Rebuilding our Forest Heritage / The Racial Composition of the Pennsylvania-Germans / Fort Allen in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Citation preview

Pennsylvania ^ German Society

PART Papers Read Before

II

or Presented to the Society

:

REBUILDING OUR FOREST HERITAGE By Prof. Joseph

S. Illick

THE RACIAL COMPOSITION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA- GERMANS By Samuel C. Schmucker, Ph.D., Sc.D.

FORT ALLEN

IN

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, ^

PENNSYLVANIA By REV. William

A.

Zundel

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY

putUcation Committee

FACKENTHAL. JR.. SC HIRAM H. SHBNK, A.M.

B. F.

ULYSSBS

S.

KOONS, ESQ.

REBUILDING OUR FOREST HERITAGE. By JOSEPH

S.

ILLICK.*

TTHE natural resources of the earth have in all ages

^

in all

and

countries, for a time at least, been squandered

Pennsylvania the only state in the Union that embodies the word "forest" in her name is no exception, for ever since the white man set foot on her soil the forests have been devastated, and, until quite recently, no effective provisions for their renewal and development have been

by man with

a careless disregard of the future.

—

—

made.

The

early settlements took place mostly in the valleys,

which were covered chiefly with heavy and unbroken stands of hardwood forests. It was in these valleys that the best agricultural land occurred. In order to make it available for farming purposes, the land had to be cleared of all forest growth, which at that time had little

were then an obto make removed stacle to development and had to be way for a more necessary and more profitable use of the

or no commercial value.

The

forests

land.

Forest destruction became such an established practice among the pioneers that it was accepted as normal and •Director of Research, Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, Harrisburg, Pa.

The Pennsylvania-German

4 necessary.

5

In those days

arlv settlers

had no

it

Society.

was normal and necessary for

alternative.

They

conld not

remove the forest m the cheaf^ have do^e otherwise than and good It was good judgment est and easiest way. agncu the the forests on practice for them to destroy but open fields and bniW homes tural soils in order to destructive method of cuttmg unfortunately, the same the valleys and the woodwas used for the plowland in we have sides, and as a result lands on the mountain

land stretches of barren mountam today almost endless The bes of any value. which is producing no crop Just crop. is a forest that it is capable of producing crop

miles along a mountam days ago I traveled for zo Renc.^ in Centre County and road between Snow Shoe habitahuman e without seeing a smg in Clinton County on land of forest There are extensive stretches tion good traveled, but not a evenr side of the route that I thousands that my eyes forest among the many

five

acre of

structure.

has taken place in our forest Pennsylvania, exceptmg a few The entire land surface of rough mountain tops was natural meadows and several There a dense forest growth. originally covered with

'Treat change

Pennnearly created, was the State sylvania, and in 1682, when by the axe and saw of untouched every acre remained operatfirst sawmill began It was in 1662 that the n,an first her got County Philadelphia County. Berks

were at

original forest in least 28,650,000 acres of

ing in Wyoming in 1793. sawmill in I735. Allegheny in ^776, Elk County had no Warren in 1800, Clarion in 1805, and in first one was erected sawmills loo years ago, for the

^^At the time of the

first

settlement of Pennsylvania the

Rebuilding Our Forest Heritage.

5

were unexcelled in eastern North America. They were not only vast in extent, but also made up of fine and The average acre of original forest carried useful trees. approximately 17,500 board feet of lumber and 10 cords On the basis of this estimate there were more of wood. than 500,000,000,000 board feet of lumber and in addi-

forests

tion almost 286,000,000 cords of forest of Pennsylvania.

It

is

wood

difficult to

in the original

comprehend so

enormous quantities. If the lumber that stood in Penn's Woods was sawed into inch boards it would be sufficient to construct a boardwalk 3,800 feet (about >^ of a mile) wide around the v/orld. The additional cordwood if placed side by side in solid cords would make 1 50 continuous ranks from New York to San Francisco. Nature was, indeed, in a liberal mood when she developed Penn's Woods. Our forefathers lived among a We point back to it with pride. It rich forest heritage. made possible much of the prosperity of the past, and good is still flowing forth to all of us from the great and green forests that once covered our Spirit

wrought with beauty

his heart

when he carved out

and glorious

hills.

in his soul

The Divine

and happiness

in

of the void these wonderful

forests.

was an enormous wood reservoir. It is most unfortunate that it has been drawn upon so heavily that the reservoir is now almost empty, and can

The

original forest

no longer satisfy the wood needs of our people. We are now, because of the depletion of our forest resources, compelled to import 80 per cent, of the lumber we use, and only 20 per cent, comes from our native hills. In the early days there were many acres of fine timberland and few people now there are many people and few acres of fine timberland. Of the more than 28,000,-

—

The Pennsylvania-German

6

Society,

stood in Penn's ooo acres of original timber that once than 25,000 acres. Woods, there now remain less in the One hundred years ago there still remained for each inhabitant. State about 20 acres of forest land least 500,000 board at stood Upon these 20 acres there lumber, which means that there were then feet of fine

for each inthe State one half million board feet acres of ordinary habitant. Today there is left only iH and less inhabitant, to devastated forest land for each for every 360 than one acre of original timber remains

left in

inhabitants of the Keystone State.

that Pennsylvania was so richly endowed with forests inexhaustible. seemed until recently the wood supply people at

or

This great forest heritage came to the unsparingly, and no cost, and they proceeded to use it perpetuation. gave little or no conscious care to its and before Before the great ore beds were uncovered, forth from flow to began there railroads were opened up, apparently an the forested hills of the Keystone State little

products. inexhaustible stream of indispensable forest lumber As a natural consequence there sprang up a great industry.

Sawmills began to sing, lumber camps densely

business was dotted the hillsides and mountain tops, a while. good, and prosperity reigned everywhere for the States among second In 1850 Pennsylvania stood In i860 she took of the Union in lumber production. Williamsport was then the center of the place. first

American lumber industry. The great and glorious lumber industry flourished. It brought much business that the to the State. We are proud of the prosperity industries and forests of Pennsylvania brought to our but our forest people, her the benefits that have come to heritage has been carelessly and wastefully squandered.

Rebuilding Our Forest Heritage,

Where once stood

fine stands of

timber there

7

now remain

vast stretches of devastated forest land. A big black blot is left on our otherwise prosperous record. There

and one half million acres than one cord of wood upon

are in Pennsylvania today one of forest land that

have

each of them. Nature's forest

gifts

less

have been used up, burned up, wasted, and destroyed. As a result, about 1890 Pennsylvania's position as a lumber-producing State started In that year she dropped to third place in to decline. lumber production. Her decline was rapid and inevinot have been otherwise, for her forests were used up and no provisions had been made for the Today she occupies twentieth place. She has future. passed from a position of leadership to a place of dependency in the production of one of the most vital products

table.

It could

that her citizens need.

important problem is before the people of Pennsylvania today than forest conservation. To exist as a nation, to prosper as a state, and to live well as a We cannot get along withcitizen, we must have forests. out them. Nothing comes out of the earth or grows upon than its surface that is more adaptable to man's need without far progress cannot wood. Our civilization It is our duty to rebuild our forest forest products. We need it, and future generations cannot heritage.

No more

get along without

it.

tribute in the loftiest

now shall

here,

walk

We way

must make our

forests con-

to the well-being of the people

and to those who

in endless procession of

time

after us.

take care of them. Forest fires must be kept out of the woods. The destructive and wasteful methods of the past must be re-

To have forests we must protect and

The Pennsylvania-German

8

Society.

All

and economical methods. placed by constructive put to work. It .s an economic Sle waste' land must be to keep loafing hillsides. crime and social wrong but better forest We need not only more forest trees from fire-scars, and Trees that are vigorous, free trees raise^ Nature worm holes and rot are the kind to

with;ut As it trees side by side. produces inferior and superior trees-son.e are beings, so it is with fs with human A others are weak and sickly. strong and healthy, while The and bad inhabitants oresf is made up of good need They implies weakness. union of all kinds of trees The f--^ be classified and organized. out, the trees have been weeded best until the inferior speomen -desirable weaklings suppressed, and weeded out his Gideon until eliminated. It was not he was promised victory arm^ once and twice that produce a full "^ea^^^^ o SimLrly, the forests will not make-up is improved This benefits to

man

until their

need for them is good forest practices. The socia and economy mmediate and urgent. It is our forests in order, make them duty to put our neglected sanitary. attractive, and keep them rebuilding Fenn s A start has been made towards the late Dr. Joseph T. Woods. Almost so years ago Forestry-began r,^throck-the Father of Pennsylvania talking about forest consertraveling over the State and his unselfish and unrelenting vation. As a result of Pennsylvania is now reaching out

SSs

for

efforts,

forestry in

development. It has beyond the formative period of its and now stands ready to give served its apprecticeship, fruitful service.

One

to of the first steps necessary

» „ promote forestry

m :„

the State of a conPennsylvania was the purchase by

Rebuilding our Forest Heritage, siderable acreage of forest land. acquired in 1897, and now the State

of forest land.

The

first

9 land was

owns 1,126,237 acres was purchased at an average cost of This land is now worth more than gio.oo It

$2.26 per acre. per acre and is being handled for the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time. More than 34,000,000 trees have been planted on the

The plantations on the State Forests now In 1910 the Department of acres. almost 23,000 cover tree seedlings to the forest Forestry began supplying owners of private forest land. This cooperation on the part of the State stimulated forest tree planting to such State Forests.

an extent that during the past 12 years almost 15,000,000 The rapid growth of the trees have been distributed. practice is shown by the fact that in 191 2 but 66,154 trees were planted, while just a decade later (1921) 3,041,710 an increase of 4,477 P^r cent. To trees were set out

—

supply the trees required for planting the Department operates three large and one small forest tree nursery.

They cover

a total of 18 acres

there

be

will

available

for

and

in the spring of 1923

distribution

7,000,000 seedlings and transplants. The income from the State Forests

is

more than

growing rapidly.

191 1 were $6,460.08. Just ten years later (1921) they had increased to more than $50,000. The returns from the State Forests by law are placed in

The

receipts in

the State School Fund. Already $241,386.95 have been It will increase rapidly and placed in this special fund. part in supplying funds for our a big play long before public school system which are now urgently needed. The State Forests are the people's property. They are wide open for business and for play. They are being

made available to the public by new roads and

trails.

Fire

Society, The Pennsylvania-German

lo

er^tire State, fro-^^^^^^^^^ observation towers dot the VV ith views in the entire State. be seen some of the finest places to rest are many of the best in he State Forests and grandest best hunting grounds, finest fishing streams, proper use. to everybody for

vSs

Sot

They

are available

world are the great forests of the

al

We are fortunate in having a few of

them

in

m

Europe.

Pennsylvama

Zurich is belonging to the city of iust as the Sihlwald, Windsor Forest the foremost forest of Switzerland,

ihe

Fon

natural ob^ects.^nd sUnteresting of England's No^e and of France, so the tainebleau Forest the pride forests out among the private Horse forest estates stand foremos These estates are among the of Pennsylvania. wil founders America. Their demonst atlon forests of of the pioneer promoters be remembered among

S

tZ '

T^irple IrPrnsylvania.

and particularly those of benefactors

debtors to these Berks County, will ever be successfu such worthy examples of for haig developed of the parts various Already foresters from forestrv. and estates, visited these United States and Canada have forest pilgrimages I feel sure that these frequent and more fruitful. It

is

will

become more

to know that the late Jacob of great historic value himse f served grandfather was a forester. He

Nolde's

year in the ^valdbauschuU an apprentice for one Agsbach, in Austria. One of (School of Silviculture), at forest estate similar main ambitions was to develop a

as

his

We

who are his boyhood days. to those that he knew in can Dear visit this wonderful estate this dav privileged to proendless his efforts, and the witness' to the success of us will reap_ immeasurable cession that will follow after benefits

from

his altruistic

and

beneficial

life.

Rebuilding our Forest Heritage,

II

come Forests do more than produce wood. From them food, shelter, other of man's benefits. They give shade, and health. There is no better place to rest and ail play than among the trees. They live to give, and we the and them needs need their gifts. The townsman countryman cannot get along without them. Treeless

cheer,

hopeless. lands are as cheerless as a creedless land is thrift. forest than less nothing Forest conservation is meets It It implies the wise use and care of the forests. for tothe needs of the present day but also provides prosperous a as continue cannot Pennsylvania

morrow. and progressive State unless she rebuilds her forest She must provide for the present and also heritage. Each generation must meet its safeguard the future. responsibilities

to the future.

No

responsibility rests

more squarely upon the shoulders of the present generaresources. tion than that which pertains to our forest grow well cannot It Forestry is a child of necessity. unless

a friendly attitude towards the forest.^ In time the woods were the abode of evil spirits.

man has

medieval

the mediaeval mind with fear. To Dante it was a dreadful thing to be lost in the wild wood^s. He every pictured forest gloom where owls peeped out of in ambush at hole, bats flew about blindly, wild cats lay

They

filled

every turn, and snakes wiggled among the roots. To the modern mind the forest is the wonderful handiwork of a beneficent God. Emerson says that "in the

woods a man casts off his years as the snake his slough, and at what period soever in life he is always a child. In the woods is perpetual youth." Robert Louis Stevenson delighted in lying among the He saw the beautiful in trees, trees and in being afield. admired their makeup, enjoyed their shade and shelter, and felt their warmth and affection.

The Pennsylvania-German Society,

12

often fearful of mighty trees. the truth, that the thoughts than nothing other

The modern This

is

child

is

childhood of the race. of the child are akin to those of the Hood wrote so well when he said:

Tom

"I remember,

The I

fir

I

trees

remember. dark and high,

used to think their slender tops

Were

close against the sky."

and idealIn tree worship we find nothing but beauty in revolting or ism. There is recorded nothing repulsive As we look upon the grace, symmetry, nobility, and it. imagine grandeur of stately trees it is not hard for us to we ourwhich the circumstances and conditions under selves

might worship them. "Trees." "I think that

A poem "A

tree

I shall

never see

as lovely as a tree.

whose hungry mouth

is

prest

Against the earth*s sweet flowing breast;

"A

tree that looks at

And

"A

A

lifts

God

all

day,

her leafy arms to pray;

tree that

may

in

summer wear

nest of robins in her hair;

"Upon whose bosom snow

Who

intimately lives

has lain;

with rain.

made by fools like me. But only God can make a tree."

"Poems

are

—Joyce Kilmer,

If

any man doubts that

trees

have a profound influence

Rebuilding our Forest Heritage,

take a look at China. Her ancient heritage had civilization began to wane when her forest of the example been squandered. Hers is an excellent deforestation. Under such conditions people

on

evil

civilization,

of

cannot spend too much time keeping alive and hence think of making progress.

and Treeless lands are cheerless. They lack prosperity, Our problem is to are synonymous with poverty. of China, for Pennsylvania cannot unless continue to exist as a virile, forward-moving State we rebuild and improve upon our forest heritage. To planting protect the forests is an act of kindness. The see it we as of a tree is an act of faith, and reforestation, every side, is simply an amplification of this

avoid going the

way

today on faith.

"He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, He provideth a kindness for many generations. And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him."

— Fan Dyke,

THE RACIAL COMPOSITION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS.

By SAMUEL

C.

SCHMUCKER,

Ph.D., Sc.D., West Chester, Pa.

of the people of America, with the exception their take population, Negro, Mongolian and Indian

TTHE

^

from Europe. With civilization running as a pure race back through a thousand years such a thing of admixtures of sorts all There will be is impossible. Contment, the overrun the people who have successively of all parts of Europe people compare When we try to distinct strams, with each other, we can pick out three their physical in differing from each other quite markedly

racial origin

characters.

mental characters doubtless differ attention has been paid to this side of

Their

equally, but less

careful study. the question, though it well deserves Race, These people all belong equally to the Caucasian fashion to speak, but it has come to be the ethnological "races." different v/ere of these three sub-races as if they population Of the three strains making up the European ground was what apparently the earliest to arrive on the

Race. has come to be known as the Mediterranean inand stature of These people are comparatively short the toward Their skin verges clined to be light of build. and wavy while their eyes black hair is olive

and

their

15

1

The Pennsylvania-German

5

are dark

known

and sparkling.

Society,

Their head belongs to the group is to say, they have a breadth

as long-heads, that

of head less than 75 per cent, of

its

length.

There are

other long-heads in Europe, but the form of their face is The Mediterranean face is shown beautifully different.

Raphael's Madonna. It is the so-called oval face in which the greatest width is near the cheek bones and the face distinctly narrows as it comes down to the chin. Most of these people probably came into Europe from Asia Minor, spreading all over the southern peninsulas of Europe. They spread at the same time through Egypt in

and possibly up shores of western the up Then they passed into Spain. Europe close to the Atlantic, through France and over Wherever in any of these countries we into England.

and along the northern

side of Africa,

dark hair, dark sparkling eyes and a dark skin we may be very sure that it is due to Mediterranean blood even though we find it in a French-

find short stature, slight build,

man, a Welshman, a Cornishman or

in the small, black,

twinkling-eyed type of Irishman. into Europe from the Russian in north of the Caspian coming perhaps neighborhood, a sojourn in the Apparently from the Iran plateau. Russian province was the occasion for the development of a peculiar type differing from all the rest of the people This section of the European people is of the world. taller far than the average and apt to be slender, but square shouldered and muscular. Their skins are the

The second wave came

fairest in the world, their hair

is

the lightest.

the only blond hair (including red),

They have

and blond

skin, the

skin tending to redden under exposure instead of tanning and with much tendency to freckle. The eyes of these

people are blue and their heads are very long, the width

Racial Composition of Pennsylvania-Germans,

17

sometimes running as low as 70 per cent, of the length. These people are seen at their best, back from the coast, Europe in the Scandinavian peninsula, but all tall, fair owes these qualities to the Nordic race. They form the mass of the North Germans. They are the tall, lighthaired Normans in France and the tall, light Russians. They are the tall English. They form a large proportion of the Scotch and the Scotch-Irish and, though more mixed with other factors and therefore less inclined to be characteristic,

amongst the older

Irish.

The third section of the European people has come be known as the Alpine Race because they have taken

to

to

the highlands. Whether they had a preference for the highlands or not can scarcely be said now. The north coast and the south coast were already occupied when they entered Europe, again through Asia Minor, Turkey

and the Balkan regions. They came across the highlands of Austria and Germany down almost to the coast They swept over of the northwest corner of France. who Mediterranean into England, pushing back both the and the Nordics v/ho came later. After these Alpines settled down other waves followed them at perhaps a considerable distance and a long interval in time. In any event, the second great wave differs quite marked-

came

first

In both cases, however, the Alpines are medium of stature, stocky of build, inclined to grow distinctly stout in later life with a complexion that is neither the swarthy complexion of the Mediterranean nor the fair complexion of the Nordic. The hair of the Al-

ly

from the

pine

is

first.

brown and wavy and

their eyes are either

gray or

The later wave, the Slav is pure. of stature, but of a short similarly of the Balkans, is darker brown of hair and complexion, a darker brown eye. hazel where the stock

The Pennsylvania-German

i8

Society.

the Althe typical round head of In both cases we have w.de as as more than 80 per cent, ';ne Race, a head that is well up mto the 90 ft lone ranging sometimes observation had a head 96 per Sne iu^tdan undfr my cent, as

wide as

it

was

long.

r portion of this thud section of oldest western, the It is to that the Pennsylvania German the European population, is blood. The Nordic Race owefthe largest share of his swept has colonizing race and it a conquering, restless, usually through the ,

.

,

.

i

south through Europe, tongues south, so that we find vaUeys that run north and distinctively deep into the If Nordic blood running or course there has been more Alpine population. Of these and mixture of blood between

Lp3ly

fess interr^arriage

wo

stocks, so that it

is

not at

all

uncomnjon

for

Penn

yl-

blond of hair, eyes and vania Germans to be distinctly round headed. Of course complexion, while still being those who are Hufamilies, Particularly

some German guenot

in origin,

Mediterranean have a great deal of the

true that the it is distinctly blood in them. And yet Pennsylvania German blood is great majority of the clearly of the Alpine type. temperament, which ThI Mediterranean has a volatile t the hapP-sJ the merrie makes him the lightest hearted, staole ^^ast the same time the in his behavior and at The great of any of the three. his governmental relations or in in painting, in music artistry of the world whether

m

blood. dancing is due to this Mediterranean different from both The Alpine people are markedly emotiona Far more phlegmatic and less of the others. more contentea and ess than the Mediterranean, far two are distinctly suited to roving than the Nordic, they

great

fields.

One

of these

is

the pursuit of agriculture.

Racial Composition of Pennsylvania-Germans,

19

to the Their whole temperament is splendidly adapted to take they when hand On the other life of the farm. most the education and scholarly pursuits they make ever had. patient investigators and experimenters we have

For the scholarship which

is

willing to spend a lifetime

on

what seems, to those not interested in the study, a are famous. pitifully narrow range of detail, these people It

must not be forgotten that

it is

on

this careful, pains-

later generalitaking, patient collection of data that all worth while. zations must depend if they are to be really the agriculturists of the world and the patient

Amongst

stand high. scholars of the world, the Alpines will always Pennsylvania the It is to this sturdy, reliable type that most dependthe amongst are They Germans belong. They are country. our of able people in the population naturally are They least given to radical outbreaks. to the last conservative, but they are thrifty and honest If it were possible Benj amin Rush says of them degree. brought into property to determine the amount of all the the Pennsylvania by the present German inhabitants of :

it with the State and their ancestors and then compare would contrast the present amount of their property,

economy form such a monument of human interest and and country." as has seldom been contemplated in any age character. Alpine the of This is the natural working out

FORT ALLEN,! in WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PA. By rev. WILLIAM ARTER ZUNDEL, New

Castle, Pa.

was the name given to a structure Westmoreland Jl erected in 'Hempfield Township, Christopher and County, between Wendel Our/s Shippen, at Capt. Truby's' at the same time that Fort of like character John Proctor's, Shields Fort, and others

4*

^pOKT ALLEN

this structure

were erected, that, is in the summer of 1774; erected for was probably a stronghouse, or a blockhouse far as is known, the emergency and never required, so honor of Andrew public use. It is named probably in for

Supreme Executive Council. From m the signers, the locality was manifestly

Allen, Esq., of the

the names of

the

German settlement of Hempfield Township, to No other mention of this west of Newtown (Greensburg) West Pa. Appx.). place by that name is found (see Rupp, away."— knowledge of its exact location has passed

the

.

All

Frontur Forts of Pennsylvania.

have dismissed the whole old Forts of the building and use of one of the

Thus the annals matter of

of history

Fort Allen at Weissport, iThis Fort Allen must be distinguished from the honor of and named in Franklin I7S7 Benjamin Carbon Co., Pa., built by

m

Chief Justice William Allen.

22

The Pennsylvania-German Society,

beyond the frontier which influenced history far

its

borders.

Fort Allen was built in the very heart of the German Church settlement in Westmoreland County at Zion forts Other Greensburg. settlement, three miles west of settlement were Forts Pitt, KlingLigonier, Reed at Hannastown, Walthour, Rugh, McDowell, Stockeley, ensmith, Kepple, Marchand, which Lochry, Shield, Shippen, Palmer and Barr; all of

connected with the

German

were built before the Revolution. The Germans settled from Ligonier to Fort Pitt along the Forbes road, and south of it. At the time of the beginning of the Revolutionary War the one half of the population of Pennsylvania west of

mountains was of German descent. Of the fifteen Revolutionary soldiers buried around Greensburg, eight were German. The pioneers of the Ohio Country were largely Germans.

Before 1700

it is

doubtful

if

a white

man

ever

Ohio Country. Beginning about 1715 traders and trappers began to extend their lines westward. Among the earliest of these traders are the Germans, Frazer and Frank, and Montour and Croghan. Frazer established trading houses at Venango and Turtle Creek, Frank had a post on the Northern trail at Frankstown. Of great significance to the settlement of the Ohio country was the journey of Conrad Weiser in 1748. Weiser was the Indian agent of the English Governrnent and was sent in 1748 to take a present to the Ohio Indians trod the

soil

of the

and to secure

their friendship.

The

gift consisted

of

goods valued at 1,200 pounds (about f. 3,200.00). Pennsylvania contributed 1,000 pounds and Virginia gave 200 pounds.

Fort Allen, in Westmoreland,

23

ii, Weiser started over the Kittanning trail on August River on August 27. He 1748, and reached the Ohio Pittsburgh, with Queen of dined that day on the site on Aliquippa, and in the evening reached Loggs Town

the Ohio River.

With Weiser was William Franklin, son of Benjamin William Franklin later became the governor Franklin. Weiser visited Beaver; and Franklin now and others visited Coscosky, where New Castle

New

of

Jersey.

stands.

On September

3,

1748, Weiser "Set

up the Union Flagg

Treated all the Company with a Dram by Indians and of Rum; The King's Health was drunk in white men." This was the first national flag unfurled Washington's the Ohio Country. Here, five years before of England, flag the Flag, Union the journey, Weiser raised

on

a long Pole.

and drank the King's health with the Indians. After delivering his oners,

gifts,

securing the release of pris-

and establishing a treaty

of friendship,

Weiser

and his party returned to the east. This, the first Colonies to the Ohio official embassy of the English beautiful Indians, informed the colonies concerning the and

fertile

Ohio Country.

Celeron, the French explorer,

first visited

the Ohio in

1749.

The Ohio Company was organized

in Virginia in 1748.

did it This Company however was never chartered nor of the bank secure its grant of 500,000 acres on the south

Ohio, between the Monongahela and great

Kanawba

rivers.

had to the Ohio Country was Weiser's treaty with the Indians and Loggs the fact that he raised the "Union Flagg" at

The only

real claim the English Colonies

Town, September 8»

3,

1748.

The Pennsylvania-German

2^

The Ohio Company had no

title

Society,

to the lands south of rivers because the

the Monongahela

the Ohio and west of Stanwix Penns bought the very lands in question at Fort of Virginia being in 1769 for ?io,ooo.oo, representatives

Council and raising no objection. The Fort Stanwix Purchase comprised the counties of Westmore(south of land, Fayette, Green, Washington, Allegheny

at the

Armstrong the Ohio and east of the Allegheny rivers), together part), (southern (south of Kittanning), Indiana with territory east of the mountains. Thus the action of Pennsylvania and Virginia at Fort purchasing this territory for Pennsylvania same invalidated the claims of the Ohio Company to the The present titles to the land in question are territory.

Stanwix

in

Pennderived from the Penn proprietories or the State of for, Company, Ohio the sylvania and not from or through or owned as a matter of fact, the Ohio Company never sold an acre of Ohio Country ground. Furthermore, the claims of Pennsylvania, Virginia and

Country were no stronger than the claim of Great Britain from whom these claims were derived. Hence in the contest of Great

the Ohio

Company,

itself,

to the Ohio

Britain and France for the Ohio Country, the only claim and of priority the English could produce, of discovery

occupation, was the raising of the "Union Flagg" by Weiser, Sept. 3, 1748, and the posts of a few traders such as Frazer

and Andrew Montour and Croghan.

It does not appear that Washington was sent so much as a representative of the Ohio Company interests as a representative of the EngUsh claims in general. The Ohio Company did not claim any lands north of Pittsburgh. It planned to build a fort and trading post

near McKeesport, hence the French at Venango were not

Fort Allen, in Westmoreland, infringing

upon the claims

of the

25

Ohio Company, but

occupying the territory claimed by the English Colonies for England. Washington on his journey in 1753 visited the forks of the Ohio and recommended, for strategic reasons against the French, that the fort be built at the forks of the Ohio instead of McKeesport. Accordingly Captain William. Trent under the auspices of the Ohio Company began a fort at the forks of the Ohio on February 17, Before the fort was finished it was captured by 1754. the French, who completed the fort and called it Fort

DuQuesne. recapture of Fort DuQuesne was one of the principal objectives of the French and Indian War which settled the great question whether Anglo-Saxon or Latin

The

civilization should

dominate America.

The Ohio Company desired to secure 200 families of Pennsylvania Germans to settle on their lands, should their charter be granted; but the Pennsylvania Germans refused to settle unless they be freed from the Virginia law which required all citizens to support the state church (Episcopal). The Germans wished to have pastors of their

own

faith.

The Ohio Company

tried to

have the

law of Virginia changed but failed and the whole project was abandoned. Here we meet a great power which always worked among the German settlers in favor of Pennsylvania as against Virginia's claims in Western Pennsylvania. The Germans stood for freedom of worship and no state church and they had great influence in placing freedon of worship in the Constitution of the

United States. The Ohio Company, of which Lawrence Washington

was a

leader, already discovered the thrift

and peace-

The Pennsylvania-German

26

Society,

reason

and for ableness of the German settlers should their charter claim, desired them to colonize their this

be granted by the English King. upon the The journey of Weiser had a great influence Weiser was a settlement of Western Pennsylvania.

German and

a

man of great influence among the Germans.

the

fertility of

Hence what he said about the beauty and with the GerOhio Country would have great influence mans. the settlers Between 1750 and 1770 more than half of west of the mountains were Germans. by emigrants Western Pennsylvania was settled largely way of the by came from Pennsylvania and Europe who and Maryland Forbes road. Some settlers came from

Cumberland road but these were not numerous as those coming by way of the

Virginia over the

nearly so

Forbes road.

Many of these

slaveholders later

moved on

settlers

to

from Virginia being

West

Virginia

when

established. rights of Pennsylvania were the Another factor of great influence in settling

was the wars with the French and Indians.

The

the

west sol-

of the fertility of this diers of these wars, after learning region, were eager to settle here. for Few of Braddock's soldiers remained in the west, professional English soldiers-of-the-

they were mostly

who accompanied BradKuemmels dock as scouts, remained in the west. The of Zion settlement were among these. with With Forbes were many German soldiers and also and to prior years Bouquet at Bushy Run. For many

line.

Some

of the frontiersmen,

American Regiduring Pontiac*s conspiracy the Royal manned ment, composed of German and Swiss soldiers, Bedford. to Macinac the forts on the frontier from

Fort Allen, in Westmoreland,

Many

of these soldiers

when

27

their enlistment expired

settled in the west.

Between the frontier settler and the settlements back east there was a constant communication,

—

—

to obtain the necessities of and iron utensils which lead powder, salt, as such life, There for himself. produce not could the frontiersman comhave not was scarcely a settler in the west who did munications with the east at least once a year, and in

necessary communication,

telling

how they were

getting along, the communication

and all the advantages of the west. This information would fire the hearts of kinsmen in the east and in Europe with a desire

would

tell

of the fine climate, fertile soil

to migrate to this promising land. The early settlers from 1750 to 1770 in

what is now Westmoreland and Allegheny counties were very largely Germans. In the south in Fayette and Washington counties there were more settlers of other nationalities but the Germans still seemed to have a majority. The Scotch-Irish migrations were not strong until the land was officially opened for settlement, from 1770 to 1780. Smollett, in his History of England, says of the Royal

American Regiment, "This regiment was authorized by It was to consist of four act of parliament (1754). battalions of one thousand each, and intended to be raised chiefly of the Germans and Sv/iss, who for many years past, had come to America, where waste land had been assigned them on the frontiers. They were generally strong, hardy men, accustomed to the climate, etc,^^ This contemporary testimony of a competent English historian, backed by a special act of Parliament, dated Germans 1754, surely substantiates the claim that the and Swiss were the America,

early

pioneers on the frontiers of

The Pennsylvania-German

28

Society.

This testimony, together with the records of actual settlement, show that the Germans and Swiss antedate the Scotch-Irish,

—

by nearly ten

years, as early settlers in the

west of the Aileghenies. While a few settlements were made by tomahawk

west,

right or

by military permit

prior to Forbes' victory, 1758,

the majority of the early settlers came subsequently.

and Virginia (1,600) soldiers of Forbes' expedition were discharged in 1759 and many of these came west and settled. The Royal American Regiment lost many of its soldiers who were discharged in 1763, after the Bouquet Campaign, and many of these came west. Captain Wendel Uhrich

The Pennsylvania

(2,700)

(Ourry) became prominent in the Zion Settlement. Of the early settlers of Zion Settlement we note the

Kuemmels who came

in 1755;

Andrew Byerly

(Bayerle),

and 1759; Christopher Rudebaugh, 1760; John Herold Detar, 1760; Michael Rodenbaugh, 1760; Christopher and Daniel Herold, 1760; Christopher Walthour, 1764; John Peter Miller, 1764; John Wagle, 1765, and doubtless others

whose names have been effaced by the cruel

savage or neglectful scribe. In 1765 the early settlers set aside a tract of 158 acres for church purposes; this they styled "Good Purpose." This tract was not patented until 1789; however it was always safe from claim jumpers, for the eyes of the settlers

were watching this sacred claim. On "Good Purpose" the settlers erected a log school house in 1772, and secured Balthasar Meyer as their A church building was erected first school master. between 1780 and 1790, besides a number of school houses in other parts of the large and widespread settlement.

29

Fori Allen, in Westmoreland.

Its location built. 1774 that Fort Allen was west of miles was in the Zion Church settlement three Greensburg, Pa, , . slightly eastAbout three hundred yards south and

It

was

in

,

ward

1

1

on a cleared piece of of the present school building, The site fort. near a spring, the settlers built their

land and furnished no spring of the school house was wooded the settlers through the of water. This fort protected frequently during the perilous times of 1774 and again attacks upon Revolutionary War when the Indians made used for was fort the the settlements. In later times down torn was it school purposes and along about i860 churcn house on the and the good timber used to build a until about 1886; stood property. This log house residence on the church located just east of the present

farm.

.

j

•

about 20 x 24 ft., judging but it may have by the length of the logs in the old house, when the house was been larger and the logs cut down foundaextent of the remnants of the stone

The

fort

built.

was

a log building of

The

a

indicate and rotted logs on the old site would one of the but was building of about that size. As this with the German sixteen forts and blockhouses connected not built with was it wars settlement during the Indian but only settlement of protecting the entire

tion

the intention

those settlers adjacent thereto. was the The occasion of the erection of Fort Allen

dangers attending Dunmore's War.

Westmoreland County was erected in February 1773, practically all of Pennsylvania its territory embracing at Hannastown, the mountains. Its first court sat west of

April 6, 1773Thus the Province of Pennsylvania set up ment west of the Alleghenies.

its

govern-

The Pennsylvania-German Society,

30

The Penns were

peaceful people and were loath to

There contend for their rights under their grant of lands. was contention concerning both the northern and southtime the boundern boundaries of Pennsylvania, At this the mountains. aries had not been surveyed west of and of Hence, by some stretch of the grant to Virginia the imagination not a

little,

Virginia laid claim to the

Western Pennsylvania also. The Penns had acquired the land in dispute by the "New Purchase" at Fort Stanwix, N. Y., in 1769 and establish a the settlers had petitioned Pennsylvania to accordingly county west of the mountains, v/hich was

territory of

done. Virginia,

now

ruled

by the Earl

of

Dunmore, resolved

Dunmore to contest Pennsylvania rule in the West, hence Virsent an agent named John Connolly to look after ginia's interest.

In January 1774 Connolly seized Pittsburgh and raised an army along the banks of the Youghiougheny and

Monongahela

He

Virginia.

Pitt

to

Fort

from settlers who had come from changed the name of the fort from Fort

rivers,

Dunmore.

He

called

out the

militia

ostensibly to fight the Indians but really to fight for Virginia.

Arthur St. Clair, a justice, and also the representative of the Penns in the West, had Connolly arrested and Connolly gave bail and when jailed at Hannastown. released went to Staunton, Virginia, where Dunmore appointed him a justice, which under Virginia ruling gave him a right to act in Augusta County, Virginia; and Augusta County was assumed to embrace Western Penn-

Hannastown and Pittsburgh. the West Connolly was more aggressive

sylvania, including both

Coming

to

Fort Allen, in Westmoreland,

31

than ever. He came to Hannastown with 1 50 armed men and refused to allow the Pennsylvania court to meet. He appointed his own sheriff, asserting that no one could derive authority from Pennsylvania because the territory belonged to Virginia and he was vested with the authority from Virginia.

The Pennsylvania

justices refused to yield

and were

by Connolly, and when they refused to enter bail, he sent them in irons and under guard to Staunton, Virginia; after some conferences were held the justices were released and they returned home. The council of Pennsylvania sent two representatives arrested

the proposition that both Colonies lay their claims before the king for settlement and until the king should act a temporary line should be drawn and agreed upon. Dunmore would not assent to this and

to

Dunmore with

Connolly became more impudent and aggressive than before.

This unsettled the people and caused great hardship and almost a famine, because the settlers did not know in the springtime where they would be in the harvest, hence, a Moreover an Indian War was full crop was not planted. threatened. The Penns had bought their lands from the Indians by the " New Purchase" in 1769, and the Indians were satisfied to keep the treaty, but the Virginians were not obeying the stipulations of the treaty, and the Indians were threatening war upon them. Hence the So between the outsettlers feared an outbreak daily. Indian attack the threatened the and rages of Connolly

had a hard time indeed. was during these troublesome times that Fort Allen was built and the attitude of the German settlers w^as Andrew clearly shown in the name they gave their Fort.

settlers

It

The Pennsylvania-German Society,

32

Pennsylvania, which Allen stood high in the counsels of German settlers shows clearly that the sympathies of the While other were with Pennsylvania in the contest. to stay were fleeing the country, they decided settlers

rights of freedom and maintain Pennsylvania's rights, the of religion, and no slavery. Penn: On June 12, 1774, St. Clair writes to Governor the "An idle report of Indians having been seen within or fort little some into Partys has drove them everyone altogether other— and many hundreds out of the county (Forbes) and —all that great country, between that road the river, being totally abandoned." Westmoreland County" In 1774 "the inhabitants of Governor Fort Allen and sent a petition to

met

at

Penn, setting forth

the, awful conditions of the

times

by Wendel and asking for help. The petition is Raupp, Nicholas Oury, Christopher Trubee, Frantz Conrad Houck, Scheuer, John Lafferty, John Bendeary, Nicholas George, Adam James Waterms, John Redeck, Golden, Allimang, Adam Uhrich, Stofel Uhrich, John signed

Konel, Heinrich Peter Urich, Martin Hunts, Michael Peter Kessner, Kunkel, Kleyn, Conrad Hister, Hans Schmit, Jacob Peter Uber, John Kroushor, Heinrich Adam Bricker, Schmit, Jacob Kuemel, John Moffey, Klingelschmit, Peter Philip Peter Wannenmacher, Altman, Joseph Klingelsmit, Peter Altman, Andoni Hauser, Pankek, Bernt Reis, Baltzer Meyer, Jacob Beier, Peter Peter Altman, Christian Bam, George Thomas Wilers, Daniel Rosch, Josef Kutz, Adam Meier,

William Williams, Michael Schatz, George Mickendorf, Breinig,

Harrison, William Altman, Marx Breinig, Joh Georg Samuel Lewis, Adony Walter, Jacob Welcker, Marshal, Dafit Benter, Nicholas Yunt, Michael Hann,

Fort Allefi, in Westmoreland,

33

Heinrich SII, Richard Archbold, Conrat Linck, Fritrich Marshal, Hannes Breinig, Kasper Mickendorf, Jacob Schram, Peter Schreber, Daniel Matiss, Heinrich

Schelhammer, Jacob Mechlyn, Dewalt Mechlyn, Jacob Schram, Ludwig Aterman, Hans Sil, Jacob Stroh, Christopher Herolt, Gerhart Tames, Jacob Matiss, Knicklas Souer, Hannes Spengeler, Archy Stuart. The troublesome times preceding the Revolution

engaged the energies of the Proprietors. Little assistance could be hoped for from them; meanwhile Connolly acted like a drunken outlaw. His soldiers stole proThey traveled visions and had abundance of whiskey. about insulting the peaceable citizens. Dunmore came out in September, and set up courts, established land offices, and demanded submission to Virginia. Arthur St. Clair was the agent of the Proprietors in Westmoreland and the Pennsylvania defense was left to him. He collected militia and supplied the settlers with firearms, and these men were to be ready to fly at each other's assistance at a minute's notice.

He

also raised

Of these thirty were an posted at Hannastown, twenty at Proctor's, twenty at Ligonier, and the rest, about forty, were sent to what is now Allegheny County. He encouraged the settlers to build stockades, forts and blockhouses in every settlement. He repaired the old fort at Ligonier and enorganization called Rangers.

couraged the

settlers to build

Fort Shippen, Fort Allen,

and a fort at John Shield's. Hundreds of the settlers fled the country and the others would flee to the forts at the first alarm. Dunmore's war was carried westward down the Ohio Valley to the Kanawha. There were gathered Dunmore, Connolly, Cresap, Simon Girty and Alexander McKee

The Pennsylvania-German

34

Society,

(what a bunch of rough necks to represent a sovereign While this gang was in the West the people of state!). Westmoreland had a short respite from their terrorism; were but in the autumn they returned and hostilities Hannastown, to marched resumed. In November they who were broke open the jail and released two murderers Penns, sentenced to be hanged. Mr. Scott, agent of the Pittsin appear to bail give was arrested and forced to Virginia, burgh before the Court of Augusta County, on Hannastown. In February 1775, another raid was made

and released the prisoners. In arrested February, Justices Hanna and Cavett were the Penns, because they received their commissions from

They broke open

and were

the

jail

jailed in Pittsburgh for three

months.

one and winter of I774-I775 was could harvest because the fields had not been planted the a very severe

The

who had fled not be reaped. In addition many refugees was not there and autumn the country returned in the flUed been woods enough provision for all. Had not the

many would have starved. Dunmore's War did not settle the boundary line.

with game

The

all inapproaching storm of the Revolution absorbed Connolly When the War broke out Dunmore and

terest.

was known on

escaped to the British Army and Dunmore he paid the Inthe border as the "hair buyer'' because the American dians for scalping mothers and babies of He did this to divert the attention of the setsettlers.

own from aiding Washington to the defense of their the in Indians the Connolly was likely with firesides. tlers

attack on

Hannastown

Girty and Alexander shudder.

On

in 1782.

McKee

The deeds

stUl

cause

of

Simon

decency to

Contmental July 25, 1775, the delegates in the

Fort Allen, in Westmoreland.

35

Congress united in a petition asking the people of the disputed territory to use as much forbearance as possible and not to keep armed men. On August 7th, the Virginia Convention directed Captain John Neville with one hundred men to take charge of Fort Pitt. This was not in accordance with the petition of the Continental Congress but the Penns, for the sake of peace, did not contest this

action.

Neville

held

the fort

till

1777.

During the Revolution the boundary dispute was almost forgotten. The matter was brought up in 1779 when three Pennsylvanians and two Virginians were appointed to permanently locate the boundary. The agreement was to extend the Mason and Dixon line westward five degrees of longitude from the Delav/are River. From the end of this line, a line directly north to Lake Erie should be the western boundary. It was agreed that

persons should be secure, no matter in which state they fell, and that in all disputes as to ownerThe agreeship, preference be given to the older claim.

the rights of

ment was

all

ratified

by Virginia June

23,

1780,

and by

Pennsylvania September 23, 1780. During 1784 the boundaries were surveyed and marked by stones set up every five miles. Thus the boundary was fixed as wx have it today and nearly all the contested territory was brought within the borders of Pennsylvania. Beneath the surface of the contest of the two Provinces

were certain deep-seated convictions based upon fundamental principles which determined the attitude of the German settlers, and which

for this territory there

made them pro-Pennsylvanian and anti-Virginian. The German settlers well knew the religious tests in the province of Virginia. They had fled from religious persecution in Europe and were opposed to the Episcopal

State-Church of Virginia.

The Pennsylvania-German

36

Society,

The German settlers were also anti-slavery people. The first protest against slavery made on American soil came from Germantov/n, Pennsylvania. Some of the German

settlers

had a

taste of near-slavery as

redemp-

having sold their services for a number of years They consistently opfor transportation to America. slavery. posed the extension of In 1780 Pennsylvania began to abolish African slavery. By law it was required that all slave owners and slaves tioners,

should be registered. There were 203 slave-holders and in the southern 695 slaves in the county in 1780, mostly George Washington owned slaves in the sections. county, including white convict-slaves. In 1798 there were only twelve slaves in Hempfield

Township. Hempfield was settled largely by Germans. In 1801 the number of slaves in the county was reduced only to 136. In 1810 there were 21 slaves and in 1820 seven in the county.

The German settlers were averse to slavery. The Virslaves ginia settlers when they came west brought their farms own their worked with them. The German settlers kinds of servitude. by the Province of Pennsylvania granted The liberty was appreciated by the German settlers in the West and in they reciprocated by espousing Pennsylvania's cause the the Dunmore War and thus held the gateway to

and opposed

all

secure for Pennsylvania liberties when other settlers might have fled the country and the peace-loving rulers

West

lost hope.

Surely the Province of Pennsylvania would have had settlers had little hope of gaining this territory if no

espoused her cause. Since this territory became the gateway to the great

Fort Allen, in Westmoreland,

37

subsequent Northwestern Territory, it is significant for Pennsylvania laws events of national importance that as they embarked people governed the great hordes of westward.

,

of The Virginian was not likely to bring his retmue and in traffic 1780 slave abolished slaves into a state which of provided for the gradual emancipation

its^

slaves;

more hence the slave-holding immigrant was in his journeys line Dixon and keep south of the Mason likely to

westward.

Thus we Illinois,

Indiana, see that the great states of Ohio,

Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa knew

states of conflicting of actual slave-holding, and the Virginia, Kenopinions were the border states of West little

tucky and Missouri. the The opening of the Forbes road, and the winning of influence mighty Ohio Country for Pennsylvania had a in

shaping the anti-slavery

movement

in the great north-

m

ballot western states, which states cast the deciding i860. the election of Abraham Lincoln in Had Virginia succeeded in planting slavery in the extended Pittsburgh district, slavery would have been great the which through westward from this gateway West. great majority of the immigrants went to the profitable While slavery would doubtless not have been

Wisconsin and in the northern states of Michigan, Illinois and nesota, yet in the states of Ohio, Indiana,

MinIowa

developed that a strong pre-slavery group would have cause. would have crippled their power to aid the Union Missouri, These states, like West Virginia, Kentucky and state divided would have been helpless through their own

Union cause. The Mason and Dixon

to aid the

line

became

a by-word as the

The Pennsylvania-German Society.

38

slave-holding states. dividing line between the Union and had more significance Its extension west of the mountains from the than its existence east thereof, when viewed

standpoint of anti-slavery. of the Western In the great conflict for the control the country country for Pennsylvania, while others fled settlers German the see we and surrendered it to Virginia of Zion

Church settlement quietly building

a fort,

and

in a time that their purposes may not be misinterpreted seizing the country by armed forces,

when

Virginia

was

Allen, Esq., they named their iort— Allen after Andrew Pennsylvania. of of the Supreme Executive Council

They also Thus they storm and fort

was

Pennsylvania. sent their petition for aid to time of great the in stood for their convictions holding of the stress, not knowing that their

a pivotal act that

ascendancy ciples of

slavery.

had far-reaching

results to

freedom,— freedom

of

gam

prmfrom freedom worship and

cherished in their beloved land for the