History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 152

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 152

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).

from this district, succeeding John Smilie, who was elected to Congress in 1792. Mr. Finley was the in- ventor of the first chain suspension bridge ever put up in this county, which was built in 1801 across Jacob's Creek, on the road between Mount Pleasant and Connellsville.

Thomas Junk settled in Union township on one hundred and eighty-six and three-quarters acres of land, warranted to him Feb. 1, 1796, and surveyed under the name of "Consolation." The patent of this tract to him dates April 16, 1798. Its location was on a branch of Redstone Creek, and adjoining land of William Craycraft. Descendants of Thomas Junk are still living in North Union.

This caused a lawsuit, which was tried at Hannas- town and decided in McClean's favor. That tract of land is still called " Nealy's Moonlight Discovery."

Samuel McClean had two sons, William and John. William removed to Butler County, Ohio, in 1808, and died there in 1824. John lived for some years on the farm which the Lemont Furnace now ocen- pies. In the war of 1812 he went ont as captain of a company of soldiers. After the war he lived upon the farm now owned by George McClean, where he died in 1831. All the daughters of Samuel McClean, except Nancy and Sarah, removed West. Nancy became the wife of Stephen McClean, her consin, and a son of Alexander McClean. Sarah married George MeRea, and lived upon the home- stead until her death. Mrs. William Hankins is a

A part of the property in this county upon which Alexander McClean lived for many years is that now owned and occupied by the Stewart Iron Company. daughter of Stephen and Nancy McClean.

674

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Robert and John Gaddis, sons of William Gaddis, came from " Apple-Pie Ridge," near Winchester, Va., to North Union township some time in the year 1785. At this time John was forty-five years of age. He purchased 295} acres of land, with an allowance of six per cent. for roads. The tract joined that of Rob- ert Gaddis and John Patrick, and was called "Gad- distown." The warrant for it was dated Feb. 7, 1785, the patent being granted March 30, 1786. Adjoining this " Gaddistown" tract John Gaddis, in 1797, pur- chased two other tracts,-one, called " Oxford," con- taining 403 acres, and the other, called " Cambridge," of 162 acres,-with the allowance of six per cent. for roads, as before. The warrants for the last two were dated March 6, 1794. During his life John Gaddis was a prominent member and worker in the Great Bethel Baptist Church of Uniontown. He died April 12, 1827, aged eighty-seven years. His wife, Sarah Gaddis, died a quarter of a century before, Jan. 7, 1802. Five sons and six daughters made np the family of John and Sarah Gaddis. They were Thomas, Jonathan, William, Jacob, John, Mary, Anna, Elizabeth, Priscilla, Sarah, and Ruth. Jona- than died in 1793, and Anna in 1799, six years later. William and Sarah removed to the West; Mary be- came Mrs. Allen and lived in Franklin township, and Elizabeth and Ruth married and moved to Wilming- ton, Del., and died there. Priscilla married Thomas Barton and lived in Menallen township, where she died during the winter of 1880-81, at the age of ninety- five years. John and Jacob each took a part of the old homestead. John married a daughter of his cousin, John Gaddis (son of Robert), and she is now living in Uniontown with her son Eli, her husband having died in 1868. Oliver Gaddis, son of Jacob, lives on the property formerly owned by his father.

Robert Gaddis came to this township with his brother Jolin in 1785, and purchased 237 acres of land at that time about two and one-half miles northwest of Uniontown, on the National road. This land adjoined that of John Gaddis, and was surveyed to Robert April 19, 1788. Of his large family of chil- dren, all of the daughters and the sons Benjamin, William, and Jesse removed West. John inherited a part of the homestead, and some of his descendants still live upon it. His wife was Rachel Davis, a daughter of James Davis, an old settler of Union township. Henry Gaddis, a brother of Robert and John, came to North Union soon after their settle- ment here. He purchased 252 acres of land (adjoin- ing John's property ), which was surveyed to him March 15, 1788. Henry Gaddis, who now lives in this township, is one of his descendants.

John Patrick settled here in 1785. He received a warrant for two hundred and ninety-six and one- half acres, the warrant being dated Sept. 30, 1785. The patent was issued May 12th of the following year. This tract of land was named " Crooked Path," situate on Redstone Creek opposite the Buffalo Lick, and ad-

joining the lands of Robert Gaddis, Nathan Springer, Josiah Springer, and Cornelius Conner. The property has now passed out of the family.

Dec. 27, 1785, there was surveyed to Eleanor Daw- son, wife of George Dawson, three hundred and twelve acres of land in this vicinity, by virtue of a certifi- cate from the surveyor of Yohogania County, Va., of which the following is an exact copy :

" VIRGINIA SURVEYORS' OFFICE, YOHOGANIA COUNTY. " Eleanor Dawson produced a certificate from the Com's for adjusting Titles and settling claims to lands in the Counties of Yohogania, Monongahela, and Ohio for four hundred acres of land in this county on the waters of Redstone to include her settlement made in the year 1770 in right of herself during her natural life; the remainder to Nicholas Dawson ex'r of George Dawson Dec'd to he distributed according to the will of s'd George.

"Jany. 21, 1780. "W. CRAWFORD, S. Y.C.

" The certf. mentioned in the within was granted by Francis Peyton, Phil. Pendleton, & Joseph Holms, Gentlemen Com'rs when sitting at Redstone Old Fort the day & year within mentioned, of which the within appears on record in my office. Given under my hand and seal this 18th day March, 1785.

" B. JOHNSON, S. Y.C."

A similar certificate was procured by Henry Daw- son Jan. 21, 1780, while the commissioners were in session at Cox's Fort, for which he was granted two hundred and fifty acres of land "on the waters of Redstone, to include his settlement thereon made in the year 1771." This certificate and entry claim Henry Dawson assigned to Joseph Little, Feb. 23, 1786, and on March 23, 1811, Little sold it to Samuel Musgrove and Robert Davis. The land in question lies adjoining the Eleanor Dawson tract and William Rankin's farm on the east, and joins the James Finley property on the west. George Dawson's son Nicholas removed to the Virginia Pan Handle and died there, leaving two sons, John and George. The latter lived at Brownsville. His son, John L. Dawson, became very prominent at the bar and in political life. His last years were passed on "Friendship Hill," where he died. John Dawson, the other son of Nicholas, was quite a prominent lawyer, and well known in public life. E. Bailey Dawson, of Uniontown, is his son. Elizabeth M. Dawson, daughter of George and Eleanor Dawson, married Col. William Swearingen. Their great-grandson now lives on the original prop- erty in North Union.

John Hankins, a native of North Carolina, came with his wife and children to Beesontown in this county in 1784. On June 11, 1786, in pursuance of a warrant dated June 2d, there was surveyed to him a traet of land in North Union township containing one hundred and twelve acres, the same upon which his grandson, William Hankins, now lives. On the north side of his land was that of Richard Waller ; on the east, that of Dennis Springer; south, that of James Rankin ; and west, that of Uriah and William Martin. Martin was then in possession of the tract,

675

. NORTH UNION AND SOUTH UNION TOWNSHIPS.

and had built a cabin upon it, besides having cleared a part of the land. These improvements Mr. Hankins bought and moved into the cabin, while Martin took up one hundred and eighty-three acres in the vicinity, for which he received a warrant May 30, 1788. At the same time Mr. Hankins purchased the one hun- dred and twelve acres mentioned above he also bought another tract of one hundred acres. This he after- wards sold to Matthew Clark, and it now belongs to Col. Samuel Evans. The sons of John Hankins were James, William, Samuel, Richard, and Arthur. They lived in this section until they reached man- hood, when, with the exception of James, they all removed to Tennessee.

When Mr. Hankins removed his family to this county James was but four years old. He remained upon his father's farm and died there, leaving two sons, William and John. William still lives on the homestead where he was born. His son, Dr. John Hankins, is practicing medicine in Uniontown. John Hankins, the brother of William, and second son of James, lives on a farm that his father bought of Benjamin Lincoln.

Joseph Huston came to Union township in 1790, and in the same year was elected sheriff of the county. He had previously lived with his father in Tyrone, and afterwards with Col. James Paull in Kentucky, and for many years he led a roving life. On Oct. 5, 1791, the year after his election to the sheriffalty, he bought ninety-four and one-quarter acres of land on Redstone Creek, in what is now North Union, it being a part of the tract of land which had been pat- ented to Samuel McCarty, under the name of " Union Grove." On Feb. 20, 1792, he purchased of Henry Beeson lot 39, in Uniontown, that where Mrs. Dr. David Porter now lives. Subsequently he bought the lot and built the brick house which adjoins the resi- dence of E. Bailey Dawson upon the west, and which he afterwards sold to Jonathan Rowland. For several years Joseph Huston pursued a mercantile business. Becoming interested in the manufacture of iron, he, in December, 1795, purchased of Dennis Springer a share in fifty-one acres of land in North Union, ad- joining that of John Patrick and Ephraim Douglass, which was patented to Jacob Knapp in May, 1788, and a part of it sold to Dennis Springer in the same year. On this land Huston Springer built the " Huston Old Forge." In 1803, Huston bought of Jeremiah Pears the Redstone Furnace, in the present township of South Union, and continued the business at these places until near the time of his death. His wife was Mary, daughter of John Smilie, and by her he had two daughters,-Jane, who married Isaiah II. Mar- shall (at one time manager of the Fairfield Furnace), and Sarah, who became Mrs. Andrew Bryson, Jr. Mrs. Huston died in 1799, and Mr. Huston in 1824, aged sixty-one years. Of Joseph Huston's brothers, William and John, the former lived in Tyrone township until his death in 1821, and his son Eli

still resides there. In 1783 John lived in Union- town, where for two or three years he kept a tavern. He purchased lands on tax titles until 1792, when he went to Kentucky.

Some time previous to 1791, Benjamin Lincoln, son of Mordecai Lincoln, left his home in Perry township, Dauphin Co., and emigrated to the west side of the mountains, and lived for a time on the Rankin farm in Union township. While there his father visited him, and was so well pleased with the country and its prospects that on June 29, 1791, he purchased of Isaac Pearce the tract of land called " Discord," containing three hundred and twenty acres. Mordecai Lincoln had four children,-Benja- min, John, Ann, and Sarah. A few years later Ben- jamin purchased a farm on Whitely Creek, in Greene County. Afterwards he became the owner of the farm now occupied by John Hankins, and lived there until his death. John and Ann Lincoln went to Virginia. Sarah was married before coming to North Union to John Jones, a Philadelphian of Welsh descent. Jones remained upon the old farm until the death of Mordecai Lincoln, when he became its purchaser. He lived there until 1802, when he died, and was buried in the family burying-ground where his father-in-law and other members of the family had been laid. The children of John and Sarah Jones were six in number, of whom William, Ann, and John remained in this township, and the other three went West. William lived a bachelor on a part of the homestead, and died in 1872, aged eighty-three years. Ann married Daniel Canon (brother of Col. John Canon, of Washington County), and resided in Uniontown. John is still living on the homestead farm. This farm, like many others in this section, is underlaid with a vein of coal, nine feet in thickness. The Youngstown Coke Company have purchased the right to mine the coal under this farm and some others adjoining. On this, which was the Isaac Pearce tract, was one of the early "Set- tlers' Forts," built for protection against the Indians.

In the year 1796, Jacob Lewis, accompanied by his sons Freeman and John, came from Basking Ridge, N. J., and settled in the vicinity of Uniontown (near Hogsett's Station), at Minor's mill. Jacob came as a miller for John Minor. At that time Freeman Lewis was sixteen years of age. He studied surveying with Col. McClean, and assisted him in many of his sur- veys. He was also employed with Jonathan Knight, when surveying the route of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, as well as in most of the important works of surveying in the western part of the State. He was appointed county surveyor by Governor Wolf, and held the office until the incoming of Governor Ritner. Freeman Lewis was a fine musician, and published a book on the " Beauties of Harmony." In December, 1809, he married Rebecca Crafts, daughter of David Crafts, and for several years taught school at Union- town. From 1814 to 1829 he lived in Merrittstown,

676

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

after which he removed to Uniontown, staying there until his death, Sept. 18, 1859. The map of Fayette County, published by Freeman Lewis in 1832, is re- produced in the pages of this history. His sons were three,-Levi, Thomas, and John. The first two live in Uniontown, and John is a civil engineer and sur- veyor in Ohio.

John Lewis, the other son of Jacob Lewis, was a saddler, and learned his trade of John Campbell. His home was in Uuiontown, and his sons, Samuel and Marshall Lewis, are still living there, the former having filled the office of justice of the peace for many years.

Andrew Bryson emigrated to this country from Ire- land, and Oct. 29, 1799, purchased of Hugh Rankin one hundred and seventy-three acres in this township. He lived and died upon the place, and his son An- I drew is still living there, very far advanced in years. The sons of Andrew Bryson, Jr.,-John H., Andrew, and Robert,-are also residents of North Union, occu- pying the homestead and other lands adjoining.

Jesse Evans was a native of Wales, who having emigrated to America, was for many years a resident of Springhill township in this county. In 1831 he removed from there to " Spring Grove" farm, a large tract of land which his son Samuel had purchased some ten years previous. His active business life was passed in the supervision of Springhill Furnace, with which he was connected from 1797 to 1831. He was also quite extensively engaged in mercantile pursuits, conducting branch stores in many different sections. His official career as justice of the peace extended over many years, and was throughout very honorable. The last years of his life were passed upon his farm and in Uniontown, where he died in 1842 at an ad- vanced age. Samuel Evans, a son of Jesse Evans, was born June 5, 1800. His earliest education was acquired at the academy at Dunlap's Creek, and in 1812 he en- tered the academy at Uniontown, then in charge of Dr. James Dunlap. When eighteen years of age he entered the office of Judge John Kennedy as a stu- dent of law ; remained there three years, when he went to Philadelphia and studied with Jonathan W. Ephraim Douglass, although a settler in Uniontown, purchased forty-one acres of land known as Douglass Bottom, lying north of the fair-grounds, and another tract of three hundred and thirty-nine acres. In his later years he lived in what is now North Union town- ship, and died there in July, 1833. But his earlier life, after his settlement in Fayette County, was passed in Uniontown, in the history of which bor- ough he is more fully mentioned. His son Ephraim died in 1839. His daughter Sarah was the wife of Daniel Keller, a well-known iron-master of this county. Another daughter, Eliza, was the wife of Allen King, of Clark County, Ohio. Condy, a prominent lawyer of that city. Upon his return to Uniontown he commenced the practice of law, which he continued for two years, and then served oue term as member of the State Assembly. In 1825, Col. Evans, Thomas Irwin, John Kennedy, and James Todd were appointed a committee from Fayette County to attend a convention at Harrisburg, the object of which was the consideration of plans for the development of public improvements. The result was the adoption of a comprehensive system which included the construction of the canals of the State. Of the one hundred and thirty delegates who attended that convention, Col. Evans is the only one now living. James Gallagher purchased and became a settler upon a tract of land on the north bank of Redstone Creek, adjoining Uniontown, now in North Union Soon after this he and Judge Irwin made a trip to Buffalo, from thence to Albany and New York City, for the purpose of examining the Erie Canal (then . township. To this property was given the name of

just completed) and other public improvements. The winters of Col. Evans' early life, after 1823, were many of them passed by him at Baltimore, that he might have opportunity for examining the old docu- ments and maps pertaining to the early history of the country. The fruits of his labors in this direction were many and valuable, and were passed over to Mr. Veech, in the preparation of his " Monongahela of Old." Among the old maps is one which shows Redstone Creek under the French name " La Petite Rivière." His intimate association with the promi- nent men of the country in its early days, and his thorough knowledge of the history of the county, make him a cyclopædia of interesting reminiscences and information. He owns and lives upon a tract of land of 1500 acres about two miles from Uniontown, in which is included Hugh Crawford's "Grant of Preference" of 500 acres. This part is in the bottoni- lands below Col. Evans' house, where Philip Shute built the tub-mill, the ruins of which are still visible.

William Craig was a native of Ireland, who emi- grated to this country in 1785, settling at East Lib- erty, where in later years he started a store. In the year 1798 he married Jane Smilie, a daughter of John Smilie, and about 1811 removed to Union township and commenced work in Huston's old forge, where he was intrusted in the manufacture of nails. Mrs. Craig died in 1835, and Mr. Craig in 1838. They left one son, John S. Craig, who in 1817 commenced work in Huston's old forge, and soon took the man- agement of it. Three years later he went to Dunbar Creek, where for a year he had the supervision of a rolling-mill, also the property of Joseph Huston. As Mr. Huston sold the rolling-mill to Isaac Meason, John Craig returned to the old forge, and remained until he was twenty-two years of age. He then i spent two years at Redstone Furnace, and in 1827 purchased the farm where Robert Huston now lives Leaving that, he spent a few years in Menallen town- ship and in the West, after which he returned to Union township, and in 1850 purchased the farm on which he now resides in North Union.

677

NORTH UNION AND SOUTH UNION TOWNSHIPS.

" James' Fancy." Mr. Gallagher's grandson still oc- cupies a part of this farm.

ERECTION OF THE TOWNSHIP AND LIST OF OFFICERS.

The partition of old Union township into the pres- ent divisions of North Union and South Union was effected by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, approved March 11, 1851, which provided and de- clared, "That hereafter the township of Union, in the county of Fayette, shall be, and is hereby divided into two separate election districts, to be called North and South Union ; and that the Cumberland road be the dividing line between the same; and each towuship shall have a separate window to vote at, in the court- house in the borough of Uniontown."

The township of North Union then, nnder this division, is bounded on the north by Franklin and Dunbar townships, on the east by Dunbar and Whar- tou, on the south and southwest by the borough of Uniontown and the township of South Union (against which last named the boundary is formed by the old National road), and on the west by the township of Menallen. The population of the township by the census of 1880 was 3170.

The list of township officers1 of North Union from its formation until the present time is as follows :

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

1855. Abraham Hayden. . 1869. Asher M. Bailey.

1857. Jonathan D. Springer.

1872. J. D. Springer.

1860. William Wallace.

1875. William M. Shipley.

Abraham Hayden. 1877. Enoch M. Abraham.

1862. Elisha D. Emerson. 1878. George Gearing.

George Yeagley.

1879. John W. MeDowell.

1864. Asher M. Bailey.

1880. William W. Clark.

1867. Elisha D. Emerson.

1881. Samuel W. Jones.

AUDITORS.

1851. James H. Springer.

1867. Robert Junk.

· 1853. Thomas II. Fenn.

1868. William W. Clark.

1854. Dennis Springer.

1869. Samuel Jones.

1855. 1Ienry Jeffries.

Samuel Beatty.

1856. Thomas 1I. Fenn.

1870. Thomas Junk.

1874. Moses Foster.

1875. William W. Clark. Sherman Frazee.

1876. John Junk.

1877. John B. logsett.

1878. B. V. Jones.

1879. S. W. Jones.

1865. William Swan.

1880. John H. Bryson.

1866. John C. Johnston.

1881. James Hankins.

ASSESSORS.

1851-52. John S. Craig.

1861. Wilson Hutchinson.

1853-54. James T. McClean.

1862. Joho S. Craig.

1855. Calvin Springer.

1863. William Darlington.

1856. John Gallagher.

1864. John S. Craig.

1857. Emannel Browo.

1865-67. James McClean.

1858. James McClean.

1868. Stephen Hawkins.

1859. James McKean.

1869. Mordecai Lincoln.

1 The list here given is nearly complete, thongli not entirely so, on account of the imperfection of records and election returns.

1869. Abraham Iluston. 1879. M. A. Foster.

1870. John S. Craig. James Hanan.

1873-74. John Foster.

1880. Fuller Carson.

1875-76. Emmanuel Maust.

1881. W. S. Jobes.

Moses A. Foster.

SCHOOLS.

One of the earliest schools in what is now North Union was taught, not long after the commencement of the present century, by James Todd, afterwards attorney-general of the State, in a house situated near Mount Braddock, on land adjoining the Pearce tract. There are few, if any, surviving of the scholars who attended that school except Mr. John Jones, now eighty years of age, who has still a vivid recollection of attending there under the teaching of "School- master" Todd.

In 1822 a school was taught in a log building stand- ing on the Widow Murphy place, now owned by Robert Hogsett. This school was then under charge of Hugh Ellerton, but the names of his predecessors and successors, if there were any, have not been as- certained. About 1826 the people of the vicinity united to build a large log school-house on the site of the present one near William Hankins'. In that school-house Daniel Keller, who had been identified with the early iron interests of this section, taught from the time of its erection till the inauguration of the free-school system under the law of 1834.

In 1857 the county superintendent reported for this township nine schools, nine teachers, four hundred and sixty-four scholars, and the sum of $1430 levied for school purposes.

The township is now (1881) divided into seven school districts. The report for the last year gives five hundred and sixty-three pupils, eleven teachers ; total expenditure, 82014.25 ; valuation of school prop- erty in the township, $10,000.

Following is given a list of those who have served as school directors in North Union from the division of the old township to the present time :

1851 .- Charles G. Turner, Abram Hayden.

1852 .- Dennis Sutton, James McClean.

1853 .- H. W. Beeson, Andrew Bryson, Henry Yeagley.

1854 .- Andrew Bryson, J. D. Springer, Elisha D. Emerson. 1856 .- William Robinson.

1857 .- John Clark, J. D. Springer.

1858 .- Parker C. Pusey, Adam Cannon.

1859 .- Henry Yeagley, William H. Henshaw.

1861 .- Adam Cannon, James Henshaw, Moses Farr.

1862 .- Lacey Hibbs.

1863 .- William Hawkins, Henry Foster.

1864 .- James Henshaw, Charles Shriver, Lewis Stewart.

1865 .- William Carson, Upton Spear, William Bryson, George Faring.

1866 .- James Henshaw, William Hawkins, Jacob M. Lewellyn.

1867 .- Thomas Junk, Henry Foster.

1868 .- John Rankin, William Shipley.

1869 .- James Henshaw, James Ilannan.

1870 .- William Shipley, Samuel Carter.

1873 .- Robert Hogsett, Thomas Frost.

1874 .- William Shipley, Samuel Carter, William Phillips.

1857. William Bryson.

1858. Isaac Jeffries.

1859-60. Thomas H. Fenn.

1861. Andrew Bryson.

1862. William W. Clark.

1863. N. B. Jones.

1864. William Darlington.

678

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

1875 .- William McShane, John Hankins. 1876 .- Andrew Bryson, Jr., Robert Hogsett. 1877 .- Samuel Carter.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 152

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