Alexander MCDOWELL

                   OLIVE BATCHER, 2423 HAMILTON DR., AMES, IA 50014; BOOK PUBLISHED 1995, PG 153
     Alexander was a ranger on the frontier and a private in the Cumberland Co.,
Militia in 1780-81 under Capt James Patton, Thomas McDowell, and William
Huston, in 1785, he was appointed Deputy Surveyor of Donation Lands on the west
side of Allegheny Ricer, lands that had been promised the troops of the
Commonwealth. In 1794, he became a resident of Venango Co., where he located
many of the warrants of the Holland Land Co., in Venango, and adjoining
counties, He was appointed justice of the peace in 1796, the first magistrate
to serve in Venango Co. On 23 OCT 1805, he was appointed first county treasurer
by the County Commissioners, and was county treasurer 1805-07, auditor 1808. He
was a member of the first Board of Trustees for the Venango Academy,
established in 1813, and was commissioned the first post master at Franklin, PA
4 JAN 1816. Alexander's mill on the Allegheny is mentioned in early reocrds.
[hq]
    Alexander provided a log house and brought his family to Franklin, PA in
1797. In 1802 he built a more pretentious house, which had the first wall paper
in Franklin. The sheets of paper were strong and thick, lasting until the house
was torn down in 1874; its light back ground was covered with pictures of boys
and dogs in blue which pleased the children and grown people for several
generations. Cornplanter, the Indian chief, was Alexander's friend because of
his kindness in surveying the land granted the sachem and helping him to secure
and occupy his home. [q]