Misc. Notes
General source indicates her birth year as 1795.
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As a matter of information and an illustration of the difficulties that had to be overcome by the pioneers of civilization in Clearfield County, the following was taken from Blazing a Trail Through the Wilderness, p. 29, by Mrs. Margaret Caldwell, written about 1873, when she was 80 years old, in plain and beautiful penmanship.
Margaret's father was Benjamin HARTSHORN. (Margaret Caldwell is the daughter of Benjamin Hartshorn, to whom she refers as 'father.')
"In October, 1806, my father sold his improvements in Centre County and, with his family, started along the old Indian Trail in the direction of Clearfield County. All went well until we reached Five Mile Creek, when one of the wheels of the wagon broke and father had to take it all the way to Philipsburg to get it mended. This required two days and two nights.
The first night we lodged by the wagon, made a log fire, spread out blankets on the ground and slept securely until morning. The second night was spent in a log cabin which we discovered some distance away. The next morning father arrived with the wheel and we proceeded on our journey, arriving at Clearfield Creek, where David Litz had made a clearing and built a cabin. That night it poured the rain down and the next morning the creek was flooded so that we had to remain there another day and night.
Robert Askey met us and assisted us in driving the oxen. After crossing the creek we came to Hog Back Run and stopped at Askey's all night. The next day father and Askey blazed away through the forest in the direction of the land on which we expected to settle. The next day was the Sabbath and we were called upon by Paul Clover and wife, who were then living at the place where Alexander Irwin now lives.
On Monday we moved into the woods where Jonathan Hartshorn now owns and lives. There was no cabin or the sign of one when we arrived at our destination. The first thing that father and Mr. Askey did was to cut forks and poles and make a frame between two immense pine trees. Then they covered it with spruce brush and under this we slept for two weeks. During that time it rained and snowed, with terrible storms of lightning, thunder and wind.
What few settlers there were in the vicinity at that time got together and helped raise our log cabin and place the clapboards in position on the roof. As soon as the hole for the door was cut in the logs forming the side of the house, we moved in. We had no school. I, being the eldest, had learned to read and write.
Father died March 2, 1821, leaving his farm and tannery in the hands of Jonathan and William. Mother lived on the old homestead for a number of years. She lived for a while in Curwensville and when she died, 1865, she was at the home of sister Anna and her husband, Robert Ross, in Pike Township."
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See same narrative at this source, with the following introductory paragraph:
As a matter of information, and an illustration of the difficulties that had to be met and overcome by the pioneers of civilization in this township, the following extracts from a paper written by Mrs. Margaret Caldwell, wife of Hon. Alexander Caldwell, who was the eldest daughter of Benjamin Hartshorn, is given. This paper is now in possession of Mrs. Thomas Fleming, of Curwensville, who is her daughter. It was written when Mrs. Alexander was past 80 years of age, yet the writer had but rarely seen plainer or more beautiful penmanship.
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A Brig. General W. Ross Hartshorne was the highest ranking officer in Clearfield County. It appears from the writing on a photo at this source that he is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Curwensville, PA.
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A seventy-five year old Benjamin Hartshorn (b. abt 1835) is listed as the head of household with two servants in the 1910 census, living in Curwensville, PA.
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