The Townships

By Christopher Miller

The news rang out in the June 13, 1848 issue of the Clinton Democrat newspaper. “At the last term of Court, the election district of Kettle Creek was formed into a township, to be called “Leidy,” in honor or Geo. Leidy, one of the Associate Judges of this county…this is a deserved compliment to a veteran Democrat and an honest man.”

“We shall be gratified if the new township proves itself as thoroughly Democratic next fall as the Judge has ever been, but of this there is little hope…who cares!…we have enough without!”

The creation of Leidy Township in Clinton County added a new reason for map makers (cartographers) to update their maps and sharpen their drawing and surveying skills once again.

Located in the northwest corner of the county, Leidy was named in honor of a prominent legislator and county judge from Salona, two years before his passing in October 1850.

“He was true to his sense of right, true to his friends, and true to his political opinions,” the Clinton Democrat reported in his obituary. “Loved by his neighbors, loved by his friends and hated by none, his death is universally lamented among those whose pleasure it was to honor him.”

Though Leidy Township was created and named in the late 1840s, the land and its settlers had been there for about 70 years prior.

John B. Linn’s History of Centre and Clinton Counties recorded that Leidy Township was not open to settlement until May 1, 1785 when the land was “thrown open for purchase.” “When sales of this additional wilderness were permitted, applications could embrace 1,000 acres, but not more.”

The earliest of land grants were taken up in many cases by speculators who did not settle on the land themselves. “The early settlers were led by a family of Kelleys, native to Ireland, who settled on the western side of Tamarack Swamp,” “who had a patent for 400 acres of land on a settler’s claim,” Linn’s history recorded.

Another settler by the name of Jacob Hammersley settled at the mouth of the Fork which so aptly currently carries his surname in 1827 “or near that time.”

The first “white settler” recorded in local history was that of Simeon Pfoutz, who settled along Kettle Creek around 1813, and chose the “flat of rich land of sufficient length and breadth for a handsome farm.” Later, Pfoutz established the first gristmill and sawmill in that wild frontier, as what was reported.

The first Calhoun was recorded in an account in 1823 as a blacksmith by trade.

“Oil fever” hit Leidy Township in 1864 as several companies came forward leasing large quantities of land but not making any physical appearance in the area. One such company, from New York City, came prepared for business and drilled a well to a depth of 888 feet but gave up after “having passed through all the different species of stone that are found in the mountains and valleys.”

Taking a step back before the settlers of the 1800s, the “American Indian,” as he is referred to in the book Historical View of Clinton County, “was found to have built fireplaces of stone that have been found at a depth of twenty inches, and in some places two feet below the surface of the ground; and pieces of stoneware, pipes, and arrow heads which are frequently found, all tell the story that these hills and valleys were once the home of the American Indian.”

In more modern times, Leidy Township is home to about 180 people as of the 2010 census, of which about 40% are between age 45 to 64, 24% age 65 years or older, and 20% from age 25 to 44.

Principal industries in Leidy Township are tourism and outdoors adventures generated from the widely well-known Kettle Creek State Park, regionally-known and very well attended music festivals held at Quiet Oaks Campground, and employment at BHE, the natural gas transmission station.

Leidy Township, an outdoorsman’s paradise, is located 239 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Known locally for its abundance of natural gas wells and lines, sightings of elk wandering from the Benezette/Elk County area have been more frequent in recent years.