Cs 4p V~totrrg of ftmtn (5flUmty eutiaylbatnia Who's Who in the Early Records with an Account of the Growth of the County before 1790 by 'oup and Raymond Martin Bell, he Genesis of Mifflin County" ewistown, Penna. 1942 I THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 'I- Ttf~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PEWi CONTENTS Page I Introduction - - 11-- Mifflin County 1731-1942. II Who's Who in the Early Records 4 A summary of tax, land, military records; 1500 individuals listed alphabetically. III Early Family Records - --- 23 Alexander, Bell, Bratton, Brown, Buchanan, Carmichael, Galloway, Holliday, Holt, Jones, McDowell, McNitt, Means, Reed, Sigler Taylor. IV Important Persons - --- -- - 34 Indian chiefs *Capt. de Villiers, pioneer ministers, Judge Brown, Col. Buchanan. V The Growth of the County- -- 36 Population 1755-1940, maps, boundaries, roads. The material in this book is largely supplementary to "The Genesis of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania." The list of pioneers, with tax, land and military records, will be invaluable to the researcher. The geneal- ogical records may be useful to descendants of these pioneers. Other important data on early Mifflin County have been added. Copies of this book may be obtained from J. Martin Stroup, 53 North Pine Street, Lewistown, Pa., at 50 cents each, postpaid. Copyright, 1942, by J. Martin Stroup and Raymond M. Bell INTRODUCTION 1 I - INTRODUCTION Mifflin County 1731-1942 Mifflin County was formed in 1789 but as early as 1731 traders had left writ- ten records of the Shawnee Indian village of Ohesson, ruled over by Chief Kishaco- quillas, firm friend of the English. Its site, since 1790, occupied by Lewistown, the county seat, remained an Indian centre until the coming of Arthur Buchanan, trader and first settler, in 1754. The fertile soil of the Juniata and Kishacoquillas valleys soon attracted the venturesome Scotch-Trish, and when Fort Granville was built a mile west of Ohesson late in 1755 a dozen families were in the two valleys. August 1, 1756, Fort Granville was a pile of smoldering ruins and a force of French and Indians, under Chevalier de Villiers, on their way back to Kittanning and Fort Duquesne carried as captives the soldiers and settlers who had not been killed in the siege of the fort. Soon the hardy Scotch-Irish came again and during the Revolution were a bulwark on the frontier against the inroads of the British-inspired Indians. "Mother Cumnberland" gave of her territory for the new county on September 19, 1789, the preamble of the act of erection, passed that day by the General Assembly, reciting that the "inhabitants . .. labour under great hardship by reason of their great dis- tance from the present seat of justice and the public offices." The new county was named for Thomas Mifflin, soldier of the Revolution and statesman of the constitution period, who was to become the first Governor of Pennsylvania as a State of the Union. William Lewis, builder of Hope Furnace and on the early tax lists as an "Iron Merchant," was honored when the county seat was named Lewistown. It soon became the centre of trade, industry and population and has fittingly maintained leadership in manufacturing, particularly in the steel industry, having large plants for the making of locomotive parts, axes and edged goods. Today it is the largest Rayon manufacturing centre in Pennsylvania and has other textile plants. Mifflin County ranks high in agriculture, particularly its famed Kishacoquillas Valley, home of the Amish and Mennonite farmers, picturesque in their plain garb, but thrifty, contented and God-fearing. The Kishacoquillas Valley vies with Lan- caster County as "Pennsylvania's Garden Spot." Scenically "Pennsylvania Has Everything," "Rocks and rills, woods and templed hills"-and they'll be found in all their glory in Mifflin County. Bounded on the South-east by Shade and Blue mountains and on the North-west by Stone and the Seven Mountains and bisected by Jacks Mountain, Mifflin County has some of the most beautiful scenery to be found in the Alleghenies. Alexander Caverns, largest of Pennsylvania's caves, and Seawra Cave, a cavern of unusual beauty, are in Mifflin County. Her streams are an angler's paradise and her woods the "Happy Hunting Ground" of the nimrod. Two hundred years ago, as now, Lewistown was a highway centre. Indian paths converged here from four directions. The "Juniata Path" led to the "Tusca- rora Path" at Port Royal and in the other direction up the river to join the "Kittan- ning Trail" at Mount Union, while the "Warriors' Path" to Fort Augusta (Sunbury) and a trail into the Kishacoquillas Valley led East and West. Today U. S. Route 22 (William Penn Highway) and U. S. Routes 522 and 322 closely follow these wilder- ness trails as they pass through Lewistown. A century ago Lewistown was a centre of trade as a shipping point of the Juniata Branch of the Pennsylvania Canal. But on the coming of the railroad in 1849 it came into its own as a transportation mart. Today it is on the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, midway between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Its altitude is 500 feet, its pbpulatioh 13,017, and that of the county 42,993. 2239912 - . do~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 2 INTRODUCTION Today the historically minded are interested in the location of Logan's cabin near Reedsaille, home of the famed Mingo chief from 1766 to 1771; the site of Fort Granville, a model of which is to be seen in the Mifflin County Historical Society's museum; the 125-year old Jacks Creek Arch Bridge, which has just recently been restored and is located in sight of Route 22 as it enters Lewistown from the South; ruins of the Penna. Canal to be seen along the highway in scenic Lewistown Nar- rows; home of Dr. J. T. Rothrock at McVeytown, where the "Father of Pennsylvania Forestry" spent his boyhood days; and scores of old homesteads, some dating back to the, 1700's. Mifflin County has a military history of note from the day Captain George Croghan began the construction of Fort Granville back in 1755 down to that Fall day of 1940 when its young manhood loyally stepped forward to register for the first peace time conscription in the Nation's history, and a year later, when on December 7, 1941. among the defenders of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, during Japan's surprise attack were several Mifflin County boys. The sound of the tools of Captain Croghan's workmen had hardly died away before Fort Granville became the focal point for marauding bands of Indians, until finally late in July of 1756 Chevalier de Villiers led his force of French and Indians to the farthest eastern point attained by a French force and here laid siege to the fort. Gallant Lieutenant Edward Armstrong and his brave force of frontiersmen refused all demands to surrender until the commander was killed and the fort on fire. It was but a few days before Colonel John Armstrong, brother of the Lieu- tenant, was on his way with a large force to Kittanning, Indian village on the Allegheny, where he avenged the death of his brother and the destruction of Fort Granville by laying in waste the Indian town and killing Captain Jacobs, Indian leader in the Granville expedition. Scarce had the settlers time to build their homes anew after the Indian wars of 1755 to 1763 before the Revolution was upon them. Although 150 miles from the nearest British regular, the Scotch-Irish on the frontier sent company after company to New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania during the early years of the War for Independence. But the time came when Col. Arthur Buchanan, in charge of Militia here, had to refuse a call, for the men were needed to defend their homes. The Indians seeking scalps for British bounties were making forays from the West and North against the frontier settlements. It was in 1778 that Col. Buchanan wrote to the Colonial authorities: "The Indians continue to murder men, women and children on our frontiers . We are in a very distressed situation at present . I have taken the sentiment of our battalion and they are these, if the lieutenants of the county will send us the assist- ance of a few men with arms and ammunition we will march immediately into the Indian country and attack their towns, which will be the most effective method of calling them from our frontiers . I sent six men as spies to the Kittanning only one of whom returned, who says they were fired upon by 100 Indians and only he escaped ... Sir please send . a supply of ammunition and arms." But finally peace came-with victory-as it would to a people with such a spirit-and a new county was founded and named Mifflin, for a soldier with an enviable record during the Revolution. Then came the War of 1812 and Captain Milliken's Troop of Horse went to Buffalo among the first, for had it not been a native of Mifflin County, Captain Daniel Dobbins, then of Erie, who had journeyed to Washington to persuade Presi- dent Madison and his Cabinet to defend the Great Lakes against the British, then returned to Lake Erie where he built the "Niagara," Commodore Perry's flagship. Three decades of peace saw many important developments along the Juniata, but when war was declared by Congress against Mexico, again Mifflin County men were ready. Captain William H. Irvin with his First Lieutenant, Thomas F. McCoy, led their "Juniata Guards" aboard a canal boat March 25, 1847, for the trip to Mexico, via Pittsburgh. From the arrival in Mexico until the close of the war they were in every important engagement.