Women Pioneers Raft French Creek and Settle in Union Township
Women Crossing the Plains in covered wagons weren’t the only brave pioneer women. A small army of women floated with their husbands and brothers down the Allegheny River and French Creek to build homes in the thick forests of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Matthew and Betty Gray Arrive In Union Township
The wilderness of Union Township in Northwestern Pennsylvania about twenty miles from Lake Erie, was almost impossible to travel through in 1797. The trees grew so thickly together that very little sunlight filtered through their branches and gloomy shadows lay around the cabin.
Matthew and his family had brought only as much of their goods as their horse could carry. The remainder would be floated down the Allegheny River by raft and then from the river to the South Branch of French Creek as far as it was navigable. From there, they would be transported by horseback.
Betty Gray Had the Inner Strength to Make a Home in the Wilderness
The entire family was tired after the long trip. Matthew had deep lines in his face which made him look older than his 35 years.
Elizabeth Gray or Betty, as Matthew called her, was not considered a pretty woman. Her hair was a mousy shade between brunette and blonde and she had a large mole on her chin and another on her cheek bone. Her inner strength shone in her face and she radiated kindness and serenity. She knew that her three children William, Francis B., and Eleanor, were tired. It had been a long trip.
Rachel, Matthew’s sister, had come with the Grays too. She was slender and delicate and didn’t look as though she could withstand the rigorous pioneer life. Joseph Lane, Matthew’s apprenticed boy, had also accompanied the Grays.
The Grays Occupy Their Cabin
Working swiftly against the approaching night, the family unloaded the horses, tied a bell around the neck of one of them and turned them loose to graze the wild grass. After they had unpacked their few belongings and arranged them in the cabin, Mathew dedicated their new home to God.
The Matthew Grays weren’t the only new settlers in the Union Township wilderness in 1797. Other families were coming into the area during this summer and building cabins at long intervals through the forest. Andrew Thompson and his family built their cabin about a mile and a half west of the Grays and Hugh Wilsons settled about two miles southeast of the Grays.
Hugh Wilson Works to Build His Hannah a House
Matthew Gray and his family didn’t see much of Hugh, though Twenty-four-year-old Hugh had left his wife back in Centre County, Ireland, and came to the Union Township wildness to build a home for her. All during that summer, fall, and winter of 1797, he worked hard all day and spent the long dark nights in his cabin alone. Since he was 5’10” tall and weighed over 200 pounds, few men dared attack him. For added insurance, he always carried a loaded rifle.
People often asked Hugh to demonstrate his strength at public gatherings. He complied by taking a barrel full of whiskey and raising it on his chest. Then he turned it up and took a drink out of it, all of the time standing up straight.
Hugh Writes His Father and Mother About His New Home
Hugh wrote his father and mother in Ireland, describing the beautiful virgin country where he had settled. He told them that a man could secure title to 200 acres of land by living on it and making improvements. He added that there was an unlimited supply of timber and the woods were full of game without the obstacles of game law or landlords.
John Wilson, Hugh’s father, was very interested in his son’s letters. At the time, he lived on a 15 acre farm and paid 20 English shillings rent per acre. Also he had to give a tenth of all his crops to the established church and pay additional taxes.
The Earl of Londondary, his landlord, added a larger burden to John’s livelihood. The Earl was enlarging his park and thinking of taking the place where the Wilsons lived. Even if he didn’t take their home, he would surely raise their rent.
John Wilson and His Wife and Daughters Come to Union Township
John Wilson had to make some painful decisions and John Wilson decided. He brought his wife, his two unmarried daughters and all of his worldly possessions to America. Hugh met them all at Pittsburgh and guided them through the woods to his cabin in Union Township.
John and his family were awed by the endless expanse of trees and snarls of thick underbrush. They arrived safely in Union Township and John built a cabin. He caught game from the forest every day and decided that life in this rough country was worth all of the effort it took to live.
Hugh Wilson's Wife and Daughter Arrive
The summer of 1798 was an exciting one for Hugh Wilson, because his wife Hannah, and their daughter, Elizabeth, who was only a few weeks old, arrived at the cabin that Hugh had built for them. Nathaniel Frompton, Hannah’s father, escorted Hannah and Elizabeth through the wilds to Hugh.
Hannah Wilson was fair, healthy robust, and experienced in pioneering because her father had been a pionner since her childhood. She was always ready to pitch in and do her share of the work.
Matthew and Betty Gray Have Neighbors!
Besides the Wilsons, John Richards and his grown family settled on the north side of French Creek and Jacob Shepard, a bachelor, settled with his widowed mother and two unmarried sisters two miles south of the Grays.
Even though the cabins were several miles apart, the Matthew Grays of Union City had neighbors.
References
Bates, Samuel P., History of Erie County Pennsylvania, 1884.
Nelson, S.B.. Nelson’s Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania, 1896.
Whitman, Benjamin, History of Erie County Pennsylvania, Warner-Beers & Company, 1884.
Wilson, David, History of Union Township, 1800.
Matthew and Betty Gray Arrive In Union Township
The wilderness of Union Township in Northwestern Pennsylvania about twenty miles from Lake Erie, was almost impossible to travel through in 1797. The trees grew so thickly together that very little sunlight filtered through their branches and gloomy shadows lay around the cabin.
Matthew and his family had brought only as much of their goods as their horse could carry. The remainder would be floated down the Allegheny River by raft and then from the river to the South Branch of French Creek as far as it was navigable. From there, they would be transported by horseback.
Betty Gray Had the Inner Strength to Make a Home in the Wilderness
The entire family was tired after the long trip. Matthew had deep lines in his face which made him look older than his 35 years.
Elizabeth Gray or Betty, as Matthew called her, was not considered a pretty woman. Her hair was a mousy shade between brunette and blonde and she had a large mole on her chin and another on her cheek bone. Her inner strength shone in her face and she radiated kindness and serenity. She knew that her three children William, Francis B., and Eleanor, were tired. It had been a long trip.
Rachel, Matthew’s sister, had come with the Grays too. She was slender and delicate and didn’t look as though she could withstand the rigorous pioneer life. Joseph Lane, Matthew’s apprenticed boy, had also accompanied the Grays.
The Grays Occupy Their Cabin
Working swiftly against the approaching night, the family unloaded the horses, tied a bell around the neck of one of them and turned them loose to graze the wild grass. After they had unpacked their few belongings and arranged them in the cabin, Mathew dedicated their new home to God.
The Matthew Grays weren’t the only new settlers in the Union Township wilderness in 1797. Other families were coming into the area during this summer and building cabins at long intervals through the forest. Andrew Thompson and his family built their cabin about a mile and a half west of the Grays and Hugh Wilsons settled about two miles southeast of the Grays.
Hugh Wilson Works to Build His Hannah a House
Matthew Gray and his family didn’t see much of Hugh, though Twenty-four-year-old Hugh had left his wife back in Centre County, Ireland, and came to the Union Township wildness to build a home for her. All during that summer, fall, and winter of 1797, he worked hard all day and spent the long dark nights in his cabin alone. Since he was 5’10” tall and weighed over 200 pounds, few men dared attack him. For added insurance, he always carried a loaded rifle.
People often asked Hugh to demonstrate his strength at public gatherings. He complied by taking a barrel full of whiskey and raising it on his chest. Then he turned it up and took a drink out of it, all of the time standing up straight.
Hugh Writes His Father and Mother About His New Home
Hugh wrote his father and mother in Ireland, describing the beautiful virgin country where he had settled. He told them that a man could secure title to 200 acres of land by living on it and making improvements. He added that there was an unlimited supply of timber and the woods were full of game without the obstacles of game law or landlords.
John Wilson, Hugh’s father, was very interested in his son’s letters. At the time, he lived on a 15 acre farm and paid 20 English shillings rent per acre. Also he had to give a tenth of all his crops to the established church and pay additional taxes.
The Earl of Londondary, his landlord, added a larger burden to John’s livelihood. The Earl was enlarging his park and thinking of taking the place where the Wilsons lived. Even if he didn’t take their home, he would surely raise their rent.
John Wilson and His Wife and Daughters Come to Union Township
John Wilson had to make some painful decisions and John Wilson decided. He brought his wife, his two unmarried daughters and all of his worldly possessions to America. Hugh met them all at Pittsburgh and guided them through the woods to his cabin in Union Township.
John and his family were awed by the endless expanse of trees and snarls of thick underbrush. They arrived safely in Union Township and John built a cabin. He caught game from the forest every day and decided that life in this rough country was worth all of the effort it took to live.
Hugh Wilson's Wife and Daughter Arrive
The summer of 1798 was an exciting one for Hugh Wilson, because his wife Hannah, and their daughter, Elizabeth, who was only a few weeks old, arrived at the cabin that Hugh had built for them. Nathaniel Frompton, Hannah’s father, escorted Hannah and Elizabeth through the wilds to Hugh.
Hannah Wilson was fair, healthy robust, and experienced in pioneering because her father had been a pionner since her childhood. She was always ready to pitch in and do her share of the work.
Matthew and Betty Gray Have Neighbors!
Besides the Wilsons, John Richards and his grown family settled on the north side of French Creek and Jacob Shepard, a bachelor, settled with his widowed mother and two unmarried sisters two miles south of the Grays.
Even though the cabins were several miles apart, the Matthew Grays of Union City had neighbors.
References
Bates, Samuel P., History of Erie County Pennsylvania, 1884.
Nelson, S.B.. Nelson’s Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania, 1896.
Whitman, Benjamin, History of Erie County Pennsylvania, Warner-Beers & Company, 1884.
Wilson, David, History of Union Township, 1800.