COLUM BIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES Fraziers w e re of the earliest settlers in this portion of the State. Jo h n Deen cam e to this county w ith his uncle in his seventh year. The w idow m arried Jo h n W ilson. S h e died in D anville Oct. i . 1827. in her sixty-sixth year, and w as buried in the old Presbyterian cemetery. H ere Jo h n lived from the time he came w ith his uncle, D aniel F razier, whose log house w as on the hillside a little cast o f Bloom street, near the present site of the R e formed church, his farm covering the ground that is now the Fourth w ard. Here at the short-tem icd subscription schools Jo h n ac quired w hat education he possessed. In 1796 he was apprenticed to M r. H endrickson to learn blacksm iihing. In 1809 he m arried M ary Flack, daughter o f H ugh and Susan Flack, who w as Iw m near V ashin «on ville in .April, 1785. T h e H acks were a la rg e fam ily, and their descendants have interm arried with nvmy of the pioneer fam ilies. T h e father on the m aternal side of the F lacks was M cB ride, another u f the very early settlers in what is now M ontour co u n ty; M cB rid e settled on a fann at w hat is now W hitehall. In i8 o y M r. Deen and w ife came to Dan ville. T h e town w as then a mere hamlet o f Ic* buildings scattered over the territory west 01 what is now Church street and south of the canal. H e occupied the corner on which is now the residence o f W . G . Shoop. at M ar ket and F e rry streets, where he lived until 1814. M erc he had his smithy sh o p; here three o f h is children were bom . v iz .: Thom as, who died at the age o f five years, Jo h n and Julia A n n . H e then purchased ground on the opposite side of the street o f Daniel Mont gomery. H e here erected what is now the eastern end of the fram e house lately owned by his eldest daughter, M rs. Ju lia A nn Bow yer. w here he l l v ^ the remainder o f his life. I'h e w ork in a blacksmith shop in those days w as very different from that o f to-day. There w as v e ry little m ach in civ; everything had to lie hammered out on the anvil, and charcoal w as the only fuel used. M r. Dccn's account books are still in the possession of the fam ily and here are recorded business transactions dating back to so long a period as now to possess much historic interest. Bar iron at that time w as worth $ 10 0 to $ 1 2 0 per ton. Buckw heat w as selling at thirty to thirty-five cents a bushel. In I & 4 wheat sold for S t .S y y i. A d ay’s ploughing with two horses w as worth $ 1 4 0 . Soon a fte r m aking his residence here. M r. Deen obtained an interest In a fishery IcKated above the mouth o f M ahoning creek, and also
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one in C ulp’s eddy, above. T h e fish caught here at that time were many and of the best quality, shad weighing as high a s seven pounds and salmon weighing fifteen pounds, rockfish thirty pounds. T h e best fish sold at six or seven cents a pound. T he women made the twine o f which the nets were woven, a s they also made the clothes worn by men and wom en. T h e spinning wheel and the loom were then to l)c heard In almost ever)' house. T he first woolen factory w as erected in Danville more than one hundred years ago. It w as on M ahoning creek at the Northumberland street crossing. These facts arc gathered from M r. D ccn's old account book. Jo h n Dcen's close Industr)- and economy brought him prosjw rity, and in 1820 he pur c h a s e o f Jo h n M ontgomery the land running eastw ard along the south side o f M arket street, paying one hundred dollars per acre fo r it. Thi.<i w as stony ground and not fit fo r cultivation; how ever, it w as once a great place fo r blacklicrrics. It has long been cov ered with the fine improvements w e now see there. In 1826. in addition to h is busines.s o f farm ing and his large blacksmith shop. Mr. Deen purcha.scd of the (latentee the right to m anufacture threshing machines and openwl a factory. These w ere evidently good machines and well nude. M r. Deen had contracts on the canal then being constructed, as well as on the river bridge. W hen the canal w as opened he owned and ran a boat thereon in the coal trade. .At an age when ordinary men usually retire from active bu.sinc.ss life he built the tannery on the river near Church street. On Ja n . 5. 1852. his faith fu l helpmate de parted this life. A fte r a long and u seful life, widely esteemed and beloved by a great circle o f friends, he breathed his last lu ly 16. 1864. leaving behind seven children, all o f whom are now deceased. H is eldest son. Joh n, m arried Ja n e Hutton and died in 18 7 4 : Ju lia .Ann n u rricd Jo h n B o w y e r; Jan ies m airlcd M argaret S an d ers: Ja n e m arried Thom as B ran d on : Ilan n ah m arried R ev. A m os B . S t ill: P erry, the youngest son. m arried Ja n e Ritchie, and a fte r her death m arried Jan e F u llm e r; Susan, the youngest of the fam ily, m arried Isaac T yler. J a c o b S E C t ii.E R w as the son o f Jo h n Sech lcr. an early settler, who liought part of the M ontgom ery Purchase in c lu d ^ in the boun daries o f Danville. Jo h n Scchler, the father, w as a Revolutionary hero, surviving the win ter ot V alley F o i* c and said to have Iwcn an officer on W ashington’s staff. Jo lm and his brother cam e to what is now l i n v i l l e some
