Perry Township
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Digital Scan by Fay-West.com. All Rights Reserved. PERRY TOWNSHIP. PERRY is one of the northernmost townships of ' John Paty, 330 acres, Crab-Tree Run ; warranted April 3, 1769'; Fayette County, its northern line being a part of the surveyed Oct- 27, 1769. boundary between this county and westmoreland. John Bishop, 319 acres. Flatt : warranted April 3, 1769 ; sur- veyed Oct. 25.1769. On the east the township is bounded by LoWerTy- XOTE.-The five tracts at>ovewere surveyed the origin81 warrant- rone and On the south by Franklin, and On holdew, Oct. 26 and 27,1769, but were all patented to George Washing- the west by Jefferson and Washington. Perry lies ton, Feb. 25,156.2. on both sides of the Youghiogheny River, *.hi& George Brown, 336 acres : warranted April 3, 1769. flows tllrough the township in a general northwest- Jams Hunter, 276% acres: warranted April 19, lP69. 336 19.1769. erly course. Its other principal streanis are Jacob's Eleanor Hunter, acres; warranted April Hopewell Jewell, 822 acres; warranted April 17, 1794; sur- Creek, \iT~hingtonRun, and T7irgin Run. The last veyed 25, i95. named enters the Youghicgheny from the south, and John Jones, 224 acres. marks the southeastern boundary of Perry against J. Augustine Washington, 3202 acres, Fork ; warranted April the township of Frankiin. Washington Run flows 3, 1769 ; surveyed October 2s. northeastwardly through- the central part of Perry, Laurence W:~shington, 3202 acres, Bear Hill ; warranted April past its principal town (Perryopolis), and falls into 3, 1769 : surveyed October 25. the Youghiogheny. Jacob's Creek enters the Youg- William Wilson, 2052 acres. 29St 16, 1788 hiogheny from the eastward, and marks the northeast- Christopher Besler, acres; warranted Dee. ; veyed March 11, 1789. ern boundary of Perry against Westmoreland County. Mary Higgs, Springfield; patented April 6, 1791. That part of the township which lies east of the John G. Zizing, 682 X 158 acres; warranted March 10, 1 Youghiogheny, and between it and Jacob's Creek, is and Feb. 25,l S22. mountainous, rising in some parts qnite precipitously William Espey, 149 acres; warranted May 27, liS5 : surveyed from both streams, and having but little bottom-land. , Oet. 31, 1811. In that part of the township which lies on the south- ESP~Y,1132 acre% June 7,1S09- west side of the river the land rises to a considerable Robert Espe~,66 acres, lS1'. height from the Youghiogheny, then slopes back to William Turnbuil, 301 acres, Rocksbury; patented July 13, 1789. are Washington Bottoms7 are William Turnbull, 219 acres, Springsbury; patented July 13, drained by Washington Run. Where the village of 17sg. Perryopolis is located is a moderate elevation of land, jac0b ~~~~i~,223 acres, Luton; patented Jan. 9, 1789. which from there has a gradual descent in all direc- Valentine Secrist, 1082 acres ; warranted Sept. 29, 1731 ; sur- tions. This section is excellently adapted for the veyed Oct. 26th. production of grain and grass, and nearly the whole EARLY LAXD PURCHASES AND SETTLENENTS. tbwnship, particularly that part southwest of the river, ernhraces very fine lands for purposes of agri- The earliest as well as the most extensive pur- culture. The Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad chaser of lands in what is now Perry township was --now generally known as the Baltimore and Ohio, Gen. (then Col.) George TVashington, who received because leased by that company-traverses the town- a warrant for lands here on the first day of the land- ship along the right bank of the Youghiogheny office of the proprietaries for the sale of tracts west River, and has within the boundaries of Perry two of the mountains, April 3, 1769. Nearly two years stations,-Layton and Banning's. The population prior to this, however, TiTashingtonhad begun to en- of the township by the census of 1880 was fourteen tertain the idea of purcbasing large tracts in this hundred abd seventy-six. region, as is shown by the tenor of a letter written by him to Capt. William Crawford, of Stewart's Cross- NAJIES OF ORIGINAL PURCHASERS OF LANDS IN PERRY TOWKSHIP. ings (now New Haven), as follows : Wlliam Athel, 33 I++$ acres, Spring Run ; warranted April 3, " MOCNTVERXOS, Sept. 21,1767. li69 ; surveyed Oct. 27, 1769. "DEAR Sm,-From a sudden hint of your brother's1 I wrote Gearge Washington. 329 acres, Meadows; warranted April 2, to you a few days ago in a burry. Having since had more 1769 ; surveyed Oet. 25. 1769. Thomas Jones, 332 acreyDeer Range; warranted April 3: 1769 ; 1 The brother of Willian~Crawford here referred as having given surveyed Oat. 26, 1769. Washington his first hint concerning the obtaining of a tract of land 707 Document is not to be posted on any other Web site but Fay-West.com Digital Scan by Fay-West.com. All Rights Reserved. 708 HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. time for reflection, I now write deliberntely and with grenter or otherwise acquire all the other tracts above enu- precision on tbe subject of my last letter. I then desired the merated, amounting in the aggregate to 1641 acres, favor of you (ss I understood rights might now be had for the and that they mere patented to him Feb. 2S, 1782, is lands which have fallen within the Pennsylvania line)' to look made certain by a recital to that effect in deeds given me out a tract of about fifteen hundred, two thousand, or more in the vear 1802 bv his executors. None of the names acres somewhere in your neighborhood, meaning only by this that it mny be as contiguous to your own settlement as such a of the warrantees of the tracts above named as having body of good land can be found. It will he easy for you to been patented to Gen. Washington are found in con- conceive that urdinary or eren middling lands would never nection with any later settlement or transfer, and answer my purpose or espectation, so far from narigation and therefore it is probable that they took up the lands under such a load of espenses ns these lands are incumbered in his interest; and it is certain that the warrants with. No : a tract to please me must be rich (of which no per- taken by them passed to him before the issuance of son can be R better judge than yourself) and, if possible: level. the patents. Could such a piece of land be founc! you would do me a singular Capt. Craaford, who selected these lands for Wash- favor in falling upon some method of securing it immediately from the attempts of others, as nothing is more certain than ington, acted also as his agent in locating many other that the lands cannot remain long ungranted when once it is tracts in what is now Washington County, Pa., in known th;rt rights are to be had. Ohio, and along the Ohio River Valley in Virginia. ". It is possible, but I do not know that it really is the In 1770, the year next following the location and case, that the custom in Pennsylvania will not admit so large a surrey of these lands, Washington made a tour quantity of 1:ind as I require to be entered together; if so, this through this section, and down the Ohio to the Great may perhaps be arranged by making several entries to the same Kanawha, and kept a journal of the trip. A part of amount, if the espenses of doins it is not too heavy. If the that journal is given below, commencing on the date land can only be secured from others it is all I want at present. : The surveying I would choose to postpone, at least till the of his departure from Mount Vernon, viz. spring, when, if you can give me any satisftactory account of "October 5th.-Began a journey to the Ohio in company with this matter, and of what I am nest going to propose. I expect Dr. Craik, his servant and two of mine, with a led horse and to pay you a visit about the last of April." baggage. Dined at Towlston's, and lodged at Leesburg, distant from Mount Vernon about forty-five miles. Here my port- No information is found as to the preliminary steps manteau horse failed. [Here follows the journal of six daysy taken by Capt. Crawford to select and secure these journey by way of Old Town, Md., and Fort Cumberland to lands on behalf of Washington, but it is certain ' Killman's,' east of Castleman's River.] that on the opening of the land-office at the time " 12th.-We left Killma~n's earl^ in the morning, breakfasted above mentioned warrants were issued for lands in at the Little Meadows, ten miles off, and lodged at the Grent Crossing (of the Youghiogheny at Somerfield), twenty miles far- the present township of Perry, amounting to more ther, which we found a tolerably good day's work. than sixteen hundred acres, all of which came into "13th.-Set out about sunrise, breakfasted at the Great possession of the general. The only tract in this Meadows [Fayette Co.], thirteen miles, and reached Captain township warranted to George-I Washington was one Crawford's about fire o'clock. The land from Gist's [Mount named " Meadows." The warrant bore date April Braddock] to Crawford's is very broken, though not mounbin- 3, 1769, and the survey October 27th of the same ous, in spots esceeclingly rich, and in general free from stone; year. There was, however, at the same time one Cramford's is very fine land, lying on the Youghiogheny, at a place commcnly called Sttr10ai.t'8 Crominq.