Water Under the Bridge: September 2017

Saturday, September 23, 2017

President Monroe in the Chartiers Valley September 21, 2017

September 21, 2017

President Monroe in the Chartiers Valley

It has been our opinion that the only visit of a sitting President to the Chartiers Valley was the trip President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife took to Washington, Pa. to visit relatives of Mrs. Grant. Recently I learned that I was grossly mistaken and that President James Monroe had indeed visited Canonsburg on September 5, 1817 and then gone on to Pittsburgh.

It turns out there is a monograph by a gentleman named S. Putnam Waldo, entitled “The Tour of James Monroe, President of the United States, through the Northern and Eastern States”, which describes a remarkable trip Monroe took during the first year of his incumbency. He left Washington early in June 1817, travelled up the East Coast through New England then through upstate New York to Buffalo.

At that point he boarded a sailing vessel and traversed Lake Erie to Detroit. He then came back through Ohio, visiting Lancaster, Delaware, Columbus, Pickaway County, Circleville, and Chillicothe before arriving at Zanesville on Friday, August 29. A week later he arrived in Canonsburg where he was met by a company of mounted militia and escorted to Emory’s Tavern for refreshments.

Following the repast a reception was held where he met the President of Jefferson College, students of that institution, and other local citizens. At that time Jefferson was by far the largest college in the state and one of the largest in the young nation. Monroe praised it as the center of literature in the West. The militia then accompanied him on the Black Horse Trail to the Allegheny County Line where he was met by Allegheny County officials who went with him on to Pittsburgh.

During this long trip the President travelled on horseback and by coach. We presume he came to Canonsburg from Washington, Pa. although the monograph is silent regarding his activities during the previous week. It appears that the author relied heavily on direct quotations from local newspapers; apparently none were available between Zanesville and Canonsburg.

It is intriguing to imagine Monroe’s trip down the Black Horse Trail from Canonsburg into Pittsburgh. He certainly would have been curious about Morganza, Colonel George Morgan’s plantation. The Colonel had died in 1810, but Monroe would have been well informed about Aaron Burr’s visit to Morganza in 1805 and his attempt to recruit Morgan for his scheme to set up an empire in Louisiana. Morgan reported this incident to President Jefferson and testified as a witness in Burr’s treason trial.

If the President inquired about local residents when they reached the county line, one presumes the Boyces, Fawctts, and Lesnetts would have been mentioned. As the trail descended from the ridge toward Chartiers Creek, someone would have pointed out the Wingfield Mills complex and the small Hastings community. Assuming he was travelling by coach, they would have stopped at Harriotts’ Inn briefly before continuing on to “the Bridge” over Chartiers Creek and Colonel Noble’s storehouse there. His escorts would have pointed out Noble’s Trace leading west to Noblestown and east to the Youghiogheny River.

The next landmark would have been Woodville Plantation, by now the estate of Christopher Cowan. Monroe would have been quite familiar with the Whiskey Rebellion although he was in France as our Ambassador when it occurred. I am sure he would have asked to have someone point out to him the location of Bower Hill, before the rebels burned it down.

After passing St. Luke’s Church the Trail slowly climbs Greentree Hill before winding its way down to what we now call the Old Stone Tavern. In 1817 it might have been Elliot’s Tavern or Coates’ Inn; at any rate it was a major watering hole for travellers heading into Pittsburgh on the Black Horse Trail. It too had already seen a lot of history by the time President Monroe passed by.

The more I read about Monroe, the more obvious it becomes that he is the most under-appreciated of the Founding Fathers. The fact that he chose to visit the West during his first year in office and get a feel for his constituency is especially impressive. One wonders where he went during the week between Zanesville and Canonsburg – probably Cambridge, Ohio, Wheeling, and Washington.

The Log home Tour September 14, 2017

September 14, 2017

The Log Home Tour

I received a message recently from the Pioneers West Historical Society regarding their Annual Historical Log Homes Tour on Saturday, September 16, 2017, from 10 am – 2 pm. They thanked me for attending the event last year and devoting a column to the Walker-Ewing Log House, and invited me to come back this year. Unfortunately that event conflicts with another commitment for me; nonetheless the tour merits mention.

Pioneers West is a wonderful organization of dedicated people committed to the preservation of the Walker-Ewing Log House, which is located at 1355 Noblestown Road in Collier Township. The house was constructed late in the eighteenth century and has been well maintained ever since. It is a remarkable example of the way people lived over two centuries ago and well warrants a visit.

Pioneers West sponsors a tour of their property and of four other nearby log houses each year. Festivities at Walker-Ewing this year include a performance by a folk music club, craft whiskey sampling, a demonstration of a metal detector, and a display of vintage clothing.

One of the other houses on the tour is Killbuck Lodge in Oakdale, a rebuilt structure that is maintained by the Friends of Killbuck Lodge and is used by Boy Scout Troop 248. The McAdow-McAdams Wilson Log House, at 100 Bruno Lane in Imperial is now owned by West Allegheny School District and used as an historic learning center by Wilson Elementary School.

The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, 799 Pinkerton Run Road in North Fayette, owns the restored Walker-Ewing-Glass Log House and uses it as the centerpiece of its Heritage Homestead project. The Moon Township Parks and Recreation Department owns and maintains Coventry Log Cabin in Robin Hill Park, 949 Thorn Run Road. It is used as a resource by the Moon Township Historical Society.

The variety of organizations involved in these five properties is impressive; their common denominator is their passion for preserving our history and heritage. Somehow we need to find a way to support the efforts of such organizations. At the very least we need a bulletin board that keeps track of all the relevant events of all the local historical groups. Sounds like a good project for the Bridgeville Area Historical Society website.

One group of such organizations are those, like Pioneers West, that are focused on a specific facility – Woodville Plantation, Old St. Luke’s Church, the Oliver Miller Homestead, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, Gilfillan Farm, the Thomas Espy Post (Civil War Room), the (Arden) Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, etc. Each of these facilities offers programs and open houses throughout the year, including many attractive events that history buffs miss merely because they aren’t aware of them.

By the same token the various local historical societies offer a broad spectrum of programs focused on history in general rather than on a specific facility or event. Our Bridgeville Society has an excellent series of monthly programs each year, bringing in knowledgeable outside speakers who cover subjects as varied as “The Great Castle Shannon Bank Robbery” and “Origins of World War II”. In addition they sponsor a monthly workshop focused on Bridgeville history; the current topic is the history of Bridgeville High School.

Nearly every neighboring community – South Fayette, Collier Township, Carnegie, Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, etc. – has a historical society with some level of activity. Add to that the historical programs that are sponsored by and presented at the various libraries and you realize that the history buff has access to far more events than he or she could possibly attend. It would indeed be beneficial if all of them were advertised in one clearinghouse, so the history buff could take advantage of all the opportunities available.

We history buffs who live in the Chartiers Valley have access to a remarkable variety of relevant historical sites and events. It is unfortunate when we fail to take advantage of them.

The Eclipse September 7, 2017

September 7, 2017

The Eclipse

I thoroughly enjoyed the eclipse. However before I get into that I must apologize for an error in my column on the last “Second Tuesday” workshop. The correct date for the next workshop is September 12, not 19 as reported.

I initially made myself a small pinhole projector from a cracker box, but was disappointed in the size of the image. Consequently I fabricated one about forty inches long from a box that originally contained a vacuum cleaner. This was much more successful and I was pleased with the photographs I was able to take of the images.

The children next door had an abundance of special glasses which they shared with me, so I was also able to see the eclipse first hand. It was quite cloudy but the sun kept coming out briefly, just enough for us to keep track of the progress of the eclipse. Coupled with the excellent television coverage of the total eclipse it was a very interesting experience.

I was initially impressed with the fact that some people are smart enough to be able to predict the timing of eclipses precisely until I learned that people have been doing that for several millennia. So then I began to wonder if that is something I could do. After all, civil engineers of my era were automatically surveyors and surveyors of my era were automatically astronomers.

I have concluded that a capable surveyor with an accurate timepiece, a surveyor’s transit (theodolite), a clear view of the east and west horizons, and a lot of time could develop enough information to predict the occurrence of eclipses. The first task is to determine the direction of true north. This we do by observing Polaris (the North Star) sufficiently to average out the variance from its small orbit about the true North Pole. This is something we did at Surveying Camp at Penn State sixty five years ago.

Our next step is to determine the latitude of our observation station. This can be done on either the vernal or autumnal equinox, when the tilt of the earth’s axis relative to its orbit about the sun is negated. It is accomplished by taking a sun shot with the transit, another skill we mastered at Surveying Camp. The angle between the sun’s position and the zenith is the latitude of the observation station.

Now we must observe and record the passage of the sun and the moon through the sky for many days, probably several years. If we didn’t already know the magnitude of the tilt of the earth’s axis (about 23.5 degrees) we would soon discover it, as the sun’s position at Noon varies from our latitude plus or minus 23.5 degrees between the summer and winter solstices. This gives us the ability of predicting the position of the sun at any time in the future.

The moon is more complicated because its orbit about the earth is tilted a little more than five degrees relative to the ecliptic (earth’s orbit). Consequently its path through the sky varies plus or minus five degrees throughout a lunar month (one orbit about the earth), which is about twenty seven and a quarter days. By taking enough observations at night, shortly after sunrise, and shortly before sunset we can learn enough to predict the position of the moon at any time in the future.

For a solar eclipse to occur the moon must pass between the earth and the sun. This requires the moon to be in a vertical plane containing the earth and sun, perpendicular to the ecliptic; and in a horizontal plane containing the earth and sun (the ecliptic). The moon automatically satisfies the first requirement once each lunar month and the second twice a lunar month. The frequency of their occurring simultaneously is miniscule.

The factor that allows eclipses to occur relatively frequently is the fact that the earth is so much bigger than the shadow the moon puts on it during an eclipse. For this summer’s eclipse the umbra had a diameter of seventy miles passing over a disc with a diameter of eight thousand miles. Even if the moon is as much as a degree out of the ecliptic, its shadow can still hit the earth, dramatically increasing the probability that an eclipse will occur, and making it much easier for the amateur to predict its occurrence.

Unfortunately a search on the Internet for “How to Predict an eclipse” sends you to a website with a “fill-in-the-blanks” screen that provides that information for any location on the earth. This highlights my concern that future generations will trade the ability to derive something for the ability to look it up.

Seventy Nine North! Augyst 31, 2017

August 31, 2017

Seventy Nine North

Most of the time I have to put a lot of effort into writing this column, but sometimes the columns write themselves. This was the case today. I had to drive up to Conneaut Lake and meet with a handyman who is doing some much needed work on our cottage. I haven’t spent much time there since my wife died, and the place desperately needs a caretaker; fortunately my neighbor there found just the right person for me.

Consequently I found myself heading north on I-79, a trip I have made many times in the past. It was strange this time not having, at least, a dog and my wife as companions. When we were first married, my wife’s mother and Aunt Gladys were living in Grove City, and both of her sisters and their families were in Meadville.

Our route in those days was up Route 8 to Harrisville, then west on 58 to Grove City. To proceed on to Meadville we took 173 north through Sandy Lake to Cochranton, where we picked up 322 on to our destination. When construction of I-79 began, we switched to Route 19, taking advantage of each portion of the new highway as it was completed. By 1980 when we purchased our cottage, I-79 was done, providing us an easy route to Conneaut Lake.

It takes me about twenty minutes to get across the Ohio River; this part of the trip is close enough to home to be completely routine, especially since my daughter Elizabeth and her family are living in Sewickley. The drive up to the intersection with 279, which is the one quarter point of my trip, is also without incident.

I have given up trying to find acceptable music on the radio when I drive north, so I reverted to CD’s. First was Mozart – “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”, the “Haffner” Symphony, and “Serenata Notturna”. Then a collection of Baroque – Pachelbel, Vivaldi, and Corelli – which suddenly sounded trite when Bach’s “Air on a G String” raised the bar abruptly.

Suddenly I realize that I am not alone in the car; as we pass the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex I imagine my wife commenting on the probability that this has forced the Penguin hockey players to all move to the North Hills. She also has something to say when we pass the rest area that was never completed.

“License Plate” is a popular Oyler family car game. In our version you attempt to make the shortest possible word out of the three letters on the Pennsylvania plate. The letters must appear in sequence. “GRN” yields grin, for example. The recent plates all begin with “J”, which is particularly difficult.

Soon we pass the large auto storage area where radio controlled model plane enthusiasts used to be evident whenever we passed. Then we come over the crest of a hill and see the lazy “S” curve the highway takes as it crosses the Conoquenessing Creek valley before ascending the next hill.

Past the Portersville interchange is a spot where we broke down on the way home one Sunday, losing the transmission in our Dodge Caravan. We had just celebrated passing 100,000 miles on the odometer, which unfortunately was the mileage for which the transmission was covered by the warranty. We were rescued by AAA and had a nice ride home in the tow truck. The bad news was that our dog had to ride alone in the towed van, an experience she didn’t enjoy.

A short distance north of there we pass a lovely farmhouse/barn combination to the east. Years ago we stopped to photograph it and make it a subject of a pen-and-ink sketch. It still is picturesque.

Beyond the 422 interchange we pass Cooper’s Lake Campground. It is late enough in the month that all the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) folks are gone. This is a group of people re-enacting the Middle Ages “as they ought to have been”, who congregate at Cooper’s Lake early in August each year and dress up in Renaissance costumes. They are from the kingdom of Aethelmearc, which encompasses western New York, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Just north of Cooper’s Lake is the summit of a large terminal moraine which marks the southern edge of the area covered by glaciers in the last Ice Age. Consequently it is the boundary between two geological regimes, and indeed the terrain is dramatically different. North of here the hill tops are a little lower, the valleys a little shallower, and the highway grades are much flatter.

“JDI”! “Twelve!” “Jurisdiction!”

Next we pass a large pond completely covered with algae and my companion makes her obligatory comment about people who don’t take care of such things.

At the Grove City interchange she shouts “Turn on the rice, Aunt Gladys” in tribute to the many Sundays we stopped at her house with a car full of kids for supper on our way home from the cottage.

Passing an old barn we have sketched in the past, now covered with vines and in late stages of deterioration, we get another complaint about “those people”. Nearby is the site of another sketch subject, a wonderful old coal tipple that was torn down years ago. Fortunately we had photographed it extensively and were able to produce one of our all-time favorite sketches to record it.

“I wonder whatever happened to Peggy Baldwin” signals our reaching the I-80 interchange. Bob and Peggy Baldwin were great friends of ours who eventually moved to Clarion. When we visited them, we left I-79 here and took I-80 east to their home. After Bob died, much too young, we lost track of Peggy and their children. That suggests another Internet search for me.

I-80 is, of course, another well-known boundary. How many times have we heard the weatherman say “Look for heavy rain, changing to snow north of I-80”? Sure enough just as I passed through that interchange on this trip, the clouds broke up and the sun came out.

Next we cross the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad and I look in vain for a train. Another picturesque vista that needs a locomotive and string of cars to be complete. We are now into an area of what appear to be very prosperous farms, with big barns and tall silos, another area that has produced a number of sketch subjects.

As we cross Lake Wilhelm, “I wonder if Paul has fished here recently?” My brother and his son Paul enjoy fishing in this area. Paul likes Conneaut Lake because there are more fish there; Joe likes Wilhelm because it is so natural, with no buildings in sight.

“DJB!” “Ten!” “Adjustable!”

As we get close to the Geneva interchange I slow down and start looking for state troopers. In 1980 as we were hurrying to Conneaut Lake for the closing on our cottage, I got a ticket right there from a trooper sitting in a car hidden behind a small ridge in the median strip. I cannot pass that spot without inspecting it carefully.

The Geneva exit features Aunt Bee’s restaurant and truck stop; someday I will investigate it. There is a gas station where we cross Route 19; my imaginary companion announces “$2.59”, laying the groundwork for our comparing the price of gas there with that at the Sheetz super complex in Conneaut Lake.

Many years ago an enterprising farmer tried to make a go of raising sunflowers along the Geneva Road. We took a beautiful photograph of a large field of sunflowers against a threatening sky; I saw a copy of it in Sara’s home a few weeks ago.

Next comes “Worms Last House”, a roadside sign that immediately suggested to me something from one of Tolkein’s novels. Of course we eventually realized that it marked the place where a fisherman seeking live bait could turn down Marsh Road and stop at the last house to make a purchase.

“JCT!” “Seven!” “Adjunct!”

Another memorable barn was located where Town Line Road intersects the Geneva Road. We sketched it years ago when it was in its prime and several times more recently in decrepit shape. It was finally torn down last summer, leaving its silo as a monument.

It appears that this has been a good year for corn; all the fields look quite healthy. A few years ago one farmer on the Geneva Road converted his corn field into a Corn Maze (maize maze?). We went through it with Jonathan and Marsha Maddy and would probably still be trying to find our way out had Jonathan not advised us to keep our left hands on the left wall – a strategy that enables one to exit a dead end successfully. Apparently his entrepreneurial effort was no more successful than his neighbor with the sunflowers; there is no sign of a maze this year.

It is fascinating that a simple two hour drive can be embedded with so many memories. There seems to be a story around every curve and at the top of every hill.