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 THE mr 
 
 VALIiET OF THE CONEMAUGE 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS J. CHAl'MAN. 
 
 ALTOONA, PA.: 
 
 McCRUM &. DERN, PRINTERS, 
 X865, 
 

 ^ 
 
 /^ 
 
 "Lives there a man with soul so dead, 
 That never to himself hath said, 
 ♦This is my ov/n, my native land ?' " 
 
 Sir W^Uir iHeoil. 
 
 Entered according to an Act ot Congress, in the year 1865. by 
 Thomas J. Chapman, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court, 
 j[or the Western District of Pennsylvania, 
 
To my younger Brother, 
 
 Rev. ALVA RILEY CHAPMAN, 
 
 This little Volume 
 
 Is Respectfully Inscribed, 
 
 As a Mark of 
 
 Esteem and Affection. 
 
1 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 The scope of this little work is to give an 
 historical and descriptive account of the Valley 
 of the Conemaugh, which embraces the county 
 of Cambria, and a portion of the counties of 
 Somerset, Indiana and Westmoreland. To 
 collect and arrange the facts and incidents 
 which go to make up the book, have required 
 considerable labor and trouble, and, to the 
 critical reader, the author begs leave to say, to 
 borrow the language of Dr. Johnson, in the 
 preface to his English Dictionary, "when it shall 
 be found that much is omitted, let it not be 
 forgotten that much likewise is performed." 
 
 In the prosecution of this little volume the 
 author has been actuated by no idea that he 
 wa8 specially fitted for the task. While so 
 many older men still live, natives of this 
 valley, and better acquainted with its early 
 history, it might seem presumptuous in a 
 young man, not yet out of his twenties, to step 
 
6 
 
 into the field. But there has been no promise 
 of anything of the kind from the hands of these 
 older men, and, meanwhile, the time is passing 
 away, and the scanty materials out of which to 
 form a local history of the Conemaugh valley 
 are yearly growing less and less. The author 
 has gathered up such of the incidents in the 
 early history of this section of the country as 
 have been thought worthy of preservation, and 
 he takes pleasure in thus submitting the results 
 of his labors to the judgment of his readers. 
 
 He would also take this occasion to acknowl- 
 edge his obligations to the many kind friends 
 who have assisted him in the course of the work. 
 These friends have been many. It would be 
 invidious to mention a few where all have been 
 so kind, and he hopes that each one will accept 
 this acknowledgment as personal to himself. 
 
 T. J. CHAPMAN. 
 
 Johnstown, Pa., July, 1865. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Outlinea. ..... Page 9. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 ExpeditioiiB against the Indians. • 22, 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 Settlement of the Valley. . . .39, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Public Thoroughfares. . . .76. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Johnstown and its Suburbs. , . . 100. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Blairsville 118. 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 Other Towns and Villages. . . 130. 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 Cambria Iron Works. . . . 152. 
 
8 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Other Enterprises 162. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Biographical. ..... IT^. 
 
THE 
 
 YALLEY OF THE CONEMAUGH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Conemaugh river rises on the western 
 slope of the Alleghenies, near their summit, in 
 the county of Cambria, Pennsylvania, and at 
 about the middle of its eastern boundary. A 
 narrow ridge, not over sixty yards in width, 
 separates the head-waters of this river from 
 those of a branch of the Susquehanna; the one 
 flowing towards the rising and the other towards 
 the setting sun. 
 
 The Conemaugh has its origin in little 
 springs upon the mountain's side. As it pursues 
 its meandering course down the declivity, it 
 grows larger and larger by the tributes of 
 other petty streamlets. IN'ear the village of 
 Wilmore it is joined by the ITorth Branch 
 which rises in the neighborhood of Ebensburg ; 
 and here it first takes the name of Conemaugh. 
 A few miles lower down it receives the waters 
 of the South Fork, a creek that has its source 
 in a swamp at the base of the mountain. 
 
 The general course of the Conemaugh is 
 
10 The History of 
 
 towards the northwest. It is about sixty 
 miles in length, from the confluence of the 
 ITorth Branch, near Wilmore, to Saltsburg, in 
 Indiana county, where it joins the Loyalhanna, 
 and thenceforth changes its name for that of 
 Kiskiminetas. The Conemaugh has two prin- 
 cipal tributaries : the Stony Creek, which flows 
 into it at Johnstown, and the Blacklick, which 
 lias its debouche about two miles below Blairs- 
 ville. This river traverses Cambria county 
 almost throughout its entire breadth, and then 
 leaving the confines of Cambria, it forms the 
 separating line between the counties of West- 
 moreland and Indiana. 
 
 The valley of the Conemaugh is in general 
 exceedingly wild and uncultivated. Here and 
 there along the shore are to be seen farms of 
 more or less excellence and productiveness ; 
 but until we get west of the Chestnut Ridge, 
 we find but little land that is well adapted to 
 cultivation. High hills, crowned with trees, 
 and shielded by corrugated precipices, frown 
 down into the clear waters of the stream. 
 Huge boulders, of thousands of tons' weight, 
 are strewn along the sides of the mountains, 
 which nothing but the hand of God stays from 
 plunging, like an avalanche, into the valleys 
 below. 
 
The Conemaugh. :.li 
 
 In the valley between the Laurel Hill and the 
 Chestnut Eidge, however, there is a consider- 
 able tract of level, fertile land, which is highly 
 cultivated, and is studded with prosperous vil- 
 lages and smiling farm houses, where peace 
 and plenty sit enthroned. 
 
 The Conemaugh cuts its way through two 
 important ridges, outliers of the Alleghenies : 
 the Laurel Hill and the Chestnut Kidore. Its 
 channel through these mountains are narrow, 
 deep defiles, abounding in sublime and beauti- 
 ful scenery. It is a remark of travelers who 
 have made the grand tour of Europe, that 
 neither the Highlands of Scotland, nor the 
 Alps of Switzerland, excel in beauty, sublimity 
 • and picturesqueness, the mountain passes of 
 the Conemaugh. Especially is this remark 
 appropriate in the fall of the year, when the 
 surrounding hill-sides are clothed in a thousand 
 varied hues and gradations of shade ; 
 
 "When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, 
 Though all the trees ar« still ; " 
 
 and when every prospect is mellowed and 
 subdued by the quiet mid-day twilight of Indian 
 Summer. ]^ot so lovely, perhaps, but far more 
 grand is it when the day is dark and tempestu- 
 ous, to see the heavy clouds dragging their 
 tattered skirts through the tree-tops on the 
 wooded heights, while now and then a tall, 
 
12 The History op 
 
 spectral column of mist shoots up from the 
 forest and sails majestically away, until it is 
 lost to view in the dense mass of vapors over- 
 head. Such a scene could have heen fittingly 
 descrihed hy the graphic pen of Burns. 
 
 Below the town of Blairsville, and, in truth, 
 a mile or two above it, the country lying upon 
 this stream changes its aspect somewhat, 
 though steep hill-sides and forbidding preci- 
 pices are still to be seen at intervals. 
 
 Until it reaches Johnstown, the Conemaugh 
 is a very insignificant stream ; in many places 
 between that town and "Wilmore one could 
 jump across it, as the Irishman could jump 
 across one of the locks on the Regent's canal 
 — in two jumps. But by the addition of the, 
 waters of the Stony Creek, at Johnstown, the 
 stream assumes more importance, and at once 
 presents quite a river-like appearance. It is 
 true the flinty gripe of the opposing mountains 
 below this town sometimes compresses it, for a 
 short distance, into quite diminutive propor- 
 tions ; but whenever that gripe is removed it 
 expands into a broad, beautiful river. 
 
 The old Main Line of Public Works of 
 Pennsylvania lies along this river throughout 
 its whole length. The Pennsylvania canal is 
 mainly fed by its waters — or rather was fed 
 
The Conemaugh. 13 
 
 for of this canal, in great part, it may be 
 said as of the city of old King Priam : Troja 
 fuit. Commencing at Johnstown, the Portage 
 Railroad, a link in the main line, led across 
 the Allegheny Mountains to Hollidaysburg, 
 conforming more or less, according to cir^ » 
 cumstances, with the direction of this stream. 
 The Pennsylvania Pailroad now supplies the 
 place of the Portage, and runs for the greater 
 part of the way almost parallel with it. It 
 also follows the Conemaugh as far down as 
 the Blairsville Intersection. The railroad, 
 where it passes through the Chestnut Pidge, 
 runs along a narrow path, cut out of the 
 side of the hill, at an immense height. The 
 passenger who looks down into the valley, 
 when the current of air carries the smoke 
 and steam from the locomotive back on the 
 lower side of the train, sees below him only 
 a dense cloud, as though the "iron horse" 
 had turned into a Pegasus, and were cleaving 
 his way towards the sun. 
 
 There is a large number of thriving towns 
 and villages situated upon this stream. The 
 largest is Johnstown, at the confluence of 
 Stony Creek and the Conemaugh. Here are 
 erected the largest and most complete iron 
 works in the Union, if not m the world. — 
 
M The History op 
 
 But of this again. Above Jolinstown, on this 
 stream, are Conemaugh, Summerhill, and "Wil- 
 more. Below Johnstown are Nineveh, Kew 
 Florence, Centreville,'Lockport, Bolivar, Blairs- 
 ville, Bairdstown, Fillmore, Livermore, and 
 • Saltsburg. We shall speak of these, and of 
 some other towns not exactly on the Conemaugh 
 yet connected with our story, in detail in another 
 chapter. 
 
 The people of the Conemaugh valley are 
 engaged in a variety of pursuits. Agriculture 
 is not carried on extensively in a large part of 
 the valley, on account of the character of the 
 soil and surface. In the lower part, from the 
 neighborhood of Blairsville down to the mouth 
 of the river, there is much fine farming land, 
 which is well improved and cultivated. In the 
 vicinity of Johnstown mining, and the manu- 
 facture of iron, fire-brick, etc., demand a great 
 deal of attention. The mountains abound with 
 an untold wealth of ore, coal, fire-clay, limestone 
 and other valuable mineral products. Compa- 
 nies are also forming to bore for oil on the 
 Conemaugh, as it is said there are strong 
 indications of the presence of that article. — 
 Though a poor farming country, the valley of 
 this river is rich in mineral treasure beyond the 
 "wealth of Ormus or of Ind." 
 
The Conbmaugh. IS 
 
 Nearly all the nations of Christendom are 
 represented in this district. Americans, Eng- 
 lish, Irish, "Welsh, Scotch, and German, are the 
 principal. It is also favored with a generous 
 sprinkling of the sable sons and daughters of 
 Ham. Some ot the townships of Cambria and 
 Somerset counties are peopled almost exclu- 
 sively by Germans and their descendants ; and 
 a kind of jpatois — a mixture of English and 
 German, called by the outsiders "country 
 Dutch" — is the current tongue. The "Welsh 
 element is confined almost entirely to Cambria 
 county. There are large numbers of these 
 people in and about Johnstown, brought there 
 by the vast mining interests. They are a quiet, 
 industrious, useful body of citizens. In Johns- 
 town, of a Saturday, one may hear almost as 
 much Welsh and German spoken as English, 
 
 There is not much early history connected 
 with the valley of the Conemaugh. '^o great 
 efforts to form settlements within its boundaries 
 were made until a comparatively recent date. 
 Christian Frederick Post, the messenger of the 
 Government of Pennsylvania to the Indians on 
 the Ohio, passed through it in 1758. On the 
 eleventh day of November of that year he 
 passed over the present site of Johnstown. — 
 Ten years prior to this time, however, in 
 
lit The History of 
 
 August, 1748, Conrad Weiser, the Indian 
 agent, and his companion, George Croghan, 
 passed through this region. Christopher Grist, 
 also, the friend of "Washington, and his com- 
 panion in his arduous journey to FortLeBoeuf, 
 in the fall of 1753, crossed the Allegheny 
 mountains in 1750, and followed the Cone- 
 maugh, which he calls the Kiskiminetas, down 
 to its confluence with the Allegheny. Some 
 years elapsed after this ere any settlements 
 were made in the valley of this river. We will 
 speak of them in their proper order. 
 
 The principal tributaries of the Conemaugh, 
 as we have said, are the Stony Creek and the 
 Blacklick. The Stony Creek rises in Brothers* 
 Yalley township, Somerset county. It flows in 
 a northwesterly direction, and unites with 
 the Conemaugh at Johnstown, in Cambria 
 county. It is about forty miles in length, and 
 receives in its course the waters of the Quema- 
 honing. Shade, Roaring, and Paint Creeks. — 
 This stream irrigates a tract of country better 
 adapted to agricultural purposes than the upper 
 Conemaugh. The soil of Somerset county is 
 in the main highly fertile, and plentiful cropa 
 of grain and hay are every year produced. It 
 is also one of the best butter and cheese making 
 districts in the State. Immense quantities of 
 
 I 
 
The Conemaugh. 17 
 
 these staples are every week brought to Johns- 
 town in wagons from this county, to be shipped 
 by railroad to the distant markets. 
 
 Among the hills that lie upon this creek and 
 its tributaries ore and coal are found. Some 
 furnaces are erected, which have been a source 
 of much wealth to the county. Large numbers 
 of shook are made in this as well as the neigh- 
 boring counties. By shook are meant bundles 
 of staves fitted and bent in the proper manner, 
 but not set up in the form of a cask. From 
 twenty to thirty staves, thus prepared, make 
 a shook. These are sent to the West Indies, 
 and other tropical countries, where they are 
 formed into casks, and used to receive the 
 produce of the cane. In Somerset county, 
 large quantities of maple sugar and molasses 
 are also made. This has become a not unim- 
 portant source of revenue to the manufacturers, 
 as well as a great advantage to consumers, in 
 the present state of high prices brought on by 
 the war. 
 
 Somerset is a large, populous, and wealthy 
 county. It was partly settled at an early 
 period. About the year 1830, the ruins of a 
 house near Stoystown were still pointed out, 
 which was said to have been built in 1758, at 
 the time of General Forbes' expedition against 
 
IS The History of 
 
 the Indians. This county is affectionately- 
 denominated *' Mother Somerset," by the 
 people of the surrounding country. 
 
 In 1758, Post, the government messenger^ 
 passed through what is now Somerset county. 
 November sixth, of that year, he writes: "One 
 of our horses went back; we huiuted a good 
 while for him. Then we set off and found one 
 of the worst roads thai ever loas traveled until 
 Stony Creek. Upon the road we overtook a 
 great number of pack-horses, whereupon Pis- 
 quetomen said: 'Brother, now you see if you 
 had not come to us before, this road would not 
 be so safe as it is ; now you see we could have 
 destroyed all this people on the road, and great 
 mischief would have been done, if you had not 
 stopt and drawn our people back.' 
 
 "We were informed that the general (Forbes) 
 had notyetgone to Fort Du Quesne, whereupon 
 Pisquetomen said he was glad, and expressed 
 himself thus: 'If I can come to our towns be- 
 fore the general makes his attack, I know your 
 people will draw back, and leave the French/ 
 
 "We lodged this night at Stony Creek." 
 
 This creek, where it empties into the Cone- 
 maugh, presents a nobler appearance than the 
 river into which it merges, and for which it 
 changes its name. It reminds us of a large 
 
The Conemaugh. 19 
 
 woman losing her name and her identity by 
 marriage with an attenuated specimen of the 
 genus homo. It doesn't look reasonable : though 
 we accept the decree, in the first instance at 
 least, with gratitude, inasmuch as Conemaugh 
 is more euphonious than Stony Creek, and is 
 one of those * 'sweet Indian names" that a 
 certain set of sentimentalists dote upon. 
 
 The Blacklick, the other principal tributary 
 of the Conemaugh, has its rise m the north- 
 western part of Cambria county, and taking a 
 southwestern direction, flows through the 
 county of Indiana, and empties its waters into 
 the river about two miles below the town of 
 Blairsville. At a short distance above Black- 
 lick Station, on the Indiana Branch Railroad, 
 it is joined by the Twolick Creek, which 
 considerably increases its flood. There are 
 various improvements along the Blacklick; 
 many fine farms, numerous mills, and one 
 furnace. The Twolick is augmented by the 
 waters of the Yellow Creek, which are emptied 
 into it at Homer. 
 
 . At what is now known as Lichenthaler's 
 Ford, on the Blacklick, were discovered, a few 
 years ago, the evidences of a former Indian 
 village. The ground, when first plowed up, 
 was found to be a. rich, black mold, such as i^ 
 
20 The History of 
 
 to be found only where men have long been 
 dwelling together, while pieces of broken 
 pottery, and arrow and spear-heads of flint 
 were lying about in great abundance. We 
 have walked over the ground, and picked up 
 these relics of a by-gone age and race. Certain 
 aged persons in the neighborhood could remem- 
 ber a tradition concerning an aboriginal village 
 somewhere in that region, though they never 
 knew the exact locality. Mounds, too, were to 
 be seen in the adjacent woods, such as are said 
 to be the humble mausolea ot the red men; 
 but as no one ever had curiosity or public spirit 
 enough to open them, it is not known whether 
 they contain the remains ot the rude children 
 of the forest, or whether they have been formed 
 by merely natural causes. 
 
 Much of the scenery along the Blacklick is 
 highly picturesque. A greatpartof the country 
 upon its banks is yet in a state of nature. — 
 Railroads, and modern innovations generally, 
 have not yet penetrated there. Particularly is 
 the scenery near the mouth of the creek grand 
 and beautiful. At the distance of about half a 
 mile from the Conemaugh a well constructed 
 bridge is thrown across the stream. On the 
 right hand side are fine fields, fruitful orchards^ 
 and comfortable farm houses. The opposite 
 
The Conemaugh. 21 
 
 side, however, is high and precipitous. A road 
 winds up the side of the acclivity, while above 
 it rise many feet of rocks, 
 
 "Crown'd with rough thickets, and a nodding wood." 
 
 Before the advent of the white people, Indian 
 villages were scattered along the shores of the 
 Conemaugh and its tributaries. Here the 
 dusky warriors danced around the camp-fire^ 
 and shouted their songs of victory and defiance. 
 Here the Indian mother hushed her children to 
 sleep by chanting the glorious deeds of the red 
 man. The eagle built his aerie upon the rocks, 
 and the bear, the wolf, and the elk inhabited 
 the unbroken wilderness. But all this is 
 changed. Pleasant fields and thriving towns 
 now lie upon the margin of this stream. For- 
 ests, it is true, still wave in all their pristine 
 wildness upon the overhanging mountains, but 
 the ringing of the woodman's axe, the shrill 
 whistle of the locomotive, and the ponderous 
 thumping of the forge-hammer have frightened 
 away the Indian and the eagle forever. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 EXPEDITION'S AGAmST THE INDIAI^S. 
 Pennsylvania, during the middle years of 
 the last century, was a scene of havoc and 
 bloodshed. The Indians, stirred up by the 
 French, who were at war with the English, 
 committed the most horrid excesses upon the 
 defenceless people of the frontier. The toma- 
 hawk and the scalping-knife were constantly 
 dripping with the blood of their victims. The 
 glare of burning cabins and barns often lighted 
 up the gloom of midnight. 
 
 "Why flames the far summit ? Why shoot to the blast 
 Those embers, like stars from the firmament cast ? 
 ' Tis the fire-shower of ruin, all dreadfully driven 
 From his aerie that beacons the darkness of hearen." 
 
 Roving bands of marauders scoured the coun- 
 try far and near, and often fell upon the lonely 
 habitation or the isolated hamlet like a thun- 
 derbolt. Under such circumstances it was 
 impossible for the remote settlements of Penn- 
 sylvania to prosper. The pioneer was compelled 
 to lay down the axe for the rifle, and the 
 pruning-hook for the sword. These gangs of 
 murderous savages usually made their incur- 
 sions up the valley of the Conemaugh, and 
 across the mountains to the head-waters of the 
 Susquehanna, and thence down that stream to 
 
The Conemaugh. 23 
 
 tlie settlements upon its hanks. At an early 
 day in the trouhles the smoke from no white 
 settler's chimney curled ahove the forest trees 
 to the west of the Alleghenies. 
 
 For the protection of the colonists, and as a 
 war measure against France, the government 
 of England projected several important expedi- 
 tions against the comhined French and Indians 
 in North America. With some of these enter- 
 prises we have to do, inasmuch as they very 
 nearly concerned the condition of things in 
 that part of Pennsylvania of which we are 
 treating. 
 
 The first of these enterprises, and that around 
 which clusters the greatest interest for us, was 
 the ill-starred expedition under Major General 
 Edward Braddock, in 1T55. Braddock had 
 the reputation of a hrave and skillful officer. 
 In the early part of the year 1755, he arrived in 
 this country with two regiments of royal troops, 
 the 44th and 48th, under Sir Peter Halkett and 
 Colonel Dunhar. At Fort Cumberland, on 
 Will's Creek, he was joined by about one 
 thousand provincial troops. The army, how- 
 ever, was delayed some weeks for want of 
 means of transportation for their baggage and 
 stores. At length, on the 8th of June, they 
 took up their line of march. Their destination 
 
24 The History of 
 
 was Fort Duquesne, at the junction of the 
 Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, on the 
 present site of Pittsburg. This fort was in the 
 possession of the French, who, the year before, 
 had taken it yet unfinished from Ensign Ward. 
 
 The progress of Braddock's army was very 
 slow, on account of the nature of the road, and 
 the cumbrous character of their i)aggage. At 
 the suggestion of George Washington, then a 
 young man who acted as aid-de-camp to Brad- 
 dock, it was determined to leave the greater 
 part of the baggage under a sufiicient escort to 
 follow after by slow and easy marches, and 
 push on a picked force with all speed. The 
 baggage was accordingly left to the care of 
 Colonel Dunbar, while General Braddock, 
 with some twelve or thirteen hundred men, 
 went forward. 
 
 In the forenoon of the 9th day of July they 
 crossed over to the left hand side of the Mo- 
 nongahela, a little below the mouth of the 
 Youghiogheny, in order to avoid some hills 
 that obstructed their march. Between twelve 
 and one o'clock, noon, they re-crossed to the 
 right hand side. At the spot where they 
 landed, the ground slopes gently back towards 
 the country, while on each side of the hillock 
 are ravines from eight to ten feet deep. The 
 
The Conemaugh. 25 
 
 wliole country was tlien overgrown with a 
 dense forest, and the ravines were entirely 
 hidden from sight. 
 
 As this large army drew near to the place 
 of their destination, the French commandant 
 at the fort was greatly distressed. His force 
 was small, and the fort totally unahle to resist 
 the attack of such an army. In this conjunc- 
 ture. Captain Beaujeu, who, it seems, was a 
 man of great spirit and enterprise, after much 
 persuasion and entreaty, induced a number of 
 French and Indians* to go out to meet the 
 enemy, and offer such resistance as was in their 
 power. Early on the morning of the 9th thej 
 left the fort. 
 
 The point where Braddock's army re-crossed 
 the river is within ten miles of the site of 
 Fort Duquesne. It is likely that the party 
 of Beaujeu first came in sight of it at this 
 spot. I^ature had already prepared the ground 
 to their advantage, and they at once took 
 their stations in the parallel ravines, without 
 having been seen or heard by the British. — 
 
 * Various estimates are given of the force of the French and 
 Indians. The largest estimate is, two hundred and fifty French 
 and Canadians, and six hundred and forty Indians. The lowest 
 estimate reduces the number of white men to two hundred and 
 thirty-five, and Indians to six hundred. — Neville B. Craig, Esq, 
 
 Washington, writing to his mother from Fort Cumberland, 
 I8th Julj, 1755, nine days after the battle, says: "When we came 
 there we were attacked by a party of French and Indians, whose 
 number I am persuaded did not exceed three hundred men.'''' 
 
26 The History of 
 
 Washington, who was acquainted with the 
 Indian mode of warfare, proposed to the gen- 
 eral commanding to send out scouts to guard 
 against an ambuscade ; but the imperious 
 officer spurned his proposition with contempt. 
 The troops were crossed in parties of two 
 hundred and three hundred. It was one 
 o'clock. The general, with the last of the 
 men, and the supplies, had gained the oppo- 
 site shore, and the first detachment had pro- 
 ceeded a short distance up the slope, when 
 they were met by sharp and rapid discharges 
 from hundreds of rifles. They were at once 
 thrown into such confusion and fright, that 
 many of them did not seem to have the use 
 of their senses. Particularly was this the 
 case with the British regulars. Reinforce- 
 ments were hurried forward to sustain the 
 first detachment, but the panic soon commu- 
 nicated to them also, and they were able to 
 offer but little resistance. Many of them 
 huddled together like frightened sheep, and 
 were mowed down by the fire of the enemy. 
 The provincial troops, who were accustomed 
 to the Indian mode of fighting, sprang behind 
 trees, to fight them on their own terms, but 
 were ordered out by the infatuated Braddock, 
 who even struck some of them with his sword 
 for their cowardice, as he thought it. 
 
The Conemaugh. 27 
 
 Meanwhile tlie firing was kept up. Men 
 were falling thick and fast on every side. The 
 ground was soon covered with the dead and the 
 dying. And yet the enemy was invisible. — 
 The firing of the troops was by random — often 
 at their own men — while the devouring flame 
 of the enemy's rifles encompassed them on 
 every side. For three hours this horrible 
 carnage rioted. E'early seven hundred men 
 had fallen, when a ball, fired by one of his own 
 soldiers,* cut short the career of Braddock, 
 and he fell from his horse mortally wounded- 
 With the fall of Braddock ended everything 
 like an attempt at resistance. The few troops 
 who had remained upon the ground now turned 
 and fled, taking the wounded general with 
 them. A few days afterward he died. The 
 enemy pursued the fljang host, remorselessly 
 destroying almost all that fell into their hands. 
 A number they reserved for a more cruel fate. 
 They were burnt at the stake the same evening 
 on the return of the savages to Fort Duquesne. 
 The Point, between the Monongahela and the 
 Allegheny rivers, was the scene of their immo- 
 lation. 
 
 The flying soldiery did not stop their retreat 
 until they reached the camp of Colonel Dunbar, 
 
 * Thomas Fausett, of Fayette county, Pa. 
 
28 The History of 
 
 six miles in the rear. They here paused. 
 After destroying nearly all their stores of every 
 kind, the retreat was re-commenced. They 
 returned to Fort Cumberland, their starting- 
 point, on the 22d of the same month. So ended 
 Braddock's expedition.* The unfortunate ter- 
 mination of this affair undoubtedly was owing 
 entirely to the obstinacy and self-sufficiency of 
 those who had charge of the undertaking. — 
 G-eneral Morris wrote on the occasion : " The 
 defeat of our troops appears to me to be owing 
 to the want of care and caution in the leaders, 
 who have been too secure, and held in great 
 contempt the Indian manner of fighting." 
 
 The defeat of Braddock subjected the entire 
 frontier to ravage and apprehension. The 
 Indians were more cruel and destructive than 
 ever. In his message to the Assembly, July 
 24th, 1755, Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania, 
 has the following language in relation to this 
 disaster : ''This unfortunate and unexpected 
 change in our affairs deeply affects every one 
 of his majesty's colonies, but none of them in 
 so sensible a manner as this province, which 
 having no militia, is thereby left exposed to the 
 cruel incursion of the French and barbarous 
 
 *This account I have collated chieflv from Day's Historical 
 Collections of Pennsylvania. 
 
The Conemaugh. 29 
 
 Indians, who delight in shedding human blood, 
 and who make no distinction as to age or sex 
 — as to those who are armed against them, or 
 such as they can surprise in their peaceful 
 habitations — all are alike the objects of their 
 cruelty — slaughtering the tender infant and 
 frightened mother with equal joy and fierce- 
 ness. To such enemies, spurred by the native 
 cruelty of their tempers, encouraged by their 
 late success, and having now no army to fear, 
 are the inhabitants of this province exposed ; 
 and by such must we now expect to be over- 
 run, if we do not immediately prepare for our 
 own defence; nor ought we to content ourselves 
 with this, but resolve to drive to and confine 
 the French to their own just limits."* 
 
 During the year following the defeat of 
 Braddock, the enemies of the English were 
 permitted to carry on their high-handed out- 
 rages almost without rebuke. On the 30th of 
 August, 1756, Colonel John Armstrong, with 
 an army of only three hundred and seven men, 
 marched from Fort Shirley, in what is now 
 Huntingdon county, against Kittanning. This 
 Colonel Armstrong seems to have been one of 
 the most prominent and energetic men on the 
 frontier in that stormy time. Kittanning was 
 
 * Votes of Assembly, IV, 416. 
 
30 The History of 
 
 a famous Indian town upon tlie Allegheny 
 river, and occupied the site of the present 
 borough of the same name in Armstrong 
 county. It was the headquarters of Captain 
 Jacobs, a notorious Indian chief, and the gen- 
 eral depot to which most of the whites whom 
 they captured were transferred. 
 
 They reached the town during the night of 
 the sixth of September. As they drew near, 
 they could hear the beating of the drums and 
 the whooping of the warriors, who were having 
 a grand break-down. Their front came to the 
 river, about one hundred perches below the main 
 body of the town, a short time before daylight. 
 They had met with an interruption in their 
 march, in the early part of the night, that had 
 considerably retarded them. About six miles 
 from the town, at what is now called Blanket 
 Hill, they had discovered a party of Indians 
 encamped in the path. It was believed that 
 not more than three or four savages made up 
 the party. They immediately retreated with 
 the greatest possible secrecy to some distance^ 
 when, after due deliberation, it was thought 
 best to take a circuitous route, and not meddle 
 with the savages at that time, for, if one should 
 escape, he would alarm the town, and thus 
 perhaps frustrate the object of the expedition. 
 
The Conemaugh. 31 
 
 Lieutenant Hogg, however, with thirteen men, 
 was left, with orders not to attack the Indians 
 until the next morning at hreak of day, and 
 then, if possible, to cut them off. 
 
 Finally, along in the "wee sma' hours ayon 
 the twal," the dusky braves left off their dan- 
 cing, andfireshavingbeenkindled by the squaws 
 in a corn-field near by, for the purpose of dis- 
 persing the gnats, the night being very warm, 
 the warriors lay down here to sleep. 
 
 By the time Armstrong had made a proper 
 disposition of his men, and everything was got 
 in readiness, the gray light of morning had 
 stolen upon them. A detachment was sent 
 along the top of the hill until they came to a 
 point opposite the body of the town, when they 
 were to make an assault upon it. Supposing 
 that the greater part of the warriors had lodged 
 in the corn-field, a larger force was kept here, 
 but the attack upon it was delayed some twenty 
 minutes, until those who had been sent to the 
 other point should arrive. 
 
 At the appointed time the battle commenced. 
 A warm engagement took place in the corn- 
 fields. At the same time the attack upon the 
 houses was begun. Captain Jacobs and those 
 with him, when they beheld the approach of 
 the white men, pretended to be greatly de- 
 
d2 The History of 
 
 lighted, and cried out, "The white men were 
 at last come, they would then have scalps 
 enough." Their squaws and children, how- 
 ever, they immediately ordered to take refuge 
 in the woods. 
 
 The house in which Jacobs and his compan- 
 ions were, was pierced with port-holes, through 
 which they could tire upon the soldiers without 
 themselves being exposed. In this way they 
 killed and wounded a good many. But it was 
 soon determined by Armstrong to set fire to 
 the houses. Before proceeding to do this the 
 Indians were called on to surrender. To this 
 one of them answered, "He was a man and 
 would not be a prisoner." He was then told 
 that he would be burnt to death, but he replied 
 that he did not care, for he would kill four or 
 five before he died. The houses were accord- 
 ingly set on fire. As the flames progressed, 
 some of the Indians jumped from the windows 
 and tried to make their escape; but they were 
 all shot down. 
 
 "During the burning of the houses," says 
 Armstrong, in his official report to Governor 
 Denny, "which were nearly thirty in number, 
 we were agreeably entertained with a quick 
 succession of charged guns gradually firing off 
 as they were reached by the fire ; but more so 
 
The Conemauuh. 38 
 
 with the vast explosion of sundry bags and 
 large kegs of gunpowder, wherewith almost 
 every house abounded. The prisoners after- 
 wards informing, that the Indians had fre- 
 quently said they had a suiRcient stock of 
 ammunition for ten years to war with the 
 English. AVith the roof of Captain Jacobs" 
 house, where the powder blew up, w^as thrown 
 the leg and thigh of an Indian, with a child of 
 three or four years old, such a hight that they 
 appeared as nothing, and fell into the adjacent 
 corn-field." 
 
 Having demolished the town, and killed or 
 chased away the inhabitants, Armstrong and 
 his small army set out to return. Upon their 
 arrival at the Indian encampment of the night 
 before, they found evidences of a sanguinary 
 conflict. The truth was that the scout who 
 had discovered and reported the Indian party 
 had been grossly deceived as to their numbers. 
 When Lieutenant Hogg came to attack them 
 in the morning, he discovered that they greatly 
 outnumbered his own force. A severe fight 
 took place, in which the lieutenant himself 
 received two serious wounds, and had three of 
 his men killed, after which the balance ran ofi'. 
 He then crawled into a thicket of underbrush, 
 where he might have remained in safety, had 
 
34 The History of 
 
 not a cowardly sergeant of Captain Mercer's 
 company, with three or four privates, w^ho had 
 run away from the battle at Kittanning, found 
 him and persuaded him to go along with them. 
 They had not gone far together, when they 
 were met by four Indians. Upon sight of them 
 the sergeant and his companions began to flee, 
 notwithstanding the lieutenant urged them to 
 stand their ground like men. Here he was 
 again wounded, and he died shortly afterward. 
 
 Colonel Armstrong returned to Fort Little- 
 ton, in Bedford county, about the 13th of 
 September. He had lost in all forty-nine 
 men — killed, seventeen ; wounded, thirteen ; 
 missing, nineteen. The fall of Kittanning 
 was a heavy stroke upon the savages and their 
 French allies. 
 
 In the fall of 1758, another expedition against 
 Fort Duquesne was undertaken by General 
 Forbes. Colonel Bouquet commanded under 
 him, and the expedition is often spoken of as 
 Bouquet's expedition. Colonel Washington 
 had command of the troops from Virginia, 
 ^orth Carolina, and Maryland. The whole 
 force under Forbes consisted of about seven 
 thousand men. The early part of the autumn 
 had been devoted to cutting a new road over 
 the mountains. 
 
The Conbmaugh. 35 
 
 On the 23d or 24th of October, General 
 Forbes, with the rear division of the army, left 
 Bedford, then called Kaystown, and advanced 
 towards Loyalhanna. Colonel Bouquet had 
 reached the same point some weeks before. 
 In the interval he had sent out Major Grant, 
 of the Highlanders, with a force of about eight 
 hundred and fifty men, to reconnoitre the fort 
 and the adjacent country. He was instructed 
 not to approach too near the fort, and to avoid 
 a collision with the enemy, if possible. But 
 the impetuosity of Grant, and the glory of 
 seizing the fort himself, led him to transcend 
 his orders. At eleven o'clock at night of the 
 third day after their departure, he, with the 
 principal part of his little force, stood upon the 
 brow of a hill that overlooked the fort, and 
 not above a quarter of a mile from it. 
 
 For various reasons Major Grant supposed 
 that the number of the enemy was very small 
 — not exceeding two hundred. Shortly after 
 daybreak. Captain McDonald's company was 
 sent, with drums beating, directly towards the 
 fort, for the purpose of drawing them out. — 
 But the major had reckoned without his host. 
 As soon as the garrison were aroused from 
 their slumbers by the music of the enemy, they 
 sallied out in great numbers to the attack. A 
 
36 Thk History oi' 
 
 desperate struggle then ensued, in whicli the 
 invaders, after dreadful slaughter, were driven 
 from the field, and Grant himself was taken pris- 
 oner. The hill upon which this aflray waa 
 commenced is still known as Grant's Hill. — 
 This hattle was fought on the 14th of Septem- 
 ber, and the losses to Grant's force amounted 
 to over three hundred men. 
 
 This victory so emboldened the enemy that 
 they determined to attack the army under 
 Bouquet, at Loyalhanna, before he should be 
 strengthened by the division under Forbes. 
 Accordingly, a force of fourteen hundredFrench 
 and Indians, under the command of De Yetri, 
 assailed him on the 12th of October. They 
 fought with great desperation and fury, but 
 after a conflict of tour hours they were com- 
 pelled to retire with considerable loss. They 
 renewed the attack after night-fall; but a few 
 well-directed shells thrown into their midst 
 had the eflect of dispersing them. 
 
 The army pursued its way by very slow de- 
 grees. The weather was very unfavorable, 
 and the roads, as fast as made, were rendered 
 almost impassable by the heavy rains. At 
 length, on the 25tli of November, they reached 
 the fort, but found it little more than a black 
 and smouldering ruin. The enemy, upon the 
 
The Conemaugh. 37 
 
 near approach of the British, had destroyed it 
 and then fled. There were two magazines, 
 one of which had been blown up and ruined ; 
 in the other were found a large quantity of 
 ammunition, gun barrels, iron, and a wagon- 
 load of scalping-knives. But little else re- 
 mained. 
 
 The capture of Fort Duquesne sent a thrill 
 of joy through every heart upon the frontier. 
 It had long been one of the most important 
 strongholds of the French in the west. Much 
 blood and treasure had been spent in efibrts to 
 take it, but its importance to the people over- 
 balanced every other consideration. It secured 
 to the Anglo-Saxon race the key to the Mis- 
 sissippi valley forever. 
 
 Governor Denny, in his Message to the 
 Assembly on this occasion, says: "Gentlemen 
 — I have the Pleasure to Lay before you aLetter 
 Ilately received from Brigadier General Forbes, 
 with the interesting and important Account 
 of his Success in the Expedition against his 
 Majesty's Enemies to the Westward, An Event 
 which, it is true, has been purchased at a 
 Considerable present Expence, but when the 
 Consequences are cooly weighed and Consid- 
 ered, of suftering the French to lay the Foun- 
 dation of our Future Slavery, by possessing 
 
SS The History op 
 
 themselves and fortifying the back Parts of his 
 Majesty's Colonies on this Continent, and to 
 keep open a Communication between their 
 Settlements from Canada to the Mississippi, I 
 am persuaded every real Friend of Liberty will 
 think this Conquest could not have been too 
 dearly bought. ****** The great 
 Advantages that will attend this success of his 
 Majesty's Arms, will be sensibly felt by all the 
 British Colonies, but none so much as this 
 Province, whose Inhabitants have been the 
 most exposed to the Incursions and Cruelties 
 of the French and their Allies from that 
 Quarter."* 
 
 * See Colonial Records, Vol. VIII, p. 257. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 "With tlie taking of Kittanning, and the fall 
 of Fort Diiquesne, as related in the preceding 
 chapter, did not come peace and safety to the 
 Pennsylvania backswoodsmen. By no means. 
 Though these successes on the part of the 
 British greatly discomfited and crippled their 
 inexorable foes, the savage red man and his 
 scarce less savage accomplices continued to 
 murder and devastate whenever and wherever 
 they could. 
 
 But the star of empire has ever been west- 
 ward. The old fort of Duquesne was repaired 
 and improved, and named after the immortal 
 Pitt. A little village soon clustered about it. 
 Settlements gradually crept out into the 
 wilderness, and as the red man's power waned 
 the white man's power continued to increase. 
 
 In the course of time settlers made their way 
 into the valley of the Conemaugh. Who was 
 the first it is difficult to say. Among the first, 
 however, were the Maguires, !N'agles, Ragers, 
 Storms, Campbells, Hildebrands, Altmans, and 
 
40 The History of 
 
 Davises. Favorable reports must have been 
 transmitted by these primitive settlers to their 
 friends and quondam, neighbors in the older 
 settlements; for the country was speedily 
 dotted by the "clearings" of the hardy back- 
 woodsmen. In the course of a few years the 
 population had become so great that new 
 counties were formed. Of these Westmore- 
 land, which we consider as partly belonging to 
 the Conemaugh valley, inasmuch as that 
 stream forms its northeastern boundary, was 
 the first. It was erected out of Bedford county 
 by act of February 26th, 1773. It then em- 
 braced the entire southwestern corner of the 
 State. "Previous to the year 1758, Westmore- 
 land was a wilderness, trodden only by the 
 wild beast, the savage, and an occasional white 
 trader, or frontier-man. The access to the Forks 
 of the Ohio, in those days, was either up the 
 Juniata and then by water down theKiskimin- 
 etas, [Conemaugh,] or by Braddock's road from 
 Virginia, and thence down the Monongahela. 
 The first opening through the wilderness of 
 Westmoreland county was cut by General 
 Forbes' army, in 1758. * * This road opened 
 the way for numerous pioneers into this region ; 
 but it was only safe for them to live under the 
 protection of the forts."* Loyalhanna, now 
 
 * Day's Hist. Col., pp. 680, 681 
 
The Conemaugh. 41 
 
 Ligonier, seems to have been a base of military 
 operations as far back as the time of Forbes' 
 expedition. By a singular error this place has 
 been located by some writers as only Jive miles 
 west of Bedford.* After the defeat of Major 
 Grant, at Fort Duquesne, the French and In- 
 dians, under De Vetri, assailed Colonel Bouquet 
 at this place, as we have already seen. A few 
 years later, perhaps about 1760, a fort was 
 built here, called Fort Ligonier. During Pon- 
 tiac's war, in 1763, this fort was attacked by a 
 strong force of Indians. They had also in- 
 vested Fort Pitt at the same time. Lieutenant 
 Blane, then in command at Ligonier, though 
 his force w^as very small, bravely defended the 
 fort, and the savages were repulsed. Colonel 
 Bouquet, advancing from Carlisle with two 
 regiments of troops, was met by the united 
 forces of the Indians near Bushy Run, and after 
 an obstinate engagement of one entire after- 
 noon and a part of the next day, succeeded in 
 totally defeating and routing the savages, and 
 compelling them to abandon their designs 
 against the forts. 
 
 Hannastown, some three or four miles from 
 the present site of Greensburg, was one of the 
 earliest settlements in Westmoreland county. 
 It was built on the road made by General 
 
 ♦See Hist. Six Counties, p. 568. 
 
42 The History of 
 
 Forbes, in 1758. When the county was erected 
 in 1773, the courts were directed to be held in 
 this place. It contained about thirty habita- 
 tions of different descriptions, a wooden court 
 house and jail, and a fort stockaded with logs. 
 Arthur St. Clair, Esq.,-^ afterward a conspicuous 
 general in the Revolutionary and Indian wars, 
 was the first prothonotary and clerk of the 
 courts, and Robert Hanna, Esq., was the first 
 presiding justice. During the war of the 
 revolution, Ilannastown was the headquarters 
 of Colonel Archibald Lochry, Lieutenant of 
 Westmoreland county. It was thus a conspic- 
 uous town in the early history of Western 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 On the ISth of July, 1782, the Indians made 
 a descent on Ilannastown. The frontier north- 
 west of the town was almost deserted ; the 
 inhabitants had fied for safety and repose to 
 the older settlements. There was, therefore, 
 but little impediment to the Indians, either by 
 way of resistance, or even of giving warning of 
 their approach. The savages first made their 
 appearance at a harvest-field, about a mile and 
 a half north of the village, where a party of 
 the townsfolk w-ere engaged in reaping. Upon 
 discovering the Indians the whole reaping 
 party ran for the town, each one intent upon 
 
 *See sketch of his life, chapter X. 
 
The Conbmaugh. 43 
 
 his own safety. The scene which then pre- 
 sented itself may more readily be conceived 
 than described. Fathers seeking for their 
 wives and children, and children calling upon 
 their parents and friends, and all hurrying in a 
 state of consternation to the fort. The Indians 
 were not long in reaching the town; but for- 
 tunately not until the inhabitants were about 
 all safely in the fort. As the savages emerged 
 into the open space around the town, sounding 
 the dreaded war-whoop and brandishing their 
 tomahawks, a young man named David Shaw, 
 who had not yet entered the fort, resolved to 
 make one of them give his death halloo, and 
 raising his rifle to his eye, his bullet whizzed 
 true, for the stout savage at whom he aimed 
 bounded into the air and fell upon his face. 
 Then, with the speed of an arrow, Shaw fled 
 for the fort and entered in safety. The Indians 
 were exasperated when they found the town 
 deserted, and after pillaging the houses they 
 set them on fire. Although a considerable 
 part of the town was within rifle range of the 
 fort, the whites did but little execution, being 
 more intent on their own safety than solicitous 
 about destroying the enemy. One savage, who 
 had put on the military coat of one of the 
 inhabitants, paraded himself so ostentatiously 
 
44 The History of 
 
 that he was shot down. Except this one, and 
 the one laid low by Shaw, there was no evi- 
 dence of any other execution, but some human 
 bones found among the ashes of one of the 
 houses where they, it was supposed, burnt 
 those that were killed. There were not more 
 than fourteen or fifteen rifles in the fort ; and 
 a company having marched from the town 
 some time before, in Lochry's ill-fated cam- 
 paign, many of the most efiacient men were 
 absent; not more than twenty or twenty-five 
 remained. A maiden. Jennet Shaw, was 
 killed in the fort; a child having run opposite 
 the gate, in which there were some apertures 
 through which a bullet from the Indians occa- 
 sionally whistled, she followed it, and as she 
 stooped to pick it up a bullet entered her 
 bosom — she thus fell a victim to her kindness 
 of heart. The savages, with their wild yells 
 and hideous gesticulations, exulted as the 
 flames spread, and looked like demoniacs re- 
 joicing over the lost hopes of mortals. 
 
 From Hannastown the Indians went to Mil- 
 ler's Station, two miles south of the town. 
 Here were a number of families who had fled 
 for safety from their homes on the extreme 
 border. There had been a wedding here the 
 day before. Love is a delicate plant, but will 
 
The Conemaugh. 45 
 
 take root in the midst of perils in gentle 
 bosoms. A young couple, fugitives from the 
 frontier, fell in love and were married. The 
 bridal party were enjoying themselves in the 
 principal mansion, without the least shadow of 
 approaching danger. Some men were mowing 
 in the meadow — people in the cabins were 
 variously occupied — when suddenly the war- 
 whoop, like a clap of thunder from a cloudless 
 sky, broke upon their astonished ears. The 
 people in the cabins and those in the meadow 
 mostly made their escape. At the principal 
 mansion the party were so agitated by the 
 cries of women and children, mingling with 
 the yells of the savages that all were for a 
 moment irresolute, and that moment sealed 
 their fate. John Brownlee and his family 
 were there. This individual was well known 
 in frontier forage and scouting parties. His 
 courage, activity, generosity, and manly form 
 won for him among his associates, as they win 
 everywhere, confidence and attachment. Many 
 of the Indians were acquainted with his char- 
 acter — some of them probably had seen his 
 person. After that first moment of terror had 
 passed, Brownlee made his way to the door, 
 having seized a rifle ; he saw, however, that it 
 was a desperate game, but made a rush at 
 
46 The History op 
 
 some Indians who were entering the gate. 
 The shrill, clear voice of his wife, exclaiming, 
 "Jack, will you leave me?" instantly recalled 
 him, and he sat down heside her at the door, 
 yielding himself a willing victim. The party 
 were made prisoners, including the hridegroom 
 and bride, and several of the family of Miller, 
 Longfellow, in his beautiful poem of "Evan- 
 geline," nearly describes this scene: 
 
 "As, when the air is serene in the sultry solstice of summer, 
 Suddenly gathers a storm, and the deadly sling of the hailstones 
 Beats down the farmer's corn in the field and shatters his windows. 
 Hiding the sun, and strewing the ground with thatch from the 
 
 house-roofs. 
 Bellowing fly the herds, and seek to break their inclosures; 
 So on the hearts of the people descended the words of the speaker. 
 Silent a moment they stood in speechless wonder, and then rose 
 Louder and ever louder a wail of sorrow and anger." 
 
 Heavy were the hearts of the women and 
 maidens as they were led into captivity. Who 
 can tell the bitterness of their sorrow ? They 
 looked, as they thought, for the last time upon 
 the dear fields of their country, and of civilized 
 life. They had proceeded about half a mile, 
 and four or five Indians near the group of 
 prisoners in which was Brownlee, were observed 
 to exchange rapid sentences among each other, 
 and look earnestly at him. Some of the pris- 
 oners had named him ; and, whether it was 
 from that circumstance or because some of the 
 Indians had recognized his person, it was evident 
 
The Conemaugh. 47 
 
 that he was a doomed man. He stooped 
 slightly to adjust his child on his back, which 
 he carried in addition to the baggage that 
 they had put upon him ; and, as he did so, one 
 of the Indians who had looked so earnestly at 
 him, stepped to him hastily and buried a toma- 
 hawk in his head. "When he fell, the child 
 was quickly dispatched by the same individual. 
 One of the women captives screamed at this 
 butchery, and the same bloody instrument and 
 ferocious hand immediately ended her agony 
 of spirit. God tempers the wind to the shorn 
 lamb, and he enabled Mrs. Brownlee to bear 
 that scene in speechless agony of woe. Their 
 bodies were found the next day by the settlers, 
 and interred where they fell. As the shades of 
 evening began to fall, the marauders met again 
 on the plains of Hannastown. They retired 
 into the low grounds about the Crab tree creek, 
 and there regaled themselves on what they had 
 stolen. It was their intention to attack the fort 
 the next morning before the dawn of day. 
 
 At nightfall, some thirty settlers assembled 
 at George's Farm, not far from Miller's, deter- 
 mined that night to give what assistance they 
 could to the people in the fort at Hannastown. 
 They set oiF, each with his trusty rifle, some on 
 horseback and some on foot. With the great- 
 
48 The History of 
 
 est precaution they marched to the gate, and 
 were most joyfully welcomed by those within. 
 It was the general opinion that the Indians in- 
 tended to make an attack the next morning : 
 and, as there were but about forty-five rifles in 
 the fort, and about fifty-five or sixty men, the 
 contest was considered extremely doubtful, 
 considering the great superiority of numbers on 
 the part of the savages. It became, therefore, 
 ft matter of the first importance to impress the 
 enemy with a belief that large reinforcements 
 were arriving. For that purpose, the horses 
 were mounted by active men and brought full 
 trot over the bridge of plank that was across 
 the ditch which surrounded the stockading. 
 This was frequently repeated. Two old drums 
 were found in the fort, which were new braced, 
 and music on the fife and drum was kept oc- 
 casionally going during the night. While 
 marching and countermarching, the bridge 
 was frequently crossed on foot by the whole 
 garrison. These measures had the desired 
 effect. The military music from the fort, the 
 trampling of the horses, and the marching 
 over the bridge, were borne on the silence of 
 night over the low lands of the Crabtree, and 
 the sounds carried terroi into the bosoms of 
 the cowardly savages. They feared the retri- 
 
The Conemaugh. 49 
 
 bution which they deserved, and fled shortly 
 after midnight. Three hundred Indians, and 
 about sixty white savages in the shape of refu- 
 gees, that day crossed the Crabtree, with the 
 intention of destroying Hannastown and Mil- 
 ler's Station. The next day, a number of the 
 whites pursued the trail as far as the Kiskimin- 
 etas without being able to overtake them. 
 
 The little community, which had now no 
 homes but what the fort supplied, looked out 
 on the ruins of the town with the deepest 
 sorrow. It had been to them the scene of 
 heartfelt joys — embracing the intensity and 
 tenderness of all which renders the domestic 
 hearth and family altar sacred. By degrees 
 they all sought themselves places where they 
 might, like IToah's dove, find rest for the soles 
 ot their feet. The lots of the town, either by 
 sale or abandonment, became merged in the 
 adjoining farm; and the labors of the husband- 
 man soon effaced what time might have spared. 
 
 The prisoners were surrendered by the Indi- 
 ans to the British in Canada. After the peace 
 of 1783, they were delivered up, and returned 
 to their country.* 
 
 Greensburg was laid out shortly after the 
 
 * This account of the burning of Hannastown, I have condensed 
 from a well-written article first published in the "Greensburg Ar- 
 gus," in 1836, and thence copied into Day's Hist. Col. 
 
50 The History of 
 
 destruction of Hannastown. It was incorpo- 
 rated as early as February, 1799. Its growth 
 for half a century was very gradual. In 1850, 
 the population was scarcely one thousand. It 
 is surrounded by a highly fertile and well cul- 
 tivated country. Old Westmoreland is the 
 garden of Western Pennsylvania. The Pitts- 
 burg and Bedford turnpike passes through the 
 town, and this gave it some advantages. In it 
 are a fine court house and other county build- 
 ings. The Pennsylvania Eailroad now passes 
 along the edge of the town. Since the con- 
 struction of this thoroughfare, the town has 
 improved considerably. Judge Lobengeir, 
 Dr. Postlethwaite, Mr. Campbell, and Mr. 
 McLellan were among the earliest settlers in 
 Greeusburg. General Arthur St. Clair, of Rev- 
 olutionary fame, lies buried in the Presbyterian 
 churchyard. In 1832, the Masonic fraternity 
 placed a monument over his grave, with the 
 following inscriptions : 
 
 On the South Side. — "The earthly remains of 
 Major General Arthur St. Clair, are depos- 
 ited beneath this humble monument, which is 
 erected to supply the place of a nobler one, due 
 from his country. He died Aug. 81, 1818, in 
 the 84th year of his age." 
 
 On the North Side. — "This stone is erected 
 
The Conemaugh. 51 
 
 over the remains of their departed brother, by 
 members of the Masonic Society." 
 
 The citizens of Greensburg have ever been a 
 highly moral and intelligent people. Very 
 early in this century, about 1805 or 1806, 
 Messrs. Snowden & McCorkle established a 
 newspaper in this town, called *'The Farmers* 
 Eegister." It was neutral in politics, and ably 
 edited for that period. Greensburg is the 
 home of Hon. Edgar Cowan, U. S. Senator, 
 Hon. Henry D. Foster, Democratic candidate 
 for governor in 1860, and other prominent 
 public men. The town is beautifully situated 
 in a fine agricultural district, and within less 
 than an hour's ride of Pittsburg. 
 
 Somerset county was the next county erected 
 in the Conemaugh valley. It was organized 
 by act of April 17th, 1795. It had formerly 
 constituted a part of Bedford county. The 
 region of country now embraced in Somerset 
 county was visited by white adventurers and 
 traders at a comparatively remote period. We 
 have already referred to Frederick Post's, 
 journey through it in 1758. John Evans, 
 Alexander Magenty, and others, had penetra- 
 ted these wilds as long ago as 1740. About 
 1752, Evans, w^ith others, fell into the hands of 
 the savages. They were carried to Quebec, 
 
52 The History of 
 
 and from thence sent to Kochelle, in France, 
 where they were released by the English am- 
 bassador, and by him sent to London, and from 
 thence they got a passage to Philadelphia. 
 Magenty, while on his return from a trading 
 expedition to the Cuttawa Indians, who were 
 in alliance with • the crown of Great Britain, 
 was taken prisoner on the 26th of January, 
 1753, by a party of French Indians of the Cag- 
 nawaga nation, near the Kentucky river. The 
 Indians beat and abused him in the most bar- 
 barous manner, and then sent him to Montreal. 
 His release was effected by the mayor of 
 Albany, by paying a considerable sum of 
 money to the Indians who had captured him, 
 and in the fall of 1753, he returned to Phila- 
 delphia in destitute circumstances.* In 1758, 
 a road was cut through the northeastern part 
 of the county by Colonel Bouquet, under the 
 command of General Forbes, and in October 
 of that year an army of six thousand men 
 marched over this road on their way to Fort 
 Duquesne. Shortly after the fall of that 
 Indian stronghold, settlements were commen- 
 ced within the limits of Somerset county. 
 We have already mentioned the ruins of a 
 house visible to within a very recent period, 
 
 * Votes of Assemblr. Vol. IV. 
 
The Conemaugh. 53 
 
 which was said to have been built about this 
 time. A fort was built at Stoystown, and a 
 breastwork at the forks of the road on the 
 Allegahny mountains. During the Indian 
 troubles of 1763, the little garrison at Stoys- 
 town was called in to strengthen the fort at 
 Bedford.* 
 
 Berlin, in Brothers' Valley township, was 
 one of the first settlements in this county. It 
 was settled by the Germans, many of whom 
 were Dunkards. The inhabitants of the more 
 exposed parts of the country frequently fled 
 hither to escape the "murderous tomahawk" 
 of the Indians. 
 
 Somerset, the county seat, was laid out by 
 Mr. Bruner, in 1795. It was for some time 
 called Brunerstown. It was incorporated by 
 act of 1804, and a supplementary act of 1807. 
 It is a pleasant town, surrounded by a fine 
 agricultural district, and enjoys the advantages 
 of pure mountain air and water. The turnpike 
 from Bedford to Washington passes through 
 the town. 
 
 The first settlers about Somerset were Mr. 
 Bruner, the founder of the town, Mr. Philson, 
 and Mr. Husband. During the whisky re- 
 bellion, in 1794, the citizens of this county took 
 no very active part, though they were generally 
 
 * Hist. Col, p. 617. 
 
54 The History op 
 
 -secretly opposed to the excise. Mr. Philson 
 and Mr. Husband were more bold in the ex- 
 pression of their sentiments, and were, in 
 consequence, arrested, sent to Philadelphia, 
 and imprisoned. Mr. Husband died in Phila- 
 delphia, after enduring an imprisonment of 
 about eight months. Mr. Philson was released.* 
 On the 16th of October, 1833, a destructive 
 fire swept over the town of Somerset, and laid 
 a large part of it in ashes. An extra of the 
 " Somerset Patriot" of that day, after describing 
 the origin, and so forth, of the fire, goes on to 
 say : "We have no means of ascertaining the 
 loss — it must be immense. Upwards of thirty 
 families are turned homeless in the streets. 
 The part of the town which is now in ashes, 
 was the most business doing and populous, as 
 well as most valuable — Stores, Offices, Shops, 
 Taverns — all have been consumed. Some pri- 
 vate families have lost their all. Some have 
 saved much of their furniture. We would 
 suppose the whole loss, not less than one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars.'* Public meetings were 
 held throughout the country, and resolu- 
 tions of condolence were passed, and still 
 stronger testimonials of sympathy in the shape 
 of contributions for the sufferers were liberally 
 and cheerfully made.f 
 
 *Hist. Col., p. 618. 
 
 t Ebensburg Sky, Nor. 7, 1833. 
 
The Conemaugh. 55 
 
 Indiana county was erected out of parts of 
 Westmoreland and Lycoming counties by act 
 of March 30th, 1803. This region of country 
 was explored as long ago as 1766-67. The 
 first attempt at making a settlement in the 
 limits of this county is believed to have been 
 made in the year 1769, in the forks of the 
 Conemaugh and Blacklick. The early adven- 
 turers into this section were particularly well 
 pleased with the tract of country in the imme- 
 diate neighborhood of the present town of 
 Indiana. 
 
 In 1771 or 1772, three or four years before 
 the breaking out of the American Revolution, 
 Fergus Moorhead and James Kelly had erected 
 their log cabins here. The late lamented R. 
 B. McCabe, Esq.,* ot Blairsville, has recorded 
 the following incident in the history of these 
 two hardy pioneers: 
 
 "So soon as the cabins were finished, each 
 of these adventurers betook himself at night to 
 his castle. One morning Mr. Moorhead paid 
 a visit to his neighbor Kelly, and was sur- 
 prised to find near his cabin traces of blood 
 and tufts of human hair. Kelly was not to be 
 found. Moorhead, believing him to have been 
 killed by the wolves, was cautiously looking 
 about for his remains, when he discovered him 
 
 * Se e sketch of his life, Chap. X. 
 
56 The History of 
 
 sitting by a spring, washing the blood from 
 his hair. 
 
 "He had lain down in his cabin at night and 
 fallen asleep; a wolf reached through a crack 
 between the logs, and seized him by the head. 
 This was repeated twice or thrice before he 
 was sufficiently awakened to shift his position. 
 The smallness of the crack and the size of his 
 head prevented the wolf from grasping it so 
 far as to have a secure hold, and that saved 
 his life." 
 
 Moses Chambers, an old British man-of- 
 war's-man, was one of the first settlers in this 
 wild region. Moses forsook his calling upon 
 the high seas, and sought adventures of another 
 kind in the wilds of our Pennsylvania forests. 
 "We, of these times, have but a faint idea of the 
 dangers, privations, and vicissitudes which en- 
 vironed the hardy settlers of these early days. 
 The following incident in the life of Chambers 
 well illustrates the nature of the difficulties 
 with which the settlers of our country had to 
 contend : 
 
 "Moses continued to work on his improve- 
 ment till he was told one morning that the 
 last johnny cake was at the fire ! What was to 
 be done ? There was no possibility of a sup- 
 ply short of Conococheague. He caught his 
 
The Conbmaugh. 57 
 
 horse and made ready^ He broke the johnny- 
 cake in two pieces, and giving one-half to his 
 wife, the partner of his perils and his fortunes, 
 he put up the other half in the lappet of his 
 coat with thorns, and turned his horse's head 
 to the east. There were no inns on the road 
 in those days, nor a habitation west of the 
 mountains, save, perhaps, a hut or two at Fort 
 Ligonier. The Kittanning path was used to 
 Ligonier, and from thence the road made by 
 General Forbes' army. Where good pasture 
 could be had for his horse, Moses tarried and 
 baited. To him day was as night, and night 
 as the day. He slept only while his horse was 
 feeding, nor did he give rest to his body nor 
 ease to his mind, until he returned with his 
 sack stored with corn. 
 
 "How forcibly would the affecting story of 
 the patriarch Jacob apply itself to the condi- 
 tion of families thus circumstanced! ^ Jacob 
 said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon 
 another ? and he said. Behold, I have heard 
 that there is corn in Egypt; get you down 
 thither, and buy for us from thence, that we 
 may live and not die.' "* 
 
 Some eight or ten years after the settlement 
 of Moses Chambers in this remote country, 
 
 * R. B. McCabe, Esq. 
 
68 The History op 
 
 William Bracken built a mill on the Blacklick, 
 which was an incalculable advantage to the 
 settlers. No more wearisome journeys to 
 Conococheague ! Bracken's mill speedily be- 
 came a cynosure to all within a radius of many 
 miles, and the narrow paths which led to it 
 might have been seen winding through the 
 green forests in every direction. 
 
 The settlement of Indiana county was very 
 gradual. The savages made frequent inroads 
 into the quiet retreats of the settlers, murdering 
 or driving them oiF. We continue to quote, 
 with some variations of language and order, 
 from Mr. M'Cabe's valuable sketch. About 
 the year 1774, Samuel Moorhead commenced 
 building a mill on Stony Run, but before it was 
 completed, the settlers were driven oft* by the 
 Indians. They fled to what was then called 
 the Sewickly settlement. This was called Dun- 
 more' s war ; by some of the old settlers it was 
 called the civil war. This war was brought 
 about in this manner : In 1774, Lord Dunmore, 
 of Virginia, set up the unfounded pretension 
 that the western boundary of Pennsylvania did 
 not include Pittsburg and the Monongahela 
 river, and many settlers were encouraged to 
 take up lands on Virginia warrants. He even 
 took possession of Fort Pitt, by his agent, 
 
The Conemaugh. 59 
 
 donolly, on the withdrawal of the royal troops 
 by order of General Gage. Even General 
 "Washington, who knew that country so well, 
 and had taken up much land in it, entertained 
 the idea probably at that date, that what are 
 now the counties of Fayette, Greene, and 
 Washington, were in Virginia. Some of these 
 new settlers were of the worst class of frontier- 
 men, and two of them, Cresap and Greathouse, 
 were concerned in the barbarous murder of the 
 family of Logan, ^'the friend of the white man." 
 A bloody war upon the frontier was the conse- 
 quence of these murders.* The settlers in 
 Indiana county who were thus compelled to 
 flee, lost their cattle and their crops. However, 
 they returned to their improvements in the 
 fall, and Moorhead completed his mill. This 
 ivas perhaps the second mill erected w^ithin the 
 bounds of what is now Indiana county. 
 
 At this time the Indians were living on the 
 Allegheny river. They had a town called 
 Hickorytown, another called Mahoning, and 
 another called Punxutawney. At their leisure, 
 and they continued to have a good deal, they 
 stole the white men's horses, and showed no 
 symptoms of doubtful character as to their 
 feelings towards their new neighbors. 
 
 ♦Day's Hist. Col., p. 33. 
 
60 The History of 
 
 In 1776, when the blast of war, wide-spread 
 and destructive, swept over the land, it pene- 
 trated even the seclusion of this remote wilder- 
 ness. The Indians again became openly hos- 
 tile. No further improvements, it is believed, 
 were attempted. The settler laid down the 
 axe, and took up the rifle of the soldier. One 
 courageous pioneer, John Thompson, erected 
 a block-house some six miles northeast of the 
 present town of Indiana, and here he continued 
 to reside throughout all the troubles on the 
 frontier. ^N'ot until after "Wayne's treaty, in 
 1795, were any improvements of importance 
 attempted. As late as 1800, not a single town 
 existed in the county, if we except a few cabins 
 that stood where Saltsburg now stands. — 
 Greensburg, in Westmoreland county, was the 
 nearest trading town.* 
 
 Among the first villages in Indiana county 
 was one called E"ewport, which stood on the 
 right bank of the river, about a mile below the 
 mouth of the Blacklick. When or by whom 
 built is a mj^stery. It was a matter of tradition 
 in our childhood. Old settlers affirm that it 
 was in a state of decay more than fifty years 
 since. We remember years ago to have seen 
 a solitary house, tenantless and dilapidated, 
 
 ♦Day's Hist. Col., p. 377. 
 
The Conemaugh. 61 
 
 still remaining. Of course it had tlie reputation 
 -of being haunted. One who passed by it on a 
 remarkably dark night afterward declared that 
 he had seen a strange, murky light flaring 
 through the sashless windows and the chinks 
 in the walls. Doubtless the hobgoblins held 
 their midnight revels there. Had that timid 
 wayfarer drawn nigher he might have been 
 blest with such a sight as that which greeted 
 the eyes of Tarn O'Shanter hi the auld kirk of 
 Alloway. 
 
 After the old house had departed a lone 
 ohimney continued to stand for years, not so 
 tall and graceful as Pompey's Pillar, perhaps, 
 y^t serving very well to mark the site of the 
 abandoned hamlet. But even this last vestige 
 has disappeared, and the stones of which it was 
 constructed have been built into a fence by the 
 owner of the land. In another generation 
 l!^ewport will be as hard to locate as Tadmor 
 m the Wilderness. 
 
 The town of Indiana was laid out in 1805. 
 A tract of 250 acres was granted for the 
 purposes of a town by George Clymer. The 
 turnpike from Kittanning to Ebensburg passes 
 through the town. In 1856, the Blairsville 
 Branch Eailroad was extended to this place. 
 This has had the effect to cause great improve- 
 
6^ The History op 
 
 ments to be made in it. The town has 
 suddenly grown from being a small, out-of- 
 the-way place, to be an important business 
 point. It contains a fine court house, several 
 elegant churches and hotels, a large number 
 of first-class stores, and many elegant private 
 residences. There is here also an extensive 
 establishment for the manufacture of straw 
 boards. The town is finely located in the 
 midst of a superior agricultural district, and 
 the people have ever been noted for their 
 intelligence, morality, and enterprise. 
 
 The manufacture ot salt has long been a 
 prosperous business in this county. These 
 salt-wells are principally to be found along the 
 bank of the Conemaugh The existence of 
 salt water in this section was indicated by the 
 oozing of water, slightly brackish, through the 
 fissures of the rocks. About the year 1813, 
 when salt, in consequence of the war, was 
 extravagantly high, Mr. William Johnston, an 
 enterprising gentleman, determined to perforate 
 the rock, and ascertain whether there was not 
 some valuable fountain from whence all these 
 oozings issued. He commenced operations on 
 the bank of the Conemaugh, near the mouth 
 of the Loyalhanna, and persevered until he had 
 reached the depth of 450 feet, when he struck 
 
The Conematjgh. 63 
 
 an abundant fountain, strongly impregnated 
 with salt. He immediately proceeded to tu- 
 bing the perforation to exclude the fresh 
 water, erecting furnaces, pans, and other fix- 
 tures, and was soon in the full tide of success- 
 ful experiment, making about thirty bushels 
 per day, all of which was eagerly purchased 
 at a high price. 
 
 Mr. Johnston's success induced others to em- 
 bark in the business, most of whom were suc- 
 cessful. Very soon the hitherto silent and sol- 
 itary banks of the river were all bustle, life, and 
 enterprise.* The canal which was afterwards 
 made to pass through this region, brought the 
 most available means of transportation to these 
 works, and salt formed one of the chief staples 
 of commerce of that section, and was carried to 
 every part of the country. About the year 
 1825, a salt well was sunk on the left bank of 
 the river, a short distance above the mouth of 
 the Blacklick, but, to the grief of all the par- 
 ties interested, instead of finding a gushing 
 fountain of salt water, the well poured out 
 nothing but a stream of dirfy-lookmg oil, very 
 offensive in its smell, and of no conceivable 
 use whatever. The well was then covered up, 
 and abandoned. This is now believed to have 
 
 ♦Hazard's Registe\, 1831. 
 
64 The History of ' 
 
 been petroleum oil, and great pains have been 
 taken lately to find the exact spot where this 
 well was sunk, but so far in vain. 
 
 Cambria county was taken from Somerset 
 and Huntingdon by act of March 26th, 1804. 
 Some have thought that the first settlements 
 in the limits of this county were made about 
 the vear 1789 ; but from the followins: incident 
 it would seem that settlements were attempted 
 bere some years before this : 
 
 About December, 1777, a number of fami- 
 lies came into the fort' (at Bedford) from the 
 neighborhood of Johnstown. Amongst them 
 were Samuel Adams, one Thornton and Brid- 
 ges. After the alarm had somewhat subsided, 
 they agreed to return to their property. A 
 party started with pack horses, reached the 
 place, and not seeing any Indians, collected 
 their property and commenced their return. 
 After proceeding some distance, a dog belong- 
 ing to one of the party, showed signs of unea- 
 siness, and ran back. Bridges and Thornton 
 desired the others to wait whilst they would go 
 back for him. They went back, and had pro- 
 ceeded but two or three hundred yards, when 
 a body of Indians, who had been lying on each 
 side of the way, but who had been afraid to 
 fire on account of the number of the whites, 
 
The Conemaugh. 65 
 
 suddenly rose up and took them prisoners. 
 The others, not knowing what detained their 
 companions, went hack after them ; when they 
 arrived near the spot the Indians fired on them, 
 hut without doing any injury. The whites 
 instantly turned and fled, excepting Samuel 
 Adams, who took a tree and hegan to fight in 
 the Indian style. In a few minutes, however, 
 he was killed, but not without doing the same 
 fearful service for his adversary. He and one 
 of the Indians shot and killed each other at the 
 same moment. When the news reached the 
 fort, a party volunteered to visit the ground. 
 When they reached it, although the snow had 
 fallen ankle deed, they readily found the bodies 
 of Adams and the Indian ; the foce of the latter 
 having been covered by his companions with 
 Adams' hunting shirt.* This bloody encoun- 
 ter is said to have taken place on Sandy Run, 
 about eight miles east of Johnstown. Author- 
 ities differ, however, both as to the date of the 
 occurrence, and the manner in which the actors 
 in the tragedy made away with each other; 
 some afiirming that it took place about the year 
 1785, and that Adams and the Indian killed 
 each other with their knives while fighting- 
 round a white-oak tree.f 
 
 ♦Day's Hist. Col., pp. 122, 123 
 
 t A. J. Kite's "Hand-Book of Johnstown, for 1856," p. 19. 
 
66 The Histoky op 
 
 In the year 1789, the Rev. D. A. Gallitzin'^ 
 directed his course to the Alleghany moun- 
 tain, and found that portion of it which now 
 constitutes Cambria county a perfect wilder- 
 ness, almost without inhabitants or habita- 
 tions, f He chose to settle where the village 
 of Loretto now stands, and by his labors and 
 munificence he attracted about him a little 
 colony of pioneeis that has now grown to be a 
 numerous and wealthy population. Among 
 these early settlers were Captain Michael Ma- 
 guire, Cornelius Maguire, Richard Nagle, 
 William Dotson, Michael Rager, James Al- 
 corn, John Storm, and others. Of these, 
 Captain Maguire is believed to have been the 
 first. He came here in 1790. The others fol- 
 lowed soon after. These were the right kind 
 of men to people a country, for one of them at 
 least, Mr. Rager, is said to have left no less 
 than twenty-seven children ! Under the aus- 
 pices of these settlers, the country improved 
 very rapidly. The first grist mill in the coun- 
 try was built by Mr. John Storm. 
 
 Robert L. Johnson, Esq., of Ebensburg, who 
 is, perhaps, better acquainted with the early 
 history of this county than any other man in 
 it, and from whom we have borrowed the 
 
 * See sketch of his life, Chap. X. 
 t See Mountaineer, May 14th, 1840. 
 
The Conemaugh. 67 
 
 principal part of the above items, in the year 
 1840 published in the Ebensburg "Mountain- 
 eer," of which he was editor, a series of arti- 
 cles, from which we extract the following : 
 
 "Previous to the year 1789, the tract of 
 country which is now included within the 
 limits of Cambria county was a wilderness. 
 'Frankstown settlement,' as it was then called, 
 was the frontier of the inhabited parts of Penn- 
 sylvania east of the Alleghany mountains. 
 I^one of the pioneers had yet ventured to ex- 
 plore the eastern slope of the mountain. A 
 remnant of savage tribes still prowled through 
 the forests, and seized every opportunity of 
 destroying the dwellings of the settlers, and 
 butchering such of the inhabitants as were so 
 unfortunate as to fall into their hands. The 
 howling of the wolf, and the shrill screaming 
 of the catamount or American panther, min- 
 gled in nightly concert with the war-whoop of 
 the savages. 
 
 "The hardships endured by the first settlers 
 are almost incredible. Exposed to the in- 
 clemency of an Alleghany winter, against the 
 rigor of which their hastily erected and scan- 
 tily furnished huts afforded a poor protection, 
 their sufferings were sometimes almost beyond 
 endurance. Yet with the most unyielding 
 
68 The History op 
 
 firmness did these men persevere, until they 
 secured for themselves and their posterity the 
 inheritance which the latter at present enjoy. 
 
 ''There was nothing that could be dignified 
 with the name of road by which the early set- 
 tlers might have an intercourse w^ith the settle- 
 ments of Huntingdon county. A miserable 
 Indian path led from the vicinity of where 
 Loretto now stands, and intersected the road 
 leading to FrankstoAvn, two or three miles this 
 side of the Summit. 
 
 "Many anecdotes are related by the citizens 
 of Alleghen}^ township of the adventures of 
 their heroic progenitors among the savage 
 beasts, and the more savage Indians, which 
 then infested the neighborhood. The latter 
 were not slow to seize every opportunity of 
 aggression which presented itself to their 
 blood-thirsty minds, and consequently the in- 
 habitants held not only property, but life itself, 
 by a very uncertain tenure. The truth of the 
 following story is vouched for by many of the 
 most respectable citizens in Alleghany and 
 Cambria townships, by one of whom it has 
 kindly been furnished us for publication : A 
 Mr. James Alcorn had settled in the vicinity 
 of the spot where Loretto now stands, and 
 had built a hut, and cleared a potato patch, 
 
The Conbmapgh. 69 
 
 at some distance from it. The wife of Mr. 
 Alcorn went an errand to see the potatoes, 
 and did not return. Search was immediately 
 made, but no trace could be found to lead to 
 her discovery. Wliat became of her is to this 
 day wrapped in mystery, and in all human 
 probability, we shall remain in ignorance of 
 her fate. It was generally supposed that she 
 had been taken by the savages ; and it was 
 even reported that she had returned several 
 years after; but this story is not credited by 
 any in the neighborhood." 
 
 After Lor etto, Johnstown is believed to have 
 been the first spot settled in Cambria county. 
 Afew years afterward, about 1795, a number of 
 Welsh emigrants located themselves upon the 
 banks of the Blacklick, in this county. The 
 spot which they chose was eminently adapted 
 to the purposes of a village. The climate was 
 salubrious ; the scenery around attractive ; the 
 land in the neighborhood highly productive, 
 while its interior was full of the most valuable 
 minerals ; the water in the springs and streams 
 was as pure and sparkling as the fount of 
 Castaly, and the grand old woods on every 
 side nodded their green heads in welcome to 
 those early pioneers. The village was prop- 
 erly laid out in streets and alleys, and bore the 
 
70 The History of 
 
 name of Beulali. It was rapidly built up, and 
 improvements of all kinds were inaugurated. 
 Religious and literary societies were formed, 
 ^nd an enterprising disciple of Faust and 
 Franklin established a newspaper in tlie little 
 colony. This primitive sheet rejoiced in the 
 name of the "Western Sky." It has since been 
 rolled together as a scroll, and disappeared. 
 The people of Beulah were an honest, ener- 
 getic, independent race, and deserved to be, 
 as they were, prosperous. 
 
 Upon the organization of Cambria county, 
 in 1804, Beulah contended with Ebensburg for 
 the honor of being named the capital of the 
 new county. That dignity was conferred upon 
 the latter, and forthwith Beulah declined 
 through chagrin and disappointment. She 
 was never able to hold up her head afterward. 
 Colonel Swank says : "That unfortunate tilt 
 with Ebensburg 'fixed* beyond a peradventure 
 the destiny of Beulah. Its Welsh burghers 
 soon commenced to turn a longing look upon 
 the county-seat; the implements of husbandry 
 and the tools of the cunning workman were 
 laid away to rust, and the price of real estate 
 rapidly declined. Ere long Beulah was de- 
 serted, and it remains deserted to this day. 
 Where once stood the bustling little village, 
 
The Conemaugh. 71 
 
 now only can be seen a single old-fashioned 
 and very shaky wooden dwelling — a fitting- 
 relic and a sorry monument of the departed 
 greatness of Beulah. All else is gone. Even 
 the streets, the 'busy streets' of Beulah — 
 where are they?"* 
 
 The history of Beulah presents us with a 
 new edition of Goldsmith's "Deserted Vil- 
 lage:" 
 
 "Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, 
 Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn! 
 Amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, 
 And Desolation saddens all thy green." 
 
 Ebensburg, two miles east of Beulah, was 
 laid out by the E-ev. Morgan J. Rees, at nearly 
 the same time with the latter. The ground 
 upon which it is built was bought of the cele- 
 brated Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia. The origi- 
 nal settlers of Ebensburg, as of Beulah, were 
 exclusively Welsh. It had a powerful rival in 
 the latter town, until, by the act of 1805, it 
 was directed to be the seat of justice for the 
 county, which gave it an impulse that enabled 
 it to far distance its haughty competitor. The 
 great northern turnpike, running from Pitts- 
 burg to Huntingdon, passes through the cen- 
 tral part of the town. There is also a turnpike 
 leading from it to the town of Indiana. 
 
 * Editorial Brevities, p 9. 
 
72 The IIistoky op 
 
 The town is pleasantly situated, almost on 
 the summit of the Alleghany mountains. The 
 eye can sweep in every direction over a vast 
 expanse of woodland, field, and hill-top, to the 
 far-ofi' horizon, that, like a circle, hems in the 
 scene. The air is pure and healthful, though, 
 in the winter, it is said, it is rather too bracing. 
 Surrounding the town is some good farming 
 land. 
 
 Ebensburg contains a fine court house, and 
 the usual county buildings, several good hotels, 
 stores, shops, and some very fine private dwel- 
 lings. The inhabitants are an intelligent, 
 hospitable, free-hearted people, as the dwellers 
 in mountain regions have ever been. A news- 
 paper, called the "Cambria Gazette," was 
 established here about the year 1816. There 
 are now two papers published in the town, the 
 "Democrat and Sentinel," and the "AUeghe- 
 nian." The Ebensburg and Cresson Railroad, 
 built in 1862, gave a stimulus to the business 
 of the town, and caused considerable improve- 
 ments to be made. The population is about 
 1000. 
 
 On Sunday evening, July 31st, 1842, one of 
 the most atrocious murders ever committed 
 was perpetrated in the neighborhood of this 
 town. That eveninsc two men broke into the 
 
The Conemaugh. 73 
 
 house of Mrs. Elizabeth Holder, a lone widow, 
 who resided near Ebensbnrg, and who was 
 thoufifht by some persons to have some money 
 in her house. At their first attack, she 
 screamed a few times very violently, and her 
 next neighbor, a Mr. Eainey, who had retired 
 to bed, heard her, and ran to her assistance. 
 But ere he got there the struggle was all over, 
 and she was no more ; and they were plunder 
 ing the house. Mr. Rainey was afraid to 
 venture into the house alone, and ran off for 
 more assistance. Four or five men soon came 
 along with him, and they arrived there just as 
 the murderers were about leaving. The citi- 
 zens endeavored to take them, and fired a rifle 
 at one of them, but missed him. They made 
 their escape, in the darkness of the night, into 
 the neighboring woods.* They were after- 
 wards arrested — one at Bellefonte and the 
 other near Meadville, and were imprisoned at 
 Ebensburg. They proved to be two brothers, 
 named Bernard and Patrick Flanagan, Irish- 
 men, from Centre county, this State. On 
 Wednesday, the 6th of October of the same 
 year, they were arraigned before Hon. Thomas 
 White, President Judge, and Richard Levsda 
 and John Murray, Associate Judges, of the 
 
 ♦Mountaineer, August, 1842, 
 
T4 The History of 
 
 Court of Oyer and Terminer of this county. 
 The trial continued daily, except Sunday, until 
 the night of Saturday, the 15th. More than 
 seventy witnesses were examined. The pros- 
 ecution was conducted hy Thomas C. M'Dow- 
 ell, Esq., the Attorney for the Commonwealth, 
 and Messrs. John G. Miles, George Taylor, and 
 John Fenlon, Esqs. The defense was sustained 
 by Messrs. Michael Dan Magehan, Joshua F. 
 Cox, John S. Rhey, and Michael Hasson, Esqs. 
 The evidence was closed on the evening of 
 Thursday, the 13th, when the addresses to the 
 jury were opened by Mr. Taylor. The greater 
 part of Friday was occupied by Mr. Ehey and 
 Mr. Magehan on the part of the prisoners, and 
 Mr. McDowell on the part of the Common- 
 wealth. On the evening of Friday Mr. Cox 
 commenced his speech for the accused, which 
 lie finished at noon on Saturday. In the after- 
 noon Mr. Miles summed up for the Common- 
 wealth, and Judge White delivered the charge 
 to the jury. The jury retired about eight 
 o'clock the same evening, and after a short 
 absence returned a verdict that the prisoners 
 were guilty of murder in the first degree. 
 Thus ended the most important and most 
 exciting trial that has ever taken place in our 
 county. 
 
The Conemaugh. 75 
 
 The Flanagans were never hung. E Sorts 
 were made to secure a new trial, and the 
 Legislature and the Supreme Court were im- 
 portuned on the subject, but a new trial was 
 not granted. After a long delay, Governor 
 Porter finally signed the death warrant, but on 
 the evening before it was received in Ebens- 
 burg the Flanagans escaped from jail! They 
 have never since been heard of by the public* 
 
 • Johnstown Tribune, July 28th, 1865. 
 
76 The History of 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PUBLIC THOROUGHFAEES. 
 
 During the earliest periods in tlie Mstory of 
 the Conemaugh valley the only thoroughfare 
 through it was the river itself and a narrow 
 Indian path that led from the head-watera of 
 the Juniata Creek to the Conemaugh near the 
 present site of Johnstown. For some years 
 after the first settlements were formed in the 
 region of the Conemaugh, this path was still 
 the only road leading from the valley across 
 the mountains. The ancestors of many of the 
 present inhabitants of this region came in by 
 this Indian path. 
 
 Very early in the present century, Smith's 
 State Eoad and the Frankstown Eoad were 
 constructed. These followed the course of the 
 old path. This was an important enterprise 
 for that early day. It opened up a wider in- 
 tercourse with the more populous east. By 
 this road large quantities of pig metal were 
 brought from ''down east," some of which was 
 manufactured into iron at a forge that had 
 been erected in the embryo village of Johns- 
 
The Conemaugh. 77 
 
 town, and some was carried in flat-boats by tbe 
 river to Pittsburg. 
 
 During the spring and fall f resbets, the busi- 
 ness of flat-boating was very brisk. A trip 
 to the distant town of Pittsburg, in those 
 days, was a matter of nearly if not quite as 
 much moment as to ISTew Orleans in these days 
 of progress. The banks of the river were lined 
 with almost unbroken forests, and the shrill 
 cry of the wolf and the wild-cat alone awoke 
 the echoes. No smiling villages were to be 
 seen from the forks to the mouth of the Cone- 
 maugh. 
 
 About the years 1819 and 1820, a turnpike 
 was constructed through several of the coun- 
 ties lying in this valley. This turnpike led 
 from Pittsburg to Huntingdon, and thence on 
 to Philadelphia. The idea of building such a 
 road over the mountains was deemed by the 
 majority of the people of that day as simply 
 preposterous ! They did not believe it could 
 be done. We may think lightly of the sim- 
 plicity of such people, and yet, gentle reader, 
 fifty years from to-day our descendants will 
 doubtless smile complacently at the vaunted 
 ^^improvements" and ^'progress" of theirgrand- 
 fathers. The world is yet only in its infancy. 
 The enterprise, however, was pushed forward 
 
78 The History op 
 
 by the energetic men wlio had undertaken it, 
 until it was completed. It was a well-made 
 road, and was famous for many years. Towns 
 and villages sprang up along its sides. It was 
 the great highway between the east and the 
 west, and with such admiration was it regarded 
 for some time after its completion, that no- 
 man's imagination dared soar so high as to 
 picture a better means of communication. 
 
 But the spirit of progress was abroad. It 
 had long been a subject of consideration with 
 the people of Pennsylvania how to connect the 
 waters of the eastern with the waters of the 
 western part of the State, so as to form a con- 
 tinuous line of navigation between the two- 
 sections of the country. It had occupied the 
 thoughts of William Penn himself. As early 
 as 1762, Dr. David Rittenhouse and the Rev.. 
 William Smith had been employed to survey 
 a route by which the same grand object migkt 
 be reached. 
 
 To carry out successfully the gigantic pro- 
 ject of uniting the great eastern with the great 
 western waters, was supposed to require an 
 amount of capital, and of credit, beyond the 
 control of any joint stock company ; and the 
 pre-eminent power and credit of the State her- 
 self were enlisted in the enterprise. Unfortu 
 nately, to do this required legislative votes, and 
 
The Conemaugh. 79 
 
 these votes were not to be had without extend- 
 ing the ramifications of the system throughout 
 all the counties whose patronage was necessary 
 to carry the measure. In March, 1824, com- 
 missioners were appointed to explore a route 
 for a canal from Harrisburg to Pittsburg bj 
 way of the Juniata and Conemaugh, and by 
 way of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, 
 Sinnemahoning, and the Allegheny — and also 
 between the head-waters of the Schuylkill, by 
 Mahanoy Creek, to the Susquehanna — with 
 other projects. In 1825, canal commissioners 
 were appointed to explore a number of routes 
 in various directions through the State. In 
 August, 1825, a convention of the friends of 
 internal improvements, consisting of delegates 
 from forty-six counties, met at Harrisburg, and 
 passed resolutions in favor of "opening an entire 
 and complete communication from the Sus- 
 quehanna to the Allegheny and Ohio, and 
 from the Allegheny to Lake Erie, by the near- 
 est and best practicable route." The starting 
 impulse being thus given, the great enterprise 
 moved on, increasing in strength and magni- 
 tude as each successive legislature convened ; 
 and the citizens of every section were highly 
 excited, not to say intoxicated, with local 
 schemes of internal improvement.* 
 
 ♦Day's Hist. Col., page 47. 
 
80 The History op 
 
 Between the years 1828 and 1833, the work 
 upon the Pennsylvania Canal and Alleghany 
 Portage Railroad was carried forward. The 
 design was originally entertained of connecting 
 the main Pittshurg route by continuing the 
 canals with locks and dams as far as possible 
 an both sides, and then tunnel through the 
 mountain summit, a distance of four miles. 
 This idea was soon abandoned. The survey 
 for the railroad was made by Mr. Sylvester 
 "Welch, and everything duly considered, it was 
 a creditable enterprise. An old writer, in the 
 warmth of his admiration, says: "Mr. Welch 
 has immortalized his name by a work equal in 
 importance and grandeur to any in the world. 
 He has raised a monument to the intelligence, 
 enterprise, and public spirit of Pennsylvania, 
 more honorable than the temples and pyramids 
 of Egypt, or the triumphant arches and col- 
 umns of Rome. They were erected to com- 
 memorate the names of tyrants, or the battles 
 of victorious chieftains, while these magnifi- 
 cent works are intended to subserve the inter- 
 ests of agriculture, manufacture, and com- 
 merce — to encourage the arts of peace — to ad- 
 vance the prosperity and happiness of the 
 whole people of the United States — to strength- 
 en the bonds of the Union."* 
 
 * Hist. Six Counties, p. 580. 
 
The Conemaugh. 81 
 
 The railroad lay for the greater part in Cam- 
 bria county. Its western terminus was at 
 Johnstown. Its length was thirty-six miles, 
 terminating to the eastward at Hollidaysburg. 
 It consisted of a series of planes and levels. 
 There were ten planes, numbered in their or- 
 der trom the west towards the east. The first 
 plane was 1,607.74 feet in length, and had an 
 elevation of 150 feet. Plane number two was 
 1,760.43 feet long, and had an elevation of 
 132.40 feet. Plane number three was 1,480.25 
 feet long, and had an elevation of 130.50 feet. 
 Plane number four, was 2,194.93 feet in length, 
 and had an elevation of 187.86 feet. Plane 
 number five was 2,628.50 feet long, and had 
 an elevation of 201.64 feet. This brings us to 
 the summit of the Alleghany mountains, after 
 which we descend upon the other side. Plane 
 number six was 2,713.85 feet in length, and 
 had a depression of 266.50 feet. Plane num- 
 ber seven was 2,655.01 feet long, and had a 
 depression of 260.50 feet. Plane number eight 
 was 3,116.92 feet in length, and had a depres- 
 sion of 307.60 feet. Plane number nine was 
 2,720.80 feet long, and had a depression of 
 189.50 feet. Plane number ten was 2,295.61 
 feet in length, and had a depression of 180.52 
 feet. 
 
82 The History of 
 
 The inclination of some of the levels was as 
 great as that of some of the planes : for in- 
 stance, that of level number two was one hun- 
 dred and eighty-nine feet. This, however, was 
 srained in a distance of over thirteen miles, so 
 that it was merely a light grade. At the top 
 of each of the planes were stationary engines^ 
 by means of which the ascending and descend- 
 ins: trains of trucks and cars were raised or 
 lowered by ropes of twisted wires to which 
 they were attached. This kind of railroading 
 in our days would be considered entirely too 
 slow; yet at that day the construction of the 
 old Portage railroad, as we have seen, was 
 considered a grand triumph of science and 
 skill. Sometimes, it is true, the ropes or the 
 couplings of the cars would break, when all 
 would run pell-mell to the bottom of the plane 
 to the destruction of life and property ; and 
 so, too, in modern days, trains sometimes run 
 oft the track or into each other to the same 
 efiect. 
 
 At the top of plane number one, a tunnel 
 perforated the hill, a distance of eight hundred 
 and seventy feet. It is also twenty feet in 
 bight. The tunnel is still remaining, as it will 
 likely remain for ages to come. It is now not 
 used for any purpose whatever. A few miles 
 
The Conemaugh. 83 
 
 beyond the tunnel a beautiful viaduct, a single 
 arch of eighty feet span, crossed the river at 
 the Horseshoe Bend. The track of the Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad now lies upon it. The river 
 here makes a singular curve. It runs a dis- 
 tance of three miles around a point of land, 
 which, at this place, is scarcely more than 
 three hundred feet across ! The cost of the 
 railroad, including the stationary engines, and 
 80 torth, exceeded $1,500,000. 
 
 The Western Division of the Pennsylvania 
 canal, extending from Johnstown to Pittsburg, 
 was rapidly pushed to its completion. This 
 division was nearly one hundred and five miles 
 in length, and had a descent by lockage of four 
 hundred and seventy feet. On it are nine 
 dams, seventy locks, and fifteen aqueducts.* 
 ITine miles below Blairsville, the canal passes 
 through a tunnel eight hundred and seventeen 
 feet long.f At the western end of the tunnel, 
 the canal crosses the Conemaugh upon a mag- 
 nificent stone aqueduct. The view of this 
 aqueduct and the tunnel perforating the rugged 
 hill-side, is quite pleasing to the traveler 
 passing up the canal. Another tunnel of 
 
 * See Canal Com. Report for 1851, p. 15. 
 
 t Hist. Six Counties, p. 602. In Day's Hist. Col., page 375, 
 this tunnel is said to be over 1,000 feet long. This, we conceive 
 to be an error. 
 
84 The History op 
 
 about the same length, pierces this hill but a 
 few rods above the old one. This has been 
 made for the ^N'orth-Western railroad. The 
 cost of making this canal was $2,964,882. 
 
 The scenery along this portion of the public 
 works, winding as it does along the Cone- 
 maugh, is varied and beautiful. It passes 
 through deep gorges, where dense primeval 
 forests look down and see themselves in the 
 waters below ; through broad cultivated fields, 
 where the flash of the sickle and the merry 
 songs of the gleaners are seen and heard ; by 
 cosy farm-houses, around which at the closing 
 in of day the lowing of herds, the tinkling of 
 sheep-bells, and the gabbling and quacking of 
 geese and ducks make domestic music ; along 
 by thriving towns and quiet, shady villages, 
 where peace, prosperity, and contentment have 
 their cherished abode. The Pennsylvania 
 Railroad, the Western Pensylvania Railroad, 
 formerly called the E'orth- Western Railroad, 
 and the Allegheny Valley Railroad, have now 
 supplanted this portion of the old main line, 
 and opened up vast resources unthought of 
 before. 
 
 The work of making the canal from Pitts- 
 burg to Johnstown was completed, or nearly 
 so at least, as early as 1831 or 1832. The rail- 
 
The Conemaugh. 85 
 
 road was not finished for some time afterward. 
 That portion of the canal between Blairsville 
 and Johnstown was hut little used until after 
 the completion of the railroad ; but the section 
 leading to Pittsburg from Blairsville was kept 
 in constant and successful operation. The 
 principal part of the merchandise brought 
 from the west was landed at Blairsville from 
 the canal boats and conveyed in wagons to 
 Hollidaysburg, where it was again placed in 
 boats and taken on to Philadelphia. That 
 from the east was brought over from Holli- 
 daysburg to Blairsville in the same manner, 
 and thence passed down the canal in boats. 
 Packet boats started daily from Blairsville and 
 Pittsburg, the passage consuming about thirty 
 hours.* 
 
 The Portage railroad was completed, or at 
 least so far completed, as to permit trains to 
 pass over its entire length, in the fall of 1833. 
 An old newspaper records the first trip of this 
 kind as follows : 
 
 *'0n Tuesday last, two Cars, one of them a 
 new one built at Pittsburg, and intended for a 
 lumber Car, left the basin at Conemaugh,t and 
 arrived at the summit. They had on board 
 Messrs. "White, Wain, Hoopes, and Atwood, 
 
 * See a Letter in the Philadelphia Gazette, June, 1833. 
 t That is, Johnstown 
 
86 The History of 
 
 four of the Philadelphia Delegates to the late 
 Warren convention, tha Superintendent, En- 
 gineers and a number of the Contractors and 
 Citizens. They arrived at the Summit in the 
 afternoon and were greeted by the cheers of a 
 number of the citizens of Hollidaysburg, who 
 had arrived in Cars from that place, and a 
 number of the citizens of this county, who had 
 convened to view the interesting spectacle. 
 After partaking of a sumptuous dinner, pre- 
 pared by Mr. Denlinger, in his large and com- 
 modious house at the intersection of the 
 Turnpike and Kailroad, the Passengers pro- 
 ceeded in the Cars to Hollidaysburg, where, 
 we are happy to hear, they arrived safely."* 
 The completion of the road was a great event 
 at that time, and on the tenth day of Decem- 
 ber, 1833, a meeting was held at the house of 
 Mr. Denlinger, *'for the purpose of making 
 preparatory arrangements for suitably cele- 
 brating the completion of the Alleghany Por- 
 tage Rail Road."t Of this meeting C. Garber, 
 Esq., was chairman, and J. C. Graham, secre- 
 tary. Of the celebration itself, we have no 
 report. 
 
 Upon the opening of navigation in the spring 
 of 1834, the railroad was in complete working 
 
 * Ebensburg Sky, Nor. 28, 1833. 
 + Ibid, December 19th, 1833. 
 
The Conemaugh. 87 
 
 order, and business upon it and the canal 
 opened briskly. In May, of that year, C. F. 
 Dixon, of Johnstown, gives notice that he has 
 placed a ^'commodious passenger car" on the 
 railroad, to start every other day from Johns- 
 town and Hollidaysburg, and assures the public 
 that the trip can be made in eight hours, and 
 that "every attention will be paid to the com- 
 fort and convenience of passengers." He 
 further says, "There will be another car placed 
 on the road early next week. The cars will 
 then start every day from both towns at 7 
 o'clock A. M."* That business upon the line 
 was flourishing for a new enterprise may be 
 seen in the fact that the amount of tolls received 
 at Hollidaysburg and Johnstown for the week 
 ending May 24th, 1834, was resp^tively 
 $1503.53, and $1851.65.t 
 
 The next achievement of that progressive 
 age was one of so striking a character that it 
 is strange it did not excite more curiosity and 
 inquiry. In an old newspaper we find the 
 following account : "The Western Division of 
 the Pennsylvania canal has been navigated by 
 steam! Last week a steam canal boat (the 
 Adeline) came up from Pittsburg, and went on 
 to Johnstown. She returned on Sunday morn- 
 
 * Ebensburg Sky, Mar 15, 1834. 
 
 t Pennsylvania Reporter, May 30, 1834. 
 
88 The Histoey of 
 
 ing with a load of near 40,000 lbs. of blooms, 
 passing tbis place very handsomely, at the rate 
 of rather more than three miles an hour ; and 
 making less wave in the w^ater than a boat 
 drawn by horses. She is propelled by means 
 of a fixture of peculiar construction, which 
 works in a recess of the stern entirely under 
 water. The enterprise of the proprietors is 
 worthy of commendation, as well as the hope 
 that it may prove profitable to them."* Ex- 
 cept this, there seems never to have been a 
 thought indulged of navigating the canal by 
 steam. 
 
 The first trip made by a boat over the moun- 
 tains is said to have been made in October, 
 1834. Jesse Chrisman, from the Lackawanna, 
 loaded his boat, named the "Hit or Miss," 
 with his family, furniture, live-stock, and all, 
 and started for Illinois. At Hollidaysburg, 
 where he intended to sell his boat, it was sug- 
 gested by John Daugherty, of the Eeliance 
 Transportation line, that the whole concern 
 could be safely hoisted over the mountain, 
 and set afloat again in the canal. A car cal- 
 culated to bear the novel burden was prepared, 
 the boat was taken out of the water and placed 
 upon it, and at noon of the same day it was 
 
 ♦Blairsville Record, June 11, 1834 
 
The Conemaugh. 89 
 
 started on its way over tlie rugged Alleglianies, 
 All tills was done without disturbing the occu- 
 pants of the boat. They rested at night on the 
 top of the mountain, like I^oah's ark on Ara- 
 rat, and the next morning they descended into 
 the valley of the Mississippi and sailed for St. 
 Louis.* 
 
 The construction of the old main line was 
 certainly a magnificent achievement. It opened 
 up a highway between the east and the west^ 
 and brought the cis- and ^7Yr/25-Alleghanians 
 into closer communion. It was a highway 
 proportioned to the progress and wants of the 
 people. It perhaps did more for the develop- 
 ment of the western country than any other 
 agency whatever. The amount of business 
 transacted upon it for those times was im- 
 mense. For instance, during the year ending 
 ]N"ovember 30th, 1851, which may be consid- 
 ered a medium year — neither so good as the 
 best nor so poor as the worst, the receipts at 
 Johnstown alone, amounted to §140,17T,15.t 
 
 The canal was supplied by the waters of the 
 Conemaugh and Stony Creek. To accom- 
 plish this, dams were thrown across these 
 streams ; that across the Conemaugh just at 
 the upper end of Johnstown, and that across 
 
 * History of the Six Counties, p. 580, 
 t See Canal Commissioners' Report, 1851. 
 
II 
 
 90 The History of 
 
 the Stony Creek one mile and a half above 
 that town. To convey the water from the 
 latter to the canal, a trench was dug along the 
 right bank of the stream, and thence across 
 the upper end of the town to the canal basin. 
 This trench is still known as the "feeder.'* 
 The water from the dam on the Conemaugh 
 could be turned at once into the basin through 
 gates constructed for that purpose. 
 
 Yet business on the canal suffered more or 
 less every year from the want of water. To 
 remedy this defect it was resolved at length to 
 build a reservoir on one of the mountain 
 branches of the Conemaugh, that would hold 
 a vast quantity of water in reserve against time 
 of need. A suitable location was found on the 
 South Fork, about ten miles from Johnstown. 
 A reservoir similar to that contemplated had 
 been made on the Juniata division of the main 
 line, and had established the fact that navi- 
 gation could be maintained by this means in 
 the dryest of seasons. 
 
 The Legislature, in 1836, made an appropri- 
 ation of thirty thousand dollars towards this 
 object.* It was not commenced, however, 
 until the year 1838. The original appropria- 
 tion was found to be insufficient, and other 
 
 * Act of February 18th, 1836. 
 
The Coubmaugh. 91 
 
 Bums were subsequently voted. The reservoir 
 covered an area of six hundred acres, and was 
 calculated to contain four hundred and eighty 
 millions cubic feet of available water. This 
 would be sufficient to fill a canal five hundred 
 and sixty miles long, thirty feet wide, and five 
 feet deep. If filled into hogshead thirty inches 
 in diameter, and standing side by side, they 
 would form a row that would more than en- 
 compass the earth ; or, if difi'used in the form 
 of rain, it would be sufficient to water all of 
 Pennsylvania west of the Alleghanies ! The 
 work was completed in 1853, at a cost of sev- 
 eral hundred thousand dollars. It was found 
 to answer the purpose for which it had been 
 constructed. In the summer of 1862, the dam 
 or embankment of the reservoir gave way, 
 precipitating a flood upon the valley. Fortu- 
 nately, however, it contained but a compara- 
 tively small quantity of water at the time, the 
 escape of which had been going on for some 
 days previous to the general crevasse, so that 
 but little damage resulted. 
 
 In the year 1846, the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 Company was incorporated. The obj ect of the 
 company was to open a new and improved 
 thoroughfare between the two chief cities of 
 Pennsylvania — ^Philadelphia and Pittsburg, 
 
92 The History op 
 
 and tlius supply an important link in tlie chain 
 of intercommunication between tlie east and 
 tlie west. The Portage had served its purpose 
 nobly, well ; but the progressive spirit of the 
 age had voted it a bore, and sought a more 
 rapid and convenient transit of the Alleghe- 
 nies than by the old-fashioned planes and sta- 
 tionary engines. 
 
 Much labor, expense, and ingenuity were 
 employed in finding a route by which this ob- 
 ject might be accomplished. At length suc- 
 cess crowned their efforts. The survey wound 
 up the eastern slope of the mountains in a very 
 circuitous manner, and crossed the summit at 
 a point but a short distance from the Portage 
 Railroad. It here passes through a tunnel 
 three thousand seven hundred feet in length, 
 at an elevation of three thousand feet above 
 the sea. This tunnel, perhaps one of the 
 greatest pieces of work in the United States, 
 was completed in 1853. Descending the west- 
 ern slope of the mountains by the valley of the 
 Conemaugh to Johnstown, the railroad con- 
 tinues to follow that river as far down as the 
 Blairsville Intersection, where they diverge. 
 This improvement was completed in 1853, and 
 is now one of the safest, best finished, best 
 furnished, and best managed railroads in the 
 
The Conbmaugh. 93 
 
 Union. It has annihilated time and space. 
 The passenger may eat his supper in Pittsburg, 
 sleep securely and comfortably through the 
 night, and wake up in time for his breakfast 
 in Philadelphia the next morning. People 
 don't live so long as Methuselah now-a-days ; 
 and they don't need to. It took Methuselah 
 all his time, we dare say, to get through the 
 world by the "slow coaches" of that period. 
 
 The construction of this young rival at his 
 side infused new life into the almost inanimate 
 body of the old Portage. His was the inspi- 
 ration of the old plow-horse that kicks up his 
 heels with a few extra flourishes as the two- 
 year old colt capers about him. During the 
 legislative session of 1850, an act was passed 
 authorizing a survey to be made for a new 
 road that would avoid the inclined planes. 
 This was no easy matter. "It required great 
 skill, energy, and patience, to find two routes 
 over these mountains without inclined planes. 
 But after an immense amount ot labor, and 
 with many windings, both objects were accom- 
 plished. These roads cross each other a num- 
 ber of times, some places at the same eleva- 
 tion, and other places at an elevation diflfering 
 as much as thirty feet."* 
 
 * S. B. McCormick, Esq. 
 
94 The History op 
 
 The work on the new road was begun in 
 1851, and pushed forward to its completion in 
 1855. It crossed the mountain through a 
 tunnel some three thousand feet in length 
 about half a mile south of the tunnel on the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad. The cost of this new 
 work was over one million dollars. By doing 
 away with the stationary engines, a vast num^ 
 her of supernumerary employees, and so forth^ 
 it was calculated to reduce the annual expense 
 to the Commonwealth nearly one hundred 
 thousand dollars. It was at the same time 
 put on something like a footing of competition 
 with its upstart rival. It was somewhat longer 
 than the Pennsylvania Railroad, but had the 
 advantage of a lighter grade in ascending the 
 mountain.* 
 
 By an act of the legislature of 1852, the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad Company was author- 
 ized to extend the Blairsville Branch railroad 
 to the town of Indiana, in Indiana county. 
 This railroad is about nineteen miles in length, 
 counting from its junction with the main road, 
 or about sixteen, reckoning from Blairsville. 
 
 * The propriety of constructing a new road over the mountains 
 was speculated upon at a very early period. In the session of 
 1836, the sum of two thousand dollars was appropriated by a 
 resolution of the legislature to survey a route across the AUegha- 
 nies with a view to avoid the inclined planes on the Portage 
 railroad. — See Pamphlet Laws, page 851. 
 
The Conemaugh. 95 
 
 It was completed in 1855. Its direction is 
 nearly due north. It lies through a fertile 
 and well cultivated region of country, where 
 the advantages arising from its construction 
 have been mutual. Perhaps no portion of 
 railroad of equal length along the entire line 
 has "paid better" than the Indiana Branch. 
 Two trains run daily to and from Indiana, 
 connecting with trains on the main road. 
 
 In 1853, the Korth Western Kailroad com- 
 pany was incorporated by act of Legislature, 
 This road has one of its termini at Blairsville ; 
 the other was designed to be at !N'ewcastle. 
 At present (1865) it has been completed as far 
 as Freeport. It is in running order to that 
 point, and trains are making daily trips to and 
 fro. This road was begun in 1854, and some 
 considerable progress was made. But difficul- 
 ties of some kind arose, and work upon the 
 improvement was suspended. It so remained 
 for a number of years, when, in 1863, it passed 
 into the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 company. With their accustomed energy 
 and promptness the Avork was recommenced^ 
 and since then has been pushed towards its 
 completion. Its direction is westerly, and it 
 crosses the Conemaugh a number of times ia 
 its course. It lies through a rich, productive 
 
96 The History op 
 
 region, which it is calculated to develop to a 
 surprising degree. 
 
 In the year 1859, a company was incorpor- 
 ated to construct a railroad from Cresson, on 
 the Pennsylvania Railroad, to Ebensburg, the 
 county seat of Cambria county. In 1861, it 
 was leased, yet unfinished, by the Pennsylvania 
 Hailroad company for the short term of nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine years! This ought 
 to bring us round to about the time predicted 
 when Miller's saints shall "blow up the globe." 
 In the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 company the Ebensburg branch was speedily 
 completed. Trains began running upon it in 
 1862. It passes through one of the most fer- 
 tile districts of the "Mountain County," which 
 it is greatly benefiting. 
 
 For many years prior to 1857, the question 
 of selling the Main Line of Public Works of 
 Pennsylvania had been mooted, both in the 
 legislature and out of it. But as _^time passed 
 on the question attracted more and more at- 
 tention. Public sentiment was nearly evenly 
 balanced on the subject, and strong parties 
 ranged themselves on each side. Forthwith 
 a war of words ensued. 
 
 Those who favored the sale of the line in- 
 sisted that it was a fountain-head of corruption 
 
The Conemaugh. 97 
 
 and fraud, and was used as an electioneering 
 machine by whatever political party happened 
 to hold the reins of power. It was charged 
 that the management of the public improve- 
 ments had been proverbially bad, and instead 
 of being a source of revenue to the Common- 
 wealth, they had only been a source of over- 
 whelming expense. The acts of successive 
 legislatures show that there were some 
 grounds of reason for this charge. Leeches 
 and vampires in large numbers were said to 
 have fastened upon its enteebled corpus, where 
 they clung with all their native tenacity. It 
 absorbed yearly appropriations of hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars as easily and gratuitously 
 as a sponge absorbs water. Indeed, the old 
 main line was everywhere known as the "old 
 State Robber." Hosts of supernumeraries 
 were employed for no other reason apparently 
 than because they had served the "party,*' 
 and were entitled to a "feed" out of the pub- 
 lic manger. Even the ass knoweth his mas- 
 ter's crib. 
 
 The other party, while admitting the mis- 
 management that had brought the public 
 works into such disrepute, denied that this was 
 owing to any defect in the system. They be- 
 lieved that by a proper administration of the 
 
98 The History op 
 
 affairs of the line it would prove to be a source 
 of profit to the Commonwealth. Vast sums of 
 money had been expended in constructing it 
 in the first place, and in making it keep pace 
 with the march of improvement afterward, 
 and it was now in a better condition to answer 
 the expectations and wants of the public than 
 ever. They contended against the policy of 
 surrendering into the hands of a powerful 
 corporation the only hope of competition — 
 thus giving to that corporation an exclusive 
 monopoly of a large and important branch of 
 industry. Such was the material out of which 
 the two parties fashioned their "thunder." 
 
 During the session of 1857, however, a bill 
 was passed by the legislature authorizing the 
 sale of the main line. The same year it was 
 purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad com- 
 pany, as everybody foresaw it would be. The 
 sum paid was $7,500,000. 
 
 Some parts of the line were kept in running 
 order for short periods of time after their 
 sale ; but now all that part lying in the Cone- 
 maugh valley has been destroyed and aban- 
 doned. Whatever advantage the sale of this 
 line may have been to the State at large, it 
 must be conceded that it was a direful stroke 
 to the prosperity of this region. What were 
 
The Conemaugh. 99 
 
 flouriBhing towns and villages before, are now 
 dilapidated and almost depopulated. Grass 
 and thistles are now growing up in their 
 streets, and they soon will have gone the way 
 of Beulah and Newport. The bats now in- 
 habit the palaces of the Caesars. Even those 
 places which were not entirely blighted, were 
 made to sufler. Business fell off, and real es- 
 tate everywhere along the line depreciated in 
 value. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 JOHJ^STOWIsr AND ITS SUBURBS. 
 
 Johnstown is the metropolis of the Cone- 
 man gh valley. It is sitnated on the point of 
 land between the Conemaugh and Stony 
 Creek, at their junction. Its location is very 
 similar to that of Pittsburg. The ground 
 upon which the chief part of the town is built 
 is nearly a dead level; there being scarcely 
 fall enough in any direction to answer the 
 purposes of proper drainage. In military par- 
 lance, Johnstown is "commanded" by high 
 hills. It lies in the narrow basin between the 
 Alleghanies and the Laurel Hill. Lofty 
 bights girt it round about on every side. 
 There is no good farming lands in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of Johnstown ; but the sur- 
 rounding hills are "full" of valuable miner- 
 als, to which the town owes its importance. 
 
 Conrad Weiser, Interpreter of the Province 
 of Pennsylvania, seems to have been the first 
 white man that ever set foot upon the site of 
 Johnstown. It is true that ere his time white 
 vcaptives may have passed over this spot on 
 
The Conemaugh. 101 
 
 their melancholy way to the western wilds; 
 but if so, we have no account of them. In 
 1748, Weiser was despatched with a large pre- 
 sent to the Indians on the Ohio, to confirm 
 them in their allegiance to the British cause. 
 George Croghan, a celebrated frontiersman of 
 that period, was sent along to conduct the ex- 
 pedition through the Indian country. 
 
 On the eleventh day of August, 1748, the 
 little party of Weiser left Berks county on 
 their important mission. After traveling near- 
 ly two hundred miles, August 22d, they " cross- 
 ed the Allegheny hills, and came to the Clear 
 Fields." The day following they "came to 
 the Showonese Cabbins," a distance of thirty- 
 four miles. Here they met about twenty of 
 the horses sent by Croghan to convey the 
 goods from Frankstown. By the "Showonese 
 Cabbins," we believe is indicated the present 
 site ot Johnstown ; as it is well known that a 
 Shawanese town once stood here. The dis- 
 tance from one point to another, as he names 
 them, considering the route they probably 
 pursued, which it is likely was not far from a 
 straight line, would just about bring them to 
 this place. On the 25th, they crossed what he 
 calls the "Kiskeminetoes Creek," by which 
 he means the lower Conemaugh, and came to 
 the Allegheny river, then called the Ohio, at 
 
102 The History of 
 
 the distance of fifty-eight miles from the 
 "Showonese Cabbius." 
 
 Ten years later, in i^ovember, 1T58, Chris- 
 tian Frederick Post, on a message from the 
 government to the Indians on the Ohio, also 
 passed through this place. Post came over 
 from Eaystown, now Bedford. While coming 
 through Somerset county, he found to his dis- 
 may, near Stony Creek, as he says, "one of 
 the worst roads that ever was traveled." — 
 Some people believe that the road supervisors 
 haven't been along that route since. On the 
 11th of November he came to an old Shawa- 
 nese town, called Kickenapawling. This vil- 
 lage is said to have occupied the spot upon 
 which Johnstown now stands, and was, then, 
 identical with the "Showonese Cabbins" ot 
 Weiser. At the period of Post's visit it seems 
 to have been long abandoned, for he speaks 
 of it distinctly as the old Shawanese town, and 
 further says, that it was so grown up with 
 "weeds, briars and bushes," that they could 
 scarcely get through. The following lines 
 from Campbell are perhaps descriptive of the 
 village as it appeared to Post: 
 
 "All ruined and wild is their roofless abode, 
 And lonely the dark raven's sheltering tree; 
 And traveled by few is the grass covered road, 
 Where the hunter of deer and the warrior trodo 
 To his hills that encircle the sea."* 
 
The Conemaugh. 103 
 
 Post spells the name Heckkeknepalin. This 
 is undoubtedly a lapsus pennae, or a mis-print. 
 We think the correct name is Keckkekne- 
 palin. By what authority it has been changed 
 to Kickenapawling, we are at a loss to tell. 
 Probably the name Keckkeknepalin was given 
 to the village some time subsequent to the 
 visit of Weiser, in honor of a chief of that 
 name who probably afterward lived here. — 
 This chief was a conspicuous person during 
 the French and Indian troubles of 1750 — 
 1760. He was the leader of a gang of Indi- 
 ans that made an onslaught on the settlers 
 near Penn's Creek, on the sixteenth of Octo- 
 ber, 1755, killing fifteen, and taking prisoners 
 ten more, whom they carried to Kittanning. 
 We also find his name among the "Captains 
 and Councillors" who delivered a speech to 
 Post, at Cuscusking, September 3, 1758. His 
 partners in this were King Beaver, Delaware 
 George, Kill Buck, and others. Post also 
 mentions a visit which he received from him 
 at Old French Town, at the mouth of Beaver 
 Creek, on the seventeenth of !N"ovember of the 
 same year. These facts lead us to the opinion 
 that Keckkeknepalin and his people had mi- 
 grated to that section some time before. 
 
 On leaving Kickenapawling, Post and his 
 
104 The History of 
 
 companions ascended a very steep hill, per- 
 haps what is now called "Benshoof s Hill," 
 and the horse of Thomas Hickman 'Humbled 
 and rolled down the hill like awheel," where- 
 upon Thomas grew angry, and declared he 
 would go no farther with them; but not being 
 able to find another road, and perhaps not 
 liking the hospitalities of Kickenapawling, he 
 very wisely reconsidered his resolution, and 
 rejoined the party shortly afterward, feeling, 
 as the ingenuous Post says, "a little ashamed." 
 He adds, however, that they were "glad to 
 see him." This unfortunate fellow would 
 seem to have been born to bad luck. [Post 
 relates another little mishap that befell him 
 on the 9th of September, 1758 : "We took a 
 little foot-Path," says he, "hardly to be seen, 
 we lost it and went through thick Bushes till 
 we came to a mire, which we did not see till 
 we were in it, and Tom Hickman fell in and 
 almost broke his leg." 
 
 In 1791 or 1792, Joseph Johns, an enterpris- 
 ing German, who had not the fear of the red 
 men before his eyes, strayed over to the an- 
 cient village of Kickenapawling. He seems 
 to have liked the locality better than the for- 
 mer inhabitants did who had abandoned it so 
 many years before, for he determined to settle 
 
The Conemaugh. 105 
 
 liere. He did more than this; he determined 
 to found a city on the ruins of Kickenapawl- 
 iug. Perhaps visions of its future greatness 
 and prosperity filled up the vacuity of many a 
 lonely hour ! 
 
 As this was the head of navigation to those 
 seeking the western waters, Mr. Johns was 
 not long the only settler in this wild region. 
 Other hardy spirits soon joined him here. 
 The whole territory hereabouts was then 
 known as the '' Conemaugh country." By 
 1800, the number of settlers here was so nu- 
 merous that Mr. Johns proceeded to carry out 
 what we fancy was his darling project: to es- 
 tablish a town; for, i^ovember third, of that 
 year, he filed a charter in Somerset describing 
 and legalizing the town of '• Conemaugh," as 
 he chose to christen it. The venerable Abra- 
 ham Morrison, Esq.,'^ of Johnstown, then a 
 practicing attorney in the town of Somerset, 
 was a witness to this document. 
 
 From this charter we find that the town was 
 then comprised in '-one hundred and forty-one 
 lots, ten streets, six alleys, and one Market 
 Square." Johns conveyed to the use of the 
 public, ""One acre for a Burying ground," 
 ''the square on Main street containing the 
 
 *Died February, 1865. 
 
106 The History of 
 
 Lots 'No. Forty-nine, Fifty, Fifty-one, & 
 Fifty-two for a County Court House and other 
 public buildings," and declares that "all that 
 piece of ground called the point, laying be- 
 tween the said town and the Junction of the 
 two rivers or creeks aforesaid, shall be reserved 
 for commons and public amusements for 
 the use of the said Town and its future in- 
 habitants for ever." Among the earliest set- 
 tlers in the town of Conemaugh were Peter 
 Goughenour, Joseph Francis, and Ludwig 
 "Wissinger. The descendants of Goughenour 
 and Wissinger still live in the neighborhood. 
 
 The following incident we find in A. J. 
 Hite's little volume entitled "The Hand-Book 
 of Johnstown." It describes the final exit of 
 the last of the Shawanese that figure in the 
 Mstory of Kickenapawling: 
 
 " Long after the white man had opened his 
 lodge on the 'fiat,' a solitary Indian remain- 
 ed, who spent his time in hunting, and fishing 
 along the rivers contiguous. He is described 
 as having been a venerable looking man, and 
 of a peaceful disposition, neither interfering 
 with the affairs of the whites nor encroaching 
 on their property, but who quietly set his 
 traps for beaver or sat by the stream at his fav- 
 orite fishing-grounds, deeply wrapt in thought. 
 
The Conemaugh. 107 
 
 One day, while paddling peaceably in his ca- 
 noe, near town, a rifle, in the hands of a ren- 
 egade white man, was fired from a neighboring 
 thicket, and the old man fell dead into the 
 stream. 
 
 "The scene of this tragic occurrence was on 
 the Conemaugh, opposite where the Red Mill 
 now stands, fronting Kingston's Gap." 
 
 Though Johns had conferred the name of 
 "Conemaugh" on the new village, it gradu- 
 ally changed to Johnstown. The infant settle- 
 ment slowly but steadily increased in size and 
 importance. A road was cut through the wil- 
 derness to Frankstown, on the eastern side of 
 the mountains. This road was the great trans- 
 Alleghany route for many years. 
 
 The early history of Conemaugh was marked 
 with but few incidents which have been 
 thought worthy of preservation. It is record- 
 ed that in 1808, and again in 1816, the village 
 was overflowed with water, and the inhabi- 
 tants were obliged to fly to the hills for safety. 
 About the year 1812, the first grist-mill was 
 erected. A small forge was also put up about 
 the same time. The manufacture of iron was 
 thus an early pursuit in Johnstown. The 
 transportation of this article was long per- 
 formed by means of pack-horses and mules. 
 
108 The History of 
 
 At a little later period this business was car- 
 ried on in rafts and flat-boats. These craft 
 made the trip from Conemaugh to Pittsburg, 
 then a thriving young city, whenever the 
 stage of water was favorable. In 1816, the 
 iirst keel-boat was built by Isaac Proctor, one 
 of the earliest merchants in the village. It 
 was built on the bank of the Stony Creek, near 
 the site of the Union Graveyard. One or two 
 other iron forges were subsequently erected. 
 One of these is known to have stood on the 
 bank of the Stony Creek, a little below the 
 place where Bedford street comes out upon 
 the creek, and another on the Conemaugh, 
 near the spot where McConaughy's steam tan- 
 nery now stands. Mr. Ilite says, that while 
 digging the race for this last forge, old fire- 
 brands, pieces of blankets, an earthen smoke- 
 pipe, and other Indian relics were discovered 
 twelve feet below the surface of the earth. 
 
 Broken occasionally by such slight ripples 
 as these, the stream of time in ancient Cone- 
 maugh glided calmly along until the year 
 1828. In that year the long debated public 
 improvements were commenced. We have 
 treated of this matter at length in another 
 chapter. Johnstown, for by this name the 
 village was universally known, fortunately for 
 
The Conbmaugh. 109 
 
 herself lay just where it was necessary to 
 make the conuecting point between the canal 
 and the railroad. This fact gave to Johns- 
 town some importance. A large canal-basin 
 was dug, and depots, machine-shops, ware- 
 houses, and all the other paraphernalia be- 
 longing to the termini of the railroad and 
 canal were erected. In the course of a few 
 years the line was completed, and the arrival 
 and departure of the boats and railroad trains 
 imparted a degree of life and activity to the 
 
 town. 
 
 In the year 1831, the town was incorporated 
 by the name of Conemaugh. It then had 
 a population of about seven hundred souls. 
 By 1840, it had increased to 912; 1850, to 
 1269 ; 1860, to 4185, and at this time, 1865, it 
 cannot be far from 6000. In 1846, a furnace 
 was erected on the bluif just across the canal 
 from where the railroad station now stands. 
 It furthered materially the prosperity of the 
 town. In 1864, it was completely torn down, 
 having lain idle for some years immediately 
 preceding. About 1830, the first foundry in 
 Johnstown was built by Sylvester "Welsh, the 
 chief engineer of the Portage Railroad. It 
 stood upon the ground now occupied by the 
 store of Wood, Morrell & Co. In 1831 or 
 
110 The History op 
 
 1832, a new firm became proprietors of the 
 concern, and a new foundry was built on what 
 is known as the "Island," the new enterprise 
 supplanting its predecessor. This foundry 
 passed through different hands, until, in 1864, 
 it came into the possession of the Johnstown 
 Mechanical Works Company. At about 12 
 o^clock on Tuesday night, June 5th, 1865, the 
 foundry was discovered to be on lire, and in a 
 few hours this venerable enterprise lay in 
 ashes and smouldering ruins on the ground. 
 In 1852, S. H. Smith, Esq., then owner of the 
 foundry, connected with it a large establish- 
 ment for the making of cars and machinery. 
 By an act of the legislature, approved April 
 14th, 1834, the name of the town was changed 
 from Conemaugh to Johnstown. In 1861, an 
 act was passed extending the limits of the bor- 
 ough so as to include that suburb known as 
 " Goose Island." By the same act, we believe, 
 the town was divided into five wards. The 
 fifth ward comprises Kernville, and lies on the 
 southern side of the Stony Creek. A neat, 
 substantial bridge connects the two sections of 
 the town. 
 
 The first newspaper published in Johns- 
 town, we believe, was the "Johnstown Dem- 
 ocrat," which was started about the year 1834. 
 
The Conemaugh. Ill 
 
 In 1836, the "Ebensburg Sky," wMcli had 
 been published by the late Hon. Moses Canan,* 
 was removed to Johnstown, where it was pub- 
 lished by his son, John J. Canan, Esq. These 
 early papers have had numerous successors — 
 the ^'Cambria Gazette," the "Johnstown 
 News," the "Cambrian," the "Transcript," 
 the "Allegheny Mountain Echo," the "Cam- 
 bria Tribune," &c. The papers now publish- 
 ed here are the "Johnstown Tribune," by J. 
 M. Swank, Esq., and the "Johnstown Demo- 
 crat," by H. D. Woodruff & Son. The la^t 
 named is a new paper started in 1863. 
 
 The real progress of Johnstown dates from 
 the year 1853. In that year the Cambria Iroa 
 Works were built. This mammoth enterprise 
 at once attracted to the town a large amount 
 of business, and a vast increase of population, 
 as may be seen above. Scores of new houses 
 were immediately put up. Besides the in- 
 creased importance of Johnstown proper, off- 
 shoots from the town sprang up like the cre- 
 ations of Aladdin's lamp. These offshoots 
 now compose the boroughs of Millville, Cam- 
 bria, and Prospect. Conemaugh Borough also 
 swelled its attenuated outline to more respect- 
 able proportions. 
 
 * See sketch of his life, Chap. X. 
 
112 The History of 
 
 Johnstown proper contains, as we have said, 
 about 6000 souls. It is divided into five wards. 
 It contains a large number of stores, shops, 
 offices, and manufacturing establishments of 
 different kinds. There are several creditable 
 botels, and a large number of elegant private 
 residences. Religion and education are fos- 
 tered, and churches and schools are numerous. 
 Of the churches the Lutheran, Presbyterian, 
 Methodist Episcopal, and Roman Catholic are 
 very fine edifices. The people of Johnstown 
 and vicinity, indeed, of the whole valley, are 
 industrious, enterprising, and patriotic. Du- 
 ring the late terrible war no section of our 
 country supported the government with more 
 zeal and unanimity than did the people of the 
 Conemaugh valley. 
 
 Suburbs of Johnstown. 
 
 Conemaugh Borough. — This is a comparatively 
 old borough. It was incorporated March 23d, 
 1849. It was formerly the great business centre 
 of this neighborhood. It contained, in the 
 palmy days of the old main line, many large 
 warehouses, which have now entirely disap- 
 peared, or are in the last stages of dilapidation, 
 the State depot, and so forth, all of which have 
 
TniJ CONEMAUGH. 1V^> 
 
 % 
 
 long since gone round the Horn. It containf^ 
 at present a population of about 2500. In it 
 are two or three hotels, several stores and 
 drinking saloons, a brewery, the "Johnstown 
 Mechanical Works," four school houses and 
 two churches. The business of shook 
 making is carried on to some extent in this 
 town. Conemaugh Borough is divided into 
 two wards. The sidewalks are generally cov- 
 ered with planks, but the streets themselves 
 in wet weather are in a deplorable condition. 
 The glory of the town departed with the aban- 
 donment of the old public improvements, and 
 but little business is now carried on in it. The 
 people generally depend upon the rolling mill 
 for employment. 
 
 . Prospect Borough. — This is a small village 
 lying upon the high hill overlooking Johnstown 
 on the north. It was incorporated in 1863. 
 The population is about two hundred and 
 twenty-five, principally miners. 
 
 MilMlle, — This borough lies on the western 
 side of Johnstown, and is separated from it by 
 the Conemaugh river. A fine bridge built in 
 1861, and the old aqueduct, connect the two 
 towns. Millville was incorporated in 1858. 
 It contains about 2300 inhabitants. In this 
 town are the most important improvements in 
 
114 The History of 
 
 # 
 
 the Conemaugh valley. In it are the Camhria 
 Iron Company's rolling mill, foundry, machine, 
 pattern, blacksmith, carpenter, wagon maker, 
 cabinetmaker, and harness maker shops, a flour- 
 ing mill, offices, and four large blast furnaces. 
 The greater part of this town was built and is 
 owned by this company. It is peopled almost 
 exclusively by the employees of the rolling 
 mill. In it are a hotel, several stores, a large 
 steam tannery, the railroad station, and four 
 school houses. The lower part of the town is 
 called Minersville. A substantial bridge, upon 
 which is a roadway for wagons and pedestrians, 
 a railroad track for a locomotive, and another 
 track for the company's coal trains, spans the 
 river, and connects this town with Cambria 
 Borough, that lies just on the opposite side. 
 At the upper end of the town a handsome iron 
 bridge is thrown across the river, upon which 
 the Pennsylvania Railroad runs. 
 
 Cambria Borough. — This town lies west of 
 Johnstown, and on the southern bank of the 
 Coneniaugh. It was laid out about 1853, and 
 was incorporated in 1862. It is usually called 
 Cambria city. It has a population of about 
 800. It is principally made up of employees 
 of the Cambria Iron Works. In it are two or 
 three stores, three or four hotels and boarding 
 
The Conemaugh. 115 
 
 houess, a fine brick church edifice belonging 
 to the German Catholic congregation, and a 
 large school house. Cambria Borough is 
 beautifully situated on a broad, flat tract of 
 land that stretches away for a mile or more- 
 beyond the present borough limits, which win- 
 allow the town to expand with the demands 
 of the times. At the upper extremity of the 
 town, and just outside of the borough, are the 
 extensive cement works of A. J. Haws, Esq. 
 Conemaugh Station^ or, as it is sometimes 
 called, Sylvania, is on the Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road, about one mile east of Conemaugh Bor- 
 ough. It is an important fuel and water 
 station for the locomotives used on the road. 
 Here is a large "round-house," which will ac- 
 commodate sixteen locomotives, a blacksmith 
 and machine shop, a water station, a large coal 
 scafibld some twenty-five feet high, to which 
 the trucks loaded with coal ascend by means 
 of an inclined plane, a telegraph office, and a 
 boarding house, all the property of the railroad 
 company. There are also three or four stores, 
 two or three hotels, a church, and two school 
 houses. The Conemaugh river runs through 
 the village, dividing it into nearly equal parts. 
 The river is spanned by a railroad bridge^ and 
 another bridge for the convenience of foot 
 
116 The History of 
 
 passengeis. Large quantities of shook are 
 made here. At this place is a blast furnace 
 but recently erected. It was built by E. F. 
 Hodges & Co., of !N"ew York. It has a capaci- 
 ty of about 100 tons per week. The furnace 
 is well located, and has every facility for mak- 
 ing good metal. It stands but a few rods dis- 
 tant from the railroad, with which it is con- 
 nected by a branch. The population of Cone- 
 maugh Station is about 500. The town is not 
 incorporated. It is a very pleasant village to 
 live in. 
 
 Woodvale. — This town, which was laid out 
 in 1864, lies in the beautiful flat extending 
 between Johnstown and Conemaugh Station, 
 and forms an articulating link between the 
 two places. A substantial bridge is thrown 
 across the river, and connects the upper end 
 of Conemaugh Borough with the lower end of 
 the new town. Woodvale was laid out by the 
 Johnstown Manufacturing Company, the pro- 
 prietors of the site. It embraces an area of 
 nearly one hundred acres of the best land in 
 the neighborhood of Johnstown ; being a rich 
 alluvial soil, with a descent of about twenty 
 feet in the mile. This will afford sufficient 
 drainage to keep the town dry and healthful. 
 The Conemaugh flows along one side of the 
 
The Conbmaugh. 117 
 
 town, and the Pennsylvania Railroad passes 
 along the other. The principal street, which 
 is nearly a mile long, extends the length of the 
 town, and runs east and west parallel with the 
 railroad. This street is sixt}^ feet in breadth, 
 and has been graded and neatly and substan- 
 tially paved with stone. Along the river bank 
 a stone wall six feet high and about a mile in 
 length has been built to prevent the washing 
 away of the shore. A street railroad will be 
 made, running from Woodvale to Johnstown. 
 This will bring this new town into such close 
 connection with the business part of the older 
 town, that, what with the beauty of the loca- 
 tion, and the exemption from the dust and an- 
 noyances of Johnstown and the rolling mill, 
 which the citizens of Woodvale will enjoy, it 
 will cause the latter to be the most attractive 
 spot for houses in all this neighborhood. The 
 Company's new woolen mill . is located here, 
 and a beautiful town is springing up around it 
 as if by enchantment. There is no doubt thats 
 in a very few years Woodvale will be the most 
 flourishing and pleasing suburb of Johnstown. 
 
CHAPTER VI, 
 
 BLAIRSVILLE. 
 
 This town is situated on the northern turn- 
 pike leading from Huntingdon to Pittsburg, 
 at the distance of forty-two miles to the east of 
 that city. It is built upon elevated ground on 
 the right bank of the Conemaugh river, about 
 thirty miles below Johnstown. A rough per- 
 pendicular precipice rises from the water's 
 edge, which is now chiefly hidden by large 
 warehouses and other buildings, somewhat 
 similar in point of architecture to those of the 
 Cowgate in Edinburg, which. Judge Bracken- 
 ridge says, are thirteen stories on one side and 
 half a story on the other. The location of 
 Blairsville is extremely healthy ; the water very 
 good, and the place has never been visited to 
 any extent by those dreadful disorders that 
 sometimes carry off whole populations at one 
 fell stroke. 
 
 This town is laid out with great regularity. 
 The streets are broad^ well paved, and as straight 
 as a rule can make them. There are three 
 principal streets, which run nearly due east 
 
The Conbmaugh. 119 
 
 and west, and ^ve cross streets. There are also 
 four alleys running parallel with the principal 
 streets, which divide the different squares into 
 equal parts. The sloping character of the 
 ground upon which the town is situated affords 
 excellent drainage, and the streets and alleys 
 are thua easily kept clear of filth, which no 
 doubt adds greatly to the healthfulness of the 
 place. 
 
 Adjoining Blairsville on the east is the village 
 of Brownstown. It contains a population of 
 perhaps two hundred and fifty souls. It is not 
 incorporated, hut forms a part of Burrell town- 
 ship. It is to all intents and purposes a suburb 
 of Blairsville, and ought to be included in that 
 borough. The village was probably laid out 
 by, and named in honor of, Mr. Andrew Brown, 
 who lived in this neighborhood as early as 1818, 
 and was one of the charterers of Blairsville. 
 
 In Brownstown are a public school house, 
 two large hotels, a fine Catholic church edifice, 
 school house and parsonage, a foundry, and a 
 threshing-machine manufactory. The turn- 
 pike passes through this town. The hill upon 
 the slope of which the village is built contains 
 several fine veins of coal which have long been 
 opened, and supply the townspeople with that 
 mineral for their own use, as well as large 
 
120 Thk History of 
 
 quantities for export The ooal of this region 
 is of excellent quality. The surrounding coun- 
 try is an alternation of hill and dale, and grove 
 and meadow, divided into farms, most of which 
 are highly productive. 
 
 The hank of the river ahout half a mile ahove 
 Blairsville is very high and precipitous, and is 
 known as the "Alum Bank." There is an 
 upright wall of nature's own masonry, in some 
 places fifty or sixty feet high, and helow this 
 an ahrupt descent of perhaps a hundred feet 
 more to the water's edge, covered with forests. 
 This cliff is a mile or two in length. Several 
 veins of iron ore and coal have heen opened 
 upon its face. The spectator who stands upon 
 the edge of this precipice may see the tops of 
 tall trees just at his feet and almost within his 
 grasp. Below these is the river, beyond v/hich 
 may be seen the canal, the railroad, broad 
 fields and patches of woodland stretching away 
 to the foot of the Chestnut Eidge. 
 
 There is a number of fine buildings in 
 Blairsville. The hotels are excellent; the 
 churches large and tastefully finished, and the 
 school house, containing four rooms and two 
 halls, is spacious and commodious. There is 
 a fine market house of brick, built in 1857,, 
 containing on the first floor an entry, a lock-up. 
 
The Conemaugh. 121 
 
 and a large apartment devoted to the purposes 
 of a market; and, on tlie second floor, an 
 entry, a council chamber, and a spacious 
 room provided with seats and a rostrum, 
 which is used for a town-hall. On the north- 
 ern side of the town, surrounded by orna- 
 mental trees and shrubbery, is the Female 
 Seminary, a large brick building of imposing 
 appearance. It was opened for pupils in 1853, 
 It has always maintained a high character as 
 an institution of learning. This town was laid 
 out about the year 1819, and was named in 
 honor of John Blair, Esq., of Blair's Gap. The 
 town-site originally belonged to Mr. James 
 Campbell. The turnpike which passes through 
 it was constructed in 1819, and gave an im- 
 petus to the growth of the town. In 1821, the 
 noble bridge which spans the river at that 
 place was erected. Though it has been stand- 
 ing for more than forty years it gives promise 
 of lasting for years to come. It is a single 
 arch, three hundred feet in length. For 
 many years after its erection it was consider- 
 ed the best bridge in Western Pennsylvania, 
 and was the especial pride of the good people 
 of Blairsville. Prior to the building of this 
 bridge, Mr. John Mulhollan ran a ferry-boat 
 across the river where the bridge now stands. 
 
122 The History of 
 
 In 1825, the town was incorporated as a bor- 
 ough ; and two years afterward the population 
 was ascertained to be 500. In 1828, the West- 
 ern Division of the canal was completed to this 
 place, and the Eastern was advancing, step by 
 step, towards the mountains; the intermediate 
 sections of canal and the railroad over the moun- 
 tains, were in progress, but still unfinished. 
 The carrying trade, therefore, and the increas- 
 ing travel, were obliged to resort to the turn- 
 pike. This gave great importance to Blairsville 
 as a depot, and the place was full of bustle and 
 prosperity. Long strings of wagons laden with 
 goods of various descriptions were every day 
 arriving and departing. At night, the whole 
 town was one vast caravansary for the accom- 
 modation of man and beast. There are old 
 citizens of Blairsville who still speak in glowing 
 terms of those golden days. Immense hotels 
 and warehouses were erected ; four or five 
 churches were built within three years ; pro- 
 perty increased in value, and the hotels were 
 swarming with speculators, engineers, con- 
 tractors, and forwarding agents. Men grew 
 rich there in a day. In 1834, the communica- 
 tion was opened over the mountains ; the use 
 of the turnpike was to a great extent abandoned, 
 and the merchants and inn keepers of Blairs- 
 
The Conemaugh. 123 
 
 ville were compelled to sit and see tlie trade 
 and travel "pass by on the other side." A 
 reaction and depression of course ensued to 
 Bome extent; but the enterprising citizens 
 were only driven to the natural resources of the 
 country as a basis of trade.* 
 
 The town, notwithstanding this back-set, 
 continued to thrive at a more healthy rate, and 
 in 1840 it had a population of 1000. So, too, 
 through the next decade, and in 1850 the pop- 
 ulation had run up to the neighborhood of 1500 
 souls. Business was brisk. The surrounding 
 country is an excellent farming district, and 
 large quantities of agricultural products were 
 exported. A large steam grist mill, a woolen 
 factory, a starch factory, two flourishing brick- 
 yards, two extensive foundries, one on the 
 Blairsville and the other on the Bairdstown 
 side of the river, and two or three prosperous 
 tanneries, contribued to swell the amount of 
 exports from the port of Blairsville to a respect- 
 able figure. Capacious wharves had been 
 built along the slackwater upon which the 
 town is situated, and boats were at any time to 
 be seen lying there, either shipping or dis- 
 charging their cargoes. The ''tarry sailor- 
 man" and the typical mule team were every- 
 
 *Daj's Hist. Col., page 379. 
 
124 The History of 
 
 day sights in the goodly streets of Blairsville. 
 But all these have now disappeared. 
 
 It may be interesting to the present race of 
 Blairsvillers to read the opinion formed by a 
 stranger of Blairsville and its society more 
 than thirty years ago. We extract from a let- 
 ter written by a tourist, June 18th, 1833, at 
 Blairsville. He says: ^'I address you now 
 from a town, which, as you see it marked on 
 the map, is a place of minor consideration, 
 but which in reality, considered as a point in 
 the chain of public improvements which con- 
 nects the eastern and western parts of the 
 State, is of vast importance. Blairsville, a 
 few years since, consisted of a solitary public 
 house, at which the traveler across the moun- 
 tains might stop to refresh himself and his 
 beast; now it contains a large number of sub- 
 stantially built and handsome brick edifices — 
 several churches — a market and school house, 
 and not less than four or five well kept hotels. 
 It has sprung up suddenly, but its duration 
 will not be the less permanent. 
 
 "Blairsville stands on the western* bank of 
 the Conemaugh river, a stream flowing into 
 the Allegheny river, about thirty miles from 
 Pittsburg, and is distant from that city by 
 
 *This is incorrect. Blairsville is situated on the eastern side of 
 the Conemaugh. 
 
The Conemaugh. 125 
 
 land, forty miles; by tlie course of the river 
 seventy. This river is one of tlie most beau- 
 tiful and romantic streams in tbe west. I 
 bave passed along its banks for some distance, 
 and been strongly reminded of our favorite 
 Schuykill, which, in some respects, it strongly 
 resembles. Its course is meandering and ir- 
 regular. Along this river a canal has been 
 made, east to Johnstown, and west to Pitts- 
 burg, forming the western division ot^the 
 Pennsylvania Canal. * 
 
 ^< The society of Blairsville is remarkable 
 for its intelligence. I say this not to deterio- 
 rate from the respectability of other western 
 towns, but because from personal intercourse 
 and observation, I have had abundant oppor- 
 tunities to ascertain the fact. We of the east 
 do not properly estimate the worth of charac- 
 ter which exists in the west. We are too apt 
 to fancy that the well-informed— the states- 
 man—the philosopher— the man of breeding, 
 is only to be found in large cities. This is a 
 great mistake as applied to western Pennsyl- 
 vania. With the most of those to whom I 
 have been introduced across the mountains, 
 my acquaintance has been extremely pleasant, 
 and the kindness and attentions^of the Blairs- 
 ville people I shall never forget." * 
 
 ♦ See Philadephia Gazette, June, 1833. 
 
126 The History op 
 
 A newspaper was started here about the 
 year 1825. It was called, if we mistake not, 
 ''The Blairsville Eecord and "Westmoreland 
 Advertiser." The first editor, we believe, was 
 a Mr. McFarland. It soon dropped a part of 
 the name, and was called merely the "Blairs- 
 ville Record." It was successively styled the 
 ''Record," "Citizen," " Apalachian," "True 
 American," and "Journal," and was carried 
 on by difierent parties to the year 1861, when 
 it foundered in an open sea. Down to 1849, 
 when Messrs. Matthias & Caldwell took charge 
 of it, it had been the avowed exponent of the 
 Democratic party in the county; but in the 
 hands of these gentlemen it soon lost the 
 characteristics of a party organ, and made its 
 appearance in the garb of a neutral. Mr. T^ 
 S. Reid, who succeeded in the proprietorship 
 in 1855, changed the name from the "Apala- 
 chian" to the "True American," and the pa- 
 per itselt from a neutral to a strong Republi- 
 can sheet. About this time a new paper was 
 started in the town under the auspices of the 
 Democrats, and bore the time-honored appel- 
 lation: "The Blairsville Record." This paper 
 was kept afloat until the year 1863, when it 
 also went down. In the spring of 1865, the 
 Republican paper was revived under the name 
 
The Conemaugh. 12T 
 
 of tlie "New Era," of wMcli Wm. E. Boyers, 
 Esq., is editor. 
 
 The decade commencing with 1850, opened 
 with bright prospects for Blairsville. Business 
 on the canal was brisk, and the amount of 
 shipments and imports at that place exhibit a 
 state of great prosperity. For 1851, the re- 
 ceipts at that port amounted to nearly $11,500, 
 Two extensive yards were kept in constant 
 employ in building or repairing boats. In 
 1851, the Pennsylvania Railroad was finished as 
 far as that place, and passengers for the west 
 here took the boat for Pittsburg. These were 
 gala days for Blairsville. It was, however, but 
 a repetition of the short-lived prosperity of 
 1830. Thousands of emigrants and others 
 passed through the town every week, and 
 of course left behind them more or less of 
 their specie. Blairsville thus suddenly be- 
 came a great transhipping port. A new town 
 called O'Harra, was laid out by Hr. William 
 Maher, around the railroad depot, on the 
 southern side of Blairsville, and town lots 
 were readily sold for hundreds of dollars that 
 could now be purchased for perhaps as many 
 tens. Fine houses were erected, and every- 
 thing was carried along on the top-wave of 
 success. But all this prosperity was evanes- 
 
12^ The History op 
 
 cent, as it had been in the former case. The 
 railroad was finished through to Pittsburg in 
 the latter part of 1852, and again the mer- 
 chants and inn-keepers of Blairsville were 
 compelled to see the trade and travel "pass 
 hy on the other side." JSTo more car-loads of 
 obese emigrants from the "Faderland" came 
 to Blairsville Avith their clinking pouches of 
 ^old and silver. ^ more hack-loads of well- 
 dressed ladies and gentlemen were seen ap- 
 proaching the hotels, to the inexpressible de- 
 light of mine host, whose practised eye saw 
 his account in them at a glance. 
 
 From this time down to 1860, the town 
 steadily declined. In that year the population 
 was found to have receded to 1000 souls; just 
 what it was in 1840. The Blairsville Branch 
 railroad that connects with the main road at a 
 pomt about three miles from the town, about 
 the year 1856 was extended to the town of 
 Indiana; and though the latter was greatly 
 benefited, Blairsville was improved thereby 
 no whit. Her fate seemed to be sealed. 
 She was apparently one of the "doomed cities." 
 Her people had nothing more to do. The town 
 was finished; and the inhabitants sat down 
 peacefully to await the providence of God. 
 But from this depression Blairsville is rapidly 
 
The Conemaugh. 129 
 
 recovering. The construction of the Western 
 Pennsylvania Eailroad, commenced about 
 1854, and then abandoned for some years, has 
 contributed a fresh impetus to the prosperity 
 of the town, and given the citizens heart of 
 hope. Some improvements have been made 
 since 1860, and other and more important ones 
 are in contemplation. The neighboring hills 
 abound in iron ore, coal, limestone, and so forth, 
 of the best quality, and favorable signs of oil 
 have been discovered in the valleys. There is 
 no conceivable reason why manufactures of 
 different kinds, and especially of iron, should 
 not be carried on in Blairsville with the great- 
 est success. The population now (1865) is said 
 to be over 1500. This shows a wonderful re- 
 actionary tendency; and as her prosperity this 
 time seems based on a more stable foundation, 
 Elairsville will yet arise to the dignified posi- 
 tion for which God and nature have designed 
 her. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OTHEE TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 
 
 Cambria County.* 
 
 The villages of Cambria county may be 
 divided into two classes — those which lie in 
 the north of the county, and are of spontaneous 
 o:rowth, and those which lie in the south of the 
 county, and have sprung up in consequence of 
 the diiFerent lines of public improvements. 
 
 The villages in the north of the county are 
 Ebensburg, Carrolltown, Loretto, St. Augus- 
 tine, Chess Springs, Munster, Belsano, and 
 Plottsville. Ebensburg has been already des- 
 cribed. 
 
 Carrolltown is eight miles north of Ebens- 
 burg, and is connected with it by a plank road. 
 It is located on an eminence. The original 
 Carrolltown lies on the south side of the hill ; 
 but the part of the village more lately built 
 extends over the crest of the hill, down the 
 northern slope into the valley beyond. It is 
 about half a mile in length. The Catholic 
 
 ♦ For this description of the towns and villages |in Cambria 
 county, I am indebted to my excellent friend, S. B. AlcCormick, 
 Esq., late County Superintendent of Cambria county. 
 
The Conemaugh. 131 
 
 church is a large brick building, situated on 
 the highest ground in the village, and about 
 midway between the extreme ends. The pub- 
 lic school-house is similarly located, and stands 
 on the opposite side of the street from the 
 church. It contains a thriving population, and 
 is surrounded by a productive country and 
 thrifty farmers. 
 
 Loretto is situated about five miles east of 
 Ebensburg, on a public road leading from 
 Cresson to Carrolltown. It is located on the 
 southern slope of a hill, and contains quite a 
 number of inhabitants. The Sisters of Chari- 
 ty have a female school in operation in this 
 place, and the Franciscan Brothers have a col- 
 lege with ample grounds attached, and which 
 is largely attended, built in close proximity to- 
 the village. There is also a very large brick 
 Catholic church in this village. 
 
 Chess Springs lies eight miles northeast of 
 Loretto, on a public road leading from Loretto 
 to White township. It is built on elevated 
 ground which slightly slopes westwardly, and 
 contains some fifty dwellings. Beautiful farms 
 surround the place, and it is healthful, and 
 supplied with excellent water. There is a 
 steam saw mill in the vicinity. This village 
 might be called the Buenos Ayres of Cambria 
 county. 
 
132 The History of 
 
 >S'/. Augustine is three miles northeast of 
 Chess Springs, situated on the same public 
 road. The ridge which runs along between 
 the valleys near the place, is called the Loop. 
 On that ridge there is at one place a slight 
 depression of the surface, and in this depres- 
 sion, there are cross roads, at which the village 
 is built. There is a frame Catholic church, 
 and a public school-house in the place. 
 
 Munster is the next town in size of the 
 northern class, and is situated four miles east 
 of Ebensburg on the turnpike road. The 
 Ebensburg and Cresson railroad runs through 
 the place. It is built on a level plot of ground, 
 and is surrounded by a great number of pro- 
 ductive farms. It contains a small population, 
 but no public buildings. 
 
 Belsttiio is located about eight miles south- 
 west of Ebensburg, on the Clay Pike, leading 
 to Indiana borough. It is a small place, in an 
 unproductive section of country, and is now 
 almost isolated from the business world. 
 
 Plottsville lies eight miles north of Carroll- 
 town, on the road leading to the Cherry Tree, a 
 small town in Indiana county. It is a small 
 village of little importance. 
 
 The towns in the southern portion of the 
 county are Johnstown and surrounding bor- 
 
The Conemaugh. ~ 133 
 
 oughs, Summerhill, "Wilmore, Foot-of-Four, 
 Summit, Cresson, Gallitzin, Perkinsville, Scalp- 
 Level, Geistown, and Parkstown. Of tliese 
 Summerhill, Wilmore, Foot-of-Four, and Sum- 
 mitville are relics of the Allegheny Portage 
 Kailroad, which in its time ran through them, 
 and which gave origin to their existence. — 
 Johnstown and its suburbs have been already 
 described. 
 
 Summerhill, which should have been termed 
 Winter Hollow, is located in a narrow valley 
 between hills through which the Portage Rail- 
 road ran. The Pennsylvania Railroad runs 
 close by the old village, and sustains its vitali- 
 ty. It contains two or three hundred inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 Wilmore is similarly situated, a few miles 
 east of Summerhill. The Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road passes near the place. It was once a 
 brisk village, but is now decaying rapidly. 
 There are many beautiful and productive farms 
 in the vicinity. 
 
 Foot-of-Four was built at the foot of plane 
 !N"o. 4, on the Portage Railroad. The Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad runs close by this village; 
 nevertheless, it is in a state of dilapidation. 
 The town is called Foot-of-Four, the station 
 Lilly's Station, and the Post Office Hemlock. 
 
134 The History op 
 
 Summiiville was built on the summit of the 
 m.ountain, at the head of the planes on the 
 Portage Railroad. It is now a decayed vil- 
 lage, although there is a fine Catholic church 
 in the place. It is half a mile from Cresson, 
 •on the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
 
 Cresson, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, is 
 four miles east of the Foot-of-Four, and is a 
 watering place, much frequented in the sum- 
 mer months by visitors from the cities. Other- 
 wise it is an unimportant place. 
 
 Gallitzin is situated at the east end of the 
 tunnel on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and also 
 comprises Tunnel Hill, on the top of the 
 mountain above said tunnel. It lies partly 
 in Blair county. It is a growing place. 
 
 Perkinsville is a small village on the Canal 
 three miles west of Johnstown. 
 
 Scalp-Level and Geisiown are small villages in 
 
 Richland township, towards Somerset county. 
 
 Farkstown is a small place on the old 
 
 Frankstown road, about two miles east of 
 
 Johnstown. 
 
 Benscreek. — This is a small village sur- 
 rounding a furnace of the same name, situ- 
 ated about three miles south of Johnstown, on 
 the Somerset road. A portion of the village is 
 in Cambria and a portion in Somerset county. 
 
The Conemaugh. 135 
 
 The furnace, which has been in operation for 
 many years, is not now in blast; and, as a con- 
 sequence, the population is somewhat thinned 
 out. It was once a thriving settlement. 
 
 Mill Creek. — This is another village, similar 
 in its origin and surroundings to Benscreek, 
 situated five miles southeast of Johnstown, 
 at the base of the Laurel Hill, and is connect- 
 ed with Benscreek by a tram railroad, five 
 miles in length. The furnace is not at pres- 
 ent in blast, and the inhabitants are not nu- 
 merous, nor in a prosperous condition. 
 
 Cambria Furnace. — About ^yq miles north- 
 west of Johnstown, and near one mile from 
 the Conemaugh river, northward, there is a 
 furnace located, near the base of Laurel Hill, 
 with the foregoing name and title, surrounded 
 by a smart little village. Like the other two 
 furnaces, it is not now in operation. All these 
 furnaces formerly belonged to Shoenberger & 
 Co., and are now, with the lands adjoining, 
 the property of the Cambria Iron Company. 
 
 Somerset County. 
 
 Davidsville is a small village on the plank 
 road leading from Johnstown to Stoystown. 
 It is much frequented in the sleighing season 
 
136 The History of 
 
 by gay companies of young folks from the 
 former place, who believe that a good supper 
 and a merry dance repay them for the journey 
 of sixteen miles there and back. 
 
 Stoystoion lies on the same road, ten mils be- 
 yond Davidsville. This is an old village. It 
 was laid out by an old Revolutionary soldier 
 named Stoy. We have already spoken of the 
 ruins of a house here visible at a late period, 
 which was said to have been built in 1758. — 
 This town was incorporated as a borough in 
 1819. It is a flourishing town, and has a pop- 
 ulation of several hundreds. 
 
 Six miles from Stoystown on the same road 
 is Snydersville, a small town containing a post 
 office, a tannery, and several houses. 
 
 Twelve miles from Johnstown, on the turn- 
 pike leading to Somerset we come to Forwards- 
 town. This is a small village. 
 
 Six miles from Forwardstown is Jennerville, 
 on the same road. It contains a store, a tavern, 
 and so forth. 
 
 Svpesville is a small town on the same road, 
 four miles from Jennerville. It contains a 
 couple of stores, a tavern, and so on. 
 
 Jenner Cross Roads is a well known point at 
 the crossing of the Somerset and the Pittsburg 
 turnpikes, a couple of miles from Jennerville. 
 
The Conemaugh. 137 
 
 "Westmoreland County. 
 
 Conemaugh Furnace lies on the Pennsylvania 
 Railroad seven miles west of Johnstown. A 
 furnace was built here in 1839 or 1840, by 
 Messrs. McGill, Foster & White. It was kept 
 in operation for some time, but has been aban- 
 doned for many years. The stack alone re- 
 mains to indicate that it ever had an existence. 
 A number of people still live here in the 
 houses that were put up for the accommoda- 
 tion of the furnace hands. This place lies 
 right in the gorge of the Laurel Hill, upon 
 one of the most beautiful stretches of water 
 along this entire river. The scenery around 
 is of the wildest and most romantic descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 Nineveh Station lies two miles west of Cone- 
 maugh furnace. Here are a water-station, a 
 store, and several very comfortable residences. 
 Large quantities of bark, shook, staves, and 
 so forth, are shipped from this point. 
 
 New Florence is six miles west of Nineveh 
 station. This is a pleasant and thriving town, 
 surrounded by a rich, productive country. It 
 was laid out about the year 1851 or 1852. In 
 this village are several stores, a hotel, a couple 
 
138 The History of 
 
 of churches, a school house, and a numher of 
 fine residences. The people of 'New Florence 
 are distinguished for their intelligence, respec- 
 tability, and morality. Before the war a fine 
 classical school was located in this town. — 
 Laurel Hill furnace, an exploded enterprise, 
 is situated at the foot of the Laurel Hill, at the 
 distance of a mile or two from this town. 
 
 Three miles west of I^ew Florence is Lock- 
 port. This is a small village lying on the canal 
 and the railroad. A beautiful stone aqueduct 
 of ^ve arches here crosses the river. In this 
 village are a wood and water station, a couple 
 of stores, school house, and establishments for 
 the manufacture of fire brick. There are also 
 the remains of an old furnace. 
 
 About three miles from Lockport in a south- 
 erly direction is a small hamlet known as 
 Covodesville. It is the property of the Hon. 
 John Covode, the distinguished politician, who 
 has his home here. This village contains a 
 large woolen factory, saw mill, school house, 
 and so forth. 
 
 Bolivar lies one mile west of Lockport. In 
 this village are extensive fire-brick establish- 
 ments. A foot-bridge crosses the Conemaugh, 
 and a neat stone aqueduct a small stream that 
 flows into the river at this place from the 
 Bouthward. 
 
The Conemaugh. 139 
 
 Proceeding along the railroad five miles 
 further, we come to the Blairsville Intersection, 
 where the hranch railroad leading to Blairsvili -^ 
 and Indiana intersects the main road. Here 
 are a station, telegraph office, post office, a 
 hotel, and some five or six dwelling houses. 
 
 In going from Bolivar to the Blairsville 
 Intersection, we pass through the Chestnut 
 Ridge by a valley apparently cut by the river 
 for its own accommodation. The scenery along 
 here is exceedingly wild and picturesque. 
 Coming down from the southward, and split- 
 ting the Ridge at about right angles with the 
 river valley, is a deep gorge known as the 
 Pack Saddle. A high "dump" crosses this 
 gorge at its mouth, upon which the track of 
 the railroad is laid. Immediately opposite to 
 the mouth of the Pack Saddle is the abrupt 
 termination of a lofty mountain range that 
 comes down from the north. The work of 
 constructing the railroad through the Chestnut 
 Ridge was a difficult enterprise, and the classic 
 region of the Pack Saddle was the scene of 
 many a hard fought battle between the " Cork- 
 onians " and ' 'Far-downers," whom the work 
 had brought together. 
 
 Four miles west of the Intersection we come 
 to Hillside, This ia important as a wood and 
 
140 The History op 
 
 water station on the railroad. It contains a 
 store, a large steam tannery, and several dwell- 
 ing houses. 
 
 About two miles from Hillside, at the base 
 of the Chestnut Hidge, is a remarkable cavern 
 known as the Bear Cave. It was explored 
 more than thirty years ago. It consists of one 
 main entrance, which, at a short distance from 
 the mouth, branches off into innumerable 
 and hitherto interminable ramifications, and 
 these again into countless other branches, 
 forming, on the whole, a labyrinth that would 
 have puzzled the brain of Theseus himself. 
 
 A few years ago, we formed one of a party 
 of 'B.ve that visited this subterranean wonder. 
 We went provided with light and with a large 
 ball of strong twine. Fastening one end of 
 this twine near the mouth of the cavern, we 
 continued to unroll the ball as we proceeded, 
 thus having a certain clue to find our way 
 back. On our return, we wound up the twine 
 as we came along, and, by measuring the 
 string afterward, we were al^le to tell the dis- 
 tance we had penetrated. We found it to be 
 over -Qye hundred paces, or more than a quar- 
 ter of a mile! After we had gone this dis- 
 tance, the end of the passage seemed as far off 
 as ever. 
 
The Conemaugh. 141 
 
 The reader must not imagine this cavern to 
 resemble in any respect the famous Mammoth 
 Cave, in Kentucky. This, so far as it has ever 
 been explored, is only a long, narrow, sinuous 
 passage, or rather a system of such passages ; 
 sometimes, it is true, expanding into little 
 chambers hung with lack-lustre stalactites ; 
 but, for the greater part of the way, only the 
 narrow passage we have described, as though 
 an earthquake had partly rent the mountain 
 in twain. We remember walking along the 
 crumbling edge of a precipice, steadying our- 
 selves by the walls, while below us was an 
 abyss so deep, so dark, so profound that it 
 seemed to be bottomless. A single false step 
 here would send the thoughtless adventurer 
 down into depths immeasurable. 
 
 So contracted is this passage in some places 
 that the explorer is obliged to make his way 
 on his hands and knees, — nay, he sometimes, 
 from his longitudinal posture, would seem to 
 be a sharer in the sentence of the serpent, and 
 lucky is he if he doesn't have to eat dirt on 
 the way. 
 
 Visitors to this cavern should enter it only 
 in dry weather. The channel of a little moun- 
 tain stream passes through it. This in wet 
 weather of course becomes swollen, and must 
 nearly, if not quite, stop up the passage 
 
142 The History op 
 
 through this labyrinth. The fate of one who 
 should become thus immured may be easily 
 imagined. The narrow escape from such a 
 fate which we ourself made on that occasion^ 
 has made a lasting impression on our mind. 
 
 There have been many stories circulated in 
 that vicinity about spacious apartments, mag- 
 nificent with natural decorations, of beautiful 
 altars, and columns, and other wonderful for- 
 mations, that have been discovered in this 
 cavern; but upon our visit we saw nothing of 
 the kind — nothing in the main but a long, 
 tortuous maze with blackened walls and un- 
 even floors ; dark, yawning chasms, that seem- 
 ed to have no bottom ; and gloomy side-pas- 
 sages into which if one should wander he might 
 never return. 
 
 Derry Station., an important point on the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad, lies four miles west of 
 Hillside. This place is rapidly improving, and 
 promises at an early day to be a town of no 
 mean pretensions. A number of fine houses 
 have been recently put up, and others are in 
 course of building. A road to Ligonier and 
 other towns in the Ligonier Valley, passes 
 through this place. At the distance of two or 
 three miles from Derry station, there is a 
 prominent peak of the Chestnut Ridge, known 
 
The Conemaugh. 143 
 
 as Duncan's Knob. This mountain range being 
 the westernmost outlier of the Alleghanies, 
 furnishes from its exposed hights many fine 
 and extensive prospects. Of all these exposed 
 points, Duncan's Knob perhaps affords the 
 most expansive view. "We visited it some years 
 ago. We were able to see plainly the towns 
 of Jacksonville and Indiana, and all the inter- 
 vening and surrounding country. Some six or 
 eight towns and villages were distinctly visible. 
 And yet the distance from where we stood to 
 the town of Indiana, which must be in the 
 neighborhood of twenty-five miles, compared 
 with the distance which we could see beyond 
 that town, seemed to us to bear about the same 
 ratio that an inch bears to a foot-rule. The 
 broad expanse of hill and dale, meadow and 
 woodland, stretched away to the north and 
 west until it gradually blended in an indistinct 
 haze with the far-off horizon, A correct idea 
 of the extent and magnificence of our globe 
 can only be obtained by viewing it from such 
 a standpoint as this. 
 
 And standing on that rugged peak, with this 
 vast amphitheater at our feet, we thought of 
 the beautiful lines of Goldsmith : 
 
 "E'en now, where Alpine solitudes ascend, 
 I sit me down a pensive hour to spend ; 
 And placed on high, above the storm's career, 
 Look downward where a hundred realms appear." 
 
144 The History of 
 
 New Derry^ au old village in spite of its name, 
 is situated a short distance north of Deny sta- 
 tion. It is a pleasant little town lying in the 
 midst of a rich farming district, and contains 
 several churches, shops, stores, and so on. 
 
 St. Clair lies on the railroad a couple of miles 
 west of Derry station. It is an unimportant 
 railroad station. 
 
 Latrobe is three miles west of St. Clair. It 
 lies on both sides of the railroad, u2:)on a broad, 
 level loop of land formed by a bend in the 
 Loyalhanna. This is an important, thriving 
 town. It was laid out about the year 1851, 
 and has already grown to be a town of consid- 
 erable size. It contains several fine churches 
 and hotels, two or three large flouring mills, a 
 car manufactory, and a number of stores, shops, 
 and so forth. The surrounding country is 
 highly fertile, and is well cultivated. This 
 village is yet in its infancy, and will doubtless 
 soon become one of our most flourishing inland 
 towns. 
 
 Youngstoivn is situated on the turnpike about 
 a mile south of Latrobe. It is a country village 
 of ver}' modest pretensions. It contains sev- 
 eral churches, stores, hotels, and so forth. 
 Contiguous to the village are two large estab- 
 lishments for the education of youth. These 
 
The Conemaugh. 145 
 
 belong to the Roman Catholic church, and are 
 known, the one as St. Vincent's, and the other 
 as St. Xavier's : the latter for the education of 
 young ladies, and the former for young gentle- 
 men. These institutions are well patronized, 
 well conducted, and stand high in the estima- 
 tion of the church to which they belong. 
 
 Ligonier is on the same turnpike, about ten 
 miles east of Youngstown. We have already 
 mentioned that here was a stronghold during 
 the Indian troubles of the last century. At 
 the time of Forbes' expedition it was known 
 as Loyalhanna. It may be remembered that 
 after the defeat of Major Grant at Fort Pitt, 
 the enemy attacked Colonel Boquet in his 
 camp at Loyalhanna, but were driven off with 
 loss. Shortly after this we find that the place 
 was known as Fort Ligonier. An attack was 
 also made upon this fort in 1763, but as unsuc- 
 cessfully as before. The site of the old fort is 
 still remembered, and numerous bullets, and 
 other relics of the battle-field, have been found 
 in the neighborhood. Ligonier is a pleasant 
 village, and finely located. The surrounding 
 country, which is known as Ligonier valley, 
 is one of the most beautiful and productive 
 districts in western Pennsylvania. The citi- 
 zens of Ligonier are a quiet, unambitious, in- 
 
146 The History op 
 
 telligent people, and their town is one of the 
 most pleasant villages to be found. 
 
 Oak Grove and Waterford are two small vil- 
 lages lying on the road leading from Ligonier 
 to Johnstown, and at the distances respectively 
 of three miles and five miles from the former. 
 In the neighborhood is a furnace. 
 
 Laughlinstown is a small place three miles 
 east of Ligonier, and just at the foot of the 
 Laurel Hill. Like all turnpike towns, it is 
 going to decay. Modern improvements have 
 supplanted in a great measure the turnpikes 
 and canals of a former era, and the old-fash- 
 ioned roadside villages are finding themselves 
 left "out in the cold." Li the vicinity of 
 Laughlinstown are two or three furnaces that, 
 w^e believe, are now entirely abandoned. 
 
 Bairdstoimi lies on the Conemaugh, just op- 
 posite Blairsville, with which it is connected 
 by a bridge. The turnpike passes through it, 
 and also the obsolete Pennsylvania Canal. This 
 town lies chiefly along the face of a hill called 
 Baird's Hill. Wlien the canal w^as in all its 
 glory, Bairdstown contained several extensive 
 boat-yards. The sides of the canal were cov- 
 ered with large warehouses, stables, and so 
 forth, some of which have since disappeared, 
 while the rest have fallen into disuse. There 
 
The Conemaugh. 147" 
 
 is but little business now carried on in tbe 
 town. 
 
 Livermore is a small village on tbe canal,, 
 about six miles below Bairdstown. The West- 
 ern Pennsylvania Railroad now passes through 
 it, which will preserve it from absolute decay. 
 
 New Alexandria, or, as it is more frequently 
 called, Dennisontown, is on the old northern; 
 turnpike, about eight miles west of Blairsville. 
 It is an incorporated town, and has a popula- 
 tion of three or four thousand inhabitants. It 
 is not now as thriving as when the turnpike 
 was in more general use. 
 
 Fairfield lies four miles south of ISTew Flor- 
 ence, on a public road leading from the latter 
 place to Ligonier. It contains two churches, 
 a school house, several stores, a couple of ho- 
 tels, and other public places of business. In 
 the churchyard lie the remains of several of 
 the early pioneers of this section of country, 
 who were killed by the Indians, 
 
 Indiana County. 
 
 Nineveh is an old, decayed village, on the 
 canal, about one mile north of Mneveh sta- 
 ^tion. It contains a saw mill, tavern, and a 
 few dwelling houses. 
 
148 The History of 
 
 Centerville in also on the canal, lying imme- 
 diately opposite Kew Florence. A bridge 
 across the Conemaugh connects the two vil- 
 lages. Centerville is an old town, and was 
 formerly in a more prosperous condition than 
 at present. An old Indian village is said to 
 have stood near where Centerville now stands. 
 This is believed to have been called Kiskeme- 
 neco, and was visited by Post and his party in 
 [N'ovember, 1758. At three o'clock of the 
 same day on which they passed through Kick- 
 enapawling, they came to Kiskemeneco, which 
 Post describes as "an old Indian town, a rich 
 bottom, well timbered, good fine grass, well 
 watered, and lays waste since the war began." 
 It was within half-a-day's ride of Kickenapaw- 
 ling, and from the name was evidently situated 
 somewhere upon the Kiskiminetas or Cone- 
 maugh river. 
 
 Fillmore., on the Conemaugh, just opposite to 
 Livermore, is a small village. A bridge con- 
 nects the two places. 
 
 Saltsburg lies at the confluence of the Cone- 
 maugh and Loyalhanna. It is about twelve 
 miles from Blairsville. It derives its name 
 from the numerous salt works in its vicinity. 
 The discovery of salt at this place has been 
 already described. This was one of the earliest 
 
The Conemaugh. 149 
 
 permanent settlements in the county, as tliere 
 were cabins standing here as early as 1800. 
 Saltsburg is a thriving little town. The Penn- 
 sylvania canal and the "Western Pennsylvania 
 Eailroad pass through it. It contains a number 
 of stores, hotels, shops, and so forth. 
 
 Clarksburg is on the Black Legs creek, ^yq 
 miles northeast of Saltsburg. It contains tAvo 
 churches, several stores, a school house, tan- 
 nery, a grist mill, a saw mill, a tavern, and other 
 buildings. 
 
 Elder's Bidge is four miles north-west ot 
 Saltsburg, on the road leading from Saltsburg 
 to Elderton, in Armstrong county. It is a 
 small village, and only important as being the 
 seat of a first class Presbyterian academy, 
 which has long been conducted by the Eev. 
 Alex. Donaldson, D. D., a gentleman of fine 
 abilities and of eminent success in his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 Lewisville is -^Ye miles east of Clarksburg, on 
 the road going from Clarksburg to Blairsville. 
 It is a small town. It contains a church, store, 
 post office, tannery, and other buildings. 
 
 Jacksonville lies on the road leading from 
 Saltsburg to Indiana, and is ten miles from the 
 latter town. It also contains a fine academy, 
 and is a thriving little place. 
 
150 The History op 
 
 Homer is a smart village on the Indiana 
 'Branch railroad, about six miles from Indiana. 
 It was laid out about the year 1855, by the late 
 William Wilson, Esq. It contains a church, 
 school house, several stores, a hotel, grist mill, 
 a large steam saw mill, a tannery, and other 
 improvements. The place is improving rapidly, 
 and seems destined to become an important 
 town. 
 
 Mechanicshurg is a pleasant, prosperous vil- 
 lage on th^ road leading from Homer to 
 Strongstown, six miles from Homer. It con- 
 tains an academy, several stores, hotels, and 
 ^so forth. 
 
 New Washington is on the northern turnpike 
 two miles west of Armagh. It contains a tav- 
 -ern, store, and so forth. 
 
 Armagh is an old village on the turnpike, 
 * about fourteen miles east of Blairsville, and 
 two miles from Nineveh station. It lies near 
 'the base of the Laurel Hill on the western side. 
 Its location is elevated and healthful, and the 
 -surrounding country is beautiful and fertile. 
 The village contains a church, store, hotel, 
 ' shook-shop, and other buildings. It is not so 
 prosperous now as when the turnpike was the 
 great highway from the east to the west. 
 
 The Indiana Iron Works are situated in a 
 
The CoNEMAuan. 151 
 
 deep valley about two miles from Conemaugh 
 furnace. A furnace was built here by Henry 
 iN'oble, about the year 183T. Having passed 
 into the hands of Elias Baker, about the year 
 1848 it was torn down, and a new furnace built. 
 A forge was built close by a short time after- 
 ward. It has gone to decay. The furnace is 
 at present in successtul operation. A bucket 
 factory formerly stood on the site of these 
 works. It was built about the year 1828, and 
 was owned by Hart & Thompson. The Indi- 
 ana Iron "Works are at present better known as 
 Baker's furnace. 
 
 Blacklick Furnace was built in 1844, by David 
 Stewart. It is situated three miles from Ar- 
 magh, on a public road leading from the Indi- 
 ana Iron Works to Strongstown. It is not now 
 in operation. 
 
 In this neighborhood are two other aban- 
 doned enterprises of the same kind : — Buena 
 Vista Furnace and Eliza Furnace. The first 
 of these is on the road leading from Armagh 
 to Indiana, about two miles north of the former 
 town. It was built by Henry M' Clelland about 
 the year 1847. Eliza Furnace was built by 
 David Hitter, about the same time. It was 
 located near the junction of the north and south 
 forks of the Blacklick, about six miles east of 
 Armagh. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE CAMBRIA IRON WORKS. 
 
 If Johnstown is the metropolis of the Cone- 
 maugh valley, it is owing entirely to the 
 Cambria Iron Works. We have seen that 
 prior to 1853, at which time these works were 
 established, the town was a rather unimpor- 
 tant aflair. It is true, the Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road, which was completed about this time, 
 might have had the effect of causing some 
 improvement to be made in it, though to 
 what extent it is of course impossible to say. 
 But whatever advantage the construction of 
 that thoroughfare might have been to the 
 town, there is no question that it would have 
 been vastly more than counterpoised by the 
 subsequent sale and abandonment of the old 
 main line. 
 
 The credit of establishing this mammoth 
 enterprise is mainly due to the Hon. George 
 S. King, of Johnstown. Mr. King, in com- 
 pany with others, owned several furnaces, and 
 large tracts of ore land in the neighborhood 
 of this place. About 1852, stockholders and 
 capital were secured, and a company was forth- 
 
The Conemaugh. 153 
 
 with organized under the general manufactur- 
 ing law of June 14th, 1836. The capital re- 
 quired by the act of incorporation was one 
 million of dollars. Operations were at once 
 commenced. A large and well constructed 
 frame building was put up. The building was 
 in the form of a cross ; the main part was six 
 hundred feet long and one hundred feet wide, 
 and the transverse part three hundred and 
 fifty feet in length and seventy-five feet in width- 
 It contained a large amount of heavy machin- 
 ery, which was set in motion by five powerful 
 steam engines. 
 
 The works were kept in operation by the 
 original company for some time, but did not 
 prosper. In May, 1855, they were leased for 
 a term of years by "Wood, Morrell & Co. In 
 the hands of this company new life was in- 
 fused into the enterprise. The works were 
 set going to their fullest capacity, and an air 
 of activity, energy and prosperity was every- 
 where apparent. 
 
 In the summer of 1857, however, a casualty 
 befel the rolling mill that threatened at the 
 time to put a qietus to its career of prosperity 
 and usefulness, and plunge the town back into 
 the state of torpidity from which it was just 
 emerging. About six o'clock, Saturday even- 
 
154 The History of 
 
 ing, August 1st, of that year, the mill was 
 discovered to be on fire. The fire had origi- 
 nally broken out in a small out building con- 
 tiguous to the mill, from which it was speedily 
 communicated to the latter. The lumber of 
 which the building was composed being thor- 
 oughly dried by the sun of summer and the 
 constant heat of the furnaces within, took fire 
 with the quickness of tinder, and in a compar- 
 atively few minutes after the first outbreak of 
 the fire, the whole immense structure was en- 
 veloped in flames. The tidings spread through 
 the town with the greatest rapidity, and in a 
 very brief space of time a vast concourse of 
 spectators had collected to witness the destruc- 
 tion they were powerless to prevent. The 
 scene struck terror and dismay to the hearts 
 of the assembled thousands.* 
 
 The work of destruction, however, was soon 
 over, and the spot where a few hours before 
 had stood the mammoth rolling mill, was cov- 
 ered only with blackened and smouldering 
 ru»ins. The mill had contained twenty-one 
 double and eleven single heating furnaces, and 
 a large amount of valuable machinery, together 
 with a set of rolls of an improved kind that 
 bad been put up but a day or two before. The 
 
 *See Cambria Tribune, August 5, 1857. 
 
The Conemaugh. 155 
 
 loss amounted to fully one hundred thousand 
 dollars ; and, but for the massive and durable 
 character of the principal part of the machinery, 
 it would have been vastly greater. 
 
 The work of erecting a new mill was imme- 
 diately commenced. The rubbish was cleared 
 away and temporary wooden sheds were put 
 up, in which business was at once resumed. 
 These were replaced as fast as possible by a 
 building of a more substantial and creditable 
 character. By the latter part of the same 
 month the works were again in operation as 
 vigorously and prosperously as before, and the 
 rebuilding of the mill carried on to a consider- 
 able stage. It is a remarkable fact that this 
 building, one of the largest and best constructed 
 works of the kind in the world, was erected 
 over the heads of the numerous workmen con- 
 nected with the mill, without causing a single 
 accident to any one, or interfering in any 
 degree with the course of operations within. 
 
 The new building is of brick, and is covered 
 with a roof of slate. It stands upon the site 
 of the old mill, as we have said, though it is 
 somewhat larger in every direction. It was 
 completed in 1858. In 1863, another mill, 
 three hundred feet long by one hundred feet 
 wide, was built. It stands parallel with the old 
 
156 Thb History of 
 
 mill, and not more than thirty or forty feet 
 distant, and is connected with it by a wing. 
 Another mill is now in course of erection. It 
 is attached to the northern end of the trans- 
 verse portion of the old mill. It will coyer 
 over an acre of ground. These buildings are 
 designed to be all of the same style of archi- 
 tecture and finish. There are now in operation 
 twenty-two heating furnaces and thirty double 
 puddling furnaces, a train of rail-rolls, squeezers, 
 and other machinery necessary to a complete 
 rolling mill. The machinery used in these 
 works is of the most improved kinds. There 
 are three vertical steam engines, and the fly- 
 wheels are immense castings weighing forty 
 tons, and make as high as seventy-five or eighty 
 revolutions per minute. A writer in one of 
 the daily papers published in Pittsburgh, thus 
 describes the process of manufacturing railroad 
 iron at this mill : " The ore is taken from the 
 mines near the works, and after being put 
 through the roasting process, which requires 
 some time, it is thrown into the blast furnaces, 
 of which there are four in number, capable 
 of running one hundred and ninety tons 
 each per week; thence the metal is transferred 
 to the puddling furnaces, and after under- 
 going the process of puddling, it goes thence 
 
The Conemaugh. 157 
 
 through the squeezers, and thence through the 
 puddle rolls, when it is ready for the heating 
 furnaces. After being heated in the latter, it 
 is prepared for its final rolling into bars." 
 These works employ about twenty-seven hun- 
 dred hands, and from three hundred to four 
 hundred head of horses and mules. The 
 amount of finished rails made here in the 
 year 1864, was about forty thousand tons. 
 The capacity of the works, when the part now 
 building is completed, will be from 60 to 
 70,000 tons. There are over thirty-five engines 
 employed in driving the works ; the waste 
 heat from the heating and puddling furnaces 
 generating all the steam required. A visit to 
 these works after night, when they are in full 
 operation, causes one to think of old Vulcan 
 and his assistants forging thunderbolts for Jove 
 in their smithy under Mount Etna. 
 
 In 1864, valuable additions were made to 
 these works by the building of a new black- 
 smith shop, machine and pattern shop, and a 
 foundry. The blacksmith shop is an octagon 
 of 74 feet diameter. It contains sixteen fires, 
 which are blown by means of a large fan that 
 is kept in motion by steam. The fire-places 
 are smoke-consuming, and the interior of this 
 model blacksmith shop, which is neatly paint- 
 
158 The History of 
 
 ed and whitewashed, is as clean and tidy as a 
 dry goods store. The machine and pattern 
 shop is two hundred and twelve feet long, and 
 sixty-four feet wide. The foundry is one hun- 
 dred and forty-eight feet in length, and sev- 
 enty in breadth. These new buildings all 
 stand contiguous to the main works. They 
 are of brick, and covered with slate, and are 
 furnished with all appliances calculated to 
 secure comfort to the workmen, and to facili- 
 tate their work. 
 
 Besides the large quantities of metal manu- 
 factured for the use of these works by the 
 furnaces mentioned above, vast amounts of 
 pig metal, worn out railroad iron, car wheels, 
 and old metal of a miscellaneous description, 
 are used. The metal yard, where the shipping 
 and unshipping of rails and iron are carried 
 on, presents a scene of activity second only 
 to the interior of the mill itself. Acres of 
 ground, almost, are sometimes literally cover- 
 ed to the depth of many feet with the new 
 rails ready for transportation, and old metal 
 brought there to be worked over. 
 
 Perhaps no iron works in the world are so 
 well situated with reference to the raw ma- 
 terial to be worked up, as well as to facilities 
 for shipping its products to market. The ore, 
 
The Conemaugh. 159 
 
 coal, and so forth, necessary to the carrying 
 on of the works are right at hand. Railways 
 are constructed leading from the mines right 
 to the place where these minerals are wanted, 
 without having to transport them a long dis- 
 tance, and subject them to repeated handling. 
 The great Pennsylvania Railroad passes within 
 a few rods of the works, and branches con- 
 nect with it, thus affording excellent means 
 for shipping the rails here manufactured to 
 every section of the country. 
 
 For the accommodation of the employees 
 of this immense enterprise, comfortable dwell- 
 ing houses have been erected by the company. 
 These houses are to be counted by scores. 
 They do not present that squalid, crowded, 
 uncomfortable appearance which is character- 
 istic of the tenement houses that are usually 
 huddled around similar works. These houses 
 are large and well constructed, and are in 
 general better adapted than three-fourths of 
 the dwelling houses any where. Each family 
 has its suite of apartments distinct and sepa- 
 rate from its neighbors, or in many instances 
 a house to itself, roomy and comfortable. 
 These dwellings are rented only to the em- 
 ployees of the mill. The rents are not high, 
 and the houses are kept in constant good 
 
160 The History of 
 
 repair. This company can afford to be munifi- 
 cent towards its employees, and it is so. 
 
 Connected with these works are stores and 
 shops of different kinds. There is a large dry 
 goods store, a grocery, and a meat market. 
 There is a blacksmith shop, a carpenter shop, 
 and shops where shoemaking, tailoring, paint- 
 ing, cabinet making, wagon making, harness 
 making, and so forth, are carried on. These 
 various establishments do an immense amount 
 of business, which is felt all through the town. 
 To take away the rolling mill and its influences, 
 Johnstown would be something like the play 
 of Hamlet with the part of Hamlet left out. 
 It is the all-important feature of the town — 
 the great centre of industry, from which all 
 other enterprises receive their stimulus. The 
 amount of business transacted by this estab- 
 lishment may be judged from the fact that the 
 internal revenue tax alone, paid by this com- 
 pany for the year 1865, will be over tioo hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, or more than one half of 
 the total amount collected in the district 
 during the year. "We venture to say that there 
 are but few corporations in the country that 
 pay a larger tax of this kind. The pre-emi- 
 nent success of this establishment is greatly 
 attributable to the excellent management of 
 
The Conemaugh. 161 
 
 Daniel J. Morrell, Esq., the accomplislied resi- 
 dent partner of the firm, and Mr. Gleorge 
 Fritz, the efficient engineer of the works. In 
 the hands of these gentlemen the Camhria 
 Iron "Works have acquired an extent, com- 
 pleteness, and influence unsurpassed by any 
 similar works in the world. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OTHER EKTEEPEISES. 
 
 The Johnstown Manufacturing Company. 
 
 This company was organized in the year 1864. 
 Its operations are necessarily yet in their in- 
 cipiency. The company comprises some of 
 the wealthiest and ablest members of the two 
 greatest corporations in Pennsylvania — the 
 Pennsylvania Eailroad and the Cambria Iron 
 companies. The business of this company is 
 at present limited to the Woolen Mill and the 
 Steam Brichy^ard. The woolen factory, begun 
 in 1864 and finished in 1865, is situated in the 
 new and what promises to be the prosperous 
 town of Woodvale. The main building is 
 fifty by seventy-five feet, and to this is added 
 a wing forty by twenty-five feet. The walls 
 of the entire structure are of brick, and four 
 stories high, the distance from fioor to floor 
 being about twelve feet. The frame-work is 
 of heavy timber.* The roof is covered with 
 
 * Johnstown Tribune, Jan. 27th, 1865. 
 
The Conemaugh. 168 
 
 slate, and the whole surmounted by a hand- 
 some cupola. The woodwork is all neatly 
 painted, and the building altogether presents 
 an imposing appearance, standing, as it does, 
 entirely detached from any other building. A 
 boiler and dye-house, boarding-house, store- 
 rooms, and dwelling houses, have also been 
 erected, all on a scale corresponding with the 
 extent of the factory, and the means of this 
 company. The entire machinery of this large 
 establishment will be of the most improved 
 kinds. Constant employment will be given to 
 about one hundred and fifty operatives. The 
 agent for the factory advertises for 300,000 
 pounds of wool per annum, thus encouraging 
 the business of wool-growing in this and the 
 adjacent counties. This business ought to 
 be very productive in this mountainous re- 
 gion, and with the reliable home market 
 which this establishment will afford, it ought 
 to become the most remunerative employment 
 in which our farmers can engage. This fac- 
 tory will gradually attract around it other in- 
 dustrial establishments, until the pleasant 
 little village of Woodvale will become the 
 most busy and prosperous suburb of Johns- 
 town. 
 
 On the opposite side of the Conemaugh 
 
164 The History of 
 
 from Woodvale is the extensive Steam Brick- 
 yard of this company. The old Portage Eail- 
 road passes through it, and a track leading 
 from the brickyard to Conemaugh station, a 
 distance of nearly a mile, where it intersects 
 with the Pennsylvania Railroad, affords an 
 easy means of transportation for the bricks 
 made here. The extent of this establishment, 
 and the modus operandi of brick making, as 
 practiced here, may be seen from the follow- 
 ing account chiefly compiled from the "Johns- 
 town Tribune," January 27th, 1865: 
 
 We found sixteen hands at work in the va- 
 rious departments of the brickyard. The 
 brick are manufactured by the patent steam 
 machinery of Chambers, Brother & Co., of 
 Philadelphia. The clay, which is obtained 
 from a four-foot bed covering ten or fifteen 
 :acres of the company's lands immediately ad- 
 joining the factory, is converted into brick 
 ready for drying at the rate of a cart-load 
 every ten minutes, or forty-eight bricks every 
 minute. The process is this: The clay is 
 dumped from the cart into a hopper, whence, 
 after being thoroughly pulverized, it is forced, 
 in a continuous thread, through an aperture 
 of proper shape, and is taken up by a leather 
 or gum belt which is kept in motion by a series 
 
The Conemaugh. 165 
 
 of little wheels. This belt carries the moulded 
 clay to a revolving knife, which cuts off a brick 
 at each revolution. The brick thus formed 
 is picked up by another belt, which carries 
 it under a box from which sand is constantly 
 sifted, after which it is, in winter, carried to 
 the drying-house by hand. There are two 
 large drying-houses, each forty by seventy feet. 
 The bricks are laid upon the floors, and dried 
 ready for the kiln in about thirty-six hours. 
 These floors are heated by flues — forty flues 
 to each floor — the heat being generated by 
 twenty-four furnaces in all. For summer dry- 
 ing they have numerous spacious sheds. The 
 bricks are burnt in the usual manner. They 
 are much smoother than those made in the 
 old-fashioned way, and are said to be much 
 stronger and more durable. The company 
 have just completed a new kiln of a capacity for 
 burning 300,000 bricks at once. The number 
 of hands now employed is about thirty. 
 
 The Johnstawn Manufacturing Company 
 possess a cash capital of two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. It and Woodvale, and the brick 
 factory, are now established institutions of our 
 town. Because of the magnitude of the en- 
 terprise which they unitedly represent, and of 
 the vast influence' for good they are destined 
 
166 The History of 
 
 to exert upon the future of tliis locality, we 
 have deemed them worthy of this extended 
 notice. 
 
 The engine used in this establishment is one 
 of a forty horse power, and the pressure used 
 in forcing the clay through the fannel, is equal 
 to a weight of seven hundred tons, and yet 
 the machinery works as smoothly, and with 
 as much apparent ease, as the turning of a 
 grindstone."^ 
 
 With all these vast facilities, these brick- 
 making works are constantly kept in opera- 
 tion to their full capacity, and yet the supply 
 is unequal to the demand. This fact alone is 
 one of the strongest evidences of the won- 
 derful improvements continually going on in 
 Johnstown and vicinity ; for scarcely a brick 
 of all the hundreds of thousands made here 
 every month is ever carried to a distance. 
 
 The Johnstown Mechanical "Works. 
 
 This establishment is located in Conemaugh 
 Borough. As the best sketch of its extent 
 and design, we present the following, which 
 has been compiled from the "Johnstown Tri- 
 bune," and the "Johnstown Democrat," 1865: 
 
 * Johnstown Democrat, 1865. 
 
The Conbmaugh. 16T 
 
 The ground upon which, the Works are 
 located embraces seven lots, fronting 350 feet 
 on Portage street and running back 180 feet to 
 the Little Conemaugh. On the northwest 
 corner stands the car and machine shop, the 
 dimensions of which are 136 by 100 feet, the 
 principal entrance being from Portage street. 
 The old foundry stands in line with the new 
 building, a private street about fifty feet wide 
 dividing them. Attached to the foundry is 
 the office. On the northeast coiner of the 
 company's grounds is located a new stable, and 
 on the southeast corner there will soon be placed 
 the dwelling-house for the night watchman, 
 which now stands a few rods nearer the foundry. 
 The rest of the space is occupied as a lumber 
 yard and by tracks connecting the foundry with 
 the machine shop. 
 
 The plans of the company embrace the tear- 
 ing down of the foundry building, and the 
 erection in its stead, but at right angles with 
 it, of an entirely new structure, to be 125 feet 
 long, 42 feet wide, 20 feet high to the eaves, 
 and 42 feet to the comb of the roof. This 
 structure is to contain the foundry proper and 
 the blacksmith shop. In the latter will be eight 
 fires. Attached to the eastern end of the 
 building will be an L, 40 feet long by 12 feet 
 
168 The History op 
 
 wide, whicli will contain tlie founder's cnpola 
 and the core oven. The cupola will be large 
 enough to melt four tons of pig metal at one 
 heat. The whole structure will be of bricky 
 covered with slate, and surmounted by an 
 apex twelve feet high, running the whole 
 length. 
 
 In the machine shop there are in full opera- 
 tion four lathes for turning iron, one iron planer, 
 two drill presses, one screw-cutting machine, 
 one punching machine, and one casting cleaner. 
 In the wood shop are two circular saws, two 
 planing machines — one a Daniels and the other 
 a Woodworth, one side planer, one sash, 
 moulding and slat machine, one power morti- 
 sing machine, two cut-off saws, two gig saws, 
 one tenonmg machine, one foot mortising 
 machine, one boring and shaping machine, and 
 two wood lathes. 
 
 The firm has over $50,000mvested, and they 
 intend to carry on a foundry, smithshop, ma- 
 chine shop, make railroad cars, manufacture 
 pumps, plane flooring and weather-boarding, 
 make cutting boxes, and, in short, make every 
 thing that a business community desires to be 
 done, all with choice lumber well seasoned by 
 steam. A railroad w^ill pass each side of the 
 building, thus facilitating transportation. 
 
Thb Conemaugh. 169 
 
 Such are the Johnstown Mechanical Works,- 
 past, present, and prospective. The organiza- 
 tion of the company, and the tearing down of 
 the old foundry to make room for the improve- 
 ments we have noted, mark an important era 
 in the history of Johnstown, and help to fix 
 with unerring certainty its destiny as one of 
 the principal manufacturing towns in the 
 Union. 
 
 This organization was formed in 1864. For-' 
 tune or misfortune forestalled the company in 
 their design of tearing away the old foundry, 
 as mentioned ahove, for on the night of the 5th 
 of June, 1865, it took fire and hurned to the 
 ground. The work of building a new foundry 
 on the extensive scale above described, is in 
 progress. 
 
 McConaughy's Steam Tannery. 
 
 This establishment stands on the right bank 
 of the Conemaugh, between the brids'e and 
 the aqueduct that connect Johnstown proper 
 with Millville borough. It was built by J. P, 
 McConaughy, Esq., in 1861, and supplanted 
 the old establishment that occupied the corner 
 of "Walnut and Canal streets, in Johnstown. 
 The chief part of this building is of brick, three 
 stories high, fronting fifty-two feet on Cinder 
 
ITO The History op 
 
 street, and extending back along the river 
 seventy-five feet. In tlie rear of this building 
 is a two-story extension of frame, fitty-two by 
 one hundred and twelve feet. Altogether, 
 this is one of the largest buildings in the town. 
 
 The ground floor of the front part of this 
 establishment is occupied by vats and the steam 
 engine. The vats are fifty-four in number. 
 The engine is of twenty horse-power, and runs 
 the bark mill, the machinery for rolling the 
 leather, and so forth, and is also used for heat- 
 ing the liquors in the vats. The second story 
 embraces a counting-room, warerooms, and so 
 on. The third story is in one large room, 
 exclusively used as a drying room, except one 
 corner, in which is the rolling machinery. In 
 the frame part are the leaches in which the 
 liquors used in the business are made. The 
 leaches are ten in number. These leaches and 
 vats are all connected together by subterranean 
 conduits. TJp-stairs in this building is the bark 
 mill. The rest of this building, as well as a 
 large shed adjacent, is used for stowing bark 
 in. About one thousand cords of bark are 
 used every year. 
 
 This establishment annually finishes not less 
 than eight thousand sides ot heavy sole leather. 
 This leather is of the very best quality, and is 
 manufactured exclusively for the eastern mar- 
 
Thb ConemjlUgh. 171 
 
 ket. This is by far the largest establishment 
 of the kind in this section of country. 
 
 Other Tanneries. 
 
 There are numerous other tanneries in the 
 valley of this river. The largest of these, after 
 McConaughy's, we believe, are Levergood's 
 and Dibert's, in Johnstown, the one at Blairs- 
 ville, and the one at Hillside. Smaller estab- 
 lishments of this kind are to be found in nearly 
 every village in the four counties. Tanning 
 has been largely followed in this part of the 
 country from its earliest settlement. One great 
 incentive thereto has always unquestionably 
 been the abundance of bark to be found on 
 every hand. Within late years the shipping 
 of this article to distant points has been exten- 
 sively carried on, and it is becoming noticeably 
 scarce where it was formerly to be found in 
 unlimited abundance. It now sells in Johns- 
 town, and other places along the line of the 
 railroad, as high as eight dollars per cord. 
 
 Haws* Cement Mill. 
 
 This establishment stands on the left bank 
 of the Conemaugh, a short distance below its 
 
172 Thi History of 
 
 confluence with the Stony Creek, and just at 
 the end of the Iron Bridge. It is situated on 
 a hlufl* perhaps fifty feet ahove the water. 
 
 A mill for the manufacture of hydraulic 
 cement was established in Johnstown by the 
 Commonwealth a great number of years ago. 
 The cement made by it was used exclusively 
 on the public works. This mill stood at the 
 eastern end of the aqueduct, and was run by 
 water conducted from the canal for that purpose. 
 It was a small affair. It subsequently passed 
 into other hands, and about the year 1852, it 
 was transferred to the spot where it now stands. 
 In 1857, it came into the hands of A. J. Haws, 
 Esq., the present proprietor. 
 
 Though this enterprise is known simply as 
 the Cement Mill, it is really something more. 
 In it are made hydraulic cement, fire brick, and 
 ground fire clay. The machinery of the mill 
 is of the most ponderous character, and is run 
 by an eighty horse-power engine. The amount 
 of business annually done at this mill may be 
 set down at 7,500 barrels of cement, 1,200,000 
 fire brick, and 600 tons of ground fire clay. 
 The ground fire clay is used for making the 
 mortar in which the fire brick are laid. 
 
 The material of which the fire brick are made 
 is called whetstone clay, and is found at Min- 
 
The Conemaugh. 173 
 
 ersil Point, about nine miles east of the works* 
 In the hill just behind the works is a vein ot 
 cement stone, seven feet thick, and resting 
 upon it is a vein of excellent coal three and a 
 half feet thick. Some sixty feet above is 
 another vein of coal two and a half feet thick, 
 and just under it a three foot vein of plastic 
 lire clay. Above these again is another vein 
 of coal four feet thick. Such an abundance of 
 minerals in the near neighborhood makes this 
 one of the very best localities that could be 
 desired for such an establishment. The rail- 
 road, passing, as it does, within fifty feet of the 
 mill, affords the best facilities for bringing the 
 whetstone clay to the works, and for exporting 
 the cement, and so forth, to market. The 
 Cambria Iron Works are supplied with fire 
 brick, cement, and ground fire clay by this milL 
 
 Oil Wells. 
 
 We have already stated that strong indica- 
 tions of oil exist in the valley of the Cone- 
 maugh. In the search for this article many 
 wells have been sunk. The traveler through 
 this valley will frequently meet with them. 
 Lofty derricks stand throughout the country 
 as plentifully as gibbets in England during 
 
174 The History of 
 
 tlie reign of Queen Elizabeth. They are to 
 be seen by the water-courses, by the roadside, 
 and in lonely fields. They have generally 
 been abandoned, their owners having verified 
 the saying of Banquo — 
 
 "The earth hath bubbles as the water has." 
 
 These Avells, we believe, are most numerous 
 in the neighborhood of Blairsville. Some of 
 them are promising enterprises, oil having 
 been actually obtained, though aa yet not in 
 sufficient quantities to make them profitable. 
 There is no doubt that oil abounds in the val- 
 ley of this river, and that it will finally be 
 made available by capital and perseverance. 
 
 Saw Mills. 
 
 Saw mills are very numerous in the section 
 of country embraced in the Conemaugh val- 
 ley. Several of these are extensive enter- 
 prises. Lumbering, in the northern part of 
 Indiana and Cambria counties, is a very flour- 
 ishing and important business. Timber, in 
 nearly every portion of the valley, is sufficient- 
 ly abundant to render the business of sawing 
 remunerative. Large quantities of hemlock, 
 pine, ash, cherry, and poplar lumber, are ex- 
 ported. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 In tliis cliapter we shall present biograpliical 
 Bketclies of some of tlie prominent early settlera 
 of tlie Conemaugli valley. 
 
 Rev. D. a. Gtallitzin. 
 
 Rev. Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin died at 
 Loretto on the 6th of May, 1840. For forty- 
 two years he exercised pastoral functions in 
 Cambria county. The venerable deceased was 
 born in 17T0, at Munster, in Germany. His 
 father, Prince De Gallitzin, ranked among the 
 highest nobility in Russia. His mother was 
 the daughter of Field Marshal General de 
 Schmeltan, a celebrated officer under Frederick 
 the Great. Her brother fell at the battle of 
 Jena. The deceased held a high commission 
 in the Russian army from his infancy. Europe, 
 in the early part of his life, was desolated by 
 war — the French revolution burst like a volcano 
 upon that convulsed continent : it offered no 
 facilities or attractions for travel, and it was 
 
176 The History of 
 
 determined that the young Prince de Gallitzin 
 ehould visit America. He landed in Baltimore 
 in August, 1782, in company with Rev. Mr. 
 Brosius. By a train of circumstances in which 
 the hand of Providence was strikingly visible, 
 his mind was directed to the ecclesiastical state, 
 and he renounced forever his brilliant prospects. 
 Already endowed with a splendid education, 
 lie was the more prepared to pursue his eccle- 
 eiastical studies under the venerable Bishop 
 Carroll, at Baltimore, with facility and euccess. 
 Having completed his theological course, he 
 Bpent some time on the mission in Maryland. 
 
 In the year 1789, he directed his course to 
 Hie Alleghany mountain, and found that por- 
 tion of it which now constitutes Cambria county 
 a perfect wilderness, almost without inhabitants 
 or habitations. After incredible labor and 
 privations, and expending a princely fortune, 
 lie succeeded in making "the wilderness blos- 
 som as a rose." His untiring zeal has collected 
 about Loretto, his late residence, a Catholic 
 population of three or four thousand. He not 
 only extended the church by his missionary 
 toils, but also illustrated and defended the 
 truth by several highly useful publications. 
 His "Defence of Catholic Principles" has gained 
 merited celebrity both here and in Europe. 
 
The Conemaugh. 177 
 
 Li this extraordinary man we have not only 
 to admire his renunciation of the brightest 
 hopes and prospects ; his indefatigable zeal — 
 but something greater and rarer — his wonderful 
 humility. 'No one could ever learn from him 
 or his mode of life, what he had been, or what 
 he had exchanged for privation and poverty. 
 
 To intimate to him that you were aware of 
 his condition, would be sure to pain and dis- 
 please him. He who might have reveled in 
 the princely halls of his ancestors, was content 
 to spend thirty years in a rude log cabin, almost 
 denying himself the common comforts of life, 
 that he might be able to clothe the naked 
 members of Jesus Christ, the poor and dis- 
 tressed. Few have left behind them such 
 examples of charity and benevolence. On the 
 head of no one have been invoked so many 
 blessings from the mouths of widows and 
 orphans. It may be literally said of him " if his 
 heart had been been made of gold he would 
 have disposed of it all in charity to the poor."* 
 
 To this sketch may be properly appended 
 the following: 
 
 Princess Amalia Gallitzin, a lady distin- 
 guished for talent and a strong propensity to 
 mysticism. She was the daughter of count 
 
 * Mountaineer, May 14, 1840. 
 
178 The History op 
 
 Sclimeltan, aud lived, during a part of her 
 youth, at the court of the wife of prince Fer- 
 dinand, brother of Frederick the Great. She 
 was married to the Russian prince, Gallitzin ; 
 and, as much of his time was passed in trav- 
 eling, she chose Munster, in the center of Ger- 
 many, lor her permanent residence Here she 
 assembled around her some of the most dis- 
 tinguished men of the age, Hemsterhuis, Ha- 
 mann, Jacobi, Goethe, Furstenberg, and others. 
 The two first were her most intimate friends. 
 She was an ardent Catholic, and strongly giv- 
 en to making proselytes. With the exception 
 of her excessive religious zeal, she was an ex- 
 cellent lady in every respect. In the education 
 of her children, she followed Rousseau's sys- 
 tem. The princess is the Diotima to whom 
 Hemsterhuis, under the name of DioJdas, ad- 
 dressed his work On Atheism. She died, in 
 1806, near Munster. Her only son was a 
 missionary in America.* 
 
 General Arthur St. Clair. 
 
 General St. Clair was born at Edinburg, in 
 Scotland, and accompanied the fleet under 
 Admiral Boscawen to America, in 1755. He 
 
 * Uncyclopsedia Americana, VoL V. p. 361. 
 
The Conemaugh. 179 
 
 was a lieutenant in the British army under 
 General "Wolfe. When the French war was 
 closed, he had command of Fort Ligonier 
 assigned to him ; and also received a grant of 
 one thousand acres of land in that vicinity, 
 which he fancifully chose to lay out in the 
 form of a circle. Here he settled, and was 
 appointed to several civil offices under the 
 government of Pennsylvania. When the 
 Kevolution commenced, he embraced the 
 American cause, and in January, 1776, wa& 
 appointed to command a battalion of Penn- 
 Bylvania militia. He was engaged in the 
 expedition to Canada, and was second in com- 
 mand in the proposed attack on the British 
 post at Trois Kiviers. He was afterwards in 
 the battle of Trenton, and had the credit of 
 suggesting the attack on the British at Prince- 
 ton, which proved so fortunate. In August, 
 1776, he was appointed a brigadier, and in 
 February, 1777, major-general. He was the 
 commanding officer at Ticonderoga when that 
 post was invested by the British, and evacu- 
 ated it July 6, 1777, with such secrecy that a 
 considerable part of the public stores were 
 safely conveyed away. Charges of cowardice, 
 treachery, and incapacity were brought against 
 him in consequence, but a court of inquiry 
 
180 The History of 
 
 honorably acquitted him. He afterwards 
 joined the army under General Greene, in the 
 south, and at the close of the war returned to 
 his former residence. In 1783, he was a 
 member of the Executive Council of Penn- 
 sylvania, and the same year was elected presi- 
 dent of the Cincinnati Society, of that State. 
 In 1785, he was elected to Congress, and in 
 February, 1787, was appointed president of 
 that body. In October following, he was ap- 
 pointed governor of the territory of the United 
 States northwest of the Ohio, an office w^hich 
 he retained until ISTovember, 1803, when he 
 was removed by Jefierson in consequence of 
 the too free expression of his political opin- 
 ions. He had previously, in 1790, been the 
 unsuccessful candidate of the federal party, 
 against Gen. Mifflin, for the office of governor 
 of Pennsylvania, under the new constitution. 
 In 1791, he commanded an army against the 
 Miami Indians, and was defeated on the 4th 
 of iTovember, "with the loss of six or seven 
 hundred men. He was on that occasion worn 
 down by a fever, but neverthless exerted him- 
 self with a courage and presence of mind 
 worthy of a better fate. He was borne on a 
 litter to the different points of the battle- 
 ground, and in this condition directed the 
 
The Conbmaugh 181 
 
 movements of the troops. On this occasion 
 a portion of the citizens were loud in their 
 censure of his conduct; but a committee of 
 inquiry of the House of Representatives ac- 
 quitted him from blame. He resigned his 
 commission as major-general in 1792. With 
 the profuse liberality of a soldier, he became 
 reduced in his old age to poverty, and resided 
 in a dreary part of Westmoreland county, on 
 the Chestnut Eidge, a little south of the turn- 
 pike. He applied to Congress for relief. His 
 claims on the sympathy of his country were 
 listened to with indifference, and admitted 
 with reluctance. After a long suspense, he 
 obtained a pension of sixty dollars per month. 
 He died August 31st, 1818, in his eighty-fourth 
 year. * 
 
 Richard B. McCabe, Esq. 
 
 Richard Butler McCabe, Esq., first saw the 
 light in the county of Cumberland, now Perry, 
 in Pennsylvania, on the 5th day of August, 
 1792. His grandfather, Owen McCabe — in the 
 Colonial Records erroneously called McKibe — 
 was a native of Tyrone county, Ireland, and 
 came to this country at an early age. His first 
 
 ♦Day's Hist. Col. pp. 686, 687. 
 
182 The Histoky of 
 
 liome was in Lancaster countj, where lie 
 intermarried with. Catharine Sears, and subse- 
 quently moved with his wife and eldest son, 
 James, the father of Richard, to Sherman's 
 Valley; these two were the first white men who 
 settled in the valley. Their settlement was 
 named Tyrone township, in memory of the 
 childhood's home of the elder McCabe. Ty- 
 rone Iron Works and Tyrone City, on the 
 Central Railroad, also derive their name from 
 the same hardy pioneer. 
 
 The life of a settler in that unprotected fron- 
 tier country, constantly exposed to hostile 
 incursions of Indians, full of peril and hard- 
 ships of every kind, was well calculated to 
 educate him to endure with patience and 
 fortitude the toils and privations of camp life. 
 "When the "War of Independence broke out, 
 the brave old pioneer, with two hardy and 
 stalwart sons, Robert and William, in company 
 with Mcholas Hughs, Richard's maternal 
 grandfather, and two equally gallant sons, 
 shouldered arms and went to Bunker Hill. 
 This event was celebrated at the time in verse, 
 by a rustic poet of the neighborhood. 
 
 From the family of the deceased's mother 
 'descended the founders of many distinguished 
 and wealthy families of the south and west. 
 
The Conemaugh. 183 
 
 James McCabe, tlie father of Eicliard, was 
 regarded by bis cotemporariea as a man of tbe 
 purest integrity, scrupulously conscientious in 
 all bis dealings, brave, kind, and generous. 
 Before Forbes approached Fort Duquesne, or 
 Armstrong burnt Kittanning, a company was 
 formed at or near Carlisle, the first that ever, 
 in Pennsylvania, pursued the Indians as far as 
 the Alleghany Mountains. James McCabe 
 was a lieutenant in that company. The In- 
 dians had been down in Sherman's Valley, 
 plundering, capturing, and destroying. The 
 company pursued them as far as the heads of 
 Blacklick, in Cambria county; here they 
 halted, being without guides, and not knowing 
 how many foes they might have to encounter 
 west of the mountains, and turning back, 
 started for the Muncey towns, on the Susque- 
 hanna. 
 
 In 1795, the father of Richard died, leaving 
 the child in the exclusive care and control of 
 the widowed mother. The population being 
 sparse, she was almost his only companion, 
 and nobly did she perform the sacred duty 
 which her Heavenly Father had assigned her. 
 ***** 
 
 The period of his early boyhood passed ; he 
 left his quiet and romantic home in the coun- 
 
184 The History op 
 
 try, and was bound an apprentice to a carpen- 
 ter[; but not liking tbis occupation, be went to 
 Pbiladelpbia. Tbe war of 1812, baving just 
 broken out, be entered bimself on board a 
 privateer wbicb was about starting on a cruise; 
 but one of bis brotbers learning tbe facts, pre- 
 vented bis departure. Tbis was a most fortu- 
 nate occurrence, as tbe vessel proved to be a 
 pirate craft. Tbus diverted from bis purpose, 
 be went to Ricbmond, Ya., wbere, itistbougbt, 
 be read law for a sbort time. Returning again 
 to tbe interior of Pennsylvania, be became 
 clerk in a store. In 1815, be went to Pitts- 
 burg, passing tbrougb tbis county, [Indiana,] 
 tben almost a wilderness ; tbere be entered a 
 counting bouse, but soon returning to tbe 
 country, be passed a few years as clerk, and 
 finally manager, of several iron works. 
 
 Marrying about 1820, be removed to Har- 
 risburg, wbere be entered tbe office of tbe 
 Secretary of State. Wbile tbus engaged, be 
 returned to tbe study of tbe law, under tbe 
 supervision of tbe Attorney General of tbe 
 State, Mr. Elder. After bis admission to tbe 
 bar, be went to Huntingdon, and commenced 
 bis professional career. Subsequently be re- 
 moved to tbis county, w^bere be resided until 
 bis deatb — a period of more tban tbirty years. 
 
The Conbmaugh. 185 
 
 He enjoyed for the most of the time a lucra- 
 tive practice. During one term he served as 
 prothonotary of the county, and performed 
 the duties of the office to the entire satisfac- 
 tion of his fellow citizens. His antiquarian 
 researches were extensive ; no man knew more 
 of the early history of our State. He was a 
 frequent contributor to the periodical and 
 newspaper literature of his time; his style of 
 composition was simple and unadorned. He 
 was an admirable writer of narrative, and his 
 Brady, and other sketches, found in almost all 
 histories of Pennsylvania, are well known to 
 every school boy. At the close of his life he 
 was engaged upon a biography of the Priest 
 of the Alleghany Mountains, the Russian 
 prince, Gallitzin, which promised to be a most 
 charming and interesting work. 
 
 In his social intercourse, Mr. McCabe was 
 kind and obliging. His charity knew no 
 bounds; he gave treely, without hope, desire, 
 or expectation of reward. He did not permit 
 his left hand to know what his right did, and 
 many a widow and orphan had cause to bless, 
 without knowing who was the benefactor. 
 Modest almost to a fault, he abhorred parade 
 and show, and desired that his place of burial 
 should not be marked with stone or monu- 
 
186 The History of 
 
 ment, only by trees and flowers. In the family 
 circle lie was uniformly kind, gentle, and 
 cheerful, never permitting an ill-natured word 
 against a neighbor to be spoken in his pre- 
 sence without rebuke. In politics and religion, 
 lie was much in advance of the present age. 
 He spoke with scornful contempt of the tricks 
 of mere politicians. [N'o inducements of 
 worldly advancement or fortune were suf- 
 ficient to seduce him for a moment from the 
 path of rectitude. ISTo man can justly charge 
 him with a single departure trom truth and 
 honor. He died January 10th, 1860, in the 
 eighty-eighth year of his age. * 
 
 Hon. Moses Canan. 
 
 The old men, whose histories connect the 
 present generation with the past, are rapidly 
 passing away. Soon the last one, whose birth 
 dates back into the previous century, will be 
 gone. 
 
 Conspicuous among this class of deaths is 
 that of Hon. Moses Canan, who died Septem- 
 ber 29, 1863, in the 80th year of his age, more 
 than half of whose long life was spent in Cam- 
 bria county, in active participation in all things 
 
 * Blairsville Record, Jan. 25, 1860. 
 
The CoNEMi.uGH. 187 
 
 •connected with the prosperity of its people. 
 This fact will justify us in occupying more than 
 the usual space, in our paper, in giving a sketch 
 of the life and character of the deceased. 
 
 Judge Canan was horn in Huntingdon county, 
 Pa., March 1st, 1784. After enjoying the ad- 
 vantages of the best schools in the borough of 
 Huntingdon, at the age of sixteen he entered 
 Dickinson College at Carlisle, and enjoyed the 
 advantages of that excellent institution for four 
 years. He then entered the law office of Judge 
 Kawle, of Philadelphia, and pursued his studies 
 there for three years. In 1807, he was admitted 
 to the bar, soon after married, and at once en- 
 tered into an extensive and lucrative practice 
 in Huntingdon and adjoining counties. 
 
 A short time prior to the breaking out of the 
 war of 1812, the young attorney had located 
 himself on a beautiful farm on the "blue Juni- 
 ata," near Alexandria, in his native county, and 
 devoted a portion of his time to agricultural 
 pursuits. Surrounded by all the luxuries of 
 life, in the receipt of an ample income, enjoy- 
 ing all the bliss and happiness of domestic life 
 in the society of his youthful companion and 
 two little daughters, his was a home ardently 
 to be desired. But, in the midst of all this 
 domestic bliss, he heard his country call for 
 
188 The History of 
 
 brave men to repel an insolent foe, that would 
 trail, in foul dishonor, the glorious emblem of 
 his country's greatness. In answer to the call 
 he voluntarily forsook the comforts of home, 
 the society of his loved ones, and organizing a 
 company of volunteers, composed of his kins- 
 men and his boyhood companions, in the win- 
 ter of 1812-13, marched to the JS'iagara frontier. 
 
 His love of military life was always of the 
 most ardent kind, and he freely contributed of 
 his time and means informing and keeping up 
 military organizations. For many years he 
 was major of a battalion, Cambria county 
 volunteers. He organized, and for years com- 
 manded, the "Cambria Guards," a company of 
 the ''Frosty Sons of Thunder," which was the 
 germ from which sprang a company that aided 
 in planting the stars and stripes in the " Halls 
 of the Montezumas," as well as another which 
 has nobly defended the old flag, in many a hard 
 fought battle, since the commencement of the 
 present unholy rebellion. 
 
 So strong was the love of the deceased for 
 military life, and so true his patriotism and 
 devotion to country, that the infirmities of age, 
 alone, prevented him from again buckling on 
 his sword, and rushing to the defence of the 
 old flag when wantonly assailed by domestic 
 
Thb Conemaugh. 189 
 
 traitors. Although too old to take an active 
 part, his sympathies and his prayers were with 
 and for his country, and to his latest hour he 
 indulged the fond hope that the Union would 
 be preserved. 
 
 He attended the first court held in Cambria 
 county, in 1807, and for more than fifty years, 
 with one or two exceptions, was present at 
 every term. In the spring of 1818, he took 
 up his residence at Ebensburg, and became fully 
 identified with all the interests of the county. 
 His practice at this time, and for many years 
 subsequently, was very large in Cambria and 
 adjoining counties. He was retained on every 
 important suit, and was proverbial for the great 
 care with which he prepared his cases, and 
 for the fidelity with which he watched over the 
 interests of his clients. His even temper, 
 sociability, and kindness of heart made him a 
 favorite with all the members of the bar. He 
 retained their esteem during a long life, and, 
 as a body, they followed him to the tomb. 
 
 Extensive as was his practice, and greatly 
 occupied as was his time in the duties of his 
 profession, yet his great industry — his willing- 
 ness to work late and early, connected with 
 his regularity of habits, enabled him to devote 
 considerable time to literary pursuits. For 
 about 30 years he was more or less connected 
 
190 The History of 
 
 with the editorial department of Bome one of 
 the county papers. He was frequcnitly called 
 upon to deliver Fourth of July orations, and 
 lectures upon different subjects. In the prepa- 
 ration of his editorials, orations, and lectures,, 
 he bestowed great care. His style, as a writer, 
 was concise and pointed, and his productions 
 will compare favorably with those of the best 
 writers of his day. 
 
 In all things calculated to secure the im- 
 provement of the material condition of the 
 county, he freely gave his time and money. 
 Ever anxious to elevate the moral condition of 
 the people, his voice, his pen, and his purse, 
 were always freely employed in advocating 
 and supporting all movements in that direc- 
 tion. But, prominent among all others, was. 
 his desire to improve the intellectual condition 
 of the people. His efforts in this behalf were 
 unceasing, and the results were such as to 
 redound to his credit, and should cause, not 
 only his family, but the present and future 
 generations, to revere his memory. Through 
 his efforts an academy was established at the 
 county seat, endowed by the State, and sup- 
 plied with the best teachers the country could 
 afford. This institution gave to the country 
 many young men who have since distinguished 
 themselves in the pulpit, at the bar, in the 
 
The Conemaugh. 191 
 
 army, and in the varied duties of life. Upon 
 the first introduction of the free school system 
 it was violently opposed. In the front ranks 
 of its friends stood Judge Canan, who, sacri- 
 ficing political preferment, and every selfish 
 consideration, freely committed himself to the 
 task of defending the system and laboring for 
 its success. For many years he was a member 
 of the Board of School Directors, and lived 
 to see the system overcome the violent oppo- 
 sition of its enemies, and secure an abiding 
 place in the affections of the people. 
 
 A long life, usefully spent, is now ended. 
 The faithful attorney and upright judge — the 
 useful citizen and pure philanthropist — the 
 kind husband and indulgent father — the de- 
 voted patriot and consistent christian — has 
 departed. It can be truly said, he died as he 
 lived, ivithoiit cm enemy. He is gone from our 
 midst, but the memory of his usefulness — his 
 kindness of heart — his devotion to his coun- 
 try, his family, and his God — will live after 
 him. * 
 
 Hon. John Cunningham. 
 
 John Cunningham was born near ISTew Lon- 
 don, Chester county. Pa., February 17, 1794. 
 
 * Cambria Tribune, October 30, 1863. 
 
192 The History of 
 
 About three years afterwards he moved to 
 Kishacoquillas valley, Mifflin county, and there, 
 at the age of sixteen, it was his mistortune to 
 be left fatherless; from that day he was cast 
 upon his own resources, not only for his own 
 maintenance, hut, being the oldest son, for the 
 maintenance also of a dependant mother and 
 several brothers and sisters. He at once 
 devoted himself to learning a trade, and, 
 this accomplished, he labored for several 
 years as a journeyman to obtain the means 
 to support his mother and her family. In 
 the spring of 1818, he removed to this coun- 
 ty [Indiana]; and in the fall of the same 
 year, took up his residence in this town. 
 Having made a profession of religion before 
 lie came here, he at once identified himself 
 with the few in the neighborhood who loved 
 the Savior; through his influence, in part, a 
 prayer-meeting was established and kept up, 
 and occasional preaching secured, until in 
 September, 1822, the Presbyterian Church of 
 West Union (the name and location were 
 afterwards changed to Blairsville,) was estab- 
 lished. From that day to this our departed 
 father has been identified with the existence 
 and prosperity of this church. He was one 
 of the original thirty-three who covenanted 
 
The Conemaugh. 193 
 
 with each other and with God to walk togther 
 as a Church of Christ. Of these but five or 
 SIX are now on earth ; but three are now mem- 
 bers of this church, and but one of them has 
 been connected with it all the time since its 
 foundation, at the organization of the church. 
 Mr. Cunningham, though then comparatively 
 a young man, was chosen and ordained one of 
 its Euling Elders. This office he held for 
 nearly forty-three years, and how well and 
 faithfully he discharged his duties, you are 
 all witnesses. Pre-eminently wise in counsel, 
 prudent in action, self-denying in labor, and 
 spiritual in heart, he was almost from the first, 
 and has ever continued to be, the recognized 
 leader and main dependence of the Session. 
 For thirty years he was the superintendent, 
 and almost the life, of the Sabbath School. 
 He was for a much longer period the centre 
 around which the prayer-meeting lived and 
 had its being. He has been the main pillar 
 of this part of the church of Christ: the head, 
 the father of this congregation, to whom we 
 all looked with the confidence and aftection 
 of children; and now, as our eyes follow his 
 prepared flight, we instinctively cry, with the 
 anguish of a bereaved Elisha, ^'My father, 
 my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horse- 
 
194 The History of 
 
 man thereof!" On whom shall the mantle of 
 our departing Elijah fall ? Help, Lord, for 
 the goodly man ceaseth ; for the faithful fail 
 from among the children of men. 
 
 ^N'ot less closely has our venerated father 
 been connected with the growth of this town* 
 He came here when the place where Blairsville 
 now stands, was an almost unbroken forest. 
 He built and used as a workshop the second 
 tenement which was erected in it, and cut with 
 his hand-axe a path diagonally across the town 
 (a town then only on paper) from his own lot 
 to the lot of Mrs. Shields, which contained the 
 only other house in the place. From that day 
 to this he has been identified with the material, 
 intellectual, moral, and religious welfare of the 
 town. He had a large part in all plans and 
 labors for its improvement. He was trusted 
 and honored by his fellow-citizens by being 
 called to a large share of the official duties 
 connected with the government. 
 
 Nor was his influence circumscribed by the 
 limits of his own immediate borough and 
 neighborhood. The county and the State felt 
 it; the dignity and honor with which for a 
 number of years he filled the position of Asso- 
 ciate Judge was one of the ways in which this 
 influence was exerted. It is not too much to 
 
The Conemaugh. 195 
 
 say, that sucli were his endowments of mind 
 that if he had enjoyed in early life the advan- 
 tages of education which are now within the 
 reach of every child in the State , his name 
 would have been known and his influence 
 largely felt in the councils of the nation. He 
 was possessed of a wise and large hearted pa- 
 triotism. iN'o man who has passed from earth 
 since the struggles of our country with perfid- 
 ious treason and gigantic rebellion began, has 
 left a fairer record on this point than he. I do 
 not consider it improper here to say that I 
 know the joyful satisfaction and honest pride 
 he felt, when two of his sons went out as repre- 
 sentatives of the family in the armies of the 
 nation. "You are doing right. It is your 
 duty to go — it is the duty of all to go who 
 can." These were his unselfish— his right 
 loyal— his noble words. Such were his feel- 
 ings at the commencement of the war, and they 
 remained unchanged, except in ever-increasing 
 intensity, to the last. It was with him a cause 
 of devout thankfulness to God that he lived, 
 like our martyred President, to see rebellion 
 receive its death blow, and to behold his coun- 
 try rise in majesty and glory above the dark 
 clouds that have for years enveloped her. 
 Such was he as a citizen, and altogether it is 
 
196 The History op 
 
 no disparagement to others to say, that no man 
 has held a higher place in the confidence and 
 esteem of all who knew him than he, that none 
 was more beloved, especially by the poor, the 
 ■v\ddow, the orphan, and the afflicted than he. 
 The natural traits of his character were marked. 
 They were gravity, integrity, firmness, straight- 
 forwardness, candor, geaerosity, benevolence, 
 humilty. These natural endowments were 
 largely sanctified and directed by divine grace. 
 His religious character was one of great sym- 
 metry and consistency. It was one which 
 pre-eminently approved itself to the judgment 
 of all who knew him. It bore successfully the 
 applications of that severest of tests given by 
 the Great Master himself. "By their fruits ye 
 shall know them." It was not one which de- 
 pended for the demonstration of its genuine- 
 ness on frames and feelings and ecstacies. 
 He died April 26, 1865, in the 72d year of his 
 age.* 
 
 Christian Horner, Esq. 
 
 Christian Horner, Esq., died at his residence, 
 in Jenner township, Somerset county, on Fri- 
 day, the 6th of October, 1865. Born in Frank- 
 
 * From a Discourse by Rev. George Hill, of Blairsville. 
 
The Conemaugh 197 
 
 lin county, on the 25th day of January, 1778, 
 he was, therefore, 87 years, 8 months and 12 
 days old at the date of his death. 
 
 Mr. Horner was married the first time in 
 1799, by Rev. Mr. Stoy, the founder of Stoys- 
 town, in Somerset county. The same year he 
 removed within the present limits of Cambria 
 county, and first located near where the reser- 
 voir now is. He was compelled to camp out 
 with his family, under a tree, till he had a 
 cabin erected to protect them from the winter. 
 This was the year before Johnstown was laid out 
 by Joseph Johns, and several years before Cam- 
 bria county was erected. Subsequently, 'Squire 
 Horner, as he was familiarly called, removed 
 to the farm on which Joseph Geis now lives, 
 in Eichland township, and within three miles 
 of Johnstown. Here he resided till 1847, 
 when he removed to Somerset county. Mr. 
 Horner, in common with the residents of Cam- 
 bria county, at that early day, had to endure 
 great hardships. Salt could not be procured 
 at any nearer point than Bloody Run, in Bed- 
 ford county. Here the settlers, their only 
 road a narrow bridle path, would annually 
 resort, and exchange their furs for iron and 
 salt, and then lead their horses, laden with these 
 necessary articles, over the mountains to their 
 
198 The History of 
 
 homes, in the then wilderness. Salt at that 
 day cost four dollars per bushel, and money 
 was much scarcer than greenbacks are now. 
 
 John Horner, the father of Christian Hor- 
 ner, at an early day, dedicated the lot on the 
 bank of Stony Creek, now adjoining Sandy 
 Yale Cemetery, as a family burying ground. 
 The first person buried in this lot, was a 
 daughter of Christian Horner, who died some 
 time in the year 1800. 
 
 In 1809, Gov. Snyder commissioned Mr. 
 Horner a Justice of the Peace for Conemaugh 
 township, Cambria county. It will give some 
 idea of Esq. Horner's jurisdiction, when we 
 state the fact that Conemaugh township then 
 embraced the territory in which are now inclu- 
 ded the townships of Conemaugh, Croyle, Sum- 
 merhill, Jackson, Taylor, Yoder, and Richland, 
 and the boroughs of Johnstown, Conemaugh, 
 Prospect, Millville, Cambria, and Wilmore. 
 This office he held until his removal to Somerset 
 county, in 1847. 
 
 Mr. Horner was married the second time in 
 1828, and leaves a widow to survive him at the 
 age of 82 years. He had in all fifteen children, 
 eleven of whom are living. He also leaves one 
 hundred and seventeen grand-children, and 
 one hundred and two great grand-children to 
 .mourn his death. 
 
The Conemaugh. 199 
 
 Esq. Horner's remains were brought to this 
 place, and interred in the Horner family bury- 
 ing ground, where his daughter has slept for 
 65 years, on Monday, the 9th inst. A large 
 number of our citizens turned out to pay their 
 last tribute of respect to his memory. 
 
 Thus, at a ripe old age, has passed away 
 another of Cambria's pioneers. Soon the last 
 will be gone, and then will perish much that 
 ought to be carefully gathered for the pages of 
 history. A narrative of the trials undergone, 
 and the scenes witnessed by Mr. Horner, in the 
 early days of the settlement of this county, 
 would make a volume at once eloquent and 
 thrilling, a volume which our sons and daugh- 
 ters could read with far more profit, than any- 
 thing presented in the pages of fiction. We 
 little know, and still less appreciate the toils, 
 the privations, the dangers, our fathers endured, 
 in order that they might make this wilderness 
 "bloom and blossom as the rose" for us. 
 Honor to their memory! Peace to their 
 .ashes !* 
 
 Samuel Seymour. 
 
 With the name of Samuel Seymour, but few 
 
 * Johnstown Democrat, Oct. 18, 1865. 
 
200 The Histoky of 
 
 of the present citizens of Johnstown are famil- 
 iar ; though in his day he was a conspicuous 
 man in tliis community, and will be remem- 
 bered by some of my older readers. 
 
 Mr. Seymour was a citizen of one of the 
 eastern States, and was by profession an artist. 
 I use the term artist in the sense in which it 
 was used fifty years ago, and not as applied to 
 daguerreotypists, photographers, and so forth. 
 He was a skillful and talented disciple of 
 Angelo and Kembrandt, of Reynolds and 
 West. 
 
 In the early part of this century, he accom- 
 panied the expedition of Colonel Long to the 
 Rocky Mountains. That part of our country 
 which is now included in the States of Mis- 
 souri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and others, was then 
 almost a terra incognita. It was a soil that had 
 scarcely been pressed by the foot of a white man. 
 Mr. Seymour, desirous of transferring to his 
 canvas the wonders and beauties of that hith- 
 erto unrevealed region, and of seeking adven- 
 tures of a new and thrilling character in those 
 western wilds, forsook the ease and safety of 
 liome and friends, and volunteered in that 
 arduous undertaking. He ascended with Col. 
 Long the towering peak that still bears his 
 name, and that stands, as it will ever stand, a 
 
The Conemaugh. 201 
 
 giant sentinel to guard the route to the Pacific 
 shores. The drawings which illustrated Col. 
 Long's narrative of his expedition, were by 
 the pendil of Mr. Seymour. He was an en- 
 graver as well as painter, and his name may 
 he found in many of the illustrated works of 
 forty or fifty years ago. 
 
 The few works of Mr. Seymour that have 
 descended to our day, show him to have been 
 a man of exquisite taste and culture. One of 
 his oil paintings is in the possession of the 
 writer. It represents a young lady — whether 
 it is a portrait, or a mere fancy-sketch, perhaps 
 will never be known. 
 
 "She sits, inclining forward as to speak, 
 Her lips half open, and her finger up, 
 As though she said, 'Beware!' " 
 
 The latter years of Mr. Seymour's life were 
 spent in Blairsville and Johnstown. In the 
 former town he made the acquaintance of the 
 writer's father, who was also an artist, and 
 became a frequent visitor at his house. 
 
 About the year 1832, perhaps, he came to 
 Johnstown, where he continued to reside until 
 the period of his death, which occurred in 
 May, 1834. He was aged about 50 years. He 
 died in extreme poverty; for it is a singular 
 fact, that genius and wealth are rarely found 
 together. Where Mr. Seymour was buried is 
 
202 
 
 not known to the writer. A few months ago, 
 he, in company with a friend, searched among 
 the old monuments in the Union Graveyard 
 foi his tomb, but was unable to find it. If he 
 was buried there, as in all probability he was, 
 there is no mark by which his last resting 
 place may be distinguished. 
 
 Pittsburg is taking measures to erect a suit- 
 able monument to the memory of her painter, 
 Blythe, a man of similar genius and misfor- 
 tunes; should not Johnstown make an effort 
 to perpetuate the name of the great artist who 
 died and lies buried within her limits? 
 
 THE END. 
 
 I.^nfl./-^