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The township of
Amity was erected out of Union in 1825, and embraces 16,149 acres. Amity
had a population of 385 in 1830, 560 in 1840, 739 in 1850, 1,016 in
1860, 924 in 1870, and 1,033 in 1880, of whom all were whites and few if
any of foreign birth. The township lines are straight on all sides. Its
length from east to west is about six and three-quarter miles, and
breadth from north to south about four and one-fourth miles. The
township is bounded on the north by Venango, on the east by Wayne, on
the south by Union, and on the west by Le Boeuf and Waterford. Its post
offices are Hatch Hollow and Lake Pleasant (Milltown). The township has
no settlements of any size, the only places that can be called villages,
even by courtesy, being Milltown and Hatch Hollow. There is no railroad
within the township, and the nearest station is at Union. The main
portion of Amity was embraced within the Tenth Donation District. The
assessment of 1883 gave the following results: Value of real estate,
$365,329. Number of cows, 678; of oxen, 27; of horses and mules, 279;
value of the same $28,252; value of trades and occupations, $2,351;
money at interest, $1,660.
Streams and Bridges
The chief stream of Amity Township is French Creek, of which all the
others within its limits are tributaries. The East and West Branches
unite on the north line, just outside the borough limits of Wattsburg,
and the joint stream flows across the township in a southwesterly course
into Waterford, leaving a triangular strip of territory on the upper
side known to the inhabitants as "Canada." Its total length
within the township is nearly seven miles. The most important
tributaries on the north side are the outlet of Lake Pleasant, Jones'
Creek and Henry Brook; and on the south side the Hubbell Alder Run, the
Hatch Hollow Alder Run, Deerlick Run and Duncombe Run. The outlet of
Lake Pleasant rises in the lake of that name in the southwest corner of
Venango, has a length of about three miles, and empties into French
Creek on the farm of L. A. Stow. Jones' Creek heads near the south line
of Venango, and falls into the chief stream on the Thomas Ashton place,
having a course of about four miles. Henry Brook also takes its rise in
Venango, about two miles long, and joins French Creek on the farm of L.
Northrop. The Hubbell Alder Run begins on land of the late J. G.
Hubbell, at the Wayne line, flows about five miles and ends near
Wattsburg, after a course of some five miles. On the farm of W. C.
Maynard it receives Lowe Brook, a small stream which rises in the
northeast. The Hatch Hollow Alder Run heads in Union Township, and
becomes a part of French Creek on the G. W. Baldwin place, close to the
mouth of the outlet of Lake Pleasant. It has a length of about five
miles. Duncombe Run takes its rise on the S. W. Hayes farm, directly
south of Wattsburg, and falls into French creek on the place of W. T.
Everson. The head of Deer Lick Run is on the north edge of Union, and
its length is not far from four miles. It unites with the main stream on
the farm of C. E. Duncombe. The only bridge over French Creek proper,
within the township, is the iron one at Baldwin's Flats, which as a span
of 100 fee and cost $2,340. Another iron bridge, with eighty feet span,
crosses one stem of the East Branch near Wattsburg, built at a cost of
$1,439. Both of the above are open bridges. Those over the other streams
are ordinary in character.
Mills and Roads
French Creek once gave power to several mills in Amity, but all have
been abandoned. Those n the other streams are as follows: On the Hubbell
Alder Run, Schoaf's steam saw mill, near the Wayne line; on the Hatch
Hollow Alder Run, Doolittle & Chaffee's steam saw mill, and
Wheeler's water saw mill; on the outlet at Milltown, Donaldson's steam
saw mill and water shingle mill; Richard's water grist mill and saw
mill, Cox's steam saw mill. W. R. Palmer has a creamery just south of
Wattsburg, which was built in 1872. John Ellethorp has a blacksmith
ship, and Mr. Williams a wagon shop at Milltown. There is also a
blacksmith shop at Hatch Hollow. There is no store in the township. The
first saw mill in Amity was put up above Milltown on the stream which
runs through the Eaton Gross place and empties into the outlet of Lake
Pleasant. The second mill was erected by Capt. James Donaldson on the
outlet at Milltown in 1822 or 1823. It was a grist and saw mill
combined.
The main roads are the Waterford & Wattsburg, along the south side
of French Creek; the Lake Pleasant & Wattsburg, which is merged into
the former on Baldwin's Flats; the Union & Wattsburg, passing
through Hatch Hollow; the Beaver Dam & Wattsburg; the Corry &
Wattsburg; the Lake Pleasant & Union; and the Lake Pleasant, Hatch
Hollow & Union. The Erie & Lake Pleasant road terminates at the
Stow bridge on French Creek, and is designated above that as the Lake
Pleasant & Wattsburg.
Public Schools
The township schools are the Young, in the southeast; Inman, on the
Venango line, in the northwest; Hubbell, near the mouth of Lowe Run;
Ladd, near Wattsburg, Hayes, on the Union & Beaver Dam road; Hatch
Hollow, in that settlement; McGee, on the line between Union and Amity;
Hill, near the northwest corner of Wayne Township; Phillips, near
Wattsburg, on the line between Venango and Amity; Duncombe, on French
Creek, in the southwest; and Baldwin, on Baldwin's Flats. The Ladd
building is used as the town house and election place. The McKee School
is maintained jointly by Amity and Union, and the Phillips by Amity and
Venango. In addition, there is a school at Milltown, belonging to the
Lake Pleasant District, which embraces the corners of Amity, Waterford,
Greene and Venango. Of the early schools of the township, mention may be
made of a log schoolhouse that was built about the year 1825 by the
neighborhood, and stood probably one-half of the distance between the
residence of J. Chaffee and the borough of Wattsburg. The first teacher
in this building was James White, and the next was Margaret Rouse. Some
years later, a schoolhouse was built at Hatch Hollow. Polly Berry and
Sallie Chaffee were the early teachers in this house. This was the first
schoolhouse at Hatch Hollow, the one now located there being the second.
In 1835, a small log schoolhouse was standing on Baldwin's flats, near
Alder Run, which, about this date, a summer school was taught by Mr.
Lucetta Baldwin. She had been preceded by Miss Polly Donald. The winter
following the summer school of Mrs. Baldwin, A. Duncombe taught in the
building named. Later, this house was burned, and another (of frame) was
erected on nearly the same site. Both were built by subscription.
Artemus Tracy and Robert Middleton were early teachers in the latter
building. This building also burned down after a few years of service.
Another was built near Baldwin's soon after, which was used until the
erection of the present one there.
Lands, Villages, etc.
Amity is in general a hilly township, but there are some magnificent
flats along French Creek, the outlet of Lake Pleasant, the Hatch Hollow
Alder Run and Dear Lick Run. The valley of French Creek ranges from half
a mile to two and a half miles in width, reaching its greatest extent at
the outlet of Lake Pleasant. The township as a whole is more suited for
grazing than anything else. Great quantities of butter are made, and the
raising of cattle is an important industry. It is doubtful whether as
much wheat is reaped as the people consume, but oats, corn and potatoes
are produced in excess of home needs. Apples thrive vigorously, but
other fruits do not succeed so well. Valley lands are held at as high a
rate as $75 an acre, but some swampy spots are not valued at more than
$20. On the hills, the price of land ranges from$30 to $40. Perhaps
one-third of the township is still in a wild state and covered with
timber.
Milltown is a place of about thirty buildings, and nearly a hundred,
people, situated on the outlet, about a mile and a half below Lake
Pleasant, and fourteen and a half from Erie.It got its name from the
number of mills located there. The settlement possesses a schoolhouse
but no church. Its post office title is Lake Pleasant. Half a mile west
in Waterford Township, is a Baptist Church, of frame, which was built in
the summer of 1877. Until recently, there had been an organization of
the United Brethren in Christ, on Baldwin's Flats, which society was
formed about the year 1857, by Rev. Michael Oswald, but was disbanded in
the summer of 1883.
Hatch Hollow, in the valley of the lower Alder Run, on the Union &
Wattsburg road, is a place of less size than Milltown. In addition to
the mills and schoolhouse, there is a Methodist Episcopal Church, a
frame structure, which was completed and dedicated in 1859. The
congregation was organized some years prior to 1835, and has, excepting
a short period, been an appointment on the Wattsburg Circuit, of which
it now forms a part. It was for a time connected with the Methodist
Episcopal Church at Union City. Hatch Hollow derived its title from the
numerous Hatch family in the neighborhood. It is the post office of the
south part of the township.
The cemetery at Hatch Hollow embraces about three acres. It has been in
existence about twenty-five years. There is a burying ground of about an
acre on the T. Ashton farm, and a number of family graveyards are kept
up in various parts of the township. William Sanborn was elected to the
Assembly in 1846 and 1847, and Francis F. Stow, County Auditor in 1867.
Early Settlers
The first lands taken up in Amity Township were by William Miles, the
founder of Wattsburg, who located 1,200 acres on the outlet of Lake
Pleasant, in 1796, but made his home in Concord. About the same time
John Fagan cleared up a piece of land near Hatch Hollow, and a man named
McGahan went in the same year. Fagan remained until 1807, when he
changed to Mill Creek. Hazen Sheppard and wife located in the township
in 1812; the old lady was still living in 1880, at the age of
ninety-two. John Carron is said to have been the first permanent
settler, but the year he went in is unknown. In 1816, Benjamin Hinkston
settled in Greene Township from Vermont, but changed to Amity in 1818.
In 1819, Charles Capron moved in from New Hampshire, and was joined the
same year by Seth Shepardson and Timothy Reed. Capron's father and
mother accompanied him. James McCullough and Capt. James Donaldson
became residents of the township in 1820, the later locating near Lake
Pleasant. Capt. Donaldson was from Cumberland County. He went first to
the P. H. Yost place in Venango, where he lived with his family a number
of years. From there he moved to Milltown. Other settlers went in as
follows: In 1829, Jabez G. Hubbell, of Otsego County, N. Y., with his
wife and sons, Hiram and David, Royal D. Mason and Jacob Rouse; in 1830,
the Duncombes, Pliny Maynard and Elias Patterson; in 1831, William B.
Maynard, son of Pliny; in 1833, George W. Baldwin; in 1847, John Allen,
from Otsego County, N. Y.
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