Crawford County, Pennsylvania
History
1876 ATLAS 1
"HISTORY OF THE VILLAGES AND TOWNSHIPS OF CRAWFORD COUNTY."
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
Of the pioneers to Wayne, Henry Bean, of German origin, settled on what is known as the McCune farm. McCune and Bean's father-in-law had come in at the same time, and earlier. The land was but sparsely occupied till 1800, when the Medills,—John and Hugh,—located on the Oil Creek Road. The Brawleys,—Hugh and James,—and others settled on the flat, near Frenchtown. James D. Allen and Mr. Wheeling settled in 1819. Francis McDaniels moved in about 1822. William Record arriving in 1824, found few neighbors near by; and Jacob Rees, from Philadelphia, came to Wayne in 1829, and located on the site of Deckardsville. The place, covered with trees, gave no indication of a future town; and, like many another, Rees found it necessary to clear his way with the axe. It is asserted, and is probably a fact, that James Ferry alone killed eighteen bears and eight hundred deer in the vicinity of Sugar Lake; and when the number engaged in hunting is realized, the abundance of game becomes a matter of wonder. The first school-house in Wayne stood on the land of James Cochran. Among early marriages was that of Squire Johnson to Elizabeth Elsworth, in 1812. A powder-mill was built and run by Henry Heath in an early day. His material was brought from Pittsburgh. About the year 1810 a saw- and grist-mill was run by Holmes & Harriet, on Sugar Creek. The village of Deckardsville is on Decker's Run, four miles east of Cochranton; besides other healthy indications, the place contains three churches. The township was organized in 1811 [sic; should be 1809]. In shape it resembles a right-angled triangle, with its hypotenuse a succession of right angles, bordering upon Venango County. Sugar Lake is a small lake in the northern part, and an expansion of a creek of the same name. The population in 1870 was 1464, and its area is twenty thousand and sixty-six acres.
