Ann Swanson

A friend lent me a book that his daughter found when she was cleaning at his house. It has some history of Warren County as well as some of Pine Grove Township. I read the text and viewed the many maps and photographs. It was a great read. The book was the “Atlas of Warren County Pennsylvania 1878” by Howden and Odbers reprinted in 1992.

This book was purchased by Ruth and Cliff Lundgren former residents of this area. Ruth was a sister to my aunt Diedra Andersen. That is how the book got to Russell.

On March 4, 1861 Charles the Second granted a charter for the province of Pennsylvania to William Penn. The first government was formed on April 25, 1682. There have been four constitutions with the last one placed into being on November 3, 1873.

Pennsylvania is called the “Keystone State” by virtue of the fact that six of the original thirteen states border this state.

In an historical sketch of Warren County provided by the Honorable S.P. Johnson it states that on September 24, 1788 Allegheny County was created. On March 12, 1800 that county and most of Lycoming County were divided into the counties of Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Venango, Warren, and Armstrong counties.

Warren County was named for a “distinguished patriot who fell at the battle of Bunker Hill”, Joseph Warren. Warren County contains 8000 acres of land.

In 1794 land was purchased by the Holland Land Co. and George Mead. In 1795 General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott were appointed to survey and lay out the town of Warren.

Around 1800 pioneers created settlements throughout the county for agricultural purposes. John Gilson, James Morrison, and Martin Reese occupied the river flats adjoining Warren; Joseph March and Robert Russell settled what is now Farmington Township’; The Morrison, English, and Marsh families took over the Kinzua flats twelve miles north of Warren; Robert Miles, John Barr, John Dickinson, the Hood, and Stewart families settled the lands of Sugar Grove; Daniel Horn and Abram Davis settled what is now Columbus. Lower in the county James White, Andrew Evers, Robert Andres, Joseph and Darius Mead, and Daniel McQuay cleared land for farming just outside of Youngsville. Matthew Young gave his name to Youngsville. General C. Irvine owned a farm in the flats that has remained in the possession of the family ever since.

The earliest settler of Warren County was Gy-ont-wa-chia, John O’Bail who was known as “Cornplanter”. He was the chief of the Seneca tribe of Indians. As a contemporary of George Washington, he fought on the side of the French during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution he fought on the side of the British. When he was deserted by the British he felt it was in his people’s best interest to become friendly with the settlers. He signed the treaty ceding land to the U. S.

Pine lumber was produced in this area and shipped by barge down the Conewango and Brokenstraw. With the land cleared it was ripe for agriculture. The first permanent settlement in Warren County was made in 1790 by Robert Miles, John Russell, John and Hugh Marsh, and John Frew. The first elementary school was established in a home in 1816 in what at that time was called Russellberg.

The Town Hall in Russell was built in 1907 and it was used for more than a century.

This past summer (2017) the steel bridge over the Conewango was replaced. It had stood since 1937 when it replaced the covered bridge in Russell. We have a short movie showing my husband’s grandfather, Theodore Peterson, dismantling the covered bridge. He wrote a poem about this bridge which many family members will remember.

A history of Pine Grove Township was done during the bicentennial. This history lists a variety of businesses in the township from the early 1800s to 1994. Some of these businesses were beauty parlors, flower shops, gas stations, plumbers, antique businesses, dairies, a pet store, a yarn shop, restaurants, saw sharpening, an automotive recycling shop, golf courses, radio stations, a log trucking business, a bat factory, video stores, and a machining business. A veterinary hospital was built in 1994. Russell was a thriving community with all of those businesses.

Hickory Heights was listed as a century home with the first deed recorded in 1854. Although the home has had numerous owners, it has been in the Swanson family since 1970. We found the name of the property in a wedding write up from a neighbor’s scrapbook. When we were renovating it, we found two boards with the name of a carpenter and a date of 1908. Part of the porch was added to the kitchen at that time. I have these boards and treasure them. My husband added a board with our names and it is buried in one of the walls.

One year we entertained the daughter of the bride that was married in our yard. The family brought along photographs of the house at the time and the wedding. I created a collage of pictures including a photo of when we bought it and another of what it has become.

The last portion of this information comes from “A History of Pine Grove Township 1995”. This book was published during the bicentennial with help from citizens who researched the records.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, PA. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.