Washington County, 

Pennsylvania

 FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT

TO THE PRESENT TIME,

FIRST UNDER VIRGINIA AS YOHOGANIA, OHIO, OR AUGUSTA COUNTY

UNTIL 1781, AND SUBSEQUENTLY UNDER PENNSYLVANIA;

WITH

SKETCHES OF ALL THE TOWNSHIPS, BOROUGHS, AND VILLAGES, ETC. ;

AND TO WHICH IS ADDED

A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATED MASON AND DIXON'S LINE, THE

WHISKEY INSURRECTION, INDIAN WARFARE, TRADITIONAL

AND LOCAL HISTORICAL EVENTS.

 
By Alfred Creigh
Published 1870, 510 pages, Indexed, SEARCHABLE
 
Bonus Book - 
Some Pioneers of
Washington Co., PA
By F. S. Reader, 
Published 1870, 164pages 

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Delaware Indian chief Tangooqua, commonly known as "Catfish", had a camp on a branch of Chartiers Creek in what is now part of the city of Washington. The French labeled the area "Wissameking", meaning "catfish place", as early as 1757. The area of Washington was settled by many immigrants from Scotland and the north of Ireland along with settlers from eastern and central parts of colonial Virginia. It was first settled by colonists around 1768.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed an act on March 28, 1781, erecting the County of Washington and naming Catfish Camp as the place for holding the first election. This was the first county in the U.S. to be named in honor of President George Washington. David Hoge laid out a plan of lots immediately after the legislature's action. His original plot carried the name "Bassett, alias Dandridge Town," but before the plot was recorded, lines were drawn through "Bassett, alias Dandridge Town" with ink, and the word "Washington" was written above.

The original plot dedicated a tract of ground to the people for recreational purposes. A lot was given for a courthouse where the current building now stands, and Lots 43 and 102, according to the plan, were presented by Hoge to "His Excellency, General Washington, and Mrs. Washington." The town was the center for the 'Whiskey Rebellion' of 1791, which was one of the first open rebellions against the new U.S. government and Constitution. The Rebellion was centered around a tax being imposed on whiskey distillation in the region. The town was incorporated as a borough on February 13, 1810, and became a city of the third class in 1924.

CHAPTER I. WASHINGTON COUNTY — ITS PRIMITIVE HISTORY UNDER VIRGINIA.

CHAPTER II. A GENERAL OUTLINE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CHAPTER III. ORIGINAL ACT ESTABLISHING WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

CHAPTER lV. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.

CHAPTER V. TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY.

CHAPTER VI. ELECTED OFFICERS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY FROM 1790.

CHAPTER VII. MILITARY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.

CHAPTER VIII. HISTORY OF ASSOCIATIONS, AND EVENTS WHICH TRANSPIRED

APPENDIX. 

CHAPTER I. THE VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA CONTROVERSY, FROM 1752 TO 1783. 

CHAPTER II. THE MASON AND DIXON 'S LINE.

CHAPTER III. INDIAN HISTORY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND VIRGINIA. 

CHAPTER IV. WHISKEY INSURRECTION

The first settlers of southwestern Pennsylvania were primarily English and came from Virginia and Maryland following Braddock's Road to Redstone Fort. These were the settlers enticed by the Ohio Company to settle and commence trade with the Indians in the early 1760's. Many of these held "Virginia Certificates", which referred to land warrants issued by the Colonial Virginia. With the passage of Pennsylvania's slave emancipation law in 1780, many of these early Virginian and Maryland settlers commenced a migration to Kentucky which continued brisk for the next 10 or so years.

Most settlers of the new land [western Pennsylvania] followed the river valleys and old Indian trails to the interior, but the trip beyond the Alleghenies was more difficult, since this required going across the mountains. The most used route was known as the Great Pennsylvania Road, running from Philadelphia to Lancaster to York to Gettysburg to Chambersburg to Bedford to Somerset to Greensburg to Pittsburgh.

The Great Pennsylvania Road started as Braddock's trail, created for Gen. Braddock's ill-fated expedition to take Fort Duquense in 1755. Essentially, this is the course of modern day US Rt. 30.