History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 60

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 60
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 60
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 60

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

George B. Amick engaged in the mercantile business in St. Clairsville in 1848, which he still follows. He married Mary P. Hammond, and is the father of eleven children, all living but three. He has been prominent in the Lutheran church since its organization in this place, and also a member of the school board for several years.

ODD-FELLOWS.

St. Clairsville Lodge, No. 922, I.O.O.F., was instituted December 4, 1875, with the following charter members : John H. Zinn, N.G .; Joseph Hoenstine, V.G. ; D. A. Plank, Secy. ; Samuel R. Oster, Asst. Secy .; Lewis H. Geisler, Treas .; Alexander Ickes, Joseph Kirby, Thomas Stein- man, Abraham Colebaugh, John H. Imler, A. B. Riddle, W. H. Imler, Dr. John A. Clark, A. H. Amick, E. Claycomb, F. B. Stambaugh and George H. Imler. Present membership, seventy- seven ; value of the lodge property, one thousand two hundred and forty-five dollars and eighty- nine cents.

OSTERBURG.

Osterburg is a pretty and growing village situated in East St. Clair and King townships,

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containing one store, one hotel, two gristmills, one sawmill, one wagon and blacksmith shop, one shoeshop and one creamery.

John V. Oster came to this county in 1771 from Hagerstown, Maryland. He purchased, in 1789, a tract of land which had been warranted in 1763, paying one dollar and fifty cents per acre for the same. Mr. Oster followed farming and cabinetmaking. His children were Henry, Frederick, Magdalena (Garn) and Susan (Cris- man). Frederick Oster, born in 1785, lived on the old homestead farm, and was a farmer and cabinetmaker. He died in 1870. His children were Samuel, Jacob, Josiah, George, John, Val- entine, John F. J. and William. Jacob, Josiah, George and John are dead. William Oster, who succeeded his father in the ownership of the Oster homestead, lived on the farm until 1882, then moved to Osterburg. Mr. Oster is extensively engaged in business, and is con- stantly making improvements in the growing village of Osterburg.

The village was laid out by :William Oster in 1876. He erected the first store- the build -. ing now occupied by Oster & Shaffer - and has also built a two-story band hall, a three-story brick dwelling, etc. Mr. Oster owns a store in Pavia, and a one-half interest in the store of Oster & Burns, Bedford. In 1871, he pur- chased the Oster mill and the site of the vil- lage, consisting of seventeen acres of land, for eight thousand five hundred and fifty dollars. The mill is four stories high, 42×48 feet, and contains four runs of stones. The first mill on this site was a log structure built by 'Philip Crisman, in 1798. The present mill was built by Jacob Oster, in 1852. Philip Crisman also built a sawmill, which Mr. William Oster rebuilt in 1876.

David M. Shaffer, of the firm of Oster & Shaf- fer, Osterburg, is a native of this county and a son of Samuel Shaffer, of Three Spring valley. David lived on the farm until twenty-three years old; attended select school in Rainsburg and Everett. In 1870 he clerked at Sarah Furnace. In 1871 he married Sarah, daughter of William Oster, of Osterburg. In 1872 Mr. Shaffer began clerking for G. R. Oster & Co., of Bedford, with whom he remained five years. In 1878 he engaged in business for himself at Osterburg as a member of the firm of Oster & Sbaffer.

CHURCHES.

The Friends .- The first meeting of the Ortho- dox Friends' church at Spring Meadow was held

prior to 1793. A large number of the early settlers of this locality were Friends in religious belief. The carly meetings were held in a log church, situated south of Spring Meadow. The next church, also log, was built at Spring Meadow. In 1829, under Elias Hicks, a portion of the church withdrew and formed the "Hicksite church," so called. This sect obtained possession of the meeting-house, and the orthodox members worshiped elsewhere. In 1832 the latter body erected a log church. They are now building a new house of worship near Fishertown. This church is now a subordinate branch of the Balti- more Yearly Meeting, held on Eutaw street, Baltimore. Monthly meetings were established in 1803.

The Hicksite Friends worshiped from 1829 until 1867 in the log church already mentioned. They then erected their present frame church on the same ground, at a cost of thirteen hun- dred dollars. Members, in 1867, seventy-six ; present membership, about one hundred. Monthly meetings were established in 1803. Dunning's Creek Monthly Meeting is a branch of Center Quarter Branch of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, held on Lombard street, Baltimore.

Reformed. - Bobb's Creek Reformed and Lutheran church was organized during the pastorate of Rev. Henry Gerhart, who began preaching in this county in 1812, and served about seventeen years as pastor of several con- gregations. A union church, of logs, was erected in 1824 under the direction of John Berkheimer and Philip Crisman (Reformed), and Jacob Berkheimer and Conrad Claycomb (Luther- ans). Among the early members of the old log church were the Osters, Crismans, Berkheimers, Bowsers, Riddles, Imlers, Weisels and Mocks. In 1871 the Lutherans became a distinct organi- zation. During the same year, under the pas- torate of Rev. C. U. Heilman, the Reformed congregation erected a fine brick church, 42 × 70 feet, at a cost of six thousand six hundred and sixty-one dollars. The building was dedicated June 25, 1871. The building com- mittee were William Oster, Henry Beckley and Thaddeus Hoenstine. Since the new church was built the pastors have been Rev. A. C. Gary, Rev. D. N. Dittmar and Rev. C. J. Musser. The present membership of the church is one hundred and seventy, and of the Sabbath school one hundred and seventy-five.

St. Luke's Reformed church, Fishertown, was

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organized in 1871, with twenty members. Prior to that date meetings had been held in school- houses and dwellings. In 1870-1 a brick church, 35×45 feet, was erected at a cost of twenty- two hundred dollars. The building committee were Michael Miller, Charles Miller and Valen- tine Fickes. The present membership is about fifty. The pastors have been Revs. C. U. Heil- man, A. C. Garry, D. N. Dittmar, C. J. Musser and C. S. Slagle. The church is a part of Dun- ning's Creek charge.

Lutheran .- The organization of St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran church, St. Clairsville, is cotemporary with that of the Reformed church, before mentioned. The congregation worshiped in the old log union church until 1871. Among the early Lutheran members were the Riddle, Amick, Ickes, Sill, Imler, Garn, and other families. The new brick church, commenced in 1869, was completed in 1871 and dedicated on the 1st of January. It is 82 × 40 feet in size and cost five thousand dollars. The building com- - mittee were Abraham Moses, John T. Ake, J. W. Berkheimer, Josiah Imler and T. W. Steiman. Board of trustees, Thomas Imler, George B. Amick, Mr. Amick being treasurer. The church was built during the pastorate of Rev. Jacob Peter, who has been succeeded by Revs. John H. Zinn and John H. Rice, the present pastor. At the time the church was built the member- ship was one hundred and forty ; present mem- bership about the same; number of Sabbath- school scholars, one hundred and twenty.

Center Evangelical Lutheran church at Fisher- town was organized by Rev. D. S. Aultman in the year 1848. For a few years services were held in the United Brethren church, and afterward in private houses. In 1857 the pres. ent house of worship was erected at a cost of about one thousand dollars. Present member- ship: church, thirty-five ; Sabbath school, ninety. The pastors have been Revs. D. S. Altman, Will- iam Ruthrauf, J. Kast, William Kopp, J. A. Kunkleman, B. H. Hunt, J. H. A. Kitzmiller, J. F. Dietrich, Abel Thompson, C. B. Gruver and J. H. Walterick.

Methodist .- The Methodist Episcopal church of St. Clairsville was organized in 1881 by Rev. Mr. Pennington, of Pleasantville, with a small membership. The society purchased a small meeting-house from the Presbyterians for four hundred dollars. The membership is still small.

River Brethren .- This sect have had a small organization for several years. In 1879 they built a frame church thirty by forty feet, at a cost of eight hundred and fifty dollars. This church is in Morrison's Cove charge and has a member- ship of thirty-five. George Feighter, minister, and George Feighter and Philip Hoover, trustees.

United Brethren .- The United Brethren have a small society which worships in a church on Chestnut ridge, near Fishertown. We could ascertain no particulars concerning the congre- gation. The stone church in which the congre- gation worships is an old building.

CHAPTER XXIX. WEST ST. CLAIR.

Organization of the Township - Pioneer Settlers- How Mrs. Bowen Secured a Supply of Meat -The Character and Achievements of the Early Settlers-Their Hardshipe- Representative Families - Pleasantville Borough - A Sketch of its Origin and Growth - Physicians -Church History.

YT. CLAIR township was organized in 1794. S Subsequent organization of other townships reduced its size ; and on September 18, 1875, the remaining territory was divided into East and West St. Clair.

Benjamin Bowen, a native of Ireland, settled near Pleasantville at a time when this entire region was exceedingly wild and very thinly peopled. He built a little brush camp, in which the family lived while he was preparing to erect a cabin. When all was in readiness he went to the neighborhood where Nelson's mill now stands, to get help to raise his cabin. The family were poor and their supplies consisted of a very little bread, but no meat. In the evening, after invitations to the raising had been given, while Mrs. Bowen was trying to solve the difficult problem of furnishing entertainment to her guests on the morrow, she heard the noise of wild geese which were flying over. Hastily kindling a fire, she awaited results. The geese saw the light and descended. Mrs. Bowen succeeded in kill- ing several of them and thus providing a supply of meat for the "raising." The occurrence seemed almost providential. Benjamin Bowen's son, Benjamin, lived on the old homestead. His son, Isaac F., now residing in Pleasantville, is the only member of the family now living. The Bowens were Friends in religious belief.

The Davis family, of Welsh origin, moved

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from Adams county to this township quite early. Joshua Davis was then married and had a family of four sons : Hiram, Reuben, Luther and Omar. Hiram was a blacksmith, and fol- lowed his trade a number of years. He died in 1869. He was elected poor director of the county in 1863, and served until 1865. In 1838 he married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Bowen. He was the father of eleven children, of whom nine are living.

Among the early settlers were John and James Hancock, John and Samuel Blackburn. Joseph Blackburn built the first mill at Spring Hope very early, probably before 1800.

George Gordon settled in this county as early as 1760, and received titles to his lands prior to the organization of Bedford county. He sowed the first wheat in this section, but before he could harvest it the Indians drove him away, and the grain went to waste.

As early as 1782, Ellis Rogers, from Eastern Pennsylvania, located in this township and built a house which is still standing near the present school-building in Pleasantville borough. The children of Ellis Rogers, Sr., were : Lewis, John, Eli, Abner and Ellis, Esther, Rachel, Elizabeth and Mary. Ellis lived on the old homestead. John and Lewis went to Ohio, but the other members of the family lived and died in this vicinity.

The pioneers have passed away. The story of their hardships and difficulties is now remem- bered only by the oldest inhabitants. The early settlers used to delight in recounting their experiences and achievements, and what wonder ? Surely their pride in the work they accomplished was pardonable. Their lives were characterized by the same spirit which ever attends progressive civilization. They lived not alone for themselves. The results of their labor will long outlast them and be enjoyed by their children's children, and many generation's yet unborn. Their heroism won for them inde- pendence, and secured unnumbered blessings to their posterity. Uncultured and rude in out- ward appearance the pioneers may have been and doubtless were, but their hearts were right, and their lives noble.

The first gristmill in West St. Clair township was built on Lick branch of Dunning's creek, near the foot of the Allegheny mountain, prob- ably as early as 1800. It was of a primitive pattern and was run by a small undershot wheel.

William Willis was the owner of the mill in 1812. The first sawmill was built by James Clark as early as 1820. It stood at the point of Chestnut ridge.

George Burback, an Englishman, was an early settler in the southern part of this town- ship. He removed to Missouri, became quite wealthy, then returned to this county, and died at Jesse Willis' house.

The Gordons, William Clark, William Willis, Joseph Whitaker and Thomas Callahan were among the early settlers.

Robert Adams was a pioneer settler near Bedford. He underwent many hardships, and during the Indian troubles was obliged to go to the fort every night to escape being murdered. He moved to St. Clair township, where he died about 1822. His children were John, James, Solomon, Thomas, Robert, Ruth A. (McAfee), Betsey (Jones), Margaret (Jones), and William. William was born in this township in 1785, and died here in 1855. His children were Robert, Solomon, George W., William, Betsey, Catharine (Fair), Linda, Mary (Dull), and Anna (Lamar). Solomon, George, Catharine and Anna are living. Solomon was born in this township and still resides here. He has lived on his present farm forty-two years. He has served as justice of the peace several years.

Robert Allison, Sr., was an early settler in St. Clair township. His son James, born in this township in 1797, was a well-known and promi- nent citizen. He followed surveying and school-teaching. He taught school forty-five winters in succession. He also served as jus- tice of the peace a number of years and per- formed nearly all the legal writing for his neighborhood. Mr. Allison was a self-educated man. He was one of the most zealous advo- cates of the free-school system, and contributed liberally, both of money and of labor, toward the advancement of the cause of education. He died in 1866. Mr. Allison was married in 1833, to Mary Ann Hewitt, of Napier town- ship, and was the father of five children : Joseph, Mary E. (deceased), Robert, Martha E. (Washburn) and John H. Robert Allison, son of James, was reared in Napier township. He has resided in West St. Clair township since 1862. He has a well -improved farm and good buildings. Mr. Allison enlisted in Co. F, 61st regt. Penn. Vols., in 1864, and was honorably discharged in July, 1865.

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John Ickes, from York county, settled at Dutch Corner, Bedford township, in 1787. He died in 1822. His youngest child, Adam, mar- ried Mary Haverstock and reared twelve chil- dren : Samuel, Lydia (Garn), Conrad, Margaret (Garn), Daniel, David, Isaac, Catharine (Ar- _thur), Ann (Klutz), Adamı, Leah (Moses) and George. Conrad Ickes came to St. Clair town- ship in 1823. In 1836 he purchased of Samuel Blackburn a farm on George's creek, on which he resided until 1868. He then removed to Pleasantville, where he now resides. He mar- ried Elizabeth Lingenfelter. Their children were Mary A., Daniel, William, Adam, John C., Mandilla, Richard W. and Eliza V. (Whilt). Adam and Richard are living, the former a merchant in Pleasantville.

George Beckley was born in St. Clair township in 1794 and died in 1875. When young he fol- lowed shoemaking. In 1813 he married Eliza- beth Righard. From 1818 to 1841 he lived on a farm leased from Thomas Vickroy. He then purchased a farm south of Oak Shade. Mr. Beckley's children were Samuel, Jacob, Mary (Berger), Eve (Finley), Esther (Evans), Eliza- beth (Burns) and Catharine. The last two are dead. Samuel Beckley, the oldest child, has been a most industrious and successful farmer. In 1844 he purchased a farm of John Mock (" Whistler " Mock), upon which he lived until 1873, then sold out to his sons Samuel and James. Mr. Beckley made extensive improvements on the Mock place, erected good buildings, built and operated a distillery and a sawmill, and carried on a prosperous business. He now lives on the old Beckley homestead, which he pur- chased in 1871.

James Blackburn was born in Monallen town- ship, Adams county, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1797. In 1803 he was removed to live with his uncle, Benjamin Bowen, just east of where the village of Pleasantville now stands.

Of his immediate family there were two sisters and four brothers. Being left orphans, they were scattered during their childhood, but finally all settled in the same neighborhood, married, and raised large families, averaging nine children each.

In the year 1820 James married Anne Penrose, daughter of Amos and Sophia Penrose. They had thirteen children. For many years he was the principal man in his neighborhood, who was called upon to write articles of agreement,

deeds, wills, and very often letters, for those who could not write them for themselves. He often taught school during the winter season, frequently settled up estates, and was a practical surveyor. A nephew who has since been county surveyor was a student of his.

When the free-school system in Pennsylvania went into operation under the law of 1834, he was appointed a member of the first board of school directors and assisted in dividing the township into school districts and building schoolhouses. He subsequently served several terms as school director, and also as assessor, at different times.

In the Society of Friends, of which he was a lifelong member, he was often called upon to serve as clerk, both in the monthly and quarterly meetings, and he was an elder at the time of his death, which occurred in 1869.

Jacob Beckley, born at St. Clairsville, moved to Oak Shade with his parents in 1818. In 1844 he purchased his present farm. Mr. Beck- ley married Ann, daughter of William Mc- Donald, Esq., and is the father of six children, all living but the third mentioned - Elizabeth (Moore), Thomas P., Mary M. (Wright), Ellen C. (Potts), Samuel M. and John H. Thomas P. taught school in the township and in Pleas- antville from 1862 to 1865, and was engaged in mercantile business at Oak Shade from 1865 to 1868. In 1868 he removed his goods to Pleas- antville, and there continued business until 1870. In 1869 he built the store now occupied by Adam Ickes, and in 1870 sold out to Mr. Ickes. From 1870 to 1873 he was engaged in stock- dealing. He then purchased his present farm, and has since followed farming and the stock business.

James Barefoot came from Berks county in 1809. He settled at St. Clairsville, where he remained until 1813, then removed to a farm near Dunning's creek, on which he remained until 1817. He then purchased two hundred and twenty acres of wild land from David Riley, on Gordon's creek, settled upon it and began improving. Mr. Barefoot was married, in 1810, to Mary Sleek, of Frederick county, Maryland. Mrs. Barefoot is still living, at the age of ninety-two. The family had their full share of pioneer experiences and hardships. During their first year on their farm they lived in a cabin which had no doors or windows. Mrs. Barefoot, who has lived to see the fifth

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generation of her descendants, still resides in the old log house which her husband built in 1817. James Barefoot built a sawmill on Gor- don's creek in 1842, which was the first mill in that neighborhood. He followed farming and the millwright's trade. He died in 1844. His children are Rebecca (Moore), Elizabeth (Ham- mer), Sarah (Reininger), deceased, William, Isabella (Taylor), James, Mary (Stanton), Mar- garet (Bowers), Samuel, Job, Charlotte and George.

James Barefoot, son of James, Sr., was reared on the old homestead. From 1844 to 1853 he farmed on the old place. In 1853 he purchased of Jacob Snyder the farm on which he now lives. He has good buildings and improve- ments.

The following statistics concerning the de- scendants of James Barefoot in . this county furnish a remarkable illustration of the agency of one family in populating a township :

Number of children living, eleven ; dead, one. Number of grandchildren living, seventy-one ; dead, eighteen. Number of great-grandchildren living, one hundred and thirty-six ; dead, eighteen. Number of great-great-grandchildren living, six ; dead, one. Total number of descend- ants, two hundred and sixty-four, of whom two hundred and twenty-four are living.

Samuel Barefoot lives on the old homestead of the family. He learned the trade of carding and cloth-dressing in Somerset, in 1844-7, and followed that business several years.

George W. Barefoot, son of James Barefoot, was born and reared on the old homestead, and now lives in the Barefoot neighborhood. He owns a house and lot in Pleasantville. Mr. Barefoot is now leading a retired life.

Daniel A. Griffith followed blacksmithing in Fishertown from 1854 to 1857. He then moved to Oak Shade, where he died in 1862. He reared three children, Richard S., Fremont and Maggie, of whom only Richard is living. After Mr. Griffith's death, Mrs. Griffith and her son moved to Centre county for one year, then re- turned to Fishertown. Three years later Mrs. Griffith married Hugh E. Kinton, and removed to Schellsburg. She died in 1876. Richard S. Griffith married Rachel Corl, and engaged in blacksmithing at Oak Shade, where he is at present located.

J. M. Griffith, son of Joseph Griffith, was born and reared in East St. Clair. He moved to

West St. Clair in 1878, where he now resides, and is engaged in farming.

Isaac A. Cuppett, Sr., moved from Lancaster county to Bedford township early, and followed the blacksmith's trade. Later he purchased a farm of Abraham Moore, and moved to Chest- nut ridge, where he farmed and worked at his trade until his death, in 1862. He married Mary Albaugh in 1802, and was the father of eight children - Nancy M. (Adams), David A., Philip, Mary A. (Sloan), Isaac A., William W., Ellen E. (McVicker) and Charlotte (Mickle). Nancy, David and Ellen are dead. Isaac A., Jr., married Catharine Winand in 1839, and farmed on several places until 1856, when he purchased the farm on which he now lives. Mr. Cuppett has improved the buildings and has an excellent farm. The land on Chestnut ridge, which the early settlers considered worthless, is now among the best in the county.

George M. Holsinger, son of John Holsinger, an early settler in Morrison's cove, was born in the cove in 1804, and died in St. Clair town- ship in 1862. He moved to this township in 1841, and purchased a farm of four hundred acres. He was elected a deacon in the Brethren church in 1849 and held that office many years. He was the first minister of that denomination in this township, and supplied the church here about thirteen years. He reared seven children, -Thomas S., John S., Joseph H., Levi (de- ceased), Samuel (deceased), Christian S. and Elizabeth (Rowser). Thomas S. IIolsinger was engaged in sawing lumber and turning from 1852 until 1857. He then purchased the farm he now occupies. Mr. Holsinger has an excel- lent farm, and is a progressive farmer. He has a fine orchard of two and a half acres, from which he received five hundred and two dollars' profit in 1881. He has also quite an extensive apiary. He married Barbara Replogle in 1849. She died in 1863. In 1864 Mr. Holsinger mar- ried Elizabeth Snyder.

Thomas Wright, who died in 1865, came to St. Clair township from Adams county when he was a boy. This was about 1818. In 1828 he married Jane Gordon, who reared nine children -Lucinda (McGregor), Eleanor (Westman), Ed- win, Albert, Austin, Mary (dead), Darwin, Ly- man, Rufus. Austin Wright, Esq., of Pleasant- ville, is now engaged in the nursery business, which his father followed chiefly during his life. Austin followed school-teaching several

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years, and in 1873 established himself in his present business. In 1880 Mr. Wright was elected a justice of the peace.

William Oldham, a native of Adams county, came to Bedford county when a boy. At the age of twenty-five he married Elizabeth Calli- han, and his father gave him the farm in East St. Clair which is now owned by Hiram Black- burn. After residing on the place fifteen years he sold and removed to Chestnut ridge. In 1827 he removed to Shade township, in Somerset county, where he resided until his death, in 1854. He reared ten children : Thomas, Re- becca (Allison), Mary (Jones), Alice (Wilson), deceased, Nathan, Esther (Cardiff), William, Elizabeth (Miller), deceased, John and Jethro.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 60

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 967

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967