{"title":"Pennsylvania: Crawford County","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"101-r1322","title":"In French Creek Valley, [Pennsylvania]","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally published in 1938, this authoritative, scholarly and intensely readable narrative tells the story of the settlement of French Creek Valley, Pennsylvania. Reynold's narrative describes every aspect of French Creek Valley history and draws heavily from his expansive private collection of original records and documents. Material is included describing the early explorers of the region and the first French trading posts; pioneer life; the discovery of oil; famous visitors such as George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, John James Audobon, Zachery Taylor and James Buchanan; the War of 1812; the town of Meadville; the Beaver and Erie Canal; Civil War times and finance; the railroad's arrival in Meadville and much more. French Creek Valley was the scene of a seminal event in the birth of the nation, a prelude to the French and Indian War and subsequently the American Revolution. Then only twenty-one years old, Major George Washington was dispatched to the valley by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to seek redress for French intrusions into the Ohio Valley from the French commandant at Fort le Boeuf (located on the western-most fork of French Creek). Amongst over 100 illustrations is a facsimile of a letter written by George Washington to Brigadier Ewing, dated December 14th, 1776; a fascinating (though unsubstantiated) tale is included in the appendix explaining how the letter was lost. The appendix also features three letters written by Henry Bouquet to Brigadier General Monckton dating to the 1760s. An index to names, places and subjects adds to the value of this work.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Earle Reynolds\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(1938, 1999), 2015, 5.5\" x 8.5\", paper, index, 438 pp.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN: 9780788413223\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e101-R1322\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Heritage Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42491336080,"sku":"101-R1322","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1654\/3033\/files\/101-r1322-1500px.png?v=1777230224"},{"product_id":"102-9417","title":"Virginia Claims to Land in Western Pennsylvania Published with an Account of the Donation Lands of Pennsylvania Excerpted from \"Pennsylvania Archives\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1754, the colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania entered into a dispute over the ownership of what is today the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. At the time, Virginia's claim, which was encompassed within the boundaries of Augusta County, embraced all of Pennsylvania west of Laurel Hill and included the present-day counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and parts of Allegheny and Beaver. The dispute raged over the course of the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War-during which time frontier forts were constructed, rights for land were ceded by Virginia, and settlement waxed and waned-until commissioners for the two states of Virginia and Pennsylvania were appointed in 1780 to draw proper boundaries. Eventually, in 1784, new meridian lines were run confirming the present-day boundaries of the two states.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe first of the two excerpts from the \u003cem\u003ePennsylvania Archives\u003c\/em\u003e reprinted here, \"Virginia Claims to Land in Western Pennsylvania\", is a complete list of Virginia land entries in the aforementioned Pennsylvania counties between 1779 and 1780. For each of the 1,300 entries, we are given the date of the entry, the name(s) of the parties to the transaction, and occasional references to subsequent transfers of grants, the amount of acreage, and a landmark indicating where the land was situated. Preceding the land records is a fascinating history of the thirty-year dispute between the two colonies\/states.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe second excerpt, \"An Account of the Donation Lands of Pennsylvania\", concerns the March 1780 statute enacted by the state legislature granting land in western Pennsylvania to the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line who served in the Continental Army. The list of eligible soldiers is preceded by an introductory sketch informing us that the donation area comprised parts of the contemporary counties of Lawrence, Butler, Armstrong, Venango, Forest, Warren, Erie, and all of Mercer and Crawford. Here we learn the story of how the lands were surveyed, the terms under which the land could be claimed, contact with Indians in that region, and so forth. The 3,000 members of the Pennsylvania Line entitled to a donation are identified by name, rank, regiment, acreage awarded, and, sometimes, whether the individual claimed the land, was killed in action, relinquished his right to the land, etc.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWilliam Henry Egle\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(1896), 2007, paper, 289 pp.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN: 9780806351070\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e102-9417\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"GPC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39720870609014,"sku":"102-9417","price":43.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1654\/3033\/files\/102-9417-1500px.png?v=1777310756"}],"url":"https:\/\/heritagebooks.com\/collections\/pennsylvania-crawford-county\/virginia+pennsylvania.oembed","provider":"Heritage Books, Inc.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}