650 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Apollos, born Sept. 8, 1801. Nancy, born Sept. 13, 1803. Henry Speers the younger resided all his married life on the farm called Speers' Intent, opposite Belle Vernon, in the present Allen township, Washington County, Pa., being the same on which his son Apollos lived so long after the death of his father, and which is now owned by Noah and Solomon C., sons of Apollos. The patent to this farm was granted to Henry Speers, Jan. 12, 1789, on a survey made and entered by John Reef, May 23, 1769, and conveyed to Henry Speers by deed dated Sept. 11, 1784. Henry was not only a farmer, but also engaged extensively in trapping and running the ferry in the most primitive mode of the Indian canoe. He was long a member of the Baptist Church, and his earnestness as a worker and his consistency as a Christian gave him a power and prestige among the early settlers that few men possessed. He was licensed to preach by the church of Enon May 5, 1793, a copy of which license reads as follows : "The Baptist Church of Jesus Christ at Enon, in Washington County, Fallowfield township, State Pennsylvania, Holding Believers Baptism by Immersion Justification by an Imputed Righteousness Pertieular. Election and Regeneration, Final Perseverance in Grace, &c. To all whom it may Concern we scud our Christian Salutation, Greeting: " We do hereby Certify that our Beloved Brother, Henry Speers, is a member of our church in full union and communion with us, and as we believe that the Lord has called him to the ministry of his Blessed word which gifts he lies improved amongst us to our satisfaction, We do hereby License and permit hint to Exercise his gift in preaching the word and in Exortation Wherever it may please the Lord to cast his lot, hoping the brethren of our sister churches may receive him in love, and praying that he may grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, and that our Lord Jesus Christ nifty by his Holy Spirit Bless his Labors and make him useful to the Comforts of Saints and convictions of Sinners. " Signed in our church part fur the whole. Passed by order of the fifth of May, A.D. 1792. "STEPHEN BARCLAY, COT. Sec'y. "WILLIAM ALBIN. "JOHN BAILEY. "CHARLES WHITLATCH. “SAMUEL VAIL. " JESSE VANDOLAH. "NATHAN ELLIS.  "PETER VANDOLAH. "JOHN STEWARD.  "WILLIAM JACKMAN, JR. "THOMAS CLOUD.  " PETER YATMAN, 1790." He was ordained by Rev. John Corbly on the last Saturday of March, 1797, and continued pastor of that church until the day of his death, which occurred Jan. 2, 1840. He was chiefly instrumental in building up the congregation. of Enon, the members of which worshiped first in the old log church, but more recently in the brick house still standing on the hill near the ferry, opposite Belle Vernon, and now owned by Solomon C. Speers. A few years since the congregation abandoned the building, and now worship in the new frame church near the residence of John S. Carson, on Maple Creek. The brick dwelling-house now owned and occupied by Noah Speers, near the ferry, was erected in 1806 by said Henry Speers. Henry, son of Henry Speers the younger, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was in the battle of New Orleans with Gen. Jackson. He died many years ago in the old log house on Maple Creek in which the late Joseph Beazell resided. Samuel was also a soldier in the war of 1812; exposure in the army caused him to be a cripple in his last days, which were passed in the family of his brother Apollos. John passed most of his life at Dunbar, Fayette Co., Pa., where he followed milling and farming. One of ,the daughters (Nancy)—the only one now living—of Henry Speers married George Hill, of Ten-Mile; he was the father of George L. Hill, the present Washington County treasurer. Another daughter (Pleasant) married William Ward. Katy married John McCrory. Apollos, another son after his marriage to Elizabeth Cooper, daughter of the late Valentine Cooper, resided for a short time at " Fish Pot," on Ten-Mile; with this exception he lived in the brick house at the ferry until his death, which occurred Feb. 23, 1857. His wife died in Marshalltown, Iowa, Sept. 13, 1874; she was born March 22, 1803. Her remains were interred with her husband in the Enon graveyard. Apollos and Elizabeth had five sons—Solomon C., Noah, Henry V., Jacob B., and Jasper—and five daughters,—Margaret, Nancy, Mary L., Sarah R., and Clara E. Noah lives at the ferry, of which he is sole owner. When the Rebellion broke out, Henry V: enlisted in Capt. J. J. Young's battery, and Jacob B. in the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers. Both served until the close, and went to Marshalltown, Iowa, where they have been engaged in business ever since. Jasper died when sixteen years of age. Solomon C. was born May 12, 1832, and married May 6, 1857, Anne Eliza Walker, who was born April 5, 1836. She is a daughter of the late Nathaniel R. and Martha Walker. He was s: native of Boston, Mass., and she a daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Brownfield, of Smithfield, Fayette Co., Pa. They have two sons—Charles P., horn Dec. 11, 1862, and Albert C., born Oct. 16, 1865—and two daughters,—Mary Bessie, born Sept. 13, 1870, and Jessie L., born Dec. 2, 1873. Solomon C. and his wife began housekeeping in the house in which they now reside, on the farm a part of the "Speers' Intent." The dwelling was erected in 1860 by the late firm of Kiddoo & Moore, of Monongahela City. Solomon, whose portrait appears in this history, is proprietor of the Clipper Sand-Works, near the ferry, from which have been sent to market as high as thirteen thousand tons of sand in one year, used in the manufacture of glass and as building material, etc. He was engaged in steamboating from 1853 to 1868. His early education was obtained in the common schools, but prepared himself for business in graduating from Duff's Mercantile College of Pittsburgh, Pa. By strict attention to business, in connection with unbending integrity, he has acquired quite a competence of this world's goods and a reputation as an honorable and successful man. He now lives at ease in his beautiful residence on the banks of the Monongahela, where, ALLEN TOWNSHIP - 651 with his family, around, he enjoys the largest measure of the good will of all those with whom he holds an acquaintance. HENRY SPHAR.¹ “VIRGINIA, ss: "At a General Court held at the Capital in the City of Williamsburg, the 21st of April, 1767, Mattern Sparr, a Native of Switzerland, who hath resided in this Colony upwards of Seven Years, and bath not been out of the same the space of two Months at any one time, came into Court between tho Hours of nine and twelve in the forenoon, and produced a Certificate of his having Received the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the Act of Parliament in that case made and provided, and took and subscribed the Oath appointed to be taken instead of the Oath of Allegiance and Summary. The Oath appointed by an Act of Parliament made in the Sixth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty King George the third, entitled An Act fur Altering the Oath of Abjuration, and the Assurance and for amending so much of an Act of the Seventh Year of her late Majesty Queen Anne, entitled an Act for the Improvement of the Union of the two Kingdoms. After the time therein limited requires the Delivery of certain Lists and Copies therein mentioned to persons Indicted of High Treason or Misprison of Treason and made and subscribed the declaration thereby also appointed in order to his being naturalized. "BEN. WALLEY." Mattern Sparr, mentioned in the above, removed to Washington County about the year 1780, and purchased from Col. Edward Cook, a pioneer of civilization in northwestern Fayette County, the farm now wiled by his grandson Henry, where he spent the remainder of his life. Two brothers and one sister same to Washington County with him. Two other bothers were killed on the way to their new home. gattern married in Virginia and had three children, —John, Mattern, and Henry. His son John was born in Berkeley County, Va., in 1777, and died in Allen township, Washington County, in 1856. His wife was Susan Redd, by whom he had eleven children,--Mary, who is dead, married John Shively ; her home was in Guernsey County, Ohio. Jacob, who is dead, married for his first wife Susan Wood, and for his second Charlotte Wilson. Elizabeth married Joseph Dunlevy, and resides in Indiana. Daniel, who is dead, married Mary Speer; his home was 'in Kentucky. Ann, who is dead, married William Spah ; her home was in Indiana. Barbara married William Hollingshead; they are both dead. Mattern, who is dead, married Margaret Coyle ; his home was in Ohio. Sarah married Joseph Beazell, and lives in Allen township, Washington County. Rachel, who is dead, married Robert Gaily; her home was in Clarion County, Pa. John married Lucy Ann Scott ; he is a farmer, and resides in Allen township. Henry, the youngest, whose portrait here represents the family, was born Feb. 25, 1820, upon the farm where his home has always been. His entire business life has been given to farming. His father gave him a farm of one hundred acres, to which his labor and good judgment have added other lands. When a young man he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his moral worth, genial manner, and neighborly kindnesses command the respect of those ¹ The famly name is now spelled Sphar. who know him. He was married Nov. 5, 1843, to Margaret, daughter of William and Ruth Gregg, of East Pike Run township. Margaret died May 28, 1845, leaving one child, William G. Sphar, who is a farmer, and resides in Allen township. He married Ruth A. Gregg, and has three children,—Annie Bertha, George Henry, and Maggie. Pearl. Henry was married to his second wife, Mary Jackman, of East Pike Run township, June 15, 1847. ROBERT STOCKDALE In the latter part of the last century Thomas Stockdale, a native of Eastern Pennsylvania, where his wife had shortly before died, came, with his three sons, William, Thomas, and John, to Washington County, and made a permanent settlement in what is now Allen township, upon a farm which is now descended to and occupied by his grandchildren. Soon after his settlement in Allen township he married his second wife, Amy Allen, by whom he had five children,—Joseph, Robert, Deborah, Allen, and Hannah. He was a worthy man, possessing the qualities necessary. to overcome the difficulties with which the early settler was beset, and the country was better for his having lived in it. His son, Robert Stockdale, was born April 19, 1801, and died Dec. 15, 1878. His knowledge of the rudiments of learning was. gained in the district school, and the business of farming, which employed his maturer years, he learned at home: He was a careful student of every-day events, an intelligent man. He was a consistent Member of the Christian Church, a pious man. Attentive to his own business, he was prosperous and respected. He was twice married : first, Nov. 6, 1825, to Deborah Allen, who died March 13, 1850, leaving eight children,—William, who is a farmer residing in Kansas, married Rebecca Ailes ; Elizabeth married William Sprowls, of East Finley township, Washington County ; Amy died when six years of age ; Allen married Henrietta Ritenour ; he was a merchant, and died in 1874, in his thirty-seventh year; Robert M. died in 1864, aged twenty-three years; Deborah E. married Jesse Snyder, who died soon after their marriage ; site resides in California, Washington Co. ; Sarah Mary married William Martin, now of Alliance, Ohio; site died in 1864; Hannah Amy married Isaac K. Jackman, and resides in California, Washington Co., Pa. The second wife of Mr. Stockdale was Dorcas Price, of Allen township, who survives him, and by whom he had three children,—Joseph Snyder, Cyrus Field, and Martin J.,—all of whom are farmers, residing upon the old homestead, where they were born and reared, the scene of their father's birth, long years of toil, and death, and of their grandfather's trials and successes. AMWELL TOWNSHIP. AMWELL was one of the thirteen original townships erected in 1781, and at that time embraced its present territory and the present townships of Morris and Franklin. On the 13th of March, 1788, the township of Morris was erected, comprising the southwest quarter of this township. On the 23d of April, 1792, the township of Canton was erected, taking from Amwell that part of its territory that lay north of Morris. Since that time its territory has remained the same, with the exception of a slight change in the boundary line between it and Strabane township in October, 1830. Following is a list of persons elected to the office of justice of the peace in Amwell from its formation to the present time : Abner Howell, July 15, 1781. John Craig, July 15, 1781. William McFarland, Sept. 30, 1788. Ziba Cook, April 2, 1802. Milton B. Curry, April 11, 1805. William Craig, Oct. 24, 1807. Jonas Condit, Dec. 20, 1813. William Hallam, Dec. 23, 1818. Abraham Van Voorhes, March 6, 1823. John Carter, Dec. 8, 1823. William Lindley, March 4, 1824. Ellis Hughes, March 7, 1825. William Creacraft, Oct. 2, 1832. Thomas Vanemen, May 8, 1833. David P. Hathaway, March 20,1833. David I. Evans, June 13, 1834. Luther Day, March 15,1836. Samuel L. Hughes, April 14, 1840. David I. Evans, April 14, 1840. David I. Evans, April 15, 1845. Samuel L. Hughes, April 15, 1845. Silas Parker, April 11, 1848. Samuel L. Hughes, April 9, 1850. Silas Parker, April 13, 1853. Samuel L. Hughes, April 10, 1855. Silas Parker, April 2, 1858. Samuel L. Hughes, April 10, 1860. Robert Stockdale, April 14, 1863. Abel M. Evans, April 10, 1867. Samuel L. Hughes, April 9, 1867. O. T. Lyon, April 12, 1872. Robert Horn, April 12, 1872. O. T. Lyons, Jan. 20, 1874. Samuel L. Hughes, March 17, 1875. Frank F. Iams, March 21, 1877. John Closser, March 30, 1880. Many of the English and Scotch emigrants who came over to New England removed thence to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and some to Virginia. As early as 1768 a few of these families came and settled on the north fork of Ten-Mile Creek, and their descendants are there to this day. Notable among these early settlers were the Banes and the Enochs (the latter in what afterwards became West Bethlehem), who brought with them their love of religious liberty, fostered by the teachings and example of Roger Williams. In 1772 a Baptist Church was organized, and in 1776 the Redstone Baptist Association was formed, having six constituent churches, three of which were in Washington County as originally erected. In 1773 fifteen or twenty families ¹ From the erection of .the township in 178L till 1893 it was an hide-pendent district. Morris, however, was erected from its territory in 1788. By the act of 1803 Amwell and Morris became District No. 10, and so continued till 1838, when each became independent, and the office of Justice of the peace became elective. - 652 - from Morris County, N. J. (some of whom were descendants of the Puritans), emigrated with their families to the Ten-Mile region. Among these were the Cooks, Lindleys, and others. These were representatives of the Presbyterian faith, and in 1781 they established the churches that have long been known as the Upper and Lower Ten -Mile. These people were all driven from homes by the Indians in 1774, and on their return the next year built for safety strong block-houses as places of refuge in times of danger. About the year 1768 five brothers—Jesse, Nathan, Isaac, Ellis, and Joseph Bane—came to Amwell township, whither they had emigrated from the West Branch of the Potomac River in Virginia, to which section they had migrated from New England. The father of this family was a native of Scotland, and the mother was from Wales. The sister, Elizabeth, who came with them became the wife of James Tucker, a furnace-man and moulder, who died about 1818. Jesse, Nathan, Isaac, and Ellis Bane all settled upon adjoining farms one mile west of Amity village, in this township, but Joseph preferred the life of a hunter and did not invest largely in landed estate. They afterwards warranted and patented their lands as follows : Nathan Bane, warrant Feb. 20, 1786 ; survey March 30, 1786, as " Bane's Fancy," contains three hundred and four acres. James Bane, warrant Feb. 20, 1786 ; survey March 30, 1786, as " Bane's Forest," contains three hundred and thirty-six acres. Isaac Bane, warrant without date; survey Nov. 4, 1785, as "Fickle," contains one hundred and forty-nine acres. The Bane families were all Baptists, and were the prime movers in the organization and establishment of the church of that denomination, which is called the Ten-Mile Baptist Church, one and one-half miles west of Amity. Ellis Bane in time removed from his home in Amwell township to Ryerson's Station, in Greene County, very near the State line, and died there, leaving a number of children. Nathan Bane, who died at an advanced age upon his Amwell farm, left two sons, Abraham and Jacob, who also lived and died upon the homestead. An advertisement by three sons of Nathan Bane, dated- Oct. 25, 1813, says that they had erected a new fulling mill on the Middle Fork of Ten-Mile Creek, about one hundred yards from the site of the old mill, and solicited the patronage of the AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 653 Jesse Bane, the oldest of the five brothers, died upon his original farm at a very great age. Isaac Bane, who had married Sarah Ferguson before he left Virginia, was nearly ninety-three years old when he died at his home in Amwell. He left a family of four sons and five daughters. Daniel, the oldest, died in infancy, and Elizabeth died in 1818. John married Polly Milliken, reared a large family, and died near Clarkstown. William Bane, another son, who married Polly McGuire, died in Illinois in 1856, leaving many descendants. Sarah Bane, who became the wife of Zebulon Cooper in 1818, removed with him to Butler County, in this State. She died there in 1840, and left a numerous family. Ruth Bane was the wife of Goodwin Goodrich, and lived and died at Clarksville, Greene Co., Pa., her family being one son and two daughters. Rebecca Bane married John Lacock, reared a number of children, and died in 1858. Anna Bane's husband was Ira Lacock ; their family consisted of four sons and one daughter. She died in 1874, and Mr. Lacock in 1876, in Washington, in this county, and both are buried in the cemetery at that place. Isaac Bane, Jr., son of Isaac Bane, married Anna Wick; and very soon after their marriage they purchased " Forlorn Hope," the tract of land in this township which was located by William Vineard. They lived and died upon this farm, he in 1854, aged seventy-eight years, and his wife in 1857, at eighty-one years of age. Both were buried in the cemetery at Amity village. Their farm is now owned by Charles Banfield. Their children married and settled in life as follows: Mary, the oldest, was the wife of William Ringland, and her children were two sons and two daughters. They have all died save Mary Ringland, the youngest, who became Mrs. Nicodemus Moninger, and lives in Marshall, Conn. She has two sons and one daughter. The second child of Isaac and Anna Bane was a son, Thomas L. Bane, who was a physician, and studied for his profession with Dr. George Cook at New Lisbon, Columbiana Co., Ohio. He married his cousin, Matilda L. Wick, by whom he had two sons, Lycurgus G. and Thomas L. Bane, Jr. Lycurgus G. died at the age of twenty-four years, leaving no heirs, and Thomas L., Jr., died in Geneva, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, at forty years of age, leaving a wife and three daughters. Thomas L. Bane, Sr., and his wife, Matilda L. Bane, were devoted members of the Disciple or Christian Church, with which they united in 1838 at Youngstown, Ohio, being baptized at that time and place by Rev. John Henry. Mrs. Bane died in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1845, and Mr. Bane died in Geneva, Ohio, in the seventy-first year of his age. Deborah Bane was the third child of Isaac and. Una Bane. She married John Cuiry, and became the mother of six children, five sons and one daughter. Of these, Albert G. Curry died single in 1859, in the thirtieth year of his age. Thomas B. Curry, the second child, married to Sarah Frazer, and resides - 42 - on Brush Run, in this county. Milton and Mary Curry, twins, were the next children of Deborah Bane Curry. Milton emigrated to Illinois, where he lives with his family, and Mary, who married Aaron Bane, a distant relative, has two sons and one daughter. The two youngest children are sons, and both, unmarried, live upon the homestead with their mother, Mrs. Deborah Curry, the father having died Aug. 6, 1880. Henry Wick Bane, the second son and fourth child of Isaac and Anna Wick Bane, emigrated to Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1831, and is now a resident of Portage County, in that State. His wife was Ann M. Rickart, of Youngstown, Ohio, and two sons and three daughters compose their family. The oldest of this last-named family is Harriet A., who became the wife of William C. Van Kirk in 1864. They live in Amwell township, their farm adjoining that known as " Forlorn Hope," formerly owned by Isaac Bane, Jr., but now in the possession of Charles Banfield. Sarah E. Bane, second child of Henry Wick Bane, married James M. Hughes in 1867. Their home is in Washington, in this county. Mary R. Bane, third daughter and third child of Henry Wick Bane, was married in 1869 to James Koontz, Jr., and their home is also in Washington. Benjamin F. Bane, the fourth child of Henry Wick Bane, is living at Clarksburg, West Va., while the fifth child, Allison C. Bane, is a merchant in Allegheny City, and both are unmarried. Asenath Bane died in infancy. William died in his second,.and Orlando in his ninth, year. James Blaine Bane, the youngest child of Isaac, Jr., and Anna Wick Bane, is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. He emigrated to Athens County, Ohio, in 1840, and married Louisa Fuller. They now reside in Beverly, Washington Co., Ohio. Joseph Bane, one of the five brothers Bane, never married.. He was elected captain of a company of militia, and one time with his company followed a band of Indians to the west side of the Ohio River, crossing the stream below Wheeling. They overtook and attacked the enemy, but the battle resulted in victory for the Indians. Bane and his men beat a hasty retreat, but Bane was shot. He was carried by his men five days on horseback back to Amity village, where he soon recovered and went to Kentucky. On his way out he killed two Indians and took their scalps, which he sent to his friends in Amwell township. He died in Kentucky. In the autobiography of Thaddeus Dodd, written in 1764 (published by the Rev. Cephas Dodd, in the Presbyterian Magazine, August, 1854), he says, " I was born near Newark, N. J., on the 7th of March, 1740 [O. S.]. From there my parents removed to Mendham, N. J., where the greater part of my life was spent." He was the son of Stephen Dodd, a native of Guilford, Conn., and grandson of Daniel Dodd. (The brothers of Stephen Dodd were Daniel and John, of whom Thaddeus Dodd speaks' as his uncles.) He 654 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. mentions his father's death as having occurred in the year the autobiography was written, and his conversion 'also occurred in June of that year. The following is from a historical sketch delivered at the centennial celebration of the Ten-Mile Churches, Aug. 28, 1879, by the Rev. James Allison : "But it was not until seven long years after making a confession of faith, and in the thirty-first year of his age, that Thaddeus Dodd was permitted to enter Princeton College, then under the presidency of the celebrated Dr. John Witherspoon. He was graduated in the fall of 1773. ' Among his classmates were Revs. Drs. James Dunlap, John McKnight, John B. Smith, and Rev. William Graham. He was one year and a half in college with Dr. John McMillan, though not in the same class. Soon after graduation he wont to Newark, N. J., where he married Bliss Phoebe Baldwin, and entered upon the study of theology under the direction of Rev. Dr. McWhorter. One year later he removed to Morristown, N. J., and continued the same line of study under Rev. Dr. Jolines, who had been his first instructor in Latin. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New York, but there is no existing record of the date at which this took place. Through the winter of 1776-77 he suffered from a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism. But in the month of March, though still feeble, he started upon a journey to the West. After preaching in parts of Virginia and Maryland, he crossed the mountains, visited the settlements on Georges Creek, Muddy Creek, and Dunlap's Crook, and then came to Ten-Mile. Ile remained here until August, preaching in private houses, in the woods, and in Lindley's and Bell's Forts. After his return to the East he was ordained by the Presbytery of Now York as an evangelist on some day of the week preceding Sabbath, Oct. 19, 1777, as there is a record of baptisms by him on that Sabbath, in which it is said that this was the first Sabbath after his ordination. " Shortly after this he left New Jersey with his wife and daughter three years old and a son still younger, accompanied by two brothers and their families. On the 10th of November they arrived at Patterson's Creek, Hampshire County, Va., and after hearing of the formidable attack which had been made by the Indians upon Wheeling, and the consequent alarm and confusion prevailing in all the frontier settlements, it was thought best not to proceed any farther at that time. But in a few days he crossed the mountains alone, came to Ten-Mile, preached in the forts, and baptized the children. In a short time he returned to his family, and it is not known that he visited this place again until he brought his family and settled down permanently in the fall of 1779, one hundred years ago. In the interval he had not been idle but busily engaged in preaching the gospel in the adjacent parts of Virginia and Maryland, where no churches seem to have been then organized, at least there were no church buildings, as all the services were held at private houses or in the woods. Ho was entreated to remain, and inducements apparently stronger than any held out by Ten-Mile were brought to bear upon him, but he had given his pledge to the people here; his heart was here, and hither he came in September, 1779." In a letter by the Rev. Dr. Jacob Lindley (one of Mr. Dodd's pupils from 1782 to 1784) he says, " In the latter part of 1785, I think, Mr. Dodd sold his farm where his school was, and moved into his lower congregation." It is evident from this that Mr. Dodd first resided in what is now Morris township, near the Lindleys, and from the survey books of the county it is. found that he took out a warrant for a tract of land on the middle fork of Ten-Mile Creek, which was surveyed to him Nov. 22, 1786, as " Tusenheim," containing four hundred acres. On this tract he lived till his death, which occurred May 20, 1793. He left a wife, two sons, and three daughters. Both of the sons became physicians, and the elder, Cephas, became a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and the second successor of his father as pastor of the Ten-Mile congregations. The descendants of Mr. Dodd are numerous. Of the children none are living. There have been among them one minister, two elders, and two deacons in the Presbyterian. Church, six physicians, and one lawyer. Thirty-five of the descendants are members of the Lower Ten-Mile congregation. The Rev. James Allison, in. the address before mentioned, says of the classical school founded by Mr. Dodd, " He felt the importance of a better common• school education, and in order to promote it he visited the schools, and counseled and encouraged instructors. But for the special purpose of educating young men for the ministry, Mr. Dodd erected a building a short distance from his own dwelling, in which he opened a classical and Mathematical school in the spring of 1782 ; of the five students present at the opening four are certainly known to have been looking to the ministry of the gospel as their life work. This school was successfully conducted for three years and a half. And he had nearly all the intervening time several students under him whose studies he directed. In the beginning of 1789, Mr. Dodd accepted the appointment of principal to the academy opened in the town of Washington on the 1st of April of that year, with the understanding that he was to hold the office only for one year, as he did not wish to relinquish the pastorate at Ten-Mile; at the expiration of the year he was constrained to continue three months longer. Some time during the following winter the courthouse, one of whose rooms had been occupied by the academy, was burned, and no other suitable building could be obtained." Daniel Dodd, a brother of the Rev. Thaddeus Dodd, tame out to this country soon after his brother, and settled near him. His name is mentioned in the survey of Jacob Cook and others as adjoining them. He purchased land which Nehemiah Scott patented, and where the village of Amity now stands, and laid out that town in 1797. He also purchased land adjoining that of John Carmichael, which was part of a tract patented by Carmichael and known by the name of " Cook's Delight." On this land Henry Wick at the time of purchase had a distillery. In 1799, Dodd sold the land to "Wick. Mr. Dodd lived on the farm till his death. Daniel Dodd married Charity Freeman, and had one son and six daughters,—Mary, Ziba, Phebe, Azuba, and Sarah. They all removed West. The son, Daniel Freeman Dodd remained in the township, and lived to an advanced age. He also left a son, Daniel Freeman Dodd, who died in the township in the fall of 1880. The McCrackens were natives of the Highlands Of Scotland, but early removed to County Down, Ireland, from which place, in about 1768, David McCracken emigrated to this country. After a Short time spent in the East, he emigrated West and settled on the waters of Ten-Mile Creek, where he purchased a claim of a man who had made a clearing. This was the land which he afterwards purchased. It is understood that a tract, warranted and surveyed by Nathaniel Coleman, by the name of " Rabbit's Cove," AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 655   and patent obtained July 2, 1790, was to be divided between. Coleman and McCracken. It was not, however, until ;the 16th of April, '1796, that a deed was given from Coleman to McCracken, and in which the following passage occurs : " In consideration of one hundred cents and divers other considerations to them well known." On this tract of land David McCracken lived the remainder of his days. He left four sons. Thomas, the eldest, was killed at a raising when a young man, the others emigrated to the West. The property is now Owned by Andrew Vandyke and Joseph Hannah. Andrew McCracken, a brother of David, remained in Ireland until 1792, when he emigrated to America and came directly to this county, and lived with his brother two years before he made a purchase of land. On the 12th of April, 1794, he bought sixty-three acres of land of Jacob Housong, and on the 10th of May, 1806, forty-one acres of William McClenahan. This land was part of a tract warranted .to Luke Brown on the 28th of August, 1792, and in the survey was named " Desart." Brown sold to Housong on the 16th of October the same year. On this land Mr. McCracken passed the remainder of his days. He died in 1837 while on a visit to his daughter, Mrs. John Finacle, then living in Athens County, Ohio. He left two sons,—John and Archibald. John emigrated to Ohio, and later to Iowa, where he died. Archibald married Lusany, the daughter of Luther Axtell, Sr., and settled on the homestead where he was born and still resides at eighty-three years of age. M. L. A. McCracken, an attorney in Washington, is a son. The daughters of Andrew McCracken all married and emigrated to Ohio. Maj. Daniel Axtell was an original purchaser of land of the proprietors of East and West Jersey, to which they obtained title in 1682. Abort the year 1740 he purchased a tract of two thousand acres, now in the township of Bedminster, Somerset Co., N. J. Within the succeeding ten years his death occurred, and the land came into possession of his son William, by whom part of it was sold in 1750 and part in 1760. Of his family three sons came to this county about 1780, and settled in Ten-Mile Creek. But like most of the settlers of that day they did not secure titles till several years later. At what time the warrant was secured and survey made of a tract of four hundred and four acres called " Green Mount" is not known; the patent was secured July 7, 1797. On the 6th of October, 1799, one hundred acres was sold to James Tucker, and on the 10th of February, 1801, one hundred and thirty-seven acres to Jonas Conduit. Mr. Conduit lived there many years, and was appointed justice of the peace in 1813. These sales of land were made from the " Green Mount" tract. A tract called "Winter Green," adjoining Caleb and Levi Lindley, Samuel Clutter, and others, had been warranted, surveyed, and patented to Ebenezer Goble, and part of it was purchased by Daniel Axtell, April 7, 1794, and on the 12th of February, 17P.8, Mr. Axtell sold one hundred 'and ten acres to Daniel Johnston. On the 28th of September, 1795, Daniel" Axtell was appointed attorney for the sale of a tract of land called " Pleasant Grave," belonging to Samuel Tuttle, or Morris County, N. J., and on the 21st of March, 1796, he sold two hundred and eighteen acres of it to Col. Daniel McFarland. In the tax-list of 1784 the name of Thomas Axtell appears, but little is known of him or his descendants. Caleb Goble had made application to the land-office for a tract of land lying on a small branch of Ten-Mile Creek, adjoining Samuel Craig, John Hughes, and William Bryson; which had been warranted and surveyed to him, and on the 5th of October, 1790, Goble conveyed to Luther Axtell all his right, title, and interest in the tract, and on the 9th of July, 1797, he received a patent for it. On the 27th of April, 1804, he conveyed fifty acres of it to Abigail Dickinson, and the same day one hundred and eight acres to Thomas Wier. On the remainder of this tract Luther Axtell resided till his death. He left four sons,—Daniel, the eldest, died at the age of twenty-four years; Silas settled in Greene County; Philip and Luther became ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The former is now in charge of the church of that denomination in East Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., and the latter in charge of Pleasant Hill Church, East Bethlehem township, Washington Comity. Lusany, a daughter of Luther Ax-tell, Sr., became the wife of Archibald McCracken, who settled near the Axtells on the old McCracken homestead. Col. Daniel McFarland emigrated from Scotland to Massachusetts, where he lived a number of years. He obtained a commission as colonel in the Continental army and served through the Revolution. At its close he came to this county well advanced in life, and with sons and daughters of mature years. He purchased of John Barber four hundred acres of land on the 1st of January, 1785, which was warranted to Barber, Sept. 17, 1784, surveyed as " Elk Lick," Jan. 20, 1785. On the 20th of June, 1791, he purchased of Ephraim Bates four hundred and nineteen acres on the middle fork of Ten-Mile, and on the 21st of March, 1796, purchased two hundred and eighteen acres of Daniel Axtell, attorney for Samuel Tuttle, of Morris County, N. J., which was surveyed to Tuttle as " Pleasant Grove." This last tract he made his homestead, and in 1817 died at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. His remains were buried in the graveyard of Lower Ten-Mile Church. His wife, Sarah, died in 1810, aged eighty years. His great-grandson, Abel M. Evans, Esq., of Ten-Mile village, resides on the old homestead. The property on which stood the old fulling-mill, owned and operated by Col. Daniel McFarland, is now owned by Mr. Overholt, of Westmoreland County. William McFarland, a son of Col. Daniel, early 656 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. took A commanding position in the county. He was appointed coroner of Washington County by the Supreme Executive Council in 1781, and was appointed justice of the peace of Amwell township, Sept. 30, 1788, and at the same time commissioned justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County. He retained his office of justice of the peace till April 2, 1802, when he was succeeded by Ziba Cook, of Amity. He always endeavored to settle differences between contending parties without resort to legal measures, and his influence was felt for good throughout the community. He was an elder in the Lower Ten-Mile Church. His death occurred at the age of sixty-seven years. His children were Rebecca (Mrs. John Carter), James (the father of Judge N. C. McFarland, of Topeka, Kan.), Sarah (Mrs. Joseph Evans, Sr., whose son, Abel M. Evans, lives on the old homestead), Mary (Mrs. Ezra Dille), William S., Patty (who died at twenty-one years), Samuel McFarland (late of Washington, long known as a leading attorney and active in the temperance cause and the abolition of slavery), Phebe (Mrs. Silas Clark), Thomas (late of Bethlehem township), and Hannah (Mrs. Boyd), of Ohio. Jacob Cook and his family were of those who came out in 1773 and settled on the waters of Ten-Mile Creek, at what was known as the Lower Settlement. The warrant for his land was not obtained until Feb. 28, 1785. It was situated on the north side of middle fork of Ten-Mile, adjoining lands of Jesse Bane, William Wilson, and Daniel Dodd. It was surveyed June 25, 1785, and contained four hundred acres, with six per cent. allowance. The place is now owned by John Swart. Jacob Cook died in the spring of 1808, and left two sons, Stephen and Noah (to whom he left the real estate), and three daughters, Rhoda (Mrs. Carmichael), Hannah (Mrs. Morris), and Jemima. Ziba Cook was also an early resident, and kept tavern from 1797 many years, and was appointed justice of the peace April 2, 1802. There was also living near them a Joseph Cook, who died March 27, 1782, and left in his will £50 to the Presbyterian Church of Ten-Mile. John Hughes was of Irish ancestry and a native of New Jersey, and in his youth removed to Carlisle, where he entered the Continental army under Capt. Hendricks. The company in which he was placed was formed with eight others into a battalion of riflemen in July,. 1775, and placed in command of Col. William Thompson. A New York paper of that date says that between the 28th of July and August 2d, "The riflemen under command of Capts. Smith, Lowdon, 'Doudel, Chambers, Nagel Miller, and Hendricks passed through New Windsor (a few miles north of West Point), in the New York government, ,on their way to Boston." They arrived in camp at Cambridge Aug. 13, 1775. In the month of September of that year Capt. Hendrick's company, with others, left for Canada under the command of Col. Arnold, and were in the attack upon Quebec. Mr. Hughes rose from the ranks to a captaincy. He remained with the army during the war, and was present at the battles of Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. After the war he removed to Washington County with Timothy Ryan. Together they purchased warrants for several large tracts of land on Fish Creek, now in Greene County, to which they received patents in August, 1785, and in 1786 he purchased Ryan's interest. John Hughes purchased a warrant for a tract of land on the 18th of October, 1784, of Albert Simonson on what is known as Hughes' branch of Ten-Mile Creek, adjoining James Tucker. This was surveyed to him as " Green Spring" on the 2d of March, 1785. An Account book of his, now in possession of his great-grandson, Workman Hughes, recorder of Washington County, extends from Oct. 13, 1784, to 1816. In 1784 and 1785 the names of Demas Lindley, Michael Tygart, Van Swearingen, Esq., Daniel Harris, John Gregg, James Lloyd, Dr. David Holmes, John Dodd, Patrick Allison, Capt Samuel Brady, William Bryson, William Jarret, Maj. Cracraft, George Biggs, William Meetkirk, George Fox, David Long, John Brownlee, ,William Forbes, William Markland, James Tucker, Mr. Douglas, James Clemens, David Parkison, Alexander Beer, James Castor, Francis Biddle, Daniel Bigle, Henry McClelland, Daniel Leet, and William Leet are found entered. The most of the names here given were residents on or near the waters of Ten-Mile Creek. There is a space of nine years before the account is again taken up, and it is probable that the store was kept at Ten-Mile during that time. In 1802, Mr. Hughes purchased a lot adjoining No. 18 on Main Street, in Washington, of Joseph Day, and in 1809 two lots on Maiden Street of Archibald Kerr. He was a hatter by trade, and opened a store in Washington. The accounts were kept in the book commencing in 1784. In later years he returned to Amwell township, where he died Sept. 15, 1818, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. He was buried with , military honors by the companies of Capt. McCluney, of Washington, and Capt. Lacock's rifle rangers, of Amwell township. Of his children, Mary Ann married Gabriel Blakeney, of Washington. She died, leaving no children. James married Mary, daughter of Gen. Abner Lacock, and settled in Amwell township. They left five children, of whom Sally (Mrs. Daniel Carter) resides at Monongahela City. Susan became the wife of Jesse Carter, and settled in Greene County. Margaret married Samuel Andrews, and afterwards John Horn. Samuel L. Hughes settled in Amwell township. He was elected a justice of the peace April 14, 1839, and' held the position for thirty-two years. His death occurred Nov. 29, 1880, at the age of seventy years. Four sons reside in Washington, and one son, John, is in South America. Samuel a son of . John Hughes, married Mary, the daughter of Hugh AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 657 Workman, and settled in Washington. He was a carpenter, and followed his trade. His descendants are living here still. John Hughes, Jr., settled in Washington, and died there. Thomas, also a son of John, emigrated to Kentucky. Barnabas married a daughter of — Vankirk, in his native town, and lived there till his death. The homestead of John Hughes in Amwell township is now owned by Dunning Hart. William Curry was a native of Dauphin County, Pa., and was born in 1739. He learned the trade of gunsmith and cooper. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, after which he married, and in 1783 emigrated from Dauphin County with his wife to Washington County, and purchased two hundred and ninety-one acres of land of one Davis, who moved to Ryerson's Station, Greene County, where he was soon after killed and scalped by the Indians, together with all his family except one child, who escaped. The land at the time of purchase was not patented, and later Mr. Curry rode on horseback to Lancaster, and secured the patent. On this tract he lived until his death, in 1820, aged eighty-one years. He left two sons, William and John, and two daughters, Margaret (Mrs. William Harbeson, of Lawrence County, Pa.) and Elizabeth (Mrs. John Carlisle, of Amwell township). John, the youngest son, settled on the homestead, where he lived until his death, Aug. 6, 1880, eighty-five years of age. He left four sons and one daughter. Thomas B., the eldest, lives in West Bethlehem township. Milton B. resides in La Salle County, Ill. Hugh W. and Francis M. Curry own and occupy the homestead, and have added largely to its area. Mary became the wife of Aaron Bane, also a descendant of one of the early settlers. John, Henry, and — Vankirk, natives of New Jersey, all came to this county, and settled in Amwell township. John emigrated first, and purchased in the 10th of December, 1785, a tract of three hundred and fifty-nine acres of land of Abner Howell, which he patented Feb. 26, 1792. On this tract John lived till his death in 1797, and divided it among three of his sons, Jacob, Henry, and Joseph. He left four sons and three daughters, who were all born in New Jersey, Sarah, Jacob, and Henry by a first wife, Joseph, Elizabeth, John, and Catharine by a second wife. Sarah lived and died single ; Jacob lived on he portion left by his father, and with his brother Henry, in 1808, purchased their brother Joseph's portion of the homestead. Jacob Vankirk married Elizabeth Lee, and their children were Enoch, Joseph, ,Leah, and Ann. Enoch Vankirk married Susan Caton, and to them were born nine children,—George, Sarah J., Matthias, Hugh, Mary A., Elisha, William, Jacob, and Sarah J. Caton. The first child named Sarah J. Caton died in infancy. The others all reside n Washington County except the youngest Sarah J. Caton, who lives in Ohio. Joseph, the other son of Jacob Vankirk, married Eliza Carter. They had six children,—Joseph C., Hiram, Charles, William, Charlotte, and Ann Vankirk, all of whom live in Iowa. Leah Vankirk became Mrs. John McLain, and lives in Franklin township ; Ann married Walter G. Scott. Henry, brother of Jacob Vankirk, settled on the portion inherited from his father, and in 1808, with Jacob, bought Joseph's portion. He lived and died here leaving four children, of whom John and Mary are dead. Charles is living in the township; Mary became the wife of Elbridge G. Cracroft, who, after her death, married her sister Nancy. The latter resides in Washington. Joseph, son of John, after the sale in 1808, moved to Morris township. His children are all dead. Elizabeth, a daughter, married Samuel Lacock and settled in Amwell. Their grandchildren are residents of the township. John purchased a farm about a mile from the homestead, and left it to his son Hamilton. It now belongs to the estate of Dr. F. J. Le Moyne. Catharine became the wife of _____ Beebout, and settled in Amwell. Henry Vankirk, brother of John, purchased two hundred and sixty-six acres of land of Sarah Gregg on the 29th October, 1791, which was named " Red Thorn Bottom." On this tract he lived and died, leaving six children,—William, Gideon, Arthur, Henry, John, and Mary, all of whom were born in New Jersey. "William remained there ; Gideon married Priscilla Kater ; Arthur married Elizabeth Parkison ; their children were Lucretia (Mrs. David Birch), Asher, Emma (Mrs. Joel Woods), Edward, Ralph, William, and Sarah (Mrs. John Cooper). Henry Vankirk, Jr., married Ruth Jolly, and settled on or near the homestead. Their children were Mary E. (Mrs. William Crispin), Dryden, Jane (Mrs. Oliver Cosart), Ruth (emigrated to Ohio, where she married), Susan (Mrs. James Cooper), Milton (who resides in Ohio), and Keturah (Mrs. Abraham Riggle). Nathaniel McGiffin emigrated to this country from Scotland before he was twenty-one years of age, and enlisted in the Revolutionary army, and was present at the battle of Brandywine with Lafayette, and was with the army at Valley Forge. His discharge is now in the hands of his family. He removed to Washington County about 1789, and on the 23d of February, 1790, purchased of 'Thomas McGiffin two hundred and thirty-eight acres of land which had been warranted to Andrew Smith on the 31st of March, 1788, and surveyed under the name of " Constancy." It was sold by Smith to Thomas McGiffin Dec. 29, 1789, and was patented to Nathaniel Mc-Giffin Sept. 29, 1791. Later he purchased other tracts, but on the tract "Constancy" he lived until his death in 1821, aged sixty-two years. He left two children, Thomas and Rachel. Thomas was born Jan. 1, 1784, and came with his parents to this county. He entered Jefferson College at the same time with Cephas Dodd. After graduation he entered the law office of Parker Campbell at Washington, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1807. He removed to Vin- 658 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. cennes, Indiana Territory, and practiced two years, and in 1809 returned to Washington, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a contractor on the National road in 1816 ; member of a special session of Legislature in 1834 to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. Joseph Lawrence. He died in Washington Feb. 5, 1841, aged fifty-seven years. His son, Norton McGiffin, is a resident of Washington, and was in the service of the United States in the war with Mexico ; sheriff of Washington County from 1858 to 1861 ; was lieutenant-colonel of the Twelfth Regiment in the war of the Rebellion, and served as a member of the Legislature in the session of 1881-82. Rachel, daughter of Nathaniel McGiffin, became the wife of Jacob Cook, of Ten-Mile, and settled in Amwell township. Daniel Shuster was a native of Germany, who came to Amwell township at a very early date. In 1781 he was keeping tavern here in a house he had himself built. He settled in the northeast corner of the township, On the ridge where the old Redstone road passes. Here he purchased part of a tract of land which was warranted by Peter Heivitt, and surveyed to him April 11, 1786, as containing three hundred and seventy-three acres. Peter Hewitt lived and died on the remainder of the tract, and his descendants still own the homestead. His brother, Philip Hewitt, purchased an adjoining tract on the west, called " Wolf's Den," and having an' area of three hundred and sixty-five acres, which was surveyed to him on the same date. The property of Philip Hewitt is now owned by George Hewitt, Henry and Reed Riggle, John Frazee, and B. F. Closser, and a school building called " Rees' School-house" is located on the southwest end of the tract. Daniel Shuster built a house upon his land when he first made his settlement in the township, and when the road was laid out, in 1781, he removed to the ridge, and built a large log house wherein he kept tavern for many years. Isaac Riggle and J. M. Morringer now own most of the Shuster property, and some of the logs in the old tavern have been used in the construction of Isaac Riggle's barn. Job Wick and his wife emigrated from England to this country, and settled on Long Island, N. Y. Their son, Lemuel Wick, married Deborah Lupton, and in the year 1781 removed to the village of Amity in this township. They had a family of five children,—William, Henry, Phebe, Mary, and Anna Wick. The daughter, Anna, became the wife of Isaac Bane, Jr. William Wick, the oldest child of Lemuel and Deborah Wick, studied divinity with Rev. John McMillan. He married Elizabeth McFarland, a sister of William McFarland, Esq., and they removed from Amity to Youngstown, Ohio. They and the large family they reared are all buried at that place. Phebe, eldest, daughter of Lemuel and Deborah Wick, became the wife of her cousin, William Wick. They also lived and died in Youngstown, Ohio, and had a number of sons and daughters. Mary Wick, seconds daughter of Lemuel Wick's family, married Nehemiah Scott; they also migrated to Youngstown, and died there, leaving a number of Children. Henry Wick, second son of Lemuel Wick, married Hannah Baldwin, and in 1812 left Amity for Ohio, making his new home in Youngstown, as his brothers and sisters had done. The children of Henry and Hannah Wick were seven,—Caleb, Lemuel, Jr., Henry, Jr., Hugh B., Paul, Elizabeth, and Matilda L. Wick. Hugh B. and Caleb Wick died and were buried at Youngstown, where they left large and wealthy families. Elizabeth married Robert Leslie, and died leaving one son. Lemuel Wick, Jr., and Henry Wick, Jr., both reside in Cleveland, Ohio, and Paul Wick's home is still in Youngstown. Matilda L. Wick became the wife of Thomas L. Bane. They are mentioned in the sketch of the Bane family. David Evans, who was of Welsh origin, located in Amwell township, upon a tract of land called " Evans' Plat," situated on the middle fork of Ten-Mile Creek. This tract contained three hundred and ninety-nine acres, was surveyed to Mr. Evans, June 20, 1785, and was next to the lands of Robert Bennett, James Milliken, and Daniel McFarland. David Evans was a relative on the maternal side of the McFarlands, who were early and prominently identified with the history of Washington County. Of his descendants a number emigrated to the State of Ohio. Abel M. Evans, a lineal descendant, resides near Ten-Mile village, upon a portion of the old homestead ; Joseph Evans, a son of Caleb Evans, and grandson of David Evans, died near Clarkstown. William Hughes owns a part of the Evans tract. James Chambers came from County Down, Ireland, to this country, settling first near Williamsport, Pa. He remained there but a short time, however, and October, 1797, found him a resident of this township, located on Bane's Fork of Ten-Mile Creek. His family consisted of his wife, three sons, and three daughters. The daughter Mary, who became Mrs. Leslie Cannon, always lived in Amwell township, and died here in 1874, aged ninety-five years. Jane Chambers married James Jolly, and settled in Wheeling, Va., and Margaret, who married George Gourlay, removed to Cadiz, Ohio. Of the sons, James was a carpenter, who learned and followed his trade in Washington borough. Judge James C. Chambers, of Amwell township, is his son. The son William was never married. He and Robert, the third son of James Chambers, settled upon the homestead, and in 1823 built a mill upon it, on the former site of a smaller mill which had fallen into ruins. The mill put up by the Chambers Brothers is still standing, the whole property now belonging to Robert Chambers' son. Robert Chambers, in 1824, purchased the first iron plow bought and used in the county, and James C. Chambers was one of the first who used it. Joseph Miller's father came from Ireland and set- AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 659 tied for a time in Mifflin County, Pa., where he married Hannah Beatty. Joseph Miller, their son, was born in Morris township, Greene Co., Pa., about the year 1790, and is now living at the age of ninety-one years. He was early apprenticed to the carpenter's trade, which he has followed most of his life. He relates that when he was but a child, Gabriel Blakney, while surveying, remained over Sunday at his father's house, and while there Mr. Blakney purchased Joseph's pet lamb, paying him one dollar, and his mother used the money to buy him a copy of "Pilgrim's Progress." In the war of 1812 Joseph Miller became a member of Capt. William Patterson's military company, being mustered in at Meadville, Pa. At that place William Piper was made colonel of the regiment, and they were all sent to Black Rock, on the Niagara River. Mr. Miller's company was in no active service, but remained until December, 1812, when the regular troops were ordered into winter-quarters, and the volunteers granted furloughs, on which they returned home. Mr. Miller's company, in which were his brother Benjamin Miller and Ichabod Clark, started to travel the distance to Amwell township on foot. They came through the southern part of Western New York, the snow in many places four feet deep, which in some localities had become frozen and crusted over until it would bear their weight. At other times they could only follow the Indian trail, a narrow path formed in the snow. They passed around the head of Chautauqua Lake, and one day marched twenty-eight miles without seeing a house. Ichabod Clark and Joseph Miller were obliged to carry Benjamin Miller's equipments in addition to their own, and to break the road as well, as he was sick. They reached home the day before Christmas in 1812, having been since December 11th, or thirteen days, on the way. March 4, 1813, Joseph Miller married Pamelia Harris, and has since that time resided in this township. His family was six sons and one daughter, the latter dying when seventeen years old. A son, Benjamin Miller, died in Indiana in 1881 ; the sons Nehemiah and William are residents of Ohio; the other three, John, James, and Stephen, live in Washington County. Mr. Miller, in gathering his descendants about him, brings together representatives of five generations, himself to his great-great-grandchildren inclusive. James Tucker came from New Jersey to Amwell township about 1780. Beside his interests in this vicinity, he owned a one-eighth interest in the Old Spring Hill Iron Furnace, 'located in Spring Hill township, in Fayette County, where he spent a great portion of his time. In the year 1802 he sold this interest to Jesse Evans. James Tucker married Elizabeth Bane, and they had five children,— Isaac, Joseph, Thomas, James, and Nancy, the youngest, who married Henry Bebout and removed to Greene County, where she died. James Tucker, Jr., was a miller by trade and never married; Joseph Tucker emigrated to Ohio ; and Isaac, who married Sarah Mason, lived and died on a portion of the old homestead. Thomas Tucker had the remainder of the father's farm, and his son Absalom now owns and occupies the whole of the original tract. Old Mrs. Tucker survived her husband several years. Enoch Enochs emigrated from England to America, and settled on the north branch of the north fork of Ten-Mile Creek about 1770. The name of his property was " Enochs' Delight," located about one-half mile from Lone Pine village,—the place that is sometimes called " Pin Hook." Enoch Enochs built a fort upon his land as a defense against Indian incursions. Henry Enochs settled in Clarksville, where he engaged in the iron trade, and other members of the family are scattered through Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana, and Ohio. Abner Enochs, of Amwell township, and Hiram Enochs, of Washington, in this county, are descendants of the pioneer Enochs. Abraham Sutton, a, primitive resident of Amwell township, was originally from New Jersey, and after settling here was a minister of the Bane Baptist Church. He had a son Andrew, a tanner by trade, who was a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1814-15. William Sutton, a son of Andrew, and grandson of Abraham Sutton, married Delilah Slaught, and died in 1881, near Pleasant Valley. A daughter of Andrew, and sister of William Sutton, became the wife of James Moore, whose father was an emigrant from England. Their son, W. S. Moore, was formerly editor of the Reporter, published at Washington, and died but a few years since. Christopher Slusher was a citizen of German descent, who formerly lived-in Loudon County, Va. He came to this township and settled near the old Decamp mill, on the north fork of Ten-Mile Creek, the site of the village of Pleasant Valley. Mr. Slusher lived upon the farm of his original settlement, and died there Feb. 2, 1819, at fifty-two years of age. His wife survived him several years. The farm is now owned by Frederick Ferrel and James Monegar. Michael Slusher, a son of Christopher, resides on the Squire McFarland place in this township, and David, another son, lives in Greene County, Pa. Samuel McCullough, who emigrated from Ireland and settled in Amwell township, had three sons,—John. Samuel, and James. John died very young, Samuel went to Belmont County, Ohio, and James to Allen County, Ohio. The old homestead is now in the possession of George W. Moninger. Thomas Lackey came from New Jersey and settled upon a large tract of land in this township. He had several children, but nothing is learned of any but Susan. She married. Abraham Lattimer and lived near Canonsburg, where both died. The Lackey farm is now owned by William Workman, James W. Kountz, and William Bryson. 660 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. John and George Gardiner, brothers, were of German extraction, who came and settled in Amwell township. The farm. of John Gardiner was in later years divided, and is now owned by David Stewart. George Gardiner's farm now belongs to John Curry's heirs, Hugh and Milton Curry. George Gardiner's son Daniel died in Lancaster, Pa. John, another son, married Rebecca Miller. He is dead, and she still survives. Jesse Gardiner, a third son of George, married Nancy McClure, and they removed to Columbiana County, Ohio. William Gardiner, the fourth son, is also dead, but his widow, formerly Ann Kitten, is still living. John Gardiner, the brother of George, had but one child, a daughter, who married John Ringer and removed to Coshocton County, Ohio. John Miller formerly lived on a tract of land on Brush Run, in this township, which is now owned by David Frazer. His wife was a daughter of Jacob Peck, and their children were John, David, Rachel, and Elizabeth. John married Nancy Reece. Both died, leaving several children. David Miller died in infancy. James Carter, like many others of the early settlers of Amwell township, was an emigrant from New Jersey. He located and lived upon the property now owned by Dunning Hart, Esq. The Sons of James Carter were William, John, and Henry. Henry died unmarried when twenty years of age. John's wife was Rebecca McFarland, the youngest daughter of William McFarland, Esq. William Carter married and had a family of two sons and four daughters. Of these James married Nancy Lytle ; Isaac married Nancy Sowers; Mary became the wife of Edward Wier, Jr.; and Nancy became the wife of Caleb Evans. John L. Harrison was born and reared in the State of New Jersey, and went from there to Licking County, Ohio. His son, John L. Harrison, Jr., came to Am-well township, married a daughter of Moses Cooper, one of the original settlers of the township, and here made his permanent home. They had four children, three of whom are still living, viz., William H. and Hannah C. Harrison, who live at Lone Pine village, in this township, and M. C. Harrison, who lives at Washington. Moses Cooper came from New Jersey to Washington County and into the present township of Amwell many years ago, and located on Ten-Mile Creek. His wife, Sarah Griffith, was, like himself, of Welsh descent. Their family was but two sons, Moses and William, who went to Indiana and lived and died there, and a daughter, Priscilla, who married Peter Smith. Their son, James Smith, resided near Ten-Mile village, in this township. Peter Smith, another son, lives in Beallsville. The Smiths are .all active and devoted members of the Baptist Church. Jacob Peck was a German, amid had married before he came to this county. He had three daughters, Ann, Rhoda, and Elizabeth. Ann Peck was the wife of James Bane, and her children were James, David, Columbus C., Sarah, and Rebecca Bane. Sarah married James Paul, and went to Richland County, Ohio. Rebecca married Right Vandike, and both died near the Peck homestead, which now belongs to Joshua Denam, Jr., a grandson 'of Jacob Peck. James B. Vandike, a son of Rebecca Bane, now lives in Greenfield, in Washington County. Thomas Kitten came from Virginia to the present township of Amwell. The tract of land he took up was called "Fox Hill." His three sons were George, Dorsey, and Daniel. George moved to Ohio, where he died at the advanced age of ninety-five years. Daniel died a bachelor, and Dorsey, who married, lived and died upon the Kitten homestead. Town of Amity.—The earliest information concerning this town is found in the following advertisement in the Western Telegraphe and Washington Advertiser, published at Washington : "OBSERVE. " The subscribers have laid out a number of lots for a Town in the township of Amwell, near Mr. Moor's meeting-house, on the main road leading from Washington to Waynesburgh, nearly central between the two. The situation is pleasant, near several grist- and saw-mills, in a thriving settlement, etc. Persons Inclining to purchase are desired to meet on the premises on the 25th day of July next, at ten o'clock, when the lots are to be offered for sale to the highest bidder; terms will be easy, and a good title given by the subscribers, "June 20, 1797. " DANIEL DODD, " ZIBA COOKE." The land on which the town was laid out was origin- I ally taken up by Nehemiah Scott, a part of which I was purchased. by Daniel Dodd, and later a part by Ezekiel Clark. Lots were sold at the time mentioned to Daniel 1 Thompson, Jacob Appleman, James Milleken. A deed is recorded to Daniel Thompson, bearing date June 19, 1798, which recites that the lot is No. 13, adjoining lots of Appleman and Milleken and land of Henry Wick. The consideration was $11.50. Henry Wick had a distillery on the land mentioned adjoining the town, and which he later (in 1799) purchased of Daniel Dodd. This was on a tract purchased of John Carmichael, named "Cook's Delight." On the 14th of September, 1803, Daniel Dodd sold to John Cooke three lots, Nos. 18, 20, 22. In 1807, Cooke was licensed to keep a tavern. On the 5th of November, 1810, Thomas Brice advertised that he had opened a store in Amity, and kept linen, lining, hemp, and bags, beeswax, feathers, whiskey, and rags. On the 4th of July, 1811; the citizens of the town met at the house of Leslie Carsons " for the purpose of celebrating the birthday of American independence." Maj. Thomas Vanemen was chosen president, Thomas Brice vice-president. The Declaration of Independence was read by Abel McFarland. The festivities were accompanied with martial music and a discharge of firearms by a detachment of Capt. William Gordon's rifle company. The present town of Amity contains twenty-seven dwellings, Presbyterian and Methodist Protestant AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 661 Churches, school-house, two stores, drug-store, cabinet-shop, two shoe-shops, two blacksmith-shops, wagon-shop, barber-shop, tailor-shop, harness- and saddle-shop, post-office, two milliners and dressmakers, and three physicians. A lodge of Odd-Fellows was organized at this place in 1859, their charter bearing date May 19th of that year, having the name of " Ten-Mile Lodge, No. 552." The following are the 'names of the first officers and charter members : Apollos Loar, Noble Grand; Henry Swart, Vice-Grand; Samuel Walton, Secretary; Wilson McCollum, Assistant Secretary ; Henry Miller, Treasurer ; James A. Bebout, Nelson McCollum, John McAfee, James Manin, Benjamin Yoders, and Samuel Martin. The lodge has a present membership of nineteen. The Methodist Protestant Church of Amity was. organized in 1832 by the Monongahela Circuit. William Jams and Joel Woods, of Amity, invited the Revs. John Wilson and Israel Thorp, itinerant ministers of the church, to preach at Amity in the fall of 1831. Early in January, 1832, a class was organized at the house of William Jams, which consisted of the following persons: Joel Wood, William and Susanna Jams, N. B. Clutter, and Mary Thompson. Soon after the organization the society purchased the old log church used by the Presbyterians for fifty dollars, they being about to erect a new one. A lot was donated by William Jams, upon which they erected a house of the logs of the old church. This they used as a place of worship until 1851, when they erected on the same site, and at a cost of $500, a neat 1 frame house, in which they worshiped till 1867, when, finding they demanded a larger house, they sold the old church to Dr. S. S. Strouse, and upon the same site they erected the frame building, thirty-two by thirty-eight feet in size, in which they still continue to worship. The ministers in charge of the church since its organization have been as follows : John Lucas and Israel Thorp, 1831-32 ; John Lucas and W. B. Dunley, 1832-33 ; H. Sanford and George Hughes, 18334; J. Fordyce and Z. Regan, 1834-35; D. Sherman and — Atwood, 1836-37 ; W. L. Dunlap and W. Ross, 1837-38 ; _____ Messer and _____, 1838-39 ; _____ Shearer and James Hopwood, 1840-41; Nelson Burgess and —, 1841-42 ; S. W. Laishley and N. Watson, 1842-43 ; T. J. Addis and T. Wilson, 1843-44; William Hazlett and —, 1844-45 ; William Ellis and —, 1846; R. T. Simonton and F. Herron, 1846-48; Henry Palmer and William M. Betts, 1848-49; H. Palmer and S. J. Dorsey, 1849-50; Joel Wood, 1850-51; J. H. Hull, 1851-52 ; H. T. Taylor, 1852-53 ; William Beard, 1853-54 ; J. Scott (supply), 1856 ; William M. Betts, 18.56-57 ; W. H. Phipps, 1858-59 ; J. D. Herr, 1859-60; D. Ims, 1860-61; W. H. Phipps, 1861-62; H. Palmer, 1862-83; A. Patterson, 1863-65; C. P. Jordan, 1865-66; J. D. Herr, 1866-68; William Wallace, 1868-69; F. A. Day, 1869-70; W. H. Griffith, 1870-71; William Wallace, 1871-73 ; J. M. Mason, 1873-74; J. F. Dyer, 1874-77; G. C. Connancy, 1877-81. The society has a present membership of one hundred and, thirty-three. A Sunday-school is also in connection with the society. Lower Ten-Mile Presbyterian Church.¹ —The earliest history of this congregation will be found in that of the Presbyterian Church of Upper Ten-Mile, the annals of the two being inseparably blended during the time that both were under charge of the first pastor, the Rev. Thaddeus Dodd, which relation continued until his death, May 20,1793. In October of that year this church, then styled the United Congregations of Upper and Lower Ten-Mile, presented a call to Mr. Thomas Marques, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Redstone, this call Mr. Marques accepting. On the 10th of Apri1,1794, the united congregations of Upper and Lower Ten-Mile presented a call for the pastoral labors of Mr. Thomas Moore, a licentiate,  of the Bristol Association of Massachusetts, who had been taken under the care of the Presbytery of Redstone. Mr. Moore declared his acceptance of this call August 19th, and was ordained and installed in September or October, 1794. Dr. Wines says, " Mr. Moore was a man of vigorous intellect, of high culture, of ardent temperament, of undoubted piety, of active zeal, and altogether of great excellence and worth. His labors resulted in numerous conversions. It is probable that the whole number of admissions to the church could not have fallen much, if any, below two hundred during his ministry of a little more than nine years." Dec. 13,1803, the Presbytery of Ohio met in Ten-Mile, and was opened with a sermon by Mr. Cephas Dodd, on Col. iii. 3. Mr. Dodd, in his diary, says the services were held in the " Lower House." On the next day, December 14th, Mr. Moore was released from his pastoral charge, and Mr. Dodd was ordained. In the ordination services Rev. John Anderson, D. D., preached the sermon, on 2 Timothy ii. 3, and Rev. James Hughes presided and gave the charge. After Mr. Moore's release, the commissioner from this church asked Presbytery for supplies, which were appointed at each stated meeting of Presbytery until June 25,1805, when a call for the ministerial labors of Rev. Cephas Dodd was presented from the united congregations of Upper and Lower Ten-Mile. This call was accepted by Mr. Dodd, and Rev. Messrs. Brice and Gwin were appointed a committee to install him on Monday after the first Sabbath of September, 1805. Mr. Dodd was the son of Rev. Thaddeus Dodd, and was born on Ten-Mile, Washington Co., Oct. 12, 1779. He received his classical education at Canons- ¹ The history of this church is taken from a sermon delivered by the pastor, Rev. John S. Atkinson, Aug. 28, 1878, at a celebration of the settlement of the Rev. Thaddeus Dodd as pastor of Presbyterian Churches of Upper and Lower Ten-Nile, with addition from 1879 to the present time (1882). 662 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. burg Academy, and studied theology with Rev. John McMillan, D.D. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Ohio, Oct. 29, 1801. " From the time of his licensure until his settlement as a pastor he labored as a home missionary in a very large field, embracing Jefferson, New Providence, Meritstown, and other points." From his memorandum-book it appears that he was traveling and preaching almost daily during the years 1802-3. Mr. Dodd's pastoral relation with this church was dissolved April 15, 1817. " Thenceforward," says Dr. Wines, " the two congregations became two distinct bodies, with separate sessions, and each independent of the other." After his release from this pastoral charge, Mr. Dodd made a short visit in the West. On his return the congregation of Lower Ten-Mile engaged him as a stated supply from the 10th of July, 1817. The congregation promised to give him four hundred dollars a year, and to permit him to pursue the practice of medicine in connection with the work of the gospel ministry. Shortly after his settlement as a pastor, Mr. Dodd ,was induced to engage in the study of medicine, from the want of proper medical attendance for his family. At that time he had no intention of practicing as a regular physician, but merely to fit himself to practice in his own family. But at the earnest solicitations of his immediate neighbors he consented to attend upon their families. Becoming known as an excellent and skillful physician, his practice increased until it became very extensive and laborious. He may also have found it necessary to pursue the practice of medicine to supply the deficiency in his salary. But he did not engage in it from a hope of gain ; for it is a well-known fact that for much of his labors as a physician he never received any pecuniary reward. When Mr. Dodd became the stated supply of Lower Ten-Mile congregation the number of its communicants was sixty. The increase was gradual until 1826, when the attendance upon the means of grace was increased, and during the year twenty-five were added to the church on profession of their faith. This work continued five or six years, during which time nearly two hundred were brought into the church on profession of faith. In 1831 the number of communicants was two hundred and eleven. In the minutes of session, under date of November, 1833, are found the names of forty-six members who had withdrawn from the church of Lower Ten-Mile, and had united with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. A few of these had been prominent in the church. One, Mr. Ephraim Cooper, had been for six years a ruling elder. But there were added to the church the same year seven on profession of their faith, two of whom, Messrs. Thomas McFarland and John Buckingham, shortly afterwards became ruling elders. On the 23d of September, 1838, Mr. Dodd gave notice to the congregation that he had determined to cease practicing medicine, and to devote himself wholly to the work of the gospel ministry. This announcement was received with favor by the congregation. But two things interfered with Mr. Dodd's accomplishing his purpose: (1st) There continued to be a deficiency in the salary, which must be supplemented in some way; and (2d) so great was the confidence of the people in Mr. Dodd's skill as a physician that while he was able to pay a visit many would not send for any other. On the 16th of April, 1844, the congregation of Lower Ten-Mile was favored with a meeting of Washington Presbytery, which was followed by a revival. Thirteen were brought into the church, one of whom, Mr. Charles P. French, afterwards entered the gospel ministry. Mr. French labored for some time in West Virginia, where, it is thought, "he brought on consumption by preaching in the open air during the dreadful times of the war, after his church was burned." He struggled manfully against his disease, but it was incurable, and on the 8th of February, 1870, he died near Ottawa, Ill. In the spring of 1851, Rev. James W. McKennan, D.D., a professor in Washington College, received and accepted a call to become an associate stated supply of this congregation. Dr. McKennan was born in Washington, Pa., Sept. 2, 1804. After graduating in Washington College in 1822 he pursued the study .of law, which profession he practiced for a short time in Millersburg, .Ohio. But his mind having undergone a radical change on the subject of religion, he was led to alter the purpose of life, and to dedicate himself to the work of the gospel ministry. He studied theology under the care of Rev. John Anderson, D.D., was licensed in 1828, and ordained in 1829. He continued to share the labors of stated supply with Mr. Dodd, each occupying the pulpit one-half the time, a little more than three years. During this time the church made encouraging progress. In the winter of 1851-52 twenty-eight were received into the church on examination. After the resignation of Dr. McKennan in the summer of 1854 this church was dependent upon Mr. Dodd and an occasional supply obtained by the session from abroad nearly one year and six months. In the spring of 1855 a call was carried up to Presbytery for the ministerial labors of Rev. Samuel H. Jeffrey, promising him five hundred dollars in quarterly payments for the whole of his time. This call was returned to the congregation, not having been placed in Mr. Jeffrey's hands, owing to his engagements with the congregations of Waynesburg and Unity, and for other reasons. On the 26th of April 1856, Rev. William P. Harrison was installed pastor of this church by a committee of Washington Presbytery, consisting of Drs. E. C. Wines and J. I. Brownson. Dr. Brownson preached the sermon and presided, and Dr. Wines delivered the charge to the pastor and people. AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 663 Mr. Harvison's ministry continued until April 5, 1861, when the pastoral relation was dissolved on account of inadequate support and ill health, which rendered him unable to perform the necessary amount of pastoral labor. During his entire life he suffered from feeble health and repeated attacks of sickness. He died at Shirland, Pa., Aug. 15, 1870. He was a good student and a faithful preacher of the gospel and pastor of the flock. In this church Mr. Harvison's ministry was eminently successful. Thirty-nine were brought into the church on profession during the first year, eleven in the second year, twenty-eight in the third year, and ten in the fourth. With many of the congregation Mr. Harvison's name is still held in grateful remembrance. It was during Mr. Harvison's ministry that Mr. Dodd died at his residence near Amity, Pa., Jan. 16, 1858. Mr. Harvison, in his "Commemorative Notice," says of Mr. Dodd, "He was most loved by those who knew him best. His labors among the people of his charge were greatly blessed of God, not only in promoting the regular increase of the church, but several precious seasons of the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit were enjoyed under his long and faithful ministry." Rev. James Black, D.D., was Mr. Harvison's successor. He became the stated supply of this congregation in the spring of 1861, and continued his labors as such until Oct. 1, 1863. He also supplied this church during the spring and summer of 1864. During the winter of 1863-64, Rev. William B. Faris supplied this congregation. He was an eminently conscientious, laborious, and useful man. During his brief ministry here six were received into the church on examination. Mr. Faris died at Neoga, Ill., Nov. 5, 1871, aged thirty-seven years. This congregation were very desirous that Dr. Black continue his labors as stated supply, but failing in their efforts to retain him longer than September, 1864, the congregation invited Rev. William I. Brugh, D.D., another professor in Washington College, to become their stated supply for one year, promising him five hundred dollars. Dr. Brugh accepted this invitation, and began his labors on Oct. 1, 1864. By a vote of the congregation at their annual meeting in December his salary was increased to six hundred dollars. Rev. J. W. Hamilton was the next stated supply of this congregation. He began to preach at Lower Ten-Mile in October, 1865, and closed his labors there in May, 1870. At the March communion in the latter year forty were received into the church. Connected with the revival in this church in the spring of 1870 is the name of Rev. Jonathan Cross, who assisted Mr. Hamilton a few days. Mr. Cross visited this church again in the winter of 1871-72, and his name is still cherished by many in this congregation. In September, 1870, Rev. J. C. Hench commenced preaching to this people. He afterwards received and accepted a call to become the pastor of this church. He was installed on June 17, 1871. In the installation services, Rev. J. S. Marques presided and charged the pastor, and Rev. Henry Woods preached the sermon and gave the charge to the people. Mr. Hench's ministry closed in June, 1873. After his release this church was vacant nearly one year, but during this time its pulpit was frequently filled by members of Presbytery. In March, 1874, the session of this church sent a letter to the. Rev. John S. Atkinson, who was then ministering to the churches of Wayne and Chester, near Wooster, Ohio, inviting him to their pulpit one week from the following Sabbath. He was unable to accept this invitation, but he afterwards came to Amity, and preached his first sermon in the old frame church on Sabbath, May 24, 1874, from Rom. xv. 13. In compliance with the request of the congregation he continued his labors, and was installed pastor by a committee of Presbytery on October 4th. In the installation services, Rev. S. M. Glenn preached the sermon and gave the charge to the pastor, and Rev. E. P. Lewis presided and delivered the charge to the people. The Rev. John S. Atkinson resigned Sept. 8, 1880. Since then the church has been served by the Rev. Alexander C.. Wilson, acting as a supply. Since 1817 five hundred and forty-four have been received into this church on profession of their faith in Christ. Three hundred and sixty-nine of these were brought in during seasons of revival. The present (1882) membership of the church is one hundred and fifty. In the sessional records of Lower Ten-Mile the following names appear of men who served as ruling elders, viz.: Demas Lindley, Jacob Cook, Joseph Coe, and Daniel Axtell who were chosen at the organization of the church in 1781 ; William McFarland and Stephen Cook, ordained in 1784 ; Stephen Saunders, Joseph Lindley, John Carmichael John Smiley, and Abel McFarland, ordained in 1795 or 1796 ; Israel Dille, Jonas Condit, Ziba Casterline, and John Headley, ordained in 1805. At the time of the separation the session of Lower Ten-Mile consisted of three members, viz. : William McFarland, Esq., John Smiley, and Jonas Condit. This number was reduced by the death of Mr. McFarland on June 2, 1823. He was the son of Col. Daniel McFarland, an officer in the Revolutionary war, and was born in New Jersey, Dec. 19, 1756. He and his father united with the church of Ten-Mile on examination during intermission on that ever-memorable third Sabbath of May, 1783, on which was the first administration of the Lord's Supper in the region of Ten-Mile. It was a season of great solemnity and of special manifestation of the divine presence. Mr. Samuel Andrew was added to the session in 1824; and Messrs. Ephraim Cooper and Nathan Axtell on Nov. 5, 1826. In September, 1831, the session was called to part with its 664 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. senior member, Mr. John Smiley, who removed to the state of Ohio. He had been a faithful and highly esteemed ruling elder in this church for nearly forty years. In 1832, Mr. Samuel Andrew removed to Ohio, where he served as ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church of Bucyrus until his death in 1849. About the time of Mr. Andrew's removal Mr. Cooper united with the Cumberland Presbyterians. This reduced the session again to two members, viz., Messrs. Jonas Condit and Nathan Axtell. In the autumn of 1837 the congregation agreed to go into an election of six, and as a result Messrs. William Patterson, James McFarland, Luther Axtell John Buckingham, James Braden, and Thomas McFarland were chosen. They were all ordained and installed on Nov. 6, 1837, except Mr. Thomas McFarland, who retained the call until the next summer. His ordination occurred on July 22, 1838. Mr. Jonas Condit died on July 17, 1850, in the eighty-second year of his age and forty-fifth year of his service as ruling elder. None was more faithful or highly esteemed. His second wife was a daughter of Rev. Thaddeus Dodd. In 1851, Mr. John McFarland was added to the session. He had been ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Morgantown, W. Va., on Nov. 19, 1848. Mr. Nathan Axtell died on May 23, 1852, in the seventy-ninth year of his age and twenty-sixth year of his service as ruling elder. Mr. William Patterson died Oct. 13, 1856, in the eighty-second year of his age and nineteenth year of his rule in the house of God. After his death, in the composition of the session, one-half are McFarlands,-James, and his brother Thomas and son John. In 1858 this composition is changed by the congregation selecting three additional members, viz., Messrs. Thomas J. Patterson, Robert Boyd, and Daniel Condit, who were solemnly set apart on Sabbath, Sept. 12, 1858. Mr. Patterson removed to Illinois in 1860, where he also served as a ruling elder. He died near Streator, Ill., March 23, 1873. Mr. James McFarland died on Feb. 26, 1863, in the eighty-third year of his age, and twenty-eighth year of his office. He was the son of Mr. William McFarland, a former member of this session. He was born in Washington County. In 1868, Mr. Robert Boyd, having removed to Washington, transferred his connection to the Second Presbyterian Church of Washington, Pa., in which he afterwards served as a ruling elder. Mr. Boyd died Dec. 27, 1875. Mr. Luther Axtell died on Feb. 8, 1868, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, and thirty-first year of his service as a ruling elder. Mr. Axtell was born in the State of New Jersey, and came with his father, when six years old, to Washington County. On Dec. 9, 1868, Messrs. Thaddeus Dodd, M.D., and Elias McCollum were ordained and installed. In .1870, Mr. John McFarland transferred his church-membership to Upper Ten-Mile, where he served as ruling elder until his death, Feb. 13, 1878, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. Mr. Thomas McFarland died on March 7, 1871, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and thirty-third year of his service as ruling elder. He bequeathed one thousand dollars to the Lower Ten-Mile Church. Mr. McFarland was soon followed to his reward by his associate in office, Mr. James Braden, who died May 1, 1871, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, and thirty-fourth year of his office. On Dec. 30, 1872, Messrs. A. P. Vandyke, Samuel Braden, and J. N. Horn were chosen. Mr. Braden removed to Jefferson, Pa., in the spring of 1877, where he is now serving as a ruling elder. Thaddeus Dodd, M.D., died on Aug. 25, 1877, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and ninth year of his eldership. Dr. Dodd was a good physician, a man of few words, but of much thought. He was the son of Rev. Cephas Dodd. It thus appears that thirty-three persons have sustained the office of ruling elder in this church since its organization. Twenty-one of these have served since the separation of Upper and Lower Ten-Mile congregations. The remarkable longevity of all who have died in the office here is worthy of note. The youngest was Dr. Dodd, who was in his sixty-eighth year. The first house of worship was erected in the summer of 1785, on the premises of Mr. Cook. It was built of hewn logs. It was repaired considerably in 1809. In 1825 the congregation of Lower Ten-Mile built of brick a house of worship on the farm of Mr Jonas Condit, about five miles northwest from Amity. It was long known as the " brick meeting-house.' After Nov. 10; 1825, by request of the congregation Mr. Dodd preached one-half of his time in this house until 1844, when a resolution was adopted by the congregation that two-thirds of his time be occupied in Amity and one-third in this house. In 1852, Dr Kennan was requested that one-half of his service be in this house. In 1871 this house was sold for two hundred and thirteen dollars and seventy cents In 1831 the congregation of Lower Ten-Mile began the erection of their second house of worship it Amity, some ten or fifteen feet north of the oh house. It was built of brick, fifty-five feet long by fifty feet wide, and cost about one thousand dollars It was not completed until the spring of 1832. Or the evening of Feb. 4, 1842, one gable of this house was blown in. A meeting of the congregation was immediately called, and arrangements made for erecting their third house of worship in Amity. This was a frame filled in with brick, and was fifty-five feet long by forty-five feet wide. It cost about thirteen hundred dollars. During the erection of thi house the congregation of Lower Ten-Mile worshiped in the Methodist Protestant Church of Amity. The present house of worship was erected in 187f AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 665 a few feet northwest of the last house, at a cost of about five thousand three hundred dollars. It is a brick edifice, fifty-seven feet long by forty-five wide, with a vestibule in addition. On Dec. 30, 1875, this house was dedicated. The sermon was preached by Rev. John Gillespie, D.D., from 2 Chronicles vi. 41, after which the dedicatory prayer was offered by the pastor, Rev. John S. Atkinson. Rev. J. F. Dyer, of the Methodist Church, and Rev. S. M. Glenn, pastor of Upper Ten-Mile congregation, were present, and participated in the exercises. The trustees serving in this congregation in 1817, when Upper and Lower Ten-Mile became each independent of the other,. were Messrs. John Carter, Thomas Ringland, and William Patterson. Since then sixty-one persons in all have served the church in this responsible position. Mr. James Ringland served in this office thirteen years; Messrs. Daniel McCollum, Sr., and Caleb McCollum, each twelve years; Mr. William Patterson, Sr., eleven years ; Dr. S. S. Strouse, ten years ; Messrs. Joseph Evans, James Millikin, Silas Clark, and Andrew P. Vandyke, each seven years ; Mr. James Braden, six years ; Messrs. Zachariah Sharp, Sr., John Millikin, Robert Boyd, and Isaac Horn, each five years. Those serving a less number of years are : Messrs. John Carter, Thomas Ringland, Ephraim Cooper, Stephen Corwin, William Lindsley, Samuel Andrews, William S. Millikin, Daniel Cooper, Isaac Clark, Martin Clark, John Mullen, Ezekiel Clark, Asa Luellen, Jacob A. Saunders, Nehemiah Baldwin, John Buckingham, Thomas McFarland, Luther Axtell, Reason Luellen, Samuel Johnston, John McFarland, Daniel Cary, Adam Weir, Sr., John Saunders, Lemuel Luellen, George French, Daniel Condit, Jacob Braden, James B. Montgomery, Samuel Condit, T. J. Patterson, Jesse Jordan, Samuel Braden, William Luellen, James F. Dodd, Milton Clutter, B. B. Bradbury, Nelson McCollum, L. F. Pershing, William Hazlet, John Johnston, Workman Hughes, Zachariah Sharp, Jr., Henry W. Horn, David B. Baker, Edward Depue, and Hiram Tharp. Postmasters.—Following is a list of postmasters at Amity village, viz.: Ziba Cook, Z. Sharpe, Jesse Jordan, J. N. Ringland, J. B. McDonald, James Hughes, Mrs. E. J. Bebout, James A. Jackson, M. Sharpe, D. E. Baker, James M. Hughes. Physicians.—The first to practice medicine in the village was the Rev. Cephas Dodd, who practiced all his life and died Jan. 16, 1858. The next physician was Dr. S. T. Strouse. He studied medicine with Dr. J. Letherman, of Canonsburg, and in 1832 practiced in Pittsburgh, and May 10, 1833, came to Amity; married Jane, daughter of the Rev. Cephas Dodd, and settled there in practice, which he continued till 1879, when he retired from active duty. Dr. Thaddeus Dodd, a son of the Rev. Cephas Dodd, studied with his father, and later attended the medical college at Cincinnati, where he graduated, after which he commenced practice at Amity, and continued till his death Aug. 25, 1877, aged sixty-eight years. He left a son, William S. Dodd, who studied with his father, graduated at Cincinnati Medical College, and succeeded to his father's practice. Dr. W. W. Sharpe, a regular physician, practiced in different places, came to Amity about 1855, opened an office, and is still in active practice. Dr. B. F. Lindley has also been a practitioner in the town. Clarktown, or Ten-Mile Village.—The tract upon which this town is situated was called "The Mill-Site." The town was named in honor of Abner Clark. The first lots sold are now occupied by the brick building in which the post-office is located. In 1834, Freeman Hathaway erected a grist-mill. 1n 1838 a post-office was established at this place and named Ten-Mile. Freeman Hathaway was appointed postmaster. About 1840, Dr. George Reed, a physician, located here and commenced practice. The village has at present fourteen dwellings, two stores, two blacksmith-shops, cabinet-maker, grist- and saw-mill,—owned by Huffman & Swart,—harness-maker, drugstore and post-office, and two physicians,—Dr. J, W. Moore and Dr. L. W. Braden. A Masonic lodge was organized at this place several years ago, but was discontinued in 1876. A grist- and saw-mill is located up the creek, owned by Walton Swart Two miles below the village on the creek is a grist- and saw-mill and store owned by Martin & Sons. The post-office is kept at this place. The postmasters of Ten-Mile have been J. F. Hathaway, John Cary, Philip Axtell, Benjamin Bradbury, A. B. Scott, Joseph A. Little, Hiram Tharp, John .T. Reynolds, and T. C. Gessford, who is the present postmaster. The following-named physicians have practiced at Ten-Mile, viz.: Drs. George Reed, John Cary, ______ Wilson, George Lewis, Thomas Morton, J. C. Milliken, Joseph Moore, L. W. Braden. Lone Pine.—This little village, located on the north fork of Ten-Mile Creek, is variously known as Lone Pine, Pleasant Valley, and " Pin Hook." The tract of land on which it is situated was obtained by Thomas Hill on a Virginia certificate granted Jan. 20, 1780, and surveyed as " Bottom Lick," containing four hundred acres. It passed through several hands, and while in possession of David Frazee the town was laid out. John Harrison erected the first house, which is still standing, and now the property of Jacob Maxwell. Joseph Ross erected the next one, now the property of James D. Huston. In his dwelling he opened the first store in the village. James D. Huston was the first postmaster, and the only one. The name of Lone Pine was given to the post-office. A distillery was erected near the village by A. J. Caton about 1865, and carried on by him till his death. It was then sold (Sept. 15, 1869) to Samuel L. Hughes 666 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. and Peter Garrett. The former sold his interest to Garrett, by whom it was run for a time and was discontinued. The building is now used as a dwelling-house. In the fall of 1878 the friends of education in the village formed a stock company for the purpose of establishing an academy to be called the " Lone Pine Academy." School was opened soon after the organization in Huston's Hall. During the next year a building was erected, and the upper room was and is used for this purpose, and the lower room for the public school of the village. The officers of the academy are James D. Huston, president; James A. Monniger, secretary ; John A. Frazee, Robert C. Vandegrift, and Frederick Rossel directors. J. H. Henderson was chosen principal at the opening of the academy, and is still in charge. The village at present contains forty dwellings, the school building, Disciple Church, steam grist- and saw-mill, two stores, three blacksmith- and wagon-shops, an Odd-Fellows' Lodge, and one physician. The only society in the village is Lone Pine Lodge, No. 693, I: 0. 0. F. It was chartered in March, 1870, with the following officers and charter members : James D. Huston, Noble Grand ; Isaac H. Horn, Vice-Grand ; Samuel Walton, Secretary ; John Sib-bet, Treasurer; William W. Paul John Closser, William Briggs; James M. Sibbet, Samuel Sharp, George Huffman, Henry Hanrond, Isaac Husk, Thomas Reed, and A. J. Riggle. The lodge has at present twelve members. Pleasant Valley Christian Church.¹—When the house of worship of the Ridge Baptist Church was built, John Frederick Shrontz, Sr., a faithful disciple of Christ, proposed to give fifty dollars to the building-fund, on condition that he should have the privilege of using the house occasionally for preaching when the Baptists were not using it. This condition was agreed to in a church meeting, and the fifty dollars was paid. In the exercise of the right thus granted to him, John T. Smith, a Disciple preacher of good ability and of genuine piety, who lived at that time on Pigeon Creek, was employed to preach once a month. The gospel proclaimed by him was " like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal." " The word of God, which effectually works in them that believe," worked in the hearts of his hearers, and prepared them for the advent of two preachers from the State of Ohio, who came in November, 1840. They were the saintly Marcus Bosworth and the youthful and zealous Lyman P. Streator. They preached in the Ridge Baptist Church, and after holding several meetings in Washington and• adjacent counties, Marcus Bosworth returned to Ohio, and left the young L. P. Streator to labor in the neighborhood into Which he had been thus introduced. ¹ By Rev. W. L. Hayden. By agreement, he was to preach in the Ridge meeting-house once a month for a year for fifty dollars. In the following spring and summer crowds attended the ministrations of the young evangelist, and under his labors several persons " confessed the good confession before many witnesses." Some of the good Baptist brethren united with these immersed believers, who were known by the humble name of Disciples of Christ in their weekly commemoration of the death of their common Saviour. This communion of saints regardless of party tenets aroused the jealous fears of some of the stricter Baptists, who resolved to turn the Disciples out of the house. Accordingly, in October, 1841, when the youthful preacher came to fill his appointment, he found the congregation assembled outside of the house, the door was locked, and a guard was standing between the waiting assembly and the empty sanctuary. The little company of Disciples quietly gave up their rights under the agreement that was made when the house was built, and formally planted the Christian Church at Pleasant Valley by subscribing to a church covenant at a meeting held for the purpose on the 16th day of October, 1841, at the house of John Frederick Shrontz, Sr. The names subscribed are Simeon Hathaway, J. Frederick Shrontz, Sr., Sarah Shrontz, Jacob Egy, David Egy, Mary Egy, Albert Gordon, Anna Young, Christiana Cooper, Sarah Hatfield. On the next day David Smith and Elizabeth Smith were received by the unanimous consent of the congregation. In order to remove an erroneous impression it is well here to remark that the expression " the Scriptures of divine truth" means, with the Disciples, the "old family Bible," or, more specifically, relating to the Christian dispensation, the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ. While they accept the aid of the best scholarship in ascertaining the mind of Christ, and rejoice in the electric light of the highest criticism, and have always been the friends of pure versions, they have used the commonly received version in their public ministrations. At first the meetings on Lord's Day were held at the private residences of J. Frederick Shrontz, Sr., Zebulon Ferrel and Jacob Egy. Very soon, however, the young church began to prepare for housekeeping, and in the fall of 1843 a comfortable frame meeting-house was built on land then owned by David Slusher. On March 30, 1844, Mr. Slusher made a deed of "eighty-nine and eight-tenths perches, strict measure," of land to Col. David Frazee and Zebulon Ferrel, trustees of the Disciples' meeting-house thereon erected, " to have and to hold the same for the use and benefit of said Disciples' Church, excepting the third week in each month, for the proper use of other persons who may have contributed to the building of said meeting-house." AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 667 The earliest record of organization is on Jan. 27, 1844, when there was a meeting for the purpose of ;hosing officers in the church. J. F. Shrontz, Sr., and Zebulon Ferrel were chosen deacons, and set apart to that office by the imposition of hands. Henry Bennett was chosen as a teacher, both in the congregation and wherever he may have an opportunity or be called to preach the word, and was set apart in like manner, L. P. Streator officiating on the occasion. The earliest record of elders is Dec. 15, 1850, when Col. David Frazee and G. B. Shidler were appointed to that office. On April 8, 1857, David Frazee, Sr., and David Slusher gave a deed " to the Christian Church, composed of the Disciples of Christ meeting at Pleasant Valley, in Amwell township, Washington County, for and in consideration of one dollar, of three acres, strict measure," of land, to be held sacred to the construction of a cemetery and the erection of a meetinghouse, and for no other purpose. The trustees, of the Church, viz.: David Frazee, Sr., David Slusher, and Samuel L. Hughes, on Feb. 22, 1859, filed a petition for incorporation agreeably to the provisions of the act of Assembly of the 13th of October, 1840, and after due notice thereof was given the final decree of court was issued May 17, 1859, incorporating the members of this church into one body politic by the name and title of the " Disciples' Church of Pleasant Valley." For more than twenty-five years, "upon the first day of the week," " the disciples came together to break bread" in their first house of worship in this valley. But the growing congregations became too large for the small house, and in pursuance of duly authorized call, a meeting of church-members and citizens was held on March 7, 1868, when it was unanimously voted to build a new meeting-house on the lot opposite the cemetery, the present site, which was then owned by David Frazee, Sr. He immediately pledged himself, his heirs, executors, etc., to make a good title to said lot as soon as the house was finished. Accordingly the deed was given to the Disciples' Church of Pleasant Valley on Oct. 13, A.D. 1869, for and in consideration of the sum of ten dollars. A committee of five of the subscribers to the building fund was chosen by ballot to determine the size, form, and style of the building, and was constituted a building committee, with instructions to begin the erection of the house when five thousand dollars were subscribed. David Slusher, L. P. Streator, A. J. Closser, J. M. Ross, and Samuel L. Hughes were said committee. By order of this meeting the old house was disposed of at public sale. Christianity develops and elevates the highest faculties of human nature, and consecrates them to the service of God, that the man of God may be " thoroughly furnished unto all good works," hence schools are the legitimate fruit of the gospel. The members of the Pleasant Valley Christian Church wished to provide proper educational advantages in their own vicinity for their children and their neighbors' children. The church led the way, and the citizens of the place heartily united in the enterprise. The Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, Pa., on Nov. 26, 1853, granted the application for a charter and issued decree and declared David Frazee, Sr., Philo Paul Samuel L. Hughes, David Bane, David Slusher, David McElhinny, David McDonough, Lyman P. Streator, Edward Riggs, and such other persons as may be associated with them a body corporate and politic by the name and title of " Pleasant Valley Academy." A deed was given by Col. David Frazee, dated May 20, 1854, to the directors of the academy, for and in consideration of one hundred and thirteen dollars and seventy-five cents, of " one acre and twenty-one perches, strict measure," of land for the only and proper use of said company. A suitable building was erected, and the grounds were improved at an aggregate cost of two thousand and fifty-one dollars and seventy-five cents,—no small sum to be raised at that time in a rural district. The first trustees elected under the charter, June 27, 1855, were the following : For three years, Col. David Frazee, Philo Paul and Samuel L. Hughes; for two years, David Frazee, Sr., Thomas J. Rees, and David Bane; for one year, L. P. Streator, Joseph Moore, and Asher Vankirk. L. P. Streator was elected principal of the academy at the beginning, and for five years he had charge of the institution. By his untiring efforts as a teacher and a member of the board of trustees he raised the academy to a high degree of efficiency, and made it self-supporting. It became an intellectual power and a centre of -a large circle of influence. He was succeeded in the principalship by the lamented Philip Galley, William S. Spear, and J. L. Darsie, under whose successive administrations the school was well sustained. But owing to some unfavorable changes in its surroundings, the academy was closed in January, 1871, and the building was sold. The spirit of education survived the academy, and in 1875 the school was in some measure revived by J. H. Hendron, who won his way to public favor by his efficient labors, and continues to hold the confidence of the community as a successful educator and a godly man. The fact has already been stated that L. P. Streator was preaching for this church at its formation. He was not only first in order of time, but he is the first in the aggregate length of time and in amount of preaching done. He was highly esteemed by the church and community. After him there have been regularly employed by the church J. B. Piatt, Hamilton Vankirk, Robert Milligan, Henry Langly, Henry Bennett, 668 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. R. Baily Chaplin, James Darsie, Philip Galley, Finley Oakes, S. B. Teagarden, J. L. Darsie, F. M. Hawkins, A. F. Reynolds, William S. Spear, S. F. Fowler, R. Gardner, Campbell Jobes, P. M. Woods, J. H. Hendron, and J. W. Satterfield. Twenty preachers in forty years, an average time of two years for each engagement, is painfully suggestive of instability on the part of the church or the preachers, or of un-scriptural notions with regard to the regular support of an approved ministry. Beside these the following named have labored here in meetings of days, some of whom have been called twice or thrice for such special work, viz. : William F. Pool J. H. Jones, Richard Williams, John Lindsey, F. B. Lobingier, J. D. Benedict, D. G. Mitchell George Lucy, John Whitaker, T. C. McKeever, A. Wilcox, J. B. Crane, Benjamin Franklin, O. G. Hertzog, T. A. Crenshaw, M. L. Streator, D. L. Kincaid, J. F. Rowe, and H. B. Cox. On occasions of general meetings this church has been favored with the presence and the preaching of A. Campbell Wesley Lanphear, W. K. Pendleton, and perhaps others less noted. It is worthy of special mention that, under the auspices of this church, M. L. Streator did good service for evangelical truth in an able defense of the Bible against materialism. In a debate with a Mr, Niles, a representative of materialistic philosophy; he set forth the spiritual teaching of the word of God with great clearness and force, and won such a signal victory that the cause of his opponent has never rallied from the defeat. While this church gratefully cherishes the fragrant memory of the many pure and able men of God who have spoken to them the word of the Lord, historical, truth demands the humiliating confession that the cause of Christ here, as in some other places in the county, has suffered much from the evil example o some preachers who have proven unworthy of their holy calling, some of whom thrust themselves upon an unsuspecting brotherhood without authority to preach or any just claim to public confidence. Never. the less this church has steadily held on its course, and received into its fellowship up to this date six hundred and fifty-two members, but, to quote from the records of the congregation, " many persons whose names are recorded have departed, some to that country whence no traveler returns, some to distant part: of the land, and some to the weak and beggarly elements of the world." Hence the roll has been repeatedly revised, and the present membership is about two hundred and sixty. The responsible office of elder has been held by Col. David Frazee, G. B. Shidler, J. F. Shrontz, Sr. Alfred Grim, Jacob Stone, Samuel Loyd, J. F. Ferrel David Frazee, Sr„ P. M. Woods, and F. T. Shrontz of whom the last three named constitute the present eldership. In addition to the primary deacons al ready mentioned, David Slusher, Alfred Grim, Jacob Egy, O. F. Lyon, O. Moninger, Theo. Vankirk, John Lynn, and J. H. Hendron have served as deacons, the last four of whom constitute the present deaconate. From this church at least seven preachers have gone forth into the evangelical field, viz.: Thomas Sutton (deceased), R. Gardner, M. L. and J. M. Streator, P. M. Woods, H. B. Cox, and Herbert Horn, while the sainted Philip Galley and L. S. Brown were in part the product of the Pleasant Valley Academy. At first the Sunday-school work met with some opposition, which was exhibited by sending anonymous letters to David Frazee, Sr., the first superintendent. But this church has since manifested a lively interest in the Sunday-school cause, and brought out an unusual number of workers in that department of church activity. Thirteen members of this congregation have been called at different times to the superintendency. Their names are David Frazee, Sr., T. H. Vankirk, S. T. Dodd, Workman Hughes, Jr., Hamilton Riggle, P. M. Woods, John Shipe, O. F. Lyon, D. H. Lewis, W. W. Paul Herbert Horn, D. M. Frazee, and 0. Moninger. The last .named is at present assisted by eight teachers, who have under their religious instruction, more or less of the year, near one hundred and sixty pupils. The church has recently enjoyed a powerful awakening in religious interest, during which over sixty persons were received into fellowship. It has a firm hold on the people in that locality, and the practical recognition of the apostolic principles of Christian oneness,—" endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,"—and the provision for itself of pastoral oversight and instruction commensurate with its means and the' necessities of the present age, will insure for it a high degree of prosperity and increasing usefulness for many years to come. Bane Town.—This hamlet contains seven dwellings, a store, post-office, wagon-shop, two blacksmithshops, and a station of the Washington and Waynesburg Railroad. It was originally the property of the Banes, and the old Bane fulling-mill and grist-mil were located here. The last vestiges of their foundations were removed two years ago. A fulling-mil and horse grist-mill were erected under the same roof about 1790, by Nathan Bane, on the little creek called Bane's Fork of Ten-Mile Creek. On the 22d of September, 1796, Gordon Douglass advertised in the Western Telegraphe, published at Washington, " The he means to carry on the fulling business in all it various branches at Nathan Bane's fulling-mill, oi the Middle Fork of Ten-Mile Creek." It was in operation for many years. The property on which the mill was located is now owned by Nathaniel Bane am Cyrus Maloy. North Ten-Mile Baptist Church.—The families of the Banes and others settled on the waters of Ten Mile Creek in 1768 were Baptists from Virginia am AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 669 descendants of such. The families of Sutton and others settled a little later in what is now Fayette County. Several of the Suttons were Baptist ministers, and a church called Great Bethel was organized by them at what is now Uniontown in 1770. Two years later (1772) a church was constituted in the Bane settlement, in Amwell township, at the house of Enoch Enochs, where Charles Rossel now lives. The minutes of the early years are still in existence, and from them are taken the quotations given below. The record of the first meeting is illegible and cannot be made out. It proceeds: "December lst, 1773. The church met on business the first time at Enoch Enochs', Mid after Solemn Prayer Proceeded. Made choice of Samuel Parkhurst, Clerk. "Feb'y 4th, 1774. The church met on business at Brother David Enochs', and after Solemn Prayer Proceeded: let, chose Brother Issachar Huntingten Deacon; 2d, chose Alexander Keith to supply the place of a Clerk to Raise the Psalm Tune; 3d, chose Brother James Sutton, and Received him as our Minister; 4th, appointed the Friday before the first Sabbath in next March to be a meeting of Church business, and the Saturday following to be a day of Fasting, the Sabbath to be a Communion with us. "Before our next appointed Communion the Church being scattered on Account of the Indians, so that we could not attend in any Church order until the next fall, Brother Sutton moved over the mountains, and Returned to us the next October. "November 31st, 1774. The Church met at Joseph Bane's to Consult the welfare of Zion, and after Solemn Prayer conclude to appoint the last Lord's day in next April to attend the Communion of the Supper at Enoch Enoch's, The Saturday before preparatory." The record shows that on .the 13th of October, 1775, Robert Bennet was received by letter, also John Buckingham on the 16th of February, 1776, and Cheniah Covalt and Cimfer A. Bennet on the 15th of February, 1777. The next entry found is as follows: "At our meeting June 16, 1781, gave our Ministering Brother, John Corbley, an invitation to attend with us stately In the administration of the word and the ordinances of the Gospel. "About the first of May, 1783, our ministering Brother, David Sutton, made us a visit from the Jerseys, and the church gave hint an invitation to come and settle amongst us which he accepted, and the next fall he moved out here with his fondly. [Mr. Sutton remained as pastor till his death in 1812. At that time he resided in West Bethlehem.] "March 18, 1786. At our meeting of Business agreed that the meeting house be finished by a levi on each Ratable Estate, Brother John Buckingham and David Enoch to have the oversight thereof." The first meeting-house was built in 1786. It was of logs, and was, used until 1794. On the 10th of May in that year Samuel Parkhurst, a trustee of the society, purchased twenty-one acres and twenty perches of land for £2 5s. of Daniel McFarland. It was situated on the waters of Ten-Mile, on the tract of land called in the survey "Big Rocks." On this land the society built a' hewed log house, which was occupied many years. The society about 1840 built the present brick Meeting-house, and on the 1st of July, 1842, Philip Axtell John Bane, Lewis Ketchum, acting deacons, purchased one acre and one hundred and thirty-one perches of land, in consideration of twelve and a half cents, of Jacob Bane. The deed bears date July 1, 1842, and says " on which now stands the new brick meeting-house." The land on which it stands was warranted to Nathan Bane in - 43 - 1786, and is a part of a tract of three hundred and four acres known as " Bane's Fancy." The pastors from the first, connected with the church as far as can be ascertained, have been as follows: James Sutton, Feb. 4, 1774-80; John Corbly, June 16, 1781-83 ; David Sutton, May 1, 1783, till his death in 1812. From this time till 1836. the records are lost, and nothing positive can be ascertained. In that year the Rev. A. B. Bowman L, came the pastor, and served until 1839, when he resigned, and Levi Griffith was called, accepted, and ministered to them till 1842, when F. Downey succeeded him, and served. four years. His successors were William Whitehead, S. Kendall — Lenning, T. C. Gunford, Winfield Scott, B. P. Ferguson, J. Boyd, W. B. Skinner, C. W. Tilton, and J.. Miller, who is the present pastor. This church was the first one of any denomination organized in Washington County. It became in 1776 one of the constituent members of the Redstone Association. The minutes of that body for the early years were never published, and as they were found in this section it is thought proper in the history of this first church to give quotations from them. Several of the churches here mentioned are not now in existence, and little knowledge of them has been . obtained : ' Book A.—Minutes of the Annual Association of the Baptist Churches west of the Laurel Hill, called the Redstone Association. "Met in Annual Association at Goshen, west of the Laurel Hill, Oct. 7,1776, the following messengers from the several churches, viz.: "1. Great Bethe1.¹—Isaac Sutton, James McCoy, and Elijah Barclay. ². Goshen.—John Corbly, John Gerrard, and Jacob Vanmetre. ³., Ten-Mile.—James Sutton, David Enoch, and Robert Bennett. 4. Turkey Foot.—Isaac Morris. 5. Pike Run.—William Wood and David Ruble. 6, Yough.—Samuel Luallen and John McFarland. "1st. The introductory sermon was preached by Mr. James Sutton from these words, The Angel of the Church, Rev. ii. 1, wherein the duty of messenger was clearly exhibited. 2d. Proceeded to business. Brother John Corbly was chosen moderator, and William Wood clerk. 3d. . . . 4th. A request from Cross Creek for the constitution .of a church granted, and Brothers John Corbly and William Wood appointed to officiate in constituting the said church. Query. In what state did Adam stand in Paradise, whether he partook of the Divine nature in his creation or not. "Answer. Adam was created in an upright State, but that he partook of the divine nature us the essence of God, we cannot suppose only that he received so much of the divine nature as was sufficient to actuate his righteous soul thereby." "Met in Annual Association at Great Bethel, Monongalia Co., Va. [now in Fayette County, Pa.], Oct. 13, 1777, the following members of the several churches, viz.: Great Bethel, Isaac Sutton, Philip Jenkins; Goshen; Turkey Foot, Richard Hall, henry Abrams; Pike Run, William Wood, James Rogers, Morris Brandy ; Forks of Cheat, Samuel Luellen ; Yough; Ten-Mile; Simpson Creek, William Davis, Dana Edwards; Georges Creek, Joseph Barnet, Peter Jones; Cross Creek, William Taylor." "At a meeting of the Association on the 2d, 3d, and 4th of October, 1780 (place not given). The number of members in the different churches were given as' follows: Great Bethel, 49; Ten-Mile, 9; Yough, ³ 1. Great Bethel was at Uniontown, Fayette Co. 2. Goshen, in Greene County. 3. Ten-Mile, at Bane's, in Amwell township, Washington Co. 4. Turkey Foot, at Confluence, Somerset Co. 6. Pike Run, in Veneville, Somerset township, Washington Co. 6. Yough, organized in 1773, afterwards became the Peters Creek Church. now at Library, Allegheny county. 670 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 34; Goshen, 30; Forks of Cheat, 10; Simpson's Creek, 19; Pigeon Creek, 45. "A request from separate church on Shirtee to join Association. Resolved, That William Woods, John Corbly, William Taylor, base Light, David Philips, and John Buckingham — Williams be appointed to attend at Benjamin Rennoes on Shirtee [now Allegheny County] the Wednesday after the fourth Sabbath in October, to examine into the state and order of that church, and If found satisfactory to receive them into fellowship with up." "Association of 1781 met on Saturday before the first Sabbath at Great Bethel. Nino churches represented. Patterson and Cross Creek received into fellowship." On the 2d of October, 1784, the Association met at Muddy Creek. The following churches were represented. The names of the churches, messengers, and number of members are here given: Great Bethel, Rev. Isaac Sutton, James Sutton, Isaac Morris, Thomas McGloughlin, 120 members; Ten-Mile, Rev. David Sutton, Robert Bonnet, Samuel Parker, Isaac Bane, 31 members ; Peters Creek, Rev. William Taylor, 45 members; Goshen, Rev. John Corbley, Levi —, James Meredick, Daniel Clark, 40 members ; Forks of. Cheat, John McFarland and others, 40 members; Pigeon Creek, Rev. William Wood, Z. Williams, David Ruble, William Buckingham, 35 members; Simpson Creek, Rev. Isaac Edwards, John Stolle, 32 members; Georges Hill, Moses Airs, William Carter, 95 members. "Association met on the 27th October, 178R. Twelve churches wore represented. Rev. John Corbly was moderator, and Benjamin Jones clerk." Sept. 24, 25, and 26, 1796, met at Uniontown, fifteen churches represented. Enon (Fallowfield township) represented by Henry Speers and John Raton. In 1806 the Association met at Cross Creek, Brooke Co., Va. Twenty-nine churches were represented. Sept. 22, 23, 1820, at Plum Run ; Aug. 31, 1822, at Washington ; Sept. 5, 6, 7, 1823, at Pittsburgh ; Sept. 1, 2, 3, 1826, at Redstone. At the last session it was resolved that "the doctrines held by the Washington Church and their ministers are found to be heterodox . . . and they are hereby excluded from our fellowship." This was about the time when the church became divided by dissensions, resulting from the, teachings of Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Pleasant Hill (Cumberland Presbyterian) Congregation.—The following, taken from the minutes of this church, gives the causes that brought it into existence : "Shortly after the camp-meeting held in Morris township, Washington Co., Pa., in the full of 1831, by A. M. Bryan, J. Morgan, Alexander Chapman, R Burrow, and R. Donnell, missionaries of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In the early part of October of the same year another was held by A. M. Bryan, R. Burrow, and R. Donnell, in Amwell township of the county and State above, in the grove on the farm of Abel Millikin. "The number professing reconciliation to God at this meeting was estimated at one hundred. After this, from time to time, by M. Bird and A. M. Bryan, meetings were held in the neighborhood, principally at the house of A. Nankin. In the early part of 1832 a second camp-meeting was held in the grove before mentioned by William Harris, Alexander Chapman, S. M: Aston, M. Bird, and A. M. Bryan. At this meeting there were many cases of awakening and conversions, though not so many as at the first. From this camp-meeting the different ministers who occasionally preached in the neighborhood received, baptized, and enrolled the names of persons up to Jan. 22, 1833, who were then regularly organized into a congregation called 'Pleasant Hill.’" At the organization the following persons were chosen ruling elders: Joseph Evans, Abner Clark, and Abel Milliken, and were ordained by the Rev. John Morgan. The church is at present under the care of the Rev. Luther Axtell. Worship is held in a neat brick edifice not far distant from Clarkstown. Schools in Amwell Township.—The first classical school west of the Allegheny Mountains was established within the bounds of the Ten-Mile congregation (Presbyterian), in the spring of 1782, by Rev. Thaddeus Dodd. The following extract from a letter of the Rev. Dr. Jacob Lindley (who was one of the pupils), dated June 2, 1854, gives some account of Mr. Dodd's school, and the writer's connection with it: " My parents when I was eight years of age embed the notion that I was pious and sent me to the school of the prophets, which was kept in a large log house, erected for the purpose, some fifty steps from Mr. Dodd's dwelling. It was sufficiently large for three or four beds, with room for tables, etc. I was sent there to live with Mr. Dodd and to study Latin in A.D. 1782, and remained there till 1784. The Latin students then with Mr. Dodd were James Hughes, John Brice, Robert Marshall, Francis Dunleavy, John Hanna, Daniel Lindley, David Smith (father of Rev. Joseph Smith, D.D.), Robert Marshall, Jr., and Jacob Lindley. Mathematical students, Daniel McFarland, Joseph Eddy, t hems Stokely, and Thomas Gormly. All boarded with Mr. Dodd." In 1789, Mr. Dodd became principal of an academy in Washington. About three years later William Greenlee and Archibald Stansbury were teachers in this township. In 1800, Isaac Cook, Matthias Luce, and James Foster were also teachers. About 1810 two school-houses are remembered, one near Nathaniel McGiffin's residence, and the other near Capt. John Hughes'. There were others, but where located has not been ascertained. Among the teachers at that time were John Wells, James Smith, Nathan Becket, Joseph Evans, Hugh Stockdale, John Mountz, and John Birch. But little information has been gained of the schools unti11835. At that time Amwell accepted the public school law, and divided the township into districts under the direction of B. Hughes, J. Chamberlain, and David Evans, who were the first school directors under the law. The number of persons. in the township at that time liable to taxation for school purposes was three hundred and seventy-seven, and three hundred and ten dollars and sixty-four cents was raised in the year 1835. In the next year the township did not comply with the terms of the law as regards State appropriation, and only raised one hundred dollars and eighty-one cents. In 1837 the proportion of the township was five hundred and twenty dollars and four cents; to this was added twenty-four dollars and sixty-six cents, making fire hundred and forty-four dollars and seventy cents. The following is a list of the school directors from 1835 to the present time : • 1835.—B. Hughes, J. Chamberlain, D. Evans. 1836.-H. Beabout, J. Vankirk, J. Swart. 1837.—David Frazier, D. J. Evans. 1838.—James Hughes, J. Horn. 1839.—Isaac Tucker, F. Shrontz. 1840.—John Buckingham, Adam Marsh. 1843.—William McEvans, Daniel McCollum. 1844.—Hamilton Vankirk, Joseph Miller. 1845.—William Hallam, Samuel Hughes. 1846.—John Horn, David Frazer. 1847.—A. J. Closser, Zebulon Ferrell. AMWELL TOWNSHIP - 671 1848 —Joseph Miller, Jr., William Luallen". 1810 —John Moningan, David Blubber. 1850. —Thomas .1. Patterson, David McElheny. 1851.—Oliver Lacock, Nicholas Horn. 1852.--A. M. Evans, Robert Chamberlain. 1853.—John Curry, James Hughes. 1854.—Enoch Baker, John HORN. 1855.—Robert Chamberlain, Isaac Horn, James C. Chambers, Ira Kelso. 1856.—Robert Chamberlain, Stephen Patterson. 1857.—Benjamin F. Reese, George Swart. 1858.—Samuel Baker, George W. Moningan, Joshua Denman. 1859,—A. J. Clossen, Joseph Evans. 1860.—B. F. Rees, W. W. Sharp. 1861.—Adam Horn, James McDonald. 1862.—A. J. Closser, James McDonald. 1863.—Robert Horn, William W. Hill. 1864.—Milton B. Curry, Benjamin F. Rees. . 1865.—Robert Chamberlain, Daniel McCollum. 1866.-O. W. Moningan, Ira Kelsey. 1867.—Tunis Miller, Daniel Condit, John A. Fruzzee. 1868.—David Baker, Peter Camp. 1869.—William Watson, John Lewis. 1869, October.—Isaac Isms, C. Hackney. 1870.—Adam Marsh, Onias Moningan.          . 1872.—J. C. Vankirk, A. J. Swart. 1873.—H. Beabout, Clark Hackney. 1874.—James Smith, Adam Horn. 1875.—J. N. Horn, Joseph Gray. 1876.—Isaac Riggle, John Martin. 1877.—John Weaver, William Swart. 1878.—D. H. Lewis, William Hallam, Irwin Moningan. 1879.-H. C. McCollum, John Hughes, J. C. Vankirk. 1880.—J. C. Vankirk, H. W. Horn, J. H. Meek. 1881.—W. Hallam, Jr., James H. Meek. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ENOCH BAKER. Enoch Baker was of Quaker parentage, and was born in Maryland, Nov. 28, 1788. When he was about six months old his father, Nathan Baker, who was a farmer, moved to Chester County, Pa., where he remained until the beginning of the present' century (from 1800 to 1803), when he removed to Washington County, Pa., and settled in East Bethlehem township. During Nathan's residence in Chester County his first wife died, leaving eight children,—Lydia, Mary, Aaron, Nehemiah, David, Joseph, Enoch; and Nathan ; and he was married to his second wife, a widow, Mrs. Jordan, by whom he had four children,—William, Israel, Hannah, and Mahlon. Soon after settling in Washington County Nathan returned to Chester County with a drove of horses, and while there died, and was buried beside his first wife. Enoch Baker learned the blacksmith trade with Nathan Pyle, of East Bethlehem township. After serving his apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman four years with Christopher Slusher, and then purchased a farm on the road from Lone Pine to Ten-Mile village, where he spent the balance of his life. He was a hard-working, thrifty, conscientious man, who left a stainless character and reputation. He was prudent and discreet, a gentleman, and never permitted himself to say harsh things to C71 those with whom be conversed. He, was a man to whom his neighbors turned and asked advice when surrounded by difficulties. He was for many years a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and delighted to study and practice the precepts of Christianity. He was married March 3, 1814, to Elizabeth Jennings, of Amwell township, Washington Co., Pa. He died Aug. 29, 1861. His wife died Aug. 5, 1862. The children of Enoch and Elizabeth (Jennings) Baker were Nathan, Lemuel, Elmey, Permelia, David, Lucinda, and Daniel. Nathan Baker was born Oct. 24, 1816. He is a farmer, and resides in Amwell township. He married Maria Horn, and has four sons,—John W., David E., Robert C., and Colin R. Lemuel Baker was born Sept. 25, 1818. He is a farmer of Amwell township. He was married Jan. 4, 1844, to Sarah Jane Ross. She died Dec. 24, 1849, leaving one child, Permelia Baker, who married' Franklin T. Shrontz, a farmer of Amwell township, and has six children,—Sarah Frances, Cordelia B., Elmey Mary, Lemuel Baker, Permelia T., and John Frederick. Lemuel was married to his second wife, Cordelia K. Lindley, May 11, 1852. She died May 7, 1878 and he married his third wife, Mrs. Anne Eliza McCollister (nee Gass), Jan. 4, 1875. She died May 2?, 1881. Lemuel married his fourth wife, Elizabeth H. Black, of Jefferson, Greene Co., Pa., July 26, 1882. Elmey Baker was born Aug. 26, 1820. She married Abel M. Wilson, a farmer of Amwell township, Nov. 17, 1842. Their children are Nathan B., Elizabeth (married to A. B. Samson), Lucinda (married to John Reynolds, deceased), Ruth A. (who died July 15, 1880), Enoch B., Victorine, and William M. Permelia Baker was born Nov. 9, 1822, and died April 6, 1838. David Baker was born Jan. 19,1826, and died April 11, 1838. Lucinda Baker was born Oct. 16, 1828. She married R9bert Stockdale, May 21 1850. They reside in Henry County, Iowa, and have two children,—Enoch B., and James. Daniel Baker was born Sept. 4, 1832. He married Minerva A. Walton, Feb. 12, 1857, and resides upon the old homestead. Their living children are Flora (married to A. J. Meek), Ida May (married to Abram L. Paul), Viola, Lydia, James, and Bird. The brothers and sisters of Enoch Baker, who are all dead, married as follows: Lydia, married Benjamin Townsend. They removed to Columbiana County, Ohio, where they both died. Mary married Joshua Linton. They lived and died in East Bethlehem township, Washington County, Pa. Aaron married- Ruth Jordan. They lived upon the farm where his Miler settled. Nehemiah married Eliza Pyle. 672 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. David married Margaret Robbins. They lived and died in East Bethlehem township. Joseph married Mary Corwin, of Amwell township, wherein they died. Nathan married Abba Ruble. Their children were Levi, Lavina, David, Mary Ann, Albert, Malinda, and Hiram. ANDREW J. SWART Andrew J. Swart, a courteous and companionable gentleman of Amwell township, is the sixth son, and eighth in the order of birth, of a family of nine children—six sons and three daughters—of Philip and Asenah (Walton) Swart. He was born in the township wherein he resides, Dec. 16, 1836. He was reared on a farm, and was educated in the common schools and Waynesburg College, Greene County, Pa. Under the call for three months' men he enlisted in April, 1861, and was a member of Company E, Twelfth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. He returned home in July, and October 31st of the same year he was married to Mary J., daughter of Jacob and Mary Greenlee, of Greene County, Pa. In August, 1862, he enlisted in a company raised at Amity by Capt. Silas Parker. This company was known in the service as Company D, One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, commanded by Col. R. P. Roberts, who was killed at Gettysburg. Mr. Swart was wounded July 2, 1863, at the battle of Gettysburg. He remained in the hospital upon the field for about two weeks, and was then removed to the hospital at Annapolis, Md., where he remained until October of the same year, when he was given a furlough and sent home. After the expiration of his furlough he reported at Philadelphia, and was placed in a hospital there, where he remained until March, 1864, when he was transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital, in which he remained until September, 1864, when he received his discharge. Since that date he has given a superintending care to his farm, being by his wounds unfitted for severe manual labor. Mr. Swart is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, a member of the William F. Templeton G. A. R. Post, of Washington, Pa., and also of Ten-Mile Lodge, I. 0. 0. F. His gallant service for his country, his modest, genial manner and moral worth, have secured for him the respect of those who know him. Mr. Swart has four living children,—Florella, married to Samuel Luellen; a farmer of Amwell township; Viola, Minnie, and Anna Mary. Three of Andrew J. Swart's brothers, John, Henry C., and Amos, were soldiers in the late war, all members of Company D, 140th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Amos was killed at Spottsylvania in 1864; Henry C. was severely wounded in the same battle. Mr. Andrew J. Swart's father, Philip Swart, was the oldest son and second child of a family of ten, the children of Jacob and Sarah (Evans) Swart. He was born in 1797, and died in 1876. His wife, Asenah .(Walton) Swart, died in 1870. The immigrant ancestor of this now numerous family was Philip Swart, a native of Germany. His children were Jacob, above mentioned, and Susan, who married John Philips, of Greene Co., Pa. BUFFALO TOWNSHIP. THIS township is bounded on the north by Hopewell, on the east by Canton and Franklin, on the southeast, south, and southwest by Franklin and East Finley, and on the west by Donegal township, of which last named Buffalo originally formed a part. The waters of Buffalo are Buffalo Creek, which flows in a northwesterly course through the central part of the township, and Brush Run, which marks the northern boundary of Buffalo against the township of Hopewell. Buffalo was formed from a part of the territory of the original township of Donegal in accordance with the prayer of a petition of Samuel Taylor and twenty others, inhabitants of the last-named township, presented at the April session of the Court of Quarter Sessions of 1798, representing the great extent of the township, and its consequent inconvenience for the transaction of public business, and for that and other reasons asking for its division. This petition was acted upon, viewers appointed, continued to January and February term, 1799, when report was made and approved, and action confirmed by the court May 8, 1799, and the upper division of Donegal township was erected into a separate township called Buffalo township. Following is a list of justices of the peace of Buffalo township from its erection to the present time: William Clemens, Feb.5, 1801. Adam Allison, Jan. 22, 1805. James Gelmore, Jan. 1, 1807. John McMillan, March 3, 1809. James Allison, Jan. 21, 1814. William Reed, Jan. 21, 1814. James Smith, April 3, 1821. James Brownlee, July 24,1821. Joseph McKee, Nov. 18, 1836. Isaac Hodgins, Oct. 13, 1835. James Logan, Dec. 31, 1838. Hugh Craig, April 14, 1840. Henry Bruce, April 14, 1840. John Meloy, April 12, 1842. Isaac Hodgins, April 12, 1842. Hugh Craig, April 15, 1845. Alexander McClees, April 15, 1845. John Moore, April 11, 1848. Hugh Craig, April 9, 1850. A. E. McClees, April 9, 1850. Abraham Williams, April 9, 1850. Abraham Williams, April 10, 1855, Oliver M. Wallace, April 10, 1855. A. E. McClees, April 10, 1860. Thomas Buck, April 10, 1860. R. L. Simpson, May 10, 1861. Abraham Williams, Aug. 25, 1864. John Clemens, June 3, 1865. John McMannis, June 3, 1865. O. H. P. McCoy, May 18, 1869. D. M. Boyd, March 29, 1870. John Clemens, May 28, 1870. O. H. P. McCoy, Jan. 30, 1874. John McMannis, March 24, 1874. James Hodgins, March 30, 1880. John J. Allison, April 9, 1881. Settlements.—James Allison, a native of Ireland, came to this country and settled in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was employed in tile iron-works in that region, and in 1758 or 1759 married Sarah Rea. He and his wife continued there for several years, until several children were born to them, and in the spring of 1776 Mr. Allison brought his family into what is now Buffalo township. He took up a tract of land, containing three hundred and sixty-nine acres, located on the waters of Buffalo Creek. For this tract, which was named "Complaint," the Virginia commissioners, in session at Redstone Old Fort, Dec. 21, 1779, issued a certificate, in which it was recited that the tract then granted to Allison was "to include his actual settlement made in the year of our Lord 1776." Before James Allison's settlement on this tract, a man named Taylor had located a claim upon it, and had made a little clearing. This improvement-right Mr. Allison purchased for a gallon of whiskey and a few yards of linen cloth. Taylor afterwards located land in Hopewell township, but later removed to Cross Creek township, where he died. Mr. Allison was a trustee of the Upper Buffalo Church, and himself and wife dying on their old farm, both were buried in Upper Buffalo churchyard. Their family of children numbered ten, six of whom were born in Eastern Pennsylvania, and the last four in this township. Margaret became the wife of Joseph Alexander, of West Alexander, in Donegal township. David Allison, the second son of James Allison, was born July 31, 1770. He purchased fifty acres of his father's farm, upon which he made his home, but was abroad much of the time He followed flat-boating on the Ohio River for a while, was at various times in the scouting parties during the Indian troubles, and was in the war of 1812 under Gen. Harrison. All his life David Allison maintained a close and warm friendship for Col. David Williamson. His wife was Jane Horner, daughter of a property-holder adjoining his father. She and two of her children died within a few days of each other, leaving Mr. Allison a widower with one child, a daughter (Jane), who always resided in this township until 1879, when she removed to Ohio, dying there in 1881. David married again in 1814, taking for his second wife May Jarvis, of Virginia. The result of this marriage was three children,—John J., Sarah E., and Eliza M. Allison. The two daughters married and found homes in the West. The son, John J. Allison, still resides in Taylorstown, in this township. John Allison, who was born Oct. 2, 1764, married Mary Herron, and settled on a part of the homestead. He was the oldest of the Allison sons, and was present at St. Clair's defeat. He lived and died upon his place in this township, and left a - 673 - 674 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. family of six children,—James, John, Andrew, Ann, Sarah, and Mary. James settled in Virginia, near the Greene County line, dying there a few years ago, and the rest all removed West. Of the children born to James and Sarah Allison after they emigrated to this county James was the oldest, born March 19, 1775. He lived on a portion of the homestead, and died in the old house. His first wife was Martha McConnaughey, and they had no children. By his second marriage (to Eliza Caldwell) he had two children,—J. K. Polk and Elizabeth Allison. The former lives in Hopewell township, and the latter married William Graves, and lives on her father's place. Adam Allison, another son of James Allison, Sr., lived and died in Taylorstown. He was born Jan. 19, 1798, and filled the office of justice of the peace for several years. Andrew, the next son, was born Oct. 19, 1780. He removed to Newark, Ohio, and was made sheriff of the county in which He resided. Sarah, the last child of James and Sarah Allison, was born Aug. 23, 1788. She became the wife of William Pogue, and lived near the old farm. Her son, John G. Pogue, who lives near West Alexander, in Donegal township, is her only living child. The original Allison property is now owned by Henry Keenan, John Sawhill, and Mrs. William Graves. Walter Summers was an early settler in this township. He located land on a Virginia certificate issued to him Dec. 21, 1779, the land being situated on Summers' Run, a tributary of Buffalo Creek. It was given the name of " Raccoon's Haunt," and was adjoining property owned by Peter Wolfe, Samuel Rogers, Eleazer Williamson, and Joshua Russell. So extensive were the investments made by Mr. Summers that his lands were said to extend a distance of six miles. His children were five sons and two daughters. The daughter Jannette never married, but the other became Mrs. James Caldwell, and from her are the only lineal descendants of the family. None of the sons ever married, and the name no longer exists in this neighborhood. Ezekiel Boggs was granted a Virginia certificate for a tract of land called "Jealousy," embracing one hundred and forty-three acres "in the county of Ohio, [Virginia], on the waters of Buffalo Creek, to include his settlement made in the year 1774." This certificate was issued from Redstone Old Fort, Nov. 22, 1779, but the survey was not made until Feb. 2, 1786. The tract " jealousy's was bounded by the lands of Robert Taylor, Charles McRoberts, John Graham, and William Carson. Francis Boggs, a lineal descendant of Ezekiel Boggs, bought a farm of three hundred and eighteen acres of James Clelland, Oct. 13, 1784, situated one mile northwest of Taylorstown, which was afterwards owned by the Fleck family. Francis Boggs' daughter Lydia became quite famous for her courage in times of danger, as well as for her narrow escapes from death. During the siege at Wheeling she moulded bullets until her arms were blistered, and once when captured by the Indians and carried across the Ohio River she effected her escape by compelling her horse to swim the river. Lydia Boggs and Christiana Clemens were schoolmates in the old school-house that once stood on the farm of Robert Cruthers, and studied together under the teaching of Mr. Hawthorn and Mr. Gibbons. Lydia Boggs married Col. Moses Shepherd for her first husband, and after his death became the wife of his partner, Mr. Koogle. She had no children by either marriage, and died a few years ago at the great age of one hundred and six years. Basil Lee Williams came from the vicinity of Lees-burgh, Va., in 1780, and settled upon the farm in this township which has since belonged to Alexander Summers, and is now the property of Robert Cruthers. Mr. Williams' wife was Arah Dorsey, and they had seven children, .—Eleven, Garard, Ezekiel, Otho, Eli, Lawrence, and Arah. Ezekiel, Otho, Eli, and Lawrence all emigrated to the West, and all further trace of them has been lost. Garard married Ruth Clemens, and Arah became the wife of Dudley Evens, of Morgantown, and resided in West Virginia. Eleven Williams married Christiana Clemens. Squire Abraham Williams was their son, and Mrs. Ruth Alvy, who was the first child born in Taylorstown, is the only living representative of the Williams family. Nathaniel McDowell emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, and thence to America about 1758, and settled near Chambersburg, Pa. From there he removed about 1780 to the country west of the Monongahela, passing by way of Catfish Camp (where there was at that time but one house), and settled in the wilderness on land that is now the farm of Joseph Johnston, in Buffalo township. On the 6th of September, 1793, McDowell warranted the tract " Wolf Ridge," two hundred and two acres, which was surveyed to him October 4th of the same year. Its location was on Buffalo Creek, adjoining lands of Marshall, Elisha Heath, James McClean, and William English. Afterwards he warranted and patented other lands in the vicinity. He died in 1826, at the age of eighty-eight years. Of his sons, Nathaniel and John emigrated to Wayne County, Ohio; Robert and James removed to Stark County, Ohio, and settled on adjoining tracts, there being no settlement near them, and at that time not a dwelling erected on the site of the present town of Massillon. Joseph received the homestead (one hundred and sixty acres) by the will of his father, Nathaniel. The daughters of Nathaniel McDowell were Elizabeth, wife of William Erwin; Letitia, wife of Hamilton Brownlee ; and Sarah, wife of Samuel Neely. Joseph McDowell lived on the homestead farm until his death in 1854. He had ten children, of whom but four survived him, and they are still living, viz.: Sarah A., Mrs. Ebenezer Graham, of Mercer County, Ill. ; John McDowell, living on the old Jacob BUFFALO TOWNSHIP - 675 Wolfe and Lawrence Strickler property (three hundred and forty-eight acres) ; Nathaniel McDowell, who taught the Science Hill School in 1840, now a clergyman of the United Presbyterian Church at Indianola, Iowa; and Robert McDowell living in Madison County, Iowa. John, the only one of the children of Joseph McDowell who remains a resident of Washington County, is one of the leading agriculturists of the county. He is a member of the State Agricultural Society, and largely and actively interested in everything pertaining' to the advancement of that noble industry. Charles McRoberts, Jr., was born in this township in 1774. His father, Charles McRoberts, Sr., came from Scotland to this section and settled on Buffalo Creek. Two Virginia certificates were issued to him, dated June 6, 1780, upon which he located two tracts of land. The first tract, " Mount Ararat," contained three hundred 'and ninety-nine acres, was bounded by lands of Thomas Gilliland, Kenneth McClellan, James and William McRoberts, and was surveyed to him Oct. 22, 1786, by Robert Woods, surveyor of Ohio County, Va. The second tract, " Buffalo Point," embraced three hundred and six acres, adjoined the lands of David and Joseph Williamson, Kenneth McClellan, and his own other lands, and was surveyed to him Oct. 23, 1786. Charles McRoberts, Jr., was a man universally respected, and during his life was one of the most useful men of his county. He died May 29, 1857, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. Nathaniel Templeton received a Virginia certificate Feb. 8, 1780, which gave him a body of land, " to include his settlement made in the year 1776." The name of the tract was "Independence." It was situated in Buffalo township, and after Nathaniel Templeton's death his widow, Isabella Templeton, rode to Harrisburg and obtained the patent upon it. They had no children, and Mrs. Templeton sold the property to John Lawrence. In 1811 he sold it to his son, John Lawrence, Jr., who held it in his possession until his death. He was a tanner, and conducted that business for more than sixty years. He was pronounced one of the most singular men of his day, and when he purchased the farm of his father, who removed from the place and left him in possession, he was still a bachelor. He afterwards married, but had no children. His property was divided among his relatives, and the original Lawrence tract is now owned-by Samuel Woodburn. Zachariah Cox came to this township from Berkeley County, Va., where his residence was near the mouth of Buck Creek. He was married to Miss Fry before leaving Virginia, and upon arriving here settled upon seventy-five acres of land at the head-waters of Buffalo Creek, which was surveyed to him in 1822. The land adjoined the tracts of Governor Joseph Ritner, John De Garms, and George Andrews, and the survey-book shows the improvements to have been commenced upon it in October, 1784. The tract now belongs to Uriah Clarke. Zachariah Cox lived upon it until his death at eighty-five years of age. He had a family of twenty-one children. Benjamin, John, and Zachariah, Jr., removed to Washington County, Iowa, and died there. Henry married Hannah, a daughter of John Wolf, of Canton township. All the family removed to other parts. James Clemmens, with his wife (who was Hannah Walton), and their servants and slaves, crossed the mountains in a wagon and settled in Buffalo township, on the waters of Buffalo Creek. The tract of land "Rural Swain," which was secured on a Virginia certificate, was surveyed to Mr. Clemmens June 13, 1785, and is still held in the family, William Clem-mens, a great-grandson, owning it. The children of James Clemmens were twelve, six sons and six daughters. William married Polly and Abraham married Elizabeth Wolf, daughters of Jacob Wolf, and all lived in this township. Jeremiah, who was a surveyor, married Mary Hawkins, of Kentucky. Hannah, who went to attend school in that State, married there, and Ruth, who became Mrs. Garard Williams, also emigrated there. James and Pamelia went to St. Louis, Mo., where they both married and settled. John Clemmens married Polly Fleck, daughter of John Fleck. He was a general in the war of 1812, and his widow became the wife of Dr, John Steele. One of his sons, a second John Clem-mens, married a Miss Ewing, of Ohio. Ezekiel removed West. Christiana became Mrs. Eleven Williams, of Taylorstown. Nancy was the wife of Thomas Craig, and died in this county, and Hester Clem-mens was the wife of James Clelland. Dr. James Clemmens, a noted physician of Wheeling, W. Va., was a descendant of this family. John McWilliams came from Ireland to this country, locating in this township on " Lion's Bush," a tract of land granted him on a Virginia certificate, and surveyed Sept. 19, 1785. His wife was Jane Taylor, a daughter of Robert Taylor, the founder of Taylorstown, and their family numbered seven children. Of these John married Elizabeth Clelland ; Margaret married William Noble, and both emigrated to the State of Ohio; Hannah married John Reed; and Sarah married James Reed, the latter couple making their home in East Finley township ; Jane became Mrs. Berkley McLain, and resided in this township, while Mary, who married Thomas Hemphill removed to West Liberty, W. Va. Wallace McWilliams took for his wife Nancy Clelland, and they had four children. He was one of the foremost men of Buffalo township, and was greatly interested in the cause of education. He was a general in the old militia days, represented his district in the State Legislature, and held many county offices during his life. He owned the original McWilliams property, but it is now in the possession of William Knox. The McWilliams family from first to last were strong 676 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Presbyterians. Of Gen. Wallace McWilliams' children, John died single, Jonathan resides in Claysville, Mrs. John A. Fleck resides in this township, and the other daughter, Mrs. Stephen Caldwell lives in Donegal township. Col. David Williamson was one of the notable men of this vicinity, as his name is well known in connection with the " Williamson expedition," and in 1787 he was elected sheriff of Washington County. He located in Buffalo township at an early day, and took up several tracts of land, most of which seems to have been secured in the names of other persons, and all were taken upon Virginia certificates. " Neptune's Delight" contained three hundred and ninety-seven acres, was situate on a branch of Buffalo Creek, and was surveyed to Samuel Williamson June 14, 1785. " Williamson's Grove" had four hundred acres, was on Buffalo Creek, adjoining lands of John Smith, Walter Summers, and Thomas Irwin, and was surveyed to John Williamson, Sept. 19, 1785. " Wild-Cat's Den" was the tract of four hundred acres surveyed to Eleazer Williamson, June 17, 1785, and was also located on the waters of Buffalo Creek. ' A fourth tract, rightly named " Dispute," contained three hundred acres, and was surveyed to Col. David Williamson, Feb. 21, 1788. The title of the northern portion of this tract, involving one hundred and forty-seven acres, was disputed by Thomas Brownlee. Still another body of land was in the possession of Col. Williamson, a four-hundred-acre tract, which now lies within the limits of Independence township, upon which Col. Joseph Scott lives. The farm upon which Col. Williamson himself resided is located in this township, and was the one which was seized by George Hamilton and sold to James Glover. The patent for this tract was not granted for many years, but it was finally taken out by John McPherson, who now owns it. Upon this place Col. Williamson had a triple log cabin, each part twenty by twenty feet in size, and all three connected. The logs of one part of this old house are still standing, and are ten or twelve inches in diameter. The old spring-house built by the owner still stands under the shadow of a large oak, both that and the dwelling being constructed in the prevailing architectural style of the early settlers. Col. David Williamson married Miss Polly Urie, a daughter of Thomas Urie, one of the earliest settlers of Hopewell township. Their family of four sons and four daughters were John, Samuel, Robert, David, Jane, Sarah, Mary, and Lavina, and all are now dead. John and David never married. Sarah married Hugh Stewart, of Marshall County, W. Va. Robert married Rachel Sharp, of Ashland County, Ohio, and Samuel Williamson married Mary McComb, daughter of Robert McComb, near West Middletown, in Hopewell township, and lived on the Youghiogheny River, near Buena Vista. Mary Williamson married John Smiley, and had two children, Addison and Emeline. The former has been county superintendent of schools In Cooper County, Mo., where he resides. Emeline Smiley became the wife of William Rose, who entered the Union army, where he was promoted to the rank of major. They also live in Missouri. Lavina was the youngest daughter of Col. David Williamson. She became the wife of Joseph McNulty, by whom she had three sons and three daughters, who married as follows: David W. married Caroline Trimble, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Caleb J. married Miss Smith, also of Ohio, and William W. married Mrs. Matilda C. Ranick, of Columbus, Ohio. She now resides in Sedalia, Mo. Lavina J. became the wife of Joseph Vincent, youngest son of Dr. Vincent, of Harrison County, Ohio. Annie M. married David M. Boyd, of West Middletown, in this county, and Harriet N. married John D. Vail, of Livingston County, Ohio, and now resides in Chicago. Jane Williamson, the eldest daughter of Col. David Williamson, married Caleb McNulty, and lived and died in West Middletown, Hopewell township. Her daughter Mary became the wife of Nathan Miller, and had one son, Julius P. Miller, who is an attorney, and has been prothonotary of Washington County for six years. He is a resident of Washington borough. Mrs. Miller's husband dying, she was married to Hon. Thomas McKeever, who for ten years was associate judge of this county. He died in 1866, and his widow now lives in Bellaire, Ohio. The McKeevers were identified with the early settlement of Hopewell township. Caleb J. McNulty was the youngest son of Jane Williamson and Caleb McNulty, and while he was yet a young man he removed to the State of Ohio, where the Democratic party elected him to the State Legislature for several years. He entered the political field again as the Democratic candidate for Congress from Knox County, running against Columbus Delano, and was defeated by twelve votes. At the next session of Congress he was made clerk of the House of Representatives. He had previously married Miss Caroline Converse in Columbus, Ohio, a lady of great beauty and accomplishments. Their only child was a son, Rob Roy McGregor McNulty, who was educated at Jefferson College, in Washington County. He studied and graduated in theology in Allegheny City, and is now rector of an Episcopal Church in Massachusetts. Col. William McNulty was the eldest son of Jane and Caleb McNulty and grandson of Col. David Williamson. He lived for many years in West Middletown, where he was born, but some five years ago sold his property and went to Boonville, Cooper Co., Mo., where. he died a year since. He had six sons and four daughters. Caleb, the eldest, is a physician, practicing in Midway, in this county. Patrick H. and Addison are living in Boonville, Mo. Thomas died in Allegheny City in 1880, and Frank is employed in a machine-shop in Allegheny City. Charles is a minister in the Presbyterian Church at New Philadelphia, BUFFALO TOWNSHIP - 677 Ohio, and Jane, who married Dr. Isaac Horn, is a widow, living at Wicksville, Ohio. Mary C. McNulty married the eldest son of Rev. Samuel Tygart, and lives in Allegheny City, and Annie, her sister, resides with her. Col. David Williamson died in 1814, and was buried in the old burial-ground in the borough of Washington. Archibald Brownlee had four sons,—John, Archibald, Jr., William, and James,—all of whom took up land in this section. Some of them had four-hundred-acre tracts, and others larger ones. James warranted three hundred and ninety-nine acres March 1, 1785, under the title of "Squirrel Hill" which was next the lands of James Clemmens and John St. Clair. He built himself a hut, covered with earth, in which he lived while making a clearing upon his property. This hut was very near the spring in the vicinity of the South Buffalo Church. James Brown-lee's first wife was Martha Shearer, and their children were three sons and three daughters, the sons being the oldest. They are all dead save Martha Brownlee, the youngest daughter. She was married to James Brownlee, and resides in Washington, her husband having died nine years ago. James Brownlee was left a widower, and married for his second wife Mrs. Elizabeth Muncey. She was a daughter of Herman Greathouse, who, with his friends Holliday and Edgington, located very early just in the edge of West Virginia. Mrs. Brownlee remembered very well when the Virginia and Pennsylvania State line was surveyed. By this second marriage of James Brownlee there were four children, one son and three daughters. The son, William J. Brownlee, emigrated to Missouri, where some of his descendants now reside. Others of his family are in Steubenville, Ohio. Elizabeth Brownlee became Mrs. Henry Bruce, and resides on the National road near Claysville. Susan married Richard McClelland, and her descendants live in Franklin township. Rachel Brownlee married Dr. George Davidson, of West Alexander. James Ross and John Wood warranted a four-hundred-and-fourteen-acre tract of land Sept. 30, 1785, which was surveyed November 22d of the same year, as "Three Forks," and patented July 18, 1786. The land lies in both Buffalo and Donegal townships. It is bounded on the south by the lands formerly belonging to Col. David Williamson, on the east by the Brush Fork of Buffalo Creek, and the northern boundary is formed by Buffalo Creek, between the mouth of Brush Run and Buck Run. The main branch of Buffalo Creek runs through this property. The portion within the limits of Buffalo township is owned by James Kuntz, John J. Stewart, and D. S. Wilson, and William Smith and Mr. Cunningham have possession of the part in Donegal township. The tract "Three Forks" passed from James Ross and John Woods to Andrew Moore, who, on the 22d, October, 1799, conveyed to Perry McCoy two hundred and sixty-seven acres. Upon his death, in 1821, the one half of the farm was bequeathed to Daniel McCoy, on which he then lived, the other part (the homestead) was bequeathed to Joseph McCoy. He left the. sons mentioned above and two daughters, Elizabeth (Mrs. Winters) and Mary (Mrs. Guy). Daniel McCoy conveyed the One hundred and thirty-five acres left him by his father to William Garrett on the ,17th of November, 1827. Joseph McCoy retained the one hundred and thirty-six acres (the home farm), and purchased also the Garrett farm, one hundred and thirty-five acres ; the Bryant farm, of one hundred and forty acres, a part of which David Bryant had purchased of David Williamson in 1804; and the Noble or Buchanan farm, of eighty-four acres, containing in all four hundred and ninety-six acres. This property is now out of the family. William Wolf came to Buffalo township at an early day and made a settlement, but seems to have been driven away by the Indians. On Feb. 27, 1786, he warranted a. tract of land called " wows Hollow," located on the waters of Buffalo Creek, containing three hundred and eighty-five acres. This land was surveyed later, and attached to the survey is an affidavit, showing that " the above William Wolf was driven from the above place through force or fear of. the Indians, during the late war, and his place was' left without inhabitants." The property in question is that now owned by the heirs of William Price, and upon it William Wolf passed all but the very last part of his life. His children were five sons and three daughters,—William, Peter, Simon, Christopher, John, Mary, Elizabeth, and Susan. Mary Wolf married James Skiggins, and was killed by the Indians while living in a block-house in Ohio. Elizabeth never married, but passed her life in this township, and at Wheeling, Va., dying at the latter place. Susan became the wife of Leonard Dickinson, and removed to Ohio. William Wolf, Jr., was a cooper, and lived and died in Washington. Peter was a cabinet-maker, and lived in Washington. Simon Wolf, who was born May 23, 1793, was a cooper. He settled in Washington and died there, at the residence of his son-in-law, William F. Dickey, Oct. 9, 1879. Christopher Wolf settled in Buffalo township, about seven miles from Washington, on the Wheeling pike. The place was formerly owned by one Huffman, and a man named Wilson once kept tavern there. Christopher Wolf was a contractor of bridges on the National road from Washington to Cumberland, and later was stationed at Zanesville, Ohio. He is now in Missouri. John Wolf, who was present at Hull's surrender, in 1812, located at Wheeling, Va., and died there. William Wolf, Sr., for a short time before his death, lived in Washington. He died at the advanced age of ninety years, and was buried in Buffalo township, his funeral services being attended with all the honors due a brave soldier. Jacob Wolf was a German, who followed the occu- 678 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. pation of farmer, and was also a justice of the peace. He must have located in this township as early as 1785 or 1786, as documents of that date are on file bearing his signature. The records of his property, however, show it to have been warranted April 23, 1793, and surveyed eight months later. It was two hundred acres of land, called " Wolf's Grove," situated on Buffalo Creek, and is now owned by John McDowell. Jacob Wolf was a very eccentric man, and invariably, after performing a marriage ceremony in the capacity of justice of the peace; he would thrust his hands into the pockets of his gown with the interrogatory, "Now, where ish mine dollar?" He had a family of seven,—two sons and five daughters. John's wife was Mary Devore, and Jacob, Jr., married Priscilla Martin, and removed to Ohio. Mary and Elizabeth Wolf married two brothers named Clemmens; Rossannah became Mrs. Shearer and went West, and Margaret married John McGaw and removed to Ohio. The last-named couple took their wedding dinner, April 15, 1799, at the house of Eleven .Williams, in Taylorstown, Servenia Wolf, Jacob Wolf's other daughter, became the wife of Hugh H. Brackenridge, whose name was familiar to all residents of Washington County, and who owned a large tract of land in Buffalo township at an early date, the same now in the possession of William Ely, David Clark, and the Gantz heirs. Among the many forts or block-houses which dotted the wilderness in those uncertain times, Wolf's Fort was one of the first built, It stood about five miles west of the present borough of Washington, and inclosed the cabin of Jacob Wolf. To this fort Priscilla Peak or Peck crawled upon her hands and knees after being scalped. She was confined to her bed with a fever when the Indians broke in upon the family, and seeing the hopelessness of escaping, some one threw a quilt round her and told her to fly. She only had strength sufficient to reach a pig-sty, where she stopped for breath. While leaning over the fence an Indian discovered her and scalped her. Being hotly pursued by the whites he did not tomahawk her, and in this condition she reached Wolf's Fort. She recovered, her head healed, but she always wore a black cap to conceal her loss. A Miss Christianna Clemmens and Lydia Boggs were chased into this fort, and only escaped capture by outrunning their pursuers. Miss Boggs was afterwards captured and carried 'across the Ohio River, but effected her escape and returned to her friends, having forced her horse to swim the river. Another incident relating to the history of this fort was recounted, in later years, by William Darby, who, when a child, came with his parents to this vicinity in December, 1781,—the elder Darby evidently intending permanent settlement here, but being driven away by Indian alarms. Mr. Darby in his narrative says, "We remained in Mr. Wolfe's house until February, 1782, while my father was preparing his cabin, into which we finally entered, but not to rest. In fifteen or twenty days after entering into our log cabin, Martin Jolly came running breathless to tell us that a savage murder had been committed but ten miles .distant. In two hours we were in Wolfe's Fort.. From the fort my parents removed to Catfish [Washington], and spent the remainder of 1782, and to April 1783, on the farm of Alexander Reynolds, recently owned by Dr. F. J. Le Moyne." Another fort was Taylor's Fort, near the site of Taylorstown. It stood on a knoll on the bank of Buffalo Creek, the property being now owned by James Hodgens, Esq. Alexander Hunter came from Ireland in 1789 to Washington County, bringing his family with him. His son, William Hunter, was born in this township in 1803, and at this writing is seventy-eight years of age. Alexander Hunter was a carpenter by trade, and many years ago built a house in Brownsville, Fayette Co., for Col. Clark. About the time the house was finished Clark failed and could not pay for the work. He was running a. woolen-factory at Clarksburg, and turned over some sheep to Hunter in lieu of the money he could not pay. Mr. Hunter bought out Col. Clark's business, bought and sold sheep, increased his flocks by purchases and the natural increase, and finally became quite largely engaged irk the growing of wool. For many years Mr. William Hunter was engaged in the wool interests with his father, Alexander Hunter, and has continued it since the death of the latter. William Hunter is himself an old man now, having been in this business for more than sixty years, and of late much of the management of the business has devolved upon his son. James and Isaac Carson were two brothers who came into this township and located land. On a Virginia certificate James Carson took up the tract called " Eagles Nest," for which the board of property granted him a warrant of acceptance Sept. 11, 1790, and the patent was received eleven days later, On Feb. 18, 1808, James sold one hundred acres of the land to his brother Isaac, and they continued to live together. It is the property now occupied by Neman and Samuel Carson. James Carson married Rebecca Hill and they had several children. Their son Adam married Rebecca Wilson, a daughter of Charles Wilson, and now resides near Claysville, it Donegal township. The daughter, Mary, is Mrs. Peter Myers, of this township. Joseph Hutchinson emigrated from Chester County in this State, to Buffalo township in 1790, settling or the tract of land now owned by his grandson, Joseph. Hutchinson. He married Hannah McCullough, o Chester County, and they had six children,—Martha Jane, James, Nancy, Hannah, and John. Martin married John Graham, and their children were Robert, Joseph, John, Samuel, James, Thomas, Ebenezer Martha. Hannah, and Matilda Graham, ten in all BUFFALO TOWNSHIP - 679 Jane Hutchinson married William Knox, and they lad five children,—William, Hannah, John, Thomas, and Joseph Knox. Nancy Hutchinson married George Knox, and reared a family of six children,—Hannah, Thomas, James, Margaret, Martha, and Joseph Knox. John Hutchinson married Nancy Hutchinson, undoubtedly a relative, and their children were Eliza, Joseph, William, Martha, and Mary Ann Hutchinson. James Hutchinson married Mary A. Patterson, and Hannah remained single. James Graham, son of Martha Hutchinson and grandson of ad Joseph Hutchinson, married and had a family of tine children. Samuel, the' youngest, was a minister n the United Presbyterian Church, and died in Ohio. Joseph Hutchinson, who resides on the old homestead, a the only living descendant in Washington County, he others all having removed to the States of Ohio and Indiana. John Barr was a native of Ireland, who came to his country in 1793, and stopped first in Cumberland. He then settled in Buffalo township, went East, and purchased a still and engaged in distilling. He died leaving two sons and two daughters. Robert Barr, living on the old homestead, is the only surviving child. John Fleck was an early emigrant to Buffalo township. His children were William, John, and Mary Fleck. John married a daughter of Rev. Mr. Anderson, and lived and died on the tract of land now owned by his sons, John and Wallace Fleck, which the old homestead. Mary became the wife of John Clemmens. Being left a widow not long after her marriage, she married Dr. John Steel, who practiced n Taylorstown for several years. John Woodburn came from Ireland in 1812, bringing his family, consisting of a wife and five children. He purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres of Joseph Pentecost, Nov. 19, 1811, which was a part of a tract patented to Col. David Williamson. He remained on this property until 1840, when he vent to reside with his daughter, Mrs. Mary Gay, in Donegal township, and two years later died there aged eighty-three years. The only living children of this pioneer are John Woodburn, of Washington, and Mrs. john Garrett, residing in the same place. James and Robert Garrett were brothers, of Irish birth, and both lived in Buffalo township. James owned and lived upon a farm on Brush Run, not far distant from Buffalo Creek, which is now the property if Robert Garrett, of Claysville. He married Miss loss, a relative of James Ross, of Pittsburgh, and hey had a family of three sons and six daughters. Of the sons, James died single, Robert married Miss Maloy, and John married Martha Woodburn. Robert Garrett, Sr., the emigrant to this township, was married twice. His last wife was a wealthy lady of Baltimore, where their son, John W. Garrett, the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, now elides. Samuel McConoughey settled in Buffalo township and followed farming. He had but three children,—Samuel, James, and Martha. Samuel married Mary McLain, and had for his home a part of his father's farm. James McConoughey married Isabella Kerr, and also settled on the homestead. He had ten children,—Samuel, Hugh, William, Thompson; James, Margaret, Martha, Elizabeth, Jane, and Isabella McConoughey. William died in Ohio, Elizabeth lives in Kansas, Martha and James reside in this county, and all the others died in this county. The old McConoughey homestead is now owned by William Kerr and John Campbell. Margaret Hodgens, Robert, Caroline, and James Johnson, in this township, and James McConoughey, of Independence township, are all descendants of this family. Andrew Rogers owned and lived upon the farm now the property of Robert Knox, in Buffalo township. Andrew was a soldier in the war of 1812. His wife was Miss Jane Cox, and their family was five daughters. Susan Rogers remained single, and died in Washington County; Martha also remained single; Margaret became the wife of Joseph B. McCononghey, and lived and died in this township ; Mary married John G. Allison, and resides in Canton township ; and Jane, who married a man named Jackson, lived for a few years in West Bethlehem township, but died in Buffalo. Governor Joseph Ritner was for some years a resident of Buffalo township, and owned a farm here upon which he built a handsome stone dwelling-house. He represented this district in the State Legislature, and was afterwards elected Governor of Pennsylvania. He was an honest and straightforward old German. Very many amusing anecdotes are told of him by the older citizens. At one time he was entertaining a clergyman, who congratulated him upon having gathered so many of the good things of this world about him. This pleased Mr. Ritner exceedingly, and he called the reverend gentleman's attention to a new wagon he had just purchased. " Well Governor Ritner," said the minister, " I see you have everything but grace." " Grace, grease, vy, I does not use him, I use darr." The following personal notice of Governor Ritner, after he had laid aside his gubernatorial honors, is taken from the Chambersburg, Pa., Whig, of July 28, 1853 : "We noticed Governor Ritner in town last week, enjoying excellent health. He is now seventy-three years of age, but still superintends his farm in person, and until this season always drove his own team. He was born in Berks County, represented Washington County six years in the House of Representatives, commencing in 1851, and was twice Speaker of the House. He was the anti-Jackson nominee for Governor in 1826 and 1832, and defeated ; and against Governor Wolf and Henry Muhlenberg in 1835, and elected; and against Governor Porter in 1838, and defeated. Since he retired from the gubernatorial chair he has resided on his farm in Cumberland County." Taylorstown.—Robert Taylor warranted the tract of land which was surveyed to him as "Beaver," three hundred and thirty-one acres, and patented to 680 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. him March 15, 1788. It was sold by him to his son William in the spring of 1795, the deed bearing date September 9th of that year. Immediately upon the purchase William Taylor laid out a town plat, which was named " New Brunswick," on the 9th of February, 1795, David Heaton being the surveyor. The first lot in the new town was to David Craig, on the 9th of October, 1795, it being lot No. 3, now owned by Alexander Buchanan ; on the same day lot No. 2 to Samuel Taylor. The names of the later purchasers are here given in the order of the date of the deeds: James Ralston, Oct. 10, 1793, lot No. 37; consideration, $3. John Heaton, Oct. 10, 1795, lot No. 18; consideration, $3. John Irwin, Oct. 24, 1795, lot No. 14 ; consideration, $3. Charles and John McRoberts, Dec. 12,1795, lot No. 44; consideration, $3. John Anthony Weyer, April 23, 1706, lot No. 13; consideration, $3. John Fisher, April 27, 1796, lot No. 7 ; consideration, $3. Robert Russell, Dec.16, 1796, lots Nos. 39, 40, 41; consideration, $21. John Anthony, Jan. 28, 1797, lot No. 54 and outlot; consideration, $12. Robert Russell, Oct. 23, 1708, lot No. 43; consideration, $3. John Dillon, Oct. 27,1798, lots Nos. 55, 56, and outlot No. 5; consideration, $300. William Dimsey, Oct. 30, 1798, lots Nos, 42, 61, 62, 63 ; consideration, $20. William Clemmens, July 6,1801, lot No. 1 and outlot; consideration, $300. John Young, March 2, 1802, lot No. 46 ; consideration, $3. John Young, March 1, 1803, lot No. 48; consideration, $100. Henry Dillon, March 19, 1803, lots Nos. 52.53, 54; consideration, $24. Thomas Stokely, March 15, 1805, lot No. 8; consideration, $300. Charles McRoberts, March 18,1805, lot No. 43; consideration, $9. Adam Allison, Sept. 20, 1806, lots Nos. 21, 22, 23, 24; consideration, $50. James Kerr, Oct. 20. 1807, lots Nos. 9, 10, 16, 48; consideration, $36. Daniel McKehan, Oct.20, 1807, lots Nos. 65, 66, 67; consideration, $12. Improvements soon commenced. Eleven Williams is said to have erected the first house in town, in which he kept tavern in 1800. The lot on which it stood is now owned by Mr. McHugh. John Dillon built a tannery on his lots Nos. 55, 56, which he carried on for some years. The property is now owned by William Streight. Mrs. Alvay, now eighty-three years of age, daughter of Eleven Williams, says the first store was started by Galbraith, and in 1810, Frank Matthews kept a store there. The town, although laid out as New Brunswick, was never extensively known by that name, but received, for its proprietor, the name of Taylorstown, which soon came into general use. William Richardson was an early settler in Taylorstown. He was a hatter by trade, and worked in that place seventy years ago. He had two sons, William and Jacob; the former emigrated to Steubenville, the latter was a shoemaker, and married a Miss Hitchcock, worked here for a time, and moved away. Jacob, a son of William, married Miss Ada M. Hutchinson, and resides near Taylorstown. Robert Taylor, the father of William Taylor, left two sons and two daughters. William purchased the tracts " Richland" and " Beaver" of his father in 1795. He laid out the lands adjoining the town of Brunswick into outlots and sold them, and on the 21st of October, 1807, he sold two hundred and fourteen acres of land, parts of both tracts, to Thomas McKinstry for sixteen hundred dollars. From this time the name of New Brunswick was dropped, and the town became known as Taylorstown. Soon after this time William Taylor removed to Ohio. His sister Sarah married Robert Becket and settled in the Miami Valley. Jane married John McWilliams and settled on the McWilliams tract, where she lived and died. Taylorstown is situated on the main branch of Buffalo Creek, and is built on both sides of the Washing and West Liberty road, in the valley of the creek. It at present contains twenty-one dwellings, one church (United Presbyterian), school-house, steam grist-mill two stores, blacksmith-shop, wagon-shop, shoe-shop, and post-office. The Taylorstown post-office was established June 1, 1831. Oliver Wallace was the first postmaster. He was succeeded by his widow, Christiana Wallace, Alexander Wilson, Alexander McCleer (appointed June 7, 1855), and the Rev. John Morrow, who is the present postmaster. The tavern-keepers of Taylorstown have been John Galbraith, Eleven Williams, James Brownlee, William Noble, Joseph Heller, Charles Hellems, John Wolf, William Coxen, and Greer Hair. Physicians.-Dr. John McCabe was a native of Allegheny County, Pa., and came to Taylorstown in 1840, and commenced the practice of medicine, which he continued till 1851, and removed to Allegheny County, and then to West Middletown, returning to Taylorstown in 1860, where he lived till his death, April 25, 1864. He left a widow and family; the former still resides at Taylorstown. A son, David, studied medicine with Dr. J. S. Crawford, and graduated at Cleveland. He practiced for several years at Kansas City, then returned to Cleveland, where he married and died. Dr. J. S. Crawford, also a native of Allegheny County, is a graduate of Cleveland Medical College. He came to Taylorstown a few months prior to the decease of Dr. McCabe, and commenced a practice which he still continues. He is the only resident physician in the township. Dr. Huffman about thirty years ago came to Taylorstown and opened an office. He remained about ten years, and moved to Washington, and finally to West Virginia. Other physicians have practiced in the township, but only for a short time. United Presbyterian Church.-On the 15th day of August, 1872, the people of this vicinity who were in accord with the views of the above denomination met at this place and organized a church by the election of the following elders : Nathaniel Nealy, Edward Grimes, and Dr. J. S. Crawford. Services were held in the public school building until the erection of a church edifice. A lot was purchased on the north side of the street at a cost of six hundred dollars. A neat and commodious building was erected, and BUFFALO TOWNSHIP - 681 dedicated Aug. 15, 1874. The names of the ministers who served here were Revs. J. S. Dice, J. Dilsons, B. J. Forester, W. H. McCleary, J. R. May, W. J. Cooper, M. B. Brownlee, W. T. McConnel Thomas McCartney, R. M. Patterson, B. D. Bruce, A. D. McCarroll Samuel Collins, and John Morrow, the present pastor. On the 10th of April 1873, .a call was extended to the Rev. John Morrow, which was accepted. He assumed charge June 1, 1873, and on the 30th. of September the same year was ordained and regularly installed. The present session is composed of Dr. J. S. Crawford, Edward Grimes, R. W. Cruthers, and James Wilson. The church has a membership of one hundred and eleven. North Buffalo United Presbyterian Church.¹—The first pastor of this congregation, the Rev. Matthew Henderson, first preached in this neighborhood to the few settlers who were living in the vicinity in the year 1775. The place where he first held services was in a grove not far from the present house of worship, and in that grove in 1778, a congregation was organized, under the name of Buffalo, by the election of John Brownlee, James Brownlee, - Smiley, and Andrew Scott as elders. There the people gathered for worship, and they carried their trusty guns with them to defend themselves even while they worshiped, their creed and watchword "Trust in God and keep your powder dry." Buffalo and Chartiers were united in one charge and made a call for a pastor. The first call made by the congregations of Chartiers and Buffalo was in the Chartiers congregation. The meeting was held in the open air. The following is an extract from the minutes: " At Chartiers, October 18th, 1779, which day and place the Sessions of Chartiers and Buffalo being met in the presence of the congregation, and constituted with prayer by the moderator, Rev. John Murray; members sederunt, James Scott, John White, Nicholas Little, David Reed, belonging to Chartiers, and John Brownlee, James Brownlee, and Andrew Scott, belonging to Buffalo.," etc. Two nominations were made, Mr. Henderson, of Oxford, and Mr. Smith, of Octorara. Mr. Henderson was declared elected, and it was agreed to give him a salary of one hundred pounds in hard money, or four hundred bushels of wheat. He accepted the call left his family at Conecocheague, because of Indian hostilities, and came to his congregation to begin his labors in November, 1781, according to the church register." His name does not appear on the roll of Presbytery at its next meeting, on the 10th of April, 1782, from which it appears he did not wait to supply at Conecocheague. He was installed pastor of his new charge in 1782. He was then about forty-seven years of age. About a year after his arrival his family followed him. They lived in a log cabin eight or nine miles from Buffalo meeting-house, and about four ¹ Taken principally from an address delivered by the Rev. W. H. French, D.D., of Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 4, 1875. miles from Chartiers. The place of worship was changed at the beginning of his pastorate from the place where the congregation was first organized to the site of its present house of worship, because it was more convenient for the people and for the pastor. A log house was erected for the accommodation of the worshipers, into which the congregation. was crowded in very inclement weather; when the weather permitted they worshiped out of doors, a sort of coop of a pulpit having been erected east of the present house. Mr. Henderson continued his labors until Oct. 2, 1795, when he was killed by the fall of a tree ; a limb striking him killed him almost instantly, " and he escaped a prolonged struggle with almost the only enemy he ever feared." After the death of Mr. Henderson, the congregation soon secured the services of a second pastor, the Rev. Robert Laing. He was born in the south of Scotland in 1750, ordained in Dunse, in the same country, in 1785; came to America in 1795; began his labors in Buffalo in 1796, and was installed in 1797. And although he had been in the ministry only about half as long as Mr. Henderson when he came to Buffalo, he was about the same age, in his forty-seventh year, being thirty-five years of age when ordained. He was a man of great dignity of manner, and had a sort of stiffness that lessened his acceptability to the people, and consequently injured his usefulness. The custom in his day was to set out the bottle of whiskey when visitors came to the house. One was thought inhospitable if he neglected this courtesy, and if right and hospitable towards the people, why hot toward the minister? he was not made an exception. The result was that disaffection arose in the congregation towards their pastor. It increased to such an extent that all the members of session resigned their offices and a new election was ordered. This only increased the difficulty. At a meeting of the Associate Synod of North America, which was held in Philadelphia, Nov. 24, 1805, this body having been organized in 1800, and composed of four Presbyteries, Mr. Laing was by a unanimous vote transported to Argyle, N. Y., and Rev. John Anderson appointed to declare his pulpit vacant. After the removal of Mr. Laing the congregation was vacant until the year 1811. The Rev. David French was the next pastor of Buffalo. He was born in Vermont, Aug. 23, 1783, and removed to Washington County, N. Y., at an early age, and was raised in that county. He was educated at Union College, Schenectady, and studied theology at. the First Western Theological Seminary, in Beaver County, Pa., under Dr. John Anderson ; was ordained by the Associate Presbytery of Chartiers by order of the Associate Synod, that he might be the better qualified for missionary work in the Presbytery of Kentucky. A new congregation was organized about this time and called South Buffalo. To distinguish these two, Buffalo was named North Buffalo., These two united in 682 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. a call for his labors. The call was dated May 12, 1811, and accepted on the 21st of the same month. He was installed July 2d following. At this time there was erected a new house of worship. It was built of hewn logs and weatherboarded, and was neat and comfortable in contrast with the old. The remains of the old house stood until 1845, when they were taken away. The second house stood until 1848, when the present brick one was erected beside it and the old one removed. Mr. French's pastorate was the longest that has been in the congregation, he having been pastor for forty-one years of the united charge, and forty-two years in this congregation. In the forty years of his pastorate he never disappointed his people on a Sabbath-day because of sickness. Once he was prevented from reaching South Buffalo by high water, and once or twice by death in the family. In 1853 a paralytic stroke disabled him, and his speech was impaired. He resigned the charge of South Buffalo in 1852, and in 1853 North Buffalo. He died March 30, 1855, and his remains were laid in the graveyard by the North Buffalo Church, by the side of those of his first wife, two sons, and five daughters, two being daughters of his second wife. The congregation remained vacant, after the resignation of Mr. French, for about two years. It had increased in numbers, wealth, and liberality ; had erected the brick edifice in which it still worships in the summer of 1845, and desired a pastor's full time. The South Buffalo congregation also felt itself able to support a minister, hence the connection between them was dissolved. South Buffalo gave a call to Rev. J. G. Carson, and North Buffalo made out a call, in the summer of 1855, for Rev. William M. Gibson, a native of Washington County, Pa., raised under the pastorate of the Rev. Bankhead Boyd ; graduated at Washington College and- at Canonsburg Theological Seminary, and on the 29th of November in the same year he was ordained and installed. Thus began the fourth pastorate. He continued in this charge until the 12th of November, 1861, when his resignation was accepted by the Presbytery, and the pastoral relation dissolved. After being vacant for about five years and six months, the congregation secured the pastoral labors of Rev. Robert Welch; a graduate of Jefferson College and of the theological seminary at Allegheny. He had served in the war of the great Rebellion as a lieutenant of Company C of the Twenty-second Pennsylvania Cavalry, and having laid down these carnal weapons when victory was achieved, he went forth with the sword of the Spirit, but soon to achieve his victory. He was called to the pastorate of this congregation, and, having accepted the call began his stated labors April 1, 1867, and was ordained and installed the 14th of May of the same year. He labored with great acceptability, beloved by his people, until the 22d of December, 1868, when he died. The congregation remained, after the death of Mr. Welch, for about three years without a pastor. On the 10th of April 1871, a call was made out for the Rev. Josias Stevenson, a native of Ireland, a graduate of Franklin College, Ohio, and of the theological seminary at Xenia. He was installed in North Buffalo the 13th of June, 1871, after having been in the ministry about thirteen years, eleven of which were spent in efficient labors in the congregation of West Alexander. He was succeeded in the pastorate of this church by the Rev. Samuel J. Kyle, the present pastor. The elders first chosen were John and James Brownlee, Andrew Scott, and Samuel Johnson. These were ordained and installed in 1778, and were cotemporary with Mr. Henderson and Mr. Laing. John Brownlee died in 1802, and James in 1822. Of the other two, the date of their death is not given in the register of the congregation. In 1793, Messrs. Hugh Allison, Thomas Hanna, James Smiley, and John Buchanan were ordained and installed. Mr. Allison continued in his office until 1853. On the 3d day of September of that year he was called to his reward. Mr. Thomas Hanna left Buffalo in the spring of 1835, and died April 9, 1839. In 1802 there was an election of elders, the session then ruling refusing to act because of the difficulty between the pastor and themselves. It resulted in the choice of Messrs. Alexander Patterson, Robert Wylie, David Clark, Jacob Donaldson, and Thomas Irvine, and they were ordained and installed. Alexander Patterson died in 1840, Robert Wylie in 1830, David Clark in 1821, Jacob Donaldson Aug. 2, 1850, and Thomas Irvine in 1829. How long these continued in the eldership in the congregation does not appear. In 1811, the year that Mr. French took charge, the session was strengthened by the choice and ordination to and installation in the eldership of Samuel Graham and James Patterson, the former continuing till his death on March 23, 1850. Mr. Patterson continued in office till his death, Jan. 4, 1869. May 13, 1820, John Brownlee and John C. Hanna were ordained and installed. Mr. Brownlee died May 29, 1854.. He was a member of the Washington congregation at the time of his death. Mr. Hanna continued in his office in the congregation until his death, Sept. 13, 1865. In February, 1837, Samuel Neely and Archibald Brownlee were ordained to the office of the eldership and installed in it in the congregation. Mr. Neely continued in his office until his death, which occurred on the 16th of July, 1865. Oct. 20, 1859, John Stewart and A. E. McClees were ordained and installed. Samuel E. Brownlee was installed at the same time, he having been ordained to the office in the Associate Reformed congregation of West Middletown, and uniting with this congregation after the consummation of the union of the Associate Reformed and Associate Churches. He died June 8, 1872. He vas a man of great worth, BUFFALO TOWNSHIP - 683 and his death was very much lamented. Jan. 7, 1867, Dr. J. S. Crawford was installed, and J. H. Brownlee ordained and installed. It may not be uninteresting to observe that of these elders Andrew Scott's burial-place is not known ; Samuel Johnson lies in the old Knox graveyard, and eighteen are buried in the North Buffalo graveyard. Of the nineteen whose ages are known, five died between the ages of sixty and seventy, six from seventy to eighty, six from eighty to ninety, and two from ninety to ninety-four years. This congregation is still vigorous and flourishing. Many have gone to other places, to add strength to congregations or form nuclei around which to gather, and the outskirts have been trimmed to strengthen other organizations. Still there remains a membership of one hundred and four, and the whole community has been leavened with its influence. From this congregation not less ten have gone into the ministry, viz.: John M. French, D. W. French, James Sawhill W. H. French, D. H. French, T. H. Hanna, Samuel J. McKee, William Donaldson, and John M. French, second. S. M. Hutchison, raised in this congregation, was received into and licensed and ordained in the Associate Reformed. Church, and died in the ministry of the United Presbyterian Church in 1874. South Buffalo United Presbyterian Church¹—The United Presbyterian congregation of South Buffalo was organized A.D. 1811. The original members were from Buffalo (now North Buffalo) Associate Presbyterian congregation. The following are the names of some of the original members : John Milligan, John McMillen, Alexander Sawhill John McNeal, James Mitchell, John Mitchell, Samuel Wright, Isaac Carson, John Graham, Robert Graham, William Gregg, John Grimes, James Brownlee, Hamilton Brownlee, Thomas Moore, William Sawhill, James Rallston, George Knox, James Crothers. The original members of the session were Alexander Craig, James Carson, James Hutchison, and Thomas Whitehill. The first church (log) was built about the year 1811. In the year 1834, having increased until the number of members was about one hundred and seventy,. the congregation built a large substantial brick church, in which it still worships. The first pastor was the Rev. David French, whose time was divided between this congregation and North Buffalo. He was installed pastor at the organization, and continued to labor in it till 1852, when he was released because of the infirmities of age. Tie continued to preach at North Buffalo two years longer, when, hiving received a stroke of paralysis, he was compelled to refrain from preaching. He lingered a few months longer, and died March 30, 1855. The second pastor was J. G. Carson (now Dr. Carson, of Xenia Theological Seminary). His pastorate extended over a period of-ten-years, being ordained and installed November, 1856, and released in the spring of 1867. He was a fearless advocate of truth, being pastor during the stirring time of the war of the Rebellion ; he was unsparing in his denunciation of those who in any way sympathized with the enemies of our government. The third pastor is Rev. Alexander McLachlan, who was installed pastor April 15, 1873, and continues in the congregation at the present time. In connection with the church lot there is a graveyard, first used as such about the year 1811, and now crowded with graves. East Buffalo Presbyterian Church.²—This church is located in Buffalo township, and about five miles west of Washington. The time when it was formally organized cannot now be definitely fixed. The earliest mention of East Buffalo ecclesiastically is in the minutes of the Synod of Pittsburgh, where the Presbytery of Ohio reports Rev. Thomas Hoge as stated supply at Upper Ten-Mile and East Buffalo in the year 1818, one year previous to the formation of the Presbytery of Washington. It, however, must have had some kind of existence prior to that time, and cotemporary with a German Lutheran congregation that existed in the same place until perhaps near 1840, when by removals and deaths it ceased to exist. It was doubtless to accommodate both these elements that existed in the neighborhood that induced Hardman Horn, Laurence Streker, and Michael Ely to make a deed to the " German Societies" of this neighborhood being of the Presbyterian Church and persuasion, and also, "that for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings," conveying certain boundaries containing three acres (about one acre from each) "for the use of school-house, meeting-house, and burying-ground forever." The deed was made March 5, A.D. 1802. In the above-mentioned deed the word "Lutheran" must have been omitted by the person who wrote it, for we find in the deed of Laurence Streker's executors to William Brownlee, and dated June 12, A.D. 1820, the following: "Excepting and reserving at all times one acre of the said land for the Presbyterian and Lutheran meeting-house, best known by the name of Wolf's Meeting-House." This last name, no doubt, came from Wolf's Fort and people of that name which were in the immediate neighborhood of the church. The church was granted a charter of incorporation by the •court on the 17th day of August, 1869, as " East Buffalo Presbyterian Church [Old School]." The following are the dates and relations of the ministers who preached to this church : From records of the Synod of Pittsburgh, Presbytery of Ohio reports that on the 17th of April 1816, Mr. Thomas Hoge was received as a licentiate from the Presbytery of Tyrone, Ireland; also that on 21st of January, 1817, he was ordained to the office of the ministry. ¹ By Rev. A. McLachlan. ² By A. S. Engleson. 684 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. In 1818, Rev. Thomas Hoge is reported as stated supply at Upper Ten-Mile and East Buffalo. By Presbytery of Washington, in 1819, he is reported as stated supply at East Buffalo alone; in 1820 stated supply at East Buffalo and Claysville. From records of Presbytery of Washington, Presbytery met at East Buffalo on June 26, 1821; on June 27th, Rev. Thomas Hoge was installed pastor of the united churches of East Buffalo and Claysvile. According to the same records the pastoral relation continued until Oct. 6, 1825, when Presbytery met in West Liberty, and Mr. Hoge asked a dissolution of the relation, which was granted. At the same meeting he was dismissed to the Presbytery of Baltimore. He was again received into the Presbytery of Washington from the Presbytery of Ohio, Dec. 8, 1829, and became stated supply at Claysville, and probably preached part of the time at East Buffalo, as there is no record of any one at East Buffalo until 1832. He was dismissed to the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1835. Rev. W. P. Alrich was the next stated minister. He was received by the Presbytery of Washington from the Presbytery of New Castle, as a licentiate, Dec. 20, 1831, and was ordained April 17, 1832, and reported as stated supply at East Buffalo. The following is a copy of the report of the church to April meeting, 1882, signed by him, showing the condition of the church at that time: Number of communicants last reported, 26; received on examination, 1; died, 1; suspended, 1 ; total communicants at present, 25. Rev. W. P. Alrich continued as stated supply at East Buffalo until the early part of the summer of 1864. There is reported to have been quite a revival about .the years 1856 and 1857. Dr. Alrich was succeeded by the Rev. James Black, also a professor in Washington College, about the 1st of October, 1864, who continued as stated supply until Aug. 2, 1868, when he accepted the presidency of the Iowa State University. The Rev. W. J. Alexander began his ministrations to this church about the 1st of October, 1868, and was elected pastor on the 12th of the same month, and labored faithfully, intending to accept the call, until his death Jan. 20, 1869. An interesting revival and an addition of sixteen to the church was a result of his three months' service. On the 10th of April, 1869, a call was made for the Rev. R. S. Morton, who began his ministrations May 23d, and was installed pastor June 28, 1869. He continued pastor until January, 1871, when he resigned. Rev. Henry, Woods, then and now a professor in Washington and Jefferson College, succeeded the Rev. Morton in January, 1871, and still continues his labors as stated supply. In connection with his ministry a great revival of religion occurred in the winter of 1879 and 1880, when nearly seventy were added to the church, and during 1880 the third house of worship was erected. The present membership is one hundred and forty-two. The following are the present members of session : Elisha Ely, Joseph C. Johnson, Israel Weirich, and Andrew S. Eagleson. Present Board of Trustees, William A. Ely, William C. Ramsay, Simon Ashbrook, Adam Mounts, David Hagerty, and Isaac Calvin Mounts. The following is a list of those who have been members of the session as far as they can be ascertained: Joseph Donahey, Sr., Archibald Brownlee, Martin Ely, James Mitchel, James Thompson, Joseph Donahey, Jr., Joseph Clark, Joseph Vankirk, John G. Clark, and James Rankin. The first house of worship (date of erection unknown) was a log building, and stood about in what is now the northeast corner of the graveyard. Within the recollection of some still living, it was used jointly by the Presbyterians and Lutherans during the ministry of Rev. Mr. Hoge, and 'for some years after the Rev. Mr. Alrich began to preach to this congregation. The logs yet form an old house owned by Leet Dye, in Canton township. The second house was built of brick, forty-five by fifty feet, and erected about 1836, on ground adjoining original lot, and bought of William Brownlee. The deed for this ground was not made until April 9, 1849, when, for and in consideration of $13.28, Mr. Brownlee conveys to Joseph Clark and Oliver Wallace, trustees of East Buffalo Church, eighty-three perches of ground therein described. This church building was occupied for the last time on Sabbath, May 30, 1880. It was then torn down, and on the same ground the third building (also of brick) was erected that year and completed in February, 1881, and was occupied as a house of worship for the first time on March 4, 1881, and formally dedicated on the 27th, of the same month. The building is about forty by sixty feet, of rather a unique form, yet one of the most tasteful and convenient churches in the Presbytery. The entire cost was about $5600. There has been a Sabbath-school in connection with the church for a great many years. It has now eleven classes, with as many teachers and nearly one hundred pupils enrolled. Superintendent, A. S. Eagleson; Assistant, W. C. Ramsay ; Librarian and Secretary, Walter Ely. Buffalo Baptist Church.-This church was organized June 1, 1861, at Buffalo Town, under the jurisdiction of the Wheeling Baptist Association, sixty members of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church of East Finley having requested a letter for the purpose of forming the new organization. The first pastor was Rev. H. R. Craig, who remained till June 11,1804, and has been succeeded by the following: Revs. G: W. Wharton, W. R. Mayberry, John S. Snodgrass, Blaine, L. S. Colburn, William Ryan, J. R. Foulks, and the present pastor, Rev. J. S. Simpson. The present deacons are Lewis McKahan, Samuel Kelly, G. Y. Holmes, John S. Miller, and James Murray. The church has at present seventy members. Schools.-One of the first school-houses in Buffalo BUFFALO TOWNSHIP - 685 was a primitive one, built in 1803, near the site of the North Buffalo Church. It was a rude log structure, chinked, but not " daubed," with clay in the interstices, and was without floor, other than the ground on which it stood. The first teacher in this house was a Mr. Anderson ; who his successors were has not been ascertained. The Brownlee school-house, nearly as old as the one first named, stood on the Thomas Brownlee farm. In this house John Wolf taught in 1808. He was succeeded as teacher by John Reed, after whom came John McMillan. Another early school-house of the same kind stood on the Donohoo farm, the first teacher in this being the John Reed before mentioned. Other school-houses of the same character and pretensions were built in other parts of the township, and in these subscription schools were maintained during a small part of each year down to the time of the adoption of the free school system under the law of 1834. The provisions of the public school law were accepted by this township in 1835, and in that year the first school directors (Messrs. Ritner and Ely) were elected. There was but little change in the character of the schools until about the year 1840, when the idea of classification began to be adopted, especially in arithmetic. The adoption of the county superintendency marked an era in the development of our schools. John L. Gow, the first superintendent, insisted on more thorough scholarship in the schools, a truer idea of the teachers' work. From 1840 to 1846, in what is known as the Science Hill School in Buffalo township, beside the common branches, algebra, geometry, natural philosophy, chemistry, physiology, rhetoric, logic, and intellectual philosophy were successfully taught. That school was established and was first taught by Nathaniel McDowell who is now, or was recently, a clergyman of the United Presbyterian denomination, preaching in Iowa. After him the school was mainly taught by teachers from the ranks of its own pupils. The school continued in successful operation till 1846, and during the period of its existence the district sent out twelve or fifteen teachers, most of whom achieved success. Gen. Wallace McWilliams was president of the school board of Buffalo township for a number of years, and was a model school officer. There was no school in the township but what he visited often with words of cheer and encouragement for both teacher and scholars. He is remembered by those who knew him as an untiring, ardent, and successful worker in the cause of education. John McMannis became a member of the board in 1848, and served in that capacity in Buffalo township for more than twenty years, during fifteen years of which time he was president or secretary of the board. - 44 - BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. JOHN IRWIN. Thomas Irwin was a native of North Ireland, where he married Mary Scott. They emigrated to America in 1788, and settled in Buffalo township, Washington Co., Pa., upon a farm purchased from James Snodgrass. They lived upon this farm the rest of their lives. Thomas died in June, 1829, aged seventy-six years. His wife died in 1835. They were both buried in the cemetery of the North Buffalo United Presbyterian Church, of which they were members. Their children were John, Mary, William, Sarah, Elizabeth, Martha, and Jane. John Irwin was born in Ireland about two years before his parents came to America. He spent nearly all•. of his life in Buffalo township, Washington Co., Pa., and his business was farming. He led a quiet and industrious life, and bore a good reputation. He lived and died in the faith of his parents, and was a consistent Christian. He was married in 1811 to Elizabeth Anderson. She also was a native of North Ireland, and cane with her parents to America about the year 1790. They first settled in Cumberland County, Pa., but about two years afterward removed to Washington County, and settled in Buffalo township, near the Irwins. John Irwin died in December, 1829. His wife, Elizabeth, died in April 1857. Their children were Thomas S., Leviah, Mary Jane, Matthew A., Sarah M., and Elizabeth M. Thomas S. Irwin was born in Buffalo township, Washington Co., Sept. 28, 1812. He attended the district schools, and worked upon his father's farm until nineteen years of age, when he left home to learn the carpenter trade with George Wilson, of his native townships After serving an apprenticeship of three years, he began work for himself, and followed his trade, building houses, barns, etc., until 1855, when he and his brother built a steam saw-mill, which he operated for eight and one-half years, and since that time his principal employment has been farming. During the late war he was enrolling officer of the Donegal district. From 1837 to 1845 he was major of the First Battalion, Tenth Regiment, of the State militia, and from 1846 to 1848 he was lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of volunteers of Claysville. In 1872 he was appointed postmaster of Claysville, which has been his home since 1834, and still occupies that position, having been reappointed as his commissions expired. In politics he is a Republican, and has been since the organization of the party. He began life at the bottom of the financial scale, and by his own efforts has acquired his present possessions. In 1847 he united with the Presbyterian Church, and since 1863 has been an elder in the same. He is trusted and respected wherever he is known 686 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. His first wife was Elizabeth Henderson, to whom he was married Feb. 24, 1842. She died May 26, 1846. By this marriage there were three children, all of whom died in infancy. He was married to his second wife, Mary Jane Frazier, June 1, 1848. By this marriage there are five children, all living,—William A., who is assistant postmaster of Claysville ; Thomas F., who, after graduating at Washington College in 1880, read law in Keokuk, Iowa, where he was admitted to the bar soon before this writing; Catharine E., Daniel K., Jennie May: Thomas S. is a clever, intelligent man, and very bright and active for one of seventy years. He is the oldest and only male representative of his family now living of his generation. His home is very comfortable. He came from Buffalo township to Claysville in 1834, and has been here ever since. He is respected by those who know him. CANTON TOWNSHIP CANTON was erected from parts of the territory of the townships of Morris, Hopewell, Strabane, and Chartiers, but it was not, as was often the ease, the large extent of any one of these that caused the reduction of their areas and the formation of the new township. A petition was presented for the erection of Canton township to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Washington County in 1791, which was granted on the 10th of June in that year, erecting the township of Canton with limits which remained unchanged until 1853, when a portion of its territory was taken off to form a part of Franklin township. Following is a list of persons who were and have been appointed and elected to the office of justice of the peace ¹ in Canton township, viz. : William Slemmens, Nov. I, 1799. Jonathan Leet, Jan. 2, 1802. Joseph Irons, April 2, 1803. James White, April 14, 1840. John Brownlee, April 14, 1840. Samuel K. Weirich, April 15,1845. George W. Boyd, April 15,1843. Robert R Reed, April 11, 1848. Hervey N. Clark, April 10, 1849. Alexander G. Marshman, April 14,1863; May 30,1868. A. S; Eagleson, April 28, 1873 ; Jan.16, 1874;March 25, 1878. Settlements—Zachariah Pumphrey received a Virginia certificate, dated at Coxe's Fort, Feb. 22,1780, certifying that he is " entitled to four hundred acres of land in the county of Ohio, on Shirtees' Creek, to include his actual settlement made in the year 1774." It was surveyed in the year 1785, as containing three hundred and fifty-three and three-eighths acres. On this land he lived till about 1795, but in the mean time sold parts of sit to Abram Swearingen, Abram Robertson, John Ferguson, Isaac Leet, Jr., James Young, and Isaac Warrich. In 1795 he had sold the entire tract. This tract was in Strabane township until Canton was erected in 1791, when it became a part of that township. On this farm was located the ¹ From the erection of the township in 1791 to 1803 it was under the jurisdiction of the justices of the district from which it was taken. In the latter year it was united with Buffalo in District No. 2, and remained in that district until 1838, when it became an independent District. old Razortown (of which but little is known), before the county of Washington was erected. Later the small parcels were purchased and again became mostly in one tract, and were known respectively as the Wylie, Kelly, and Montgomery farm. It forms now the fine and productive farm of Gen. John Hall. William Johnston was in this territory as early as 1778, and in January, 1780, he received a Virginia certificate for a tract of land "situate on the waters of Chartiers Creek." It was surveyed as "Johnston," and contained three hundred and ninety-one acres; patent for it was obtained Nov. 20, 1786. In April of this year he was appointed justice of the peace and of the Court of Common Pleas. On the 6th of May, 1795, he sold to Nathaniel Mitchell two hundred and one acres. William Johnston had two sons, John and Robert. John married a Miss Noble, but left no descendants. Robert married Grizella Pollock. They had twelve children, namely : Mary, Jane, Nancy, John, William, Martha,. Margaret, Grizella (1st), Grizella (2d), Robert, and Samuel. Mary married John McMillan, and settled in Chartiers township. Jane married Barclay McLain, and located in Buffalo township. Nancy became the wife of Robert Patterson, and moved to Beaver County, Pa. John married three times : first, Margaret Taggert; second, Ann McClelland; third, Rebecca Brownlee. William married Mary McLain, and settled in Mount Pleasant township. Martha married John Hammond, and emigrated to Belmont County, Ohio. Margaret and Grizella both died young. The next daughter (also named Grizella) married David Morrow, and now resides in the township. Robert married Isabella McConnaughey, and resides on the old homestead. Nathaniel Mitchell came to this county in 1795, and on the 6th of May in that year purchased two hundred and one acres of William Johnson, and on the 4th of June the same year bought one hundred acres of land of William and James Bailey, a part CANTON TOWNSHIP - 687 of a tract named "Labrador," on the head-waters of Brush Run, which had been granted to Henry Martin on a Virginia certificate. From 1799 to 1828 he purchased several other tracts, amounting to nearly four hundred acres, in the vicinity. James, son of Nathaniel married Elizabeth Irwin, by whom he had six children,—Jennie, Margaret, David, John, Ann, and Elizabeth. Jennie never married. Margaret married Samuel McConnaughey ; they had four children,—James, Joseph, David and Margaret; the latter became the wife of John Hodgins. David, a son of Nathaniel Mitchell, married Ann Hatcher, of Ohio. John, brother of David, married Rachel St. Clair; moved to Indiana. Ann became the wife of Eleazer Brownlee, and moved to Ohio. Elizabeth married James Pollock, and emigrated to Ohio; Enoch Dye emigrated from the eastern part of the State to what is now Washington County about 1778, and settled upon a tract of land for which he obtained a Virginia certificate Dec. 16, 1779. It was surveyed to him on the 25th of January, 1786. It contained three hundred and ninety-three acres, and was named "Spencer," and at the time of survey was adjoining lands of John Leman, Richard Yeates, David Irwin, David Clark, and James Leet. He married Rebecca, the daughter of Isaac Leet. Their children were Daniel Enoch, Isaac, William, Elizabeth, Sarah, Susan, and others. Daniel married Jane McIntyre, and emigrated to Licking, Ohio, with a large family about 1815. Enoch, who married Mary McIntyre, was killed by the fall of a tree. Isaac married Margaret Clidellen, and settled in Canton township, where he died. William died when a young man. Elizabeth became the wife of William Thompson. Their descendants are now in the township and in Canonsburg. Sarah married Samuel Crawford and emigrated to Ohio. Susan became the wife of Samuel Carruthers, and removed to Mansfield, Ohio. Samuel Prigg, a native of Lancaster County, Pa., emigrated to Washington County and purchased lands of Enoch Dye, whose daughter Hetty he married. There were two block-houses on the tract, which were about one hundred and fifty yards apart, to which the settlers were in the habit of gathering. Samuel Prigg settled on this land and lived and died there, leaving five sons and two daughters, namely, John, Robert, William, Enoch, James, Margaret, and Rebecca, who are all living with the exception of Robert. John married Jane Dye ; they left no descendants ; Robert married Mary A. Bell by whom he had two children, Hamilton and Hetty ; the former resides in Kansas ; the latter became the wife of Joseph McDaniels, of this county ; William married Rebecca Mountz; Enoch married Matilda McDaniels; James married Caroline Mountz. Of the daughters of Samuel Prigg, Margaret became the wife of Daniel Dye. The above all reside in the township except Robert, who is deceased. Rebecca became the wife of Isaac Cooper, and moved to Waynesburg, Greene Co., Pa., where they now reside. John Leman emigrated from Ireland to this country, and settled for some years in Chester County. About 1779 emigrated with his family to what soon after became Washington County, and took up land, for which he received a Virginia certificate Feb. 18, 1780. This tract was surveyed April 11, 1785, as "Care," and contained three hundred ad forty-nine acres. At the time of the survey it was adjoining lands of Robert Stockton, James Brownlee, and other lands of Leman,. The other land here mentioned was a tract named " Leman Grove," to which he received a patent March 3, 1786. He sold a few years later one-hundred acres of "Leman Grove" to James Latimore. He died in the summer of 1794, and left a widow, five daughters, and no sons. The daughters were Jane, Margaret, Martha, Sarah, Isabella, and Mary. Jane became the wife of James Brownlee, and settled in Franklin township; Margaret married William Brownlee, and also settled in Franklin ; Martha married Ludowyck McCarroll, and settled near Hickory, in Mount Pleasant township; Sarah married James Latimore, who purchased a part of the "Leman Grove" tract in 1793 ; Isabella remained single ; Mary, the youngest daughter, married first a Mr. Stuart; they had one daughter,-Isabella. After the deal of Mr. Stuart she became the wife of Thomas Patterson, of Mount Pleasant, who .died soon after, and she became the wife of James. Ridgway, and settled on property adjoining land of Thomas Patterson. Adam and Robert Wylie, who were of Scotch-Irish descent, settled in what is now Canton township about 1784, Adam on the farm now owned by Samuel Taggert. He patented three hundred and thirty-nine acres lying on the road from Washington to Charlestown, now Wellsburg. On the 13th of January, 1802, he sold one hundred and forty acres to his son Adam, who was a physician, and married a Miss Biers, after which he removed to Ripley, Ohio. Andrew, son of Adam, became a minister of the Presbyterian Church, married a daughter of Craig Ritchie, of Canonsburg, and was appointed president of Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, and at the same time had the care of the Pigeon Creek Congregation. He removed from this county to near Indianapolis, Ind., where he died. William, also a son of Adam, married Hetty, a daughter of the Rev. Joseph Smith. He also became a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and was settled as Astor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wheeling, W. Va., where he died. John Wylie, another son of Adam, married Margaret Watt. , Of the daughters, Mary married Matthew Duncan, Jane married Andrew Duncan, and Elizabeth became the wife of Robert Tweed. Matthew Morrow emigrated to Dauphin County with his father, and in 1791 came to this county, and on the 10th of May the same year received a war- 688 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. rant for a tract of land on the waters of Buffalo Creek, in Canton township. This tract, named " Zapula," was surveyed March 7, 1785, as eighty-four acres, to William Meetkirk, as administrator for Jesse Dements. It was, however, patented to Matthew Morrow, May 10, 1799. He also purchased land of William Slemmens on the 28th of September, 1807. He married Elizabeth, a daughter of Samuel Weir, by whom he had seven sons ad five daughters, namely, Samuel, Thomas, John, James, William, "`David, Adam, Lavina, Catharine, Jane, Ann, and Elizabeth. Mary became the wife of William Kyle, and emigrated to Harrison County, Ohio. Samuel. married Maria McCombs, and settled in Wayne County, Ohio. Lavina married Robert Taggert, and also settled in Ohio. Thomas married Mary Genet, and moved to Wayne County, Ohio. John, Ann, and James all lived and died unmarried. Jane became the wife of Robert Gailey, and settled in Union township. William married Eliza McClay, daughter of Samuel and settled in Canton township. Elizabeth died in infancy. David married Grisella Johnson, and now lives in the township. His only daughter became the wife of Hamilton, and also lives in the township. Adam married Jane Park, and resides in Nottingham township., John Dodd took out a land-warrant dated Nov. 22, 1785. It was surveyed April 17th the next year, and was named " Prulir," containing three hundred and twenty-five acres, adjoining lands of Robert Wiley, Reason Pumphrey, and John Virgin: This tract is partly in Canton ad partly in South Strabane township. The larger part of it was formerly the Archer estate, now belonging to the Hazlett estate. A part of it is in lots in and adjoining the borough of Washington. William and John McCombs took up land in the township of Strabane in 1785, the warrant of William bearing date March 4, 1785, and surveyed November 15th the same year. It contained three hundred and forty-five acres, and was named "Maidenhead." It was situated on Chartiers Creek, adjoining lands of Reason Virgin, Henry Moore, and William Brownlee. The tract of John ('taken up at the same time, and surveyed June 16th the same year) was -named "Superfine," and contained three hundred and eighty-seven acres, adjoining land of Thomas Nichols. William also purchased of Robert McCombs a tract of three hundred and eighty-two acres in Somerset township, which had been Warranted to Robert; Nov. 1, 1787 ; and April 12, 1792, he sold to Robert McCombs; the original warrantee. William McComb was appointed coroner Nov. 1, 1784, and served two terms. He died in 1807, and left three daughters and three sons,—Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary, Malcolm, John., ad Robert: The real estate was divided equally among them. John, Jacob, and William Wolfe were natives of Germany. They emigrated to this country, and after. a short time came to Washington County. Jacob and William settled in what is now Buffalo township, and John settled, on a tract of land which had been located by Kennedy Martin. The deed bears date April13, 1780, and the land is mentioned as "all that tract of land on which we formerly lived, called 'Wolfe,' situate, lying, and being upon the waters of Chartiers Creek, in Strabane township" (now Canton). A warrant was granted to Kennedy Martin, Feb. 10, 1789 and the patent obtained March 26th the same year. It contained three hundred and fifty-five acres, and was then adjoining lands of David Clark, Thomas Wilson, Robert Wylie, and Joseph Paxton. On the 28th of August, 1793, John Wolfe took out a warrant for four hundred acres, which was surveyed to him. He lived and died upon his farm; and left eight sons, whose names were David, Joseph, Solomon, Jacob, William, Henry, John, and Enoch. David, who was a tanner, married Mary Hewitt, and settled on the farm, now owned by Hamilton Davis. Joseph was a carpenter. He married Mary Marshall ad resided. in Washington. Jacob married Martha Marshall ad settled on a part of the home farm, where he died, leaving a family of eight children, of whom John H., Abraham B., Isaac, and Thomas reside in the borough of Washington. A daughter, Mary, became the wife of Marshall Cox, and lives in Franklin township. Soloman, son of John Wolfe, married Elizabeth Essik, and lived and died on part of the original tract. John, Jr., never married, and emigrated to California in 1852. Henry emigrated to Ohio. William settled on the home farm, built one of the stone houses now standing, and died at ninety-six years of age. Enoch married Sarah Marshall and now resides in this township. Of the daughters, Mary married George Hupp, an settled in Buffalo township, where he died. She afterwards removed to St. Louis, Mo., and died there. Hannah married Henry, a son of Zachariah Cox, and emigrated to Ohio. Catharine remained single, and lived with her uncle William, and died in 1878. The old homestead place is owned by William Prigg. The larger part of the farm is owned by Hamilton Davis, A portion of it is also owned by the estates of James Kelly and William Price. William Slemmens came to this county before 1787, being then well advanced in life. He was elected justice of the peace Nov. 1, 1799. A tract of land was warranted and patented to him. A portion of it later came into possession of Robert McGowen and a,: portion to Matthew Morrow, Sept. 18, 1807. He had two sons, Thomas and William, to the latter of whom a portion of the land was devised. Thomas took out a warrant for a tract of land dated June 22, 1786. It was surveyed to his father, William Slemmens, Dec. 1, 1787, as "Plenty," and contained one hundred acres. It was patented June 5, 1787. Thomas Slemmens died in 1827, leaving a widow and five sons— CANTON TOWNSHIP - 689 Samuel, William, Thomas, John, and James—and five daughters—Susanna, Eliza, Jane, Margaret, and Mary. He bequeathed to Samuel, William, and Thomas each a quarter section of land in Wayne County, Ohio; his other land lying in this county to be divided as follows : three-quarters equally between Samuel, Thomas, John, and James, and one-quarter between the daughters. The land is now owned by the heirs. Robert McGowen bought one hundred and eighty acres of land of Jesse Martin on the 3d of June, 1785. He also purchased one hundred and twenty acres of William Slemmens, Jr., which he afterwards sold to Michael Fornier. A purchase was made April 27, 1789, of Francis Cunningham. This was on the headwaters of Georges Creek, a branch of Chartiers Creek. He kept tavern from 1801 to 1806. Thomas Allison emigrated from Ireland to this county, and settled in the north part of Canton township, where the property is still owned by his descendants. He married Jane Crawford, by whom he had three sons and three daughters,—John, James, David, Jane, Ellen, and Martha. John Allison married Ann Paxton, and settled on part of the home-tract where his descendants still live. His children were Ellen, Martha, Mary Ann, Margaret, John G., Elizabeth, and Thomas P. Of these Mary Ann married Thomas Harsha; Margaret remained single; John G. married Mary Rogers; Elizabeth became the wife of Samuel Taggert ; and Thomas P. married Sarah J. Morrow. James, the second son of Thomas Allison, removed to Illinois and died there. David, the third son, lived a bachelor and died in the township. Ellen married Thomas Morrison ; Jane became the wife of Mr. Simpson ; Martha died when about twenty years of age. William Reed came to this section from near Gettysburg about 1783, and remained for several years without purchasing lands. On the 29th of June, 1798, he purchased one hundred and thirty-three acres of Samuel Hanna, adjoining lands of Adam Wylie, George Sellens, John Cord, and John Wallace. He had several children, among whom were David and William. David was a bachelor, and died in the township. Of his children, John, William, and Samuel were Presbyterian ministers. John settled in Indiana County, Pa. ; William in Columbiana County, Ohio. Samuel commenced preaching, and soon after showed signs of insanity. He strayed to Philadelphia and preached in the streets. He was found and placed in the asylum, from which he escaped, returned home, and eventually recovered. He finally settled in Ohio and became a farmer. James Reed was a farmer, and settled in East Finley township, and Andrew in Cross Creek. David Irwin lived in the eastern part of the State, where he married Ann Allen and emigrated to Washington, and located the tract of land still owned by the family. He built his cabin, raised a family of children, and died there. He had five sons and five daughters, namely, William, Mary, Thomas, David, Jane, Elizabeth, Ann, Martha, John, and James. William was a bachelor; Mary married became the wife of Samuel McKee; Thomas married in Ohio, where he lived and died; David emigrated West; Jane married Hugh Allison ; Elizabeth became Mrs. James Mitchell; Ann married Robert Smith. They kept tavern many years near and west of Washington, on the Wheeling road. Martha married John Jenkins, who resided on the Monongahela River. John married Nancy Jenkins, and moved to Belmont County, Ohio. James married Nancy Clark, and settled on the homestead where he lived and died. The homestead property is now owned by William Irwin, a son of James. In the extreme north part of the township of Canton and on the middle fork of Chartiers Creek John and Thomas Douglas took up a tract of land about 1782. On the 3d of September, 1784, James Taggert purchased two hundred and sixty acres of them, where he lived and died. His children were John, James, Samuel, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth, and William. John married Miss Miller, and emigrated to Harrison County, Ohio. James married Martha Fergus, and settled on the homestead and died there. His son James now owns the place. Samuel married Catharine Morrow, and settled in Wayne County, Ohio. Mary married George Miller, and lived in Cross Creek village. Elizabeth became the wife of John Marquis, and lived in Cross Creek township. James Dinsmore emigrated to this county from Ireland, and settled first in Fayette township, Allegheny County, Pa., and on the 21st of July, 1795, purchased two hundred and seventy-six acres of land in Canton township, Washington County, of Joshua Anderson, adjoining lands of Francis Cunningham, Samuel Agnew, James Taggert, and William Shearer, it being part of a tract called " Huntington" which was patented to Joshua Anderson, Sept. 26, 1787. On this farm Mr. Dinsmore lived and died at an advanced age. A fort, or block-house, was on the place that later became known as the Dinsmore Fort. He left two sons, John and James, and several daughters. The farm was divided between John and James. The former remained on the homestead place till his death, and left four sons,—William, James, John C., and Robert. William is still living on the homestead, where he was born. James moved to Cross Creek. John C. settled in the township. Robert moved to Buffalo township, where he was murdered. James Dinsmore, son of James and brother of John,-lived on his portion of the farm and died there.. He had three daughters, one of whom, Mary, became the wife of Henry Graham, a great-grandson of the Henry Graham who took up the land on which Cross Creek village now stands. They settled at Bloomington, Ill. Two of the daughters, Mrs. Samuel White and Miss Jane Dinsmore, reside on the home place. 690 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. In the north part of the township of Canton, Francis Cunningham took up a tract of land which was divided between Francis and his brother James. On the 10th of September, 1792, they sold one hundred and twelve acres of it to John Moore, adjoining Gavin Allison, Joshua Anderson, William McGowen, and. James Cunningham. The tract was patented to Francis Cunningham. He made over to his father, Robert, one hundred and forty-two acres, who left it by will to Francis and James. Three brothers, Joseph, Jonathan, and John Nesbitt, came from Cecil County, Md., and Joseph purchased of Andrew Swearingen, July 30, 1800, three hundred and ninety-eight acres, a tract named " Canaside," and one hundred and sixty-seven acres of a tract named " Drusilla." This land was divided between the three brothers. Joseph retained the portion of it which lay in canton township, on which he lived and died, leaving a widow and three children, —Joseph, Robert, and Jane. Joseph, the eldest son, inherited the homestead, and lived and died there, leaving a widow, who still lives upon the farm. Robert bought a farm in Peters township, called Rich Hills. Jane became the wife of Ebenezer White. They settled on a farm adjoining her father's on the south. Jonathan and John Nesbitt settled on the portion of the land Joseph purchased, lying in Chartiers township. Samuel McCloy emigrated to America about 1800, and in 1808 located in Washington County. On the 24th of November in that year he purchased one hundred and one acres of land of Alexander Patterson, situated on Brush Run, a branch of Buffalo Creek. This land was part of a tract which was warranted to Henry Martin, and surveyed as " Labrador," and for which a patent was granted March 22, 1788. Samuel McCloy married Sarah McClelland, by whom he had seven children,—John; David, Robert, William, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Sarah. Margaret married Robert Dinsmore, and settled and died in Allegheny County. Elizabeth married William Morrow, and settled in Canton township. Sarah remained single, and died in 1838. John married, first, Jane Smith, and afterwards Miss Jane Welsh. Her children were Sarah J., William W., John H., and Robert H. Later he married Sarah Taggart, who lived only fifteen months afterwards, and later still Margaret C. Brownlee became his wife. Robert Thompson emigrated to this country from Ireland and settled for a time on the waters of Wheeling Creek, where he took up a tract of land of which he was dispossessed by prior claim. He then located on the Crawford place in Canton township, where he built a cabin and resided till 1814, when he removed to Canonsburg and purchased a lot on Front Street, just above the present public-school building, and built a residence and shoe-shop, in which he carried on the business of shoemaking till near his death. He had four sons—Robert, John, Hugh, and Hamilton —and four daughters,—Mary, Elizabeth, Esther, and Jane. Robert and John became physicians and settled in Washington, Ohio, and later removed, to Columbus, where the latter still lives. A sketch of the former will be found among the physicians of Canonsburg. Hugh and Hamilton became dentists. Hugh settled in Canonsburg and died there. Hamilton located in Washington, Pa., where his son, Robert J., now lives. Mary became the wife of Abram Roberts ; Elizabeth of William McMillan. Esther married Samuel Kirk, and Jane became the wife of George Kirk. The latter settled in Canonsburg and died there, leaving a widow, two sons, and two daughters, who still reside there. Mrs. Boyd Crumrine, of Washington, is also a daughter, and James Kirk is a son. William, the youngest son, is a physician, residing at Fox Chase, near Philadelphia. Schools.—About 1815 a log schoolhouse was built on the old Morrow farm. The teachers who taught there after 1820 were Stephen Woods, John Allison, John Connor, and John Smiley, who was the last The house caught fire (while the school was in session during the year 1829 and was wholly destroyed About the same time a school-house was located or the ridge on the farm of William Wolfe. Benjamin Work was one of the teachers in this house. Upon the passage of the school law in 1834 du township accepted the conditions, and in March, 1835 elected J. Brownlee and J. White school directors who at once proceeded to divide the township into four districts, which have been kept to the preset] time without material change. In 1863 there were one hundred and fifty-three scholars enrolled am seven teachers were employed. The sum of $852 was raised for school purposes and $927.48 was expended In 1873 there were one hundred and thirty-one scholars and four teachers. The sum of $1849 was raised and $1861.77 expended. In 1880 there were one hundred and twenty-five scholars and four teachers. The sum of $1239.03 was raised and $1144.71 expended. CARROLL TOWNSHIP. THE township of Carroll, which until its organization in 1834 formed part of Fallowfield and Nottingham townships, is situated in a great bend of the Monongahela River, on the eastern border of the county. Its boundaries are Union township and the Monongahela River on the north, the Monongahela !liver on the east, the same river and Fallowfield township on the south, and Fallowfield and Nottingham townships on the west. The territory comprised within these limits has ever been noted as a fine agricultural district, and as the seat of some of the earliest settlements made in the Monongahela valley. Its surface is underlaid with vast beds of the best quality of bituminous coal, and skirted as it is for miles by a navigable stream, these mineral deposits have been opened and operated from that river for many years, thus enriching large numbers of its citizens in a greater or less degree. The general surface of the township is undulating, and besides the Monongahela River it has as watercourses Pigeon Creek, which flows to the northward through the central part, and Mingo Creek on its western border. Both of these small streams turned the wheels of pioneer grist-mills before the commencement of the Revolutionary war. The total population of the township in 1880 was 2064. In 1840 there were 1235 inhabitants (not including Monongahela City), 1469 in 1850, 1907 in 1860, and 3178 in 1870. Early History.-Just when or by whom the first settlements were made in that portion of Washington County now known as Carroll township it is now impossible to determine: It is very probable, however, that the Depues, Fromans, Fryes, Irwins, McComus, Powers, 'Hairs, Coopers, Colvins, and Proctors were among the very first who settled outside of the present limits of Monongahela City, and that settlements were established by some of them as early as 1771. It seems that warrants for lands lying in the present township were issued as early as April, 1769, and as we have learned that Joseph Parkison was at " the ferry" as early as 1770, it is most likely that not many months elapsed ere he had neighbors living at no great distance away. "Strasburg," containing two hundred and twenty-three acres, and situated " on a curve in the river," was surveyed for Nicholas Crist, July 20, 1769, under authority of warrant No. 3090, dated April 17th of that year. " Cherry Garden" was embraced by warrant No. 3091, of date April 17, 1769. It contained one hundred and seventy-eight acres, was surveyed for William Frye, and was situated "on the west side of the Monongahela River, adjoining Jacob Froman on the river." The warrant was finally returned to Abraham Frye, Aug. 26, 1785. " Wrangle" was covered by warrant No. 3075, of date April 17, 1769, and was surveyed for Jacob Froman, July 22, 1769. It was situated on the west side of the Monongahela, contained two hundred and eighty-seven acres, and adjoining the lands of William Frye and Arthur Erwin. On the 27th of December, 1784, this warrant was returned to Frederick Cooper. " Gloucester," covered by warrant No. 3079, of date April 17, 1769, was surveyed for Paul Froman, July 15, 1769. It contained one hundred and forty-nine acres, and was " situate on the west side of Monongahela, adjoining Abraham Decker and Tobias Decker on the river. " Fair View" contained three hundred and thirty-seven acres. It seems that on the 26th of August, 1769, Nathan Hammon received an order for its survey numbered 3768, and afterwards transferred his interest in same to Benjamin Frye. However, on the 13th of June, 1785, a warrant for this tract was issued to Jeremiah Proctor, and notwithstanding the representation of Henry Spiers, agent for Frye, the land was surveyed for Proctor. " Christian's Queen" contained two hundred and ninety-three acres, and was located on the waters of Maple Creek, adjoining the lands of Abraham Frye; the warrant was issued Dec. 30, 1784, and the lands were surveyed for Samuel Frye, &Nov. 23, 1785. "Samuel's Farm," a tract of two hundred and thirty-six acres, was covered by a Virginia certificate given to Frederick Cooper, Feb. 22, 1780. Afterwards he sold the same to Samuel Frye, who had it surveyed Nov. 22, 1785. On the 21st of May, 1785, Jacob and Simon Fegley sold to Elisha Teeters three hundred acres adjoining the Monongahela River, Mingo Creek, and Paul Froman's tract, being lands purchased by the Fegleys of John Colvin, Jan. 24, 1780. Teeters obtained his patent for the same May 15, 1787, and Aug. 19, 1794, sold two hundred and ninety-seven acres to Sheshbazzar Bentley. James Rice received a warrant for a tract of two hundred and sixty-three acres of land, entitled "Romania," April 12, 1796, and the same was surveyed for him Oct. 20, 1797. It adjoined lands of Abraham Frye and the Monongahela River. As the early settlers were chiefly Scotch-Irish Pres- - 691 - 692 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. byterians, or descendants of such, not many years elapsed ere houses of worship, rudely constructed though they were, were erected at various convenient places in this and adjoining townships. Thus about the year 1785 a Presbyterian Church was built on the road leading from Parkison's Ferry to Brownsville at a point near the present line dividing Carroll and Fallowfield townships, and on lands now known as the Wilson farm. This structure was built of logs, and it has been stated that additions were made to it until it had sixteen corners. It is quite probable that Rev. John McMillan preached the dedicatory sermon in this house, and many others thereafter, or until the coming of Rev. Samuel Ralston in November, 1.796. (See history of Presbyterian Church, Monongahela City.) The Horseshoe Baptist Church¹ is another early landmark. It is claimed that the first structure, a log building, was erected in 1790. Subsequently the present brick building took its place. Regular meetings were continued there until the completion of the Baptist Church edifice in Monongahela City. Among those who were residents in 1790 in those portions of Fallowfield and Nottingham townships now known as Carroll were Daniel Depue, a justice of the peace, Joseph Depue, Samuel Cole, Thomas Nichols, who kept a ferry at the point now known as Columbia, Robert Galloway, Harmonus Cole, Jacob Stilwagon, Peter Weyandt, Cornelius Weyandt, Andrew Platter, James Coulter, Thomas Shaver, Jacob Rape, Jr., John Ammon, Benjamin Morrow, Thomas Legg, William Van Horn, Joseph Hall, George Grant, Nicholas Depue, Samuel Baxter, Martin Wirt, Samuel Quimby, Samuel Baxter, Jr., John Fenton, Stacy Storer, Richard Storer, Isaac Teeple, David Grant, Robert George, Alexander George, Thomas Coulter, Conrad Ammon, Peter Castner,² Daniel Rice, James Rice, Robert Williams, John Shouse, Jacob Ammon,. Thomas Rape, Daniel McComus, Samuel Van Voorhis, Daniel Van Voorhis, Gen. John Hamilton, Elisha Teeters, David Hamilton, a justice of the peace, Peter Erigh, Vincent Colvin, Isaac Cole, Samuel Coulter, Daniel McGuire, Thomas Fenton, William Storer, Jonathan Hamilton, Thomas Coulter, John Ruth, Daniel Hamilton, Abraham Frye, Sr., Abraham Frye, Jr., Frederick Cooper, Samuel Frye, Abraham Brokaw, and doubtless a considerable number of others whose names we have been unable to gather. These men ¹ On the 8th of September, 1810, Abraham Frye and wife granted to Stacy Storer and John Grant, trustees, and their successors, for the use of the " Regular Baptist Society" one acre of land " Whereon the Baptist Meeting-house is built, situated in the Horseshoe Bottom and enclosed by land of grantor. " ² Peter Castner came from the vicinity of Philadelphia, and settled near what is now known as the town of Latrobe in 1775. Prior to 1790 he had become a resident of that part of Fallowfield township now known as Carroll, and in 1794 obtained a patent for " Walnut Bottom," a tract of two hundred and eighty-two acres. His father was a native of Germany. Michael Castner (son of Peter) sold to Josiah Allen one hundred and eighteen acres of the tract mentioned, more than fifty years ago. were all here during the Whiskey Insurrection, and many of them had borne arms during Indian wars and the war of the Revolution. During years prior to the beginning of this century, grist-mills were established in the township on Pigeon and Mingo Creeks. 'Thus, in 1796, we find Joseph Parkison speaking of "several grist- and sawmills within one and two miles" of his new town of Williamsport. The mill interests at the mouth of the Mingo came into possession of Benjamin Parkison ³ as early as 1800, and were carried on extensively by him for many years. He there had in operation a saw-mill, flouring-mill,- fulling-mill, etc. Subsequently he built a second grist-mill on the right bank of the Monongahela, and called the place Elkhorn. In 1814 greater facilities were offered his patrons, as the following clipping from an early newspaper will show : "May 23, 1814. "The subscriber begs leave to announce to his many friends and customers that he has now in a complete state of readiness six carding-machines, viz.: one for cotton on an improved plan, and New York cards of the first quality, No. 32, which will be occupied for merino in the wool season; one for picking and one for finishing into rolls common wool in his creek mill on the mouth of Mingo Creek, opposite the old river mill; and three in the river mill, one for picking, one for breaking, and one for finishing into rolls." The old " River Mill" was one of the most widely-known institutions in the western part of the State at one time. The farmers with their good wives came from long distance away to have work done, and sometimes waited two and three days before being enabled to start on their return with grists and wool-carding complete. At one period Benjamin Parkison had in operation at Mingo and Elkhorn no less than two distilleries, three grist-mills, a woolen-factory, comb-factory, sickle-factory, and a gun-factory. As before mentioned, a tract of two hundred and twenty-three acres, entitled " Strasburg," was patented to Nicholas Crist April 17, 1769; was surveyed for him July 20, 1769, and his right to the same was confirmed June 23, 1784. On the 25rh of April,1794, Crist sold the premises to Robert Galloway, and the latter transferred his interests in the same to Harmonus Cole, July 21, 1795. Manuel Hoover purchased from Cole, July 10, 1797, and on the 13th of March, 1815, " Strasburg" was finally transferred by Mr. Hoover to Charles De Hass. During the summer of 1814, however, Mr. De Hass had platted a town site, and in September of the same year caused to be published in the newspapers of the day the following announcement : "NEW TOWN OF PITTSBOROUGH. "To Merchants and manufacturers. "The subscriber has lately laid out a town on the elegant farm owned by Mr. Hoover in Horseshoe Bottom, Washington Co., on the west bank of the Monongahela, 25 miles from Pittsburgh, 24 miles from Washing- ³ A. R. Parkison, of the firm of McGrew & Parkison, City Flouring-Mills, Monongahela City, is a grandson of the Benjamin Parkison here mentioned. CARROLL TOWNSHIP - 693 ton, 24 miles from Uniontown. 24 miles from Greensburg, and 4 miles above Williamsport on a direct course from Washington to Bedford, and on a direct course from Pittsburgh to Uniontown. "As it to in contemplation to form a new county, and from its being so very central in the contemplated county, and its handsome situation induced the subscriber to lay off a town with large lots and wide streets and alleys, with public grounds for a church and burying-ground and also for an academy. The subscriber proposes selling the lots on moderate terms, by way of lottery in the following manner, viz.: On receiving a certificate which will entitle them to a lot, they are required to pay five dollars in hand, and twenty-five dollars when the lots are drawn for, and the article of agreement made between the proprietor and the lot holders of such lots as are drawn against the number of their certificates; and twenty dollars annually fur three years to commence from the date of the deed. There is an abundance of stone coal within one hundred rods of the town, with which manufacturers can be supplied moderate terms; and the proprietor agrees to give to each of the lot holders in said town stone coal for three years from the date of the deed. Those who do not use said coal shall be deducted fifteen dollars from the last payment. The lots will be drawn for on the premises as soon as all the certificates are disposed of, of which public notice will be given. An indisputable title and possession given the 1st of April next. The subscriber excepts the grain in the ground. Lot No. 84 worth $300, which sum I do agree to give, and lots Nos. 9, 10 worth $200, which sum I do also agree to give. " CHARLES D'HASS. " PITTSBOROUGH, Sept. 12, 1314." On the 12th of November, 1814, Mr. De Hass announced that the name of the town had been changed to that of Columbia, and, after repeating what has just been quoted, added, "Any person who will purchase a lot and erect a building on it within one year from the time of sale shall be entitled to stone coal at the coal-mine for four years gratis." On the 15th of February, 1815, the proprietor notified all purchasers of lots that their deeds were ready. Soon after, he sold to John Neal a large portion of the plat, and they then became joint proprietors. The members of the "Columbia Steam-Mill and Manufacturing Company" were notified to assemble at Columbia, March 27, 1815, for the purpose of electing seven directors. Charles De Hass and John Neal, proprietors of the town of Columbia, notified the public Jan. 12, 1816, that a market-square, eighty by one -hundred and twenty feet, and a public square composing lot No. 69, both bounded by Market and Third Streets, Scott and Decatur Alleys, had been laid out subject to the following conditions : "If said square is not occupied by a court-house and other public buildings in fourteen years from the present date, then this square is to revert to John. Neal, the proprietor, or his lawful representative. Lots Nos. 89 and 108 are for the purposes of building churches and school-houses. The Ferry rights are retained by the proprietors, except such as are already conveyed by deed. A lot of ground northeast of Market Street, two hundred feet square, is granted as a place of interment for all denominations of Christians." In all there were two hundred and seventy lots in the original plat. On the 25th of March, 1816, John Neal, in acquainting the public that a public vendue for the sale of village lots would take place April 11th of that year, added, " There are at present about twenty houses, all built last summer. It is expected that not less than thirty more will go up this season. A steam mill is erecting and expected to be in operation the ensuing fall." The post-office of West Columbia was established in June, 1819, and Charles De Hass appointed postmaster. The history of Columbia has been told, for though it started out sixty-eight years ago with such a brilliant promise for the future, in the mind of its projector, one glance at West Columbia of to-day sufficiently indicates that instead of advancing it has receded from the position attained in 1816, when, as one of its proprietors said, it contained about twenty houses. In 1833 Williamsport, which until that time bad comprised portions of Fallowfield and Nottingham townships, was made a borough. It was adjoined by the former township on the south and east, and by the latter on the south and west. Their anomalous situation seems to have been unsatisfactory to those residents of either township lying without the new borough limits, for, during the January sessions of 1834, various inhabitants of Fallowfield and Nottingham townships petitioned the Court of Quarter Sessions asking that a new township be erected. Thereupon an order of court was issued and viewers appointed to investigate the matter. They rendered a report in March following, which was set 'aside. HOW-ever, on the 14th of April another commission was .appointed, which body in June, 1834, reported in favor of a new township to be called Knox. This report was approved, and on the 30th of September, 1834, confirmed, when it was further ordered that the new township be known as Carroll. Although the town of Williamsport was incorporated as a borough in 1833, it was so in name only, and had no independent separate existence aside from the township of Carroll (which embraced it) for a period of some eight or nine years thereafter. Thus we find that early in 1841 various inhabitants of Carroll township petitioned the Court of Quarter Sessions asking for a division of the borough of Monongahela City¹ and the township mentioned. Viewers were thereupon appointed, whose report was set aside August 20th of that year. The farmers were persistent, however, for during the sessions of the court in November, 1841, a second petition numerously signed was presented, the petitioners praying " to be struck off from Monongahela City." In answer, the court issued an order and appointed a second board of commissioners Jan. 26, 1842. On the 28th of. February following these commissioners reported that the separation prayed for ought to be granted. This report was confirmed May 26, 1842, and from that time all assessment-rolls, census reports, etc., have been made separately. The Hamilton and Van Voorhis Families.—The following items regarding the Hamilton and Van Voorhis families, written by Rev. W. F. Hamilton, of Washington, Pa., and Dr. J. S. Van Voorhis, of ¹ The name of the town had been changed to that of Monongahela City in 1837. 694 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Belle Vernon, Pa., respectively, are given a place here, for the reason that while members of these families have ever been prominent in' the township and county, the statements here inserted contain much interesting contemporaneous history. Hon. John Hamilton, prominent in the earlier history of the county, was of Scotch-Irish lineage, being a son of John Hamilton, who immigrated to this country about the middle of the last century. He was born in 1754, most probably in Adams (then York) County, Pa., where the family resided for a time. Soon after reaching manhood he came to Washington County and settled on a tract of land lying on the south side of Mingo Creek, three miles from its mouth, of which tract he retained possession until his death. He became high sheriff of the county in 1793, being the first chosen under the constitution of 1790. During the time he held this office the troublous scenes of the insurrection transpired. While sharing in the general sentiment of opposition to the excise laws as unjust and oppressive, he used his influence, personal and official to prevent this opposition from running into lawlessness and violence. Notwithstanding this he was regarded with suspicion and subjected to an oppressive prosecution. His excellence of character and .the cruel injustice done him are fully attested in the historical records of those times. H. M. Brackenridge, in his "History of the Insurrection," remarks, "The case of Sheriff Hamilton, one of the most estimable men in the western counties, was much more aggravated." " It cannot but excite the liveliest indignation to read the details of this case." Hon. William Findley writes as follows : " John Hamilton, of Washington, is high sheriff of that county and colonel of a regiment of militia in the Mingo Creek settlement; though a number of this regiment were known to have had an active hand in the attack on Neville's house, and were in fact considered the greatest promoters of the insurrection, yet be not only kept himself from those outrages, but endeavored, as soon as he heard of the design, to prevent the rendezvous at Braddock's Field. When he could not prevent this he put himself at the head of his regiment, and was very instrumental in preventing further outrages from being committed. . . . He attended all the meetings for restoring order, and living when he did he merited higher approbation than if he had resided in Boston. Col. Hamilton was informed by a friend of the designs against him time enough to make his escape, but, conscious of his innocence, he preferred traveling alone thirty miles to where the judiciary then was, and presenting himself to Judge Peters, informed him that he had heard there was a charge against him, and requested to have it examined." After giving a detailed account of the subsequent events up to the time of his triumphant vindication, Mr. Finley adds: "Thus a man who was at the time sheriff of the county and a colonel of the militia, and who was in a part of the country and in circumstances where temporizing might have been excusable, was not only clear of any charge but had merit, was illegally taken from the exercise of an office at that time of importance to the peace of the county, and without examination dragged down to Philadelphia in the winter by a military guard, paraded in a barbarous manner through the streets, thrown for some time into the cells, compelled to wear the word insurgent in his hat, ad then cast into prison, and after a long confinement admitted to bail. After this he was again required to cross the mountains to meet his trial at which nothing was alleged against him." That the popular sentiment fully approved Col. Hamilton's character and conduct appears from the civil honors which were immediately thereafter conferred upon him. In 1796 he represented the counties of Washington and Allegheny in the State Senate. In 1800 he represented in the same body the counties of Washington, Allegheny, and Greene. In 1802 he was commissioned an associate judge of the county, which office he continued to hold until his death, a period longer than that of any other incumbent. About the beginning of the century he was married to Miss Mary Patterson, of Westmoreland County, Pa. Of their family but two daughters survived the parents. Harriet intermarried with David Hamilton, Jr., and Margaret intermarried first with a, Mr. Parker, and after his death with a Mr. Purviance. These two daughters inherited the paternal estate. A grandson, Thompson Purviance, gave his life to the country in the war of the Rebellion. Another grandson by marriage was Col. H. A. Purviance, of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, who also fell in battle, and whose remains are in the Washington Cemetery. In his personal appearance Judge Hamilton, or, as he was often called, Gen. Hamilton, was of medium stature, heavy build, inclining to scorpulence, benign expression of countenance, and scrupulously neat in dress, never appearing in public without the snow-white ruffles and ivory-mounted cane which were so generally affected in those days by elderly men in official positions. But besides being a courteous gentleman and a public-spirited citizen, he was also a devout Christian. He lived and died in the. communion of the Presbyterian Church. His death occurred Aug. 22, 1837, in his eighty-third year. His wife survived him but a few years. Their remains he interred in the old Mingo graveyard. Joseph Hamilton, son of William, was born Sept. 1, 1784, near Gettysburg, Adams Co., Pa. Two strong ties attached him towards Washington County. David Hamilton, Esq., his brother-in-law, ad Gen. John Hamilton, his uncle, were both residents of this county. Soon after coming West he was married, Jan. 7, 1813, to Margaret, daughter of William Ferguson, of Pigeon Creek. For more than a quarter- CARROLL TOWNSHIP - 695 century following he resided in Williamsport, now Monongahela City, where he wrought at his trade as carpenter and house-builder, carried on a cabinet and undertaker's shop, and also kept an inn. In 1841, having bought the Ginger Hill farm from Daniel Hamilton, Esq., he removed there, and lived on it until his death, Nov. 9, 1849. His widow died at the same place June 10, 1865. They were both life-long members of the Presbyterian Church. He was for many years director and treasurer of the Williamsport Turnpike Company, and director of the Williamsport Bridge Company. He did much in the way of settling up decedents' estates. Seven children survive the parents. Sarah, intermarried with H. Wilson, and Harriet, intermarried with T. R. Hazzard, Esq., survive their husbands and live in Monongahela City. May Jane, intermarried with N. A. Gregg, died in Iowa. Martha B. and her husband, M. P. Patton, live in Iowa. W. F. is a Presbyterian minister, and lives in Washington, Pa. John lives on the paternal farm at Ginger Hill which he owns. David R. lives there also. Four grandsons fought through the war of the Rebellion, viz.: Joseph H. and Robert F. Wilson and Capts. C. W. and J. D. V. Hazzard. About fifty descendants, including children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, survive. Mr. Isaac Van Voorhis was born on the farm now owned by John Van Voorhis on the 15th day of March, 1794. His great-grandfather immigrated to this country about 1670, and settled on Long Island, where Daniel Van Voorhis, the grandfather of the deceased, was born, Dec. 17, 1701. He married Miss Femmyte Bennett, Nov. 27, 1724. The issue of this marriage were Abraham, Jerome, Ange, John, Cornelius, Elizabeth, Femmyte, and Daniel (the father of Isaac). Daniel was born July 7, 1728, and was in the prime of life during the days of the Revolution. He was an accomplished scholar, and especially versed in the science of navigation, as his books now at the old homestead fully show. He followed the sea as captain of a merchant vessel for many years, and during the Revolution was taken prisoner three times by the British, twice having lost his vessel and cargo. At one time, being hard chased by a man-of-war, he raised the signal of surrender, but before it was recognized by the enemy a cannon ball carried away the post against which he was leaning. At one time he with several other prisoners were banished to an island, from which they escaped, only to be retaken, though shortly afterwards released. He was married three times. His first wife was a Van Voorhis, and they had two children,—Samuel, who was for a long time a successful merchant of New York City, about the beginning of this century came to this county, and lived for a short time in a cabin near where the Black Diamond Coal Works are now situated, and afterwards removed to Bucyrus, Ohio, where he died a few years ago at an advanced age. His sister Sarah lived and died near Goshen, N. Y. ; she married a John Van Voorhis, and died Nov. 17, 1857, in her eighty-second year. The children of Capt. Daniel Van Voorhis by his second wife were John, who died June 28, 1874, in Muskingum County, Ohio, aged ninety-three years ; Daniel who died in 1852, aged sixty-eight years, on the farm given him by his father; ad Abraham, who died in 1871. To his third wife were born Elizabeth, now Mrs. Frye, living with her daughter, Mrs. Redd ; and Isaac Van Voorhis, who was born, as before mentioned, in 1794, in what is now Carroll township. His father, tired of seafaring life, came to this region in 1785, as near as we can ascertain, and purchased from a man named Decker sixty acres of land, now owned by John Van Voorhis and James Sampson. It was then a wilderness, but now the garden-spot of Carrol township. Here his two wives and three sons, with many others of their descedants, sleep in the beautiful burying-ground overlooking Pigeon Creek, a spot of ground selected by him long ago for his remains and that of his kindred. Four generations of the name are in that cemetery, incorporated and made perpetual by the laws of the land. Mr. Isaac Van Voorhis was the oldest resident in Carroll township, within the bounds of which he always resided. Contemporary with him in the early history of this neighborhood were the Colvins, the Powers, the McCombs, Hairs, Randolphs, the older Fryes, Depews, McGrews, Parkisons, Irwins. He was married to Mary Hair by Rev. Dr. Ralston on the 13th of May, 1819. His wife and sister (Mrs. Frye) are the only living persons who as adults were at the wedding. They lived together a little over fifty-six years. Dr. S. M. King and wife are the only persons now living in Monongahela City who were residents at that time. He always took a deep interest in the town. He, with his brothers, built the first keel-boats, which were built at the mouth of the creek just at the close of the war of 1812. He built the first coal-boat loaded with coal at the wharf, which was then at the old red house on the bank of the river, at the mouth of the street below Rabe's residence. The boat was twelve feet wide and forty feet long. It was filled with coal by the late Edward Kearney, by hauling it with a one-horse cart from the old coal bank in Katzburg. It was sold to a returned horse drover for cash received from the sale of horses, and after his departure he was never heard from. In those days it was necessary to have such crafts, in order to get produce of the farm to market, and even then the price of grain scarcely justified transportation. He was one of the projectors of the Washington and Williamsport turnpike, and for many years he served as one of the managers, with Joseph Hamilton, Samuel Black, Samuel Hill, James Manown, Col. Barr, and others. He was a great friend of education, and was a member of the first school board in the township after the adoption 696 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. of the present school system. He was in early times a Federalist, in the days of Ritner a strong anti-Mason, afterwards a Whig, and finally a Republican. He ad Robert McFarland were the only persons in Fallowfield (now divided into several townships) who voted for John Q. Adams at the time he was elected President. He was a subscriber to the Weekly Gazette for over sixty years, and was said to be the oldest continuous subscriber the Gazette ever had. He was a Presbyterian by birth and profession for over fifty years, and was a ruling elder for forty years. Ordained in 1836, he served in the session with Jesse Martin, James McGrew, James Gordon, Aaron Kerr, James Dickey, Henry Fulton, Joseph Kiddoo, all of whom died before him. He first attended Presbyterian Church at the old Horseshoe building, situate on the farm owned by John Wilson, and in that old churchyard are still to be seen evidences of the resting-place of nearly all the first settlers of this country for many miles around. On the removal of the place of preaching to Monongahela City, he worshiped with his father-in-law, Elder James Hair, and a few others in the old log school-house near the old Presbyterian Church. He contributed liberally towards the erection of the old brick church on the hill, also for the church building at the, foot of the hill and more recently aided in building the present beautiful church. Thus in his life he_ gave of his substance for three church buildings of the same congregation,—not a common affair in one lifetime. He lived forty years on the farm on which he was born, and forty-one years on the farm where he died. He left behind his wife, seven children, twenty-five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. All his children survive him, except Daniel who died in 1848. We need not say that he died a Christian : the world knew he was a Christian, for it was as an humble follower of Christ his character, shone the brightest. As the end drew nigh his faith and trust in a crucified Redeemer grew stronger, and after a period of intense pain, which he Suffered without a murmur, he died, serene ad happy, en the 4th of June, 1875. Abraham Van Voorhis, who was born near Rancocas Creek, on the Delaware River, in New Jersey, en the 28th day of December, 1785, died Dec. 4, 1871. His father, Capt. Daniel Van Voorhis, was born at Oyster Bay, L. I., ,he 8th day of July, 1738, ad died Feb.. 21, 1819, on the old Van Voorhis homestead, where his grandson, John Van Voorhis, now resides, but in the old hewed log house which stood almost on the site of the present brick house. The captain first lived in the old round log house, which stood a short distance below the hewed log house. It was for many years used as a cooper-shop. The grandfather of Abraham was named Daniel also, and was born at Oyster Bay on the 17th day of December, 1701; was married to Femmyte Bennet on 28th day of November, 1724, who was born April 24, 1706. They had eight children, among whom was Daniel the father of Abraham. Abraham's great-grandfather was one of three brothers who came from Amsterdam, Holland, about the year 1670, and settled on Long Island, where one was killed by a poisoned arrow shot by an Indian. The other two, Cornelius and Daniel remained on Long Island, and their lineal descendants make up the sum total of the name in the United States. Abraham's father first came to this country in 1785, but did not bring his family until after the birth of the young Abraham, and prior to 1789, as his mother, Mary Newton Van Voorhis, died December 31st of that year, and was the first person buried in the Van Voorhis cemetery. She was Capt. Daniel Van Voorhis' second wife. His first wife was a widow, Mrs. Britt, whose maiden name was Van Voorhis. His third wife was Nancy Myers, who came from Hagerstown. The first wife of Abraham Van Voorhis was Ann Watkins, sister of the late Elias and John Watkins. They had four children. Joseph died while very young. Garret Townsend was born in 1817. He went to the old Colhoon school. Lived with his father on the farm now owned by James Sampson until he was married to Hester Frye, daughter of Noah Frye, who was killed at a coal bank near Dagg's Ferry. Her mother was Lucy Colvin, a 'daughter of the older Vincent Colvin, who came to this country in 1769, was a large landholder, and lived and died in a house that stood above the fine brick dwelling of the late Vincent Colvin, Jr. Father Vincent Colvin had a large family, among whom Moses died on the old home place ; Stephen, who died at the stone house near Hair's old mill; Lot was killed by being thrown from his horse at the old sign-post of the Valley Inn. His wife was a Stecker, ad subsequently married Rev. S. Wells. They lived for a time on the home farm, near the Dutch meeting-house, and then removed to the vicinity of Washington, where they still reside. G. Townsend's second wife died some years ago on the farm his father gave him, near Greenfield. His second wife was a Baxter, and is still living. They live on Pigeon Creek, on the Hickman farm, and he also owns the Richardson farm adjoining, or nearly so, and, Van Voorhis like, carries on farming, stock-raising, etc., taking it easy in his older days. Mary married Vincent Colvin, Jr., and died with diphtheria whilst her husband was in the army. He was shortly after her death discharged by the Secretary of War, returned home, and died in 1876. The remaining son, Robert, was born July 6, 1819, on the home farm, which his father in after life gave him, in what was Fallowfield township, Washington County. He was also a scholar in the Colhoon school. He married Caroline Frye, sister to his brother Townsend's wife. They lived for a short time in the old log house near where Cornelius Carson now resides. From that house he moved up the hill to the old home, shortly after his father had finished the brick house on the original Van Voorhis homestead. CARROLL TOWNSHIP - 697 Some years ago he sold this farm to James Sampson, and purchased from Hon. G. V. Lawrence the beautiful and highly-improved farm on the turnpike two miles above town, now called the "Keystone Farm." Robert has been engaged in the thoroughbred sheep-raising since 1848. He is the highest authority in this line of business, ad his advice and sheep are sought after in all parts of the United States. His ability as a shepherd is recognized by the Commissioners of Agriculture, at whose instance he communicates a valuable paper, which appears in the book recently published by authority of Congress, entitled " Diseases of Domestic Animals." Orders reach him from all parts of the United States, and strains from his choice flocks are found in Texas, Colorado, ad every one of the Middle States. As for premiums, they never failed to take wherever exhibited. His clips are the largest ever known in this or any other country, some of them being eight hundred per cent. above the average. His fine infantado sheep, Don Carlos, is beautifully lithographed, and has the place of honor as the frontispiece of the " Pennsylvania State Agricultural Report for 1878." His eye is like a microscope in determining the firmness and other qualities of the wool fibre. His daughter, the only child, is the wife of Rev. R. B. Mansell, one of the most learned and eloquent ministers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, now located at Emory Chapel East End, Pittsburgh, Father Abraham Van Voorhis had by his second wife quite a family, of whom several are dead. Eliza married Thornton F. Watkins, who, after the death of his wife, leaving his little son Jimmy with its grandparents, started for California, but overtaken by disease died on his way, and among the list of those published in the New York Tribune in 1852 whose bones lay bleaching in the sands of the once "Great American Desert" appears the name of T. F. Watkins. Little Jimmy not many years ago died. Emeline married Joseph Brown, of Fayette County; Caroline married the late James Jones; Cynthia married J. Cooper Bentley, and lives on the pike near Valley Inn; and John is on the old homestead near hi; mother. He not only has one of the best farms, but is one of the best farmers in the county. He, too, is a sheep-raiser as well as a systematic farmer. He ha; been for years president of the Monongahela Valley Agricultural and Horticultural Society, and has at heart its true interests. His wife was a daughter o: the late Elisha Teeple, Esq. Mrs. Jane Van Voorhis his mother, is hale and hearty, full of vivacity, and greatly devoted to her children. She has for a long lifetime been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and listened to the preaching of the gospel in the " church on the river-bank" before many now in active duty were born. Township Officers—The following list is of persons who have been elected justices of the peace in Carroll since its organization, viz. : JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. John Clemens, March 28, 1836. John Kennedy, June 1, 1836. John S. Clokey, April 14, 1840. Thomas Collins, April 14,1840. Ira R. Butler, April 15, 1845. Thomas Collins, April 15, 1845. John S. Clokey, April 13, 1847. David Mitchell, April 13,1847. Daniel Yohe, April 9, 1850. Thomas Collins, April 9, 1850. A. T. Gregg, April 10, 1855. Daniel Yohe, April 10, 1855. Ira R. Butler, April 10, 1855. Thomas Collins, April 10, 1860. Daniel Yohe, April 10, 1860. Ira R. Butler, Jan. 16, 1860. Francis Nelson, April 14, 1864. Daniel Yohe, June 3, 1865. Daniel Cashier, June 3, 1865. Thomas Collins, June 3, 1865. Francis Nelson, May 30, 1868. George W. Allen, March 29, 1870. Thomas Collins, March 29, 1870. B. W. Castner, March 25, 1878. Miscellaneous.—The township of to-day includes territory about eight miles in length by three miles in width, and is skirted on its northern, eastern, and southern borders for a distance of some ten or eleven miles by the Monongahela River. The Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad, or, as now known, the Monongahela Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was , completed from Pittsburgh to Monongahela City Sept. 29, 1873, and from the latter place to West Brownsville, May 15, 1881, follows all the windings and sinuosities of that stream, and also affords superior advantages for travel, the shipping and receiving of freight. Its stations within the township are Riverview, New Eagle, Monongahela City, Black Diamond, Baird's, Webster, West Columbia, and Bamford. At these stations, and at other points besides, large numbers of men are employed in coal-mining. Coal-tipples line the river-banks, and by means of the appliances now in use coal is taken directly from the bluffs and hillsides and emptied into boats and barged awaiting cargoes. Besides the old Presbyterian and Baptist Churches already mentioned, there stands in the western part of the township the Ginger Hill Lutheran Church, a brick structure, which was erected in 1847. During its prosperous days the congregation worshiping there listened to the preaching of such worthy divines as the Revs. Mr. Waters, Emory, Milhom, Wylie, Ryder, ad others. The United Brethren Church is found near the tollgate on the Williamsport and Washington turnpike. The building is occupied at irregular intervals by various denominations. CECIL TOWNSHIP. CECIL was the third in the list of original townships of Washington County, and embraced in its territory the present township and all that portion of Allegheny County lying between Robinson Run and Chartiers Creek, and all the present township of Chartiers, as well as the northern portion of Mount Pleasant. The erection of Allegheny County in 1788 and the addition made to that county in 1789 reduced the territory of Cecil, which was further reduced to its present limits by the erection of Chartiers in March, 1790, and of Mount Pleasant in 1808. The township is bounded on the west and northwest by Mount Pleasant and Robinson; on the north and northeast by Allegheny County; on the east by Peters and North Strabane townships, and on the south by Chartiers and Mount Pleasant townships. The only stream of any importance in the township is Char-tiers Creek, which marks its eastern boundary. Settlements—One of the earliest settlers within the territory that is now Cecil township was Samuel Parks, who, in the autumn of 1777, came over the Allegheny Mountains in search of land on which to make a home. He purchased of Matthew Rodgers for four hundred and fifty pounds a parcel of land in two drafts on Chartiers' waters, containing five hundred and sixty-six acres. The bill of sale, marked No. 8, is dated Dec. 7, 1777. After the purchase he returned to his home at Lancaster and prepared to remove his family. He was to have possession of the land March 2, 1778. John and James, his sons, were sent on in advance to build a cabin, clear the land, and put in a crop. Their sister, Isabella, went with them as housekeeper. After a home was prepared the rest of the family removed to the farm. The land was afterwards warranted and surveyed. A portion of it was named " Deer Park," and contained four hundred and six and a half acres. On the 28th of June, 1782, by virtue of a land-office warrant (No. 1773) and in consideration of eighty pounds there was granted to Samuel Parks a tract of land which was surveyed to him Feb. 2, 1786, as containing one hundred and eighty-six acres and seventy-five perches, adjoining Thomas Bracken; also a preemption warrant. On the 4th of September, 1786, the last tract was granted to John Parks, son of Samuel, and surveyed as "The Experiment," containing one hundred and seventy-five and seven-eighths acres, and deeded by Samuel and Margaret, his wife, Jan. 1, 1787; but in September following the patent was made out to Samuel Parks. He lived on the " Deer Park" tract till his death in 1794, aged sixty-five years. His wife survived him till 1808. Their children were John, James, Mary, Isabella, and Hugh. John Parks, son of Samuel was born Dec. 18, 1758, in Donegal, Lancaster Co., Pa. In 1787 he married Sarah, daughter of John McDowell of Strabane township, and settled on part of the Park farm. On the 20th of April 1809, John Park purchased tile homestead in Cecil township, and removed to the farm. Of his children, Rebecca became the wife of James Rankin, and for some years lived in Pittsburgh, and later removed to Washington, where she died. James Rankin now resides in Denver, Col. William, a son of John ad Sarah Parks, was born July 15, 1797. In 1831 he purchased three hundred acres of land in Peters township, and on the 29th of October, 1833, married Jane Law and settled on his farm. He was interested in sheep-raising and wool-growing. Soon after his marriage he purchased three hundred acres of land in Cecil township, including the tract " Experiment." He was for thirty years a trustee of Jefferson College, and for some years director of the Chartiers Valley Railroad Company. He died Nov. 6, 1870, aged seventy-three years, and left seven children. John, the eldest son, resides on the " Experiment" tract in Cecil ; Robert ad James reside in Peters township, and a daughter, Sarah, became the wife of J. L. Thompson, and resides in Westmoreland County. McDowell Parks, a son of John Parks, bought a part of the homestead farm in 1835, and lived there till his death, on the 24th April 1877, aged sixty-seven years. He purchased other lands, and became a large land-owner, and wealthy. He never married, and the large estate was divided among the heirs. The home place was sold to A. J. Hopper in March, 1880. James Hickman, a son-in-law, now resides there. The greater part of the home farm, " Deer Park," was intended for Hugh, the youngest child. He was born in 1767, and died when a young man, and before the death of his father. After the death of the mother in 1808 the farm was deeded to James Park by John Park ad Col. John Marshall executors, and was conveyed by James to John Park. It was purchased by William Boon, and is now owned by A. and J. Boon. William Boon was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was at Baltimore with the troops gathered - 698 - CECIL TOWNSHIP - 699 for the defense of that city against the British under Gen. Ross in 1814. James Parks, the second son of Samuel, was born in 1760, and came to Cecil township in 1778 to the new home. He was one of the volunteers who went out with Col. Crawford in 1782. He married Isabella, daughter of George Craighead, of Strabane township. He came into possession of part of the Park lands, and died Dec. 8, 1811, aged fifty-two years. His widow survived him twenty-two years, and died April 5,1833, aged seventy years. Samuel, a son of James, inherited the farm, and married Sarah, half-sister of David Philips, Esq., of Peters township. In the fall of 1832 he sold out and removed to Wellsville, Ohio. Mary Park, born in 1761, the only daughter of Samuel, became the wife of Col. John Marshall of Cross Creek, in 1782. John Waits came from east of the mountains and located a tract of land on the waters of Chartiers Creek in the spring of 1785. A cabin was built (under an oak-tree that is still standing), and he cleared off a small patch of ground. He died soon after, and a warrant was issued to Sarah Waits, his widow, dated April 5, 1786, " in trust for the use of the heirs of John Waits, deceased." It was surveyed as "The Charge," and contained three hundred and two acres, adjoining .land of Widow Moore, William McLaughlin, David McNary, and Samuel Brown. Patent for it was obtained Sept. 17, 1790. Mrs. Sarah Waits was in 1788 assessed on two hundred acres of land. She died about 1810, and. left three sons by a first husband, Joseph, Samuel, and John Blair, whose names are both mentioned in the assessment-roll of 1788. These sons emigrated to Kentucky. The children by John Waits, her second husband, were Betsey (Mrs. Daniel Welch ; they settled on two hundred and forty acres in the township, and afterwards moved to Ohio), Richard, Reuben, Mary, Sarah, and Jacob. Richard lived on the farm adjoining and died there, leaving a large family, none of whom are in the township. Mary became the wife of John Philips, of Winchester, Va., in 1799. They settled on the Wait homestead, and on the 31st of March, 1802, he purchased one hundred and sixty-six acres of the tract, and September, 1808, one hundred and thirty-six acres adjoining. On this land they lived and died, leaving thirteen children. John, Aaron, ad David settled in the township. James Philips is a son of John. De Kalb and Wayne Philips own the farm which Aaron settled upon, and David Philips resides on the homestead of his father and grandfather. His residence is under the shade of the great oak that stood near his grandfather's cabin in 1785, then a small tree. Stephen Richards was one who took up lands under .a Virginia certificate. It was surveyed to him as "Montgomery," and contained three hundred and forty-three acres, adjoining Thomas Faucett (whose land was in Allegheny County), Robert Hill, and Alexander Fowler. Hugh H. Brackenridge, as trustee, sold one hundred and ninety-one acres of the tract to Daniel South on the-22d of August, 1791. He sold the same property to Thomas Dunlap on the 26th of September, 1805. Dunlap emigrated from County Down, Ireland, with three sons, Thomas, James, and Alexander, and two daughters. James was the only one of the family who married. He settled on the homestead and had three children, John, Elizabeth, ad Nancy. Elizabeth became the wife of Joseph Work and settled in Texas. Nancy married John B. Weaver and settled in North Strabane. John, the only son, settled on the homestead, where he still resides. James Slater emigrated from Ireland and settled in Allegheny, where he lived and died. Three sons, John, William, and Thomas, came to this township and settled. John lives near Venice. In 1843, William and Thomas purchased ninety acres of Matthew Harbeson, and lived together ten years, then each bought farms, on which they now reside. Thomas bought one hundred and eighty-three acres of John Berry in 1855. William studied for the ministry, and in 1843, soon after coming to the township, became the pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church near his residence, but in Chartiers township. David and John Reed, whose earlier history will be found in Mount Pleasant township, in connection with the Washington lands, came after their dispossession to this township. David, about the year 1788, purchased three hundred acres of land of Thomas Waller, which had been taken up by him before 1780, for which he received a Virginia certificate January 2d of that year. It was adjoining lands of Joseph Brown, David McNary, Matthew Acheson, John May, and Robert Miller. A warrant of acceptance was issued to David Reed by the board of property March 2, 1790, and patent granted April 21, 1813. He moved upon this farm when the contest for the Washington lands was decided, and lived there till his death in 1824, at seventy-seven years of age, leaving five sons and one daughter,—Alexander, David, John, James, Joseph, and Mary. Alexander, the eldest son, married the daughter of Joshua Anderson, of Chartiers township, and settled in Ohio, where they remained several years, then returned to his father's farm and settled there and lived many years. He gave the portion that came to his possession to his sons, who sold to George Robb and removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Alexander, the father, went with them and died there. David, the second son of David Reed, located in Mount Pleasant township, and later removed to Allegheny County. He married Euphemia, daughter of James Paxton. The property he owned in Mount Pleasant township is now in possession of the Dinsmores. James Reed, a son of David, is a merchant in Canonsburg. John Reed, the third son of David, married Jane, a daughter of John May, and settled