History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 150

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 150

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PRESBYTERIAN CHAPEL.

A Presbyterian chapel was built at New Salem in 1853 by members of the Dunlap's Creek Church, and since that time has been used simply as an adjunct to the last-named organization, whose pastor preaches also at New Salem. A Presbyterian Sunday-school was organized at New Salem by Ebenezer Finley, Sr., in 1825, and to this day it has had an nninterrupted and active existence. The elder Finley was the superintendent from 1825 to 1849, and his son Eben- ezer from 1853 to 1881.

PLEASANT VIEW (CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN) CHURCH.

During the years 1832 and 1833 Revs. Morgan Bird, and Bryan were preaching in Fayette County as the advance guard of the Cumberland Presbyterian

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ministers just then being sent out from Tennessee to Pennsylvania. They were invited to preach at the Centre school-house, near John C. McCormick, and from that time forward there was more or less preach- ing there for several years. Mr. McCormick himself became a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Uniontown, where he was a ruling elder ten years or more. Afterwards he joined Hopewell Church, in Luzerne township, where he remained nntil the organization of Pleasant View in 1859. During the years 1857 and 1859 Rev. John S. Gibson, pastor of the East Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church, frequently held services in the McCormick neighbor- hood, and one result of his ministrations was the or- ganization of a Sunday-school by E. Campbell and John McCormick. The Sunday-school being well on its way, attention was turned to the subject of a church organization. The Union Presbytery being appealed to, authorized Revs. Jesse Adams and A. G. Osborn to take charge of the business. Accordingly they organized Pleasant View, Oct. 1, 1859, in a school- house that stood near where the church now stands. The constituent members numbered twenty-four, viz. : Emanuel Campbell, Mary Campbell,1 Samuel Brown, Louisa Brown, Henry Hornbeck, Sr.,1 Rebecca Horn- beck,1 Henry Hornbeck, Jr., John G. Hornbeck, James Ridlinghafer, Catharine Ridlinghafer, Robert Hagerty, John Ball, Jr.,1 Mary Hess, Eliza B. Powell, Margaret Wheaton, Sarah J. Arison, Mary Mitchell,1 Mahala Hill, Amy Work,1 Anne Stewart, Ebenezer Hare,1 Rebecca Hare, John C. McCormick,1 Hannah McCormick.1 The elders chosen were John C. McCor- mick, Emanuel Campbell, and Samuel Brown. In 1860 a house of worship was erected. The trustees were Robert Hagerty, John Ball, Jr., and James Rid- linghafer.

The first pastor was Rev. Andrew G. Osborn, who served from April 1, 1860, to April 1, 1862. Eli E. Bailey was pastor from April, 1862, to April, 1866; J. Power Baird from April, 1866, to April, 1880. Since Mr. Baird's departure Rev. William Hays has been the supply. Several gratifying revival seasons have marked the history of the church. In 1866 about twenty persons were received as members under the preaching of Rev. E. E. Bailey ; and in 1871, 1874, and 1875, during the pastorate of Rev. J. Power Baird, large accessions, to the number of one hun- dred and twenty-eight, increased the strength of the church. There are at present one hundred and fifty- two members. The elders are Emanuel Campbell, Samuel Brown, John E. Craft, and Thomas H. Hig- inbotham. Martin Hess donated, in 1860, one acre of land, lying two and a quarter miles north of Sea- right's, for church and cemetery. In 1878 two acres were added by purchase.

1 Since deceased.

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NEW SALEM.

Fairview Church, now the Cumberland Presbyte- rian Church of New Salem, was organized by Rev. Samuel E. Hudson. Members of the denomination living in the vicinity of New Salem, who attended for public worship at Uniontown and New Hopewell, expressed a desire for a church organization, and in response thereto Rev. Samuel E. Hudson, then sup- plying the church at New Hopewell, began, in the spring of 1842, a series of protracted meetings at New Salem. A number of conversions followed, and in June, 1842, the Lord's Supper was commemorated at the New Salem school-house. In September of that year about one hundred persons joined in a petition to the Union Presbytery for the organization of a congregation in the New Salem neighborhood. In the spring of 1843 the Presbytery appointed Revs. Samuel E. Hudson and Carl Moore, with Isaac Beeson and John McCormick, as a committee to at- tend New Salem for the purpose of effecting the de- sired organization, and authorized Rev. Samnel E. Hudson to supply the new church for the space of one year. One hundred and five persons were received as constituent members. Among these the names of the following only have been preserved upon the re- cord : Caleb Antram, Samuel Brown, Eliza Brown, Miranda Luckey, Hugh Poundslow, John Hackney, Sr., John Hackney, Jr., Lydia Hackney, Amy Hack- ney, Joseph Rockwell, Catharine Rockwell, Jacob Allamon, Levi Linn, Joseph Woodward, Nancy Wood- ward, William Jeffries, Jane Jeffries, Taylor Jeffries, Sarah Jeffries, E. F. Moss, Rebecca Johnson, Hannah Walters, Lydia Jackson, Eliza Hacock, Hannah Dun- lap, Jane Luckey, Sarah L. McWilliams, Louisa Gil- more, Catharine McDougal, Jane Carey, Henry Funk, Zabina Keener, Lydia Worley, Keziah Watson, John Watson, Mary Jeffries, John Williams, Sarah A. Williams, Elizabeth Sickles, and Mary A. Pound- slow. The elders chosen were Caleb Antram, Joseph Rockwell, Abel Campbell, Jr., and William Thomp- son. Caleb Antram donated land for a church and churchyard, and in 1844 a brick house was built at a cost of two thousand dollars. In April, 1856, the church had so prospered that the membership aggre- gated one hundred and eighty-four. The pastors of the organization have been Revs. Samuel E. Hudson, A. B. Brice, J. T. A. Henderson, Alexander Black- ford, Jesse Adams, and J. S. Gibson. Mr. Gibson has been the pastor since 1872. The membership in March, 1881, was one hundred and eighty-one. The Sunday-school has fifteen officers and teachers and eighty-three scholars. The superintendent is Chris- topher Woodward. The elders of the church are Joseph Woodward, Joseph Rockwell, H. H. Hack- ney, Lewis Antram, and John Funk. The deacons are Christopher Woodward, J. W. Hackney, Taylor Jeffries, Samuel Newcomer, and A. J. Tuit.

Som Searight

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MENALLEN TOWNSHIP.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

WILLIAM SEARIGHT.

Democratie politician, and wielded a large influence. On one occasion he rode on horseback from Searight's to Harrisburg, a distance of over two hundred miles, to aid in preparing to nominate Gen. Jackson for the Presideney.

William Searight was born near Carlisle, Cumber- In the early history of Fayette County political land Co., Pa., on the 5th day of December, 1792. His . conventions of both parties were accustomed to meet father came from Londonderry, Ireland, in the year 1760, and first settled in Lancaster County, Pa. His mother, Anne Hamilton, removed from Belfast, Ire- land, the same year to the same county. His mother was an aunt of James Hamilton, once Governor of South Carolina, was a sister of William and McHugh Hamilton, wealthy and influential citizens of Lan- caster County, and was remotely connected with Al- exander Hamilton. Her ancestry were of Scotch descent. A grandunele of William Searight was in the " siege of Derry." He lived to get out of the be- sieged city, but soon afterwards died from weakness and exhaustion. In 1780 the parents of William Searight removed from Lancaster County to Cumber- land County, Pa., settling near Carlisle. The names of their children were Samuel, Alexander, William, Mary, John, and Hamilton. About the beginning of this century they moved into Indiana County, Pa., where they remained only a short time, and came over into Westmoreland County, Pa., and settled perma- nently on the Loyalhanna River, a few miles above the town of Ligonier, where they lived until their death. About the year 1810, Samuel Searight settled in Tippecanoe County, Iud. ; Alexander Searight set- tled in Ohio County, Va., and William Searight set- tled in Fayette County, Pa. The remainder of the family lived, died, and were buried in Ligonier Val- ley without issue. William Searight received only a plain English education. He was endued with the precepts of stern integrity and bouor, the elements of his future success in business, and of his elevated character. In the neighborhood in which he was reared he had learned the business of fulling cloth, a knowledge of which, his native euergy and honorable character being his only stock with which to com- mence and push his own fortune. He arrived in Fayette County at about the age of twenty-one, and commenced business at an old fulling-mill on Dunlap's Creek, known as Hammond's mill. He afterwards prosecuted his vocation at Cook's mill, on Redstone Creek, and again near Perryopolis. He next purchased

at Searight's and plan campaigns. A memorable meeting, of which Mr. Searight was the chief insti- gator, was held there in 1828, known as the "Gray Meeting," from the name of the then keeper of the local hotel, John Gray. At this meeting the Jack- son and Adams men met to measure their strength. They turned out in the meadow below the hotel, formed in rauk, and "counted off." The Jack- son men outnumbered their opponents decisively, and it was regarded as a great Jackson victory. In the political campaign of 1856 a large Demo- cratic meeting was held in Uniontown, and the dele- gation from Searight's bore a banner with the inscrip- tion, "Menallen, the battle-ground of the 'Gray' meeting." Many prominent political leaders of the olden time were there. Among them, on the Jackson side, were Gen. Henry W. Beeson, Col. Ben Brown- field, Westley Frost, William F. Coplan, Henry J. Rigden, James C. Beckley, Benedict Kimber, Solo- mon G. Krepps, William Searight, Hugh Keys, Wil- liam Hatfield, Col. William L. Miller, John Fuller, Provance McCormick, William Davidson, Alexander Johnson, and Thomas Duncan. On the Adams side were Andrew Stewart, John M. Austin, F H. Oli- phant, John Kennedy, John Dawson, Samuel Evans, James Bowman, William Hogg, Stokely Connell, William P. Wells, Basil Brownfield, George Mason, Kennedy Duncan, and John Lyon. The many simi- lar political meetings with which William Searight was identified go to show the esteem in which he was held by the citizens of the county by all parties. But Fayette County, although the first, was but little in advance of other communities to learn and admire his worth. He early became known and appreciated throughout the entire State. He was appointed com- missioner of the Cumberland ( National ) road by Gov- ernor Porter, in the most prosperous days of that great thoroughfare, a position he held for many years. Fu 1 1845 he was superseded by Col. William Hopkins, of Washington, Pa. Subsequently an act of the Legis- lature placed the road in the hands of trustees ap- a farm and hotel at Searight's, the property and village | pointed by the courts, and these trustees restored deriving its name from him, and there made his per- William Searight to the commissionership, the duties of which office-he continued to discharge with great fidelity and industry. He was thoroughly familiar with all the hills and valleys of that grand okdl thor- oughfare, once so stirring and active, but now still and grass-grown. Previous to his appointment as commissioner of the National road he was a con- tractor on the same. He was one of the contractors who built the iron bridge over the mouth of Dunlap's Creek, between Brownsville and Bridgeport. He was manent settlement. In 1826 he married Rachel Brown- field, daughter of Thomas Brownfield, of Uniontown, Pa. Here he laid the foundation of a large fortune, and his integrity, united to a generous and benevolent heart, gave him a high place in the esteem and affee- tion of the community iu which he lived. His sound judgment soon impressed itself upon his own county, and he became one of her most influential citizens. Mr. Searight was a prominent and zealous old-time

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

also a contractor on the Erie extension of the Penn- sylvania and Ohio Canal.

At the time of his death he was the candidate of the Democratic party for one of the most dignified and important offices of the State, that of canal com- missioner. To this office he would have undoubtedly been elected had not death interposed and called him from the active duties of this life to the realities of another world, as after his death William Hopkins, of Washington County, was nominated by the Demo- cratic party for the same office, and was elected by a large majority. He died at his residence in Menallen township, on the 12th of August, 1852. He left a wife and six children,-Thomas, Ewing, Jane, Wil- liam, James, and Elizabeth.

William Searight was a man of the most generous and humane character, ever ready to lend his counsel, his sympathies, and his purse to the aid of others. Though a strong political party man, yet he ever treated his opponents with courtesy. In religion he was, like most of the race to which he belonged, im- bued with Calvinism. The brightest traits of his character were exemplified at the last. So far as human judgment may decide, be died a Christian, in peace. Although death plucked him from the very threshold of earthly honors, yet it caused him no regrets. The scenes upon which he was about to enter presented higher honors, purer enjoyments. To him they offered

" No midnight shade, no clouded sun, But sacred, high, eternal noon."

A more emphatic eulogy than is in the power of language to express was bestowed upon him on the day of his funeral by the assembling around his coffin to perform the last sad duty of friendship of as great if not a greater number of citizens than ever attended the funeral ceremonies of any one who has died within the limits of Fayette County. Among that vast assemblage were both the patriarchs of the county and the rising youth, all come to give their testimony to the lofty worth in life of the distin- guished dead. A few days after his death a large meeting of the citizens of Fayette County, irrespec- tive of party, convened at the court-house for the purpose of bearing suitable testimony to his memory and character.

The following gentlemen were chosen officers : Hon. Nathaniel Ewing, president ; Hon. Daniel Sturgeon (ex-United States senator) and Z. Ludington, vice- presidents ; John B. Krepps and R. P. Flenniken, secretaries. On motion of Hon. James Veech (later author of " Monongahela of Old") a committee on resolutions composed of leading citizens was appointed, which committee presented the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted, viz. :

" When a valued citizen dies, it is meet that the community of which he was a member mourn their loss. A public expression

of their sorrow at such an event is due as some solace to the grief of the bereaved family and friends, and as an incentive to others to earn for their death the same distinction. In the re- eent death of William Searight, Esq., this community has lost such a citizen. Such an event has called this public meeting, into which enter no schemes of political promotion, no partisan purposes of empty eulogy. Against all this death has shut the door. While yet the tear hangs on the cheek of his stricken family, and the tidings of death are unread by many of his friends, we, his fellow-citizens, neighbors, friends, of all par- tics, have assembled to speak to those who knew and loved him best, and to those who knew him not tho words of sorrow and truth io sincerity and soberness. Therefore as the sense of this meeting,-

" Resolved, That in the death of William Searight Fayette County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have lost one of their best and most useful citizens. The people at large may not realize their loss, but the community in which he lived, over whose comforts and interests were diffused the influ- ences of his liberality and enterprise, feel it, while his friends of all classes, parties, and professions, to whom he clung, and who clung to him, mourn it.

" Resolved, That while we would withhold our steps from the sanctuary of domestic grief, we may be allowed to express to the afflicted widow and children of the deceased our unfeigned sorrow and sympathy in their great bereavement, and to tender to them our assurance that while in their hearts the memory of the husband and father will ever be cherished, in ours will be kept the liveliest recollections of his virtues as a citizen and a friend.

" Resolred, That among the elements which must enter into every truthful estimate of the character of William Searight are a warmn amenity of manners, combined with a great dignity of deportinent, which were not the less attractive by their plain- ness and want of ostentation, elevated feelings more pure than passionless, high purposes, with untiring energy in their ac- complishment, an ennobling sense of honor, and individual in- dependenee, which kept him always true to himself and to his engagements, unfaltering fidelity to his friends, a liberality which heeded no restraint, but means and merit, great prompt- ness and fearlessness in the discharge of what he believed to he a duty, private ur public, guided by a rigid integrity, which stoud all tests and withstood all temptations, honesty and truth- fulness in word and in deed, which no seductions could weaken nor assaults overthrow, in all respects the architect of his own fortune and fame. These, with the minor virtues in full pro- portion, are some of the outlines of character which stamped the man whose death we mourn as one much above the ordi- Dary level of his race.

" Resolved, That while we have here nothing to do or say as to the loss sustained by the political party to which he belonged, and whose candidate he was for an office of great honor and responsibility, we may be allowed to say that had he lived and been successful, with a heart so rigidly set as was his, with feelings so high and integrity so firm, and withal an amount of practical intelligence so ample as he possessed, his election could have heen regretted by no citizen who knew him, and who placed the public interests beyond selfish ends and party success. As a politician, we knew him to hold to his principles and party predilections with a tenacious grasp, yet he was ever courteous and liberal in his deportment and views towards his political opponents.

" Resolved, That in the life and character of William Searight we see a most instructive and encouraging example. Starting in the struggle of life with an humble business, poor and unbe- friended, with an honest mind and true heart, with high pur-

JEREMIAH PEIRSEL, SR.

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MENALLEN TOWNSHIP.

poses and untiring industry, he by degrees gained friends an i means which never forsook him. He thus won for himself and his family ample wealth, and attained a position among his fellow-men which those who have had the best advantages our country affords might well envy. That wealth and that posi- tion he used with a just liberality and influence for the benefit of all around and dependent upon him. Though dead, he yet speaketh to every man in humble business,-go thou and do likewise, and such shall be thy reward in life and in death.

" Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be furnished for publication in all the papers of the county, and a copy thereof, signed by the officers, be presented to the family of the deceased."

JEREMIAH PEIRSEL.

Jeremiah Peirsel was born in what is now Perry township, March 4, 1787, and died in Menallen township, Nov. 20, 1880. He was of Welsh descent, and educated in the common schools. He was mar- ried to Mary Beal, of Menallen township, in 1810. They had twelve children, seven sons and five daugh- ters. He was always a farmer, and located upon the farm where his son Samuel now resides in 1824, and remained there until his death. He was an exemplary member of the old Redstone Baptist Church for more than sixty years. He never held a political office ; never had a lawsuit; never had any difficulties with his neighbors. His long life was due in a measure, no doubt, to his amiable disposition. He had all the good qualities that usually attend a lovable disposi- tion. He belonged to a long-lived family. The aver- age age of himself, brothers, and sisters is eighty years.

His father, William Peirsel, came to Fayette County from Chester County, Pa., early in life. He married Grace Cope. They had eight children. Jeremiah was the third. William died in 1848, supposed to be over one hundred years old. Grace died in 1854, aged ninety-four.

Seven of the children of Mr. Peirsel are living,-Eliz- aheth, married to James McLaughlin ; Samuel, mar- ried to Maria Radcliffe; Jeremiah, Jr., who married Melvina N. Frasher, and has one living son, Isaac F., who has received a liberal education, is a farmer, and is married to Mary Hormel, and has one child, Arthur L. Peirsel, the only grandchild of Jeremiah, Jr. The other four children are Sarah, married to Henry Frasher ; Anne, married to Jacob Grant ; William, married to Catharine McKay ; and Uriah, married to Dettie Swayne. One of his sons, Levi, was killed in the late war at the battle of Petersburg.

For a great part of her life the wife of Mr. Peirsel was seriously afflicted by mental maladies, and he took the utmost tender care of her, never being heard to complain of his unhappy lot.

JEREMIAH PEIRSEL, JR.

fidence of his neighbors, and if not so gentle and retiring as his father it is because the latter was extremely so.

JAMES ALLISON.

James Allison, without whose biography the his- tory of Menallen township, and particularly of the village of Searight's, would be incomplete, was born near Laurel Hill, in Fayette Co., Pa., Dec. 22, 1801. His parents lived and died in that neighborhood, and their remains were buried in the Laurel Hill grave- yard. In early life James Allison moved from the locality of Laurel Hill, and settled on Redstone Creek, Fayette Co., Pa., and learned to be a fuller of cloth under William Searight, in whose family he ever afterwards made his home. When William Sea- right bought the homestead on which is the village of Searight's, James Allison moved with him to it, where he lived and died. He was born to no other inheritance than that of a noble character and good name, and was in early life thrown upon these his only resources. He held the responsible office of commissioner of the county from 1837 to 1840, and, as was the case in all his business transactions, ac- quitted himself creditably and honorably. He also held the office of justice of the peace for many years, and was postmaster at the village of Searight's from the time of the establishment of the office in 1845 until within a very short time of his death, having filled the longest continuous term of office of any postmaster in the State, and perhaps in the United States. So long and so very attentively did he oc- cupy this position that he became a part of the town, thought to be entirely indispensable. He was a con-

Jeremiah Peirsel, Jr., well maintains the goodly name he bears, is industrious and thrifty, and in the enjoyment of a comfortable home and a competency, which he has acquired through his own energy and business sagacity. He, like his father, has the con- ' scientious and consistent member of the Episcopal

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Church, and was for very many years senior warden of Grace Church, Menallen. He was married in early life, and his wife died shortly after their marriage. He had no family. The life of James Allison is well worthy of imitation. It was straightforward, unfal- tering, unchequered, and uneventful. His habits were extremely plain, simple, sensible, sober, tem- perate, and industrious. His manner was free, open,

friendly, frank, and courteous. His character was a perfect light-house of honesty, truthfulness, and up- rightness. So highly was he esteemed for these qual- ities, it became a common saying in the surrounding community of which he was a part that " If Jimmy Allison says it is so it must be so ;" or, " If Jimmy Allison did so it must be right." These sayings still reverently linger in the memories of his old neighbors. He died suddenly on July 4, 1881, of a congestive spasm, to which he was subject. His remains were in- terred in Grace Church burial-ground on July 5, 1881. The Rev. R. S. Smith, rector of St. Peter's Church, Uniontown, and Grace Church, Menallen, officiated at his funeral, and in the course of his remarks said that he had known James Allison intimately for twenty years, and for that period had been his per- sonal friend. and he knew of nothing in his life and character that he would have blotted from the book of remembrance. Notwithstanding it was mid-har- vest, and the weather was extremely hot, Grace Church was crowded by neighbors and friends to witness the funeral rites of James Allison-an honest man-"God's noblest work."

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 150

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