Karl Swigart and Keith Ruffaner live on land in North Buffalo that was set aside for Revolutionary War soldiers. Jerry Gaiser's property in South Buffalo once was owned by Benjamin Franklin.
They have the old maps and sheepskin deeds from those early times to prove it.
Their properties are part of the "Depreciation Lands" law passed in 1783 which gave certificates for the purchase of unused land in the west to Pennsylvanians who had served in the Revolutionary War in lieu of money as payment for their service.
There are many properties in Armstrong County that were sold as Depreciation Lands. War veterans either settled on the parcels or sold them off to others. Benjamin Franklin purchased a number of the parcels in the county.
"After the Revolutionary War was over they had to pay the soldiers and sailors money owed them," said Swigart. "They didn't have the money so they decided they would lay a portion of southwestern Pennsylvania out and they called it the Depreciation Lands."
"It was something I never knew about until I did some research," he said. "I don't think a lot of people know what it was, what it meant, who was involved and if it's part of their land's history."
The Depreciation Lands district in southwestern Pennsylvania was bounded to the south and east by the Allegheny River, to the north by Mahoning Creek with a line continuing straight across west from the meeting point of the Allegheny River and Mahoning Creek and to the west to the Pennsylvania border. In Armstrong County the lands included the southwestern corner of the county, west of the Allegheny River and south of Mahoning Creek.
There were 533 lots laid out and surveyed in the Depreciation Lands of Western Pennsylvania which today includes portions of Armstrong, Allegheny and Butler counties.
The lots ranged in size from 181 acres to 365 acres. Purchasers paid less than fifty cents an acre.
Swigart's interest started when his mother, a genealogist, helped a man from New York research his family history in this area. For their help, the man sent back a copy of a map dated from around 1800.
"He said he had no idea what it was but it was in our area because it showed the Allegheny River on it," said Swigart. "I started cyphering. I'm always looking at interesting places and historical stuff. Once I knew what it was, that it was for the Depreciation Lands, I had to learn something about it. It started me on a quest.
"My property had to be in this. But where⢠Which lot?"
Swigart said he did research at the county's Recorder's office and tracked the deeds back to the first owner.
"I found out my property went back to the Revolutionary War," he said. "It turned out to be lot 223. I have two acres of that in the 223 block.
"The biggest thing I found out was who was the original owner."
Swigart found the first owner to be Andrew Kennedy. He then got a copy of Kennedy's will and determined that he was a merchant.
"I don't know if he was a Revolutionary War soldier but at the very least he must have purchased the Depreciation Lands certificate from one," said Swigart. "To me this was just a lot of fun finding out."
Ruffaner, who lives on 150 acres of farm property that was included in the Depreciation Lands, has a sheepskin deed with the seal of the Land Office of Pennsylvania for his property.
"It was issued to David Hall," said Ruffaner. "He could have been a Revolutionary War soldier, I don't know."
"I just think it's great to have a part of history in our background," he said.
Gaiser has a copy of a sheepskin deed and his cousin has the original deed.
"It has Peter Audibert, who fought in the war, whose name was on the deed as the owner and it was signed over to him by Ben Franklin," said Gaiser. "It's a great part of history to have."
As a county commissioner with an interest in history, Jim Scahill knows the history of the Depreciation Lands.
"I live in that period," said Scahill. "To tie that (maps and deeds) to present ownership, that's fantastic." When you go back and trace a deed, you often end up being surprised by who owned your property. It's a fascinating world that nobody really knows a lot about."
Scahill said a lot of the land went to land speculators rather than to the soldiers it was meant for.
"These soldiers were cash starved," said Scahill. "Basically the land didn't do them any good. It was all 200-foot pine trees and they only had one little ax, so in a lot of cases that land was gobbled up."
"There's lots of land that Ben Franklin had. He had a lot of cash. People that had money would pay ridiculously low prices for some of that land. It's a piece of history that's not lost, but one that people don't talk about," Scahill said.
