| ALLISON'S FORT |
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"James Mitchell located in 1788 on Black Lick, on the tract of land at present (1880) owned by his two sons William and James Mitchell, where he died in September, 1832. He began clearing and put up a cabin, house and barn, and after living alone two years, got married and subsequently erected the buildings which are still standing. He often served as a scout during the border troubles, and in the spring of 1791, went with his family to "Allison's Fort," at (now) Homer. After the alarm had subsided, he returned to his farm, and was not afterward molested by the Indians." (History of Indiana Co., p. 452)
The Allison Fort above referred to was probably the cabin of Andrew Allison, who, after serving in the Revolution, came into Derry region in Westmoreland county, in 1785, where he made a settlement; but in 1788 he sold out his improvement, crossed the Conemaugh, and settled on the bank of the Two Lick, opposite the present village of Homer. Here he built a cabin and cleared some ground. In 1790, his father came from Cumberland county, and took charge of his improvements and Andrew penetrated farther into the forest and opened up to the farm now owned by Archibald Nichol, three miles east of the borough of Indiana. Here he remained until 1792, in which year owing to Indian depredations, he was obliged to flee with his family to Moorhead's Fort (house), on the farm now owned by Isaac Moorhead. He then returned to his father's on Two Lick, where another fort was being erected; there he remained till sometime in 1793, when he removed to the forks of Two Lick and Yellow Creek on an improvement already made by another person. (From sketch of the Allisons, in Hist. of Indiana Co., p. 455)"
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