The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-04-17

Path'-it is almost certain that white
men first found their way into or through
Somerset county. This trail, however,
touched only the southwest corner of the
county, where ii passed through addison
township for few miles. 1t was made
known to Col. Thomas Cresap, OF Old
town, Md, in 1913, by an old Indian
whose name il bears-snd the first open
ing through the wilderness ofwhat is now
Somerst county was made over it in l1jI
10y no less apersonage than George Wash
ington, vino opened road along its line,
and over this road General Braddock
marched his army the following year.
In I75S the north of The county was
penetrated in similar manner by GEN
er.,l Forbes, who opened road that pass
eli through Stoyestown, and which for
many years was known Is the Great
Road"
1t was over these two roads thai the first
settlers first found their way into this
county.
\ fort was built near Stoyestown and a
garrison placed in 1t, bat whether an at
tempt at settlement was made is not
known. The precise date OF the first set
tiement within the present limits CT the
county is not known, neither i ii known
to which section of the county this honor
may belong. But il must have been AT
one of these four points: In Lower
Turleyfoot, (the Jersey settlement in
tn ghborhood of Berlin, in Brothers
valley township; or in Elk Lick; and pos
sibly there may have been some settle
ment in the vicinity of Stoyestown, be-
cause of the security offered by the Fort
built there. 1t must have been III one of
the four localities naIned-but which?
II has already been mentioned that the
proprietory government did not exercise
any jurisdiction when the Indian title TO
the lands had not been acquired and
the settlement had their sanction, and
that this did not take place until the fall
OF I7GS, and that the Penns did not open
their land Office for the sale of lands in
the new purchase until April ;, l1'3, yet
il Is certain that there were settlers in this
territory prior to the cession of the lands
by the Indians. Bat how long before
that time is not known. They must have
found their way here after the loss Of TT.
Duquense 10y the French, which took
place on the 2Sth Of November, lbs. So
long as the French and Indians held that
point there could be no safety for settlers
anywhere in this territory. The first
settlements were therefore made after the
beginning of 1883, and probably near the
same time. The written evidence ac-
cessible that throws any light on the sub
jest i substantially this: The Indians
Six Nations) made complaint 10 the
Penns that their lands were being tres
passed upon. This. however. more pariic-
uiariy related TO the settlements made at
Red~tone. Fayette county. The extension
of the Mason and Dixon line in I767 shows
eonclusiyely that these settlements were
in the province of Pennsylvania and not in
Virginia as was claimed. In response to
the claims of the Indians the Penns sent
Commission. in March, l76S, the head OF
which was the Rev. Capt. John Steele, 70
ende;tvor 10 have these tresnassers remov-
ed, they claiming title under Virginia.
From the report of the Commission it is
learned that they proceeded 10 Gambler
land and passed over the "Braidock
Road TO ReGstone. Returning to Cam
berland over the same road they made a
report of their mission TO Governor Penn
from that point. From it we quote the
following:
ION the 3lst of March, jlT69j we came to
the Great Crossings Of the II ougheogheny.
and being informed by one Speer that :
or 20 families lived at place cliled 'Tur-
keyfOot' we sent some proclamatiOns
thither 10y said Speer. - we did 10 some
families nigh to the Crossings of the Lit
tie Yough, Judging il WAS unnecessary to
90 among thenl.'
This is conclusive a. to the settlement
in the Turkeyfoot region as early rs l7tiS.
The locality of the settlemea referred u
a. being nigh 10 the Crossings Of the
Little Yough" is more uncertain, bat it
looks very much as though it refers to 4
settlement in Elk Lick township-thoagh
the Berlin settlement, if there was such,
may have been the one referred to-but
there arc good and sufficient reasons for
believing the settlement was in Elk
Lick.
''The Little Crossings are in the State
of Maryland, crossing the river a; point
about five miles south Of Salisbury. Now
the report reads nigh the Crossings of
the Little Yough," &c, and the Berlin set
tlement would have been fully twenty
miles away, and besides is not near the
river at all, and il is not likely that the
Commission would have referred to any
thing at that distance as being nigh the
Crossings"
As further evidence Of the early day at
which Elk Lick was first settled the fol-
lowing is offered: As already stated the
Indian trouble was quieted in the sue
ceeding fall by the treaty of III. Stanwix,
and that the Penns opened their land
Office on April 3, I76a and from an old
deed on record ii i learned that one Will
liam Sinclair, on i2lh April, 1863. took
out a warrant for survey for tract OF
land which lies in sight ofSalisbury. No
local tradition that we have ever heard of
makes him the first settler by any means.
That honor has always been awarded to
John Markley.
We do not, however, wish to say that
the Elk Lick settlement antedates the
Berlin settlement-that we do not know.
but we believe il To be as old and that il
vas made between 1853 and l76S, and
that the four points we have named have
between them the earliest settlement OF
the county.
Ii may here be stated that the Somerset
settlement was made about the year 100
and that the first permanent settler was
Herman Husband. There were, how
ever, four trappers who had camps here
when Husband arrived. They were
Isaac Cox, VIM. Sparks, John Penrod
and John Vansell. Cox's camp was ON
the farm lately owned by John c. Barron;
Sparks camp was on the farm now own
ed by Andrew Coleman, long known as
the Husband Homestead'; Penrod and
yansell bad their camp on the old