CHAPTER XXXVI

FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE OIL ERA – 1865-1877

Oil Mania – Apprentices – The Allegheny Valley Railroad – The Low Grade – Telegraphic – Attempt to Move County Seat – Politics – Statistics – County Finances

In 1864 and 1865 Clarion county was the scene of the wildest speculation in hypothetical oil lands. Then almost every point within fifteen miles of a producing well was considered good territory, and available tracts were seized upon with great dagerness. A host of fancy oil companies – most of them having headquarters in Philadelphia – sprang up, their object being to buy up and operate the prolific petroleum deposits, which, in their ardent imaginations, were to be found in the bosom of every rugged Clarion river hillside. Real estate changed hands at fabulous prices, and many a farmer, whose stony acres had been just sufficient to supply him with the necessaries of life, received five or tenfold their real value. Leasing was almost unheard of, such was the recklessness and confidence of the times. Buy first and test afterwards, was the rule.

This craze, excited mainly by the discovery of oil at Deer Creek, reached its height in December, 1864, and in a year had entirely subsided. The speculators retired from their Clarion county experience with light purses and heavy hearts; sadder but wiser men.

The apprentice system was yet in vogue, in 1865, as the following advertisement in a newspaper of that date shows:

“SIX CENTS REWARD. – Ran away from the subscriber in Licking tp., Clarion co., an indentured apprentice named on the 10th day of May, inst. All persons are hereby warned not to harbor or trust the said on my account, as I will prosecute any person who shall be known to harbor him about their premises, and I will hold such person or persons to pay to me his wages if hired by any person to work during his minority. The said is about twelve years old, large growth, dark hair, dark complextion and black eyes. Any person returning said apprentice to the subscriber will receive the above reward for his trouble.

“Licking tp., May 12, 1865—3t.

Two other runaway notices appear in the same number.

A destructive flood on Thursday, March 15, 1865, carried off the bridges over the Clarion, and there was a general severance of communication between one town and another for awhile.

At an early period in the fifties the much wished for railroad through Clarion county was discussed. Prominent among the schemes afoot was the “Phillipsburg and Waterford Railroad.” Later came the “Clarion County Railroad,” which was to connect Clarion with some point on the Allegheny valley, and which finally materialized in the Sligo Branch.

The Allegheny Valley road was completed as far as Kittanning in i856, and to the mouth of Mahoning in 1865. Work on its extension to Oil City started in the autumn of i866, and trains began running in June 1867.

In 1852, when the Allegheny Valley Railroad (then called the Pittsburgh, Kittanning, and Warren) was projected, an act of assembly authorized the counties through which it was to pass to subscribe stock. The route, as originally planned, was either to leave the Allegheny River below the mouth of the Clarion, or to follow its border along Redbank Creek, on the line of the present low-grade. By the act of 1852, the commissioners of this county (or a majority of them) were empowered to take stock for the county, and issue bonds to the railroad company in payment therefor, “provided, that the amount of subscription by any county shall not exceed ten per cent. of the assessed valuation thereof, and that before such subscription is made, the amount thereof shall be fixed and determined by one grand jury of the proper county, and upon the report of such grand jury being filed, it shall be lawful for the county commissioners to carry the same into effect, by making in the name of the county, the subscription so directed by said, grand inquest. Provided farther, that whenever bonds of the respective counties are given in payment of subscription, the same shall not be sold by said railroad company at less than par value.”

The grand jury of Clarion county, at the September sessions of the same year, recommended a subscription of $168,000, and on the 10th the commissioners executed a written agreement with the company to that effect. This was signed by Daniel Bostaph and Peter B. Simpson, James T. Burns dissenting. For some reason there was a delay in closing the negotiations; the bonds were not issued, and the stock was not delivered. The route of the railroad was changed so as to run along the western edge of the county and terminate at Venango (Oil) City, instead of passing centrally through the county towards Warren, as originally intended. This was considered a breach of the contract, and to release the county from its former obligations.

In 1871, after a lapse of nineteen years, the company wished to enforce the issuing of the bonds, but there was a general aversion against compliance, and the commissioners demurred. Their counsel published an opinion unfavorable to the claims of the railroad, and the company let the matter drop.

The next road to enter the county was the Low Grade division or Bennett’s Branch of the A.V. Railroad, intersecting the Philadelphia and Erie at Driftwood. Grading began in, 1872, and the road was completed through Clarion county in March, 1873. William Phillips, then president of the A.V. Railroad, was the prime mover in this enterprise; John A. Wilson, chief engineer; J.J. Lawrence, superintendent. A considerable section in this county was contracted for by Jones & Brinker.

The road derives its name from the gradual ascent of Redbank valley; its maximum grade being twenty-six feet to the mile. The Anthony’s Bend tunnel is a notable one, piercing the solid rock; it is five hundred and five feet long, twenty-nine wide, and twenty-two feet high. The Sligo Branch, styled at first the Clarion County Railroad, was built in 1873—74, to reach the rich ore beds in the vicinity of Rimersburg and Sligo.

The first telegraph line in the county was that connecting Franklin and Kittanning by way of Clarion. It was constructed in November, 1864, by Baldwin. The second wire was strung in the spring of the following year. The line to Brookville was built in 1865. At present there are about two thousand miles of telegraph wire in Clarion county, three-fourths of which is controlled by the Western Union, the balance by the United Pipe Line.

In the winter of 1872—73 a strong attempt was made to have the seat of justice removed to Sligo. It had become apparent that the old county jail would have to be replaced by a new one, and the Sligoites seized upon the interval to make the change, knowing that the erection of another jail at the county seat would considerably. diminish their chance of success.

The movement was initiated by the proprietors of Sligo furnace, J. Patton Lyon, in particular, and William Phillips, president of the Low Grade, then contemplating a branch to Sligo. Sligo was a promising place, newly laid out, on an excellent site, by Mr. Lyon, and was rapidly filling up.

Hon. David Maclay, the newly-elected senator (Republican) from this district, resident near Sligo, favored the change, and these influential advocates had the majority of the citizens of the lower portion of the county at their back.

On the other hand, the inhabitants of the north and the people of Clarion borough strenuously opposed the measure. Petitions pro and con flew about thick; meetings of both factions were held; and the agitation. reached a white heat. It was understood that Senator Maclay would introduce a bill in the Legislature which met January, 1873. The Clarionites held a meeting and selected a committee to go to Harrisburg and fight the proposed removal. Their expenses were defrayed by the citizens. The delegation consisted of Hon. James Campbell, Theo. S. Wilson, W.W. Barr, Joseph H. Patrick, and J.B. Knox. They interviewed the Senate committee on counties and county seats, which was composed of Hons. D. Maclay, Alexander McClure, Elisha Davis, B.B. Strang, and —-.

The Sligo advocates sent no regular representation, although Colonel Lyon and others visited the capital in the interest of that town. There was a protracted struggle in the committee, but the bill was finally returned with a negative recommendation, and the matter thus settled. Colonel McClure, Elisha Davis, and another formed the majority in the committee unfavorable to the bill.

Politics.- In the spring of 1863 what was known here as the Union party was organized for the purpose of supporting the administration in its war policy, and to enlist the sympathy of “War Democrats.” This was really the Republican party, with the addition of some liberal Democrats. It maintained its organization till Grant’s first nomination in i868, and then its nominal distinction from the Republican party disappeared.

In the presidential campaign of 1868 Seymour and Blair had a majority of 930 in this county over Grant and Colfax; 1872, Greeley and Brown had 2,558 votes, Grant and Wilson 2,304, a pretty narrow majority for the Democrats.

Under the local option law in 1873 twenty-one precincts in Clarion county voted against license and eight for. Those in favor of license were Ashland, Beaver, Elk, Farmington, Knox, Paint, St. Petersburg, and Washington. The general majority against license was 597. The voting was light.

In 1876 Tilden had a majority here of 1,107.

In 1862 Crawford, Mercer, Venango, and Clarion became the Twentieth senatorial district, and by the apportionment of 1864, the Twenty-third senatorial district was formed out of Clearfield, Cameron, Clarion, Forest and Elk.

In 1871, Twenty-seventh senatorial district, Clarion, Armstrong, Jefferson, and Forest counties – Clarion and Forest to elect one member of the Legislature.

In 1873 Clarion county was placed in the Twenty-fifth congressional district, with Armstrong, Indiana, Forest, and Jefferson.

In 1874, Twenty-eighth senatorial district, Cameron, Elk, Clarion and Forest – Clarion county to have two representatives.

Statistics – 1870; population 26,537.

There were comparatively few sheriff sales during the war: In 1862, thirty; in 1864, ten. The minimum and maximum of sheriff sales between 1865 and 1887 were: For i866, 9; 1878, 459.

County Finances.— In 1863 relief orders for the families of absent volunteers (under the act providing therefor) were issued to the amount of $5,066.70.

To liquidate the debt contracted by the building of the missioners, in 1875, issued bonds for $70,000, bearing six. These were refunded and the interest reduced to four per 20, 1882, the last of these bonds were funded. The rate raised to fifteen mills, and reduced after several years to ten.

At the 1st of January, 1878, the liabilities of the county assets $14,678.32. There was $1,429.28 in the treasurer’s vaults.

SOURCE:  Page(s) 343-347, History of Clarion County, A.J. Davis, A.J.; Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co. 1887

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