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The following are excerpts from "The Unwritten History of Braddock's Field" |
| EARLY HISTORY AND PIONEER SETTLERS OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD BY MISS DILI.IE STEINMET .In the early part of the eighteenth century the region along the Monongahela River near the junction of Turtle Creek was inhabited by Queen Alliquippa and her tribee, the Delawares. Her royal wigwam was located a short distance above the junction and here she ruled, with her tribe in complete and satisfied subjection to her authority. In 1742 John Frazier, his wife and family, came to this wilderness from the country near Philadelphia. Frazier, perceiving the junction of Turtle Creek with the river, thought it a suitable place to build a cabin, and accordingly Alliquippa not only gave him permission to build, but also gave him a grant of several hundred acres of land. From historical and traditional stories concerning Frazier, there is no doubt of the fact that he was the first white settler west of the Alleghany Mountains. The site of this cabin has long since been obliterated by the great industrial plant, the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, in his report at the Council and House of Burgesses of Virginia under date of Feb. 14, 1754 refers to this cabin as mentioned by Washington in his report of his mission to the French constructing forts on the Ohio. Governor Dinwiddie states that Frazier had lived here upwards of twelve years. Also, Christopher Gist in his Journal says that he and Washington stayed there the night of Thursday, November 22, 1753, and again Sunday, December 30, and Monday, Dec. 31, 1753. Washington had made a trip to Fort Le Boeuf in the winter of 1753-54 and reported that the French were contemplating building other forts. Accordingly Governor Dinwiddie was convinced that inaction on his part would lose to the English the whole of the Ohio Valley. A council was held at Alexandria, Va., on April 4, 1755, which decided to send an expedition against the French at Fort Duquesne, which was fist the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers form the Ohio. General Edward Braddock who was commissioned General-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in America, and who had arrived at Alexandria, Va., Feb. 20, 1755, was to lead the expedition, assisted by Virginia provincials under George Washington. After a long, tedious and laborious march, Braddock's troops arrived at the spot, where the town of Braddock now stands, on July 9, 1775. They were marching along towards Fort Duquesne when a heavy, sharp fire of musketry was poured in upon them from an unseen foe. The troops became panic stricken, and when Braddock was mortally wounded, Washington and his men covered the retreat, and carried the wounded general to a camp near the present Uniontown, where he died July 13, 1755. This conflict is known in history as Braddock's Defeat, and the territory where it occurred is Braddock's Field. In this conflict George Washington and his provincials were schooled in the arts of war which gave them the confidence in their prowess, that enabled them later successfully to throw off the yoke of oppression and establish a nation which is now attracting the admiration and wonder of the world. Another time this territory figures in the history of the country was in what is known as the Whiskey Rebellion. The Scotch-Irish farmers west of the Alleghanies lacking a ready market for their surplus grain, found that they could dispose of their corn and rye, by distilling it into whiskey. In 1791, Congress, to increase the revenue, put a tax on the product, and the people refused to pay it, saying it was oppressive. The authorities decided the tax must be paid, if force had to be used, and on August 1, 1794, the insurgents met on Braddock's Field, thousands of them, distillers and their sympathizers, all ready for any act of violence. Governor Mifflin being unable to quell the rebellion, President Washington declared the national government would. He called for troops from Pennsylvania and adjoining States and soon an army, fifteen thousand strong, was marching for the mountain barrier as Braddock and Forbes had marched years before. A show of force was enough and the insurgents yielded and there was no further trouble in collecting the tax. George Wallace, Esq., of Pittsburgh purchased a tract of 328 acres of land from Peter Rowletter, Rowletter having gotten it from Captain Edmondstone, who signed the grant in the name of King George of England, Edmondstone at that time being commandant at Fort Pitt. The records show he was the last British commandant of Fort Pitt. This tract of land called Braddock's Field was patented by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Wallace on the Fourth of March, 1791. In 1804 Wallace built a country home on this grant which was known as the mansion and was occupied by Mr. Wallace and his wife. Mr. Wallace died and by the conditions of his will, at the death of his wife, the farm known as Braddock's Field was to go to his nephew, George Wallace. This said George Wallace became involved to the United States Bank, now the Bank of Pittsburgh, and the property was sold at sheriff's sale and purchased by the bank. The farm and the Mansion were bought in 1846 by James W. Buchanan and George H. Bell, and the records show, "the said Buchanan by Articles of Agreement, between him and the said Geo. H. Bell, dated July 29, 1850, declared that he held the same for the use of himself and the said Bell, each being entitled to the undivided half thereof." The records further show that the part of Braddock's Field south of Braddock Street or the plank road was to be sold and any surplus, after meeting all balances, was to be equally divided. Of the part north of said line Bell should have the land eastwardly of the Wilkinsburg Road, or the present Jones Avenue, and Buchanan the part westwardly of said road. George Bell, his wife, Margaret, and his family took up a residence in the Mansion about 1848, when it was relinquished by the Wallace family, and it has since remained in this family, being occupied at the present time by George Bell's daughter, Mrs. Allen Kirpatrick, a most amiable woman, and her daughter, Mrs. David F. Collingwood and family. This house is historically noted, for in it, Judge Wallace entertained, on his final visit to the United States in 1825, the loyal and true friend of the colonists, the Marquis De Lafayette. The southerly portion of the purchase was sold in different sized plots some as large as thirty acres. John Robinson bought a plot near the present Thirteenth Street on the northern side of the plank road on which he erected a large brick house in 1851-'52, known as the "Robinson House," which was occupied by the family and was a noted hostelry during the Civil War. Other pioneers who located on this tract were Jacob Williams, Major Furlong and Matthew Lawler. Across the plank road located such sterling citizens as George Hunter; David Bradford; Neil McIntyre; Thomas Cook; Edward Sweeney; John Crum; the Boyd sisters, Jane and Mary, and Samuel McCutcheon. In this same district just east of the present Eleventh St. on the plank road, located a colony of Germans, all having come from Alsace-Lorraine, composed of the Holtzman; Winkenbaugh; Schweinberg and Walters families. Mr. Holtzman came to Braddock's Field in 1852. Later he married and on Oct. 4, 1856, the first child in the family was born, Lewis F., at the present living on Holland Avenue. He has spent his life in the town of his birth, holding many positions of trust, having been Justice of the Peace for more than a quarter of a century. He is a broad minded, liberal man taking a deep interest in everything that relates to the welfare of the community. Mr. and Mrs. John Walters came to Braddock's Field about 1854. Mrs. Walters was known as "Granny Walters" to thousands of people of Braddock and the vicinity, and especially to the children, who knew her for her pleasing disposition and kind words. Two early settlers of worth who located near the others were Edward McCrady and wife, nee Rebecca Hamilton, known to the people of the new settlement as "Mother McCrady" for her kindness and hospitality. Their sons are the largest contracting firm in the district, known as McCrady Pros. A piece of ground on Talbot Avenue and Eleventh Street was bought by Wilkins Township, for the first school which was erected on the famous field, in 1858. From this school emanated many boys and girls who have become men and women of influence and power in the world. Adjoining the school property settled a man of gigantic stature and a unique character, W. W. McDowell, who with his two maiden sisters, Eliza and Mary, came from Green Springs, located across the Monongahela River, which was the center of activity in those days due to the coal mines developed there. A pioneer riverman, Captain Wilson Packer, who had towed coal boats down the river for years, and whose tow boats later rendered the United States government valuable aid at the battles of Pittsburgh Landing, Memphis, and Vicksburg, built himself a fine home, on the east side of Eleventh Street along the river, in 1853. Here the family resided until the death of the parents many years later. In the early fifties, Matthew Henning, a man whose influence for good was far reaching and invaluable in the establishing of a new community, and William Redman, a man of remarkable judgment and very retiring disposition, both of the firm of Henning & Redman, who operated the coal works at Green Springs, bought a large tract of land extending from Eleventh Street to Redman's Lane, the present Ninth Street, and from the plank road to the river. Later they divided the land at the present Tenth Street, Mr. Henning taking the eastern section and Mr. Redman the western. In the fall of 1853 Mr. Henning with his refined Christian wife moved into the new home on Eleventh Street near the river, just opposite the Packer home, where they lived until their deaths having reared a large family of intelligent, useful children. Mr. Redman lived in a home on Ninth Street near the rivet, where he with his wife, who before her marriage was Ann Fawcett, raised a large family, many of whom are still among the leading citizens of Braddock. This lady will always be remembered by the people of the borough and vicinity as bright, intelligent, kind "Grandma Redman". She was only recently called to her reward at the venerable age ofeighty-nine years. A member of this family, Charles, born in the Redman Homestead, June 27, 1854,iS the oldest living native citizen of Braddock. Some of the earliest settlers on this tract of land which had been converted into an orchard were Zachariah Brown, his brother Allan, and sister Mrs. Dietrich, who moved to the Fields from Turtle Creek in 1857, and still reside here; Samuel Hart, a Civil War Veteran, who was always ready to tell of his service for Uncle Sam in the true spirit of loyalty. His wife and he lived to be very old people and were highly respected citizens. A neighbor of Mr. Hart was Thomas Strathern, whose name is a precious memory to many Braddock people. He lived to a great age leaving behind a large family of the second and third generations to revere his memory. In 1852 Martin Dowling and wife and family of fifteen came to the field from Green Springs and located on Braddock Avenue, near Tenth Street. Two of his daughters, Mrs. Katherine Eaton and Mrs. Eliza Holleran are still living in the same square where their father located. Mrs. Eaton is in her seventy-ninth year and remembers clearly and speaks clCcurately of the early period. She says, "When we moved to Braddock's Field in '52 there were only a few houses as there were only a few people in the territory. The houses I remember were the Wallace House, the Robinson House, which had just been completed; the Billy Smith Cottage, a brick dwelling which still stands on Braddock Avenue near Thirteenth street; the William Redman home on Ninth Street; the John Hughes home on the southeastern corner of Ninth Street and Talbot Avenue; the Thomas Fawcett home on the northeastern corner of said streets, he being Mrs. Ann Redman's father; a cottage close to the river near the Redrnan home, which was one of the Wallace farm houses, and was occupied by a family named Wagner; the Mills home, a small house near Eighth Street on Braddock Avenue occupied by John House, who operated the brick yard, located near the site of the present water works, which was started by a man named Price in 1846; the house on Oak Street known as the Todd house, was one of the Wallace farm houses; the little fortlike house at the head of Eighth Street, where the State Bank now stands, was the lodge of the gate keeper on the Wallace farm. My father built a small four roomed house opposite the site of the St. Thomas Church. The fields were all used as farm land and the land toward Port Perry where the Edgar Thomson Steel Works now stands was a hickory grove where the children went nutting." A man who added financial and social influence to the community was Dr. J. D. Schooley, who had for yearss almost the exclusive medical practice of the district. His homestead stood on Braddock Avenue just east of Ninth Street. His son Dr. A. W. Schooley succeeded his father and has had the esteem and confidence of the people of Braddock for years. Dr. Linn and Dr. Maggini were prominent physicians in the early history of Braddock. A man of strong character and decision of purpose who came to this section in the days of the stage coach and who later by thrift and economy had large holdings was John Sherwin. James Petty was also one of the oldest citizens. He was one of the first of the "forty-niners" to drive a mule team from St. Joe to Sacramento. He was an ardent Republican and manifested great interest in the politics of the section. Edward Oskin and his sons and grand sons have fixed the stamp of enterprise and thrif t on the borough. James Berkey, David Antis, Charles Kelly, John Giles, Hugh and John Soles and Jacob Weber, the first shoemaker of the borough, were reliable energetic pioneers. Samuel Rothauff, who located on Talbot Avenue at the foot of Tenth Street and raised a large family whose descendants are residents of the present borough, was one of the first settlers. The father-in-law of one of his grandsons, Mr. James Hanlon, is the oldest living resident of the borough at the present time, being ninety-one years old, May 4, 1917. Peter Seewald and Conlad Speidel were substantial citizens and keen business men. A man of wonderful energy and strict integrity was Hope Hand, who came from Port Perry in '63 and became one of the borough's reliable citizens. The tract from Ninth Street to Eighth Street, and from Braddock Avenue to the river was bought by Reese and Berger. This was later occupied by such men as McVey and Walker, who started one of the first manufacturing plants in Braddock, the foundry, in 1865, which was active until about two years ago, when it was destroyed by fire; James Horton, a man of force of character; William McAdams, a man with a keen sense of right and duty and a very retiring disposition, who is still living at the advanced age of eighty-three years; T. W. Sharp, a faithful and zealous citizen, known to his fellow men as "Honest Tom"; James McCleary, who came to Braddock's Field in 1855, a sincere, conscientious man, who enjoyed the respect and confidence of all classes, and when the borough was incorporated had the honor of being its first "Squire". His only son William, familiarly known as "Duke" was born here and has spent all his life here being one of our progressive citizens. H. M. Lytle was a successful business man showing an active interest in things that related to the betterment of conditions. John Abner, who came to Braddock in 1866 direct from Germany, was one of our first butchers and was a reliable dealer. These sterling characters had the interests of the district at heart and when it became a borough gave of their time and energy to establish it on a firm foundation. The portion from Eighth Street to Seventh Street and from the present Pennsylvania Railroad to the river was bought by Col. Parker, who built a colonial mansion, which was a landmark for half a century or more and was razed in 1912 to give place to the new government building, which is a very artistic, substantial structure and an ornament to the district. The plot from Seventh Street to Sixth Street and from the Pennsylvania Railroad to the river was bought by Lang and Miller. Later it was occupied by William Sarver, a stalwart man, who came here when the battle field was a farm, and helped to till the soil. He raised a large family. One son, William, who was born here Jan. 1, 1856, still lives in the borough, having lived here all his life. A settler who is a man remarkable for his vitality and progressiveness at the age of eighty-seven is Joseph Walton, who lives here with his wife a few years his junior, having come from Butler County. In a log cabin near Sixth Street on Braddock Avenue, Peter Baughman and his wife, Elizabeth, located in the early fifties and were known to people of the community as "Father and Mother Baughman." In 1804 Steven Mills came with his family from Morristown, N. J., in the Conestoga Wagon, and located on the Troy Plantation, at what is now City Farm Station, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, building a log cabin, a few hundred yards west of the present site of Carrie Blast Furnace Plant, which stood there until about eighteen years ago. While living here Mr. Mills negotiated for the purchase of the "Petersburg Plantation," the boundaries of which were approximately a line starting at the Monongahela River at a point near the present foot of Sixth Street and Corey Avenue, thence to Coalmont Street, North Braddock, thence across the hill to Hannatown and thence down through Tassey Hollow south to the river. Before the consummation of the purchase Steven Mills died, and his oldest son, Isaac, completed the deal and obtained a title to the property from the Bank of the United States later the Bank of Pittsburgh. After the purchase of this farm, Isaac Mills married Elizabeth, the daughter of Col. John Snodgrass, in 1833, and resided in a log cabin on the brow of the hill, between the present Fourth and Fifth Streets, overlooking the river. They lived in this house until 1847, when Isaac Mills Sr. began the erection of a new home near the site of the old one, which was completed in 1860, and which was the Mills Homestead until 1906, when it was purchased by the Braddock General Hospital Association, and is now the central one of a group of buildings known as the Braddock General Hospital. Isaac Mills, Sr. and his esteemed wife took an active interest in the development of Braddock and vicinity. They were interested in the industrial, religious and civic life of the community. This man was one of the sturdy pioneers who were responsible for the laying out of the town of Braddock, and the incorporation of the borough and he was honored by being its first burgess. He was a man of great physical strength, a public spirited citizen, and a man true to his convictions. His interest in the affairs of the town and the welfare of its people continued throughout his very active life to the time of his death in 1879. His large family of children have taken an active part in the borough which their parents helped to create. Isaac, Jr. filled the office of burgess, Charle, was the founder of the Braddock Daily News; and Eliza was one of the instructors in the first schools of the district. Other enterprising early residents whose achievements have added greatly to the material prosperity, social, political and moral influence of the community are: Captain Thos. Lapsley, who served in the struggle for the preservation of the Union, and his loyal wife; Jordon Fritzius, Sr., a man of strong convictions and courageous spirit; Washington McClure, one of the old timers from Green Springs, who was a good humored citizen and an old time riverman. Jonathan Shallenberger and his devoted wife were esteemed citizens; Henry his brother, is at present cashier of the State Bank of Braddock. William Gettys Holland and wife and family came to Braddock's Field in 1852 from Ohio. His son, Robert M., who married Jonathan Shallenberger's daughter, held many positions of trust in the borough, and was a man of keen judgment. William, another son, was an honest business man of the district. Mrs. Sarah Holland McCune, his daughter, has always taken an active part in the growth and contributed to the advancement of the municipality. She attended school, before there was a public school building, when it was held in the basement of the Disciple Church at the head of Eleventh Street on Braddock Avenue. She completed her education in the two roomed school built on the present site of the Carnegie School. Later she taught in the schools for many years, and many of the citizens hold as a treasure the influence of such a character as Mrs. S. E. McCune. She is still living and is a very young woman in looks and speech although in her seventy-eighth year. She came to Braddock's Field the same year Mrs. Eaton did and remembers the district at the.time to be much as it has been described in this article. James A. Russell, an energetic and sagacious business man, was the leading undertaker and embalmer of the district for many years. John G. Dowler and his sons, Eli and Thomas, who came to Braddock in 1861, engaging in the lumber business, were substantial citizens and wise business men. C. C. Fawcett was a very influential and progressive citizen of Braddock for years, but a few years ago he went back to the original Fawcett farm near McKeesport to live at ease. Margaret Bell, who was a teacher in the first schools of the locality, and by her teaching and influence did much to mold the character of the later citizens, endeared herself to all the early settlers. Walter Collins and his wife have lived here many years noting the remarkable changes in the surroundings. Philip Sharah, a man far advanced in years has lived here the greater part of his life and has always been pleased to note the progress. Alexander Dempster, was a most capable and efficient business man and by his sagacity did much to promote the welfare of the district. Daniel McCain, a bridge builder by trade, came to Braddock about 1865, and reared a large, refined, cultured family who have contributed to the advancement of the section. John Benn was a large property holder and a man of power. William Fit itzius, Thomas Cosgrove and Owen Sheekey were progressive men who were always interested in the welfare of their fellow citizens. Mrs. B. L. Wood and her Iamily located on a tract of land on Braddock Avenue extending east from Second Street and they became reliable citizens always ready to co-operate in any movement for advancement. Mrs. Boll came with her family from Port Perry and located on upper Second Street, where she still lives and is a very active, intelligent woman although in her eighty-eighth year. Thomas Addenbrook, a man who has always had the welfare of the community at heart, has been instrumental in bringing about many reforms that have been for the uplift of the people of the vicinity, and has for his wife the eldest daughter of Matthew Henning. She is no less interested, in the good of the people of Braddock, than her husband. The plot east of the Wilkinsburg Road held by George Bell was later occupied by his sons-in-law Joseph Anderson and Allen Kirkpatrick, highly respected citizens. On the west side of the road J. B. Corey bought a part of the ground, held by James Buchanan, in 1865, coming from Port Perry. Here he, in his eighty-fifth year, and his venerable wife, in her eighty-third year, and his daughter Mrs. Weimer and her family live in a neat cozy house, just north of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He is a man of keenest intellect, wonderful energy, enduring perseverance, and temperate habits, and though he has passed so many mile stones these attributes ale still an index to his daily record. It is interesting to note in this connection that Mr. Corey's granddaughter, Miss Elizabeth L. R. Weimer, is at present the very energetic President of the Braddock Red Cross, which is establishing an enviable record. Many influential people located in this district and contributed a great deal in energy and suggestion to the growth and welfare of the community. Of such we mention James Stewart and George Bayard who came to Braddock's Field in 1827 and ~ 836 respectively, and resided here for many years witnessing many changes; John Harrison, a pioneer resident, who lived here long before the timber was cleared away; John and Alexander McCaulley, who were in and around Braddock and saw it transformed flom a wilderness to a thriving city; John Kolb, So., who came direct from Vienna to Braddock, in 1847, with, it has been told, only twenty-five cents in his pockets when he arrived, but by thrift and economy was able to accumulate considerable and was a highly respected citizen. Mr. Kolb's two sons, Emery and Ellsworth Kolb, Haddock boys, have recently won distinction by their explorations and moving pictures of the Colorado canyon. Mrs. Barkley, known as "Black Bab", who had been a slave of Judge Wallace, and to whom he had given a tract of three acres off the west side of the Braddock Farm; but neglecting to acquire the legal papers for the dower, she eventually lost it, but continued to live in the little log house with her husband and family until her death; John Baldridge, a Westmoreland County boy, who was identified with some of the leading enterprises of the community; David Elliot, who inherited his grandfather, David Soles's, farm, and to a degree inherited his grandsire's frugality and thrift; Benjamin Braznell, a sturdy English coal miner, one of Braddock's most enterprising citizens; Rev. Lauck, who in 1865 was one of Braddock's largest property holders, and who laid out in town lots a large part of what is now North Braddock; Major R. E. Stewart, a major in the civil war, who was one of the leading attorneys of the Allegheny County bar and an upright citizen.; Philip Marks, who was a pioneer settler and a man of keen judgment and strict integrity; Abe Best, who came from Westmoreland County and served as burgess and constable in North Braddock for many years, and who is at the present time night sergeant. He is eighty years old and is said to be the oldest person in active service in the district. On the adjoining farms to Braddock's Field farm, were the McKinneys, to the northeast; Col. William Miller on a farm to the southeast; on the south, across the river, on the hillside overlooking the Braddock Farm, the "Irish Gentleman," a noble man, Thomas J. Kenney; on the west, to the south John Adams owned a farm; descendants of Adams were later citizens of Braddock; to the west the property of Thomas Rankin, for whom Rankin Borough was named; to the north west the farms of Col. W. G. Hawkins and Robert Milligan; to the north overlooking the famous Braddock Farm that of David Soles and adjoining this the McKelvy and Kelly Farms. |