|
THE
VALLEY OF THE CONEMAUGH.
BY
THOMAS J. CHAPMAN.
ALTOONA, PA.:
McCRUM & DERN, PRINTERS.
1865.
"Lives there a man with soul so dead,
That never to himself hath said,
'This is my own, my native land ?' " |
| Sir Walter Scott. |
==================================================
Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
THOMAS J. CHAPMAN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court,
for the Western District of Pennsylvania. |
To my younger Brother,
REV. ALVA RILEY CHAPMAN
This little Volume
Is Respectfully Inscribed,
As a Mark of
Esteem and Affection.
ERRATUM. -- Page 147, eleventh line from
top, read "three or four hwndred," instead of
"three or four thousand." |
PREFACE.
| The scope of this little work is to give an historical and
descriptive account of the Valley of the Conemaugh, which embraces the
county of Cambria, and a portion of the counties of Somerset, Indiana
and Westmoreland. To collect and arrange the facts and incidents which
go to make up the book, have required considerable labor and trouble,
and, to the critical reader, the author begs leave to say, to borrow
the language of Dr. Johnson, in the preface to his English Dictionary,
"when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten
that much likewise is performed." |
| In the prosecution of this little volume the author has been
actuated by no idea that he was specially fitted for the task. While so
many older men still live, natives of this valley, and better
acquainted with its early history, it might seem presumptuous in a
young man, not yet out of his twenties, to step |
6
| into the field. But there has been no promise of anything of the kind
from the hands of these older men, and, meanwhile, the time is passing
away, and the scanty materials out of which to form a local history of
the Conemaugh valley are yearly growing less and less. The author has
gathered up such of the incidents in the early history of this section
of the country as have been thought worthy of preservation, and he
takes pleasure in thus submitting the results of his labors to the
judgment of his readers. |
| He would also take this occasion to acknowledge his obligations to
the many kind friends who have assisted him in the course of the work.
These friends have been many. It would be invidious to mention a few
where all have been so kind, and he hopes that each one will accept
this acknowledgment as personal to himself. |
| T. J. CHAPMAN. |
| JOHNSTOWN, PA., July, 1865. |
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER I. |
|
| Outlines. |
Page 9. |
| CHAPTER II. |
|
| Expeditions against the Indians |
22. |
| CHAPTER III. |
|
| Settlement of the Valley |
39, |
| CHAPTER IV. |
|
| Public Thoroughfares. |
76. |
| CHAPTER V. |
|
| Johnstown and its Suburbs. |
100. |
| CHAPTER VI. |
|
| Blairsville. |
118. |
| CHAPTER VII. |
|
| Other Towns and Villages. |
130. |
| CHAPTER VIII. |
|
| Cambria Iron Works. |
152. |
| CHAPTER IX. |
|
| Other Enterprises. |
162. |
| CHAPTER X. |
|
| Biographical. |
175. |
This book was OCR'd and contributed by Diann Olsen, Sept., 2008.
|