CHAPTER XXXIX

FROM THE OIL ERA TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1877 – 1887

Railroads – Politics – Statistics – County Finances – Civil List – Newspapers – Post – offices – Agricultural Association – Public Buildings.

RAILROADS

THE Emlenton, Shippenville and Clarion Railroad was built as an outlet to the rich oil territory then existing in the heart of Clarion county, and to afford communication with the county seat. The company was organized with the following officers: President, James Bennet, Emlenton; vice – president, J.M. Dickey, Franklin; secretary and treasurer, J.W. Rowland, Emlenton; chief engineer, C.K. Lawrence, Emlenton; general superintendent,. John V. Patton, Emlenton; directors, James Bennet, M. Hulings, W.J. McConnell, J.W. Rowland, C.W. Mackey, J.M. Dickey, P.F. Kribbs, Jacob Black, Jr., Henry Wetter.

Construction began in the fall of 1876, and the road was completed to Edenburg early in January, 1877. In the spring the road was continued to Clarion, and trains began running to that point in December, 1877. The numerous trestles and heavy grades to be overcome made this road an expensive one; the total cost was $271,666, an average of $9,722.21 to the mile.

In March, 1877, another narrow gauge was built, from Foxburg, connecting with the E., S. and C. at Turkey City. It was called the Foxburg, St. Petersburg and Turkey City Railroad. Wm. M. Fox, president; J.M. Guffy, vice – president; W.S. Watson, secretary and auditor; J.V. Ritts, treasurer; constructing engineer, Charles Graham; directors, Jos. Blakeslee, J.B. MacElwaine, B. Vensel, S.G. Bayne, of St. Petersburg; F.H. Ball, A.W. Smiley, P. Boardman, of Foxburg. The terminus was shortly after changed to Jefferson.

While the Foxburg people were contemplating the construction of this road, in February, the Emlenton and Shippenville excited them by sending surveyors over the proposed route, and threatening, by virtue of some alleged right, to occupy it to the exclusion of the Foxburg company, who had yet no charter. That necessary document was hastily procured and the imminent railroad war averted.

These roads were consolidated March 14, 1881, under the name of the Foxburg, St. Petersburg and Clarion Railroad, and the Fox estate having obtained the controlling interest, the Emlenton branch was abandoned and the track torn up. Not long after this change the road became the Pittsburgh, Bradford and Buffalo, of which the following composed the officers: C.M. Mackey, president; J.M. Dickey, vice – president; W.J. Welsh, secretary; J.W. Rowland, Emlenton, treasurer; B.E. Cutler, Emlenton, chief engineer; J.M. Dickey, general manager; W.D. Reed, general superintendent, Foxburg; A.D. Cowell, superintendent of bridges and way.

In the summer of 1881 this company began the Kane extension at Arthurs, where a branch had been laid the previous year by the Arthurs Coal and Lumber Company. This branch left the main line west of the river, and the short track to Clarion thus in turn became a branch. The Kane extension was not built by contract; the work was done under the supervision of B.E. Cutler, chief engineer, and A.D. Cowell, superintendent of bridge and way construction. The line was finished to Sheffield Junction, Forest county, in the summer of 1881, and to Kane in the autumn of the same year.

October 1, 1883, the Pittsburgh, Bradford and Buffalo was merged into the Pittsburgh and Western system, and by the purchase of the Butler, Karns City and Parker, and the construction of a connecting link between Butler and Callery junction, a through line between Pittsburgh and Kane, and Pittsburgh and Clarion was soon perfected. By subsequent northern extensions, there is also direct communication with Bradford over the Bradford, Bordell and Kinzua.

The Pittsburgh and Western is under the control of the Baltimore and Ohio Company. It is in the hands of receivers, Messrs. J.D. Chalfant and James W. Callery. Its present officers are James W. Callery, president; Thomas M. King, vice – president; H.D. Campbell, secretary and treasurer; C.W. Basset general passenger agent; J.T. Johnson, superintendent; W.L. Cromlest, freight agent: all the above of Pittsburgh or Allegheny. In Foxburg G.S. Lewis, trainmaster northern division; E. Kennerdell, master mechanic. The shops of the northern division are at Foxburg.*

POLITICS

In 1880 Hancock polled 4,333 votes in this county; Garfield 2,933; Weaver, Greenback, 322.

1884, Cleveland, 3,822; Blame, 2,679; Butler, National-Labor, 394; St. John, Prohibition, 139.

STATISTICS

1880, population, 40,328. Of these 37,912 were native, and 2,416 foreign born; 97 were colored, and there was 1 Indian.

In connection with the census I will quote some observations in the Second Geological Report of Clarion county, with some corrections, and changes to bring them to date.

“Tabulating the above dates and figures (population) thus:

“It becomes at once evident that the very large gain per year from 1835 to 1850, and from 1870 to 1880, must have been due to some other agency than that of bona fide agricultural settlement. If a further analysis of the gain per year be made by assuming that from 1835 to 1850 the increase from agricultural settlement was equal to that from 180o to 1835, and that from 1850 to 1870 this gain was but 148 per year, the table then stands thus:

“Showing an average gain, aside from that of the farming community and from natural causes, from 1835 to 1850, of 524 per year; and from 1870 to 1880 of 1,231 per year. The rapid growth from 1835 to 1850 is plainly attributable to the iron and lumber manufactures; while that of 1870 – 80 has been entirely due to the rapid development of the oil territory.”

Of live stock, in 1880, Clarion county had 6,997 horses, 101 mules and asses, 199 working oxen, 10,100 milch cows, 12,653 other cattle, 16,824 sheep, and 18,823 swine; 81,310 barnyard fowls and 3,895 others produced 323,450 dozen of eggs.

Sixty – five thousand five hundred and ninety – six pounds of wool were produced, 28,651 gallons of milk, 780,292 pounds of butter, 604 pounds of cheese, 18,692 of honey, 568 of wax.

The assessed valuation of real estate was $3,128,201; of personal property, $755,497. Total, $3,883,698.

The amount of barley raised was 265 bushels; buckwheat, 775,387; Indian corn, 459,435; 435; oats, 645, 134; rye, 53,839; wheat, 121,833; potatoes, 208,551 bushels.

There were 3,147 farms, a total of 288,558 acres. Of these, 181,818 acres were improved, and 106,740 unimproved.

Value of farms, including buildings and fences, $10,375,428; value of farming implements and machinery, $359,898; value of live stock, $962,771; value of building and repairing fences (1879), $60,996; value of fertilizers used (1879), $39,821. Estimated value of all farm productions (1879), $1,204,072.

Of the farms, 14 were under 3 acres; 159 over 3 and under 10; 180 over 10 and under 20; 449 over 20 and under 50; 1,066 over 50 and under 100; 1,263 over 100 and under 500; 11 over 500 and under 1,000; 5, 1,000 acres or over. Average size, 92 acres. In 1879 Clarion county had 28,740 acres in grass, from which a crop of 25,347 tons of hay was harvested.

Value of manufactured products, $992,582; flouring and grist-mill products, $340,318; foundry and machine shop, $24,900; lumber, sawed, $390,378; ship (boat) building, $28,580. Total, $784,176.

Since the organization of the county, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued 116 warrants for vacant land within its limits. The last was a strip along the county line, in Ashland township, containing fifty acres surveyed in 1884 to William Swartzfager, of McKean county.

In 1882 Clarion county had a pension list of 389. For the year ending June 30, 1886, there were 449, drawing in all $3,794.25 monthly.

COUNTY FINANCES

January 3, 1887, the county’s liabilities were $66,958.00; assets, $46,861.53. $62,600 in 3 1/2 per cent bonds were yet outstanding; balance in the treasurer’s hands, $21,243.45. $896 were paid on extermination (scalp, etc.) orders.

CITIZENS OF CLARION COUNTY WHO HELD NATIONAL AND STATE POSITIONS

Members of Congress. – Amos Myers, of Clarion, Whig, was elected a member of Congress from the Twenty – fourth District in 1862; James T. Maffett, elected in 1886 from the Twenty – fifth District.

State Senators. – Christian Myers, of Clarion, elected a member of the State Senate in 1850 from the district composed of the counties of Armstrong, Indiana, and Clarion, served to 1853; Charles L. Lamberton, Democrat, elected in 1861, Twenty – seventh District, Clarion, Jefferson, Forest, and Elk; David Maclay, Republican, elected from Twenty – eighth District, Armstrong, Clarion, Jefferson, and Forest, in 1872; W.L. Corbett, Democrat, elected 1876 from Twenty – eighth District, Cameron, Clarion, Elk, and Forest; John H. Wilson, Democrat, elected from Twenty – eighth District, Cameron, Elk, Clarion, and Forest, 1886.

Assembly. – D.B. Long, elected a member of the Legislature in 1842 from the district composed of the counties of Clarion, Venango, and Jefferson; reelected in 1843; Robert Barber, elected from same district in 1844; re – elected in 1845; John Keatly, elected from same district in 1846; re – elected in 1847; Reynolds Laughlin, elected from Clarion, Armstrong, and Jefferson District in 1850; re – elected in 1851; Thomas Magee, elected from same district in 1852; re – elected in 1853; Philip Clover, elected from same district in 1854; reelected in 1855; William M. Abrams, elected from same district in 1856; reelected in 1857 in the district composed of Clarion and Forest counties; John M. Fleming, elected in same district in 1858; re – elected in 1859; William Divins, elected in same district in 1860; re – elected in 1861; William T. Alexander, elected in same district in 1862; re – elected in 1863; W.W. Barr, elected in same district in 1864 re – elected in 1865; R.B. Brown, elected in same district in 1868; re – elected in 1869; James B. Lawson, elected from Clarion and Forest counties in 1871; re – elected in 1872; Martin Williams, elected in same district in 1873; re – elected in 1874 from Clarion county, along with John H. Wilson for two years; Joseph A. Summerville and M.L. Lockwood, elected in 1876; J.W. Kahl and Jacob Truby, elected in 1878; S.H. Hamm and M.L. Lockwood, elected in 1880; W.A. Beer and A.M. Neely, elected in 1882; Bernard Vensel and A.M. Neely, elected in 1884; Christian Brinker and A.W. Smiley, elected in 1886.

Delegates to Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania, 1873. – William L. Corbett was elected a member at large in I 872.

Presidential Electors. – John S. McCalmont, Democrat, 1,852; John Keatly, Democrat, 1856; George W. Arnold, Republican, 1856; J.N. Hetherington, Native American, 1856; R.B. Brown, Democrat, 1876; James T. Maffet, Republican, 1880.

Canal Commissioner. – Seth Clover, elected in 1851.

PERIODICALS.**

A complete list of all ever published in this county) Clarion Republican (Dem.), Clarion Visitor, Clarion Democratic Register, Iron County Democrat (Clarion), Clarion Democrat, Clarion Banner, Clarion Republican (Rep.), Clarion Independent Democrat, Clarion Jacksonian, Clarion Republican Gazette, New Bethlehem Press, New Bethlehem Vindicator, East Brady Independent, East Brady Index, East Brady Spirit, East Brady Review, St. Petersburg Progress, St. Petersburg Oil Field Record, St. Petersburg Crude Local, Edenburg Herald (Daily), Edenburg Herald (Weekly), Edenburg Evening News, Gatling Gun (.Edenburg), Edenburg Spirit, Edenburg National, Edenburg Observer, Laborer’s Friend (Edenburg), Foxburg Gazette, Lawsonham Torchlight, Cogley Sunday News, Fern City Illuminator, Callensburg Visitor.

CLARION COUNTY POST – OFFICES (PRESENT).

Alum Rock, Arthurs, Asbury, Blair’s Corners, Brinkerton, Broken Rock, Callensburg, Catfish, Church, Clarion, Curllsville, East Brady, Elk City, Fairmount City, Fern City, Fisher, Foxburg, Frampton, Frogtown, Fryburg, Haynie, Helen, Furnace, Kingsville, Knox, Kossuth, Lamartine, Lawsonham, Leatherwood, Leeper, Lickingville, Limestone, Lucinda.Furnace, Miola, Monroe, New Athens, New Bethlehem, Newmansville, New Maysville, North Pine Grove, Philipston, Piny, Piollet, Pollock, Redbank Furnace, Reidsburg, Rimersburg, St. Petersburg, Scotch Hill, Scrubridge, Shannondale, Shippensville, Sligo, Strattanville, Strubleton, Toby, Truittsburg, Turkey City, Tylersburg, Valley, Vowinckel, West Freedom, West Millville, West Monterey.

THE CLARION FAIR ASSOCIATION

In the summer of 1854 the Clarion Agricultural Association was organized, and in the autumn of that year held its first exhibition in the public squares and court – house. Considering the circumstances, the display was a creditable one. The association was chartered May 2, 1855, with the following incorporating members: George Means, S.T. Corbett, J.M. Fleming, Robert Sutton, William Frampton, R. Laughlin, G.W. Conser, Isaiah Corbett, A. Myers, Emmanuel Over, Patrick Slattery, C. Myers, Hugh Craig, James B. Knox, Joseph W. Anderson, Charles L. Lamberton, C.E. Beman, W.W. Barr, A. Probasco, John Klingensmith, John B. Lyon. The shares were one dollar annually. The payment of five dollars at once obtained a life membership without annual dues. The first officers were: C. Myers, president; William T. Alexander, treasurer; W.W. Barr, secretary.

November 8, 1855, the association purchased four acres at the west end of Clarion town, from the assignees of Christian Myers, for one hundred dollars. The lot was fenced, suitable buildings and sheds erected, and a small one – eighth mile race – track made. Here the fair of ‘56 was held. In 1866 an additional three and one-third acres was purchased from the Tanner heirs, in whom the Myers property had vested.

Judge Myers was succeeded in the presidency by John L. Fleming, with W.W. Barr and David Lawson secretaries, and Miles Beaty treasurer. In 1858 J.B. Lawson became president; T.B. Barber and George W. Arnold, secretaries; C.E. Beman, treasurer.

During the years 1862 – 3 – 4 no fairs were held. The association resumed in 1865, with George Kribbs at its head; T.B. Barber, secretary (succeeded by F.G. Keatly); David Lawson, treasurer (succeeded by Theo. S. Wilson). In 1870 G.T. Henry became president; T.B. Barber, secretary. In 1875 H.L. McClure, president; Samuel K. Clarke, secretary. In 1876 Culbertson Orr, president; George F. Kribbs, secretary; A.S. Jones, treasurer.

June 12, 1877, the society was reorganized under the name of the “Clarion Agricultural and Driving Park Association.” The first set of officers were: President, Henry Wetter; secretary, W.W. Greenland; treasurer, J. Frank Ross. The second, Samuel Pierce, A.H. Alexander, G.W. Arnold. The following were its original members: Frank Ross, W.W. Barr, J.H, Patrick, J.P. Elss, J.B. Watson, Henry Wetter, T.C. Wilson, W.W. Greenland, L.G. Corbett, J.C. Reid, A.S. Jones, R. Rulofson, S.M. Pierce, R.L. Buzard, E.B. Loomis, Edward Wilson, G.W. Arnold, A.H. Beck, C.J. Rhea, A.S. Bell, G.W. Stewart, F.R. Hindman, I.H. Allen, O.E. Nail, S.W. Loomis, J.F. Maffet, B.B. Dunkle, C.A. Rankin, H. Sandt, Thomas Slater, D.B. and H.V. Curll, C. Kaufman, F.M. Arnold, A.W. Corbett, C. Leeper, J.F. Brown, H. Kimble, A.H. Alexander, Joseph Shettler, Kribbs and Hindman, Isaac Farnsworth, A.B. Thomas, C.E. Shaw, Jacob Black, S. Mendenhall, Jacob Hahn, J.H. Barber, S.G. Sloan, F.J. Elslager. Capital stock, $5,000; shares, $50 each. The new association leased twenty – five acres adjoining from the Tanner heirs, put it under fence, and in the summer of 1877 opened the present one – half mile tract, at great expense.

This institution did not prosper, and finally, in 1880, sank under the load of its indebtedness. Its property passed into the hands of the First National Bank, who had purchased its notes, and for three years exhibitions were discontinued.

In 1883, another, the present Clarion Fair Association, was established. It was incorporated August 30, 1883, with a capital stock of $3,000; shares, $30 each. The objects, as stated in the articles of incorporation, are “to encourage and foster among the citizens of Clarion county a spirit of improvement in agricultural productions, mechanical arts, the breeding and raising of all kinds of stock, and to hold fairs for said purpose; also to afford a pleasure park for all kinds of innocent sports and amusements.” The signing stockholders were G.W. Arnold, A.S. Jones, W.W. Greenland, R. Rulofson, Jacob Black, Jr., J.H. Patrick, W.A. Cooper, C. Kaufman, I.M. Shannon, Margaret E. Beck, T.M. Arnold, C.V. Reid, James A. Murphy, Thomas A. Spence, P.J. Shoemaker, William C. Sloan, I.H. Allen, W.F. Collner, A. Corbett, Lan. G. Corbett, W.I. Brush, C.C. Brosius, W. Day Wilson, John A. Magee, Charles Weaver, Curll and Corbett, J.B. Patrick, J.B. Knox, Jr., H.J. Klahr, and G.F. Kribbs. I.M. Shannon was elected president; C.V. Reid, secretary; and Charles Kaufman, treasurer.

The new society took a fresh and vigorous start. The park was redeemed out of the bank’s hands. A commodious new main building was erected, the old buildings repaired, an annex built to the grand stand, and various new sheds put up. The fence was also repaired and extended so as to include considerable more ground. The cost of these improvements exceeded $5,000. The enclosed area of the fair ground is now twenty – five acres. The track is one of the finest in Western Pennsylvania.

The Association increased their capital to $6,000, divided into 300 shares, of which 132 have been taken up. C.A. Wheelock and Jos. H. Patrick succeeded I.M. Shannon and C.V. Reid, in their respective stations. The exhibitions under the new organization have been well patronized, and the last one (September, 1886), notwithstanding the unfavoring weather, was one of the most creditable and Successful yet held on the grounds. Over $1,500 were paid in premiums. At the last election the following officers were chosen: President, L.G. Corbett; vice – presidents, P.J. Shoemaker, A.J. Parsons; treasurer, C. Kaufman; secretary, J.H. Patrick; directors, Cyrus Neely, Geo. T. Henry, Paul Black, P.M. Kahle, Wash. Logue; superintendent of grounds, Jno. Aldinger. The financial status of the Association is yearly improving, and all indications point to a bright future for it.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

First Court – House. – The contract was let to the firm of Derby & Clover, Edward Derby, of Ridgway, and Levi G. Clover, of Clarion. Derby was the superintending partner. The contract price was $8,500, which, it appears, exceeded the lowest bid by $2,700. The extras brought the cost up to $10,636.16. The building was commenced in the spring of 1841 and was ready for occupation in the winter of 1842, but not entirely finished till the spring of the succeeding year.

The old court – house was brick, two storied, and divided by a slight offset – from which there were two narrow recesses – into two longitudinal wings. The rear annex was slightly lower than the front part of the building; the main building was surmounted by a wooden cupola in the center of the roof; there was no clock. The main entrance was through a portico, in the Grecian style, reached by four low steps. The roof of the porch was supported by two wooden, fluted pillars with plain capitals, and two pilasters, one at either end; all painted white. The county offices were on each side of the corridor, in the body of the building; the story above contained four jury rooms. The court – room occupied the ground floor of the rear department; two doors, one in each of the recesses before mentioned, opened into the entry leading to it. The hall above the court – room was used for public meetings, drill, etc.

The circumstances attending the destruction of the first court – house were very similar to those of the second burning. About nine o’clock on the morning of the 10th of March, 1859, smoke and flames issued from the roof, near the cupola; they had come from a faulty flue. The citizens of the town had no means of getting water up, and in two hours the building was a ruin. The records were all preserved. The loss was about $10,000; insurance in the Lycoming and York Companies $7,000.

The Presbyterian Church was used as a court – room till the completion of the new building, and the county officers occupied Arnold’s block.

The First Jail – The contract for the first jail was awarded simultaneously with that for the court – house, to Jonathan Frampton, of Clarion county, at the sum of $2,834. Difficulties arose in settling an account of extras, etc., and Frampton & Craig (as the firm had become) sued the county. The venue was changed to Armstrong county, where judgment was obtained to the amount of $3,097.70, exclusive of costs, making the total cost of the jail about $7,000.

The first jail was a plain structure of square cut sandstone, with a small yard, surrounded by a stone wall in the rear. In 1847 the building was remodeled, and a new front put in. After the completion of the new prison, it was finally torn down in 1883, and its stones used in the foundation of the court – house. The old jail stood a few rods west of the present one.

The Second Court – house was built by Daniel and Edmond English, of Brookville, and completed in 1863. It was necessary that a special act of the Legislature be passed, empowering the commissioners to erect a new structure. The contract stood at $15,720; extras to the amount of $1,500 were allowed. John R. Turner, of Carlisle, was the architect; commissioners, Daniel Mercer, C. Seigworth, Benjamin Miller. The undertaking was a losing one for the contractors. ‘

The second court – house was a substantial brick building with wooden roof; its dimensions were sixty feet front by ninety – eight depth; the height of the first story was thirteen feet, of the second twenty – one; average height of the building (exclusive of belfry) sixty – five feet. It was extremely cheap, considering its size and solidity.

About one o’clock on the morning of September 12, 1882, fire, which had been smouldering in the loft, burst through the roof. The water pressure was not enough to force the stream to the top, and the flames gained resistless headway. The building was gutted in a few hours, leaving the walls standing comparatively intact. Insurance received, $25,000. Between the destruction of the old and the completion of the new court – house, the Methodist Church was used for holding court, and the residence part of the jail for offices.

The Present Jail. – The old jail became dilapidated and insecure, and a new building was deemed necessary. After the proper recommendations, the contract was awarded, April 7, 1873, to Messrs. Samuel Wilson and W.W. Greenland, at the price of $96,737, to which extras to the amount of $23,527.50 were added, making the total cost $120,274.50. James McCullogh, Jr., of Allegheny, was the architect; commissioners under whom the work was done, Isaac Mong, John Stewart, Chris. Brenneman. The interior was not completed till the spring of, 1875.

The structure is imposing in appearance, and is half brick and half stone. The front, comprising the sheriff’s residence is of brick, with semi – octagonal projecting wings, and basement walls of dressed sandstone; a square battlemented tower arises from the front section; it is ninety – seven feet in height from the ground, eighteen feet square at the base, and ten feet at the top. The outside walls of the prison proper are of ashlar sandstone, rough dressed, two and a half feet in thickness. It contains twenty cells, eight and two – thirds by fourteen feet each, ranged in two tiers on each side of the interior court or corridor, which is fifteen and one – sixth feet wide by fifty – six feet long, and the full height of the prison. Iron balustrades extend the length of the corridor before the upper tiers of cells. There are two bath cells; each cell is provided with a water faucet, etc.; the doors are of iron grating, with outside doors of oak two and a half inches thick. The jail is heated by steam.

In 1885 the interior of the jail was repaired and renovated, and steam – heating apparatus put in.

The Present Court House. – There were sixteen bidders, July 3, 1883, when the contract for the third court – house was awarded. John Cooper’s bid, $135,000, was the highest, and P.H. Melvin’s $88,370, the lowest. This allowed $5,000 for materials from former court – house and jail. Mr. Melvin obtained the contract. The building was to be finished by November 16, 1884. Work began July 16, 1883, but the building was not handed over to the commissioners till October 14, 1885.

E.M. Butz, of Allegheny, was the architect; he delegated D. English of Brookville, supervising architect. The commissioners who granted the contract were John Keatly, Aaron Kline, and Johnson Wilson. The present board, Samuel Bell, David Heffron, Emmanuel Over, took possession. Henry Warner, of Allegheny, executed the fresco work. The painting was under the supervision of H.H. Holbrook, of Clarion and D. Dunkelbarger, of Brookville. The tile floors were laid by the Star Encaustic Tile Company, of Pittsburgh. The clock dial, nine feet in diameter, and bell, weight 1,313 pounds, were furnished by the Howard Clock Company, New York.

P.H. Melvin, the contractor, failed January 27, 1885, and assigned to his bondsmen, Augustin Dietz, Edward Denneny, and Edward Lyman, who thereupon became the acting contractors. Melvin was retained as superintendent of construction.

The building is a variation of the Queen Anne order of architecture. Its general dimensions are 78 feet, 8 inches front; 134 feet deep; elevation from the ground to the top of the tower figure, 213 feet. The tower rests on foundation walls 44 – feet thick, which in turn are supported by three graded courses of stone; the tower is carried up on the three internal sides by stone columns in the corners of the vestibules, and iron cross – girders. It is surmounted by a galvanized iron figure of justice ii feet in length. The interior of the clock loft is fitted with gas pipes for illumination. The tower is twenty – five feet square; its elevation above the roof is 139 feet; that of the tapering part 56 feet. The height of the highest part of the body of the structure is 90 feet, 9 inches. The walls of the main part are 22 inches thick. The roof is of tin and slate.

The basement extends the whole length and width of the building and is 10 feet in height. It contains the engine and boiler rooms, fan – rooms, apartments for old archives, and closets. A 20 horse – power engine (run by natural gas), forces steam from the generating boiler to two radiators containing each 1,400 lineal feet of one and one-fourth inch pipe, inclosed in boxes of galvanized iron. Air is conveyed from the roof in shafts, and blown by two revolving fans through these shells or boxes, where it is heated by the steam-pipes, and thence ascends to various parts of the building through tin duct.

The building is ventilated on the vacuum principle. The vitiated air is exhausted from all parts of the house by a large fan 62 inches in diameter and 27 inches wide, placed in a room in which the exhaust pipes center. From here it escapes up the foul air flue. All the heating and ventilating is done by one engine. The basement is also furnished with a gas regulator and water – meter.

In the first story are the county offices on each side of a corridor 16 feet wide. This story is 14 feet, 9 inches high, has a vaulted brick ceiling, and is fire proof. The second story is 21 feet in height; and the third or mezzanine story 12 feet. Each has a lobby in front 21 feet square. The corridor and the lobbies are paved with ornamental tile. On the second floor are the court – room, in front of which on either side the lobby, are two waiting – rooms for ladies, and in the rear, the judges’ and attorneys’ room and two rooms for petit juries. The third story contains the apartments of the county superintendent and surveyor, opening from the front vestibule. From the rear, the grand jury room and two witness waiting rooms.

The court – room is seventy – four feet long, fifty – five feet wide, and forty – five feet high. It is lighted by twelve double windows and four chandeliers of eighteen lights each.

The heating and ventilating apparatus were included in the contract. The following shows the cost of the furnishings, etc., exclusive of this:

Architect – $ 4,418

Furniture – $4,248

Bell and clock – $2,800

Gas and plumbing – $1,500

Carpet – $510

Total – $13,466

An allowance of $661.50 was made for a drain; for neglected and defective work the commissioners deducted $949.77. The total cost to the county, therefore (not counting material on hand), was $97,124.27; $18,000 was sunk by contractor and sub-contractors; $3,500 by bondsmen. Total cost of building (counting old material), $126,936.

P.H. Melvin, on February 12, 1886, brought suit against Clarion county for $40,000 damages. His complaint sets forth that the commissioners failed to comply, on their part, with several of the contract stipulations; that the estimates were not advanced at the time agreed; that the work was delayed by failure to furnish him with plans promptly; that the commissioners compelled him to purchase new brick at great loss, and that he was harassed and hindered in the work by the objections of the supervising architect.

Although the undertaking has been an unfortunate one to the contractor and sub – contractors, the citizens of Clarion county may congratulate themselves on possessing a creditable, solidly constructed court – house, at a comparatively small expenditure.

APPENDIX

Brady’s Bend and Captain Brady. – A warrant was issued by the Land, Office of Pennsylvania in 1785, for 502 acres and allowance, to Captain Samuel Brady. The tract was situated in the great bend of the Allegheny, embracing a large portion of the peninsula; its southwestern boundary line strikes the river a little west of Phillipsburg, and includes, therefore, the site of East Brady. It was surveyed in 1786. In 1791 Brady gave this land to Judge Ross, of Pittsburgh, as a fee for defending him when tried for murdering In.dians. In 1859 300 acres were purchased by the Brady’s Bend Iron Company, and 200, the lower section, by James Cunningham, from William Denny, Ross’s administrator.

Captain Brady also had a one – third interest in two 400 – acre warrants, numbers 132 and 415, south of Callensburg, on Cherry Run. The latter is the site of the camp-meeting ground. Colonel Johnston owned the remaining interest. They were warranted October 8, 1785, and Brady conveyed his title January, 1790, to John Hart.

This is all we know with certainty of Captain Samuel Brady’s connection with the history of Clarion county. Whether any of these tracts were donated by the State is doubtful; the presumption is that they were not, for gifts of land in requital for military services were, as far as we know, confined to the “donation” territory, none of which existed in this county.

It is evident, therefore, that Captain Brady’s ownership of land here will throw little light on the question; did an engagement between the Indians and Brady occur in this county? And in this regard popular tradition, resting on no continuous local basis, and therefore very unreliable, has handed down so many absurd and contradictory stories, so deeply tinged with the romance, which vulgar legends seems determined to associate with every part of a backwoods hero’s career, that from the tangled fantastic mass it is very difficult to extract the clue to the truth.

The consensus of tradition in the vicinity of East Brady is to the effect that a fight occurred between Brady’s rangers and a band of Indians a little below East Brady, on the spot occupied by the Pine Run Company’s coal tipple, between the river and the hillside. A rock nearly opposite is pointed out as where Cornplanter found shelter from the enemy’s bullets, after swimming the Allegheny under fire. Yet, in striving to arrive at the facts, little regard should be paid to legends of this kind. Their only value is to indicate the long existing and universal belief that Captain “Sam” Brady did signalize himself by a victorious encounter with Indians, somewhere on the bend, on the eastern side of the river.

That the curve of the river bears the name of the hero of this legend may have arisen simply from the circumstance that Captain Brady owned considerable of the territory included in the bend. If we go back further it is a presumption in favor of the local tradition that the warrant included the spot assigned by popular belief as the scene of Brady’s achievement, and was purchased by him on that account, or presented by the State as an appropriate gift; yet, after all, this is mere conjecture, and requires material support.

But laying aside local coloring, let us examine the matter in the light of outside history. Hitherto all the accounts of the affair at the Bend contained in the sketches of Clarion county in the State histories and elsewhere, have been copied, without question, from the sketches of Captain Brady in the “Kiskiminetas Papers,” published over fifty years ago by Richard McCabe, a relative of the Brady family. As historical data these productions are utterly worthless; their aim is the glorification of Captain Brady, often at the expense of truth. Many of McCabe’s statements are flatly contradicted by official archives, and among these apocryphal narratives must be classed his account of the action at Brady’s Bend, so widely and trustfully copied.

According to this writer, Brady commanded the advance guard of Colonel Brodhead’s corps in the expedition up the Allegheny in August, 1779. “The troops proceeded up the Allegheny River and had arrived near the mouth of Redbank Creek, now known by the name of Brady’s Bend, without encountering an enemy. Brady and his rangers were some distance in front of the main body, as their duty required, when they suddenly discovered a war party of Indians approaching them. Relying on the strength of the main body and its ability to force the Indians to retreat, and anticipating, as Napoleon did in the battle with the Mamelukes, that when driven back they would return by the same route they had advanced on, Brady permitted them to proceed without hindrance, and hastened to seize a narrow pass higher up the river, where the rocks, nearly perpendicular, approached the river, and a few determined men could successfully combat superior numbers.

“In a short time the Indians encountered the main body under Brodhead, and were driven back. In full and swift retreat they passed on to gain the pass between the rocks and the river, but it was occupied by Brady and his rangers, who failed not to pour into their “flying columns a most destructive fire.” Then follows a poetical quotation describing the shock of the fray and the panic that befell the savages. This is supplemented by an episode in which Captain Brady fires over the head of a mocking brave, across the stream. On his disappearance, Brady and some of his men cross the river in a canoe to divine the cause; the Indian springs up from behind a bush, strikes his breast, and says, “I am a man,” whereupon one of Brady’s companions buries his hatchet in the savage’s brains.

This is all fictitious trash. The skirmish on which this pretty tale is based took place some seventy – five or hundred miles further up the Allegheny, near President.*** Captain Brady is not mentioned as in command of the advance guard, or in any other capacity; that honor belonged to Lieutenant Hardin.

Since the Kiskiminetas fable must be discarded, it behooves us to look elsewhere for confirmation of the tradition; and we find no event recorded which might have occurred within the limits of Clarion county except an encounter between the scout and his savage enemies, and the rescue of two white persons on the Allegheny in June, 1779, before the Brodhead campaign. McCabe places this near the mouth of the Mahoning, but, as usual, gives no authority for that location. There is a tradition or quasi tradition in that neighborhood that the fight and recapture occurred there, although tradition and McCabe’s brother differ by two miles as to the spot. Colonel Brodhead sent the following official report of this affair to President Reed:(4*)

“HEAD QUARTERS, PITTSBURGH, June 24, 1779.

“DEAR SIR: About a fortnight ago three men which I had sent to reconoitre the Seneca Country, returned from Venango, being chased by a number of Warriors who were coming down the River in Canoes; they continued the pursuit until they came to this side of Kittanning, and the White Men narrowly escaped. A few Days after they returned, Captain Brady, with twenty white Men and a young Delaware Chief; all well painted, set out towards the Seneca Country, and the Indian warriors proceeded towards the settlements. They killed a Soldier between Forts Crawford & Hand, & proceeded to Sawickley(5*) Settlement, where they killed a Woman and her four Children, and took two children prisoners. Captn Brady fell in with seven Indians of this party, about 15 Miles above Kittanning, where the Indians had chosen an advantageous situation for their Camp. He, however, surrounded them, and attacked at the break of Day. The Indian Captain, a notorious Warrior of the Muncy Nation, was killed on the spot, and several more mortally wounded, but the woods were remarkably thick, and the party could not pursue the villians tracks after they had stopped their wounds, which they always do as soon as possible after receiving them. Captain Brady, however, retook six horses, the two prisoners, the Scalps & all their plunder, and took all the Indian’s, Guns, Tomahawks, Match Coats, Mocksins, in fine, everything they had except their Breech Clouts. Captain Brady has great Merit, but none has more distinguished Merit in this enterprize than the young Delaware Chief; whose name is Nanowland or (George Wilson).” The rest of the letter is devoted to other topics.

In another account of the same occurrence Brodhead writes: “Captain Brady fell in with seven Indians of this party, about 15 Miles above Kittanning, where they had chosen an advantageous situation for their Camp. He surrounded them as well as the situation would admit,(6*) and finding he was discovered by break of Day, he attacked them, and killed the captain, a notorious warrior of the Muncy Nation, and mortally wounded most of them, but they being encamped near a remarkable thicket, etc.”

General Hugh Brady, a younger brother of Samuel, in a narrative written about 1836, lays the scene of the rescue in Clarion county, on the Redbank, under the following circumstances:

“Soon after, my brother heard of his father’s death; and he waited with impatience for an opportunity to avenge it on the Indians. Nor was the opportunity long delayed. The Indians had attacked a family and killed all in it, except a boy aged twelve, and his sister, ten. These were taken prisoners, and their father was absent from home at the time it occurred. The place was thirty miles east of Pittsburgh, and it so happened Samuel was out in that direction; and hearing of it he started in pursuit, having with him a. friendly Indian, very useful as a guide. The second evening of the pursuit the party stopped on the top of a high hill, and the Indian guide, pointing with his wiping stick to the foot of the hill, said: ‘The Redbank runs there.’ The men sat down, while the captain consulted with the Indian about his future movements. Suddenly the Indian sprang to his feet and said he smelt fire; and soon after they saw the smoke curling above the trees on the opposite side of the Redbank.

“The Indian said: ‘They will sleep by that fire to – night.’ ‘And I will awake them with a voice of thunder in the morning,’ replied the captain. The Indian also said, ‘After they smoke and eat, and the sun has gone to sleep, they will give the scalp halloo.’

“With breathless impatience the party watched the setting of the sun, and as its light disappeared from the tops of the trees in the east, they heard seven distinct scalp halloos, with the usual whoop between each. After it was over, Cole, the Indian, observed: ‘There are fourteen warriors, and they have five scalps and two prisoners. The night being clear and the weather mild, the captain remained in his position till near morning, when he forded the stream above the Indians and posted his men to await the crack of his rifle as the signal of attack. As day broke, an Indian rose up and stirred the fire. The signal was given. The Indian standing pitched into the fire. The attack continued, and resulted in eight of the warriors being deprived of the pleasure of ever again giving the scalp halloo. When the captain got back to the fire he found the children much alarmed. After quieting their fears, the boy asked for the captain’s tomahawk, and commenced cutting off the head of the Indian that fell in the fire, observing that this was the leader of the party and the man that killed and scalped his mother. The boy was permitted to finish the job he had commenced.

“Three days’ easy march brought the captain back to Pittsburgh. The father of the children was sent for to receive his lost ones. He showed much affection and thanked the captain for having restored them; and then asked the captain what had become of his ‘big basin.’ It appeared that the Indians had carried off or destroyed a big basin, from which Henry and his numerous family ate their sauerkraut. The honest Dutchman thought there could be no impropriety in asking for it of the man who had the best chance to know.

“In 1804 the writer met Henry (the boy) at a friend’s house in Greenburg, Pa. Henry had stopped with a wagon before the door, and had a barrel of cider for my friend, who, pointing to me, said, ‘This gentleman is a brother of Captain Brady, who took you from the Indians.’ Henry was assisting to remove the cider, and he gave me aside look for a moment, and then continued his work. I felt hurt at the coldness he showed towards the brother of a man who had risked his life to rescue him from death or bondage, and to avenge the murder of his family.”

It will be seen, leaving the question of locality aside, that although Brady’s narrative is over – wrought, no grave discrepancies exist between his account and Brodhead’s, except in the number of redskins. At the distance of time and under the circumstances he wrote, his errors are pardonable; his version tallies far better than McCabe’s with the official one.

Another version, published in the Knickerbocker for July, 1855 (author unknown), is analogous to local tradition. It makes the attack occur at night. In this Brady ascended the river on the opposite side, crossed at “Truby’s Ripple,” above the camp of the war party, and then moved down stealthily on their rear, hemming them in between the bank and the river. Cornplanter, their chief;(7*) escapes across the Allegheny under a shower of bullets to the famous rock. We quote the end of the article: “The rock that sheltered Cornplanter from Brady’s bullets was pointed out to me by an old Indian in a recent trip down this river. It is known as ‘Cornplanter’s Rock.’ The old Indian gave me the story, with a sad and dejected countenance, in broken English.”

It is evident that much of this story is derived from imaginative sources; its general tenor is foreign to the only reliable accounts we possess – Colonel Daniel Brodhead’s and Hugh Brady’s.

We will return to these and scan them with regard to location, to determine, if possible, whether this achievement of Captain Brady’s occurred in Clarion or in Armstrong county. As the result, it will be seen that the honors lie easy between the two sections, with a preponderance in favor of Clarion. Colonel Brodhead says, “about fifteen miles above Kittanning.” This indefinite phrase is our only official authority for location. Elsewhere, in writing of his march up the Allegheny, he speaks of a delay “at a place called Mahoning, about fifteen miles above Fort Armstrong.” Fort Armstrong was situated about three miles below the present and the old Indian town of Kittanning, and was frequently styled Kittanning in military documents of that date; therefore, I infer that by the Kittanning mentioned by Brodhead, the fort is meant. “At a place called Mahoning,” taken in connection with the quarter mentioned in the letter giving the report of Captain Brady’s success, would seem, then, to corroborate McCabe’s and the generally accepted locality; for the mouth of the modern Mahoning is twelve miles above Manorville, the site of Fort Armstrong, by river.

But we must remember that the earliest name of the Redbank was Lycamahoning, while that of Mahoning Creek was Mohulbucteetam. When the change in the name of this stream took place is unknown, but probably not until the surrounding country became settled, about 1800. We find that Redbank is in one place called “Licking Creek,” whose Indian equivalent would be Mahoning.

The question then seems to hinge on the manner Brodhead calculated the distance; whether by the windings of the river, or by a more direct, overland route. If by the former, then the claims of Mahoning are paramount; but if the latter, the mouth of Redbank, or Brady’s Bend, must have been the scene of the engagement, because twelve miles measure the distance between Fort Armstrong and the latter point, on an air line, which, allowing moderately for the deviations of an overland journey, would make “about fifteen miles” to East Brady, or, with wider digressions, fifteen miles to the mouth of Redbank. Now, in the case of Captain Brady’s expedition, where did Brodhead obtain the distance and the point of attack? Doubtless from Captain Brady himself, who, in haste to overtake the savages, would not have lost time by following the river, but would have struck through the forest on a line only generally parallel with the course of the Allegheny. But it may be said that Brodhead, on the march, kept by the water’s edge. There is no evidence whatever as to that. Very possibly he shortened the route by traversing the interior, or divided his course between the stream and the country, wherever the most practicable way was presented; and in this way, after a march of about fifteen miles, arrived at the mouth of Redbank. However, the claims of Clarion county do not depend on Brodhead’s path.

The strongest point in favor of this county is that the captives, then ten and twelve years old, and their descendants, some of whom afterwards lived there, assert that the rescue took place at Brady’s Bend.(8*) It is little likely that they would be mistaken; at least, make the egregious error of ten or twelve miles.

As between Brady’s Bend and the Redbank (near its mouth), where the rescue is said by General Hugh Brady to have occurred, I incline to the traditional spot at the bend, as supported by the legend and the granting of the land. General Brady, in his recollection of the affair as preserved in the family, was probably misled by the mention of the crossing of the Redbank.

So this interesting dispute rests. The writer does not contend, that he has proved beyond a doubt that this historical incident occurred in Clarion county, and while he challenges the claim of Armstrong county, is content to let the vexed question hang in abeyance till the desirable, but almost hopeless certitude is arrived at. He believes, though, that he has developed a strong case for Clarion county, and that it lacks but a featherweight more of evidence to tip the scales decisively in favor of the latter.(9*)

Samuel Brady was the son of John and Mary Brady, and was born in 1756 at Shippensburg, Cumberland county, Pa. He was therefore very youthful, twenty – three, at the time of this action. His parents moved in 1768 to Standing Stone (Huntingdon), and finally to the West Branch near Muncy. The perilous frontier life early accustomed him to arms, and at the age of nineteen we find him a volunteer in Captain Lowdon’s company, of Thompson’s Rifle Battalion, which in August, 1775, joined the army before Boston. Thompson’s company dissolving at the expiration of its term, Samuel re – enlisted and was commissioned first lieutenant in Doyle’s Independent Company, annexed September 5, 1776, to the First Pennsylvania, but he was shortly selected for Morgan’s corps of sharpshooters.

He took part in the battle of Brandywine and the bloody affair at Paoli in the autumn of 1777, and the battle of Monmouth in 1778. Having been transferred to Brodhead’s command, the Eighth, stationed at Fort Pitt, he was promoted to captain – lieutenant, and became one of the colonel’s favorite scouts, being sent on various hazardous and difficult errands into the wilderness north and west, and acquitting himself with skill and intrepidity. He signalized himself in particular by the rescue of the prisoners, and a mission of espionage to Sandusky, during which he wrested a captive woman and child from a band of savage marauders.

While at Fort Pitt he heard the news of his father’s and mother’s massacre in Lycoming by Indian raiders; and it is said that he then vowed vengeance against the race, seizing upon the Sewickley affair as the first opportunity for retaliation. Brady participated in Brodhead’s sylvan campaigns, and in 1780 became captain. January 17, 1781, he was transferred to the Third Pennsylvania at Easton, under Colonel Craig, and accompanied Wayne on his southern campaign. He was discharged January 14, 1783, and took up his residence in the Chartiers Creek settlement, Allegheny county, spending most of his time in the chase, when his services as an Indian fighter were not in demand.

About 1786 Captain Brady married Drusilla Swearingen, a daughter of Captain Van Swearingen, a gallant fellow – soldier in Morgan’s Rifle Corps. “It is a tradition that the gentle Drusilla was first wooed by Dr. Bradford, of Whisky Insurrection notoriety, but Brady returned from a long trip to Kentucky just in time to secure the coveted prize. Her father objected at first to his daughter marrying Brady, on account of his roving and dangerous scout’s life, but afterward gave his consent. There was some foundation for this objection, for we learn that the fond and lovely wife suffered untold miseries when her reckless husband was absent on distant scouts longer than the time agreed on for return. Dr. Darby once witnessed the meeting between husband and wife on such an occasion, and states it to have been very affecting.”(10*)

During a time of peace in 1791, Brady, while hunting, it is said, encountered a party of Indians at the present Brady’s Run, near the mouth of the Beaver River. His inveterate feeling toward the race, which was then inflamed by alcoholic influences (he had grown over fond of strong drink) mastered his better nature, and he shot one of the savages dead. Even Captain Brady could not in times of peace kill a red man with impunity, and the interests of justice demanded his trial. Warrants were issued, and it is said a reward of three hundred dollars offered for .his capture, as his renown for prowess overawed the officers of justice. His brother says that, though an attempt was made, he was not taken, but subsequently voluntarily delivered himself into custody. He was arraigned for murder at Pittsburgh, and defended by James Ross, afterward judge. In defense it was claimed that the savages had been on a raid against the Chartiers settlement; that Brady, with a few retainers, had waylaid them on their return at the Ohio crossing. The trial was a notable one, and excited great interest, but public sentiment was hostile to the Indians, and the verdict was for acquittal.

Shortly after his marriage, Captain Brady removed to Virginia (now West Virginia), near Wellsburg, where his father – in – law lived in a fortified domicile. On General Wayne’s arrival at Pittsburgh, in 1792, he engaged Brady as a scout, which position he exercised till a short while before his premature end. He died of pleurisy on Christmas day, 1795, near West Liberty, W.Va. His two sons died before 1850; his widow remarried, moved to Tyler county, Va., and lived to a good old age.

Of Samuel Brady’s personal appearance, his brother’s sketch furnishes all we know: “He was five feet eleven and three – fourth inches in height, with a perfect form. He was rather light, his weight exceeding at no time one hundred and sixty – eight pounds.” His arduous, exposed life told on him in his later years, and he looked older than he was. He walked lame from a hurt, and was partially deaf from lying long in the water while hiding from the savages.

Captain Brady;s career was doubtless a marvelously active, adventurous, and in some respects useful one. He was a brave soldier and a skilled and hardy partisan. Of the adventures, of which tradition has made him the central figure, some are highly embellished; others are wholly fictitious; largely the products of a relative’s facile pen and fervid imagination.

In a moral and political aspect, Brady was far from heroic. The element of self – control was lacking in his character. He appears to have yielded to a licentious passion, which discredited his race among the tribes of the Ohio, and inflamed their hatred;(11*) and his revengeful instincts detract from the merits of his deeds.

George Rote and his sister Rhody, aged about twelve and fourteen, were taken by Indians, in March, 1781, from their home at Mifflinburg, now Union county, and carried prisoners to the Seneca country. After some time, when peace was proclaimed, they were liberated, met near where Clarion stands,(12*) and returned home together. “Rhody married James Ben, and they moved to Centre county. They were uncle and aunt to the late Captain John Rote, who never could hear of an Indian, in latter times, without getting into a passion.” (“Annals of the Buffalo Valley,” by John Blair Linn). This bit of history was obtained too late to be inserted in the body of the work.

The “Bedford and Franklin Road,” mentioned in chapter ninth as having been surveyed through Clarion in 1817, never went beyond that stage.

*Clarion county has an extraordinary number of wagon roads; too many to be well kept.

**Those in italics are now being published.

***Brodhead’s letter to Washington, Pennsylvania Archives, Old series, Vol. XII.

(4*)Pennsylvania. Archives, O.S., Vol. VII., p. 505.

(5*)Sewickley, in Westmoreland County.

(6*)This would seem to indicate that they were encamped near the water.

(7*)Cornplanter was a Seneca, while the leader, mentioned by Brodhead, and who was killed, was a Muncy. It is possible, though, that Cornplanter took part in the fray.

(8*)See History of Armstrong County, page 261; Pittsburgh Chronicle, December 5, 1859; History of East Brady.

(9*)These observations are the result of painstaking researches among records, official and unofficial, as well as the oral traditions of the community.

(10*)Our Western Border

(11*)Mr. Isaac Craig writes: “He caused much trouble to the Americans by his rascally conduct to a Shawanese woman whom he took prisoner, and it was with great difficulty that Colonel George Morgan, the Indian agent at Fort Pitt, appeased the Shawanese tribe. It is difficult for us to understand Brodhead’s infatuation with Brady, in the light we now have.”

(12*)Mr. Linn’s informant, a Mr. Gill, who traveled afoot through this count many years ago, and who was very accurate as to dates and facts, says that the meeting took place “at a furnace near Clarion,” which must mean the site of Clarion Furnace, or Penn Mills.

SOURCE: Page(s) 367-387, History of Clarion County, A.J. Davis, A.J.; Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co. 1887

About Author

admin

See author's posts