Yohogania County - History of Jefferson Borough Page 2

One of the Justice’s descendants, Homer J. Reed of Clairton, Pennsylvania, perpetuates Justice Benjamin Kuykendall’s surname, and the surname of two of his (Homer Reed’s) other ancestors in his letterhead with the unique wording:

ESTABLISHED 1752
KUYKENDALL — FORSYTHE — REED FARMS
1 State Route 885 Jefferson Borough Clairton, Pennsylvania

Susannah Kuykendall, one of Justice Benjamin Kuykendall’s daughters, was born in 1767. When she was eighteen years old she became the wife of James Forsythe (1756-1850). That marriage united two important pioneer families.

According to a reliable genealogy of the Forsythe family, three Forsythe brothers, James, William and John, were born in Londonderry, Ireland, and came to North America in 1739. That genealogy was prepared by Joseph Forsythe (1842-1924) who was, for many years, a notable member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, and who was a direct descendant of James Forsythe (1756-1850) who married Justice Kuykendall’s daughter Susannah.

Joseph Forsythe (1842-1924), who compiled the genealogy, must have had the fullest white mustache and the widest and longest white beard ever grown in Allegheny County, judging by his picture in the issue of July, 1921 of THE WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

A lady, who is a descendant of James Forsythe (1756-1850), said that her blood pressure rose sharply when she read in a novel (The King’s Orchard) that was published a few years ago, the unflattering, untrue word picture of the John Forsythe family that a present-day novelist had drawn of that fine family. The hate lady stated—and her statement was true— that the Forsythe family had been considered one of Pennsylvania’s best and bravest families in pioneer years.

It is important to state here that some members of the Forsythe clan insist that only the persons who have spelled the surname with an “e” at the end of it, or who spell it with an “e” at the end of the first name, are Forsythe descendants, but this would appear to be an incorrect supposition for there have been instances when persons of that clan have spelled the name, at times, without an “e” at the end.

James Forsythe (1756-1850), who wooed and married Susannah Kuykendall, one of Benjamin’s daughters, was the James Forsythe who obtained a warrant in 1785 for three hundred acres & ninety perches of land in what was then Washington County, Pennsylvania. He gave the historic name “Long Knife” to his land.

Just a few months later, John Forsyth secured a warrant for land which he called “Cavin”. His land was also in what was then Washington County. William Forsythe, in the following year, became the owner of land in that same county, and he named his land “The Triple Attack.”

Those three men, James Forsythe, John Forsyth, and William Forsythe, may well have been the three Forsythe brothers who came to North America from Londonderry, Ireland, in 1739.

Homer J. Reed of Clairton, who has been mentioned earlier in this article, stated in a letter written in 1965, that James Forsythe did not take out his patent for the ‘tong Knife” acreage when he first became acquainted with that land. Mr. Reed also stated:

However, this was the spot that was always used for a camp; he built his cabin sometime before he was married and then moved in.. . James Forsythe paid the 12ó per acre for the farm by tapping the maple sugar trees. He boiled the sap down — made sugar —and took it to Cumberland, Md. by horseback.

Mr. Reed stated orally that, in the Clairton area, there had been two Forsythe log houses, that the second one was only a few yards from the first one, and that the last one was torn down about 1952. He also said that his mother was born in 1871 in the second of these two log houses, that her brother Joseph and their three sisters were also born in that log house.

Mr. Reed’s mother was Jessie Bell Forsythe. She became die wife of Frank M. Reed in 1895. The marriage terminated when he died on Washington’s birthday, February 22, 1940. His wife died twenty-five years later, having lived to be ninety-four years old. She drew her last breath in Yuma, Arizona, where her son Homer had taken her in the hope that her life could be prolonged, even though she had been an invalid for a very long time.

Homer J. Reed, in a letter written February 1965, stated that “William Forsythe (Mother’s father) was a great old historian, clean mind and a wonderful character of yesteryear – He died in 1933 at the age of 96. He is buried in the old Lebanon Cemetery, West Mifflin Borough.”

“first cabin must have been close to Yough Court House where Bed Bug Row is today the hill overlooking the River at, or close to, the Crossing. Ashland Oil Co. has a plant along the river where the Pioneer Trail crossed above Elizabeth about 2 1/2 miles, (South), directly at the rear of Yough Court House is the old Lobb Cemetery where so many of the soldiers of the Whiskey Insurrection who contracted smallpox are buried — many, many died — they were using the basement of the old court house for a temporary hospital.. Charles Carroll, the only Catholic who signed the Declaration of Independence and the fellow who also outlived all the people who did sign the document, is buried in Carrollton, Md. Some of his people are buried on our farm in Large, Pa., at the rear of Capt. Henry Large’s old distillery; they were related also to the Kuykendalls. I have Capt. Large’s sword — he was in charge of Peters Creek Rangers, the fellow who kept order in our area. It has the seal of the thirteen colonies on it...

"The Samuel Pollock Large Diary brought back many memories of many of these Large people and particularly Fannie Large Stevenson.. .I purchased the old Large (distillery people) home adjacent to the old Large Distillery. I had hoped to restore it and did spend a lot of money on it and worked very hard myself. I had a wonderful old barn at my home full of antiques of our old pioneer families stored in it — covered wagon, 2 stage coaches, 9 sleighs, harness, dog chucks, race carts, old automobiles, and many other articles too numerous to mention, also 20 head of pure bred sheep (my pets). Someone burned the place to the ground in the night of Sept. 15, 1960.. .The building alone was most exceptional — built in 1848 by Wm. Payne. Our family kept the place like new. I was so mad when I lost all of the antiques, the barn and my sheep, I decided to sell the old Large residence to Mr. Noble J. Dick — who owns it today. The house is still in good order. I bought it from the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. I still have many relics of yesteryear .. many old guns...

The paths of the pioneers who are mentioned herein must have crossed many times.

It is certain that Captain Henry Heth and members of his family often visited George Croghan at Croghan Hall and that he, in turn, visited them. The Heths and Croghans were friends of Justice Benjamin Kuykendall and must have visited him frequently at his Ravensburg plantation. Justice Kuykendall and his family certainly fared forth at times to repay the calls made upon them by the Heths, by Justice George Croghan, by Croghan’s half-brother, Justice Edward Ward, and by others.

It is likely that Christopher Waithour, who acquired Croghan Hall twelve years after George Croghan’s death, had visited Croghan HaIl many times when George Croghan was there.

We can only conjecture about the topics of conversation when those important, rugged pioneers met, but we know, from the record of their hardships and of the perilous times in which they lived, that they and their womenfolk were very courageous men and women.