Hi Everybody: Helping my Mom clean out her cedar chest today we found several goodies, one being an "Oil Centennial Edition of The Titusville Herald from 1959" celebrating the 100th B'D of the Worlds First Oil Region. The article I would like to share is rather large so will do it in parts. Its title is "Fascinating Stories from Earliest Settlers" and I am going to skip around........but will eventually type the entire article. The first one will be for a Texas Old Goat that's looking for Kellogg ancestors. Hope everybody enjoys! "Deer as plentiful as sheep" - thats the recollection of the Titusville region in 1850 as given to The Herald on Dec 1, 1870, by Samuel Curry, whose account follows: " Reminiscenses of Titusville" The old settlers, perhaps, take as much pride in Titusville as the new comers. The change that has come over this region, the new faces, and crowd, and their multiform business, offers a striking contrast to what they saw here twenty-five or even ten years gone by. The old farmers of Eastern Crawford frequently drop into our sanctum to get the news, and are always free to relate their experience of "the days of auld lang syne." Mr. Samuel Curry, of Oil Creek township, though a little feeble in body now, has still a clear memory of many transactions in the early history of Titusville, and gave us the other day some of his reminiscences on this head. He well recollects the old homestead of Jonathan Titus, which stood on the site of the old Moore House on Arch street, destroyed by fire in '66. The old Titus farm embraced about four hundred acres. The first store was a log house, which stood on the spot where Hamilton's cigar store now stands. A Mr. Sheffield, of Connecticut, kept it, and our townsman, J.L. Chase, Esq., was his partner in business. The father of Mr. Chase was the Rev. Amos Chase, who was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Titusville, the house of worship being a log building standing in the grave yard at the head of Franklin Street. Mr. J.L. Chase and his brother, Hon. E. H. Chase, married sisters, daughters of Mr. Titus. Mr. J.T. Chase was for many years post master of Titusville, another incumbent of the office was Samuel Kerr, an Irishman and surveyor, the father of Hon. Michael C. Kerr, M.C. from Indiana, and Jas. K. Kerr, Esq., the eloquent jury lawyer of Pittsburgh, both of whom were born in Titusville; the old Kerr homestead was the present residence of Councilman Lowrie considerably enlarged and improved by its present owner. The first practicing physician here was Dr. ISAAC KELLOGG, father of our respected townmen, Charles and John Kellogg. His house stood where P. Goodwin's saloon now stands. The late J. H. Baker was the first lawyer of the place and he came in at a late day. Land in these parts 20 years ago could be bought for two and a half dollars, and even less an acre. Deer were then as plenty as sheep, bears were quite troublesome to the hogs, and wolves to the sheep. The Indian picked up a precarious subsistence coming in with his wolf scalps to "Squire Curry and claiming his certificate of bounty. What was then known as the Titus Spring Run, behind the mansion of that "fine old English gentlemen," Gen. M. Mowbray, Esq., abounded in season with the best of speckled trout. The reminiscent well recollects in 1825 going to Erie with a sleigh load of venison from Mr. Chase's store, and consigned to Thomas H. Sill, lawyer at Erie. He recollects the old mail coach, with its four horses, which used to ply between Erie and Pittsburgh in those days, changing horses every ten or fifteen miles, and stopping en route at Waterford, Cambridge, Meadville, Georgetown, Mercer, Butler, Glade Mills, & c. The Meadville hotels in those days were Gibson's and Barton's, and the Mansion House at Pittsburgh was the principal stopping place. Among the early business men of Titusville, Mr. Curry gives the names of John Robinson, dry goods, on the present Mansion House corner; Brewer, Watson & Co. dry goods and groceries, where the Granger store now stands; J. C. Kerr, dry goods, on the McFarland, Smith and Co's site; Hiram Hill had a grocery where Funk, Jackson & Fuller's splendid dry goods store stands. Waid kept a shoe store and Wm. Barnsdall a shoe store and tannery at the head of Franklin street. David Crossley had a blacksmith shop at the junction of Pine and Diamond street, and C. Zeigler a blacksmith shop on Franklin street, opposite the mill. A. W. Hubbard had a wagon shop, and Jacob Snapp a blacksmith shop on Franklin street, near Burchard's store, and Samuel Siliman had a carpenter and joiner shop on Pine street, near the Methodist Church. These comprised pretty much all the business element of Titusville, which now boasts its hundred shops and stores. Most of the old landmarks of twenty years ago, are now obliterated and exist only in the recollection of the pioneer. The first hotel was the American House, which, thirty years ago, was kept by A. & W. Robinson. The mail in those days was carried on horseback from Franlin to Waterford, via Titusville, every four days. The only settlements between this place and Franklin were Dempseytown and Cooperstown. To Be Continued Bev