I am especially interested in finding George’s parents and siblings. If there is someone out there who is related to this family, or knows the rest of the story, please contact me.  John L. Sullivan   johnlsullivan3@comcast.net

SS Baltic  Queenstown, Ireland and Liverpool, England to New York
5 April 1878

—–

Mr T H Paul          30    Ma    Gentleman  U States cabin
Mr A Paul            46    Ma    Gentleman  U States  cabin
City of Berlin   Liverpool, England via Queenstown, Ireland to New York
3 February 1879
-----
PAUL, A J            27 Male  Seaman      US       US  Cabin    
SS Colon Aspinwall (Colon), Panama to New York
16 April 1878

——–

PAUL, Z.W.              23  Male     Seaman          US     US      Cabin  
SS Colon  Aspinwall (Colon), Panama to New York
14 January 1879
 
------
Tobis Paul

Dragon   Rotterdam via Plymouth to Philadelphia

Qualified September 30, 1732

———

Steerage Passengers
William Paul           30  male    pattern drawer       Gaston, Eng.  Boston
Ann Paul               34  female                       Gaston, Eng.  Boston
Elizabeth Paul          7  female                       Gaston, Eng.  Boston
Thomas Paul             6  male                         Gaston, Eng.  Boston
William Paul            2  male                         Gaston, Eng.  Boston
Walter Paul           6mo  male                         Gaston, Eng.  Boston

Emerald    Liverpool, England to Boston, Massachusetts
30 April 1827

——–

Kungde. Paul           25  2                  Hessia      Ohio

Europa    Bremen, Germany to New York
June 5, 1866

——–

1* Wm. G. Maxwell   35       Male      Mariner  ???land    United States
2  Elizabeth Paul   35       Female                      United States
3  Ann H.. Paul      3       Female                      United States
4  Wm. Paul          1 1/2   Male                        United States
 

Schooner Gem   St. John, New Brunswick to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8 March 1837  (There were only 4 passengers listed on this trip – I have included Mr. Maxwell because it seems likely he is a relative. – Carolynjoy) Transcriber couldn’t read first 3 letters of home country – possibly Ireland?)

——-

C Paul            29 M ?  United States United States

SS Habana   Havana, Cuba to New Orleans
5 March 1860

—————–

Ernestine Paul         50 F Spinster          Germany Prussia   United States America  Steerage    
Franz Paul             30 M Smith             Germany Prussia   United States America  Steerage 
SS Helvetia    From Liverpool and Queenstown to New York, April 8, 1878

——————–

Mr. Paul                        41 male   Merchant       Canada       Canada

SS Hibernia    Liverpool, England to Boston, Massachusetts
25 January 1847

——————–

Joseph PAUL          24   Male   Miner        America   (New York)*    

Highflyer  Liverpool to New York, 30th July 1854

————————

Paul Edward               42     m m Cores Merchant    England     English      Liverpool  
          V*Chicago                 In transit to Honolulu 

SS Ivernia  Liverpool, England and Queensland, Ireland to Boston, MA
October 18, 1905

————————

Jean Paul or Gardiner
Margaret, Robert, William, Andrew and Mary Paul

The Lady Egidia   Greenock, Scotland to Otago, New Zealand

————————

Paul        Jean      20 M  Germany   Germany    Lab     No
Paul        Michl      9 M  Germany   Germany    Child   No
Paul        Daniel    33 M  Germany   Germany    Lab     No

Steamship Lord Clive   Passenger List of Steamship Lord Clive from Liverpool

Arrived July 5th 1887 in the Port of Philadelphia

———————–

Paul            C. Frederick    male    45  Prussia           Chemist
Barque Natchez  Germany to Galvestone, Texas
Fourth Quarter of 1847
------------------
 
Paul        Carl        41                          M      Farmer   Bade      United States
Paul         Elisabeth              34           F      Farmer   Bade      United States
Paul        Lina                   9                  F      Farmer   Bade      United States
Paul        Carl        8                            M      Farmer   Bade      United States
Paul        Bertha            7                    F       Farmer   Bade      United States
Paul        Ada               5                     F       Farmer   Bade      United States
Paul        Friedrich       3                     M    Farmer   Bade      United States
Rattler  from Havre to New York

———————

Paul Schauf         39    m segarmkr      Germany  U.S.   Steerage
Caroline Paul       30    f wife          Germany  U.S.   Steerage
?ina Paul            9    f none          Germany  U.S.   Steerage
???? Paul            7    m none          Germany  U.S.   Steerage
Elmitr Paul          5    f none          Germany  U.S.   Steerage
Alice Paul           2    f none          Germany  U.S.   Steerage

SS Rhein  Bremen, Germany to New York
13 January 1879

———-

Andrew Paul             36  Farmers/Labourers  Great Britain  U. States   Steerage

Sea King    From Liverpool to Philadelphia, arrival June 12, 1850    

—————-

Paul, Richard            17 m Labourer       Wales
Paul, Martha             25 f                Wales
Paul, Jane                I f                Wales Died June 18th 1842 

Senator  from Liverpool to New York, June 1842

———————–

Anna       Paul            35  female woman       Prussia  Between Deck
Anna       Paul             9m female her baby    Prussia

SS Wieland   Hamburg & Havre to New York
March 27, 1879

——————————-

Captain James Paul

London, England via Cape of Good Hope to Port Jackson, Australia
17 November 1834

 Report of a Barque arrived in Port Jackson this 17th Day of November 1834

Vessel’s Name:- James
Tonnage:- 358
Master’s Name:- Paul
From Whence:- London via Cape of Good Hope 29 September
When Sailed:- 29 June
Lading:- Merchandise & Emmigrants
Agent:- William Walker & Co

Cabin Passengers Barque “James” arrived Port Jackson 17th November 1834 burthen 3381.78/100 tons.

Even better  – add your information directly into the blog.  Just click on “Comments” at the bottom of any post – including this one…

……………
 
FROM:  Page 9,  Historical Magazine and Notes and Queries concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography of America , Vol. 5, Second Series; Henry B. Dawson, 1869

FROM: Indiana Magazine of History – Page 103

A different sort of people, a sturdy race, began to settle in
the lower valley — Scotch-Irish, Germans and Quakers. They
had but little time for amusement, no taste for gay, social
life, even if favorable circumstances had permitted. They
commenced at once to build cabin homes, churches and gristmills.
Some one was always on guard, rifle near by. Their
own hands provided for their tables game from the surrounding
mountains and that which the soil yielded.
In 1719, grievous conditions in northern Ireland started
a stream of emigrants to the mountain regions of Pennsylvania
and Virginia, the importance of which was scarcely less
than that of the exodus of the English Puritans and Cavaliers.
Landing at more northern ports, they pushed their way across
the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers into the Cumberland
Valley, then southward across Maryland into the Shenandoah,
by Pack Horse Ford on the Potomac, at the point which is
now Shepherdstown. Very early a settlement was made at *>
this ford, many desirable features offering — a beautiful coun- £
try, fertile soil and healthful climate.
An old tradition credits Morgan Morgan, a native of Wales,
with having been the first white man to build a cabin south
of the Potomac between the Blue Ridge and the North Mountain
in 1726. This was in Spottsylvania County, at what is
now Bunker Hill, Berkeley County. Morgan Morgan was
prominent in public affairs.
The settlement on the Potomac, first called Pack Horse
Ford, was later called Mecklenburg, which did not meet with
favor; it was finally named Shepherdstown, in honor of Captain
Thomas Shepherd, who laid out the town on his own land.
The town became conspicuous many years later as the place
where James Rumsey built and navigated the first steamboat,
December 3rd, 1787.
During the winter of 1788, he went to Philadelphia where
the people were greatly excited over his invention. A society
was organized, ” The Rumseyan Society”, with Benjamin
Franklin as president. Rumsey went to London the following year, constructed a boat and launched it on the Thames in
1790. There he met Robert Fulton; congenial tastes made
them warm friends. Rumsey died suddenly in December,
1792, in London. Pulton took up the work and spent twenty
years in constructing his steamboat on the plan of the original
inventor, James Rumsey.
The English monarch claimed and exercised the right to
create Colonies and form Colonial Governments in America.
The large grants of land were made chiefly in tidewater Virginia.
However, in 1664, Charles II granted a princely domain
to Lord Thomas Culpeper in the lower valley, extending to
the summit of the Alleghenies from the Chesapeake, from the
Potomac southward through territory now embraced in twenty-
five counties. This tract descended to Thomas, Sixth Lord
Fairfax, through his mother, Catherine Fairfax, daughter and
only heir of Lord Culpeper. There were no land offices
west of the Blue Ridge for many years after the lower valley
began to be peopled. Settlers took possession of any unclaimed
land that suited them by ” Tomahawk right”, cutting
their names or initials on trees, and blazing trees as markers.
The laws of the Colony allowed fifty acres free; when cleared
and cultivated and buildings had been erected, four hundred
acres additional were allowed, if there remained so much land
unclaimed. Deeds were usually given for what was claimed.
Many availed themselves of the privilege, because there were
not even bridle paths in some sections and the journey to the
Capital or Court House was expensive and tedious. When
a colony of immigrants arrived requiring a large tract of land,
the formalities of the law were adhered to by the authorities
at Williamsburg. The King also exercised the right to make
special grants to people who gave promise of becoming permanent
settlers, even allowing them to settle on the large
grants already made, when they had an order issued by the
Governor and his Council.
Pioneers who crossed to the southern bank of the Potomac
were on the Fairfax tract, which was more extensive than even the proprietor knew, until it was surveyed some years
after he inherited it. The Van Meter brothers, Isaac, from New
Jersey, and John from Maryland, settled on the Fairfax territory.
Their grants were dated at Williamsburg, June 17th,
1730. The following year Joist Kite came with a colony of
Germans. Through the influence of William Penn, the Virginia
Council gave to Kite one hundred thousand acres of land
west of the Blue Ridge. Finding by blazed trees and other
markers that the Van Meters were in advance, he bought
their claims and commenced to sell land and settle his colony
of twenty families in 1732. The Van Meters purchased from
Kite tracts out of the original grant, all on the Fairfax claim.
The confusion occasioned the old lord endless trouble, but
in the end he was obliged to accept the situation, because
the ” squatters”, as he regarded them, had conformed to the
laws required by the Virginia Council. He had to be satisfied
with the ” remnant” (a vast one) which was limited to the
Northern Neck. When Lord Fairfax came to live permanently
in Virginia, he became much attached to George Washington,
then a youth of sixteen, whom he frequently entertained
at his lodge and employed to survey the Northern Neck.
With its vast woodlands, its mineral resources, fertile soil,
fine climate, and majestic scenery, the Shenandoah Valley
was one of the most attractive and desirable sections in the “
New World”, extending from the Potomac to the southern
boundary of Roanoke County and lying between the Blue
Ridge and the Kittatinny (or North) Mountains. The lower
valley was embraced in one county until 1734, when Orange
was erected, including the territory west of the Ridge. By
act of the Colonial Assembly, November 1st, 1738, two counties
were formed from Orange, named Frederick and Augusta
for the Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta, parents of
George III. Frederick County embraced the country along the
Potomac and about seventy-five miles up the valley. Winchester,
in Frederick County, was at this time marked by
two log cabins. Here Court was established and a Justice of the Peace appointed five years later, in 1743. Winchester
became capital of the lower valley in 1752.
Hugh Paull, a native of Arbigland, Scotland, joined the
exodus to America with his family. There are good reasons
for accepting as fact, the tradition that he was a brother of
the John Paul who was the father of John Paul ” Jones”.
Three of the four sons of John Paul had names the same as those
of three of Hugh’s sons. The name of Hugh Paull’s family
was originally spelled with one /, as shown by the records of
Frederick County. In a copy of Hugh Paull’s will, which is
filed in Winchester, his name is spelled with two ls, which form
has been continued by the descendants of his son George, on
whose tombstone the name is spelled with two ls.
The ” Tomahawk” claim of one hundred ninety-eight acres
was marked at four corners by blazed trees; white oak, white
oak ” sapling”, ” three hicory saplings”, a ” double sycamore”,
in Frederick County, Virginia, in the Northern Neck. The
date of Hugh Paull’s emigration is not definitely known. He
could not have been among the earliest settlers, when boundless
acres awaited claimants. The time was probably between
1735 and 1740. To the small tract of one hundred ninety-
eight acres, other lands were added later. Crossing the Potomac
at Pack Horse Ford, a western course was followed by
pack horse for twenty-five miles, over ridges of the North
Mountain and numerous creeks, which, if the journey occurred
in time of a freshet, would be defiant mountain torrents.
In such a case, the company would have to encamp until the
water had receded, allowing passage over a rocky ford. Ridge
succeeded ridge, until the height reached commanded a magnificent
view, stretching off to the Blue Ridge, forty miles distant.
Could bonnie Scotland surpass it! With but meagre furnishings,
which included a rifle, a Psalter, and a Bible, a halt
was made in Back Creek Valley, five miles south of the Potomac
on a level, the ground sloping gently on three sides; on
the east, dipping to Back Creek. An attractive feature, a
deciding factor in making choice of a location, were twin springs at the base of the southern slope. Near the springs a two-
story log house was built, facing west. The room first entered
was of good size, with open fire-place and high mantel; a
room the same size was at the left. Behind the door leading out,
squeezed in as narrow space as possible, a flight of stairs led
to two rooms corresponding with those below. Forty-five
years ago a roughly built cabin with the crossed logs uncut
at the corners, was standing south of the house, quite near.
It may have been hastily put up for temporary use, as the
house, which is carefully and substantially built, would require
some time.
To get a start, clear and cultivate the land, living most
economically until the crops matured, required pluck and
heroism, qualifications which were not lacking.
Less than a quarter of a mile from the home, a heap of stones
now marks the site of a schoolhouse, which, for more than a
century, braved the tempests from without — and those within.
About fifty years ago, the owner of the land, void of sentiment,
tore it down. Those of Hugh Paull’s family who were of school
age, certainly received here their rudimentary education.
This section was included in the ” Indian Country”, and
the natives naturally resented the intrusion of the white settlers.
According to Mr. Cartmell’s “Shenandoah Valley
Pioneers” there were, at the time of the early settlements, nine
tribes claiming control of the large hunting ground : the Cataw-
bas, Cenelas, Pascataways, Cherokees; the Susquenoughs, a
large and friendly tribe driven from the Chesapeake to the upper
Potomac; the Tuscaroras, who had their villages in the north
of Frederick, now Berkeley, County; the Delawares, whose
villages were on the Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania;
the Shawnees, the most powerful and warlike of all, who claimed
the hunting ground between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghe-
nies, and greatly harassed the early settlers in the lower
valley. The nine tribes had different dialects, but a language
common to all, by which they could communicate with each
other. They continued their incursions into the valley regions
until 1740.

In one particular, at least, the early settlers profited by
a custom of the Indians. When the supply of breadstuffe
was exhausted and there was delay in the arrival of more, they
made meal in a mortar (often in a stone hollowed out, Indian
fashion) pounded with a pestle.
As soon as possible, primitive grist mills were built on the
mountain streams. In after years, well-equipped mills were
numerous, some of them becoming famous.
One of the most important and certainly one of the most
picturesque of the streams, is Back Creek, which has its source
in southwestern Frederick County, and flows along the western
base of North Mountain. Hemmed in on one side by walls
of rock, on the other by foot hills, it is often out of view for
miles at a stretch. In its tortuous course, it flows gently
where the incline is slight, forming merry waterfalls when a
leap must be made over rocks. It makes so many abrupt
turns, in many places turning back (thereby suggesting its
name, perhaps) as if undecided which way to go, that between
Winchester and the point where the Northwestern turnpike
crosses Back Creek, a distance of ten miles, the public
road, until within recent years, crossed and recrossed the
creek seventeen times. In the latter part of its course, it
flows north, turns due west at the old Snodgrass tavern, and
flows to the center of Hugh Paull’s farm; near his house it
turns ” back”, flows due east, then north to the Potomac,
forming the southern and eastern boundaries of a tract which
was acquired in 1760 by John, eldest son of Hugh Paull. The
pure, clear water of Back Creek and its rugged beauty, have
always attracted people seeking summer resorts.
The Indian name of the historic Potomac was Cohongoroota.
When the change was made, the name was variously spelled —
Pawtawmac, Potomoke, Pocomoke, etc. The name of the
Iroquois Chief, Gherundo, is not recognizable in the euphonious
Shenandoah, which resulted after various attempts to
change the name; Shendo, Sherando, Shennandow, etc.

The mountains and hills of the lower valley bore a wealth
of timber, trees of many varieties, and rich deposits beneath
the surface. The bark of the chestnut-oak furnished supplies
for many tanneries. Besides the deer, the bear, panther and
wolf roamed over the mountains, for whose capture liberal
premiums were given. From the sale of pelts hunters realized
a considerable revenue.
The first newspaper in Virginia was published in Williams-
burg in August, 1736, the Virginia Gazette, some copies of
which are still preserved. It was a small sheet, giving the
events in the Colony, items of foreign news, notices of the
arrival and departure of ships, advertisements of the Williams-
burg shopkeepers. Poetry was an attractive feature to some
people, much of it sentimental rhymes from lovers to their
sweethearts. To this luxury was added that of the “quick”
transmission of mail. The postal system which was first
agitated by the Burgesses in 1692, was fully established in
1738. Sir Alexander Spottswood, who had been Governor
of Virginia from 1710 until 1722, was now Postmaster General.
He ordered the post riders to be at the Susquehanna River
Saturday night, to receive mail from Philadelphia; thence
to ride to Annapolis and the Potomac River, rounding up the
week at Williamsburg Saturday night.
Five years after the erection of Frederick from Orange
County, in November, 1743, the first Court was held. Mr.
CartmeU’s history cites some interesting entries from the old
Court records.
The first will probated was that of Bryant McNamee, presented
by his widow, Elizabeth McNamee, executrix, November,
1743. In January, 1744, John Dooues paid the “Governor’s
fee”, and was permitted to ” trade as pedlar in this
Colony” the first to follow that vocation, which met a real
need. The peddler was accorded the welcome extended to
guests by the Colonists ; every one wanted to be present when he
arrived, quite as much to hear of the happenings he gathered
in his journey from place to place, as to see his goods. At
the same Court, January, 1744, license was granted for the
first tavern, called an “ordinary”, or house of entertainment.
William Hoge paid the Governor’s fee, and was required to “
provide lodging, food, and liquors, at prices fixed by court”.
The liquor was to be pure and regularly inspected. This “ordinary”
was located at the present village of Kernstown,
near the old Presbyterian Church, Opecquon (O-peck-on), which
claims rank among the first of the early churches.
The first Grand Jury was summoned in May, 1744, among
whom were Hugh ” Parell” (Hugh Paull?) and Joshua Hedges,
a neighbor of Hugh Paull. At the same court, among the
new Justices appointed were Solomon Hedges, Thomas Swear-
ingen, and Israel Robinson, neighbors, and men with whom
he had business dealings. A descendant of Israel Robinson,
of the same name, many years later owned Hugh Paull’s plantation. “
Coll. James Wood” was presented for getting drunk and
for swearing two oaths within six months. Jonathan Curtis
was presented for plowing on Sunday. A Presbyterian minister,
Rev. William Williams, was fined for ” joyning in the holy
bonds of matrimony, several persons, he being no ordained
minister”. The fine was four pounds; the minister resented
the injustice and the indignity and was fined twenty-six shillings
for ” behaving indecent before the Court”. The Church of
England recognized no ministers, as such, other than their
own.
Dire need of passageways through the country, occasioned
one of the first petitions to the new Court, presented by Thomas
Chester, John Wilcox, and Jacob Funk, for a road which became
famous during the Civil War — that from Strasburg to
Manassas. For a new road which was opened three years
later, Hugh Paull was appointed one of the overseers.
Court held Thursday, June 2nd, 1747. “
On petition of John Berwick, it is Ordered that Thomas
Swearingen, Wm. Mitchell and Robert Davis, or any two of

them, View, Mark, and lay off a road, at the meeting house
at the gap of the Mountain to Hugh Paull ‘s from thence to
Thomas Cherry’s, by Daniel Ross’es, up the bottom to Thomas
Berwick’s to the Warm Springs, and that the Tithables within
six miles on each side of the said road clear and work the same.
And Hugh Paull is hereby appointed over see’r from the
said meeting house to Sleepy Creek; and James Boyles from
Sleepy Creek to said Springs. And it is further ordered that
the said Hugh Paull and James Boyl cause said road to be
cleared, and when cleared, that they cause the said road to
be kept in good repair according to law.
Morgan Morgan
David Vance

At the “gap of the Mountain”, Hedgesville is located. The “
meeting house”, built at an early date, was abandoned in
1800 for the present church, a substantial, red brick structure,
good for another century, belonging to the Episcopalians.
The Warm Spring road (” Warm Spring” is now Berkeley
Springs) is a fine one, in some sections very beautiful in its
frequent turns, rocky banks on either side with moss and
over-hanging vines or dense shrubbery. If the telephone p oles
were less frequent, one’s imagination might see in them the
old-time guideposts. On Back Creek, one mile from the
beginning of the road and two miles from Hugh Paull’s, was
built about this time by one of the Snodgrass family, an “
ordinary”, said to have been among the first west of the
Blue Ridge. Many guests, distinguished and otherwise, were
entertained here. General Washington, traveling in his coach,
made frequent stops on his way to and from Washington.
In ” Washington’s room” at the tavern, there were spikes in
the great log joists, perhaps for holding herbs or strings of
drying apples. By and by, when spikes were at a premium
in this locality, every spike disappeared, leaving the tale be-hind them. Sometimes unwelcome guests came. The youngest
granddaughter of the tavern-keeper lived to an advanced
age. People now living recall her account of a thrilling experience
in her grandfather’s family. In the absence of the
father, a party of Indians settled down in front of the house on
the creek b’ke a flock of crows. The mother quickly dropped
the children into the cellar through a trapdoor, then followed,
locking the door and none too soon. The Indians, intoxicated,
entered the kitchen and a bloody fight followed. They had all
risen and flown when the father returned. The sight of the
blood paralyzed him, but when the mother heard the familiar
tread overhead, she assured him that all were safe.
At this old tavern a fine iron bridge spans Back Creek, from
which is displayed a choice picture when the stream is normal;
where the wooded hillside and sky are charmingly reflected;
where a tiny island, hugging its own bit of verdure, divides
the stream, the water rippling playfully around it.
The Warm Spring road passes through the Paull lands, a
short distance south of Hugh Paull’s house.
Before improved roadways were thought of, churches and
schoolhouses were built. The tramontane settlers were chiefly
Presbyterians. The first Presbytery n America was constituted
in Philadelphia in 1705 or 1706. In 1716 its growth
demanded a division; New Castle, Long Island, and Snow Hill
in Maryland, were formed. At the same time a Synod was
formed, the Synod of Philadelphia. Four years later, in 1720,
there were twenty-seven ministers in the four Presbyteries.
This year, Rev. Daniel McGill, according to appointment
by Presbytery, “put the people into church order” at ” Poto-
moke”, near Shepherdstown. Dr. Graham, in his ” History
of Presbyterianism in the Northern Neck”, ranks this as first
among the pioneer churches. Altogether, the number built
by the early settlers in the lower valley shows increase in
population and advancement in prosperity and religious zeal.
All were embraced in Donegal Presbytery, which was formed
from New Castle in 1732. The Church of England dominated

eastern Virginia, where followers of other creeds were subjected
to persecution. West of the Ridge, however, it was
barely tolerated. In 1738, the Synod met in Philadelphia.
John Caldwell (great-grandfather of John Caldwell Calhoun)
brought a request from Donegal Presbytery that a petition
might be sent to Governor Gooch, asking for the Presbyterians
of the valley, ” the free enjoyment of civil and religious liberty”.
Rev. Mr. Anderson bore the petition to Governor
Gooch, who received it kindly and acted accordingly.
Some of these old churches were ” Potomoke”, (now Elk
Branch); Opecquon, near Winchester; Bullskin, near Summit
Point, Jefferson County; Tuscarora, at Martinsburg;
Falling Waters, and Back Creek, which is now Tomahawk;
all housing worshippers of the original faith.
Falling Waters, originally located at the village of Falling
Waters, is of early date, not later than 1740. Settlers were
naturally attracted to this beautiful section of country, with
its fertile soil, and there was soon a ” numerous society” of
church people. They were constant in their requests to Presbytery
for ” supplies”, begging for a minister to ” reside among
them and catechise”; a “laborer for some time to come”,
not for a Sabbath or two only.
Rev. Andrew Hunter, belonging to the community, together
with Rev. Philip Fithian, were sent by the Synod to visit
some of the frontier churches. Sabbath, May 21st, 1775,
they preached at ” Falling Waters meeting house”. Mr.
Fithian wrote in his journal, ” I am told this is a numerous
society. The people gave good attention, and sang the Scotch,
or as they called them, David’s Psalms. The congregation
is chiefly made up of Irish and half Scotch, most of them Presbyterians.
We dined at one Bowland’s. Two wagons fully
loaded went past, going with families to back settlements”.
Some years later, the Falling Waters congregation removed
their place of worship three miles farther west. In 1834, a
third church, the present one, on Mill Creek was built, six
miles west of the first one.

Tomahawk Church (Back Creek) is of equally ancient
origin, seven miles south west of Falling Waters, and always
associated with it in a pastoral charge. There are no records
of the beginning of these churches. The people, concerned
with the work of their day, took no thought for the morrow;
allowing the morrow to take thought for the things of itself.
The log building served its purpose for a century or more,
when the present attractive and substantial stone church took
its place in 1825. It is beautifully located on a hill, facing
west, towards mountain ridges where a gap shows a more distant
ridge. Below is a cluster of houses, called Tomahawk
Springs; a stream of water coursing through fields where
cattle graze. On the slope rising from the pasture fields and
behind the village towards the mountain, are several fine apple
orchards, which contribute their yield to the large export
from Virginia.
Tomahawk Church is pleased to claim the young minister
who is stationed at the first old church, Elk Branch, Rev.
John Calvin Siler, who was brought up here and whose family
burying ground is under the tree behind the church. With
the name he bears, he could not do otherwise than ” preach
the Gospel”.
It is reasonably certain that on this hill of Zion, in the old
log church, the family of Hugh Paull had their church home;
it is equally certain that, if not on the home farm, in the sacred
enclosure which surrounds the church on three sides, he was
laid to rest in the spring of 1749. ” My wife” (the only name
by which she is known to posterity, partner in the home-
making, in overcoming hardships, in the successful bringing
up of six children — “my wife” ) was laid by his side probably
in 1768, the year the home farm was sold. All of the early
settlers of this region were buried at Tomahawk, which was
less than three miles from Hugh Paull’s, on the same side of
the creek. Falling Waters, at this time twelve miles distant,
Back Creek intervening, could not have been the constant
place of worship, although no doubt often attended. Amongthe quaint epitaphs in Tomahawk graveyard is the following: “
Friend and stranger, as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I ;
As I am now, so you will be — .
Prepare for death, and follow me”.
As soon as Presbyteries were formed, church records were
kept; but unfortunately, the records of Donegal, covering
many years, were lost; consequently, nothing is known of the
expansion of the work, nor the names of the supplies. In
April, 1760, ” Mr. Hoge is ordered to supply Back Creek”,
and his ministrations continued for some time. Rev. John
Hoge had the distinction of having been the first settled pastor
in the lower valley and the first to reside among his people.
He was born in South Amboy, New Jersey, and graduated
from Nassau Hall in 1749. The Presbytery of New Castle
tried to dissuade him from entering the ministry, ” lest his
genius should not be fit for the ministry”. But he persevered
in his purpose and rendered a noble service of long continuance
in Frederick County. He died February llth, 1807, “
highly esteemed as a minister, and had an unquestioned
character for piety”. Hugh Paull’s wife and family were
under the ministry of Mr. Hoge and subsequent supplies for
eight years. How many remained after that time is not known.
His son George left the community two years before the coming
of the first settled minister, Rev. Hugh Vance, October, 1770.
He continued with Back Creek and Tuscarora (not, in this
instance, Falling Waters) for twenty years. Mr. Fithian
visited him in May, 1775. His Journal states that he ” lived
at the foot of North Mountain, partakes, I believe, of the
Virginia spirit [with reference to the Revolution] and hands
round the sociable bowl”. One month later he wrote, “Sunday,
June 18th, 1775. Over the North Mountain I rode to
Mr. Vance’s meeting house at Back Creek. The Sacrament
was administered to ninety-three communicants; vast as-sembly”. Mr. Vance was greatly beloved, always ready to
give needed assistance. He died in December, 1791, aged 59,
and was buried in Tuscarora graveyard. The congregation
was furnished with supplies until 1794, when Rev. John Boyd
was settled over Falling Waters and Tomahawk. Since
Mr. Boyd, there have been twelve pastors, including the present
one, Rev. Richard Venable Lancaster, from Ashland, Virginia,
a young man of marked promise and devotion, called to these
churches, his first charge, in 1913.
Falling Waters is charmingly picturesque, a large stone
church in the midst of veteran trees, the church yard, with
its rows of grassy mounds, in front and to the right of the
church. On entering, one faces the congregation. The pulpit
is at the front, a door on each side opening to an aisle; a
flight of stairs behind each door, leads to the gallery which
extends around three sides of the church. The congregation,
with a membership of two hundred seventy-five, live in Mar-
tinsburg, Hedgesville, Cherry Grove, and North Mountain.
Tomahawk Parish is eight miles in extent, the congregation
all country people. The membership is ninety-five (including
twenty-four non-residents), the average congregation numbering
sixty or seventy.
Philip Vickers Fithian, son of Joseph and Hannah Vickers
Fithian was born December 29th, 1747, in Greenwich, New
Jersey. He was graduated from Princeton in 1772, when
Henry Lee, Aaron Burr, and James Madison were students
there. The following year he was tutor in the family of Colonel
Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, Virginia. Partaking of the
spirit rife at this time, he, together with his cousin, Joel Fithian,
and his classmate, Andrew Hunter, joined thirty or more
other young men, all disguised as Indians, and burned a cargo
of tea stored in Greenwich, on Cohansey Creek, in November,
1774. The following month Philadelphia Presbytery licensed
him to preach. Andrew Hunter was licensed about the same
time, and the two were commissioned by Synod to visit the frontier churches in the lower Shenandoah and Pennsylvania;
the tour was made in 1775-76.
When in Winchester, June 6th, 1776, Mr. Fithian writes
in his Journal as follows: ” Mars, the great God of Battle, is
now honored in every part of this spacious colony, but here,
every presence is warlike — every sound is martial — drums
beating, pipes and bagpipes playing, and only sonorous and
vesic music. Every man has a hunting shirt, which is the
uniform of each company. Almost all have a cockade and
buck tail in their hats to represent that they are hardy, resolute
and invincible natives of the woods of America. The County
Committee sat. Among other resolves they passed this resolute
and trying determination : ‘That every member of this
county between the ages of sixteen and sixty, shall appear every
month at least, in the field, under arms, and it is recommended
to all to muster weekly for their improvement*
June 8th. To-day, for the first time, I went through the ‘new
exercise’, gave the word, and performed the action. One
shipe of this town was backward this morning in his attendance
with the company of Independents. A file was sent to bring
him. He made resistance, but was compelled, at length,
and is now in great fear and very humble, since he heard many
of his townsmen talk of tar and feathers”.
The war spirit was contagious and the two young ministers
enlisted as chaplains, in July, 1776, in Heard’s brigade, New
Jersey Militia. Fithian was with Washington at Long Island
and Harlem Heights. He was attacked with a camp epidemic,
dysentery, brought on by exposure, and died October 8th,
1776. He was unusually gifted and gave promise of great
usefulness. His buoyant life still throbs in the pages of his
famous Journal. He had married, in October, 1775, Elizabeth,
daughter of Rev. Charles Beatty; she afterwards married his
cousin, Joel Fithian.
Rev. Andrew Hunter, a native of Berkeley County, lived
near Martinsburg. In June, 1776, while on his missionary
tour with Mr. Fithian, the Presbytery appointed him a “supply”at Falling Waters, near his home, for the month. He was a
trustee of Princeton for many years. The latter years of his
life were spent in Washington, where he had removed with
his family. There he was chaplain at the navy yard, and
died at an advanced age.
Hedgesville, founded by Hezekiah Hedges in 1830, is a
quiet village of several hundred inhabitants, one mile south
of a railroad station at North Mountain. There are two or
three stores, four churches (Episcopal, Northern and Southern
Methodist, and Presbyterian) and an attractive brick school
building, finely equipped with able teachers and having a
first-class course of study. The one hotel is a large one with
an inspiring outlook, whose city boarders furnish animation
and gaiety during the summer. Every one knows when a
newcomer arrives. Colored people are much in evidence,
the old uncles and aunties beaming and respectful, as if recognizing
in the stranger, a resemblance to their long-lost folks, “
laws a massy”. A delightful cordiality and friendliness
characterize the people, making droppers-in feel at home.
Telephone bells ring, rural mail-carriers come and go, automobiles
dash through over well-kept roads — and this is the
mountain gap where, one hundred seventy years ago or more,
settlers were attracted by a clear mountain spring of great
depth, now the pride of the village. Then, only a pack-
horse trail led beyond; wolves howled at night and dangers
threatened with each recurring to-morrow.
At this hamlet, Hugh Paull’s force commenced hewing and
blasting for the new road. A year of hard labor probably
brought the work to Sleepy Creek, where Hugh Paull’s division
ended and he was relieved as overseer by James Boyle. At
that time, the ” tithables” revolted, some living six miles
from the work and perhaps receiving insufficient pay. But
the grievance was adjusted satisfactorily and the road was
completed.
Recorded incidents in the life of Hugh Paull are very few.
The only cited instance of public service is that of overseer ofthe new road. This was certainly his last public work, whatever
may have preceded it. Ill health or advancing age, led
him to settle his affairs November 2nd, 1748. With satisfaction
and gratitude, he must have looked down the meadow
beyond Back Creek to the serene, beautiful North Mountain,
where the day dawns, and over his cultivated, well-stocked
plantation. There was order in the Province under John
Robinson, Deputy Governor. There was comfortable provision
for his family. The season for rest had come, and it
was a good time to make preparation for the long-talked-of
journey to the Country, of all most famed. “
I’ll ne’er be fu’ content, until my een do see
Inside the gate that opens to the fair Countree
But the King bids me wait, and ready aye to be,
To gang at ony moment to His ain Countree”! “
I bequeath my soul into the Hand of Almighty God, my
Maker, hoping that through the meritorious death and passion
of Jesus Christ, my only Saviour and Redeemer, to receive
free pardon for my sins, and as for my body, to be buried in
Christain burial at the discretion of my children”.
Property was bequeathed to his wife and six children; five
sons, John, Robert, Andrew, William, George, and one daughter, “
Cathan”, or Catherine. To George, a boy of fifteen, was
left the home plantation and the ” colt that now follows the
gray mare”. Doubtless the immediate possession of the companionable
colt gave greater pleasure than anticipated ownership
of a farm. ” My wife is to have her maintenance out
of the place as long as she lives”.
But little is known of the family. Excepting George, the
sons had all reached their majority. John and Robert were
landowners and probably married. When the father’s will
was admitted to probate, the oaths of his two sons, Andrew
and William, proved that they were not minors. In 1747,
Robert bought two hundred twenty acres of land “at thehead of Tulley’s Branch”, from Joshua Hedges, for twenty-
seven pounds. This is two miles east of Hedgesville, now
a valuable tract, ” Rosemary” apple orchard. Robert was
a member of Captain Thomas Swearingen’s company in 1758,
in the French and Indian War. He was court-martialed for
failure to answer to roll call. He died in 1770, when an inventory
and appraisement of his property was made. In
1751, Andrew bought two hundred twenty acres ” up Tus-
carora Creek” from Benjamin Beeson for one hundred pounds.
Six years later, when he sold the same tract (for the same
amount) to David and John Snodgrass, one of the witnesses
was David Crockett. In 1770, William Paull and his wife
were litigants in court.
After the death of Hugh Paull, the homestead remained in
the family for nineteen years, when it was sold to Edward
Magner; being on the Fairfax grant (a claim by ” Tomahawk”
right) it was surveyed and a patent was obtained from Lord
Fairfax in May, 1769. The successive owners of Hugh Paull’s
plantation have been : John Frank, Samuel Winning, Philip
Siler, Israel Robinson, Henry Metz, and James Johnston —
whose son, Conrad Johnston now owns the farm and occupies
the old log house, which has an addition of several rooms on
the north, all weatherboarded, well-kept, and comfortable.
Of Hugh Paull’s daughter, Catherine, nothing is known.
John Paull married Elizabeth , Robert Paull married ,
Andrew Paull married Ann , William Paull married Sarah
Jack, George Paull married Martha Irwin.
There may be Hugh Paulls among the descendants of John,
Robert, Andrew, and William. George’s only son received
the name of his maternal grandfather, James Irwin, and in this
way the name Hugh was lost to this branch of the family;
in the succeeding generations boys oftentimes were given their
grandfather’s name. After the lapse of one hundred sixty-
four years, a grandson of the seventh generation bears the
honored name of the founder of a large, respected American
family, Hugh Paull.

————————————–

GEORGE PAULL
1734— March 31, 1778
George, youngest son of Hugh Paull, probably born in Scotland,
was quite young when the family emigrated to America.
Nothing is known of his childhood, but he shared the common
lot of the settler’s boy, often bearing responsibilities beyond
his years, but having abundant opportunities to gratify a
boy’s love for fun and adventure. He knew where to go with
his fishing rod; where the best “swimming pools” were;
Back Creek, with its offers of endless diversion, was the most
alluring place on the farm. It is safe to assume that each morning
in school term, George ran down the slope past the springs,
along the little stream below the road to the schoolhouse near
by, on the Warm Spring road, where he ” toed the mark”
with the class in reading, spilled pokeberry ink over the copy “
set” for his ” ‘riting” and puzzled his brains over the “sums
in ‘rithmetic”. There were the Snodgrass boys, the Lyles, the
Hedges, the Robinsons, the Porterfields, robust, boisterous,
mountain boys, who managed somehow to profit by their “
schooling”, while giving much time and thought to mischief. (+
1) When these boys reached the last day of school, theyWhen these boys reached the last day of school, they were
confronted with grave conditions and pranks were given up.
Manfully and resolutely they met the duties involved and
became true patriots, makers of history.
After the death of George Paull’s father when the boy
was fifteen, there is no positive record for nine years, until
1768, although tradition asserts that at the age of twenty,
he joined the Virginia volunteers (in supporting General Brad-
dock in his expedition against the French and Indians) in 1754.
The British Government urged the American Colonies to
adopt measures for mutual protection and to be ready for service
when British troops under British generals should arrive.
General Edward Braddock, a Scotchman, Commander-in-
chief of the English forces, arrived at Alexandria in February,
1755, with one thousand royal troops under Colonel Peter
Halkett and Colonel Thomas Dunbar. Virginia had ready
eight hundred volunteers. They were divided into eight
companies, officered by experienced Indian fighters: Captains
Stephen, Lewis, Wagener, Poulson, Stewart, Hogg, Peyron-
ney and Mercer. The volunteers were familiar with Indian
tactics, through encounters with the savages in defence of
their homes.
The division under General Braddock moved towards the
French at Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh), Christopher Gist
and his son, Nathaniel, acting as guides, Dr. James Craik, as
a surgeon. Colonel George Croghan, Indian agent for the
large Aughwick tract, was with the division. Tradition
farther states that George Paull was in this expedition, one
of the few survivors of the battle of the Monongahela,
which took place within ten miles of Fort Duquesne, July
9th, 1755, when awful defeat and death overtook General
Braddock. Of the doleful event, young Washington wrote
to Governor Dinwiddie, ” Our poor Virginians behaved like
men and died like soldiers. Out of the three Companies there
that day, I believe scarcely more than thirty were left alive”.
There is no authentic list of the noble Eight Hundred. InFrederick County records are preserved the names of some
of them who received land bounty from the Virginia Government
for their services.
George Paull was back home again in 1758, when George
Washington was a candidate for the House of Burgesses.
Among Washington’s papers in the State Department, in his
own writing, is ” An Alphabetical Poll for Frederick County,
Taken the 24th Day of May, 1758″. In the column for “
Colo. Washington” are “Doc Jas. Craik” and “George
Paul”.
At this stage in the career of the young Virginian, occurred
his courtship and marriage. A staunch, womanly, rosy-
cheeked Irish girl on the other side of the Potomac, attracted
him. Clothed in homespun, he shouldered his trusted rifle,
crossed the river from Shenandoah into the Cumberland
Valley, and wended his way to the home of James Irwin, the
pioneer of the Conococheague settlement (Mercersburg).
His visits were not frequent, nor were they announced beforehand;
but Martha Irwin welcomed him heartily. One day
the rifle was placed on the antlers over the door, and Cupid’s
weapon was brought into play. ” Enticing words” were
superfluous; the personality of the tall, manly, frontiersman,
appealed mightily to the self-contained maiden, and she was
quite willing to say, ” I will go”.
By and by, over the same route, the huntsman returned
for the important event, some time in 1758, or ’59. The
name of the Officiating clergyman is not known. Until the
time of the first settled minister at the Presbyterian meetinghouse,
in 1769, the people were dependent on ” supplies” for
performing wedding ceremonies, and conducting funerals, as
well as for preaching service. The bride did not wear a veil
caught with orange blossoms, nor did she carry a shower bouquet;
but, without question, she wore the best available homemade
gown and she carried with her the highest esteem of
her brave soldier lover, who had risked his life in behalf of
the Colonies, and now placed himself between her and possiblehundred ninety acres, on which he built a log house like his
father’s. It is on the Warm Spring road, on an elevation,
facing east and commanding a beautiful view of North Mountain,
wide in extent, reaching beyond, on the north, to Fair-
view Mountain, Maryland. The old schoolhouse was almost
within stone’s throw. In marking off his claim, the beginning
was made at a white oak by the schoolhouse and marked with
his initials, G. P. The tree, like the schoolhouse, was obliged
to yield to the destroyer — their room was more desirable than
their presence. The deed of the property reads as follows:
PATENT “
Right Honorable Lord Thomas Fairfax, Baron of Cameron,
in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, Proprietor of the
Northern Neck of Virginia. To all To whom this present
writing shall come Greeting Know ye that for good causes and
in consideration of the Composition to me paid and for the
annual Rent hereinafter reserved, I have given granted and
confirmed, and for these Presents for me my heirs and assigns
do give grant and confirm unto George Paul of Frederick
County, a certain tract of waste and ungranted land near Back
Creek in the said County, and bounded as by a survey thereof
made by John Mauzy. “
Beginning at a white oak on a hill marked G. P. standing
on the east side of Berwick’s Road about a quarter of a mile
from said creek. Thence 7 Et 102 poles to a forked black oak
on a hill side on the south side of the Waggon Branch thence
S 83 W 79 poles to a white oak sapling in Francis McGinnis’s
line, thence along it N 65 W 16 poles to a white oak being the
said McGinnis’s beginning, thence N Wt 140 poles to a double
chestnut oak on a great hill, thence N 103 poles to a chestnut
oak on the said hill among a parcel of stones, thence E 142
poles to a white oak in the said Paul’s former line, and S 21
E 106 poles to the beginning, containing 190 acres — together
with all Rights, Members, and appurtenances there unto be-longing Royal Mines excepted, and a full third part of all Lead
Copper Tin Coals Iron, Mine and Iron Ore that shall be found
thereon. “
To have and to hold the said 190 acres of land together with
all rights profits and benefits to the same belonging or in any
wise appertaining except before excepted — To him the said
George Paul his heirs and assigns forever. He the said George
Paul his heirs and assigns therefore YIELDING and PAYING
to me my heirs or assigns, or to my Attorney or Attorneys,
Agent or Agents, or to the certain Attorney or Attorneys of
my Heirs or Assigns Proprietors of the said Northern Neck,
Yearly and Every year on the feast day of St. Michael the
Archangel, the fee rent of One Shilling Sterling Money for
every fifty acres of land hereby granted and so proportionably
for a greater or lesser quantity. “
Provided that if the said George Paul his heirs or assigns
shall not pay the said reserved annual rent as aforesaid so that
the same or any part thereof shall be behind and unpaid by
the space of two whole years after the same shall become due,
if legally demanded That then it shall and may be lawful for
me my heirs and assigns Proprietors as aforesaid my or their
certain Attorney or Attorneys agent or agents into the above
granted premises to re-enter and hold the same as if this grant
had never passed. “
Given at my office in the County of Frederick under my
hand and seal. Dated the 9th day of October A D 1766.
FAIRFAX”.
Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax, visited his royal grant in Virginia
in 1736, but returned to England soon afterwards, agents
looking after his interests. In 1748, a circumstance brought
him to live permanently in America. He was a man of culture,
fond of gay life, and the society of fashionable ladies. All
went well until his heart became entangled. Disappointment
in’a love affair led him, at the age of 55, to seek the quiet andseclusion of the Shenandoah Valley, where he built a roomy
lodge with wide piazzas, which he named ” Greenway Court ‘
Here he spent the remainder of his life, with his servants, his
books, and his hounds, royally entertaining guests who were
fond of the chase. The charming country attracted English
farmers, who came with their families and servants and settled
around the lodge, which was near the present village of Millwood.
Lord Fairfax died at Greenway Court in 1782, at the
age of 92, and his body was taken in great pomp to Winchester
for burial; the hearse was brought from Alexandria; the
cortege was composed of relatives, friends, and neighbors,
from many settlements.
In 1763, the Penns and Lord Baltimore brought over from
London two astronomers, Jeremiah Mason and Charles Dixon.
They surveyed and established the celebrated ” Mason and
Dixon Line”, between Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.
Following this, many families from Virginia and some from
Maryland, in 1765, crossed over the AUeghenies into Pennsylvania
and took up land as squatters, bringing their slaves
and their Virginian manners with them. The land, belonging
to the Iroquois Indians, was bought by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. The purchase embraced the territory west
of the Susquehanna River.
The general tendency to migrate influenced George Paull,
and after a residence of but two years in his new house, he sold
the farm November 21st, 1768, and removed to Pennsylvania.
He also sold the home farm to the same purchaser, Edward
Magner, of Hampton, York County, Pennsylvania, who obtained
a patent from Lord Fairfax for the same the following
May. The sale of the original claim fixes approximately the
date of the mother’s death; while she lived, she was to have
her ” maintenance from the farm”. In 1780, Edward Magner
sold the farm to John Frank, who sold it in 1794, to Samuel
Winning, in whose family it remains. John Murphy, a grandson
of Samuel Winning, owns part of the farm and lives in the
old log house. The breaking away from the old home and the community was permanent. No one of George Paull’s
family returned to remain, and none of his descendants have
since lived there.
The journey across the mountain was made by pack-horse —
over the Warm Spring road to Hedgesville, from there to the
Braddock road, which extended from Winchester through
Cumberland to Fort Duquesne. If it occurred immediately
after the sale of the farms, the family preceded the tide by
several months.
In 1769, the land purchased from the Indians was thrown
open to settlers and Alexander McLean opened a land office
for the claim-seekers who rushed in.
The pack train from Back Creek valley, after a tedious journey,
came to a stop when a tract of land was reached in the
Redstone settlement, in Cumberland County, near the base
of Laurel Hill mountain and within two miles of the Yough-
iogheny River. The pack was unloaded on the “survey” which
has remained in the Paull name. The family, consisting of the
parents and two or three children, may have been cared for,
temporarily, at the famous ” Crawford plantation”, near by,
a stopping place for newcomers to the neighborhood. If
slaves were a part of the ” moving”, the log cabin would be
speedily constructed. The first settler, in the community
was Wendell Brown, in 1752; Christopher Gist, a Virginian,
was second, the following year, bringing a colony of eleven
families. He was surveyor for the Ohio Company, which was
formed in 1748. A well-informed and reliable guide, his services
were much in demand by leaders of various expeditions
in the Colonial Wars. The Gist ” Plantation” was headquarters
for the young Virginian, George Washington, when
he mounted the first round of the ladder which led him to
fame. His success was materially aided by the able assistance
of Christopher Gist.
The recent influx to this section had increased the population
to about seven hundred; one hundred fifty families. The
number of slaves owned by each ranged from one to eighteen.

Among the neighbors of George Paull were Joseph Work,
John McClelland, Daniel Cannon, Aaron Torrence, William
Carson, Elisha Pierce and Archie Armstrong. In 1770, more
acquaintances arrived; Isaac, Samuel, and John Meason,
John Neville, Lawrence Harrison, and others, strengthening
the Virginia fraternity.
Cabin-building went on apace, neighbors assisting each
other, with jollifications over the logrolling.
In 1772, the Presbyterians in the settlement built their
first house of worship, Laurel Hill Church. An event occurring
in the Paull cabin, to be noted, was the birth of the fourth
child and the third daughter in 1772. She was named Jean (
or Jane) for her grandmother Irwin.
The early settlers in Fayette, lived in four counties without
a change of base. When the Colonial Government was established
in 1682, there were but three counties in Pennsylvania —
Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester. In 1729, from
Chester, Lancaster was formed; in 1750, from Lancaster,
Cumberland; in 1771, from Cumberland, Bedford; in 1773,
from Bedford, Westmoreland. The erection of Fayette from
Westmoreland did not take place until 1783.
Fort Pitt was a place of importance as early as 1758, when
settlers, chiefly Indian traders, were gathered around it, numbering
in 1760, one hundred forty men, women and children.
In 1764, lots were laid out on streets, in the immediate vicinity
of the fort, occupying four squares; this was reserved by the
Penns, when surveyed in 1769. The following year, the village
had twenty houses.
In the spring of 1773, John Sherrard, lately arrived from
Ireland, crossed the mountain on foot and entering the valley
at the base of Laurel Hill, became a member of George Paull’s
household. His son, Robert Andrew Sherrard, with the bent
of an historian, and endowed with a remarkably retentive
memory, carefully recorded the events of early days told him
by his father. The old manuscripts have furnished manyinteresting incidents for local historians. John Sherrard
bought his farm from Martha Paull’s brother, Archibald Irwin.
One evening Martha Paull, sitting with the children by the
pine fire glowing on the hearth, had an opportunity to put to
the test the courage characteristic of the pioneer women.
Hearing a continuous squealing among the pigs, she hastily
snatched a torch from the fire and ran towards the sty in time
to see a bear making off with a shoat. She fearlessly brandished
the blazing stick in his face till he dropped the pig and
ran for his life.
The county seat of Westmoreland was Hannastown; the
first Court was held April 6th, 1773. John Penn was governor,
Richard Penn lieutenant governor of the Province. Arthur
St. Clair was prothonotary of the first Court and continued
to fill the office until he resigned for war service in 1775. The
Battle of Lexington, April 19th, 1775, fanned the growing discontent
and two meetings of the citizens of western Pennsylvania
were held in May following, one at Pittsburgh, one at
Hannastown. The meeting was “held at Hanna’s Town the
16th day of May, 1775″. Resolutions were adopted declaring “
unshaken loyality and fidelity to His Majesty, King George
Third, whom we acknowledge to be our lawful and rightful
King, and who we wish may long be the beloved Sovereign
of a free and happy people, throughout the whole British
Empire; we do declare to the world that we do not mean by
this Association to deviate from that loyalty which we hold
it our bounden duty to observe; but animated with the love
of liberty, it is no less our duty to maintain and defend our
just rights (which, with sorrow we have seen, of late, wantonly
violated in many instances by a wicked Ministry, and a corrupted
Parliament) and transmit them entire to our posterity,
for which purpose we do agree and associate ourselves
together”: to form regiments, choose officers, practice ” manual
exercise and such evolutions as may be necessary to enable
us to act in a body in concert”. If the country should be invaded
by a foreign enemy or troops should be sent by Great Britain, they pledged themselves to submit to military discipline
and oppose them, and to coincide with any plan for the
defence of ” America in general or Pennsylvania in particular”.
When Parliament should repeal the “obnoxious Statutes” and
recede from the claim to ” tax us and make laws for us in every
instance, or when some general plan of union and reconciliation
has been formed and accepted by America”, the association
would be dissolved; ” but until then it shall remain in full
force, and to the observance of it we bind ourselves by everything
dear and sacred amongst men. No licensed murder!
No famine introduced by law!”
May 25th, 1775, following the meeting of the citizens, Arthur
St. Clair wrote to Governor Penn that musters and committees
were being held all over the country and everything was running
into wildest confusion. ” If some conciliatory plan is
not adopted by Congress, America has seen her golden days;
they may return, but they will be preceded by scenes of horror”.
Major General Arthur St. Clair, a highly-educated Scotchman
of patrician birth, was the most illustrious citizen ever
connected with Ligonier Valley ; he lived near Ligonier, Westmoreland
County. As soldier, statesman, and man of letters,
he wielded an influence beyond computation. He had few
peers in the whole Colonial service. He was one of the few
to whom Paul Jones sent one of his own busts from Paris. A
descendant of General St. Clair, Elizabeth Lawrence Sheets
married Archibald Irwin Harrison (brother of President Benjamin
Harrison), a descendant of Martha Paull’s brother,
Archibald Irwin.
Meetings like the Hannastown convention were held in
other Colonies and similar resolutions were adopted ; but none
were of the lofty tone that characterized those of the Hannastown
meeting. The papers relating to this event were hidden
for a century, then brought to light and published. The
original manuscripts, supposed to have served their purpose, •
were not cared for, and were finally lost. Of the men who
joined the Association and who affixed their names to theoutspoken resolutions, only the name of Arthur St. Clair is
preserved. It is believed that the list of names was concealed,
to keep it from English possession, and in the end was destroyed.
It is more than probable that George Paull, enlisted
for service, and alive to the welfare of the Colonies, was a
participant in the notable event.
When Berkeley County, Virginia, was taken from Frederick,
in 1772, the sessions of the first Court were held in the house
of Edward Beeson, in Martinsburg, a small village eight miles
east of Hedgesville. At this session (May 19), twenty Justices
of the Peace were appointed and duly sworn ; among the number
Thomas Swearingen, John Neville and Hugh Lyle — one of the
witnesses to Hugh Paull’s will. In 1776, Jacob Beeson and
his brother Henry, Quakers, came to the Redstone settlement
over the Braddock road by pack-horse from Martinsburg,
which then boasted thirty houses. Henry Beeson, described
as a ” modest man with good sense, benevolent and liberal”,
laid out Uniontown in 1778, planning it for the county seat.
Alexander McLean surveyed it, providing a lot for county
buildings. It was Beeson’s Mill, and Beeson’s Town before
it became the county seat of Fayette, under another name,
Uniontown. Isaac Beeson, son of Jacob 2nd, and a grandson
of Henry “the Founder”, bought the “Gist plantation” (Mount
Braddock, the former home of Colonel Isaac Meason) in 1856.
It remained in the Beeson family for many years, but being
underlaid with a wealth of coal, a large part was eventually
acquired by the Rainey and Frick Coke Company.
A record of George Paull’s military service is not available.
After his connection with Fort Burd, in 1759, and for some time
following, we have no data. Through the pen of Robert A.
Sherrard, an account is given of his closing service.
He was commissioned by the Federal Government paymaster
for the scouts and spies who were assisting in guarding
against Indian attacks. In the spring of 1778, he went to
Fort Pitt to draw money from the Government agent stationed
there and was exposed to smallpox, which cost him his life. When the disease had developed, he realized the seriousness
of his condition, “having a Disorder that God calls many
off by”, and dictated his will March 24th, one week before
his death. The spelling and lavish use of capitals are interesting;
the sick man was not responsible for these crudities
and certainly did not see them but perhaps he would not
have done much better himself.
To ” my Beloved wife and consort, I Do Leve the one-third
of all my Whole Estate Both Real and parsonel, and to my
Loving Son James Paull I leave the Whole plantation of two
Surveys”. From the farm stock to be sold, were reserved “
four Miltch Cows and three hors cretors and three young
Meares, one to my Loving Daughter Mary, one to Elizabeth,
and one to my youngest Daughter Jane to have Each of these
one as their own property.” ” Dublin the negro man” was
to be sold. ” I do allow Cornall [Colonel] Edward Coot &
Alexander McClean to be the Executors of this my Last will
and testament”. Too ill to write, the signature is “
George Paull, his mark”.
He died March 31st, 1778. An entry in the Sherrard Memoranda
is most welcome at this point. John Sherrard, then
an enlisted soldier in the Revolution, was returning from
Lancaster County, April 1st, when he met a funeral procession;
upon inquiry he learned that it was his ” old friend George
Paull” who was being borne to Laurel Hill cemetery. He
turned about and joined the procession. Rev. James Power
was then pastor at Laurel Hill church. Martha Paull lived
until 1802.
The two grave-stones are alike ; the inscriptions are wholly
distinct : “
In Memory of George Paull, who departed this life on the
31st day of March, 1778, in the 44th year of his age.” “
In Memory of Martha Paull, who departed this life on the
llth day of May, 1802, in the 69th year of her age.”
Besides ” Dublin the negro man”, George Paull may have
had other slaves who were retained. Because of Dublin’s commercial value or perhaps from personal attachment to
him, he was kept in the family. He appears fifteen years later
at ” Miss Polly’s, (the wife of Joseph Torrence) not in name
only, but as an active force in helping to make things go, on
the farm.
In 1780, Pennsylvania passed an “Act for the gradual abolition
of slavery”, declaring all colored people born after March
1st, 1780, should be free. But the long-continued habit was
hard to uproot and there were some slaves as late as 1840.
The number of slaves taken into Fayette County by the settlers
from Virginia and Maryland had, in twenty years, (1790)
increased to two hundred eighty-two.
One of the executors of George Paull’s will, Colonel Alexander
McLean, was a man of rare usefulness; he was born
in 1746, in York County, the youngest of seven sons, all surveyors
but one. In 1769, when there was a tide of claim-
seekers he opened the first land office in this community and
rendered an invaluable service as surveyor, recorder, and
registrar. He assisted Messrs. Mason and Dixon in surveying
the State boundaries. He was a trustee of Dickinson
College in 1783. In 1779, he removed to the new town of Bee-
son’s Mill from the country near by, and lived there until
his death in 1834, aged 88.

—————————

COLONEL JAMES PAULL
September 17, 1760— July 9, 1841
James, only son of George and Martha Irwin Paull was
born in the home of his grandmother in the Shenandoah Valley,
Frederick County, Colony of Virginia, eleven years after
the death of his grandfather, Hugh Paull. Francis Fauquier
was Governor of the Royal Province. In October following,
the reigning King of England, George II, died, the crown descending
to his grandson, then twenty-two years of age, who
became George III.
When little Jim was six or seven, the family left the homestead
and went to a new log house on a recently-bought farm
one-fourth of a mile south. Nothing is known of his childhood
nor of his school days; but, of course, he learned the A B C’s
and how to trace pothooks with a goose quill, at the log school-
house within sight of home where his father and his uncles had
attended school. And, of course, he fidgeted through doc-trinal preaching over at Tomahawk church ; and he wondered
how the congregation could keep in mind two whole lines of a
Psalm “lined out” by the clerk for them to sing.
Brought up among Calvinists, the future Indian fighter
was nourished with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, as
a portion of his daily food. Whether Calvinism produced
the fighter or he became one in spite of it, must remain an unanswered
question.
Jim was “Mother’s boy”, humored and petted. His father
with foresight, sternly rebuked the habits being formed by overindulgence.
The spoiled boy, under a sense of ill treatment,
averred, ” I would rather die with my mother, than live with
my father!” He was eight years old when the family removed
from the Virginia home across the Allegheny mountain to the
Redstone settlement in western Pennsylvania, to a tract of land
since known as Deer Park.
The familiar scenes in the Shenandoah were soon forgotten
in the interest aroused by the surroundings of the cabin in the
wilderness. The change imposed responsibilities and Jim
shouldered his share ; his life was not all play. The years that
passed showed cleared acres, abundant crops and fine herds
on the farm; sound health and pluck in the growing boy.
His physical constitution was of the hardiest type.
When Jim was seventeen, his father died, leaving him “the
plantation of two surveys,” which included the home cabin.
On this “survey” he lived the rest of his life, adding to it
several other tracts. Mary, Elizabeth, and Jean (or “Jinsy”),
were younger than he, Jean but six years old.
The farm work was apparently carried on without change
after the death of the father, whose duties in the Colonial
service claimed him. Efficient men had charge, under a capable
overseer, — the mistress of the cabin.
Robert Andrew Sherrard, son of John Sherrard, quaintly
relates a harvest time incident : “
It has been the custom of long standing, even time out
of mind, in different parts of our country, and also in Ireland and Scotland, for a strife to take place between two farmers
in different neighborhoods, as a matter to brag and boast about,
for some time afterwards, by the one who beat the other, and
was first done cutting down the harvest of small grain. This
strife was kept up in early times nearly a century since, between
the families of George Paull on the one side, and that
of Samuel Work, their near neighbor, on the other side. This
strife was continued even after the decease of George Paull. “
As a proof of this, at or near the close of the harvest of
1780, my father, John Sherrard, being at the time a member
of the widow Paull’s family, making his home there, was an
assistant hand in helping to cut down the harvest on Paull’s
farm. Father sent Charles May, who was an orphan boy,
raised up in Paull’s family, and at the time nearly a young
man, privately to spy out and report how near Samuel Work’s
harvest hands were to finishing the cutting of the harvest.
Charles went and upon his return he reported that unless something
extra was done in the way of reaping in Paull’s grain
field, Samuel Work’s hands would have the brag and boast
of having beaten us this time. To accomplish the object
and turn the brag and boast in favor of Paull’s reapers, Father
and Charles May, the bound boy, consulted together after
supper, and after the other reapers had left. They two agreed
to go back to the field and reap all night. The moon being near
its full, gave them light all night long. They took with them
some whiskey, an indispensible article, at least it was thought
to be so in harvest time, and indeed by many in these old
times, it was thought to be a useful article at all times. They
also took with them some food to sustain nature and to enable
them to perform the work they had undertaken, and which
they did manfully perform by reaping all night by moon light.
When the other hands collected in the morning it became an
easy task to reap out what Father and young Charles May
had left. And it was by their labor through the night that
they got the brag and the honor of having finished the reaping
of the harvest on the Paull farm several hours before they had finished cutting the harvest on Samuel Work’s farm.
Thus ended with a hurrah the cutting of the harvest of 1780
on the Paull farm. This is the only instance I have ever
known or heard of, in a long life of near eighty years, of two
men having employed themselves reaping all night by moon
light, and just for no other purpose than to have it to boast
of that they had cut down the harvest on Paull’s land first”.
Narrow quarters was an ever-present condition in log-cabin
life but hospitality was its motto. Somehow, the limited
space furnished room for the family, often for the indispensable “
help”, always a place for a guest. The stream flowing
near by or a basin of its clear water placed on a bench near
the door, furnished the lavatory for the family and guests as
well. The homespun crash towel hanging on the wall was “
good enough for any one”. A gourd dipper floating on the
pail of water was the common drinking cup. The horn comb
on the shelf impartially lent its aid in making the masculine “
roach”, or in straightening feminine tangles.
The cares of the women of the household were many, varied
and arduous. The annual “sugar-stirring” from the sweet
sap collected in the maple groves; soap-making, candle-dipping,
making home garments and what not, were tasks bravely
met and accomplished, the routine of baking, milking, churning,
etc. going on as usual. Flax was sown in the fall; after
the crop was pulled, it was put through several tedious processes
before it was ready for the spinning-wheel and loom, —
rippling (removing seeds), retting (soaking), breaking, and
scutching. Not every family had a loom, a neighbor often
weaving for a number of families; but the whir of spinning-
wheels was heard everywhere. When the soft, beautiful rolls
of wool came from the carders the wheel commenced to buzz
and was kept going the whole day. While the spinner ate
her meals, some one else took her place at the wheel. If possible,
clothing must be in readiness for cold weather. Every
girl was equipped with a set of needles and a ball of yam;
mittens and stockings were finished as if by magic. Knitting, did not “take time” nor require effort; it just worked in with
other employment. It was the most convenient pick-up
work, when one sat for a minute’s rest or waited for the dinner
to cook. The rapid click, click, of the needles kept up until
the dinnerpot hanging on the crane, or the bread, baking
under hot coals on the hearth, needed attention; then the
knitting was laid by until the next “idle” moment. Knitting
was a social pastime; one could knit on the way to a neighbor’s,
knit during the visit without dropping a stitch, or missing a word !
Every girl, large and small, made quilt patches; the older folk
patiently quilted intricate patterns, many of them beautiful,
artistic in design and stitching. The famed “quilting parties”
were delightful diversions in the monotonous lives of the brave
women of cabin days, a custom still in vogue in some parts of
the country not disturbed by modern innovations. These
busy people found time, somehow, to visit their neighbors.
The Paull sisters made visits to the girls of their acquaintance,
each having a “meare” of her own. The visits were returned,
and the more guests that came, the merrier! Space was not
considered, and it was an easy matter to make beds on the
floor, with a full supply of homemade wool blankets and linen
sheets.
About the time of the migration from Maryland and Virginia
to Pennsylvania, in 1769, Lawrence Harrison, Isaac, Samuel,
and John Meason, all Virginians, and John Rogers from Maryland,
came to Fayette County. Lawrence Harrison located
on a tract adjoining Colonel William Crawford who succeeded
Christopher Gist as surveyor for the Ohio Company; later, he
furnished a thrilling page for the history of Indian warfare.
Colonel Isaac Meason bought the original Gist plantation of
fourteen hundred acres, naming the farm “Mount Braddock.”
On the summit of a hill he built, between 1792 and 1800, the
finest stone house in that region. He was wealthy for the times,
owning much land. He was a pioneer in the iron industry,
establishing several forges and furnaces. Union Furnace, at
Dunbar, built by Isaac Meason in 1790, was put in blast in 1791 ; this was succeeded by a larger one, of the same name, and near
the same site, in 1793, built by Isaac Meason, John Gibson,
and Moses Dillon. The first rolling mill in the United States
was built by Isaac Meason in 1716 or 1717 op Redstone Creek,
near Middletown (or Plumsock) in Fayette County. Colonel
Meason was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of
Pennsylvania. He married Catherine, daughter of Lawrence
Harrison. He died in 1819. A son, Isaac Meason, Jr., married
Butler, whose children were Ellen Meason, Frances Meason,
Sydney Meason who married Henry; one daughter
married Kerr, another one married Trever, another
one married Sowers.
A daughter of Colonel Meason, Mary Meason, married first,
Ashland, second, Daniel Rogers. Another daughter,
Elizabeth Meason, married Jacob Murphy, whose daughter,
Catherine Murphy, married Archibald Paull, son of Colonel
James Paull.
John Rogers came with his wife and six children from Maryland
to Fayette County. Tradition says he was a descendant
of the good old martyr, John Rogers, who was burned at the
stake in Smithfield, London, in 1555, for denouncing popery.
The family remained for a time in Fayette County, on a
tract taken by “Tomahawk right”. John, the father, died,
leaving a wife, five sons, and one daughter, Elizabeth, born in
Maryland, July 29, 1764. The family went to Washington
County, where two sons were killed by Indians. They returned
to Fayette, the mother, Thomas, John, James, and Elizabeth (
or “Betsey”). They settled in what became known as the
Cross-Keys district, on the Uniontown road. One of the brothers (
supposed to be John) opened a blacksmith shop, setting
crossed keys over the door of the shop, to indicate that he was
a locksmith as well as a blacksmith. He also opened a tavern
called by the same name, by which it was long known. A
schoolhouse built near the Rogers’ home was named “Cross
Keys”. Tradition says the Rogers brothers founded a Masonic
Lodge in the neighborhood, and the mysterious meetings in the Cross Keys schoolhouse excited the wondering curiosity of
the people in the vicinity.
Thomas Rogers married Anne, only daughter of Rev. Daniel
McKennon, an Episcopalian. He was sent by the Bishop of
London in the early days of the Colonies to minister to the
plantations in Maryland. Returning to England on an errand
connected with his mission, the vessel and passengers were lost,
and nothing was ever heard from them. For the education of
his little daughter, Ann, Mr. McKennon made a textbook,
copying tables, and rules for working examples, numerous problems
in mathematics, quotations from choice writings, proverbs,
hymns, prayers, etc. The valued relic, faded and worn, is yet
legible. The children of Thomas and Anne McKennon Rogers,
were: Elizabeth, who married Zadock Walker; Daniel, who
married Mary Meason Ashland, a widow; Sarah, who married
first, James Blackstone; second, William Davidson; Joseph,
who married Elizabeth Gibson (their daughter, Eliza Lea
Rogers, married Joseph Paull, son of Colonel James Paull);
William, who married Nancy Halliday; Mary, who married
Jacob Weaver; John, who married Isabel Calamese; Anne
who married Beeson.
John Rogers, brother of Thomas, was a member of Captain
Brigg’s volunteer company, in Colonel Crawford’s expedition
against the Sandusky Indians. Captain Briggs was killed,
and local history says that John Rogers, being a lieutenant in
the company, took command on the homeward march. John
Rogers married Moreland, daughter of David Moreland.
Their children were: John, married Mary Squibb; Thomas,
unmarried; Daniel, unmarried; Nancy, married John Work;
Sarah, married John Halliday; Elizabeth, married Mars-
man.
James Rogers, brother of Thomas, John, and Elizabeth, also
figured in military circles and was called Major James Rogers.
He was an iron manufacturer; about 1828, he removed to
Springfield, Fayette County, where he lived until his death
about 1840. James Rogers married ; their children were John, William, Phineas, Joseph, M. D., (married Elizabeth
Johnston, daughter of Alexander Johnston), James, Thomas,
George, Daniel, Erwin.
The Rogers and Paulls, coming from the same section of
country, were probably old acquaintances; intercourse was
renewed and by and by it lead to an alliance. James Paull
or “Jamie”, married “Betsy” Rogers. The youthful bride
became a member of Martha Paull’s household; there was room
for another daughter, a welcome for another Elizabeth. Mary
Paull, or “Polly”, had a lover who was ten years, or more, her
senior, Joseph Torrence, whose family came to the community
when he was seventeen years old. He was of sterling worth
and had a creditable record as a soldier. The wedding took
place January 18, 1781, the ceremony performed, presumably,
by Rev. James Dunlap, minister at Laurel Hill. The new
home was established within a few miles of the parental home
on a tract of land named “Peace”.
Jamie’s first child, James Paull, Jr., was born June 6th, 1781.
He did not lack attention, with a grandmother and two youthful
aunts to fondle him. Some months later, February 15,
1782, another grandson was born, down at Polly’s, who received
his grandfather’s name, George Paull. The two boys, living
within a few miles of each other, grew up like brothers. An
attachment was formed which strengthened as the years passed
into a rare devotion. There was less than a year between their
deaths.
James Fault’s second child was named George for his grandfather.
After the third and fourth boys had come asking for
a place, the old cabin was taxed, finally, to furnish lodging for
any more. To build a new house was the only way to meet
the demand. A two-story log house was built near the cabin,
furnishing ample room for the increasing family and for the
friends who always found the latchstring out. A hall ran the
length of the house at the left, three rooms to the right, a large
kitchen at the rear, with the universal, cheery, open fireplace.
Four more joined the family group. They received their edu-cation at the little log schoolhouse with its oil-paper windows
and benches without backs. The “three Rs” were faithfully
taught, the ferrule was faithfully applied. Outside the school-
house, slender branches grew for the master’s use when offences
were serious. Real live boys had opportunities to wince under
the sting of the ferrule and to test the strength of the slender
branch. A boy who did not earn his share of “thrashings” was
lacking in ambition and did not amount to much! Of the seven
brothers, George, only, pursued a college course; he then
studied law. The others, with the same privilege, chose vocations
for which a college training was considered unnecessary.
They built well on the narrow foundation furnished by the
country school, and became intelligent, prosperous, business
men, each influential and highly esteemed in his community.
The daughter, Martha, was, after the fashion of the well-to-do,
sent to a girls’ boarding school for a finishing touch.
Until the establishment of the “post road” from Philadelphia
to Pittsburgh in 1786, all mail was carried by special express or
through the accomodation of travelers. Mail was carried
twice a month each way, the carriers taking postage as pay.
For years Pittsburgh had the only post office west of the mountains.
The route was twenty-five or thirty miles distant from
the nearest point in Fayette County, where there was no post
office until after 1794. In 1786, Pittsburgh was a muddy village,
boasting thirty-six log houses, one of stone, one frame, and five
small stores. It had the distinction of establishing the first
newspaper published west of the Alleghenies, The Gazette,
edited by John Scull, ‘of English Quaker ancestry. The first
copy was issued July 29, 1786. At this time, there were several
roads leading to the “Forks of the Ohio” at Fort Pitt, where
the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers unite to form the Ohio.
In addition to the Indian paths which traversed the wilds of
western Pennsylvania and adjacent territory, there were two
roads crossing the Allegheny Mountain; one, opened by General
Braddock’s army, the other, by General Forbes’ army.
Mail facilities had not yet been extended by the government so far as Fort Pitt. The first subscribers to The Gazette, who
lived some distance from the publisher, had to depend on the
courtesy of friends for the delivery of the eagerly-looked-for
weekly budget of news. The Gazette continues as the Gazette
Times, an influential paper with a wide circulation.
James Paull, like his father, was well-trained in the use of the
gun and there was ample supply of “big” game to keep him in
practice. His friends came upon invitation, or without one,
with hounds and hunting equipment. Beside the hearth fire of
snapping pine, the host and his guests kept up a flow of humor,
with thrilling tales of adventures, a basket of pippins and the
cider pitcher within reach. The barking dogs were chained
in pairs, to keep them within bounds during the night. The
turbaned cook furnished them a pot of corn mush, as palatable
to hounds as to hunters.
In 1793, James Paull was appointed sheriff of Fayette County
the fifth in order. He held the office until 1796, during which
time the “Whiskey Insurrection” occurred. In March, 1791,
a law was passed imposing an excise tax on whiskey. An
organized effort was made among the fanners and distillers of
several countries in western Pennsylvania to oppose the enforcement
of this law, which they regarded as unjust, whiskey being
their chief article of manufacture. The Governor, Thomas
Mifflin, ordered the prosecution of some of the chief offenders,
but when the marshal undertook to enforce the law, he was met
by a body of armed men and was obliged to desist. August 14,
1794, a convention of two hundred delegates met at Parkinson’s
Ferry, on the Monongahela River, Albert Gallatin acting as
secretary of the meeting. President Washington and Governor
Mifflin appointed commissioners who went to the convention
and offered amnesty upon condition of submission to the law.
But the convention gave no promises. The President issued a
second proclamation September 25, calling for submission
and announcing the march of the militia to the scene of disturbance.
A call for fifteen thousand men had been made to
the Governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, and Mary-land. When the troops appeared, the ardor of the insurgents
cooled and David Bradford, the prime mover in the disturbance,
fled to New Orleans. In the meantime, another convention was
held at Parkinson’s Ferry where resolutions were passed, pledging
submission and obedience. Henry Lee, Governor of Virginia,
acting commander of the militia, issued a proclamation
of amnesty, requiring the oath of allegiance to the United
States, and ordered the arrest of any who refused. A number
of suspected persons were arrested, some bound over for trial,
others released from want of evidence. Two were convicted
of treason but were pardoned by the President. Two thousand
five hundred troops under General Morgan, were retained in
the community during the winter, as a police force. This was
the first time the power of the new Federal Government had been
put to the test and the promptness with which the rebellion
was quelled, won respect for the Government, and established
a valuable precedent with regard to similar occurrences in the
future.
In the autumn of ’93 and spring of ’94, Liberty poles were
raised on which were nailed boards painted with mottoes
in large letters, twelve or fifteen feet above the ground. On
the top of the pole, at a height of from one hundred to
two hundred feet, a red striped flag was fastened which waved
until torn to pieces by the wind or the pole was taken down.
These Liberty poles were erected in towns, at taverns, crossroads,
and furnaces. One was erected at Union furnace on
Dunbar Creek, owned by Isaac Meason, John Gibson, and
Moses Dillon.
Colonel James Chambers, an ardent supporter of Washington’s
administration, took an active part in the suppression of
the Insurrection. In a letter to Alexander Dallas, Secretary
of the Commonwealth, he wrote, September 1794, that when
he arrived at Chambersburg he found “the Rabale had raised
what they Caled a Liberty pole”, that the magistrates opposed
the raising of the pole, but were not supported by the majority
of the “Cittyzens”. He addressed a meeting of the inhabitants, to “show the necessity of Soporting the Government”. The
meeting was held in the Court House. Colonel Chambers continued, “
The Magistrates have sent for the men, the very
Same that erected the pole, and I had the pleasure of Seeing
them on Saturday Evening Cut it down, and with the same
waggon that brought it into town, they were obliged to draw
the remains of it out of town again. The Circumstance was
mortifying, and they behaved very well. They seem very
penitent, and no person offered them any insult”.
In a memorial address giving the ecclesiastical and secular
history of southwest Pennsylvania, the speaker said in reference
to James Fault’s connection with the insurrection: “
During this volcanic period, Colonel James Paull was
sheriff of Fayette County, than whom a braver nor truer man
never held that office anywhere. He was a decided friend of the
Government; yet, because under the advice of his counsel, he
declined to subject himself to an action for false imprisonment,
by executing a defective warrant for the arrest of some of his
neighbors accused of being concerned in one of the attacks upon
the house of Wells, he was indicted in the United States Court
at Philadelphia! What had the courts of the United States to
do with the official duties of Sheriffs? The indictment was not
prosecuted.”
While James Paull held the office of sheriff, he had to bear
the responsibility for the hanging of John McFall in 1795, the
first execution in the county. The second occurred seventy-
one years later, in 1866. In one hundred years there were
four executions, since 1896 there have been eight, the last year,
1913, having witnessed one. “
The Sherrard Memoirs” by Robert Andrew Sherrard contain,
together with preliminary remarks, the account of the
execution of John McFall: “
This is a reminiscence of some of the actions and doings of
Col. James Paull of Fayette County, Pa., never before written
out. But I would not have it surmised or hinted at that I
have undertaken to write Col. James Paull’s biography. No, that’s a task I could not perform. I must say that Col. James
Paull was the first man I ever saw, except my own father, to
my remembrance. The occurrence took place when I was
about two years old. And I know that many attempts have
been made to attest a disbelief to the statement. Notwithstanding
all that may be said against the assertion, I know it
is true. And if I bring the storehouse of my memory in penning
some of these reminiscences from 67 to 69 years, it might thereby
be shown as a fact that from early youth I have been blessed
with a strong memory, rather more so than common. And as
a further proof, but few men can bring forward in conversation
as many dates as I can, a common requisite in law to prove that
book accounts are correct. But now to the point. “
I remember my mother when I was two years old took me in
her arms, dressed in a little petticoat or frock, such as children
of that age in olden times were dressed in, and next she put
on a little sun bonnet and carried me up a little way above the
house to where father had been employed making beds ready
for the sowing of seeds. Mother sat me down in a little alley
between two beds, there to divert myself by playing among the
fresh dirt. It was not long after mother did this that Col.
James Paull made his appearance, going on a hunting excursion
up into the mountain or that part of it known as Laurel Hill,
where yet lingered and could sometimes be found, 77 years ago,
some remnant of the bear, deer or wild turkey. Colonel Paull
stopped opposite where father and mother were at work and
began to converse, setting the butt of his gun on the ground,
holding the other end in his hand. And to this hour I never
remember a word that passed between father and Colonel
Paull, but my attention was attracted to the strange man that
I never had seen before, and to his gun and strange dress, for he
had on long green leggins, the like of which I had never seen
before. All these strong attractions took my young attention
and also fixed it strongly on my young memory. I have often
thought since of that period, that if Colonel Paull had not
come along and stopped, and stood and conversed as he did, until I got a fair view of him, his gun and dress, that it is most
likely I should not have remembered anything about mother
carrying me out into the garden that day. Col. Paull frequently
took to the mountain region to hunt, while we occupied
the mountain farm, which was until I was near ten years old.
I remember I was three years old before I was allowed to wear
trousers, the first pair of which I was very proud.”
THE EXECUTION OF JOHN McFALL “
Col. James Paull was elected Sheriff of Fayette county at
the annual election the second Tuesday of October, 1793. I
came to this conclusion from the date that when John McFall
was sentenced to be hung for the murder of John Chadwick,
Col. Paull had to make every arrangement and see that the
law was fulfilled and the culprit executed, as ordered by the
Governor of the Commonwealth. In Judge Addison’s law reports
we have the only written account of the murder. Addi-
son says: ‘This was an indictment brought for the murder of
John Chadwick on the 10th of November, 1794. In the morning
of this day McFall being drunk, came to the house of Chadwick,
who kept a tavern, and got some liquor there. McFall
had expressed resentment against Myers for having taken him
on a warrant, and had threatened to kill or cripple him
the first time he met him. When McFall saw Myers he jumped
up and said he would have his life. Chadwick reproved McFall
for this. McFall rubbed his fists at Chadwick and said he
was not so drunk but he knew what he was doing. Myers soon
went away. McFall went out after him and again said he would
have his life. Myers rode off. McFall returned to go into the
house again. Chadwick bade him go home, for he had abused
several people that day and had got liquor enough. McFall
shook hands with Chadwick and went away. Chadwick shut
the door. About two minutes after he returned. Chadwick
rose to keep the door shut. McFall jerked it off the hinges, dragged Chadwick out and struck him several times with a club
on the head. His scull was fractured by the blows and he died
the second day. McFall was tried at the December term,
1794, and found guilty of murder in the first degree, and sentenced
to be hung. “
But before the sentence could be carried out McFall broke
jail, and for the time being made his escape. The way and
manner by which McFall made his escape, by contriving to get
free from jail, was somewhat singular. He some times in the
night season built a fire against the outer door of the jail, at
a time no doubt he thought the jailer and others were wrapt
in sound sleep on the inside of the jail door, and burned a hole
large enough to creep out through. He crept out and took to
the Laurel Hill mountain. How he subsisted in the way of
food no one knows. But in the course of some months he was
recognized in company with pack-horsemen on the mountain,
whose business it was to pack salt, iron, etc., on horseback over
the mountains from Hagerstown and Winchester in those days,
for it must be remembered that although Isaac Meason had
in partnership with him that old noted Quaker, Moses Dillon,
from Baltimore county, Md., who built and put in blast the
old Union furnace on Dunbar creek, still the old forge where
Thomas Watt now lives, was not yet built; so that it need not
be wondered at that iron as well as salt had to be packed on
horse back as specified. McFall was recognized among the pack-
horse men as King Saul was among the prophets, but not with
as clear a conscience. McFall had the mark of Cain upon his
forehead; he had shed innocent blood, and it cried from the
ground for vengeance. McFall was retaken and put back in
the old jail in Uniontown and securely ironed, until proper arrangements
could be made for his execution, which must have
taken place sometime in the summer or early in September
of 1795. “
Col. James Paull, then being the Sheriff of Fayette county,
Pa., the law imposed it as a duty laid on the Sheriff of each
county of the State, to execute the sentence of the law on allpersons found guilty of murder in the first degree. Col. Paull
had the nerve to have done his duty in that case, but he chose
to have the rope adjusted and the hanging part performed
by a substitute. And this substitute he found in a poor old
low-lifed man in the mountain range, by the name of Ned
Bell. This worthless creature and his old wife, Col. Paull had
to bring away from their former place of abode, and place them
in an old cabin on his own land, and feed and clothe them as
long as they lived, for the people of the neighborhood where
old Ned Bell lived at the time McFall was executed, vowed
vengeance against old Ned Bell if he offered to return to live
among them as he had done. “
My father went to Uniontown at the time McFall was
hanged, and after his return home, mother asked him if he saw
McFall hung. ‘No,-’ said he, ‘I saw two men hanged before
I left Ireland and I never want to see any other person hanged
while I live.’ As soon as the word was given by Colonel Paull,
to the acting Sheriff, to drive the cart from under the gallows,
father said he turned round and walked away, not caring to
see the death struggles of the dying man. Now, at this late
day, when so much improvement has been brought to bear in
all kinds of mechanics all over the country, why not some improvement
in the mode and manner in hanging those that have
forfeited their lives to a broken law. “
Substitutes employed by the Sheriffs of the different counties
of Pennsylvania, to do the duty of hangman, were but little
thought of, and were generally held in less estimation than common
chimney sweeps or tinkers. So much so was this the case,
that they became outcasts, and were shunned by the neighboring
community ; so much so that the Legislatures of different
States passed laws making it obligatory that the Sheriff of any
county where capital punishment must be inflicted, should be
the executioner. And I have not heard of any substitute since
these laws were passed, more than half a century ago. I was
present when old Crawford was hanged near Washington,
Washington county, Pa., for shooting his son, Henry. He was hung on the 22nd of February, 1823. And I remember that
Mr. Officer of that county performed his duty as required by
law. For when all things were adjusted and the drop on which
old Crawford stood must fall, the Sheriff shook hands with
old Crawford, then he tied Crawford’s hands behind him and
hastily drew the cap over his eyes and face. The Sheriff then
wheeled off the drop, picked up a hand ax and at one small
stroke cut the rope and the drop fell. The Sheriff then hastily
stepped down the stairs from the platform and paid no more
attention till 39 minutes had expired, during which time Crawford
hung, and he was dead. Dead in less than 10 minutes
of the 39. The last act of the Sheriff, Mr. Officer, was to cut
the culprit down and lay him in a coffin the Sheriff had provided.
He then delivered it to the friends of the deceased and they
drove it home on a sled and buried it.”
The Sherrard Memoirs gives a Youghiogheny River incident,
which occurred when the water was high, with floating ice : “
I remember at an after period, but I have lost the date from
my memory, that an occurrence took place after the first bridge
was built across the Yough river between Connellsville and
New Haven, and some few years after Isaac Meason had built
his second forge, near the mouth of Dunbar creek, that Col.
Paull purchased several tons of bar iron at the above forge,
intending it to be run to Kentucky for sale, and caused it to be
loaded on board a boat he had provided for that purpose. After
the iron was all put on board the boat two of Colonel Paull’s
colored men and one white man, these men undertook to navigate
the boat down to New Haven, where other loading awaited
the boat, consisting of hollow ware or castings, so called in olden
times, all destined for the Kentucky market. But the river
being very high and uncommon rapid, the steersman could not
manage the boat, and there being a long streamer running up
the river, and placed there to turn off the driftwood and large
cakes of ice, that if not thrown off, might lodge against the
middle pier of the bridge and cause it to be broken and carried
off and destroyed. But in spite of the exertions of the steers-man the current was so strong and rapid that the boat was
almost, if not quite unmanageable. At all events the boat was
carried so close to the long streamer that the left hand gunnel
took the long streamer and ran up far enough to cause the
boat to turn over and spill out the iron into the river. The
three men were cast out of the boat into the rapid stream, and
but one of the colored men was able to reach the shore. “
Colonel Paull had to wait until the river fell sufficiently to
allow the men to fish the iron out of the water. Several men
were employed at high wages, as soon as the water fell, for that
purpose. But the water was so cold at this early period of the
spring season that the men could not stand the cold very long at
a time. But to give the men such assistance as would enable
them better to stand the cold, such as was commonly made use
of in these olden times, in the first place a large log heap was
kept constantly burning for the men to warm themselves at,
and in the second place, Col. Paull procured a barrel of good rye
whiskey, if there was ever any good whiskey. It was not at any
rate, that kind now used, called “rot-gut” or “kill-devil-stuff,”
but pure rye whiskey, brought and placed on its end, not far
from the burning fire, and the upper head knocked out and
several tin cups and a dipper brought to the place, so that the
men when they came to the fire to warm themselves on the
outside, they might pour into their inside to keep up the heat
internally also. But all this did not avail. For it appeared
that the more liquor they drank the more chilly the men got.
And this was noticed by a traveler who had stopped at a tavern
then kept opposite to where the boat and iron then lay, kept by
David and Sally Barnes, on Water Street. “
And permit me here to say that David Barnes and his wife,
Sally Barnes, kept the same tavern house on Water Street in
the month of April, the spring of 1799. For I remember that
mother sent me on an errand to Sally Barnes. And I further
remember that a middle-aged man sat there in the bar room
floor, for it must be remembered that in these early times there
was but few carpets on our floors in Western Pennsylvania in1799. Be that as it may, Sally Barnes scolded that man, for his
abuse of privelege for spitting gobbs of tobacco juice on her
floor. She reprimanded him sharply, and among other things,
she told him she would as lief, or rather he would spit in her lap,
as on her clean floor. “
But to return to the traveling man spoken of heretofore.
After looking on for a short time and seeing the men drinking
whiskey to keep them warm, and saw that it had a greater
tendency to make them chilly, he remarked to Colonel Paull,
whose presence was necessary to encourage the men to persevere
in getting the iron out of the river before it would be
covered up with sand and gravel, that the men could not stand
the cold by drinking whiskey, which had the tendency, instead
of keeping them warm, it made them the more chilly, quite
opposite in effect of what was intended. ‘If you will take my
advice,’ said the traveling man, ‘you will send out among the
farmers of the neighborhood and collect a quantity of sweet
milk. Put on the fire an eighteen-gallon sugar-kettle, and fill it
with sweet milk, bring it to boil, then stir in a small portion of
flour, so as to lithe it, as the Scotch would say, not quite the
consistency of gruel, then let the men drink a tin cup full, each
man, and drink it down as warm as they can, and I will warrant
your men will stand the cold four times longer on a tin cup full
of this prepared milk than they can by using so much whiskey’.
The milk was prepared, and the iron was got out”.
James Paull ‘s military career commenced when he was seventeen,
four months after the death of his father. In August,
1778, he was drafted to guard Continental stores for one month
at Fort Burd, (Old Redstone) on the Monongahela, within
twenty miles of home. His father, holding a captain’s commission,
had served at this fort in early manhood. This month’s
experience did not contribute much towards the making of a
soldier. Taking his turn in sentinel duty at night was soldierlike;
fishing and swimming during the day was the accustomed
recreation of the farmer boy. At the age of twenty-one, he
was commissioned lieutenant by Thomas Jefferson, Governor of Virginia, and served in the projected campaign against
Detroit, then held by British and Tories, May to December,
1871. In April, 1782, he was again drafted, to serve one
month at Turtle Creek, above Pittsburgh. In May, 1782, he
was a volunteer in Colonel William Crawford’s campaign, and
engaged in his first and only actual battle, that of Upper San-
dusky, “Crawford’s Defeat”, June 4th, 1782. In 1783 and ’84,
he commanded a company of scouts on the frontier, guarding
against Indian incursions. In 1790, he served as major and
lieutenant colonel in the unsuccessful campaign of General Har-
mar against the Indians in the Maumee country. The injuries
received in “Crawford’s Defeat” were permanent, and in 1883,
he applied for a pension, which was granted. To Robert A.
Sherrard, Colonel Paull’s descendants are indebted for the account
of his experience in the “Defeat”.
THE CRAWFORD EXPEDITION “
I had often heard, when very young, my father tell of the
very narrow, hair-breadth escapes of himself and others, while
out on that volunteer excursion. But I do not recollect of having
heard my father say at what point the troops crossed the
Ohio river, or what course they steered after they crossed that
stream. I was but ten years old at the time my father was
stricken down with paralysis, which so impaired his memory,
that he could not draw on his memory as formerly unless it was
some particular matter that occurred when very young. “
But what was lacking from my father’s inability to detail
it, or my inability to retain it, was in a good measure supplied
by Col. James Paull, in a free conversation with him at his own
house, in the month of January, 1826. At which time Col.
Paul! gave me a full account of his retreat, narrow escape and
journey home. All of this I felt a great interest in, having
heard from my father and others, a good deal pro and con about
Col. Crawford’s defeat, so much so, that soon after my return
home and while fresh in my memory, I wrote it down, from
whence I draw off the present narrative, which may be relied
on as correct in every particular, as related to me. “
The uncalled-for massacre of the peaceable Christian
Indians, referred to by Col. Paull in the beginning of his narrative,
was strongly denounced by the public generally as an
atrocious act. Colonel Williamson was blamed and severely
censured for suffering such an outrage to be committed by men
under his command. It seems, however, that the men were
under his command but not under his control. They were
a set of desperate frontier settlers, wicked and ungovernable,
who bore a deadly hatred to all Indians. They would not be
advised or controlled by Col. Williamson, but took the work
into their own hands and acted as any insubordinate set of
renegades would do under like circumstances. After they had
butchered the inoffensive Moravians, they strove to excuse
themselves and justify their crime by spreading abroad a story
to the effect that they found clothing among these “pet” Indians,
as they termed them, which clothing had been stripped
from the dead wives and daughters of white people, whom the
Indians had killed and scalped. The sight of the clothing, they
declared, roused within their breasts such a spirit of revenge
that they took the matter of punishment in their own hands.
Col. Williamson was subsequently exonerated by public opinion
from all blame in the matter.”
With this preliminary statement, Sherrard introduces Col.
Paull’s story, which is as follows: “We crossed the Ohio river
at the old Indian Mingo town. We then took over the hill and
traveled on an old Indian trail, on or near to where the villages
of Salem and Jefferson now stand, on the dividing ridge. We
kept on the ridge until the Indian trail intersected another trail
leading out from the Ohio river, opposite where Wellsburg now
stands. The Indian trail led us on westward to the Moravian
towns on the west side of the Muskingum river. “
At all three of these Moravian towns all was desolation,
owing to the massacre of these peaceable Indians by Col. Wil-

and I walked on as well as I could, in great pain. We traveled
all that night and the next day. I had found part of an Indian
blanket which was a great service to me. By tearing strips
from it from time to time, and wrapping them around my burnt
foot, which by this time had all the skin peeled off the sole, and
was in very bad condition. As the strips would wear through
on the sole, I would stop and shift them around to a part that
had not been worn, and when a strip was worn out I would replace
it with a new strip, and so I protected the fiery wound
as well as I could until I got across the Ohio river, and got
among the white inhabitants. “
On the same day, which was the next after we had left our
horses in the swamps, we stopped about noon to take some refreshments,
of which we had great need, as we had taken no
food since the evening before. The place where we stopped
was overgrown with high weeds which were broken down, and
a blanket spread, on which each man took from his knapsack
or blanket, if he had either, and laid it on the blanket which took
the place of a table cloth, his ash cake, and commenced eating.
The men had not half satisfied their hunger when a fearful man
who belonged to the little company would be up on his feet
looking to see if there would be any Indians about. He at
length spied Indians, on horseback, coming towards us. He
immediately squatted down and told his comrades to hide as
there were Indians coming. On this information each man took
his own direction and hid. I, for my part, took the direction
towards the Indian trail and concealed myself in a large bunch
of alder bushes where I had a full view of the savages as they
passed. All at once the foremost one on the trail stopped short,
and that stopped all the Indians on horseback, twenty-five in
number. It appeared as if the Indians had heard the rustling
made by the men in their haste to hide, for as soon as they
brought their horses to a halt, they all looked around and appeared
to be listening as if to catch any sound or noise that was
made; but our men were all soon hid among the high weeds,
and a death stillness followed. In a very short time, the In-

dians hearing no noise, the foremost one gave his pony a kick or
two in the sides, and whistling, went off on a trot towards
Sandusky. Each of those following then gave his pony a kick,
in imitation of his leader, and they started off in Indian file or
Indian style. “
I forgot to mention a circumstance in regard to this fearful
man who gave us notice of the approach of these twenty-five
Indians, that took place the night before, at the time we had to
leave our horses in the swamp. It was there necessary for each
of us to pick our place and steps as best as we could, stepping
from tussock to tussock, and so make our way to solid ground.
But this little fearful man, in making a step, missed his mark
and stepped into the mire. He soon sunk to his armpits in the
soft mud and slush. In this situation he worked and toiled to
get out of the mire, but could not. He then raised a huge cry
and bawled aloud and begged the men ‘for God’s sake’ not
to leave him. His hollowing and bawling was so loud that I
was afraid he would bring the Indians upon us. By some
means he got out of the swamp and soon overtook us, well
plastered with mud. “
I had full view of the twenty-five savages on horseback,
from the place of my concealment, and I could with my rifle,
have brought one of them down, but I did not dare do it, knowing
that such a rash act would cost me my life, and the lives of
my comrades. I and my comrades were glad to be thus rid of
their savage company. They were making their way to San-
dusky where the battle was fought. As soon as they had gotten
out of sight, I and my comrades returned to the spot where the
blankets were spread, and gathered up the fragments that belonged
to us, and packed them away for future use, not feeling
any appetite or desire to eat more. The fright from the presence
of the Indians had the effect of destroying our appetites.
We all then started off on our course for home. “
On the evening of the same day, while we were pursuing our
way across a very clear, open piece of ground, we saw a single
Indian running off to the right, but at too great a distance to

. Seeing this, the Indians stopped and shot at me, but
missed the mark, and gave me a fright that made me go all the
faster. Shortly after, one of the pursuers turned back, and it
was not long till the second gave up the chase. “
As soon as I found that I had gotten clear of my pursuers, I
took it easier and slower, and continued to do so during the remainder
of the day. Towards dusk I made search for a suitable
place to conceal myself. After some time I found a hollow
log, into which I crept, feet foremost, and there I rested until
morning. This ended my third night out from the camp and
the battle ground. “
I left my place of concealment early the next morning and
again took up my course for home. At first I could scarcely
walk, my foot was so sore, and I was also without provisions of
any kind. The only subsistance I had from that time till I
crossed the Ohio river was one young blackbird and some sar-
vice berries, which were plentiful in many places. “
I now traveled on at my ease, caring more for my burnt foot
than for the Indians, and I did not see any more of them till
some time after my return home. Pursuing my course, I passed
near where to Mt. Vernon now stands. There I fell in with the
waters of Owl creek and passed down the same stream till near
its junction with Michigan creek. High up on Owl creek I
struck an Indian trail, and soon discovered fresh signs that
Indians had lately passed by that way towards Sandusky.
This discovery made me alter my course. I took off from the
trail over the hills, the nighest way to the Tuscarawa river
Shortly after leaving the trail I sat down to rest, and found a
large shelving rock with an abundance of dry leaves under it,
and I determined to spend the night there. Then I thought it
was too near the Indian trail, and I resolved to travel all that
night and the next day in order to be out of reach of the merciless
savages. But when I began to travel, it being then about dark,
I learned that I staggered about like a drunken man, with my
lame foot, and therefore went back to the rock, which I reached
with much difficulty, which I knew to be the result of my exhausted system, having had no nourishment or rest for many hours. “
After stirring about among the leaves to assure myself that
there was no snake among them, I tumbled down among the
leaves and slept comfortably all night. When I arose in the
morning I continued my way towards the Tuscarawa river.
On my arrival there I found that I could not cross, owing to
the depth of the water, and determined to go higher up the
stream, where I knew there were riffles. I stripped off all my
clothes and tied them into a bunch, and then holding them over
my head with my left hand and my gun high and dry from the
water in my right hand, I waded across. The water at its
deepest point took me up around the neck. After dressing myself
I ascended the hill from the river, at the top of which hill
I found an old Indian camp. Strewn about was a great number
of empty kegs and barrels, some of which were falling to pieces
and others of which were still good. How the Indians had
collected so many kegs and barrels I could not tell. It is probable
that in time of peace with the Indians some people had run
whisky up the Tuscarawas river to near this point in large
white-pine canoes or in “pi-rouges,” and sold it to the Indians
for furs and deer skins. This place was probably the place of
drinking and frolic. “
Here I struck a fire, the first one I had indulged in during
my journey, and lodged by it on the old Indian camping ground.
The fire served to keep off the gnats and mosquitoes, these insects
being very numerous in the vicinity of the Tuscarawa
river at this season of the year. The staves of the old barrels
and kegs rendered good service for fuel and for fire. I ran a
great risk in kindling a fire in the Indian country, as the Indians
might have seen the light of it or have been attracted to me by
the signs of the smoke. Then, again, thinking that the Indians
might conclude it had been built by some of their own people,
I determined to leave it burn. This was my fifth night out from
the Sandusky battle ground. Early the next morning, June
llth, after resting easy on the Indians’ whisky drinking ground
all night, I started for the Ohio river.

horse, on which I rode to my own home. There all was gloomy
expectancy, for they had not heard of me, and believed that I
had been killed, or taken prisoner, as your father could give no
information concerning me, after he had roused me from sleep
on the battleground the night of the retreat, as before stated.”
June 10, after the defeat, Colonel Crawford and Dr. Knight,
surgeon of the regiment, were conducted by a band of Indians
to the old Sandusky town, thirty-three miles distant. Four
of the nine other prisoners were tomahawked and scalped on
the way ; the remaining five were killed by the squaws and boys,
soon as they reached the town. Then, Colonel Crawford met
his doom. Dr. Knight was put in charge of a young Indian
with orders to take him to a Shawnee town, forty miles from
Sandusky, there to be treated in the same manner. The first
day they traveled twenty-five miles, then stopped for the night.
Swarms of gnats were annoying, and Dr. Knight requested his
custodian, next morning, to unite him and allow him to assist
in making a fire to keep them off. The thoughtless “brave”
complied. While on his knees and elbows blowing the fire,
the doctor struck him on the head, knocking him into the fire.
Howling with pain, he took to his heels, leaving his rifle, which
the doctor seized, and made off. He cautiously threaded his
way to Fort Mclntosh, which he reached the twenty-second
day, exhausted and nearly famished, having lived on roots and
berries, and young birds. To Dr. Knight, alone, is due the
account of the prolonged and cruel treatment which ended
Colonel Crawford’s life. In addition to the detailed account,
he put the story into rhyme.

Colonel Paull was fond of music, especially that of the violin,
he bought one, to make sure of having music when Captain
McClelland came to visit him. His visits were frequent, and
while the delightful strains of familiar airs continued, the family,
often joined by neighbors, gathered about the hearthstone,
failed to note the swing of the pendulum in the tall corner
clock. After the musician and his host had departed, the violin
was neglected; untutored fingers, playing over the sensitive “
vocal chords”, added injury to neglect, and the sweet voice
refused to sing as before. The soul was gone, and the skeleton
that remained soon went the way of all things earthly.
Elizabeth Rogers Paull died September 12, 1838. She had
lived seventy-four years, faithfully performing every duty that
came to her hands. She was buried at Laurel Hill, while Rev.
James Guthrie was pastor of the church. A large, white
marble slab bears the inscription:
In memory of Elizabeth Paull,
consort of Colonel James Paull,
who departed this life on the 12th day of September, 1838,
in the 75th year of her age.
She was an affectionate wife, a devoted mother,
and died in the hope of a glorious immortality.
Three years later, the term of life allotted to Colonel Paull
came to a close, from a paralytic stroke, when on his way to
Laurel Hill church, accompanied by his son Joseph, both on
horseback. Joseph, a few feet in advance, heard his father’s
cane drop to the ground and said, turning around, “Father,
you have dropped your cane”, at the same time noticing his
unsteadiness. He died Friday, July 9th, and was laid away in
the family burying ground at Laurel Hill. On a white slab
corresponding with that which covers Elizabeth Paull’s grave,
is the simple inscription :

Sacred to the memory of James Paull Sr.
Was born on the!7th day of September, 1760,
and died on the 9th day of July, 1841,
in the 81st year of his age.
A riotous growth of myrtle, unbroken between the two graves,
furnishes perennial green.
Colonel Paull was a typical frontiersman, resolute and fearless,
with a robust constitution; sharing in the taming of the
wilderness, and in subduing the savage. From the storm clouds
of the Revolution, he had seen the Thirteen Colonies emerge,
an independent Nation. His eyes were closed twenty years
before there occurred the pitiable spectacle of these United Colonies,
grown to thirty-four, at strife with each other, over the
question of the continuance of the “blessed tie that binds”.
With keen interest Colonel Paull had watched the administrations
of nine Presidents, from George Washington through
the short term of William Henry Harrison. During his life,
the change in the State Government had taken place. The
Proprietorship of the Penns came to an end at the close of the
Revolution, when the American Government bought their
rights in Pennsylvania. From this time until 1790, when the
present form of government was established, a President and
Council, called “The Supreme Executive Council”, directed the
affairs of the State. Thomas Mifflin, last of the seven Presidents,
was continued as the first Governor of the Keystone
State, 1790-1799. At the time of Colonel Paull’s death, the
incumbent of the office was David Rittenhouse Porter, whose
son, General Horace Porter was the honored instrument in recovering
the long-concealed body of Admiral John Paul Jones.
Deer Park passed into the hands of Colonel Paull’s youngest
son, Joseph, whose family, together with John, the unmarried
son, lived in the old home. Within a year, the family were
housed in a fine new brick house. The log house, sound, and
promising many more years of usefulness, was thought to
be indispensable as a storeroom. But a fire unaccountably

Within four years, there were living six of Colonel Paull’s
grandchildren, three of them daughters of his eldest son, James
Paull, Jr. : Martha, Louisa, and Hannah. There remain, James
Paull Walker, of Seattle; Mary Ellen Walker Stewart, of
Pittsburgh; James Lea Paull, son of Joseph, of Pittsburgh.

PAGE 100……….

FROM: Paull-Irvin

FROM: