The Beginnings of Oakmont Pennsylvania

The Lake Hartwell region has a rich history, which tells the story of the Cherokee Indians, whose land (originally) the lake was built over. A large Indian mound rising above the waters of Lake Hartwell is evidence of the Cherokee Indians’ existence in the lake region. Early settlers of this area were Scotch-Irish farmers who started a new life in Georgia, many escaping the potato famine of the mid-19th century. Historic

Reverend John Wesley made the imperative decision to move to the Point Washington area in the year 1885. William Henry Wesley, Sr., son of the Reverend, formed the magnificent property of what would one day be Eden Gardens State Park in 1895. Once firmly established in the Point Washington area, William Henry Wesley, Sr., known by his family as W.H., “and his father-in-law, Simeon Strickland, soon went into the lumber business.” The forests and uninhabited land once encompassed by the Euchee Indians and its chief were cleared in order to begin the lumber business. Present day Eden Gardens is known for the large and incredibly beautiful home that was constructed when this lumber business began. W.H. and Strickland started to fabricate homes made from the best lumber the two men had manufactured. A viewer and admirer of the park can hardly fathom that the monstrously large oak trees of Eden today were hardly starting to grow in the time that the houses were built. The oak trees present on the property are of an astounding size that make any individual to visit the park begin to wonder the majesty of

Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in North America, founded in 1607 in Virginia. About 104 men and boys arrived at a new settlement in Virginia and named it after their king, James I, which was Jamestown. This new settlement was surrounded by many powhatan people that lived there. Although, even though English have found a new settlement, many colonist died. Colonists died in early Jamestown for three big reasons: their water was bad, they lacked key skills, and they had bad relations with the Powhatans.

On July 24th 1701, Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac founded a settlement in “le détroit”, meaning “the strait”. The Frenchmen led one hundred French soldiers and one hundred Algonquians with the goal to build a fort and trading post on the river between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. The purpose of the settlement was to facilitate traffic on the river, protect valuable trade furs in the great lakes area for France, and establish a location to help protect the French and their Native American allies against the British. For the next nine years, the settlement in Detroit developed around Fort Portchartrian. However, both the natives and colonists didn’t agree with Cadillac’s tyrannical authority. Cadillac’s supporters complained that acted harshly as

Ohioans that petitioned to Congress about the monopolizing of acreage by private companies on the frontier after the War of Independence, the farmers also asked for “vacant lands”

The Homestead Act of 1862 made surveyed lands obtainable to homesteaders. The act stated that men and women over the age of 21, unmarried women who were head of households and married men under the age of 21, who did not own over 160 acres of land anywhere, were citizens or intended on becoming citizens of the United States, were eligible to homestead. This paper will show how the Homestead Act came to be enacted, who the homesteaders were and the effects of the Homestead Act on the pioneers.

“ The Big Little City,” also commonly know as the city of Pittsburgh, is one of the largest cites in the state of Pennsylvania. With over 144 square kilometers of land area, and approximately seven square kilometers of surface water (Pittsburgh Pennsylvania), the city of Pittsburgh is large by anyone’s standard. The city, which is located in western Pennsylvania, has a very diverse geography which sets it apart from many other cities in the United States. Pittsburgh and its suburbs are known for steep hillsides covered with buildings, streets which have steps for sidewalks, and sidewalks which are named streets. From the highest point in Allegheny County, 1,401 feet at River Hill in Forward Township, to the 710

Leopold Pokagon, an Ojibwe/Odawa saw many of his villagers convert to Christianity and did not wish to leave the area. Pokagan signed a treaty of Chicago 1833 that he and his villagers purchased 874 acres of land in Silver Creek Township. Because these Potawatomi has legal title to land, they were except from removal. Pokagon would lead his village to death in 1841.His legacy remains in Pokagon band in Cass County today because of Pokagon’s efforts. (Dowagiac History Museum,2017)

Until gold was revealed in the Rocky Mountains in 1859, the native population was virtually undisturbed by outside influence and the prairies were freely used to sustain life. When the gold was discovered, a whole new attitude came across the land. The population exploded and that means that there came change. With the discovery of gold, the invaders from the east would make those changes. Just like the unearthing of this widely sought out metal a decade earlier in California by the forty-niners, the fifty-niners forced themselves in to stake and protect their claims. With these changes, those who had original title to the land would find themselves under new ideas, new laws, and a new way of life. But, just because there is gold to be had, not everybody will be successful. There will be new wealth and bitter disappointment. So, the question is who benefitted the most from this discovery and who got the wrong end of the stick?

Present day Oklahoma was once Indian Territory. It became Indian Territory after the Civil War (Fugate, 136). The Unassigned Lands were in the middle of Indian Territory, but it was not claimed by one of the tribes (Hoig). However, this land was surrounded on all sides by land claimed by a tribe such as the Cherokee. The first to notice the land was prime were the cattlemen who herded their cattle through the area (Fugate,137). The word got around that the land was so great and the “Boomers” were created.

The land known as Seneca Village was originally farmland owned by John and Elizabeth Whitehead. Andrew Williams, an African-American male, bought three lots of land from the Whiteheads in 1825. In addition, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church purchased six lots of land, which began the birth of the community. The Whiteheads eventually sold off their land between 82nd to 86th Streets. The majority of the buyers were African Americans. This became the first community for property-owning African Americans .

At the end of the 1800s Wilmington North Carolina was a very active city which centered on its port. At that time it was the largest city in North Carolina. They had a very large African American population, only one-third of the people in the city were not African American. Wilmington was considered a great place for African Americans because they were thriving economically and involved politically.

In the 1870’s, the Unassigned Lands in the part of the Oklahoma Territory that would become Norman, Oklahoma was a sight to behold. Just north of the North Canadian River, which is the main tributary of the Canadian River, which in turn is the largest tributary of the Arkansas River, Abner Ernest Norman led his federal surveying crew to what would develop into the town bearing his namesake. “Norman, a 23-year-old surveyor from Kentucky, was hired to oversee part of this project. Norman’s work crew set up camp near what is today the corner of Classen and Lindsey streets; it was there that the men, perhaps jokingly, carved a sign on an elm tree that read “Norman’s Camp,” in honor of their young boss.” (Mills)

Benjamin Tappan, Jr., an attorney from Connecticut, was the first person to settle in Western Reserve’s Township 3, Range 8, now known as Ravenna, Ohio. His father owned more than 10,000 acres in the southern two thirds of the township. Tappan Jr. moved there in June 1799, traveling part of the way with David Hudson, who was on his way to settle the nearby township bearing his name. With his father’s power of attorney, Tappan Jr. divided the land into 66 lots of about 160 acres each to be sold to settlers. He selected a site in the center of his land for the town.

In 1834 a small area of land was given to the Quapaw Indians in the upper north east corner of Oklahoma. Around