The History of Elk County, Pennsylvania

THE TOWNSHIP OF RIDGWAY - FORMATION OF COUNTY - LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT - PIONEER ROADS, SETTLERS, COURTS, OFFICERS, LAWYERS, CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS - JUDGE GILLIS - RIDGWAY - DR. A. M. CLARKE -EARLY HOME OF THE WILD PIGEON- OTHER SETTLERS - THE BOROUGH OF ST. MARY'S

THE TOWNSHIP OF RIDGWAY

Ridgway Township was originally formed as a part of Jefferson County in 1826 and remained there until 1843, when it was taken from that county, by the following act of Assembly, to create the county of Elk:

FORMATION OF COUNTY

"An Act Erecting Parts of Jefferson, Clearfield, and McKean Counties Into a Separate County, To Be Called Elk."

"Section I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same:

That all those parts of the counties of Jefferson, Clearfield and McKean, lying between the following boundaries, - viz., beginning at the northeast corner of Jefferson County, thence due east about nine miles to the northeast corner of lot number two thousand three east along said line to the east line of Gibson Township, and thence south so far that a westwardly line to the mouth of Mead's Run shall pass within not less than fifteen miles of the town of Clearfield, and thence westwardly to Little Toby's Creek, along said line to the mouth of Mead's Run, thence in a northwesterly direction to where the west line of Ridgway Township crosses the Clarion River, thence so far in the same direction to a point from whence a due north line will strike the southwest corner of McKean County, thence along said line to the southwest corner of McKean County, and thence east along the south lien of McKean County to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby erected into a separate county to be henceforth called Elk."

"Section II.: That Timothy Ives, Junior of Potter County, James W. Guthrie of Clarion County and Zachariah H. Eddy of Warren County, are hereby appointed commissioners, who, or any two of whom, shall ascertain and plainly mark the boundary lines of said county of Elk; and it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to receive proposals, make purchase, or accept donation land in the eligible situations for a seat of justice in the said county of Elk, by grant, bargain, or otherwise, all such assurances for payment of money and grants of land that may be offered to them, or their survivors, in trust for the use and benefit of the said county of Elk; and to lay out, sell, and convey such part thereof, either in town lots or otherwise, as to them, or a majority of them, shall appear advantageous and proper, and to apply the proceeds thereof in aid of the county.

Provided, that before the commissioners aforesaid shall proceed to perform the duties enjoined on them by this act, they shall take an oath or affirmation before some judge or justice of the peace, well and truly and with fidelity to perform said duties according to the true intent and meaning of this act;

Provided also, that as soon as the county commissioners are elected and qualified, the duties enjoined on the said commissioners shall cease and determine, and shall be performed by the county commissioners so chosen and elected."

"Section X.: That it shall be lawful for the commissioners of the County of Elk, who shall be elected at the annual election in one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, to take assurances to them and their successors in office of such lot or lots, or piece of ground as shall have been approved of by the trustees appointed as aforesaid, or a majority of them, for the purpose of erecting thereon a court-house, jail, and offices for the safe-keeping of the records."

"Section XI.: That the judges of the Supreme Court shall have like powers, jurisdictions, and authorities within the said county of Elk, as by law they are vested with, and entitled to have and exercise in other counties of the State; and said county is hereby annexed to the western district of the Supreme Court."

"Section XII.: The county of Elk shall be annexed to, and compose part of, the eighteenth judicial district of this Commonwealth; and the courts in the said county of Elk shall be held on the third Monday of February, May, September, and December in each and every year, and continue one week at each term, if necessary."

"Approved the 18th day of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three."

LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT

The pioneer court held in the county was at Caledonia, twenty miles east of Ridgway, on the Milesburg and Smethport turnpike, in Jay Township. The judges present were: Associates, James L. Gillis and Isaac Horton; Prothonotary, etc., W.J.B. Andrews; Commissioners, Reuben Winslow, Chauncey Brockway and John Brooks. But little business was transacted. Attorneys present: George R. Barrett, Ben. R. Petriken, and Lewis B. Smith. The first court held in Ridgway was in the school-house, February 19, 1844, Alexander McCalmont, president judge; Isaac Horton, associate judge; and Eusebius Kincaid, sheriff.

The pioneer court crier was Nathaniel Hyatt, from Kersey. Colonel Corbet, who clerked for Gillis in 1845, informs me that the court-house was built in the summer of that year. The contractors were General Levi G. Clover and Edward H. Derby. The supplies for the men were furnished through the store of James L. Gillis. S. M. Burson was the first lawyer to locate in Ridgway. In 1854 the court crier was M. L. Ross. On public occasions he wore a blue broadcloth swallow-tailed coat, with brass buttons in front. "This coat had pocket-holes behind for thirty years or more." The commissioners were E. C. Schultze, C. F. Luce, L. Luther.

PIONEER ROADS, SETTLERS, COURTS, OFFICERS, LAWYERS, CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS

The following lawyers, afterwards distinguished, then attended the courts: Brown, Curtis and Johnson of Warren: Barrett, Wallace, McCullough and Larimer of Clearfield; I. G. Gordon, W. P. Jenks, McCahon and Lucas of Jefferson; and Goodrich and Eldred, of McKean.

The pioneer settler was "a pioneer hunter named General Wade and family, with a friend named Slade, who came to the head-waters of the Little Toby in 1798, and settled temporarily. In 1803 the party returned east but the same year came hither and built a log house at the mouth of the Little Toby on the east bank. In 1806, while Wade and Slade were hunting near what is now Blue Rock, they saw an Indian girl watching them. Approaching her, Wade enticed her to follow him to his home, and there introduced her to Mrs. Wade. In 1809 this Indian girl married Slade, Chief Tamisqua performing the ceremony. Slade removed with his wife to where Portland now is and established a trading house there."

But Amos Davis was the real pioneer settler in 1810. Of the early settlers Dr. A. M. Clarke wrote as follows: "About the time of the 'late war' with England, in 1812, some venturesome men pushed their way up the Susquehanna River and up the Sinnemahoning Creek to the mouth of Trout Run on Bennett's Branch, at which place Leonard Morey located and built a saw-mill. Dwight Caldwell, John Mix and Eben Stephens came at the same time. These were the first settlers on Bennett's Branch. About the same time a large tract of country, containing some one hundred and forty thousand acres, which had been surveyed on warrants issued in the name of James Wilson, had come into the possession of Fox, Norris & Co., Quakers, of Philadelphia, who sent William Kersy as agent to construct a road into their lands and build a mill. The road started from a point on an old State road leading to Waterford, Pennsylvania, about eight miles west of the Susquehanna River, passed through the woods over Boon's Mountain, crossed Little Toby's Creek, without a bridge, where Hellen Mills now stand, followed up the creek seven miles to the point of Hogback Hill, up which it went, though steep and difficult, continued over the high and undulating grounds to the spot which had been selected for a mill site on a stream which was afterwards called Elk Creek, where the mill was built, about two miles from the present Centreville. Jacob Wilson was the miller who for many years attended this mill. Often the old man had to go a mile and a half from his own house to the mill to grind a small grist of a bushel, brought on horseback; but his patience was quite equal to the emergency, and he did it without complaining. A few settlers came into the country about the time the Kersey Mill was built; of these I may mention Elijah Meredith, James Green, Josiah Taylor, J. R. Hancock, David Reesman, John Kyler and John Shafer, with their families; these constituted the Kersey settlement."

JUDGE GILLIS

One of the pioneers of Ridgway Township was James L. Gillis. In June, 1820, he left his home in Ontario County, New York, to look over the land, and in December, 1820, he moved his family into the wilderness. They came in sleds, and it required two days; they had to camp out over night. Gillis was an agent for Ridgway, and was furnished ample means for all expenses. He cleared five hundred acres of land, erected a large frame house, and built a grist-mill and a carding-machine. Reuben A. Aylesworth and Enos Gillis came with his family. James L. Gillis was a man of State celebrity. He was absent nearly all the time, lobbying at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or at Washington.

In 1826 William Morgan, of Batavia, New York, was abducted from his home at night and never heard of afterwards. Morgan had been a Mason, and published the alleged secrets of the Masonic Fraternity. The Masons were charged with abducting and murdering him. Mystery surrounds his disappearance to this day. Intense excitement prevailed all over the nation. Mr. Gillis was a Mason and was arrested at Montmorency and carried to New York State and there tried for the abduction and murder of Morgan. In the trial he was cleared.

Mr. Gillis was a cavalry soldier in the war of 1812 and took part in several severe engagements. He was taken prisoner by the British and suffered severely. He was a model man physically and by nature endowed with much intelligence. This, added to his extensive travels and political experience, gave him a prominence in the State and nation that few men possessed. Gillis was the Patriarch in Ridgway Township. He migrated in 1821 to what he named Montmorenci, Pine Creek Township, then in Jefferson County. He brought his children and brother-in-law with him.

For five years he was monarch of all he surveyed, and without any post-office nearer than fifty miles of him. He came to Port Barnett, near Brookville, to vote, was liable to and for militia service, and for all legal business had to go to Indiana, Pennsylvania, a distance of ninety miles. While at Montmorenci in 1826 Mr. Gillis was instrumental in securing a mail-route from Kittanning to Olean, New York. This gave him mail service once in two weeks. He was a great horseman and a horseback rider.

Gillis was related to Jacob Ridgway, one of the richest men in the State, and he was agent for all his land in Jefferson County. Gillis was slow and methodical in his habits, was fond of games, viz., chess, backgammon, checkers and euchre. He carried a snuff-box that held about a pint of the choicest snuff, in which was buried a Tonka bean, that imparted to the snuff a delightful aroma. He walked with a gold-headed cane and in winter he wore a panther-skin overcoat. Physically he was a large man and was social and agreeable. In 1830 he moved to where Ridgway now is. He was elected to several offices, including Congress. He moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he died in 1881, aged eighty-nine years.*

*A more extended account of James L. Gillis, taken from the Pittsburg Daily Post of July 30, 1881, will be found in the Appendix, page 718.

RIDGWAY

Ridgway, the county seat, was laid out in 1833. It was called for Jacob Ridgway. Jacob Ridgway, who died in 1843, has been regarded as the wealthiest man in Pennsylvania since Stephen Girard. His property is valued at about six million dollars, and is of various kinds: all of which is the result of a long life of untiring industry and perseverance. In early life he was a ship carpenter. He subsequently was appointed United States Consul at Antwerp, where he resided during a portion of the great war of the European powers, and when the rights of American citizens stood in need of protection from the blind encroachments of angry belligerents. After residing a short time in Paris, he returned to the United States, where he continued engaged in laudable and useful enterprises to the day of his death. His real property is very extensive, lying in various parts of the Union, but principally in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. His heirs are a son and two daughters, Mrs. Dr. Rush and Mrs. Roatch. The latter is a widow. Mr. Ridgway is represented as an amiable, kind-hearted man, kind to his workmen, indulgent to his tenants, and liberal toward his friends and the distressed.

In 1840 the principal part of Elk County was covered with white pine and hemlock. Pine-lands could be bought for from three to five dollars an acre. Hemlock had no value only for farm lands. The bark even was not used for tanning. Pine was about the only timber manufactured. The streams were alive with pike, sunfish, bass, chubs, magnificent trout and other fish. Every fall and spring hunters with dogs and fishermen from the adjoining counties and from across the line in New York State would flock to these hills, valleys and streams for recreation or profit. The principal owners of all this wild land lived in Philadelphia, viz., Ridgway estate, Jones estate, Parker estate, and Fox and Norris estate.

One of the pioneer roads was the State road from Kittanning to Olean. There was great excitement and enthusiasm by the land-owners and settlers over this State road. But it all came to naught, for the road has never been used to any extent. It is still known as the Olean road where it is not grown up and abandoned. The Ceres road was laid out in 1825 and finished in 1828. The milesburg and Smethport Turnpike company was incorporated in 1825 and the road was finished about 1830.

Caleb Dill was the "post-boy" in 1828.

The pioneer tannery was started in 1830. Enos Gillis, owner; James Gallagher, tanner.

DR A. M. CLARKE

Dr. A. M. Clarke writes us of his advent in Elk County in 1818:

"When in Russell, St. Lawrence County, New York, I attended a term in the village school, two miles from our home. How much I was benefitted by it I know not - I cannot remember that I learned anything. Shorty afterwards my father disposed of his property there, in Russell, New York, and we came to Pennsylvania. The journey was long and tedious, about six weeks. We moved with oxen and wagon; a canvas cover over the wagon gave us shelter from sunshine and storm. I was eleven years old, being the oldest of the children; there were three of us. I had sometimes to drive the team while father supported the wagon to keep us from upsetting. When we got through at last into the wilderness of Pennsylvania our people were much disappointed. In Pennsylvania we came on an old road, the old State Road. The Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike was being built at that time. When we arrived at Neeper's tavern, about four miles east of where Luthersburg now is, we took the Fox, Norris & Co. road over the mountain, which was really a path, and followed our journey over the hills and mountains. Finding we could not get through in a day, we had to stop over night at a place where the road-makers of Fox, Norris & Co had built a shanty which had been burned, so it was called the "burnt shanty." Here our wagon-cover gave us a good shelter, and a good spring of water to drink from was pleasant indeed. The next day we crossed over Boone's Mountain, came to the crossing of Little Toby near where was built, many years afterwards, the "Oyster House,"

We pursued our journey onward to Kersey settlement when my father thought best to examine the land, for which he had exchanged his New York property before going any further. He was utterly disappointed and disgusted with these lands, so that he made explorations in various directions in search of a mill site, and finally located and erected a round log cabin, with greased paper for windows, where Brockport now is. Here he built, in 1821, a saw-mill, the first ever built on this stream. He put a small grist-mill with bolts into the saw-mill, which mill answered the requirements of the neighborhood for a time. He then built a good gristmill, which did good work for the people until the great flood in 1844 carried it off. My father died in Brockwayville, January 1852.

Isaac Horton, since Judge Horton, Hezekiah and Zebulon Warner, and Alanson Viall began improvement on Brandycamp in 1820. Chauncy Brockway, Sr., moved there in 1821. In 1822 Dr. Jonathan Nichols came there to make his home. He was for a long time the only minister who had regular services every Sabbath."

In 1840 labor was cheap. Pine boards of the finest quality sold in Louisville, Kentucky, at seven and nine dollars per thousand. If the operator cleared twenty-five or fifty cents on a thousand feet he was thankful. All goods and groceries were dear; they had to be hauled from Olean, New York or Waterson's Ferry on the Allegheny River. Money was scarce, the people social and kind. Whiskey and New England rum was three cents a drink.

The pioneer and early teamsters from St. Mary's to those points were John Walker, Charles Fisher and Joseph Wilhelm. The merchandise carried from Pittsburg to this region was by canal to Freeport, by keel-boat and steamboat to Kittanning and Waterson's Ferry. The teamsters loaded their wagons with wheat flour, etc., in barrels bound with hickory hoops, bacon and salt and whiskey in barrels bound with iron hoops. But, strange to say, there was always a soft stave in these whiskey-barrels through which a "rye straw" could be made to reach the whiskey for the teamster and his friends while en route home.

EARLY HOME OF THE WILD PIGEON

In 1845 Ridgway Township was the nesting and roosting home of the wild pigeon. There was a roost at or near what is now Bootjack, one near Whistletown, and another near Montmorenci. These big roosts were occupied early in April each year. They were usually four to five miles long and from one to two miles wide. Every tree would be occupied, some with fifty nests. The croaking of the pigeons could be hard for miles.

The wild pigeon laid one or two eggs, and both birds did their share of incubating, the female from tow pm until nine am and the male then to two pm. These roosts were great feeding-places for animals as well as for man. As late at 1851 the American Express Company carried in one day, over the New York and Erie Railroad, over seven tons of pigeons to the New York markets. A wild pigeon can fly from five hundred to one thousand miles in a day. Like the buffalo and elk of this region, the wild pigeon has been doomed.

OTHER SETTLERS

In 1836 J.S. Hyde reached Ridgway clothed in overalls, and with all his possessions tied up in a handkerchief. He entered the store of George Dickinson and wanted to buy an axe on credit; on being refused credit, he told the store-keeper to keep his axe and go to h__ll, that he would see the day when he could buy the whole store. He was ambitious and an untiring worker. Mr. Hyde had great force and a habit of carrying his hands in front of him with the "thumbs up," especially if he was in earnest or excited. Whenever his thumbs were up in the presence of any one, there was sure to be something happen, an explosion of Christian indignation.

Mrs. Penelope Goddard Clarke planted the first nursery in the county, at what is now Brockport, and supplied the neighbors with fruit trees.

The most noted hunters of Elk County were George Nolf, Erasmus Morey, Peter Smith, George Smith, Nelson Gardner and William Eastman. These me were professionals. Chasing the wild deer was their daily life and delight. They all possessed in a high degree the agile, cat-like step, the keen eye, the cool nerve and the woodcraft of the "still hunter."

I knew them well, but was not intimate enough to learn the story of their encounters and adventures. The buffaloes that once roamed in great numbers, the beavers that built their dams and the stately elks that once traversed the forests of Elk are now extinct, and I believe the screaming panther and the prowling wolf can now too, be so classed. In 1853 the county paid for panther and wolf scalps, two hundred and twenty-five dollars and fifty cents.

Ralph Hill settled at Portland Mills about 1832. He came from Massachusetts to the wilds of McKean in 1825. He lived the life of a hermit and hunter. Portland becoming too much in civilization, he moved up Spring Creek and lived in Forest County, the companion of wild animals, 'where his right there was none to dispute." He died at a ripe old age.

The pioneer justice of the peace was Reuben A. Aylesworth, appointed February 18, 1832. In the year 1833 there were seven families in what is now Ridgway, viz., Reuben Aylesworth and Caleb Dill west of the river, and Enos Gillis, James W. Gallagher, H. Karns, Thomas Barber and Joab Dobbins, who was a pioneer shoemaker, on the east side. In 1833 Ralph Hill and a man named Ransom were living in a shanty at Beech Bottom. In 1839 James Watterson, of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, settled at the mouth of Spring Creek and he and Job Paine built a saw-mill.

About 1840 common hands on the river received one dollar per day and board. Pilots, two and three dollars per day and board. The "head" sawyer on the Red Mill received twenty-five dollars per month and board; the assistance, eighteen dollars per month and board; and common hands, fifteen dollars a month and board.

The usual religious exercises on Sunday at the Red Mill, in 1842, were wrestling, fishing, pitching quoits, shooting at mark, running foot-races, and "Jumping by the double rule of three." In the winter of 1832, L. Wilmarth, Arthur Hughes and George Dickinson erected the red saw-mill. Ridgway was laid out for a town in 1833.

"In 1834 the first bridge was put across the Clarion River. This was a toll-bridge. It was built of twelve by sixteen inch stringers resting on cribbing. Before this time teams forded the river, and in high water boats were used. The country was covered by a thick growth of hemlock trees. Game, such as elks, deer, bears, panthers and wild-cats were found in great abundance, fish abounded in the streams," and rattlesnakes and other reptiles were numerous and dangerous.

Up to 1835 Ridgway Township included all that portion of Snyder Township that is now Brockwayville borough, and even west of Sugar Hill, as well as a good portion of what is now Washington Township. Ridgway in 1836 was a small village. At the west end of the town was George Dickinson's boarding-house, then Henry Gross's home, then Dickinson's saw-mill and barn, Caleb Dill's home, justice office and blacksmith-shop, Stephen Weis's home and John Cobb's house, Hon. James L. Gillis's home and store, George Dickinson's home and store and on the east side of the Clarion was the Exchange Hotel, owned by David Thayer, then Edward Derby's old red house, then the Lone Star Hotel, owned by P. T. Brooks.

When P. T. Brooks, who was quite a wag, very polite and demonstrative, was keeping this hotel in the wilderness, two finely dressed and appearing gentlemen rode up one day in front of and stopped at his hotel for dinner. Of course, this was an opportunity for Mr. Brooks to be demonstrative and polite. After seeing that the horses were properly cared for, Brooks approached the gentlemen in this way: "What kind of meat would you gentlemen prefer for dinner?" "Why, Mr. Landlord, we would prefer venison." "I am sorry that we are just out of venison." "Oh, well, said the strangers, "a little good beef or mutton will do." "Well, well," replied Mr. Brooks, "I am sorry to say we are just out of beef and mutton." At this the strangers were a little nonplussed, but finally said, "We will be satisfied with fish." "Well, well," replied Mr. Brooks, rubbing his hands, "I am sorry to say that we are just out of fish, but we have some very excellent pickled pork."

Uncle Eben Stevens, an old hunter who came to the Sinnemahoning region about 18121, told me there was an Indian graveyard at the mouth of Mill Creek, that he used to go up there and hunt with the Indians, and in the spring they would paint their canoes red with that "iron paint" on the Clarion. And down the Toby Creek, Stevens and the Indians in these red canoes would carry their game, skins and furs to the Pittsburg market.

In 1854 Elk County was one vast wilderness, and was so called on account of the great herds of elks that once roamed through those wilds. There were no elks killed during my residence, but Grandpa Luther told me that in 1852 a drove of twelve or fifteen was found by tow hunters near the village of Ridgway, and seven were killed of that drove. Elks are gregarious. Where Portland now is, was a great rendezvous for elks. It was a great wintering place for them. All other wild animals were numerous.

The pioneer effort to erect what is now the county of Elk was on Tuesday, February 28, 1837, when an act to erect the county of Ridgway was reported in the State Senate.

THE BOROUGH OF ST. MARY'S

The present town or borough of St. Mary's was established in 1842. Father Alexander had the colony in charge then. Early in the summer of 1842 a number of Germans in the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia associated themselves in a society to form a German settlement on the community pan, and appointed John Albert, Nicholas Reimel and Michael Deileth to select the place for settlement. This committee selected Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, and the site where the borough of St. Mary's and the adjoin settlement now is. For this colony they purchased thirty-five thousand acres. From Kersy these men, in two installments, opened a path to where to where St. Mary's now is, and immediately set to work to erect their log cabins on St. Mary's Street. In December 1842, they moved their families to these cabins and the county of Elk was organized in 1843.

[Source:  A Pioneer Outline History of Northwestern Pennsylvania By William J. McKight, MD, Brookville, PA Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia 1905, Chapter  XXIX, Pages 494-512  - Transcribed by Nancy Piper]

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