Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Jonathan Titus and Mary "Polly" Martin


Husband Jonathan Titus 1 2 3 

           Born: Abt 1767 - Huntingdon Co, PA
     Christened: 
           Died: 2 Feb 1857 - ? Crawford Co, PA 1
         Buried: 


         Father: Peter Titus (      -      ) 3 4
         Mother: Jane Kerr (      -      ) 3


       Marriage: 10 May 1804 3

Wife Mary "Polly" Martin 2 3 

            AKA: May Martin 1
           Born:  - Maryland
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


         Father: John Martin (      -      ) 3
         Mother: Susan McDowell (1752-1839) 3 5 6


Children
1 M Peter Augustus Titus 3 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: while young
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

2 M Maxwell Titus 3 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

3 M John Martin Titus 3 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

4 F Susan Jane Titus 7 

           Born: 1801 - Titusville, Crawford Co, PA 8
     Christened: 
           Died: 28 Dec 1878 8
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Joseph L. Chase (1799-1879) 9
           Marr: Nov 1825 10

5 F Sarah Ann Titus 11 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 3 Mar 1897 12
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Edward H. Chase (1807-1878) 3
           Marr: 24 Feb 1835 12

6 F Lavinia Titus 3 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: when three years old
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

7 F Lavinia Titus 3 13 14 

            AKA: Livinia Titus 2
           Born: 22 Feb 1817 - Titusville, Crawford Co, PA 14 15
     Christened: 
           Died: 9 May 1893 - Cambridge Springs, Crawford Co, PA 14 15
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Parker McDowell (1805-1860) 3 13 14
           Marr: 15 May 1839 - Titusville, Crawford Co, PA 15

8 F Mary Lewis Titus 3 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: when twenty months old
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

9 F Olivia Titus 3 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: John Moore (      -      ) 3

General Notes: Husband - Jonathan Titus


The original settlement made on the site of Titusville, Pennsylvania, was the first in the eastern part of Crawford County. To Jonathan Titus and his uncle, Samuel Kerr, belongs the honor of being the first white occupants of the soil. They had been engaged in making surveys in Ohio, but noting the advantages of a settlement on Oil Creek, they determined to cast their lot in that locality. Accordingly they selected the best land they could find, Mr. Kerr choosing what is now the eastern part of the city, and Mr. Titus the western. The date of their permanent settlement was about 1796, and they came together from Frankstown, Blair County, Pennsylvania.

Jonathan Titus, the founder of the city which now perpetuates his name, came to Oil Creek Valley in a state of single blessedness. He erected a small, round-log cabin, daubed or chinked with mud, and containing but one apartment. It stood just south of Arch Street, opposite the Titusville City Mills, on Franklin Street. The Indians often visited him and slept in his cabin over night. In 1804 he married and at once brought his wife to their backwoods home. When he first came, he was obliged to go to Franklin to get his corn ground, and to Meadville and Erie for groceries. He remained a life-long resident of the place.
The village was planned by Jonathan Titus in 1809, but it was many years before the place assumed the semblance of a town or even hamlet. During the first decade of the century much salt, flour and many other commodities were hauled in sleds between Pittsburgh and the upper Allegheny region, one of the routes being up Oil Creek Valley. The sled drivers carried with them provisions for themselves and horses, but were wont to lodge at the cabin of Jonathan Titus. At a later period, commencing about 1820, lumbering was carried on along the head-waters of Oil Creek and the lumber and logs were rafted during freshets down the streams to Pittsburgh, the lumbermen returning afoot. The cabin of Jonathan Titus was a regular place of stopping, and every night for weeks at a time, it was crowded with these rough frontiersmen on their return trips. It was not erected for a tavern but was large and roomy and could easily be adapted to the necessities of the times.
When Mr. Titus platted the village he designed to name it Edinburg, in honor of the city whence the mother of his wife had emigrated to this country, but for many years the place was known simply as "Titus'," to which the title "Titusville" succeeded.

He studied surveying in his earlier years. In 1760 he was employed by the United States government as a civil engineer in surveying the Susquehanna Valley. During this trip through northwestern Pennsylvania he decided to locate there. He went to Meadville, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, but, the Indians becoming troublesome, he removed to Fort le Boeuf, where Waterford is now located. After a few weeks he went to Spring Creek, and in October, 1790, came to the spot on which Titusville is now located, and as he looked over the broad valley he was much impressed by the general aspect. He pitched his camp there, and the following morning everything was covered with snow, although it was but October. He built a log house just back of where the Titusville Herald was later located, and thus became the first settler and the founder of Titusville. He bought many hundreds of acres of the surrounding country. He was a very tall man, being six feet two inches in height. A frequent visitor at the home of Jonathan Titus was "Cornplanter," chief of the Seneca Indians.

He died of hydrophobia March 19, 1843. [HCC 1885, 1089]

General Notes: Wife - Mary "Polly" Martin


from Chambersburg, PA
of Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, living near Pittsburgh.

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Sources

1 Editor, The History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner Beers & Co., 1885), Pg 463.

2 Editor, History of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk, & Co., Publishers, 1890), Pg 938.

3 Samuel P. Bates, LL.D., Our County and Its People, A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (W. A. Fergusson & Co., 1899), Pg 295.

4 Editor, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1156.

5 Editor, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 83.

6 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 370.

7 Samuel P. Bates, LL.D., Our County and Its People, A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (W. A. Fergusson & Co., 1899), Pg 295, 741.

8 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 1299.

9 Samuel P. Bates, LL.D., Our County and Its People, A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (W. A. Fergusson & Co., 1899), Pg 295, 740.

10 Samuel P. Bates, LL.D., Our County and Its People, A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (W. A. Fergusson & Co., 1899), Pg 741.

11 Samuel P. Bates, LL.D., Our County and Its People, A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (W. A. Fergusson & Co., 1899), Pg 295, 929.

12 Samuel P. Bates, LL.D., Our County and Its People, A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (W. A. Fergusson & Co., 1899), Pg 929.

13 J. H. Newton, History of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Columbus, OH: J. A. Caldwell Publishers, 1879), Pg 548.

14 Editor, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 98.

15 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 376.

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