THE HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

The first representative of English speaking people in America to traverse the forests, then unbroken by the hand of cultivation, which afterwards became Crawford county, was George Washington, then a major of the Virginia militia, destined to be largely instrumental in the establishment of the American name and nation, and create for himself undying renown. In the first years of European colonization upon this continent, two nations played important parts, the French and the English. In point of numbers and power they were, for a time, quite equally matched. While the English held the seaboard, from, from Massachusetts bay to Georgia, the French laid claim to Canada and the Mississippi valley, stretching away to the Gulf.

About the middle of the seventeenth century, the French Jesuits showed great zeal in their attempts to proselyte the Indians, and to spread the French name and power. In 1679, Robert Cavalier de la Salle constructed, beneath the somber shades of the forest which fringed the northern shore of Lake Erie, a craft of sixty tons burden, which he named the Griffin, and, setting sail, ploughed the waters of the great lakes, hitherto unvexed by the keel of civilized man. Moving up Erie, Huron, and Michigan, and crossing over to the Mississippi, he descended the Father of Waters to the Gulf, and laid claim to all the territory which the river drains, even to its remotest tributaries, the French maintaining that the right to the mouth of a river governs its sources. Had this claim been vindicated, Pennsylvania and Virginia would have been despoiled of the half of their heritage. Against this pretension the Governors of both States loudly protested, and prepared to defend their rights. In Virginia was formed the Ohio company, organized to promote emigration and settlement in its western territory; and so eager were its hardy pioneers to possess the choicest lands, that they pushed far into the boundaries of Pennsylvania, though supposing they were still on Virginia soil, and commenced building a fort at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which afterwards became fort Duquesne, now the very midst of the city of Pittsburgh. The French in Canada, learning of this occupation by the Ohio company, sent an armed force, which dispossessed the Virginians and continued the fortifications on French account.

By the treaty of Utrecht, of 1713, Louisiana was confirmed to the French, but it was provided “that France should never molest the Five Nations, subject to the dominion of Great Britain.” The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which concluded a four years’ war between France and England, in 1748, confirmed the rights of Great Britain. But the boundaries of the Five Nations-now become the Six Nations-were indefinite, and the French were determined to hold the entire valley of the Mississippi. To that end they built a line of forts, commencing with Presqu’Isle, near the city of Erie, and continuing it at Le Boeuf, now Waterford-at venango, near Franklin-at Duquesne, now Pittsburgh, and so on down the Ohio, and planted plates of copper or lead along the route, on which were inscribed their claims.

To ascertain what was the temper and what the purposes of the French, Lieutenant-Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, sent Major Washington, in 1753, to confer with the French commandant at Le Boeuf. It was a tedious journey, made in mid-winter, and required nerve and resolution to accomplish it. On arriving, he was politely received, but referred to the chief in command in Canada. It was evident that the troops in possession would yield to no argument but force, and Washington ascertained, in the progress of a conversation with a subordinate officer, that it was the intention to maintain their occupation of this territory. Virginia, intent on defending the interests of the Ohio Company, sent a force of militia, under Major Washington, who surprised a body of French at the Great Meadows, on the morning of the 28th of May, 1754, and routed it completely; but on the 4th of July following, having been confronted at Fort Necessity by a superior force, was obliged, after nine hours of severe fighting, to surrender. Early in the spring of 1755, General Braddock, with a body of regulars brought direct from Ireland, accompanied with a force of militia under Washington, again marched against the French. But when nearing Fort Duquesne, he was attacked by French and Indians lying in ambush, and his little army completely routed. Again, in July, 1758, General Forbes, with a force accompanied with militia under Colonels Bouquet and Washington, advanced upon the foe on the Ohio, and, after severe fighting in front of Fort Duquesne, the French were driven out, and, henceforward, no more encroached upon the territory of the colonies.

But the western portion of Pennsylvania was still subject to the savages, having never been acquired by either treaty or purchase, and so it remained till after the close of the Revolution, and, consequently, was not open to white occupancy. In October, 1784, a treaty was concluded at Fort Stanwix, with the Six Nations, whereby the authorities of Pennsylvania gained by purchase all the territory, not before acquired, within its chartered limits, and this purchase was confirmed by a treaty concluded by the Wyandots and Delawares, in January, 1785, at Fort McIntosh, situated at the mouth of the Beaver river. But though the Six nations were quieted by treaty, the Indian tribes along the Ohio were still intent on preserving, in their own right, the lands to the north of that river and east of the Allegheny, to which they may have been prompted by the emissaries of the French, who still held Louisiana. Hence, all visitors from the colonies upon the territory in question, for the purpose of settlement, were met by roving bands of these Indians who maintained a hostile front.

To overawe and subdue them, military expeditions were undertaken by McIntosh in 1778, by Brodhead in 1780, by Crawford in 1782, by Harmar in 1789, by St. Clair in 1791, and by Wayne in 1792, which resulted with varying fortune. During all this time the frontier was lit up by the blaze of savage warfare, and the tomahawk and scalping knife were busy with their fell work. Finally, the campaign, conducted by General Anthony Wayne with his characteristic energy and skill, ended in triumph in 1795, and the treaty, by him concluded, for ever put an end to this sanguinary struggle, wherein neither helpless infancy nor trembling age was exempt, and which was accompanied by every crime which debases manhood and effaces from the human character every trace of its heaven-born attributes.

Hence, though the purchase was fairly made in 1785, it was ten years later before the territory could be said to be fairly open to settlement. It was well known, however, that the lands west of the Allegheny were of excellent quality, and naturally tempted the cupidity of the adventurous, even though still subject to savage sway. Washington, in passing up the Venango river (French creek), on his journey to Le Boeuf, in 1753, made this entry on the 7th day of December: “We passed over much good land since we left Venango (Franklin), and through several extensive and very rich meadows, one of which I believe was nearly four miles in length, and considerably wide in some places.” There is no doubt that these expressions of Washington, “much good land,” and “extensive and very rich meadows,” were recurring in the minds of many, and caused them to look with longing eyes towards this goodly country, even during the long and gloomy years of the Revolution. When that war came to an end in 1783, and in 1785 these lands were purchased of the Indians, the disposition to acquire titles to them was active. Three separate companies, with large capital, each sought to secure vast stretches of this territory. They were the Holland Land company, the Population company, and the North American Land company. By the act of 1792, titles could only be perfected by actual settlement for the space of five years, which must be begun within two years from the date of its location. But an important proviso was attached, that if settlers were prevented by armed enemies of the United States from settlement, the title was to become valid the same as if settled. This left the question open and indefinate, and gave rise to endless litigation, the Holland Land company contending that, Indian hostilities having prevented actual settlement for the space of two years, they could then perfect their titles without actual settlement, and without waiting for the end of the five years. It was decided pro and con in the lower courts repeatedly, and taken up on appeal, until it finally reached the Supreme Court of the United States, when Chief Justice Marshall delivered an opinion in favor of the company, Mr. Justice Washington declaring: “Though the great theatre of the war lies far to the north-west of the land in dispute, yet it is clearly proved that this country during this period was exposed to the repeated irruptions of the enemy, killing and plundering such of the whites as they met with in defenseless situations. We find the settlers sometimes working out in the day-time in the neighborhood of forts, and returning at night within their walls for protection; sometimes giving up the pursuit in despair, and returning to the settled part of the country; then returning to this country and again abandoning it. We sometimes meet with a few men daring and hardy enough to attempt the cultivation of their lands; associating implements of husbandry with the instruments of war-the character of the husbandman with that of the soldier-and yet I do not recollect any instance in which, with this enterprising, daring spirit, a single individual was able to make such a settlement as the law required.”

Such “daring and hardy” men as are here referred to by Judge Washington, were those who first settled Crawford county. In 1787, David Mead, in company with his brother John, sons of Darius Mead, of Hudson, New York, having taken up land in the Wyoming Valley, and been dispossessed through the conflicting claims of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, made their way through the forests, and across mountains to the mouth of the Veanango river, and thence up that stream till they reached a broad valley, nearly five miles in length, on whose bosom now reposes the city of Meadville, and the one, undoubtedly, referred to by Washington. Two years previous, at the instance of the general government, a party of engineers, headed by William Bowen under military escort, made a survey of a large body of land in this corner of the State, embracing the sixth, seventh, and eighth sections, which had been set aside for the payment of bounties to soldiers of the Revolution.

Having had some experience in selecting lands for settlement, these two pioneers made a thorough examination of the territory, and chose this valley for their future habitation. They found the flats above the confluence of the Cussawago with the Venango river cleared, and covered with luxuriant grass, having been previously cultivated by the natives, and perhaps by the French, who had a fort on what is now Dock street, Meadville. Returning to the Susquehanna, in the spring of the following year, they came again, accompanied by Thomas Martin, John Watson, James F. Randolph, Thomas Grant, Cornelius Van Horn, and Christopher Snyder. With the exception of Grant they all selected lands on the western side of the river, now Valonia, and the tracts above. Grant chose the section on which is now Meadville, and made his home at the head of Water street. Soon tiring of the frontier, he transferred his tract to David Mead, who thus became the proprietor and real founder of the city which took his name. In the spring of the following year came the families of some of these men. Sarah Mead, daughter of David, was the first child born within the new settlement. Subsequently came Samuel Lord, John Wentworth, Frederick Haymaker, Frederick Baum, Robert Fitz Randolph, and Darius Mead. These were the pioneers; but as the report of fine lands upon the Venango spread, settlers came in great numbers. There were a few families of Indians inhabiting the neighborhood, who became the fast friends of the white men, prominent among whom were Canadochta and his three sons, Flying Cloud, Standing Stone, and Big Sun, and Half-town, a half brother of Cornplanter, Strike Neck, and Wire Ears.

Hostilities continued during 1792; but General Anthony Wayne, who had now been placed at the head of the troops sent against the savages, gave them sufficient employment. Early in the year, a company of twenty-four men, under Ensign Bond, was detailed from Wayne’s army to protect this settlement, and was quartered at Meadville. But as the campaign became active, it was summoned away, and the families of the settlers again retired to the stockade at Franklin. The numbers had considerably increased by 1794, and a militia company was formed for self-protection, Cornelius Van Horn being elected Captain, and a block-house was erected near the head of Water street. On the 10th of August, James Dickson, a resolute Scotchman, was fired upon by Indians in concealment near the outskirts of the settlement, and severely wounded in the hand and shoulder. By dexterous management with his gun, of which he held the fire, he baffled

the endeavors of his assailants to capture him, and, though bleeding profusely, reached the block-house. The alarm was given, and pursuit promptly made; but the wily foe escaped. Ten days later General Wayne inflicted a crushing defeat, and Indian warfare in this part of the State was at an end, though occasional depredations were committed by isolated parties for some time, James Findley and Barnabas McCormick having been murdered in cold blood, in June of the following year, six miles below Meadville, on the river valley.

The tide of settlement now began to set strongly towards this portion of the State, stimulated, no doubt, by the organized efforts of land companies to gain titles to the best lands, and by the settlers themselves to perfect their claims. What afterward became Meadville, Mead, Rockdale, and Vernon, were settled simultaneously in 1787; East Fallowfield, Greenwood, Hayfield, Oil Creek, and Titusville, in 1790; Fairfield and Woodcock in 1791; Venango in 1794; Bloomfield, Cussawago, Randolph, Richmond, South Shenango, and Spring, in 1795; Cambridge and West Fallowfield in 1797; Conneaut, North Shenango, Pine, and Sadsbury, in 1798; Athens, Beaver, Rome, and Summit, in 1800. The remaining townships, with the exception of Wayne, have been subsequently erected from the territory of other townships, Sparta, Summer Hill, and Troy, in 1830; Steubben in 1861; West Shenango in 1863, and Union in 1867.

The opening of the year 1795 marked a new era in the history of these settlements. During the three preceding years the pioneers had labored under great depression and discouragement. At times, when the labors of the husbandmen should be performed, their work was interrupted, and they were driven with their families for safety to the common fort. But a better day seemed now dawning, and a reasonable prospect that the fierce sounds of savage warfare would be no longer heard, and that the sons of the forest would cease from their trade of blood. Buildings erected were of a more permanent character, and the settlement, though far away from the sunny abiding places where clustered their early associations, began to be looked upon as home. A saw-mill was constructed near the block-house as early as 1789, from which the settlers were supplied with lumber, and the surplus was rafted to Pittsburgh; but as late as 1795 grain was ground by hand-mills or broken in a mortar.

The thought of establishing the location of a town which should serve as a center for distribution and supply, early occupied the minds of the settlers, and none seemed more fit than this goodly valley, where three considerable streams, two from the west, the Cussawago and Watson’s run, and one, Mill run, from the east, poured their currents into the Venango, leaving n their tracks fertile valleys and easy grades for highways to lead out in all directions. Though the earliest settlements had been chiefly made on the west side of the river, above the mouth of the Cussawago, doubtless on account of the lands having been previously cleared and cultivated, and because there was a deep alluvial soil producing fine crops with little labor, yet the site for the town was chosen on the opposite side, probably on account of the surface being higher, and not liable to overflow, as had been the sad experience on the right bank, and also, it may be, because the will of David Mead, who had established himself here, was more imperious than those of his companions. In 1792 the part immediately upon the river was laid out, lots offered for sale, and the embryo city was named Meadville. Through the exertions of Major Roger Alden, a soldier of the Revolution, and the first agent of the Holland Land company, and Doctor Kennedy, the plan of the town was greatly enlarged and improved in 1795. Only a small portion of the valley, along the river front, was at that time cleared, all the lower part being covered by a dense hemlock forest, the covert of the deer, and the more elevated portions, where are now some of the finest residences, had a massive growth of oak, and beech, and chestnut.

The thought of these hardy pioneers was early given to provision for the education of their children, and a school was established in the block-house, to which allusion has been made, situated on the triangular lot at the corner of Water street and Steer’s alley. It was originally built for defense, was of logs, two-stories in height, surmounted by a sentry box; the second-story projecting over the first, and was provided with a cannon. This building stood until 1828. The lot was donated by the founder for school purposes. David Mead was the first justice, and the Governor having failed to providehim with one, he acted as his own constable. He had served as justice in the Wyoming settlement, and continued to hold that office until 1799, when he was made associate judge.

Prior to the year 1773, all this section of the colony, held under the charter of King Charles II., though not yet purchased from the Indians, formed a part of the county of Bedford. At that date the county of Westmoreland was organized, and this portion of the State, by that act, was embraced in its limits. In September, 1788, the county of Allegheny was organized, which was made to embrace all the territory north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. Till the end of the century it remained thus. By an act of the Legislature of the 12th of March, 1800, the county of Crawford was erected and was made to embrace all the north-western portion of the State, including Erie, Warren, Venango, and Mercer, with the county seat at Meadville. Erie became a separate county on the 2d of April, 1803, and Venango and Warren, April 1, 1805. It was named for the unfortunate General William Crawford, who was burned by the Indians at Sandusky, on the 11th of June, 1782.

The slates and shales of the Chemung and Portage groups underlie its surface, but it is destitute of calcareous rock, with the exception of a bed of marl, of over thirty acres in extent, situated near the head of Conneaut lake, from which, by burning, a dark grayish lime is made, and also a deposit of similar marl in the Pymatuning swamp. Sedimentary flag stone abounds in most parts, though as yet no quarry of the best quality has ever been opened. Red and yellow sandstone, yielding and easily wrought when first taken from the quarry, but which hardens by exposure to air and light, are found in abundance. Iron ore exists in the southern section, as also bituminous coal. From the earliest knowledge of the valley of the Oil creek, an exceedingly volatile substance was known to exist, which, when floating upon the surface of the water, reflected in the sunlight the most beautiful and vegiegated colors. In the extensive flat lands upon this stream are found many acres of pits dug in the soil and lined with split logs, doubtless constructed for the purpose of collecting this fluid, as the water which rises in them is found to be covered with it. By whom they were constructed is not known; but it must have been long ago-as no traces can be discovered of the stumps where the timber used in lining them was cut, and huge trees are growing in the very midst of the cradles-and b an intelligent people, as much skill, involving the use of effective tools, is shown in their construction. The French of a generation or two before its settlement may have fashioned them. They were certainly not the work of the nomadic Indians of our day.

The act of the Legislature authorizing the formation of the county, empowered the commissioners to fix the county seat at Meadville, provided the people of that place would contribute $4,000 towards the establishment of an institution. David Mead and six others were appointed trustees. Grounds were subsequently acquired on the south-west cornier of Chestnut and Liberty streets, and a one story building with two rooms was erected thereon. In the fall of 1805 the Meadville Academy was opened under the charge of the Rev. Joseph Stockton, who, in addition to an extensive scientific course, taught also Latin and Greek. This building remained for twenty years, and at successive periods Cary, Kerr, Douglas, Reynolds, and De France taught therein. It was finally purchased, and gave place to a private residence, and the building now used for the public high school was erected. McKinney, Leffingwell, and Donnelly, among others, were at its head, the latter for a period of seventeen years. It received donations from the State at various times, and had a small endowment fund that was used for keeping the building in repair. In 1852 it entered upon a sphere of enlarged usefulness as a county academy, being attended by over three hundred pupils annually for several years. In 1861, by act of Assembly, the property and funds were given into the hands of the board of control of the city of Meadville for the use of a public high school, to which pupils from the county may be admitted.

During the early history of the county, and until 1834, when the free school law was enacted, schools were established as the settlers could unite for the purpose, and were supported by their patrons. In sparse settlements it was impossible to accommodate all in this way. Some few of the indigent were taught at the expense of the county under the law of 1809, which provided for the “instruction of the poor gratis.” But most parents were too independent to report themselves too poor to pay for the tuition of their children. There were in various sections men of great learning who gave instruction in the languages, notable among whom were Mr. Gamble, of the Shenangoes, and David Derickson, of Meadville. In 1838 the free school system began to go into operation, and rapidly the whole school-going population was gathered in. In 1854, upon the revisal of the law, a regeneration of the schools occurred; new buildings were erected, with improved furniture and appliances, and teachers were held to a strict examination and accountability. With opportunities so meager as were afforded in that early period, it is a matter of congratulation that education was so general and so good as it was.

The site for a building was selected upon the hillside a mile to the north of the town, which it overlooked, a most delectable spot, commanding a view of the charming valleys, which approach from every point of the compass, and the beautiful hills, half covered with forest, which tower upon all sides and kiss the sky in seeming nearness. A plot of five acres, subsequently enlarged to ten, and lately to twenty, was contributed by Samuel Lord, upon which a substantial and imposing structure of brick, with fine cut freestone trimmings, was erected, and the infant institution was fairly launched. The president, Dr. Alden, was a man of versatile talents, a prodigy in lingual acquirements, to whom difficulties and seemingly insurmountable obstacles were meat and drink. He organized, he taught, he visited the cities of New York and New England soliciting aid. His plans were successful. The institution took form beneath his plastic hand. To the plea of the necessities of his dear college, valuable private libraries dropped into its alcoves. That of the Rev. Wm. Bentley, D.D., of Salem, Massachusetts, was especially rich in lexicons, theological books, and such treasures of the Latin and Greek fathers as few colleges in the united States possessed; and those of Isaiah Thomas, LL.D., of Worcester, Mass., and James Winthrop, LL.D., of Cambridge, Mass., comprised the best miscellaneous writings, making the entire collection in the different departments of literature and science “most rare and valuable.” Contributions were also made to cabinets in natural history, and apparatus for chemical and philosophical experiments.

But though fortune seemed to smile upon the early labors of its founders, yet the period of growth was one beset by many hardships. Money was difficult to command, and few of the sons of the frontiersmen could spare the time or secure the means requisite to compass a liberal education. A proposition was made to found a German professorship with a view to enlisting that element of the population; likewise one to have a mathematical professorship endowed by the Masonic fraternity, to secure their active co-operation; and finally, to change it to a military school. But none of these projects were successful, and in 1833, its management was assumed by the Erie and Pittsburgh conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, under which it has remained to the present day. At this date Dr. Alden gave place, as president, to Martin Ruter, D.D., who was succeeded by Homer J. Clark, D.D., in 1837; John Barker, D.D., in 1847; George Loomis, D.D., in 1860; and Lucius H. Bugbee, in 1875. Its alumni number over five hundred, among whom are men adorning all the learned professions.

On the 2d of January, 1803, was issued at Meadville the initial number of the Crawford Messenger, the first paper published in this portion of the State, and for a long series of years held its place as the most respectable. It was founded by Thomas Atkinson and W. Brendle. In an editorial of September, 1828, Mr. Atkinson makes the following interesting record: “In two months more, twenty-five years will have elapsed since we arrived in this village with our printing establishment, being the first, and for several subsequent years, the only one north-west of the Allegheny river. How short the period, yet how fruitful in interesting events! Our village at that time consisted of a few scattered tenements, or what might be properly termed huts. It is now surpassed by few, if any, in west Pennsylvania, for its numerous, commodious, and in many instances, beautiful dwelling houses, churches, academy, court house, with a splendid edifice for a college; all affording pleasing evidence of the enterprise, the taste, and the liberality of its inhabitants. Then we were without roads, nothing but Indian paths, by which to wend our way from one point to another. Now turnpikes and capacious roads converge to it from every quarter. Then the mail passed between Pittsburgh and Erie once in two weeks now, eighteen stages arrive and depart weekly. Then we had not unfrequently to pack our paper on horseback upwards of two hundred miles; on one hundred and thirty of this distance there were but three or four houses-now, however, thanks to an enterprising citizen of the village, it can be had as conveniently as could be desired. Our country is marching onward.” Since the time when Mr. Atkinson congratulated himself and his readers on the great changes which had occurred a half century has elapsed, and the progress which has been made far out-reaches the contrasts of that early day. There are at present published in Meadville, the Crawford Journal, weekly; the Crawford Democrat; the Crawford county Post (German), weekly; the Meadville Republican, daily and weekly; in Conneautville, the Conneautville Courier, weekly; in Titusville, the Herald and Courier, both daily and weekly, and the Sunday Press; in Cambridge, the Index, weekly; and in Linesville, the Linesville Leader, weekly.

As we have noted, David Mead was the first commissioned justice, which office he continued to hold until 1799, when he was made a judge, and in 1800 was held the first court, Judges Mead and Kelso presiding. At the session of April, 1801, Alexander Addison presided as president judge, and David Mead having resigned, William Bell was commissioned in his place. Judge Addison has been succeeded in the office of president judge by Moore, Shippen, Eldred, Thompson, Church, Galbraith, Derickson, Brown, Johnson, Vincent, and Lowrie.

By an act of the legislature of March 5th, 1804, the commissioners were directed to erect a court-house upon the public square. The present edifice was commenced on the 19th of September, 1867, and was completed in October, 1869. It occupies a commanding location, is constructed of pressed brick, with red sandstone trimmings, and is one of the most pleasing pieces of architecture, of the renaissance style, which the State, outside of Philadelphia, can boast.

The contrasts of twenty-five years in the means of travel and communication as depicted by Mr. Atkinson, convey some conception of the difficulties experienced. It was not uncommon for salt to be carried on pack horses, and even on the backs of men, long distances in that early day. But in 1828, the Beaver and Erie canal was constructed, stretching from Lake Erie, near the village of Girard, to the mouth of the Beaver river, on the Ohio, and thence to Pittsburgh, which greatly improved the means of transportation. The summit between these two points is Conneaut lake, which, as we have seen, is upon the divide which separates the Mississippi river system from that of the great lakes. Boats were accordingly locked up from Pittsburgh to the Conneaut lake, and from there down to Lake Erie. Conneaut lake was hence made the reservoir for feeding the canal in both directions. To make it at all times serviceable, its mouth was dammed and its surface raised eleven feet, greatly increasing its size, and to feed it the water was taken from the Venango river, two miles above Meadville, conducted by the left bank to Shaw’s landing, seven miles below, where it was led across the stream by an aqueduct, high above its natural level, and thence forward to the lake. This feeder gave Meadville all the advantages of the main line which followed the valleys of the Shenango and Conneaut creeks, leaving Meadville twenty miles away. In its day it served an important purpose. But the hour was rapidly approaching, then little dreamed of, when this vast public work, with its miles of solid masonary, executed with vast labor, would be thrown aside as a cast-off garment.

As late as 1857 there was not a mile of railway within the borders of the county. In less than ten years from that date it had more miles than any other county in the state. The Erie and Pittsburgh railroad follows substantially the course of the canal, traversing the whole length of its western border, and was completed in 1858. The Atlantic an great Western, with broad gauge to correspond to the Erie, was constructed in 1861-2, and passes in a somewhat circuitous course from north-east to south-west through the central part, having large and substantial shops of brick and stone at Meadville. At about the same time the Oil Creek and Allegheny Valley road, extending through the whole length of the eastern part, was built, and likewise the Franklin branch of the Atlantic and Great Western, reaching from Meadville to Oil City. Subsequently the Union and Titusville was constructed, giving complete rail communication with every part. The two most important were projected before oil was discovered, and hence independently of the necessities which it created. The others were the outgrowth of the surprising development of the wonderful fluid.

Though considerable manufacturing in iron and wood and wool has, from an early day, been carried on, to which may now be added those of oil, and the want which the production of oil has given rise to, yet it cannot be properly

termed a manufacturing county. Conneautville, a village in the western part, on the line of the canal, was for many years the rival of Meadville in enterprise and business capacity, and far outstretched Titusville, the principal village of the extreme east; but upon the discovery of oil in 1859, the latter suddenly sprang into importance, and shot forward until it had surpassed Meadville in population, and is still a place of much wealth and business, though, since the subsidence of oil has fallen behind its more staid and sedate neighbor. Mosiertown, Harmonsburg, Evansburg, Linesville, Espyville, Hartstown, and Adamsville, in the west, are all villages long settled, and the centers of a prosperous population. In the center are Cambridge, Venango, Saegertown, Geneva, and Cochranton, and in the east Spartansburg, Riceville, Centreville, Townville, Tryonville, and Oil Creek, which share in the general prosperity.

The population of the county in 1800 was 2,340, in 1830 it had increased to 16,030; in 1870 to 63,832. The early settlers were chiefly German, Scotch-Irish, and emigrants from New England and New York, and such, substantially, the population has continued to be. Wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, and hay were the staple products of the soil, of which in the early settlement more was produced than consumed. From the first, however, the soil seemed better adapted to grazing than to grain, and to within a recent period the chief product for export was stock, though not in a profitable way. Immense numbers of cattle were raised, but they were not usually kept until they were more than three years old. They were then sold for a price that barely covered the cost of production, and were driven away to the luxuriant meadows of Lancaster and Chester, where they attained great weight, and were sold at high prices for the Philadelphia market. That custom has now almost entirely ceased. Some twenty years ago a great impetus was given to stock breeding by the introduction, especially in the western portion, of fine blooded horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, and the county fairs held at Conneautville and Meadville, served to stimulate competition and local pride in securing perfection. The agents of Louis Napoleon bought horses here for the imperial stables, and many of the proudest stepping animals that make their appearance on Broadway and Chestnut street were gathered from the rich pasturage of Crawford. A limited number of farmers in different sections of the county made excellent butter, which did not suffer by comparison with the noted Orange county makes of New York.

But the true sphere of the farmers had not yet been reached. To raise enough buckwheat for home consumption, to fatten a few bullocks and swine and sheep, and to furnish a few pounds of butter carried to market on cabbage leaves, was not putting the rich grasses of its hillsides and intervals to their most profitable an natural use. It was not until 1870 that any considerable concert of action was secured in cheese-making at factories. Since that period this business has rapidly increased, until now nearly every section in its broad domain is covered by it. The great increase in the amount of many realized from the dairy products has stimulated production, and now the pure water, the fine shade, and the excellent grass are utilized in the production of milk. Already the Meadville cheese exchange rivals that of the famous Little Falls. During the year 1875 there were sixty nine factories in operation, giving an aggregate product of ten million pounds, valued at one million dollars.

A large number of the early settlers had served in the Revolutionary army, of whom Major Roger Alden, mentioned before, was one of the most prominent. They were among the best citizens, and showed by their sober and industrious habits that the fortunes of the camp and the battle-field had not destroyed their capacity for usefulness in private life. In 1812-15, the war was brought near to our borders, and when Perry prepared his fleet at Erie, he found among the most useful and resolute of his mechanics, men from this county, and when he set sail to meet the foe, that those same brawny arms were skillful and ready in handling the musket. Seeing that this part of the State was exposed to invasion from its near contiguity to Canada, and reflecting upon what the consequence might have been had the British fleet been victorious instead of the American, the legislature of Pennsylvania ordered the erection of an arsenal at Meadville, and concentrated there several powerful batteries of artillery; this location being just far enough away from the border to be secure from sudden seizure, and near enough to be of service should an enemy attempt invasion. In 1855, through the influence of Senator Darwin A. Finney, the necessity for keeping a military depot at this point having passed away, on account of the improved means of rapid transit, the Legislature donated the property which had now become centrally located, to the city of Meadville for school purposes, and in 1868 a beautiful structure was erected thereon.

But it was the war of Rebellion which called out the military strength and powers of the county, and illustrated the nerve and stern qualities of which its citizens are composed. In the three months’ service the Erie regiment was largely made up of volunteers from its borders. In the three years and veteran service the ninth and Tenth Reserves, the Fifty-seventh, the Eight-third, the One Hundred and Eleventh, the one Hundred and Forty-fifth, the One Hundred and Fiftieth, One Hundred and Sixty-third (Eighteenth cavalry), and One Hundred and Ninetieth regiments were composed largely of its hardy sons. Colonel Henry S. Huidekoper, of the One Hundred and Fiftieth, lost his right arm at Gettysburg; Major A. J. Mason, of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth, was killed in the battle of Fredericksburg, and numbers of others of various ranks were killed or wounded, there being few townships throughout its borders but have some graves of soldiers to cherish and decorate. Company K, of the One Hundred and Fiftieth regiment, better known as the Bucktails, was selected on its arrival at Washington for the body guard to Mr. Lincoln, which office it faithfully performed for two years, winning the respect and confidence of the President and his family, and served as escort at his funeral. No troops won a more enviable reputation in the great army of the Union than the Bucktails, and to wear its significant emblem was a proud distinction.

Source:
The History of Pennsylvania By William H. Egle, M.D., M.A. Published 1883

Author Crawford County History SAMUEL P. BATES, LL.D., MEADVILLE

Italian Style Home Decor Shop
Features beautiful Tuscan style home decor accessories such as imported Italian ceramics, luxury bedding ensembles, wall decor, wall tapestries, Tuscan kitchen accessories, and more.