600 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. town, fronting the Pennsylvania Railroad, with siding running past the door. The engine power is sufficient to run three run of burrs and machinery. An excellent bored well yields all the water necessary to run the boilers, even in the dryest seasons of the year. THE PLANING-MILLS are two, both very large, and owned by Col. George Anderson and O'Brien & Toner. ORDERS AND SOCIETIES. LOYALHANNA LODGE, No. 257, F. AND A. 31., was constituted Sept. 19, 1853, with the following charter members and officers : W. M., John W. Coulter; S. W., Martin Runyen ; J. W., Jesse A. Cunningham ; S. D., W. O. Hugart ; J. D., Samuel Elder ; Sec., D. Zimmerman. The Past Masters of this lodge are : 1854, John W. Coulter; 1855, Jesse A. Cunningham; 1856-58 and 1862, Jesse Chambers ;1859, J. R. McAfee ; 1860, David McCulloch ; 1861, J. J. Bierer ; 1863, James White ; 1864, D. C. George ; 1865 and 1869, W. H. Watt; 1866, Sebastian Bear ; 1867, John Oursler; 1868, Joseph Chambers ; 1870, John G. Lowry ; 1871, S. R. Rutledge ; 1872, D. W. McConaughy ; 1874, D. P. Harr ; 1875, Jacob H. Oursler ; 1876, George L. Miller; 1877, E. H. Fiscus ; 1878, A. G. Chambers ; 1879, J. D. Evans ; 1880, D. W. McConaughy ; 1881, Jesse Chambers. The officers for 1882 are : W. M., J. D. Evans ; S. W., D. E. Welsh ; J. W., George B. Anderson ; S. D., J. C. Blair ; J. D., B. McCloy ; Sec., Sebastian Bear; Treas., J. L. Chambers. It has fifty-eight members, and meets the first Monday cifi each month. LATROBE LODGE, No. 541, I. O. O. F., was chartered May 22, 1858, with the following officers : N. G., C. F. Beam ; V. G., William Pollick ; Sec., I. M. Keefers ; Treas., George Bennett. The officers in 1882 are : N. G., G. C. Kissell ; V. G., Charles L. Mitchell ; Sec., B. F. Geiger; Treas., I. D. Pores ; Janitor, George Yingling. It meets every Saturday evening. SHALLUM ENCAMPMENT, No. 141, I. O. O. F., was chartered March 24, 1866. Its first officers were : C. P., L D. Pores ; H. P., I. M. Keefers ; S. W., Samuel McCutchen ; J. W., George C. Anderson ; Scribe, W. H. Williams ; Treas., David M. Bear. In 1882 the officers are : C. P., John Mickey ; H. P., S. P. Keys ; S. W., George Yingling ; J. W., John W. Yingling ; Scribe, D. J. Saxma.n. It meets the second and fourth Thursday evenings of each month. LATROBE LODGE, No. 368, ROYAL ARCANUM, was chartered May 3, 1880. The charter members were A. M. Sloan, James Peters, Henry C. Be'st, S. S. Philips, H. G. Chambers, H. E. Hoke, Rev. J. L. Riley; Frederick .Metzgar, D. C. George, T. W. Weimer, John W. Yingling, J. K. Barr, S. H. Baker, J. D. Evans, G. B. Anderson, Reuben Baker, L. A. Hoke, George L. Miller, John Thompson, I. D. Pores, H. P. Fulton, E. C. Richey, Joseph Nichols, Paul A. Gaither, W. H. Ackerman. It meets the second and fourth Monday evenings of each month. LATROBE LODGE, No. 30, A. O. U. W., was chartered Oct. 2, 1871. The first officers were : P. W. M., I. M. Keefers ; W. M., I. D. Pores ; G. F., D. C. George ; O., Reuben Baker ; Rec., John Smith ; Fin., R. McWilliams ; Rec., J. L. Chambers ; G., D. J. Saxman ; I. W., Uriah Heacox ; O. W., John Oursler. LATROBE ASSEMBLY, No 273, KNIGHTS OF LABOR, was chartered Feb. 24,1877, with the following charter members. Thomas McKernan, Enoch Davis, Sr., Edward Casey, Charles Mitchell, David Mitchell, Howard Keyes, George Sutton, Enoch Davis, Jr., John S. Sutton, Samuel M. Burns, Bernard Smith, John M. Geiger, John Williams, Jacob Smith, John Burke, Edward Bell, John Davis, Jr., John Flannery. It was organized June 19, 1880, and rechartered June 30, 1880. It meets the first and third Friday evenings of each month. LOYALHANNA LODGE, No. 950, KNIGHTS OF HONOR, was chartered Sept. 5, 1878. The charter members were W. H. Watt, Henry C. Best, Reuben Baker, S. H. Baker, W. B. Norris, B. S. Kelly, A. P. Fulton, Joseph Nichols, D. C. George, G. B. Whiteman, James Peters, Paul H. Gaither, S. P. Keyes, John Newcomer, A. C. Keepers, J. J. Bierer, L. A. Hoke, C. F. Leachley, A. G. Chambers, George Kuhn, J. P. Klingensmith, A. M. Sloan, J. B. Hysong, J. F. Story, Jacob Fehr, Jesse Chambers, J. C. Campbell, J. W. Yingling, J. U. Horrell, Charles B. Fink, William C. Coleman, E. Pitcairn. It meets the first and third Thursday evenings of each month. P. A. WILLIAMS POST, No. 4, G. A. R., Its meetings are the second and fourth Friday evenings of each month. It was organized in Greensburg April 18, 1874, as Maj. John B. Keenan Post, No. 4, and was the first in the county. In April, 1880. it was removed to Latrobe, and its name changed to P. A. Williams. Its first Commander was J. A. Ege, and after its removal here the first was Frederick Metzgar, succeeded by Dr. J. D. Evans. Its removal was authorized by Chill W. Hazzard, Deputy Commander of the State. The officers for 1882 are: C., Jacob H. Oursler ; S. V. C., S. E. Bell ; J. V. C., A. Shumaker ; 0. D., James Peters ; Q.M., Eli Chambers ; Surg., Dr. J. D. Evans; -Chap., Rev. T. B. Anderson ; Adj., Frederick Metzgar ; O. G., Thomas Murphy ; Sergt.-Maj., Patrick Mansfield : Q.M.-Serg., T. W. Weimer. DERRY TOWNSHIP - 601 SCHOOLS. The directors of the schools are : President, Frederick Metzger ; Secretary, A. S. Hamilton ; and John Thompson, John S. Houck, D. P. Barr, H. C. Best. The teachers are : Prof. George H. Hugus, Room No. 6 ; Rollin Guss, Room No. 5 ; Miss Lizzie Kelly, Room No. 4 ; Miss Martha White, Room No. 3 ; Charles Wakefield, Room No. 2 ; Miss Mary McKelvy, Room No. 1. At a meeting of the Board of School Directors of the school district of the borough of Latrobe, Pa., held on the 8th day of February, A.D. 1882, the following proceedings were had, viz. : "Resolved, That the school district of the borough of Latrobe erect a new common-school building according to the general plane and specifications prepared and now in the care and custody of A. S. Hamilton, secretary of the board, and for that purpose that the indebtedness of said school district should be increased $22,332.10, which is an amount not exceeding five per centum of the last preceding assessed valuation of the taxable property of said district. " Resolved, That as such increase of indebtedness exceeds the constitutional limitation of the power of the board, that the question of such increase, for the purpose aforesaid, shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of said school district, to be held at the usual place of voting in the said borough of Latrobe, on Tuesday, the 14th day of March, A.D. 1882, between the hours designated by law ; and as provided by law the board submit to the consideration of the said qualified voters the following statement, viz.: "1. The amount of the last assessed valuation of property, etc., in said district taxable for school purposes (including territory annexed for school purposes) is $446,642.00. "2. That said school district is not now in debt, and that the amount of the existing debt of said borough is $3800.00. " 3. The amount of the proposed increase of indebtedness to be incurred in erection of the new school building, outbuildings, and furniture, according to the general plans and specifications, is $22,332.10. "4. The rate per cent. thereof on the last assessed valuation is .05. "Resolved, That the president and secretary of the board of school directors of said district are hereby authorized and instructed to make proclamation and give such notice as is required by law of the said election. "Now, therefore, in accordance with the foregoing resolutions, proclamation is hereby made that an election will be held at the usual place of voting in the bortmgh of Latrobe, on Tuesday, March 14, A.D. 1882, between the hours of seven o'clock in the morning and seven o'clock in the evening, to determine whether the debt of the said school district may be increased $22,332.10, for the purpose of providing and erecting a new common-school building, outbuildings, and furniture for the same, and the qualified voters on said question shall each vote a ticket labeled on the outside 'Increase of Debt,' and on the inside contain the words Debt may be increased,' or `No increase of debt,' as the voter may choose or desire." This was voted affirmatively, and the board is now erecting a three-story brick school building with ten rooms on tile site of the old school-house. OTHER BOROUGHS, VILLAGES, ETC. NEW ALEXANDRIA BOROUGH. By act of Assembly of 10th of April, 1834,—the same act by which Ligonier borough was incorporated,—" the town of New Alexandria or Denniston's town, in the county of Westmoreland," was erected into a borough, under the name and title of the borough of New Alexandria. By the same act the officers and their duties and powers were specified, and the time and place of election were designated. On the second Tuesday of the next May the inhabitants entitled to vote were to meet at the school-house in the said borough to elect their first officers. Early settlers or inhabitants near New Alexandria : E. A. Robinson, George Michel, David McGinley. Alexander Denniston laid out the village of New Alexandria, giving it his name. Some of his descendants yet live in the neighborhood. LIVERMORE BOROUGH. The borough of Livermore is situated on the southwestern side of the Conemaugh River, and on the line of the Western Pennsylvania Railroad. It was, before it was incorporated, a village which sprang into existence by reason of the canal, and was laid out into lots and streets so early as 1827 by one John Livermore, one of the principal engineers on the canal. John Gallagher was the first burgess, and G. M. Beham was the secretary of the first Council. Its population by the census of 1880 was one hundred and sixty-four. Owing to the local trade it enjoys from the surrounding country, its business is, in comparison to its population, decidedly good. It contains a hotel, quite a number of stores, a steam grist-mill, railroad station and depot, and is a post-office. It has a Methodist Episcopal and a Presbyterian Church, and is a separate school district. A number of the inhabitants residing in Derry township, within the limits of now Livermore borough, presented a petition to the Court of Quarter Sessions at November sessions, 1864, desiring to be incorporated, and giving the boundaries and limits of the proposed borough. M. R. Banks made affidavit that. the petition was signed by a majority of the freeholders residing within the limits therein set out. On the 15th of November it was submitted to the grand jury, who duly returned it favorably. On Feb. 13, 1865, the court ordered the presentment of the grand fury in this regard to be confirmed, and that the prayer of the petitioner should be granted, and that part of the township included within the limits described, which included the village of Livermore, should he incorporated under the name of the " Borough of Livermore ;" that the first election should be held at the school-house. in the borough, on the 31st day of March, 1865; that John Hill should give notice of the election ; and that Richard Freeland should be judge, and James Duncan and G. M. Beham, inspectors. NEW DERRY. The village of New Derry is one of the old-time villages of the township, and like many others it might give occasion to the remark that the town was finished long ago. So would it have been, was it not for the vitality of the country round, and the great material wealth that exists there, for ordinarily a place so near the railroad. and with such competition as was offered by all the novelty and the enterprise which draws and attracts people to new places, the 602 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. place would have been as a business point much inferior to what it actually is. DERRY STATION is situate on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, fifteen miles east of Greensburg, and three west of the Packsaddle Gorge of the Chestnut Ridge, one of the wildest, most picturesque, and romantic regions traversed by the great highway of Pennsylvania. There was no town or settlement here of any importance until 1852, when the railroad was built, and then the first buildings put up were by the railroad company. From a railroad point of view it is one of the most important stations on the road, for here all the freight trains are overhauled, inspected, weighed, and made up into trains according to the several lines of freight-bearing cars, and started anew on their several journeys. The numbei of these cars that are separated and assorted according to lines will average eighteen hundred daily, and the importance of the station is accordingly manifest. In a few words may the operations at this point be described. First. The station is located on a straight piece of track one and two-thirds miles in length, one-third of a mile from the western terminus of this straight course, and one and one-third miles from the eastern. The grade of the track is down towards the east, but light and ehsy. From the station the distance either way is readily traversed with the eye, so that trains by day or night can be seen at any point therein. Second. A number of sidings are placed on each side of the two main tracks of the road, five on the north side and two on the south side, which, with .a third on the south for depositing freight at Derry, make ten tracks, which are all connected with switches so that cars can readily be transferred from one to another. This shifting is done with eastward-bound trains without a locomotive, taking advantage of the down grade in that direction ; bet with westward-bound trains an engine is required. Third. A corps of officers and employes well organized, and each efficient in his particular duty by long experience with a proper regard for the responsibility of his position. This corps comprises a train-master, dispatchers, weigh-masters, telegraph operators, car-inspectors, and machinists, the duties of which may be briefly stated. The train-master has charge of the trains between Pittsburgh and Altoona.' He is highest in authority at the station, and has a general supervision over all that takes place in the yard. This important post has long been occupied with great satisfaction to the company, and consequently credit to himself, by Mr. Edward Pitcairn, a gentleman of extensive railroad experience, prompt, exact, and trustworthy at all times. The dispatchers are two in number ; they have control of the cars from the time they arrive in the yard until they leave, make them up into trains, regulate their movements, supply cars wherever needed between Pittsburgh and Altoona, keep records of locomotives, conductors,' engineers, cars, number of them, and whether loaded or empty, etc., which records are daily transmitted in duplicate to the superintendents at Pittsburgh and Altoona. Every twenty-four hours on an average they handle, to use the phrase of the road, as many as eighteen hundred cars, at least six hundred more than are handled at the yard in Pittsburgh. A stranger can scarcely understand how all this is done without confusion and innumerable accidents, but with the experience of years, under the guidance of the two gentlemen above named, everything runs as smoothly as clock-work, and accidents never happen except for causes beyond their control. The weigh-masters, as their name indicates, weigh and keep records of the weight of locomotives, company and individual cars, loaded and empty, stock, coal, grain, etc. Practice has made these gentlemen very quick and accurate in their particular business, and it is one of the most interesting features of a visit to their office to see them weigh a car as it passes over the scales in one or two seconds. The telegraph operators are two in number. It is their duty to keep a full register of the arrival and departure of all trains east and west, to deliver orders to trainmen, to transmit reports of the dispatchers to the superintendents, and such other messages as are daily required in the management of such a stupendous business road as the Pennsylvania Central. To accomplish this great work they are provided with what is considered the most complete and convenient telegraphic apartment on the line of the road,—a spacious room on the second floor of the station building, with windows on three sides, so that the whole yard can be surveyed at a glance and the relative situation.of all trains observed by day and night, the headlights of the locomotives and the colored lanterns attached to the trains and carried by trainmen being discernible even in the moonlight for the distance of a mile or more. The office is furnished with four Pennsylvania Railroad lines and four Western Union lines, and also with sign'als, etc., as well as provided with speaking-tubes and transmitting-waiters, connecting it with other offices in the building. The car-inspectors, of whom there are at present six, examine carefully the cars as they arrive, test the wheels, etc., and report their condition to the dispatchers. If any need repairing, they are turned over to the machinists, who, besides the gang and other laboring men employed generally on the road, will conclude this list. If the repairs to be made are slight the cars are not removed to a special siding ; otherwise they are separated from their trains, shifted to a secure place, where they may be put in order with greater convenience. It is expected that in a short time repair-shops will be erected at Derry, but at present all work is done in the open yard. Besides these special features of Derry Station, I there is another of interest and importance to be al- DERRY TOWNSHIP - 603 luded to at least. This is a complete wrecking outfit, consisting of locomotives and cars, supplied with hydraulic hoists, ropes, wrenches, portable telegraph apparatus, etc., which can be forwarded to the scene of a wreck on a few minutes' notice. There is, moreover, an engine-house at Derry with room enough for six engines ; but it is expected that a new one will soon be erected large enough to hold at least thirty locomotives to stable the number that is usually here. One and a half miles east, too, there is a watering trough for supply locomotives with water without stopping. Before concluding, one word about the card-manifest, the key to the modus operandi of Derry. This is a piece of pasteboard about the size of a playing-card, and on it are printed and written figures and statements which make it a representative of a particular car and its contents. Now every car has one of these card-manifests, which the conductor carries in his pocket. When, accordingly, a train reaches Derry, the conductor hands his manifests over to the dispatcher, who from their face can give his orders as to the separation of the cars and their making up into other trains, as well as if he saw the cars themselves. So from the pack of manifests the weigh-master learns what cars are to be weighed, etc. THE BOROUGH OF DERRY. The petition of the inhabitants of Derry Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad was filed in the proper court May 14, 1881, in which they prayed for their erection into a borough. The grand jury, at May term of the same year, returned the application which had been presented to them to the court with the endorsement that they believed it expedient to grant the prayer of the petitioners. On Aug. 27, 1881, exceptions were filed to the petition and returned, and on Aug. 27, 1881, a remonstrance in support of the exceptions was filed. On Oct. 4, 1881, the arguments on the merits of the petition and the exceptions were heard; and on October the 15th, 1881, the exceptions were dismissed, and a decree of incorporation allowed to be prepared by the solicitor for petitions. This decree was prepared, and on October the 22d, 1881, the court decreed that " the village in said county of Westmoreland, at Derry Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, be and the same is hereby erected into a borough, and shall henceforth be deenied an incorporated borough, and shall be entitled to the several rights, privileges, and immunities conferred upon boroughs by the several acts of Assembly." It further decreed that the name of the borough should be "the borough of Derry," and that the boundaries of the same should be the same boundaries fixed in the petition ; that the first election for borough officers should take place on Tuesday, the 8th day of November, 1881, and that the place of holding the election should be at school-house No. 28, in Derry township. Henry Neely was appointed judge, and Alexander Wynn and Manasses Sweeney were appointed inspectors. It also decreed that after the expiration of that current school year the borough should be a separate school district, and that after the election of officers after the first election, the said borough should be a separate election district. The first store was opened 1853, by Hiram Yealy. On March 16, 1882, H. Braden made an addition to the town of fifty lots, fifty by one hundred feet. These are part of the old Blackburn farm, and on the north side of the railroad. The Derry flouring mill was erected in 1877 by Mr. Neely. There are six general stores, of which the principal one is that of Cavin & Lockland. Mr. A. O. Cavin has been here nine years in business. There are three orders,—I. O. O. F., No. 942, A. O. U. W., and Royal Arcanum. J. D. Neely is postmaster, and the post-office was established in 1853. INCORPORATION. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1882, and its officials are : Burgess, J. K. Russell ; Council, Emmet Johns, John Huston, Daniel Kist, J. W. Toner, J. G. Alexander ; Clerk, George S. Kinner. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. MATTHEW POTTER McCLANAHAN. Hon. Matthew Potter McClanahan is the eldest son of Dr. Matthew and Catharine McClanahan, and was born in Sewickley, Jan. 2, 1806. He was educated in the district schools and New Athens College, Ohio. After leaving college he for a short time engaged in farming. He then turned his attention to merchandising, but not being entirely satisfied with the business, he entered upon the study of dentistry with Dr. Miller, of West Newton. He was married, first, to Sarah Watson, of his native county, May 22, 1834. To them were born seven children, three of whom died in infancy. Three of his children are still living, namely, William Elliott, first married to Martha Byerly. They had one child, James, who died when eighteen years of age. William was again married to Hannah Solomon. Susan J., married to Phillip Neth, and Clara, unmarried. One son, John, was a soldier in the late war, and died in a prison hospital at Richmond, Nov. 5, 1863. Sarah Watson McClanahan died Dec. 21, 1852. Mr. McClanahan was married again, Feb. 11, 1869, to Emeline Willett, of Allegheny County. She still survives him. Mr. McClanahan held a number of important township offices, and in 1866 was elected associate judge of the courts of Westmoreland County. He was reelected in 1871, holding the position for ten years. He possessed many of the sterling qualities of the Irish race from which he sprang. In all positions of life he discharged his duties with 604 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. "fidelity. He was noted for his piety, his upright life, and his devotion to the church—the United Presbyterian—with which he had united many years prior to his death. He died June 3, 1881. Those who knew him best speak of him as an earnest Christian and useful citizen. He left his family valuable possessions, the chiefest of which is his "honored name." REUBEN BAKER. Reuben Baker, of Latrobe, was born in Chester County, Pa., Dec. 3, 1837. He is the son of Jacob and Lydia (Lamborn) Baker, who were of English descent. He received his elementary education in the common schools, and afterwards attended London Grove Boarding-School, in his native county, an institution under the control of the Society of Friends, of which religious sect his father and mother were members. When in his seventeenth year he was apprenticed to a machinist, Edge T. Cope, with whom he remained nearly five years. He then engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he followed for ten years. Jan. 25, 1865, he married Mitry J. Fredd, of Chatham, Chester Co., Pa. They have four children, namely, Elizabeth, Morris H., Anna. R., and Catharine H. In 1869 he located in Latrobe, and became associated with his brother, S. H. Baker, as a partner in different pursuits. He is the manager of their extensive car-works, in which they annually do a businessof more than half a million dollars. Their cars are used upon roads in all parts of the country, but their trade of late years has been chiefly in the West and South. Their largest business, however, is their lumber trade in the forests of West Virginia, in which they yearly employ a million of capital. They are at present furnishing most of the railroad ties used by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The other principal industries with which Mr. Baker is identified are the Ligonier Valley Railroad, of which he was one of the projectors and is a large stockholder, and the Citizens' Banking Company, of Latrobe, which was organized in 1873. He and his brother, in connection with Pittsburgh capitalists, organized the Loyalhanna Coal and Coke Company, but have severed their connection with that. His possessions, aside from his business, are chiefly lands. He had no pecuniary start, and his success in business is due largely to his energy, tact, and good sense. He is modest and unassuming in manner, and has the confidence and respect of all with whom he comes in contact. He is a liberal contributor to all worthy causes, and has added largely.to the wealth of the community in which he resides. He is a useful citizen, a gentleman of real worth, and richly deserves the admiration with which his friends delight to speak of him. JOHN RANDOLPH McGONIGAL. Hon. John Randolph McGonigal, long a prominent man in Westmoreland County, was born near Congruity Church, Dec. 5, 1812. His father was Thomas McGonigal, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to America, and married Nancy Craig. His mother dying when he was quite young, John was placed in charge of a maternal aunt, with whom he remained until about four years of age. He was then intrusted to the care of Mrs. John Tittle, with whom he remained until twelve years of age, when he was apprenticed to a Mr. Blythe to learn the trade of chair-making. Not liking his trade he had resolved to act on the advice and "go West," when he was offered the position of clerk in the store of Mr. Joseph Coulter, of Youngstown. This he accepted, and remained a sufficient time to learn the business thoroughly. He continued in the merchandising business in different parts of the county until about 1871, when having by his untiring industry and unswerving honesty acquired a competency, and being somewhat afflicted physically, he spent the remaining years of his life in retirement in the town of Latrobe, Pa. Sept. 10, 1850, he married Ellen Sibbet Vance, youngest daughter of John Vance, Esq., of Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland Co. They had two children, —James C., who was born Sept. 8, 1852, and died Junq 20, 1860, and Charles Howard, who was born Sept. 24, 1856, and died June 17, 1860. Mr. McGonigal always took an active part in politics. He was a stanch Republican, and served two terms as one of the representatives from this district (then composed of the counties of Armstrong and Westmoreland) in the Legislature of Pennsylvania. He was first elected in 1859, and re-elected. the following year. John R. McGonigal was an honest and upright man from principle. Under all circumstances he enjoyed the confidence and respect of those who knew him, and was always amiable in disposition and gentlemanly in his manner. His sincerity and genial ways won for him many warm friends. He was an active promoter of morality in the communities in which he lived. He was an exemplar of the lovely traits of Christianity. He was a prominent officer in the Sunday-school for many years, and was always interested in whatever tended to promote his Master's cause. Although his last illness was protracted he bore his affliction with Christian fortitude, under the lively hope that the end of life here would be to him but the beginning of infinite happiness. He died Feb. 15, 1881, and his remains were interred in Unity cemetery. He was ministered unto during his last illness by his devoted wife, who mourns not as they who have no hope. DERRY TOWNSHIP - 605 WILLIAM CHAMBERS. The Chambers family has long been prominent in Westmoreland County. The first of the name to settle here was one John Chambers, who was born in York, Pa. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and settled at Pleasant Unity, Westmoreland Co., in 1793. Here he built a mill and engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods. He married Leah Hartzell, of his native town. They had seven children, all of whom (except Joseph who was a Presbyterian minister, and resided and died at Wooster, Ohio) spent their lives in Westmoreland County. The children were as follows: William, John, Elizabeth, George, Joseph, Daniel, and Mary. The subject of this sketch, William Chambers, was the eldest of the family, and was born in York, Pa., a short time before his father's removal. He worked in his father's mill learning the trade of carding and finishing cloth. He followed his trade until 1837, when he engaged in farming, which he followed for two years. He then purchased what is known as Findley's Flouring-Mill, on the Loyalhanna. Here the remainder of his life was spent. He married Elizabeth Leasure, second daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Ryan Leasure, of Sewickley, Westmoreland Co. Elizabeth Ryan Leasure's father, Daniel, was the youngest son of Abraham Leasure, a native of Germany. His ancestors were natives of Navarre, and fled during the persecution of the Huguenots to a province on the Rhine in Germany. Here Abraham was born in 1735, and married a French wife. They emigrated to the colony of Pennsylvania, and settled near Chambersburg, some years previous to the war of Independence. He afterwards settled on the "old Virginia road," leading from Baltimore to Fort Pitt. During the war of Independence he removed to the valley of the Kiskiminetas, where he was engaged as an Indian scout. When there were no Indians to encounter, he kept a train of pack-horses carrying merchandise from the Conecocheague to the Allegheny and its tributaries. After the close of the war he removed with his family to a farm near the present site of Pleasant Unity, where he located a large tract of land for which he obtained a deed from the heirs of Penn. It was then known as "Manor Land," now the David Pollins' farm, the " garden spot" of Westmoreland County. Here he remained till his death in 1805. His wife survived him fifteen years. They were both buried in the old family burial-ground upon the old, homestead. Daniel Leasure was the youngest son of Abraham Leasure. He lived upon a part of the tract located by his father, what is now known as the Andrew Giffin farm. He was born in 1767. Before he was of age he was made captain of a company, and continued in that position until fifty years of age. He served as captain of a company in the Indian war of 1790. He enlisted and reported for service at Pitts- , - 39 - burgh as a lieutenant .in a light-horse company in 1812, but was discharged. He married Elizabeth Ryan, of FrenCh-Irish descent, and raised a family of seven children, namely, Mary, Abraham, George, John, William, Elizabeth, and Jesse. Elizabeth was in Hannastown Fort at the time it was burned, and fled with the garrison to Leasure's Fort on the Pollins' farm. The original spelling of the name, as obtained from some very old foreign authorities, is Le Sueur. However spelled, it has always been respectable. William and Elizabeth Leasure Chambers had five children, all of whom are living in or near Latrobe. They are John L., married to Eliza Glessner ; Daniel L., married to Mary Smith ; Jesse, married to Kezzia Geiger; Eliza, married to John Beatty; and Eli, married to Lydia Harvey. William Chambers was early instructed in the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, and for many years was a devoted and zealous member of that communion. He never held political office, his active life being devoted entirely to his own business. By untiring industry and economy he was able to leave to each of his children a good pecuniary start in life, to which each of them has added largely since his decease. He died in 1851, and was buried in Unity Cemetery beside his wife, who died in 1840. GEORGE BRINKER. The subject of this sketch, George Brinker, was born in Sewickley, Westmoreland County, Pa., June 22, 1801. He was the youngest son of George and Catharine Brinker, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. His early life was spent upon his father's farm. His opportunities for an education were such as the district schools of that period afforded. He was married to Anna Thompson, who was of Scotch descent, and a native of Sewickley, November 12, 1822. Their children were as follows : Catharine, who married James Hill ; Robert, who first married Elizabeth Mansfield, and after her death married Martha Roberts; Elizabeth, who married H. Cummings ; Cyrus, who married Jennie Hughes; Richard, who married Rebecca Griffith ; Malinda and Jeremiah, unmarried, and two who died in infancy. Mr. Brinker's home was near his birthplace till 1846, when he moved to a farm now occupied by a part of the borough of Latrobe. His entire active business life was spent in farming and stock-raising. He was noted for his industry and correct business habits. By economy and good management he accumulated enough property to enable him to retire from active business, and live at ease during the latter years of his life. His life was one of usefulness to the communities in which he lived. He left to his family valuable possession, consisting chiefly in 606 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. lands. He died March 10, 1874, and his remains lie buried in Unity cemetery. His wife, Anna, died September 18, 1880. HON. WILLIAM DONNELLY. John Donnelly, a gentleman of fine scholarship and culture, emigrated from County Armagh, Ireland, in 1798, and settled in York County, Pa. He remained here but a short time, and then removed to Berlin, Somerset Co., Pa., where he married Margaret Atchison. They remained in Somerset County until 1816, when they removed to a farm in Derry township, Westmoreland Co., where they spent the remainder of their lives. John died Dec. 29, 1826, and Margaret died in September, 1853. They had seven children, viz., John, Thomas, Mary, James, Isabella, Sarah, and William, who was born Aug. 5, 1817. He received his early education in the subscription schools of the neighborhood, and afterwards attended select schools, in which he studied land surveying and kindred subjects. He learned the carpentry trade, but never followed it, and has since been engaged in the various callings of school-teaching, boating, farming, salt-making, hotel-keeping, oil-producing, and milling. Money getting or keeping has not been the sole object in life with him, and he has been satisfied with a comfortable living, honestly earned. His private life has been one of industry, integrity, and economy. These admirable qualities have characterized his public life. He has served six years as secretary of the school board of Derry township, and the intelligent manner in which he has discharged his duties has convinced his neighbors that they and the great cause which is so dear to them have in Von. William Donnelly a true friend. He was elected to the State Legislature by the Democratic party, and served in the sessions of 1877 and 1878. True to the primitive doctrines of his party as expounded by Jefferson, and his own convictions, his constituents found in him a faithful representative, who voted intelligently and for their best interests upon every act brought before the body, of which he was one of the .most honored and useful members. The bill "extending the jurisdiction of justices of the peace" received his earnest support. He introduced two important bills, one, and the first of the kind ever introduced in a Pennsylvania Legislature, was " to equalize freight and passenger rates, and forbade free passes on railroads." Corporation influences were too strong, and it was defeated in committee. The other was " to pay county officers a salary instead of the fees then charged, etc." It met a like fate in committee. Public-spirited, he is ever ready to favor with voice and pen whatever his judgment approves, or oppose what he deems incompatible with the public weal. He was married to Susan, daughter of Daniel H. and Mary Barr, of Blairsville, Sept. 27, 1853. To them were born seven children, viz., Mary G., John H., Margaret I., William A., Pauline F., Daniel B., and Hugh J. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. ORGANIZATION, ETC. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP was legally organized in 1789. The erection resulted from the following petition : "Upon the petition of Sundry Of the inhabitants of Salem township to the court, praying that a division of the said township might be made by their worships in such manner as they should judge most convenient and proper, as the extent of the said township is at present so great as to put it out of the power of a constable to do his duty therein. And the distance is too great to attend elections from the extremities of the township, as in some measure to deprive them from attending the same." The above petition was read and continued at a prior meeting of the court, for the minutes read : "Petition read and continued, and now at the July session, 1789. The court, considering the large extent of Salem township, order that that part of said township, beginning at the line between Salem and Franklin townships ; thence by an easterly course to the head of a branch of Beaver Run that runs through the lands of William Hall and Joseph Thorn ; thence down said branch to where it empties into the main branch ; thence an easterly course to where it strikes the Kiskiminetas or Loyalhanna,—which said division or boundary is to be hereafter known by the name of Washington township." The only villages in this township are North Washington and Oakland Cross-Roads. The principal stream is Beaver Run, which forms the eastern boundary of the township ; Pike and Poke Runs are streams of minor importance, although of vast benefit to the farms through which they pass. In the centre, as also in the southern part, extensive veins of coal exist. These are largely developed, but in the other portions of the township there is coal, but it is not mined to a very great extent. The principal industry is agriculture, and the prosperous and tidy aspect of the farms and residences attests to the attention paid by their thrifty owners. Its inhabitants number some of the best families of the ,county, and the appear- WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 607 ante of the township shows its wide-spread prosperity. I It was named in honor of President Washington. PIONEERS. Among the early settlers were the Walters, Sloans, McKowns, Kerns, Branthoovers, McKillips, Chambers, Hills, Rughs, Calhouns, Steels, Georges, Bairs, Yockeys, Thompsons, Brineys, McQuilkins, McQuaids, Halls, and McCutheons. SCHOOLS. The first school was organized in 1808, on the farm now owned by Daniel Hilty. It was taught by an Irishman named Timothy Collins. The house was built of logs, lighted by strips of greased paper pasted on the crevices between the logs, and heated by an old-fashioned fireplace. These were the days when corporal punishment was administered with a vengeance. About the same time Charles Foster kept a school in an old deserted log building on the farm now owned by Joseph Neely. Not long after this Joseph Muffly taught several sessions in the township. His teaching was an improvement on the age in which he taught. The township adopted the free-school system about 1836, at a sharply-contested election. Among the first directors were Alexander Thompson, John Reed, and Adam Bowman. The first teachers were John McCormick, John Duff, S. McCormick, and others. The first examiner was John Craig, who had also been a teacher, and was followed by several others up to the time of the county superintendency. In the fall of 1853, a teachers' institute was organized by the teachers at their own expense, which is said to have been among the first district institutes ever held in the State. Among the teachers were W. Townsend, J. H. Gill, A. J. Thompson, and S. G. Thompson. POKE RUN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY. In 1783 or 1784, Joseph Thorn, William Hill, John Hamilton, James Paul, David Carnahan, and others applied to the Presbytery to have preaching at Poke Run, the name of the stream running along past the base of the hill on which this ancient church now stands. Its site was then thickly covered with poke, and the first house erected there stood not far from a spring in John Miller's field, and was part of the time used for a school-house, in which the two first teachers were Messrs. Findley and Critchalow. In 1789 the Poke Run congregation erected a large log church edifice seventy by thirty feet, on the same site where the present brick building stands, and applied to the Presbytery for preaching. On Sept. 22, 1790, Rev. Samuel Porter was installed as its pastor. He was ordained with Rev. John McPherrin on James McKee's farm in Congruity. Poke Run was then a frontier settlement exposed to the incursions of the Indians, who frequently committed terrible depredations in that vicinity and on the other side of the Allegheny .River. Daring the few first years of his pastorate some of his congregation were obliged to carry their rifles with them to the house of worship. His pastoral relations continued until April 11,1798, when he resigned so as to devote his entire time to the Congruity congregation, which with Poke Run had before been his charge. There was then no regular preaching until 1799 or 1800, when Rev. Francis Laird came over the mountains from the East, and began preaching to Poke Run and Plum Creek congregations united. He was installed as pastor in Conrad Ludwig's meadow, June 22, 1800, that being a middle position between the two congregations. This was in 1800. He was pastor for twenty-nine years and six months, and then accepted a call from the church at Murrysville. The next two years there was supply preaching by Revs. Alexander and Martin,—the latter a Welshman, who turned out to be an impostor and deceived the church officers, — William McGeary, Samuel Hill, Alexander Thompson, John Townsend, Joseph Young, and James Christy, members of session. This was in June, 1831. In 1833 (May 1) Rev. James Campbell, of Armstrong County, was installed as pastor and continued until he resigned April 1, 1834, when Rev. David Kirkpatrick began stated supply preaching to this congregation and the one at Elder's Ridge. May t, 1838, he was installed as pastor, and commenced his regular ministrations, and preached in the old log church and in the woods near John Miller's until the brick edifice was built and finished in 1836, when the church called him for the whole of his time at a salary of six hundred dollars per year. Mr. Kirkpatrick continued as pastor near until his death, Jan. 5, 1869 (having resigned June 23, 1868), a period of thirty years. 1 In 1812, the members of the session were John Hamilton, James Paul, William Hill, John Given, Joseph Thorn, Samuel Paul, and William Guthrie. After them were John Townsend, Samuel Hill, James Christy, Alexander Thompson, William McGeary, and Joseph Young ; then followed Alexander Cowan, Obadiah McCowan, Andrew McCutheon, William Stewart, and Robert McQuilkin, after whom were John Ralston, James Thompson, James Sloan, 1 The Rev. David Kirkpatrick, D.D., died at his residence at Oakland, Westmoreland County, on Wednesday the 5th of January, 1869. He was one of the leading divines connected with the Presbyterian denomination, was a remarkably fine scholar and theologian. He was born in Ireland, and was a graduate of the University of Belfast. For some years he occupied the position of principal of the academy at Milton, Pa., an institution which numbers among its graduates such men as Ex-Governor Curtin, Rev. D. X. Junkin, D.D., Rev. G. Marshall, D.D., and many others who have become prominent. For many years subsequent he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Poke Ruu, in this county, one of the largest congregations in Western Pennsylvania, and during his pastorate won the love and esteem not only of the members of his own charge but of all with whom he became associated. He had reached the advanced age of seventy-four years, and although his death was not entirely unexpected, it will cause sincere regret among his numerous friends and acquaintances. He was the father of Judge John M. Kirkpatrick and William H. Kirkpatrick, Esq., of Pittsburgh, Pa. 608 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. William McQuilkin, John Dickey, and Henry Weister. When Mr. Kirkpatrick was installed in 1835, they were Samuel Hill, John Townsend, Alexander Thompson, William McGeary, James Christy, Joseph Young, and William Guthrie. In 1875 they were Henry Rose and James Paul. Rev. Henry Bain, from Ohio, succeeded Mr. Kirkpatrick in 1869, and is the present learned and popular pastor. Under his pastorate the congregation has largely increased in membership, and through earnest labors a new church edifice, built of brick and in modern style, was erected and dedicated in 1881. This church received Rev. John McMillan as its first supply Oct. 18, 1785, under the designation " Head of Turtle Creek ;" and April 9, 1780, Rev. James Power, under the name of " Poke Run." When Mr. Porter, the first pastor, came with his family, he encamped by a large fallen tree, set up two forks twelve feet from it, laid a pole between them, and others as rafters from it to the log, from which he stripped bark enough to cover it, as a shed under which to. sleep and study, while the part outside of the post was a durable back-log for their fire ; and thus they lived until a house could be erected. The present pastor, Rev. Henry Bain, having graduated at the Western Theological Seminary in April, 1869, was called immediately to Poke Run, and on the first Sabbath in May began to preach here, and was ordained and installed June 22d of that year. Rev. T. R. Ewing preached at this installation, Dr. McFarren presided and made the ordaining prayer, A. Torrance charged the pastor, and J. A. Marshall the people. Though of good Seceder and Associate Reform stock, he joined the Presbyterian Church at a great revival at Hayaville, Okio. He has entirely remodeled the style of worship at Poke Run. The use of tokens, table-seats, and the Scotch version of psalms, all in vogue when he came, has given away to the usages of surrounding Presbyterian Churches. The right-hand elders of Rev. Kirkpatrick in his long pastorate were Hon. Samuel Hill, Joseph Thompson, and John Townsend, Sr. This church is by far the most wealthy, harmonious, and unchanging of all the country churches in the Blairsville Presbytery, and was made such by the labors and prayers of two stated supplies and five pastors during a period of ninety-seven years. It has produced from its congregation one able and eloquent minister, Rev. Daniel W. Townsend. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. This church was erected at Oakland Cross-Roads in 1875, and dedicated in the fall. When built there were but few Methodists in the neighborhood. It is a neat frame structure, and was erected mainly through the means and exertions of James Mehaffey, aided by Moses Miller and his two sons, James and John, and John Walter. It belongs to the Sardis Circuit, and the present pastor is Rev. W. S. Cummings. PINE RUN REFORMED CHURCH. This congregation, near North Washington, was organized conditionally April, 1861, with twenty-seven members. These members belonged previously to the St. James congregation, near Salina, but the distance being too great to attend divine worship regularly at that church, they were dismissed for the purpose of forming a new congregation. The names of those thus dismissed were John Yocke , Jacob Weister, John Gumbert, Sr., Simon Kunkle, Libby Kunkle, William W. Weister, Elizabeth Weister, Jacob H. Yockey, Dorcas Yocke , Conrad Beighley, Catharine Beighley, Susanna Gumbert, Daniel Gumbert, Christiana Gumbert, Leah Kunkle, Elizabeth Muffley, Samuel Fry, Margaret Fry, Joseph Knappenberger, Anna Knappenberger, Jacob Waugaman, Mary Waugaman, John Waugaman, Mary Lauffer, Franklin Kunkle, Israel Muffley, and Susanna Auk. The congregation was attached to the Salem charge, of which Rev. R. P. Thomas was then pastor, and consequently he continued to minister to this people, as he had done while they yet belonged to the St. James congregation, which was also a part of the Salem charge. Services were held every other Lord's day, in the afternoon, at the " Yockey school-house." John Yockey generously donated one acre of ground as a site for a church and graveyard ; a subscription was taken, and a building committee appointed to carry out the project of erecting a church. This committee consisted of Conrad Beighley, Daniel Gumbert, and Elder John Yocke . The cornerstone of the proposed edifice as laid June 5, 1862, the pastor being assisted in the ceremonies by Rev. C. C. Russell. The same day John Yockey and Jacob Weister were elected elders, and Simon Kunkle and Jacob H. Yockey deacon. deacons. The building was dedicated August 30th following with dedicatory sermon by Rev. G. B. Russell, of Pittsburgh. The next day eleven new members were added to the congregation,—nine by the rite of confirmation, and two by renewal of profession. Those entering into the congregation at first contributed towards building the church as follows: John Yockey, one acre of land and $100; John Gumbert, Sr., $100 ; Simon Kunkle, Leah Kunkle, Jacob Weister, William W. Weister, Conrad Beighley, J. H. Yocke , Daniel Gumbert, each $50 ; Israel Muffley, $ 5 ; Susanna Gumbert, $10 ; Joseph Knappenberger and John Waugaman, each $5. The balance to pay the contractor was contributed by persons who became members afterwards, and by persons in the neighborhood who were friendly to the enterprise. Rev. R. P. Thomas continued the pastor until the spring of 1863, and added fifteen members during his pastorate of two years. His successor was Rev. Thomas J. Barklay, in April, 1863, who remained in charge to the end of 1866, when the St. James and Pine Run congregations were constituted a new charge, called the St. James. During his ministry nineteen were added to the communi- WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 609 cant and twelve to the baptized membership. He organized a Sunday-school May 8, 1864, of which Cyrus Kunkle was elected superintendent, William Weister assistant, J. D. Louffer secretary, and John Yockey secretary and treasurer. It increased until it numbered sixty-six teachers and scholars. Rev. T. F. Stauffer succeeded him in 1867, and was the first pastor of the St. James charge proper. From this time on Pine Run congregation received half of the pastor's time, which gave it new life and prosperity. He resigned September, 1871, to accept of a call to the Wilkinsburg Mission, Allegheny County. During his pastorate fifty-nine full members were enrolled upon the church-book, and eighty-four children baptized. He changed the services from the afternoon to the forenoon of Sundays, which revived the Sunday-school, for which he secured a good new library. His successor was Rev. J. B. Welty, who began his labors in September, 1872, but only remained one year, having decided to engage in mission-work in Iowa. He added fourteen members by con firmation and certificate. Rev. John Grant, and then Rev. John McConnell, each served the congregation as supply for a period of six months. The latter received one by confirmation and three children by baptism. In June, 1875, this congregation was stricken off from St. James' charge and erected into a charge by itself. In July following Rev. Henry Bair became the pastor of this new charge. In 1877 this charge numbered one hundred and six confirmed and eighty-seven baptized members, owned a substantial church edifice, and was free from debt. Its officials then were : Elders John Yockey Daniel Lauffer, John Gumbert, Sr. ; deacons, Simon Kunkle, P. K. Gurnbert, Asa Blose ; trustees, John Yockey and Simon Kunkle ; chorister, J. D. Lauffer. The Sunday-school then had upon its roll twelve teachers and eighty-five scholars : Its officers were : Superintendent, Frederick Wigle ; secretary, Jacob H. Yockev ; librarian, P. K. Gumbert; treasurer, John Gumbert, Sr.; choristers, A. B. Hill and J. D. Lauffer. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. JAMES SLOAN. Among the original and good people of this county Sloan belongs. The old stock came from Scotland and Ireland, and settled in what is now Franklin County, near the Maryland line. The great-grandmother was captured by the Indians and taken to the Indian village of Kittanning. She was kept a prisoner for two years and a half. When on a hunting expedition with the Indians one evening the party came upon a trail ; one of the number asked where that trail led to, when one of the Indians said it led to a white settlement,—Fort Wyoming. This was the first chance during these many months to escape. During the night this white woman left the hunting-camp and took the path through the dense woods to the white settlement. She traveled for three nights, hiding herself during the daytime ; after great suffering she at last reached Fort Wyoming, and returned to her home. The grandfather, Robert Sloan, was born and lived in Franklin County, dying at the age of seventy-eight. The father of James Sloan, John, came with his wife, Elizabeth, to Westmoreland County in the fall of 1797, and settled in Salem township, on land owned now by ex-Superintendent H. M. Jones. John Sloan and Elizabeth Steel were married in 1795 or 1796. The land through the southern part of the county was owned by one James Campbell, from whom John Steel bought a mill and divided with his brother-in; law, John Sloan. There were three sons and two daughters born to John and Elizabeth Sloan, viz. : Robert, John, James, Mary, and Eliza. Robert Sloan, by trade a wheelwright, bachelor, died near Clarksburg. John S., a farmer, married Jane Christy, lived on farm adjoining old homestead ; died 1878. Mary, married Charles McLaughlin, lived near Latrobe; had four children, three still living. Eliza, married to James McKelvy, farmer, near Clarksburg, Indiana Co., Pa. ; still living. James Sloan, whose portrait is here given, was born in Salem township on May 14, 1806; remained on the old farm fifty years. Married, June 15, 1827, to Miss Margaret Alcorn. Moved in the spring of 1856 to the farm he now lives on in Washington township. Mr. Sloan has five children living,—John, Eliza, William, Nancy, and James. Among his grandchildren is A. M. Sloan, Esq., of the Greensburg bar. Mr. Sloan has filled important positions in the county and in the church. He is a clear and steady-headed may be classed the Sloan family, to which Mr. James man. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. ORGANIZATION. THE exact date of the organization of Franklin township, in Westmoreland County, is not fixed by satisfactory record evidence. It was erected, however, between 1785 and 1788, for at the October sessions of 1785 there was no such township, and at the October session of 1788 ft is named, as is also Salem, and its constable was in attendance at court. PIONEER SETTLERS. To William Meanor, Robert Hays, Michael Rugh, Mr. Finley, John Hill, Mr. Stitt, Matthew Gorden, and others belongs the honor of being the first to settle in the township. William Meanor bought a claim from an Indian for a keg of tobacco and a rifle, and after locating the claim by a " tomahawk survey," built the first house in the township on the farm now owned by John Rubright. On April 3, 1769, Robert Hays made application to the government for land, and in consideration of forty-five pounds two shillings and sixpence was granted a tract of three hundred and thirty-nine and a half acres. He built a house soon after, within a few feet of the one now occupied by David Steele, which was the second one in the township. These cabins or dwellings were built of logs, with puncheon floors and wooden (stick) chimneys. The furniture consisted of a rude wooden table, split logs for benches, a rifle-rack, etc. The early settlers all came from beyond the mountains in the eastern part of the State. For a few years these hardy pioneers prospered. Other settlers came, and the wilderness was gradually being transformed into fertile fields, when the Indians became troublesome, and a warfare commenced which only ended when the savages were driven from the country. In 1778, Michael Rugh and family, consisting of a wife, son, and daughter, were captured by the Indians and taken to their camp near the present Oil City, where they spent the winter. They were taken the following spring to Canada, where they were held for three years. Upon their release they were sent to New York City, and from thence they made their way back to their home, on the farm now owned by John Haymaker. When peace was established and the State government formed, Michael Rugh was elected to the House of Representatives. When his term expired he returned to his farm, where he resided until his death in 1820. His son died during his captivity, and his wife in 1809. His daughter was married to Jacob Haymaker in 1794, and her son, John Haymaker, now lives on the place settled by Michael Rugh. Robert Hays and his son were also captured by the Indians and held for three years. During their stay with the Indians the son acquired such a taste for the wild life of the woods that he was with difficulty persuaded to leave them, and after his return to the settlements he spent nearly all his time in hunting and fishing. After Robert Hays was released he returned to his farm, and during another raid by the savages he was killed in the doorway of his dwelling. In early times, when a man wished to settle on a tract of land, he made what was called a "tomahawk survey" by going around the tract and blazing the trees which would inclose his claim. Possession of the tract for twenty-one years would give him a color of title. Samuel Sword was the first constable elected. The first schools were established in 1800, in which reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic were all the studies taught. The first grist-mill and store were at Murrysville. Among the first saw-mills was one built by William McWilliams, at which in early times was sawed nearly all the timber for the surrounding meeting-houses. In the latter part of the last century Patrick McKinney was an old-fashioned Irish tailor, mho perambulated from house to house, making what was called home-made cloth coats for the farmers and their sons. He was fond of his cups. About 1805 he went from what was called Burbridge's cabins (where he had a kind of home with an old man named Boyd) to the old still-house. Here he got his coffee-pot filled with whiskey and started for his home, about three-fourths of a mile distant. On his way he was seen by William Richey, who was plowing in a field where now is Michael Ringer's orchard. Just on the top of the hill he sat down on a large rock that lay close to the bridle-path that went from Walthour's block-house to Carnahan's block-house, the former a short distance southwest of Harrison City, and the latter a little north of Perrysville, in Bell township. Here McKinney sat down to rest. Here he was .found in a drunken stupor by George Hall, who was on his way home from a blacksmith-shop that stood a little way from John Larimer's, and by William Richey, who both tried to carry Pat to his home, but ere they FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - 611 reached it his life's spark had fled. He was buried in Riddle's graveyard. His cabin stood near a spring in what was called Samuel McMahan's walnut patch, above Doncaster's old steam-mill. In 1807 William McConnel married Susan McHenry, where John W. Riddle now lives. His grandfather had forty or more years before entered a large tract of land, on which William erected a log house, near where John Steel's cider-press used to be. John McConnel, son of William McConnel, who settled in this township before the close of the Revolution, married Nancy McKee, and inherited the five-hundredacre tract of his father. About 1776 Jonathan, the father of Jacob Hill, took up a tract of land near the township line now occupied by Geiger, Slocum, Silvis, Steele, Smith, and others. In the spring he went over to —Philip Drum's to make some arrangements and get some apple-trees to plant where Lewis Geiger or Adam Huffman lives. On his return Jonathan Hill was waylaid just on the ridge back of Joseph Lauffer's and scalped by a band of Indians. He was buried near where Drum's Church is. His son, Jacob Hill, inherited all his property and erected an old-fashioned distillery. Among the early settlers were the Wilsons, Borlands, Humes, Bethunes, Riddles, Wallaces, Beemers, Ramaleys, Andersons, Walps, Hamiltons, Dices, Lairds, Longs, Elwoods, Fergusons, Hays, Pattersons, McCutcheons, Haymakers, Berlins, McCalls, Rughs, Kings, Chambers, Snyders, Kuhns, Oglees, Teogers, McAlisters, Tallants, Wigles, Dibles, Beacons, Parks, and Taylors. About 1820 and 1825 the original surveys or large farms had mostly passed into the hands of the second generation. Four, five, and sometimes six hundred acres composed an original farm, but by 1835 they were all subdivided among the heirs. The most prominent of the early schoolmasters was William Masters, a man of small stature, but of resolute will and energy. Old George Ament used to boast that he could go through the township on a good frosty day and tell with exactness at every barn whether the thrashing was done by the day or by the bushel without inquiry, but simply by the difference in the stroke of the flail, the stroke in the one case being so much quicker and more vigorous than in the other. The venerable widow of John Reager still lives at her old home just north of Sardis Post-office, in the northwestern part of the township. She is ninety-three years of age, and recollects all the incidents of the Indian massacres in the country that happened seven or eight years before her birth, as narrated to her by those who witnessed or participated in them. THE BERLIN FAMILY. In 1794 one of the soldiers who came from Eastern Pennsylvania in the army to put down the "Whiskey Insurrection" was Jacob Berlin. He got a furlough in Pittsburgh to come out to that part of Franklin township now included in Penn, to visit his uncle, Jacob Berlin, who had settled there some twenty years before. He so liked the country that in the spring of 1795 he returned with his wife, formerly Miss Eve Carbaugh. He finally settled between the Fink and Lauffer farms. His children were four daughters and six sons, viz. : Polly, married to Henry Smith, Catharine, to Jonathan Keithler, Lydia, to Daniel Knappenberger, Sally, to George Detter, John, Frederick, Joseph, Samuel, Powell, and Elias, of whom Powell removed to Forest County, Frederick to Clarion, and John to State of Ohio. Col. Elias Berlin, the youngest son, was born in 1803, and married Sarah, daughter of George A meat. His children were four boys and five girls, viz. : Israel, Henry, Joseph, Cornelius Elias, Mahala, married to Nicholas King, Maria, Esther, married to Joseph Lauffer, Katy Ann, to Isaac Ringer, and Seruah, to James Chambers. His brother John served in the war of 1812. His farm is on the Pittsburgh and New Alexandria turnpike. He killed several wild-cats, bear, and deer when a boy in this township, and picked up many bullets on the battlefield of Bouquet, where the Indians were defeated. THE BORLAND FAMILY. John Borland was born in 1750 in County Antrim, Ireland, and came to America the first time about 1769. He crossed the ocean five times. He returned to Ireland in 1775, and was prevented by the American Revolution, then just beginning, from returning until 1781, when he brought with him his two brothers, Samuel and Matthew, the former settling on the Manor (now Penn township), and the latter locating in Washington County. John came to Franklin township in 1790, and entered some five hundred acres of land, part of which is the homestead of his son, Maj. Thomas Borland, who was there born in 1805. His neighbors were Charles Wilson (owning the lands now possessed by Judge John W. Riddle) and David Crookshanks. He married in 1791 Margaret, daughter of William Carnes, who lived two miles out on the Manor. His wife's brother married a daughter of Charles Wilson. John Borland had a very extensive distillery twenty rods below the present Borland homestead, in the hollow. His children were John, William, Rachel (died young), Andrew (became a printer and went to Missouri), James (owned the place where Cornelius E. Berlin resides), Samuel, Thomas, and Margaret (married to William McQuaid). Thomas, the only survivor of these children, married in 1847 Jane, daughter of Robert Wilson, of Salem township. John Borland bought his land of William Ellison, Jr., in 1790, for ten shillings per acre, which had been entered by Ellison at the same time that A. M. Boyd entered his tract. John Borland, Jr., was in the war of 1812, and served at the siege of Fort Meigs .under Gen. Harrison. The 612 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. first school-house in this neighborhood was on the Borland farm. It was built in 1799, and in 1812 was removed to another part of the farm towards the Manor. Samuel Milligan was its teacher for over sixteen years, who received six dollars a year from each scholar by subscription. John Borland died in 1830, aged eighty years, and his wife, Margaret (Carnes), in 1861, aged ninety-seven. His sister, who married Judge Potts, of Johnstown, died shortly afterwards. THE RIDDLE FAMILY. John and Robert Riddle, brothers, came from the north of Ireland about 1767, and first stopped with Charles Wilson, the wife was their aunt. They both served in the Revolution, and Robert died in camp. After the close of the war John married Isabella Gaut, and settled on land where " Burnt Cabin Summit" is, now owned by Thomas McQuaid. He died in 1793. His children were John, Robert, and Mary, whose first husband was a McMaster, and second John Gordon. Robert, the second child, married Mary, daughter of John Williamson, of Salem township. His children were Nancy, Susan, Isabella (married to John Mock), and Judge John W. Riddle. The latter was born in 1812, and married in 1838 to Margaret Jack McMahan. In 1864 he was elected a representative in the State Legislature, and in 1871 was chosen for five years one of the associate judges of the Common Pleas Court. His father, Robert, died in 1863, aged seventy-eight years. THE WILSON FAMILY. Charles Wilson settled in Westmoreland County before the burning of Hannastown. He had five hundred acres of land in Franklin township (of which the Judge Riddle farm is a part), and four hundred acres near Beaver. His four daughters were respectively married to Samuel McMahan, William Jack, Matthew Jack, and James Carnes. THE SNYDER FAMILY. In the last quarter of the past century Matthias Snyder with his wife, Betsey (Kuhns), came from Northampton County, and settled in Hempfield township, four miles south of Salem. They located on the farm where their son Daniel died in 1881. Matthias died in 1813, and his wife in 1816. Their children were Molly, John, who settled near New Alexandria, where his family is; Peter, who removed to Missouri ; Jacob, Daniel, and Jonathan, living with his nephew, Joseph Snyder, near New Alexandria. Of these, Jacob Snyder was born March 16, 1797, and in 1823 married Mary, daughter of Frederick and Christina (Harmon) Marchand. His children are Daniel, Lavina, married to Levi Long; Sarah, married to Ebenezer Steel ; Susan, Jonathan, Rev. Jacob F., and Matthias. He learned the carpenter's trade with Jacob Dry, whom he helped to build the frame house in Salem that formerly stood where Mrs. John Quilkin's present brick residence is. Jacob Dry was a noted builder in his day, and erected the Union Churches at Manor and Brush Creek. Jacob Snyder came in 1831 to Franklin township, and settled on the farm on which he now resides. He purchased it from the assignees of the Greensburg Bank that had failed. It was a part of an original tract entered by John Moore, who willed it to his son Isaac. His father, Matthias Snyder, served in the Revolution. His son, Rev. Jacob F. Snyder, has been a prominent minister in the Reformed Church since 1865. He preached a year and a half in Armstrong County, and since then in this, residing in this township near his father's residence and the scene of his labors. THE HUMES FAMILY. John Humes, an early emigrant from north of Ireland and a soldier in the Revolutionary war, settled at its close in this township with James Gibson. His land was a tract called " Southampton," consisting of two hundred and twenty-eight acres and one hundred and fifty perches, which had been surveyed by a warrant dated Aug. 26, 1786, to James Gibson, and for which the patent was issued March 22, 1804. His children were James, John, born May 20, 1797 ; Thomas, still living in New Salem ; Nancy, married to Moses Clark ; Jane, married to Mr. Humes, of Crawford County ; Ann, married to John McCall ; and Margaret, married to Isaac Clark, of Ohio. John Humes was in the war of 1812, and was wounded in the leg. The family has ever been members of the Seceders' Church. John married for his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Park, Dec. 27, 1821. She was born Sept. 15, 1802. Their children were William P., born Aug. 22, 1826, and postmaster at Manor Dale; James G., born Nov. 24, 1827 ; John F., born July 10, 1831. His second wife was Sarah, daughter of John Watters, born March 9, 1800, whom he married Feb. 12, 1835. By this union were born the following children Thomas McQuilkin, Jan. 19, 1837 ; Mary Jane, Nov. 7, 1838, and married to George R. Ramaley ; and Jeremiah, who died in infancy. John Humes died May 27, 1869, and Elizabeth (Park), his first wife, Nov. 10, 1833. The land settled by John Humes, the emigrant, was some three hundred acres, overrunning the original survey, and is nearly all owned now by his three grandsons, William P. and James G. Humes and George R. Ramaley. THE DUFF FAMILY. John and Alexander McIlduff were two brothers who came from Ireland and settled in this township about 1780, on a tract of three hundred and thirty-one acres, " with an allowance proportioned to six per cent.," in pursuance of a warrant dated Aug. 26, 1786, which tract was surveyed by John Moore, deputy surveyor. It was bounded then by the lands of William Callan, Peter Hill, Philip Drum, James Gibson, and Michael Hoffman (or Joseph Work- FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - 613 man's). This tract is now owned by John, Robert, William, and Mary Duff and Ebenezer Steel. The name Mcllduff was, after a few years, changed to Duff. John ;Mcllduff had two brothers,—Oliver and Alexander. His children were Alexander, born 1783, and died in 1854; John, Robert, and Ann, married to John Watt. Of these, Alexander married Mary Lusk, who came from Ireland with her parents when she was only three years old. By this union were born the following children : John, Mary (unmarried), Ann, died single, William, Elizabeth, married to William Chambers, Alexander (deceased), Margaret, married to John Doncaster, and Matilda, married to Dr. James C. Laughrey, of Pittsburgh. John Duff and his wife built their cabin and cleared a small corn-patch, and the following year, when they were walking out one Sunday evening, leading their little and oldest boy by the hand, and were returning from their walk, they saw a smoke arise towards their cabin, when he ran forward, by good luck only far enough to get a glimpse, when he saw it in flames and surrounded by Indians. Mr. Duff, with his wife 'and boy, hid in the thicket all night. At this invasion of the savages many of their neighbors were massacred and Hannastown burned. Many of the offspring of the ancestral Duffs have been and are still prominent in the professions of medicine and divinity, and among the former is Dr. J. H. Duff, of Pittsburgh. John Mcllduff (afterwards changed to Duff) was the foremost man in the Seceders' Church in this region, and gave the lot for the old log meeting-house and graveyard from his vast estate. THE CHAMBERS FAMILY. In 1725 five brothers of the name of Chambers, emigrants from Ireland, settled on the Susquehanna River, in Dauphin (then Lancaster) County. Afterwards this family removed to the Cumberland Valley, where its descendants laid out the town of Chambersburg. One of the line of this family, John Chambers, located at the beginning of the century in Washington township, where he resided when he married Annalena Humes, daughter of John Humes, of this township. Their eldest child was William Chambers, born near Manor Dale, Feb. 14, 1818. He was married in 1843 to Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander and Mary (Lusk) Duff. His children are James Alexander, John Humes, Mary Elizabeth (deceased), and Sarah Jane, married to Washington Hill. He was elected in 1879 on the Democratic ticket as one of the county jury commissioners, which position he still holds. His maternal grandfather, John Humes, was once chased by the Indians to the block-house, and was so hotly pursued by one of their number that he turned around and struck the savage in the face with his hat, which baffled him for a minute or so, and thus enabled him to reach the house, only a few rods away. Once when out hunting his horses, which had got loose and wandered off, he was pursued by the Indians, but taking the creek he got home safely, although the bullets from the enemy's guns grazed his clothing. At one time, when plowing, an Indian dog approached him, which he killed, and took from it a ring fastened to its neck by its master, who was near, and soon approached with several of his comrades, but jumping on his horses he escaped to the blockhouses before the savages could get within shot of him. THE HAYMAKER FAMILY. Another prominent and early settled family was that of Haymaker. Jacob Haymaker, the noted justice of the peace in olden times, was the father of John, George, and Michael, who all became wealthy farmers and leading men of the township. The squire possessed a fine farm, now in possession of his son Michael and the heirs of George (lately deceased). As a magistrate he was peculiar, and his manner of dispensing justice was so different from the methods of justices of the present day that it is worth relating. He had his term of court, or law-day, once a week. All suitors appeared on that day, and the court being duly opened he announced it as his opinion that the best way to proceed was for all parties to settle amicably and they would feel better afterwards. He would hear no case before every effort had been made to settle it, and invariably postponed the hearing to facilitate this purpose until after dinner. The dinner was always ample, and both sick made to join and dine with him, and if they were all temperate people, a little old rye distilled in the neighborhood would be dealt around as an appetizer. This good cheer and the squire's good humor and urgent advice to settle generally had the desired effect, if not before dinner, very soon after. and when the only obstacle to the settlement was the squire's costs he canceled them. Such practice was not calculated to enrich the squire. The more of it he had the poorer he was likely to get, but the products of his farm were large and he enjoyed his way and had the respect and esteem of the people. Although of German extraction, he sided with the English class in sentiments and social habits. THE NEWLAND (otherwise NEWLAN) FAMILY. William Newlan was the founder of the village of Newlansburg. He built a mill and owned a good farm. He was a quiet, industrious, and strictly honest man, who came from the Sewickley Quaker settlement. He raised a large family of boys and girls, all of whom are the children of his daughter, Mrs. Miller, who still holds the old place. Joseph Miller, his son-in-law, a highly influential man, spent his whole life after his marriage in the same place. Rev. 0. H. Miller, ex-State librarian, and now of Allegheny City, is one of his sons. THE MELLON FAMILY. Archibald Mellon, of Parish Keppey, County Tyrone, Ireland, married Elizabeth Armagh, of same 614 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. place, and in 1816 emigrated with his family to America, and settled in Unity township, of this county. His children were Armagh, Andrew, Samuel, Thomas, John, Archibald, and William. Of these, Andrew married Rebecca Walkup, born in Ireland, by whom he had two sons, Judge Thomas and William Mellon, and two daughters, Eleanor and Elizabeth. In 1819, Archibald (the emigrant), with his son Andrew, and their families, removed to Franklin township, where they lived until 1833, when they settled in Allegheny County. Archibald Mellon, Jr., was born in Ireland in 1796, and came with his parents in 1816 to this county, and located first in Salem, township. He married Elizabeth, daughter of James Stewart, in 1828, and has no children. He now resides in New Salem borough. When Andrew Mellon left the " Crabtree Farm," in Unity township, he settled on the one in this township now held by P. Kline and P. Pifer, a short distance north of Remaley's (now Stark's) mill. Here an incident occurred to his son, Thomas Mellon, ex-judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, and now the senior partner of " T. Mellon & Sons' Bank" of Pittsburgh, that changed the whole course of the future life of the then young lad. When ten years of age he happened into a log cabin of a neighbor to escape a shower of rain, and while there picked up a much dilapidated copy of the "Life of Doctor Franklin, written by himself." He borrowed it, and that old blurred volume, not bigger than a spelling-book, changed the whole course of his subsequent life. It kindled his ambition for knowledge, useful knowledge, and its maxims became the foundation of his professional and business success, which have been very great. Had it not been for this trivial circumstance Judge Mellon would have doubtless spent his life quietly and laboriously in cultivating one of those poor farms in his old neighborhood. His father, Andrew Mellon, was one of the first four elders of " Cross-Roads" Presbyterian Church, which was organized May 6,1836, and ceased to act in 1841, when he removed into Allegheny County. OTHER FAMILIES AND NATIONALITIES. Besides these there were the Hamiltons, the Clarkes, the McKalips, and other English, or rather Scotch-Irish families, well to do and well doing, in and about the centre of the township. The English did not, however, equal the Germans in numbers, the latter predominating in 1820 two to one. The well-known and worthy families, the Hills, Klines, Painters, Ramaleys, Drums, and others were of the German stock, and were also in most part the second generation or next in succession to the first settlers on the lands on which they resided. The Germans and English, or Scotch-Irish, three-quarters of a century ago here formed two separate or distinct classes, differing in sentiments and social habits and customs, although never disputing nor opposing each other, always good neighbors, but not associating closely. No more generous, kind, or obliging neighbors could be found than the Germans, self sacrificing, but in nowise selfish or self asserting. In all honesty and good will their standard averaged rather higher than the English, but in religion and in social or domestic habits they were perhaps lower in the scale than the English. CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS LIFE. The condition of religion in the township may be gathered from the following extract from a pamphlet on the Sunday question, written by the venerable Judge T. Mellon, of Pittsburgh : " This reminds me of the religious ideas and habits over fifty years ago in that part of Westmoreland County (Franklin township) where I was raised. Rev. Father Wynal, of the Lutheran persuasion, was nursing an embryo congregation among the Germans. He resided near Salts-burg, but came over and preached to them every fourth Sunday, holding the service, in the dwelling of 'tor nearest neighbor, Peter Hill. The congregation has since developed into that now worshiping in a comfortable brick edifice known as Hill's Church, with Mr. Snyder as pastor. Well, at the time to which I refer, when Mr. Wynal was the pastor, and old Peter Hill, as honest a man and good a neighbor as need be, was its contributor, treasurer, trustee, and entire session, the Sunday on which preaching was to be at Peter's was regarded as a holiday indeed by the surrounding German population. They gathered from all quarters. The services lasted from nine till twelve A.M., when Peter's wife, Hetty, nee Geiger (for he was married twice, and had in all twenty-five children), with the assistance of her neighbor women, would have an ample dinner cooked, which was not only free but welcome to all who had come to meeting. The dinner being over, the younger men would spend the afternoon in games of corner ball and pitching quoits on the green in front of the house, whilst Mr. Wynal and Peter and the old men sat smoking their pipes on the porch, looking on at the sport with marked satisfaction. Evidently it occurred to neither pastor nor people that there was anything wrong or sinful in the performance. Times change, however, and religious observances, as well as other habits, change according to the prevailing fashion, for the same congregation would not now spend Sunday afternoon in that way. "At the same time we of Scotch Presbyterian proclivities had a similar gathering every third Sunday at Duff's Tent. Duff's Tent was a place in the woods with benches made of split logs, and an eight-by-ten box-shaped structure, boarded up and roofed, for a pulpit, and for a pastor we had the Rev. Hugh Kirkland, a fresh graduate from the theological school at Glasgow, and zealous in the strictest ideas of the Scotch Kirk. He regarded the merits of Rouse's Version of David's Psalms and the enormity of Sabbath-breaking as of vital importance, and he preached on few topics except To prove the Roman Catholic Church to be the antichrist and whore of Babylon ;' or The desecration of the Sabbath by the Lutherans;' or The damnable heresies of the Methodists in denying the doctrines of innate depravity and predestination, and persisting in singing carnal songs instead of the Psalms of David' This kind of preaching, however, did not bring forth good fruit, even in the Scotch Presbyterian soil in which it was sown. My father allowed the Methodists the use of a vacant house on his place to hold their meetings, and several of the flock attended a Methodist meeting on one occasion to hear the Rev. Bascomb and some of the leading men. Mr. Humes joined in the singing. This the reverend gentleman regarded as an indignity to his teaching, and in his next sermon he took occasion to animadvert severely on the conduct of those who, after being washed from their sins had, like the sow, again betaken themselves to wallowing in the mire. He was so pointed as to nearly designate the delinquents by name, and this raised a row ; but the straw that broke the camel's back was the starting of a Sabbath-school. George and Michael Haymaker and some other young people of his flock undertook to open a Sabbath-school in the school-house at Newlansburg near by. This was too great a sacrilege for the good man to bear. He could not brook the desecration of the Sabbath-day by such worldly employment as school-teaching, and as a majority of his flock inclined to favor the Sabbath-school, he shook the dust from his feet and departed." FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - 615 EMMANUEL REFORMED AND LUTHERAN CHURCH (UNION). A century ago this township, where now are beautiful farms and comfortable dwellings almost as thick as the stars in an evening sky, was then a dense forest, save here and there a settler's cabin. The wild and savage Indian yet occasionally roamed over these hills and skulked through the valleys. Within sight of the church are some of the localities where his vengeance fell, carrying some into a terrible captivity, dispatching others with tomahawk and scalping-knife. The graves of both Indians and whites, who fell by each other's hands, are still pointed out to this day within sight of the church. Notwithstanding the perils of those early days, our brave and hardy ancestors did not forget God, nor the " assembling of themselves together." To Brush Creek, three-fourths of a score of miles, often on foot, bearing their babes and little ones in their arms, they repaired for worship. Here the little ones were baptized by Rev. John William Weber, the veteran pioneer Reformed minister of Western Pennsylvania. Within half a mile of the present Emmanuel Church stands the ancient log dwelling, now tenantless and fast going into decay, where three-fourths of a century ago Rev. Father Weber occasionally preached the glad tidings of salvation. He died in July, 1816. Rev. William Weinel came upon this religious field about 1816, and his labors resulted in an organized congregation about 1820. His temple was the plain house or barn of those of his flock. In 1828, in connection with the Lutherans, a Union Church was built. The ground for the site was donated by Philip Drum and Peter Hill, both members of the Reformed Church. The former was a Revolutionary soldier, and lived until he was ninety-six years of age. The house was of hewed logs, about twenty-eight by twenty-six feet. The members hewed the logs on their own farms, and hauled them to the location. When they had a sufficient number, they called in the help of their neighbors and erected the church. The females having met together also on the ground did the cooking. The principal and almost the only men who took part in this enterprise were Philip Drum, John Kemerer, Jacob Cline, Michael Cline, John Cline, Peter Hill, and John Lauffer, Reformed, and George Hobaugh, Lutheran. The church was seated by placing rough boards upon the trussels. In 1845 it was enlarged by sawing out the eastern end and adding a frame of fourteen feet to its length. The whole building was at the same time weather-boarded, and a pulpit. of the wine-glass style constructed. Rev. Weinel continued until 1853, his last communion being Sept. 25, 1852, at which there were seventy-three communicants. During his pastorate he confirmed eighty-nine. persons, and baptized three hundred and thirty-two. Rev. Nicholai P. Hacke, D.D., began his labors June 12, 1853, having service every four weeks, and half the time in English. In 1856 a building committee to erect a new edifice was appointed, viz.: John Rubright and Peter Hill, Reformed, and John Stark and George Harbaugh, Lutheran. September 12th of that year an article of agreement was entered into with John W. Kuhns to erect the church. Material, brick ; size, sixty-five by forty-four feet ; height, twenty feet to the square ; oval ceiling ; plan, Gothic ; and to cost two thousand seven hundred dollars. On Easter Sunday, April, 1858, it was dedicated. Dr. Hacke's pastorate continued until his resignation, June 16, 1867, under which fifty-eight were confirmed and one hundred and ninety-five added to the baptized membership. His successor, Rev. J. F. Snyder, entered upon his duties April 1, 1867, and services were had every two weeks in the English lang,tage. Jan. 1, 1873, Emmanuel and Olive became one charge. In 1876 the parsonage was erected upon an acre lot donated by Peter Pifer, who, with Daniel Cline, built almost the entire wall, completed with but little assistance the carpenter-work, and did the plastering without the remuneration of a single cent. It is a T-house; size thirty-six by sixteen feet ; kitchen, fourteen by sixteen feet. John Kemerer, over fourscore years, helped to do the hauling and put down the well. When a young man he helped to dig the foundation of the parsonage in which Dr. Hacke has dwelt these many years, and was one of the pillars in the first and second building of " Em-, manuel." This parsonage is beautiful in appearance and is also beautifully located, a few score yards from the venerable old dwelling already described. The first Lutheran pastor in this Union Church was Rev. Michael John Steck, whose successors were Revs. Jonas Mechling, Zimmerman Meyers, A. Yet-ter, J. S. Fink, from 1869 to 1875, when Rev. J. A. Scheffer was called. OLIVE REFORMED CHURCH. During the closing of the last and the beginning of the present century families of the Reformed faith from the eastern counties of Pennsylvania and Maryland settled in this neighborhood. The nearest place of worship for them was Brush Creek, almost a score of miles distant. Thither the fathers and mothers journeyed, often on foot, to attend service and dedicate their children to the Lord. Occasionally that veteran pioneer, Rev. Father Weber, would visit them and preach in their midst. In later years, when the Manor Church was built, they worshiped there. In 1816, Rev. Weinel began to labor regularly in the vicinity of the place where Olive Church is now located. The services were first held in houses and barns. A congregation was organized, but at what date is unknown, but no doubt it was soon after he began his labors at this point. The question of building a church arose. Two locations were presented about two miles apart, one with three acres of ground, offered by Mr. Hankey for a Lutheran and Reformed Church ; the other an acre and three-fourths, offered 618 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. by Mr. Beemer for a Reformed and Lutheran Church, and also a school-house. Neither could be unanimously settled upon, a part of both Lutherans and Reformed holding to one location, and a part of both adhering to the other. The consequence was that two union church building, both of hewed logs, were erected on these locations at the same, time in 1817. Rev. Father Weinel and Rev. Francis Laird, of the Presbyterian Church, were present at the laying of the corner-stone at the Beemer location, which church was known as the " Beemer Church." The other was known as the " Hankey Church." The first record of baptism performed by Rev. Weinel is June 16, 1816, and of communion May 24, 1817, when fourteen communed and seventeen more were confirmed. Rev. Mr. Weinel had at this time some nine congregations, as the communion was only held once a year, and sometimes only once every two years. He labored until October, 1837, his last communion being on the 21st of that month, and last baptism on the 22d. In his pastorate of twenty-one years he confirmed fifty-eight and baptized one hundred and seventy. His successor was Rev. H. E. F. Voight, whose first baptism was Aug. 14, 1839, and first communion April 26, 1840. He continued to serve this congregation and the one at Hankey's for sixteen years, when old age compelled him to lay down the shepherd's crook: When he entered upon the pastorate of this field he served eleven congregations. His last communion in the Beemer Church was Oct. 22, 1854. On Oct. 5, 1858, Rev. R. P. Thomas was appointed a supply for the Hankey congregation, the Beemer Church having become so dilapidated and out of repair that it was utterly unfit for holding service. This congregation was found to be very-small, having been almost entirely absorbed by the Lutheran Church, in consequence of having had no minister of their own for several years. Preaching was had every eight weeks from May, 1859. The corner-stone for a new Union. Church was laid at Hankey's, which now took the name of Christ Church, Nay, 1859. Rev. Thomas continued here until he resigned the Salem charge, April 1, 1863, when for some five years this field was vacant. At the annual meeting of the Westmoreland Classis in October, 1867, the " Beemer-Hankey interest" was brought up, and Rev. T. F. Stauffer directed to preach at the Hankey Church, to gather the people together, to organize a congregation there, and to continue stated supply until otherwise ordered. In 1868 he began preaching at the house of John Reeger, near the Hankey Church, and from August in that year services were held at Hankey's, or Christ Church. The next year Revs. T. F. Stauffer and J. F. Snyder cultivated the whole field, the former preaching regularly in Hankey's Church, and the latter in the Beemer Church when the weather would permit, the roof being partially oft; at other times at a schoolhouse in the vicinity, these points being two miles nearer to him than the Hankey Church. This continued until July 2, 1S70, when those desirous of being organized into a congregation met in the Hankey house for a reorganization. An election re-suited as follows: Elders, George Smith, Henry Remaley ; deacons, Michael Miller; John Beemer. The following entered into the organization : George Smith, Henry Remaley, Michael Beemer, Michael Miller, John Beemer, John Reeger, William Ridenour, Jacob Smith, Phebe Reeger, Catherine Ridenour, Max Miller, Leah Beemer, Catherine Beemer, Catharine Remaley. It was then decided to build a new church at Beemer's, on a lot of ground given that day by Michael Beemer, lying alongside of the old Beemer Church property, to be an exclusively Reformed Church. The building committee were George Smith, Henry Remaley, Michael Miller, John Beemer, and Michael Beemer. The corner-stone was laid April 18, 1871, by Rev. T. F. Stauffer, with sermon by Rev, T. J. Barclay, and was dedicated June 30, 1871, by the name of "Olive Reformed Church," with dedicatory sermon by Rev. J. I. Swander, Rev. T. F. Stauffer the liturgical services, and Revs. J. F. Snyder and G. M. Spargrove, of Presbyterian Church, delivering addresses in behalf of the liquidation of the debt. The edifice is fifty-four feet in length, thirty-five in breadth, and eighteen in height. It is a frame structure, and in October of that year was connected with St. James' charge. Rev. T. F. Stauffer continued to the close of 1872. When Salem charge was divided, June, 1872, this congregation was detached from St. James and annexed to Emmanuel, thereby making a new charge known as Emmanuel. Rev. J. F. Snyder's pastorate began Jan. 1, 1873. Nine of the fourteen original members of the congregation organized July 2, 1870, were members of the Emmanuel, but had removed nearer to Beemer's than the Emmanuel Church, and were encouraged by their pastor to go into the new organization. Its Sunday-school is flourishing, and a large catechetical class is receiving regular instruction. CHRIST, OR HANKEY'S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, was organized proper in 1856, though preaching had been held in the old log structure known as Hankey's Union Church since its erection in 1817. The cornerstone of the second edifice, the Union Church, was laid in May, 1859. The first regular Lutheran pastor was Rev. L. M. Kuhns, and among his successors was Rev. M. Colver. The membership is large and the Sunday-school very flourishing. SECEDERS' CHURCH AND CEMETERY. About three miles west of Salem stands the dilapidated old log edifice known as the "Seceders' Church," which was built near the beginning of the present century, but in which preaching has not been held since 1859. It is now fast crumbling into decay, but half a century ago was the scene of large meetings, when it went by the name of " The Tent." The FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - 617 church lot and cemetery were donations of John Duff. In the old cemetery attached are buried many of the old settlers. MURRYSVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY was organized in 1830, by Rev. Francis Laird, and services held in a house built by the founder of the town, Jeremiah Murry. Mr. Laird was appointed to this office by the Redstone Presbytery, April 6, 1830, and the original members of the congregation were forty-nine, chiefly from Plum Creek Church. On Nov. 16, 1830, Mr. Laird asked leave to resign his charge of Poke Run and Plum Creek, which was grantedicApril 5, 1831,.when he was called for all his time both to Poke Run and Murrysville. At the end of six months he declined the call from Poke Run and accepted that from this church, over which he was installed Oct. 19, 1831. He resigned from ill health June 19, 1850, and died April 6, 1851, aged eighty-one years, in the fifty-fourth year of his ministry,.of which twenty had been here. Sept. 2, 1851, Rev. L. L. Conrad was installed over this church and Cross-Roads. He was released April 12, 1853, and May 22, 1854, Rev. William Edgar was' installed for full time. He resigned April 11, 1860, from half his time, that he might give that portion to Harrison City, where, as an outpost, he had often preached. From the whole charge he was released Oct. 18, 1865. Rev. G. M. Spargrove began his labors as stated supply April, 1866, and May 14, 1868, he was installed pastor. In 1849 the brick house in which from 1840 the members had worshiped became too small for them, and in its stead they erected a more imposing one of two stories. The audience-room above was completed in the spring of 1871, and the basement later in the year.. In May, 1873, a tornado carried off a large part of the roof, and greatly damaged the ceiling and other parts of the roof, which were soon repaired. The whole cost was some $15,000. The elders have been John Beacon, ordained 1831 ; dismissed 1832. John Tillbrook, ordained 1831; dismissed 1842. John Curry, ordained 1831; died 1849. Daniel Relater, ordained 1832; died 1856. Dr. Zachariah G. Stewart, ordained 1832; died 1863. Jacob Dibble (sixty years an elder), ordained 1832; died 1872. John Humes, ordained 1839; died 1869. Wllliam Kirker, ordained 1849; dismissed 1852. Daniel Shaw, ordained 1846 ; died 1856. Joseph Miller, ordained 1846 ; died 1862. John Haymaker, ordained 1846; died 1882. David Koister, ordained 1859. Joseph Hay, ordained 1859. George Kirker, ordained 1859 ; dismissed 1865. William Meanor, ordained 1869 , died 1873 James G. Humes, ordained 1869. George F. Dible, ordained 1869. F. L. Stewart, ordained 1869. A. C. McCutcheon, ordained 1869. Mr. Spargrove continued pastor until his death; Oct. 30, 1880. His successor and present incumbent, Rev. J. I. Blackburn, was installed June 21, 1881. He was born in Fayette County, educated at Washington and Jefferson College, in which he graduated in 1878, and then studied in Allegheny Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1881. This church has had two stated supplies, five pastors, and has sent forth as ministers Revs. O. H. Miller, J. J. Beacoia, and R. L. Stewart, all sons of worthy elders. The cemetery lies just back of the church on a hlgh elevation, commanding a splendid view of the whole valley. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (MURRYSVILLE). Its congregation was organized Oct. 30, 1877, and was an outgrowth of Beulah Church, with which it forms one charge. Rev. Alexander R. Rankin is the present pastor. Its frame church edifice was erected in 1880. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (MURRYSVILLE) is a part of the Sardis circuit, embracing preaching appointments, here, Sardis, New Salem, Oakland Cross-Roads, and Davidson's Chapel. Rev. W. S. Cummings is the pastor. TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATIONS existed , in Franklin township very early, and that of the " Franklin Township Temperance Association" as early as 1847 did effective work, and was carried on by the most prominent citizens. They have opposed the granting of licenses, and for some years have had no licensed issued within their borders. MURRYSVILLE. This town was laid out by Jeremiah Murry, who on leaving the Emerald Isle had dropped the patronymic "Mc" from his name. He had the lots surveyed and the town regularly laid out as soon as the Pittsburgh and New Alexandria turnpike (which runs through it) was located, and which was before 1821. Murry came to this country about 1781 (then in his twenty-second year), and resided a few months in the Cumberland Valley. He then crossed the ic mountains on foot as a peddler, with his pack on his back, and came to " Anderson's block-house," in this region, where he halted. Having disposed of his wares with great profit, he was in search of land, of which he sought a tract both eligibly located for a farm and a mill-site. On arriving at the brow of the hill overlooking the valley of Turtle Creek, his keen eye noted the grand mill-site and the beautiful location of the land, all covered with a dense forest. He went down to the stream, and carefully examined the creek and the land contiguous to it, and then walked to Pittsburgh, to the government land-office, got his patent, and located his large body of splendid land. He and a man named Cole (a hunter, whose cabin was destroyed by the Indians) were the first settlers in this section. The old " Forbes" road crossed the creek here near the sulphur spring, where the town now is, and near it is the old Frankstown road. Murry at once put up a cabin (in which he had a little store) on the bank of the creek, on the site of 618 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. the present United Presbyterian Church. On the lwilding of the turnpike he established the town, and built the brick house in which Mrs. Dr. J. S. Murry now residei, the first house erected in the place. He kept store all his life. He married Ann Montgomery, of Cumberland Valley, by whom were born the following children : Elizabeth, married to Rev. Mungo Dick ; Nancy, to John Cowan ; Rebecca, to J tAin M. Gilchrist; Sarah, to Dr. Benjamin Burrell ; Jane, to John Carpenter, and James. His wife, Ann, dying Sept. 7, 1819, he subsequently married Mrs. Statira Rippey (nee McNair), by whom he had no children. He died Sept. 3, 1835, aged seventy-six years. His only son, Gen. James Murry, married Priscilla .Schaefer of Greensburg, by whom were born the following children : 1. Susan, married to James Irwin, and still living. 2. Jeremiah, deceased. 3. Ann, married to James Verner, of Pittsburgh Passenger Railroad Company. 4. Dr. John S., who died in November, 1879. 5. Capt. Alexander Murry, of Foster's Crossing, Warren Co., Ohio, on retired list of United States army. 6. Sarah, married to W. F. McKnight. 7. Nancy, married to Robert A. Weddell, of Pittsburgh. 8. Mary Jane, married to Johnston McElroy. 9. Andrew Jackson. Just below the Murry house Dr. Stewart built a brick house in 1832, but before this, and just after the Murry house was put up, Mr. McWilliams erected a brick house, in which he kept tavern a year or so. Gen. James Murry soon after built and opened a brick tavern on the site of the present " King House." The first resident physician was Dr. Benjamin Burrell, father of Judge J. Murry Burrell, who died Dec. 21, 1832, in his forty-first year. After him was Dr. Charles J. Kenly, located several years before his death, June 23, 1828 ; and the next was Dr. Zachariah G. Stewart. Dr. John McConnell, who died June 22, 1831, aged twenty-six, had only practiced a short time. After Jeremiah Murry the next store-keepers were James Irwin, in the building now kept by A. C. McCutchen, and John M. Gilchrist, the latter also keeping tavern. Capt. Hugh Irwin, of Newlansburg, was captain of the " Blues," a crack company that used to train in the old militia days when musters were held at this point. The residence of Francis L. Stewart was erected by William Beatty, an eminent machinist, who died in Louisville, Ky. The commercial centre of the township was Murrysville, of which its founder, Jeremiah Murry, miller, merchant, and justice of the peace, was tq its neighborhood what Vanderbilt or Astor is to New York City. He was a man of brains, enterprise, and energy, and prospered exceedingly and extended his possessions, He had a saw- and grist-mill, and a store with all kinds of goods, at which everybody could get credit Who chose to avail himself of it, and who had a farm or share in one sufficient to secure the debt. It was said that in one direction, towards the northeast from Murrysville, he could travel five miles on his own land, much of it acquired in payment of merchandise sold out of his store. His son, Gen. James Murry, was a man of considerable talent and fine address. Dr. J. S., son of the latter, was for a long period a noted practitioner Ex-Judge J. Murry Burrell, of Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court, was k grandson of Squire Jeremiah Murry, and born and raised in this town, and J. M. Carpenter, a prominent attorney of Pittsburgh, is a great-grandson. TURTLE CREEK ACADEMY was established in 1861 by Francis Laird Stewart, and the school at first held in the residence of his father, Dr. Zachariah G. Stewart, and then for some four years in a frame building on the Stewart lot near the family mansion. When the new Presbyterian Church was built its basement was fitted up and arranged for the academy, in which it has since been conducted. Mr. Stewart was the first principal, and his successor, Rev. G. M. Spargrove, conducted it until his death, in October, 1880. Since then it has been under the supervision of Rev. J. I. Blackburn, present pastor of the Presbyterian Church. Its trustees are Dr. G. C. Sparks, president ; F. L. Stewart, secretary ; Rev. A. R. Rankin, treasurer; Dr. W. J. Rugh, William Milliken, James G. Humes, David Tallant, George F. Dible, Charles Wiester, A. C. McCutcheon, E. V. Kiester. THE GAS-WELL. Adjoining the town, and only distant a few hundred yards, but visible from all its limits, is the celebrated gas-well. It is situate on the real estate of Henry Remaley, on the bank of Tuttle 'Creek. When boring for oil this gas-well was struck at a depth of fourteen hundred feet. It was at once utilized by Haymaker Brothers and H. J. Brunot, who erected large lampblack-works and carried on the manufacture of lampblack on a very extensive scale until their works burned down, Sept. 18, 1881. Carbon black was very easily and cheaply manufactured by this gas-well, one of the greatest wonders of the day and said to be the largest in the world. Its flaming fire issuing forth can be seen at night for eight or ten miles in all directions, while its buzzing sound is heard for a great distance. It is visited by thousands from all parts of the world, and many of the most distinguished scientists of the day have been here to examine into its workings and analyze its gas. A curious fact in connection with the burning well is the numberless dead birds whose tiny carcasses are to be found on all sides of the flames. The wild geese also gather around in the light when lost from the main flock. All around the well the trees SALEM TOWNSHIP - 619 are burnt and blasted and the vegetation dried up. The heat from the flames is terrible, while the light shed by them is simply grand. It can truly be said of Muriysville, " and there is no night there," for the country for miles around is made light as day. THE STEWART FAMILY. Dr. Zachariah G. Stewart was born at Alexandria, Huntingdon Co., in 1805, and was the son of Thomas H. and Anna (Harris) Stewart. He was educated at the academy of his native town, and there read medicine with Dr. Trimble, a noted practitioner of his day. Afterwards he came to Pittsburgh, was some time in the hospital service, and then began practicing there. Subsequently, in 1828, he located in Murrysville, at the solicitation of Capt. John M. Gilchrist, in whose company he was on March 11, 1829, when the latter was accidentally killed by the fall of a tree. He was married in 1831 to Jane, daughter of Rev. Francis Laird. He continued his practice. here until 1858 (a period of thirty years), when he removed to Cannonsburg, so as to have better facilities for educating his .children, where he died Aug. 30, 1863, from over-exertions in the hospitals at Gettysburg after the battle in the preceding month. His wife died Feb. 23, 1879, in her seventy-fourth year. He was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church for a long period. Their children were Francis Laird, residing here in the old family mansion ; Dr. Thomas H., of Trumbull County, Ohio ; Rev. Robert S., Presbyterian clergyman at Danville, once resident of Colorado, and who made an extended tour in Europe; Anna M., married to William McJunkin, of New Texas, Allegheny Co.; Jennie, married to John L. Mateer, of Atchinson County, Mo. ; Francis L. Stewart, married Miss Maggie H. Stewart, of Barre, Huntingdon Co., and thoroughly prepared himself for a teacher. He taught several years in Missouri and other States, and in 1861 established here the "Turtle Creek Valley Academy." SALEM TOWNSHIP. ORGANIZATION, Exc. THE precise date of the organization of this township is impossible to determine, as a blank occurs in the records of the court by which it was erected. It is quite certain, however, that it was made between the years 1785 and 1788, as the name does not appear among the list of townships in the former, but it does in the latter year. It has undergone some considerable changes in point of area since its formation. Its present boundaries are : north and northeast by Washington, Bell, and Loyalhanna townships; east by Loyalhanna Creek and Derry township ; south by parts of Unity and Hempfield townships; and west by Penn and Franklin townships. The sub-strata of the township is a continuous series of coal-veins of an average thickness of seven feet. There are several extensive coal-works within its limits, and an inexhaustible supply of bituminous coal lies buried, only waiting future development. It has also a large quantity of excellent stone. The principal streams are Beaver and White Thorn Runs. This township bears the unmistakable impress of New England industry, prudence, and thirft. PIONEER SETTLERS. Some few of its early settlers were descendants of old Massachusetts ancestry, who emigrated hither late in the lait century and remained, here. Most, however, were of Brito-Scotch-Irish descent. Among the early settlers were James McQuilken, William Wilson, William Hall, Christian Ringer, David Shryock, Michael McClosky, Philip Steinmats, John Cochran, George Hall, William Wilson, George Wilson, and the Laughlins. In 1803, John Beatty came from Fayette County and moved into a log cabin that stood about one rod to the right of the Freeport road, above the mouth of John Cochran's coal-bank (then George Hall's), two miles north of New Salem. In April, 1806, this family removed to Butler County. About the beginning of the century the two well-known stone-masons in the township were Ned O'Hara and Michael Rogers. In 1802, William Wiley, an emigrant from Ireland, whose wife was a sister of Jacob Dible, of Murrysville, bought one hundred acres of land, now owned by the heirs of Levi Bush, but formerly by Browns-lee and David Crookshanks. About 1817, Moses Cunningham kept an inn at the junction of the Funkstown and Puckety roads. In 1800 an old log school-house stood about one mile north of New Salem, about twenty rods off where the Freeport road is and in John McQuaid's field. Its teacher for several years was Alexander McMurry. In 1808, John Kline, an emigrant from Germany, who had married Susanna Hill, of Franklin township, came into Salem to live. He was a cooper by trade. He was now an old man, and built his cabin on. what he supposed was Frederick Ament's land, 620 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. who had told him he could have it rent free during his (Kline's) life; but it turned out in years after to be on Matthew Jack's land, and old man Kline, losing his cabin, was so wrought up in his feelings that he hanged himself with a silk handkerchief tied to an apple-tree. George Swanger lived in 1810 in a log house just above Isaac Lauffer's brick house, or near Knappenberger's old saw-mill. Frederick Ament in 1805 came from York County, and purchased a farm one mile from Salem from William Dixon. He died July 14, 1847. In 1818, John Hutton came from Franklin County and located in the township, being a stone-mason, etc. George Nunamaker was one of the earliest settlers near Congruity. One of his daughters married a Brown, who served in the war of 1812, and was discharged at Fort Meigs, April 2, 1813. Among other early settlers may be mentioned the Laughlins, the Moores, Waltons, Walthours, Klines, Soxmans, Knappenbergers, Kissems, Shields, Shaws, Cooks, Steeles, Potts, Bairs, McQuilkins, Sloans, Klingensmiths, Frys, Dushanes, Christys, McConnels, Jones, Penis, Stewarts, Wagners, Givens, McGearys, Snyders, Kecks, Ralstons, Caldwells, Gordons, McQuaids, Stouts, Adairs, Hornings, Gibsons, Craigs, Keples, Shusters, Kemerers, and Zimmermans, who settled at different periods. John Hamilton, who served in the war of 1812, was the father of Mrs. Adam Hoffman. Nancy Christy, widow of David Christy, and before her marriage Nancy McCall, is still living, having been born in 1792. Her husband died in 1866, aged seventy-four years, and was born in 17.92, on the farm now owned by his son, John Christy, one mile from New Salem. He was the sou of James and Mary (McCall) Christy. The mother of Hon. T. J. Bigham, of Pittsburgh, was a sister of David Christy, and Mr. Bigham, after the death of his parents, was raised in the family of his grandfather, James Christy. RECOLLECTIONS OF THE HON. THOMAS J. BIGHAM. We have great satisfaction in here giving a very valuable contribution from the pen of the Hon. T. J. Bigham, a gentleman well known for his antiquarian and historical researches, and a native of Westmoreland. The observations he makes are applicable to Northern Westmoreland in an especial manner, but in a general manner to all Westmoreland. Mr. Bigham was born in 1810 in Salem township, near Delmont, where his parents had resided. His maternal grandfather was Capt. James Christy, of the Eighth Pennsylvania. He was one of the original settlers in the northern part of the county, and had located on a farm on Beaver Run, Salem township, adjoining Delmo' nt, shortly after the close of Poiatiac's war, probably between 1766 and 1768. Mr. Bigham's parents having died in infancy, he was brought up in the family of his grandfather. Capt. Christy was then, in the words of Mr. Bigham, " verging on threescore and ten, and although a quiet man, yet at that age all men become fond of telling tales of their childhood. I was constantly in his company frpm when I was able to run about. " Nearly all I know of Westmoreland County of the last century I learned from him and a few other neighbors of that age. He had been a quiet, hardworking farmer ; he aided to make history, but had never written a line in his life. When he located on the farm on which he lived until his death at the age of eighty-three he has often told me of trouble he had from visits of the Indians and wolves in the nighttime. He had made out to keep on good terms with the Indians, and killed wolves by the dozens. " Remember his location on that farm antedated the organization of Westmoreland seven years. No magistrates or police existed there before the Revolutionary war of 1776. During that war the Indians were hostile and overran the entire county, and more especially the northern part of it. He has told me a thousand tales of Indian visits and the dangers his neighbors encountered. Whenever old folks met to talk over olden times, all that had happened before the burning of Hannastown was the dividing line between the old and the new, almost as marked as Noah's flood of the old world. "THE SIMPLE HABITS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. "Necessity probably forced simple habits upon the original settlers, but for many years it had become the rule. Even the ladies who are fondest of show and fine dresses had become reconciled to things as they found them. They had no stores with fashionable goods to tempt the vanity of the young. They had no fashionable churches to exhibit their fine dresses. Their food was of the best and most healthful character, and prepared by their own hand. Most of their clothing was the product of their own looms, wool grown on their own sheep ; flax was grown upon their own ground, spun and woven on their own wheels and looms. Tea and coffee could only be procured by long pack-horse journeys of one or two hundred miles. Their log cabins, if not elegant, were healthy. They met on a common platform ; no class existed; all were masters, none were servants. "Their buildings were equally simple. When a young couple married they went into the woods to open up a new farm for themselves. A log cabin of probably two rooms satisfied their ambition. As children multiplied enlarged cabins accommodated them, and finally in my boyhood days nearly all well-to-do farmers had substantial farm-houses, with parlors, dining-rooms, kitchens, and all the appliances of modern civilization. Some had failed and grumbled at their ill luck, generally the result of their own bad management. SALEM TOWNSHIP - 621 "PACK-HORSE TRANSPORTATION OF EARLY TIMES. " For many years nearly all the transportation of that section was carried on by pack-horses. The roads were chiefly bridle-paths through the woods. A wagon-road for Gen. Forbes' army had been opened across the mountains in 1758, but for want of repair had become simply a bridle-path. Land-slides and rolling rocks had left it impassable for wagons. No township supervisors existed to keep roads in repair. The sparse population must have salt and iron for domestic purposes, some groceries, dry-goods, etc., and the only way to get them was by using their horses in the intervals of farm-work. A single horse could carry three or four hundred pounds, securely fastened upon a packsaddle, and one man could manage half a dozen of them, and in that way transport about a ton across the mountains. Money as a currency was almost unknown ; everything was barter or exchange of Western products for Eastern goods, so they had a load in both directions. In the best of weather ten days would be employed to cross the mountains and return. Generally two weeks were required for a trip. The neighbors usually formed a small caravan; fifty or one hundred horses in single file along a path would carry probably ten tons, and for many years .this was the mode of mountain transportation. Ordinary wagon-roads, turnpikes, canals, and railroads have superseded all these primitive modes. "THE EARLY SETTLERS WERE NOT POLITICIANS. "Even in my boyhood days I never heard half a dozen discussions on partisan politics. The county officers were then appointed by the Governor. No county conventions were then held to nominate a ticket. Whoever aspired to an election announced himself as a candidate in the newspapers. The public would have five or ten candidates for most public offices, and every voter se cted for himself. I never heard of a public meeting to discuss pending issues before the election as is now common. The old October elections were held at Greensburg, and one-third of the voters did not usually attend. A governor's election would bring out a much fuller vote. I accompanied my relations to the election between Gregg and Schultz, and was amazed to find the streets of Greensburg crowded with people ; never had seen so many people assembled together. Prior to that time the Legislature had, I believe, appointed Presidential electors. I remember my grandfather was quite annoyed when an election by the people was announced for President. The machinery of an electoral ticket was not understood by the masses. Gen. Jackson and the battle of New Orleans they had all heard of, but to vote for thirty-two perions, none of whom they had ever heard of, puzzled them amazingly. ' Why all this change ?' said they. ' The legislators probably understand all this. They elected Washington and Jefferson, etc., and we were all satisfied. But here are - 40 - thirty-two names of which we know not one, or only one or two of them, and why should we leave our farms and lose a day on this nonsense?' Since the voters have got to understand this complicated machinery, and have spent a month attending party conventions and listening to party discussions they look upon things very differently. My grandfather was a quiet Democrat, and my guardian a still quieter member of the opposition, but neither of them ever spent five minutes in talking to me of party politics or how I ought to vote. In my boyhood days I heard ten discussions on religious subjects for one on politics. I am not certain but things have now gotten too much on the other extreme, too much politics and too little on religion." ANDERSON'S CAVE. About 1840 one Anderson, originally from Greensburg, was taken to the Western Penitentiary of this State, convicted of highway robbery. He had been a schoolmaster, but he took to the woods, and .soon became notorious as a daring highwayman and thief. He was said to be as agile as a cat, and would leap to the boot of a stage-coach in those days and in a twinkling of an eye become the possessor of some articles of value. Stealing was a mania with him. He would purloin and carry away and preserve with great care things of the most trifling value. When found he had concealed about his person an old ale not worth over six cents. When received in prison he became stubborn and unmanageable, refused To eat, and when placed in his cell stopped up all the holes, turned on the hydrant, and when rescued was immersed in eighteen inches of water. Absolutely refusing all food or nourishment, he lingered fifty days and died. His cave was at the right of New Salem, where he secreted all his plunder and kept hid from the officers of the law. He was captured away from it, and strange to say, notwithstanding all the valuables and treasures it is said to have contained, it has never to this day been explored or its contents fathomed. Between the years 1837 and 1840 this highwayman was in his zenith, and tradition says this noted freebooter stopped at no crime to compass his designs for stealing. Probably no greater example of kleptomania ever lived in the State, and his end was miserable in the extreme. CONGRUITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY. Congruity first asked for supplies July 31, 1789, two months after the organization of the General Assembly. On Sept. 22, 1790, Samuel Porter, at the same time with John McPherrin, was ordained at a tent on "James McKee's farm" and installed as pastor of Congruity with Poke Run. This church has raised a larger family of ministerial sons than any other in the Presbytery,—Revs. Samuel Porter, Jr., W. K. Marshall, D.D., Edward R. Geary, D.D., A. Craig McClelland, William Edgar, John 622 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Steele, William F. Kean, Lazarus B. Shryock, Samuel P. Bollman, John Molton Jones, David L. Dickey, eleven, and has had four pastors with one stated supply. Rev. Samuel Porter, the first pastor, was born in Ireland, June 11, 1760, of parents belonging to the Reformed Presbyterian Church, commonly called Covenanters. He arrived in this country in 1783, and spent his first winter in the vicinity of Mercers-burg, Franklin Co.,.this State. In the following spring he removed to Washington County, where through the kind offices of Alexander Wright he procured a school to teach, and was led to attend the ministrations of Rev. Joseph Smith, then pastor of the United Presbyterian Churches of Upper Buffalo and Cross Creek. He also embraced opportunities of hearing Dr. McMillan. Through these and other clergymen he was induced to enter upon a course of preparation for the gospel ministry. His studies were prosecuted with James Hughes, John Brice, and Joseph Patterson, partly under the direction of Rev. Joseph Smith, and partly under that of H. McMillan, with whom be studied theology. Having spent three years in the prosecution of his academical and theological studies, he was licensed by the Redstone Presbytery Nov. 12, 1789. Hence, at a meeting of April 12, 1790, a call was put into his hands from the united congregations of Poke Run and Congruity, one from the congregations of George's Creek and Dunlap's Creek, and one from Long Run and Sewickley. The region embraced by the. two congregations first named, especially by Poke Run, was 'at that time a frontier settlement. Many of the people were wild and uncultivated, and needed much the moulding influence of the gospel and the restraints of religious instruction and discipline. As evidence of this it is said that on one occasion, while Mr. Porter was preaching in the woods, two young men withdrew from the crowd and ran a foot-race in full view of the preacher and congregation. Mr. Porter having no high aspirations for himself and judging himself best adapted to a field like this, preferred it to the others, which in some respects were more inviting. Under his faithful ministrations the congregation increased to such an extent in eight years that they felt themselves able alone to support a pastor, and as the labors of the mnited charge were too great for Mr. Porter, he felt it to be his duty to relinquish Poke Run. Accordingly the pastoral relation between him and that congregation was dissolved April 11, 1798, very much against the wishes of the people, who remonstrated against the proceedings. The congregation of Congruity, within the bounds of which he resided, agreed to take the whole of his time, promising him " £120 per annum, one-half in merchantable wheat at five shillings per bushel, and the remainder in cash." To this arrangement Mr. Porter acceded, and continued in the pastoral charge of the congregation to the time of his death, Sept. 23, 1825, a period of thirty-five years. While pastor there a new stone tavern had been built on the turnpike, scarcely a mile from the church, and was just opened by the owner, a very clever man. The young folks of the neighborhood, many of them the children of church-members, and even baptized members themselves, had agreed to have what was generally known as a house-warming by holding a ball there. The arrangements were all made, the tickets distributed, and the guests invited. On the Sabbath previous to the intended ball Mr. Porter, after preaching an eloquent sermon sitting in his old split-bottomed armchair (for he was too feeble to preach standing, and for many a long day sat and preached in that old arm-chair, elevated in the pulpit for his accommodation), and before dismissing the congregation, gave out the usual notices for the ensuing week and Sabbath. After stating that Presbytery would meet the next Tuesday in Greensburg, and making his usual appointments, he then gave notice that on the next Thursday evening, at early candle-lighting, a ball was to be held about three-fourths of a mile from that place. He said it was to be hoped that all the polite young ladies and gentlemen would attend, as it was said to be a place where politeness and manners could be learned and cultivated, and that many other things could be said in favor of attending such places which it was not necessary for him to mention at that time. However, he said it was to be hoped' that as many as could would attend at the time named, " next Thursday evening, at early candle-lighting." He remarked that, for his part, if he did not attend, the young folks would excuse him, as it was likely he might be detained at Presbytery ; yet should Presbytery adjourn in time and nothing else prevent he expected to attend, and, should he be present, he would open the exercises of the night by reading a text of Scripture, singing a psalm, and be dismissed. Then with a full and solemn voice and in the most impressive manner he read the ninth verse of the eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes. Then he announced and read the Seventy-third Psalm. After this was sung he offered up a fervent and affecting prayer, praying earnestly for the thoughtless and gay, and for the power of God's Spirit to guard them from those vices and amusements which might lead the youthful mind to fritter away precious time and neglect the one thing needful, and then, with his solemn benediction, the congregation was dismissed. The evening set for the ball arrived and passed away, but the ball was never held, the whole community having been loudly awakened by the venerable pastor's course. Rev. Samuel McFarren succeeded him, and was ordained and installed Oct. 3, 1827, when Rev. S. Swan preached and W. Speer gave the charge. His pastorate extended over forty-two years, and while unassuming was most successful. He resigned Jan. 11, 1870, when, in the judgment of many persons, he seemed competent to starve it well for many more SALEM TOWNSHIP - 623 years. On August 1st of the same year, after an illness of only four days, he was called to his eternal home. He was succeeded by. Rev. W. J. Boilman, who was ordained and installed June 3, 1870, when Revs. D. W. Townsend preached, G. M. Spargrove charged the pastor, and Dr. McFarren the people. He resigned Oct. 2, 1872, and Oct. 7, 1873, Rev. William B. Craig, from Carlisle Presbytery, having been called in April, was installed. Revs. W. W. Moorhead preached, R. Carothers charged the pastor, and W. F. Kean the people. Besides the, eleven Presbyterian preachers raised and born in its congregation, there were John F. Kean and Samuel P. Marshall, who were called from work to rest just before ready to enter upon the ministry, the former soon after licensure and the latter just as he was about to be licensed. The first elders were Thomas Armstrong, William Freeman, James McKee, John Shields, and John Cochran. The first accessions were John Moore, John Woods, Hugh McClarren, and David Buchanan. The second, Robert Shields and John Ralston. The third, John Dickey, William. Armstrong, and Benjamin Allsworth. The fourth, John Steele, William Marshall, and John L. Adair. The fifth, William Ralston, Ephraim A. Robinson, and Robert Rainey. The sixth, Thomas McQuade, John Moore, and William Craig. The seventh, Joseph Cook. The eighth, Thomas W. McConnell, Thomas Humes, John Marshall, and Joseph Reed. The ninth, James Sloan, David McConnell, James M. Shields, and Henry Robinson. The tenth, George Kirker and Henry M. Jones. The present pastor is Rev. E. S. Robinson. The cemetery adjoining the brick house contains the remains of the old settlers in this region. UNION REFORMED AND LUTHERAN CHURCH ("FENNEL'S CONGREGATION"). " Fennel" is a daughter of Trinity Reformed congregation, New Salem. Since her organization the charge has undergone three changes in the way of division and reorganization, yet Fennel's has always stood by and held fast to her mother, Trinity. This congregation originally constituted a part of Trinity, at New Salem, but owing to the great distance these persons lived from Salem, and the inconvenience of attending divine service there, the pastor, Rev. R. P. Thomas, was engaged to preach for them in " Concord School-house" every two weeks, in the afternoon, commencing Dec. 4, 1858, which continued to Jan. 29, 1860. In the spring of 1859 a lot of ground for the church edifice and graveyard were purchased from David Shields. It was the design to build an exclusively Reformed Church, but when the deed was made the land was deeded to the Reformed and Lutheran congregations. Hence. the church became, and continues to the present time, a union church. The edifice is frame, forty-five by thirty-two feet, lined and celled inside with boards. The cornerstone was laid in August, 1859, and it was dedicated Feb. 27, 1860, with ceremonies and exercises, by Revs. N. P. Hacke, D.D., and C. C. Thomas, assisting the pastor. The following were the first church officials : Elders, William McCutcheon, two years, Peter Hill, one year ; .deacons, Joseph Willard, two years, John Michael Fennel, one year ; trustee, David Wolff. Some fifty members came from the New Salem congregation, leaving fifty-one at the latter. Its pastors have been the same as at New Salem : 1860-63, R. P. Thomas ; 1863-66, T. J. Barkley ; 1867-73, J. F. Snyder ; 1874-76, S. Shaw ; 1876-78, J. W. Knappenberger ; 1878-82, C. W. Good. The Lutheran congregation was organized in 1859. The first pastor was Rev. A. Yetter, who was succeeded by Rev. V. B. Christy. The membership is nearly a hundred. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY (NEW SALEM). This church was organized chiefly from Congruity, Dec. 25, 1849, with seventy-two members and five elders, by Revs. S. M. McClung, D. Kirkpatrick, and W. Hughes. Rev. James C. Carson was installed its first pastor, Feb. 11, 1851. The substantial church edifice was erected in 1849 by the following building committee : James L. Clow, Henry C. Keever, Samuel Jack, Moses Clark, Joseph McQuilkin. The second pastor was Rev. David Harbison, who was succeeded in September, 1876, by the present incumbent, Rev. J. L. Thompson. He was born in Washington County, and graduated in 1869 at Washington and Jefferson College, and soon afterwards entered the ministry. This church is in the Blairsville Presbytery. The present rullng elders are Finton Torrence, Thomas K. McQuaid, Thomas Waddell, John W. Kirker, Robert I. Clow, James Stout ; and the trustees are Finton Torrence, Samuel Bovard, John McKeever, Samuel Paul, and Joseph Christy. The Sunday-school superintendent is John .G. Kirker. The church has a membership of two hundred and nineteen. The late Joseph McQuilkin and its first pastor, Rev. James C. Carson, were largely instrumental in the formation of the congregation and the erection of the substantial brick edifice, built a third of a century ago. Its builder was D. W. Shryock, who built it 48 by 56 feet for $1520, as by contract with the building committee, entered into May 1, 1849, and same to be finished in twelve months. The first pastor, Rev. J. C. Carson, resigned Oct. 4, 1866, and died July 5, 1870. The second pastor, Rev. D. Harbison, was installed May 21, 1867, when Rev. N. H. Gillett preached, Samuel McFarren charged the pastor, and George Hill the people. The elders at organization were Joseph Reed, Col. Thomas McQuaid, Sr., John Larimer, Robert Shields, and D. W. Shryock. The first accessions were Joseph Ralston. Joseph Harvey, Joseph Niccolls, and James Blair. The second accessions were Thomas K. McQuald, S. S. Duffield, and Robert S. Clow. The congregatlon 624 - HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. of the dead, substantially inclosed, contains a larger amount of monumental marble than is to be found in almost any other inland town. TRINITY REFORMED CHURCH (NEW SALEM). A number of the members of the Reformed Church who lived in and around New Salem, and who worshiped at the Manor Church, four miles southwest from New Salem, or at St. James', nine miles north, long felt the necessity of a Reformed Church in the village of New Salem. Accordingly in 1849, in connection with the members of the Lutheran Church, who were also without a temple in the village, the work of erecting an edifice was begun. In the summer of 1850, before the Reformed congregation was organized, this edifice, as a union church, was dedicated. November 25th following the congregation was formed, with Philip Hobaugh and Michael Fennel as elders, and Valentine Bossard and Sebastian Bear as deacons. The following were the original members : Philip Hobaugh, Elizabeth Hobaugh, Valentine Bossard, Sarah Bossard, Sebastian Bear, Michael Fenner, Henry H. Bear, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Row, Elizabeth Hugus, Henry Hugus, Sarah Hugus, Sarah Zimmerman, George Kline, Hannah Kline, Simon Hugus, Lydia Hugus, George Lose, Catharine Lose, John M. Fennel, Isaac Hugus, William Marts, Mary Marts, David Wolff, John Snyder, Elizabeth Snyder, John Waugaman, Susanna Waugaman, Rebecca Klingensmith, Margaret Snyder. Rev. S. H. Giesy, who had but recently come into Westmoreland Classis, was elected pastor, this congregation, in connection with St. James', 2d Greensburg, and Irwin, constituting his pastoral charge. He continued pastor to Aug. 1, 1855, during which time thirty-six members were added by confirmation and certificate, and thirty infants to the baptized membership. His successor was Rev. Thomas G. Apple, a graduate of the theological seminary at Mercersburg, who was here a year and three months, his pastoral relation being dissolved. Feb. 14, 1857, when the charge was divided, Greensburg and Irwin forming one, and Salem and St. James the other. He was followed by Rev. R. P. Thomas, elected March 28, 1858, and duly called April 10th. On October 6th following the number of communicants were eighty-nine, eleven of whom were received under his pastorate. He continued his labors to April 1, 1863, and was succeeded by Rev. T. J. Barklay. In 1864 the old Union Church was sadly out of repair, and on Jan. 7, 1865, it was resolved to build a new exclusively Reformed Church. The subscription committee were Rev. T. J. Barklay, Henry Hugus, William Hugus, Jonathan Snyder, and Joseph Snyder, and the building committee consisted of John Hugus, H. H. Bear, and George Keck. The lot was purchased for four hundred dollars. Early in the spring of 1865 the work began, and in the fall of. 1866 the edifice was under roof. Mr. Barklay resigned his pastorate Jan. 1, 1867, at which time Emmanuel congregation was detached from first Greensburg charge and annexed to Salem, St. James and Pine Run constituting one, and Trinity, Fennel's, and Emmanuel's the other. He was succeeded April 1, 1867, by Rev. J. F. Snyder, and on the succeeding 4th of August the first service was held in the new church, which was formally dedicated October 14th, with the dedicatory sermon by Revue J. A. Peters. Rev. Snyder continued to Jan. 1, 1873, and under him one hundred and three persons were added to the communicant membership, and seventy-four to the baptized. Juue 6, 1872, the charge was again divided, Salem and Fennel's constituting one, and Emmanuel and Olive the other. The next pastor was Rev. S. Shaw, who entered upon his labors April 1, 1874, and remained until June 1, 1876. His successor was Rev. J. W. Knappenberger, born and reared within three miles of New Salem. He was baptized, catechised, and confirmed by Dr. Hacke, and was a member of his congregation (Manor). He graduated at the theological seminary May, 1876, and was licensed by the Westmoreland Classis in June following, and installed November 9th. His succ'essor was Rev. C. W. Good, present pastor, who was installed 1880. He was born in Tiffin, Ohio, where he served two years in the ministry before called here. SALEM EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH was organized Sept. 27, 1850, with John Lenhart, Gasper Klingensmith, elders ; Isaac Bush, Joseph Sherbondy, deacons ; and John Zimmerman, trustee. At the first communion, Oct. 10, 1850, there were thirty-three communicants. The first edifice was begun in 1849, and dedicated in September, 1850. The present elegant brick church was commenced in 1868, and dedicated in January, 1870. The pastors have been : 1850-52, Michael Eyster ; 1853-56, C. H. Hurst; 1856-66, A. Yetter ; 1867-68, J. D. Engllsh; 1868-76, V. B. Christy ; 1876-77, J. A. Bauman; 1878-82, J. D. Roth, who resigned in January, 1882, to remove to Sidney, Neb., having been appointed by the Pennsylvania Synod to establish a church and mission there. His successor has not yet at this writing been elected. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (NEW SALEM). The Methodist congregation was the first religious organization in the town, and was made in 1833. Their first edifice, erected that year on the site of the present one, was a brick structure, which fell down ln 1844, but was replaced by a frame building in 1846. This stood until 1874, when the present edifice was built. It is a part of Sardis Circuit, embracing five preaching appointments, viz.: Salem, Sardis, Murrysville, Oakland, and Davidson's Chapel. The circult has often been changed and divided, being formerly known as Salem, Murrysville, Sandy Creek, etc. Since 1869 the pastors here, have been : 1869, W. W.