The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-09-04
"REMINISCENCES.
Odd Characters.

Odd Characters.
When the Eternal City that sat upon
the Seven Hills was i'm the zenith of
her glory all roads led to Rome, the
center then, of.all civilization, of all
science and pomp and power. So too,
when the old pike was in its glory, it led
to Petersburg from all the surrounding
country, TO which place pilgrims and
strangers, wayfarers and travellers,
turned their faces and footsteps i'm
search of business, pleasure or recrea-
ton, as the Mohammedan turns his
face towards Mecca. Turkeyfoot, TO
which all the County must pay tribute,
because of its priority of settlement, for
il was there the first settlement i'm the
County was made, furnished many
quaint characters, whose memory will
always remain green in Addison. Ma
ior Hanna, because of his wonderful
strength, as well as other eccentricities
of character, has been mentioned more
frequently, perhaps, than any other
person, in the various centennial pa
pers, during the last several months.
Taken, all in all, he was, probably, as
curious character as any the County
ever produced. He had more original
ity of action and conversation, con-
nected with great wit and intelligence,
than most men; but other odd charact-
ers whose homes were in Turkeyfoot,
and who were well known TO the older
citizens, were frequent visitors to Ad-
Olson. Among the old settlers of Tur-
keyfoot, besides those who came there
as early as 1865, and whose names have
been mentioned in various papers,
were the Colborns, Tannehills, brakes,
Rushes and many Others, who were all
well known here. Notwithstanding
that part of the County was settled 50
much earlier than this, their only
method of communication with the
outside world seems to have been by
pack-horse trail, rs before mentioned,
or at least by very poor excuse for a
road, for quite a number of years and
il was not until Braddock's, or the Old
Road was completed, that they had
any other method. By the Old Road
is meant wagon road which followed,
very nearly, Braddock's route, and was
in Use when the pike was made. In
looking back over the past, the writer
remembers great many of the old set
tiers whom he knew, and whom he
used to see, beside others, of whom he
has heard, who came regularly to
Petersburg.
There were men among them who,
under other circumstances, would have
been cavaliers, crusaders, Cromwell
lians. martyrs-anything that would
have required patience, courage and
sacrifice. Sylvester COlborn, of Eng
lish descent, a. honest a man a. ever
lived, would have followed the Black
Prince into the Jaws of death, or have
ridden rough-shod over disaster and de-
feat on bloOd-stained battle-fields. His
son, than whom better or Drawer man
never lived, Sylvester Colborn Jr., laid
his life on the altar of his country, "A
vicarious sacrifice, when all there was
in life seemed brightest and most glo-
rious TO him.
The old Jennings, of whom mention
has frequently been made, was of the
material of which martyrs are made,
and, had he lived in the days of the
Inquisition, would have suffered mar
tyrdom for principle. The Abrams,
the Spencers and all those sturdy
Anglo-Saxons, were men of whom
any country or community might
be proud; the kind of men who
made this country great with its free
dom and its enlightenment, its science
and its arts, its glory and its renown.
They reclaimed the land, and planted
that most glorious and prolific of all
seeds: the seed of human liberty and
equality.
Sylvester Coiborn was a very queer
character; man of great intelligence,
native talent and wit. He had the
unfortunate habit of occasionally 'look-
ing upon the wine when it was red :"
but for the matter of that, the color
made very little difference TO him. On
one occasion Gen. Ross was canvassing
the County, and happened to meet Mr..
Colborn in Somerset. They were great
friends, and Colborn intended to vote
for the General, who was i'm converse
ton with another party. Colborn list
ened awhile, when he said, sottO Uoce,
80 Jerusalem, jerusalem, how often
would / have gathered you together,
but you would not; a pretty pair-they
are; one horse-faced Methodist, the
other pretty d-d comfortable. His
humor seemed TO arise spontaneously,
without any previous thought, when
ever occasion required. He was friend
of everybody, and everybody was his
friend Another character lived in
Turkeyfoot, who, in his way exceeded
anything, or anybody the writer has
ever known. His name was, say Jones,
for that WAS not his name; John was
his front name; the big eater, as the
man was usually called, and his great
"forte" was i'm his ability to eat more
victuals than any man who ever was in
this country. He was only a medium
sized man, somewhat stopped, raw
boned, thin of visage, and spare in
flesh. Where that man slowed the