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Pennsylvania Clover County History Articles 

On This Page:
    County History Articles from:
        History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania
        History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
        Clearfield County, Past and Present
        History of Elk County
        Warren County, Pennsylvania      
        Biographical and Genealogical-Interior Pennsylvania

Clarion County History Articles on separate page:
        Early History of Western Pennsylvania
        Caldwell's Atlas of Clarion County, Pennsylvania
       The Commemorative Record Of Central Pennsylvania     
        History of Clarion County, Pennsylvania 
         Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania
        
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania County History Articles  on separate page
        Caldwell's Atlas of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
        History of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
        Pioneer History of Jefferson County
        Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People 1800-1915
        Details on Corsica, in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania from newspaper.      

History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania

John Blair Linn, History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883).
Page 42:
Residents of Potter Township 1801. Potter Township embraced the western part of the present township of Gregg, from Spring Mills, all of Potter and the Eastern half of Harris, from the end of Nittany Mountain eastward, bounded by Nittany Mountain on the north and the Seven Mountains on the south.  
Philip Clover, Sr
Philip Clover, Jr
No Corbett.

page 26:
Residents of Potter Township, Centre County.  This list was commented on as coming from the assessment lists, but no date of the lists was given.  
Philip Clover
Paul Clover
Also page 26:
Assessment List for Potter Township, Centre County, for 1790
Philip Clover 200 acres, no horses no cattle.
History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania

Lewis Cass Aldrich, Editor, History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, (Syracuse, New York: D. Mason & Co., 1887)
Page 55: Paul Clover made a settlement at the mouth of Anderson's Creek,, about 1801.  He remained here for several years, keeping a public house or tavern, and did some work as a blacksmith.  Clover died of a cancer after which his widow and children moved to Clarion.
page 67: The commissioners in May 1805, visited several localities to decide where to put the county buildings.  They visited the land of Paul Clover, near the present borough of Curwensville.  This was in a list of many other localities.
Page 70: Taxable Inhabitants of Chincleclamousche Township, in 1806: list includes Paul Clover
Peter Clover was listed as a single freeman on the 1806 tax list.
Page 390: J. N. Clover was pastor of the M. E. Church from 1874 - 1875.
Page 629: Pike Township which was formed in 1813.  
    Paul Clover was probably the first settler in the township, having arrived in 1797, and built a house and blacksmith shop where the "Corner Store," in Curwensville, now stands. [Note:  in 1887]
Page 633: Up to the year 1812, not a single building had been erected on the town plot [of Curwensville], although from the best information now obtainable, it seems that there were at that time two dwellings on the Curwen lands, in addition to the house and shop of Paul Clover, above referred to.  

BIO: Jonathan SHAFER, Clearfield County, PA
 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Sally
Copyright 2005.  All rights reserved.
NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/swoope/swoope.htm
_____________________________________________________________

From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania,
and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr.,
Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, pages 671 & 672.
_____________________________________________________________

  JONATHAN SHAFER, who has lived in Clearfield county since 1848, and owns an excellent farm of forty-nine acres, in Brady township, was born November 22, 1837, in Lebanon county, Pa., and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Heinzerling) Shafer.  Jacob Shafer was born in Dauphin county, Pa.  His ancestors took part in the Revolutionary War.  He came to Lebanon county as a young man and married a lady
who was born in Philadelphia.  In 1838 they moved to Center county and in 1848 to Clearfield county, making the journey in wagons as at that time there were no railroads through this section.  Mr. Shafer located four miles south of Luthersburg and the first twig ever cut on the land was by Jonathan Shafer, when a boy of eleven years.  Jacob Shafer cleared this farm with the assistance of his sons and later sold the place to his son Jonathan and moved back to Center county, where he died at the age of seventy-five years.  His widow survived him, her death taking place at the age of eighty-four years, at the home of her son, Jonathan.  Eight children were born to Jacob Shafer and his
wife, namely:  Susan, who is deceased, was the wife of D. S. McCracken, also deceased; Solomon, who is deceased; Jacob, who is deceased; Lydia, who is the widow of Hiram Passmore; Joseph; Jonathan; John H.; Samuel; and Rebecca, who is the wife of William Snyder.
  Jonathan Shafer had but meager school opportunities in his youth, the log schoolhouse being distant from his home.  When he was twenty-one years old he learned the carpenter trade, with William Fitzpatrick in Illinois, with whom he remained for two and one-half years and later worked for a number of years as carpenter and contractor at DuBois, following the fire at that place.  After buying his father's farm he kept it for five years and then sold and moved to Salem, where he purchased a house and an acre of land and lived there for five years.  In 1870 he bought the Johnson farm of 103 acres, near Luthersburg, and put up new buildings and lived there until he bought his present farm in 1897, selling the former one.  Mr. Shafer has always been considered a good and worthy citizen, having ever shown public spirit and commendable interest in all that pertains to his section.  He has served as school director for the past fifteen years and has held other township offices.
  Mr. Shafer was married August 18, 1864, to Miss Mary E. Horn, who was born in Brady township, a daughter of Daniel and Nancy (Michaels) Horn, natives of Chest township.  They have had eleven children, all of whom survive, a large and united family.  Elora Jane is the wife of G. B. Wachob.  Alva Anson married Inez Brisbain.  Reuben C. married Zoe Clover.  Maggie R. married Dr. Marsh Hay. 
George W. married Ida Swope.  Ada C. married Joseph P. Nollen.  Harvey Q. married Mell Clover.  David L. married Alta Lines.  Emma May married Charles Moose.  Jonathan E. married Iva Pence.  Lena M. married Levi Draucker.  Mr. Shafer and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.  He is a member of the Grange and for ten years has belonged to the order of American Mechanics.  In his views on public questions he is independent but casts his vote with the Prohibitionists.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/history/local/clearfield.txt
All of these items are on this site.  
CLOVER, Nancy 31 pages 28-32 story of Betsy and Benjamin Bloom.
     Paul 28,29,30,32,95,103,230,261 page 95-96 story of hog, page 103, school, page 161-262 Paul's land.
     Peter 37,38  1806 tax lists
     Seth 29
Every Name Index to "Clearfield County, Present and Past"
Book available on FHL Fiche 6088616

Clearfield Co., PA, Present and Past
By Thomas Lincoln Wall Page 103

    The First Teachers.  The County Atlas says Hugh Hall was the first teacher at McClure’s but Dr. A. T. Scriver, who was a very careful and accurate man, says the first teacher’s name was Kelly and the second was James Fleming.  The original account book of James Fleming is still in existence.  In it are the entries and registry of attendance with charges against the pioneer residents along the river at that time including Squire Thomas McClure, Robert Cresswell, Paul Clover, Arthur Bell, Robert Askey, William Bloom, and others.

    This school record starts in July 1807 and goes into August.  It begins again November 9, and goes to the end of quarter, Jan. 2, 1808, and on to sometime in February.  The charges were at the rate of about $1.50 per month, and “board round.”
Clearfield County, PA, Present and Past Pages 95 & 96
By Thomas Lincoln Hall
   
    How a Savage Hog Killed The Indian Babies.  Paul Clover kept a public house or hotel, as we would call it now, near where the old Susquehanna House now stands by the river in Curwensville, selling liquor, of which the Indians were very fond.

    One day an Indian squaw came, presumably to get a drink of whiskey at the tavern.  She had with her, her twin papooses who were strapped on a broad board, Indian fashion, so they could be carried on her back.  Before going in, she reared the board, with the papooses on it, up beside the door outside.  After she had been in a while, there was a great racket and squalling outside, and when she came out she found that a savage hog that had been running at large, had attacked her poor helpless babies, torn them nearly to pieces and killed them.  Picking them up, she ran screaming to the Indian camp, which was in the cove back of where the B. R. & P. Railroad Bridge now crosses the little run opposite Arnoldtown.

    Paul Clover was terribly alarmed for fear the Indians would come and kill him in their anger.  He therefore immediately shut up the hog.  Sure enough, the Indian braves soon came over with their guns and tomahawks, very angry at what had occurred.  Paul Clover scared nearly out of his wits, pointing to the hog where she was shut up shouted to them, “There she is!  There she is!  She did it!  She did it! Kill her!  Kill her!”  However, the Indians were not so unreasonable and when they found out just what had occurred, they said if Clover would promise to keep the hog shut up hereafter, they would not kill her.  Therefore, they went away again.
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
plaque

Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Clover Family Exchange Vol. 1 Issue 2 November 1985 typed by Pat Vaseska
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, Present and Past
By Thomas Lincoln Hall

    (The following is an excerpt from a book of the above title by T.L. Wall, pp 28-31.  It presents a picture of the pioneer environment ca. 1800.  The book was written by Mr. Wall, who was an ex-principal of Boggs Twp. Schools; he wanted to preserve some of the early history of the area in an interesting form for the children in his schools.  The book was copyrighted in 1925.)
    A gigantic maple tree, 17 feet 5 inches in circumference at 6 feet above the ground, stands on the grounds of John P. Irvin, near his residence, on the bank of Anderson creek close to where it empties into the West Branch at Curwensville.  Here, so far as known, is the first graveyard in the county used by white people.  It was however, and Indian burial place long before the coming of the whites.
    In 1799, Paul Clover built his cabin on the old Indian path nearby, and his blacksmith shop where Squire John Dale’s house now stands.  Clover’s little daughter Nancy, who died in 1804, was probably the first white burial here.  There are some rough head and footstones yet standing, but they bear no marks.
    Passing nearby are the Pennsylvania, the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh, and the New York Central Railroads.  The Lakes-to-the-Sea Highway now takes the place of the Erie Pike, which was in its day a great thoroughfare, and which, in 1824, took the place of the Old State Road and the Mead Trail, the first white man’s ways to cross the country.
    All are in sight of the great maple that still stands, where it stood more than a century and a quarter ago, between the Indian path and the river, which were then the only means of travel through the county, between the east and the west. 
    An embankment on the farm of Grier Bell is thought to have been made by Indians of some earlier race.  From it three “knobs” ‘high round hills’ maybe seen.
    In 1803, Arthur Bell sold the upper part of his farm to Benjamin Fenton, who cleared three acres, sowed it in wheat & built a log house, then went back to Center County, bringing his goods over for later, some that winter on sleds and the balance next spring on packhorses.  Alex McNattin, a jolly Scot, helped Fenton move.
    They had to ferry goods across Clearfield Creek and the river and the water was high.  A short distance below Fenton’s cabin on the river, they sent the horses through the water next to the bank, while they themselves scrambled along the shelving rocks above.  A favorite black mare, Kate, was loaded with bedding, and she somehow got turned into the main stream current and swam with her load barely sticking out of water, wetting the bedding and liable to lose it off or be swept away with the flood, but she was finally persuaded to swim ashore.
    Fenton had no doors or windows in his house, but as that was quite the fashion of pioneer days, nothing was thought of it.  He and Bell were great friends, and as Bell was a good hunter, but did not like to bother skinning and bringing in the game, Fenton did it for him.  Benjamin Fenton had a number of children.  One, Elisha, who settled in the Grampton Hills, was a great reader and became, in his time, the best-informed man in the county.  Paul Clover, the first blacksmith, came to the mouth of Anderson Creek in 1799.
    William Bloom, who was also a Revolutionary soldier, came to the mouth of Anderson Creek and built a cabin on what is now the Irvin Farm near Curwensville, presumably in the spring of 1801.  He brought with him his sons John, Benjamin, and his daughter Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was about 16 and Benjamin 9 or 10, therefore as Elizabeth was born in 1784 and Benjamin on the last day of the year 1790, they must have come in 1801.  Paul Clover who is said to have been and uncle to the Bloom children, was the only neighbor, living about three-fourths of a mile away at the mouth of the creek.
    That summer after the cabin was built, without any door except a blanket hung up to keep the wind out, (in style again because there were no sawmills yet to make boards for a door) the Blooms cleared a little patch of ground and sowed turnips for winter, if not much else.  Then Mr. Bloom went back to Nittany in the fall to bring over the rest of the family, leaving the children to keep the cabin until he should come back.  But for some reason, he did not get back until spring and the children were left to shift for themselves.  John though fourteen, liked to live with the Indians and hunt, and did not bother at all about Elizabeth and Benjamin.

Clover Family Exchange Vol. 1 Issue 3 March 1986 typed by Pat Vaseska
HOW BENJAMIN AND BETSY KEPT THE
CABIN ALL WINTER LONG
    Continued from Issue 2, this story is taken from the book “Clearfield County – Present and Past” by T L. Wall. pages 32-35.

    In issue 2, Elizabeth (Betsy) and Benjamin (Ben) Bloom, whose uncle was Paul Clover [son of John Peter/Catherine  Clover] were left with their brother, John, 14, at the cabin built by their father.  It was fall, and Mr. Bloom left the children to shift for themselves while he went back to Nittany to get the rest of the family, expecting to return before winter.  It was spring before he came back.  John liked to live and hunt with the Indians, so that left Betsy, 16, and Ben, about 10, alone.  This is the rest of the story of how Betsy and Ben kept the cabin all winter long.  (The year is ca. 1800 and the place is near Curwensville, PA).

    There were two Clover boys, Paul and Seth who were about Ben’s age, and they and Ben spent a good deal of time wrestling.  But Ben could always throw the Clover boys, which they, boy-like, somewhat resented.  Anyway, they thought they would have some fun with Ben, and so told him that an old Indian, whose tribe was camped where the P.R.R. station now stands in Curwensville, was going to kill him and Betsy.

    Now these Indians were perfectly friendly, and before going away, Mr. Bloom had asked the old Indian to go over sometimes and see how the children were getting along, and the Indian promised to do so.  But Ben believed the story the boys told him.  So he hunted up his father’s old Revolutionary musket and some powder.  But could find no bullets, so he cut up a pewter spoon for bullets and loaded it up.  Then Ben posted himself in the cabin behind the blanket to wait for the old Indian, and sure enough the Indian, thinking he had better of over as he had promised, went up the path to the door.

    When Ben saw the old Indian’s outline through the blanket toward the light, he pulled the trigger of the old musket expecting to shoot him, but the gun, being a flintlock, and likely not in the best of order and probably not properly “primed”, did not go off.  However Ben made considerable noise in the act of trying to fire it, and too, the Indian could see enough around his blanket to know what was going on inside and so started to run.  Now Ben was so bent upon getting away with the Indian that he did not intend that he should escape so easily.  He had a bull dog in the cabin with him and immediately hissed him on the Indian, but the dog did not catch up until the old fellow was near the camp and the other Indians drove the dog off with clubs.

    After a while, the old Indian went over and complained to Paul Clover, and ask him what Ben meant by trying to shoot him when he went over to see how the children were getting along, as he had promised their father to do.  Mr. Clover didn’t understand it, but agreed to go and see Ben about it.

    Ben, who told the story to his grandson afterwards, said he noticed that his uncle, whom he considered a rather stern man, seemed to be in an unusually good humor when he came over that day.  He said to Ben “I understand you tried to shoot the old Indian?”  “Yes”, Ben said.  “The old fellow was planning to kill me and Betsy, so thought I would shoot him, but the gun wouldn’t go off.”

    “Who told you the Indian was going to kill you?”  Clover asked.  “Why your boys, Paul and Seth,” said Ben.  “Well, “said Clover, “let me see the gun, maybe I can fix it so it will go off next time.”  Ben handed over the gun thinking nothing of it.

    Now Clover was lame and walked with a cane and as he took the gun from Ben and set it aside, he collared him and gave him a most thorough flogging with the cane.  “You little fool,” he said, “didn’t you know that if you were to kill the old Indian, the other Indians would come over and kill us all?”  But Ben, smarting under his flogging was angry and resentful, and putting a turnip in his pocket, slipped off through the woods and started for Nittany where his father and mother were.

    After a while, Elizabeth found he had disappeared and went and told her uncle that Ben had run off.  So they got on the horses and started after him, but did not catch up to him until they were nearly to Philipsburg.  Then they pretended they were going to Nittany too, and Clover induced Ben to get on the horse with him.  When he was once on, and within Clover’s hold, they turned around and went back to Anderson Creek, and by that time, Ben’s temper having cooled off, he was agreed to stay.

    However, the Clover boys were not satisfied to let Ben alone but put up Catfish, and Indian boy who lived at the Indian camp, to banter him for a “wrastle.”  Now Ben knew that Catfish was hot-tempered, and suspected that he would get “mad” if Ben threw him.  So he refused.  However, being egged on by the Clover boys, Catfish still persisted in wanting to “wrestle”, and finally Ben told him he would, if Catfish would promise not to get angry if Ben threw him.  Oh, he was perfectly ready to promise to keep in a good humor no matter who got the best of the wrestling match.  So Ben agreed to wrestle, and, quick as a flash threw Catfish, who lit on his head and got up in a terrible rage, flying into Ben and biting his shoulder until Ben had to choke him to make him let loose.

    Soon after this, Ben was across the river helping the Clover boys to haul in “corn tops”, when Ben who had a pitchfork and was loading the “tops” on the sled, saw Catfish coming plouting right through the river, and decided that he was coming after Ben.  So when Catfish got pretty close, he jumped off the sled and made for Catfish.  This was too much for the Indian boy, and he turned and ran with Ben close behind him and had nothing to do but plunge into the river and run for his own side, making the water fly at every jump!

    As winter came on, it became harder and harder for Ben and Betsy to get along by themselves.  They had only a crude fireplace over which to cook their meals and by which to keep warm.  It took a lot of wood, for much of the heat went up the chimney and most of the remainder escaped out through the crevices between the logs of the cabin.  They had all their wood to gather out of the surrounding forest and then cut up so lit could be burned in the fireplace.

    Four feet of snow fell and everything was eaten up but the turnips.  So it was turnips for breakfast, dinner, and supper until they decided they could stand it no longer and finally succeeded in making a path through the deep snow three-quarters of a mile to Paul Clover’s to try to get something else to eat.  Now Clovers were not very flush of eatables, but they gave the Bloom children a hunk of corn bread, all they had, to take home.  This they are said to have relished wonderfully, and they made it last them two weeks.  Soon by one means and another, these children made out to help themselves and to get along until spring when their father brought over the others of the family.

    Later, Betsy (Elizabeth) was married to Matthew Ogden, and they lived for many years on the Daniel Ogden place where Clearfield now stands.
Elk County, Pennsylvania

History of the Counties of McKean, Elk,Cameron and Potter, Pensylvania,  (Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., Publishers, 1890 John Morris Company, Printers, 118 and 120 Monroe Street, Chicago, Ill.) History of Elk County, Chapter XVI. Millstone Township-Spring Creek Township, pg. 715-716.
        The first settlements were made by Philip Clover and Sowers in 1831 - 32. The first school-house was built in 1840, at the mouth of Spring creek, and opened by the very primitive John Knox, Miss Crow and Horace Warner following successively. In 1846 Miss Clements opened a subscription school at George Rhines' house on Maxwell run. In 1852 the directors authorized the building of a house at Arroyo; but this was not erected, and Miss Thom was compelled to teach over the ox-shoeing establishment of Thomas Irwin. In 1856 a school house was erected between Arroyo and Spring Creek, at a cost of $338, $115 of which were subscribed on condition that the building could be used for religious and other meetings.

Warren County, Pennsylvania

I do not have a source for this as it was sent to me as a lookup and I was not able to find out more.
Brokenstraw Township
A Rev. I. N. Clover was the pastor of a church in Brokenstraw Township from 1883-1886. 
Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania
 including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson, and Clarion

Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson, and Clarion, (Chicago, Illlinois: J.H. Beers, 1898),  1399-1400.  Thanks to Pat Vaseska for typing this item.

W. M. Clover Biography

    W. M. Clover, M.D., of Beaver Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, is a native of the county.  His grandfather on his father’s side was a German; his grandmother on his father’s side was a descendant of the stock of Sir Astley Cooper, the great English surgeon; his grandparents on his mother’s side were of Scotch origin.
    Dr. Clover received his education principally in schools and colleges of his own state; attended eleven terms of lectures in the medical colleges of Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City, New York.  He is of the school of regular practitioners; graduated three times M. D. and once C. M. (Cardiovascular Medicine).  He has taken several special courses on the eye, ear, nose, and throat, physical diagnosis, and microscopical course on histology (study of tissue sectioned as a thin slice, using a microtome) and pathological anatomy, and a six month term in the cancer hospital. 
    The Doctor is a member of the State Medical Society of Pennsylvania, and a member of the American Medical Association.  He has made 74,356 professional visits, treated 68,273 patients; has also treated 189 dislocations and 236 fractures.  He has performed 978 surgical operations, met in consultation 827 times, and attended 3,138 cases of obstetrics.  Again, the doctor has traveled with horse 152,650 miles, and by railroad 65, 284 miles.
    Dr. Clover has three sons and two daughters.  V. C. Clover is a mechanic, V. G. Clover is a tailor, and C. L. Clover is a physician.
    C. L. Clover, after finishing his academic course, graduated from Elmira, New York Business College.  He then attended lectures and graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City.  He has taken two courses in the New York Polyclinic, devoting his time principally to diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat.  He has been very successful in this specialty and in connection with the general practice which he also engages in.
    Miss Parma V. Clover, now Mrs. Mehrten, took a scientific course, then graduated in music in the Grove City College, Pennsylvania.  Miss D. C. Clover is the youngest daughter.
Notes and Queries, Historical Biographical and Genealogical
Relating Chiefly to Interior Pennsylvania

William Henry Egle, MD, MA, Notes and Queries, Historical Biographical and Genealogical Relating Chiefly to Interior Pennsylvania, Fourth Series, Volume 1, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genelogical Publishing Company, 1970), 280. This is a second printing of notes and queries from a Harrisburg newspaper. Volume one was originally published in 1894.

David Gram, son of Henry and Esther (Souder) Gram, born in Lancaster County, 1 March 1807, came to the Tuscarawas Valley with his parents in 1808.  He married Sybilla Clover, and they had ten children. she died in 1865, and in 1866, he remarried and had six children. He received a heritage of 100 acres of land, and by his industry, added 400 to it. Some years ago he retired to private life inthe village of Gnadenhutten.  Mr. Gram served 35 years as a Justice of the Peace and two terms as County Commissioner.

After wasting a lot of time on this person, I have come to believe that she is Sybilla Colver and that some error was made in article.  Sybilla Colver was the daughter of John Colver and Sarah Everett.  
 HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY
From Franklin Ellis' History of That Part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys
Embraced in the Counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder.  Philadelphia, 1886.

CHAPTER VI. Armagh Township.
By John Swartzell.
http://www.pagenweb.org/~mifflin/ellis/ellis-6.htm
 
15 March 1783, Philip Clover and William Corbet signed a letter requesting that Mr. James Johnston, preacher of the Gospel, come to their area and be their preacher. 
"MR. JAMES JOHNSTON, preacher of the Gospel:
"Sir: We, the subscribers, members of the United Congregation of East and West Kishacoquillas....