Fulton County Pennsylvania
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History of Dublin Township- Fulton County~Circa 1884
Blacklog Mountain-Fort Littleton
Colonel Schlatter's southern Pennsylvania route around Burnt Cabins, Fulton County Pennsylvania
Titled"Map exhibiting that portion of the State of Pennsylvania traversed by the surveys for a continuous rail road from Harrisburg to Pittsburg made under the direction of Charles L. Schlatter, c.e. in the year 1839 and 1840. Drawn by Charles Cramer."
HISTORY
of
BEDFORD, SOMERSET
and
FULTON COUNTIES,
PENNSYLVANIA.
With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
of some of its
PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN.
Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1884
CHAPTER XCII.
DUBLIN.
The Second Oldest Township in Fulton county - Organization in 1767 - Its
Original Boundaries - Taxables in 1767 - John Burd's Property in 1770 - Tax-List
of 1773 - The Historic Spots, Burnt Cabins and Fort Lyttleton - the Two Villages
Today - Industries - Personal Mention of Prominent Citizens and Old Residents -
The Methodist Church - Fort Lyttleton I.O.O.F. Lodge - The Oldest in Fulton
County.
DUBLIN is, next to Ayr, the oldest township in Fulton county. It was created a
township of Cumberland county at the October sessions of court, 1767. Its
boundaries are thus indefinitely described: "Dublin. Bounded by Air and Fannet
on the one side, and Colraine and Barre townships, on the top of Sidling Hill,
on the other side. John Ramsey,* constable."
At the time Bedford county was formed the bounds of Dublin township were left
"as fixed by the Cumberland county court." On the assessment list for 1767,
among the taxables of Dublin township, appear the names of the following
persons, who probably resided within the present limits of Fulton county:
John Burd, 300 acres warranted land, 150 acres unwarranted, 20 acres cleared,
2 horses, 5 cows, 1 servant.
Samuel Charleton, 200 acres warranted, 10 acres
cleared.
Benjamin Elliot, 100 acres patented, 3 acres cleared, 1 horse, 1 cow.
Robert Elliot, 150 acres warranted, 4 acres cleared.
James Elliot, 100 acres
warranted, 4 acres cleared.
John Elliot, 100 acres, 4 acres cleared.
James
Elliot, 100 acres warranted, 4 acres cleared.
John Elliot, 100 acres, 4 acres
cleared.
William Ramsey, 50 acres warranted, 2 acres cleared, 1 horse. John
Ramsey, 100
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acres warranted, 15 acres cleared, 1 horse, 1 cow, 5 sheep.
All lived near the
present county line, and possibly some of them in Huntingdon county. John Burd
must have been among the wealthiest of the pioneers. In 1770 he is taxed with
300 acres, 100 acres cleared, 2 servants, 1 negro, 4 horses, 4 cows and 6 sheep.
The following is a copy of the first tax-list of Dublin township recorded in
Bedford county, for the year 1773:
Anthony Aser
Charles Boyle
James Bogle
James Barnard
John Burd (one gristmill)
John Bell
Francis Cluggage
John Carmichael
Samuel Charles
Davis Bartholomew (one sawmill)
James Deley
Benjamin Elliott
James Elliott
Josiah Davenport
Jams Foley
James Flemon
James Galbreath
John Graham
Philip Gillelan
John Holliday
David McGaw
Charles Magill
James Mortin
John Moore
Nathaniel McDowell
William McDowell
John McDowell
William Ramsey
John Ramsey
Robert Ramsey
Lawrence Swope
George Swaggard
Samuel Thompson
John Walker
Total tax of the township, county and provincial, five pounds fourteen shillings
and sixpence. It should be borne in mind that Dublin township, at the time of
this list, included a large portion of the present county of Huntingdon.
In its two small villages, Burnt Cabins and Fort Lyttleton, Dublin township
perpetuates the memory of the stirring events of colonial days and Indian
warfare. The facts which lend historic interest to these localities are given
in a preceding chapter, therefore we will simply give a description of the two
villages which now occupy the ground which history has rendered celebrated.
Fort Lyttleton has about one hundred and ten inhabitants, one church
(Methodist); two merchants, Hon. S. L. Buckley and D. K. Baer; one physician,
Dr. David A. Hill; one blacksmith, Alexander Mayne; one foundry, run by J. J.
Cromer; one tinshop, S. R. Cromer; one gristmill, E. Baldwin; one hotel, M. S.
Wilt; one butcher, W. J. Cline. Burnt cabins has about the same population as
Fort Lyttleton, two stores of general merchandise, two blacksmith-shops, one
wagonshop, one undertaker's shop, one hotel, and two churches (Methodist and
Presbyterian).
Hon. Samuel L. Buckley, at present one of the associate judges of Fulton
county, is a native of Huntingdon county. His father, Jacob Buckley, moved to
Fulton county in 1840 and resided here until his death, in 1878. Judge Buckley
was reared on a farm and educated at Rainsburg, Bedford county. He spent the
early years of his manhood in clerking and teaching school. In 1865 he removed
to Fort Lyttleton, where he engaged in the mercantile business, which he has
since successfully conducted. Judge Buckley is a stanch republican, and very
popular in a political sense, as is evinced by the fact that in 1881 he was
elected to his present office in a county which is overwhelmingly democratic.
He was married in 1862, to Mary Ellen Morrow, of Fulton county, who died in
1881, leaving three children: Sarah E., Anna M. and Edgar A. Judge Buckley has
been postmaster at Fort Lyttleton since 1866.
Ephraim Ramsey, who was born and reared in Fulton county, settled at Fort
Lyttleton in 1834, purchasing a farm of the Wilds heirs. In the early part of
his life he followed the saddler's trade. Mr. Ramsey married Mary C. Uncles,
who died in 1842. She was the mother of five children - two of whom, Elizabeth
J. (Evans) and William reached mature years. Mrs. Evans is still living. Mr.
Ramsey is now (November, 1883) in his ninety-second year, and is the oldest man
in Fulton county.
George S. Doran, Esq., is a native of Fulton county, and is now engaged in the
business of huckstering. Mr. Doran was elected a justice of the peace in Dublin
township in 1878. He resides at Burnt Cabins, and is one of the energetic
business men of the place. In 1870 Mr. Doran married Elizabeth Appleby, of
Huntingdon county. Children: Samuel W., Alice B. and Anna.
Henry McGowan was born in Franklin county, and resided there until twenty-
eight years of age. In 1856 he purchased a farm of the Walker heirs, situated
in Huntingdon county, near the Fulton county line, and there resided for three
years. He then removed to Burnt Cabins and engaged in his present business,
hotelkeeping. After three years he purchased the hotel he now owns, which he
has since enlarged and improved. Besides the hotel business, Mr. McGowan also
carries on farming and the stock business. He was married in 1859, to Miss
Sarah Guyer, of Franklin county, and has ten children living: Margaret E.,
Laura, Adaline, Belle, George M., Harry, Henderson, Richard, Theodore and John.
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The landlords who preceded Mr. McGowan in the management of the Burnt Cabins
hotel were John Jamison, James Walker, Lee Cline, James Rodgers, Mrs. Ingraham
and M. S. Wilt. The house was built by Welsh and Dr. Hunter.
David G. Miller was born in Franklin county and moved to Fulton county in
1852. He lived at Burn Cabins until 1855, when he purchased of Lewis Dubbs the
farm which he now occupies. Mr. Miller removed to his present farm in 1870. He
is a member of the M. E. church, and a progressive farmer. He served in the
late war, enlisting September 24, 1864, in the 199th regt. Penn. Vols.; was
mustered out June 28, 1865. Mr. Miller was present on the day of Lee's
surrender; his youngest son was also born on that day, and named in honor of the
distinguished Union general. Mr. Miller married Sidney Snyder, of Huntingdon
county, in 1852, and is the father of six children: Malbira, Annabel, Henry F.,
Samuel S., Ulysses G. and Hannah V. (deceased). Mr. Miller has filled various
township offices.
Nathan Baker, a native of Chester county, moved to Dublin township in 1818.
After renting farms for fifteen years, he purchased two hundred and twenty acres
of land, settled by James Justice in 1795. Mr. Baker married Barbara Hause, of
Chester county, in 1820. Children: Jesse, John, Benjamin and Joseph, deceased;
Hannah (Stellinger) Samuel, William, Betsey (Henry), Nathan and Isaac, living.
Mr. Henry died in 1869, his wife in 1856. William Baker, the present owner of
the homestead, came to Dublin township with his parents when about three years
of age. He has always followed farming. In 1839 he married Malinda Gunnell,
who died in 1849. In 1850 he married Kate Simmers, of Fulton county.
William Henry came from Chester county in 1815, and settled upon a farm of two
hundred acres. He resided upon the farm until 1832, then moved to Clear Ridge.
Michael Woollet, a native of York county, came to Fort Lyttleton as early as
1800, and commenced blacksmithing near the little pond. A few years later he
bought a farm of Adam Zook, and devoted himself to his trade and farming. In
1811 he began keeping public-house at his residence, which was situated upon the
Old State road. There was at that time a great deal of wagoning upon the road,
and a few years later drovers began to pass over it, and sometimes as many as a
hundred droves of cattle passed the house in a day. Mr. Woollet died in 1833.
He married Margaret Lingenfelter, of York county, and reared eleven children:
Mary (Adams), Elizabeth (Kemp), Peggy (Keebaugh), Sarah (Beckley), Catharine
(Keebaugh) and Peter, deceased; Benjamin, Jacob L., Michael, Caroline (Henry)
and Louisa (Bradley), living. Benjamin Woollet, who resides upon the old
homestead, was born in 1808. He owns six hundred acres of land and is a
successful farmer. Mr. Woollet was married in 1836 to Catharine Barndollar, of
Bedford county, who is still living.
Samuel Cromer came from Mercersburg to McConnellsburg in 1854, and erected the
building in that town which is now the carriageshop of A. Heikes. Mr. Cromer
engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements until 1857, when he sold
his property in McConnellsburg and moved to Fort Lyttleton, where he built a
foundry. This establishment is 25 x 40 feet, with an addition 24 x 60 feet.
Mr. Cromer carried on the business until 1867, when he sold out to his son, J.
J. Cromer, and George Bain. They conducted the business in partnership until
1879, when Mr. J. J. Cromer purchased his partner's interest. He has since
carried on the business alone, having a good trade from the surrounding country.
J. J. Cromer enlisted in Co. D, 49th regt. Penn. Vols., September 21, 1861; was
wounded May 10, 1864; discharged October 26, 1864. In 1877-8 he was sergeant-
at-arms in the senate of Pennsylvania.
The first licensed hotel at Fort Lyttleton was opened by John D. Richardson in
1855, in a building which was destroyed by fire in 1875. Mr. Richardson was
succeeded by John Early, William J. McFarland, Thompson Wilds and M. S. Wilt.
Mr. Wilt commenced business in this place in 1869, and is the present landlord.
Methodist Church. - The Methodist Episcopal church, at Burnt Cabins, was
organized by Rev. Robert Beers in 1851. The society built a frame church, 35 x
45 feet, at a cost of six hundred dollars. Among the older members of the
church were Frederick Miller and wife, Robert Clymonds and wife, Conrad
Matthias, David Matthias and wife, Mrs. Boyles, Hugh Campbell and wife, Samuel
Campbell, John Matthias, Jr., Mrs. Mort and Elizabeth Sites. The original
membership was thirty. The present membership is forty-five in the church and
eighty in the
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sabbath school. The old church has been torn down and is being rebuilt. The
work will cost about seven hundred dollars.
Odd-Fellows. - Fort Lyttleton Lodge, No. 484, I.O.O.F., was first instituted
May 20, 1853. There is no record of the first officers and charter members, as
the lodgeroom was destroyed with all of its contents in March, 1855. The lodge
was re-organized November 3, 1855, when the following officers were elected:
John Chesnut, Sr., N.G.; William S. Thompson, V.G.; John Chesnut, Jr., Sec'y;
John M. Hedding, A.S.; Ephraim Ramsey, Treas. At the date of re-organization
there were thirty-nine members. The meetings were held in the second story of
Hedding's store-building until 1869, when the lodge was moved to its present
quarters in the second story of the Cromer building. At present the membership
is thirty-six. The lodge property is valued at two thousand three hundred and
fifty-four dollars and eighty-nine cents. Forty Lyttleton is the oldest lodge
of Odd-Fellows in Fulton county, and has enjoyed a high degree of prosperity.
Brief History of Wells Valley- Circa 1884
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