Fayette County Historical Society/Abel Colley Tavern & Museum

One of our Facebook friends requested seeing any other Trotter Mine photos we might have. So here's another. Chris

From our friend.

From our friend Vince Tiberi.

Shown here are two original press release photos showing the violence that erupted in Uniontown on April 3, 1934. It began with a very large peaceful march by miners celebrating the eight-hour work day. With Governor Pinchot's wife, Cornelia (Bryce), a women's suffrage activist on stage speaking at the Reagan/Lynch field, shots rang out. This particular account of the melee was reported by the Altoona Tribune on April 3, 1934 but newspapers from around the country covered the news. You can see Richmond Radiator in the background. Chris

Recently the Historical Society hosted stories about haunted Fayette. Our member, Dorothy Gruskowski told the story of the haunted cabin which was located 1 mile East of Jumonville. The Altoona Tribune, as well as other national newspapers, reported the story of this haunting on January 14, 1896. As the story goes, Robert Fulton, who was part of the Braddock expedition, decided to remain in Fayette County where he built a log house 30' by 26'. One night there was a party ...of dancing and drinking at his home. One of the party goers was William Wise, and big uncouth backwoodsman. He had spent the night drinking hard cider, apple jack and homemade wine. When an 8 year old boy was asked to rush to the cabin to let Wise know that his wife was dying and that he needed to return home, Wise, picked the little boy up by his throat and strangled him. The rest of the partiers were frozen with fear. Wise, fearing he would be hanged just like his friend McFall who had murdered John Chadwick, a Fayette County tavern owner, took his own life. But the story of the haunted log house persisted long after all those who had been witness to the murder were long gone. Either on a dare or just to prove to themselves that the story was made up, a dozen men gathered up their guns and headed to the log house in the late 1890's. about 100 years after it was built. They were not there long before they heard shrieks coming from the back of the cabin. It didn't take much more convincing to set them on their way. The early photo showing Dunbar's Knob is near the site of the Fulton house. The photo showing the haunted house was typical of the type of construction of 18th century log cabins. Hope to have a similar event next October. There are many interesting and documented stories out there. Chris

"John Woodruff wasn’t the household name of the politically charged 1936 Olympics. That was Jesse Owens. But the Connellsville native and Pitt track star did ma...ke his own big contribution to history in those Games. With Adolf Hitler watching, Woodruff found himself boxed in early in the 800-meter final. He quickly made the risky decision to drop to the back of the pack in search of running room, and it paid off. Woodruff charged back to the front to win gold, joining Owens among black American athletes whose victories reportedly embarrassed the Nazi dictator. To this day, Woodruff is still one of just two Pitt athletes to win Olympic gold."

Shown here is a photograph of Trotter mine which was located near Connellsville. This postcard was sent in 1907. On March of 1900 an article published by the Weekly Courier reported the death of one of two brothers who were working in the mine. Angelo Delfonzo and his brother John had arrived from Italy just two months prior. They were working in the same place when a roof collapse fell in on Angelo, killing him instantly. John escaped with just scratches. Angelo had a ...wife and children. How difficult their lives would have been. In August of 1937 violence erupted between strikers and those trying to cross the picket line. The men through stones at one another. Many were hurt. The police were brought in to quell the violence. The article about the closing of Trotter mine was published by the Daily Courier on March 25, 1938. It gives a good history of the mine. Chris

Here are the last of the Fox Hill photos taken by my husband and son. If anyone has any additional photos, please feel free to post them. I will look to see if we have anymore at the museum. Chris

Here is a photograph that is identified as "Dawson Tunnel." It's an original photograph and not a postcard. For those of you more in the know about the railroad and tunnels, perhaps you can confirm this location. Thanks, Chris

This postcard shows the South Brownsville High School. It was sent to a Miss Mabel Burchinal of Cheat Haven in 1910. For those of you unfamiliar with Cheat Haven, it is now called Lake Lynn. The change took place after the dam was constructed. Mabel was born in Smithfield in 1896 to Ross Summers and Verdia (Lowe) Burchinal. She married Charles Wise in 1914 and together they had 4 children Mabel died in 1967; Charles in 1971. The South Brownsville High School was also ...known as the Prospect Street School. It was built in 6 months following the fire that destroyed the Bridgeport School building in 1908. The engraving over the portico represents the years of existence of its predecessor, the Bridgeport School. I have posted the story about the fire several times over the years. It burned to the ground as a graduation ceremony was taking place at the Brownsville Opera House. Of course, as some of you will remember, the Brownsville Opera House was also destroyed by fire. This happened in February of 1919. Chris See more

Someone requested seeing some photos of Fox Hill from the outside. These were posted already several days ago. I will post the last of the photos I have next. Chris

Charles Hurd Howell was the second child, and son, of George and Grace Hurd Howell. He was born in Uniontown in 1891. On August 2, 1915, the Morning Herald reported the following: Being a healthy young American, with the average young American's love for the adventure, Charles Hurd Howell, aged 24, son of Attorney George D. Howell of Pittsburgh, found the life an Oxford student dull, in not boresome, and decided he would follow the majority of his classmates into the B...Continue reading

Shown here are four photos showing the same location on Market Street in Brownsville. You can see the old brick road leading up to the Nemacolin Castle on the right. The first two photos are from the Monongahela Railway Company Collection. The first dates to 1909; the second to 1930. I believe I read somewhere that this structure was once the home of an executive for the Monongahela Railway Company. Although I posted the other two photos a while back, it's instructive to compare them to the Monongahela Railway's collection. Chris

One of our readers, Martha, is looking for a photo of the Hughes Dairy Bar that was located on 119 South. If you know of a photo, please let us know. Thanks, Chris

The Fayette County Historical society would like to invite you to our ghost tour "Secrets of the Sanctum". Be ushered into the sanctum of the Abel Colley Taver...n and Museum to hear strange and curious Fayette County Tales. These macabre tales will be presented on Thursday, October 29th starting at 6:30. Small groups, socially distanced, will be led through the museum approximately every 20 minutes and the last group will begin at 8:30. Cost of the tour is $6.00 per person. Reservations for the tour are suggested and may be made by calling the Fayette Historical Society at 724-322-2690. Guests are asked to arrive at least 5 minutes prior to their scheduled departure and of course masks are required. See more

Secrets of the Sanctum One of the stories presented on Thursday, October 29th by Mark Mihalko will be a BIG FOOT story. For generations, something strange has ...roamed the backwoods of our region. This unknown entity has been seen by many but remains invisible to the masses. What is it? Who is it? Questions that have been asked by all those who frequent the Chestnut Ridge like those who experienced the following tale outside of Dunbar in the recent past. The southwestern Pennsylvania air was heavy as the oppressive May drought continued to plague the area. Eric and I ventured out in search of the legendary creature that some say inhabits Chestnut Ridge. Crack! A loud crash echoed through the forest; something was there stalking us. The aroma of death drew us into the dark cave. The musk saturates the den. Random bones litter the darkness. The uneasy feelings grew louder as we ventured deep inside. Deer, rabbit, and mountain lion remains are everywhere; some creature calls this dreary abyss home. Is it just a bear, or is it what we came for: Sasquatch? I thought. Snap! A branch crashed outside the entrance; the creature was close. We ran toward the dense thicket of pine hoping to see the beast, to force the animal into the clearing. There, we will finally have proof Bigfoot was real. Crack! Look, in the ravine lumbering away. I said. We could hear the invisible specter that haunts us; we knew he was there. At once, an odd silence cut through the tension mere seconds before the huge sandstone sarsen crashed at our feet. His message was clear: Stay Away! Whether it is the UFO/Bigfoot Flap of the 1970s or the late afternoon of this strange year, signs are all around us. Stay alert and be prepared, because he could be watching. To hear more please go to The Fayette County Historical Society website for more information.

Here are two more photos showing Fox Hill, the home built by George and Grace Hurd Howell. After the family left Uniontown in 1910, the home was occupied by Andrew Thompson, son of J.V. and Mary Anderson Thompson. As you can see the home was in the beginning stages of being dismantled. All of the architectural elements were carefully removed and then sold. The real treat here is seeing the wedding photo of the couple's youngest daughter, Julia Edwards who was born in 1903.... She is joined in the photo by her sisters, Silvia (on the left) and Frances on the right. Julie married Henry Purkitt Kidder in July of 1922. Frances married Edward H Warren and Silvia married Charles Ward Cheney. The wedding photo was found on Ancestry. These photos were taken by my husband and son. Wish they had taken some more including the third floor. In later years I believe the third floor was used as a dormitory. Chris

Here are some additional photos to Fox Hill, which once again, was a home built by Attorney George Dawson and Grace Hurd Howell. They put much love and care into the architectural elements of this estate. The newspaper clipping photo is from the Boston Globe although it was reported in many national newspapers. It dates to September 7, 1922. On the left side of the photo you will see Lieutenant G. Dawson Howell, Jr. He was a member of the MacMillan-Carnegie Institute Mag...netic Pole Expedition of July, 1921. In July of 1922, it was feared the lieutenant had died in the Arctic when he was left behind by the other explorers to monitor the magnetic data. Howell left the winter quarters of the "Bowdoin" in July on this expedition which would carry him by dog teams 500 miles through the northernmost fur post of the Hudson's Bay Company, to Lake Harbor, on the southern shore of Baffin Land. Here, according to the Globe, "he erected his own radio hoping to reach Dr. Louis H. Bauer, director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institute at Washington. The sending range was limited and after an arduous trip he reached the steamer Nascopie, which was later frozen in at Fox Chapel, but not before the youth had transferred his equipment to the Hudson Bay steamer Bayeskimo. This vessel successfully bucked the ice pack and transferred Lieutenant Howell to the Belvernon, bound for New England states ports." News reached Attorney Howell while he was at the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh that his son had survived his ordeal. Mrs. Howell and her daughter rushed to Boston to welcome him back home. Interesting to learn we had an explorer hail from Uniontown. Chris

In a previous post we talked about the mansion to the west of Oak Hill, the home of J.V. Thompson and how it was being razed. The home was built by Attorney George Dawson and Grace Hurd Howell. Their children were all born in Uniontown before the family moved to Connecticut and then to Cambridge, Massachusetts. As you can see from the windows, the Howell/Hurd family crests were beautifully set. Attorney Howell continue to practice in Pittsburgh and returned home to Union...town to visit family and friends. Mrs. Howell was from New England so perhaps they moved there to be closer to her family. The Howell family were world travelers and highly educated. More about the family will follow. Attorney Howell died from a lingering illness on May 30, 1925; Mrs. Howell passed away in 1945. She was six years younger than her husband. All of their children lived long lives. These photos were taken by my husband and son while the demolition was taking place. The windows, mantles, fixtures, etc. have all been removed and sold. So they will find new life in other homes.

I know History tells us that Braddock's tenth encampment location is at a place called Rock Fort , or Half King's Rocks , and it is two miles southward of Dunb...ar's Camp ( Knob ) , Jumonville, Pennsylvania . I have a theory that they have the name right about that location , but I believe their idea of it's location is wrong . Growing up as a Boy Scout in The Dunbar Mountains , and researching history most of my life I believe that Half King's Rocks are located near Irishtown , Pennsylvania . This Location is a few miles up the mountain from Dunbar Pa. , and is also not far from Dunbar's Camp (Knob ) , Jumonville, Pa . The Locals Call this Amazing Place Dripping Rocks , The Hog Rocks , or The Irishtown Rocks . For many years now I've been telling people that I think that The Irishtown Dripping Rocks is the real location of Half King's Rocks . * ( 5-4-2020 Dripping Rocks Update ) Enjoy these pictures because the area in and around these Rocks was recently totally destroyed by the logging industry. I couldn't take any pictures , because I was so sick when I discovered the devastation. * ( Half King's Rocks History ) The History marker for Braddock's tenth encampment text reads: "Braddock Road (Rock Fort Camp) General Braddock's tenth camp, June 26, 1755, on the march to Fort Duquesne, was at the Half King's Rock, one mile NE of here. The Rock was named for Washington's friend Tanacharisson, the Iroquois viceroy (half king) of the Ohio Indians. Washington met him here in 1754." . Actually, it was two years earlier in 1753 when Tanacharisson had accompanied a then 21 year old Washington on his expedition to Fort Le Boeuf (Erie) in an effort to convince the French not to build forts in the Ohio Country (specifically Ft. Duquesne). That mission failed. The next year, Washington was on a scouting party when Tanacharisson sent word that a French party was planning on attacking him. Washington's troops attacked first, slaughtering the French when they were just waking to have breakfast. The wounded and captured French Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville had his head bashed in by Tanacharisson. Afterwards, Washington's troops had to retreat, hastily building Ft. Necessity and eventually being defeated by the enraged French. When Washington returned with Braddock's army in 1755, he knew the terrain well. This was Braddock's tenth camp on his march to attack Fort Duquesne. The massive rocks afforded safety to the encamped troops and the nearby spring, now called Washington's Spring, provided water. Washington Springs was an encampment site of Washington's troops. An Old Postcard ( In The Comment Section of this picture file reads: "Washington Springs Near the Half King's Rocks, and about two miles south of Jumonville in Washington Springs. Washington Springs were once owned by Thomas Faucet, who some Historians claim was the slayer of General Braddock." This marker is Located on: U.S. 40 ca. 6 miles SE of Uniontown near The Summit Hotel, also known as the Summit Inn Resort . On June 27, 1755 Braddock marched from Fort Rock to Gist's Plantation, passing nearby the scene of Jumonville's defeat and to the east of Dunbar's Knob. * ( HALF KING ) Tanacharison or Tanaghrisson (c. 1700 4 October 1754) was an American Indian leader who played a pivotal role in the beginning of the French and Indian War. He was known to European-Americans as the Half King, a title also used to describe several other historically important American Indian leaders. Little is known of Tanacharison's early life. He may have been born into the Catawba tribe about 1700 near what is now Buffalo, New York. As a child, he was taken captive by the French and later adopted into the Seneca tribe, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. He would later claim that the French boiled and ate his father. His early years were spent on the southeastern shore of Lake Erie in what is now western New York state. Tanacharison first appears in historical records in 1747, living in Logstown (near present Ambridge, Pennsylvania), a multi-ethnic village about 20 miles (30 kilometers) downstream from the forks of the Ohio River. Those Iroquois who had migrated to the Ohio Country were generally known as "Mingos", and Tanacharison emerged as a Mingo leader at this time. He also represented the Six Nations at the 1752 Treaty of Logstown, where he was referred to as "Thonariss, called by the English the half King". At this treaty, he speaks on behalf of the Six Nations' Grand Council, but also makes clear that the Council's ratification was required, in accordance with the Iroquois system of government. According to the traditional interpretation, the Grand Council had named Tanacharison as leader or "half-king" (a sort of viceroy) to conduct diplomacy with other tribes, and to act as spokesman to the British on their behalf. However, some modern historians have doubted this interpretation, asserting that Tanacharison was merely a village leader, whose actual authority extended no further than his own village. In this view, the title "half king" was probably a British invention, and his "subsequent lofty historical role as a Six Nations 'regent' or 'viceroy' in the Ohio Country was the product of later generations of scholars."[ In 1753, the French began the military occupation of the Ohio Country, driving out British traders and constructing a series of forts. British colonies, however, also claimed the Ohio Country. Robert Dinwiddie, the lieutenant governor of Virginia, sent a young George Washington to travel to the French outposts and demand that the French vacate the Ohio Country. On his journey, Washington's party stopped at Logstown to ask Tanacharison to accompany them as a guide and as a "spokesman" for the Ohio Indians. Tanacharison agreed to return the symbolic wampum he had received from French captain Philippe de Joincaire. Joincaire's first reaction, on learning of this double cross, was to mutter of Tanacharison, "He is more English than the English." But Joincaire masked his anger and insisted that Tanacharison join him in a series of toasts. By the time the keg was empty, Tanacharison was too drunk to hand back the wampum. Tanacharison traveled with Washington to meet with the French commander of Fort Le Boeuf in what is now Waterford, Pennsylvania. The French refused to vacate, however, and to Washington's great consternation, they tried to court Tanacharison as an ally. Although fond of their brandy, he remained a strong francophobe. Tanacharison had requested that the British construct a "strong house" at the Forks of the Ohio and early in 1754 he placed the first log of an Ohio Company stockade there, railing against the French when they captured it. He was camped at Half King's Rock on May 27, 1754 when he learned of a nearby French encampment and sent word urging an attack to Washington at the Great Meadows, about five miles (8 km) east of Chestnut Ridge in what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania (near Uniontown). Washington immediately ordered 40 men to join Tanacharison and at sunset followed with a second group, seven of whom got lost in heavy rain that night. It was dawn before Washington reached the Half King's Rock. After a hurried war council, the English and Tanacharison's eight or nine warriors set off to surround and attack the French, who quickly surrendered. The French commander, Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, was among the wounded. With the French words, "Tu n'es pas encore mort, mon père!" (Thou art not yet dead, my father), Tancharison sank his tomahawk in Jumonville's skull, washed his hands with the brains, "and scalped him" but not before eating a portion of Jumonvilles brain. Only one of the wounded French soldiers was not killed and scalped among a total of ten dead, 21 captured, and one missing, a man named Monceau who had wandered off to relieve himself that morning. Monceau witnessed the French surrender before walking barefoot to the Monongahela River and paddling down it to report to Contrecoeur, commanding at Fort Duquesne. Tanacharison sent a messenger to Contrecoeur the following day with news that the British had shot Jumonville and but for the Indians would have killed all the French. A third and accurate account of the Jumonville Glen encounter was told to Jumonville's half-brother, Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, by a deserter at the mouth of Redstone Creek during his expedition to avenge his brother's murder. Washington was without Indian allies at the battle of Fort Necessity, his hastily erected stockade at the Great Meadows. Tanacharison scornfully called it "that little thing upon the meadow" and complained that Washington would not listen to advice and treated the Indians like slaves. He and another Seneca leader, Queen Aliquippa, had taken their people to Wills Creek. Outnumbered and with supplies running low, Washington surrendered the fort, later blaming Captains George Croghan and Andrew Montour for "involving the country in great calamity". Tanacharison was "one of the sachems who had confirmed Croghan in his land grant of 1749" (Wainwright, 49), 200,000 acres minus about two square miles at the Forks of the Ohio for a British Fort. Thomas Penn and Pennsylvania planned to build a stone fort, but Croghan realized that his deeds would be invalid if in Pennsylvania and had Andrew Montour testify before the Assembly in 1751 that the Indians did not want the fort, that it was all Croghan's idea, scuttling the project. In 1752 Croghan was on the Indian council that granted Virginia's Ohio Company permission to build the fort. Tanacharison's introduction of Croghan to the Virginia commissioners is further evidence that Croghan organized and led the 1748 Ohio Indian Confederation that Pennsylvania recognized as independent of the Six Nations and appointed Croghan as the colony's representative in negotiations: Brethren, it is a great while since our brother, the Buck (meaning Mr. George Croghan)has been doing business between us, & our brother of Pennsylvania, but we understand he does not intend to do any more, so I now inform you that he is approv'd of by our Council at Onondago, for we sent to them to let them know how he has helped us in our councils here and to let you & him know that he is one of our people and shall help us still & be one of our council, I deliver him this string of wampum. The Ohio Company fort was surrendered to the French by Croghan's half-brother, Edward Ward, and commanded by his business partner, William Trent, but Croghan's central role in these events remains suppressed, as he himself was in 1777, when Pittsburgh's president judge, Committee of Safety chairman, and person keeping the Ohio Indians pacificed since Pontiac's Rebellion was declared a traitor by General Edward Hand and exiled from the frontier. It was to Croghan's Aughwick plantation that Tanacharison and Queen Aliquippa took their people in 1754 where the old queen died and Tanacharison became seriously ill and was taken to John Harris. Tanacharison moved his people east to the Aughwick Valley near present Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. He would take no active part in the remainder of the war. He died of pneumonia on October 4, 1754 on the farm of John Harris at Paxtang, Pennsylvania (near present-day Harrisburg, Pennsylvania). See more