Kossuth

The town of Kossuth is named after Lajos (Louis) Kossuth, a great Hungarian patriot. Louis Kossuth was the provisional governor of Hungary in 1849. He stood for democracy and freedom, as though it were life itself. Some said that liberty was his “bread of life.“ He led a revolt in Vienna and succeeded in establishing a democratic form of government in Hungary. He later tried to liberate his native land from the control of the Hapsburg dynasty and had failed with the military defeat at Temesvar on August 9, 1849. They were defeated only because of Russia’s assistance. He was then taken to a Turkish prison. The United States rescued him from imprisonment and possible surrender to the vindictive people of Austria. He arrived in the United States on December 4, 1851. He came to thank the American people for the spirit and principles of the America Republic. He wanted to tell them about Hungary’s problems that they faced striving for their independence. He also wished for the American people to aid him on behalf of his unfortunate land. He toured some of the American cities, which were later named after him. In the free world at that time, which was America and England, he was greeted enthusiastically. He was honored in Washington, D.C. with a dinner attended by the highest officials including members of both Houses of Congress. He then stayed at the Sherwyn Hotel in Pittsburgh for a week. Hoping that he would still liberate his country, he returned to Europe in 1852. When he returned to England, he went to Turin, Italy where he spent most of his time in scientific studies. He died in Turin on March 20, 1894 unable to fulfill his dream. He left his legacy at a pleasant little crossroads located in Ashland Township of Clarion County, Pennsylvania. Kossuth is located along Route 322, or otherwise known as the “Lakes to Sea Highway”, which extends from Cleveland to New York.

Click to enlarge	In 1886, Kossuth had lots of stores and a variety of things to do. The population at that time was approximately 400 people. The town included three hotels, two hardware stores, a machine shop, nine other stores, a blacksmith shop, two oil offices, five saloons, one billard saloon and a post office, a gasoline service station, and the Ashland School. In 1887 the oil drillings proved to be dry and the town diminished to less than there was to begin with.
The Kossuth post office was the first one established in this section and was named after Louis Kossuth. Prior to the turnpike, the main mail route was from Pittsburgh to Franklin by way of the Allegheny River, then by horseback through the woods to this town with postage charged according to the distance. There are two pictures of the Kossuth post office and convenience store. One shows the original Red & White store, which was first owned by Gary Weaver then by Mel Corbett. Later this was bought by William and Rebecca Hirsch and renamed Hirsch’s Home Dressed Meats. Hirsch Meats still exists but is now owned by their son, David Hirsch. Hirsch’s is not just a small grocery store, but also has a post office and a slaughter house, which was built in 1952. Hirsch’s, today is not the same building that it used to be. The front of the old Hirsch’s building was torn off and was used as a house for one of Hirsch's daughters and her family. Today it is used for storage. Hirsch’s later relocated about one-hundred yards from the site. The business expanded by adding wholesale and retail meats to their business. A slaughterhouse was built in 1952. The post office relocated to this new location also. My grandmother, Rebecca Hirsch, was the postmaster for the post office beginning in the 1950’s. As part of the 100th celebration of the visit of Louis Kossuth to Pittsburgh, a memorial service was held in Pittsburgh and Kossuth. A 4 cent, regular mail and an 8 cent air mail stamp honoring Mr. Kossuth were printed and sold through the Kossuth Post Office, which was established in 1849. Grandma recalls getting requests from other states and countries for these stamps.	Click to enlarge
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Click to enlarge	My other artifact is a picture of the old Ashland School which had been there for a long period of time. As far as we know, it was a school from 1953 until 1970. It was finally torn down around 1997. Today, the site of the previous school is an auto shop where used cars are sold and worked on. In the corner of Kossuth, there stands a war memorial of the veterans who gave their life during World War I and World War II to preserve our independence.

The History of Kossuth