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Miscellaneous Newspaper Articles From the
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| The Centinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
October 14, 1807 Pittsburgh, September 29 William B. Irish, Esq., the deputy marshal, left this town early last week to execute writs of possession, if favor of the Pennsylvania Population Company for lands recovered in the District Court of the United States from certain actual settlers in Beaver county. With this intension he left Greensburg on Wednesday last, accompanied by E. Williams, Esq., agent of said company, George Holdship, Esq., and a Mr. Hamilton; they had not proceeded more than two miles and were just entering on the farm of Wm. Foulks, one of the persons to be dispossessed, when they were fired on, by some persons concealed in a thicket of bushes, and James Hamilton was killed. It is said four guns were fired, no doubt with the intention of killing the whole party, as threats to that effect had been made. We are told that information had been given to the Marshal, that a party of 40 men had collected at Foulk's, in order to prevent him from performing his duty. The marshal considered this a mere threat to intimidate him from proceeding, and could not think it possible that any men would so far forget their duty as citizens as to oppose the laws of their country with force of arms, and bring inevitable destruction on themselves and families. The marshal and the other two gentlemen returned to Greensburgh, and made depositions of the fact. At the request of the marshal an attempt was made by the sheriff, and other influential characters, to raise the posse comitatus, to apprehend the suspected persons, and enable the marshal to do his duty, but without effect, and the marshal returned to this place on Thursday evening. Mr. Irish has favored us with the deposition he made of the occasion. Allegheny County, On the 25th day of September 1807, before me E. Denny, a Justice of the Peace in and for the county of Allegheny, personally appeared William B. Irish, deputy marshal in the Pennsylvania district, who being duly sworn according to law, on his solemn oath doth depose and say, that on Wednesday about 10 o'clock, the 23d inst., being in company with Ennion Williams, George Holdship, Esq. and James Hamilton, on their way to the place in William Foulks, in Beaver county, to execute a writ of haberi facias possessionsm in the case of Robert Bowne against William Foulk, they were fired upon at the entrance of said Foulks land by persons concealed in a thicket of bushes by the road side. This deponent heard three if not four reports of guns, directly after this deponent heard James Hamilton call to him, saying Sheriff I am gone, and instantly he fell from his horse to the ground. This deponent got off his horse and called to his other two companions that Hamilton was killed, they then rode up to the place but did not light down - said deponent then raised Hamilton to his feet, and in a minute or two he expired; said deponent then laid Hamilton down on his back, put his hat over his face, got on horseback, and rode back in company with his surviving companions with all speed to Greensburg, and made oath of the fact before John Johnston, Esq., of Beaver County. [Donated by Nancy Piper] | |
| The Centinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
October 21, 1807 Pittsburg, October 13 A few days after James Hamilton was murdered at William Foulk's farm, as mentioned in the Gazette of the 29th ult., a young man of the name of Nathaniel Aitken was apprehended as being concerning in the murder, and after examination committed to jail of Beaver county for trial. On Saturday night, the 3d inst., about nine o'clock, an armed party consisting of eight or nine men, came to the jail, two of them entered it, and presented a cocked gun at the breast of the jailor, commanded him to open the door of the room in which Aitken was confined, and set him at liberty, swearing that if he refused they would put him to death, also threatened to kill his wife if he made the least noise. The jailor, intimidated by their threats, opened the door, the prisoner escaped, and has not since been heard of. The following letter has been received by Mr. Fowler, a relation of the young woman who gave a testimony against Aitken. Mr. Fowler, Sir, Send immediately away that informant from your house, or immediate and complete devastation will come on your property and person, send her out of the country; the secret band is too numerous and bloody to let you harbour her many days longer. Aikens appears to be made guilty. I am your friend and have got a hint of the plot against you; nothing can save you but clearing her out; so as you may I have warned you of your danger; I am clear of what may come on you by the blood stained hands of the new reared Mohawks and Shawakese Indians; thy friends adds no more but remains. Tom the Tinker. Immediately underneath the signature the figures of two guns laid across each other. The Governor, having received information of the unhappy occurrence in Beaver county, as stated in our last, has issued a proclamation, from which the following is an extract: The Governor, having received information of the unhappy occurrence in Beaver county, as stated in our last, has issued a proclamation, from which the following is an extract; "I do hereby offer a reward of 500 dollars to any person or persons who shall apprehend, secure, and bring to conviction the person who murdered the aforesaid James Hamilton, and 250 dollars for every of the accessories, before and after the fact; and also a free and full pardon to the person who shall first communicte the name of the person who committed the cruel and horrid crime, so that he brought to trial." [Donated by Nancy Piper] | |
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The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Pittsburgh, Dec 19 Explosion – On Tuesday night last, about nine
o’clock, one of the steam boilers of the Union Rolling Mill, (iron works,)
at the eastern extremity of this city, on the Monongahela River, burst,
with a tremendous explosion, shot off through the air at an angle of about
45 degrees with the horizon, and describing a beautiful arch, fell into
the river nearly two hundred years from the works. The furnace in which the four boilers were situated, being without the wall of the main building, under a slight shed, and the exploding boiler taking a direction outward from the works, no other injury was sustained than the present loss of the boiler itself, and the displacing of its three companions, which it threw entirely out of their bed and beyond the floor on which it was erected. [Donated by Nancy Piper] | |
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