their bows to the public as proprietors. An addition, sixty-five by forty feet, three stories in height, with an entrance on Hickory street, was commenced by Mr. Hull, its owner, in the summer of 1865. In April, 1867, J.B. Hall, having purchased the interest of his partner, M.W. Hull, became sole proprietor. Williams & Scott assumed control in September, 1871, and in September, 1873, Myron Waters became the owner of the property by the payment of $20,000. Of the changes in ownership to this time we have no knowledge; hence, where the term proprietor is used, as above, it refers to those who presided over its management, either as lessees or owners. Mr. Waters improved and enlarged the building to a great extent, and while owned by him it was leased and managed by different parties until about 1882, when Mrs. C.W. King, its present proprietress, became the owner by purchase. Under her control, assisted by her son the ever gentlemanly George W., and B.H. Johnson, the active, watchful manager, the Carver House has gained an enviable reputation far and near. Its furnishings are first class, and kept scrupulously clean and in order. Its table d’hote is always well spread with tempting viands, game, fruits and vegetables in season, and last but not least, its employees are quiet, polite, and prompt in the performance of their duties.

The Exchange Hotel, under the management of George H. Leonhart, a life-long and highly respected citizen of the county, and the Warren House, H. Buss, proprietor, are the only hotels, other than the Carver House, in the business part of the town. The buildings occupied are of brick, comparatively new, well appointed throughout, and both are extensively patronized.

SECRET ASSOCIATIONS. – North Star Lodge No. 241, F. and A.M., was chartered December 3, 1849. Its first principal officers were Joseph Y. James, W.M.; Henry Sergent, S.W.; Gilman Merrill, J.W. Those now officiating in these positions are James Cable, W.M.; Nelson Moore, S.W.; and Albert W. Ryan, J.W. The lodge has a present membership of about one hundred and fifty.

Occidental H.R.A., Chapter No. 235, was instituted August 17, 1871, with the following officers: Henry S. Getz, M.E.H.P.; D.M. Williams, king; George Hazeltine, scribe; John H. Hull, treasurer; Stephen Carver, secretary. The present officers are Nelson Moore, M.E.H.P.; Willis M. Baker, K.; Albert W. Ryan, scribe; Andrew Hertzel, treasurer; Robert W. Teese, secretary. Its members are about one hundred in number.

Warren Commandery No. 63, K.T., was organized May 27, 1885. The first officers were Caleb C. Thompson, E.C.; Clarence E. Corbett, generalissimo; John M. Clapp, captain-general; O.W. Beatty, treasurer; George L. Friday, recorder. Those now serving are Clarence E. Corbett, E.C.; Nelson Moore, G.; George L. Friday, C.G.; O.W. Beatty, treasurer; William A. Talbott, recorder. The knights are about seventy in number.

Warren Lodge No. 339, I.O.O.F., was organized in a hall which then included part of the third story of the Carver House, February 27, 1849. The first officers were John A. Hall, N.G.; J. Warren Fletcher, V.G.; A.J. Davis, secretary, and Stephen Carver, treasurer. The lodge started with a membership (including charter members and those initiated during the first meeting) of about twenty-five. Their hall was dedicated June 26, 1851. In 1852-53 there were nearly two hundred members in good standing. Thereafter for some years many seem to have become lukewarm in Odd Fellowship and gradually dropped out. Of late, however, the membership has increased, and now numbers about one hundred and forty. To the old steadfast members of this lodge is due the credit of establishing the Oakland Cemetery, and hastening the building of the suspension bridge. The present officers are A.M. Rogers, N.G.; Frank Werey, V.G.; A.S. Dalrymple, secretary; P.E. Sonne, assistant secretary; George H. Ames, treasurer; R.P. King, C.C. Thompson, and J.P. Johnson, trustees.

Kossuth Encampment No. 98 was instituted in 1850. Its present officers are F.K. Johnson, C.P.; J.P. Johnson, H.P.; S.E. Walker, S.M.; Frank Werey, J.W.; Dwight Cowan, scribe; George H. Ames, treasurer; R.P. King, W.C. Allan, and C.C. Thompson, trustees.

Warren Lodge No. 481, K. of P., was instituted April 21, 1882, by Thomas G. Sample, D.D.G.C. The officers first installed were John C. Fuelhart, P.C.; Harrison Allen, C.C.; George H. Leonhart, V.C.; Christian Arnold, P.; V. Meck, M. at A.; C.A. Richardson, K. of R. & S.; Peter Greenlund, M. of F.; E.F. Hodges, M. of E.; George Bradenbaugh, I.G.; A. Carroll, O.G.; G.C. James, C.P. Northrop, and John Graham, trustees. J.C. Fuelhart, who died in November, 1885, was the first representative to the grand lodge. The present officers are Richard B. Stewart, P.C.; S.J. Martin, C.C.; A.J. Heibel, P.; John H. Sandstrom, M. at A.; E.J. Phillips, I.G.; Jacob Hartman, O.G.; Peter Greenlund, M. of E.; J.R. Bairstow, M. of F.; W. Corwin, K. of R. & S.; George Ball, John H. Sandstrom, and A. Mull, trustees. L.T. Bishop was the last representative at the grand lodge and was then elected grand inner guard. On the 10th of August, 1886, Uniform Rank No. 24, K. of P., was instituted in Warren Lodge, of which L.T. Bishop is the chief officer. It has thirty-two members.

Eben N. Ford Post No. 336, Dept. of Pa., G.A.R., was organized with twenty-seven charter members June 24, 1883. The first officers were G.W. Kinnear, commander; D.W.C. James, S.V.C.; John Rowland, J.V.C.; George W. Cogswell, surgeon; Fred Baltzinger, Q.M.; C.A. Waters, O. of D.; W.H. Taylor, adjt.; S.M. Cogsweil, Q.M.S.; C.A. Still, sergt-maj.; Theodore Bach, chaplain; James A. Mair, O. of G.

The members now in good standing are one hundred and sixty-three in number. They have pleasant rooms, where regular meetings are held every Thursday evening. The members of this post are noted for their thorough and very appropriate manner of annually observing Decoration Day, also for their promptness in extending a helping hand to needy comrades and their families. Charity, however, is one of the cardinal principles upon which the grand association is built. None respect a soldier’s reputation or revere his memory as do soldiers, and none are so prompt to respond to an appeal for aid from an unfortunate comrade as they, no matter whether the giver or recipient belongs to the Grand Army or not. The ties, thoughts, and impulses born in bivouac, on the march, or on the field of battle are beyond the ken, the comprehension of simple mortals whose cheeks have never been fanned by an enemy’s gun or its missiles.

The present officers of the post are S.H. Davis, commander; Ameriah Cook, S.V.C.; John Rowland, J.V.C.; Dr. H.L. Bartholomew, surgeon; W.J. Alexander, chaplain; W.H. Taylor, adjutant; J.J. Leonhart, quartermaster; John Townley, O. of D.; R.H. Smith, O. of G.; C.A. Waters, sergt.-maj.; John Knupp, Q.M.-sergt.

Laban Lodge No. 52, K. of H., named in honor of Laban Hazeltine, the originator of the lodge, was organized March 4, 1875. The officers then installed were Laban Hazeltine, dictator; J.H. Bowman, V.D.; Monroe Hall, ass’t D.; W.P. Lightner, reporter; P.J. Bayer, financial reporter; J.C. Wells, treasurer; Henry P. Hunter, sentinel; A. Merrill, guide. This lodge has paid out, to the present writing, the sum of $12,000, for the benefit of widows and orphans of deceased members. The present members are about sixty in number, of whom the following are serving as officers: C.T. Boberg, D.; J.J. Arnold, V.D.; W.S. Leffard, R.; J. Danforth, F.R.; F.K. Russell, treasurer; Dr. W.M. Baker, examining physician.

Besides the associations above named there are several others in Warren of varied titles and aims, not of much importance, however, to the general reader.

MILITARY COMPANY. – Company I, of the Sixteenth Regiment N.G. State of Pennsylvania, we had nearly forgotten. It is composed of an exceptionally fine-looking body of men, and completely uniformed and equipped, can be placed in line ready for active service at thirty minutes’ notice. Its officers are John M. Siegfried, captain; F.M. Knapp, first lieutenant; George H. Hamilton, second lieutenant. Of its civil officers, George N. Frazine is president; Homer J. Muse, secretary; F.M. Knapp, treasurer.

CEMETERIES, ETC. – At the dedication of Oakland Cemetery, October 12, 1863, Hon. S.P. Johnson delivered the principal address. His somewhat lengthy article indicated much thought and research, and was considered to be quite correct; hence, from it we have selected the following paragraphs. We do not quote the judge literally, but close enough to render necessary the use of quotation marks:

“For several years after the first settlement of Warren, tradition furnishes no history of schools, places of holding religious worship, or burial grounds. No common place of burial had been selected, yet scattered graves were visible along the river side. Some time prior to 1810, however, a retired acre had been selected and set apart on the farm of Daniel Jackson as a habitation for the dead. Here the first settler in Warren, John Gilson, was laid March 12, 1811; but to the grief of his descendants his location is lost. In death as in life, he has around him many of his contemporaries, among them Jackson, Dougherty, McKinney, and Henry Dunn. Here were interred the dead from Warren and the surrounding country, down to 1823; but no head-stones or monuments were erected to mark their several resting places. The first memorial placed there was in 1839, at the grave of Sidney N. Berry. It consists of the stone by which he was killed at the Warren bridge, and, in the true spirit of monumental history, contains a record of that event. This yard is still used by several families on both sides of the Conewango, and a number of grave-stones have since been erected.

“In the spring of 1823 two lots in the town plot, near the bank of the Conewango, containing two-thirds of an acre, were selected and purchased by the people of Warren for a burial ground. It was then sufficiently rural and remote from the actual residences of the few settlers who lived along the river bank. In April of that year a portion of this ground was hurriedly cleared off to make room for the last tenement of its first tenant, Mrs. Patience, widow of John Gilson, who died April 4 of that year, aged seventy years; the pioneer of the dead to this new settlement, as she had been to the living in the local history of Warren.

“The ground had been purchased by subscription, and a ‘bee’ was made to clear it. Among the workers was one Eli Granger, an early settler, and prior to 1807 one of the proprietors of the property afterwards known as Hook’s Mill. In a fit of simulated merriment he selected a spot under a hickory in the northwest corner, where he desired to be buried, and especially charged Judge Hackney and Zachariah Eddy with the execution of this request. A few weeks later he was drowned in the Conewango, and was buried in his chosen spot, the second body deposited in the new ground.

“As no record of interments was kept, it is impossible to ascertain after the lapse of so many years the date or order of burials there, except as indicated by the few head-stones erected by surviving friends, in spite of the absence of both marble and marble-cutters.

“Guided by these primitive monuments, it is ascertained that the body of Caleb Wallace, shot by Jacob Hook, on the 25th day of March, 1824, was the next one there deposited. A large native stone at the head of his grave has been rehearsing that melancholy occurrence for nearly forty years to all the passers-by, and is yet read by many with unabated interest.

“Next in the order of deceased adults is Margaretta, wife of Archibald Tanner, who died January 28, 1825, aged twenty-five years; and next to her in time, Climena, the wife of David Mead, aged twenty-four years. Harvey Jones, who died May 1, 1826, aged forty-three, is the next whose record is preserved; and after him Sarah D., the wife of Dr. H.S. Newman, who died July 30, 1827. The inscriptions recording these deaths were all cut upon rude stones native to the soil.

“During the same five years two similar memorials of parental affection, with tender and touching inscriptions, were placed over the graves of two infants – one of Dr. Newman, close to its loving mother, and the other of Ethan and Matilda Owen. Close beside the latter, whose age was but five weeks, is a marble stone that records the death of John Owen, in 1843, a Revolutionary soldier, aged one hundred and seven years ten months and eight days, thus presenting in strong contrast the extremes of age at which the insatiate archer seeks his prey in the same family.

“In about thirty years this two-thirds of an acre became filled so that it should have been entirely abandoned, when the two lots adjoining on the west were appropriated to burial purposes. About this time (1853) the idea of procuring new ground beyond the borough limits was generally adopted. Hence, for ten years the question was held in suspense; at one time the town council took the enterprise in hand, but after three years it came to naught – died stillborn. In 1860 a company of gentlemen were incorporated by the court of this county, called the ‘Warren Cemetery Company.’ By this company, as well as by the town council and many private citizens whose zeal and public spirit would give the project no rest, every hill and dale, every mountain top and valley for miles around Warren was traversed, examined, and discussed. Indeed, upon the hill north of Warren considerable work was done, to make it accessible and adapt it to the purpose, by Mr. Tanner.

“In this, as in most other public improvements affecting the interests of Warren, Mr. Tanner was the pioneer. But with his decease, and burial upon his own chosen ground, that enterprise terminated.”

At length Warren Lodge No. 339, I.O.O.F., stepped to the front, and as a result “Oakland Cemetery” was dedicated October 12, 1863. It has since been beautified with a display of much good taste, and contains many handsome monuments. Nearly all of the bodies interred in the grounds opened for such purposes in 1823 have since been transferred to “Oakland.”

The Odd Fellows purchased forty-eight acres from Thomas Struthers, May 14, 1863, for the sum of $2,100; the lands being deeded to John F. Davis, Charles S. Hessel, S.V. Davis, and their successors “in trust.” Soon after two or three acres were purchased from the Biddle estate for a necessary frontage. The Odd Fellows began to improve the grounds in July, 1863. After the dedication lots were taken rapidly, and by the 1st of May following $900 had been returned to their treasury. About 1873-74 fifteen acres more were added. Thus this beautiful plot now contains nearly seventy acres. The soil is dry, underlaid by gravel.

The Catholics of this parish also have beautiful and extensive burial grounds here immediately adjoining “Oakland.”

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. – The First Presbyterian Church. – There was no religious worship held statedly in Warren previous to the year 1819. Occasionally Methodist itinerant preachers had held services at various places in the town and vicinity; but there was no religious organization of any kind in the place. In 1819, Abner – afterward Judge – Hazeltine took up his residence in Warren. He had been in the habit of regularly attending worship at his former home in Vermont in the Congregational Church, and finding a number of persons here who had been accustomed to a similar attendance either upon Congregational or Presbyterian service in their old homes, he invited them to attend worship at his house every Sabbath, when he would read them a sermon. His invitation was accepted, and thereafter such services were held regularly until the school-house was built, on the site now occupied by the court-house, when the members of this little band removed their place of worship into the new building.

In 1822 the Rev. Amos Chase, a missionary under the Presbytery of Erie, came, and formed out of this nucleus what was termed the First Presbyterian Church of Warren. It consisted originally of nine members – viz., Abner Hazeltine and Polly his wife, Colonel J.M. Berry and Eunice his wife, Samuel Oldham – who was in the employ of the Pittsburgh Synod as teacher of the Indians at Cornplanter town – John Andrews, Mrs. Rose Eddy, Mrs. Margaret Hackney, and Mrs. Amelia Winter, all of whom except the last-named were received by letter. Only five of these members lived in Warren – John Andrews, Abner Hazeltine and wife, Mrs. Hackney, and Mrs. Eddy. Mrs. Winter resided at what is now North Warren, on a part of the farm now occupied by the asylum for the insane; Colonel Berry and wife lived at Irvine’s Mills, and Mr. Oldham at Cornplanter, fourteen miles up the river. This organization was not properly a church, having only one officer, a secretary, Abner Hazeltine, who remained in that position until he removed from Warren in 1823. The society was reported to the Presbytery of Erie, however, and enrolled under its care, and supplied now and then with preaching. In 1824 the organization was completed by the election of two elders, Nathaniel Sill and Colonel Berry. The first pastor was the Rev. Nathan Harned, who had been regularly educated for the ministry in the Baptist Church, but upon changing his doctrinal views and uniting with the Presbyterian Church, had been licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. On the 20th of April, 1825, he was ordained and installed as pastor of the churches of Sugar Grove, Brokenstraw, and Warren, at a meeting of the Presbytery which was held at Warren. On this occasion the Rev. Samuel Tait preached the sermon, and the Rev. Amos Chase made the ordaining prayer and gave the charges to both pastor and people. Mr. Harned must have been deemed rather impulsive by Mr. Chase, for in his charge the latter emphatically exclaimed: “Be discreet, you Nathan! I charge you, be discreet.” The extent and laboriousness of this field made it necessary for this relation, harmonious though it was, to be dissolved in the following May. During his brief ministry, however, Mr. Harned had organized a Sabbath-school – a work in which he was greatly assisted by Cyrus Tanner and Colonel Berry. In 1829 what was known as “the accommodation plan” was adopted by the church. The congregation was made up in great part of those who had been Congregationalists, and naturally a desire was entertained for the ecclesiastical government to which they had been accustomed; and in deference to their wishes this plan was adopted, in which Congregational and Presbyterian forms were combined. The articles were drawn up by Thomas Struthers, esq., at the request of Nathaniel Sill, Colonel Berry, and others. The pulpit was supplied by ministers who were engaged temporarily to fill it, and in their absence by laymen who read sermons. Under this form of government Silas Lacy and John Hackney were made deacons in 1829, and the membership increased until in 1831 it numbered twenty-six persons. In that year a Rev. Mr. Coleman, of the Congregational persuasion, officiated for a short time; and it was during his term of service that, at the solicitation of Cyrus Tanner, Rev. Samuel Orton, the then noted evangelist, visited the church in company with the Rev. Mr. Jones, of Mayville, N.Y., and held continuous services for two weeks. The result of this revival was most gratifying. Forty-two members were added to the church, and immediately after, as a further result, the project of building a house of worship was started, and finally carried out. It was a wooden structure, surmounted by a cupola and bell, containing four pews and forty-six slips, besides a gallery on three sides, and a basement. The church was entered through a vestibule running the entire width of the church, reached from the outside by a flight of steps. The seats faced the two entrance doors, between which stood the pulpit, quite high, after the fashion of that day, and surrounded on three sides by a space inclosed by a low railing. The building occupied the same site covered by the present Presbyterian Church. The credit of pushing along this work is officially ascribed to Archibald Tanner. The frame was erected by George Snapp, and the structure finished by Archibald Skinner, almost without aid. To this fact it is no doubt owing that, although the church was begun in 1831, it was not dedicated until the early winter of 1833. At this time the Rev. John McNair had recently succeeded Mr. Stone, and by him the dedication was performed. The trustees of the property were Robert Miles, Warren L. Adams, and Samuel Graham. The expense of building the house of worship was met by the sale of pews and slips. In 1835 a call was extended to Rev. Absalom McCready, a member of the Presbytery of Erie, to succeed Mr. McNair. Mr. McCready began at once upon the work of the new position, though he did not officially accept the call until 1837, on the 12th of April of which year he was duly installed. In the mean time the church had become dissatisfied with the “accommodation plan,” resulting as it did in interminable contentions, and in 1836 it was abandoned and the association was reorganized as a Presbyterian Church, and the reorganization approved by the Presbytery at a meeting held in Meadville on the 11th of May. In this reorganization the elders elect were Silas Lacy and John Hackney, the former of whom lived at Sheffield, fifteen miles away, and who walked that distance to attend divine worship on Sabbath. In October, 1839, the pastoral relation of Mr. McCready with the church having been dissolved, the Rev. E.C. McKinney was procured as stated supply. The month following, an election for an additional elder was held; but as no candidate received a majority of votes cast, it was postponed indefinitely. The existing session, though small, was not idle, for at a single meeting five cases for discipline were presented: Two for intemperance, one for dancing, and two for neglect of ordinances. In the early history of the church, both before and after this date, the discipline was more rigidly enforced than now, and that was made matter of discipline which is now tolerated. In 1841 Mr. McKinney was succeeded by the Rev. Hiram Eddy, as stated supply for one year, at a salary of $500. Mr. Eddy was connected with the Congregational Association of Connecticut, but upon the request of the church unhesitatingly united with the Presbytery of Erie. On the 18th of January following the church adopted a constitution, under which, upon application of a committee, consisting of Lansing Wetmore and S.P. Johnson, it was duly incorporated by the Court of Common Pleas for Warren county, on the 23d of March, 1842. The trustees named in this instrument were Lansing Wetmore, T.F. Parker, Archibald Tanner, J.D. Summerton, and Aaron S. Parmlee. On the 16th of July following this board was organized by the election of Dr. T.F. Parker as president, and A.S. Parmlee as clerk. During the fall of 1842 the church was visited with a fruitful revival, which resulted in the addition to it of fifty-three members, and an increased interest in the work. An election for elders soon after the arrival of Mr. Eddy resulted in the choice of Isaac S. Eddy, Archibald Tanner, and Eben Ewell; and another, immediately after the revival, in that of James Osgood and Lansing Wetmore.

The Rev. John Smith, the successor of Mr. Eddy, was installed on the 28th of January, 1846. Within two years, at his own request, the pastoral relation was dissolved, August 11, 1847. At this time the Rev. Miles T. Merwin was pastor of the church at Irvine, and was invited to supply the pulpit of this church in connection with his own, which he did, residing at Warren and preaching every Sabbath morning. While he officiated, the Sabbath-school, which, it has been said, “had died out from lack of wood and superintendents,” was revived, the new superintendent being E. Cowan, and its teachers being all women. During Mr. Merwin’s ministry the records of the church, session, and trustee books and papers concerning the building of the church and sale of pews, were irrecoverably lost. At a congregational meeting held April 1, 1850, it was resolved “That the Rev. John Sailor be invited to abide with and preach for us a year, in consideration of which the trustees be recommended to assume and promise to pay him $400 a year – provided a sufficient sum shall be raised upon subscription to justify their doing so.” Mr. Sailor was thereupon engaged in accordance with this resolution. His ministry of five years was eventful, and was disturbed by a temporary schism – if such a phrase be admissible – concerning the ownership and right of disposition of pews and slips, which seriously affected the growth of the church, and the Christian zeal of the members of the community.

On the 29th of August, 1855, at his own request, Mr. Sailor was dismissed from the pastorate, though he continued to occupy the pulpit for some time. After his departure the pulpit was long supplied by occasional preaching or the reading of a sermon by one of the lay members.

On the 5th of February, 1856, a call was made out to the Rev. C.L. Hequembourg, who had been dismissed from the Ontario (new school) Presbytery, and had not united with any other. At this time it was said that he intended to unite with the presbytery with which this church was connected, and he began his pastoral duties here when this was the prevalent impression. The bitterness of feeling engendered between the members of the church in former years had not, apparently, abated, and the new pastor was confronted with unpleasant difficulties in the way of harmony. This bitterness was not allayed by his sermons and discourses, if record and tradition may be trusted, for he was accused of preaching and avowing heretical opinions, which elicited explicit and determined protests from members of the church and session. The matter ended in litigation, the circumstances of which are too multifarious to be detailed here. It is stated that the unfortunate division of the church was due far more to the unhappy occurrences of other days than to the undue independence of Mr. Hequembourg, who was a man of high scholarship and warm heart. His successor in the pastorate was Rev. Robert Taylor. His relations with the church were most pleasant and profitable, though they were cut short in about one year, as Mr. Taylor was dismissed upon his own request, to accept another call, on the 26th of September, 1862. His successor, the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, was invited on the 29th of July, 1863, to supply the pulpit for one year, and received a regular call to become the pastor on the 11th of January, 1864, in consequence of which and his acceptance he was installed on the 12th of May, 1864. This promising relation was cut short by the unhappy deposition of Dr. Hamilton from the gospel ministry. For about two years the church was then without a pastor, during which it was supplied by several ministers. The project of building a new church had been pushed forward for several years, and in this interim H.A. Jamieson was appointed by the trustees to solicit subscriptions for that purpose. On the 21st of March, 1866, a resolution was passed by the trustees “that a new church edifice be built the present season, and that the plan, submitted by S.G. Hoxie be adopted.” On the 29th of the following August the corner-stone of the present edifice was laid. A week previous to this resolution a call had been extended to the Rev. W.A. Rankin, which was allowed to lie for a time in his hands for consideration, though in the mean time he was engaged to supply the pulpit and began his labors on the 1st of May, 1866. He subsequently accepted the call and served the church until his successor, the present pastor, Rev. Perry S. Allen, was called. Mr. Allen was installed on the 7th of May, 1883. During the early part of Mr. Rankin’s pastorate the church edifice was completed at a cost of $26,000 (dedicated May 23, 1867), and a parsonage purchased and a fine pipe organ procured.

At the installation of the Rev. Perry S. Allen the Rev. W.A. Rankin preached the sermon, the Rev. E.I. Davies, of Pittsfield, conducted the installation ceremony, the Rev. Edward Bryan, of Bradford, Pa., delivered the charge to the pastor, and the Rev. L.H. Gilleland, of Tidioute, delivered the charge to the people. During this pastorate, which still continues, the church has grown in numbers and liberality and efficiency. During these four and a half years there have been added to the roll of the church 194 members. There have been contributed by the church $21,777 for payment of debts, repairs, and current expenses, and $14,533 for the boards and benevolent objects. The church stands second in the Presbytery of Erie in its benevolence. The present officers are as follows:

Elders, Francis Henry, Elisha Thomas, A.H. McKelvy, H.S. Thomas, Prof. A.B. Miller, Hon. Wilton M. Lindsey, and Judge William D. Brown; trustees, Judge S.P. Johnson, W.C. Copeland, J.P. Jefferson, Francis Henry, Judge William D. Brown; superintendent of the Sabbath-school, Hon. Wilton M. Lindsey; assistant superintendent, Dr. J.H. Jenkins; superintendent of the primary department, Mrs. William D. Brown; secretary of the Sabbath-school, J.P. Jefferson; assistant secretary, John Danforth; librarian, Hiram Eddy; assistant librarians, Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Eichenberg; treasurer, Mrs. James Kitchen; chorister, Dr. Joel Danforth.

Connected with the church are two missionary societies which reflect great credit upon the spirit of the members – the Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society, and the Young Ladies’ Missionary Society.

The present value of the church property is estimated as follows: Church edifice and lot, $20,000; parsonage, $5,000; sexton’s house, $1,000.

The First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Warren. – It is difficult to prepare a complete history of the Lutheran Church at this place, from the fact that the early records of the congregation have been lost or misplaced; and, as most of the members who participated in the organization have gone to their eternal rest, only a few dates and facts have been secured. About the year 1830 a number of German Lutherans immigrated into this country from Alsace and Bavaria, Germany. This small number constituted the nucleus of the present large and flourishing organization. Through the influence of these early German settlers many of their friends were induced to come into this country, and to this county. As these Lutherans were unable to secure the services of a Lutheran pastor, a number were led to abandon the faith of their ancestors, and connected themselves with the Evangelical denomination, or German Methodists. Those who remained convened in private houses and school-houses, and worshiped God as they had been taught from childhood in their native land. Among the early German settlers and organizers of the Lutheran Church were Messrs. Messner, Hertzel, Schirk, Knopp, and Schuler. Thus German services were conducted by different individuals in private families and in school-houses up to the year 1839, when the first German Lutheran minister, Rev. David Keil, occasionally visited and preached for these people. At first he served only as a supply, but afterwards more regularly until 1842, when he was succeeded by Rev. Brumbacher, who became a regular pastor of this congregation, residing among his people and preaching regularly in school-houses until 1845, when he resigned the pastorate.

The next pastor was Rev. Mr. Wucherer, who assumed the pastoral charge of this congregation in 1846. During his administration the first house of worship was erected and solemnly dedicated to the services of the Triune God, costing about $1,000. It is now occupied by the Swedish Lutheran people. He resigned this field of labor in 1848. In 1849 Rev. Julius Zoller took charge of the congregation and preached regularly about three years, and then was succeeded by Rev. Conrad Kuehn in 1852, who was the first pastor belonging to some regular synodical body. He served this people about three years. After him came Rev. Mr. Browneck in the year 1855, and after a service of about three years he resigned this pastorate.

In the year 1859 Rev. Henry Weicksel became pastor. Under his ministry the congregation united with the Pittsburgh Synod. He resigned in 1863.

The Sunday-school was first organized in the year 1860.

The next pastor was Rev. A.L. Benze. He assumed the pastoral charge of the congregation in June, 1864. During his administration the new, commodious, and handsome brick church was erected and dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. Also a parsonage was erected along-side of the church, on a separate lot. These lots and buildings cost about $20,000. After a faithful and self-sacrificing service of seven years and seven months he left this pastorate. His immediate successor was Rev. G.A. Bruegel, who took charge of the congregation on the 1st of July, 1872. Under his pastoral care English services were introduced and an English Sunday-school organized. He resigned this charge May 5, 1875. His immediate successor was Rev. F.C.H. Lampe, who assumed his office here on the 19th of September, 1875, and continued to serve this people until the beginning of 1879. During his ministry an addition was built to the parsonage, involving an expense of $1,000. In the spring of 1879 Rev. G.A. Wenzel became pastor, and left in the spring of 1881, having served two years. On the 3d of September, 1881, Rev. P. Doerr became pastor of this congregation, and has labored in the field to the present time. Services are conducted in the German and English languages. The membership numbers between 400 and 500 communicants. The Sunday-school numbers 200 scholars, twenty-one teachers, and seven officers. The instruction in the Sunday-school is almost exclusively English. Two active organizations exist in the congregation – The Ladies’ Society and the Young People’s Aid Society. Various improvements have been made recently. A sawed-stone walk was laid around the church property, a wrought-iron fence built, a pipe-organ placed in the church and the church beautifully frescoed, church and parsonage painted, and other improvements made – all involving an expense of over $2,500. In all the church work the members have shown an untiring zeal, activity, and self-sacrifice. The Lutheran Church, though not the oldest, has still become numerically one of the largest congregations of Warren, and our public services are well attended. The officers at present are Rev. P. Doerr, president ex officio; Jacob Rieg, secretary; C. Schelhamer, treasurer. The remaining members of the church council are Charles Bartch, J.P. Hanson, Albert Leonhart, Louis Bauer, and William Highhouse.

The Methodist Episcopal Church. – In 1806 Rev. R.R. Roberts, afterward elected bishop, visited Warren and other portions of Warren county, and was without doubt the first Methodist minister that preached the gospel in this county. In 1812 Rev. Jacob Young, presiding elder of the Ohio District, held a quarterly meeting on the banks of the Conewango, a short distance above the village of Warren; at this meeting Bishop McKendrie was present, and preached with great eloquence and power. In 1817 Rev. Ira Eddy preached a sermon on the banks of the Allegheny River, two or three miles below Warren, and quite a revival of religion took place, and a class was formed consisting of Joseph Mead and wife, Mr. Owen and wife, Martin Reese, wife and mother, Benjamin Mead and David Mead. Soon after this class was increased to twenty-six members. Of this number the venerable Benjamin Mead is the sole survivor; a hale man of ninety-one years, who through all these years has led an exemplary Christian life. In 1830 the Rev. James Gilmore was appointed to Youngsville charge, and, coming to Warren, found the small class spoken of above still worshiping below the village; but there was no Methodist preaching in the village. During the year an extensive reformation occurred in Warren and the class, numbering some seventy members, was transferred to the village; and this was the first organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the new borough of Warren. Until the church was built they held divine worship in the village school-house. The charter of the present church is dated in January, 1836, and recites that at a meeting of the male members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Warren Station, borough of Warren, Pa., pursuant to notice, in the east wing of the court-house on Monday, the 5th of October, 1835, Rev. Samuel Ayres in the chair and John P. Osmer secretary, it was resolved, on motion, to appoint a committee to draw up a charter to be submitted for approval to the attorney-general of Pennsylvania, according to the provisions of an act of the Assembly of April 6, 1791, and that the committee consisted of Rev. Samuel Ayres, William L. Snyder, and Benjamin Bartholomew. The style of the charter is “the Methodist Episcopal Church of Warren Station, borough of Warren, Pennsylvania.” By its provisions the trustees of the church – viz., John Andrews, Albinus Stebbins, Joseph Mead, James Morrison, Robert Arthurs, Martin Reese, and Judah L. Spencer, and their successors – were to have all the care and management of all the property of the church, real and personal. The early history of the church, subsequent to the dedication of the first building in 1833, cannot better be given than in the words of the recent pastor, Rev. W.W. Painter, as they appeared in a sermon which he preached upon the occasion of the removal from that church fifty-two years later (May 24, 1885), and with a few introductory remarks in the Warren Mail of the following week. This article reads as follows:

“Another old landmark is gone, or is going. The old M.E. Church edifice was vacated last week, and will soon be torn down to give place to a new and larger house of worship. It has done its work, and now goes into the past after a service of half a century. On Sunday of last week, May 24, Rev. W.W. Painter preached the last sermon in the old church and reviewed the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Warren, most of which was published in the Ledger. He showed when this church was dedicated, fifty-two years ago, the M.E. Church in the United States had 2,265 ministers, and 638,787 members. In 1884 it had 12,900 ministers, and 1,800,000 members. Of this church he said:

“‘Great are the changes in any church in a period of fifty-two years. Probably not in many churches have the changes been so great as in this church in Warren. Not one of those who were members of this society when this church edifice was dedicated in 1833 is a member of this society to-day. Mrs. Jane Waters, the oldest member of the society at present, united with it four years subsequent to 1833, when S. Gregg was the pastor. Benjamin Mead, for many years a member of this church, and one of the first members of the M.E. Church in Warren county, at the time this house was built was a member of a society organized a few miles west of Warren at a place then known by the name of Brokenstraw. E.P. Steadman was the pastor, and Joseph Mead, James Morrison, and Martin Reese were the trustees who superintended the erection of this house of worship.

“From what we can learn, the little band who composed this society when this edifice was erected, toiled hard and sacrificed nobly, some of them giving more than one-tenth of what they had of this world’s goods. Even then they could not have succeeded had it not been for the liberal assistance of those outside of the church membership. They labored nobly and well, and we have entered into their labors. The time has come for us to show ourselves worthy to be their successors in the erection of a new church edifice; a house of worship not only for ourselves, but for our children and all who shall come after us to worship within its walls. A precious privilege I trust we shall esteem it, to bring to a speedy and successful completion this now prospective house of worship. May the same spirit of self-sacrifice that actuated that little society fifty-two years ago prompt us to give and work and pray until we shall together rejoice in the success that God gives to every self-sacrificing, believing worker in his vineyard!

“It is a source of regret to me that I have been unable to find the names or the number of members who composed this society in 1833; we trust their names are all written in heaven. In 1833 this region of country was a part of what was known as Pittsburgh Conference. In 1836 the Erie Conference was organized. The following is a list of the names of the pastors stationed in the M.E. Church in Warren since the date of the dedication of the church edifice: 1834, A. Plimpton; 1835, S. Ayres; 1836-37, S. Gregg; 1838-39, B.S. Hill; 1839, in part, L. Kendall; 1840, A. Barnes and B.S. Hill; 1841, A. Barnes; 1841-42, E.J.L. Baker; 1843, John F. Hill; 1844-45, J.E. Chapin, 1946-47, N. Norton; 1848, J.K. Hallock; 1849, J.O. Rich; 1850-51, R.J. Edwards; 1852, R.S. Moran; 1853-54, H.H. Moore; 1855, A.C. Tibbitts; 1856, E.B. Lane; 1857, D.C. Osborne; 1858-59, J. Robinson; 1860-61, J.S. Lytle; 1862-63, O.L. Mead; 1864-65, P. Pinney; 1866, T. Stubbs; 1867, C.R. Pattee; 1868-69, R.W. Scott; 1870-71, E.J.L. Baker; 1872-73-74, A.J. Merchant; 1875, O.G. McEntire; 1876-77-78, R.M. Warren; 1879, W.F. Wilson; 1880-81-82, J.M. Thoburn; 1883-84-85, W.W. Painter.’”

About five years ago, or more, a project for the building of a new house of worship was set on foot, which culminated in the present structure, the finest in this part of the State or country. So successful were the sacrifices and labors of those who contributed time and labor and money to the accomplishment of this object, that we deem it worth while to describe the movement and the building in nearly the words of a writer in the Mail, in an article which appeared in that sheet on the 21st of September, 1886.(4*)

“In 1881 it became apparent that the needs of the society, which was rapidly growing with the prosperity of our town and surrounding towns, required additional room to accommodate the church with its various departments of Sunday-school, social and other work. The official board that year, or in early winter of 1881-82, seriously considered the question. It was finally resolved to enter upon the work of remodeling the old church by erecting in front an auditorium connecting with the old building, provided a certain subscription could be realized. Plans were drafted by Jacob Snyder, of Akron, O., and a canvass made in the church by Rev. J.M. Thoburn, resulting in a handsome amount – over $6,000 being subscribed. After further consideration it was proposed to build entirely anew an edifice costing $15,000 – the board rigidly acting in a conservative manner. At that time a church costing $20,000 was deemed to be out of the question. After the change was determined upon, Rev. Mr. Thoburn commenced the canvass anew, increasing the former amount, it all being subscribed within the membership of the church. Owing to local causes and those unaccountable reasons that often occur, the work, after this subscription was raised, was laid aside – not buried, but postponed.

“When Rev. J.M. Thoburn reads these lines in his present home, Calcutta, India, we trust that he will feel, what we believe to be the fact, that the church society to-day have to thank him for really founding the new church project upon a sure basis, and for planting the seed which has richly brought forth fruit.

“When Rev. W.W. Painter succeeded Mr. Thoburn, he found the society still quartered in the old church, more crowded than ever, and still firm in the belief that a new church must be provided. The church records show that on March 25, 1884, it was resolved to tear down the church and erect a new one. The question then of the location of the church was actively discussed. It was generally thought best to build on a larger lot and dispose of the old property, by which means the society would have a place to worship during the process of building. On April 5, 1884, O.C. Allen was appointed a committee to investigate and report in regard to lots which might be obtained. The school board thought it possible the church lot and building would be profitable and valuable for them, and the society was willing to exchange the building and lot for a lot suited to their purposes. Negotiations during the summer of 1884 toward obtaining a different location for church building were fruitless, and the old church lot was decided upon as location for a new church.

“Rev. W.W. Painter in the mean time proceeded with the subscriptions and secured the required subscription list of $12,000. Early in 1885, as the list grew, the problem of actual work began to loom up, and the style of church to be erected was the next question to be decided. After consultation with various architects, the plan offered by Aaron Hall, of Jamestown, known as the Akron church plan, was adopted and Mr. Hall instructed to prepare necessary plans. On March 25, 1886, the building committee, M.B. Dunham, B. Nesmith, and A. Fisher, was duly elected.

“The court-house, through the courtesy of J. Clinton, T.L. Putnam, and M. Crocker, the county commissioners, was secured as the place for holding services.

“May 23, 1885, resolutions were passed to commence active operations at once. This was the decisive step toward which all previous efforts had been directed, and this dates the commencement of the work. On May 31, 1885, the last service was conducted in the old church by Rev. W.W. Painter, and on Monday, June 1, 1885, under the direction of A. Fisher, the first blow was struck toward demolishing the old church, which rapidly followed.

“The corner-stone was laid August 18, 1885. Rev. John Peate presided at the exercises, delivering an appropriate address and depositing beneath the corner-stone the box of records described at that time.

“The burden of the work almost from the beginning fell upon Benjamin Nesmith, of the building committee. He assumed charge with his accustomed vigor, and from the date of the commencement, June 1, 1885, down to September 19, 1886, there was no cessation of operations. The debris of the old church was properly cared for and removed, the excavation for foundation walls dug, and the stone work was contracted to Charles Ott, who laid the foundation walls completely. A.B. McKain superintended the frame work and erection of the trusses, rafters and towers. John Beebe, of Jamestown, was placed in charge of interior carpenter work when work was commenced inside. The brick work was contracted to Benjamin Jones, of Jamestown.

“Delays in securing plans carried the work late into the fall and winter of 1881 and 1886, which fortunately proved open long enough for completion of the brick work before frosty weather. The cut-stone work was under direction of Joshua Yerden, and the Ohio sandstone used, the native stone being used for steps and balance of stone work. Brick were furnished by Mecusker, of Jamestown; the front, including the towers, being finished in pressed brick and the balance in selected brick. The slating and galvanized iron work and spouting were furnished by Machwirth Bros., of Buffalo. The outside painting and sanding was done by N.K. Wendleboe, of Warren.

“The method of heating and ventilation is what is known as the Ruttan heating and ventilating process – the same employed in the new school-house in the West End, and insures distribution of heat and a constant change of air, which may be regulated to almost any temperature. The windows are made of rolled cathedral glass throughout, and put in by S.S. Marshall & Bro., and are of remarkable beauty in tint and design. The three large circular windows, fourteen feet in diameter, being especially attractive when lighted at night. The doors throughout, with the exception of eight hard wood doors, are from the factory of L.D. Wetmore & Co., Warren. The ceiling of the auditorium is of corrugated iron, furnished by A. Northrup & Company, of Pittsburgh. This ceiling is simple, durable, safe and handsome. Beck & Allen, of Warren, have made a lasting record for themselves in the plastering job. Tunstall & Thompson built the elaborate staircases and have also done themselves credit.

“No pews are used in the church; but in both auditorium and gallery chairs will be used, which are constructed with folding seats, provided also with foot-rest, book-rack, number-plate, hat-protector, and umbrella-rack. The woodwork is of deep, rich cherry or mahogany color. They are furnished by A.H. Andrews & Co., of New York.

“The inside graining and finishing has been principally done by B.M. Slayton, of Warren, and the work speaks for itself. All of the halls and the kitchen are floored in hard woods. The entire building is finished in oak and ash and wainscoated throughout, the natural grain of the wood being left untouched, except by the polishing, filling and varnishing, making the appearance delightfully substantial and handsome.

“The ladies of the church deserve the highest encomiums. They have never faltered a single moment. Their subscription of $1,000, increased to $1,500, was paid promptly, adding another round $800 for carpets and chairs in the Sunday-school rooms. They have sewed all the carpeting from gallery top to kitchen. They have labored in hot and cold, wet and dry, pleasant and unpleasant times, and as they have continued to do what they could, have given time, labor, money, everything, for the cause they loved. During the various changes of the church in the past fifteen months the utmost harmony has prevailed, and under the careful and sacrificing attention of Rev. W.W. Painter the congregation has remained intact and all current expenditures of the church provided for. Other churches and the Good Templar Lodge and order of A.O.U.W. kindly tendered them the use of their edifices and halls, and the congregation greatly appreciate their courtesy and interest. Rev. W.W. Painter will ever be held by church, congregation, and the citizens of the community in the highest esteem, for the highest measure of Christian fellowship and untiring zeal in promoting, fostering, and at last successfully terminating the work of erecting this building, from which Christian influence will go forth through all the coming generations. He has received no extra compensation, and mere temporal reward would be trivial; but the affection of his people and the blessing of God will surely attend him.

“The new pipe organ is a fine instrument. It was manufactured by Johnson & Son, at Westfield, Mass., and cost about $2,000. What is called the great organ has 406 metal pipes. The swell organ has 290 metal pipes, and the pedal organ has twenty-seven wooden pipes, with numerous accessory stops, pedal movements, and wind indicator. The descriptive list of stops, etc., would hardly be interesting to the general reader.

“The dedication took place last Sunday, September 19. The sermon of Dr. Sims Sunday morning was a very eloquent and earnest appeal for the Christian Church, from the 137th Psalm, 5th and 6th verses: ‘If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.’ The doctor is a silver-tongued talker, and held the crowded audience in close attention for nearly an hour. When he closed Dr. Boyle, of Pittsburgh, read the treasurer’s statement showing the cost of the new structure, including sidewalks, seating, lighting, heating, carpeting, furnishing, and new pipe-organ, is about $35,000. After deducting the amount subscribed and paid they found themselves in debt $20,000; and then commenced a zealous appeal for the money to be pledged then and there. The subscriptions were taken, payable in four annual installments. First they called for $500 promises. Mr. Thomas Keelor responded first, quickly followed by B. Nesmith, M.B. Dunham, and the other heavy men of the church. Mr. Dunham is the largest contributor, having paid nearly $7,000, besides giving his time and attention freely. Then came the $300 call. This dragged a little, but several responded; then the $200, $100, $50, and $25 subscribers made up the sum of $16,000, before adjournment. At the evening session the whole balance was pledged, making a splendid offering of $20,413.47 in a single day. The Methodist society entertain the deepest feelings of gratitude toward the citizens and friends who generously subscribed. It was a great success, and the members and managers have a right to feel very thankful to the liberal subscribers, as well as to God from whom all blessings flow.

“The formal ceremony of dedication in the evening, after Dr. Boyle’s sermon, was beautifully impressive. Dr. Sims called up the trustees and solemnly charged them to guard carefully the sacred trust placed in their keeping.”

Rev. W.P. Bignell, the present pastor, succeeded Mr. Painter in the fall of 1886.

First Baptist Church of Christ. – On Friday, the 2d day of May, 1834, in response to a request from a number of communicants of the Baptist Church who had previously united in conference, a council representing churches at Pine Grove, Ashville, and Carroll, and partly composed of delegates from the New York Baptist State Convention, convened at the court-house in Warren, for the purpose of organizing a church. The ministers present were Revs. Foot, Fuller, Coleman, and Gildersleve. After being accepted by the conference as their council they proceeded to organize, choosing Isaac Fuller, moderator, and James McClellen, clerk. This body of believers was then recognized as a church – a member of the Baptist denomination. There were sixteen persons who thus composed the first germ of the present Baptist Church in Warren, viz. – Mrs. P. Curtis, Miss F. Curtis, Mrs. H. Gier, Mrs. P. Doty, Mrs. M. Shaw, Miss Elizabeth Morse, Mrs. P. Waters, Mrs. P. Strong, Miss Louisa Wheeler, Mrs. Mary Comstock, Mr. O.W. Shaw, Mr. W.M. Morse, W.M. Gildersleve, Mr. E. Doty, and Mr. Curtis Pond, who was soon after elected deacon.

The “articles of faith,” though not recorded in the church book, were of that character, at least, that a Baptist council regarded them Baptistic. Hence public exercises were observed as follows: Sermon was preached by Rev. Coleman, right hand of fellowship by Rev. Fuller, and concluding prayer by Rev. Gildersleve.

For eight years this society held services without the aid of a regular pastor, and only occasionally listened to sermons from the missionaries, Revs. King, Williams, Gildersleve, Wilson, and Gill. All this time, and afterward, from 1842 to 1857, they worshiped in the old court-house, on the ground now occupied by the new court-house. In 1844 a committee was appointed to consider the feasibility of building a church edifice. Ground was purchased and some of the materials were drawn upon it, but unforeseen hindrances prevented the consummation of the project at that time. The pastors through this period were Revs. Handy, Everetts, and Smith, and the deacons were Messrs. Winchester and William Snyder. At this time the Sabbath-school was organized. In the summer of 1859 the present church edifice was commenced, on the Miner Curtis lot, near the then residence of Chapin Hall. It was completed in the summer of 1860. A part of the subsequent history of this church is given in the language of Rev. E.D. Hammond, as reported in the Evening Paragraph on December 1, 1884:

“Commencing with 1857, we find this church still worshiping in the court-house. In answer to a pressing call from the little church, Rev. B.C. Willoughby became pastor, remaining until 1860. As a result of his wise management and persistent efforts, the church building in which we congregate to-day was built and dedicated to the worship of God in 1860. Too much praise cannot be given to the self-sacrificing pastor and little band at that time. During the same pastorate the church improved spiritually and increased in membership. It was during this period that two brothers were taken into this church who have proved to be ambassadors for Christ and an honor to the church. I speak now of John S. Hutson, received in April, 1858. Believing himself to be called to the work of the ministry, and the church discerning in him gifts and graces fitting for the work, he was licensed to preach the gospel. He soon afterward took a letter from the church and went to fully prepare himself for the work. After completing a college course and graduating from the theological department of Lewisburgh University, he was ordained in 1868 to the regular work of the gospel ministry, and has since served as pastor of the churches at Stockton, N.Y., Allegheny City, Pa., and Warren, O.

“Rev. G.W. Snyder was converted during the winter of 1857 and 1858, and at once began active work for the Master at Sheffield, where he was teaching school. A number of his pupils were converted. He united with the church in May, 1858. He pursued his studies in Allegheny College and Crozier Theological Seminary, graduating from the former in 1863, and from the latter in 1869. After this he became pastor of the church at Columbus, N.J., removing from there to Lock Haven, Pa., where he died in the summer of 1874, and in the summer of his life, being at the age of thirty-seven. He was a devoted minister of the gospel, an earnest student of the gospel, and loved learning for its own sake. His early struggles for a thorough education no doubt aided in taking him away.

“The church may well cherish the memory of these two sons. They are noble sons of their mother church, and may the church live to conceive and bear for the gospel many such men!

“In 1864 we find another era in the history of the church. Norman Snyder and Deacon Gerould are deacons. In the fall of 1866 Rev. George Balcom came to hold revival meetings; he was here four weeks, and as a result several were taken into the church. From 1866 to 1869 Revs. Hastings and Evens were pastors. In 1869 Rev. Trowbridge became pastor, remaining two years, during which time the church worked hard. This baptistry was then put in, the bell was placed in the place where it now is, and some members were added to the church.

“In December, 1876, Rev. Mr. Hulbert commenced meetings. A great revival spirit was then seen in the community, and the membership of the church was doubled.

“In May, 1877, Rev. E.F. Crane became pastor. In the month of July Brother A.J. Hazeltine, Mr. Waid, and Mr. Lorie were appointed deacons.

“In the summer and fall of 1877 the church underwent thorough repairs, costing $3,350, and was rededicated December 20, 1877. Thus we are enabled to see from this time a continuous growth along all the lines of church work and spiritual development.

“In January, 1879, Rev. H.H. Leamy became pastor, lasting two years, and some members were added to the church during the time.

“In the spring of 1881 Rev. Mr. Rea, a graduate from Rochester Theological Seminary, commenced his labors with this church. During his pastorate the church had a healthful growth and the membership grew from sixty-five to one hundred and seventeen. His pastorate ended in May, 1884. Within a year or more this church has lost by removal some efficient church workers. The Great Shepherd, however, has kept watch over the flock, and has filled the vacancies by others. Let us believe in the providence of God.”

The following are the names and dates of service of the respective pastors of this church from the beginning to the present:

Church served by missionaries, 1834-42; Alfred Handy, Nov., 1842-June, 1845; Rev. W.R. Northrop, supply, March, 1847-Sept., 1848; Wm. Everet, Sept., 1848-June, 1852; Wm. Smith, April, 1857-Sept., 1857; B.C. Willoughly, Oct., 1857-60; A.J. Hastings, Oct., 1865-Oct., 1866; Thos. Evans, Feb., 1867-Oct., 1867; I. Trowbridge, March, 1870-Aug., 1871; J. Harrington, Oct., 1875-Jan., 1876; E.F. Crane, April, 1877-Oct., 1878; H.H. Leamy, Jan., 1879-March, 1881; James Rea, April, 1881-May, 1884; E.D. Hammond, Sept., 1884-July, 1886; Wm. J. Coulston, Aug., 1886.

The present membership of this church is 144, of which number one-third are male members. During the past year $103.63 was expended for benevolent objects. The estimated value of the church property is now $6,000. The present officers are Rev. William J. Coulston, pastor; A.J. Hazeltine, clerk; D.L. Gerould, treasurer; and H.E. Davis, secretary of the board of directors.

St. Joseph’s Church (Roman Catholic). – There is strong probability that the first religious services conducted by civilized men on the site of Warren borough took place more than a hundred and thirty years ago. There is evidence that during the progress of the French and Indian War an expedition of French Catholics passed from Canada to Fort Du Quesne and New Orleans by the way of Lake Erie, Lake Chautauqua, Conewango Creek, and the Allegheny River. From their records it appears that they were accustomed to land at various places on the route for the purpose of holding religious services under the guidance of priests who accompanied the expedition (which was military in its nature and object), and that they buried at such places leaden plates inscribed with language revealing that they had thus taken possession of the country in the name of France. The records show also that they landed for such worship and formality at the junction of the Conewango Creek and Allegheny River. The plates have been discovered at a number of the places described in their records; but, from vagueness, the spot on which they landed and in which they buried the plate at the mouth of the Conewango has never been determined. It has thus become a matter rather of conjecture than sober history, at least until the plate is unearthed and the exact site located.

Among the first Roman Catholic families to settle in Warren county were three brothers named Thomas, Patrick, and Joseph Archbold, who came from Philadelphia in the early part of this century and took up about three hundred acres of wild land each, about two and a half miles below Irvineton. They were there previous to 1830. Other early families in the county were the McGraws, of Triumph, the McGuires, of Tidioute, and William and Sylvester Carlow, brothers, who came from Canada to Warren. The first bishop to visit Warren county was Francis Patrick Kendrick, who came from Philadelphia on horseback between fifty and sixty years ago, and held services at the house of Joseph Archbold. He also held services in the court-house at Warren. From this time the various places in the county were visited two or three times each year by priests from away, generally from Erie. The first Catholic Church edifice in the county was built at Warren about 1850, and has recently been converted into a school-house for that denomination. Rev. Father de la Roque remembers with gratitude the unselfish assistance rendered at that time by Protestants toward completing the house of worship. Orris Hall contributed the lot on which the church now stands, and Mr. Summerton, the merchant, gave two hundred dollars, which was increased by other contributions from similar sources. This building has now been used for a school-house about four years. When the first church was building, Warren was attended by Father Deane, of Erie, and also by Father Thomas Smith, of Crawford county, and Father McConnell, of Frenchtown, Crawford county. In 1854 Father John Berbiger, the present assistant rector here, made his first visit to the church at Warren. The first resident priest was Father Thomas Lornagen, now rector of the parish at Corry. He was here from about 1858 to 1866. Father Voisar, now in the diocese of Toronto, was rector of this parish in 1867 and 1868. In 1869 the present rector, Rev. M.A. de la Roque, came here from Meadville, Pa., and remained in charge ever since. His assistant, Father Berbiger, settled here in 1880.

The present house of worship was dedicated on the 6th of May, 1880, after a period of building which lasted two years. The cost of the edifice and site was about $20,000. There are now in the neighborhood of 150 families in the parish. The next church in the county was built at Tidioute by Father Lornagen about 1864. There are there at present some forty or fifty families. The church at Irvineton was erected in 1870, and is attended by Father James Lavery, of Tidioute. At this place there are about fifty Catholic families. A chapel was built on Quaker Hill in 1874, where about six families worship. The church edifice at Clarendon was built in 1876, and is attended by Father Berbiger. At this place are about 100 families. The church in Sheffield township was built in 1878, and is occupied by about fifty families, attended by Father de la Roque. In Garland a church has just been completed, which is under the care of the parish of Corry, and is occupied by some fifteen or twenty families. A lot has been purchased for the erection of a church at Kinzua, and this work will undoubtedly be completed in the near future.

The old church edifice at Warren was converted into a school-house in September, 1883, and was divided into two departments. It was soon discovered to be too small, however, and in the summer of 1886 it was supplemented by an adjoining structure. The entire average attendance at these schools at present is about 150. The school is taught by sisters of the Benedictine order, five in number, who came from St. Mary’s, in Elk county. They are thoroughly efficient, and give lessons in music in addition to the common branches of learning.

Trinity Memorial Church. – The beginnings of the Episcopal Church are faintly indicated by the fact that a church called the Calvary Church, of Warren, was incorporated by order of the court on the 8th of October, 1860, and that the Trinity Memorial Church was incorporated on the 9th of March, 1867, and was undoubtedly the successor of the Calvary. The circumstances attending the organization of this church, and its subsequent history are given in the following extract from the Warren Mail of October 26, 1886. It is taken from an address written by M. Beecher, of Warren, and delivered upon the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the St. Saviour’s Church at Youngsville, on the 21st of October, 1886. We reprint only so much as seems to be pertinent in this place.

“An interesting event for Youngsville was the laying of the corner-stone of its new Episcopal Church last Thursday, October 21, under the direction of Dr. A.W. Ryan, of Warren, who was assisted by Rev. Henry Mitchell, the new assistant to Dr. Ryan, Rev. H.L. Yewens, of Franklin, Rev. S.P. Kelly, of Pittsburgh, and by the choir and vestry of the Warren church.

“Among the ceremonies, William Schnur read the following paper prepared by Mr. Beecher, who was unable to be present. It was intended to be a correct history of Trinity Memorial Church, of Warren, and its missions, and is well worthy of being read and preserved.

“‘The part which has been assigned to me to-day in the exercises of this interesting, and, to the people of Youngsville, memorable occasion, is a very simple and prosaic one. It calls for no flights of fancy, flowers of rhetoric, or well-rounded periods. It will deal simply with the leading events connected with the history of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Warren county, which is in reality but a history of Trinity Memorial Church, Warren; and may the ordeals through which it has passed stimulate you to encounter and overcome obstacles and difficulties which in the distance may appear unsurmountable; but which grow smaller as you approach, and disappear when grappled with.

“‘It is only by earnest, persistent effort in any good work that success is ensured, and that too, oftentimes, in the face of apparent failure. “Be ye therefore steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

“‘Previous to the year 1858 there never had been but one service of the church held in Warren county. But in July of that year Rev. Dr. Egar, now of Rome, N.Y., who married a daughter of the late Judge Merrill, held one or two services in the Presbyterian Church in Warren. In 1860 Bishop Bowman made a visitation, accompanied by Rev. Mr. Abercrombie, of St. Paul’s church, Erie, and held services in Johnson’s Hall. The only ones to read the responses were Mr. Struthers, Judge Johnson, Col. Curtis, Archibald Tanner (father of Mrs. Scofield), Geo. A. Cobham and family, Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins, Miss Merrill, Mr. and Mrs. M. Beecher.

“‘Although the little band of worshipers there assembled looked somewhat lonesome in that large hall, it was an occasion of deep interest, and when the service was opened with – “The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him,” there was a feeling of solemnity pervading every heart, and that even there might be realized the promise that “where (even) two or three are gathered together in His name He would grant their requests.”

“‘Two years later Bishop Potter, with his son Henry C., now assistant bishop of New York, held services in the Baptist Church. After this Bishop Stevens visited Warren and held services in the Presbyterian Church, and a year later Bishop Lee, of Iowa, in the Methodist Church.

“‘On August 3, 1861, about a year after Bishop Bowman’s first visitation to Warren, he started from Pittsburgh to visit what was then known as the Oil Regions of Pennsylvania, a region infinitely smaller than what is now embraced in that name. When about twenty miles this side of Pittsburgh a landslide was encountered, which made a walk of about two miles necessary to enable the passengers to take a train awaiting them on the other side. In his then enfeebled condition the bishop was unable to keep up with the rest, and was missed when the train was about ready to start. On going back to look for him he was found dead by the roadside – another example of that mysterious dispensation of divine Providence which passeth man’s understanding. So useful a life and so sudden and remarkable a death seemed to demand more at the hands of a bereaved people and diocese than was customary in ordinary cases to bestow. To that end it was suggested that a memorial church should be erected in the region he was about to visit when overtaken by death, and that the whole diocese of Pennsylvania should be asked to contribute for that purpose.

“‘Accordingly collections were taken up in all the parishes of the State, and the sum of $5,200 was realized. Then the question arose as to where the money should be expended. Bishop Potter, as one of the trustees of the fund, suggested that the site selected should be at some point on the Allegheny River between Kittanning and Warren – probably at the latter point. To this end he offered $4,000 of the fund, providing Warren would raise a like amount. This was deemed at that time as impossible.

“‘A delegation of sixteen was sent from Titusville to Philadelphia to represent the church interests there and to pledge a compliance with the conditions imposed. Colonel Curtis was the only champion Warren had to represent her interests, he having business in the Supreme Court, then sitting in Philadelphia. He argued the case of his client ably and eloquently, but the odds were too great against him, and Titusville was awarded the $4,000. But as Bishop Bowman died on the banks of the Allegheny, Bishop Potter was anxious that a church should be erected to his memory immediately upon its bank, and to that end the balance of $1,200 was reserved for Warren whenever that amount would be required to complete a church edifice. This fund was invested in Philadelphia city 6 per cent. bonds, which afterward amounted to $1,800.

“‘In the spring of 1864 Bishop Potter made a visitation to Corry with the rector of St. Paul’s Church, Erie, Rev. John F. Spaulding, now bishop of Colorado, fully impressed with the importance of at once occupying this region; and through his solicitations and those of Bishop Stevens the Rev. C.C. Parker, then a deacon, was sent in June, 1864, to this new and then uncultivated field.

“‘It was arranged that he should hold services at Warren and Corry on alternate Sundays, with his home at Warren. The first regular services were held in Warren in the Presbyterian Church, on the afternoon of June 26, 1864. The next service was held in the Baptist Church, which had been secured until the following December. In September of this year a Sunday-school was organized. It opened with five scholars. During the Sundays Mr. Parker was officiating in Corry the school was held in the dining-room of Mr. Beecher’s house on Liberty street.

“‘When compelled to vacate the Baptist Church, rector and vestry were in a quandary what to do, as they were again thrown upon the charity of a cold world without an abiding place. Finally they decided to apply to Judge Johnson for the use of the east room in Johnson’s Exchange. This application was met in a most liberal and Christian-like spirit. The hall, with the requisite number of settees, was at once set apart for the exclusive use and control of the church, free of charge. It was neatly fitted up for church and Sunday-school purposes, and here services were held until the completion of Trinity Memorial Church, in the summer of 1867. Soon after Mr. Parker’s coming to Warren much discussion was had relative to the building of a church edifice, thereby enabling it to claim the Bishop Bowman fund reserved for that purpose. After many vexatious delays and hindrances a subscription was finally started.

“‘During the winter the rector and his estimable wife taught the Sunday-school scholars an oratorio, with the aid of local talent, from which entertainment was realized a sufficient amount to purchase a cabinet organ for the church.

“‘In the mean time, subscriptions having progressed satisfactorily, the building of a church was decided upon. Matters were pushed as vigorously as possible – some delays occurring as a matter of course – and on the 16th day of July, 1867, the church was finished and furnished complete, at a total cost, including the lot, of $11,375, ready for the first service, which was held that P.M. at five o’clock.

“‘The day following, July 17, the time fixed for the consecration of the church, the procession entered, preceded by J.H. Palmer, senior warden; M. Beecher, junior warden; C.B. Curtis, L.L. Lowry, John T. McPherson, John Sill, and Lewis F. Watson, and followed by Bishop Kerfoot, Rev. J.F. Spaulding, rector of St. Paul’s Church, Erie; Rev. Marison Byllesby, of Christ’s Church, Meadville; Rev. Henry Purdon, D.D., of St. James Memorial Church, Titusville; Rev. R.D. Nevius, of Christ’s Church, Oil City; Rev. George C. Rafter, of Emmanuel Church, Emporium; Rev. John T. Protheroe, of Emmanuel Church, Corry, and the rector, Rev. C.C. Parker. The sentence of consecration was read by Rev. Mr. Billesby, and the sermon was preached by the bishop. The services throughout were exceedingly interesting and impressive, and all rejoiced that the labors of years had at last been rewarded with full fruition. Mr. Parker continued his earnest work for nearly a year afterwards, when he resigned his charge and removed to Greenburg, Pa. His resignation took effect Easter Monday, 1868. To his self-sacrificing efforts and untiring zeal, and a faith that though in darkest hours sometimes wavered yet never forsook him, to him more than any one else is Trinity Memorial Church of Warren indebted for its present existence. At this date there were only sixteen names on the list of communicants, of which only three were males; and of these for a long time the only one present to respond to the invitation “Draw near in faith,” was Isaac Ruff, a colored man.

“‘The next rector of this parish was the Rev. Henry S. Getz, of Mahonoy City, Pa., now assistant rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles, Philadelphia. He was a God-fearing, God-loving, faithful Christian worker, who was beloved not only by his own congregation, but by all others with whom he came in contact, for his many noble qualities of head and heart. He was dean of this convocation until it was merged into the Erie deanery. He was also rector of the church at Tidioute, holding week-day services there. His rectorship covered a period of upwards of thirteen years, when he resigned, his resignation taking effect on the 1st of October, 1882.

“‘No special effort was made to secure another rector for several months, although many letters were received on the subject. It was not until the fall of 1883 that matters assumed a definite shape and the Rev. Albert W. Ryan, of Howell, Mich., was secured. Of his work in Warren, Clarendon, Youngsville, and other points in the county it would be out of place to dwell upon on this occasion. That he is peculiarly fitted for the work he has undertaken is fully attested by his superior mental endowments, his sound and varied scholastic attainments, and a push and vigor which stop at nothing short of success. His present assistant, Rev. Mr. Mitchell, comes to us as a stranger, but with a good record as an efficient and successful co-worker.’”

Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church. – This church was organized on the 7th of June, 1871, some of the original members being Axel Carlson, George P. Miller, Herman Greenlund, Lars Hanson, Erik Anderson, and Adolf F. Larson. These with others, numbering in all about thirty-five, constituted the first organization. The meetings both before and after this time were held in the building still occupied, though it then belonged to the German Lutheran Church. In this same year (1871), however, the Scandinavian Church purchased the church building and lot, and now own it. The work of acquiring this property should be accredited chiefly to a Miss Sara Carlson (now Mrs. Larson), who distinguished herself by her Christian zeal at this time not only, but later, when she and her husband removed to Rock Island, Ill., they presented $125 to this church, a remarkably unselfish gift, considering that they were and are by no means well to do. The price of the church building was about $800. It has been greatly repaired within and without since the last purchase was completed, and an addition erected in the front, surmounted with a neat steeple.

The first Swedish preacher at this place was J.P. Loving, now living at Chandler’s Valley. He was not an ordained minister, but came with good recommendations from the old country, and proved himself to be a man of sound doctrine and profound faith. He remained here between three and four years, preaching once or twice a month. J. Vender (who went from here to Rock Island, Ill., was graduated from the Aug. College and Seminary, was ordained a minister, and in 1882 died at his post on the Pacific coast), Axel Carlson, Erik Anderson, and others were good members and deacons of the church, who by their unwearied efforts in leading the Sabbath-school and prayer meetings, etc., kept up the interest of the congregation during vacancies in the pulpit. Several ministers of this conference who were stationed in this vicinity gave such time and attention to the welfare of this church during its feeble efforts at learning to walk, as their own congregations would permit. Rev. J. Millander, the first ordained minister who was given charge of this church, began his labors here in July, 1874. He was well liked, and it was a great blow to his flock when about eighteen months later he handed in his resignation. For some time after this the society was under the protection of students from the Aug. College and Seminary of Rock Island, Ill., especially under that of L.G. Abrahamson. In 1879 Rev. M.U. Norbury was called to take charge of the church; eight calls previous to this one had elicited negative answers, but Mr. Norbury accepted. His stay here was but of a year’s duration. Thus far this congregation had been obliged to divide the services of their pastors with several other congregations, as Kane, Titusville, Sheffield, etc. On the 14th of September, 1881, the present pastor, Rev. N.G. Johnson, took charge of his labors here. Although he has had the care also of other charges, he has devoted as much time, or more, as could be expected. In the spring of 1882 he was forced by ill health to visit Sweden. During his absence of some five months a Danish minister named P.C. Fronberg, then a recent arrival from Denmark, filled the vacancy. Although he was scholarly and zealous, his ideas did not conform with the preconceived opinions of his congregation, and a division arose in the church, which culminated in the separation from the congregation of a number of members.

In 1883 a resolution was adopted that the church should build or buy a new parsonage, and subscriptions soon amounted to about $1,100, with which the present suitable and neat dwelling was purchased. The congregation, although necessarily small in numbers, has indeed made wonderful progress, considering the adverse circumstances which have conspired to retard their growth. In 1885 the young people bought a fine pipe organ for the church. The pastor has much to do, for besides his pastoral labors in Warren he has charge over congregations, or missions, at North Warren, Glade Run, Stoneham, Clarendon, Irvineton, Tidioute, Triumph, etc. As a rule the Swedes are a religious people, and have a decided penchant for the Lutheran persuasion. The church is an Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augustana Synod, which synod has a membership of more than 100,000, and an ordained ministry of about 230 members. There are not far from 140 members belonging to this church in Warren. The present officers are George P. Miller, Martin Nelson, Charles Peterson, J. Seyser, C.P. Anderson, Peter Holmes, and Otto Marker. The church property is valued at about $3,500, while a small indebtedness rests on the church of about $200.

The Evangelical Association, of Warren, was organized in 1833 by Rev. John Seybert. Its original members were H.D. Grunder, Mary E. Grunder, Conrad Gross, Saloma Gross, Adam Knopf, Mary E. Knopf, Jacob Wise, Saloma Wise, Magdalene Martin, Philopena Martin, George Weiler, Barbara Weiler, Martin Esher, J.J. Esher, George Esher, D. Gross, sr., D. Gross, jr., Jacob Ott, F.L. Arnett.

In 1852 a brick church edifice was built on Liberty street. In 1883 this structure was extensively remodeled at a cost of $4,000. During the year 1876 a frame church was built at Mack’s Corners, in Elk township, costing $1,200.

The pastors of this association, which extends into Conewango, Glade, and Elk townships, have been, in the order of their coming, as follows: John Seybert, J.K. Kring, E. Stayer, J. Brickley, J. Honecker, J. Boas, J. Yambert, H. Bucks, R. Miller, J. Lutz, H. Heis, J. Long, S. Heis, J. Rank, J. Truby, J.C. Link, J. Edgar, J. Dick, A. Stahle, S.B. Kring, A. Niebel, J.G. Pfeuffer, A. Long, C. Lindaman, B.L. Miller, Jacob Honaker, C.G. Koch, R. Mott, J.J. Barnhart, R. Mott, A. Rearick, B.L. Miller, W. Houpt, T. Bach, and L.M. Boyer; the latter gentleman, a veteran of the late war and a native of Somerset county, Pa., still being in charge.

For many years the Warren congregation was exclusively German, and religious exercises were conducted in the language of the Fatherland. By degrees, however, English was introduced, and in the spring of 1884 it was wholly adopted.

The present members are two hundred and forty-seven in number, and the church property owned by them (two churches and a parsonage) is valued at $11,000.

We will conclude our remarks on church matters by saying that the first preaching in the county, of which we have authentic data, was rendered by the Rev. Jacob Crain, of Exeter, N.H., a missionary of the Congregational Church. From his journal it appears that in 1805 he journeyed across Vermont and New York States to Olean, preaching at many points along the way. From the latter place he proceeded down the river to Warren. He met the Cornplanter, and informs us that the Quakers had a mission near the latter’s settlement, which was established by them about 1798. They also operated a small saw and grist-mill located near the mission. Cornplanter was rather cool, and expressed his distrust and dislike of Yankee preachers. He said he had seen and heard them at councils. They would preach and talk very fair to the Indians, but immediately afterwards would be found trying to cheat the poor Indians out of their lands. The missionary preached at Kinzua and at the house of Daniel Jackson, on the Conewango. At this place he said the people were very attentive, and he received more money from them for missionary purposes than at any other place in the western country. He also made note of the fact “that Warren had a beautiful situation for a town, though there were but four or five houses in the town plot.” From Warren he journeyed northward (stopping to preach at the “Beech Woods Settlement”) to Buffalo and into Canada, and thence eastward to his home.

The first Methodist quarterly meeting ever held in the county was also convened at the Jackson homestead, on the Conewango, in 1812. There were present Bishop McKendrie, Rev. Jacob Young, the presiding elder of the Ohio District, Rev. John P. Kent, of Chautauqua county, N.Y., and Rev. William Connelly, of Venango county, Pa. Many people assembled from Kinzua, Brokenstraw, and the Beech Woods, and numbers of them, being compelled to stay all night, slept on the hay mow in the barn.

* Dr. Henry Sargent was born at New Chester, N.H., in 1790; was a graduate of Dartmouth Medical College; became a resident of Warren in 1833, and died here suddenly in August, 1851. His only child, a daughter, became the wife of Hon. C.B. Curtis. Dr. Sargent was highly respected as a citizen, and his great skill as a physician was widely known.

** June 2, 1832, at a special election, Robt. Miles was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Joseph Hackney.

*** When this paragraph was written we unintentionally omitted mention of Dr. H.S. Newman, who it is believed settled in Warren prior to either Hazeltine or Huston. His wife died and was buried here in July, 1827, and he was still numbered among the resident taxables in 1833.

(4*) This article, we believe, was written by W.H. Hinckley, of the firm of Wetmore, Noyes & Hinckley.

SOURCE: Page(s) 324-393, History of Warren County, J.S. Schenck & W.S. Rann, Syracuse, New York: D. Mason, 1887

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