History
History of Jefferson County
Edited by Kate M. Scott
1888
History of Clover Township
Chapter XLIV
Clover was the thirteenth township organized, and was taken, in 1841, from Rose.
It was named for Levi G. Clover, then prothonotary of the county. It is almost square, and contains about seventeen square miles. It is bounded on the north by Union; on the east by Rose; on the south by Beaver, and on the west by Clarion county.
Drainage - The surface is generally hilly, and the drainage through small tributaries from all parts of the township, flows into Redbank Creek, which traverses the township, through a deep and irregular valley, from northeast to southwest. North of the creek the smaller streams make a number of deep ravines; south of it the county is less broken, but not less high, in both cases the summits being 300 feet above the bed of Redbank, which is here 1,160 feet above ocean level.
Population and Taxables - In 1850, according to the census, the population of Clover was 737; in 1860, 910; in 1870, 868; in 1880, 1,054. The census in 1880 gives the population of Summerville at 348.
The number of taxables in 1842 was 145; in 1849, 190; in 1856, 166; in 1863, 183; in 1870, 199; in 1880, 262; in 1886, 316.
Assessment and Valuation - The triennial assessment of the county for 1886, gives the number of acres of seated land in Clover as 9,813; valuation, $42,121; average per acre, $4.29; number of houses and lots, 120; valuation, $8,816. Number of acres of unseated land, 6; valuation, $70.00; average per acre, $11.66. Number of horses, 160; valuation, $4,164; average, $26.02. Number of cows, 232; valuation, $2,208; average, $9.51. Occupations, 144; valuation, $3,040; average, $21.11. Total valuation, subject to county tax, $60,349. Money at interest, $42,285.
School Statistics. - There were six schools in Clover according to the report of public instruction for the year ending June 30, 1886; average number of months taught, 5; number of male teachers, 5, and 1 female teacher; average salary of male teachers per month, $33.40; salary of female teacher, $30.00; number of scholars, 174 males; 149 females; average number attending school, 238; average per cent. Attendance, 89; cost per month, 64 cents; 13 mills levied for school tax; 5 mills levied for building tax; total amount of tax levied for school and building purposes, $1,300.56.
First Election. - At an election held in Clover Township, in 1842, the following person was elected; Fence viewer, William Magill.
In 1843 the following were elected: Inspectors of election, Samuel Milliron, Euphrastus Carrier; judge of election, Solomon Fuller; supervisors, James Sowers, Hazard Jacox; school directors, Hiram Carrier, Mathew Dickey, John Shields, Henry Scott, Samuel Lucas, Christopher Fogle; constable, Charles Jacox; assessor, Euphrastus Carrier; auditors, D. Fayerweather, P. I. Lucas; overseers of the poor, Elijah Heath, Robert Andrews; town clerk, A. Baldwin.
The election held February 15,1887, resulted in the election of the following persons in Clover township; Justice of the peace, W. B. Mohney; constable, C. E. Anderson; supervisors, G. R. McAninch and S. C. Carrier; school directors, D. B. Shields and A. A. Carrier; poor overseer, G. B. Carrier; school directors, D. B. Shields and A. A. Carrier; poor overseer, G. B. Carrier; tax collector, R.D. Corbet; assessor, W. S. Kelso; judge of election, William Covert; inspectors, William Guthrie and J. C. Wilson. The school directors previously elected are W. S. Osburn, A. Osburn, B. T. Shields and G. A. Carrier.
Topographical. - Lying on both sides of Redbank Creek, Clover township is very hilly. There is not in one place a hundred acres which could be said to be level except the site of Summerville.
There is another small piece of creek bottom land on the farm of Captain J. C. Kelso, one mile further up the creek, and another on Joseph Knapp's far (the old Lucas place, below Puckerty).
Most of the hill land is moderately productive, especially on the eastern side of the hill. Of late years the land has suffered some damage from wash of heavy rains on a loose soil. There is an abundant supply of coal limestone in Clover, also a good well of salt water on the north bank of the creek in the suburbs of Summerville. Thomas and John Lucas bored for salt in 1823 on the bottom land below Puckerty. They obtained a small flow of salt water, but as they worked the drill with a pole in trying to get deeper, the drill stuck fast and they abandoned the enterprise. Some of the first settlers were told by the Indians that there was a lead mine on the bank of the creek one mile below John Lucas's. The mine has never been found, but the hope of finding it has never been abandoned.
Mr. James Anderson, sr., who erected the salt works, had previously been a partner with a Major Johnston in saltworks on the Kiskiminetas, Westmoreland county. In 1840 Major Johnston came out and purchased three hundred and sixty acres of land on Redbank, and with a pole power sank a shaft eight hundred and fifty feet deep, finding at that depth what salt producers know as a three barrel well. The major then failed in business, and turned over the Redbank property to James Anderson, who settled at coal Hill in 1843 and manufactured salt there for about twenty-five years. This property is now owned by ex-Sheriff S. P. Anderson, James Anderson, and W. H. Anderson. It contains two fine farms, and a large amount of mineral wealth.
Geological. -The following minerals have been found in Coal Hill, on the property of ex-Sheriff S. P. Anderson.
First. The salt shaft developed a vein of coal eight feet thick at a depth of eighty feet.
Second. Vein of coal four feet thick, thirty feet above the creek.
Third. Vein of limestone six and a half feet thick, forty feet above four feet of coal.
Fourth. Fire-clay undeveloped.
Fifth. Vein of coal thirty-two inches thick, about twenty-five feet above limestone.
Sixth. Vein of coal seven feet thick, about eighty feet above thirty-two inch vein of coal.
Seventh. Vein of iron ore under seven feet coal vein, undeveloped, seam to be eighteen inches thick at surface, and has been pronounced by an expert the very best quality.
There are but few farms in Clover which have no coal developed, and many of them have three veins.
There are ten coal banks in active operation within one mile of Summerville, and good coal can be bought at two to four cents per bushel at the banks.
There has never been a well of sufficient depth put down in Clover to list it as oil territory.
Native Forests and Animals. -It would perhaps be difficult to find anywhere in the world a more valuable forest than that which clothed Clover ownership at the time of its first settlement. It was all covered with white pine, whit oak, and other valuable timber.
Fifty years ago very valuable timber was cut down, logged, rolled on great heaps and burnt in order to clear the land; this, too, within sight of the creek. There are hundreds of acres of land in Clover which would readily sell for five hundred dollars per acre if they contained the original forest untouched. There is still, however, enough timber for building and fencing purposes, if carefully handled.
Wild animals are seldom seen now, and no wonder, for there is scarcely one hundred acres together of woodland to shelter them. A large bear was killed on Baxter
Property in 1882. It had probably been driven in from the large forests up north. If we could have a law that there should be no fishing done in Redbank Creek for three years, fish would then be plentiful, and with a little protection might remain so.
Early Settlement. - The first settlement in Clover township was made in Troy, now Summerville, about the year 1812, by Summers Baldwin, who purchased the land on which Summerville now stands from the Holland Land company. Solomon Fuller and John Welch each purchased land of Baldwin; but as Baldwin never perfected his title, they, after some time and trouble, obtained their titles from the Holland Land company, which at that time owned the greater part, if not all of what is now Clover township. Summerville is named for Summers Baldwin. It is located on Redbank Creek, seven miles below Brookville. The above named families - Baldwin, Fuller, and Welch - were the only ones which "Uncle" Darius Carrier found located in Troy 1816; but some time previous to this a man named Scott had built a sawmill on what is now known as Hiram's Run, and for some cause unknown had gone away and left the mill standing idle.
Between the years 1816 and 1820 Frederick, Hettrick, Henry Lot, Alonzo Baldwin, and --___________McElwaine were added to the Troy settlement, and the Carriers in 1820.
The next settlement was also on Redbank Creek, three miles above Troy, at a place afterwards called Puckerty, because of the difficulty of navigating rafts around the rapid current of a short and sharp S. shaped bend. The first settlers at the lower end of Puckerty shute were Thomas and John Lucas. They built their cabins there in 1818. The next year they were joined by Moses Knapp, Robert Andrews and Walter Templeton, as neighbors. Then, in 1820, there came from Huntingdon county the following named persons and their families: James Shields, William Morrison, Hugh Williamson, Samuel Magill, John McGiffin, John Kennedy and John Kelso. These came on wagons, the distance being about one hundred miles, and the road mostly through woods. They purchased land north and west of the Lucases, and formed what was afterwards known as the Irish Settlement; that at Troy was called the Yankee Settlement, and one further down the creek, in what is now Beaver township, of Jefferson, and Redbank, of Clarion county, was called the Dutch Settlement. The Irish Settlement is just north of Downlingville. The buildings north of the creek at Baxter Station are called Dowlingville; those on the south side are called Baxter.
Pioneer Incidents. -It does not appear why Thomas and John Lucas chose to settle at Puckerty. The place does not look very inviting, even at this date, but it seems that the first settlers followed the streams, and a little patch of creek bottom may have been the inducement. It is related that Mrs. Esther Lucas, wife of John Lucas, having occasion to visit a neighbor who resided on the hill, found a wolf caught in a trap, and fearing that it might get loose and escape, she killed it with a stick.
A man named Scott built a saw-mill on Hiram's Run, in Troy, about 1814. For some cause unknown Scott abandoned the mill for a time. About 1816 the mill was stolen and re-erected on Welch Run.
"In 1820 a good mill could be built for three hundred dollars, the saw and irons costing about one hundred."
Moses Knapp built seven mills, viz: Two on the North Fork, one on Knapp's Run, and four on Redbank Creek. Major A.A. Carrier says: "My father, having sold lumber and bought some goods at Pittsburgh, put them into a canoe and poled it from Pittsburgh to Heathville."
Troy being located on low ground, some of which was marshy and somewhat unhealthy, when a man named Lot settled there some wag gave the place the name of Sodom. Then having met Lot's flitting, leaving the place, he announced that Sodom was about to be destroyed. "For," said he, I have just now seen Lot flying from it."
"In the fall of 1826, at a manure hauling at James Shield's, at which they were twelve or fifteen teams, there was only one horse team and wagon, the other teams being oxen and hitched to sleds.
"Most of the work was done by bees or frolics. I have seen six frolics in a week; that week we were at home only on the day of our own frolic.
"About 1826 boards were sold as low as three dollars per thousand feet in Pittsburgh.
In 1833 the wages for a hand for a trip on the creek was one dollar and fifty cents. Fred Hettrick sold a lot of large choice pine timber for six cents per foot, linear measure."
Lumbering - Lumbering in Clover is chiefly a thing of the past, still there are a few lumbermen remaining, and most of the older citizens have taken a hand at it in bygone days. The Carriers especially have cleared immense forests of timber, and handled millions of dollars worth of lumber. The late ex-Sheriff Nathan Carrier was a partner in a firm which in one year (about 1866) ran over one hundred rafts of pine timber. About this time there were as high as two thousand rafts ran out of Redbank from March till November inclusive. As to the value of these the following estimate is not far from correct.
1,000 rafts timber, 4,500 feet per raft, 20 cents per cubic foot�����$900,000
1,000 rafts , boards, 40,000 feet per raft, $20 per thousand feet����...800,000
Shingles, lath, boat gunwales, spars, etc���������������300,000
Total�����������������������������.$2,000,000
This estimate gives us an aggregate of two millions as the annual value of Redbank's lumber at that time, and Clover did perhaps as much as any other township in the handling of it. The above estimate of the value of the timber is a little high, but on the boards it is low. Brown & Fuller in 1866 sold boards in Pittsburgh for twenty-four dollars per thousand in the water, the boards being what lumbermen understand as the "run of the logs."
In those days the men of Clover were nearly all raftmen. A pilot's wages was twenty dollars and expenses from Brookville to mouth of Redbank, and although it took him a day to walk back (unless he did the walking in the night) he earned ten dollars a day, and thus some pilots earned as high as a hundred and fifty dollars in one season, and in less than a month's work, and common hands half as much. But all this has been changed by the railroad, and an old fashioned raft on the creek will soon be as much of a curiosity to the rising generation as an Indian.
There are still two saw mills in Clover - Carrier's and Baxter's - doing a considerable business, and several of the citizens have some lumber interests elsewhere. The sights and scenes of the old rafting times would be both instructive and amusing. Sometimes the creek was so full of rafts that some were crowded out of the channel. These sometimes formed a gorge, or jam. Then at the mouth of the creek there was sometimes the greatest of all jams, and as there was sometimes a thousand men there and accommodations for only half of them "the night was filled with drinking, and the cares that infested the day folded their tents like the Arabs and silently flitted away."
Churches - In 1828 The Associate Presbyterian (Seceder) congregation of Jefferson was organized in the Irish settlement of Clover township.
In 1831 this congregation built a church on the property of Robert Andrews, a half mile north of Dowlingville. This was one of the first frame church buildings, if not the very first in the county. Some years passed betwixt the erection of this building and the seating of it. During this time each family provided a board, or slab, and placed it on blocks of wood, or stone, for a seat. Then, when the seats were inserted, they were sold, and the name of the purchaser was written on the end of it with a red pencil. "When I was a small boy I took great pleasure in deciphering those names, and am able, after the lapse of forty years, to furnish from memory the following list of them: James Shields, Moses Knave, Robert Andrews, William Moron, John Keels, John Kennedy, Matthew Dickey, John McGiffin, Joseph Magiffin, William Keels, John Fitzsimmons, George H. S. Brown, George Trimble, John Ferguson, Hugh Millen, Christopher Barr, Beech Wayland, Solomon Chambers, James Ross, Thomas sharp, Isaac Covert, and perhaps some others.
This (Jefferson) congregation has never been long without regular preaching services. The following pastors have been at different times installed, a part of the time in connection with Beaver Run, and a part of the time, as at present, in connection with Brookville: Rev. James McCarrol, John McAuley, John Todd, J. C. Truesdale, A.B. Struthers, G. C. Vincent, D. D., and the present time Rev. G. A. B. Robinson.
In 1866 the Jefferson congregation erected a new church building about a half-mile north of where the first one stood. In 1876 a new church was built near the site of the old one by a few person who refused to enter into the union formed by the Associate and Associate Reformed Presbyterians. This last named is commonly known as the Seceder Church. Standing on a hill which is in sight of Baxter Station, a person can see four church buildings, viz, United Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter), Associate Presbyterian (Seceder), and United Brethren. Each of these has a Sabbath school in connection, except the Seceders. The first three use the Bible psalms exclusively in worship. Jefferson Sabbath-school has an enrollment of one hundred and fifty members.
The following sketch of the Covenanter Church was furnished by Mr. Joseph Magiffin:
"The Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) Church had for a number of years occasional preaching in Clover township. But their first church building was built in the year A.D. 1865.
"The carpenter work was done by Mr. Patterson Leech, and the stone work by Mr. John B. Shields. The cost of the building of the church, as nearly as it can be ascertained, was two thousand and ten dollars. There was a church belonging to the same body in Rose township, near Belleview, built some years before. The membership belonging to both was about eighty-two. The pastors who presided over the congregations were Revs. R.J. Dodd, who went to Syria as a missionary, and died there, T.M. Elder and A.J. McFarland."
The United Brethren Church building in Dowlingville was erected in 1874. Although it is probable that a Methodist congregation was organized in Summerville at a much earlier date, an old citizen tells us that the first Methodist Church was built in 1842. It was a large building, and was frequently filled. This building was replaced by a new one in 1885. The new church, though not as large as the old one, is a very handsome and commodious. The name of the present pastor is L. G. Merrill. There is a Sabbath school in connection with this church.
The first church at Mount Pleasant (Johns') (This was better known to the old settlers as the John's Church, being located on the property of Samuel Johns), was built in 1850 by the United Brethren, and purchased in 1855 by the Methodist Episcopal congregation. The second church building, which was erected on the site of the first, in 1875 by the Methodist Episcopal congregation, is a neatly finished building, size 56 by 36 feet. The name of the present pastor is R.M. Felt. There is a Sabbath school in connection with this church.
A Presbyterian congregation was organized in Summerville in 1870. They built a church in 1874. There is a Sabbath school in connection with this church, but no kept open in winter. This congregation has no pastor at present.
Schools - Charles C. Gaskell, the agent of the Holland Land Company, donated four acres of land for school purposes at the corners of land purchased by John Lucas, Robert Andrews, William Moron and John Keels. In 1825 a small log shanty was built on the acre reserved from the Lucas property. This was the first school house in Clover, and was also used for preaching services. A Presbyterian minister named William Kennedy preached a few sermons in this house, and thus it was that this lot came to be used as a cemetery.
The first school teacher was Robert Knox. The house was not floored the first year. The pupils sat on the sleepers. There was a little platform for the teacher; but one day the boys managed to put rollers under the platform, so that when the teacher ascended his throne, it flew from under him, and down he went between the timbers.
March 1, 1827, Joseph Magiffin commenced a three months' term of school, afterwards extended to six months. Tuition was fifty cents per scholar per month. He had twenty-five or thirty scholars. He boarded with the scholars, and was free of the school every second Saturday.
There are at present three graded and three ungraded schools in Clover. The ungraded schools are very large, that at Mount Pleasant having an enrollment of about eighty scholars.
The graded schools are in Summerville, in a fine large four-room building, erected for the purpose in 1884. The teachers names are: For the lower grade, Miss Henrietta De Haas; for the middle, John S. Keels; for the higher, W. S. Osborn.
The names of teachers of ungraded schools are: For Mount Pleasant, William Shields; for Lucas, E. H. Shields; for Ross, Samuel C. Simpson. Teachers' wages average thirty-three dollars per month of twenty days.
The finest building in Clover for literary purposes, is Mount Pleasant Lyceum, built in 1881 by Webster Literary Society, at a cost of twenty-three hundred dollars, twelve hundred of which was paid by A. A. Carrier. The orchestra is furnished and occupied by the Twin Sisters Cornet Band.
Societies. - There is a branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Dowlingville, which holds regular semi-monthly meetings in the U.B. Church. Mrs. R. Campbell is president. There is a woman's Foreign Missionary Society in connection with Jefferson U.P. congregation. This society was organized and presided over by Mrs. M. J. Millen, as long as the care of an invalid mother would permit. Mrs. E. A. McGiffen is now the president. There is also a Woman's Foreign Missionary Society in connection with Summerville Presbyterian congregation of which Mrs. W. J. Corbet is president.
The Webster Literacy Society of Mt. Pleasant was organized in 1880, and erected the lyceum building in 1881. This society was instituted for the purpose of furnishing better employment for young men and women than loafing, smoking, drinking and such like, and an intelligent, orderly and progressive neighborhood, witnesses to the wisdom of such an institution.
Soldiers - There is one soldier of the War of 1812 buried in Carrier Cemetery. His name was John Alexander. Of his history we know but little. He was justice of the peace in Troy about thirty years ago.
Some time between 1840 and 1850 Clover was the headquarters of the famous rifle company. This company was recruited and organized by Dr. James Dowling, and was called the Independent Greens. The uniform consisted of an Indian hunting shirt of green baize cloth, trimmed with a red fringe and leggings of the same material. David L. Moore, the Knapps, Guthries and many other large men were members of this company, and it would have been difficult to find anywhere a company of abler-bodied men. Besides this many of them were expert riflemen. They were armed with their own rifles. They never had occasion to meet a foe, but if they had been placed on a skirmish line, and properly handled, they would have made their mark. The "Greens" took several lessons in tactics from Colonel Hugh Brady of Brookville. Captain Dowling soon turned over the command to John Lucas, Hugh McGiffen and others. The members served seven years, and were, therefore exempt from militia duty or fine.
The farm of Robert Andrews, one-half mile north of Dowlingville, was at an early day, one of the camps of the "Cornstalk Militia." They were inspected by Brigade Inspector Major Joshua Marlin of Indiana. They were not required to uniform nor arm, but only to report for duty three days in the year. The fine for non attendance was fifty cents per day, and as excuses were allowed, even this small fine was seldom paid. But as the muster or review (two of those days were called musters, and one review), was a day of general meeting greeting and hilarity, the turnout on training day was sometimes quite large. In those days any person could take whisky to a muster (or anywhere else), and sell it in quantities large or small, by the gallon or by the drink. Drinking then was the rule, abstinence the exception. Doubtless this was the reason why fights and fighting men were more numerous then now. A training day which passed without any fighting, was reckoned a dull one. The principal amusements at those musters were foot racing, throwing the shoulderstone, jumping, wrestling, and a free for all row, in which the strongest came out best. The militia law required the enrollment of all able-bodied men between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five. It is not now known why they were required to meet. We think it must have been for the purpose of ascertaining if they were still alive.
It may well seem surprising that in a township which in 1861 numbered less than two hundred voters, seventy-six men bore arms in the War for the Union, and yet this is the record of Clover.
The plan of this history calls for "memorable deeds performed by Jefferson county men in the late war." Now the writer of this (Clover township) history claims that any man who was in the Union army for a considerable length of time, who did his duty and was honorably discharged, did many memorable deeds, and the same writer could specify some of the memorable deeds done by Clover township soldiers, but they were only such as were done in common by all good soldiers. The record shows that "eleven men from Clover died in the line of duty during the war." This more than thirteen per cent. Of those who bore arms. A very heavy loss to leave on the field, as it seldom represents one-half of the real losses, and gives no account of the maimed, crippled, and diseased. Of those eleven, we may at least say that they did memorable deeds. Then we have eleven who enlisted in the first three months' service, and most of whom re-enlisted. Well, now, when we consider that they expected to squelch the Rebellion, we must admit that though disappointed in the accomplishment of their object, still they did memorable deeds. Then we have about twenty who enlisted and re-enlisted and having been through almost the whole war, were honorable discharged at its close. It will never be disputed that they did memorable deeds, for if they had not so done, the union of States should have long ago been a thing of the past. The following are the names of soldiers of the late war who enlisted from Clover, with rank, company, regiment and remarks, so far as they could be ascertained:
One Hundred and Fifth Regiment. - Company B: Captain Joseph C. Kelso, veteran, three times wounded, and once taken prisoner. First Sergeants: Samuel H. Mitchell, killed at Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862; William N. Pearse. Sergeant William Lucas, mustered out with company, July 11, 1865. Corporals: Nathan D. Carrier, killed at Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862; James M. Thompson. Privates:William Covert, Mathew M. Dowling, David D. DeMott, Thomas Hildreth, died of wounds received at Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862; James A.Robinson. Musician, Winfred S. Lucas. Company G: Corporal, William H. Lucas, mustered out with company July 11, 1865.
Eighty Regiment (first three month's men). - Company K: Privates: David Baldwin, James Baldwin, Isaac Carrier, Andrew Love, Hiram McAninch, Harvey McAninch, Adam M. Sugert, Barton B. Weldon. Musicians: David B. Dickey, James Campbell. Company I: Private, Robert J. Robinson. All discharged on expiration of term of service.
Eleventh Cavalry. - Privates: John Alexander, Darius Baldwin, George F. A. Clark, Jesse Evans, John J. Guthrie, John L. Knapp, John L. Lucas (died in Andersonville prison), James McCann, David McElroy (died of fever in Eastville, Va., June 6, 1865), Thomas McDoell, George McDoell, Lewis Stine, Frederick J. Strong, Robert M. Thompson, James R. Vandevort, Albert C. Vandevort, Paul Vandevort.
Seventh Emergency Regiment. - Company B: First Lieutenant, William Dickey. Privates: Philip Carrier, Lanford Carrier, Oliver Darr, John McElroy, C. B. McGiffin, John Moore, Charles Shingledecker, Ira Welch, Jackson Welch. Company H: Corporal, Hiram McAninch. Private, James J. Walmer.
These men were called out for the purpose of heading off the great Confederate raider, John Morgan, and were discharged immediately after his capture. They were in the service about six weeks, and would have died for their country if Morgan had killed them.
One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment. - Company B: Sergeant, Samuel M. Moore. Privates: James Hildreth, Chauncey P. Harding, James E. Mitchell, Frank M. Robinson.
Two Hundred and Eleventh Regiment. - Company B: Private, David W. Craft.
One Hundred and Third Regiment. - Privates: Daniel Brosius (died in Andersonville prison), Samuel Clark (died in Andersonville prison), Leonard Stine (died of fever at Yorktown, Va.), George Scott, George R. Ward (killed in Seven Days' battle).
Eleventh Regiment Reserves - CompanyK: Privates: Milo M. Bryant, Clark B. Haven, Moses M. Sugerts.
One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment. - Company I: Sergeant Benjamin F. McGiffin. Privates: Peter P. Love, Joseph M. Thompson (killed at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864).
One Hundred and Ninety-ninth Regiment. - Company K: Privates: Jacob Brosious, George W. Brosious (died of chronic diarrhea at Richmond, Va., June 16, 1865).
Regiment Unknown. - Privates: Abram Miller, Andrew Hetrick.
Two colored men,named Green and Butler went to fill the quota of Clover, for the draft next to the last one, but when they arrived at Pittsburgh, they were offered $600 local bounty, instead of $400, which Clover was giving, and so they accepted the $600, and were enrolled for Allegheny county.
Agriculture and Stock Raising. -There are many good farms in Clover, four of which have but few superiors in the county.
First. The farm at Mount Pleasant, partly cleared by George Eckler, an early settler, who was married to Amelia Carrier. A. A. Carrier has occupied this farm for thirty years, and has, during this time, made the following improvements, besides customary farm buildings, viz: A hen house, 70 by 20 feet, in which five hundred chickens were produced this season; also a creamery building, furnished with Cooley creamers for twenty cows, the churning being done by steam power; also a three hundred dollar steam engine for cutting and steaming feed, running chopper, etc. These extra improvements were made at an expense of about fifteen hundred dollars.
Second. The farm chiefly cleared by William Simpson, and now owned by Isaac Lucas, has produced large crops of grain for the last thirty years.
Third. The farm chiefly cleared by John Kelso, and now owned by William Kelso, has produced yearly over one thousand bushels of oats and corn beside large crops of wheat and buckwheat for twenty years.
Fourth. The farm cleared by James Shields (a first settler) and David, his son, and now owned by Samuel M. Shields, although more devoted to stock feeding, produces good crops of grain. Here the purchaser or breeder can find at all times the best quality of draft horses, and the best breeds of cattle and sheep. As farms having peculiar advantages, either natural or acquired, we might mention those of J. K. Ross, Jacob Lehman (the old Johns place), James Dickey, J. H. Shields, D. B. Dickey, George A., and G. B. Carrier. On the farm of G. B. Carrier may be seen the best stock barn in Clover, and perhaps there is none better it the country. The barn is octagonal (eight squares), sixty-five feet in diameter. The fodder room, is in the center, the stock all around. The fodder comes down from the mows by flumes, which also serve as ventilators. There are many other improvements in this barn too numerous to mention. They must be seen to be appreciated
John McLaughlin has a fine flock of thoroughbred Merino sheep. The adjoining farms of David Dinger and John Love produce both good stock and good crops. J. K. Ross, William Kelso and John Smith, each took first premiums for Short-horn cattle at the last county fair. S.M.Shields took first premium for Percheron draft horses.
Almost every farm in Clover has an abundance of choice fruit. In 1882 John C. Smith planted one thousand peach trees, besides a large number of apples and pears on his farm at the mouth of Watertrough (formerly Welch) Run. He is also the first in Clover to introduce the fish industry, having this season built a fine pond and stocked it with German carp.
William Miller has a first premium team of Mexican ponies. George A. Carrier has a heard of ponies bred from stock purchased of the cowboys at the fair.
On the farm of Captain J. C. Kelso may be seen a flock of fine Southdown sheep, and on the farm of David W. Smith, on the opposite side of the creek, a fine flock of Cotswolds. A team of three year horses, belonging to John Brosious, would draw nearly thirty hundred on the scales. These are only examples of Clover's choice stock, and must not be mistaken for a full list.
Roads - Clover is bisected by the Kittanning and Brookville road, which follows the creek except at the bends. We cannot easily learn when this road was made, but it was traveled seventy years ago-1816. It has, however, undergone many alterations, the most notable of which is that from Summerville to Millville via Shannondale, instead of following the creek. Most of the high hills over which this road passed have three grades of the same road; the first seemed to have been made by a point of the compass over the tops of the hills and the bottoms of hollows; the second was a better grade, and the third still better. From the beginning of the war, 1861, till the completion of the railroad, 1874, this Kittanning road was constantly full of teams hauling freight from the river at Mahoning, besides a stage line, three hack lines, and hundreds of private conveyances.
The roads in Clover are not very good and never will be until there is some system of road-making agreed upon and strictly adhered to.
Railways-The Low Grade Division of the A.V. Railroad, which follows the creek through Clover, was completed in 1874, and then it seemed to be a strange experience for a raftman to get home with all ease by bed-time on the same day on which he ran out of the creek. Summerville and Baxter stations are both very considerable shipping points, especially for railroad ties and lumber. There is a part of this railroad between Summerville and Baxter (Malone's cut and two bridges), which cost two hundred and forty thousand dollars for fifteen hundred feet.
The Bench and Bar.-There is not a lawyer in Clover township, but 'Squire Charles A. Jacox has considerable knowledge of law, and the citizens seldom go higher than his court for the settlement of their disputes. The citizens of Clover are, as a rule, peaceably inclined, and much opposed to lawyer's fees. Two of the young and rising lawyers of Brookville are from Clover, viz., S. H. Whitehill and H. H.Brosius.
The Press-P. E. Thompson, of Dowlingville, has a small hand-press, from which he turns out some excellent work.
Banks-Although there are persons in Clover who have money at interest, we have no banks, nor bankers.
The Medical Profession - We are informed by an old resident that there was a physician named Newton in Troy in 1818. "He (Dr. Newton) boarded at Fuller's, and made his own spirits of turpentine. I have often seen the notches which he cut in trees to collect pitch. He was a good physician, but no surgeon. In 1819 Moses Knapp's leg was amputated by Drs. Newton and Rankin, neither of them had surgical instruments. They sent to Kittanning and then to Indiana for instruments. Failing to get them they cut the bone with a carpenter's tenon saw. The bone was not covered by a flap and was always sore to the touch. Dr. Rankin resided in Clarion county, perhaps in the vicinity of Rimersburg."
Dr. Robert K. Scott, who resided on the pike about three miles west of Brookville, was the only medical practitioner in Clover in 1826.
About 1836 Dr. James Dowling came from Jamestown, Mercer county, and located in New Prospect, now Dowlingville, and remained till about 1846, when he removed to Brookville. Next to Dowling a young physician named Whitehill practiced a year or two in Troy. Then R. B. Bryant, for a few years. Then came a young man named R. B. Brown in 1850. Dr. Brown, by good practice, moderate bills, and unfailing faithfulness to the poor, has built up a practice which is not even approached by any other physician and surgeon in the county.
Hotels-There has not been a house licensed to sell liquor in Clover for the last fifteen years. There are three boarding houses in Summerville, kept by B. F. Osborn, C. A.Jacox and Ed. Ditty. The Osborn House, lately finished, is large, handsome and convenient, and considerably patronized as a summer resort.
There are two fine boarding houses in Dowlingville, one of which is kept by Jacob Eshelman, and the other by Joseph Knapp. The Knapp House, erected especially for a hotel, is a fine, large building, well patronized by lumbermen, fishing parties, etc.
The Eshelman House, or rather the site of it, has been occupied as a hotel for fifty years. The sign used to read "New Prospect Inn." There is no sign up now, but travelers will tell you to go to Echelon's and you will get a good square meal.
Mills-The history of Clover would be incomplete without a sketch of the mills which have been. Thomas Lucas built a saw-mill at Puckerty in 1820. Some time previous to 1830 Lucas sold to "Squire John C. Corbett. The mill did but little work in those ten years. In 1830 ""quire Corbett sold the Mill and thirty acres of land to Henry Smith and Samuel Lucas, jr., for twenty-five thousand feet of boards delivered at the mouth of Redbank. Smith and Lucas repaired the mill and the dam, and Lucas's share of the boards, which he ran to Pittsburgh market one spring, was one hundred and fifty thousand feet, which was a large business for that time. In 1834 Smith sold his share of the mill property to John Carriers. In 1836 also sold his share to Carrier. About a year after this Carrier took down the old mill and built a fine double mill on the site of the old one. When this mill had cut only about twenty-five thousand feet of lumber, a rise in the creek took out a crib next the mill which had been built without stone, and in a few days the mill was undermined by the flood, and fell down and went top pieces.
About the year 1819 Moses Knapp built a saw-mill where Baxter's mill now stands.
After running the mill for a few years Knapp sold the mill property to Holden & Fairweather; they in turn sold to John Averill and Caleb Howard; they to Orcutt & Engles; they to John J.Y. Thompson; he to Dowling & Calvin; they to Haskells; they to Rice; he to Mayo, and he to Baxter. In 1854 Richard J. Baxter bought the foundation (the mill having been burnt), water privilege, and seven acres of land for the sawing of one hundred thousand feet of boards, Mayo furnishing the stock.
In 1864 Baxter bought the land originally belonging to this mill property - three hundred acres. Other parties had examined this land and thought that there was no timber on it worth purchasing. Baxter took timber enough off ten acres of this land to pay for the whole property.
A shingle-mill was inserted in the saw-mill in 1855, and the whole building and machinery rebuilt in 1885, including also a chopper. J The property now consists of the mills, a good farm, a large tract of woodland, a postoffice building, several houses for rent, two barns, and many out-houses, the whole being valued at sixteen thousand dollars.
In 1825 Moses Knapp built a saw-mill on Knapp's Bend, about forty rods above where the western railroad bridge of Malone's Cut crosses the creek. Soon after building the saw-mill Knapp inserted one run of stone, which he brought from the Clarion River. This was for some time the only grist-mill in Clover, the one in Troy having stopped short, never to go again. This Knapp's mill, was burnt down and rebuilt.
In 1838 Moses Knapp built a grist-mill alongside of the above sawmill, having two run of stones. Knapps ran the mill till near the time of Polk's election, 1844, when Hanse Robinson, bought it and ran it three years. The saw-mill went out in the great flood of 1847, taking the Troy bridge along as it went. The grist-mill stood for years after its use had ceased, and gradually wasted away, a part of it being taken and put into other buildings. In this connection it may be proper to mention that perhaps about fifty years ago there was whisky manufactured in the vicinity of Dowlingville, in a small still owned by John Calvin, also that there was a bucket factory erected in 1850 by Darius Carrier, and ran by him and a man named Leech for five years.
Seventy years ago (1816) there was a saw-mill in Troy owned by Solomon Fuller, and one on Welch Run owned by John Welch. The Fuller mill was afterwards owned by Henry Lot, and still later by -----McElwaine. In 1820 the Carrier brothers, Hiram, Darius, George, Nathan, Euphrastes and John bought ninety-six acres of land and all the mills in Troy, and having rebuilt several times have owned them ever since.
The first grinding of grain in Clover was done by a run of stones "picked up hereabout," which were set in the Fuller mill.
The first grist-mill was built in Troy by Darius Carrier in 1836. The present grist-mill was also built by "Uncle" Darius in 1861. It is now owned by W. Scott Carrier, who, in November, 1886, inserted the roller process and other modern improvements, thus making it a first class mill. The present saw and planing-mill was built by A. A., G. B. and S. D. Carrier in 1878. This mill, about 1880, under the firm of Carrier & Raine, filled immense orders of oak lumber for car building. An ax-handle factory has been inserted in this mill by Cassius and S. D. Carrier and R. B. Vermilyea. The value of the mills in Summerville would nearly approach fifty thousand dollars.
Manufactures.-There are two mills in Clover for the manufacture of barrel staves. One is owned and operated by Nelson Smith and J. H. Shields, and the other by Simpson and Templeton.
There is a wagon and carriage-making shop in Summerville owned and operated by the Garvin brothers, and one in Dowlingville by E. D. Thompson. The Wilson brothers, in Dowlingville, do a large amount of general blacksmithing. There are three blacksmith shops in Summerville, conducted by the Garvins, William Miller and Darius Baldwin.
There are in Summerville two manufacturers and repairers of find boots and shoes, viz., Calvin Simpson and John Anderson, and one in Dowlingville, S. C. Weister.
George A., H. w. and Philip Carrier are preparing to build a saw-mill at the mouth of Watertrough (formerly Welch) Run.
There are two steam threshers and choppers in Clover, one owned and operated by George A. McAninch and Newton Hall, and the other by Miles and Harry Anderson.
There are three stores of general merchandise in Summerville, besides several smaller ones. These are kept by Carrier and Eshelman, C. E. Carrier and H. F. Guthrie.
Groceries, millinery goods and notions are kept by F. J. Strong, and groceries by James Welch.
At Baxter, M. A. Campbell has a fine large store of general merchandise and sells a large amount of goods.
In Dowlingville, Jacob Eshelman and Joseph Knapp each sell groceries, cigars and tobacco.
Summerville
Summerville, the principal town of Clover township, was incorporated a borough, in March, 1887. It is a wide-awake, growing town. The census of 1880 gives the population as three hundred and forty-eight. The business enterprises etc., are noted in the foregoing pages. The first election, after it was made a separate election district, was held March 15, 1887, with the following result: Burgess, H. F. Guthrie; justice of the peace, Charles Jacox; constable, D. L. Moore; high constable, W. M. King; overseers of the poor, R. B. Brown, G. S. Garvin; town council, B. F. Osborn, H. W. Carrier, J. Vandevort, R. B. Vermilyea, D. K. Moore, J. K. Brown; auditory, C. E. Carrier, David Campbell, John McElroy; assessor, James Guthrie; school directors, S. W. Osburn, S. W. Carrier, G. S. Garvin, H. F. Guthrie, J. C. Simpson, E. Carrier; judge of election, Frank Flick; inspectors, R. M. Dehaven, F. H. Haven.
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