He had 47 acres of land with 3 cleared and a house. The young schoolmaster, after surveying and questioning his home spun class for a few minutes dismissed school with the admonition, "Och! But it was three long years before the promise was fulfilled. Volume 1 Index Volume 2 Index Volume 3 Index Volume 4 Index Volume 5 Index. The Old West was gone. He could see and hear far beyond the normal zones of these faculties. CONTAINING HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES, THEIR TOWNSHIPS, TOWNS, VILLAGES, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, INDUSTRIES, ETC. Harmon Husband, better known as The Old Quaker, Toscape Death, and one of Somerset County's earliest pioneers slowly settles back in his saddle, and breathes deeply of the clean, bitter scent of the pines. UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Sensing inevitable clashes among these people because of their different interests, John Penn, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, attempted to avert trouble by advising the Assembly to pass a law to remove the people now settled in these parts, and to prevent others from settling in this area of the province. Gist recorded the distances and directions between the various points in his Journal. With him were Christopher Gist as the leader of the party, John Davidson, Indian interpreter, Jacob Van Braam, French interpreter, and two frontiersmen. As a young man he went to the province of North Carolina, where he gained property, position, and influence. Every cabin had its herb garden, or lacking that they stripped the bark from the wild cherry, the slippery elm and the sassafras to brew health restoring potions. PDF German Settlement in Pennsylvania An Overview And indeed, the history of Somerset County no doubt would have taken a different turn during the fateful year of 1763 if a less capable man than Colonel Henry Bouquet had been assigned to command the wilderness campaign against Pontiac. The lure of far away places has always tugged at the heartstrings of people in every land; particularly when their pastures are not so lush. And while the settlers who remained in the Glades lived in constant terror of the scalping knife, there is no record of the Indians ever having actually invaded that territory during Revolutionary days. From thence they flowed to the Continent. This garment was fitted with a belt upon which hung the tomahawk and scalping knife. With the mental gap that yawned between Husband and his jovial hunting companions it is no surprise to know that they called him the Queer Old Quaker. For indeed, the Youghiogheny was the River Styx for many a brave Virginia rifleman, while the bones of Braddock-the Charon of a legion of homesick British lads-lay trembling under the wheel ruts of the pioneers' rumbling ox carts. In more instances than is comfortable to contemplate it was the Red Man who harried the hunter; tying him to a stake and charring his legs to his knees while the squaws gouged pine splinters under his finger nails, and spat contemptuously upon him. The Big Three who held the bottle of Soothing Syrup for the wriggling young America were George Washington as President, Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasurer, and Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. Jefferson had ideas of his own. Most of this land was marked, "Indian Territory" on the maps and ledgers of the Penns; therefore anyone living here was, according to the provincial authorities, out of bounds, off the record and disinherited. On the first assessment list of 1772 are named: Benjamin Biggs, William Dwire, Andrew Hendricks, Hugh Robinson, William St. Clair, John St. Clair, and James Claypool. ; War, in a sense, is a leavening factor in the affairs of men. Finding the owner of the cabin absent Husband made himself at home, and remarks: "The first and most agreeable sight was a half-dozen of venison hams that were suspended from the ridge pole of the roof.". Pioneer Lineages of Bedford County PA Vol. 1 thru 5 ILLUSTRATIONS They shaped them from the hardest flint, and clearest quartz, beveling the edges of the points so that the shaft would spin true to its mark; piercing the heart of a deer or the enemy tribesman at fifty or a hundred paces. The settler's keen axe was biting deeper and deeper into the bush. The mountains still belonged to the Indians by sovereign right, and the Penns, by lip service at least, respected the Red Man's claim. Being filed with the Ohio Company they could be studied by anyone whose interest or inclinations extended beyond the fringe of the Atlantic settlements. After acquiring the Indian title the Penns immediately offered this land for sale for five pounds sterling per one hundred acres, and one penny an acre per annum quit rent. Accordingly John Penn appointed the Reverend John Steele of the Presbyterian Church at Carlisle, John Allison, Christopher Lemes, and James Potter to make known and explain the law to the settlers. THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE Several of the horses stagger, and fall with blood spurting from their flanks. In the matter of more personal offenses against honor and virtue, the score was usually settled by other members of the families involved, in rough and tumble fights which in many cases developed into ear chewing and eye gouging matches. coat made of home spun cloth or buck skin was universally worn by the men. His canoe paddle flashed along the willow. To the sentry it was an ominous sign. In the towns of Somerset and Berlin "Liberty Poles" were raised on which banners bearing the inscription, "Liberty and No Excise" fluttered in the breeze. From a military point of view the lands west of the Alleghenies to the Ohio were now cleared of both French and Indians, and therefore subject to the seeds of English culture. Nature had formed the country for a war of ambuscade and surprises, and no pains were spared to guard against them. ", "No," replied Husband, "I have as little inclination for hunting as I ever had. The result was rebellion, climaxed by the Battle of Alamance-the first battle of the American Revolution which was fought May 16, 1771. Salisbury Pennsylvania History Samuel Statler, who lived along the Forbes Road at the time, October 1794, gives us this picture: "When the army returned it passed over our place, and the name of Whiskey Boys applied to the soldiers was well deserved. Midway between these two points in Somerset County was Fort Stony Creek on the west bank of the stream that bears its name. Berlin Genealogy (in Somerset County, Pennsylvania) Jumping from his horse he races to the casks, stops the leaks with his fingers, all the while yelling wildly for someone to make stoppers to save the firewater. Early Somerset County - PA-Roots Contrasting sharply with the Highlander's bright regalia were the backwoodsmen-thirty in all-dressed in buckskins and moccasins and with coonskin caps. Amos McCreary, where John B. Miller lives, and Joseph Hewitt, on the farm now occupied by George Moore, were among the early settlers. At other points along this road we find Daniel Stoy, Casper Statler, Richard Wells, James McMullen, Robert Smiley, and Calender. Land on the Eastern Shore proved less suited to tobacco growing than other sections of the Chesapeake region, although nearly all settlers there raised . Somerset County, Pennsylvania Genealogy FamilySearch Fort Pitt, May 31, 1763. At the time Christopher Gist, George Washington, General Braddock, and General Forbes were pondering over the problem of opening a road through the tangled wilderness across the Allegheny Mountains and the Laurel Hills to the Ohio Valley, Spanish settlements were old; their government buildings, churches, schools, and market places were green with the moss of two centuries, and their halls were filled with ancient intrigue. From far and near they came, these "men with the bark on," jostling in good natured banter, as they heaped high the funeral pyre of the forest. He had, at least, to bring in something tangible for his efforts to save his face. History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Chapter 1 - PAGenWeb Washington, who read between the lines, pardoned and released all of the offenders and sent them back to their families. was more or less a natural and perpetual state of affairs among the scattered tribes of the wilderness. They sang together the greater part of the night and seemed very happy. The vitriol of female wagging tongues was neutralized by the simple and effective device agreed upon by the more rigid pillars of the settlements. The wild turkey and the grouse strutted among the shadows of the thorn berry bushes. Thus Husband was installed as a member of the band of hunters of Cox's Creek Glades in the month of June, 1771. He built his first cabin in 1765, a second in 1769, and a third dwelling was constructed at a later date. The region had originally been formed as Barree, Bedford, Colerain and Cumberland Valley Townships within Cumberland County (in 1767). This region was so named because the waters flowed in an opposite direction from Stony Creek, and Isaac Cox had established an early hunting camp near the headwaters of the stream which is named for him. glades, and the gurgle of the infant rivers. Now I suppose you are going to turn regular hunter. The man draws reign. The rules were: "The undersigned hereby agree to form themselves into an association to encourage the destruction of wolves, by subscribing and paying two shillings for each wolf scalp killed within the settlement or within a circuit of ten miles, Col. Brown's to be considered the centre, but each person bringing in the scalp shall become a member of the company and a joint contributor before receiving the premium on the scalp." In some of the settlements the young blades adopted the Indian breech clout, which was a strip of cloth a yard long and eight or nine inches wide passed under the belt, leaving the end flaps dangling before and behind. The word "Indians !" The names of the hunters in this community were: Isaac Cox, William Sparks, David Wright, A. Wright, S. Wright, Aquilla White, John Pen- rod, Sr., John Penrod, Jr., John Vansel, Wilson, Wills, Bucher, Pursley and Rhodes. June 23, 2023 / 1:53 PM / CBS Pittsburgh. -- "they crossed over the river with many calls back and forth of sad farewells, and so off into the woods to the west-running waters." They were taking pot-shots at anyone who ranged ten steps beyond the side of the Road. Twenty-five years before the Reverend John Steele was commissioned to remove the settlers from this territory, an entry in an old diary discloses a scene along the Juniata River of a young man and his wife who are determined to "go on The Western Ride to the land of the Turkey Track." Express riders, the spearhead of civilian defense, galloping from the Forbes Road to the Cox's Creek Glades and Brothers Valley shouted to the panic stricken settlers: "James Wells from Jenner Fort shot by the Indians! Benjamin Pursley located near by along the small mountain stream which now bears his name. Earliest Settlements in Somerset County, and When They Were Made Captain Andrew Friend, Pioneer and Indian Fighter The Jersey Settlement CHAPTER V Page 48 Brothers Valley and Stony Creek Glades Settlement Trades and Occupations Attempt to Lay Out a Town Places of Defense Against the Indians More than a century after the French had established Port Royal, and the coureurs de bois had driven the prows of their canoes down the St. Lawrence, and across the Great Lakes almost to the Rocky Mountains, a few hunters from the province of Pennsylvania stood at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains weighing the hazards of a season in the wilderness against the bales of furs and skins that would afford them several months leisure in the settlements. Mr. Washington retraced his steps to the Great Crossing of the Youghiogheny bearing this reply to the Governor of Virginia who stormed as only a provincial governor could. This alertness was reflected in the quality of his weapons. They were: Jacob Saylor, John Saylor, Christian Knaigey, Christian Berkey, Peter Fahrney, Michael Buechley, John Olinger, John Burger, and the Burntrangers. (Rhodes and Cable.). The soldiers took possession of everything and some of them put their horses in the barn on top of the oats. The conquering tribes fashioned their flint arrow tips with artistic grace. Officially speaking they did just that; but their Indian allies, not being so well versed in the white man's subtle arts, looked askance at the Union Jack fluttering in the midst of their hunting grounds. They drummed for a couple of hours, making a great deal more noise than music, and were then treated to some refreshments. Chapter by chapter, delve into the history of Salisbury's schools, bands, sports, churches, groups, military . Wagerline's nearest neighbor was five or six miles away, and there were other settlers farther off in the woods. The people were driven like stricken animals before a raging forest fire "the road was near covered with women and children flying to Philadelphia"-" haunted with visions of the bloody knife and the reeking scalp." The desired trophies, at this particular stage of the game, were still attached to the skulls of His Majesty's subjects. There were many men and officers in all the forts along the Road in Somerset County who did not rest easy until it was officially proclaimed that the French had abandoned Fort Duquesne without a struggle, and that the British were now in complete possession of the great wilderness. South of the line that forms the lower boundaries of Addison, Elklick, Greenville, and Southampton townships it is conceded that the Battle of Alamance was the first battle of the American Revolution with Harmon Husband as the leader of organized resistance to the British Crown. In January, 1768, a law was passed by the Pennsylvania Assembly which read in part: "persons so neglecting or refusing to remove with his or their Family or returning to settle as aforesaid or they shall settle on any such lands after the Requisition or Notice Aforesaid being thereof legally convicted by their own confession or the verdict of a Jury shall suffer Death with benefit of clergy.". In dealing with the question of the early settlement of Somerset county we are largely dependent on the oral traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation in the families of the original and earlier settlers, whose descendants yet live in the original and earlier settlers, whose PORTRAITS OF EARLY SETTLERS AND PROMINENT MEN; BIOGRAPHIES; HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS MATTER, ETC., ETC. Somerset Historical Center : Genealogy Early families of Somerset and Fayette counties, Pennsylvania Two men were brought in, alive, tomahawked and scalped more than half the head over. Military sources give us the name of Benjamin Jollys as one of the settlers at Fort Stony Creek. ", Relieved at finding neither French, English nor Indians at his first sign of human habitation in the mountain country Husband replied: "From Hagerstown. Adams County. In the early half of the eighteenth century when a man crossed the Susquehanna River at Harris's Ferry, and headed into the wilderness of the West he was a law unto himself. These men were the first to glean for themselves the abundant harvest of the woods, and by so doing they found themselves not only at cross purposes with the Penns, but in bold competition with the Indians. Being nomadic by nature and necessity the Red Man left few scars in the forest with his dwellings or villages. By this they meant all the lands lying between the Alleghenies and the Laurel Hills, and extending from what is now known as Summit Township north to Conemaugh Township. At length they began to arrive, some singly, some in pairs, and others in squads of a dozen or more. They arrived in all their glory, fanning out in all directions after having crossed the Alleghenies. He had not yet met the pale faced trader with the forked tongue who came into the wilderness bearing gifts of guns and gun powder, beads and bells and little casks of flaming water that burned through the Red Man's veins; set swarms of fire flies dancing in his brain, and crumpled him in a coarse flea infested trade blanket to wallow in the stench of his own vomit. The history of New Jersey from its earliest settlement to the present time The history of New Jersey, from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the federal Constitution By the spring of 1784 nearly all the settlers had returned. "Descending from the Alleghenies, they entered upon a country less rugged, and formidable in itself, but beset with constantly increasing dangers.". Then with a sigh of relief, they returned to their toasted muffins and tea-assured that "all's right with the world.". The forests were endless; dark columns of hemlock marched steadily into the infinite horizon. He was famed far and wide for his skill in making fine axes. Ecuyer to Bouquet. Leaving on March 2nd, 1768, they traveled by way of Fort Cumberland, and the Braddock Road to the Western settlements. Signs and symbols, carved in the rocks by the hands of our ancestors, are uncertain accounts of the lives they led. outpost of civilization, and there is a Royal price on this lone traveler's head. History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Chapter 27 - PA-Roots The final draft of a peace treaty between England and America was signed on September 3, 1783, leaving the swaggering young Republic to face the cynicism of the adult nations of the world. When the hives of men in England, and on the Continent became overcrowded, and their best laid plans of intrigue against each other overflowed the margins of their minds they escaped to America. Tradition gives us the names: Robert Colborn, David King, Oliver Drake, William Rush, Andrew Ream, Reuben Skinner, John Mitchell, John Hyatt, William Tannehill, James Moon, Edward Harned, David Woodmancy, John Copp, John McNair, Joseph Lanning, William Brooke, Jacob Strahn, Obadiah Reed, and William Lanning. 1739 and 1749 - More French expeditions to establish fur trade with the Indians. Welcome to the Salisbury, Pennsylvania Historical Web Site. Bridges of this type began to be built in Pennsylvania in the 17th century and remained popular into the early 20th century, until stone masonry was supplanted by reinforced concrete. Already the provincial authorities had the names of nine settlers living at the Turkeyfoot, and according to the records they were listed as the first permanent settlers of the County. But when the time arrived, April 3, 1769 at 10 o'clock A. M., City of Philadelphia, for the sale of land and the collection of quit rents by the Penns, a survey and inventory of their flocks became a matter of prime importance. Ulster Scot settlers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Delaware, and French and Indian War---Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Mexican War. Genealogy Trails Somerset County Pennsylvania The history, traditions, and legends of Somerset County are colorful threads interwoven in the evolving pattern of American Civilization. A horseman is picking his way through the forests along a small mountain stream. He had come from Hagerstown, his name was Toscape Death, and he was looking for an old friend named Isaac Cox. This mill, long since disappeared, was on the old Putman place. The remains of these camps, long since having staggered into decay, were found by the later hunters, the first settlers, and the leaders of the first military expeditions who penetrated into this territory. Judging from the report of the county assessors dated February 16, 1779, with Henry Abrahams and Hugh Robinson from Turkeyfoot and Brothers Valley as two of the members of that body we may be assured that while death may be certain, taxes were not. 1796 Assessment Tax Somerset Co., Pa. - Our Family Histories 1860. Pontiac had fringed his leggings with the scalps of Braddock's men, and had glowed with patronizing praise of the French; but times had changed. SESQUI-CENTENNIAL PUBLICATIONS NO. It was this order that subsequently was to be of major historical significance in Somerset County. They left only a few vague directions for the later pioneers to follow, and accounts of those who came to stay-and did stay-overlap to a point of confusion. At a later date it was the hunter who was to become the Ranger--the Long Knife--who was to form the shock troops--the spear points of the forces that ultimately were to pry loose the shackles of Old World tyranny. United States Pennsylvania Somerset County Guide to Somerset County, Pennsylvania ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records. Eight o'clock. FREDRIC DOYLE These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format, for any Did the Penns, the Virginians, the English, the Delawares or the Mingoes own the land along the valleys of the Turkey Foot? "I cannot help thinking," he said, "that the enemy will collect, after cutting of the little posts one after the other, and bend their whole force upon the frontier." Under the command of Captain Richard Brown, with James Francis Moore as first lieutenant, men from the region of the Turkeyfoot, Cox's Creek Glades, Stony Creek Glades, and along the Forbes Road shouldered their flintlocks and joined Washington's forces. The trails across the Alleghenies and the Laurel Hills, worn deep by countless generations of moccasined feet, began to be scarred with hard leather boots and the hooves of pack horses. Wells, A. Kiefer, G. Young, P. Brougher, Jacob Loute, Peter Ankney, J. Unsill, Woolerick Bruner, T. Wells, S. Wright, J. Washabaugh, H. Husband, Christian Ankney, Fred Unsill, D. Loute, George Bruner, Fred Mostallor, Bowlin, John Penrod, Jr., Michael Huff, P. Barnhart, John Penrod, Sr., J. Kimberly, J. Doom, James Black.