1818 map of Southampton Township, Somerset County PA

Melish Map Page.

Introduction
The images below are taken from the Melish-Whiteside map of Somerset County, PA. This map is a copy of John Well's Somerset County map that was produced in October 1818. Mr. Melish persuaded the Pennsylvania legislature to fund the county-by-county mapping of Pennsylvania, with the objective of using the county maps to produce a state map. Legislation enabling the project was passed on March 19, 1816, and surveyors produced county maps that were sent to the Surveyor General. Before the Surveyor General turned over the county maps to Melish for producing the state map, clerks made copies. Because one of the clerks was named John Whiteside, and his signature appears on some of the maps, including the Somerset County map (see below), the maps are generally known as the Whiteside maps. Melish used the various county maps to create a Pennsylvania map that was submitted to the Pennsylvania legislature in 1822. An article on the Melish state and county maps appears in the May 1966 issue of the Laurel Messenger.

The first image below shows what is now the Wellersburg area at the time the county survey was done (i.e. sometime between March 1816 and October 1818). This portion of the map identifies dwellings for Corns (Korns), River (Reiber), Harding (Hardin), and Candle (Kennel/Kendall). The locations of the Cook, Uhl and Hays mills are also identified. Wellersburg did not exist at the time this map was made. According to page 579 of the 1884 "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania, the town of Wellersburg wasn't laid out until 1830, and the first house wasn't built until 1833.

Cook's Mill
Mike McKenzie found a transcript of the will of a George Cook of Southampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania (Will Book Volume 4, Page 481, No. 3, dated December 12, 1849, proven March 16 1850). It mentions two mills, reading "fourth I give and devise unto my Son SOLOMON All my real estate, at the death or marriage of my said wife, which consists in two contiguous tracts on which is erected a Grist Mill, Saw Mill, House, Barn & other buildings, adjoining lands of JOHN ALBRIGHT, JOSEPH MARIA & others Containing two hundred & twenty one acres, On which Said land I now reside.". Mike believes that he has found the mill location near where Shirley's Hollow Road crosses Laurel run (just past the River Cemetery). This location corresponds well to the 1818 map, which shows the mill as being located past the River (Reiber) property. He has seen what he thought was a race at that location, and using a metal detector found a lot of deep (suggesting age) hits, including nails, a horseshoe and an iron bar, all of which seemed very old. This suggests that Shirley Hollow road, or an antecedent of it, was once one of the main roads in the area.

The Cook's Mill that is shown on the 1818 map is clearly on the western slope of big Savage Mountain. Richard Nellan's Cook web page indicates that, according to the 1980 book "Mongst the Hills of Somerset", George Cook/Kock/Koch, Sr.(born circa 1760/1761, died in 1850) had a saw mill and grist mill in Allegheny County, MD and also owned 115 acres on the western slope of Big Savage Mountain. Since (according to Nellan's article) George Cook evidently had mill experience in Maryland, and owned property on the western slope of Big Savage Mountain, and since George Cook's will tells us that he did have a grist mill and a saw mill in Southampton township, he is logically, in all probability, the owner of the Cook's mill that is shown on the 1818 map.

Route before turnpike
Some of the roads on this map appear to be drawn as approximations, and not to scale. This map was drawn well before the circa 1832 Somerset and Cumberland Turnpike was built through Wellersburg, and long before the circa 1850-54 conversion of that turnpike into the Plank Road. From this map, it appears that before the turnpike was built, the main road from Wellersburg to Somerset might have been the road that is illustrated on the 1829 Michael Korns estate draught, as passing by the Michael Korns, Sr. and Daniel Korns, Sr. farms. I am certainly no expert on the matter, but from this 1818 map I am tentatively inferring that what we now know as the East Mineral Street Extension, Long Lane, and Grandview Drive may have been part of the main road from Cumberland to Somerset at the time the map was made. For example, on the 1829 Michael Korns estate draught, what we now know as Long Lane was referred to as the "Road to Berlin", and what we now know as the "East Mineral Street Extension" was identified as the "Road to Cumberland".

Wellersburg area, Somerset County, PA

River farm
On the previous map fragment, I believe that the "River" dwelling is the home of my ancestor Jacob Reiber, father of Elizabeth, the wife of Daniel Korns, Sr. The basis for this statement is the 1991 book "The Reiber Genealogy and Related Families". Page 65 of that book says that Jacob Reiber died at his Pleasant Union farm, and the "River" dwelling on the 1818 map is clearly near modern day Pleasant Union. Page 67 of that book indicates that Jacob lived on ground in Southampton Township, on the west side of Savage Mountain, and the location on the 1818 map appears to match the location of the "River" (aka Lepley) cemetery that I have visited where Reiber and Korns individuals are buried. Page 138 of that book indicates that the cemetery is on "the old Reiber Farm", and page 148A indicates that the cemetery is on the "old Peter Reiber farm". The meticulous tax record on page 97 of that book shows no other Reiber in Somerset County who was a property owner during the years 1801 to 1818. Page 165 of that book shows the unique diamond shape of the property that Jacob Reiber sold to his son Peter, and modern day plat maps show that the cemetery is located within that diamond-shaped parcel.

Corns farm
On the previous map fragment, the Corns dwelling need not perplex us--it refers to Michael Korns, Sr. or his son Daniel. According to the tax list information in the 1949 Korns book, only three Korns individuals owned property in Somerset County during the 1816 to 1818 time period; Michael, Sr., Daniel, Sr., and Charles. Charles need not concern us, because he was living in Holmes County, Ohio by 1815. That leaves Michael, Sr. and his son Daniel, Sr. The 1829 Michael Korns estate draught shows that, at least in 1829, the farms of Michael, Sr. and Daniel, Sr. were side-by-side. Local family tradition tells us that Daniel, Jr., born in 1820, was born in a house that we now know was on tract 1 of the 1829 estate draught, which was a Michael Korns, Sr. estate property in 1829. That house was on the opposite side of the road from the Corns dwelling that is shown on the 1818 map. That leaves the Blubaugh (Cook) place that is associated with Michael Korns, Sr., and the 1829 Daniel Korns, Sr. place as the only two possibilities that match the Corns place on the 1818 map. Since those two farms were so close together, it really doesn't matter. The way I interpret the roads on the 1818 map, I think that the Corns place on the 1818 map is what is known locally as the Blubaugh place, which was referred to as the Cook place on the 1829 estate map.

Candle residence
On the previous map fragment, I believe that the Candle dwelling that is shown on the 1818 map was the farm of my ancestor Christian Kennel/Kendall, Sr. I came to this conclusion because the Candle dwelling is shown roughly where the Getz Cemetery is located, Christian Kennel, Sr. is buried in the Getz Cemetery, and the article "Deaths Recorded in Co., 1853-1854" in the August 1973 Laurel Messenger indicates that Christian was buried on his home place. That article also indicates that Christian Kennel, Sr. was born Oct. 18, 1785, died June 22, 1853, was a Southampton Township farmer, was the son of Peter Kennel, was born in Frederick Co. MD, and left wife Hannah as a widow. Other sources indicate that Christian's father was dead before 1800, and indicate that the few offspring that Christian had by 1818 were young children.

Harding's Place
Click here to see why I believe that "Harding's" on the map is the place that Isaac Hardin bought in 1813, and click here to see a 1939 USDA aerial photo that seems to prove that the road past "Harding's" is an old, abandoned route of the Felty Hill Road.

Lydick's mill
The next image below covers additional area, in order to show Lydick's mill (upper right-hand corner of image). For an attempt at a detailed analysis of this image, click here.

In regards to the Uhl and Leydig mills in Southampton Township, page 683 of the 1906 book "History of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania" states "Jacob Uhl built the second gristmill in the township in 1810. In later years this has been known as the Reitz mill. The Kennell gristmill was built by George Leydig about 1818, and rebuilt in 1853, by Jonathan Kennell. "

Pages 578-579 of the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania" states, in reference to Southampton Township, "Jacob Uhl erected the second gristmill in the township, about 1810, on land now owned by Eli Shaffer. This mill is now run by Herman Reitz. Kennell's gristmill, four miles northwest of Wellersburg, was built by George Leydig, about 1818. It was rebuilt in 1853 by Jonathan Kennell, who still owns it.". Click here to see a 1906 article on the Uhl family that had the mill. Click here for a detailed study of the Uhl Mill. Click here for a detailed study of the Hay Mill.

Map legend

Shape of Southampton township in 1818
The next image below shows the shape of Southampton township at the time the county survey was made (sometime between March 1816 and October 1818). According to page 683 of the 1906 "History of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania", "Southampton township was organized in 1801. As then formed, it included the present township of Northampton and Larimer--that part of Allegheny township that lies south of the Glades road or turnpike, as well as a part of the present township of Fair Hope, or nearly all of the territory that was annexed to Somerset county in 1800".

Portion of Southampton towhship, Somerset County, PA

Southampton township, Somerset County, PA

Southampton township, Somerset County, PA

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