USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Armstrong County, Pennsylvania her people past and present, embracing a history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I > Part 47
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Joseph Marshall, in later years. when the tract, of which he occupied about eighty acres, Marshalls in this part of the county became known in that region as the "old Glade Run quite numerous, was distinguished from others farm," now lying south of the borough of Dayton, between it and the old buildings of the Glade Run Academy. An orchard was planted on it soon after its first occupancy by Marshall, which is still thrifty, and known as the "old Glade orchard."
The only other white settler then within what is now the territory of this township was James Shields, who occupied a part of the above-mentioned vacant tract, the farm since owned by C. Soxman and James Galla- gher, Jr., about four miles west of south from Marshall's. The latter's next nearest neighbors were the Kirkpatricks, nearly south, on the Cowanshannock, another family about four miles to the east, and others not less than ten miles to the north. The nearest grist- mill was Peter Thomas', about fifteen miles (listant on Plum creek, near where the bor- ough of Elderton now is. Even fourteen years later the population of this region must have been very sparse, for Philip Mechling, sheriff of Armstrong county for many years, relates that he then found but very few habitations, and they were far apart, as he passed from Red Bank township to Thomas' in Plum Creek township, when he was collecting United States taxes, levied for paying the public debt incurred by the war of 1812.
There were then only bridle paths from one land. point to another. The streams were not spanned by bridges. When he reached the ferry kept by Robert Martin, at or near where Milton now is, he could not find either canoe or ferryman on the Red Bank side of the Ma- honing. A canoe was on the other side. With dry chestnut logs, an ax and an auger, he con- structed a small raft on which he ventured across the turbid stream and landed a consid- erable distance below his objective point. When he reached the canoe the ferryman had arrived. They crossed over to the Red Bank
Another contemporaneous settler on Glade run was Joseph Marshall, the eldest son of William Marshall, Sr., he being twenty-two years old when they settled there a century ago. Their new home in the wilderness was
bearing the same name by the appellation of "big Joe Marshall." He died in his eightieth year in 1859. His father had nine children, of whom the only one surviving, Robert Mar- shall, on the centennial anniversary of Ameri- can Independence was in his seventy-seventh year. The descendants of William Marshall, Sr., if all were living, would number over five hundred. The descendants of his brothers John and Archibald, who were somewhat later settlers in this region, are also quite numerous. Hence the frequency of the name of Marshall in this and other adjacent town- ships. The Marshalls, like many of their contemporaries bearing different names, have generally been of good repute in their public and private relations.
The eastern portion of this township re- ceived nearly all the settlers in the first dec- ade of this century. Thomas Wilson was assessed with 300 acres of land in 1806, being then in Kittanning township. The records show that the other settlers in this section were Hugh Martin, Alexander and Thomas McGaughey, James Kirkpatrick, Sr., and John Calhoun, in 1807.
Christopher Rupp in 1805 was the first set- tler in the vicinity of Echo. Twenty years after he was the owner of Soo acres of that
POPULATION
Previous to 1830 the population of this township was not very rapidly increased. At that date it was only 878, but by 1840 the number had reached 1,875. In 1850, after the curtailment of its territory, it was 1,348. In 1860 it was 1,576; in 1870, 2,028; in ISSo, exclusive of the borough of Dayton, 1,867; in 1890, 1,503; in 1900, 1,461; in 1910, 1,384. The gradual decrease in the population was
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due to the decline of farming, the closing of horses swimming alongside of them. Their the academies and the many attractions offered habitation, during the first year of their resi- by the larger cities.
The present territory of Wayne was a part of Toby township from 1801 to 1806; part of Kittanning township until 1809, and part of Plum Creek township until 1821.
GLADE RUN PRESBYTERIAN CIIURCII
The first clergyman to hold religious serv- ices in Wayne township was Rev. Robert McGarraugh, who was also the first Presby- terian minister who preached the gospel east of the Allegheny river in what are now Arm- strong and Clarion counties. He held the first services in a barn of William Marshall, Sr., in 1803, while on his way to the wilder- ness in the northern part of Clarion county, where he subsequently settled. Twice a year thereafter he preached to this little congrega- tion while on his journeys to and from the meetings of the old Redstone Presbytery, which extended from the Allegheny mountains to the Scioto river, and from Lake Erie to the Kanawha river. In those days the settlements were few and far between, and the pioneers marked the dates of his visits by putting pins in the dates in the old almanacs.
The church, which at first was called Cowanshannock, was organized by four fami- lies, those of James and William Kirkpatrick, William Marshall and William Shields, in 1804.
dence, near the present addition of Strattan- ville, was a log cabin twelve or sixteen feet square, the door of which was made of chest- nut bark.
Father McGarraugh, as he was in later years. called, was ordained by the Redstone Presby- tery, Nov. 12, 1807, and installed as the pastor of the New Rehoboth and Licking Churches, the pastorate in which he continued until April 3, 1822, after which time he preached at Callensburg, Concord and some other places until his death, July 17, 1839, in the sixty-ninth year of his age and the thirty-sixth of his min- istry.
Says the writer of a historical sketch of Clarion county : "Rev. Robert McGarraugh is represented to have been a good, God-fearing man, well educated, able in prayer, slow of speech, often taking two or three hours to deliver his sermon. So earnest was he at times that great tears would roll from his eyes to the floor. It was said that his tears were more eloquent than his voice."
He had three sons and four daughters. Mrs. Henry Black, one of the latter, and John McGarraugh, one of the former, were living in 1876. Robert W. McGarraugh, a grandson, served in the Union army in the war of 1861- 65 three and a half years, having been con- fined eleven months at Andersonville, where he died.
Rev. Robert McGarraugh soon thereafter decided to cast his lot with the little circle of worshipers, and in the same year gathered to- gether his family and household goods in Westmoreland county and made the toilsome journey through the almost trackless wilder- ness to their new home, which they reached in the course of seven or eight days. The early records of this, like many other churches, were not kept in a book, but on loose pieces of paper, which were preserved by the late George McCombs. They contain the min- utes of the sessions from Sept. 15, 1821, until Oct. 24, 1836. It is not known if any mem- bers were admitted between 1804 and 1821. The admissions in the last-mentioned year were twenty-one on examination and seven on Wagon roads had not then been opened in this region, so they performed their journey through the forest on horseback, following Indian trails or the paths indicated by the McGarraugh ceased to travel this route and settlers' blazes. They probably had three horses, one of which Mr. McGarraugh rode ; another bore Mrs. McGarraugh and two of the children. All the kitchen furniture was packed on the third, on the top of which John, the eldest son, was mounted. On their route they letters. It is not apparent whether any Pres- byterian clergyman preached here even occa- sionally between the time when Father the advent of Rev. James Galbreath, who preached here a few times prior to 1820, when Rev. David Barclay commenced preaching as a stated supply and continued about five years, during which period a considerable number were admitted. Joseph Diven and George either forded or swam the Kiskiminetas, McComb were ordained elders by Mr. Bar- clay in 1820, and John Marshall, Benjamin
Crooked creek and Plum creek. They were detained a day at the Mahoning, and another Irwin and William Kirkpatrick, July 24, 1825. at the Red Bank, where they were under the necessity of constructing canoes, in which M. D., commenced Dec. 9, 1828, and continued they were conveyed across those streams, the
The pastorate of Rev. Elisha D. Barrett, until Nov. 29, 1840, during which period John
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Calhoun, James Wilson, William Gaghagan, Robert Caldwell and Robert Wilson were or- dained and installed ruling elders, and fifty- nine members were admitted on examination. Dr. Barrett was among the first advocates of the temperance cause and of Sabbath schools, and other great moral and temporal interests of society in this region.
The pastorate of Rev. James D. Mason be- gan June 16, 1843, and ended March 19, 1848, during which thirty-two members were ad- mitted on examination, and William M. Find- lay, John Henderson and Thomas Travis were elected, ordained and installed ruling elders.
Rev. Cochran Forbes, who came next, had for twenty years been missionary to the Sand- wich Islands, and he remained with the church until 1856. During his time eighty-six mem- bers were added.
Rev. G. W. Mechlin, D. D., next served, from 1857 to 1894. After him came Rev. S. R. Frazier for a short time, and then Rev. G. W. McIntyre, the present pastor, came to the church, which was his first pastorate, in the spring of 1895. He has ever since served the congregation with remarkable success. His congregation is one of the largest in the county, the present membership being 41I, while the Sabbath school instructs 200 little ones. At present the church has under its direct care four students for the ministry.
All the church edifices were erected on the same site, near the northern angle of the triangle formed by three public roads, one mile southeast of the borough of Dayton. The first one was 30 by 30 feet, with walls of hewn logs, shingle roof and board floor. It was probably erected in 1821, as the subscription paper found among the papers of the late Ben- jamin Irwin shows that the "implements," as the materials are styled, were to be delivered to the building committee by the first day of May of that year. One subscriber agreed to furnish five logs, another the same, another five pairs of rafters, two others "one summer," and so on until ample provision was made for the walls, roof and floor. Another paper con- tains the names of more than forty subscrib- ers, who promised to pay, respectively, sums of money varying from $I to less than twenty- five cents "for purchasing glass and nails and fixing the windows of the meeting house." That edifice was followed by another in 1831, which gave place in 1857 to another, which in 1871 was enlarged to its present dimensions of 48 by 76 feet, all of which were from time to time required by the healthy increase of the congregation.
The Sabbath school connected with this church was established probably in August or September, 1826, and was organized at a schoolhouse near Abel Findley's residence, which was then on the Hiltzimer tract. The officers on the first day were Joseph Reed, president, and John Calhoun and Abel Find- ley, assistants. This, like other schools in the township, was soon thereafter merged in the one at the church. It has ever since been a beneficent and flourishing school. Among its devoted superintendents and teachers the name of William Kirkpatrick most frequently occurs.
In 1876 the number of church members was 240, and of Sabbath school scholars, 202.
This is not only the first church organized east of the Allegheny river, within the limits of this county, but it has been a parent church, from which emanated large portions of the original members of the Concord, Millville, Rural Village and Smicksburg churches, and a nucleus of the United Presbyterian Church at Dayton.
The following named members of this church and Sabbath school, with the excep- tions noted, became pastors of the Presby- terian Church : Alexander S. Marshall, Marion, Iowa; David J. Irwin, D. D .; James H. Marshall, Concord; Adam L. Wilson, Methodist Episcopal Church, Bryn Mawr; B. S. Sloan, evangelist, Indiana; J. T. Gibson ; S. B. Fleming, Kansas ; Johnston McGaughey, Raton, N. M. ; Francis X. Miron, Earl Park, Ind .; Colbert M. DesIslets, Ph. D., Belvi- dere, Nebr .; Albert B. Marshall, D. D., Minneapolis, Minn .; John P. Barbor, Lyndon, Kans .; David Brown, Newton, Ia .; Lycurgus Mechlin, D. D., Washington, Pa. ; Thomas M. Findley, St. Paul, Minn .; Henry T. McClel- land, professor theology, Western Theological Seminary; Anderson F. Irwin, Peoria, Ill .; John C. Irwin, Fullerton, Nebr .; Asa Leard, Farmingdale, Ill. ; Thomas W. Leard, Athens, Ill .; Robert E. Anderson, Owatonna, Minn .; Charles P. Cheeseman, Long Run ; Joseph M. McComb, Lodiana, India; Adolphus C. Good, Ogowe River, West Africa ; John G. Touzeau, Bogota, South America: John C. Mechlin, Salmas, Persia; John C. Ambrose, Marion, Pennsylvania.
CONCORD CHURCH
In the year 1839 Rev. John Caruthers preached for some months in John Alcorn's barn to the Presbyterians of Concord and finally in 1840 the church was formally or-
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
ganized, with the following members: John erected in 1874 on an acre lot donated by Alcorn and wife Elizabeth, William McCain, Jacob Kammerdiener, near Belknap. There and wife Rebecca, John Calhoun and wife are occasional services held there now. A. F.
Catharine, Noah A. Calhoun and wife Schaeffer was the pastor in 1904.
Mary, Samuel H. Porter and wife Nancy, William Marshall and wife Rebecca, and James White. Rev. Joseph Painter was the first pastor and served until 1852. After a
The first church building was a $500 frame, built in 1842 on a hill commanding the sur- rounding country. After the Civil war an- other frame edifice was put up, which has been used from 1867 to the present time.
EPISCOPALIANS
The next church established in this town- ship was St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, organized in 1836 by Rev. B. B. Killi- kelly, who was its rector for several years. Services were at first held in a private house and the congregation numbered ninety-one persons. The congregation rapidly increasing, the pastor visited the East for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions to build a church. In this quest he was successful, and in 1838 a frame edifice was erected at a cost of $250. It was located in the southern part of the township east of the village of Echo. It has not been in use for many years. The church organization was made and it was in- corporated in 1866. Rev. William Hilton and Rev. D. C. James followed Rev. Mr. Killi- kelly up to 1876. At that time the church had begun to decline, and shortly thereafter ceased to exist.
LUTHERANS
Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1832 by Rev. Gabriel A. Reichert. Peter Kammerdiener was the first elder and Christopher Rupp and Abraham Zimmerman the first trustees. After Mr. Reichert left the pulpit was filled intermit- tently until 1876, when Rev. Michael Sweigert became the pastor. The number of members then was 72, Sabbath school, 50. The first church edifice was a log one, 30 by 25 feet. The present one, a frame, 40 by 35 feet, was
SCHOOLS
The educational interests were cherished vacancy of one year, Rev. Cochran Forbes by the early settlers of this township. About entered the pulpit, remaining until 1856. 1815-it may have been somewhat later or From 1857 to. 1865 Rev. G. W. Mechlin earlier-according to information which has served. Next came Rev. J. M. Jones, 1865- been orally transmitted to these later times, 67; Rev. H. Magill, 1867-72; Rev. F. E. the first school within its present limits was Thompson, 1873-77 ; Rev. H. Magill, 1880-81 ; opened in a building, perhaps not at first de- Rev. W. O. Thompson, 1881-82; Rev. J. M. Kelly, 1882-85.
signed for a school house, on land of Benja- min Irwin, near the Indiana county line, and was taught by the William Marshall distinguished from others of that name by the sobriquet of "Crooked," not, it is presumed, that he was so morally. Perhaps, whatever crookedness there was in his physique may have been induced by the virtue of extraor- dinary industry. Some of his pupils traveled three and others four miles daily to acquire the rudiments of education within the walls of that log temple of knowledge in the forest. Robert Marshall, of Dayton, the last sur- viving pupil, died Oct. 1, 1881. Another school was taught in a primitive schoolhouse, built somewhat later, near the present site of the Glade Run Presbyterian Church, one of the teachers of which was Bezai Irwin.
In 1832 David Scott and David Lewis were assessed as schoolmasters. When the common school law went into operation in 1834-35 four schoolhouses were located, one in the Calhoun settlement in the northwestern part of the township, one in the Beck settlement in the southwestern part, another two miles north of Dayton, and one about the same dis- tance southwest of that borough.
In 1860 the number of schools was 10; average months taught, 4; male teachers, 7; female teachers, 3; average salaries of male. per month, $20; of female, per month, $18.47 ; male scholars, 221 ; female scholars, 178; av- erage number attending school, 278; cost of teaching each scholar per month, 48 cents ; amount levied for school purposes, $1,058.18; received from State appropriation, $94.25; from collectors, $800; cost of instruction, $704; fuel and contingencies, $74.80; cost of schoolhouses. $25.30.
In 1876 the number of schools was 10; aver- age number of months taught, 5; male teach- ers, 6: female teachers, 4; average salaries of male, per month, $32; average salaries of female, per month, $32; male scholars, 190;
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
female scholars, 151 ; average number attend- school opened Oct. 27, 1851, with Rev. John ing school, 251 ; cost per month, $1.20; tax M. Jones as principal, the members of the ses- levied for school and building purposes, $1,970.84; received from State appropriation, $309.69; received from taxes and other sources, $1,991.12; cost of schoolhouses, re- pairing, etc., $223.50; paid for teachers' wages, $1,600; collectors' fees, fuel, etc., $234.23.
The school board in 1856 purchased of David Olinger two lots in the village of Belk- nap on which to erect schoolhouses Nos. 3 and 4, the former 60 by 80 and the latter 60 by 751/2 feet, both fronting on the Kittanning road, for $19.25.
In 1876 the report of this school was: Months taught, 5; male teacher, I ; salary per month, $35 ; male scholars, 36; female schol- ars, 19; average number attending school, 41 ; cost per month, 68 cents ; tax levied for school and building purposes, $151.27 ; received from State appropriation, $37.20; from taxes, etc., $184.98; paid for teachers' wages, $175.08; for fuel, etc., $69.37.
In 1913 the number of schools was II; months taught, 7; male teachers, 5; female teachers, 6; average salaries, male, $42; fe- male, $41.66; male scholars, 184; female scholars, 155; average attendance, 210; cost per month of each scholar, $1.61 ; amount of tax levied, $3,733.85; received from State, $2,026.32; from other sources, $4,501.96; value of schoolhouses, $6,100 ; teachers' wages, $3,220 ; other expenses, $2,516.90.
The school directors for that year were: H. S. Coleman, president ; S. P. Butler, sec- retary ; C. A. Reed, treasurer; J. G. Snyder, schools of learning, we find then enrolled dur- S. M. Latimer.
GLADE RUN ACADEMY
Previous to 1850 the standard of learning in the schools was very low. A very superfi- cial knowledge of the "Western Calculator" and "Kirkham's Grammar" were the only re- quirements of the average teacher, who often was only two or three lessons ahead of the scholars. A farmer's son, by occupying a few winter evenings in study, often distanced his instructor and perhaps filled his place at the next session. The country was rapidly filling up and a higher standard was demanded. Real- izing this, the members of the Glade Run Among the many students who availed them- selves of the excellent facilities of Glade Run none was more affectionately remembered or sincerely mourned after his untimely death than Benjamin Immuby Coles, a Christian Church met on May 27. 1851, and after discus- sing the expediency of establishing a school of a higher grade, the session unanimously re- solved "that measures be adopted for opening a parochial school as soon as possible." The Indian of the Caddo tribe, who came from his
sion having assumed the payment of his first year's salary. He remained until 1854, when he was succeeded by Rev. G. W. Mechlin, D.D., who served until 1861, when Rev. J. M. Jones resumed the position of principal. They were aided at different times by assistants, who later became able preachers of the gospel in various parts of this country.
The first trustees were: Rev. G. W. Mech- lin, William Kirkpatrick, John Henderson, Robert Wilson, Benjamin Irwin, W. M. Find- ley and John Wadding.
The faculty in 1857, according to an old program supplied by W. C. Marshall, editor of the Dayton News, was: Rev. G. W. Mechlin and J. H. Marshall, A. B., principals; J. K. Ritchey and Mrs. Lizzie M. K. Townsend, assistants; Mrs. N. J. Torrence, principal fe- male department.
The rates of tuition were extremely moder- ate, for languages, rhetoric, sciences and mathematics, ȘIo per session; philosophy, physiology and algebra, $8; English branches, $6; painting, drawing and embroidery. $5. Board and room could be had in private fam- ilies at $1.50 per week. At the 1857-58 session there were in attendance 45 males and 35 fe- males.
By 1873 the rates had risen $2 additional and board cost $3. There were then 78 males and 47 females in the school.
In the catalogue published in October, 1862, the second year of the Civil war, which latter had made many vacancies in all advanced
ing that eleventh year 55 male and 23 female students, or 78 in all. The enrollment pre- vious to this year or in the first ten years was 202 males and 154 females. There were 84 males from Armstrong county, 27 from In- diana county, 24 from Clarion county, 18 from Jefferson county, 9 from Westmoreland
county, 3 from Washington county and 2 from Clearfield county. There were also, from other States, 8 from Illinois, 2 from Iowa, 2 from Indiana, 2 from Ohio and I from Indian Ter- ritory. There was also a student from Brazil, S. A. Thus we see how far-reaching was the influence of one of Armstrong county's great schools of learning.
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
distant home in Louisiana in the early days of and the following membership: Rev. David the institution's history and after an attend- ance of a few years died aged thirty-two, in 1860. At his death his schoolmates sold pic- tures of him to defray the expense of a tomb- stone, upon which they engraved the line: "Everybody loved him." K. Duff, Rev. T. M. Elder, Dr. William Ho- sack, Dr. J. H. Crouch, Robert Marshall, Wesley Pontius, William R. Hamilton, Wil- liam Marshall, Thomas P. Ormond, Thomas H. Marshall, Samuel Good, Smith Neal, John H. Rupp, William Morrow, William J. Burns, In 1876.it was recorded that over 1,300 stu- dents had passed through the institution and of that number nearly sixty had become min- isters of the gospel. One became professor of a large theological seminary, several were for- eign missionaries, one a president judge, some were prominent lawyers, some entered the medical profession and many were teachers. J. W. Marshall, William Hindman, John Beck, Jacob Beck, John Craig, David Lawson and David Byers. The school opened in rented buildings with fifty-one pupils. In December, 1873, it was chartered as the "Dayton Soldiers' Orphans' School Association." In 1867 thirty-five acres of land were purchased and three buildings erected. In 1873 two of these At that date the buildings were an academy and three boarding houses for male and fe- male pupils. These buildings were the gifts of the Glade Run and Concord congregations and the people of Kittanning. were burned, but immediately replaced. The average number of pupils in the first five years was 150, and in 1876, 208. Rev. T. M. Elder, Rev. J. E. Dodds, Hugh McCandless, Miss Elizabeth McCandless and M. L. Thounhurst were the successive principals. As the limit of age at which the inmates could remain in the school was sixteen years, the result was a After 1880 the attendance gradually de- clined, owing to State subsidized normal schools, and in 1895 the old school was closed. gradual elimination, and finally in 1888 fire destroyed all but one of the buildings, so the few remaining orphans were distributed among the other schools in various parts of the Union.
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