…and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image, to romp, graze, gallop, play, and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace.
More from my personal library, this from the Gazeteer and Business Directory of Crawford County, PA., for 1874, that I stole fair-n-square from my neighbor, Bob Tush.
We shall begin with North Shenango Township, which, “ was formed together with South and West Shenango in 1811. It lies upon the west border of the county…and contains 15,865 square acres. It is watered by Shenango Creek and several small streams flowing into it, the principal of which is Bennett’s Run, which drains the central portion, flowing north-west. Shenango Creek enters the township from Sadsbury, near the south-east corner, and flowing in a north-westerly direction through Pymatuning Swamp, which impinges on the north border…(1)
“The surface is level, and the soil of good quality, producing excellent crops…The inhabitants, though chiefly engaged in dairying and stock raising, give some attention to lumbering.(2)
“The Erie & Pittsburgh R. R. {sic} passes through the central part of the township.
“Espyville (p.o.) situated in the western part, about one mile from the E. & P.R.R. contains a church, store, school house, wagon shop, shoe shop, paint shop, three blacksmith shops, a saw mill and about twenty dwellings. It derives its name from George Espy, an early settler there. (3)
“STEWARTSVILLE {sic} is situated on Bennetts Run, in the eastern part of the township….this township was occupied by a race of people versed in the arts of civilization, at a period long anterior to the advent of the present inhabitants, there are found in the remains of fortifications and relics of an early period exhumed in their vicinity…These forts, which are circular in form, are located on Shenango Creek, about one-fourth of a mile apart, and each covers an area of half an acre to an acre. The outlines of two of them are still discernable, the glacis being two to three feet high, and the rifle pits of similar depth. Upon these embankments large trees have grown, which give evidence of their great age, while within old gun barrels, fragments of human bones and other relics of an earlier age have been disclosed. Andrew Linn, while opening a spring in the northern part of the township, disclosed a portion of a stone wall, which, though evidently a piece of masonry, does not sufficiently indicate its design. (4)
“…Sam’l {sic} Barrackman settled in the northern part in April, 1800. He erected the first framed building – a barn – built in the township, about the 1818. Hannah Linn came with her family in May of the same year, (1800) and settled in the western part, where they cleared a farm, on which she resided till her death, and which is now owned by the family. They came from New Jersey via Pittsburgh, with a four horse team, and cut their road through the woods from the city. During the first winter of their residence here, blankets were used as a substitute for doors, and would seem to have afforded meager security against the wild beasts which made the night hideous with their frightful screams. “ (5)
Meanwhile, down in South Shenango Township… “In 1795, and, as far as our information extends, previous to the settlement of the township, the camp of William Power, who was engaged in making surveys of tracts now embraced in South Shenango, was robbed by a band of Indians, on the 5th of June, and James Thompson, who had charge of the camp at the time, was taken prisoner, but subsequently effected his escape. The locality where this event occurred was known by the settlers as the “White Thorn Corner.” (6)
“…Michael Marshall came from Perry county, {sic} in 1798, and settled the farm owned by Wallace Marshall, which he worked till his death. Robert Bennett settled on the place owned by his son Samuel, in 1798, or ‘9, and died here in 1842. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. James Dickey came from Washington county, {sic} in 1799, and purchased of John Grimes, for a gun, powder horn and blanket, 100 acres, where his son, N. Dickey, now resides. He died at the age of eighty.” (7)
And back over in West Fallowfield Township, “…ADAMSVILLE (p.o.) is situated in the southern part of the township and contains two churches, (and a Society of Old-School Presbyterians who have no edifice,) three stores, two blacksmith shops, two shoe shops, one carriage shop, a steam flouring mill, (with three runs of stones and a capacity for grinding forty bushels of grain per day,) thirty dwellings and about 150 inhabitants. (8)
“The old Beaver & Erie Canal extends through the eastern part of the township, in close proximity to Crooked Creek.” Etc.
“The census for 1870 shows that this county stood FIRST in the State in the number of farms, none which exceed 500 acres;…it also stood first in the number of pounds of cheese made and hops raised; fourth in the number of working oxen, the number of bushels of spring wheat raised, the gallons of milk sold and of maple molasses made; seventh in the number of horses and the number of tons of hay raised; eighth in the number of acres of improved land, in the value of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter, in the number of milch cows and in the number of pounds of wool produced and butter made...” (9)
The ad that appears numerous times in a skinny side-line type, along the pages at the beginning of the Gazeteer reads as follows: “Opium Habit Cured ! The Great Original OPIUM AND MORPHIA ANTIDOTE ! Will cure the Habit Quick, Cheap and without Pain. Send for Large Pamphlet. Address Drs. ORMES & KELLOGG, Jamestown.” {sic} (10)
Watch that Opium…
The Gazeteer is a very interesting peek into many aspects of life two centuries ago.
Leaving you once again with the immortal words of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to You.”
1-10: Gazeteer and Business Directory of Crawford County, PA., for 1874; Compiled and published by Hamilton Child; Syracuse, NY: Printed at the Permanent Journal Office, 22 & 24 E. Washington Street. 1874