BIO: Benjamin HARTSHORN, Clearfield County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Sally Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/ NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/swoope/swoope.htm _____________________________________________________________ From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr., Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, pages 818 - 820. _____________________________________________________________ BENJAMIN HARTSHORN, one of Pike township's representative and substantial citizens, residing two miles north of Curwensville, Clearfield county, Pa., where he owns 600 acres of valuable land, was born on this farm, November 28, 1833. He is a son of Jonathan and a grandson of Benjamin Hartshorn. Grandfather Benjamin Hartshorn was born in Cecil county, Md. He came to Clearfield county, with his family when all this section included in Pike township, then Huntingdon county, was almost a wilderness. He was a squatter settler, laying claim to 500 acres of new land, the present farm being a part of that claim. He built his log cabin on what is now the McNaul farm, choosing his home near one of the finest springs in the county. It is related that bears were frequent visitors to the neighborhood and after they had stolen the milk crocks that had been placed on poles near the spring, as was the early custom, Mr. Hartshorn built a bear trap and subsequently had the satisfaction of filling up the larder with bear meat, the animal weighing 600 pounds. He was a very enterprising and resourceful man and although he died at the age of fifty-eight years he had accomplished more than many whose life extended much farther. He girdled the trees over about forty acres, killing them in this way, and later, with his ox-team, cleared up this land and put it under cultivation. He also started a tannery, the first one east of Bellefonte, and after his death his son, William Hartshorn, continued to carry it on. Benjamin Hartshorn was also a man of public importance and was one of the organizers of Clearfield county. He had six children, namely: Margaret, who married Andrew Caldwell; Anna, who married Robert Ross; Jonathan; William, who married a Swan; Benjamin, who married; and Mary Ann, who married Manning Stephenson. With his wife this old pioneer of Pike township rests in the McClure cemetery. They attended the Presbyterian church. Jonathan Hartshorn, father of Benjamin Hartshorn, of Pike township, had few school advantages and by the time a school was established in the neighborhood of his father's farm, he and his older sisters were beyond school age. All were inured to pioneer hardships and as they never knew any of the luxuries of life in their youth, did not miss them. Jonathan and his brother William assisted their father and sometimes it was necessary to travel a long distance even beyond Center county in order to obtain salt, a commodity necessary to the raising of their cattle as well as for domestic uses. What now costs but a few cents then was one of the extravagant purchases they were obliged to make. It is very probable that the youths on these trips carried with them an old flint- lock musket, still in the possession of the family as a relic, and, although it often missed fire, it sometimes killed a bear and on these occasions one-quarter of the carcass would be kept for home consumption and the rest sold at Curwensville. Jonathan Hartshorn was as industrious and successful as his father had been. He worked on his land during the summer seasons and during the winters was largely engaged in lumbering and was considered a very expert raftsman, frequently taking huge rafts down the river. With his brother William he bought a saw-mill and they also conducted the tannery established by their father and continued until the death of Jonathan, after which the saw-mill was sold and the timber on this tract was also disposed of for $47,000. All the timber has been delivered and removed. Coal also was found on the land and it took a large amount of work before the stripping of the layer of coal was completed. At the time of his death, Jonathan Hartshorn owned 500 acres of land. Jonathan Hartshorn married Miss Rachel Leonard, who was born in Bradford township, Clearfield county, Pa., in 1807, and died in 1894. She was a sister of Judge Leonard, who at one time was an associate judge of Clearfield county. Her parents were Abraham and Elizabeth Leonard. To Jonathan and Rachel Hartshorn ten children were born, as follows: Jane, who married Robert R. Neeper, of Pike township; Benjamin; Margaret, who is the widow of Robert Wrigley, of Clearfield; Abraham, who died in infancy; Z. L., who is now deceased; Mary Ann, who died unmarried, April 10, 1908, and was buried in the Oak Hill cemetery, at Curwensville; Hannah, who is deceased, was the wife of Martin Braughler, who lives in California; Joshua, who was living on the old homestead at the time of his death, married Nora Lawhead; Jonathan T., who married Josephine Holland, a native of Little Rock, Ark., has one son, Troy K., and they live at Pasadena, Calif.; and Lavinia, who died aged thirteen years. Both parents of the above family lived to the unusual age of ninety-three years and both were buried at Oak Hill cemetery. The father passed away first, his death occurring on February 15, 1882. They were members of the Presbyterian church. In his early years of manhood, Jonathan Hartshorn was a Whig but later became a Republican. He never accepted any public office although he was always interested in current events and public affairs. He was, however, persuaded to become the mail carrier away back in 1817, between Bellefonte and Kittanning, Pa. At that time it took six days to make the round trip, these journeys being two weeks apart. He often told his children about the dangers he encountered on these trips and also of the rapid increase in population as evidenced by his having to increase his carrying capacity by 1818 and still more later on. The old Indian trail went through this farm and many Indians journeyed over it east and west. Mr. Hartshorn treated them well and he never had anything to complain of in the way they met him and his family, friendly relations always existing. He maintained an open, hospitable home and his cheerful fireside often had guests beside it whose names were known far and wide. One of these was of his own kindred, General Ross Hartshorn, a son of his brother William, the former of whom was the only brigadier-general appointed in Clearfield county among the officers who served in the Civil war. Benjamin Hartshorn obtained his education in the district schools and has always lived on the land that came to him from his father and grandfather, and all of it practically belongs to him. About 100 acres have been cleared and are under cultivation, while the remainder is in woodland, the timber being valuable and it is largely used as pasture ground. Mr. Hartshorn has no coal bank now open but there is an underlay of from four to five feet of fire clay that has never been developed. It would seem that the grandfather of Mr. Hartshorn had more than ordinary foresight and good judgment when he made his selection of virgin land. Mr. Hartshorn has lived a quiet, uneventful but busy life and is well known all over Clearfield county. He has never taken any active part in political matters. He is a stockholder in the Rural Telephone Company of Pike township. Mr. Hartshorn has never married.