History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 127

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 127

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Attached to the complaint was an affidavit, of which the following is a copy :

" FAYETTE COUNTY, 88 :

" Before me the subscribing witness. as justice of the peace in and for said county, personally eame James Rossel and made oath that on the 17th of July, 1805, he heard Jonathan Addis sware one profane oath and the day following one profane oath, and he further depuseth and sayth that on the 17th of July a' the dwelling house of Job Rossell he heard John Addis give his father-in-law provoking sassey language as he thought without provocation.

" Sworn and subseriled the 18th day of August, 1805. " JAMES ROSELL."

.. ROBERT SMITH.

LAUREL HILL UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

About the year 1790, during the pastorate of Rev. James Dunlap, the elders of the Laurel Hill Presby- terian Church introduced Watts' "Hymns" into the form of worship, despite the opposition of many of the members. The result was seen in the withdrawal of the disaffected ones, aggregating about one-third of the congregation. They desired, they said, to remain faithful to the forms their fathers had observed, and cling to the songs their fathers had sung. They were popularly known as "the Seceders." Being strong in numbers they agitated the subject of organizing a new church, and in 1792 they formed the Associated Reformed Congregation of Laurel Hill. Application was at once made for admission into the Presbytery of Monongahela. Just how many seceded from the original church cannot be told, since the early records are lost, but that the number was considerable would appear from the fact that from the minutes of the As- sociated Reformed Synod of the West for 1806 Laurel Hill Church was reported as having a congregation of one hundred and ten families, and a membership of one hundred and sixty. At that time the ruling elders were John Hamilton, James Wilkie, Joseph Finley, William Patterson, Thomas Dunn, Sr., and John Stew- art. After the church was organized Rev. Mr. War- wiek preached awhile, and then went to a charge in Kentucky. Supplies were furnished by the Presbytery until 1798, when Rev. David Proudfoot was called to be the pastor. Ile was one of the pioneers in the United Presbyterian Church. He came with his par- ents from Scotland in 1754, and in 1788 entered col- lege at Gettysburg, studied theology under Rev. John Jamison, and in 1796 was licensed to preach. He labored at Laurel Hill, East Liberty, and Dunlap's Creek from 1798 to the spring of 1824, and after twenty-six years of continuous service was released. He moved then to Ohio, where he died in 1830. During his pastorate at Laurel Hill the ruling elders ordained were James Patterson, Peter Patterson, John Patterson, Esq., W. C. Patterson, William Patterson, Jeremiah Patterson, John Patterson, Robert Long, and John Junk. The church was dependent upon supplies from March, 1824, to the spring of 1836, when Matthew Mckinstry was called by Laurel Hill and Bethesda, and installed April 27, 1836. He re- mained until 1844 in charge of both congregations, when he gave his whole time to Bethesda. During his pastorate the ruling elders ordained were James Gilchrist (in 1837), Edward Gilchrist (in 1840), and Samuel P. Junk (in 1840).

After Mr. Mckinstry's departure the pastorate was vacant until August, 1849, supplies being regularly furnished meanwhile. During the interregnum, An- drew Bryson, Sr., M. M. Patterson, and John Gilchrist were chosen ruling elders. Mr. Bryson still lives, and is still one of the elders. Rev. D. H. Pollock, the next pastor, accepted a call April 10, 1849, and was installed the following August. The church was then

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FRANKLIN TOWNSIIIP.

in a flourishing condition, and under his ministra- tions prospered greatly. His labors closed Oct. 25, 1853. During his pastorate James R. Patterson and Alexander H. Patterson were ordained ruling elders. Supplies were again in order until the spring of 1856, when Laurel Hill and Mount Pleasant called Rev. James H. Fife, who labored in the pastorate until his death, July 26, 1861. There was after that no regu- Jar pastor until June 20, 1865, when Rev. T. F. Boyd was called to Laurel Hill to devote all his time to that church. His stay extended to Sept. 3, 1867. When he took charge the membership was ninety, and when he retired it was but seventy-five. After this the pastorate was vacant two years and seven months, until Jan. 10, 1870. On that date Rev. T. P. Patterson was called, and installed June 21, 1870. He was released Sept. 4, 1877. J. H. Patterson was chosen ruling elder Oct. 14, 1870, and Oct. 5, 1871, ad- ditions to the session were made in William S. Gil- christ, Joseph Humbert, and D. P. Patterson Aug. 13, 1878, Rev. S. B. McBride, the present pastor, was installed. He was ordained in September, 1870.

During the existence of the church but two houses of worship were erected. Soon after its organization six acres of land, lying on the township line between Franklin and Dunbar, were deeded to Jeremiah Pears, William McFarland, and John McClelland, "trus- tees of the Associated Reformed Congregation of Lau- rel Hill." Upon the land (in Dunbar) a graveyard was laid out and a stone church built, measuring forty-four by fifty-five feet, and sixteen feet high. During Rev. Mr. Pollock's pastorate the church was repaired and remodeled, and the pulpit "taken down- stairs from up-stairs." From 1792 to 1874 the same house was used. In the latter year the present edi- fice, standing in Franklin, was erected. During the summer of 1871 a parsonage costing $2000 was built. In March, 1881, the membership was ninety-six, and the ruling elders at that time were Andrew Bryson, Sr., J. H. Patterson, Joseph H. Humbert, and D. P. Patterson. The trustees were James Junk, John Dunn, and David P. Long. In the Sunday-school, of which J. H. Humbert is superintendent, there was an average attendance of sixty-five. In the church- yard the older headstones are defaced, broken, or de- stroyed, so that the earliest burials cannot be noted following : Catharine Jackson, 1803; Thomas Dunn, 1802; William Rankin, 1807 ; Robert Jackson, 1808; Flora Patterson, 1811; Samuel Bryson, 1808; John Richey, 1814; Elizabeth Rankin, 1818 (aged ninety- one) ; John Reed, 1815 (aged one hundred) ; and Samuel Rankin, 1820 (aged eighty-three). Upon the headstone of Alexander Work-died 1813-it is re- corded :

FLATWOODS BAPTIST CHURCHI.

About 1833 Andrew Arnold engaged Rev. William Wood to hold Baptist services in the Arnold school- house, one and one-fourth miles east of the present church building. Mr. Wood held services there and in private houses, from time to time, and on the fifth Sunday in June, 1834, in a grove near the school, Mr. Wood, assisted by Revs. John Patton and Benoni Al- len, organized the Flatwoods Baptist Church. An- drew Arnold and John Detwiler were chosen deacons, Andrew Arnold the singing clerk, and twenty-two persons were received as constituent members. A list of members received into the church up to 1842, gives the names of Andrew Arnold, Hiram Norris, John Detwiler, David Rittenhouse, James Rittenhouse, William Bell, Henry Stevenson, Obadiah Bowen, Til- son Fuller, John Goucher, - Whitset, Levi Mor- ris, Lewis Zimmerman, Job Rossel, Amos Payne, James Blayer, Caleb Rossel, J. H. Patterson, James Shanks, James Fry, David Loof berry, Charles Rossel, William Abrahams, William Johnston, IIenry Ret- inoyer, Jonathan Hoge, Ephraim Lynch, William Beal, William Wadsworth, Samuel Rossel, Joseph Til- ton, Benjamin Whaley, Reuben Sutton. In Novem ber, 1842, a fourteen-days' protracted meeting was held by Revs. Milton Sutton and William Wood, and as a result sixteen members were added to the church,- Jacob and Jane Hazlet, William Martin, John Town- send, Thomas Truman, James Arnold, Benjamin Hig- bee, Ansley Blayer, Andrew Oldham, Jesse Arnold, Jr., Joseph Kerr, Joseph Bute, John BeH, Joel Cooper, Jonathan Shaffer, and Elizabeth Shaffer. An extract from the records touching this protracted meeting reads thus: "Nov. 12, 1842, a protracted meeting commenced with this church and continued fourteen days, attended by ministering brethren Wood and Sutton, when we had the presence of the Lord, as we trust, in granting us a special season of grace, and as the meeting progressed, while some were halting and others weeping and praying over the condition of our Zion, the spirit of Almighty God was evidently work- ing in our midst, and he attended the word preached with the power of the Holy Spirit. Sinners were alarmed, and many were made to weep under a sense of their sin and guilt to cry for mercy."

Rev. William Wood was installed as pastor of the here. The oldest inscriptions traceable include the , church upon the day following its organization, Rev. Mr. Estep preaching the installation sermon. May 23, 1835, the church was received as a member of the Monongahela Association, then in session at Peter's Creek. In 1835, William Dunlap donated land for a church and churchyard, and that year a framed house, forty by thirty-six feet in size, was erected upon the site of the present building. To the graveyard lot addi- tional donations of land were made by John Bowman, " The man of business rests in dust, Survivors feel the loss, Widow and orphans, citizens, Alas ! must bear the cross." Andrew Bowman, and John Townsend. Sept. 15, 1836, Abner Rittenhouse, Andrew Arnold, and Hiram Norris were chosen church trustees. In 1838 a Bap- tist minister living east of the mountains, happening

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. HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

to be at Flatwoods during a meeting of the Monon- gahela Association there, wrote upon his return home a newspaper sketch of his experiences in the West. Touching Flatwoods he said, "We met at a place called Flatwoods, but I called it anything but flat. Some people came twenty and twenty-five miles. I was surprised to see so many ladies on horseback, and they told me too they could ride just as fast as the horses could go."

The church has had since 1834 an almost uninter- rupted pastorate history. Rev. William Wood, the first pastor, preached until January, 1842; E. T. Brown then supplied for one year, and Milton Sutton, being installed in January, 1843, served three years longer. April 1, 1846, William Wood returned for a second term and remained two years, Rev. J. W. B. Tisdale was the pastor from April, 1848, to April, 1852; Milton Sutton (second term), from April, 1852, to April, 1853; W. W. Hickman, from 1853 to 1860 ; John Scott, from 1860 to 1864; W. B. Skinner, from 1864 to 1865; W. W. Hickman (second term), from 1865 to 1868; C. W. Hodsall, from 1868 to 1869; N. B. Crutchfield, 1869 to 1870 ; J. R. Brown, 1870 to 1872; Daniel Kelsey, 1872 to 1874; W. R. Patton, 1874 to 1880; and J. A. J. Lightburn, from April 1, 1880, to the present time. Following is given a list of deacons elected since 1834: Andrew Arnold and John Detwiler, May, 1834; Job Rossel and James Fry, May 12, 1834; H. W. Norris, June 14, 1846; James Piersol, James Arnold, and Ephraim Lynch, Jan. 11, 1851 ; J. A. Piersol, E. H. Abrahams, Jarret Jordan, Mathew Arison, July 14, 1860 ; Joseph Bute, April 20, 1862 ; Aaron Townsend, Joseph Essington, John Blair, and T. P. Murphy, Nov. 19, 1865. Messrs. Arison, Bute, Townsend, Essington, and Murphy are still ellers. The first church clerk was Abner Rit- tenhouse. James Fry, the second, was chosen Jan. 8, 1842; Jesse Arnold, Feb. 7, 1852; E. H. Abra- hams, March 19, 1859; and Joseph Bute, the present clerk, June 15, 1861. In 1861, Joseph Bute, Joel Cooper, and John Townsend were appointed a com- mittee to provide a new meeting-house, which re- sulted in the present brick edifice, that was dedicated April 20, 1862. It measures fifty-five by forty-five, with a seventeen-feet story, and cost $1725. Upwards of five hundred members have been received since 1834, about one hundred and ninety of these remain- ing at this time. The church trustees are P. P. Mur- phy, Freeman Cooper, and James Blair, and the Sun- day-school superintendent is P. P. Murphy.

REDSTONE DISCIPLES' CHURCH.

In 1834, Rev. Mr. Wheeler preached occasionally in William Shank's barn to such of the members of

withdrew, as did a few others of his opinion. Those remaining sent for Rev. David Newmeyer, of Ohio, who came and organized the Redstone Disciples' Church in a school-house that stood upon Robert Smith's farm. The constituent members numbered about thirty. Levi Morris and John Shotwell were chosen deacons ; Henry Goe and John Higbee, elders. John Shotwell and others lost no time in pushing their efforts towards the building of a house of worship, and in 1838 the church now in use was erected. The first regular pastor was Rev. Alexander Campbell, who preached for the church uninterruptedly until his death in 1864. The present pastor is Rev. John Satterfield, who holds services once a month. The membership is now (1881) about thirty-five. Emanuel Shearer is the deacon; William Harper and Owen Blair, elders.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JOHN BURTON.

John Burton, of Franklin township, is a native of England, and was born in Yorkshire, June 17, 1817. He is the son of Thomas Burton and Jane Mason Burton, of Yorkshire, England, who were married March 7, 1810, and emigrated to America in 1818, when John was only a year old. They first located near Winchester, Va., but in 1823 moved into Fayette County, Pa., and settled upon a farm which is now a part of the one owned by their son John. There they lived in fact the rest of their lives, Thomas Burton dying July 16, 1844, at the age of fifty-eight ; Mrs. Jane M. Burton, who survived her husband thirty- one years, residing during this period wholly with her son John, died Nov. 23, 1875, at the age of ninety- five years. She was noted for her piety, and was a devoted member of the Methodist Protestant Church for over half a century. They had four children,- William, married to Catharine Wolf, March 12, 1835; Isabel, married to David Deyarmon Dec. 4, 1832; Thomas, deceased ; and John.

John Burton was married to Tacy Hogue, daughter of Jonathan and Anne Hogue, of Redstone township, Fayette Co., Sept. 27, 1838. By this marriage there are two children,-Thomas J. and Jonathan H. The former married Louisa S. Johnson, and has one child living, Annie Florence; Thomas J. is a mer- chant, and resides in West Brownsville, Washington Co., Pa. Jonathan H. married Mary E. Strong, and has one child,-Ernest Colwell Burton. Jonathan is a farmer, and resides upon his father's farm.

John Burton has filled important township offices, the Disciples' faith as lived within convenient dis- ! and has always discharged these duties, as all others tance. He secured the attendance of a good many people, who proposed to effect an organization. Mr. Wheeler suggested that it would be as well to join Flat- woods Church, but being opposed in this measure he devolving upon him, with fidelity. He and his wife have long been members of the Methodist Protestant Church. Mr. Burton has held all the offices imposed upon laymen in his church. Ile is recognized by all

JOHN BURTON.

941 .51 .

Robert Smith

JACOB SHEARER.

Thomas Dunn

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FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

who know him as a Christian gentleman. He has been engaged in farming all his life upon the farm which he now owns and occupies. His possessions are chiefly lands, coal, etc. Mr. Burton has the esteem of everybody for his honesty, social, neighborly kind- nesses, and upright, straightforward life.

ROBERT SMITII.

Robert Smith was born Nov. 19, 1799, in Franklin township, upon the farm on which he died, Nov. 21, 1881. He was of Scotch stock. His education was received in the common schools. Mr. Smith was married Jan. 4, 1827, to Rosetta, daughter of John and Sarah Shotwell, of Franklin township. They had twelve children. Ten of them grew to manhood and womanhood. Nine are now living.

Mr. Smith held the office of justice of the peace for a number of years. He was one of the first jus- tices after the office was made elective in this State. He also held other important township offices.

As a man, he was modest and unassuming. True to his convictions as a citizen, he was upright, honest, and enterprising ; as a husband, he was faithful, de- voted, affectionate; as a father, kind and indulgent ; as a Christian, he was consistent and exemplary.

He was a member of Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church more than forty years.

His father, Robert Smith, emigrated to America from Scotland in early life, and settled on the farm where his son Robert lived and died. He married Mary Starret. Robert Smith, Sr., died in 1837, aged seventy-nine years ten months and eighteen days. His wife Mary died in her seventy-second year.

JACOB SHEARER.

Mr. Jacob Shearer, of Franklin township, is the son of Frederick Shearer, who was born March 24, 1770, in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was married March 23, 1793, to Rebecca Markle, of Berks County. They had eleven children, of whom Jacob is the eighth. He was born in Franklin County, Pa., Jan. 30, 1809, and removed with his father in 1815 to Jefferson township, Fayette Co. Mr. Shearer is of German stock. He received his early education in the common schools, and was married March 27, 1838, to Emily Shotwell, daughter of John Shotwell, long a prominent man of Franklin township. They had seven children, two of whom, Emanuel and Sarah Catharine, are still living. Emanuel married Eliza- beth Cook, and has five children,-Esther E., Fred Orville, Harry J., Jessie, and an infant boy yet un- named. Sarah Catharine married Rufus Flemming, of Franklin, and has three children, -John Freder- ick, Guy Shearer, and Esther Emma.

Mr. Jacob Shearer has never held office, never as- piring to public place, and has led a modest and in-

dustrious life, and bears an excellent reputation for integrity. He and his family are all members of the Christian Church. The church which they habitu- ally attend stands near the spot where, in the open air, Alexander Campbell, the founder of the sect called Disciples, first promulgated his distinctive doc- trines after the severance of his relations with the Baptist Church.

Mr. Shearer has resided in his present home since 1843, and is the possessor of valuable properties, con- sisting of coal lands, etc. For the last few years he has been a considerable sufferer under physical ills, which he has patiently borne.

THOMAS DUNN.

Thomas Dunn, of Franklin township, was born April 7, 1824, of Scotch-Irish stock, and was educated in the common schools. He was married Feb. 4, 1844, to Eleanor Scott, of German township. They have ten living children, and have lost one. Thomas Dunn was born in the house in which he lives, and which was built by his grandfather in 1796. His entire life has been spent upon the farm on which he now resides. He, his wife, and nearly all of his chil- dren are members of the United Presbyterian Church.

The children are John A., married to Mary Junk ; Agnes R., married to Jolin Junk; Thomas S., mar- ried to Jennie Murphy ; Mary C., married to Bryson Gilchrist; Samnel W., married first to Ellen Stoner, and again to Clarissa Hanshaw ; Annie E., married to Jacob Cooper; William C., married to Mary E. MeClure ; Harriet, deceased, nnmarried ; Robert C .; Major E .; Harry G.

Thomas Dunn's father, John Dunn, first married Mary Smith in 1815. She died June 5, 1835. His second wife was Mary Oldham. She died in 1843. In 1844 he married Catharine Scott, who still sur- vives him, an active woman of eighty-two years. He was a farmer, and lived upon the farm now occupied by Thomas. He was also a soldier in the war of 1812. They had eight children; Thomas was the fourth. John Dunn died Oct. 21, 1861.

Thomas Dunn, grandfather of the subject of this biography, was an Irishman. He married a Scotch- woman, Mary Caldwell. They came to Fayette County about 1772. Thomas patented the farm upon which his grandson Thomas now lives. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and had twelve chil- dren, each of whom raised families. They are scat- tered all over the United States. Thomas, Sr., died in 1799, aged fifty-five. Mary (Caldwell) Dunn was born Jan. 20, 1746, and died 1824.

Mr. Thomas Dunn is held in high esteem by his neighbors,-an honest, genial man ; and it may prop- erly be added that the Dunn family are noted for their frankness and general good nature or affability. Mr. Dunn raised his large family iu a commendable manner, and, like himself, they are good citizens.

GEORGES TOWNSHIP.'

IN 1783, when Fayette Connty was formed from a For a hundred years past the Delaney Cave has been sought as a place worthy of the sight-seer. Lo- cated as it is near the summit of the Laurel Hill range, and commanding thus a magnificent view of the beautiful lands towards the setting sun, it affords attractions not possessed by the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. It would be difficult for the most accu- part of Westmoreland, this was one of the original townships, and was bounded and described as follows: " Beginning at John Main's, on Jacob's Creek ; thence to Jesse Bayle's ; thence in same direction to the line of Wharton township ; thence by the same until oppo- site Charles Brownfield's ; thence by Charles Brown- field, Thomas Gaddis, the Widow McClelland, and the , rate observer to form any definite conception of the residue of the line of Union township to the head of Jennings' Run ; thence by the lines of German town- ship to the beginning, to include the three first above- mentioned persons, to be hereafter known by the name of George township."

This township seems to have possessed many natu- ral attractions, and was settled at a very early date. The fertile valleys, the abundant supply of excellent water, the superior timber, and many other attractive features of this township led to its rapid settlement, and soon made it one of the most populous and important townships of the county. Before West- moreland County had been erected this region had quite a number of settlers, and when Fayette was struck off from Westmoreland, after the burning of Hannastown by the Indians, this was quite a densely- peopled section of the new county. In December, 1845, a part of Georges township was taken to form Nicholson.

This township in its varied and picturesque beauty is excelled by few in the United States. Here we have the " White Rocks," famed not only for their great natural attractiveness, but aside from this they are noted as the place where the "Polly Williams murder" occurred in August, 1810. The chasm is some fifty feet in depth, 'and the huge gray stones stand in mute grandeur with all their romantic his- tory clustered around them. In ages to come, when they have gathered all the enchantment which time can lend, and the additional charm of ancient re- membrance shall have eaused the facts to be thought of as traditionary, then will the traveler come for hundreds of miles to look upon the place where the base inhumanity of man was displayed, and examine the great gray stones where the crimson heart-blood of Polly Williams was shed by the hand of her se- ducer.

vastness of space here presented to the eye. Miles to- ward the north and south, the fair valley at the base of the mountain is visible, while stretching far toward the west the beautiful landscape is shut out from view only when the horizon limits it, far away over the Monon- gahela in Greene County. A description of the cave, from the pen of John A. Paxton, of Philadelphia, who visited it in 1816, is given in the general history of the county. The manner in which this cave de- rived its name is readily traceable to the fact that a Mr. Thomas Delaney was owner of the lands be- neath which the cave is located. About the year 1800 two men, Crain and Simmons, from Smithfield, went to the cave to explore it; they were lost in it, and remained there two days and two nights before the people succeeded in finding them. When found they were locked in each other's arms, and were almost dead for want of water and food.

This township is very rich in mineral resources, and on this account the early settlers, seeming to un- derstand thoroughly where to locate in order that they might have rich possessions in mineral lands, came and settled near the base of the mountain, and soon thereafter the ores they had discovered were worked into iron, and the coal was dug and used as a fuel, although not to any great extent, for the wood was everywhere abundant at that time. As early as 1790 coal was dug by George Hertzog in this county, on the Springhill Furnace property, not far from Hay- dentown. It was the Upper Freeport vein, and people came many miles to get some of the wonderful fuel dug from the earth. In addition to the bountiful supply of coal and iron ore, the hand of Nature has provided the very best fire-clay in the country. On the property of Abraham Low there is a silver-mine, which, perhaps, might be worked in paying quanti- ties if capital was brought into requisition. It is said that Mr. Low was at one time offered five thousand dollars for his mine by an experienced mineralogist. The silver-bearing rock is of a dark color, and when

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 127

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314