600 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. by McFarren, Stockton, Anderson, Koontz, McKennan, and others not unknown to fame. After the death of his wife, the subject of this sketch united with Robert Fulton in establishing an academy at Florence, Pa. While thus engaged he was licensed to preach April 22, 1835, by the Presbytery of Washington. The next year he was ordained, and was instrumental in organizing a church at Frankfort Springs, and was its first and useful pastor for about eight years, being associated also with Thomas Nicholson, Esq., in charge of an academy at that place. During his residence at Frankfort Springs he was married a second time to Margaret, daughter of the late Hon. James Gordon, of Monongahela City, a most estimable Christian lady, who survived him several years, and died Dec. 12, 1881, leaving one son, James G. Sloan, M.D., of Monongahela City. Dr. Sloan was called to the ministerial charge of the Presbyterian Church of Pigeon Creek April 15, 1844, and was installed pastor in December of the same year. This relation, continuing over a period of eighteen years, was dissolved in October, 1862. From the commencement of his pastorate he showed his profound appreciation of the power of prayer in awaking and supporting all spiritual vitality. One of his first steps was the establishment of a regular weekly prayer-meeting in portions of the congregation previously destitute of this important means of grace. His constant presence at the meetings, his earnest, heart-searching, and tender appeals to the impenitent, and his importunate pleadings at the mercy-seat for their conversion eloquently attested his faithfulness as a pastor and the sincerity of his faith in the Hearer and Answerer of prayer. Second only to the power of the Holy Spirit bestowed in answer to prayer, he placed the power of personal Christian example. In this connection he also immediately commenced a regular system of pastoral visitation. Old and young, rich and poor, cultivated and uncultivated, all alike shared in the sunshine of his genial courtesy. Hardly inferior in importance to the regular dispensation of the gospel from the pulpit, Dr. Sloan regarded the work of Sabbath-school and Bible-class instruction. To these important agencies for good he gave the sanction of his constant presence and influence. The Bible class was never so prosperous as when under his care, frequently numbering as high as sixty members. His clear, forcible, and impressive expositions of truth were deeply appreciated by them, and resulted in the edification and advancement of the church. In his pulpit ministrations, Dr. Sloan laid peculiar stress on the practical duties of religion. While distinctly stating and enforcing the cardinal doctrines in a logical, impressive, and oftentimes eloquent manner, he let no opportunity pass of insisting on the vital necessity that all true and genuine faith must be illustrated by good works. As might be supposed, this preaching was bountifully blessed. During hi pastorate three hundred and ninety-one persons were received into the communion of the church, two hundred and ninety-nine of whom were received an confession of faith. Upon his retirement from this charge, Dr. Sloan supplied the chapel pulpit of Jefferson College an the church of Canonsburg for a time, and then be came more permanently a stated supply of the chum at Waynesburg, Greene Co., Pa., where he labored with great acceptance until ill health compelled his retirement from the active works of the ministry During the remaining two years of his life his a signed, humble, hopeful spirit found repose in th promises of Christ. Peacefully, though suddenly, last he yielded his spirit, March 11, 1871, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, in the blessed hope of the gospel. Dr. Sloan was a man of ardent friendship, of divided purpose, of earnest Christian zeal. As a husband he was kind; mildness and tenderness were manifested in all his domestic life. As a parent he performed his duties to his children with rare fidelis: As a citizen he was warmly attached to the government, and always careful to aid every effort to exalt and dignify the race. As a man he was without guile;, as a preacher he bestowed great care on his sermon, he was a logical thinker, an impressive and eloquent speaker. He was a faithful Presbyter. He was friend of education. He spent a number of years teaching, was a trustee of Jefferson College, and afterwards of Washington and Jefferson College. He w at one time chosen President of Franklin College Ohio, which was regarded as a fitting tribute to his personal worth and high character as a Christian al scholar. Dr. Sloan was an earnest advocate of the cause of temperance; it was through his influence the first temperance society was organized in his native township. On the question of human slavery he occupied no doubtful ground, having made a speech on the subject condemning it, and claiming its unconstitutionality as early as 1828. In a word, he was prominent among the leaders in morals, politics, and religion from the grand old county of Washington. MAJ. JAMES WARNE. Maj. James Warne was of English stock, the son of Abram Warne, who came from Virginia and settled and died in Allegheny County, Pa., upon a farm near the village of Sunnyside, Forward township where James was born, Dec. 6, 1779. James was educated for the profession of law in the schools of his native county and the academy in Uniontown Fayette Co., Pa., but, soon after leaving school, engaged himself as a clerk in a store at Parkison's Ferry, now Monongahela City. His next venture was in boat-building, boating, and trading upon the CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 601 rivers as far as New Orleans. He followed The custom of that day of returning overland to his home after disposing of his cargo and boat. In 1811, being duly elected and returned, he was commissioned by Governor Simon Snyder captain of a light infantry company attached to the second battalion of the Fifty-third Regiment of the militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, his term to be computed for four years from the third day of August in the year named. In 1812 his company offered the United States government their services for the war. On June 11th they were ordered to parade for inspection. They were accepted by the government, and, September 5th, took up their march for headquarters. Maj. Warne served as captain of this company until Sept. 25, 1812, when he was elected, and September 27th commissioned, major of the First Battalion in the Third Infantry Regiment, commanded by Col. Snyder, and in that capacity served until Dec. 31, 1812, that being the date of his discharge. He then returned home, and in connection with his brother-in-law, William Parkison, built a glass-factory in Williamsport, the first one located there. This they operated, and at the same time engaged in a general merchandising business, until about 1820, when they sold out, and he purchased the farm in Carroll township, then known as " Eden," now the property of his son, Joseph P. Warne. Here he lived as a farmer until his death, Oct. 28, 1855. He was a member of the Methodist Church, honorable and upright, a good and patriotic citizen. He was married in 1805 to Mary Parkison, daughter of Joseph Parkison, the patentee of the land where now stands the greater portion of Monongahela City, and upon which he erected an inn, which, together with the ferry, he kept for many years. The children of Maj. and Mary Warne who grew to maturity were Amuzet I., Margaret, Joseph P., James, Hiram, and Eliza. Amuzet I. was born Dec. 5, 1805. He married Mary Jacobs, was a farmer, and died at Parkersburg, W. Va., in 1879. Margaret, born Dec. 28, 1807, married Samuel Devore, and lives near Parkersburg, W. Va. Joseph P., born Jan. 6, 1810, married Eliza J. Irwin, and resides upon the old homestead, near Monongahela City. James, born May 11, 1812, married Catharine Niccolls. He is a farmer, and lives near Girger Hill, Washington Co., Pa. Hiram, born in 1822, married Elizabeth. Niccolls. He is a farmer, and lives near Washington, Pa. Eliza J., born June 26, 1824, married John Watkins, and lives in Richmond, Ray Co., Mo. CANONSBURG BOROUGH. CANONSBURG is situated on Chartiers Creek, and on the line of the Chartiers Valley Railroad, about seventeen miles from Pittsburgh and seven miles from Washington. The borough limits embrace only about one-half of the town proper, which is built on both sides of the creek and contains three church edifices,—Char-tiers United Presbyterian; Methodist Episcopal, and. African Methodist Episcopal Church,—the college buildings, hotel, bank, post-office, Odd-Fellows' Hall, Masonic Hall, library, public school building, depot of the Chartiers Valley Railroad, a great variety of business interests, and seven hundred and four inhabitants, according to the United States census of 1880. Early Settlers.—John Canon, one of the earliest settlers in the Chartiers Valley, took up a large tract of land under Virginia authority, on which land he settled about 1773, his place of settlement being the site of the present town of Canonsburg. The first mention of his name found in any record is in that of the court of Westmoreland County, when, at the January term of court in 1774, he was with others appointed one of the viewers of a road from Thomas Gist's, at Mount Braddock, to Paul Froman's mill on Chartiers Creek (now Linden, North Strabane township). In the same year he was appointed by Lord Dunmore as one of the justices of Augusta County (which as then claimed by Virginia embraced all the territory now Washington County). In 1776, after Augusta County was divided into the counties o: Ohio, Yohogania, and Monongalia, John Canon wit: appointed one of the justices of Yohogania County On the 20th of August, the same year, " David Shepherd and John Canon, gent., were appointed to contract with some person or persons: to build a house twenty-four by fourteen, with a Petition in the middle, to be used as a gaol, at Catfishes Camp, Augusta Town."¹ The next year he became colonel in the Washington County militia, and was always after wards mentioned as Col. Canon. Holding that rank he was of course somewhat prominent in military affairs, was made sub-lieutenant of the county under ¹ It is supposed that this old fail was erected on the farm then owned by Richard Yentes, later purchased by John Gabby, and now known a the Gabby farm, in Franklin township. 602 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Col. James Marshel, and took part (though not as commander of a regiment) in some of the numerous Indian expeditions of that time, including that which marched under Col. Crawford against the Sandusky towns in 1782. In this connection it is proper, and it is but just to the memory of Col. John Canon, to notice a statement which has been made in some accounts of the horrible butchery of peaceful Moravian Indians on the Muskingum by the men composing Col. David Williamson's expedition in the spring of 1782, namely, that he (Col. Canon) was present at, and a ringleader in, that massacre, with an intimation, almost amounting to a positive assertion, that it was he who first used the murderous mallet, and when his arm became teary with the bloody work resigned it with a brutal remark to his successor. But the fact is that there is neither evidence to show nor any circumstance to indicate that Col. John Canon accompanied the Moavian expedition, but, on the" contrary, it is stated on apparently excellent authority that at the time the dreadful work was being 'done by Williamson's men o Guadenhatten he was in Philadelphia, attending the sessions of the General Assembly, of which he was a member for Washington County. On the 9th of May, 1782 (only a few weeks after the massacre), Gen. Irvine, commandant at Fort Pitt, said in a letter addressed to the president of the Supreme Executive Council, "Sir,--Since my letter of the 3d instant to your Excellency; Mr. Pentecost and Mr. Canon have been with me. They and every intelligent person whom I have conversed with on the subject" are of opinion that it will be almost impossible ever to obtain a just account of the conduct of the militia at Muskingum. No man can give any account, except some of the party themselves. If, therefore, an. inquiry should appear serious, they are not obliged, nor will they give evidence." It is a matter of history that the atrocities committed at the Moravian town were regarded with horror and detestation by Gen. Irvine. That officer of course knew whether or not Col. Canoe was a participant in them, and he would never have summoned a man red-handed from the butchery to hold consultation with him as to the practicability of bringing the murderers to justice.¹ ¹ With reference to this matter of Col. Canon's alleged participation in the Williamson expedition, the following letter (received at the last ma meet before going to press) explains itself, viz.: "FRANKLIN ELLIS, ESQ.: " Dear Sir, - I desire a short space in your History of Washington County, Pa., in which I may correct a misstatement which appears in a note in the History of Westmoreland County, Pa.,' lately published by your house, of which history I had, by arrangement with the publisher, the nominal editorship. In the preparation and arrangement of this work I had a number of collaborators, who gathered their information, particularly that of a detailed or local character, from various sources. In a note to the account of Williamson's expedition to the Moravian towns it is stated that Col. John Canon was at that time county lieutenant of Washington County, and that as such he accompanied the expedition. This erroneous statement was traceable, as I was informed upon inquiry, to a controversial article (or a series of articles) published in the Pittsburgh papers during the summer of 1881. Col. Canon received a Virginia certificate for his land in February, 1780, which was returned to him and recorded on the 12th of May in that year. This land lay along the Chartiers Valley, and embraces Canonsburg and vicinity on the north side of Chartiers Creek. One tract was surveyed Nov. 26, 1786, containing four hundred and six acres, and named " Canon Hill." Another was surveyed Dec. 2, 1786, containing four hundred and twenty-three acres, named " Abbington." Still another was surveyed Feb. 25, 1/88, containing three hundred and sixty-three acres, and named "Sugar-Tree Grove," making an area of eleven hundred and ninety-two acres, with six per cent. allowance for roads. It is not known at what time he built the mill at Canonsburg, but probably in the summer of 1781, as at the first term of court held in Washington County, October 2d in that year, viewers were appointed to view a road "from John Canon, his mill, to Pittsburgh." About nine years later John Canon loaded two boats with flour from his mill, and sent them to New Orleans. Mrs. Jane C. Patterson, wife of the Rev. Robert Patterson, and daughter of Col. John Canon, often related the incident as coming within her recollection. The Pittsburgh Gazette of May 15, 1790, contains an article on the navigation of Chartiers Creek, in which the incident is mentioned as follows : " About five or six days since, a number of men to the amount of thirteen. left Canonsburg, on Char- This error appears, as I have said, in a foot-note, but makes no part of the text of the Westmoreland history, which was made up from earlier and uncontroverted authorities. "Since the publication of the Westmoreland history I have had occasion to examine into the subject, and I ant convinced that, as a matter of fact, Col. John Canon was not county lieutenant in 1782, and that at the time of the expedition he was at Philadelphia attending the sessions of the General Assembly, of which he was a member, and that it was of course a physical impossibility that he could have accompanied that expedition. "The early date in February; 1782, at which he must have left Washington County on his journey to Philadelphia also precluded the possibility of his having known anything about the Williamson expedition, or even of the Indian incursions which caused it. And it is but simple justice to add that there was nothing in Col. Canon's life or character to warrant a supposition that he would have been an accomplice in such an atrocity. "This correction and explanation is given from a sense of justice and right, being satisfied that the authorities upon which the statement was founded and upon which it was shaped and given to the compilers of our history were not trustworthy, were erroneous, and calculated to mislead. I do not, of course, believe that any serious ham would be done from the passing notice of Col. Canon's name made in this connection, but for fear there should be I earnestly desire you to allow the correction to be made at this, the earliest opportunity. I would further say that all the extracts furnished in said history from other histories, front records and other documents, were prepared by copyists, and that the same assistant, misled by the same authorities referred to, and under the mistaken information that Col. Canon was the lieutenant and not a sub-lieutenant of the county, again alluded to the subject in a short biographical sketch elsewhere in the book. This much deplore, and especially as it was utterly impossible, from more than one reason, for me to critically examine the copy as it passed through the hands of the printer. " Yours, etc., "G. D. ALBERT, " Editor of L. H. Everts" History of Westmoreland County, Pa.,’ " GREENSBURG, PA., Sept. 1, 1882." CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 603 tiers Creek, and with the advantage of a rising flood conducted two boats from thence in about twelve hours to the Ohio River. One was large and heavy, built for the purpose of carrying flour to New Orleans, forty-seven feet in length and twelve in breadth, a small part of the cargo to the amount of forty barrels on board ; the other a barge, twenty-five feet in length, built for the genteel reception of passengers. The amazing facility with which these boats passed down the creek to the mouth, their safe crossing of two milldams, one of which was about twelve feet high; with the rudeness of the creek in its natural state, especially at the falls, sufficiently show what immense advantage might arise to thousands of people in the county of Washington were the Legislature to attend to the improvement of its navigation." About the same time a load of flour was sent down the stream by David Bradford from his mill farther up the stream. These facts were brought to the notice of the Legislature, and on the 8th of April, 1793, an act was passed declaring Chartiers Creek a public highway for boats and rafts from its mouth to David Bradford's mill. In 1791, Mr. Canon was interested in the organization of the Canonsburg Academy. He presented the lot on which the school-house now stands, and erected thereon a stone building for an academy, for which the trustees were to reimburse him. On the 1st of December, 1796, a deed was made by Mr. Canon and his wife to the trustees of the academy, conveying to them the lot and building. This lot contained two acres and thirty-two perches. One half an acre of it was reserved for the use of an English school. He lived to see the academy well established, and died Nov. 6, 1798, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. In a notice of his death published at the time he was mentioned as " in private life a steady and disinterested friend, and in public an inflexible patriot; as he lived respected, so he died lamented." He had eight children, of whom four were by his first wife, viz., Abigail, William, Jane, Joshua, and John, Jr. He married for his second wife a Mrs. Mercer, by whom he had three children,—Samuel, Margaret, and Ann. Of the descendants of Col. John Canon but little is known ; there are none of his descendants bearing his name now living in this section of country. The last survivor of his children was Mrs. Jane C. Patterson, the wife of the Rev. Robert Patterson, who died March 15, 1858, in her eightieth year. She was born Dec. 20, 1778, and was the third child. She married Robert Patterson, a student at the Academy of Canonsburg. He afterwards became a minister in the Presbyterian Church. Ann, a daughter of Col. Canon by the second wife, married a student who became a minister. Samuel emigrated west. Margaret never married. Mrs. Canon. survived her husband many years. In the latter part of her life she became quite poor, the quit-rents left for her support being worthless. At the laying out of the town of Canonsburg it will be noticed by the plait that Dr. Thompson, Daniel McCoy, David Gault, Andrew Munroe, and Craig Ritchie were purchasers of lots. .Dr. Hugh Thompson was an early settler in Peters township, where he owned a large tract of land, and practiced medicine over a large section of country. Daniel McCoy was a shoemaker ; David Gault was a tanner. Andrew Munroe was in the county about 1780, and was with Col. Crawford in the Sandusky expedition. Soon after the purchase of his lot in 1787 he built upon it a log tavern, which he kept for several years, and also carried on the nailing business. The tavern was on the southwest corner of College and Main Streets, now owned. by Mrs. John E. Black. A frame addition was afterwards made to it. In 1800 he was assessed on property to the amount of twelve hundred and five dollars. In 1814 he opened a book-store. His stock of books and stationery was supplied by William McCullough; bookseller, of Philadelphia, and was sold .on commission. In the spring of 1816, Mr. McCullough died, and the stock in possession of Andrew Munroe, was sold at auction by Mr. Munroe on an order from the executors of the estate of McCullough. On the 27th of May., the same year, Munroe opened a book-store on his own account in the same place, which he continued for many years. In 1815 he was appointed postmaster, and held the position till his death, about 1846. He was succeeded by his wife. John E. Black, well known by the older citizens, was the son of Mrs. Munroe by a first husband. A daughter of Andrew Munroe became the wife of the Rev. James Coon, a minister of the Associate Reformed Church. Henry Westbay, a native of Ireland, emigrated to this country with his wife and two children, and settled for a time in Chambersburg, and removed to a high ridge known as the Knob, seven miles west, where he lived several years. About 1790 he came to Washington County, and lived three years on a farm that belonged to Thomas Hutchinson, in Chartiers township. In 1793 he moved to Canonsburg, and the next year opened a tavern known as the "Black Horse." During this year the tavern became noted in the time of the Whiskey Insurrection, and on the 8th of September, 1795, he advertised in the Washington Telegraph that he carried on the "nailing business in Canonsburg at the sign of the 'Black Horse.' " He continued the business and kept the tavern till 1814, when he removed to Washington with his daughter, Mrs. George Kuntz, and died there, aged over eighty years. His wife survived him a few years, and died in her ninety-fourth year. They had two daughters and five sons,—Henry, Thomas, James, Samuel, and Joseph. Of these James lived here a short time after his father removed, and kept the tavern. The rest of the family removed East and West. Elizabeth, one of the daugh- 604 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. tens, married George Kuntz, of Washington, where she removed, and where she still lives. Michael and James Kuntz, of Washington, are her sons. Craig Ritchie, whose name also appears as a purchaser in 1787, was born in Glasgow, Dec. 29, 1758; emigrated to this country in 1772, and when thirty years of age married Mary Price. He came to this section of country before 1782, as he was with Col. William Crawford in the Sandusky expedition in that year. Immediately upon the purchase of the lot in Canonsburg he opened a store and carried on the mercantile business for many years. He was elected a justice of the peace in 1784, and served in the Legislature of the State in 1793-95. He was also one of the first trustees of Jefferson College, secretary of the board, and treasurer. He died at Canonsburg, June 13, 1833, aged seventy-five years, and left a large family. Rev. Andrew Wylie, president of Jefferson and Washington Colleges, married the eldest daughter. Rev. Samuel F. Leake also married a daughter. Elizabeth became the wife of Dr. Jonathan Leatherman, and settled in Canonsburg. Another daughter became the wife of Dr. George Her-riot. Drs. Leatherman and Herriot both practiced in Canonsburg, and died there. Abigail and Jane, also daughters of Craig Ritchie, lived and died unmarried. John, a son of Craig Ritchie. removed to New Orleans, and finally to Texas, where he died. David Studied law, and practiced in Pittsburgh, and died there.• He was at one time member of Congress from that district. William, another son, removed to Wheeling, where he died. Craig Ritchie, the youngest son, remained at Canonsburg, and carried on the mercantile business at the old place, where the Ritchie Block now stands. Later he went to Wheeling, Va., where he married Mrs. Chickering, and remained a number of years. He returned to Canonsburg, and lived there till his death. His widow still resides in Canonsburg, and his son, William H. S. Ritchie, is a merchant on the site where his father and grandfather kept store before him. In the year 1790, John Todd, who was a cooper, settled in the town, and carried on his business for many years. The manufacture of flour and whiskey gave him plenty of employment. In August, 1795, Joseph Blakely informed the public in an advertisement "that he has set up the trade of covered and diaper weaving, with all kinds of flowered cottons, dimities, and stuffs." There were others who were there prior to the erection of the borough, whose names and occupations will be found in the history of the town plats. Among the names which appear on the first assessment-roll of the borough (in 1802) are those of a firm known as Darr & Ogle; who were the largest property-owners in the town, and were assessed on two thousand four hundred dollars. Their names are found the next year (1803), and then disappear. No knowledge is obtained of their business or what became of them. The name of James Murdoch also appears. He had a son Austin, who moved to Sewickley and now resides there. John Speer, a son of Alexander Speer, resided here, as did Thomas, who was a merchant and the first clerk of the Council. John Watson was a blacksmith, and opened a shop where Stewart's Block now stands. He was a member of the first Borough Council burgess from 1830 to 1834, inclusive, and justice of the peace in District No. 5 from April 14, 1809, many years. Thomas Watson, an only son, settled in Montana, where he now lives. Mrs. Jane Martin and Mrs. Mary Miller are daughters. The Rev. John Watson, the first president of Jefferson College, is also assessed in 1802. He married a daughter of Rev. Dr. McMillan, and died in that year. Joseph Pentecost, a son of Dorsey Pentecost, was a lawyer. He owned a lot in Canonsburg, on which he erected a brick house, adjoining the property of Henry Westbay and the market-house. On the 19th of December, 1806, he sold the property to Dr. Samuel Murdoch, and removed to the borough of Washington. William Clarke was a resident of the town some years before its erection as a borough, and in 1801 was postmaster, which position he held for several years. He was a member of the first Council. Francis Irwin, who kept tavern in 1794, was still a resident of the town in 1802. At that time the widow of John Canon resided on the lot now. owned and occupied by John T. Roberts. William and Joshua Canon, sons of John Canon, and two daughters resided with her. Thomas Briceland was assessed on property in the town in 1802, but his residence was a little way north of the borough. He was a member of the first Council and a resident of this vicinity many years previous. The following is a copy of an interesting and ancient paper found some twenty-five or thirty years ago in the old Briceland mansion, which formerly stood in Chartiers township, near where Thomas Archer now lives, by Mr. John Roberts, of this place. Mr. Roberts was engaged in removing the house when he discovered the paper between the flooring and a joist of the second floor, where it had doubtless been placed for safety many years previous and forgotten. It will be observed that many of the names are those of the ancestors of those still living in the community. Some of these names are, however, now spelled differently. A number of these names have a dash passed through them by the pen, which was the only means they had of indicating absentees. These are indicated by an asterisk. The writing is a beautiful, round, old-style script; and is remarkably well preserved for a document which has been in existence for so long a time : A roll of Capt. Thos Brisland's company of militia for the year 1788. Sam’l Criswell. Andw Colhoon. Jas Keasy. Michael Broady. Joseph Boss. Jno Glynn. Willm Carson. Willm Taylor. Jno Buchanon. Jas Hamilton, CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 605 Jno Henry. Hugh Wilson. Thos Clerk. Thos M'Cord. Hugh Johnston. Willm Hunter. Benjamin Morrison. Willm M'Grenachan.* Willm M'Cune. Jacob Weaver. Melchor Hosser. Jas Allison.* Joseph Did David Johnston. Jno Lowther.* Allex M'Colm. Bob, Skinner. Jas M’Feir.* Laurence Pendergrass. Jno Arthurs. Jacob Singer. Echo Mincher. Jas Honey. Col. Ferguson. Abm Lochridge. Patrik Boland George Smith. Thos Donley. Archibald Kenedy. Jonathan Walker. Patrick M'Gunagle. Joo Gooseman.* Jno Crest. Jacob Petterman. Hugh Neal. Moses foster.* Richd Greenfeild.* Jas Kinkead.* Enoch Bradly. Enoch Bradley.* Jno Polly. * Robt Thornbury.* Jno. Frough. Daniel Crossen. Robt Haslett.  Thomas M'Cord.* Hugh Wilson.* Chas Pattison. Thos Duncan. Jno Giffin.* Geo Kuip. Robt, Giffin. Jas Montgomerey. Robt, Blain. Peter Sumanary.* Jas Armour. Robt Mason.* Willm Armour. Smith George.* Thos Wallace. Jno Roadpauch. Willm Barker. Willm Armstrong. Robt Barclay. Jno Bryson. Robt Gonger.  Jas Scoby. Saml Jackson. Jno Underwood. Jno Turtle. Jno M'Hooney. Will. Brown. Hamilton. George Brown. Jno Chester. Moses Foster.  Francis M`Donald. Thomas Briceland had two sons, John and James. James, the eldest, was mentioned in the assessment-roll of 1802. A few years later he removed to Hanover township, and built at what is now known as Florence. He opened a tavern at the cross-roads, and tile place was known for many years as Briceland Cross-Roads. Later he removed to Washington, and finally to Steubenville, Ohio, where he died. John kept a hotel in Canonsburg many years, now the Sherman House. John, Garland, and Sarah Briceland, residents of Canonsburg, are children of John Briceland. Reynolds Neill was a merchant, and lived on the northwest corner of College and Main Streets, where he resided and kept store till about 1840. In 1802, George McCook lived opposite the college on Main Street, and later moved to Ohio. He had two sons, Daniel and George. Daniel was the father of the famous "fighting family" of McCook. George became a physician, practiced here for a short time, and moved to New Lisbon, Ohio. John Murphy was a harness-maker, and lived on the west side of Main Street, where Mr. Algeo now lives. His son John taught school in the borough. A daughter became the wife of William Marshall and lived and died in the town. Gilbert McAfee lived where John Brice-land, his son-in-law, now resides. Henry McAfee, his son, was burgess and justice of the peace, and died in the borough. - 39 - William White, a member of the first Council, was a cabinet-maker, and resided on the southeast corner of College and Green Streets, where Henry McPeak now resides. He left several children, of whom Dr. John White, long a physician. of Hickory, in Mount Pleasant township, was one. George Land lived on Pitt Street, where his son George now resides. Dr. Samuel Murdoch, a son of John Murdoch, of Strabane township, was the burgess of the borough from its organization till 1817. In 1806 he purchased the brick house of Joseph Pentecost, where he resided till his removal to the borough of Washington. He was prominent in the improvement and business interests of the town. He married a daughter of the Rev. Matthew Henderson. Alexander Murdoch, his brother, also married a daughter of the Rev. Matthew Henderson. He became the proprietor of the old Canon mill property, and resided there until his removal to Washington. He was elected justice of the peace April 2, 1804. More extended mention will be found of Dr. Samuel and Alexander Murdoch in the borough of Washington. Daniel McGill, a native of Ireland, was married in 1765, and remained thirty years afterwards in that country, where his seven children were born. He emigrated to this country with his wife in the year 1796, and settled in Canonsburg, where he bought a lot containing three acres fronting on Pitt Street, now owned by George L. Scott. Were they lived till the close of their lives in 1819, with but a day's difference between their deaths. They were buried in what is now Oak Spring Cemetery. The children of Daniel who came to this country with their parents were John, Jenny, Peggy, Eliza, and Hugh. They all settled near Canonsburg except Eliza, who married George Marshman. All were married and raised families of children except Jenny. John McGill, the eldest, emigrated to this country a short time before his father. He married Mary Taggart in Ireland. Her brother Samuel also came to this town, arid settled here. John McGill was elected high constable of the borough. In 1805 he owned a horse-mill ; in 1809 he kept a tavern. Later he moved to the Bowland farm in Chartiers township, and afterwards returned to Canonsburg, and resided where Mrs. Denny now lives, and where he died. His children were Mary, John, Nancy, Jane, Alexander F., and Hugh. John settled in Pittsburgh. He was a cabinet-maker, and later a druggist. Nancy became the wife of John Haft, of Chartiers township. Jane married Moses Walker. Alexander T. McGill was born in Canonsburg about the year 1808. After his parents removed to Chartiers township he attended school at Plum Run. Later he attended Jefferson College, and graduated. He was elected tutor in the college in February, 1827, and served one year, when he resigned on account of ill health, and went to Milledgeville, Ga.; while there he taught an academy one year. While in that State 606 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. he was appointed chief of surveyors who surveyed the Cherokee lands. He returned to Canonsburg, and studied theology under the Rev. Dr. James Ramsey. At the close of his studies he married Ellen, daughter of George McCullough, whose mother was a sister of Thomas and David Acheson, of Washington. Soon after this he settled as pastor over a Seceder Church in Carlisle, and later went to the Presbyterian Church, and became pastor of a congregation in that city. In the year 1842 he was called to a professorship in the theological seminary at Allegheny City, where he remained about ten years, when his health failed, and he retired from active duty for a year, at the end of which time he was called to a professorship in Princeton Theological Seminary, which position he still holds. Hugh. McGill the brother of John, married Agnes, daughter of Matthew Rowland, and settled in Canonsburg. He was a shoemaker, and carried on business where his son Hugh now lives and carries on the same business. John Roberts emigrated to this country from Virginia. His name first appears in 1804 on the assessment-roll as owner of a house and field; the next year he was assessed on two houses and outlots. He went into the mercantile business in a building that stood where the brick part of the building first below the school-house now stands. He built the stone building as a residence in 1807. In 1810 he owned a brew-house, and also carried on distilling. , In 1816 he sold his house and lot to Abraham Latimore, and moved to a place which is now occupied by Hiles' shoe-store. He lived there until his death in 1821. Of his children, John; Jr.; settled in Canonsburg, and was a teacher there in. 1806. He was also Assistant Professor of Mathematics in Jefferson College for a short time. He died in Canonsburg. Abraham, who was also a teacher in 1816 and 1817, rented the rooms in Canonsburg, where he taught. He died in 1828. His son, John Roberts, of Canonsburg, is now (1882) county commissioner. William became a Covenanter preacher in Rochester, N. Y. Edmund, who was a physician, died in Harrisburg, Pa. James, also a physician, died in Ottawa, Ill., in 1832. George Kirk was a native of Ireland. He came to the country with his wife, whom he married in Londonderry, in 1796. They settled east of the mountains for some time, and afterwards came to this county and made their home on the Pentecost lands. In 1811 he purchased a house and lot in Canonsburg, which Mr. Campbell now owns, situated opposite the college on Main Street. He lived there until his disappearance and death in 1813. In that year he went to the East with horses, in company with two young men of Canonsburg, Dr. McFarland and Dr. George McCook. When at the South Mountain House, where they remained overnight, the young men did see Mr. Kirk when they rose in the morning. An examination and inquiry developed the fact that some time during the night he had arisen from his bed and left the house. A search was instituted, but no clue whatever could he obtained, and the young men returned to Canonsburg with the sad news. After some time John McFarland, father of the doctor, went out from Canonsburg, and made a wider search, and finally found the body in the mountains. It was never known whether his death was caused by accident or murder. The children were James, Samuel, George, Mary, and William. James left his home for the South ; Samuel emigrated to Indiana; George was apprenticed to John McFarland as a tailor. He was engaged in other business in Canonsburg, and had accumulated considerable property. He was postmaster the last eight years of his life. He died in October, 1859, leaving a widow and seven children, of whom the widow and four children are now in Canonsburg. Mrs. Boyd Crumrine, of Washington, is a daughter. James, of Washington, is a son. William, the youngest son, is a physician in Philadelphia, Pa. Mary, a daughter of George Kirk, Sr., became the wife of Robert Stewart, of Little York, Ill. There were many others located in the town in the early years of whom but little is known. The following were residents and business men of the town: John Roberts, a merchant; Robert McMillan, distiller. In 1807 John Weldon manufactured hats; Abraham Fee, Sr., was a tailor ; Abraham Fee, Jr., was a shoemaker. In 1817 Robert Smith was the owner of a tannery; John Sample in 1819, and Philip Cubbage also, were each carrying on the business of tanning. In 1808 James Smith was a saddler. Nathaniel White, Daniel Hartupee, and Joseph Pentecost in 1806 each owned brick houses. Town Plats of Canonsburg.—The town of Canonsburg was laid out by the proprietor, Col. John Canon, in 1787. The following account of the laying out and of the plats of the town was written by R. V. Johnson, Esq., surveyor, and published in the Canonburg Herald in March, 1875. Several dates of purchases have been added to the original account. About the year 1786, John Canon (after whom the town was named) obtained patents from the State for three tracts of land adjoining each other, and containing in the aggregate twelve hundred and forty-three acres. These patents were called " Mount Airy," "Abbington," and "Canon Hill." The town is located on the " Mount Airy and Abbington" patents, and was originally laid out by John Canon, a plat of which is on record, and contains twenty lots fronting on Market (now Main) Street, fourteen on the west, and six on the east side of the street. These lots were numbered from the north side of the old road (between what is now called Pike Street and Chartiers Creek) toward the north. On the west side of Market Street— No. 3 was sold to Dr. Thompson, March 15, 1787.   " 4 " " Daniel McCoy, " " "   " 5 " " James Venison, " " " CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 607 No. 6 was sold to David Gault, March 15, 1787.   " 7 " " Donald Cameron, March 15, 1787. Nos. 9 and 10 were sold to Andrew Monroe, March 15, 1787. Nos. 11, 12, and 13 were sold to John Todd, June 1, 1790. On the east side of the street. No. 2 was sold to Robert Bowland, on condition that no tavern or public-house should be built on it. No. 3 was sold to Capt. Craig Ritchie, March 15, 1787.    " 4 " " Col. Matt. Ritchie, “ ” “    " 5 " " William Marshall.    " 6 " " Abraham Dehaven.  Attached to the plat is the following: "The above is a Draught of a Town laid of as above upon Chartiers Creek Washington county by the subscriber John Canon. Who hereby binds himself, his heirs, administrators and assigns to fulfill and perform the following articles viz.: agreeably to the conditions inserted on the above plan. To those who have all as those who may become purchasers to convey to them their heirs and assigns their respective lots of Ground in which their names is inserted. The inhabitants of the above town to have privilege of cutting and using underwood and taking coal for their own use forever gratis, the purchasers to pay the said Canon three pounds purchase and one Dollar annually forever afterwards, and to build a stone house, frame, or hewed log house at least twenty feet in front with a stone or brick chimney within two years front the date of their purchase; h is to be understood by underwood that it is only timber or wood that is laying down or laying upon the Ground and only on Land or Woods that is not Inclosed they Shall not presume to go and take wood for fire within any inclosure without leave first asked and obtained; a convenient road to be allowed to the coal near * * John Laughlin's the road to be only as laid off above * * * and the bank us Described above. "In Testimony whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and seal this 15th April 1788. JOHN. CANON { seal } "Attest, "JAMES MCCREADY. "ROBERT ROWLAND. ) The only streets laid out on this plat are the present Main and College Streets. In addition to these are named the following roads : "The Road to Pittsburgh." "To Gambles Mill." "To Devores ferry." "To McMillans Meeting-house." "To Washington." "To Mr. Smiths Meeting-house on Buffalo." "to Hendersons M. house." "to the coal bank." "The road to Wells' Mill." The coal-bank, mill, mill-race, Chartiers Creek, and mill-dam are also noted. The next plat has no date upon it to definitely show when it was drafted, though it must have been between 1790 and 1800, probably about the year 1792 or 1793. The only street named is Market Street, now Main Street. The streets now known as Green, College, and Pitt Streets are laid out. On the east end of College Street is written "to Gambles," and on the west "Road to the mouth of Buffaloe on the Ohio River." On the east end of Pitt Street is written " Road to Pittsburgh," and on the west end " Road to Hendersons meetinghouse & Montgomery's Mill." On the south end of Main Street is written "Road to Devours and Redstone." The writing on the north end is too illegible to be deciphered. On the east end of the road along the bank of Chartiers Creek is written " Road to Perrys and McCees Ferrys," and on the west end "Road to Washington." Along the east side of the lots east of Green Street is laid out a street or alley running from the road along Chartiers Creek to the old Pittsburgh road, and east of this street are laid out sixteen lots not numbered or named. There are in all ninety-eight lots laid out, of which seventy-eight are numbered and forty-two have the owners' names inserted. The following are the names of the lot-owners in the order named. Commencing on the west side of Market or Main Street, at Chartiers Creek, was first the mill and then the " Road to Washington." 1. (Blank.) 2. Abraham Dehaven. 3. Doctor Hugh Thompson. 4. Daniel McCoy, shoemaker. 5. John McDowell, Esq. 6. David Gault, tanner. 7. Thomas Spears, merchant. Road to mouth of Buffaloe on the Ohio River. 8. Doctor Thomas B. Creaghead. 9. Andrew Munroe, tavern-keeper. 10. Andrew Munroe. 11. The plat is torn at this lot and no name appears. 12. Academy. 13. John Todd Cooper. 14. John Todd. 15. Charles White, hatter. 16. William Webster, carpenter. 17. James Foster, brewer. Road to Henderson's meeting-house and Montgomery's Mill. 18. William Criswell, weaver. 19. Ann Cook. 20. Elizabeth Andrews. 21. Adam Johnson, weaver. (This name is crossed out and the name of David Andrew written under it.) On the margin is the following entry: "1792. "August the 31 If Not improved in Six month forfeited." 22. (Blank.) 23. (Blank.) On the east side of Market, or Main Street, commencing at Chartiers Creek, first " Road to Perry's and McKee's Ferrys:" 24. (Blank ) 25. Robert Bowland, miller. 26. Craig Ritchie, Esqr. 27. Matthew Ritchie, Esqr. 28. The first name written is erased, and the name or names of Henry Wisbey anti B. Smith inserted. 29. William Thompson, mason. Road " to Gambler." 30. John Canon, Esqr. 31, 32, and 33 are blank. 34. John McGill. 35. George McCooke. 36. James Witherspoon. 37. William Roberts. 38. William McCall. Road to Pittsburgh. On the north side of the present Pitt Street, numbering east from Main Street 39. John Anderson, carpenter. 40. James Morrison, butcher. 41. Thomas Morrison, tailor. 42. J. Alex. Miller, cooper. 608 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 43. John Miller, schoolmaster. Samuel Miller. 44. Dell Weaver, mason. 43. David Ralston, stiller. The lots on the west side, present Green Street, are numbered to the Pittsburgh road, or present Pitt Street, from 46 to 59 inclusive. As these lots are all blank, it is presumed that none of them had been sold at the time the plat was drafted. On the east side of Green Street the lots are numbered, beginning at Pitt Street toward the south, from 60 to 73. On lot No. 69, now owned by Henry McPeak, at the corner of Green and College Streets, is the following entry : " Moses Andrews, Sept. 10, 1793." Lots numbered 75 to 78 run north from the old road along the bank of Chartiers Creek, numbering from east to west. 75. Dina weaver. 66. John mercer. 77. James Chi-, carpenter: On the south side of Pitt Street, about half-way between the present Main and Green Streets, is a lot not numbered ; the name of George Land, " wheelwright,” is inserted. Borough Incorporation and List of Officers.—On the 22d day of February, 1802, an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania was passed which provided and declared " that the town of Canonsburg, in the County of Washington, shall be, and 'the same is hereby erected into a borough, which shall be called the Borough of Canonsburgh,' and shall be comprised within the following bounds, to wit : Beginning at the mouth of Brush Run ; thence up said run to the division line between Craig Ritchie's land and Samuel Witherspoon's lot; thence along the line of said lot, so. as to include the same, to Thomas Briceland's land ; thence along the line of said land until it strikes Wells' road; thence to the corner of Nathan Andrews' lot; thence along the north side of the same to the lot attached to the old brew-house; thence along said lot, so as to include the same, to the west end of the town lots on the west side of the principal street ; thence along the end of said lots to the Washington road ; thence along said road southwest to a white-oak marked `G,' at the southwest end of Miller's improvement on Darr and Ogle's land ; thence a direct course to Chartiers Creek ; thence down the same to The place of beginning." In 1815 the boundaries of the borough were contracted to the present limits by a supplemental act, approved Jan. 16, 1815, which declared and provided "That from and after the last day of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, the limits of the borough of Canonsburg shall be as follows, viz.: Beginning at William Hartupee's Corner; thence south seventy-five degrees west, eighty-six perches to a post near the mill-race ; thence along the ends of the lots west of Market Street north twenty-three degrees west, one hundred and forty-one perches to the corner of Nathan Andrews' lot; thence along said lot north seventy-five degrees east, forty-two perches to Mount Pleasant road ; thence along said road south forty degrees east, twelve perches; thence along the ends of the town lots north of Pitt Street, north seventy-five degrees east, sixty perches to the corner of James Ballentine's lot; thence along said lot, south fifteen degrees east, sixteen perches to the old Pittsburgh road ; thence along said road, south seventy-five degrees west, five perches to William Donaldson's lot; thence along the ends of the town lots east of Green Street south, fifteen degrees east, one hundred and eighteen perches to the place of beginning." The act of the Legislature incorporating the "Borough of Canonsburg," passed Feb. 22, 1802, provided for the election of the following officers: " One reputable citizen residing therein who shall be styled the Burgess of the Borough, and five reputable citizens to be a Town Council and shall also elect A High constable." In pursuance of the above act an election was held in one of the rooms of the college on the 3d day of May, 1802, by William Clark, judge; A. Murdoch, inspector; and Samuel Miller, clerk. The following officers were declared duly elected: Samuel Murdoch, Esq., burgess; William Clarke, Thomas Briceland, William White, John Johnson, and John Wattson, Esq., members of Council ; and John McGill high constable. The first meeting of Council was held May 6, 1802, when the following appointments were made: Thomas Speers, town clerk ; Samuel Murdoch, Esq, overseer of streets, lanes, alleys, and roads; William Clarke, Esq., treasurer; Thomas Briceland and William White, Esqs., to regulate partition walls and fences; Andrew Munroe (nailer), clerk of the market. On the 26th of May the following additional appointments were made : David Wilson and William Hartupee, overseers of the poor ; Thomas Briceland, William White, and John Johnson, managers of the coal bank. The following is the first list of taxables in the borough : Darr & Ogle. Jas. Smith. James Murdoch. Gilbert McAfee. John Speer. Elis'a Andrews. William Clarke. David Andrews. John McDowell. Wm. Hays. Henry Westbay. Rob’t McCurdy. Benin Brown. Wm. Week. Murdoch & Johnson.  Thos. Speers. Sam'l Murdoch. Wm. & Josh’a Canon And'w Munro. Alex'r Boyd. Rev’d J. Wattson. John Lowery. Joseph Pinticost. Nath'l White. Jos. Pentecost. Wm. Hertupee Wm. McLaughlin. Jas. Smith. H & Witherspoon. Mary Hill. Sam'l Taggert. Matt'w Hall. John Murphy. Alex'r Cook. Dan’l McGill. Geo. Potter. Jas. Philops. Chas. Herron. Ross McNeill. Jas. Briceland. CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 609 John Smith. Wm. McCawl Sam'l Murdoch. Nath'n Andrews. Widow Donnel: John Steen. Sam'l Miller. Jumet Brown. Alex'r Ogle. Geo. Land. John Wattson. Mrs. Mercer. Craig Ritchie. Jas. Donelson. F. Irwin. John McFarland. Isaac Hezlett. Wm. White. Sam’l Neill. Wm. Irwin. And'w Munro. Mary Whiteside. John Johnson. Jas. Foster. Reynolds Neill. Chis’t Musser. Widow Canon. M. Miles. Ja's Cunningham. Ann Christy. Marg't McDonald. Jas. Pattison. George McCook. Jas. Black. Geo. Munro. T. Briceland. Dav'd Wilson. Jno McGill. Joshua Canon. Ed. Williams. Eph'm Jones. J. W. Hillard. Wm. Hays. Jas. Balantine. — Wilson. Wid'w Murdock. Wm. Greir. The valuation of the taxable property was $12,352. The amount of tax levied was $123.52. The first mention of a market was at the meeting of the Council, June 25, 1802, at which time Andrew Munroe was appointed clerk of the market. The market-house stood on Main Street, below the college grounds. At this meeting it was ordered that stocks be erected for the use of the borough, as follows : "Be it enacted by the Town Council of the Borough of Canonsburgh, that for the better securing of the peace and happiness of said Borough, A pair of Stocks be made and placed near the market-house to confine offenders whose crimes may not merit a greater punishment, and the Burgess is hereby directed to carry the above resolution into effect without delay." Confinement in the stocks was punishment for drunkenness, riots, insults, attempts to injure the market-house, or exposing dead animals in the street. At the same date it was enacted, as there are persons who frequently " come to this Borough under the character of mountebanks, stage players, and exhibitors of puppet shows, Therefore be it enacted by the Town Council that if such mountebanks, play actors, or manager of a Puppet Show shall exhibit in their possession for money within the said Borough, that such person or persons shall be fined in the sum of fifty dollars with costs of suit." On the 16th of 'April 1808, it was "Resolved, That every person residing in the Borough shall be entitled to receive Coal from the Bank known by the name of Laughlin Bank." This privilege, it will be remembered, was granted to all purchasers of lots by Col. Canon in 1788. As there has been much discussion for many years past concerning an alley alleged to exist between Water Street and Pitt Street, the following quotation from T. M. Potts, of the Canonsburg Herald, is given with reference to it; it being a part of a series of valuable articles published in that paper in March and April 1875, concerning the early history of Canonsburg : "Probably as far back as the oldest can remember, something ham been said every year about an alley which is supposed to extend front Water Street to Pitt Street, and located somewhere between Market or Main Street and Green Street. The propriety of having this alley opened has been discussed from year to year, and almost every Council notified, individually or collectively, that it was their duty to open it. It is asserted that the said alley was laid gut in the original plat by Col. Canon in 1786, and that the several property owners neither had the right to close it nor keep it closed. "We have been at some pains to investigate this subject, and now propose to give the result. We have copies of all the plats so far known to be in existence, the records at Washington have been examined, and we have made a very careful examination of the town records for the first twenty years after the incorporation. The town was laid out about the year 1786, and the first plat on record bears date of c17A8. The original lots between Main and Green Streets were laid out and extended from street to street. Subsequently, but at what time or tunes we are unable to state, the lots were all divided by lines running north and south, making the divisions or smaller lots face severally Main, Green, Pike, College, and Pitt Streets. "In none of the plats is there any ally whatever either laid out or mentioned. From several of our oldest citizens, who are descendants of the original purchasers of lots, we learn that as the lots in the upper or north end of the town were sold and improved, a provision was made to secure the free use of spring water to each citizen. This was effected by making alleys or lanes front the street to two springs as follows: One from Main Street to the Emery spring, on the lot now occupied by T. M. Potts; one from Pitt Street starting at a point near the residence of George Land to the Emery spring, meeting the first-named alley at right angles, and still another from Main Street to the College spring. This last alley was located just south of the property now occupied by John Moore, Esq. In the process of time the several lot owners made wells upon their own premises, and the alleys or lanes became no longer needed for their original purpose. The lane to the College spring was early closed. The lane from Main Street to the Emery spring was extended to Green Street, and became a public alley, and is referred to in the deeds of property adjoining it as Spring Alley. "The alley leading from Pitt Street to the present Spring Alley was closed in 1838 by the mutual consent of all the parties owning land adjoining, in an agreement sealed, signed, and acknowledged before James McClelland, justice of the pence. We have examined the original article of agreement, the following being the principal substance of it: "'Whereas a certain alley situate in the Borough of Canonsburg and leading front Pitt street to an alley which leads from Green street to Main Street, has become useless, and is now an incumberance to those persons adjoining the same; 'Now this agreement made the 12 day of July 1838 by the persons who own property on said alley leading from Pitt street, to wit: George W. Lewis, Rachel Woods, George A. Kirk, ani the heirs of George Land Witnesseth, That the said George W Lewis, Rachel Woods, George A. Kirk, George Land, John Land, and Elizabeth Land have mutually agreed to close said alley so that there shall not be any thoroughfare through the same, etc' "This agreement is signed by all the parties above named, with James McClelland and H. B. Thompson as witnesses. "On the 30th of March, 1803, the first burgess and Town Council of the borough passed the following ordinance: "‘ Resolved, That all the Inhabitants of this Borough, holding lots, within the Limits of the Town, (if the persons holding lots adjoining them see fit,) shall make and support their part of a good sufficient palled fence, the whole length of a reasonable garden, and this length shall be determined by the length of the lots between the Main street & Green street below the Market house, or half the distance between the said street and where the ends of the lots join they shall be made sufficient and supported in like manner,' etc. "It will be seen that this act totally ignores either the existence or the knowledge of an alley cutting these lots in two. As this was the act of the first Council, within fifteen years of the original laying out of the town, with most of the original purchasers still occupying the lots, and possibly themselves very early settlers, it is reasonable to suppose that they were entirely familiar with the true state of the case. "Since, therefore, there is no mention of the said alley either on the original or any other plat, nor in any records either of the town or referring to it in any way, it may be safely concluded that the alley is a myth, and we hope the publication of these facts will set the matter fore% er at rest. This alley or any other can only be opened by the due process of law provided for the laying out and opening of new streets and alleys." 610 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. The following is a list of borough officers of Canonsburg since its incorporation, viz. : BURGESSES. 1802-16. Dr. Samuel Murdoch. 1817-19. Craig Ritchie. 1820-21. Dr. Jonath. Leatherman. 1822-23. James Smith. 1824-25. Not found. 1826-27. Craig Ritchie. 1828-29. Jeremiah Emory. 1830-34. John Watson. 1835. James McClelland. 1836. Henry McAfee. 1837. David Templeton. 18:38-30. James McClelland. 1840-41. James McCullough. 1842. Henry McAfee. 1843-46. James McClelland. 1847. William McDaniel. 1848. Hugh Riddle: 1849. William McClelland. 1850. Craig Ritchie. 1851. George A. Kirk. 1852. John Briceland. 1853-54. Joseph V. Brown. 1855. William McDaniels 1856. Samuel Smith. 1857. John Chambers, John E. Black 1858. Joseph Hunter, John E. Black 1859. Robert Donaldson. 1860-61. Henry Annisansel. 1862-63. James Crawford. 1864. Henry Annisansel. 1865-67. James McCullough. 1868. John McCord. 1869. Daniel Day. 1870. John Moore. 1871-72. John Chambers. 1873-74. Joseph Thompson. 1875-76. James Lut ton. 1877. Adam Harbison. 1878. James Espy. 1879. William R. McConnell. 1880. Joseph Wilson. 1881. W. H. 8. Ritchie. 1882. John B. Donaldson MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. 1802.-William Clarke, Thomas Briceland, William White, John Johnson, John Watson. 1804-5.-Alexander Murdoch, Thomas Briceland, William White, John Watson, Craig Ritchie. 1806.-Alexander Murdoch, Thomas Bricelaud, William White, John Watson, John Roberta. 1807.-John Roberts, John Watson, Dr. James Cochran, William White, Craig Ritchie. 1808.-Thomas Briceland, John Roberts, William White, Reynolds Ceill, Henry Westbay. 1809.-John Roberts, William White, William Hartupee, Henry Westbay, Samuel Taggert. 1810.-John Roberts, William White, Craig Ritchie, Henry Westbay, Samuel Taggert. 1811-12.--John Roberts, William White, Craig Ritchie, John Watson, Samuel Taggert. 1813,-Craig Ritchie, John Roberts, John Watson, William White, Dr. John Warren. 1814-15. Craig Ritchie, John Watson, John Roberts, William White, Andrew. Munroe. 1816.-Craig Ritchie, John Watson, William White, Andrew Munroe, Abraham Latimore. 1817.-John Watson, John Roberts, William White, Abraham Latimore. 1818.-William White, John Roberts, Andrew Munroe, John Sample, Joshua Ledlie. 1819.--John Watson, William Donaldson, William White, Andrew Munroe, Joshua Ledlie. 1820.-William White; William Donaldson, Andrew Monroe, Joshua Ledlie, George McCook. 1821.-Craig Ritchie, William Donaldson, Jonathan Leatheman, John Sample, George McFarlane. 1822.-Abraham Latimore, William Donaldson, Robert Thompson, John Sample, Jeremiah Emory. 1823.-John Watson, John Sample, William Donaldson, Rev. William McMillan, Robert Thompson. 1824-25.-Not given. 1826-27.-John Watson, Joseph S. Vincent, James Smith, Andrew Monroe, Hector McFadden. 1828.-Dr: D. S. Stevenson, James Smith, Robert Thompson, Hector McFadden, John Watson. 1829.-James Smith, James McCullough, William McClelland, Dr. David S. Stephenson, Hector McFadden. 1830-31.-James McCullough, James Hanson, Jeremiah Emory, David Templeton, Dr. David S. Stephenson. 1832.-James McCullough, Moses Walker, Dr. David S. Stephenson, David Templeton, James McClelland. 1833 -David Templeton, Moses Walker, William McClelland, Hugh Riddle, John McFadden. 1834.-David Templeton, Moses Walker, William McClelland, John McFadden, Joseph McGinnis. 1835.-John McFadden; Dr. David S. Stephenson, George A. Kirk, George W. Lewis, William McDaniel. 1836.-James McClelland, George A. ,Kirk, John H. Buchanan, John McFadden, Adam Harbeson. 1837.-John H. Buchanan, George A. Kirk, William M. Bane, William McClelland, Hugh Sloan. 1838.-John H. Buchanan, William McClelland, William McDaniel, Hugh Riddle, Dell Weaver. 1839.-William McClelland, James McCullough, James Orr, Dell Weaver, Hugh Riddle. 1840.-John Burgess, John Briceland, Dell Weaver, Joseph Thompson, Samuel Smith. 1841.-John Chambers, Dell Weaver, Samuel Smith, William McClelland, George A. Kirk. 1842.-John Briceland, John Dickson, Dr. D. S. Stephenson, Hugh Riddle, John Paxton. 1843.-John Briceland, John Dickson, John Paxton, William McClelland, Hugh Riddle. 1844.-Samuel Stewart, Michael Wolf, John H. Buchanan, William S. Callahan. 1845-46.-W. B. Urie, John H. Buchanan, John E. Black, Alexander Hanna, John McCahan. 1847.-George A. Kirk, John V. Herriot, N. S. Potts, Adam Harbison, James McClelland. 1848.-John E. Bell, John Ramsey, John Murphy, Joseph L. McClelland, John E. Black. 1849.-John E. Bell, John E. Black, John Ramsey, Joseph Huston, Jackson McClelland. 1850.-John E. Black, George Land, John Ramsey, Samuel Smith, T. J. Munay. 1851.-Jackson McClelland, George Land, Samuel Stewart, Craig Ritchie, Reed B. Miller. 1852.-Jackson McClelland, Joseph Thompson, Benjamin South, John Chambers, Addison Winters. 1853.-Joseph Thompson, Sr., James Thompson, John E. Bell, John Chambers, Dell Weaver. 1854.-J. G. Mcllvaine, J. M. McWilliams, George Land, Thomas Watson, G. A. Kirk. 1855.-William Potts, George Land, Andrew Hart, Jackson McClelland, A. G. McPherson. 1856.-William Hornish, E. K. Hodgins, James McEwen, Jackson McClelland, Craig Ritchie. 1857.-John Weaver, James Berry, Joseph Thompson, R. B. Miller, Jackson McClelland. 1858.-Joseph Thompson, Dell Weaver, Reed Miller, Henry McPeck, John Brown. 1859.-John Paxton, John E. Black, James E. Berry, James McEwen, Samuel Smith. 1860.-James McEwen, John Paxton, James Berry, Samuel Smith; John E. Black. 1861.-J. McEwen, John E. Black, James Berry, Samuel Smith, John Paxton. 1862.-John E. Black, James Berry, John Brown, William Marshall, Dell Weaver. 1863.-James Berry, William Marshall, John E. Black, Dell Weaver. 1864.-Samuel Chamberlin, A. G. McPherson, James G. Dickson, John Brown, John E. Black. 1865.-Andrew McPherson, John E. Black, Samuel Smith, Joseph Thompson, James Berry. 1866.-James G. Dickson, John E. Black, A. G. McPherson, Joseph Thompson, William Marshall. 1867.-Benjamin South, William Campbell, William Marshall, James G Dickson, A. G. McPherson. 1868.-Joseph Thompson, J. G. Dickson, Edward Dickerson, Joseph Roberts, John Moore. 1869.-B. South, R. B. Miller, James J. Lockhart, Levi Gamble, John Moore. 1870 (October).-Charles W. McDaniel, James Crawford, James Berry Samuel Smith, William Campbell. 1872.-James Berry, William Campbell, Benjamin South, Samuel Smith Matthew Cannon, Joseph Thompson. 1873.-James Berry, F. J. L. Enlow, Matthew Cannon, G. W. Dehaven William Campbell, Mark D. Mcllvaine. 1874.-S. Chamberlin, B. South, W. R. Connell, Matthew Cannon, James Berry, J. G. Dickson. CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 611 1875.—John Roberts, Samuel Chamberlin, Dr. J. G. Dixon, Benjamin South, George Perrit. 1876.—Dr. J. G. Dickson, George Perrit, John Roberts, John Brown, Samuel Chamberlin, Joseph Thompson. 1877.—Adam Harbison, James Adams, John Brown, John Roberts, T. M. Potts, John Chambers. 1878.—John Fife, M. D. McIlvaine, Charles Shecurt, James Adams, T. M. Potts. 1879.—Thomas Jackson, T. M. Potts, Joseph Thompson, W. Brown, William Caldwell, William H. Paxton, Daniel Day, John Chambers, Robert Govern, Samuel B. McPeak. 1880.—Thomas Jackson, W. H. Paxton, Samuel Smith, Robert Govern, William Caldwell, T. M. Potts, William Campbell, William Donaldson, Mark D. McIlvaine. 1881.—S. B. McPeak, Joseph Thompson, Daniel Miller, G. L. Scott. 1882.—C. M. Greer, T. M. Potts, S. B. McPeak, W. H. S. Ritchie, John B. May. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. James McClelland, April 14, 1840. James McCullough, April 14, 1840. Hugh Riddle, April 15, 1895. James McClelland, April 15, 1845. Joseph Brown, April 9, 1850. James McClelland, April 9, 1850. April 10, 1855. Joseph Brown, April 10, 1855. William Hornich, April 24, 1857. Henry McAfee, April 10, 1860. William Hornish, April 21, 1862. John Moore, June 3, 1865. R. B. Miller, April 17, 1866. John Moore, April 13, 1870. Reed B. Miller, April 1, 1871. James McCullough, April 12, 1872 ; Jan. 26, 1874. Adam Harbison, May 24, 1874. Fulton Philips, March 16, 1876. Jas. McCullough, March 14, 1877. James Espy, March 27, 1879. Market-House.—It is evident that before the first meeting of the Town Council May 6, 1802, a market-house had already been erected, as at that meeting Andrew Munroe was appointed clerk of the market-house, and to have entire charge of it. It stood on the Main Street below the college grounds. Ordinances regulating the sales at the market-house were passed March 19, 1804. It was ordered by the Council June 4, 1808, that the stalls in the market-house be rented for one dollar and fifty cents per annum. No further reference is found in the records concerning the market-house till Aug. 25, 1820, when it was moved by the Council " that the old market-house be taken down, and that a site be fixed upon for building a new one; and the supervisor give notice to the citizens to meet at the market-house on Saturday, the 26th inst., to have their voice as respects the contemplated one." This movement was held in abeyance until May 16, 1821, when the question of building was voted down. The old market-house remained some years later, and was taken down and not replaced. Fire-Engine and Company.—About the year 1839 the Town Council purchased the "Hibernia," a hand fire-engine that had been in use in the city of New York, and did duty at the great fire there in 1835. In February of the next year a volunteer fire company was organized, and it was resolved by the Council "that the balance of the citizens be classed in three classes, whose duty it shall be to meet once a month to supply the engine with water; each person to furnish a bucket." Each person refusing to attend was subject to a fine of twenty-five cents. The Council also ordered two ladders and two fire-hooks purchased for the use of the department. The company existed for a few years, and was discontinued for lack of attendance, and the engine was finally sold for thirty-five dollars. It was found impracticable to haul the engine up the steep hills of the town in case of fire ; the fire department became a thing of the past, and no movement has ever been made in that direction since. Early Taverns.—On the 15th of March, 1787, Andrew Monroe purchased lot No. 9 in the town plat. He was licensed to keep a tavern at the October term of court in that year, and at once opened a house of entertainment on the lot now owned by Mrs. John E. Black, on the southwest corner of College and Main Streets. This tavern was kept by him till 1801, when Jennet Munroe was licensed and kept it till 1805. They lived here, however, many years later. William Dehaven was licensed in December, 1790, and Abraham Dehaven in 1791. He was one of the original purchasers of lots of John Canon, and owned lot No. 6, on the opposite side of the street from Munroe. He advertised in 1795 that he " makes copper stills and boilers, and wants a partner in the blacksmith business." In June, 1793, Francis Irwin was licensed and kept tavern till 1801. In January, 1794, Henry Westbay was licensed to keep a tavern, and opened a house on Main Street above Ritchie's Block, where James Adams now lives. This was a prominent tavern during the Whiskey Insurrection, known as the " Black Horse Tavern." This tavern was kept by him till 1814, when he removed to Washington with his daughter, Mrs. George Kuntz. His son James kept the tavern for several years thereafter. In the rear of the house was a large latticed arbor covered with vines and shaded by a large apple-tree. This was a favorite resort for convivialists. In the same year, 1794, David Lock and Mary Hill were licensed to keep tavern. Nothing is known of them. In 1806 George Sellers was licensed, John Patterson in 1809, John Lowrey in 1810, and in that year also Joshua Emory opened a tavern on Main Street, opposite the college, where William Campbell now owns. In 1825 he moved down to. the corner of Main and Pike Streets, where he continued till 1840, when he emigrated to the West. This' was for many years the principal hotel of the town, and where the stage-coaches stopped and delivered and received the mails. In 1819 William Finley was a tavern-keeper. His tavern was on the corner of Main and Pike, where he kept about ten years, and where he died. Thomas Ramsey about the same time had a tavern at the place now occupied by Hagan's grocery and Campbell's hardware-store. Hector McFadden was licensed in November, 1822, and opened tavern on the corner of Main and Green Streets, where he continued till about 1835. The property belongs to Mrs. Herriot, and is occupied by Mrs. Ferguson. The only hotel at present in Canonsburg is the Sherman House, kept by George Kirk. 612 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Bridges,—A petition was presented to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Washington County at the March term in 1822 for a bridge over Chartiers Creek at Canonsburg. It was referred to the grand jury, who authorized the commissioners of the county to appropriate $400 of Bank of Washington paper towards the erection of a bridge. The court allowed the appropriation, and viewers were appointed, who reported favorably at the June term of that year. A contract was made with George Morgan, who immediately began the structure, and at the November term the same year called for viewers, who were appointed, examined the work, and reported that it was " built in a better manner .than the contract called for, and .that he ought to be paid forty dollars more than the contract." The bridge was accepted and the recommendation of the viewers was approved by the court Jan. 27, 1823. On the 27th of January, 1824, a petition for a bridge, over Chartiers Creek below Canonsburg was presented to the court. Viewers were appointed, who reported the next day that the expenses would be too great for the township to bear, which report was approved by the grand jury. This action was not acceptable to the people, and the matter was again urged, aid the bridge was built and accepted in January, 1825. Post-Offices and Postmasters:—From a list of letters printed in the Herald of Liberty, a paper published it Washington in 1797, it is ascertained that a post-office was in existence in Canonsburg at that time. The name of the postmaster was not given. The first of whom any knowledge is obtained was William Clark, who held the position in 1801. His successors are here given in the order of their appointment : Henry Westbay, July. 1, 1809 ; John Roberts, October, 1811 ; Andrew Monroe, before 1816 ; Mrs. Andrew Monroe, John Dickinson, D. R. Stevenson, James McCullough, Benjamin South, George A. Kirk, Mrs. E. M. McGinnis, Mrs. Jane Martin (who still holds the position). The post-office was authorized to issue and receive money orders in October, 1868. The first order was received October 17th of that year. Newspapers of Canonsburg.—The first newspaper in Canonsburg was called the Luminary, and was published by William Appleton and William H. Cornwall in 1834. In the issue of the Examiner, of Washington, of July 27, 1833, William Appleton gives notice that he proposes to commence the publication of a paper at Canonsburg, to be called the Luminary, which is to be printed semi-monthly. Mr. Appleton seems to have associated with him William Cornwall (at one time recorder of deeds of Washington County), and to have published the paper as a weekly. The publication was probably commenced on the 1st of January, 1834, as No. 14 bears date of April 4th in that year. The paper was a five-column folio, nineteen by twenty-seven inches in. sizes At that time the office of the Luminary was " at No. 3, Walker's Row, Front Street." This was the west room on the first floor of the house on Pike Street now (1882) occupied by John Fife, and owned by Mrs. .Huldah Greer. The pressman was a young man named James Scroggs. John McGill delivered the papers to the subscribers in the neighborhood. The venture did not prove successful. At the end of six months the publisher was overtaken by financial disaster, and the office was sold out by the sheriff. The writ was issued July 3, 1834, and returned on the 28th of the same month. About the year 1852, William J. Hamill a student of Jefferson College, from Baltimore, commenced the publication of a newspaper called the Student's Enterprise. It was printed in a building on the north side of Pitt Street. On account of Mr. Hamill getting into trouble with the college faculty he left school and the paper ceased to exist after having been published less than a year. Copies of this paper are exceedingly rare, if indeed there are any in existence. In May, 1870, Th. Maxwell Potts and Aaron Miller, under the firm-name of T. M. Potts & Co., opened a job-printing office in the second story of the building on Pike Street, belonging to the estate of John E. Black, now occupied by A. M. Forsyth, merchant tailor, and A. L. Runion, druggist. On the 23d of August, 1872, they issued the first number of The Canonsburg Herald, a six-column folio, twenty by twenty-six inches. The venture was well received by the people, and a liberal patronage at once accorded. It was commenced and continued purely as a local family paper, and has taken no part in party politics. On March 6, 1874, it was enlarged to a seven-column folio, twenty-four by thirty-six inches, and at the first of January, 1879, it was again enlarged. Its form was then changed to a quarto, with five columns to the page, in size twenty-six by forty inches. With the beginning of 1879 was commenced the publication of an original story entitled "A Fair Sample; a Romance of Old Jefferson," by Rev. William Weir. It was a story of Jefferson College in her palmiest days, and attracted considerable notice. It was copyrighted, and occupied a year and a half in its publication. Edward W. Monck was employed upon the paper as associate editor from September, 1875, until March, 1877. At the first of April, Aaron Miller withdrew from the firm, and retired to a farm in Chester County. Since then the paper has continued under the management of T. M. Potts, as editor and publisher, assisted by his son, R. Claude Potts. In the spring of 1877 the office was removed to the second story of the block on Pike Street owned by Craig Ritchie, where it still remains. On the 7th of August, 1875, Fulton Phillips commenced the publication of a paper, which he at first called Notes by F. P. It was a three-column folio, CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 613 eleven by sixteen inches in size, and published at twenty-five cents a year. It was first printed in a building belonging to Benjamin South, and just north of his residence on Main Street, in the north part of the town, but after a few weeks the publication office was removed to the southeast corner of Main and Pike Street. Afterwards the office was for some time in what is known as the old Dr. Weaver property, on Pike Street, from whence it was removed to W. H. S. Ritchie's block, and in the spring of 1881 to the second story of the Canonsburg Bank building on Pike Street. Within one year the name of the paper was changed to Rural Notes, the size increased to a four-column folio, and the subscription price raised to fifty cents a year. The size of the paper has not been fixed. Since 1878 it has generally appeared as a five-column folio, though occasionally its size has been increased to a six-column folio. Physicians of Canonsburg.—The name of Dr. Hugh Thompson is found upon the plat of Canonsburg when first laid out in 1787. He was an early settler on Chartiers Creek, in Peters township, near Thompsonville, and from him that village derived its name. He was a practitioner over a large extent of country. It is not probable that he ever resided in Canonsburg, as his life was mostly passed on his farm. He had a son Robert, who studied with him and succeeded him in practice. He was more familiarly known as Dr. Bob, and was famous for his horsemanship. He was for a long time one of the prominent physicians in this region of country. In the latter part of his life he removed to Allegheny County, where he died. Dr. Thomas B. Craighead, a son of Col. George Craighead, was born east of the mountains, where he became a physician. He came to this section of country with his father, and settled, in 1794 in Canonsburg, where he commenced practice. He married Rachel daughter of Judge James Allison. After some years his health failed him, he retired from active practice, removed to a farm in Chartiers on a part of the Allison tract, and lived there till his death in January, 1827. His eldest daughter, Polly, who was born in Canonsburg in 1795, married David Watson, and settled in Cecil township, where Dr. McCloy formerly lived ; later they removed to Dr. Thomas Craighead's. Mrs. John Chambers, of Canonsburg, is a daughter ; Nancy, also one of the daughters, married William Wilson, of Allegheny County, Upper St. Clair township. Dr. Samuel Murdoch, a son of John Murdoch, of Chartiers township, studied medicine and commenced practice in Canonsburg about 1800. He remained here in active practice till 1834,-when he moved to the borough of Washington. A sketch of him will be found among the physicians of that. borough. Dr. James Cochran was a resident of the town a few years in +he early part of the century. He was a member of the Council and treasurer in 1807. In the year 1802 the name of Dr. J. W. Hilliard appears. His death occurred the next year. Dr. John Warren was a prominent and skillful physician, who commenced practice in the borough of Canonsburg about 1807, and continued till 1830. He lived on the north side ,of Pitts Street, where Samuel McMillan now lives. He was a member of the Council in 1813. "Dr. M. S. Pettit (late of the U. S. Army)" offered his professional services to the people of Canonsburg, December, 1816. Dr. George McCook, a son of George McCook, of Canonsburg, was born June 15, 1795. He graduated at Jefferson College, Canonsburg, in 1811, at the early age of sixteen years. For two years he was a tutor of ancient languages in the University of Richmond, Va. He returned to Canonsburg, and studied medicine with Dr. Warren. In 1816 he was married to Margaret Latimer, of Washington, Pa., and commenced practice in Canonsburg, and later went to New Lisbon, Ohio. In 1844 he was elected to the professorship of obstetrics in the Lake Share Medical College of Willoughby, and retained that position for three years. He declined a position as professor at Cincinnati, and accepted a professorship at Washington University, of Baltimore, Md. In 1847 he was transferred to the chair of surgery, where he remained for two years, and then removed to New Lisbon, Ohio. He went to Pittsburgh in 1849, where he became a successful physician, and had an extensive practice. He was appointed one of a board to examine those applying for appointments as surgeons in the volunteer service in 1863, and in 1865 he was pension examining surgeon. He died at New Lisbon, Ohio, June 23, 1873, at the age of seventy-eight years. Dr. McFarland was a son of John McFarland, an old resident of Canonsburg. He studied medicine about 1813, and commenced practice here. Later he moved to Bentleysville, and died there in 1.820. Dr. Jonathan Leatherman came to Canonsburg about 1815. He married a daughter of Craig Ritchie, Sr., and lived for a time where Paxton Brothers now live. Many years later he moved three miles west of town, on the Washington turnpike, where John Moninger now lives, and where be died. He was burgess of Canonsburg in 1820-21. Dr. George Herriot also married a daughter of Craig Ritchie, Sr., and settled in Canonsburg, and died there about 1830. Dr. David S. Stephenson came here and opened an office about 1825. He was a skillful physician, and active in town affairs, being elected a member of the Council in 1828-31. After a residence of about ten years he died. Dr. John Vowell of Pigeon Creek, was a well-read physician, who came to this town about 1835, and remained some years , then moved to Washington, Pa., where he opened a drug-store, which is still owned by his descendants. 614 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Dr. John Vance Herriott came here in 1837. He became a pupil of Dr. J. Leatherman. Later he went to Philadelphia, where he remained several years. He is now in Valparaiso, Ind. Dr. McFadden, a native of the town, and son of Hector McFadden, studied medicine and practiced here from 1830 to 1850. He lived in the brick house erected by his father. Dr. Murray, a son of James Murray, who owned a portion of the Morganza tract, was a pupil of Dr. J. V. Herriot, and practiced in the town from 1842 till his death. He resided in the house now owned by Mrs. Maginnis. Dr. Nourse came to this town in 1832 from Washington, D. C., and remained a few years, after which he went into the regular army as a physician. The Rev. Joseph Nourse, librarian of the Naval Observatory, was his brother. Dr. John Weaver was a son of John Weaver, of Chartiers township. He studied medicine with Dr. J. V. Herriot, and afterwards graduated at Jefferson Medical College. He practiced here from 1842 to 1858. Dr. John Weaver, a nephew of the Dr. John Weaver mentioned above, and son of Thomas Weaver, of Cecil township, was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College. He practiced in town from 1864 to 1872. Dr. James G. Dixon, a graduate of Jefferson College, also of Jefferson Medical College, practiced for a time at Mount Jackson, Lawrence Co., Pa. In 1858 he moved to Canonsburg, where he is still in active practice. Dr. Robert Thompson, although not a native of the town, came here when about seventeen years old with his father, Robert Thompson, where he remained till he went into active practice. He read medicine with Dr. George McCook, then of New Lisbon, Ohio. After he finished his studies he commenced practice in Washington, Ohio. In 1832 he was elected to the Senate of Ohio from Guernsey County, and in the following year removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he remained till the close of his life. He was a physician of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum of the State for eighteen years, and trustee of the same. He was one of the foremost in organizing a State Medical Convention prior to the organization of the State Medical Society, and became president of both. He was a member of the American Medical Association, and lastly one of the most able and eminent physicians in the State. He died at Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 18, 1865, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. Dr. George H. Cook was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College. He commenced practice in Indianapolis, and about 1854 came to Canonsburg. He continued practicing until 1864, then practiced a year or two in Pittsburgh, and removed to McDonald, in this county. Dr. William G. Barnett graduated at Jefferson College in 1837, and studied medicine with Dr. Thomas M. Taylor, of near Lexington, Ky. He commenced practice near Connellsville, Fayette Co., and continued there ten years, and in 1856 removed to Venice, Washington Co., where he remained nine years. In 1864 he removed to Canonsburg, where he has since resided. He served in the State Legislature in 1876. Dr. J. W. Alexander, a pupil of Dr. J. Leather. man, commenced practice in Hillsborough about 1840, where he remained for twenty years. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he entered the army as surgeon of the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry. In 1865 he came to Canonsburg, where he still resides. For several years he was physician to the State Reform School. Dr. Hugh Hanna, a pupil of Dr. John Weaver, Jr., and a graduate of the Jefferson Medical College, commenced practice here about 1870. Afterwards he sold out to Dr. John Donaldson, and now lives on a farm in Chartiers township. Dr. John Donaldson, son of Dr. David Donaldson, of Bridgeville, came to Canonsburg after graduating at Cleveland Medical College. For a time he practiced in Pittsburgh. He came here in 1878 and bought out the business of Dr. Hanna. Dr. W. Bane, a native of the county, came here about 1878. He also was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, and a pupil of Dr. Kelly, of Washington. Dr. Z. B. Stewart came from Marysville, Washington Co., to educate his children. He opened a drugstore about 1856, and died about 1863. Dr. William Kirk, a native of Canonsburg, studied with Dr. John Herriott. He completed his studies there with Dr. W. G. Barnett. He was a graduate of the Jefferson Medical College; commenced practice here. He removed from Canonsburg, and is now at Fox Chase, near Philadelphia. Banks.—Application was made to the Legislature of the State July 21, 1853, for the incorporation of the Canonsburg Savings-Fund Society, with a capital of $50,000. No action was taken until 1855, when it was incorporated by act approved April 20, 1855. It soon after went. into operation, and was in existence for about fifteen years, closing in April, 1869. Its first cashier was Samuel R. Williams, who had previously been Professor of Natural Sciences in Jefferson College. This position was occupied for several years previous to the close of the institution by John E. Black, Esq. The Farmers' Bank of Deposit was organized March, 1865. Its board of directors was constituted as follows: James Craighead, president; B. South, secretary and treasurer; R. C. Hamilton, John Chambers, and Adam Edgar. This institution opened an office on Pike Street, Canonsburg, and continued business till January, 1880, when it closed and was succeeded by the Canonsburg Savings-Bank, which opened for CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 615 business Jan. 14, 1880, in the same office, where it continued till January, 1881, when it was removed to the new banking-office now occupied by the Canonsburg Bank (limited). The business was closed up by the stockholders, Feb. 9, 1882, and the property transferred to the Canonsburg Bank (limited). The last mentioned institution was organized with a capital of $60,000, and opened for business on the 9th of February, 1882, in the office previously occupied by the Canonsburg Savings-Bank. The present officers are: Directors, William Martin (president), J. C. McNary (secretary and treasurer), Adam Edgar, S. B. 111cPeak, W. R. McConnell. Assistant cashier, Henry Bennett. The Canonsburg Library.—To give a complete history of the Canonsburg Library it is necessary to go back of the present organization a number of years. In the early summer of 1848 two literary societies were formed by the students of Olome Institute, a school for girls, under the charge of Mrs. O. J. French. The Philalethian Society was organized June 22d, and the Philadelphian at or about the same time. The early minutes of the latter society are not to be found. Measures were at once taken to found a library for each society. At a meeting of the Philalethian Society, held on June 26th, a plan for securing subscriptions was adopted. In due time these libraries were built up and served the purpose intended. The institute closed in 1864, and the libraries remained in the old seminary building on Main Street until November, 1866, when the resident members of the two societies held a joint meeting and agreed to present the books to the Students' Christian Association of Washington and Jefferson College of Canonsburg. When it had been decided to remove the college to Washington, the members of the Students' Christian Association, at a regular meeting in May, 1869, formally returned these books to the donors. The books were removed from the college building to the residence of Mrs. Jane Martin, on Pike Street, where they remained until 1879. On the evening of Feb. 7, 1879, a meeting of citizens which was largely attended was held in the public school-house, to consider the expediency of establishing a public library. It was resolved to go forward in the matter, and the following committee was appointed to prepare a constitution : Rev. J. M. Smith, T. M. Potts, Miss Mary Martin, and Miss Rachel J. Douds. At a meeting held on February 21st a constitution was reported and adopted, and the Canonsburg Library Association organized, with the following-named officers : President, Rev. John Speer ; Vice-President, Miss Mary Martin ; Secretary, Ed. W. Mouck ; Treasurer, William H. Heagare ; Auditors, Samuel Munnel, Miss Mary Watson, and Miss Alice Y. McGinnis. The offer of the northeast room in the second story of W. H. S. Ritchie's business block was accepted as a library room. At a meeting of the resident members of the Philadelphian and Philadelphian Societies, the books of their respective libraries were loaned to the Canonsburg Library Association, and these formed the nucleus of the present library. The first funds of the association were raised by voluntary subscription, and means for the purchase of new books from time to time have been mainly raised from the proceeds of public entertainments. The fee for regular membership is two dollars, and one dollar yearly dues, but any one can have the use of the library by the payment of one dollar a year. The number of books received from the two literary societies was about five or six hundred. The number of books now catalogued is about twelve hundred, embracing a carefully selected list of books of poetry, travel, biography, history, science, fiction, religion, and miscellaneous. The number of books annually taken out by the readers is a little less than twenty-five hundred. Much of the success of the library has been due to the earnest and persevering efforts of a number of ladies of Canonsburg. During the first year Mrs. Nannie Bebout occupied the position of librarian, but since then that office has been filled by Miss Rachel J. Douds. The present officers are : President, T. M. Potts ; Vice-President, Miss Lizzie Barnett ; Secretary, William McEwen ; Treasurer, William H. Heagan ; Auditors, Samuel Munnel, Miss Kate Herriott, and William M. Roberts. Schools.—The history of the Canonsburg Academy, Jefferson College, Theological Seminary, Olome Institute, and the present academy will be found in the general history of the county. This sketch refers entirely to what were known as the pay schools, and the public schools which succeeded them. The first mention of a teacher in the town not directly connected with the college is found in 1811. In January of that year the Rev. D. D. Graham advertised to open " a series of instructions on the study of rhetoric and belles-lettres, comprehending the science of philology." In the year 1816 a brick school-house (which is still standing) was erected on Water Street, and in July of that year application was made to the Council by a number of inhabitants for two or three feet off the side of Water Street for school purposes. It was "Resolved by the authority of the Town Council that forty feet in length and three feet in breadth off the south side of Water Street, any where opposite Alexander Murdoch, Esq.'s lotts on said street, be granted in perpetuity to Craig Ritchie, Esq., John Watson, Esq., Dr. Samuel Murdoch, and others, subscribers (and their successors) to a paper containing articles of association for building and maintaining a School-House in the borough of Canonsburg, dated the -- day of August, 1816." It is evident from this that a board of trustees was at that time organized and in operation, and that this action was taken for the purpose of enlarging the school-house lot. But little is known of the school, except that it was in operation many years. The history of the schools of Canonsburg after 616 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. the passage of the school law in 1834 is identical with that of Chartiers township, of which the town formed a part of one of the districts. Upon a petition to the proper authorities the town of Canonsburg became erected into a separate and distinct school district, and the next fall and Winter a portion of Chartiers township was added, and the whole erected into an independent school district, which it still continues. In the year 1844 the Town Council erected a two-story brick edifice on the ground donated by Col. John Canon for school purposes, which is the lot upon which the old stone college stood. In this building the two lower rooms and one upper room were devoted to school purposes, and the upper rooms were used for a town hall. The school board of Chartiers and later of Canonsburg had the privilege of the building for school purposes free of charge. The act of Assembly authorizing the erection of Canonsburg into a separate and independent school district was approved by the Governor April 1, 1857. A board of directors was elected April 24th, which was organized on the 2d of May the same year. The board consisted of Rev. William Smith, Benjamin South, J. L. Cochran, Dr. John Weaver, James McCullough, and Dr. J. G. Dixon. Rev. William Smith was chosen president; Benjamin South, treasurer; and J. L. Cochran, secretary. At this time there were two public schools in the borough. The schools were graded the year before the erection of the new district, and a third department added. On the 17th of March, 1858, a portion of one of the Chartiers districts adjoining was added to the district. In 1863 a school was established for colored pupils. A house was erected for their use on the lot granted to the African Methodist Episcopal Society by the Legislature, and was used without change until 1870, when it was enlarged and improved and is now in use. In 1877 the board of directors decided to erect a new school-house with modern improvements. Plans and specifications were obtained, and contract made for its erection for the sum of five thousand two hundred dollars. The building was completed for the sum specified, and was furnished for three hundred dollars. It was first occupied Nov. 1, 1877. The principals from the erection of the independent district have been as follows : William G. Fee ; — Campbell ; B. F. Lakin, 1865-66 ; J. P. Taylor, 1867 ; William H. Garrett, 186849 ; T. A. Elliot, 1870 ; Miss Eliza Frazer, 1871 ; W. T. Slater, 1872; E. W. Mouck, 1873-74 ; William Braddock, 1875; William Whitely, 1876 ; E. W. Mouck, 1877-78 ; William M. Stoody, 1879-80; William M. Roberts, 1881. The present number of scholars is 147 males and 115 females, with four teachers in charge. The receipts for school purposes in 1881 were $2565.71, and expenses $2300. Sabbath-Schools.—The first Sabbath-school organized in Canonsburg was established Oct. 25, 1817, by the students of Jefferson College. A constitution was made. and adopted and signed by the following persons : William C. Blair, Joshua Moore, A. McCandless, Alpheus Coles, John Moore, Richard Brown, and Alexander Williamson. The officers were William C. Blair, president ; Joshua Moore, secretary ; A. McCandless; treasurer. The school opened with sixty scholars, and continued until each of the churches in the town established a Sabbath-school, when it was discontinued. At present each of the local churches has a flourishing Sabbath-school connected with it. Chartiers United Presbyterian Congregation.¹ —The first action by the people in this section of country which resulted in the formation of the church now known as the Chartiers United Presbyterian Congregation was taken in the spring of 1774, at which time a petition was sent to Philadelphia asking for an election of elders. At what particular time this request was granted and the congregation of Chartiers formally organized is not known. The Rev. Matthew Henderson, who was the third missionary of the Associate Church who came to this country, was settled at Oxford, Chester Co., Pa., and it is believed that he soon after (in the next year) visited this place, and again in 1779. It was not, however, until 1781 or 1782 that he received a call from the congregations of Chartiers and Buffalo and was settled as pastor over these churches. In Sprague's Annals occurs the following in reference to Mr. Henderson : "It is probable that he commenced the removal of his family to the West in the year 1781, or it may be 1782." "After proceeding some distance," continues the biographer, " reports of the disturbances caused by the Indians reached them, and excited such an alarm that he left his family at Conagogeague, and proceeded alone to his new charge. The family remained here about a year, in a very uncomfortable situation, having no better dwelling than a rude cabin. Nor was their condition in this respect greatly improved when they were once more united by their removal to the scene of Mr. Henderson's labors. . . . For several years. after Mr. Lienderson's settlement in Chartiers in 1782 he was the only minister of the Associate Church west of the mountains. In consequence of this he had the care not only of his own widely-extended flock, but of several vacancies in the neighborhood.” It is proper to say that Mr. Henderson, and it may be his congregations, acquiesced in the union of 1782 which resulted in the formation of the Associate Reformed Church. In the year 1789, however, they re. turned to the Associate Church. He continued to be their pastor until the sixtieth year of his age, and tin thirty-seventh of his ministry, when, on the second day of October, 1795, he was killed by the falling o a tree. More extended mention will be made of the ¹ This history is prepared from a discourse entitled " Chartiers Congregation and its Pastors," by Rev. J. T. Cooper, D.D., of the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Allegheny, Pa., and delivered Nov.4 1875. CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 617 Rev. Matthew Henderson in the history of Chartiers township, where he was an early settler. Mr. Henderson having been removed by Providence, in 1795, from the congregation, Rev. John Smith, as it appears from the minutes of the session, became its pastor about the 15th of November, in the year 1796. Mr. Smith, according to Miller's sketches, was sent to this country by the Associate Synod of Scotland, in the year 1770, in company with a Mr. John Roger. He appears to have taken an active part in the negotiations in relation to the union between the Associate and Reformed Presbyterian Churches, and, according to Miller's sketches, voted for it. At that time he was settled in Middle Octorara. How long he remained in this place we are unable to say. He continued the pastor of Chartiers only a few years, for it appears from the minutes of the Presbytery that he was released on the 21st of January, in the year 1802. He was also pastor at the same time of the congregation of Peters Creek, from which he was released. He is said to have been a man of superior intellectual powers and a very popular speaker. It is painful, however, to have to record the fact that Aug. 31, 1803, he was suspended from the ministry by the Presbytery of Chartiers. On the 14th of April, 1802, a call was moderated in Chartiers congregation by Mr. Henderson, which resulted in the choice of Mr. Hamilton. He was probably the father of Mr. William Hamilton, whom some of you will remember as a student as college and the theological seminary. This call was declined. The congregation of Chartiers, or, the 11th of April, 1805, passed the following resolutions, John Hay, chairman : "Resolved, That whatever candidate will have a majority of votes, the whole congregation will join in calling for him. Resolved, That whatever minister the congregation will call at this time they will pay him annually £120, Pennsylvania currency, and the commissioners are authorized to assure the Presbytery of this. Resolved, Unanimously, that the congregation will give a call to the Rev. Mr. Ramsey." Accordingly, on the 4th of September, 1805, Mr. James Ramsey was ordained and installed pastor of this congregation. Mr. Allison preached on the occasion from 2 Cor. viii. 23 (part of the last clause). He also addressed a charge to the pastor, elders, and congregation, respectively. In the evening a sermon was preached by Mr. Anderson on Psalms cii. 16. This relationship, thus solemnly formed, was continued until June 12, 1849, when Dr. Ramsey was released at his own request. He departed this life in Frankfort, at the residence of his son-in-law, Dr. McElwee, on the 6th of March, 1855, within a few days of having completed his eighty-fourth year. After the release of Dr. Ramsey, in June, 1849, the congregation remained vacant until the 12th of May, 1853, when Rev. John Barr Clark, D.D., was ordained and installed as its pastor. Dr. Clark was born near Cadiz, Harrison Co., Ohio, Oct. 9, 1827. After a suitable training by godly parents, he entered Franklin College, at New Athens, Ohio, when he was sixteen years of age, and attended its sessions without interruption until he graduated on the 15th of September, 1848. On the 14th of November, 1848, he entered the Associate Theological Seminary located in this place, and completed the prescribed course of study in March, 1851. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Muskingum in the same year, and sent as a missionary to the State of Michigan, where he continued preaching during the year, spending a considerable portion of his time in the city of Detroit, where, as the result of his labors, a congregation was organized which numbers at present nearly three hundred members: Having in the summer of 1852 received a unanimous call to become pastor of this congregation, he was, on the 15th of May, 1853, ordained and installed as its pastor. His able and successful ministry the people of this congregation continued to enjoy until Aug. 9, 1860, when he was released, at his own request, with the view of becoming the pastor of the Second United Presbyterian congregation of Allegheny, where he labored until his death, Jan. 13, 1872. His services as a pastor in Allegheny were for some time interrupted by the late war, in the interest of which his feelings were ardently enlisted. He was. appointed colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-third and One Hundred and Ninety-third Pennsylvania Regiments, in. which capacity he served his country in the years 1862-64, commanding the love of his soldiers, the respect and confidence of his fellow-officers, and the gratitude of his country. It should be noted, that after the resignation of the chaplain of the regiment, Dr. Clark performed the duties of chaplain in addition to those of commanding officer. Prior to its interment, his lifeless body was taken into the church in which he had so often proclaimed the gospel of the grace of God. Thousands crowded there to look for the last time upon his manly form now prostrate in death. From that place his body was conveyed by a large number of the members of his flock and personal friends to the cemetery near Cadiz. An imposing and handsome monument of granite, about twenty-six feet in height, the gift of a number of his personal friends and admirers, now marks the spot where repose the mouldering remains of one who so often thrilled by his eloquence and drew to himself, as the magnate draws the steel, the hearts of thousands. The monument was placed there, with appropriate ceremonies, on the 30th of June, 1873. On this occasion impressive addresses were delivered by Revs. Mr. Norcross and Mr. T. H. Hanna, and an extended and graphic sketch of the deceased, particularly while connected with the army, was read by Mr. John S. Nichol. Dr. Clark was in many respects a remarkable man. Possessing a commanding appearance, and a strong, 618 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. clear, and resonant voice, and devoted to his work, he was very popular as a preacher. As a pastor he was greatly beloved by the members of his flock, both here and in the city of Allegheny. He possessed one power to a marvelous degree,—that of remembering the names of the members of his congregation. It has been said that there was scarcely a man, woman, or child in his congregation or Sabbath-school in Allegheny (both these were very large) whose surname and even Christian name he could not recall without any difficulty. Indeed, it was customary with him to familiarly address the members of his charge and his more intimate acquaintances by their Christian names. This, together with the fact that he was remarkably facetious, will account for the very strong hold which he had upon the hearts of his members, and of the deep regret that was felt by this congregation when, after a pastorate of seven years, he concluded to accept the call made to him by the Second United Presbyterian congregation of Allegheny. Rev. D. H. French became pastor of the congregation May 2, 1861, and was released, at his own request, in June, 1866. During the vacancy of the congregation, in the year 1869. the present house of worship was erected. On the 1st of December, 1870, the Rev. D. M. B. McLean formally took charge of the congregation, Rad in. the spring of the same year this house was finished and occupied. Mr. McLean served the church acceptably, and died March 21, 1880, while still in charge. Since that time the pulpit has been ailed by supplies only. The following persons were elders at the time the call was extended to the Rev. Matthew Henderson, namely James Scott, John White, Nicholas Little, and David Reed. In addition to the above the following is a list of those who have been, or still are, elders in this congregation : Elders in 1799.—Joshua Anderson, John Hay, Nicholas Little, John McCall, Thomas McNary, Andrew Munroe, Jeremiah Simpson, John White, Samuel Murdoch, Samuel Agnew, David Reed. Ordained April 17, 1811.—James McNary, John Roberts, Samuel Fergus, James Martin. Ordained June 18, 1816.—Abraham Anderson, James Lee, John McNary, George Murray, Robert Henderson. Ordained May 21, 1825.—Alexander Reed, Matthew McNary. Ordained May 10, 1832.—James. Moore, Joseph McNary, James Wilson, Andrew Russel. Ordained Feb. 25, 1841.—W. H. McNary, David S. Stevenson. Ordained Feb. 15, 1854.—Joseph Reid, Thomas Miller, Samuel Ralston, William Martin, Samuel Pollock, James Ralston. Ordained May 12, 1864.—R. H. Russel, John Campbell, Samuel McNary, Robert E. Wilson. Ordained 1878.—John B. May, James R. McNary, J. W. Martin, The present board of elders consists of John B. May, James R. McNary, J. W. Martin, Samuel Pollock, Thomas Miller, William Martin, R. H. Russell. The congregation has at present two hundred and seventy-four members. The following named went out from Chartiers congregation and became ministers of the gospel: Revs. Ebenezer Henderson, Abram Anderson, D.D., Alex. T. McGill, D.D., James Adams, Thomas Wilson, James W. Logue, J. T. Cooper, D.D., James P. Ramsey, Abram Anderson, Hugh Sturgeon, James Ballentine, T. H. Beveridge, D. W. Carson, J. G. Carson, D.D., J. I. Frazer, A. R. Anderson, W. L. Wilson, William Ballentine, T. J. Wilson, J. W. McNary, W. P. McNary, S. B. McBride, George R. Murray, J. B. Whitten. On the 26th of December, 1797, Nicholas Little, Samuel Agnew, Thomas McNary, David Reed, John Hays, John White, and Jeremiah Simpson, trustees of the associate congregation of Chartiers township, purchased four acres, two roods, and fifteen perches of land of John Canon, for which they paid £45. It was situated about one mile southwest of Canonsburg. On this land the congregation erected their first meeting-house and buried their dead. The house was built of round logs daubed with clay, some of the logs having been cut to give light. The seats were of round poles laid on blocks. It had no fireplace, stove, nor chimney. There the congregation would sit for two sections, in cold winter days, without fire, and no glass in the windows. This house in time gave place to the second one, which was erected on the same lot. It was built of limestone, and was taken down about the year 1834 to give place for the erection of the brick church, which was soon after built. While the stone house was standing it was customary on communion occasions to meet in the tent, as it was called. Here also preaching services were conducted when the day was pleasant. Four posts, about twelve feet high, were set in the ground under a grove of ash-trees. The preacher was elevated about four feet. His back and head were shielded from the rain and sun by boards attached to the posts. These posts were boarded about half-way up on the sides. In front there were no boards. The communion table was made of long, white ash logs, rough hewed on three sides. These logs rested on blocks. The seats were also blocks. The table was usually filled from five to seven times, and the services were sometimes continued until it was too dark to read the concluding psalm, which was usually the twenty-third. The Twenty-second Psalm, to the tune of Dublin, was invariably sung, line by line, in going to and returning from the table. The brick church was used by the congregation until 1869, when it was torn down, the society having CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 619 purchased a lot of land in Canonsburg, and during the fall of 1869 and winter of 1870 erected the present-brick church edifice, fifty-six by eighty feet, at a cost of eighteen thousand dollars. It was dedicated in March, 1870, by the Rev. T. B. Hanna, now of Monmouth, Ill. The Presbyterian Church of Canonsburg,¹—in 1830 a petition was presented to the Presbytery of Ohio (now Pittsburgh) by the people of Canonsburg and vicinity, asking for the organization of a new church to be located in the village of Canonsburg. The subject, however, was deferred until the next meeting, in the hope that some arrangement might be made that would prevent a division of the Chartiers Church, then under the pastoral charge of Rev. John McMillan, D.D. This it seemed important to avoid, if possible, as neither of the parties could support the stated ministrations of the gospel separately. In the meantime an effort was made to unite the petitioners and congregation on some plan that would not imply a division. But as there seemed to be little or no prospect of accomplishing this, the following resolution was adopted by the Presbytery : " That the request of the people of Canonsburg be, and hereby is, granted, and that they be, and hereby are, erected into a distinct congregation, to be called the Presbyterian congregation of Canonsburg." Accordingly, on the 25th of October, 1830, a meeting was held in the college chapel in Canonsburg, at which the church was duly organized. An election was entered into, and Henry Bracken (formerly a member of the Chartiers Session), John Hutchinson, and James Hanson were chosen ruling elders. Messrs. Hutchinson and Hanson were subsequently ordained. In April, 1831, five months after the organization of the church, the number of members, according to the first roll that appears on the record, was seventy-nine. A prominent feature in the early government of the church was the faithful and judicious exercise of discipline. Various trials are recorded in the minutes of the session, arising from different offenses on the part of church members, but more frequently from the use and sale of intoxicating liquors. In either case the offender was promptly suspended from the communion of the church until he gave satisfactory evidence of repentance and reformation. On the 10th of December, 1832, the session held a special meeting at which they adopted the following resolution on the subject : "WHEREAS, intemperance is a vice that is fraught with incalculable evils, ruinous to soul and body and all the best interests of man, utterly inconsistent with Christian character, and the more inexcusable in consequence of increased light and information on the subject; therefore, "Resolved, by this session, that no person indulging' in the use of intoxicating liquors; or engaged in vend- ¹ By Rev. J. M. Smiths ing the article for a beverage, shall be admitted to the communion of the church, and any persons who may have heretofore engaged in the practice, and are determined to continue in it, shall be considered as suspended, or liable to suspension, from the communion of the church." That this resolution was faithfully adhered to, the records abundantly show. On the 28th of April, 1831, the board of trustees of Jefferson College adopted the following resolutions : " Whereas, It is important that in the privileges enjoyed in this college, those of a religious character should be specially regarded, therefore, resolved : " 1. That it shall be considered the ex-officio duty of the president of this college to administer religious instruction, and the ordinances of the gospel to the students, as circumstances may justify or require. " 2. That for this purpose the college shall be under the direction and control of the Faculty, and subject to their use. " 3. That if the Presbyterian congregation of this place, or any other orderly denomination in the• vicinity, should wish to occupy said hall, they shall pay at least one dollar and fifty cents rent for every-Sabbath they shall enjoy the privilege, and the rent of the hall shall be allowed for the services above required." This offer was accepted by the new congregation, and up to the present date (April, 1882) they have used for religious services so much of the college chapel as was not occupied by the students. Before the removal of the college to Washington the presidents from time to time exercised the ex-officio functions of pastor or stated supply. Since then they have had pastors of their own selection, the students .of the academy occupying such portions of the hall as have been sufficient for their accommodation. The first stated supply was Rev. Matthew Brown, D.D., who had been called to the presidency of Jefferson College in 1822, and had occupied the pulpit of Chartiers Church in conjunction with Dr. McMillan from that time until he entered upon his duties in the college church. In 1845, having resigned the presidency: of the college, he ceased his stated ministrations in the church after a service of fifteen years. The first regularly installed pastor was Rev. Robert I. Brackinridge, D.D., who, after entering upon the presidency. of Jefferson College as the successor of Dr. M. Brown, was installed pastor of the church by the Presbytery of Ohio on the 12th of December, 1845. In these-services, held in the college chapel, Rev. William C. Anderson preached the sermon, Rev. C. V. McKaig presided, and Rev. William Smith, D.D., delivered the charge both to the pastor and the congregation. The relationship of Dr. Brackinridge to the church of Canonsburg and Jefferson College was of short duration, embracing but one year and nine months. After the resignation of Dr. Brackinridge, in September, 1847, the pulpit was supplied by Rev. Matthew Brown, 620 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. D.D., until the next meeting of Presbytery, when a call was presented for the ministerial services of Rev. Alexander B. Brown, D.D. The call being accepted, arrangements were made for his installation, which were carried out on the first Sabbath of February, 1848, by a committee of Presbytery consisting of Rev. M. Brown, D.D., Rev. William Smith, D.D., and Rev. R. Orr. Owing to increasing ill health, he resigned the pastorate of the church on the 7th of April, 1857, having also retired from the presidency of the college for the same reason. His resignation was accepted by the congregation, after adopting resolutions expressive of the warmest attachment and the deepest feelings of regret. In September, 1853, Rev. Aaron Williams, D.D., became professor of Latin in Jefferson College, and was elected co-pastor of the church with Dr. A. B. Brown on the 30th of the same month. The installation took place in the college chapel on the 17th of November, 1853, Rev. William Hamilton preaching the sermon, Dr. William Smith presiding and delivering the charge to the people, and Rev. William Ewing the charge to the pastor. After a laborious service of lye years he resigned the pastorate of the church in ,he autumn of 1858, and soon after retired from his professorship in the college. On the 7th of April, 1857, Rev. Joseph Alden, D.D., having been elected to the presidency of Jefferson College, was invited to take part with Dr. Williams in the ministerial labors of the congregation. In this relationship he continued until 1862, when he retired from the-presidency of the college. The third pastor of the church was Rev. David H. Riddle, D.D., who, in the autumn of 1862, was called to the presidency of Jefferson College, and to the pastorate of the church, over which he was installed by the Presbytery of Ohio in the spring of 1863. He continued pastor of the, church until May, 1868, a period of five years. During his pastorate in Canonsburg. there was no special work of grace, but almost constant accessions from the congregation and from the students, many of whom are now in the ministry. A healthful growth and a delightful and harmonious people were features in the experience of those years to which he can look back with pleasure and satisfaction. In June, 1868, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D.D., after becoming president of Jefferson College, entered upon his ministrations to the church as stated supply. Some time between March and June, 1869, he retired from the college, and also his labors in the church. As the consolidation of the two colleges was perfected in the same year (1869), and the location was changed to Washington, the college presidents disappear from this time forward from the pastorates of the church. More might be said of their personal history, but it is, omitted, as belonging more properly to their history in connection with Jefferson College. The fourth pastor of the church was Rev. William F. Brown, son of Dr. A. B. and Elizabeth Finley (Nevin) Brown. He was a. native of Canonsburg, and was graduated at Jefferson College in the summer of 1865. In 1870 he entered upon the pastorate of the church, in which he continued for a period of six years. He served the church of Charleston, W. Va., as a stated supply for a short time, and afterwards was pastor of the First Church of Newark, Ohio, for about a year. At present he is visiting in the Southern States, and is not in the stated work of the ministry. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary Houston, of Canonsburg. The fifth and present pastor is Rev. John M. Smith, son of John Henry and Mary (Forner) Smith. He was born near Upper Buffalo Church, Washington Co., March 6, 1831, and had his early training under the ministry of the Rev. John Eagleson, D.D. He united with the church in 1854. Had his preparatory education partly under Dr. Eagleson, and partly at Franklin Academy, Pennsylvania. He entered Jefferson College in 1852, and remained till ready for the junior class. After spending a year in teaching, he returned to college and graduated in 1856. He entered the Western Theological Seminary in 1856, and graduated in 1859. Was licensed by the Presbytery of Ohio in 1858, and was ordained and installed pastor of the church of Wellsburg, Va., April 28,1860. Was installed pastor of the church of Sharpsburg, Pa., in April, 1861, and remained nearly seven years. Accepted a call to the First Church of St. Charles, Mo., April, 1867, and remained three years. Was called to the church of inland, Presbytery of Allegheny, and remained three years. Received and accepted a call to the Central Church of Pittsburgh in 1874, and after a pleasant pastorate of two years, entered upon the work at Canonsburg in 1876, where he has continued up to the present, a period of upwards of six years. His installation took place on the 15th of February, 1876. In these services, before a large and appreciative audience in the college chapel, Rev. S. J. Wilson, D.D., LL.D., preached the sermon, Rev. William Ewing, Ph.D., delivered the charge to the people, and the venerable Dr. William Smith presided, and gave the charge to the pastor. In the spring of 1876 the church received very encouraging accessions, and up to the present has been favored with a steady and healthy progress. At the beginning of the present pastorate the membership numbered one hundred and twenty-five. At present the number is two hundred and ninety-one, or more than double, and the church appears to be in a more harmonious, hopeful, and flourishing state than in any other period of its history. Methodist Episcopal Church.¹ —On the 7th of November, 1844, a young Methodist student matriculated in Jefferson College, who, during several subsequent years, acted a prominent part in the history of the  ¹ By the Bev. D. J. Dash CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 621 Methodist Episcopal Church. In the month of March, 1845, upon inquiry, he learned from a fellow-student that one John Haggerty, a tailor, who had been a resident of the town for several years, was a member of the same church. At this time there was no Methodist organization in Canonsburg. Some time during the summer of 1845, Rev. — Sutton, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was appointed a missionary to the region about Canonsburg, the town itself being one of his appointments. He preached on alternate Sabbaths in the town hall. The novelty of the matter usually attracted a fair audience. At the suggestion of Rev. T. M. Hudson, who was then presiding elder of the district, a class was organized consisting of seven or eight members, whose names as nearly as can be ascertained were as follows: John Haggerty, "Mother" Marsh, John Ramsey, Mr. Capron and wife, Mr. Potts, and Mr. Monroe. The young student referred to above was appointed leader. For some tame this class met in the house of Mr. Haggerty. In a very short time a few others were added to their Amber, among whom was Mrs. Arnold, who at the present time is living and an acceptable member of the church. In the year 1847 the society built a one-story brick church fronting on Green Street, and which is still used as a place of worship by the Methodist Episcopal congregation. As soon as the church was dedicated, a Sunday-school was organized that has been in existence ever since. The indispensable student was elected superintendent, and continued to lead the class and superintend the school until 1850, when he graduated with a class numbering fifty-five as the valedictorian. At this time the school numbered one hundred and thirty scholars, and had a library of eight hundred volumes, including Bibles, Testaments, hymn-books, etc. In the year 1848, under the pastorate of Revs. H. Snyder and D. A. McCready, the church was favored with a revival of religion that added nearly an hundred converts. In five years after organization the class of eight numbered about one hundred and twenty-five. Not a little of the prosperity was due to the labors of Rev. N. Callander, a superannuated minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who resided for a time in the town. About ten years after organization the church became self-supporting, was made a station, and was favored with the exclusive services of a pastor. It continued as a station until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, which greatly depleted the membership by the enlistment of many of its young men. Rev. L. Maguire, the pastor, also entered the army as chaplain. For some years this society has been associated with Fawcett's Methodist Episcopal Church, both constituting a pastoral charge until 1878, when it was again formed into a station. This is its present status with a membership numbering one hundred, and a school having about seventy-five scholars, and an - 40 - average attendance of fifty. The following ministers have served the church since 1845 from one to three years each : Revs. Sutton, McCasky and Foster, H. Snyder and D. A. McCready, Cunningham and Jackson, Pugh and Baker, Brown, Peter F. Jones, Mansell, Alexander Scott, Richard Miller, L. Maguire, S. F. Jones, James F. Jones, M. S. Kendig, H. Neff, D. A. Pierce, J. C. Castle, J. F. Hudleston, C. M. Westlake, L. H. Eaton, W. F. Conner, D. M. Hollister, and D. J. Davis, the present incumbent. The student who was prominent in the work of the church during the first five years of its existence has been known, during the past twenty years of its existence, as the efficient president of the Pittsburgh Female College, Rev. Dr. Pershing. African Methodist Episcopal Church.—The colored people of Canonsburg and vicinity were first temporarily organized as a body of religious worshipers at Morganza. They at first met at private residences. As no records are known to exist, it is difficult to fix the date of this early organization with any degree of accuracy. It was probably about 1833 or within a year or so of that time. After worshiping thus for some years, they were regularly organized as a Methodist Episcopal Church, with Rev. S. Ching-man as pastor. The following-named persons were elected trustees : John Sluby, Sr., John Durham, Elias Prawl, George Wheeler, Isaac Albert, Boston Vactor. Revs: Thompson, Lewis, and Green were early pastors. In 1853 or 1854 the congregation petitioned the Legislature to invest a body of trustees with the title to a piece of land lying west of town, which had been owned by a colored man named John Chase, and who had died intestate. The petition was granted and the property assigned them for the purpose of erecting a church, and as a place of sepulture. Rev. Solomon Thompson laid the corner-stone of a very neat brick structure erected by the colored people in the year 1856. It was dedicated by Rev. Jeremiah Lewis. In the year 1874 they remodeled and enlarged it, adding much to its appearance and comfort. The present pastor is the Rev. S. T. Jones, and the membership is seventy. Oak Spring Cemetery.—On the 26th of Decameter, 1797, John Canon sold for forty-five pounds to Nicholas Little, Samuel Agnew, Thomas McNary, David Reed, John Hays, John White, and Jeremiah Simpson, trustees of the Associate Congregation of Chartiers township, four acres, two roods, and fifteen perches of land, situated about one mile southwest of the town of Canonsburg, on which they erected a church, and the remaining portion was used as a burial-place by the people of Canonsburg and its vicinity. Upon the decision of the congregation, in 1869, to erect a church in the borough of Canonsburg, the brick church then on the grounds was torn down, and during the next summer a company was organized under the name of the Oak Spring Cemetery Asso- 622 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. ciation. They purchased the property of the Chartiers congregation, and also bought a little over an acre of ground additional, making the area of the cemetery about six acres. A macadamized carriageway was built, paths were laid out, trees planted, grounds fenced, and sexton's house erected, all at an expense of about four thousand dollars. The present officers of the association are Samuel Pollock, president, and Robert Wilson, secretary and treasurer. Chartiers Valley Agricultural Association.—The causes which led to the formation of the Chartiers Valley Agricultural Association date several months anterior to its organization. In 1871 or 1872 an effort was made to establish an annual agricultural fair at Canonsburg. A stock subscription list was started, but the enterprise met with obstacles which compelled its abandonment. About this time, or shortly after, farmers' clubs were organized in some of the adjoining townships. At a meeting of the Chartiers Farmers' Club, held at the house of William A. McNutt, on the 7th of October, 1873, the following question was proposed for discussion at a future meeting : "Should we as a society make an effort to have an agricultural fair?" The question does not seem to have been reached at the next meeting in November. At the December meeting it was agreed to hold a special meeting at Fee's school-house (No. 5) on Tuesday evening, Dec. 30, 1873, to discuss the subject, "To more thoroughly ventilate or agitate the fact that we need an agricultural fair somewhere in this valley, its use, abuse, etc." An invitation was extended to all persons interested to attend and participate in the discussion. In the issue of the Canonsburg Herald of Jan. 24, 1874, the following appears : " We have several times called the attention of our readers to the importance of holding an annual fair at Canonsburg. A few years ago some effort was made in this direction, but was not carried to a successful issue. Since then several farmers'‘ clubs have been organized in the adjoining townships. Now if a properly organized effort is made, with the combined influence of these clubs sad our citizens, we see no reason why as large and successful a fair cannot be instituted at Canonsburg as in any other part of the county." At a meeting held in school-house No. 5, in Chartiers township, this question was discussed, " Would an agricultural fair in the vicinity of Canonsburg be advantageous to the farmers in this part of the county ?" After a free exchange of opinion it was unanimously agreed that it would be advantageous, and with that end in view it was resolved to make an effort to hold a fair. At this meeting John C. McNary, of Chartiers, Samuel Chamberlain, of Canonsburg, and James McClelland, of North Strabane, were appointed a committee to look after suitable grounds and ascertain the cost. About the 31st of January, 1874, a meeting was held at the hotel (Keystone House) in Canonsburg "for the purpose of organizing an agricultural society and establishing an annual fair in the vicinity of Canonsburg." Robert H. Russell presided, A. B. McCloy being secretary. The following committee was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws: William S. White, Dr. J.. W. Alexander, Wilson Arnold, William Martin, and John G. Paxton. At a meeting held at the same place February 14th the committee on fair grounds reported three locations. They were instructed to select the most suitable, and close a contract ,for the same. Measures were taken for raising funds needed for improving the grounds. Shares of stock were fixed at twenty-five dollars each, and a committee appointed to solicit subscriptions. The first minutes of the association bear date March 7th, at which time the Chartiers Valley Agricultural Association was formally organized and a board of officers elected. The officers for the first year, as finally agreed upon, were the following: President, James McClelland; Vice-President, J. B. Johnson; Secretary, William S. White; Treasurer, Dr. J. W. Martin ; Managers, W. L. Archer, J. M. Berry, M. H. Borland, B. B. Boyles, Nevin Brown, M. B. Brown, Samuel Chamberlain, W. R. Craighead, S. H. Cook, John Espy, W. A. Herriott, N. S. Hopper, John M. Miller, J. C. McNary, John McDowell, H. McMurray, J. G. Paxton, E. K. Rodgers, James Taggart, Isaac Van Voorhis, T. P. Welch. At a meeting held March 25th the committee on solicitation reported $3312.50 of stock subscribed. The stock of the association has since been increased to $3450. Measures were at once taken to have the association incorporated, and the charter was issued June 15th following. Grounds embracing about twenty-two acres, on the farm of Mrs. Sarah Curry, in North Strabane township, a short distance east of the Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church, and bordering on Chartiers Creek, were secured for a term of ten years. These were put into suitable condition, necessary stalls and buildings were erected, and a one-third-mile race-track made. The entire cost of buildings and improvements is estimated at six thousand dollars. The first fair was held October 13, 14, and 15, 1874. Since then an annual fair has been held during the last week of September, and in 1880 a spring fair in addition was held during the last week of May. The fairs in point of quality and number of exhibits have all been highly creditable. The exhibits of stock, especially in thoroughbreds, have been equal to those of the best country fairs. The exhibits of products and manufactures have always been large in number and excellent in quality. Steam-power and shafting are provided for showing farm machinery in operation. The number of visitors has always been very large. The largest attendance in one day was probably during the fair of 1875, when it reached about seven thousand persons. The total receipts from all sources for eight years has been something over twenty-six thousand dollars, CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 623 while the disbursements for buildings, improvements, premiums, and running expenses have reached nearly twenty-seven thousand dollars. The principal officers have been the following : Presidents, James McClelland, 1874-75 ; W. R. Craighead, 1876-77 ; John M. Miller, 1878 ; Dr. J. G. Dickson, 1879-80; William Martin, 1881-82. Vice-Presidents, J. B. Johnson, 1874; J. C. McNary, 1875 ; William Martin, 1876-77 ; Robert E. Wilson, 187879; Samuel Munnel, 1880; Robert Johnston, 188182. Secretaries, William S. White, 1874-75; R. V. Johnson, 1876-77; T. M. Potts, 1878-82. Treasurers, Dr. J. W. Martin, 1874-76; J. C. McNary, 1877-82. The officers for 1882 are William Martin, president, Canonsburg; Robert Johnston, vice-president, Canonsburg; T. M. Potts; secretary, Canonsburg; J. C. McNary, treasurer, Canonsburg. Managers, H. H. Brown, Thompsonville ; W. R. Craighead, Canonsburg; Dr. J. G. Dickson, Canonsburg; James Glass, Burgettstown ; Hon. J. Gilfillan, Upper St. Clair; J. B. Johnson, Canonsburg; Gen. John Hall, Washington; W. C. Lee, Cross Creek Village; Dr. H. H. McDonough, Vanceville ; W. R. McConnell, Canonsburg; James McClelland, Canonsburg; A. C. McCoy, Canonsburg; J. C. McNary, Esq., Canonsburg; John M. Miller, Esq., Hickory; Hon. M. McGiffin, Washington ; Henry Murry, Upper St. Clair; Jerome A. Quay, Morganza; John Shanton, Monongahela City ; John Van Voorhis, Monongahela City ; S. C. Work, Buffalo ; F. L. Wotring, Buffalo. Chartiers Lodge, No. 297, A. Y. M.—This lodge was organized May 15,1856. At this time the only Mason living here was Mr. H. C. Gleason. Upon the expressed desire of several persons in the town to form a lodge, a preliminary meeting was held at his house on Pike Street, now owned by J. V. H. Cook. A petition was drawn up, on which a charter was given and the lodge organized as above. Later meetings were held at the house of John Brown, on Main Street, for-some time, and until he removed to the building now occupied by John Donaldson as a confectionery-store, when their meetings were held at his house until the society fitted up their present rooms in the Ritchie Block, on the corner of Main and Pike Streets. The present (1882) officers are W. R. McConnell, W. M. ; John Holleran, S. W. ; James McWilliams, J. W. ; J. B. Donaldson, Sec. ; James Morrison,. Treas. Canonsburg Lodge, No. 803, I.O. of O. F.—This lodge was instituted Jan. 15,1875, by District Deputy Grand Master Ahira Jones, Jr. At its organization there were twenty charter members. The first officers were Allison De France, N. G.; Herman Hollander, V. G.; T. M. Potts, Sec. ; W. P. Cherry, Asst. Sec. ; William Patch, Treas. Meetings were first held in a building--now by W. P. Morgan. In 1878 the society leased for a term of years the rooms they fitted up and at present occupy. Since the organization there have been admitted by initiation and card sixty-one members. The present officers are John White, N. G. ; Samuel Eberly, V. G. ; T. M. Potts, Sec. ; R. C. Neill, Asst. Sec.; William C. Campbell, Treas. Thomas Paxton Post, No. 129, G. A. R.—This post was organized May 9,1879, by Col. Chill Hazard, of Monongahela City. It was named in honor of Sergt. Thomas Paxton, a member of Company D, Pennsylvania Veteran Reserve Corps, who was killed at Spottsylvania, May 9,1864. The first officers of the post were Adam Harbison, Commander; Alexander Huston, Senior Vice-Commander; William Meiggs, Junior Vice-Commander; Dr. J. W. Alexander, Surgeon ; David Hart, Quartermaster. The first meetings were held in the Odd-Fellows' Hall, and in 1881 the post fitted up a room in W. H. S. Ritchie's block. The society has at present thirty-two members. The present officers are Alexander Houston, Commander; Charles Draper, Senior Vice-Commander ; Robert Kaine, Junior Vice-Commander; John McCahan, Adjutant; James Speer, Quartermaster. Chartiers Valley Railroad.—In December, 1870, the Chartiers Valley Railroad was finished through to this point, and the succeeding spring to Washington. Since the road has been opened it has done a large carrying trade, both in freight and passengers. Coal, - limestone, and milk, besides much grain and produce, are shipped from this point, each of these interests employing many men and requiring considerable capital. The railroad company has here a commodious warehouse and comfortable waiting-rooms in their large depot building. The Ice Industry of Canonsburg.—In 1874 Samuel Munnell, of Canonsburg, engaged in the ice business, which has since been increased from time to time until it has become quite an important industry. The ice is gathered from artificial lakes. The first lake was formed in the year named by constructing a dyke around the meadow just west of the railroad depot and north of the railroad. Water is turned into this at the proper time from the mill-race, and by the time it freezes all sediment and impurities have settled to the bottom. The first ice-house erected held about two thousand tons when first housed. Twenty per cent is allowed for waste. The first crop was sold in 1876. In that year he erected an additional house and stored three thousand tons. In 1878 he built a third addition and stored four thousand tons. At these houses the ice is .lifted by a screw-elevator driven by a ten horse-power engine. When in good working order this machine will elevate about forty blocks a minute, equal to two hundred tons an hour, when the ice is from twelve to fifteen inches thick. In 1880, Mr. Munnell associated with him Samuel Duff, of Pittsburgh, and purchased fourteen acres of meadow lying south of the railroad and directly opposite the old premises. This firm is known as the Canonsburg Ice Company. Eleven acres of this tract 624 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. was surrounded with a dyke three-fifths of a mile in length, and ranging in height from two to five feet, with an average width of seventeen feet. In the centre of this dyke is an upright partition of plank two inches thick. The amount of plank required was twenty thousand feet, and to construct the embankment required the moving of one hundred and eighty thousand cubic feet of earth. The house used in storing the ice from this lake as first built was one hundred and fifty-five by eighty-four feet, with a height to the eaves of the roof of twenty-seven feet, and divided into five rooms. In 1882 two additional rooms were added, making the building two hundred and seventeen by eighty-four feet in size, with a storing capacity of nearly twelve thousand tons, or sixteen thousand for all the houses owned by the company and by Mr. Munnell himself. There are railroad sidings at all the houses, and the ice is easily loaded into the cars for shipment. The ice is sold at wholesale, and mainly finds a market in Pittsburgh. During the ice harvest fifty or sixty men are given employment. When the houses are filled, the water is let out of the ponds and the meadows used for cropping during the summer. Rolling-Mill.—About the 1st of April, 1882, an offer was made to the people of Canonsburg by parties in Pittsburgh to locate and build a rolling-mill at that point provided the citizens would raise the sum of fifty thousand dollars. An effort was immediately made, which resulted in raising the amount necessary by the 3d of May. The parties in Pittsburgh! were notified, and a meeting was called to be held in that city May 11th, at which meeting a company was organized with one hundred and fifty thousand dollars' capital, and the following-named officers : Directors, John Ewing (president), L. A. Meysen (secretary), Charles H. Taylor (treasurer), H. S. Duncan, and Samuel Munnell. A site was soon after purchased of eleven and a half acres of land of William Ewing and S. B. McPeak, situated on the north bank of Chartiers Creek, southwest of the town of Canonsburg and on the Chartiers Valley Railroad. A coal bank is within one hundred yards of the site. Operations were commenced and pushed with vigor in the expectation of having the mill completed and ready for work in September, 1882. The works will at first employ about two hundred men, which force it is expected will be increased as the business progresses. Chartiers Woolen-Factory.—Some time previous to the war of the Rebellion a few of the leading capitalists and others of this vicinity agitated the question of building a mill for the manufacture of woolen goods. As near as can be learned the subject first took shape in the minds of Mr. John E. Black and William McDaniel, Esq., both men of enterprise and excellent business acquirements. Sufficient money was subscribed, a stock company formed (of which John Hays, Esq., was president), and the services of Mr. H. C. Gleason, a practical wool-worker from Massachusetts, were secured. A brick building, forty by sixty feet, three stories high, was erected on the north bank of Chartiers Creek. The building awaited only the machinery when the war interposed, putting a stop to further operations. In 1866 an agreement was made with George Orth and William Layburn, of Connellsville, to take charge of the works with a view of purchasing. The company purchased one set of woolen machinery complete. Messrs. Orth and Layburn put on twelve hands and commenced work. They were successful for several years, and so continued until 1873, when the company went into litigation, and the works were finally sold to James Craighead, by whom it is still owned. Additional machinery was put in, and eleven hands are now employed. During the year 1881 sixteen hundred pairs of blankets, and six hundred pieces of flannel, thirty-five yards to the piece, were manufactured. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. W. II. S. RITCHIE. W. H. S. Ritchie was born in Canonsburg, Washington Co., Pa., June 9, 1850. His grandfather, Hon. Craig Ritchie, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Dec. 29, 1758. He emigrated to this country in 1772. He early evinced extraordinary talents for business, and soon succeeded in working his way to the position of a successful merchant in Canonsburg. At the age of thirty he secured to himself the possession of a most estimable and valuable wife by marrying Miss Mary Price, a native of Maryland. She died at Canonsburg in 1836. This excellent lady, who became the mother of a large family (fourteen children), preeminently adorned her station, and greatly contributed to Mr. Ritchie's happiness and success in life. She sympathized with him in his toils and struggles to sustain Jefferson College through its early history; and her name ought ever to stand with those of Mrs. Canon, Mrs. McMillan, and other noble women who labored and prayed and made such sacrifices for this institution. Mr. Ritchie's energy of character, business habits, integrity of principle, and general intelligence secured to him a widely extended reputation. He was early elected to the Legislature, and served his country for some years in this capacity. During the " Whiskey Insurrection" he took a decided stand on the side of law and order, and rendered himself so unpopular with some of the leaders of that unhappy affair that he was in danger of their vengeance. Indeed, nothing but his absence in attendance at the General Assembly of the State saved his property from the torch of the incendiaries at the time that Gen. Neville's house CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 625 as burned to the ground, as some of the party told the family. He enjoyed the confidence and especial friendship of Gen. Washington, who often visited him and, corresponded with him, and availed himself of Mr. Ritchie's aid in the management of his landed interest in Washington County. He not only lodged with Mr. Ritchie, and often dined with him, hut took many a walk with him along the banks of Chartiers, conferring with him, not only about his own private interests, but the public concerns of the country.. He also enjoyed the friendship and confidence of Dr. McMillan, who made Mr. Ritchie's house his home whenever he was in Canonsburg. For more than forty years there was an unbroken intimacy between these good men. It would be hard to say how much Jefferson College is indebted to Mr. Ritchie for its successful struggles in its most perilous times. He was one of its first trustees, and secretary of the board for a long time. He also was appointed treasurer at various times, and managed the financial affairs of the college with great judgment and success, often paying large sums in advance from his own pocket. He was by far the best business man they had, and did more in devising ways and means to sustain the college than perhaps all the other trustees together, even including Dr. McMillan himself. He gave a large portion of his time and personal attention in superintending the progress of the new building (Providence Hall), and provided from his own resources whatever might be temporarily wanted by the workmen. When, in 1817, every other trustee seemed to despair of the further existence of the college, Mr. Ritchie was unmoved and immovable, and took such energetic steps as reanimated the friends of the institution and secured its continuance. He died June 13, 1833. He was a gentleman, of the old school. His dignified and somewhat aristocratic manners and his fine personal appearance commanded respect wherever he might be found. For honesty of principle, goodness and charity, and for self-sacrificing efforts in behalf of Jefferson College, the church of his choice, and the country of his adoption, Mr. Ritchie had no superior in the men of his day. To have so long enjoyed the confidence and esteem of Gen. Washington and Dr. McMillan is a high honor to which few, living or dead, can lay claim. He left behind him a large family of uncommon intelligence and refinement. A number of them died in infancy. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Wylie, president first of Jefferson College, then of Washington College, and lastly of Indiana University, married his oldest daughter. The Rev. Joseph T. Smith, D.D., of Baltimore, married a granddaughter. William married Miss S. Dorsey, of Philadelphia; left one son, Craig D. Ritchie, of Philadelphia. Died in Wheeling, 1838. John married a daughter of Parker Campbell, of Washington, Pa., and died in Texas, aged seventy years. Ann was wife of Dr. Jonathan Letherman. Mary married Dr. George Herriott, both of whom are deceased. Catharine was wife of the Rev. Samuel F. Leake, the successor for some years of Dr. McMillan. Eliza was wife of Redick McKee,.formerly of Wheeling; Hon. David Ritchie, the youngest son, died in Pittsburgh. Craig Ritchie, father of W. H. S. Ritchie, was born in Canonsburg, Nov. 24, 1807, and was educated in her schools. In the early years of his life he was employed in his father's store at Canonsburg, and foreshadowed in the boy the remarkable talent for business affairs which characterized him through life. In 1832 he moved to Wheeling, W. Va., where he engaged successfully in the manufacture of glass. He owned the land which for many years was called Ritchieville, but is now known as South Wheeling. Returning to Chambersburg in 1840, he continued to carry on merchandising there till 1875, when he sold out to his son, W. H. S. Ritchie, at which time he retired from active business. He was for more than thirty years clerk and elder in the Chartiers Presbyterian Church, and at an earlier period its Sabbath-school superintendent. He was not only the thorough business man, but he took a deep interest in public affairs, and in all enterprises which looked to the betterment of his native place. He married Mary Ann Chickering, the only child of Lieut. Thomas Balch Chickering, U.S.A. Lieut. Chickering was a native of Dedham, Mass., and the seventh in direct descent from Thomas Balch, the first male child born in Massachusetts Bay colony, 1634. He married Susan (or Susannah), third child of David and Cynthia Swift, who was the sixth in direct descent from William Morse, who was born in 1608, emigrated and settled in Newbury, Mass., and died there Nov. 29, 1683. The line is as follows: (1) William Morse, (2) Jonathan, (3) Joshua,. (4) Capt. Theodore, who was born Aug. 20, 1717; died July, 1762, at Falmouth, Mass., (5) Cynthia, twelfth child of Capt. Theodore Morse and Thankful Crocker, married David Swift, (6) Susan, third child of David and Cynthia Swift. Susan Chickering survived her husband sixty years. She died in Canonsburg in 1876. In all the womanly qualities which mark the excellent wife and devoted mother, Mrs. Ritchie has fully sustained the reputation which has been a prominent characteristic of the distinguished families from which she descends. She survives her husband, and is living with her son, W. H. S. Ritchie. Their children were Caroline, Frank, Virginia, Mary, Ellen, William Henry Swift, Henrietta, and Susan. Caroline is wife of Rev. I. S. Hays, D.D., Professor of Theology in the seminary at Danville, Ky. Virginia (deceased) was wife of the Rev. Robert Miller, a clergyman in the M. E. Church. 626 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Frank died at Morris Island, November, 1863, during the war; a captain in the volunteer service. Mary is wife of Leaman Carothers, a farmer, living near Taylorstown, Washington Co. Ellen is wife of W. D. Butler, superintendent in the public schools of St.,Louis, Mo. Henrietta is an attendant of the School of Design in Philadelphia. Susan Moore is wife of C. P. Waugh, a farmer, living near Independence, in West Virginia. W. H. S. Ritchie received his education in the schools of Canonsburg. When ten years of age, in 1860, he entered his father's store as clerk, and was for the next ten years thus employed except when attending school. From 1870 he became permanently connected with the business, and for three years prior to 1875 its principal management devolved on him. In 1875 he purchased the store of his father, since which time he has carried it on in his own name. In the latter part of 1877 and first of 1878 he built his present large store building, and occupied it in April of the latter year. (A representation of this business block will be found on another page of this volume.) The building and occupancy of a store of its magnitude was the inauguration of a new era in the trade of Canonsburg, and though many of his neighbors prophesied it was too large for the place, the sequel has fully justified Mr. Ritchie's foresight and good judgment. His venture gave at once a marked impetus to the trade of the town. A large trade, which formerly went to other localities, has been drawn to Canonsburg by the increased inducements offered to customers. At the present time Mr. Ritchie is erecting still another brick block to accommodate his increasing business. Mr. Ritchie is an ardent member of the Republican party, but an aspirant for no office. He is a member of the Canonsburg Presbyterian Church ; married, Nov. 23, 1872, Sarah J. Miller. Their children are Theodore Morse, Madeline, and William. DR. JAMES GLENN DICKSON. Dr. James Glenn Dickson was born in Fayette township, Allegheny Co., Pa., Feb. 15, 1825, the third in a family of five children of William and Margaret (Glenn) Dickson. After marriage, his grandfather, George Dickson, at an early day settled near what is now Greensburg, county-seat of Westmoreland County, but eventually moved to Fayette township, Allegheny County, then in the " backwoods." The family were several times driven by the Indians back to the settlement near Greensburg, and at one time their log cabin was burned and their crops destroyed. He had three sons and four daughters, all of whom were married and, with one exception, raised families. He and his wife died at the homestead in Fayette, and both are buried at the Robinson's Run Church, William Dickson, father of the doctor, was the youngest of the seven children. He was born in Fayette in 1790, and fell heir to the homestead upon the death of his father. He was one of the heaviest and most successful farmers in the region, and one of the first in Western Pennsylvania to introduce fine-wool sheep. He took decided interest in church and political affairs. He was an elder for many years in the Associate and subsequently in the United Presbyterian Church. He was twice married. His first wife was Margaret Glenn, whose family were among the earliest settlers of Allegheny County. She was born in 1791. Their children were Rachel, George, James G., Mary J., and William A. Rachel is wife of Robert Potter, surveyor and farmer, living in Noblestown, Allegheny Co. George is a resident of Pittsburgh, has followed farming, but at the present time follows surveying as a business. Mary J. is wife of James Clark, a retired farmer living in Canonsburg. William A. is a farmer living near Midway Station, on the Panhandle Railroad. The doctor's mother died Nov.18,1852, aged sixty-one. His father married for his second wife, in 1857, Susan Aikin, who died March 1, 1872, near Noblestown, Pa. He died March 18, 1872. He and both his wives are buried at the Robinson Run Church. Dr. Dickson received his primary education in the district school of his neighborhood. He prepared for college under the instruction of the Rev. John M. French, pastor of the Associate Church of Noblestown ; entered Jefferson College in 1843, and was graduated from that institution in 1847. His first two years in college were under the presidency of Dr. Matthew Brown ; the last two of Dr. Robert J. Breckenridge. Among his classmates were the Rev. J. R. W. Sloan, D.D., Rev. Davis Carson, D.D., and Rev. A. G. Wallace, D.D. His class numbered sixty members. In 1858 he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. J. V. Herriott, of Canonsburg. He attended his first course of lectures at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in the winter of 184950, his second course in the following winter, receiving his medical diploma from that institution in the spring of 1851. In the summer of the same year he began the practice of medicine at Mount Jackson, Lawrence Co., Pa., where he remained about one year. In 1852, at the solicitation of his old preceptor, Dr. Herriott, he returned to Canonsburg, and entered into a partnership with him, which continued about two years, when Dr. Herriott removed to Philadelphia. Upon the return of Dr. Herriott, after an absence of a number of years, Dr. Dickson again became associated with him in practice, which arrangement continued about three years, when Dr. Herriott moved to Valparaiso, Ind., where he is still living. Since that time Dr. Dickson has been alone in his profession, having now an unbroken practice in Can- CANONSBURG BOROUGH - 627 onsburg of thirty years, the longest period of any physician of the place, The only vacations taken during the time were one week spent in the oil regions and one week at the Centennial. Few, if any, physicians in the county have a larger or wider range of practice, his ride averaging for many years twenty miles per day. Nature, as well as education, united with rare powers of physical endurance, have made him the successful physician. His cheerful, sympathetic manner, equally with his superior skill in administering remedies, at once command the respect and confidence of his patients. The doctor united with the Associate Church of Noblestown in 1843. He has been a member of the Chartiers United Presbyterian Church since his residence in Canonsburg. In politics a Whig and Republican. He married, Sept. 4, 1857, Margaret H., (laughter of Alexander and Mary (Miller) Buchanan. Mrs. Dickson was born Feb. 28, 1828, in North Strabane township. Their children are Mary, Jeannette, and William Alexander. The former is a graduate of Washington Seminary ; the latter is a student at Duff's Mercantile College. DR. J. W. ALEXANDER. Dr. J. W. Alexander was born in North Strabane township, Washington Co., Pa., April 15, 1815. His grandfather, Samuel Alexander, emigrated from Ireland in 1763, and settled in Chadd's Ford, Chester Co., Pa. He married a Miss Wilson, by whom he had three children, two sons and a daughter, all born at Chadd's Ford. In 1785 he moved his family to Allegheny County, where he patented three hundred and sixty acres, of land, situated two miles from the present village of Bridgeville. Both he and his wife died and were buried in this place. His son, Joseph Alexander, father of the doctor, married Elizabeth West in 1807, and in 1808 he purchased a farm in North Strabane township, Washington County, of one hundred and forty acres, partly improved. He lived on this place until his death, which occurred March 23, 1828, aged sixty-two. His wife survived him many years ; she died in 1869, aged eighty-seven. Their children were Mary, Samuel, Elizabeth, Joseph, West, and Susan. Mary was wife of James Mahood. Samuel married Mary Van Eman ; has one child living, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was wife of John Dixon, living at Milan, Rock Island Co., Ill. ; two children living, George and Emma. Susan was wife of William McA. Quail, a farmer in North Strabane township; three children, Huston, Elizabeth, and Annie. All the brothers and sisters are deceased. Dr. Alexander passed his boyhood working on his father's farm. His primary education was received at the common school in Canonsburg. He prepared for college at the preparatory department of Jefferson College, which he entered in 1835. He remained three years in college, taking the full course, with the exception of the Greek language. In 1838 he entered as a medical student the office of Dr. J. V. Herriott, at Canonsburg, with whom he studied three years. He taught school, however, at Hollidaysburg nine months of that time. He attended a course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College in the winter of 1839-40. Commenced the practice of medicine in Hillsboro, Washington Co., in 1841, and continued there until 1861. He passed the examination of the State board, Aug. 6, 1861, and was commissioned as surgeon January, 1862. Received the appointment as surgeon of the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. After the battles of Fair Oaks and Seven Pines, he was assigned to duty as surgeon of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which position he held three months. He was relieved from this position, and Oct. 20, 1862, was appointed surgeon of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Col. William J. Palmer commanding, with which regiment he remained until the close of the war. He was mustered out of service at Nashville, Tenn., June 21, 1865. With the exception of a slight flesh-wound, received at the battle of Seven Pines, the doctor came out of the war unscathed. The regiments in which he served were in many of the severest battles, and the duties of his position were often most arduous and exhaustive. Prior to the war the doctor had removed to Canons, burg, and upon being mustered out be returned to that place, where, after a rest of about two years, he resumed the practice of his profession, and has ever since been one of its leading physicians. He is a member of the State Medical Society, also of the Washington County Medical Society, at one time president of the latter. At the present time (1882) he is physician to the Morganza Reform School. In politics, first a Whig, and a Republican from the organization of that party. He was chairman of the first county convention of that party ; was a member of the Legislature of 1853 ; has been a trustee of Jefferson Academy for ten years, a member of the Canonsburg Presbyterian Church nine years, and an elder for the last seven years. In all matters affecting church or state the doctor has most decided opinions, and if the occasion requires is abundantly able to defend them. For his friends he always has a warm side; those who are not he is apt to let severely alone, He married, June 18, 1844, Mary Ann, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Morison) Horner. Mrs. Alexander was born in Hanover township, Washington County. Her father's was one of the old families of Northampton County, Pa. Their children are Mary Elizabeth, Joseph, Margaret, Laura, and William H. Mary Elizabeth is the wife of Thomas Yates living in Washington, Pa. CALIFORNIA BOROUGH. THE pleasant and growing borough of California is located on the west bank of the Monongahela River, just. above the mouth of the small stream known as Pike Run, which separates it from the old borough of Greenfield, and is distant five miles below Brownsville, fifty miles by rail and fifty-five miles by river from Pittsburgh, and twenty-three miles from Washington, the county-seat. Its site is one of great natural beauty, and not surpassed within the confines of the Monongahela Valley. It contains about sixteen hundred inhabitants,¹ the State Normal School of the Tenth Normal School District, which district is composed of Somerset, Fayette, Greene, and Washington Counties, the church edifices of Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Christian denominations, various secret benevolent associations, an ample supply of physicians and merchants, and is the centre of vast coal interests, 13,654,700 bushels of coal having been shipped from it and its immediate vicinity during the year 1880. It is also an important shipping-point for wool, grain, .fruits, and live-stock. The site of the town is celebrated in the annals of Pennsylvania as having been the place where the Indians met in council in 1767 to express their grievances, which resulted in the mission of the Rev. Capt. Steele, of Carlisle, and others, who were sent out in the following spring to meet them, and to persuade white settlers to retire and not invade the lands yet belonging to the Indians. The Indian title, however, was extinguished by the treaty of Nov. 5, 1768, and the following year thousands of acres bordering upon the Monongahela were surveyed by Gen. James Hendricks and other surveyors, and many patents covering these lands were granted to individuals by warrants from the 'proprietary land-office. Prior to 1784 a man named Samuel Young resided upon or near the town site, having some right or title 'to it. During the year last mentioned, however, Robert Jackman² (having purchased Young's interest) obtained a patent for a large tract of land, which covered the sites of the present boroughs of California and Greenfield, besides hundreds of acres lying back ¹ The borough contained 1566 inhabitants in 1880, 476 in 1860, and 639 in 1870, according to the United States census reports. ²Robert Jackman was a native of Ireland, and a descendant of a family which originated in Germany, thence migrated to Wales, and finally settled in Ireland. - 628 - and around these towns. He had six sons, viz., James, William,³ Dixon, John, Robert,4 and Henry, besides two or three daughters, and at his death, which occurred Aug. 26, 1813, at the age of seventy-four years and four months, the land was divided among those sons, James and William inheriting the grounds now partly included within the corporate limits of the borough. Subsequently this land was sold at sheriff's sale to Seth Buffington, who soon after transferred the same to John Ringland.5 The Jackmans were famous mill men, and only seemed contented when engaged in building or operating grist- and saw-mills. Robert Jackman, the elder, built a very early grist-mill at Brownsville, and he built a dwelling-house on the site of his grandson's residence (William W. Jackman) nearly one hundred years ago. A majority of the family of this name, however, finally emigrated westward, settling in Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. John Ringland died about the year 1845, and in 1848 a company, composed of William W. Jackman, Job Johnson, Abraham Fry, George W. Hornbake, John Wood, and Samuel Ashmead, purchased of his heirs three hundred and four acres of land, upon which, May 1, 1849, they laid out a town, calling the same California, a term then very familiar to nearly every man, woman, and child in the land in connection with the then recently discovered gold region. The plot was surveyed by Job Johnson, Esq., one of the proprietors, who was an attorney-at-law as well as a surveyor. It comprised nearly one hundred acres, or four hundred lots, fifty by one hundred and fifty feet each. Originally these lots were sold at from fifteen to seventy-five dollars. The streets, as seen to-day, cross at right angles, and are sixty feet wide, while the alleys are twenty feet in width. Not a building stood upon the town site when first laid out, and when, during the summer of 1849, Thomas W. Moore completed the first dwelling,6 and soon after had a son (Job Johnson Moore) born therein, the proprietors donated him a town lot. ³ William, the father of the present William W. Jackman, lost his life by drowning in the Monongahela. 4 Robert Jackman, the oldest son of Robert Jackman, Sr., was the proprietor of the town of Greenfield. 5 Ringland was one of the original members of the Brownsville or Monongahela Bridge Company, which company was chartered March 6, 1830. 6 This house is now—or was at least when we obtained the information —owned by Joseph Paxton. CALIFORNIA BOROUGH - 629 Among others who built houses in the town a year or two later were Nelson Crow, James Hank (who built a brick house), Samuel S. Bothwell (large frame structure), James P. Ailes (a commodious brick), Job Johnson (the brick hotel and store known yet as the "Johnson House"), John Woodfill (brick), William Jobes (frame), Augustin Wells (brick), A. Wallace (frame), and Josiah Critchfield (a brick house). Job Johnson was a man of indomitable energy and push, and to him should be ascribed the credit of having done more to advance the town's material interests than any other. Besides practicing law, he built and opened the first hotel, established in the same building a store for the sale of general merchandise as early as 1851, and rested not until a post-office was established. Meanwhile he encouraged settlements, assisted his neighbors to establish various individual enterprises, and, with S. S. Rothwell and a very few others on this side of the county, always stood ready to lend a helping hand to those of sable hue who, traveling via the " Underground Railway," sought freedom in Canada. White Johnson, a nephew, and Gibson Wood studied law with him. He died some ten or twelve years ago. (See history of Greenfield Methodist Episcopal Church.) Solomon Sibbitt and Lewis W. Morgan, as partners, were contemporary merchants with Mr. Johnson, and, it is claimed, opened the first store in the town in 1850. Mr. Sibbitt served as the first burgess of the town, and was an active and prominent citizen generally. He removed from this vicinity prior to the war. Mr. Morgan, however, has to this day continued as one of the leading merchants of California and Greenfield. As a member of the firm of Morgan & Dixon, merchants and coal operators, he is now doing business in Greenfield. William McFall, Jr., St. Clair Chrisinger, and James Imley established the boat-yard in 1851, and two or three years later the citizens of the town rejoiced in having a post-office. Among other early residents, not already mentioned, were William Eberman, William Carroll, Rev. Abner Jackson, Hiram Miller, William A. Stone, Solomon Meredith, Jacob H. Jones, Joshua Norcross, Robert Ventress, John G. Dowler, J. S. Vanhorn, Thomas Wells, James O. Lewellen, Joseph Paxton, A. J. Harris, James Underwood, Amos Powell, William McFall, Sr., T. H. Dowler, Henry Phillips, T. F. Thomas, A. A. Devore, David Thomas, and Edward Riggs. Probably the entire population did not number three hundred at the time the town was incorporated in 1853. Incorporation, First Charter Election, Etc.—On the 26th of November, 1853, in accordance with the petitions of many citizens, the Washington County Court of Quarter Sessions issued an order declaring the town of California a borough. The inhabitants of the town, therefore, in the spring of 1854, held a meeting at the school-house, when the following officers were elected for one year, viz.: Solomon Sibbitt, burgess ; James P. Ailes, St. Clair Chrisinger, Lewis W. Morgan, and William Carroll, councilmen ; Samuel S. Rothwell, clerk ; Henry Phillips, high constable; William Eberman, treasurer; Henry Phillips, collector; and Joshua Norcross, street commissioner. Strangely enough the date of holding this election and the date the first officials were inducted into office is not shown in the records. The first meeting of the Town Council, however, was held in the school-house, April 24, 1854, when it was ordained " that on and after the first day of August next the several streets and alleys of the borough of California be, and the same are hereby, declared public highways, and subject to such orders as the burgess and Council may direct. Jan. 26, 1865, an agreement was entered into by the borough authorities and Abraham Fry, Job Johnson, Thomas L. Wood, George W. Hornbake, William W. Jackman, and Samuel Ashmead, executors, and Emily Wood, executrix, of the estate of John Wood, deceased, conveying "unto the borough of California the land that was down the river from the Coursin & Latta mill lot below First Street, and between it and the river for the distance of four hundred feet, for the purpose of a wharf. Said borough to have said privilege for the purpose of a wharf forever, and 'said borough on their part bind themselves to make a good wharf within two years from this date, and pave the same with stone, and keep the same in good repair. If said borough shall neglect to' keep said wharf in repair this conveyance to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue." Among those mentioned in a public print as doing business, etc., in the village in 1861 were Job Johnson, attorney-at-law ; J. C. Gilchrist, principal of the seminary; G. M. Eberman & Co., boat-builders; Samuel Sickman, merchant; Lewis W. Morgan, merchant; A. A. Devore, clothier and merchant tailor ; Dr. J. J. Fulmer, eclectic physician and surgeon ; Edward Riggs, cultivator and dealer in fruits, shrubbery, and ornamental trees ; and J. S. Vanhorn, ship-carpenter. At a special election held July 28, 1864, to determine whether a tax be levied to fill the borough's quota in accordance with a call of the President for five hundred thousand men, seventy-six votes were polled, of which forty-six were for the tax and thirty against. Thereupon the borough authorities resolved to issue bonds to the amount of two thousand one hundred dollars, and to pay three hundred dollars bounty to each of the seven men required to fill the quota. The borough's first newspaper, the Valley Spirit, was started by John Gibson about the year 1866. It was continued, however, but one year. In 1876, Weddell & Patton began the publication of an independent local newspaper called the Valley Leader, which, however, continued for a period of only about six months. 630 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. List of Principal Borough Officers. 1854.-Solomon Sibbitt, burgess; William Carroll, St. Clair Chrisinger, William Eberman, Lewis W. Morgan, James P. Ailes, councilmen. 1855.-Job Johnson, burgess; Lewis W. Morgan, James P. idles, Abner Jackson, Hiram Miller, Samuel S. Bothwell, councilmen. 1856.-William Eberman, burgess; J. S. Van Horn, Thomas Wells, James O. Lewellen, Joseph Paxton, Solomon Sibbitt, councilmen. 1857.-A. J. Harris, burgess; Joseph Paxton, Thomas Wells, James Underwood, Amos Powell, William Eberman, councilmen. 1858.-A. J. Harris, burgess; George W. Harris, Joseph Woodfill, James Underwood, David Thomas, St. Clair Chrisinger, councilmen. 1859.-Lewis Baker, burgess; Jonathan Dehaven, William McFall, Jr., John Reed, Samuel Davis, Joshua Norcross, councilmen. 1860.-A. J. Harris, burgess; George W. Harris, Edward Riggs, A. A. Dovore, Jonathan Dehaven, George W. Underwood, councilmen. 1861.-A. J. Harris, burgess; Stephen Smith, J. H. Ball, J. W. Phillips, A. A. Devore, A. J. Crow, councilmen. 1862.-A. J. Harris, burgess; E. W. Barris, Joseph Lambert, William McFall, Jr., Jonathan Dehaven, J. G. Dowler, councilmen. 1863.-Edward M. Melch, burgess; Lewis W. Morgan, Joseph A. Lambert, Job Johnson, Steele Sample, E. W. Barris, William McFall, councilmen. 1864.-David Shallenberger. burgess; William Menai, Edward Riggs, Stephen Smith, James Underwood, Job Johnson, councilmen. 1865.-Samuel Sickman, burgess; David Shallenberger, J. C. Momyer, G. M. Eberman, William McFall. Jr., George W. Harris, councilmen. 1866.-Josiah W. Phillips, burgess; Solomon Fry, Samuel W. Craft, J. S. Wilkins, D. H. Jacobs, J. G. Huggins, Joseph Pyle, councilmen. 1867.-Job Johnson, burgess; William W. Everson, Samuel Sickman, Joseph N. Powell, James Long, John H. Veatch, councilmen. 1868.-Edward M. Melchi, burgess; G. G. Hertzog, J. R. Dunlap, S. B. Paxton, Jonathan Dehaven, Luke P. Beazell, councilmen. 1869.-S. B. Paxton, burgess; Luke P. Beazell, J. S. Wilkins, Jonathan Dehaven, J. R. Dunlap, G. G. Hertzog, councilmen. 1870.¹-Solomon Fry, burgess; Moses Billingsby, John Lopp, Jr., Joseph Paxton, Jehu Dehaven, James Herron, councilmen. 1871.²-Edward M. Melchi, burgess; John Veatch, S. R. Alter, A. P. Smith, George W. Harris, Joseph Wadsworth, councilmen. 1872.-Edward M. Melchi, burgess; Isaiah Hornflake, A. B. Duvall, James Long, Edward Riggs, Joseph Wadsworth, and Dr. James McDonough, councilmen. 1873.-Jonathan Dehaven, burgess; J. N. Powell, David Veatch, Luke P. Beazell, Edward Riggs, S. W. Craft, J. C. Hauck, councilmen. 1874.-A. J. Harris, burgess; J. R. Powell, Thomas Johnson, A. J. Hartzog, William McFall, A. B. Duvall, Edward Riggs, councilmen. 1875.-Edward M. Melchi, burgess; Joseph A. Wadsworth, J. B. Shallenberger, S. B. Paxton, John H. Veatch, J. K. Ward, I. T. Dawson, Councilmen. 1876.-Edward M. Melchi, burgess; J. K. Ward, Joseph A. Wadsworth, J. B. Shallenberger, S. M. Geho, J. O. Lewellen, W. H. Beazell, councilmen. 1877.-E. O. Phillips, burgess; Joseph A. Wadsworth, S. M. Geho, J. K. Ward, J. O. Lewellen, John Harrison, S. J. Howe, councilmen. 1878.-J. B. Montgomery, burgess; J. O. Lewellen, William Mehaffey, Joseph Wadsworth, S. M. Geho, John Harrison, S. J. Howe, councilmen. 1879.-W. G. Gardner, burgess; John Harrison, J. O. Lewellen, S. M. Geho, W. M. Baker, Joseph Wadsworth, and William Mehaffey, councilmen. 1880.-J. B. Vandyke, burgess; Isaac Jackman, E. O. Phillips, William Howe, A. P. Smith, John Harrison, and Joseph Wadsworth, councilmen. 1881.-J. W. Paxton, burgess; G. G. Hertzog, Luke P. Beazell, Joseph Wadsworth, I. J. Hornbake, J. A. Letherman, and J. B. Montgomery, councilmen. 1882.-S. S. Beazell, burgess; J. A. Letherman, G. G. Hertzog, L. P. ¹ On the 1st of December, 1870, the management of the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad was granted the right of way through Third Street, wills the privilege of laying a double track. This road, however, was not laid through Third Street, and was not completed through California until 1881; the first regular trains between West Brownsville and Pittsburgh being started May 15th of that year. ² In 1871 the coal works of Morgan & Lambert were opened. Morgan Lit Dixon now control them. They also own the well-known steamer " L. W. Morgan." Beazell, W. D. Veatch, S. W. Craft, and J. B. Smith, councilmen; William M. Hart, treasurer and wharf-master; O. O. Hornbake, clerk; John Harrison, street commissioner. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. William Carroll, April 11, 1854- May 17, 1859. Job Johnson, June 25, 1860 ; June 3, 1865. E. M. Melchi, April 9, 1867 ; April 12, 1872.  A. J. Harris, April 15, 1873. E. M. Melchi, Jan. 21, 1874. A. J. Harris, May 18, 1874. L. P. Fry March 21, 1877. A. J. Harris, March 25, 1878. I. T. Dawson, May 10, 1881. Present Professional and Business Men.-Physicians, W. II. Phillips and N. F. Veatch, both of whom have been here some twelve or fourteen years; J. A. Letherman, who is a graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical College, and has resided here seven years; J. P. Fry, T. C. McClure, and G. H. Smith. Of those who in years past have made this their place of residence and practice, we have heard mentioned the names of Drs. Fulmer, Hunter, James McDonough, Conklin, Hubbs, Jackson, Truxal, and Clark. Merchants, Mechanics, etc.-S. M. Binns, dealer in general merchandise; Luke P. Beazell, butcher; John Carr, butcher; L. T. Claybaugh, carpenter; S. W. Craft, furniture dealer and livery-man; J. B. Darling, shoemaker; W. A. Davis, dealer in drugs and music; I. T. Dawson, telegraph operator and justice of the peace; A. S. Fry, railroad and express agent; J. M. Garrow, merchant and coal dealer ; Gleason & Co., merchants and coal dealers ; Eberman, McFall & Co., owners of saw-mill and boatyard; A. J. Harris, justice of the peace ; Hart & Co., grocers; James Herron, merchant; Jacobs & Shallenberger, blacksmiths; J. W. King, foundryman ; Thomas Lilly, grain and live-stock dealer; Robert McDonald, shoemaker ; John Mailey, baker ; E. T. Marshall, carpenter ; G. W. Martin, dealer in general merchandise; Joseph Moffitt, wagon-maker; Lewis W. Morgan, merchant and coal dealer; William Powell, carpenter; J. W. L. Rabe, dentist; Davis Sheplar, dealer in boots and shoes ; J. W. Smith, postmaster and dealer in drugs, books, stationery, etc.; J. B. Vandyke, merchant; Solomon Zook, grocer; and Prof. G. P. Beard, principal o the Southwestern State Normal School. Boat-building.-Soon after the founding of the town its proprietors placed in operation a saw-mill. In 1851 this mill was leased by a firm composed of William McFall, Jr., St. Clair Chrisinger, and James Imley, who, during the summer of that year, engaged in boat-building. They continued the business but two or three years, however, being succeeded by Capt. Mark Sterling and Benjamin Coursin. In 1857, under the firm-name of G. M. Eberman & Co., G. M. Eberman and William McFall, Jr., purchased the property, made many improvements, and began an extensive business as boat-builders. In 1865 the firm of Craft & Lambert leased the premises for one year, and during that time built nine boats. The proprietors of the yard resumed work in 1866, though, and in 1870, by S. W. Craft becoming a member of the firm, the title was changed to that of Eber- CALIFORNIA BOROUGH - 631 man, McFall & Co. In the fall of 1879 the road-bed of the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad was carried through the grounds of this firm, and as a result their boat-yard, to that time one of the most complete and convenient on the river, was destroyed, and the work of boat-building abruptly brought to an end. The question of damages, etc., is still a matter of contest in the courts. From 1859 to 1879, inclusive, fifty men were usually employed, except during the years 1863 and 1864, when about seventy-five men were furnished employment. During the twenty years above mentioned the firms of G. M. Eberman & Co. and Eberman, McFall & Co. constructed one hundred and sixty-eight steamboats and model barges, at a cost of $754,753.54, besides having sold from their yards timber and lumber of the value of $40,000. In 1878 they built the steamers " Montana" and " Dacota" for the Missouri River trade. These boats were two hundred and fifty feet in length, forty-eight feet wide, and five feet six inches depth of hold. The famous barges owned by W. H. Brown and Richard Gray also represent the handiwork of the California boat-builders. The Christian Church.¹ —In the early days of Christianity, when the disciples were scattered abroad, they went everywhere preaching the word. So when Edward Riggs moved his family to California, Pa., in 1858, he began to declare the gospel to his neighbors, and became a centre of religious influence in the community. Five members of his household were disciples of Christ, and they found two others, David Thomas and his wife, who were of " like precious faith." Judson D. Benedict, of Tonawanda, N. Y., a man of great intellectual power, and an exceptionally forcible and convincing speaker, was invited to hold a series of meetings in this new and growing village. He came in March, 1859, and preached in the old school-house to deeply interested audiences. Much inquiry was awakened, and many people, like the noble Bereans, " received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so ; therefore many of them believed." On March 24, 1859, several persons having been immersed upon a public confession of their faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Christian Church in California, Pa., was organized in the house of Edward Riggs, on Second Street, the second church of the living God that was planted in his private dwelling. Twenty-two persons on that day associated themselves together in church order on the principles of the gospel of Christ as set forth by the apostles in the New Testament Scriptures. Their names are as follows, viz.: Edward Riggs, Hester Riggs, Jesse E. Riggs, Hattie N. Riggs, Amanda ¹ By the Rev. W. L. Hayden. Riggs, Sarah J. Riggs, David Thomas, Harriet Thomas, Joseph Pyle, Albena Pyle, Emeline Pyle, Phebe Margarette Pyle, A. A. Devore, James Marshall, Josiah W. Philips, Susan Philips, Sarah Smith, Laura E. Smith, Mary Miller, Rebecca Miller, Henry Hornbake, and Sidney J. Rothwell. Of these Edward Riggs, David Thomas, and A. A. Devore were appointed elders. Owing to the peculiar views of J. D. Benedict with regard to the church organization, no deacons were chosen at that time. Soon after the organization Mr. Riggs moved to his present residence on Fifth Street, where the church assembled regularly for worship and edification for nearly seven years. On occasion, when favored with the labors of an evangelist in meetings of days, they met in the old school building. By their fidelity and silent influence, and the occasional assistance of able proclaimers of the gospel with the blessing of God, the word of God increased, the number of disciples multiplied, and " the Lord added to them those that were being saved." On Jan. 7, 1866, the church began to meet in the old school-house, according to previous arrangement, for the usual Lord's day worship, and continued so to meet until the completion of the present plain but comfortable and sufficiently commodious house of worship. The first step toward a meeting-house was taken about the beginning of the year 1863, when a meeting was called to consider the propriety of building a house for public worship. It was then resolved that a board of trustees be chosen to take charge of all the church property, to receive any and all money or moneys or other valuables, and select a site for a building, if deemed advisable to build. Joseph Pyle, David Shallenberger, and Albert Wilson were chosen said board of trustees. Prudently considering the financial ability of the membership, and desiring to avoid the embarrassment of a depressing debt, they moved slowly in obtaining subscriptions and collecting the necessary funds. On Jan. 4, 1866, it was resolved that the trustees, who were appointed at a previous meeting, be instructed to purchase a lot known as the Wilkins lot for one hundred and seventy-five dollars, on which to build a meeting-house. This resolution was carried into effect the same month, Jan. 18, 1866, when the lot was purchased according to instructions, and a deed was given by William Philips and Mary, his wife, to Albert Wilson, Joseph Pyle, and David Shallenberger, trustees for the use of the Disciple Church meeting in California, Pa. On May 26th, of the same year, a building committee was appointed consisting of Josiah W. Philips, Edward Riggs, Joseph Pyle, and David Shallenberger. They proceeded to procure funds and materials, but did not build until 1870, when the present frame house was erected and completed early in 1871. The formal opening of the house for public worship was 632 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. on Feb. 15, 1871. On that day John F. Rowe preached and began a series of meetings, continuing over three Lord's days, and resulting in several accessions to the church. The elders of this church have been selected with special reference to the scriptural qualification of aptness to teach. The general policy has been to rely upon local talent, chiefly the eldership, for the public instruction of the congregation and guidance into all good works, and to call in preachers to aid in special efforts to reach the world with the offers of salvation. The present eldership consists of Edward Riggs, G. G. Hertzog, and Robert Wilson ; the first of whom has been an office-bearer in the church of God almost continuously for more than forty-five years. With him Josiah W. Philips and David Shallenberger were also associated a part of the time. The deaconate is composed of Joseph Wilkins, James Luellyn, D. H. Jacobs, and James Stevenson. The preachers who have labored with this church in meetings of days and sometimes weeks, some of whom have been called two, three, or four times for such labors, are the following, viz.: J. D. Benedict, J. F. Rowe, L. Southmayd, Benjamin Franklin, L. P. Streator, J. C. Goodrich, Samuel Matthews, L. W. Scott, S. F. Fowler, Campbell Jobes, W. B. Young, J. W. Kemp, L. F. Bittle, R. H. Singer, O. G. Hertzog, Joseph King, William Baxter, D. L. Kincaid, William Pinkerton, T. D. Garvin, and George Musson. Others have preached occasionally to the edification of the body, among whom are J. B. Pyatt, James Darsie, William Martin, A. C. McKeever, Thomas Strathern, M. L. Streator, S. B. Teagarden, and W. L. Hayden. This church is in a hopeful condition, and is quietly holding on its way and pursuing its work. It has received into its fellowship more than three hundred members. But, with a floating element in the population, it has suffered loss by removals, while some have departed from the faith and others have "fallen asleep in Christ." The present active membership is about one hundred and fifty. It maintains a flourishing Sunday-school of near one hundred pupils under the efficient superintendency of Prof. G. G. Hertzog, assisted .by an excellent corps of twelve teachers. Thus its working members are striving to "shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life." The First Presbyterian Church.—On the evening of June 24, 1877, Rev. William Willson preached a sermon from Matt. xix. 20, in the chapel of the State Normal School, in California, and on the 8th of July following he preached another sermon from 1 Kings vi. 7, in the Presbyterian Church at Greenfield. On the ensuing day (June 9th) a number of persons signed a petition requesting the Presbytery of Pittsburgh to organize a Presbyterian Church in the town of California. Subsequently the committee on presbyterian missions authorized Mr. Willson to labor in this region. At his solicitation Rev. R. Lee, D.D., preached in California July 15, 1877, and Rev. David McKinney, D.D., preached in Greenfield and California on the 23d of the same month. Rev. John Kerr also preached in California September 30th. The Presbytery of Pittsburgh, on the 3d of October, 1877, appointed Rev. R. Lee, D.D., Rev. William Willson, and Elder William Caldwell a committee to organize a church in California " as soon as the way should appear open." Accordingly, two members of this committee (viz.: Rev. R. Lee, D.D., and Rev. William Willson) and others, agreeably to previous announcement, met in Room A of the normal school building Nov. 2, 1877, when, after singing and prayers, and a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Lee, the meeting adjourned. On the succeeding day, all of the members of the committee being present, the following persons united in organizing a Presbyterian Church,¹ viz.: Miss Hannah Montgomery, Mrs. Tillie Crawford, Mr. William Mehaffey, Mrs. Ruth Mehaffey, Mr. William M. Hart, Mrs. Bessie Hart, Prof. James B. Smith, Mr. Isaac K. Jackman, Mrs. H. Jackman, Mrs. Caroline Hazelbaker, Mr. Charles Howe, Mrs. Mary E. Howe, Mrs. Luria C. Beard, Mr. Theo. F. Montgomery, Mrs. Rebecca Montgomery, Mrs. Annie J. Smith, and Mrs. Jennietta Hill. During the evening of the same day Rev. William Willson preached from Luke xviii. 1, and Psalm cxviii. 25, and Prof. James B. Smith was ordained and installed ruling elder. Thereupon the committee of the Presbytery of Pittsburgh declared the First Presbyterian Church of California duly organized, and the meeting adjourned. Another meeting was immediately held, Rev. Dr. Lee presiding, when the Rev. William Willson was unanimously elected as a supply for the new church for one year, to commence Oct. 1, 1877. He continued until September, 1880. The next regular supply was Rev. Levi Risher, who came in December, 1880, and remained until July, 1881. In December, 1881, Rev. E. P. Crane was installed as the first regular pastor of this church, and still continues as such. The church edifice was built during the summer of 1878. It is a frame structure. It cost about $1600, and has sittings for two hundred persons. The elders at the present time are James B. Smith and Noah W. Patton, the latter having been elected in December, 1879. James W. Clark, a former elder, removed from the town in the spring of 1881, as did also Josiah Reed, who was elected a ruling elder in January, 1879. The first board of trustees was composed of William Mehaffey, William M. Hart, and James B. Smith. The present trustees are Isaac Reed, Isaac Jackman, and J. B. Vandyke, who were elected in December, 1879. Present membership of the church, ¹ Prof. George P. Beard, an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church, and the present principal of the Southwestern Normal College, also bore an active part in organizing this church. CALIFORNIA BOROUGH - 633 forty-eight. Pupils in Sabbath-school, one hundred. Prof. J. B. Smith, Sunday-school superintendent. Methodist Episcopal Sabbath - School. — The Methodist Episcopal Church edifice was dedicated October 7, 1860, and immediately thereafter the first¹ Sabbath-school was organized under the superintendence of Rev. Abner Jackson. Among the original members of this school were Rev. Abner Jackson, Samuel S. Rothwell, William McFall, Sr., Thomas Craver, Samuel M. Davis, G. M. Eberman, Ann Sickman, Ann C. Ailes, Misses Maggie Dehaven, Mary E. Wells, Mattie Powell, Orpha H. Carroll, Bell Carroll, and Angeline Baker. On the 3d of March, 1861, the school was reorganized by the adoption of a constitution and bylaws. L. W. Morgan was then elected superintendent, and has been re-elected annually for twenty-one years in succession. James S. Harris was the first secretary chosen, and served one year, except three months passed in the United States army of volunteers, in company with other members of the school. Says the Rev. Mr. Pierce, " When the Sunday-school was organized we had no Sunday-school music. We sang church hymns and tunes. Solomon Meredith set the tunes. It was the very large scholars who did the singing then; but the very small ones can sing better now than the large ones did then." During the pastorates of Revs. Baketell and Pierce, Sunday-school institutes were held, which were very pleasant. A normal class was organized during the latter's term, and most of the course completed. Mission Sunday-schools were formed at Granville, Wood's Run, and Troytown, and libraries worth twenty-six dollars placed in each. The local preachers and Sunday-school officers of California and Greenfield rendered most efficient service in planting and fostering these schools. Since March, 1861, twelve pastors have been located here, and during that time the congregation has contributed for missions eight hundred and thirty dollars, the Sabbath-school two hundred and thirty-two dollars. In 1870 there were twelve hundred volumes in the Sunday-school library, the greatest number since organization. Of these, five hundred and fifty were lost in one year. Starting with about seventy-five scholars, in 1861, the number has been gradually increased until the present time, when two hundred and fifty are found enrolled, with an average attendance of two hundred; the primary classes numbering more than the whole school did twenty-one years ago.² Of deceased members of the California Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday-school we find mentioned the names of James P. Ailes, Mr. McMillen, Myula ¹ A Union Sabbath-school existed prior to the date here given, which let in the old school-house, but it was not under the control of any religious denomination. ² From a historical report rendered lately by G. M. Eberman, S. W. Craft, S. A. Pierce, and others of a committee. McCain, Josephine McCain, Mary Wells, D. H. Lancaster, Abner Wilkins, Charles Davis, Joana Osborn, Leander Truxal, William McFall, Sr., Orpha M. Carroll, and William Carroll, Sr. Cemeteries.—On the hill near the residence of William W. Jackman is an ancient burial-place which was probably used by the early settlers long before the beginning of this century. The burial-grounds within the limits of the village proper, containing about one acre, were opened in 1812 or 1813, Robert Jackman, the pioneer, having been one of the first buried there. East Pike Run Cemetery, containing seventeen acres and seventy-four perches, adjoins the Monongahela River, and was laid out August 14, 1876. Pike Run Lodge, No. 491, I. O. O. F., was chartered May 20, 1853. The early records of the lodge have been destroyed by fire, but among those mentioned as charter members were Harrison Hornbake, Joseph Moody, J. S. Vanhorn, James T. Imley, Jacob Baker, J. O. Lewellen, and Solomon Sibbitt. To May 1, 1882, two hundred and eighty-eight members have joined the organization, and during the same period the Past Grands have been as follows : Harrison Hornbake, Joseph Moody, John S. Vanhorn, J. T. Imlay, James O. Lewellen, Solomon Sibbitt, Jacob 0. Huggins, J. G. Dowler, St. Clair Chrisinger, J. L. Wensley, Jacob Hornbake, Francis M. Osborn, T. D. Moffitt, L. J. Baker, Isaac Leadbeater, Samuel Lewis, John Clendoniel, R. A. McDonald, J. S. Wilkins, J. W. Paxton, D. H. Jacobs, A. G. Powell, J. L. Long, G. G. Hertzog, J. M. Birkensha, L. C. Powell, L. P. Fry, S. B. Paxton, J. W. Sterge, Jehu Dehaven, D. H. Lewis, W. H. Beazell, J. C. Hank, E. T. Marshall, L. P. Beazell, W. C. Layton, W. G. Gardner, David Phillips, George Morgan, J. G. Thompson, W. B. Alter, W. B. Harris, A. B. Ghrist, G. H. Lewis, J. A. Letherman, E. Lopp, and E. F. Reed. The lodge is in a flourishing condition. Its present members number seventy-nine, and R. M. Wood, N. G. ; John Spear, V. G. ; A. B. Ghrist, Sec. ; L. C. Powell, Asst. Sec. ; E. Eaglers, C. ; G. H. Lewis, W.; and D. H. Lewis, Treas., are its present officers. Regular meetings are held every Tuesday evening at their lodge-rooms on the corner of Second and Union Streets. Knights of Pythias. — A lodge of Knights of Pythias was organized in the village about the year 1873. It ceased work, however, in 1880 or 1881, when some of its members joined the Greenfield Lodge. Normal Council, No. 545, Royal Arcanum, was organized Dec. 6. 1880, Joseph E. Abell, Leonidas H. Reeves, P. .T. Forsythe, Francis M. Corron, James Stevenson, Joseph Garrow, George Garrow, Thomas Coatsworth, Prof. G. P. Beard, Prof. D. C. Murphy, Prof. T. R. Wakefield, John T. Hoomell, George Morgan, Dr. J. A. Letherman, Dr. N. S. Veatch, and James P. McCain being the .charter members. 634 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. The first officers, viz.: Prof. George P. Beard, R.; James Stevenson, V. R.; George Morgan, P. R. ; Prof. T. R. Wakefield, O.; Prof. D. C. Murphy, Sec. ; Dr. J. A. Letherman, Col.; L. H. Reeves, Treas ; F. M. Corron, Chapl. ; George Garrow, G. ; James P. McCain, W. ; Dr. N. S. Veatch, S. ; J. E. Abell, Joseph Garrow, and Thomas Coatsworth, Trustees, were installed Jan. 24, 1881. Twenty-seven have joined the organization (to May 1, 1882), and that number represents its present membership. Present officers are Prof. G. G. Hertzog, R. ; George Morgan, V. R. ; Prof. D. C. Murphy, Sec. ; Prof. T. R. Wakefield, O.; Dr. J. A. Letherman, Col. ; Dr. N. S. Veatch, Treas. ; James P. McCain, W.; James Stevenson, Sec.; John L. Vaughan, Chapl.; Thomas Coatsworth, G. Meetings are held in Odd-Fellows' Hall, on the second and fourth Monday evenings of each month. Harry Billingsby ¹ Post, No. 168, G. A. R., was organized at a meeting held in the borough of California May 5, 1869. It appears that at that meeting Commander I. M. Regester and other comrades of the Brownsville Post were present, that the regular order of business was dispensed with, and that James K. Billingby, James S. Long, L. P. Fry, and Thomas Young were thereupon mustered as recruits. Comrade I. M. Regester then resigned as Commander, when S. B. Paxton was elected to fill the unexpired term. We will add in this connection that prior to the date here mentioned a post of the Grand Army had been organized at Brownsville, Fayette Co. Its members seem to have lost interest in it at an early day. The place of meeting (as here shown) was then changed to California, and finally, as intended, their charter was left in the hands of the Californians. The first regular meeting of the post was held May 12, 1869, when the following officers were mentioned as being present: S. B. Paxton, C.; A. G. Powell, S. V. C. ; I. T. Dawson, Adjt. ; J. Dehaven, Q.-M. ; N. W. Truxal, Surg. ; and W. N. Baker, O. D. Subsequent Commanders have been James K. Billingsby, elected in June, 1869; Luke P. Beazell, elected in December, 1869; John Piper, June, 1870 ; W. B. Harris, December, 1870; no record for June, 1871; James K. Billingsby, December, 1871; no record for June, 1872 ; J. B. Shallenberger, December, 1872, who continued until March, 1880, when a reorganization took place. The officers then elected to serve for the remainder of the year were J. B. Shallenberger, C.; Luke P. Beazell, S. V. C. ; and I. T. Dawson, J. V. C. In December, 1880, I. T. Dawson was elected Commander, and in December, 1881, the following (present) officers were elected : William M. ¹ Harry Billingsby was a brother of Capt. J. K. Billingsby, and served as a private in the Second Regiment of West Virginia Infantry. At the battle of Rocky Gap, W. Ye., he was wounded and taken prisoner, and finally died of his wounds while in the bands of the enemy. Hart, C. ; T. F. Montgomery, S. V. C. ; A. J. Bertzog, J. V. C.; Samuel M. Jobes, Surg. ; J. W. L. Rabe, Chap.; J. B. Shallenberger, O. D.; and J. B. Montgomery, O. G. Delegate to attend general encampment at Williamsport; Pa., J. M. Swan; alternate, A. J. Hertzog. The post has a present membership of twenty-six. Of those, however, who have at various times been admitted as members we furnish the following data. This list indicates the rank of members at time of muster out of the United States service, and the organizations in which they served during the war of the Rebellion : J. K. Billingsby, captain, 2d W. Va. Inf.; 5th W. Va. Cav L. P. Beazell, second lieutenant, Co. D, 70th Pa. Inf. J. B. Montgomery, second lieutenant, 2d W. Va. Inf.; 5th W. Va. Cav. I. T. Dawson, second major-sergeant, Ringgold Cav.; 22d Pa. Cav. N. W. Truxal, captain, 2d W. Va. Int ; 5th W. Va. Cav. S. B. Paxton, captain, Co. I, 1st W. Va. Cav. Erastus S. Marshall, private, Co. E, 155th Pa. Inf. W. J. Harris, private, Co. I, 5th W. Va. Cav. Harry Mann, sergeant, Co. H, 1st Pa. R. C. L. P. Fry, private, Co. D, 22d Pa. Cav. W. N. Baker, sergeant, 8th Pa. R. C.; U. S. S. C. John Veatch, sergeant, 2d W. Va. Inf.; 1st W. Va. Art. A. N. Jobes, private, 2d W. Va. Inf.; 5th W. Va. Cav. John W. Piper, private, Co. B, 57th Pa. Inf. J. S. Dales, private, Co. E, 155th Pa. Inf. M. A. Sample, bugler, 1st W. Va. Cav. John R. Williams, private, 2d W. Va. Inf.; 5th W. Va. Cav. Jonah Harris, artificer, Co. D, 22d Pa. Cav. W. A. Peaden, private, Co. D, 22d Pa. Cav. J. B. Shallenberger, private, Co. D, 22d Pa. Cav. D. H. Lancaster, second lieutenant, Co. C, 85th Pa. Inf. McCall Smith, sergeant, Co. O, 3d Prov. Pa. Cav. James G. Young, private, Co. E, 155th Pa. lnf. W. H. Harrison, corporal, Co. O, 22d Pa. Cav. Louis Schreiner, private, Co. B, 9th Pa. R. C. Thomas J. Walker, private, Co. I, 2d W. Va. Inf. Allen Moore, private, Co. I, 2d W. Va. Inf. Thomas Young, private, Co. I, 2d W. Va. Inf. W. H. White, private, Co. D, 22d Pa. Cav. Nathaniel Young, private, Co. E, 110th Pa. Inf. George Clendeuen, private, Co. I, 2d W. Va. Inf. W. H. Mahony, private, Co. C, 85th Pa. Inf. S. J. Howe, private, Co. I, 2d W. Va. Inf.; 5th W. Va. Cav. Robert A. McDonald, private, Co. I, 5th W. Va. Cav. John G. Thompson, private, Co. F, 140th Pa. Inf. D. H. Lewis, private, Co. C, 105th Pa. Inf. James McDonough, surgeon, 46th Pa, Inf. William McMurray, private, Co. F, 78th Pa. Inf. A. J. Hertzog, bugler, Co. B, 14th Pa. Cav. Joseph Garrow, private, Co. B, 77th Pa. Inf. James A. S. White, private, 12th Pa. Inf.; 22d Pa. Cav. Thomas Williams, private, Co. F, 32d U. S. C. T. George W. Sherman, private, Co. C, 85th Pa. Inf. David Phillips, bugler, Co. G, 1st W. Va. Art. William Lundy, private, Co. D, 15th Pa. Cav. Samuel M. Jobes, private, Co. I, 5th W. Va. Inf.; 2d W. Va. Cav. Joseph W. Waters, private, Co. G, 22d Pa. Cav. J. W. L. Rabe, private, CO. G, 157th Ohio Inf. William Willson, chaplain, 6th Kansas Cav. J. M. Swan, first sergeant, Co. F, 30th Ohio Inf. William M. Hart,² hospital steward, 1st W. Va. Inf.; 2d W. Va. Vet. Inf. T. F. Montgomery, private, Co. B, 22d Pa. Cav. ² Within thirty minutes after hearing of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, William M. Hart caused to be made and displayed the first United States flag hoisted in the Panhandle of Virginia after the event mentioned. He was also the first United States volunteer in the town of Hamilton, Hancock Co., Va., now West Virginia. WEST BROWNSVILLE BOROUGH - 635 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. MAJ. S. B. HOWE. Maj. S.B. Howe was the son of Daniel and Charlotte Howe, and was born in Bentleysville, Washington Co., May 2, 1835. The greater part of his life, prior to his enlistment as a soldier, was spent in the town of California, in his native county, whither his father had moved when he was quite young. There he was educated, and there he learned the trade of brick-moulding, which he followed for several years. In the war of Rebellion he offered his services to the national government, as did also his father and brothers, William, Samuel, and Lemuel. He was a gallant and devoted soldier, and left a record without spot or blemish. We give it as detailed by one intimately associated with him : "Maj. S. B. Howe enlisted as a soldier in the First West Virginia Veteran Cavalry at its organization, and was soon appointed to the rank of second lieutenant, then to captain, and placed in command of Company Di. In this rank he distinguished himself in many of the hard-fought battles of 1863 and 1864. In the campaign of the latter year he was selected and detailed by Gen. Avorill to command the company of scouts and received his orders direct from the general. In this capacity he perforated some of the most daring exploits of the war, and received the highest encomiums from the commanding general, and established a reputation for gallantry in the estimation of every officer who knew him. In February, 1865, he was commissioned major, and immediately, in command of the First Regiment West Virginia- Veteran Cavalry, started on the great raid of Gen. Phil. H. Sheridan up the Shenandoah Valley and to the James River. Ile was particularly conspicuous at Mount Crawford, March 1, 1865. He swam his regiment across the river, and in company with the First New York Cavalry charged the enemy in gallant style, driving him from the bunting bridge with great loss; and again at Waynesboro' be bore an active part in the rout and capture of Gen. Early's army, and from Petersburg to Appomattox Court-House he was conspicuous at every engagement. At Dinwiddie Court-House he made a splendid charge with his regiment dismounted, completely checking the advancing columns of the enemy; in the running cavalry fight from Nanozine to Deep Creek, driving the enemy with great haste a distance of twelve miles with great loss. He performed an important part at Little Sailor's Creek, where his brigade made the best and most successful charge of the war, capturing Gen. Ewell and his entire corps, cannon, battle-flags, etc. Maj. Howe was second to no regimental commander. At. Appomattox Court-House, April 8, 1865, he fell at the close of that obstinate engagement, at the hour of midnight, whilst gallantly leading his regiment in his final charge, in command of the First West Virginia Veteran Cavalry. In all his official relations he was courteous, prompt, and cheerful, and no officer in the brigade shared more fully the confidence of his commanding officer than Maj. S. B. Howe, and none who have fallen will be cherished more fondly in the memory of his companions in arms than he. With deepest regret for the loss of our fallen hero and 'brother,' and with sincere regard and condolence fur his afflicted wife and aged mother, I have inscribed the foregoing. " H. CAPEHART, " Colonel of the First West Virginia Veteran Caralry." Harper's Weekly of Nov. 4, 1865, gives a view of his grave at the church near Appomattox Court-House, and thus speaks of him : " A squadron of the First West Virginia Cavalry, under Maj. Howe, of that regiment, was pressed forward to the station just before dark, and in the charge the gallant Howe fell, shot through the body, and was carried by some of his faithful men to the church, where he shortly afterwards expired. Next morning he was buried, rolled up in his cloak, without formality in the rear of the church, as represented in the sketch. In the death of Maj. Howe his regiment lost a most valuable officer, and man loved and respected by all who knew him. Maj. Howe was the last of a noble family of five robust men, all the others having previously died in the war." The last statement is an error; one of the five, Samuel, had a leg broken while in the service, but returned home. The other four all died in the service.] Maj. Howe's remains were removed from the grave on the battle-field and interred in the Monongahela City Cemetery, May 12, 1865. Maj. Howe was married Jan. 28, 1864, to Emeline, daughter of Ira and Mary Butler, of Carroll township, Washington Co., Pa. She resides with her parents. WEST BROWNSVILLE BOROUGH. On the left bank of the Monongahela River, sixty-three miles above the city of Pittsburgh, and fifty-bur miles by the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston railroad (or, as now known, the Monongahela Division if the Pennsylvania Railroad),¹ is situated the rather unpretentious borough of West Brownsville, the present terminus of the railroad mentioned. It contains he large and well-known boat-yard of Axton & Pringle, the extensive planing-mills of Thomas ¹ Trains first began making regular trips between West Brownsville ad Pittsburgh May 15, 1881. brey & Sons, a handsome public school building, an Episcopal Church edifice, two hotels, several mercantile houses, about six hundred inhabitants, and is connected with the ancient town of Brownsville, Fayette Co., Pa., by a substantial covered bridge, six hundred and thirty feet in length, which, commenced in 1832, was completed in 1833, after an expenditure of about fifty thousand dollars. Although West Brownsville is but a modest, unassuming little borough, and occupies, comparatively. 636 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. speaking, but an insignificant portion of the surface of Washington County, its history is not uninteresting. It seems that during the middle of the last century, and Prior to the year 1769, a friendly Indian named William Peters, yet more generally known as " Indian Peter," lived on lands in the Youghiogheny Valley, adjoining a German named Philip Shute, ¹ with whom he could not agree. Thereupon Indian Peter wrote the proprietaries' agent, saying that he could not "get along with the d—d Dutchman," and wished to give up his land for another tract. His request was promptly complied with it appears, for on the 5th day of April, 1769, but two days after the land-office (for the sale of land in this the newly-purchased territory) was opened, warrant No. 2844 was granted him for a tract containing three hundred and thirty-nine acres situated on the west side of the Monongahela River. This land was surveyed Oct. 7, 1769, by James Hendricks, deputy surveyor-general, who gave it the name of " Indian Hill." It is very probable that Indian Peter took up his abode on Indian Hill soon after obtaining a title to the tract, for we find that on the 22d day of February, 1775, the Virginia court, then in session at Fort Dunmore, licensed Michael Cresap " to keep a ferry over the Monongahela from his house at Redstone Old Fort to the land of Indian Peter." The latter died probably before the organization of this county, as the records show that the first civil suit entered in the Washington County Court of Common Pleas was brought on the 17th day of September, 1781, and that the defendant was a widow woman of the name of Mary Peters. This woman, doubtless, was the widow of Indian Peter. Meanwhile, much travel centered at the Redstone Ferry. Here many emigrants to the Western and Southwestern regions, after long and wearied journeys over mountain roads and trails, could embark in Kentucky or Orleans boats and float to their destinations, while others-who did not propose going so far crossed to the left bank of the river, and with wagons wended their way to points in the territory now known as Washington and Greene Counties and West Virginia. The needs of a passable road, therefore, from the ferry to the county-seat were urgent, and on the 1st day of January, 1782, viewers were appointed by the Court of Quarter Sessions to lay out a road from Bassett Town (now Washington) to Redstone Ferry. While these improvements were being made or contemplated, the county of Washington rapidly filling up with an energetic people, and Redstone Old Fort, or Brownsville, becoming an active business centre, it was not possible for the beautiful tract in the possession of Indian Peter's widow to long remain unimproved, a bar to the progressive spirit prevailing. Hence, during the spring of 1784, Neal Gillespie (a ¹ Shute was a member of the Gist settlement, and was there when Capt. John Steele was at Redstone in 1768. native of Ireland, and great-grandfather of Hon. James G. Blaine) purchased the Indian Hill property, as the following curious instrument (recorded in Book B, vol. I. p. 406, county recorder's office) indicates: " March ye 3. 1784. " Memorandum of a Bargain mead Between Marey Petters and William oldest son and Neal Gillespey, the agreement is thos, that we the above do bargain and seal to send Neal Geallespie the Tract of land which we now poses and all the tenements and boundries of said Laid at forty five Shillings pr. Acker the term of Payments the 15th of next October fower hundred Pounds to be Paid in money or moneys worth for this Peament two ton of Iron at teen pence Pr pound and one Negro at Preasment of two men, one hundred pound more to be pead at the same time of this Preasment or Else to Draw In trust for one Year, the Remainder of the Parches money to be Pead in two Peaments—First in the (year] 1786, the Nettt the year 1788, Each of these peaments to be mead in October 15th the above Bound Marcy Petters and William Petters asserts to treak the said' Neal Gillespee a proper Right for said land for which we have seat our hands and Seals. (Signed) her " JOHN MA COUTNEY.  " MAREY XII PETTERS. mark.: his "JOHN NIXON. " WILLIAM XIX PETTERS. mark. " Acknowledged before THOMAS CROOKS Feb. 25, 1786." Mr. Gillespie obtained full title and control of " Indian Hill" on the 27th of January, 1787, and we further learn from the description that it was situated " on the west side of the Monongahela River, opposite Fort Buyrd," and adjoining lands owned by Thomas Swearingen and Ebenezer Lane. It has been stated that Indian Peter's residence was on the hill overlooking the town site, and probably the elder Neal Gillespie, too, took up his abode there. However, during the passing of years the latter was laid beneath the sward of the valley,. and the Indian Hill farm came into the possession of his son, also named Neal Gillespie. Ephraim Blaine, grandfather of Ephraim L., and great-grandfather of the Hon. James G. Blaine, was a Revolutionary officer, and lived at Carlisle, Pa., where he succeeded David Hoge as sheriff of Cumberland County. "June 26, 1765, at seven o'clock in tile afternoon," he married Rebekah Galbraith, by whom be had six children, all of whom died young except James. He traveled quite extensively in Europe and South America, and about 1800 came to the West. Before emigrating he married Miss Lyon, a daughter of Samuel Lyon, of Cumberland County, and settled first at Davidson's Ferry, near Muddy Creek, in Greene County. In 1804 he removed to Brownsville, where he opened a store, and where, also, he was elected justice of the peace and occupied the position many years. He afterwards removed to Sewickley, Allegheny Co., Pa., where he owned a farm, which he sold to the Economites, and about 1817 moved to a small farm near Washington, Pa., where he died, leaving seven children, Ephraim L., Jane, Ellen, Ann, William, Robert, and Samuel.² ² Jane, a daughter of James Blaine, married William Sample, the proprietor of the Washington Retorter. In 1819 he was elected prothono- WEST BROWNSVILLE BOROUGH - 637 Ephraim Lyon Blaine was born on the 28th of February, 1796. He emigrated to this country with his father, graduated at Washington College, and married Maria, the daughter of Neal Gillespie, Jr. He became the owner of a large portion of the Indian Hill tract of Neal Gillespie, and established his residence on the bottom lands fronting the National road, the premises now occupied by John S. Pringle. Later he built at the lower end of the town the stone house still standing, known as the Blaine house, and where James G. Blaine was born in 1830. He graduated at Washington College, and after a time removed to the State of Maine. The career of James G. Blaine as member of Congress and United States senator from Maine, Secretary of State under President Garfield, and himself an aspirant to the nomination by the Republican party for President. of the United States, is too well and universally known through the country to need a recital. In September, 1881, during the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the organization of Washington County, Pa., the following letter from Mr. Blaine was read. As it contains much that is and ever will be of historic interest to the people of West Brownsville, and, indeed, to Washington County people generally, this is thought to be a most appropriate place for its insertion : " WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 5, 1881. "JOHN D. McKENNON, ESQ.: DEAR SIR, - I had anticipated great pleasure in being present at the centennial celebration of the erection of Washington County, but the national sorrow which shadows every household detains me here. I shall perhaps never again have the opportunity of seeing so many of the friends of my youth and so many of my blood and kindred, and you may well conceive that my disappointment is great. The strong attachment which I feel for the county, the pride which I cherish in its traditions, and the high estimate which I have always placed on the character of its people increase with years and with reflection. The pioneers were strong-hearted, God-fearing, resolute men, wholly, or almost wholly, of Scotch or Scotch-Irish descent. They were men who, according to an inherited maxim, never turned their backs on a friend or on an enemy. For twenty years, dating from the middle period of the Revolution, the settlers were composed very largely of men who had themselves served in the Continental army, many of them as officers, and they imparted an intense patriotism to the public sentiment. It may be among the illusions of memory, but I think I have nowhere else seen the Fourth of July and Washington's Birthday celebrated with such zeal and interest as in the gatherings I there attended. I recall a great meeting of the people on the Fourth of July, 1840, on the border of the county, in Brownsville, at which a considerable part of the procession was composed of vehicles filled with Revolutionary soldiers. I was but ten years old and may possibly mistake, but I think there were more than two hundred of the grand old heroes. The modern cant and criticism which we sometimes hear about Washington not being, after all, a very great man would have been dangerous talk on that day and in that assemblage. " These pioneers placed a high value on education, and while they were still on the frontier struggling with its privations they established too excellent colleges, long since prosperously united in one. It would be impossible to overstate the beneficent and wide-spread influence which Washington and Jefferson Colleges have exerted on the civilization of that great country which lies between the Alleghenies and the tary of the county, and later removed to the West. Ellen, also a (laugh ter, became the wife of the Hon. John H. Ewing, of Washington, when they resided. She died many years ago. Ann married James Mason and removed to Iowa. William Blaine died several years since. Robert now resides in Washington, D. C., and Samuel Blaine is a resident of Louisville, Ky. - 41 - Mississippi River. Their graduates have been prominent in the pulpit, at the bar, on the bench, and in the high stations of public life. During my service of eighteen years in Congress, I met a larger number of the alumni id Washington and Jefferson than of any other single college in the Union. I make this statement from memory, but I feel assured that a close examination of the rolls of the two Houses from 1863 to 1881 would filly establish its correctness. Not only were the two colleges founded and well sustained, but the entire educational system of the county, long before the school tax and public schools, was comprehensive and thorough. I remember in my own boyhood that there were ten or eleven academies or select schools in the county where lade could be fitted fur college. In neatly every instance the Presbyterian pastor was the principal teacher. Many who will be present at your centennial will recall the succession of well-drilled students who came for so many years from the tuition of Dr. McCluskey at West Alexander, front Rev. John Stockton at Cruet; Creek, from Rev. John Eagleson at Bluffalo, and from others of like worth and reputation. It was inevitable that a county thus peopled should grow in strength, wisdom, and wealth. Its sixty thousand inhabitants are favored far beyond the average lot of man. They are blessed with a fertile soil and With the. health-giving climate which belongs to the charmed latitude of the fortieth parallel,—the middle of the wheat and corn belt of the continent. Beyond this they enjoy the happy and ennobling influences of scenery as grand and, as beautiful as that which lures tourists thousands of miles beyond the sea. I have myself visited many of the celebrated spots in Europe and in America, and I have nowhere witnessed a more attractive sight than was familiar to my eyes in boyhood froth the old Indian Hill farm, where I was born and where my great-grandfather, the elder Neal Gillespie, settled before the outbreak of the Revolution. The majestic sweep of the Monongahela through the foothills of 'the Alleghenies, with the chain of mountains but twenty miles distant in full view, gave an impression of beauty and sublimity which can never be effaced. " I talk thus familiarly of localities and of childhood incidents, because your assemblage, though composed of thousands, will in effect be a family REUNION, where the only thing in order will be tradition and recollection and personal history. Identified, as I have been for twenty-eight years, with a great and noble people in another section of the Union, I have never lost any of my attachment for my native county and my native State. The two feelings no mdse conflict than does a man's love for his wife and his love for his mother. Wherever I may be in life, or whatever my fortune, the county of Washington, as it anciently was, taking in all the State south and west of the Monongahela, will be sacred in my memory. I shall always recall with pride that my ancestry and kindred were and are not inconspicuously connected with its history, and that on either side of the beautiful river, in Protestant and Catholic cemeteries, five generations of my own blood sleep in honored graves. " Very sincerely yours, "JAMES G. BLAINE." In 1831, Ephraim L. Blaine, doubtless anticipating the speedy completion of the bridge over the Monongahela, then projected, laid out the original plat of the town of West Brownsville. This plat contained one hundred and three lots, sixty feet wide, and (owing to the abrupt hillside) varying from ninety-three to two hundred and seventy feet deep. Its streets running parallel with the river are Water, Middle, and Main, while those crossing them at right angles are Bridge, Broadway, and Liberty. Some years later James L. Bowman laid out the addition known as " Bowman's Addition to West Brownsville." This addition comprises sixty-one lots (each sixty feet wide by one hundred and fifty-one feet deep), lying below or to the northward of the original plat. Water, Middle, and Main Streets are continued through it, while its cross streets are Penn and Vine. Notwithstanding the opening of the bridge over the Monongahela in 1833, but few persons were induced 638 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. to build dwellings in the little hamlet of West Brownsville until the establishment of Pringle's boat-yard. In the fall of 1842, Ephraim L. Blaine was the Democratic candidate¹ for prothonotary, and was elected. In February of the following year he sold out a large portion of his village property to Capt. John S. Pringle, who at once established an extensive yard for the building of steamboats, etc. The establishment of these works brought an increased number of residents, more especially from among those who here found employment. Schools were opened, mercantile houses were established, and various minor manufacturing interests also. The first ferries on the Monongahela River were authorized by the Virginia courts Feb. 23, 1775, then in session at Fort Dunmore (now Pittsburgh). On that day Jacob Bauman was licensed to keep a ferry .from his house on the south side of the Monongahela River to Fort Dunmore. Michael Cresap was also licensed the same day "to keep a ferry on Monongahela River at Redstone Old Fort to the land of Indian Peter [now West Brownsville], and that he provide a boat." Cresap died in the fall of that year. It is not known by whom the ferry was continued. The lands on the east side of the river came into possession of Thomas Brown, and in 1784 the lands on the west side were purchased by Neal Gillespie. In the minutes of the December sessions of Fayette County Court for 1788 is found a report of certain persons appointed to view " the road from Friends' Meeting-House to the ferry at the fort," meaning Gillespie's ferry at Redstone Old Fort, or Brownsville. The landing-place of the ferry in Brownsville is in front of the residence of Henry Sweitzer (now the United States Hotel), and in West Brownsville directly opposite. The old road that led back into the country from the ferry is now unused, but may be seen winding along the bank of the little stream that comes in at that place. This ferry continued making its landings at this point until about 1820, when the National road was opened to the Monongahela River, and the ferry landing was moved up to the point near where the great highway struck the river in Bridgeport. It was there continued until the bridge across the river was completed in 1833. Another ferry was established on the Monongahela River by John Krepps in the year 1794. Its landing at West Brownsville was above the boat-yards of Axton and Pringle and directly opposite the present residence of Solomon G. Krepps, at which point the eastern landing was made. This ferry remained in operation until some time after the completion of the Monongahela bridge, and towards the last of its existence a ferry-boat propelled by steam was used upon it. There was no communication by bridge across the Monongahela River from West Brownsville to Bridgeport until the year 1833, all traffic and travel across the stream at this point being accommodated by the ferries up to that time. More than twenty years earlier, however, the project of bridging the river at some point near the mouth of Dunlap's Creek was agitated by some of the most prominent men of the vicinity on both sides of the river. In 1810 an act was passed (approved March 20th in that year) "to authorize the Governor to incorporate a company for erecting a bridge over the Monongahela River at or near where the road leading from Brownsville to the town of Washington crosses the same," thus authorizing the location of the bridge at Brownsville or Bridgeport, as might be decided on. The act designated and appointed "Neal Gillespie, Jr., Parker Campbell, and Thomas Acheson, of the county of Washington, Jacob Bowman, Thomas Mason, Charles Shaffner, Samuel Jackson, David Ewing, and Michael Sowers, of the county of Fayette," commissioners to receive subscriptions to the stock of the company to be formed. It was provided and required by the act that the bridge should be so constructed as not to obstruct navigation (except so far as might be done by the erection of the two abutments and three piers in the river), "or in any manner to obstruct the passage over the usual fording-place, which shall at all times be open as heretofore to persons desirous of passing through the same." The company was of course authorized to collect tolls. The bridge to be commenced in three years and finished in seven years from the passage of the act, under penalty of forfeiture of rights and franchises. References to the probable early commencement and completion of the bridge are found in the newspapers of that time; but no work was ever actually done on it, nor does it appear that the bridge site was definitely determined on or the necessary amount of stock subscribed. On the 16th of March, 1830, the Monongahela Bridge Company was incorporated, with a capital of $44,000. The corporators were George Hogg, James L. Bowman, Valentine Giesey, and Robert Clarke, of Fayette County ; Daniel Moore, Jesse Kenworthy, Ephraim L. Blaine, John Ringland, and Thomas Mc-Kennan, of Washington County. By the terms of the incorporation William Davidson, George Craft, Isaac Meason, and Andrew Oliphant, of Fayette County, and John Park, Jr., William Perry, and John Wat- ¹ During the heat of the canvass which preceded the election in 1842 it seems to have been a mooted question whether the Democratic candidate for the office of prothonotary was a member of the Catholic Church or not. To prove or disprove an assertion publicly made the Catholic Priest officiating in the neighborhood was appealed to, who promptly furnished the following forcible and; to say the least, unequivocal certificate, which was afterwards displayed in the public prints of that day : " This is to certify that Ephraim L. Blaine is not now and never was a member of the Catholic Church, and furthermore, in my opinion, he is not fit to be a member of any church." Notwithstanding the broad and perhaps unwarranted assertion of the reverend father hero quoted, Mr. Blaine finally became a member of the denomination mentioned. the died June 28, 1850, and his remains now Fe buried beside his wife's within the shadows of the Catholic church edifice at Brownsville, Fayette Co. WEST BROWNSVILLE BOROUGH - 639 son, of Washington County, were appointed commissioners to locate the site of the bridge. These men, taking into consideration the great amount of travel and traffic then coming to the river over the National road, fixed the location at the point where that road strikes the river in Bridgeport, and where the bridge now spans the stream. Books were opened for subscriptions to the stock in July, 1830, and the requisite amount was soon obtained. The contract for building was awarded to Messrs. Le Baron & De Mond, at $32,000, with $5000 additional for the approaches. They commenced work in the fall of 1831, and on the 23d of November received the first payment of $500 on the contract. Apparently the work was not pushed very vigorously, for the bridge was not completed until 1833, the first tolls being received on the 14th of October in that year. The bridge is a covered structure, of wood, six hundred and thirty feet in length, in three spans, standing on two piers in the river between the abutments. For almost half a century it has stood firm against the ice and the numerous great floods in the Monongahela, the most remarkable of which was, perhaps, that which reached its most dangerous point on the 6th of April, 1852. The bridge has always been a very profitable investment to the stockholders, but more particularly so in the palmy days of the National road, before the railways had diverted its travel and traffic into other channels. The first officers of the company were George Hogg, president; Thomas McKennan, secretary; James L. Bowman, treasurer. Mr. Hogg was succeeded in the presidency by James L. Bowman, whose successor is George E. Hogg. The following-named gentlemen are the present (1881) officers; Managers, George E. Hogg (president), J. W. Jeffries, Capt. Adam Jacobs, Eli J. Bailey, N. B. Bowman, Joseph T. Rogers, George W. Lenhart ; Secretary and Treasurer, William Ledwith. Robert McKinley, Esq., was born at Cumberland, Md., something more than half a century ago, and first settled at West Brownsville in the year 1847. He remembers that among those then living here were James Moffit, justice of the peace and surveyor; Ephraim L. Blaine, who lived in the brick house now owned by Solomon Watkins; Jacob Bennett, a New Orleans trader, or rather one who traded in produce at various points along the Monongahela, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers from Brownsville to New Orleans; John S. Pringle, master boat-builder; Thomas H. Hopkins, who kept hotel in the building now known as the "Nichols House ;" J. E. Adams, boat-builder; John Gregg, and George Morrison, the latter of whom was then engaged in the sale of dry-goods, etc. Mr. McKinley established a grocery-store during the first year of his settlement here. The boat-yard of John Cock and Leonard Lane-hart was started as early as 1848, and at the time the town was incorporated (1849) there were many other prominent residents, Whose names are found attached to a .petition praying that the town be incorporated. Incorporation.—In the spring of 1849. a new era dawned upon the little village. With a population¹ of nearly four hundred inhabitants, it was determined to apply for a borough charter,² and accordingly a petition to that effect, signed by John S. Pringle, Ephraim L. Blaine, and forty-seven other citizens, was presented to the Washington County Court of Quarter Sessions. At the May term of that year the court ordered that the application be placed before the grand jury, which body having considered the matter just and expedient recommended that the prayer of the petitioners be granted. Thereupon, during the August sessions of 1849, the following order was placed upon record : "Petition for the incorporation of the Borough of West Brownsville, Aug. 29, 1849, the report of the grand jury is confirmed, and the court decree the erection of a Borough agreeably to the prayer of the petitioners and order the same to be recorded in the recorder's office of the county at the expense of the applicants, and from henceforth the said town or village be deemed an incorporated borough, and shill be entitled to the several rights, privileges, and immunities conferred by the act of assembly in such cases made and provided, subject to such modifications as may be hereafter made by the Legislature." First Borough Election.—The first election for borough officers took place at the school-house in West Brownsville on the 20th day of October, 1849, when the following-named officers were elected : Joseph Taylor, burgess; John S. Pringle, Leonard Lanehart, Elisha Griffith, Elijah A. Byland, and Joseph D. Woodfill, Town Council; Greenbury Millburn, high constable; Thomas McDonald and Robert Wilson, judges of election; Fayette Hart, inspector; William White and George Gehoe, clerks. At the first meeting of the Council, which was held Oct. 23, 1849, James Moffitt was appointed clerk to serve for the term of one year, and at a subsequent meeting, held Nov. 13, 1849, John Whitmer was appointed street commissioner, and D. D. Whitmer treasurer. The first ordinance (which required the street commissioners to employ some competent surveyor to make "two town plats of the borough") was adopted Dec. 1, 1849. Subsequent Borough Officers.—The principal borough officers elected and appointed annually since 1849, so far as we have been able to obtain data, have been as follows : 1850.—John Gregg, burgess; John Cock, D. D. Williams, James Gregg, John Wilkins, and James Pierce, councilmen. 1851.—Thomas McDonald, burgess; William Corwin, John Cock, Robert Wilson, Joseph Pierce,³ and Isaac Gardner, councilmen: ¹ The borough of West Brownsville, according to the United States census returns, had 477 inhabitants in 1850, 613 in 1860, 547 in 1870, and 570 in 1880. ² Until incorporated as a borough the town included portions of East Bethlehem and East Pike Run townships. ³ Removed, when in January, 1852, James A. Hill was appointed to fill vacancy. 640 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 1852.—James Moffit, burgess; John Gregg, Duncan Campbell, James Coburn, John McClary, and George Gehoe, councilmen. 1853.—James A. Hill, burgess ; D. D. Williams; Robert B. Wilson, William H. Wilkins, Jesse Calvert, and D. W. C. Harvey, councilmen. 1854.—Isaac Garner,¹ burgess; John Johnston, John G. Taylor, John Whitmer, and Jacob   an, councilmen. 1855.—Thomas McDonald, burgess; John Cock, William Corwin, Conrad Hammitt, James Patterson, and Philip Stearn, councilmen. 1856. - Elijah Byland, burgess; John Starr, J. E. Adams, John Wilkins, Philip Stearn, and J. P. Brock, councilmen. 1857.—John G. Taylor, burgess ; Robert McKinley, Thomas M. Hopkins, John McClary, Thomas Cock, and George Brandhoover, councilmen. 1858.—Samuel Lopp, burgess; William Wilkins, George Herrington, A. J. Smalley, Robert Houston, and G. D. Coburn, councilmen. 1859.—John McClary, burgess; J. E. Adams, Conrad Hartranft, John Cock, Thaddeus C. S. Williams, and Thomas Houseman, council men. 1860.—J. E. Adams, burgess; James Storer, James Patterson, Thomas McDonald, and Thomas F. Cock, councilmen. 1861.—Thomas Gregg, burgess ; Jabez French, Samuel B. McCrory, Jonathan Ryan, Thomas Aubrey, and Robert Houston, councilmen. 1862.—Thomas H. Hopkins, burgess; Thomas Aubrey, Robert Houston, Elijah Byland, John Wilkinson, and Thomas F. Cock, councilmen. 1863.—D. D. Williams, burgess; John S. Gray, J. E. Adams, John Starr, Thomas McDonald, and Jacob W. Ullery, councilmen. 1864.—No records of officers elected. 1865.—No records of officers elected. 1866.²—Robert Houston, burgess; Thomas Aubrey, George Herrington, Thomas H . Moffitt, James A. Hill, and Samuel Lopp, councilmen. 1867.—Thomas F. Cock, burgess; Thomas H. Moffitt. James A. Dudgeon, Alfred S. Starr, Alexander McKee, and Jacob W. Ullery, councilmen. 1868.—The election held March 20, 1858, was illegal, and the officers elected the previous year were continued (by order of court) until March, 1869. 1869.—Thomas F. Cock, burgess; James Patterson, J. E. Adams, Valentine Cowgill, John W. Bevard, and William H. Wilkins, councilmen. 1870.—Thomas Gregg, burgess; Robert. Houaton, William K. Gregg, John Devoutly, T. C. S. Williams, and Jonathan Ryan, councilmen. 1871.—James A. Hill, burgess; George Herrington, A. J. Smalley, William Houseman, Daniel French, and Simeon McCoy, councilmen. 1872.—James H. Brown, burgess; George Herrington, Robert Houston, Thomas Storer, Thomas Gregg, S. H. Ward, and Thomas McDonald, councilmen. 1871.—Robert Houston, burgess; William Reynolds, James Smith, Jacob Ullery, Martin McGill, Valentine Cowgill, and James Blair, councilmen. 1874.—George W. Cock, burgess; Samuel A. Lopp, T. C. S. Williams, James W. Hendrix, William Honseman, Jonathan Ryan, and James M. Smith, councilmen. 1875.—Jabez French, burgess; William R. Britton, Adelbert L. Herrington, William H. McKinley, Theophilus V. Dwyer, and George Livingston, councilmen. 1876.—David French, burgess; William Houseman, George Livingston, A. J. Smalley, J. S. Houston, and William H. Johnson, councilmen. 1877.—Jonathan Ryan, burgess; Daniel W. French, Martin McGill, Samuel Market, James A. Hill, and William K. Gregg, councilmen. 1878.—William R. Britton, burgess; George Herrington, A. J. Smalley, William Houseman, Samuel B. McCrory, Eli Moffitt, and John Weigel, councilmen. 1879.—William H. McKinley, burgess; Simeon McCoy and Mahlon H. Byland, councilmen. 1880.—William H. McKinley, burgess; Daniel French, Samuel J. Price, and Robert Houston, councilmen. 1881.—William H. McKinley, burgess; George Livingston and Hugh T. Boley, councilmen. 1882.—A. L. Herrington, burgess; Alfred S. Starr and James H. Brown, Jr., councilmen; Charles Gregg, clerk ; John Cornell, treasurer. ¹ John Johnston was elected burgess to fill vacancy April 10, 1855. ² To March, 1866, borough officers had been elected in October of each year. By an act of the State Legislature, however, passed during the winter of 1865-66, the time of holding borough elections was changed to the third Friday in March, it being the time of electing justices of the peace and officers to hold general elections in the State, etc. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. Edward M. Melchi, April 9, 1850. James Moffitt, Sept. 13, 1853. D. W. C. Harvey, April 10, 1855. James Moffitt, April 13, 1853. Elisha Griffith, April 28,1858. Robert McKinley, April 14, 1863. James Moffitt, April 14, 1863. Freeman Wise, April 10, 1867. Robert McKinley, April 14, 1868. James F. Howden, April 19,1872. James F. Howden, Jan. 26, 1874. Robert McKinley, March 31,1874. James H. Brown, March 25,1878. Robert McKinley, March 27, 1879. St. John's Church (Episcopal).—The history of this organization begins with the month of April, 1850, when the Rev. Samuel Cowell (who had been called to the rectorship of Christ Church in Brownsville in 1845), assisted by Mr. J. Wallace, Miss Mary E. Brown, Miss Elizabeth Isler, and Miss Isabella L. Sweitzer, members of his congregation, established in the then new town hall the first Sunday-school ever held in the town of West Brownsville. Mr. Cowell removed from Brownsville in 1852, and during several subsequent years occasional services were held in West Brownsville by Revs. J. J. Page and Richard Temple. In 1860, however, Rev. J. J. Page and Mr. J. Leathead organized tile parish of St. John's. During the same year the latter was ordained deacon, and placed in charge of the parish by the bishop. During the year 1860, also, Mr, John Cock donated a lot to the vestry of the new church organization, and the stone basement of the church edifice was erected. Mr. Leathead removed from the vicinity soon after the breaking out of the civil war, and owing to the distracted state of the country, work upon the building was suspended until 1870, when it was resumed and the present beautiful framed structure completed in 1871 During the intervening years, however, the Sunday-schools were regularly kept up by a number of faithful teachers. On the 25th of November, 1873, the bishop consecrated the new church edifice. The instrument of donation was read by Jacob McKennan, Esq., and that of consecration by the dean, Rev. R. S. Smith. An eloquent sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Page, and the Rev. Dr. Spaulding, Revs. C. N. Spaulding, S. D. Day, and the rector, Rev. Horace E. Hayden, also participated in the ceremonies. The building cost seven thousand dollars, and will seat comfortably two hundred and fifty people. After the informal opening of the church (which occurred July 23, 1871), Rev. D. C. Page preached twice a month for some time. Its small congregation, however, had no settled rector until 1873, when Rev. Horace E. Hayden came. During the six and one-half years of his ministry he labored indefatigably to the wants of his parish. Many a stranger who had fallen by the wayside received Christian burial at his hands, and his unceasing labors, by day and by night, among the sick and dying, during the. diphtheria epidemic in 1878, will long be remembered by the people of Brownsville and its vicinity. In 1879 he resigned the charge of St. John's Church, and removed to Wilkesbarre, Pa. Since, only occasional services WEST BROWNSVILLE BOROUGH - 641 have been held. At one time there were forty communicants belonging to this church, but in consequence of the panic of 1873, deaths, and removals, the number of members has been greatly diminished. Present Business Men.—The prominent business men of the town at the present time are Messrs. Axton & Pringle (successors to John S. Pringle), steamboat, hull, and barge builders, and dealers in floating crafts generally; Messrs. Aubrey & Son, proprietors of planing-mill and lumber-yard, also general contractors; Robert McKinley, Esq., justice of the peace; William A. Bevard, dealer in groceries, flour, and feed; Burton & Cornell, dealers in general merchandise ; Henry B. Baker, merchant and postmaster; ¹ William A. Coburn, station and express agent; J. Devenny & Co., grocers; Thomas H. Hopkins, proprietor of the " Hopkins House ;" Ransom D. Marcy, shoemaker; and Thomas H. Moffitt, carriage manufacturer. Boat Building.—The firm of Axton & Pringle (successors to John S. Pringle), steamboat and barge builders, is one of which West Brownsville borough "and Washington County can justly boast. Capt. John S. Pringle, the founder of this firm, was born in the old township of Frankstown,² Huntingdon Co. (but now a part of Blair County, Pa.), Oct. 23, 1804. When but twelve or thirteen years of age, having attained unusual proportions for a youth of his years, he engaged in keel-boating on the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers. Thus he early became accustomed to rely upon his own exertions, as well as familiar with boat architecture, etc. In 1826; being then about twenty-two years of age, young Pringle, it seems, concluded to try his fortunes on the western side of the mountains, and, shouldering his rifle, he crossed the Alleghenies on foot, and finally reached Little Redstone. There he found one Joseph Allen engaged in the construction of keel-boats. He at once became an employe of Allen's, receiving as pay fifty cents per day and board. Very soon thereafter, however, Richard Kimber, who had a boat-yard in Bridgeport, offered young Pringle one dollar and twenty-five cents per day, and thereby secured his services. Kimber was then building a steamboat for " Old Bob" Rogers, but as he had occasion to be ¹ The first postmaster was James Moffitt, the office having been established under the Whig administrations of either Taylor or Fillmore. Moire Moffitt was a stanch Whig, anti-Masonic, and an Abolitionist. He was succeeded by Robert 'McKinley. Among subsequent incumbents of the office have been Homer Chrisinger, James Moffitt (second term), Mrs. Isabella Bennington, John Ward, John Cornell, and Henry B. Baker. ² By referring to our own manuscript history of Frankstown township, we find that William Pringle (the father of John S. Pringle) was a native of Scotland, and had settled in the township mentioned before the Revolutionary war, or while it was yet a part of Bedford County. In l'718, according to the first assessment of Frankstown, as of Huntingdon County, William Pringle was the owner of two hundred acres of land (of which fifty acres were held by warrant and one hundred and fifty acres by location), two horses, and two cows. His property was valued at two hundred and one pounds, upon which a State tax of nine shillings and two pence and a county tax of four shillings and seven pence was levied for that year. absent from the yard the greater part of the time, and left young Pringle in charge of the work, the latter was looked upon by Rogers as her real builder. After this boat was completed, Mr. Rogers proposed that Pringle should build him a boat, assuming sole control architecturally and otherwise. Mr. Pringle as yet rather doubted his ability as a master-boat-builder, but upon being assured by Rogers that he (Rogers) would unhesitatingly take all the chances of success or failure, our young boat-builder, assisted greatly by such advice as the larger experience of his patron enabled him to offer, began and completed a boat which was an eminent success from the moment she was launched, whose hull, different from any to that time seen on Western waters, has since been copied by scores of Western boat-builders. Mr. Rogers desired a boat that would displace as little water as possible, so that she could be run during low stages. The result was a flat-bottomed boat, which, as we have before stated, was a great success, as she was able to make her regular trips throughout the summer, while _all -others of her tonnage, and much less, were compelled to lie idle. Indeed, her owner or owners were offered several thousand dollars more than she cost within a very short time after completion. Mr. Pringle's fame as a boat-builder was now firmly established, and orders from the West and Southwest soon made his modest little boat-yard a very hive of industry. It was enlarged, and for years from thirty to fifty men were steadily employed, and from five to ten steamers, besides other craft, completed each year. Until the spring of 1843 his business was carried on in Bridgeport, Fayette Co. I, He then purchased a large portion of Ephraim L. 'Blaine's plat of West Brownsville (the site of the present yard), including the latter's early residence and saw-mill. Increased facilities were obtained in West Brownsville. The town was given its first impetus and the capacities for boat-building were doubled. In 1864, W. W. Aull was admitted as a partner. The firm of Pringle & Aull, however, only continued one year, for in 1865 the former purchased the latter's interest and thereupon formed a joint-stock company, known as the "Pringle Boat-Building Company," the members being as follows: John Wilkinson, James Storer, John S. Gray, William Patterson, James H. Gray, John Starr, Alexander K. McKee, A. J. Smalley, James Blair, U. G. M. Perrin, Alfred S. Starr, Joseph Weaver, James Patterson, Andrew C. Axton, E. F. Wise,- John Wiegel, Daniel French, Henry Minks, Robert Houston, George McClain, William Gray, John S. Pringle, J. D. S. Pringle, and Finley Patterson. The " Boat-Building Company" continued about three years, when John S. Pringle bought out the other members and again became sole owner. On the 1st day of January, 1879, after having been engaged in boat-building in this vicinity for more than 642 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. half a century, he relinquished the business to his son, J. D. S. Pringle, and son-in-law, Andrew C. Axton. The present firm built nine steamboats in 1881, and furnished employment to sixty men. Their works are extensive, covering about ten acres of ground, while the mill in use has a capacity of sawing sixteen thousand feet of boat lumber per day. The boats built by the Pringles on the Monongahela have always stood at the head of the list as regards speed, neatness of finish, thorough workmanship, and the quality of material used in their construction. They have built more than five hundred steamers of all classes for the trade of the Monongahela, Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, Cumberland, Tennessee, White, Red, Arkansas, and other rivers of the West and Southwest, and some of them have been sent to ply on South American waters. In concluding this article we will add that the pioneer boat-builder, Capt. John S. Pringle, still occupies the dwelling in West Brownsville purchased from Ephraim L. Blaine (father of Hon. James G. Blaine) in 1843. He has been married twice, and is the father of fifteen children. Two sons (J. D. S. and William H.) and one son-in-law (Andrew C. Axton) served in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. At the beginning of the war William H. Pringle was a resident of Sacramento City, Cal. He there joined a volunteer cavalry company, which was sent around Cape Horn to the port of Boston, Mass. At the latter place this company of California volunteers, as Company L, was attached to the Second Massachusetts Cavalry. They performed gallant service in the field. Unfortunately, however, young Pringle was taken prisoner by the enemy, and for long weary months endured all the privations and horrors of the Andersonville prison-pen. He never recovered from the inhuman treatment there experienced, but died, like thousands of others, soon after his release and before reaching home. John Cock and Leonard Lanehart established what was known as the " lower boat-yard" in West Brownsville about the year 1848. They continued in a very successful way until about the beginning of the war, when Thomas F. Cock and D. D. Williams assumed its management for four or five years. They, also, were very successful and netted large profits. About 1865 James M. Hutchinson, George W. Cock, and T. C. S. Williams purchased the yard, and continued the business some four or five years. Their successors were H. B. Cock & Co. (a stock company composed of several members), who were not eminently successful. Finally, while under the management of H. B. Cock and Thomas F. Cock, operations at this yard ceased about the year 1875. The Excelsior Planing-Mill of West Brownsville, Thomas Aubrey & Son proprietors, was built by the firm of Aubrey, Cromlow & Coon,—i.e., Thomas Aubrey, Oliver C. Cromlow, and E. N. Coon,—about the year 1855. About 1867 Mr. Aubrey, having sold out his interests, removed to the West. Under the firm-name of Cromlow & Coon the business was then continued until March, 1871;when Mr. Cromlow died, and during the same year the surviving partner vent into bankruptcy. Subsequently as assignee Robert McKinley, Esq., sold the property to Adam Jacobs and William Reynolds. In 1873 Mr. Aubrey returned to the village, leased the premises, and resumed his former occupation. He has since become part owner of the mill, and with his son, R. L. Aubrey, now conducts the business under the name of Aubrey & Son. As builders and general contractors this firm handle more than two million feet of lumber per year, and furnish employment to about thirty men. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. JOHN SNYDER PRINGLE. Venerable for his ripe old age and well-spent life is John S. Pringle, of West Brownsville, in which place he has resided many years, actively identified with its business and growth. He is the only son of William Pringle, a Scotchman, who emigrated to America when a young man, and Elizabeth (Snyder) Pringle, who was of German descent, and was born Oct. 23, 1804, near McKee's Gap, Blair Co., Pa. He had three sisters, but one of whom, Mrs. Esther Frederick, who is seven years his senior, is now living. His opportunities for an education were such as the subscription schools of neighborhoods in which he resided during his minority afforded. He employed his spare moments in the study of business men and methods, and by the time he reached his majority he was fairly equipped for the work which was to engage his attention in after-years. When eighteen years of age he left his father's house, which was then in Bedford County, and came to " Redstone Old Fort." The first work which he performed after coming to Fayette County was in the boat-yard of Joseph Allen, at the mouth of Little Redstone Creek. He developed a fondness and an aptness for boat-building, and after remaining with Mr. Allen one summer was employed as foreman in the yard of Robert Rogers, of Brownsville, for whom he built the first fiat-bottomed boat launched west of the Alleghenies. The superiority of this boat over others then in use was manifest, as was also Mr. Pringle's ability as a boat-builder, and orders for vessels like unto this one were so numerous that he determined to embark in business for himself. He began in the yard at Brownsville, and remained there until 1844, when he purchased the Ephraim Blaine property in West Brownsville, and upon it graded and established a boat-yard, which he operated until 1879, when, incapacitated by old age and disease, he transferred his business interests to the care of his son, John D. S. ALLEN TOWNSHIP - 643 Pringle, and his son-in-law, Andrew C. Axton, both of whom are noted for their energy and business ability.. Mr. Pringle is a courteous, hospitable gentleman, and his life has been honest, busy, and useful. He has long been a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, to whose benevolent enterprises he is a liberal contributor. He started in life with a sound and vigorous constitution, and, being temperate in his habits, he preserved a hale and healthful body more than threescore and ten years. He is respected by his neighbors, esteemed by his friends, and sincerely loved by his family. He was married May 3, 1832, to Elizabeth P. Horner, who died Nov. 29, 1844. By this marriage there were six children,—Elizabeth, who married Jacob Walter, is dead; Ann is unmarried, and resides with her father; William H. was a soldier in the late war, and died of disease contracted in a Southern prison ; George W. died when a young man ; Sarah is the wife of Andrew C. Axton, who served as a soldier in the late war, enlisting in the old Washington Cavalry, which after eighteen months' service was incorporated in the Twenty-second Pennsylvania Cavalry. His maimed body bears witness that he loves and has served his country well. Mary died in infancy. Mr. Pringle was married to his present wife, Sarah Ellen Snider, Oct. 16, 1845. They have ten children, all living. They are John D. S., who did good service in the war of the Rebellion as a member of Company F, Eighteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, married Cornelia Deems; David S., married Nancy J. Gamble; Nancy, married Newton McClaine ; Ella, married William H. Michael ; Isabel, unmarried; Esther, married William H. Harrison ; Mary, married John W. Thompson ; Simon P., married Margaret Moorehouse ; Christian S. and Andrew A. are unmarried. Politically Mr. Pringle was originally a Democrat. He continued in that faith until the organization of the Republican party, since which time be has acted with it. His business life in this vicinity extends over a period of more than half a century, and in that time he has launched over five hundred boats upon the Monongahela. The largest one in that number was the " Illinois." She was three hundred and four feet long, had a fifty-two-foot beam, and was seventy-five feet across her deck. ALLEN TOWNSHIP. THIS is one of the most eastern townships of Washington County, lying in a sweeping bend of the Monongahela River, which stream forms its entire eastern and southern boundaries. On the north it is bounded by Fallowfield, and on the west by the townships of Fallowfield and East Pike Run, in which two townships the entire territory of Allen was embraced until the year 1852. At the February term of the Court of Quarter Sessions in 1851 there was presented "a petition of sundry inhabitants of the northeast end of East Pike Run township, and the' southeast end of Fallowfield township, for a view to erect portions of said townships into a new and independent township district, line to commence on the Monongahela River at the mouth of Stony Run, near the house of Joseph Woods, thence along said river to the mouth of Maple Creek, thence along the south branch of said creek, or across the country, to the place of beginning." Matthew Linn, John Freeman, and Jonathan Knight were appointed viewers, who on the 28th of August following reported in favor of the erection of the new township ; but a. remonstrance was filed in November, and the matter continued till February, 1852, when David Riddle, Marcus Black, and James Moffatt were appointed re viewers. They reported favorably in May, and again in August of that year, and at the latter term the township of Allen was ordered erected, " as per draft made by the viewers." The township, as laid out by the draft of the viewers and erected by them, embraced more of the territory of Fallowfield and East Pike Run than is mentioned in the petition, and is the present territory of Allen. A petition was made to the court in 1859 for a small portion of it to be attached to East Pike Run. Viewers were appointed, who reported favorably. The report was approved, and the line so changed as to throw the Huggins and Chalfant farms into East Pike Run township. The first settlements within the territory now embraced in the township of Allen were made in the lustrum next following the year 1780, and among the names of the pioneers in this section at that time that of Speers seems to have been among the earliest, if not the first. Dr. J. S. Van Voorhis, in his published papers (1875-76) entitled "Scraps of Local History," gives an account of the first of the family of Speers who came to Western Pennsylvania, which is of interest in this connection, as many of them 644 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. settled very early in this county. He says, " For more than a century the Speers family has been identified with the valley of the Monongahela. Henry Speers, the older, and Regina Froman, his wife, were born in Germany, came to Western Pennsylvania in 1772, and settled on the farm where the Gibsonton Distillery now stands, below Belle Vernon, Fayette Co. The farm was at that time -within the limits of Bedford County, out of which Westmoreland was made, Feb. 26, 1773. Richard Penn was Governor at the time this settlement was made. He (Henry Speers) lived in a log house, which until a few years ago stood near the residence of T. L. Daly, Esq., superintendent of the distillery. !The log house, though small at first, was enlarged until it was sixty feet long. Henry Speers died in 1773, having lived only about one year after his arrival in Western Pennsylvania. By his will, dated May 14, 1773, he conveyed this farm to his son, Noah Speers, who, by his will, dated June 2, 1832, conveyed it to his son, Noah W. Speers. Henry Speers, the older, had four sons,—Jacob, Solomon, Henry, and Noah." Henry Speers, the third son, who settled in what is now Allen township, was born in Germany, July 8, 1756, and was sixteen years old when his parents located in what is now Fayette County. On the 24th of September, 1777, he married Rebecca, a daughter of Abraham Frye, Sr., who lived on the west side of the river, in what five years later became Fallowfield township of Washington County. It was not until the year 1784 that Henry Speers became a purchaser of lands in this section. The first tract of which any record is obtained was purchased by him of John Reef. The tract was warranted to Reef under application No. 3255, and was taken up in 1769, in the latter part of April. It was not surveyed until the 8th of September, 1784, and was named " Speer's Intent," containing three hundred and nineteen acres. The arrangement was made prior even to this time. The deed of sale bears date September 14th of that year. This tract was triangular in form, with its longest base on the river. It commenced north of Maple Creek a short distance, and thence along the Monongahela south four hundred and forty-one perches. At the time of this survey the lands on the south and west were not taken up. On the river adjoining and north the land was in possession of Jacob Froman, an uncle of Henry Speers, and brother of Paul Froman and Regina Froman (Speers), the latter being his mother. Mr. Speers obtained a patent for " Speers' Intent" Jan. 12, 1789. On the 18th November, 1785, a warrant was issued to Henry Speers for a tract of land " lying on Maple Creek, adjoining Edward Jackman, Frederick Cooper, and other lands of Henry Speers." This tract was surveyed to him on the 13th December as "Spice-Wood Hill," and found to contain one hundred and ninety-eight acres. A tract of land called " Fair View," lying on the Monongahela River, adjoining Peter Casner on the south, was warranted to Jeremiah Proctor June 13, 1785, and surveyed Nov. 26, 1785, as " Fair View," containing three hundred and thirty-seven acres. In Survey Book No. 1 it is stated, in reference to the above warrant, that " Henry Speers produced an application and order of survey in the name of Nathan Harman for 300 acres, dated Aug. 26, 1769, No. 3768, and requested it should have preference of seniority." The surveys of the two tracts are identical, but it is not stated to whom the warrant was returned. Henry Speers resided all his married life on the tract " Speers' Intent." He was one of the original members of the Baptist Church " Enon," which was organized near his place, and to which he ministered many years as pastor. He was licensed to preach May 5, 1793, and. ordained as their pastor in March, 1797. His name appears as delegate to the Redstone Association in 1796 from Enon Church, at which time that church was admitted. He remained the pastor of the church . until his death in 1840. The farm on which he resided came into possession of his son Apollos, and is now owned by Noah and Solomon Speers, sons of Apollos. The brick dwelling in which Noah Speers now resides was built by his grandfather, Henry, in 1806. Of his thirteen children, Dr. J. S. Van Voorhis says, "His son Henry was a soldier in the war of 1812 ; was in the battle of New Orleans with Gen. Jackson; lived for many years in the log house where Jacob Norris now resides, but died many years ago in the old log house on Maple Creek in which Joseph Beazel now lives. Samuel was also a soldier in the war of 1812. Exposure in the army caused him to be a cripple in his last days, which were passed in the brick house at the ferry. John passed most of his life at Dunbar, Fayette Co., Pa., where he followed milling and farming. He had quite a large family, some of whom have passed away. His heirs still own the farm above the ferry. One of the daughters of Henry Speers married George Hill, of Ten-Mile. Another was .the wife of William Ward, deceased. Katy married John McCrory, brother of the late Thomas, Seneca, James, and William McCrory, of Fayette City, Pa. Apollos, the remaining son, was born Sept. 8, 1801. After his marriage he lived for a time at Fish Pot, on Ten-Mile ; with this exception he lived at the ferry until his death, which occurred in 1857. His wife was Elizabeth Cooper, daughter of the late Valentine Cooper." The Riggs family came from the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1773, and settled near the Monongahela River. William Riggs, who had married Mary Downdson, was at one time a vestryman in the Episcopal Church, in 1794 and earlier. On June 25, 1797, he made application to the Methodist Conference to be licensed as a minister, which was accordingly done at Greenfield Quarterly Meeting, April 26, 1799, by Daniel Hill. His ordination was signed ALLEN TOWNSHIP - 645 by Francis Asbury in 1807. William Riggs died in 1833, aged eighty-four years. He had thirteen children, all dead except Mahlon Riggs, the youngest, who is now in his eighty-fourth year. The William Riggs tract is in his possession. His sons are William M. and John L., residing in Allen township. Jeremiah E. Riggs sold to William Riggs, June 27, 1796, one hundred and twenty-five acres, being a part of a tract sold by Bazil Stoker to Jeremiah Riggs, March 25, 1780, containing three hundred and sixty-one acres, adjoining Joseph Allen, Joseph Chester, and Nathan Ellis. Patented to Jeremiah E. Riggs April 13, 1795. The names of the old family were William, Jeremiah, Jonas, Thomas, Zechariah, Noah, Mahlon, Eleanor, Alvilar, Mary, Lucy, Betsey, and Annie. Lawrence and John Crow were settlers who came to this county in the year 1784. Lawrence made application for a tract of land, which was warranted to him August 31st in that year, and surveyed on the 16th of December following. It, was named " Crow's Egg," and contained two hundred and ninety-five acres. His brother John located land adjoining, for which he obtained a warrant July 10, 1786. It was surveyed June 9, 1787, as "Dear Purchase," and contained three hundred and eighty-two acres. This Tract joined William Jackman, Joseph Allen, William Howe, and Joshua Dixon. The two brothers lived here on these farms and died before 1796, as in that year the lands of William Howe are mentioned as "adjoining the lands of the heirs of Lawrence and John Crow and others." Margaret, the wife of John Crow, lived many years later, and died at the advanced age of one hundred and nine years. The children of these two men grew up and intermarried with families of that section, and left numerous descendants. Clark Crow lives on one hundred and thirty-five acres of the John Crow tract. Dr. Henry C. Chalfant and William Huggins are descendants. The lands taken up by them are still mostly in the possession of different branches of the family. Peter Hazelbaker came to the United States ¹ from Anspach, Germany, as an English soldier during the Revolution ; was taken prisoner by the American forces; was never exchanged, and never returned to his native land. Peter shortly after the war married Miss Elizabeth Shively, daughter of Daniel Shively, of Berkeley County, Va. Soon after their marriage Peter and wife emigrated to Washington County, Pa., and settled in an old log house on the farm now owned by S. A. Chester, in Allen township. This was in the beginning of the present century, but in what year we are not informed. He died in 1800, and his remains were buried in the field just above the present residence of Maj. Henry Sphar. Peter had six sons. Their names were Peter, Daniel, John, Jacob, Abra- ¹ This account of Hazelbaker, like those of many other early settlers in this section, is from the papers of Dr. J. S. Van Voorhis. ham, and George. John was one of the old-time school-teachers, and was the first man who ever taught school in Belle Vernon. His school-house was the present residence of Mrs. Mary Corwin, on Main Street in that town. He died years ago in Iowa. Daniel died in Indiana. Peter died six weeks after the death of his father, and was buried with his father in the Sphar graveyard. Abraham died near Brush Creek, in Ohio. Jacob lived for many years in the stone house a short d/stance above Belle Vernon, now owned by R. C. Schmertz & Co. He removed to a farm near Perryopolis about thirty years ago. George lived beyond all his brothers. He married Matilda Dunlevy, sister of the late Andrew Dunlevy, who died in 1853. George Hazelbaker first lived in Belle Vernon, where he built the house on Main Street now occupied by Rebecca Laneheart. He afterwards resided on the farm where John B. Gould now lives; then on the Johnson, the Rutan, the Cooper farms, and finally in 1841 he purchased the farm in Allen township (on which he died) from Abia Allen and Robert Stockdale. His sons Andrew and Joseph died many years since. Anthony lives in Illinois; Jacob now resides near Foxburg, in the oil regions; George, Jr., resides near the home farm; and John, Jr., since his marriage has taken care of his father on the homestead ; Matilda married Joseph Wolf, and resides in the West; Mary married John Cooper, now deceased, and lives in the West; Sarah Ann is the wife of Addison Cummings, and lives in Allen township ; Margaret was the wife of R. C. Guffey, of North Belle Vernon. He belongs to the Guffey family which has been so long identified with politics in Westmoreland County. The late Shively Hazelbaker, who many years ago occupied the Shepler Hotel in town, was a nephew of the deceased. George Hazelbaker died June 23, 1880, aged ninety-two years. In his seventy-fifth year he united with Rehoboth Church, and remained in that membership until his death. He was a good citizen, a genial neighbor, and above all a Christian. From the assessment-roll of 1788 for Fallowfield are taken the following names of persons taxable in that township, and resident in that part of it which is now included in Allen, viz.: Joseph Allen, Eli Allen, John Allen, Joseph Chester, Lawrence Crow, Samuel Dixon, Joshua Dixon, Henry Dixon, Edward Earl, Nathan Ellis, James Ellis, Jesse Ellis, Hezekiah Ellis, David England, John Nixon, John Sprowls, John Finney, William Jackman, John Justice, Jeremiah Riggs, William Riggs, Edmund Riggs, Clement Riggs, Henry Speers. Mr. Mahlon Riggs, now (November, 1881) living in Allen at the age of eighty-four years, recollects that many of those above named were still living here at the commencement of the war of 1812 against Great Britain. Thomas Stockdale, who was of English parentage, emigrated to this country and settled in Montgomery County, Pa., and from there came to this county late 646 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. in the year 1799. His people were Quakers. On the 12th of April, 1800, he purchased one hundred acres of land of Joseph Allen, a part of the tract patented by him under the name of " Allen's Delight." On the 5th of June the next year he purchased one hundred acres adjoining, and of the same tract. On this farm Mr. Stockdale lived and died, leaving .one son, Robert, who inherited the homestead, where he also lived until his death, Dec. 15, 1878, in his seventy-eighth year. He was twice married ; the first time to Deborah Allen, the second to Dorcas Price, who survives him. His sons Joseph, Cyrus, and Martin occupy the old residence and homestead farm. Joshua Dixon about 1784 or 1785 became the owner of several large tracts of land along the river, one of which, " Balimoab," contained one hundred and eighty acres. He patented Oct. 2, 1784, another tract of two hundred acres called "Joshua's Hall," for which he received a patent Sept. 10, 1790. These two tracts were adjoining Joseph Allen's land. Another tract called " American Bottoms" was also patented to him. Title to this tract was contested by other claimants. On the 10th of September, 1805, he sold to Samuel Hecklin, of New Castle, Del., and Emmanuel Dixon two hundred acres of land, parts of the two first mentioned tracts; and on the 9th of January, 1806, he sold to Samuel Hecklin a part of both tracts. On the 13th of December, 1813, Mr. Hecklin sold to John Finney and Thomas Young each a parcel of the above land. These parcels are described as being on Williams' Run, the deeds "reserving and excepting one-half the profits of a supposed copper and gold mine on the east fork of Williams' Run." The name of Dixon is now extinct in the township. William Huggins was a native of Ireland who emigrated to the United States in 1775, and lived for a time in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, and later removed to Washington County. He settled in Fallowfield township, now Allen. Soon after his arrival he married Jane Crow, by whom he had twelve children. Of this number two are still living,—Mrs. Lucy Gregg, of Brownsville, Fayette County, and Thomas C. Huggins, of Washington County. Of the descendants of the family are William T. Huggins, of Allenport; Mrs. Mary A. Rideout, Sandusky County, Ohio ; and Jacob Huggins, of the borough of California. David England, as early as 1784, obtained a warrant for a tract of land of one hundred and seventy-two acres, which was surveyed to him as " River Farm." On the 15th of August, 1804, he conveyed this tract to his sons, John, Israel, Isaac, and David, Jr. John, the eldest brother, bought out all the heirs, and in 1828 sold the tract to Joseph Allen. David England had four daughters,—Elizabeth (Mrs. Kimberly), Susannah (Mrs. Hollingshead), Mary (Mrs. Icehour), and Sarah (Mrs. Allen). But little else is known of the family. The property fell into other hands, and there are now none of the name in the township. It was on the England lands that the town of Independence was laid out. William Howe was an Englishman. He came to the West with the United States troops at the time of the Whiskey Insurrection, and here remained. He married Margaret Jackman. On the 30th of March, 1796, he took out a warrant for a tract, which was surveyed to him the 5th of September following as "Malabar," containing three hundred and twenty acres. It was situated on the bank of the river, adjoining lands of Robert and Henry Jackman, and the heirs of Laurence and John Crow. Mr. Howe lived here until his death, and was buried in what is known as the Howe Cemetery. The Howe Church was erected on his farm. He and his wife were prominent in the early history of Methodism in this section, and were foremost in the establishment of this church. The date of his death has not been found. His widow, Elizabeth Howe, died March 16, 1834, at the age of sixty-two years. They had fourteen children, who are now all dead. Two went to Virginia; two daughters married and went to Canada ; two sons emigrated to Illinois; Alexander and Samuel remained in this county. The former married Elizabeth Rush. William Howe, Esq., of California, Pa., is their son. Samuel married Lydia Morrell. Johnson Howe, a son, emigrated to Illinois. Lydia Riggs, now living in the township, and eighty years of age, is a granddaughter of William Howe. Joseph Allen, an English Quaker, emigrated to this country about 1770, and about 1772 came to Washington County with his wife, Deborah (Hill), and took out a warrant for a tract of land lying on the Monongahela River, for which he received a patent from Thomas and John Penn dated Dec. 22, 1774. This tract was named " Allenton." Ten years later he took a warrant dated Aug. 31, 1784, for a tract which was surveyed December 15th of that year as" Allen's Delight," and contained three hundred and fifty-four acres. It was situated on the Monongahela River, and was two hundred and twenty-six perches along the river, "adjoining his other land and lands of David England." On the 28th of March, 1799, he divided his real estate, consisting of over eight hundred acres, into eight parts, reserving one for himself and giving one to each of his children (except Benjamin), viz.: Eli, John, Samuel, William, Joshua, Ema (Mrs. Thomas Stockdale), and Deborah (Mrs. James Winders). The son Benjamin, not included in the above division, was made chargeable for his support on the others. A deed was given to John Allen, April 8, 1800, for one hundred acres, a part of the tract " Allen's Delight," and to Samuel, April 12th, the same year, for one hundred acres, a part of both tracts, " Allenton" and " Allen's Delight." To William, on the 8th of April, 1800, for one hundred acres, also parts of both the above-mentioned tracts; and on the 12th of April the same year to Ema (Mrs. Thomas ALLEN TOWNSHIP - 647 Stockdale), for one hundred and one acres, a part of "Allen's Delight." Joseph Allen died in 1839, in the township, at an advanced age. Eli, the eldest son, emigrated to Indiana. Mrs. Sarah Wolf and Joanna McKey are granddaughters of Joseph Allen. William Jackman patented a tract of three hundred and forty-seven acres, called "Hobson's Choice," April 9, 1788, adjoining Joseph Chester. This tract was divided by the provisions of his will made on the 3d of April, 1818. Within a few years the land was in possession of John Jackman, Seth Buffington, John Ringland, and Jehu Jackman. The last named was elected sheriff of the county in 1843, and member of the Legislature in 1853. An order of survey, No. 1939 (recently in possession of Nathan Lynn), was taken out in 1769 in favor of Robert Jackman. It was surveyed on the 16th of December in that year by the name of "Ararat," and contained two hundred and twenty-two acres. It was located on the Monongahela River, adjoining lands of Samuel Dixon. Joseph Chester took up a tract of land adjoining the William Jackman tract. His descendants are still in the township, and part of the original tract is in the hands of the family. Independence, or Allenport.—The land on which this village is laid out is part of a tract of land located on the Monongahela that was granted to Henry Dixon, Aug. 13, 1784, and surveyed December 15th of the same year under the name of " Dixon's Intent," containing one hundred and forty-two acres. It was patented by him on the 28th of June, 1786. On the 29th of April, 1816, a deed was made by Henry Dixon to John Baldwin of one hundred and eighty-two acres of land, part of the above patent. Arrangements for laying out a village upon it had been made previously, as is evident from the following advertisement which appeared in the Washington Reporter of March 18, 1816: "NEW TOWN—TOWN LOTS FOR SALE. "The Subscriber has laid off a new town on the western bank of the Monongahela River, in Washington County and State of Pennsylvania, called' West Freeport,' immediately opposite to Freeport,' which is on the eastern bank of said river, in Fayette County, and offers for sale therein forty-five lots of ground, which will be sold at public vendue on the 15th day of April next, on the premises, sale to commence at 10 o'clock in the forenoon. "West Freeport is situate in the midst of a very wealthy settlement, and presents as many natural advantages to men of enterprise and industry as any other site in the western country. Glass-works, as well as other manufactures might be established and carried on at this place to great advantage, as materials for such purposes are found in great abundance within its vicinity. There is an excellent grist- and saw-mill at the place and places of public worship within a very short distance. A turnpike road is expected to be made from Bedford, in Bedford County, to Washington, in Washington County, Pa., which, if carried on or near to a straight line from the one place to the other, will pass through West Freepost. JOHN BALDWIN. "WEST FREEPORT, March 7, 1816." ¹ What is now Fayette City was originally laid out by Edward Cook as Freeport, and known as such till about 1820, from which time it gradually assumed the name of Cookstown, which it held till the change to the present name by act of Legislature in 1854. No lots seem to have been sold by Mr. Baldwin in this new town, and on the 1st of May, 1817, he conveyed seventy-nine acres to Joseph Allen, who, on the 29th May, 1828, purchased one hundred and seventy-two acres of land of David England (a part of the tract patented by England), adjoining the above. On' the 30th January, 1839, one hundred-and twenty-one acres of it was sold by the administrators of Joseph Allen to Francis McKee, who about 1850 laid out the town of Independence. Lots 55 and 56, on the corner of Broadway and Liberty Streets, were sold to Davenport Philips, Aug. 17, 1852. On the 27th of July, 1853, lot No. 9 was sold to Henry Stimel. The next sale which is recorded is five years later, the deed bearing date Dec. 4, 1858. It was made to Robert Fields, " for and in consideration of the sum of twenty cents (the price of taking me and-old Charley across the river and back)." It was designated as lot No. 2, on Witter Street. He says in the deed, " The consideration and the principal reason for my giving the above described plot of ground is because I thought him a poor, good boy, and hope he may make a rich, good man, never steal, get drunk, swear, or play cards, but be honest and industrious, and it is my desire and design that if Robert should die before he comes to years of twenty-one the lot should go to his sister Liza." From this time other lots were sold, and in 1865 the name was changed from Independence to Allenport, and a plat filed in the recorder's office at the county-seat. The mill property north of the .town now owned by George Maxwell was a part of the one hundred and eighty-two acres purchased by Baldwin of Henry Dixon in 1816. He sold seventy-nine acres to Allen, and kept the remainder many years. He built the mill which still retains the name. On the 10th of April, 1832, he sold forty-five acres (tile mill property) to Joseph Allen, who conveyed it to Abia Allen on the 29th June the same year. After keeping it about two years he sold it, Oct. 10, 1834, to William Brightwell, who two years later (Nov. 3, 1836) sold to -Isaiah Frost, by whom it was kept twelve years, and on Jan. 15, 1848, by an article of agreement, it was sold to Francis McKee, and later his administrator gave therefor a deed. McKee retained it till March 29, 1853, when he sold to James B. Angell. Soon after the purchase by McKee the present mill was erected and called Etma. From this time steam was used, the old mill having used water-power. The ferry a short distance north of the town was started after the property came into possession of Mr. McKee. On the 13th of September, 1861, he conveyed to Thornton S. Chalfant the land known as the " Ferry Property," and Chalfant was " to have the entire ferry privilege from the lands of Joseph Krepps down the river shore to the lands of Isaiah Frost's heirs ;" possession was obtained April 1, 1862. The ferry passed through several hands, and in December, 1872, it was sold by Alexander S. Latta to William C. Huggins, who still owns it. 648 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. The present village of Allenport contains twenty-three dwellings, four stores, the depot of the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad, a blacksmith-shop, post-office, school-house, and one physician, Dr. Mitchell. An early resident physician here was Dr. Ostrander Todd, who practiced many years and until his death not long since. The post-office was established at this place under the name of Belle Zane. The first and only postmaster is John Fields. " Clark's Coalery," one of the most noted coal banks along the Monongahela, is at this place, but is not now in operation. A number of other collieries located along the river in the upper part of this township have been in successful operation for several years, shipping their coal by the Monongahela slack-water to Pittsburgh and the ports on the lower Ohio. The names of the principal coal-works (and settlements clustered around them) on the river in this township are the " Champion," " Limetown," " Courtney's," " Lucyville" (the last named a mining hamlet of twenty houses), and the " Amencan Bottom," or " Wood's Run," which is a place of fifty dwellings, of which many are good and even fine structures, and four stores. The collieries of this township are more fully mentioned in the general history of the county. Schools in Allen Township.—About the year 1800, Benjamin Huff taught a school in what is now the township of Allen. He was succeeded by William Jackman, — Bedford, Robert Wilson, and Solomon Allen. The school-house stood near the "Fallowfield" Quaker Church (now known as "Mount Tabor"). John Jackman and Newton Williams taught in the Quaker Church in 1827-28. Upon the organization of the township into school districts in 1835, the territory of Allen township was embraced in East Pike Run and Fallowfield school districts, and so remained until the organization of the township in 1853, when the school directors elected that year organized the township into three school districts. The following was the condition of the schools in 1863, 1873, 1880, taken from the reports of public instruction : 1863.—Whole number of schools, 3 ; teachers, 3 ; scholars enrolled, 200. Total amount of receipts for school purposes, $368.25; expenditures, $360.79. 1873.—Whole number of schools, 3; teachers, 3; scholars enrolled, 188. Total amount of receipts for school purposes, $1303.61; expenditures, $992.87. 1880.—Whole number of schools, 5 ; teachers, 5 ; scholars enrolled, 312. Total amount of receipts for school purposes, $1046.99 ; expenditures, $989.04. The following-named persons were and have been elected school directors in Allen during its separate existence as a township : 1853.—Azarlah Crow, Joseph Krepps, Jehu Jackman, Andrew Dunleavy, Thomas C. Huggins, Jackman Crow, William C. Wolf, Elias Howe, William Fields. 1854.—Joseph Krepps, John Frye. 1855.—Hiram Jackman, Hugh McKee, 1856.—Azariah Crow, John G. Martin, Samuel Clark. 1857.—Simeon Jackman, Henry Spahr. 1858.-O. D. Todd, H. I. Furnier. 1859.—John G. Martin, Robert Stockdale. 1860.--Azariah Crow, John P. Nixon. 1861.—John Donaldson, Samuel A. Chester.. 1862.—William Johnson, John G. Martin. 1863.—John J. Nixon, Azariah Crow. 1864.—R. J. Latta, T. F. Chalfant. 1865.—John G. Martin, William S. Krepps. 1866.—A. Crow, John Spahr. 1867.—Edward Furling, John Fields. 1868.—A. A. Stockdale, John Danberry. 1869.—Clark Crow, John Berin. 1869.—J. F. Jackman, E. C. Furling, Thomas Wood. 1870.—John Nixon, J. D. Barnum, John W. Berryman. 1872.—J. R. Jackman, J. Nixon. 1873.—E. C. Furlong, John H. Crow. 1874.—James L Krepps, J. F. Philips. 1875.—John Nixon, John Dunlevy. 1876.—Clark Crow, Richard Ward, Hugh McKee. 1877.—James Krepps, John L. Riggs. 1878.—A. L. Latta, Samuel McKune. 1879.—John Dunlevy, Mark Stockdale. 1880.—Allen Kennedy, John Mitchell, Harry Mann, W. D. Martin, John L. Riggs. 1881.—John Conoway, John Dunlevy, Clark Crow. Justices of the Peace.—Following is given a list of persons elected as justices of the peace in Allen township from its erection to the year 1880, viz.: Thomas R. Reed, Oct. 14, 1852. Azariah Crow, April 10, 1855. Thomas R. Reed, April 13, 1858. Azariah Crow, April 10, 1860. Thomas R. Reed, April 14, 1863. Azariah Crow, June 3, 1865. Azariah Crow, March 29, 1870. A. A. Stockdale, Nov. 30, 1870. Azariah Crow, Jan. 17, 1874. James D. Barnum, May 19,1874. Azariah Crow, March 17,1875. J. Donaldson, Jr., March 27,1879. W. W. Jobes, March 30, 1880. Religious Societies.—Many of the early settlers of this section of country were Friends or Quakers, and as early as 1799 trustees of a society purchased a lot on which to build a meeting-house. At what time the society was organized and where they worshiped prior to this date is not known. The deed dated April 17, 1799, is a conveyance by Joseph Allen " to Joshua Dixon, John Allmon, John Heald, and Jacob Griffith, trustees on behalf of the society of people called Quakers of Westland Monthly Meeting," four and one-quarter acres and seventeen perches, in consideration of ten dollars and sixty-seven cents, "for the proper use of the society of the people called Quakers forever for the purpose of a meeting-house called Fallowfield meeting-house." After many 'years, dissensions occurred in the Quaker Churches all over the country, which resulted in divisions, and the Hicksites became a distinct sect. The trouble reached this church, and the society was finally disbanded. A portion of the lot was sold to the Methodists, who built thereon a church that has long been known as the Mount Tabor Church. On the 15th of September, 1849, Amos Griffith, Nathan Rogers, and William Hancock, trustees of the Quakers, sold to Cornelius McKenna the remaining portion of the lot on which the Quaker Church, known as " Fallowfield," had stood, it containing three and one-half acres and thirty perches. A part of the lot had been used as a ALLEN TOWNSHIP - 649 cemetery. The Friends were opposed to the erection of tombstones, and the resting-places of the early Friends who are buried are unmarked and unknown. MOUNT TABOR METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. -The Methodist people in this section of country were organized before the year 1800, and worshiped at what was then known as the Howe Church. The cemetery is still kept up, but the church has long since gone down. A mention of this church, as well as others in this section, will be found in the history of the Methodist Church of Greenfield, written by Mr. Rockwell. In the old church eighty-four years ago the Rev. John Meeks and the Rev. Thomas Harman were preachers. After the abandonment of the old "Fallowfield" Quaker Church a portion of their church lot was purchased by the Methodists, who soon after erected upon it a frame building forty by forty feet, which was formally dedicated May 10, 1851. The Rev. Thomas Hudson preached the dedicatory sermon from the text, " God is a spirit." The name "Mount Tabor" was given to the church by Mrs. Mahlon Riggs. The Rev. John West and the Rev. Asbury Pool preached in this section to this people before 1815. After the erection of the present Mount Tabor Church the following ministers occupied the pulpit : Revs. Joseph Lee, Joshua and William Monroe, - Lop, Daniel Hitt, J. Connelly. Among the early worshipers, as given by Mrs. Mahlon Riggs, were Eli Several, John and Henry Spohr, William, Jeremiah, and Lydia Riggs, Margaret Howe, William, Joseph, Matilda, and Melinda Wolf, Jacob, Mary, and Annie Crow, and Sarah Merrel. A further reference to the article by Mr. Rockwell will show who had charge of these churches, the districts they were in, and the changes made in the districts. Howe and Mount Tabor Cemeteries.-Where the old Howe Methodist Church stood many years ago is still the cemetery that was connected with it. Among the early settlers who are buried there is Elizabeth Howe, born in 1772, died March 16, 1834, aged sixty-two years; William Huggins, died April 27, 1844, in the seventy-fifth year of his age; William Gregg, died Feb. 25, 1851, in the eightieth year of his age ; Elizabeth Frye, died June 24, 1836, aged forty-one years; Mary Baker, died July 16, 1874, in the eighty-fourth year of her age. The cemetery now known as Mount Tabor Cemetery was in use very many years by the Friends, and was part of the grounds owned by the Friends, known as Fallowfield Meeting-House of the Westland Quarterly Meeting. After the abandonment by the Friends it came into use by the present society, and is used by them as a burial-place. Among those buried there are the following : John Jackman, died Dec. 17, 1876, in the eighty-sixth year of his age; Samuel Allen, died March 11, 1833, aged seventy-two years; Sylvester Smith, died Oct. 12, 1846, aged seventy years ; Ayes Smith, died Jan. 11, 1862, aged eighty-two years. It was not the practice of the Friends to erect a monument or tablet over the graves of their dead, and as a consequence many of the resting-places of the early settlers are unmarked and unknown. The little mounds with which the burial-place is filled only signifies that some one is buried there. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. SOLOMON C. SPEERS. Henry Speers, the older, and Regina Froman, his wife, were born in Germany, came to Western Pennsylvania in 1772, and settled on what is now known as the Gibsonton Distillery farm, below Belle Vernon, in Rostraver township, Westmoreland County, Pa. Henry Speers died in 1773, having lived only about one year after his arrival in Western Pennsylvania. By his will, dated May 14, 1773, he conveyed this farm to his son, Noah Speers, who by his will, dated June 2, 1832, gave it to his son, Noah W. Speers. He also owned the tract where the ferry is now located, and for which a patent in connection with the farm above mentioned was granted to Benjamin Frey and Regina Speers, in trust for the heirs of Henry Speers, deceased, bearing date June 21, 1784. Henry Speers had four sons,-Jacob, Solomon, Henry, and Noah. Jacob immigrated in early days to Kentucky, where he was a successful business man for many years, and from whom the Kentucky Speers had their origin. Solomon was killed by the Indians on Salt River in Kentucky, where he had gone to engage in trading and trapping. Noah died on the old homestead, now known as the Gibsonton farm. He laid out the town of Belle Vernon. The first sale of lots took place April 18, 1814. He died from a kick of a horse June 9, 1832. his wife was a daughter of Samuel Frye, Sr., who was a son of the older Abram Frye, who came to Western Pennsylvania contemporary with Henry Speers the older. The remains of Noah Speers and his wife rest on the old homestead farm. Henry Speers the younger was born July 8, 1756, being sixteen years old when his parents settled near the present town of Belle Vernon. He married Rebekah Frye, daughter of Henry Frye, Sept. 24, 1777. She was born March 17, 1761, and died July 16, 1835. Henry the younger had thirteen children : Samuel, born Jan. 29, 1779. Sarah, born Dec. 28, 1780. Rebekah, born Dec. 4, 1782. Katherine, born Feb. 4, 1785. Henry, born Feb. 7, 1787. Rachel, born March 1, 1789. Elizabeth, born April 8, 1791. Fanny, born July 1, 1793. Polly, born Sept. 16, 1794. Pleasant, born Nov. 24, 1796. John, born Jan. 17, 1798.