Crawford County, Pennsylvania
History & Biography
1876 1
"HISTORY OF THE VILLAGES AND TOWNSHIPS OF CRAWFORD COUNTY."
Copied for this site by Beverly Hopkins
CITIES
Meadville - Titusville
TOWNSHIPS
Athens ·
Beaver ·
Bloomfield ·
Cambridge ·
Conneaut ·
Cussewago ·
East Fairfield ·
East Fallowfield ·
Fairfield ·
Greenwood ·
Hayfield ·
Mead ·
North Shenango ·
Oil Creek ·
Pine ·
Randolph ·
Richmond ·
Rockdale ·
Rome ·
Sadsbury ·
South Shenango ·
Sparta ·
Spring ·
Steuben ·
Summerhill ·
Summit ·
Troy ·
Union ·
Venango ·
Vernon ·
Wayne ·
West Fallowfield ·
West Shenango ·
Woodcock
The sketches are arranged geographically, beginning in the northwest at Beaver Township,
with the following introduction:
A few old men, with willing spirit but defective memory, supply the meagre outlines of early settlement and pioneer privations. A third generation has well-nigh passed away since those memorable days, when the adventurous pioneer ventured into the forests of Western Pennsylvania, and choosing a tract near river, creek, or spring, reared an humble dwelling; and, going east, returned again with family, sometimes with company, often alone, and incurred hardships, privations, and danger. Traveling a trackless forest, little could be carried with them to insure home comforts. Arrived at the chosen site, how did it appear? Water convenient of access, the log cabin built, and a patch of land cleared of trees, but thick with stumps and charred logs. Where are the neighbors for help in sickness and for friendly intercourse? The echo of a distant axe, and the occasional far-off thunder of a falling tree, tell of some other brave-hearted borderer. Brief mention of a few of the old frontiersmen and initial efforts, looking to a future civilization, are all that can be gained, and these but fragments. Following on the track of a previous compiler, his record is found true in most particulars, and is reproduced with omissions and additions.
1 Combination Atlas Map of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Everts, Ensign, & Evert, 1876), pp. 24, 24¼, 24½, 25, and 26.
