USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 116
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Laurel Furnace, commonly called "Old Laurel," was built in 1794 by Joshua Gibson and Samuel Paxon, on Laurel Run, near the eastern base of Chestnut Ridge. In 1800, Reuben Mochabee and Samuel Wurtz bought the property. They built also on Indian Creek, in Springfield township, a forge which they called Hampden Forge. Old Laurel Fur-
nace was abandoned in 1812. New Laurel Furnace was built by Jas. Paull & Sons upon Laurel Run, about one mile below Old Laurel, and kept in blast by them until 1834. Then the property passed into the hands of Daniel Kaine, who carried it on until 1838. Since then nothing has been done there. In 1815, Col. Isaac Meason and his sons Isaac and Thomas erected Dunbar Furnace on Dunbar Creek, near the line between Dunbar and Wharton. It was afterwards known as Centre Furnace. The furnace was in blast until 1830, and under the control of Col. Meason's sons at the last. In 1830 it was given up. One may yet see the ruins of the old building there.
The old forge tract at Reed's, where Col. Meason had an iron-works called Union Forge, was occupied at a later date, about 1849, by Bowen, Wheatley & Witter, who carried on an edge-tool factory there. They gave up the business in 1856. Touching Hamp- den Forge, already mentioned, it is pertinent to note that in May, 1800, John Ferrell, manager at the forge, advertised for sale "castings light and tough at one hundred dollars a ton, also bar iron." He expected soon to have " some rolled iron nail-rods and cut nails, the latter at eight cents a pound."
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST.
Dunbar township was erected by the Court of Quar- ter Sessions in December, 1798. The record referring to the matter reads as follows :
"On the petition of a number of the inhabitants of Franklin township, praying for a division of the said township by the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at Bird's old road at the crossing of the road leading from Uniontown to Dickinson's mill; thenee by the said road and the road that leads to Mathew Willey's, leaving his house to the east side ; thence by a straight line to Yonghiogeni River, a little east of William Hamilton's house, it is considered by the court that the prayer of the said petition be granted, and that the upper or east division be called 'Dunbar township.'"
The civil list of the township from 1798 to 1881 has been gathered as best it could be from imper- fectly kept records, and is given as follows :
SUPERVISORS.
1799. John Cannon. John Hamilton.
1803. Robert MeLaughlin.
1804. David Byers.
1800. John Rogers. Robert MeLaughlin.
John Dungan.
1805. John Strickler. William Elliott.
1801. David Catheart.
-- Parkinson.
1802. David Cathcart. James Rogers.
Thomas Little.
1803. William Moreland.
t807. John McDowell. John Oldshoe.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
1799. Jacob Strickler. Joshua Dickinson.
1803. William Miller.
1804. John Dougan.
1800. Joseph Torrence. Samuel Preston.
Thomas Parkinson.
1801. Thomas Little.
Samuel Work.
1802. Jacob Murphy. William Moreland.
1803. Phineas Porter.
1805. Caleb Squibb. Mathew Willey.
1806. John Fell.
Mathew Willey.
1907. James Paull.
William Patterson.
1806. Ilenry Wile.
DUNBAR TOWNSHIP.
511
CONSTABLES.
1799. Jaceh Murphy. 1800. Samuel Preston. IS01. Samnel Work. 1802. Isaiah Moreland.
- 1803. John McLanghlin. 1804. David Cathcart. 1805. Benjamin Byers.
1806-7. Samuel Patterson.
AUDITORS.
1841. Joseph Strickler. 1842. Andrew Byers. 1843. Richard Brookens.
1844. John Reece. 1845. David Moreland. 1846. John McBurney. 1847. Joseph Strickler. 1848. John V. Reece. 1849. David Moreland. 1850. Martin B. Stauffer. 1851. A. H. Patterson. 1852. John II. Leighty.
1853. Joseph Torrence.
1854. David Morcland.
1855. James Curry.
1856. Jeseph Moreland. 1857. David Mereland. 1858. George Ashman. Alexander Patterson. 1859. Hugh Cameron. 1860. Mathew Byers.
1861. William Harper.
1862. John A. McClelland.
1863. Daniel Ilarper.
1864. G. J. Ashınan.
SCHOOL DIRECTORS.
1840. Joseph Strickler.
Samnel A. Russell.
1841. Phineas Porter. John Mereland. 1842. Charles MeLaughlin. Aaron Werk. 1843. John Clark. James Barten.
1844. Joseph Strickler. Joseph Paull.
1845. Joseph Mureland. Andrew C. Byers. 1846. Jesse Oglevee. William Ball. 1847. Jesse Miller. James B. McDowell.
1848. Joseph Strickler. James Blackstone. 1849. Mathew D. Gilchrist. William Il. Harper. 1850. James Curry. John Bolton. 1851. Thomas Ilenderson. John Boyer. 1852. William Ilarper. Thomas Rodgers. 1853. John Bunker. Zachariah Ball. 1854. A. H. Patterson. M. B. Stauffer. 1855. Stephen Leighty. John H. Leighty. 1856. Joseph Paull.
1856. Isaac Munson. Robert IInsted.
1857. Moses Porter. George White. J. A. McDowell.
1858. John Freeman. IIenry Golley.
Ephraim Butcher.
1844. John Beatty. James II. White.
1847. William R. Turner.
Danicl Ilarper. William Walker.
1848. Robert Norris.
IS69. J. Speers. 1870. A. H. Patterson.
1871. W. H. Speers.
1872. J. R. Bunker.
1873. George P. Bowers.
1878. Josiah Allen. A. J. Fairchilds.
W. C. Cotton. 1879. George W. Porter.
CLERKS.
1840. John Haslet.
1866. J. Morehend.
1867-68. N. G. ITarst.
IS45-47. Robert Rankin.
1848. Martin B. Stouffer.
1852. David Turner.
1855-56. James C. Guthrie. 185S. Joseph Oglevee. 1859. James Taylor. 1860. Mordecai McDonald.
1875. Josiah Allen.
1876. S. Il. Mulholland. 1877. William Harper.
1878. J. D. Craig.
1879. J. M. Work.
1862. John Freeman.
1863-65. J. R. McDowell.
1877. William Brown. C. S. Beatty. 1878. J. Welshons. J. W. Fairchilds. W. Ilartwick. 1879. George MeClary. Henry Shafer. W. B. Minur.
ISSO. James Seaton. Isaac Harst. Andrew Bryson. F. E. Oglevee.
1SS1. C. S. Bentty. G. R. Griffith.
R. J. Carter. S. H. Patterson.
ASSESSORS.
1840. John Clark.
1859. Daniel Ilarper.
1841. George Graham.
1860. Alfred Cooper.
1842. John W. Cox.
1861. Robert Rankin.
1843. John Beattic.
1844. George Graham.
1845. Isaac Shallenberger.
1846. John Clark. John V. Reece.
IS66. W. Harper.
1847. Thomas Leighty.
1867. M. Porter.
1848. David Walker.
1868. J. W. Ilair.
1849. William H. Brown.
1869. G. R. Griffith.
1850. John R. Smith.
1871. R. Rankin.
1851. John V. Reece.
1872-74. W. H. Harper.
1852. John Boyer.
IS75-76. J. R. Bunker.
1853. John Junk.
1877. J. II. Cox.
1854. Stephen Varnes.
1878. James Barnart.
1855. George W. Cox.
1856. Thomas Sherwood.
1857. Samnel Harper.
1880. Edward G. Lincoln.
1858. Isaac Ilurst.
1881. J. R. Dillon.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1840. Jesse Bunker.
1860. Robert Gaddis. Joseph Bnte. 1863. G. R. Bowers.
1859. Jesse Oglevee.
Jacob Huinber.
1860. Nathan Lewis. James Allen. 1861. Daniel Harper. Samuel Crossland. 1862. David Stull. Nathaniel G. Inrst.
1863. James Beattie. Joseph Oglevee.
1864. J. Willey. J. H. Moore.
1865. C. Stanffer. A. Strickler.
1866. T. G. Sherwood. J. Beattie. W. Hughes.
1867. J. Allen.
J. Rner. 1868. C. Woodward.
W. H. Moreland. John Speers. 1869. R. Boyer. W. Hughes, 1870. M. Perter. S. Edwards.
1871. Il. ITeardy.
C. Woodward. J. W. Hair. 1872. A. S. MeDowell. L. L. Collins. S. Ilarper. 1873. Esquire Edwards. Christy Artis. 1874. James Humbert. Alexander Porter.
1866. A. J. Allen.
IS67. G. J. Ashman.
1868. J. II. Darby. J. R. Barker.
1869. R. J. Allen. W. R. Patterson.
1870. C. S. Beatty. Thomas Reiner. 1871. J. R. Bunker. 1872. R. J. Allen.
1873. R. M. Boyer.
1874. J. R. Bunker. Ewing Porter. 1875. Philip Ogleve.
1876. Samuel Craig. Robert Boyer. R. J. Allen.
1877. R. J. Allen.
IS78. John Murray.
1879. A. C. Brewn.
1880. J. R. Bunker.
J. W. Ilair.
1881. J. L. Koffer.
1879. R. M. Boyer. James Barnart.
1865. G. Ashman.
1868. G. R. Bowers. R. McDowell, Sr.
1852. Daniel Harper. William R. Turner. Joseph P. Blakeny. 1853. George R. Buwers.
1857. Adam Kiffer. Silas White.
1858. George R. Boyer.
1844. John Clark.
1870. W. II. Speers. 1871. J. M. Werk. 1872. J. Junk.
1861. John Traman.
1880. W. H. Spcers. 1881. R. M. Boyer.
1865. S. Craig.
1875. William Reynolds. A. Minerd. 1876. William Ilnghes. C. S. Beatty. John Hair. W. F. Holsing.
1862. John S. Reece. 1863. John Freeman. 1864. J. A. McClelland.
1865. A. Shallenberger.
512
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
VILLAGE OF EAST LIBERTY.
The village of East Liberty, located upon a high bluff overlooking the Youghiogheny River, opposite the village of Dawson, and about four miles below Connellsville, bears the impress of age in numerous abandoned and decaying log buildings, whose pres- ence bestows upon the place a shadow of neglect, The first resident physician was probably a Dr. Johnson, who is said to have practiced there from 1800 to 1807. After Dr. Johnson's departure no doc- tor located there until 1834, when Dr. Wilson came. He remained until 1840, and then left the field to Dr. Samuel Stahl, whose stay covered a period of about twelve years. Dr. Charles Chalfant came about 1854, and remained until his death, a few years later. Dr. McCoy spent but a short time in the village, and re- though there is considerable animation at the town's business centre, and much that betokens a brisk and lively spirit. The village history reckons backward to at least 1792, in which year Joshua Dickinson caused a town survey to be made. In the fall of that year Andrew Bryson built the first house. One of the old log houses still there bears upon its chimney the date 1796. It is now occupied' by Mrs. Whittaker. Another house bearing upon its chimney the date | moved then to Springfield township. Dr. Barnet 1797 is the present residence of Ann Strickler. Since entered the army from East Liberty for service during the war of the Rebellion, and died in the service. Dr. O. P. Brashear, who succeeded Dr. Barnet in vil- lage practice, left in I874, and lives now in Browns- ville. After him Dr. Sidman Stahl located, but de- parted after a brief sojourn. Since his time East Liberty has been withont a physician. 1810, it is said, no log houses have been built in East Liberty. William McBurney, who was born in East Liberty in 1808, and has lived in the village ever since, says that his father, Robert McBurney, came from Maryland in 1798 to visit Robert Boyd, his brother-in-law, then living in Dunbar township, about one mile from East Liberty. McBurney was a black- East Liberty's first postmaster was John McBurney, who served from 1826 to his death in 1848, one year after the death of his father, Robert. smith, and being at that time in search of a business location, was strongly advised by Boyd to set up a shop at East Liberty. He acted upon the suggestion, William Beatty followed hint, and was himself suc- ceeded by Samuel F. Randolph, Robert McBurney | (the younger), Joseph Oglevee, Susan Ransom, Wil- liam McBurney, John Stoner, and Daniel Reynolds. Upon the close of Reynolds' service, in 1874, a strong effort was made by the rival village of Alexandria to secure the post-office for that place, and a sharp con- test setting in between the two villages upon the question, much bitter feeling was engendered. Alex- andria won the day, and East Liberty post-office was accordingly given over to that town, where it still remains. and occupied without delay an abandoned black- smith's shop, previously occupied by some person now not remembered. There was at that time a small col- lection of houses there, including that of Andrew Byers, the tavern-keeper, and Samuel Brown, a hatter, who was then living in the house now occupied by William McBurney. That house Mr. McBurney has always understood to have been the first building erected in East Liberty. The village was laid out, as said, by Joshua Dickinson, who directly sold the en- tire plat to Allen, Craig, and Byers.
The reasons for laying out a village here were prob- ably because of the commanding and healthful site, and because the mainly traveled highway between Uniontown and Greensburg passed the place. Andrew Byers, one of the town proprietors, lived in the vil- lage and kept tavern, and as Josiah Allen was a store- keeper in Dunbar township in 1799, it is more than likely that his store was at East Liberty. After Byers the tavern was kept by one Arthur Hurry (previously a tailor in East Liberty ), who was especially famous for having a scolding wife, whose sole delight appeared to exist in making Hurry's life one of misery. Before the village was laid out Joshua Dickinson built the grist-mill now occupied as the mill of Oglevee Broth- ers. In 1814, Matthew Cannon kept a store as well as tavern in the village, and following him as a village trader came William McMullen. A more pretentious store than had before been opened was that of Robert MeBurney, who, in 1823, turned his smithy over to
one of his sons and became a merchant. It may be remarked that since 1798 a McBurney has always been a blacksmith at East Liberty, William McBur- ney, the present representative of the name, having been in the business there since 1835 on his own ac- count, and a blacksmith there since 1828.
East Liberty has received a check to its progress in the presence of the village of Alexandria less than a mile away, but still maintains a fair share of the trade of the surrounding country. The Oglevee Brothers have a fine store there, and do a satisfactory business. Joseph Oglevee, the head of the firm, has been a merchant at East Liberty since 1856. There is also at the village a capacious foundry and machine-shop, where plows and other agricultural implements are manufactured. H. B. Snyder, the present proprietor, succeeded George Balsley therein in 1867, and in that year materially enlarged the works.
East Liberty has long been a temperance town, and consequently a well-behaved one. There was a time, however, when that could not have been truthfully said, for whisky onee flowed like water there. No less than three taverns thrived in the village simulta- neously, and turmoils were so frequent that, for lack of a more expressive designation, peacefully inclined citizens gave to East Liberty the name of Flint Mill. Matters got to such a bad state that the better-disposed
1 Since demolished.
513
DUNBAR TOWNSHIP.
members of the community arose in their might and declared the traffic in strong drink must cease. So when Robert Huey opened a tavern, a company of men demolished his doors and windows and warned him to leave. Without waiting for further notice he did leave, and with his departure ended whisky-selling in the village.
Evidence of East Liberty enterprise was seen in the erection in the summer of 1881 of a concert hall, mainly for the use of the East Liberty Band. The corner-stone is a relic of the past. It was the corner- stone of a building erected in East Liberty in 1795, and bears this inscription : "A.D. 1795, rebuilt A.D. 1881."
THE VILLAGE OF DUNBAR.
Dunbar village, a station on the Southwestern Pennsylvania as well as on the Fayette County Rail- road, lies about six miles south of New Haven. The village proper contains a population of about one thousand, while an outlying district, reaching to the Dunbar Furnace and neighboring coke-burning dis- tricts, contains more than the same number. The chief interests are those of iron-making, coal-mining, and coke-burning, in which industries nearly a thou- sand persons are employed. Railway traffic at this point is especially active. About fifty trains pass the station daily. Ofthese twenty-one are passenger-trains, and the residue freight and coke trains. Dunbar Creek, a rapid mill-stream, passes through the village, and drives a grist-mill and woolen-mill, which with a planing-mill are the only manufacturing industries at the village aside from iron and coke manufacture. To about the latter part of 1859 there was no settle- ment worthy of notice at the place now called Dunbar village, though there had been a settlement at the Furnace for seventy years. In 1850 the only house on the village site was the residence of Alexander Martin, a carpenter, now carrying on a planing-mill at the village. Mr. Martin's house of 1850 is now the resi- dence of Mrs. Cameron. Mr. Martin sold his house to Hugh Cameron in 1853, at which time Cameron opened a shoemaking shop in it. John Speers had been carrying on since 1841 the stone grist-mill now the property of his son William, and built by Jacob Lowry and John Strickler in 1815. Farther up the stream James Hankins operated the woolen-mill now owned by Daniel Harper. Where John Bunker now lives he and his father had a wagon-shop. There was a store at the Furnace, but at the village there was none until after the completion through Dunbar of the Fayette County Railroad, in the winter of 1859-60. The first village store was built by John Hardy, and stood opposite where the Southwestern passenger depot stands. The building is still there.
Although the opening of the railway was thought likely to create a new town there in a short time, the anticipation was slow of fulfillment. To 1866 Dunbar was but a flag-station, with a shanty depot
at Speers' saw-mill. A post-office was established in 1860, and the postmastership given to Daniel Hardy. Previous to that there was a post-office in Woodvale School District, called Woodvale Post-Office. Of that office William Walker was postmaster. In 1865 Daniel Harper resigned the Dunbar postmastership, which was then given to Sophia Devan, the present incumbent. In 1866, when the Dunbar Iron Com- pany took hold of the furnace, there was a consider- able brightening at the village, and matters looked up with a promise of vigorous growth. At that time two stores were kept there,-one by Mrs. Mary A. Bird, and one by Slocum & Walters. In 1868 John Speers opened a store at his grist-mill. The first general store, and the first one with claims to impor- tance, was that of Watt, Reid & Co (opened in 1871), now owned by J. M. Reid.
The first public-house at the village was built by John Hardy, and opened by James Patterson in 1868. The house is now closed. Patrick McFarlane, its last landlord, vacated it in February, 1881. The first drug-store was opened near the mill by George W. Speers, and the first undertaker's shop by J. R. Beers. As already observed, the first carpenter was Alexan- der Martin, and the first wagon-maker Jesse Bunker. The village progressed steadily in strength, and when the coke-making interests developed the village grew rapidly. The first survey of village lots was made in 1867, by John Speers, and the second in 1870, by David Turner, both surveys being made upon Thomas W. Watt's property, now the village site. In 1876 the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad was completed, and by that time Dunbar had taken on a healthy growth, which since that period has continued to keep pace with the profitable progress of adjacent coal, coke, and iron interests.
Up to 1871 there was no resident physician at Dun- bar, although from about 1842, Dr. J. G. Rogers, liv- ing at Joseph Paull's, near the village, practiced here, and was to all intents a village physician. Dr. Rogers practiced in that neighborhood nearly all the time from 1842 to 1876, when he removed to Florida and there died. The physician who first made his home in Dunbar was Dr. J. T. Shepler, who came in No- vember, 1871, remained until 1873, was absent until 1876, and then returning has been in practice at the village to the present time in association with Dr. R. W. Clark, who came to Dunbar in August, 1873. In the spring of that year Dr. W. J. Hamilton opened an office, and still remains one of the village physi- cians. Dr. Thomas P. Walker has been one of Dun- bar's physicians since 1879, and Dr. A. C. Conley since Jan. 1, 1880.
The Fayette County Railroad station, alluded to as having been first located at Speers' mill, was changed to its present location in 1865. William H. Speers was the first agent, and served until 1865, when Thomas W. Watt was appointed. His successor was Martin B. Pope, and then followed John Herron. Cyrus S.
514
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Yard, who succeeded Mr. Herron, is still the agent of the Southwest Railroad. W. N. Rodkey has been the Dunbar agent sinee 1876.
When there began to be signs of a village in 1858, Albert Cheney and John Speers told old Jesse Bunker that the new town should be called Dunbar City, but to this Mr. Bunker made objection, saying that if there was to be a new village it must be called Frog- town, after the little settlement that once clustered about Bunker's house. Cheney and Speers insisted, however, for Dunbar City, and despite the old man's warm feeling upon the subject and his disgust at the eventual change in name, Dunbar City was recog- nized as the designation of the village for about two years, when the "City" was dropped as rather far- fetched. The place called Frogtown was originally known as Unionville as early as the year 1810. At that time there was a store there ( kept by John Mc- Clelland ), and beyond it a tavern, opened by William Hoople in 1805, and of which the landlord in 1810 was Isaac Bryson. Near by were Jacob Lowry's mill, Isaac Bryson's still-house, and Phineas Porter's tan-yard. Both store and tavern were abandoned by 1813. The log cabin now occupied by Mr. Wilson as a residence was then Porter's tannery. In 1818, Jesse Bunker, who in 1808 was apprenticed to Joseph Bell, a wagon- maker at East Liberty, and in 1813 worked as wagon- maker for Col. Isaac Meason at Union Furnace, opened a wheelwright-shop at Unionville, where he had bought of Isaac Meason a small patch of land. His house, which stood next to McClelland's store, is now the residence of his son, John Bunker, who owns also the building used by McClelland as a store-house. Unionville lay on the road from Union Furnace to the Plumsock rolling-mill, and was at one time thought to promise something of consequence in the matter of growth. Frogtown was a name bestowed upon it in derision by some person, and as it hap- pened that people generally about there thought Frogtown was more appropriate than Unionville the former prevailed. Frogtown did not, however, ful- fill the destiny predicted for it by its enthusiastic citizens, hut faded out within a few years of its birth. Jesse Bunker stuck to it despite its ill fortune, and stuck to his wagon-shop until his death in 1872, at the age of eighty-four years.
THE VILLAGE OF ALEXANDRIA.
favorable for a speedy fulfillment of the long-deferred scheme. The first two houses built in Alexandria were put up by William Clark and a Mrs. Hazen. A store was soon erected by William Parkhill, and thenceforward improvements progressed steadily if not rapidly. The store, having passed through the hands of several proprietors, is now kept by Ewing Oglevee, who is also the postmaster. In 1874, Alex- andria succeeded in obtaining the East Liberty post- office, which it still retains.
Dr. J. D. Haslett became the village physician at Alexandria in 1874, and still remains. The only other physician known to local history was Dr. O. D. Porter, who after a few months' trial abandoned the field. The village contains two church buildings, Presbyterian and Disciple, a school, a score or more of dwellings, and various minor industries.
CHURCHES.
LAUREL HILL (PRESBYTERIAN) CHURCH.
This, one of the oldest Presbyterian Churches in Fay- ette County, was organized by Rev. James Power, prob- ably in 1776, although the loss of the early records of the church prevents a positive declaration of the pre- cise date. It is known that Mr. Power was licensed to preach in the spring of 1773, and in that year preached for the congregations of Laurel Hill and Dunlap's Creek. Mr. Power, whose home had been in Chester County, remained a while in the missionary field, and then concluding to make his permanent home in the Dunlap's Creek valley, returned to Chester County, and brought out his family in 1776. Directly upon his return he is supposed to have organized Laurel Hill Church. Unfortunately, the names of the organizing members have not been preserved. Mr. Power en- joyed the distinction of being the first ordained min- ister who settled with his family in Western Pennsyl- vania. It may also be observed that his daughter Rebecca, who was first the wife of Rev. D. Smith and afterwards of Rev. T. Hunt, was the first child born in the family of a Presbyterian minister west of the Allegheny Mountains. She was born December 12, 1776, within the bounds of the Dunlap's Creek congregation. From the time of his arrival, in the fall of 1776, until 1779, Mr. Power devoted his time to the work of supplying destitute churches generally, although he lived at Dunlap's Creek, and regarded that as the principal point of his labors. In the spring of 1779 he became the regular pastor of the Mount Pleasant and Sewickly congregations, To that time his labors were given among the congregations Hill, Tyrone, and Unity. Early in 1782 the Laurel Hill Church engaged Rev. James Dunlap as its first pastor, and Oct. 15, 1782, he was installed in charge of the churches at Laurel Hill and Dunlap's Creek. He dissolved his relation with Dunlap's Creek in 1789, but remained with Laurel Hill until 1803, when he joined the Presbytery of Ohio, and in that year
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