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[Pennsylvania County Histories] J'-A ? "7 V~- / £ 3fOI( y. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniacoun50unse t TWA. I ISPS 5GMP mOK. PATE NT S UNITED STATES. GREAT BRITAIN. FRANCE. June 24TH, 1873. May i6th, 1877. May i 8th, 1877. TRADE MARKS: UNITED STATES. GREAT BRITAIN. Registered No. 5,896. Registered No. 15,979. DIRECTIONS. Use but little moisture, and only on the gummed lines. Press the scrap on without wetting it. DANIEL SLOTE & COMPANY, NEW YORK. From OME HARD WORK WAS DONE -f-.*3L, By the Friends of the Proposed New County-They ^ ></ I » Kept up from 1820 Until Nearly 1850—There was Date, ^ Great Rejoicing in this City When the News Reached Here that the Legislature Had Fiven us 9^ history oFrwol'AMfSr' ' a Separate County. The history of Lawrence, as a sep¬ G^^er^of Eihvo’o/cny hTs^he Tt* arate and distinct county does not yet !s Sts: r thf"v"- extend to a period of 50 years. The the Henrys and he i,™ S 0f |story of the movement having’for its settled in the Allens who object the creation of a new coonty • iro- turt Lne cllstrlCt now connric- i tile COUntioe t '-'■tiipi is- lout of parts of Mercer and Beaver is a 'very interesting one. The project re¬ ceived considerable attention in the ber «?k#a^c«rw& early years of the century and from , 5\'hites, Waltons UfOm lners'1 Wilsons, 1820 on, was pushed with,,great vigor ,pvhose de3cenden't/now n Land Taylors. Persons. Many member? ?fb?£ over 7’000 It was persistently urged by almost 'lies have filled L m„Lof these fami- all the residents of the territory affect¬ fiees in the yift of thl"?st !mPortant of- ed and just as vehemently onposed by in .congress'ddwnftohassoo?itef?’01in seatp' I noteworthy fact is nfat te Jucl°es- A * i some of the people of the old counties this large ™that among- all of for political reasons. The people with ■y^as ever arrested for crirrip°ne t^em ja.il or prison. °r Cnme or placed in ’ in the limits of the proposed new I county had many good reasons to ad¬ a^r°whene th^w^lfooD of^th pi'oneers' vance in support of the movement. reverberated over the nni=f 1h,e Indians valleys of thp rS,1* s an^ through The tow n of Lew Oastle was a grow¬ and Shenango these S' MahoniSi ing place, and a point where numer¬ important places and Srfheld mos* ous roads from all parts of the sur¬ toe march of imni-m-l\,re toremost in rounding country converged, and, so champions of right an^iwrt and were cietv. The a, . leaders in sr>- conveniently located to care for the published will be of ™'C^ *il! s°on be business of the new county. The line large number of the^rl ,ntfrest t°'a these families anri't^ representatives of of division of the old counties passed |are interested in the ?rowth°tbeTs who through the borough, making escape perity of the district g th a"d pros- from any legal process easy by simplv stepping‘across the street and entailing a journey of 20 miles or more when I any legal business had to be transact-1 ed at the county seat. The road which ! /••cm.v . ,(.4 was the line of division is still known as County Line street. Those un c/ friendly to the measure brought for¬ ward two reasons first that the comit¬ _. ies out of which it was propose to take the new one were small enough already the second and most important from Date^Vcfy ^ o ■ '4*1 apolitical standpoint was that'both Mercer and Beaver were Whig counties and the townships which would go to iii make the new county gave the bulk of the Whig majorities. Thus the Whigs would probably lose two count¬ ies and gain only one. Thus the mat¬ ter stood year after year, and the friend of the new county met with disap¬ pointments, but worked on with un¬ tiring energy until nally in 1847 a state senator and three ot the four rep¬ How it Happened to Have Been resentatives to the state legislature which Mercer and Beaver counties Formed in 1849. were entitled to, were elected, who were in sympathy with the movement A bill favoring it was introduced in AN INTERESTING HISTORlf the House and many petitions were taken to Harrisburg by able men, who did all in their power tc aid in pass- | ing the bill. It was finally carried, Of the Very Early Days of yew j and on the 5th day of April, 1849, Gov- Castle and 0nf County. | ernor Joffhson signed CFe bill winch learir® “111 Sx ’ Sen inj created the new county of Laiwreuoe, and froto that day the history of the county begins. When the news reach¬ ed this city, the people had a public holiday guns were fired, bands played, \ patriotic speeches were made and ai public meeting was held, when it was Fro decided to have a graud barbecue and • ox roast, and the program was carried out on an immense scale The boundaries of the new county were immediately surveyed and includ¬ ed a territory 19 miles square contain¬ ing over 230,000 acres. j Date ,QUt.t.fS-77 The step was the selection of a site i site for the county buildings and many locations were suggested. The one ( which was chosen was the propeity % of Thomas Falls, at the corner of Mill and Falls streets, and was given free of charge. The location was not sat¬ isfactory to everybody ard great ob¬ Minus hi jection was raised to it by those who favored other localities. The matter was widely discussed. At length it was suggested by Col. R. B. McComb and others to allow the matter to be Was Levi \N. Johnston During selected by subscriptions, the locality carrying with it the largest bonus to the War. be the one on which the building should he erected. ' Many places were talked of, includ¬ ing those occupied by the present city building, the Disciple church and VERY INTERESTING RELIC others, but the choice finally fell on the place where the court house now stands. The father of Walter S. Crawford donated the land and citi¬ zens of that part of town raised some Sn the Possession of One of the $1,600. The county commissioners, John Swisher, James Oliver and John Old 76th. Randolph at once advertised for bids for the erection of the court house, and the contract was awarded to James M. Craig and William Hamil¬ ton for the sum of $12,000, they being HiS FATHER’SCONSENT GIVEN the lowest bidders. During the pro¬ gress of the work, the plans were mat¬ erially changed. The portico with the great "stone pillars was not in the orig¬ That Was How a New Castle Boy, at the inal design and together with many other improvements^brought the total Age of Sixteen,!Happened to go the cost of the completed structure up to the War-He Was Highly Compliment¬ about $32,000. It was built at a time when prices were very low and could ed by His Superior Gffioers Upon Re- probably not be duplicated now for a Enlistment. much larger sum. The first court held in the new county, Monday, In a neat little frame in the photo¬ .January 7, 1859, was presided over by graph gallery of Levi W. Johnston, of Judge Bredin, of Butler. D. B. Kurtz this city, is a war document or rather, was admitted to practice n this a relic, that is a whole history in itself. 1 county at that time. During the erec¬ A “Courant-Guardian” reporter was tion of the court house and before its in Mr. Johnston’s place on Saturday completion, the old Methodist church evening, and saw hanging on the wall on South Jefferson street, now St. Jos¬ a well preserved piece of writing that eph’s, was used for grinding the legal was carefully preserved in a frame. grist. At that time, almost 50 years The dooument, read, "I, James John¬ ago, New Castle was not the prosper¬ ston, of Lawrence county, Penna., do ous city it now is, but was a modest hereby give my consent that my son, country town of 1,600 inhabitants, and Levi W. Johnston, shall e < in the the whole county could boast of but Federal Army of the L 9 > States - 21,000 people. It is possibly a little dnrine the_ continuance *o_se war. • rt- — -1--—-r e 3 • o-l--'- [James Johnston, at test.D’S'J .ankev the other boys and be was then and Ootoher 5, 1861. ” The da= 3 “doc- there elected secretary and treasurer nment was drawn and nmrj5 -vi W for life. As a mark of the esteem in Johnston and his brother- ,s whA which he was held, the regiment pre¬ now lives in Shenango tov£ fc were sented him at one of the reunions with out in tbe orchard, which ^ $ ocafced a handsome gold watch and chain. near where Cascade pari ^ ? uated, The watch was handsomely engraved and they were engaged ir- b ^ ag the with the name of the regiment, etc.
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