Photo courtesy of findagrave.com Pictured is the headstone of Levi Erastus Akeley Jr. located in Pine Grove Cemetery in Russell. Akeley was born Jan. 31, 1827 and died Oct. 13, 1894

If you had an extended family in an area in the 1800s you had fairly good odds that a town or village might be named after you. Such was the case in Akeley.

According to research done by the late Ernest C. Miller, the crossroads at Akeley got its name from Levi Akeley, Jr., who settled there after his father and mother came from Brattleboro, Vermont in 1828. The family originally settled on the east side of Conewango Creek, opposite Russell. The land was owned by the elder Levi’s older brother, Joseph, who arrived in 1815 and purchased 600 acres of land.

Levi Akeley was born on June 30, 1791. He died on April 12, 1844, at the age of 52 following an accident at his sawmill. He is buried in Russell.

Levi Akeley Jr. was born on Jan. 31, 1827, around the time of his family’s arrival in the area. He died on Oct. 13, 1894, at the age of 67. He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.

While Joseph Akeley spelled his name as Akeley there was a period of years that some of the family spelled it Ackley. The post office was Ackley Station from 1878 to 1904. It was then changed to Akeley.

Many more relatives followed Joseph to the area. His acreage ran from the east side of the creek and up Akeley Run. Joseph raised a large family and left the land to his children. More than 300 descendants came from the original pioneer of the family, according to History of Warren County.

A few years after Joseph’s arrival members of the Briggs family arrived, also from Vermont. The two families made up the majority of the population in the area at the time. At the time some called it “Briggs Akeley” town. When the Briggs-Akeley reunion was held annually in French’s Grove, across the creek, the town almost became depopulated

Ferncliff was a relatively large park and hosted folks from both Warren and the Jamestown. It was the perfect location for the large families to gather. Historical records show that the Akeley/Briggs family reunions honoring Frances Akeley, who was killed in the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, were held at Ferncliff from 1913 to 1924 and in 1934 and 1935.

Akeley is located east of Lander near the intersection of routes 62 and 957 in Pine Grove Township.

Akeley Swamp consists of 365 acres of mostly level wetlands along Conewango Creek, just south of the New York/Pennsylvania border in Pine Grove Township. Two abandoned railroad grades are maintained as good walking trails. Akeley Swamp adjoins the Mahaffey Wetlands Conservation Area, a 40-acre parcel owned by the Northern Allegheny Conservation Association.