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 55
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COWANSVILLE (.MIDDLESEX)
This town, near the headwaters of West Glade run in the northwestern part of the township, was laid out in 1849 by William McClatchey and named after the former own- er of the land, John Cowan, who was the first postmaster here in that year. McClatchey called it "Middlesex," but the residents clung to the name of Cowansville, by which it is now known. The village grew very slowly until the construction of the Buffalo, Roches- ter & Pittsburgh railroad after 1890, when a
station was established here. At present it is growing steadily and the population is about one thousand.
The storekeepers here in 1913 are Cowans- ville Supply Company, C. W. Jordan and Charles McClay. William Synder is the un- dertaker and U. O. Davidson handles tomb- stones and cut building stone. The resident physician is Dr. Robert G. Ralston.
The Dubois-Butler Brick Company have a large plant for the manufacture of building and paving brick, with a capacity of 40,000 per day. Harvey Fair conducts the black- smithing and general repair shop.
The present postmaster is C. W. Jordan.
TARRTOWN
This little village is opposite Wickboro and is named from Frederick Tarr, who settled here in ISII and in 1813 built a sawmill on the river bank. This was also the site of the famous David Helm's ferry in 1797. At one time most deeds for lands in this part of the county mentioned the Helm's Ferry road. Since the opening up of the Shawmut road this year (1913) the prospects of this town have become brighter than in the past. There are three stores here kept by Lewis Lash & Sons. R. Dentella and C. C. Ruffner. There is a United Presbyterian Sunday school here, but no church buildings.
FURNACE RUN
Around the site of the old Allegheny fur- nace has in the years 1912 and 1913 developed a thriving mining town, the result of the Shaw- mut mines opening. An up-to-date village, composed of over seventy-five houses, a wa- terworks, power house and other necessary buildings, has sprung up in that time. The principal store here is owned by Jesse Hays, who is also the postmaster. Dr. W. S. Adams is the resident physician. The mines are oper- ated by the Allegheny River Mining Company, D. C. Morgan, president ; Fred Norman, chief engineer ; John Chilcott, superintendent of de- velopment ; John Armstrong, purchasing agent.
The Mohawk Mining Company, composed of Nathan L. Strong, Samuel Wallworth and Charles Ferne, was chartered in 1913, and the same year acquired the coal rights of the Charles E. Meals farm, between Furnace Run and West Kittanning, and is opening up mines, building a tipple and houses for the miners. This will practically unite the two mentioned
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
places into one town, and develop a large set- tlement in that end of East Franklin town- ship. This is only one of the many benefits that Armstrong county has derived from the opening of the Shawmut railroad.
WEST KITTANNING BOROUGH
is a town on the top of the ridge opposite Kittanning, occupied mostly by retired farm- ers and some business men of that city. It was once called "Bellville," after John Cun- ningham laid it out in 1855. The terminus of the chain ferry in 1824, and the old tavern at the foot of the hill on the Allegheny, were objects of interest to travelers here in early days. West Kittanning was incorporated as a borough in 1900, the first census after that being the one of 1910, when the population was given as 871. The storekeepers are P. P. Burford, Otis Southworth and J. C. Bar- nett. The West Kittanning Lumber Company have a large and well stocked yard here. Jerry Gould is the present burgess.
The assessment returns for 1913 show : Number of acres, 29, valued at $290 ; houses and lots, 218, value, $65,859, average, $302.10; horses, 42, value, $1,320, average, $31.42; cows 20, value, $300, average, $15.00 ; taxable occupations, 252 ; amount, $9,475 ; total valu- ation, $77,244. Money at interest, $12,189.
In 1913 the number of schools was 3; aver- age months taught, 8; female teachers, 3; av- erage salaries, female, $46.66; male scholars, 87, female scholars, 84; average attendance, 109; cost per month, $1.00; tax levied, $1,407.84 ; received from State, $547.62; other sources, $1,346; value of schoolhouses, $3,200; teachers' wages, $1,120; fuel, fees, etc., $649.66.
The school directors were: A. L. Wolfe, president ; J. P. Wible, secretary ; Judge J. W. Painter, treasurer; D. D. Bowser, E. B. Shankle.
APPLEWOLD BOROUGH
This beautiful and restful suburban town is the home of the most cultured and enterpris- ing of the business and professional men of Kittanning. There are no industries or stores here, and the site upon the banks of the Alle- gheny is one of the finest scenic spots along its course. An artistic schoolhouse is located here for the use of the many little ones of the town.
average valuation, $725; six horses and five cows, valued at $200 and $100; taxables, 128; total valuation, $115,162. Money at interest, $41,115.96.
The school report is as follows: Number of grades, 2; months taught, 8; female teach- ers, 2 ; average salaries, $47.50 ; male scholars, 28; female scholars, 37; average attendance, 31; cost per month, $1.88; tax levied, $1,- 966.08; received from State, $273.20; from other sources, $2,246.80 ; value of schoolhouse, $10,850 ; teachers' wages, $760; fuel, fees, etc., $1,212.34.
The school commissioners are: George W. McNees, president ; J. S. Porter, secretary ; WV. A. McAdoo, treasurer; M. L. Bowser, M. A. Milligan, H. G. Larkin. Arthur T. Hintz is the present burgess.
The population in 1900 was 122, and in 1910, 300. It is about the same now.
WEST MOSGROVE
is a station opposite the mouth of Pine creek. and since the building of the Shawmut has gained somewhat in population. There is an elevator here for the transference of freight and passengers between the Shawmut and the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh railroad trains.
CIIURCHIES
The site of "Middlesex" or Cowansville very early became a prominent point by the organization of the Union Presbyterian Church here by the Presbytery of Erie, in ISOI, in this then so sparsely inhabited re- gion (about one settler to every 640 acres) that many of the men, women and children who first attended its services had to travel from four to seven miles, and afoot for want of passable roads. Those people were gener- ally well clothed. and the fashions were then so durable that their articles of clothing were worn out before they were abandoned. Very little can be learned respecting the earliest membership of this church, save that the number was small, but they were zealous in their efforts to plant Presbyterianism in this part of the wilderness.
The first edifice, log, with chestnut pulpit and puncheon floor, must have been soon after erected in the latter part of 1801, or in the fore part of 1802, for Jacob Mechling, one of the commissioners who were appointed to examine sites for the public buildings in this
In 1913 the assessment returns were : Houses and lots, 152; value of same, $110,202; and some other counties, says in his diary, on
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Sunday, June 6, 1802: "Proceeded toward bald Dickey, Steward Henry, Thomas Herron, Butler county, 7 miles" (from Kittanning) "to Boyd's meetinghouse-heard him preach." It was called "Boyd's Upper Meeting-House" in a road petition as late as 1845. The ceme- tery on that five-acre parcel is nearly coeval with the church, and the first person buried in it was William McKee.
The Presbytery met, June 16, 1802, within the bounds of Union congregation, and or- dained and installed Rev. John Boyd as pastor. He, as moderator, James Barr, Charles Mc- Clatchey, William Noble and Joseph Shields, elders, constituted the first session. During Mr. Boyd's pastorate, one-half time, nearly of eight years, till April 17, 1810, this church prospered. After he left, the pulpit was sup- plied for about a year by Rev. Robert Lee, and was thereafter vacant for four years. The next pastor was Rev. John Redick, who, having been licensed by the Presbytery of Erie, was ordained and installed pastor of the Slate Lick and Union Churches, Sept. 28, 1815, which he served alternately until the autumn of 1848, when he resigned his charge on account of his infirmities.
After being vacant till 1856, the pulpit was filled by Rev. David Hill until 1866. Follow- ing came Revs. J. M. Jones, W. J. Wilson, J. C. Shearer, T. W. Swan and S. A. Hughes. The present pastor is Rev. John C. Lincoln.
The old log edifice continued to be used until about 1820, when a frame addition was annexed to its eastern end, making the length about 70 feet, with the pulpit on the south side. That edifice was crushed by a heavy fall of snow on the roof on New Year's night, 1840. A frame edifice, 60 by 40 feet, with a ceiling 12 feet high, was erected the next summer, which cost $1,400. The congrega- tion, realizing the necessity of a new edifice, elected C. A. Foster, John and Thomas Leard, Thomas V. McKee, William Patton and Wil- liam Wylie, trustees, who purchased a lot of ground for $330, on which, in 1873, a two- story frame church was built. In February, 1875, this building was burned, and the next summer the present edifice took its place. The cost was $3,600, and the dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev. Thomas D. Ewing.
Thomas Milliken, Robert Orr, Sr., John Y. Stewart, James Summerville, Philip Temple- ton and John Young. The first pastor was Rev. John Dickey, who remained until his death in 1849. After him were Revs. William Smith, 1849-59; Thomas M. Seaton, 1861-70; John I. Grone, 1872-90. The first services were held in Philip Templeton's barn and later in a tent on the site of the present bury- ing ground. The first church building was a log one, built in 1820. The second, a frame, was put up in 1849 and used till 1912. The largest membership of this church was in 1851, when the congregation numbered 109. The church having been out of use for some years and in a bad state of disrepair, in 1912 it was razed and the site sold.
SCHOOLS
Probably the first schoolmaster of this town- ship was Thomas Barr, afterward deputy sur- veyor of this county, who taught in 1811 in the log hut near the home of Isaac Wible. Another school was on the run called from it "Schoolhouse run," in 1815, the teachers of which were Joseph Bullman, George Forsyth and Robert Kirby. Kirby also taught in 1830 the school located at the site of Adrian. Above Adrian, in 1818, was a log school, of which the teachers were Wilson and Archi- bald Moore, John Reed and George Speers. John Dickey was the first 'teacher of the school located in early days near Middlesex. Another school, near the old log "Union" church, was conducted by James Hannegan.
All of these simple temples of learning were supplanted, when the free school law went into effect, by frame and brick buildings.
The school statistics for Franklin township in 1860 were: Whole number schools, 16; average number of months taught, 4; male teachers, 13, female teachers, 3; average sala- ries of male teachers per month, $17.61, aver- age salaries of female teachers, $17.66; male scholars, 414, female scholars, 370; average number attending school, 476; cost of teach- ing each scholar per month, 42 cents; amount levied for school purposes, $1,675.36; amount levied for building purposes, $358.45 ; received from State appropriation, $211.46; received from collectors, $1,768.81 ; cost of instruction, $1,128; fuel, etc., $188; cost of schoolhouses, $382.
North of Adrian and almost on the line of Washington township is the Rich Hill United Presbyterian Church building. It is believed that this congregation was organized in 1811, as the records are destroyed and the tradi- tions are the only source of information re- Schools in 1876-Whole number, 10; aver- age number months taught, 5; male teachers, garding it. Some of the original members were William Blaney, John Cowan, Archi- 8; female teachers, 2; average salaries of male
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
teachers per month, $33.18, female teachers, stone is more easily recognized than the coal- bed. Along West Glade run, however, the up- $31.88; male scholars, 235, female scholars, 234; average number attending schools, 353; per and lower Freeport coalbeds are large. cost per months, 75 cents ; tax levied for school and building purposes, $3,000; received from State appropriation, $343.17 ; from taxes, etc., $2,961.83; cost of schoolhouses, $1,054; paid for teachers' wages, $1,645.38; paid for fuel, $497.37.
In 1913 the number of schools was II; months taught, 7; male teachers, 6, female teachers, 5; average salaries, male, $46.67, fe- male, $44 ; male scholars, 225, female scholars, 199; average attendance, 319; cost per month, each scholar, $1.91 ; tax levied, $3,657.27; re- ceived from State, $2,049.38; other sources, $3,620.75; value of schoolhouses, $11,000; teachers' wages, $3,500; other expenses, $2,123.09.
The school directors are: William G. Rodgers, president; Edward S. Armstrong, secretary ; J. C. Brown, treasurer ; G. S. Zille- frow, C. E. Joy.
POPULATION, ETC.
The occupations, exclusive of agriculture, of the people of East Franklin, in 1876, were: Laborers, 57; carpenters, 10; merchants, 7; miners, 6; teachers, 5; blacksmiths, 4; saw- yers, 4; millers, 3; masons, 3; teamsters, 3; tenants, 3; ministers, 2; painters, 2; clerk, I ; cropper, I ; grocer, I ; cripple, 1 ; daguerreo- typist, I; innkeeper, I; gunsmith, I; ferry- man, I; physician, I; shoemaker, I; specu- lator, I ; wagonmaker, I.
The assessment returns for 1913 show : Number of acres of timber land, 2,935 ; cleared land, 14,318; valuation of lands, $345,389; value of the houses and lots in township, ex- clusive of boroughs, $44,087; number, 272, average value, $162.08; number of horses. 278, value, $11,741, average value, $42.23 ; number of cows, 343, total value of cows, $5.864, average, $17.09: taxable occupations, 707, amount, $18,090; total valuation in township, $501,748. Money at interest, $92.935.63.
The population of East Franklin township was 1,451 in 1870: 1,695 in 1880; 1,575 in 1890; 1,860 in 1900; 1,850 in 1910.
GEOLOGY
The surface rocks consist of lower barrens, lower productives and the Pottsville conglo- merate. A large quantity of Freeport coal is represented, but in many places is obscure by reason of its reduced size. The Freeport lime- with argillaceous ore. 40 feet ; Clarion coal,
The Johnstown cement is also here repre- sented, but of little value, except as means for identification. The ferriferous limestone is along the river front through the entire length of the township, and its ore is on top. The ore was extensively worked by the Alle- gheny, American and Monticello furnaces. The Pottsville conglomerate is from 60 to 75 feet thick. The river gravel, including rounded pebbles of gneiss and granite, is found on the slopes near the Allegheny fur- nace, 100 feet or more above the present river channel. An ancient island in the river can be distinctly traced by means of this gravel and sand deposit, twenty feet thicker above Tarrtown. The Freeport sandstone is very prominent along the river front in this town- ship. It makes a line of cliffs forty feet high, opposite Kittanning. The upper Kittanning coal appears directly below it, but is small and unaccompanied by the Johnstown cement, and the middle Kittanning coal is not seen at all in this vicinity. The interval between the lower Kittanning coal and the ferriferous limestone undergoes some constructive changes in this locality. At Tarrtown the distance between the two is thirteen feet. On the hill, directly below the old Boggs residence, the same in- terval is fifty feet, while opposite, at the Ross Reynolds quarries, not more than thirty feet intervenes between the two. The Clarion coal. one foot thick, is represented at the foot of the hill near the Shawmut depot.
The Kellersburg anticlinal axis runs length- wise through the township, which it enters near Adrian and leaves in the neighborhood of Center Hill, North Buffalo township. The southeast dip from the Craigsville axis is sharply felt near Cowansville, in the north- west corner of the township.
The following sections are from "Rogers' Geology of Pennylvania": At Furnace Run -top of the hill-shales, 70 feet ; coal, 3 feet ; unknown, probably shales, 42 feet; Elk lick coal, pure coke vein, 4 feet ; unknown, 40 feet ; upper Freeport coal, 21/2 feet ; Freeport lime- stone, nodular iron ore, I foot; unknown strata, containing oölitic (egg-shaped) iron ore, 80 feet ; lower Freeport coal, 3 feet ; shale, limestone in nodules ; brown and black shale, with nodular ore. 55 feet; Kittanning coal, 3 feet : shale with nodular ore, 27 feet ; ferrifer- ous limestone, overlaid by ore, from 30 to 40 inches thick, 14 feet ; brown and blue shales,
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
impure, 3 feet, is 135 feet above the Allegheny limestone, 6 feet ; shale and yellow sandstone river. The Tionesta or Sharon coal is said to have been found.
A little farther down the river: Shale; upper Freeport coal ; shale, 10 feet ; Freeport
with vegetable remains, 40 to 50 feet; blue shale in the river, 18 feet.
The highest point in this township, 1,526 feet, is in the extreme northwest corner.
CHAPTER XLII
WEST FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP
DIVISION - SETTLERS - INDUSTRIES OF NOTE -BUFFALO FURNACE-BUFFALO WOOLEN MILLS-
CRAIG WOOLEN MILLS-CRAIGSVILLE-WORTHINGTON BOROUGH-CHURCHES OF WORTHING- TON-POPULATION-SCHOOLS-GEOLOGY AND MINING
By a division of portions of Buffalo and lough, Isaac Bole, James Offutt, James Sam- Sugar Creek townships in 1830 the township of Franklin was formed, and in 1868 it was further divided into East and West Franklin. The dimensions of the latter are 2614 square miles.
At the first election held in West Franklin the following township officers were elected: Justices of the peace, William Claypoole ; con- stable, R. J. Atwell; supervisors, Peter Kerr, J. T. McCurdy ; school directors, Christopher Leard for three years; J. C. Minteer, for two years; Peter Kerr, for one year; overseers of the poor, Christopher Leard, James Minteer ; assessor, J. Y. Minteer ; judge of election, J. C. Morrison; inspectors of election, James Claypoole, J. A. Minteer ; auditors, John F. Brown, Samuel Dumm ; treasurer, John Craig, Jr .; clerk, William Claypoole.
SETTLERS
Some of the earlier settlers of this town- ship were: Thomas Hindman, James Brown, Thomas McKee, Daniel Boyle, William Ram- sey, Manassah Coyle, Miles McCue, Patrick McBride, Edward Wiggins, A. L. LeDoo, James P. Hartman, J. T. Hohn, Nathaniel Patterson, John Y. Stewart, Philip Temple- ton, Peter Pence, Martin Guiser, Joshua Nickle, Edward Wiggins, William Denny, James Kinsley, Andrew Hindman, John Donaldson, Andrew Minteer, Samuel Milli- gan, John Milligan, James Hindman, John Douglass, Archibald Mccullough, Abraham Smith, Nicholas Clark, James Blain, William Blain, Samuel Taylor, A. McCall, Eben S. Kelly, Ludwig Guiser, William F. Rumbarger, John Crawshaw, Frederick Ruth, William Stevenson, John Craig, Aaron Wor, James Karr, Isaac Firth, James Gallagher, Samuel Massey, William Minteer, Archibald McCul-
ple, David Goldinger, John Sheridan, James Millen, John Rogers, Cornelius McFadden, Mark Mclaughlin, Archibald Tanner, James McCarren, Peter McAnamy, Michael Kyle, Jacob Yost, George Holobough, John Hoover, William Beatty, Thomas Hooks, Valentine Bowser, George Monroe, Robert Noble, James Claypoole, George Claypoole, William Todd, Abraham Nilson, John Ross, Samuel Porter- field, Gen. Andrew Porter, Gilbert Wright, James Barr, Timothy Lennington, James Sumerville, Francis A. Regis, Jonathan Titus, Joseph T. McCundy, Ann M. O'Connor, Wil- liam Younkins, Jane Garraway, Patrick Hervey, Samuel Shields, Andrew Messen- heimer, Presley Irwin, Jacob Hepler, Christian Keuson, Nathaniel Patterson.
One of the early owners of land in this township was Gen. Andrew Porter, a citizen of Montgomery, Pa., who was a surveyor and engineer and captain in a Pennsylvania regi- ment in the Revolutionary war, enduring in common with other patriots the horrors of the winter camp at Valley Forge.
James Barr, another old settler, was a na- tive of Lancaster county, removing to this section in 1790. He was successively a mem- ber of the State Constitutional convention, associate judge of Westmoreland county, trus- tee and associate justice of Armstrong county. He died in 1820, aged seventy-one years.
The most remarkable and successful of the pioneers of this township, and one who has left the impress of his personality upon the history of this section, was Peter Graff, a na- tive of Westmoreland county and a descendant of a well known family of Mannheim, Ger- many. He came to West Franklin in 1844 and assumed charge of the Buffalo furnace. Later he erected the present woolen mill at Big Buf- falo creek. For the entire time he resided
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
in this township he was constantly endeavoring to advance the interests of the inhabitants, both physically and spiritually. He was a lifetime member of the Lutheran church and at his death his sons erected a memorial chapel at Worthington to his memory.
EARLY INDUSTRIES
The waterpower furnished by Big Buffalo creek was a strong inducement to the first set- tlers to construct mills and factories. The first establishment was the old Buffalo furnace, which was organized in 1839-40 by Nicholas Biddle, formerly president of the Bank of the United States; Henry D. Rodgers, the emin- ent geologist who had charge of the first geo- logical survey of this State and was subse- quently professor of geology in the Univer- sity of Edinburgh, Scotland, whose death was deeply lamented by the scientific world; John C. Mckinney, one of the corps of geologists in that survey: Roswell L. Colt, and perhaps one or two others, and of which Mckinney was the manager. It was a steam cold blast charcoal furnace, its stack 35 feet high and 8 feet across the bosh. The weekly product of this furnace, for the first few years after it went into blast, was 33 tons, the number of employees being 100. That furnace com- pany became embarrassed in 1841 and the fur- nace and land, aggregating 563 acres, were sold by the sheriff in 1844 to Reuben Baugh- man, Peter Graff and Jacob Painter, for $7,200. Its business was conducted from the fall of 1843 under the firm name of P. Graff & Co .. who built a new charcoal furnace, with a bet- ter blast, and in which ore of a better quality was used. The two furnaces, from 1846 and on, produced weekly, on an average, when in full blast, 80 tons, the number of employees being 150. The latter company, who were suc- cessful, closed their furnaces permanently in 1864. The present gristmill, brick, three-story, with four runs of stone, was erected near the furnace, in 1846. It is still run by the old dam on the creek opposite the Peter Graff home- stead, but the power is produced by a modern turbine wheel.
same locality by John Mounts in 1806. James Sheridan in 1824 was assessed with a distil- lery on his tract near the line of Butler county. It is now entirely destroyed.
BUFFALO WOOLEN MILLS
These famous mills were erected in 1865 by Peter Graff and Isaac Firth on Big Buffalo, between the south bank of the run and the creek. The mill was originally run by the dam on the creek above, and consisted of one build- ing. Its original dimensions, three stories, 70 by 35 feet, were increased in 1867 by the addi- tion of 60 by 35 feet, of the same height. The other original buildings consist of a ware and wool house, two-story. 50 by 25 feet, a stone dryhouse, 60 by 25 feet. In 1876 a new woolhouse and a new storehouse, each two- story, 40 by 35 feet, were erected. The ma- chinery consisted of 8 carding machines, 2 self-acting mules, with 384 spindles to each, and a spinning jack, with 180 spindles, used for twisting stocking yarn, and for doubling and twisting yarn for cassimeres. There were 13 looms, wide and narrow, for weaving jeans, blankets. flannels, cassimeres and fine cassi- meres. The mules and a considerable part of the other machinery, the latest and best, at that date, were made in England. There was also all the other machinery required for full- ing and finishing. The number of employees at that date was 25, and the amount of wool used annually was 80,000 pounds.
In 1886 the firm was composed of Peter Graff, E. D. Graff, J. Frank Graff and James E. Claypoole. In 1890 Peter Graff died and in 1912 his son, E. D. Graff, also passed away. The surviving partners continue the business under the same name as in the past.
At this date ( 1913) the mills are devoted exclusively to the production of all-wool blan- kets, which are sold all over the Union and are held as the standard of perfection in that field. Six buildings are in use and house over sixty employees, who operate 12,000 spindles, producing 50,000 pairs of blankets annually. It requires 265.000 pounds of domestic scoured wool to manufacture that number of bed coverings. Two gas engines of 60 and 100 horsepower run the machinery, and the plant is valued at $100,000.
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