Newspapers: Dougle McArtney (Dougal McCartney) Grave, Altoona, Blair, PA

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Altoona Mirror, Wednesday January 22, 1958, James Schaffer, staff writer 

ALTOONA'S FIRST CITIZEN LIES IN NEGLECTED GRAVE

In a neglected, thorn bush-infested graveyard in Pleasant Valley lies all that 
was mortal remains of Altoona's first citizen Dougle McCartney, then spelled 
McArtney.  McCartney's claim to being the first citizen of Altoona can be 
readily proven by the fact that just before the year 1795 he moved with his 
family to the site of the present Cricket field, built a log cabin and began 
clearing the surrounding forests for a farm.  It can be further proven by the 
fact that his name appears on the tax records of Huntingdon county in 1810 as 
having made an improvement on the land upon which he settled.  McCartney had a 
life story which reads like an adventure tale.  He was born in Edinburgh, 
Scotland, in 1756 and at the age of 21 was taken from his bed at his home by a 
British "press gang." an early and effective form of conscription into the army, 
and was told to dress.  He was taken from his home that night and sent to a 
British seaport where he was transported to New York. with a group of other 
conscripts.  At New York they were placed in the ranks of the British army and 
sent south of the Potomac river. McCartney later stated, as recorded in J. N. 
Tillard's "Pen Pictures of Friends,"  that he didn't mind fighting but that he 
wanted to choose the side on which he fought. McCartney and a man named Benjamin 
[Paul] Frazier deserted the British army, swam across the Potomac river while 
under fire from British sentinels, then made their way north to Washington's 
camp at Valley Forge where they offered their service to the general.  
Washington explained that if they enlisted and were captured by the British, 
they would be hanged.  Washington was reluctant to turn away any recruits, so he 
suggested they go westward and offer their services to officers of the various 
ranger companies then doing service on the frontier. This suggestion the men 
took readily and they walked westward until they came to Franklin county, where 
they were accepted as members of ranging companies. It was in Franklin county 
that Dougle married, with his first son, John McCartney,  being born there July 
4, 1786 [1888]. Following the war Dougle decided to move into Huntingdon county, 
which from reports he had received hundreds of acres for settlement.   Making 
his way to Allegheny township in Huntingdon county, McCartney built a cabin in 
almost the exact center of the present Cricket field site.  Here he remained for 
a number of years, then moved into the region at the foot of Juanita Gap, which 
will later be known as McCartneyville and finally Fairview.  While in this area 
McCartney became acquainted with Thomas Coleman, Indian fighter, and from 
recollections of his grandson, Douglas [Dougle] McCartney as told to J. N. 
Tillard, McCartney and Coleman became close friends, roaming the mountains 
surrounding Altoona in search of wild game. Dougle McCartney, patriot, frontier 
ranger and farmer died August 22, 1822 and was buried in what has been known 
variously as the Hileman, Hartsock and Oak Hill cemetery, located just southeast 
of the old Pleasant Valley road at Ninetieth street.  Other early pioneers 
buried in the cemetery are members of the Hartsock, McDowell, Rev. Silas A 
Fisher, early circuit rider and Crissman (sawmill operator) families.

From the Altoona Mirror March 8, 1971 By James Shafer Headline Dates to 1790's 
FATE OF PIONEER BURIAL GROUNDS IS UNDECIDED

Bulldozers and backhoes have been slowly cutting away the boundaries of the 
oldest cemetery within the city limits.  The machines have brought the area on 
both sides of the old cemetery down to the level of the Valley View Boulevard in 
the vicinity of Twenty-second street. The cemetery know as Black Oak or Hartsock 
Cemetery dates back to 1791 when the first settlers began erecting their homes 
along the old Pleasant Valley Boulevard in the area between Eighth and Fifteenth 
Streets.  This road was part of the old Indian trail from  Frankstown to Big 
Island, now Lock Haven. Among the settlers were men who not only fought the 
Indians but the British, as well.   According to an old chart in the possession 
of the district office of the State Department of Transportation, there are 
approximately 150 people buried in the old cemetery, prominent among whom are 
the Colemans, McArtneys (now spelled McCartney), Crissmans, Walkers, McGlatherys 
and McDowells. Thomas Coleman, the Indian fighter, was buried here when he died 
in Pleasant Valley in 1844, as was Dougle McArtney, a close friend of Coleman's 
and also a veteran of the Revolution. Dougle McArtney was brought to this 
country as a servant to a British officer.  He deserted the British in company 
of another youth named Fraser.  The two made their way to Washington's 
headquarters and offered their services to the American forces.     Both were 
sent to the western frontier so that if they were captured it could not be 
ascertained that they were deserters from the British. Coleman in later life 
settled in Pleasant Valley near what is now Fifteenth Street, while McArtney 
built his cabin on what is now the Acme Store area at Chestnut Avenue and 
Seventh Street. Later McArtney moved to Pleasant Valley with his family and it 
was here that he died June 14, 1822, and was buried the same day in the Black 
Oak Cemetery. Vandals have broken the headstone which covered McArtney's grave, 
but the inscription on the stone is clearly legible: MEMORY OF DOUGLE McARTNEY, 
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE JUNE 14, 1822, 66 YEARS.   Coleman's body was removed 
from the cemetery when Grandview Cemetery was opened and interred in the 
soldiers circle.   Another veteran of the Revolution who, according to the 
cemetery plot, is buried  near McArtney was James Gray Sr., a member of 
Washington's army during the memorable winter at Valley Forge. The cemetery lies 
in the path of the proposed access road to new Route 220 and it is not know what 
plans Penn DOT has in regard to moving the cemetery, but it should be included 
in those plans to prepare a suitable memorial to those pioneers of Blair County 
and to those who served in the Revolution.