Armagh, Pennsylvania
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
3' C"; r, I , p:, ........ -,,,, c , (i;:' "', '' - *i~ I 'I ,' History of Armagh, Pennsylvania RXlph 0. Tre l .r .1' Cachet used by the Armagh, Pennsylvania Post Office on all Air Mail letters posted during the week ending May 21, 1938. The view is the William Penn Highway (U. S. Route 22) running through the Borough. This is the main street. 2 Preface This booklet has been prepared at the request of many friends and neighbors whom I have known for years. It is not intended as a complete history of Armagh. It would require many more pages and years of investigation to write an accurate detailed account of its settlement in 1792, and the activity of our people up to the present time. I believe, however, that the facts set forth in these pages are. accurate. Much :of the material has been furnished by descendants of some of the earlier settlers who still reside in this community. Their help has been greatly appreciated. I would like to suggest that when you are out traveling that you make Armagh your stopping place. You will find it a friendly community. You are welcome. There is plenty of parking space on the four corners. We do not use parking meters. Parking is free. 3 A Letter to the Postmasterof Armagh, Ireland A. G. Mayrick, Esq. Cathedral Road Armagh, Armagh County, North Ireland Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your letter dated Feb. 23, 1949. I was glad to hear from you. The Guide Book referred to was very, interesting. It has been read by several of my neighbors who enjoyed it very much. The celebration commemorating 1500 years of activity in and around your city must. have been a very impressive event. Since there has been a close relationship between Armagh, Ireland and Armagh, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., I have prepared the following history of our early settlers who braved the mountains and the Indians in order to establish themselves and their families in a new land. It was here in Pennsylvania that William Penn invited all people to come regardless of their creed or political belief. It was a land of Freedom, and has remained so throughout the years. Pennsylvania is a wonderful state in which to live and work. Armagh is a small town, but a good town. I hope you will enjoy the brief history which I have prepared for you, and for others who are interested in the early history of Armagh, Pennsylvania. Yours truly, RALPH 0. TREXLER 4 CHAPTER I Armagh - An Early Settler The Borough of Armagh is located in the southern end of Indiana County on the William Penn Highway which runs east and west. The eastern terminal of this highway is New York City, New York. Armagh is three hundred miles west of New York, and fifty-six miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest borough in the county. Founded in 1792. It was named after a province in Northern Ireland. The original settlers were Irish. Their religion, Protestant; their church affiliation, mostly Presbyterian. There has been some confusion in the minds of many regarding the settling of Armagh. This has been due to the fact that George Findley arrived in this community as early as 1764. He had already been in America some years prior to this date. He "tomahawked" a claim of 1800 acres in 1765. It was located a few -miles southeast of Armagh in what is now known as East Wheatfield Township. Due to trouble with the Indians he did not have a chance to establish a home until 1795. It is true he had some sort of shelter on the tract as early as 1769 as reference has been made to "Findley's Cabbins" by various persons, and is on record on several early land transfers. No doubt he used these cabins as he jour- neyed back and forth. It is certain that not much building was done in this area until 1792, as no cabin was safe from the straggling band of roving Indians, until after the signing of the Peace Treaty in Greenville in 1795. You will recall that the Delaware and Shawnee Indians carried a grudge against the English. On one occasion they allied themselves with the French. Now was their time for squaring accounts with their old enemy, the Iroquois, who were helping the English. These Indians openly boasted that they had killed and scalped more English settlers than any other tribe. The graves of three Delaware Indians buried on the Findley tract stand out as mute evidence of the hazards to which the earlier set- tlers-were subjected. George Farmer was slain, while plowing on this tract. He was a "Bound" boy, working for George Findley. The foregoing facts show very clearly that George Findley should be considered an original settler of East Wheatfield Township. Findley heirs still reside on a portion of this tract which is located a few miles south- east of Armagh. He is buried in the old Mathews graveyard. He died September 7, 1814, being 58 years of age. His marker is about the only one standing, and the inscriptions are quite legible. Many of the graves were marked 5 with field stones, without inscriptions. Other flat stones are in such a poor state of preservation that the inscriptions are illegible. There are over 200 burials in this cemetery. The mine at Boltz is also located on a portion of the original Findley tract. This entire area was known as Wheatfield, and was a part of West- moreland County. Later on Westmoreland County was divided and Indiana County became a separate legal sub-division of the state. Wheat, field became East Wheatfield and West Wheatfield. For many years each of these townships has been governed by its own board of supervisors. CHAPTER II Armagh Founded Armagh was founded in September, 1792, by eight families who arrived in America from Armagh, Ireland, on July 21, 1792. They came from an Associate Reformed church. They were: James Graham, his wife Margaret J. (see Chapter, "Nobility Forsaken") and four children. A Mr. Parker-might have been a brother-in-law of Mrs. Graham, who was previously married to William Parker; David Tomb (brother of Margaret J. Graham) married to Elizabeth Dickson and one child; Mary Tomb, sister of David Tomb, married to Richard Dempsey; Catherine, another sister of David Tomb, married to James Anderson; Elizabeth Tomb married to Alexander Carna- than and four children; A. Fee, his wife and one child Elizabeth; James Leslie, his wife; James Luke and his wife; Hugh Junkins and his wife. It is assumed that all the Tombs or "Thoms" mentioned were brothers and sisters. They were children of William Tomb of Armagh, Ireland. One son, Hugh, stayed in Ireland. The first winter after their arrival was rather difficult. Due to raids by the Indians, who were still seeking revenge against any white settler they were forced to flee to the East St. Clair blockhouse near the present site of McLaughlintown, in the Ligonier valley. This occurred a number of times. Armagh appealed to these Irish because it resembled their own Armagh in Ireland. It is located in a depression of the Allegheny Moun- tains. It is 1536 feet above sea level. The summits of surrounding moun- tains rise to a height of 2440 feet. Three miles to the south flows the Conemaugh River. In the early days it was a beautiful stream abounding with fish. It is now a yellow stream carrying sulphur that flows into it from the many soft coal mines along its course. 6 CHAPTER III Growth of Armagh Since reading the booklet you mailed to me I can realize that our Armagh resembles your Armagh in many ways. (Booklet referred to is one sent by the Postmaster of Armagh, Ireland, to the Postmaster of Armagh, Pennsylvania.) Armagh enjoyed a lot of prosperity until the year 1855. A charcoal furnace, still standing, produced iron for a number of years prior to its financial failure in 1855. This is still known as Buena Vista Furnace. As many as twenty teams a day transported the finished iron to a canal three miles south of Armagh, which carried the iron east a distance of thirty- eight miles. From there the flat boats were carried up the mountainside by a narrow gauge railroad, known as the Portage Railroad, operated by windlass, and dropped down the other side of the mountain into the canal to continue on its way toward Philadelphia. The return trip carried groceries, dry goods, spices, coffins, etc., for the settlers. Mules and horses powered the boats. Many of our older residents still recall stories from along the canal as told by mule drivers of that day. Hundreds of wagons loaded with emigrants passed through Armagh daily headed for the west. Several saw mills provided lumber for building purposes, blacksmith shops employed many men. A harness shop employed twenty-two men. We had six licensed hotels in this immediate vicinity. Twenty-two inns or overnight places were available. One of the orginal hotels, "The Maples," is still in operation. It is in the center of town. Five stores were in operation. Farmers from as far away as Arm- strong County found a ready market for their butter and eggs. Charcoal making was a substantial industry. Plenty of wood from the forests was available. Two tanneries were in operation. A foundry made stoves and parts. A distillery on the edge of the present Tinkcom farm made good whiskey. Whiskey at that time was a sort of currency.