Another Flooded River Valley: The Deans of Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania

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While researching various family lines, it has been a surprise to me to discover how common it is for early settlement areas to be lost due to the flooding from dam building. Rivers were the highways of early colonial America, and settlers built their homesteads alongside these waterways. However, the growing electrical demands of the mid-1900s required a large number of hydroelectric dam constructions. These dams caused vast changes to water levels along the riverbanks, requiring eminent domain relocation of many areas. In a previous post I discussed the loss of the original Bean Station and cabin settlement of our early ancestor William Bean. In this article, I will describe the Raystown Branch settlement of our Dean line, lost to what is now Raystown Lake in Huntingdon Co., PA.

Raystown Dam in Huntingdon Co., PA

Going back a bit further first though, the Dean surname originates from southwest England, and comes from the Old English word "denu", meaning valley. It is a very common surname in both England and early America, so it is difficult to say with certainty which exact Dean was our English immigrant ancestor. The first direct descendant we can be sure of was a Richard Deane (b.1701) living SE of future Sharpsburg in Frederick County (now Washington Co.), Maryland in the mid-1700s. He was married to a woman named Pricilla, and they had a hardy family of 4 boys and 5 girls. In 1747, they purchased land from Joseph Chapline, a lawyer who had acquired a large land grant from the king to help settle western Maryland in the 1730s. (Later he went on to found the town of Sharpsburg as well.) It is not known for certain whether Richard Dean came over to America just before this time, or was already established in eastern Maryland (possibly Dorchester) prior to the purchase.

Richard Dean's land, purchased from Joseph Chapline's larger Hunting the Hare plot in Mar 1747.

Just before the Revolutionary War, the now adult male children of Richard and Priscilla began to resettle in newly formed Bedford Co., PA (the eastern part of which is now Huntingdon Co.). This area of the country had been purchased out from under the Delaware Indians in 1754, by a treaty with the Six Nations tribes. The Iroquois Six Nations tribes felt they had conquered the Delaware people, and thus had the right to make land decisions on their behalf. The Delaware Native Americans (part of the Lenni Lenape tribe), disagreed (Ref 2, p.40). In response, they declared themselves independent from the British aligned Six Nations tribes, and threw their lot in with the French fur traders instead. And so began the 7 year French-Indian War.

The main settlement of the Delaware Indians during this period was in Kittaning (Kithanink), PA, about 36 miles NE of current day Pittsburg. It was located on the Allegheny River, which feeds into the Ohio River, and could be reached by following the Kittanning Path from Franktown, PA. This path was one of the only routes through the Allegheny mountains into Ohio territory at that time, and had been used by the Native Americans and French fur traders for many years (Ref 2, p.19). Which, of course, made it of great interest to British Americans during the French-Indian war as a means of moving supplies and troops. These troops had set up a base in Aughwick, PA (Ref 2, p.61), and the mountain pass path to Frankstown took them right through what would soon become Huntingdon, PA (then called Standing Stone). It was this confluence of circumstances that caused the area to become permanently settled by whites a short time later (Ref 2, p.238).

Path from Aughwick to Franktown, PA through Huntingdon.

To the Delaware Indian's dismay, the British were victorious over the French, and the war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris, which expelled French fur traders from the western territories once and for all. White settlers began to flow into the area, settling in valleys along fertile river beds. Richard's 3rd son, John Dean (our direct ancestor), bought 400 acres of land in the Trough Creek Valley of Huntingdon Co. (then Bedford Co.). It was situation just NE of Calvin, PA, along Little Trough Creek. His brothers Thomas and Samuel soon settled on adjoining properties of the same river, while his brother William had purchased land a few years earlier (in 1766), across the western banks of the Raystown Juniata river Branch.

Trough Creek State Park in Huntingdon Co., PA

Approximate area of John Dean's original 1772 homestead on Little Trough Creek

John Dean was likely the first person to have settled on Little Trough Creek, and one of the first to settle in the Trough Creek Valley (Ref 3, p.373). He is said to have come across the mountains alone in Oct of 1772, where he set about constructing a typical pioneer log cabin made of split clapboard sides and puncheon board flooring, complete with greased paper for windows. He then followed the Indian trails back to Sharpsburg, to gather his wife, Ann B. Isett (see Note 0), and their belongings. The trails were not large or smooth enough for a cart of any kind, but they packed their items on the backs of a horse and 2 cows, camping in the woods by night along the way.

Sharpsburg, MD to Raystown Branch, PA, probably about a 9-10 day journey on foot.

Anne and John went on to have 7 children, 1 girl and 6 boys(!), all of whom lived to adulthood. However, their first years in Pennsylvania were ones of constant worry over the frequent Indian attacks on the new frontier. Despite the loss of their alliance with the French, the Native Americans were still determined not to lose more of their lands. But as the Revolutionary War commenced, able bodied men were needed to fight the British, and could not be spared to protect the western front from Native American attacks as well. By the Fall of 1777, it had become so dangerous in western PA that the family chose to flee back for Maryland for a time until things became more settled. John's brothers Thomas and Samuel chose to leave as well, and went on to join Maryland's Frederick Co. militia. Unfortunately, Thomas would never make it back, instead dying of smallpox in 1781. Samuel did return from the war, but chose to make a new homestead with his wife's family in South Carolina instead.

John and Anne returned to their Trough Creek Valley homestead once things settled down, but with other family no longer nearby, they soon chose to sell the land on Little Trough Creek and move nearer to John's brother William at Raystown Branch (now Penn Twp.). By about June 1787, they were living with or near William's family, about 15 miles southwest of where the future Raystown Dam would someday be. These two brother's may not have been such a great influence on one another though. And they seem to have had some type of neighborhood feud involving the family of Joseph Norris on William's southern property boundary line. Between 1790-1792, William and John, as well as a few of their adult sons, were involved in several assault and battery charges with the Norris clan, as well as one instance of forcible entry, for which various fines were paid (Ref 1). This is fairly ironic given that two generations later these two families would intermarry. Eventually though, William moved away to KY (in May of 1794), and John took over the Raystown homestead (Note 1), after which the feud seems to have died down. 

Pinks areas show the current water levels after 1972 dam construction at Raystown Branch in Huntingdon Co., PA. Red x is Raystown Branch Dean property location, while blue x is Little Trough Creek property. Green circled area is the White Church Cemetery (across from St.  Jacob's Church) where the Dean family cemetery was moved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prior to dam construction. (Ref 7)

John and Ann lived on this property until their deaths in 1821 and 1826 respectively. After Ann's death, the property was divided between their 5 living sons, though eventually their son William bought out the other brothers shares of the land (Note 2). Their son Thomas Dean (our direct ancestor), was born in about 1776, and was about 11 years old when the Dean family relocated from Little Trough Creek to Raystown Branch. Thomas grew up and married Catherine Estep in 1803, the daughter of a William Estep from Maryland who had purchased land on Little Trough Creek in 1794. She and Thomas were married in her parents home by a Justice of the Peace. They had 9 children together. Unfortunately, Thomas died in 1823, at the age of only 47, when the youngest was still just 3 years old (Note 3). 

Catherine never remarried, despite living for almost 40 more years. On the 1830 census, she was living with her eldest son, William P. Dean (our direct ancestor, b. 1805). William, single and just 25 at the time, was listed as head of household for 6 of his younger siblings. By 1840, Catherine was living independently on a property adjoining William P.'s, with her remaining 3 youngest children. Meanwhile, her son William P. went on to marry Martha Buchwalter and to start a family of his own. They had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. Life would continue to be difficult for this couple, however. Two of their boys, Daniel and William H., died of illness in their early 20's, leaving only their son Abraham Dean (b. 1837, our direct ancestor) to carry on the family name. Then, just a few years later in 1869, a fire broke out in their home in the middle of the night, due to meat that had been smoking in the fireplace. Their oldest and youngest daughters, Kate and Martha E., were still living at home at the time, and slept in an upstairs bedroom. William and Martha, who slept downstairs, managed to escape unscathed, but Kate was badly burned and Martha E., sadly, succumbed to the flames. Additionally, the home and all of their property was destroyed, For a time, they went to live nearby with their remaining daughter Margaret and her husband Harrison Speck. Three years later, William died at the age of 67.

Huntingdon Globe, 24 Mar 1869

In the midst of all this tragedy, their son Abraham Dean married Hannah Norris (of the Dean-Norris family feud line) in 1865. The 1870 census shows that they briefly lived in Lawrence, Clearfield Co., PA. But by 1880, they had returned to the Raystown Branch area, though slightly north of the old homestead area in Juniata, rather than Penn, Twp. Unlike his father and grandfathers before him, Abraham was a carpenter rather than a farmer. They had 12 children together, 3 of whom died in infancy, but most of the remaining survived to adulthood and went on to have families of their own. Two of them, Eunice and Ellsworth, never married, but lived together as bachelor and bachelorette. Eunice was a seamstress and Ellsworth was a steam car mechanic (apparently some early cars worked by steam rather than gasoline). Abraham died when the youngest, Ellsworth, was still only 10 years old, but Hannah lived on to be the matriarch of her family until 74 years of age.

Grave marker of Abraham Dean, buried in the Jacob's Church Cemetery (next to White Church in Hesston, PA).

Hannah (Norris ) Dean (1842-1917)

Hannah and Abraham's second child, Martha Anne Dean (b. 1868), was our direct ancestor. In 1899, she married Emory Samuel Seaman, whose family had also been long time early residence of Pennsylvania (see prior post here). They were married in Huntingdon County, but relocated to Wilmore, Cambria Co., PA, where Emory's family was from. There he worked as a retail shop merchant, and Martha raised a family of 3 children. Martha, the last of our Dean line, died of pneumonia from the flu at the age of 58. She is buried in the United Brethren Church Cemetery in Wilmore, PA.

Wilmore United Brethren Cemetery

Notes

0) There is some confusion as to whether this woman's name was really Ann B. Isett or Nancy Bissett (Nancy was a common nickname for Ann at that time.) There was an Isett family in the Raystown Branch area, but not in Washington Co., Maryland where they were married (Ref 1). There is also a later line of the Dean family that records the name as Bissett in a family bible, and there was a Bissett family in Washington Co., Maryland. However, the History of Huntingdon Co. by J. S. Africa (Ref 3) lists the name as Isett as well.

1) Interestingly, William sold his land to a man named Thomas Wright, and then the next day Thomas Wright sold the land to John. Perhaps these two brothers had a falling out as well?

2) Two of the sons, John and Isaac, moved on to settle in OH, while James seems to have relocated to Canada. Neither James nor his brother Samuel has living offspring as far as is known. Only Thomas and William stayed in PA and raised families of there own, and even William seems to have eventually relocated to KY when his children were grown.

3) Thomas and his wife Catherine were also initially buried in the Dean family cemetery, but relocated in 1972 to the White Church cemetery of Hesston, PA.

References

1) https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ladeanxx/genealogy/richarddeane.htm : 2023.

2) Lytle, Milton Scott. "History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania : from the earliest times to the centennial anniversary of American independence". Lancaster, Pa. : William H. Roy, 1876.  https://archive.org/details/historyofhunting00lytl/page/n7/mode/2up?ref=ol : 2023.

3) Africa, J. Simpson. "History of Huntingdon and Blair counties, Pennsylvania". Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts, 1883. https://archive.org/details/historyofhunting00afri/page/n6/mode/1up : 2023.

4) https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ladeanxx/genealogy/deanfamiliespa.htm : 2023.

5) https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ladeanxx/genealogy/johnandanndean.htm : 2023.

7) Records of Land Office, PA State Archives. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-114CopiedSurveyBooks/r17-114MainInterfacePage.htm : 2023. Index: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-88WarrantRegisters/HuntingdonPages/r17-88HuntingdonPageInterface.htm : 2023.