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Lack Township
Part II
History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the
counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania...
Edited by F. Ellis and A. N. Hungerford.
Published in Philadelphia by Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886
Pages 733-738
CHAPTER VII.
LACK TOWNSHIP, Part II.
By A. L.
Guss
EARLY SETTLERS.-Leaving the Peter Shaver lands, at Waterford, we
have, first, to the right hand of the road, in a loop next the creek:
William Kirk, two hundred and sixty acres, occupied already in 1767. In later
days one hundred and sixteen acres went to Joseph McMeens and William
Wallace, now Kough and Hockinberry; one hundred and sixteen acres to A. J.
Ferguson, now partly David Moyer; while about twenty-seven acres belong to
Isaac Kirk's heirs.
Andrew Ferrier had a tract southwest of Shaver's, on the stream that comes out
of Horse Valley. He was there in 1774. The foundry and plow-factory of G. W.
Kough is probably on this tract. Just above the foundry about one hundred yards,
at the head of the dam, there formerly stood the fulling-mill and carding-machines
of James Kirk, Sr., 1826 and later. Close to the site of the fulling-mill James
Garner had his sickle-mill in 1799. A few rods above there are the remains of an
old dam, older than the fulling-mill, and not used for it. It is probable that this
sickle-mill was also the location of the Morris, Walker, Ferrier, Magaw, Shaver
grist-mill.
John Harvey, on the left of the road, west of the town, one hundred and forty-
four acres, April 28, 1767; sold, May 21, 1789, to Archibald Watts, of Toboyne.
Alexander McIntyre got one hundred and twenty-one acres of this land, which
composes the present farm of Lemuel Ramsey; and Thomas Bracken got thirty
acres. In 1803 there was a saw-mill where Bracken's part joined the run.
John Shnell owned the tract on the run, just above the McIntyre part of
Harvey's tract. Here, about a fourth of a mile above the foundry, at a high bank,
and in the very edge of the Mill Run, is a remarkably well-preserved stone wall; it
is three or four feet wide, six feet high and forty feet long. It stands eight feet from
the bank. There can be no doubt that this is the place that Shnell had his grist
and saw-mills, taxed in 1795.
James Stone, one hundred and twenty-sex acres, April 20, 1763, called
"Litharge," adjoining William Kirk and Bracken to the east; now Herman
Hockenberry and Harvey Wallace. James Stone had seventy-five acres adjoining
this tract surveyed October 8, 1765. His son, John Stone, took up three tracts
towards the mountain.
Captain John Little, or Lytle, one hundred and ninety-four acres, June 10, 1762,
on both sides of the creek; surveyed in 1768 by George Woods; sold to Samuel
Shannon in 1772; Edward Thatcher, 1778, and his wife, Sarah to 1796; later,
Larrimore, and then John Woodsides; now, Matthew Clark, residing on the north
side of the creek.
Captain John Lytle took out a warrant for two hundred acres October 17, 1767;
now Daniel Thatcher's, John Burns' and Matthias Stump's land, on the Lytle tract;
and on the Thatcher part there were eight or ten acres cleared at an early day by
one Woods (tradition says it was George Woods, being on the heads of Woods'
Run). It was early abandoned, and today is covered with tall oak timber.
George Woods was taken by Indians when Fort Bigham was burned; his
companion was shot. Woods is said to have been a man of fine education and a
good surveyor. He was taken with the others to Kittanning, and after running the
gauntlet, was adopted into the tribe, assigned to one John Hutson, who had
Jennie Gray, and was taken to Pittsburgh and there he delivered "to the French
Governor, Mons. Duquesne." The story of Woods marrying Mrs. Gray is not
trustworthy. Woods is said to have taken his captivity little to heart, to have
bargained with Hutson for his release, agreeing to give a yearly payment of ten
pounds of tobacco during life to the Indian, and which was regularly called for by
him for many years. However this may be, Woods got back, and afterwards
removed to Bedford, where he became a man of considerable prominence, and
was the father-in-law of United States Senator James Ross, who ran against
McKean and Snyder for Governor. Woods was one of the surveyors that laid out
Pittsburgh. The great business street is named "Wood Street" after him. Tench
Francis, agent of the Penns, employed Woods to lay out the town into lots, and
for this purpose he moved from Bedford to Pittsburgh, in May, 1784, where he
reared a large family and lived to a ripe old age.
George Woods, July 20, 1762, took up a large tract on both sides of the creek,
and covering the mouth of a run on the north side. John Glenn held two hundred
and seventy-eight acres of this land west of Lytle. He also warranted sixty-six
acres on the right of Woods, March 28, 1767, called "Panama." David Glenn held
one hundred and fifty-one acres of Woods' tract (1815-38). In 1820 William Glenn
held ninety-nine acres, later John Woodsides, and Robert Brown the other part
(thirty acres) in 1838, who also then got the survey of Robert Brice, one hundred
and thirty-six acres, September 1, 1767. William Showers now lives here on the
north side, and William Robison and Alexander Wallace, late John Woodsides,
on the south side of the creek. The stream emptying into the creek on the north
side through this tract is called "Woods' Run."
Alexander McIntyre, one hundred and ninety-four acres, June 4, 1762,
adjoining John Glenn and George McConnell, now Alexander Eaton. This was
John McIntyre's place. The Cooney tract, so called from a blacksmith, Peter
Cooney (1815-28), is now occupied by a James Gray, one of the nine sons of
Joseph Gray, all of whom were in the army.
George McConnell in 1763 held a large tract, part of which is now held by Mrs.
Ezra Montgomery and George W. Armstrong. The lower part, three hundred and
three acres, was warranted by his son, James McConnell, March 9, 1787, now
Rev. J. A. Ross. On the north side of the creek Robert Wright had one hundred
and fifty acres, November 7, 1785.
Thomas Woods, two hundred and twenty acres, February 3, 1755, on both
sides of the creek. John Wallace had one hundred and twenty-two acres. Half of
each tract (one hundred and seventy-one acres) went to William Neely (1772),
and the other half to John Harvey. Harvey's lands now belong to Samuel and
Joseph Simonton, and Neely's part, later (1821) James Neely, now Robert
Robison.
George Woods held a tract, the southern part of which now belongs to John
Leonard, while W. H. Gallagher occupies the northern part. The small stream
emptying into the Tuscarora Creek is called "George's Creek."
John Wilson, forty-one acres, December 2, 1766; James Harvey, one hundred
acres, May 20, 1786, sold by William Brice, tuner, February 21, 1800, to William
Neely; William Neely, thirty-five acres, May 21, 1790; John Johnson, a part,
November 9, 1809; Manasses Ramsey, a part, January 2, 1810. These parts of
larger surveys composed the Arbuckle or Alexander tract. The John Neely part of
William Neely, and part of the Johnson tract formed the tract of John Magee and
Achia, his wife. John Wright also had a tract February 22, 1785. The Arbuckle
tract now belongs to John Leonard and Esquire Henry Titzel.
William Brice, two hundred and ninety-one acres, December 2, 1766. This is
called a "location." On this tract are the village of Waterloo and Williams' grist-mill
and lands of Jason Robison, John H. Little, Ezra Montgomery and Absalom Rice.
Above Brice, on the creek, are three surveys-David Wallace, two hundred and
two acres, February 21, 1755; James McCracken, one hundred and forty-six
acres, March 25, 1763; and David Wallace, eighty-three acres, March 25, 1763.
The last-named is now Absalom Rice and John H. Blair. The McCracken tract is
Rice, Blair and Mrs. Dr. Maclay, nee Pomeroy. The early warrant of Wallace
proves he had an eye for good land. The region about his lands used to be called
"Wallacetown," before Waterloo was laid out.
David Wallace, May 14, 1767, a tract of which he sold twenty-eight acres to
John Brown. It lies at the north end of Waterloo Bridge. Arks were formerly built
on the Tuscarora, as far up as Waterloo.
David Glenn, for fifty-five acres, December 2, 1767, called "Acheron," situated
"on a run, including a large deer lick." This tract was enlarged to two hundred and
thirty-one acres, and the well-known voting-place, Lick School House, is on it. He
also had a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, June 28, 1786, on a corner
jutting up to Joseph Douglass, with James McCutcheon above, and John Cook
across the stream; McCutcheon, one hundred and eighty-five acres, December
21, 1768; now Samuel Woodside's heirs. One July 28, 1761, Governor Hamilton
issued a proclamation, offering one hundred pounds for the arrest of the person
who, on or about the 24th of June last, fatally wounded a certain Indian called
Thomas Hickman, of the Delaware tribe, with a rifle or fusee, near a deer lick in
the valley of Tuscarora, in the county of Cumberland, of which said wound he
shortly after died. It is supposed that the act was committed by a white man with
intent to murder said Hickman, notwithstanding his well-known constant
friendship and attachment to the English during the whole course of the war,
which greatly aggravates the horror and wickedness of the deed.
Above the Tuscarora township line, in the valley next Shade Mountain, is the
survey of John Bell, the founder of a well-known family; now Joseph Bell and
others.
Thomas McIlroy, three hundred and thiry-seven acres, May 6, 1768; near
McKnight on the south; now James Barton and Thomas Murphy.
Patrick Murphy made an improvement which was held by him and his children
until a recent date without a warrant; now William Thompson and others. It
extended west to John Gemmil.
Robert Levers, of Philadelphia, warranted three hundred and twenty-seven
acres, which later was increased to four hundred and three acres, June 4, 1762,
on Woods'Run. This tract is now owned by J. C. Burns and W. I. Wilson. The
county line crosses it. Matthias Campbell, two hundred and thirty-seven acres, on
the county line, south of Levers. East of this and south of Levers was William
White, one hundred and five acres; and farther east Thomas Shanks, two
hundred and sixty-four acres.
The name of Captain John Brady, in 1763, in Lack, is pretty conclusive
evidence that he was then living there. He had no warrant for the tract, and was
probably here for a short period after leaving Shippensburg, and before he
settled opposite Standing Stone. He afterwards moved to the West Branch and
became a noted Indian fighter, as did also all his sons.
William McMullen, of Lack township, served in Proctor's Pennsylvania artillery
regiment in the Revolution; died about 1622.
PERU MILLS.
The tract on which Peru Mills is situated was warranted to John Gemmill
September 13, 1762; one hundred and fifty acres. Gemmill sold the tract to
William Goff, who sold it to Thomas Proviance, and he sold it to John Ferrier in
September, 1798.
On Willow Run, formerly Little Tuscarora, four miles below Peru Mills, lived one
Thomas Wharry, who had on the run a small grist-mill from 1799 to 1816. Above
this, on the same run, about three miles below Peru Mills, about 1785, Henry
Thompson sold John Ferrier his "improvement" right to a tract then "adjoining the
surveyed line of Ralph Starrett," where F. Vawn now lives. His father, Andres
Ferrier, lived near by. Here they erected a small grist-mill, for which John is taxed
as early as 1790. In 1792 Andrew Ferrier, while attending court at Lewistown,
slept in a bed, the clothing of which the tavern-keeper had purchased at auction
in Philadelphia, and which was infected with yellow fever. Ferrier and a number
of others in this vicinity took the fever and died, and they were buried on this old
mill property. His son John carried on the grist-mill for some years. Finally, after
he purchased the Peru property, he built a mill on it, about 1799. John Patterson
came into possession of this property in 1810. In 1812 Patterson rebuilt the mill,
and erected a saw-mill in 1816. The grist-mill was since rebuilt. A post-office was
established here in 1850, and the name Peru Mills was given to it, that name
having been previously given to the place by Mr. Patterson. His son, William H.,
was postmaster till 1858, and his brother John has held the position ever since.
James Lyon was partner of Merchant John, and kept the store as early as 1816.
There has been a store here most of the time since, and continuously since
1846. In 1846 a large tannery was built here, the owners of which were W. H.
Patterson & Co., then Mathers & Patterson, then W. H. & John Patterson, Then
Patterson & Van Dyke, and then John Patterson. It closed in 1872. When in its
most flourishing condition this factory tanned out as many as eleven thousand
sides of sole-leather in a year. The extensive works are now decaying, but the
grist and saw-mills and a store, a couple of good residences and some of the old
tenant-houses still serve to make Peru Mills a spot of some note in the upper end
of this county. William R. Van Dyke, above-named, was killed at the battle of
Dranesville, and his son at the battle of Spottsylvania. After a long, weary ride it
is a pleasure to stop with the venerable John Patterson, last living son of
Merchant John Patterson, and sit at his feet to hear the "traditions of the elders,"
of which he knows more than any man now living in the county.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.-Lack township has eleven schools. They are all
frame buildings. 1. North Point, stands on lands of Matthew Dougherty.
2. Rick Hill, on lands of Robert Silverthorn. 3. Cross-Keys, near
the Lack post-office. These three are in Shade Valley. 4. Lick, on the
lands of ex-Sheriff Walls. 5. Barton's. 6. Rhine's. These three supply the
intervening ridges between Shade Valley and the creek. 7. Wallace's, so
called from William Wallace, the former owner of the land. 8.
McConnell's, so called from John McConnell. 9. Waterloo. There are
two public schools in Black Log. The lower one is called the Lauver school-
house, being on David Lauver's farm. The upper one is called Smith's, and is on
George Hoffman's land. They are both frame buildings.
About 1808 there was a school-house of pine poles near the site of Upper
Tuscarora Church. It was used for a number of years, when the young men
made a raid upon it one night and carried the poles to the Tuscarora creek and
set them afloat. The next house was of logs and gave place ot a frame, which in
turn was replaced in 1858, by the present house in Waterloo. Some of the
teachers were Noah Elder (uncle of Judge Noah), Richard Templeton, David
Hutchinson, David S. Ferguson, Thomas Price and Nathan Fish.
In the northern part of the township a house was built of round poles, in which
John Keys and David Hutchinson taught. In 1820 a larger house was built near
the same site, and Natahn Fish, a one-armed man, taught; also George Deviney
and Matthew Clark. William Kerr kept school in an old house that stood in William
Neely's orchard about 1813; also Peter Miller, Sr. About 1820 David Hutchinson,
David Ferguson and Robert Goshorn taught in a school-house near Matthew
Clarks' saw-mill David Glenn, Esq., started it. Thomas Roles, about the same
period, raught in a house near the residence of William Behel. Another old
building near Jacob Shearer's was used as a school-house by Hutchinson,
Ferguson and Deviney. In 1818 William McKinney taught in a house on the Peru
farm. The Bartons built a school-house at an early day on their place. On the
bank near a good spring on the farm of Robert Pollock, now Vaughn, still an old
house used for a school; James Gray and Thomas Thornburg were teachers.
Joseph Gray was an old teacher and one of the first board of directors. The
number of children in Lack attending schools in 1884 was three hundred and
sixty-five.
Lack township has produced some men who have gone forth to enlighten other
regions. Samuel Barton became prominent in the State Education Department of
Kentucky. Morrow Campbell, of near Waterloo, became active in the schools of
Pittsburgh, and had two sons enter the ministry of the Presbyterian Church.
William Van Dyke, when eighteen years of age, was the first to enter the rebel
entrenchments at Spottsylvania and was killed in the second advance at a point
where the very trees were cut down by the bullets. The McCutcheons, of
Waterloo, went to Illinois and Missouri and became noted in various stations.
Robert Wallace had sons who made their mark, one being a professor in the
University at Wooster, Ohio.
LACK POST-OFFICE.-One mile and a half west of Peru Mills there is a
hamlet commonly called "Cross-Keys," which has a post-office kept by Samuel
Markle. It was established in 1863, and given the name Lack. A small store is
kept here. The Presbyterian Church, built in 1867, is situated near by-Rev. L. L.
Houghawout, present pastor. The land at Lack is on the survey of W. H.
Patterson, in right of Patrick Divinney, and called "Colraine." Near Lack is a
church, built in 1850, by the Lutherans, called Willow Grove, but which has been
used by the Methodists for ten years past, and served from the Concord Circuit.
There is a grave-yard adjoining this church.
AN OLD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.-There was at an early day a
Presbyterian Church in Lack township, at what is now known as the McWilliams
grave-yard, about three miles above Waterford. It was a small log house, and
once supplied the place of the Upper and Middle Tuscarora Presbyterian
Churches. The grave-yard is still used for burials and is one of the oldest in the
county. The history of this church is lost, but it was probably used until the
churches were built at Waterloo and McCulloch's Mills, which was about 1802.
WATERLOO.
Waterloo is a small town in the extreme southwestern corner of Lack township.
A post-office was established about 1820, and William C. Kelly became the first
postmaster. Other postmasters have been William H. Patterson, Josiah McMeen,
George Noss, Robert Robinson, J. Robison, G. W. Campbell. The village has
one store, and was formerly noted for the manufacture of wind-mills. The
academy built by William Campbell, after being used for a few years as a school,
was converted into a Presbyterian parsonage and is still so used. In this town is
the Upper Tuscarora Presbyterian Church, the pastor of which serves this point
and Peru and Shade Gap. The following named persons have been pastors of
this church: Rev. Alexander McIlwaine, 1799-1807; Rev. Samuel Bell (first pastor
at "Little Aughwick," Shade Gap), 1808; Rev. George Gray, 1825-49; Rev.
William Morrison, 1853-57; Rev. G. W. Van Artsdalen, 1860-64; Rev. J. E.
Kearnes, 1865-80; Rev. Arthur; Rev. L. L. Houghawout, 1883.
William Short, who died in 1884, was a pioneer in the Waterloo Methodist
Episcopal Church. He and a few others worshipped in a little log church five
miles north of Waterloo, built at the instance of James Pollock. About 1836,
Colonel George Noss and wife, joined the church at Mitchell's camp-meeting. For
some time they held services in the school-house. Their aggressive spirit met
with stormy opposition; and to render themselves independent, Short, Noss and
others determined to build a church. Noss gave the ground for the church and
grave-yard. The frame house, thirty by forty feet, was dedicated in 1842, James
Brads and Franklin Dyson being the preachers in charge at that time. In 1858 the
building was much improved and reseated. Since 1843 the following have been
senior preachres on the Concord Circuit: Elisha Butler, George W. Deems,
George Stevenson, Joseph N. Spangler, Robert Beers, Cambridge Graham,
Amos Smith, N. S. Buckingham, Frederick E. Creaver, Reuben E. Kelly, James
M. Clark, Joseph R. King, Andrew E. Taylor, Seth A. Creveling, W. W. Dunmire,
William Schribner, George A. Singer, Joseph A. Ross, Edmund White, A. W.
Decker, C. T. Dunning, Levi S. Crone.
Christian Cook and his son Elias carried on a fulling-mill and carding-machine
in the Concord Narrows from 1811 to 1831, when the latter removed to Reed's
Gap.
BLACK LOG.
Black Log Valley is a long, narrow depression, scooped out of the crest of an
elevation, the rims of which are known as Shade Mountain on the east and Black
Log Mountain on the west. The eastern prolongation of the reunited anticlinal
axis is also called Shade Mountain. The denudation in Black Log has cut down to
the lower limestone strata, and exposed a strip of good soil. The upper eastern
end of this valley is in Juniata County, the other portions in Huntingdon. The
Juniata part is inhabited for a distance of eight miles, the upper habitation being
little east of opposite Reed's Gap. There are in it two post-offices, one at
Oppelville, so called from an educated German farmer who lives there and keeps
the office. The other, called Black Log, is farther up the valley, and G. W.
Hoffman is postmaster. They were both established in July 1883. The German
Baptists have a meeting-house on Charles Glock's farm, a grave-yard, said to be
the oldest in the valley. There is a Methodist Episcopal Church at Oppelville, built
principally by Mr. Shindle as a Lutheran Church, and so used while he was
running the tannery, near by which there is also a grave-yard. The church at
Oppelville was at one time used for a school. The act of April 2, 1852, made
Black Log Valley, composed of parts of Lack and Tuscarora townships, a
separate election district, and fixed the election polls at Centre school-house.
A large tannery was built in the valley in 1846 by Shindle & Stonebreaker, who
were succeeded in order by Lease & McVitty, Samuel Boblits in 1856, Maffett &
Shearer in 1863, who closed in 1867. The lumbering business has conducted,
and in later years the steam saw-mill has accelerated the devastation of the
ancient forests. As the timber disappears, the people give more attention to
agriculture. Nearly all of these Black Log lands were warranted about 1794. Most
of the owners were non-residents. Many years ago a family named Biaron moved
from the city to the valley and put up the frame of a large house, but never
occupied it. John Biaron and D. W. Hulings had a saw-mill in the valley as early
as 1831.
There are two early surveys which deserve notice. Francis Innis, Jr., took up a
tract of three hundred and five acres March 12, 1786, surveyed the 18th
following, "on the road from Carlisle to the Standing Stone," now called the
"Kearney Path." East of this was a survey made at the same time, by William
Harris, to Stephen Champaigne. Innis was some years a captain among the
Indians, and at the French forts in Canada acquired considerable education. He
was fond of the wild life and was quite a rover. He served all through the
Revolution, and after the closing siege at Yorktown returned with two French
companions, Champaigne and Bouderez. They figured in lands in Tuscarora,
Black Log and at Shade Gap. Afterwards Champaigne returned to France and
left his Black Log lands to his companion, who, in turn, gave the tract to one
Kearney, whose house was a landmark on the division line on the formation of
Tuscarora township.
TUSCARORA SLEEPING-PLACE.-Secretary Peters, in 1750, spoke of
Sherman's Valley, "through which the present road goes from Harris's Ferry to
Alleghany." John Harris, in 1753, passed over this Traders' road. From Andrew
Montour's he came nine miles to Tuscarora Hill, then three miles to Thomas
Mitchell's sleeping-place, then fourteen miles to Tuscarora, then ten miles to
Cave (not Cove) Spring, or Trough Spring, above Silverthorn's Mills, and eight
miles more to the Shades of Death, now close to Shade Gap. Some of these
points have caused much speculation, and have never been successfully located
or explained. We are concerned principally in "Tuscarora." There was a place
near the mouth of Path Valley,--that is, near Waterloo,--called the "Tuscarora
Sleeping-Place," as appears by an application for land said to be near it. Harris
had just named one "Sleeping-Place, " and it is evident that the "Tuscarora" is
simply another one of these traders' cabins. We are of the opinion that it was at
the mouth of George's Creek. This will practically reconcile the table of distances.
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© 2006 by Michael Milliken
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