USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 162
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The Perryopolis Glass-Works is a name well known in this region, but very little definite information can now be obtained concerning their starting and subse- quent operation. They were carried on by Thomas Bleakley, whose management resulted in disastrous failure and the sale by the sheriff of abont twenty of the best farms in this section, their owners having sunk their property in subscriptions to the stock of the glass company. After 1830 the glass-works prop- erty came into the possession of John F. Martin and The first tavern in Perryopolis was opened in 1815, by Caleb Porter, on the corner where Davidson's Jonathan Baker, and under their management be- came more successful. Later it came into the hands | Hall now stands. In this house all the public meet- 46
of Henry B. Goucher, under whom the business lan- guished, and was finally discontinued. The property now belongs to the heirs of the late Andrew Stewart.
The Youghioghieny Banking Company was organ- ized in 1814 by Eastern men, who succeeded in in- ducing the farmers through this section to subscribe largely to its stock. The only definite knowledge ob- tained of any of the affairs of this bank is the follow- ing advertisement, found iu the columns of the Genius of Liberty of the year indicated, viz. :
" YOUGHIOGHENY BANKING COMPANY.
"Stockholders to attend at the house of Caleb B. Potter, in Perryopolis, on Monday, Nov. 18, 1816, in order to elect a Cashier, and for other purposes.
" JOSEPH BENNETT, " Cashier pro tem.
" PERRYOPOLIS, Oct. 19, 1816."
The affairs of the bank were wound up gradually, and the management finally came into the hands of Robert Lynch and Jesse Arnold, and every dollar of its notes (presented for payment) was redeemed. So that the public lost nothing, though the original stockholders lost all. The old stone banking-house, on Liberty Street, was purchased by John F. Martin, who afterwards kept a store in it. It is now occupied by the Perryopolis post-office.
David Barnes and Joseph Barnet came here from Connellsville soon after the opening of the glass- works, and sunk a well near Washington's Run to the depth of nearly three hundred feet in the hope of finding salt water. Their expectations were realized to the extent that they struck a vein of strong salt water, from which they were enabled to produce about two hundred bushels of salt, and they began to en- tertain high hopes of brilliant success, when, at the end of about a week, the flow suddenly and entirely ceased, and the manufacture of salt in Perryopolis was terminated, probably forever.
published in Perryopolis has not been ascertained. The office where it was published was on a lot oppo- site the residence of John Fuller. Campbell, the editor and publisher, had moved from Uniontown in 1812 to Washington township, where, in January, 1813, he married Priscilla, daughter of John Porter. The paper which he started in Perryopolis was short- lived, and after its discontinuance he removed to New Lisbon, Ohio, where he soon after commenced the publication of another journal.
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
ings of that time were held. Gen. Lafayette dined there in 1825, when on his way from Uniontown to Cookstown (Fayette City) and Pittsburgh. Among the landlords of the place from time to time were John Waldron, George Hazen, and Moses Jeffries, the latter of whom lived at the lower end of the town, where James Shepard now lives.
Among the early blacksmiths of Perryopolis were Daniel Fields, whose shop was on the school-house lot; Thomas Van Hook, on the McDonald lot; and . was kept in operation till 1868. William Kyle, where Adam Hixenbaugh now has a shop. In 1830, Mr. Hixenbaugh took the shop, and has been in the business continuously till the present time.
Samuel Porter came from Greene County, Pa., to Perryopolis in 1819. He was connected with the glass-works till about 1851, when he bought a part of the Turnbull tract, north of the Youghiogheny River, where his son James now lives,-a part of the old Secrist tract. On this land he, with his son John, quarried stone for furnace use until 1860. About that time stone of the same quality was discovered in the mountains above Connellsville, where John and James Porter are now engaged in the quarrying of it.
The first resident physician in Perryopolis was Dr. Thomas Hersey, one of the original proprietors of the town. He afterwards removed to the West. Among those who succeeded him in practice here were the following-named physicians : Dr. William Morris practiced and died here. Dr. McSherry came from Brownsville, practiced here for a time, and after- wards removed to Mineral Point, Wis. These were followed in practice by Dr. Mitchell ; Dr. James E. Estep (died here in 1836); Drs. Patterson, Way, Crawford, Gordon, Johnson, F. Shugart, James Storer, Robinson, Abrams, H. B. Arnold, Grader, and McKos- key. The present physicians of the town are Drs. O. P. MeKay and J. H. Davidson.
Dr. Mckay studied medicine at Washington, Pa., with Dr. J. W. Blatchley ; attended lectures at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati ; came to Perryop- olis Feb. 12, 1866, and has since been in practice in the town to the present time.
Dr. Davidson is a native of Redstone township. He studied medicine with Dr. S. W. Chalfant, at Upper Middletown ; attended lectures at the Western Reserve Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio; has been in practice in Perryopolis since Dec. 12, 1872. He is a member of the Fayette County Medical Society.
The postmasters of Perryville from the establish- ment of the office to the present time have been (as nearly as can be ascertained ) as follows: Caleb Trevor, Moses Jeffries, William McCray, Adam Hixenbaugh, John Ebbert, Allen Murphy, John Voorhees, James Murphy, William Grist, John McCullough, Mary Campbell, and Lucy Martin, the present incumbent.
In 1838 a pottery was put in operation where
Aaron Higbee now lives in Perryopolis. It continued to be worked by him for about fifteen years, then it was sold to John Ebbert, who ran it for one year. He sold to Thomas Suttle, who carried it on for about twenty years, after which it was discontinued. The kiln is still standing.
David Anderson, of Pittsburgh, built a pottery below the glass-works and near Washington Run in 1859. Three years later it was sold to John A. Murphy. It
John Porter & Brothers started a pottery in 1859 in the rear of the Methodist Church. It was in oper- ation only about three years, and then discontinued.
The sand and clay of Perryopolis and vicinity were found to be admirably adapted to the manufacture of glass and pottery-ware. Large quantities of sand were shipped about 1825 from this place to Pitts- burgh, Monongahela City, Brownsville, Cookstown, and Elizabethtown. A vein of clay sixteen feet in thickness was used largely, both for the pottery-works here and for shipment to other markets.
In the year 1853, when stone blocks were being contributed from all the States of the Union for the erection of the Washington Monument, at Washing- ton, D. C., a block for that purpose was quarried by Pierson Cope, owner of a part of the Washington Bottoms, from which it was taken. Its removal from the quarry to the "Diamond" in Perryopolis was made the occasion of a Fourth of July (1853) cele- bration, of which Gen. Joseph Markle was the presi- dent; William Campbell (who lived on the site of the old Washington house), Dr. David Porter, and others, vice-presidents ; and Col. William Y. Roberts, orator of the day. The procession which escorted the block from the quarry to the " Diamond" was large, and ac- companied by a band of music. The stone (five feet in length and eighteen inches square) was loaded on a wagon drawn by four fine horses, trimmed and dec- orated with flowers and evergreens. Sitting on the block, and dressed in " regimentals," was an old negro called "Funty Munty," or Simon Washington, who had been a slave, and owned by Gen. Washington. This old man, with a stone hammer in his hand, occa- sionally pecked the stone, so that it might truthfully be said not only that the block was taken from land once owned by Gen. Washington, but that it was worked by one of his former slaves. The celebration was attended by nearly three hundred people, and great enthusiasm was manifested on the occasion.
Schools were taught at different times in an early day in several of the dwelling-houses of Perryopolis. Mrs. John F. Martin remembers attending school about 1820 in the bank building, where she now lives. The school was taught by a man named Tower, and afterwards by Isaac C. Murphy and - Ayres. In 1828 a school-house was erected on lot No. 69, which had been designated and set apart in the original plat
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PERRY TOWNSHIP.
and charter for the purpose of a male school. Under the school law of the State, this school-house came under charge of the school directors. It was used for schools for some years, and then abandoned. The present school-house was built in 1852, on lot No. 79, which was donated by the proprietors in the char- ter of the town for " Paupery." The schools of Perry- opolis are at present under charge of Noah Patton as principal.
A lodge of the Independent Order of Good Tem- plars was chartered in Perryopolis in May, 1879, with John A. Ebbert as W. C. Templar, and Miss Lucy A. Martin as Vice-Templar. It now contains about thirty-five members. The present (1881) officers are : Noah Patton, W. C. T .; Mollie Strawn, V. T .; Walter Hixenbaugh, Sec .; Lewis Herwick, Treas. Meetings are held in Davidson's Hall.
Fayette Lodge, No. 172, Ancient Order of United Workmen, was chartered March 23, 1880, with six- teen members. It now (June, 1881) contains twenty- seven. The present officers of the lodge are as named below : P. M. W., E. K. Chalfant; M. W., William C. Drumm ; Foreman, Joseph Newcomer ; Overseer, T. G. Herwick; Recorder, N. O. Stinger; Financier, J. H. Davidson ; Receiver, J. Baker, Jr.
The population of Perryopolis by the census of 1880 was three hundred and twenty-one.
LAYTON STATION.
This railway station, which has given its name to the small village clustered about it, is located on the right bank of the Youghiogheny River, in the east part of Perry township, on the line of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad, and was established at the time of the opening of that line. The first store was opened there by Henry H. Brollier, who was also a telegraph operator. He became successful in trade, and afterwards left the place and removed West. His successor in the store was James Stickle, who kept it two or three years, and sold to Baugh & Drumm, who are the present proprietors. Another store was opened by P. M. Hunt in 1876, and one has recently been built for Carson & Carr. The first postmaster at Layton Station was Henry H. Brollier, who was succeeded by James Carson, the present incumbent.
About 1868 the rock on the farm of Joseph Wilgus, at Layton, was found to contain a large percentage of pure silex, rendering it valuable in the manufac- ture of glass. Samples were sent to Pittsburgh, where its quality was pronounced excellent, and from that time to the present large quantities of it have been shipped to that city for use in the glass-works. Mr. Wilgus has sold a part of his land (about four acres) containing the rock to Noah Spear, who is con- stantly employed in supplying it for the glass-works in Pittsburgh. The amount now shipped daily to that place averages forty tons.
A bed of fire-clay, lying above the sand-rock, is found admirably adapted for union with German clay for fire-pots, and also unites well with the Missouri clay. This fire-clay is taken out and shipped by Mr. Wilgus at eight dollars per ton. In the past twelve years he has sold it to the amount of thirty thousand dollars, mostly for shipment to Pittsburgh. There is also found on his tract a Bond clay, which is used for the manufacture of fire-brick. In the year 1871 " The Diamond Fire-Brick Company" commenced work at this place, and in 1879 sold out to Davidson & Drumm, who have manufactured about two million bricks the past year. About an equal number are manufactured by the Keystone Fire-Brick Company, who com- menced operations in the spring of 1880. These bricks are chiefly used in the construction of furnaces and coke-ovens.
Land on the bottoms along the Youghiogheny River was, in the early years, considered as of little value, and the locality was known as "Poverty Neck," but it has since proved a mine of wealth to its posses- sors by reason of the development of its sand-rock and fire-clay resources.
" Big Falls" in the Youghiogheny, near Layton Station, is a place noted for the many drownings and other accidents which have occurred in its swift cur- rent. In 1805 a man named Moorhead was drowned there by the swamping of a flat-boat. In 1807 an- other accident of the same kind occurred at this place, resulting in the death of one man. In 1810 a Mr. Dougherty, when in liquor (as was said), attempted to ford the river here and was drowned. In 1814 a flat- boat, loaded with pig-metal, was sunk here and one man drowned. In the same year George Ebbert and Martin Kennedy, both of Perryopolis, were drowned here from a raft of logs. In 1822 a man, while at- tempting to land an iron-loaded flat-boat, after pass- ing through the dangers of the falls, jumped for the shore, but fell into the river and was drowned. In 1834 a coal-boat coming down the river at a high stage of water was wrecked at this place, drowning four men,-Andrew Burtt, John Franklin, Andrew Knight, and Wesley Johns. In 1836, Andrew Bobb was killed while assisting in turning a flat-boat. In 1839, Uriah Strickler was drowned while attempting to take a boat through the falls. The accident oc- curred in March, but the body of the drowned man was not found till the following May. In 1850 a man was lost from a log raft above Connellsville, and his body was found a month later at these falls.
SCHOOLS OF THE TOWNSHIP.
Under the operation of the public school law of 1834, school districts were organized in the territory now Perry township, then included in Washington and Tyrone. After the erection of Perry as a separate township it was redistricted as it is at the present time into seven school districts, as follows :
Summer Hill District is in the north part of the
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
township, bordering on the line of Westmoreland County, and west of the Youghiogheny River. The school-house is nearly in the territorial centre of the district.
West Point District embraces all the territory of the township lying between the Youghiogheny and Jacob's Creek.
Poplar Hill District lies west of Perryopolis, and extends to the west line of the township. The school- honse is located near the line.
Perry District embraces the greater part of the vil- lage of Perryopolis, and extends northwardly to the Youghiogheny.
Herschel District includes part of the village of Perryopolis, and extends eastward along the Youghio- gheny. The school-house is about a mile southeast of the village.
Stickle District lies in the southwest part of the township. The school-house is near the centre of the district, on the main road running southwest from Perryopolis.
Jackson District is in the southeast part of the township. Its school-house is near the residence of J. B. Blair.
The number of pupils attending the several schools of the township in 1880-81 was four hundred and forty-four. Number of teachers, nine; valuation of school property, $8000; total expenditure for educa- tional purposes during the school year, $1632.50.
Following is a list of persons who have been elected school directors in Perry from the organization of the township to 1881, viz. :
1840. Henry Stimel. 1852. Henry Stone.
Joseph Luce.
John Patterson.
John Hewitt.
Josiah King.
Robert Bleakley.
1853. Josiah King.
1841. Pierson Cope.
1842. Joseph Bute.
1843. Alexander Armstrong.
David Potter.
1855. Joel Cooper. Peter Darr.
1844. Presley St. Clair. John Dewilter.
Edward Stickle.
1856. Josiah King. Eli MeLeaD.
1845. Jobn H. Blaney.
James Piersall. Jacob Strickler.
1858. James Cope.
1846. Ralph Whilsett.
Lewis Eberhart. Josiah King.
1847. Amos C. Strawn. Job Rossell.
1848. James Patterson. William Price.
Henry Stimel.
1861. Samuel Uncksterter.
John Purcell.
James Gwinn.
1850. Jaures Blair.
Joel Strawn. Jub Rossell.
1851. Adam Higinbaugh. William Campbell. James Blair.
1863. Adam Higinbaugh. William Hopkins. Gottlieb Zizing.
1864. Joseph Luce.
1864. Robinson Murphy.
1865. William Hopkins.
J. K. McDonald. Samuel Smith. Ilenry Stine. Jobn Gwinn.
1866. William Luce. Paul Hough.
1875. Joel Strawn.
John K Marsh. Hugh Patterson.
Samuel Albertson.
1876. John H. Davidson.
1867. Joseph A. Ebbert. Philip Luce.
James Porter. Michael Layton.
John Blackman.
1868. Thomas Little. David Luce.
William Gibson.
1880. Nathaniel Stephens.
1869. William Patterson.
Asa Chambers.
1881. W. C. Drumm. Gouchen Hixenbaugh.
1870. Josiah King.
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP-BURIAL-GROUNDS.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Perryopolis was organized within a few years after the laying out of the town, and was from the first embraced on a circuit with other appointments. For many years their services were held in the school-house and in the bank building. About 1832 they erected a church edifice, which has been used as a house of worship until the present time, it having been repaired and remodeled in 1872. Among the preachers who have served this church may be named the Revs. Robert Boyd, - Sawhill, John Coyle, James Larscom, Samuel Wakefield, John Wakefield, J. C. Pershing, Patterson, Sheets, Davis, Cartie, and others. The church has now no regular pastor, but has a mem- bership of about seventy-five. It belongs to the Redstone Circuit, being one of four appointments, viz. : Perry, Upper Middletown, Jones', and Dunbar.
Other denominations hold occasional services in the village of Perryopolis.
The Harmony Church (Cumberland Presbyterian) congregation, in Perry township, first used as a house of worship a log building which was erected for the purpose on land owned by William Bleakley, where there had previously been a distillery. The present church edifice (a frame structure) was built in the fall of 1859.
Among the pastors who have labored with this con- gregation have been the Revs. John Gibson, H. J. Anderson, A. J. Swaim, James Beard, Luther Ax- tell, S. E. Hudson, and W. M. Hayes, the present pastor.
On the road leading from Perryopolis to the Red Lion, and near the township line between Perry and Jefferson, stands the old Quaker meeting-house, or rather the ruins of it, for the roof has fallen in, leav- ing only the ancient walls standing. This was built by the Friends of this vicinity so many years ago that
1870. J. D. Cope.
1873. Joseph D. Wilgus. B. C. Slocum. David Morrow. Andrew Patterson. 1874. J. R. Hough. John Blackburn.
1877. Nathaniel Stephens. Asa Chambers.
1878. W. C. Drumm. P. F. Harris.
1879. Joseph Newcomer.
William Rossell.
George W. Jackson.
John A. Murphy.
1854. Samuel Watsoo.
Jobn Porter.
i 1857. Henry Hardesty. James Porter.
James Blair. 1859. Charles Rossell.
George Anderson. David Fuller.
1860. Harvey Leeper. Samuel Hoggest. Noah Armstrong.
1849. Heory Stimel.
1862. Aaron Townsend. Henry Foster. William L. Grist.
John D. Davidson M. D.
JAMES PEIRSOL.
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PERRY TOWNSHIP.
none now living remember its erection. Adjoining the site of this old meeting-house, and also adjoining lands of S. Strickler, T. Shepard, and heirs of Benja- miu Brown, is the old Quaker burial-ground, sur- rounded by a substantial iron fence, and kept in good condition by a small fund donated by some one of the Quaker sect for the purpose. In this old cemetery- ground lie interred the remains of many of the early Friends and other settlers of the vicinity,-Jonathan Hewitt, John Shreve, Joseph Shreve, Samuel Cope, Joshua Cope, Isaac Cope, John Negus, Joseph Negus, Joseph Shepard, William Nntt, Jesse Couldron, Wil- liam Griffith, and many others. With the exception of this old ground the places of interment of those who died in Perry township in early years were upon the farms.
In Perryopolis a burial-ground was established on the land of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but burials are now chiefly made in the Mount Washing- ton Cemetery, which was laid out on land taken for the purpose from the farm of Cyrus Martin, about a mile and a half south of the town.
There is also a cemetery in use at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the Browneller settlement.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JOHN H. DAVIDSON, M.D.
Although a young man, Dr. John H. Davidson, of Perryopolis, is one of the prominent physicians of Fayette County. Hewas born Nov. 15, 1845, in Red- stone township, Fayette Co., at the old Brownfield tavern stand, two miles east of Brownsville, on the National pike. His early life was passed upon his father's farm in much the same manner that farmers' boys usually spend their time. He was educated in the common schools and Dunlap's Creek Academy, and read medicine in the office of Dr. Samnel B. Chalfant, of Upper Middletown, Fayette Co., and attended lectures at and graduated from the Medical Department of the Western Reserve University, of Cleveland, Ohio. He began his course in this college in 1868, and graduated in 1870. He was married Dec. 26, 1871, to Chilnissae J. Chalfant, danghter of Dr. S. B. and Elizabeth Chalfant. Mrs. Davidson died June 27, 1877. They had one child, Clayton Torrance David- son, now a bright boy of eight years. The doctor was married again Jan. 10, 1881, to Mary E., the sister of his former wife.
Dr. Davidson is of English stock. His father, Jacob Davidson, was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., and married Hannah Kelley, of the same county. Soon after his marriage he located upon the farm where the doctor was born. He died in 1858. Mr. Davidsou's occupation was farming. He was a
prominent member of the United Brethren Church, and was noted for his piety, and was a local preacher.
The doctor's grandfather, Jacob Davidson, was born in England. When quite young his father, who was a minister of the gospel, emigrated to America, and located in Philadelphia. Jacob, the doctor's grandfather, married Mary Young, of Franklin Connty, Pa. They came to Fayette County in 1837, and settled on the Basil Brown tract of land, near Brownsville. He died April 15, 1856, aged seventy- four years. He was a miller by trade, owned a large amount of land, and was long a director in the Mo- nongahela Bank, of Brownsville.
After graduating Dr. Davidson first practiced his profession in company with his preceptor and father- in-law, Dr. Chalfant. He located in Perryopolis in December, 1872. From the beginning his practice there has been large and lucrative. He is recognized as a skillful physician. His judgment is excellent ; his knowledge of men and general business acute. He has held the office of school director in Perry township, and, according to a late connty superin- tendent of schools, was one of the very best directors in Fayette County. His possessions are houses, lands, bank stock, brick-works, hook accounts, energy, good health, good sense or brains.
The doctor's maternal grandfather, Jacob Kelley, was born in England, came to America when young, and settled in Westmoreland County, Pa.
Dr. Davidson's parents, Jacob and Mary Davidson, were married June 2, 1835, and had ten children, nine of whom are living,-Mary, married to John Rice, Nov. 2, 1855; Elizabeth, married March 12, 1862, to Otho Brashear; Kate, married Jan. 23, 1867, to Benton Bennett; Lou, married Jan. 3, 1871, to James F. Grable; Haddie, married July 24, 1873, to Jesse Coldren; Anna, married Nov. 12, 1874, to Luther Noble; Amos W., married May 29, 1878, to Maggie Vernon ; and Ada, who is single.
JAMES PEIRSOL.
Among the old families of Perry township we find the name of Peirsol. The first of the family to settle in Fayette County was William Peirsol, who bought of Thomas Estel, in 1784, the farm now owned in part by James and Lewis Peirsol. He was married to Miss Grace Cope, and was born, according to the Cope genealogical history, about the year 1748. For a time Mr. Peirsol lived in a rndely built cabin, which in time gave way to a log house, which at that time was considered a model of elegance and comfort, and which still stands on the farm of James Peirsol. In this he resided till his death at a ripe old age. His children were John, born in 1782; Sarah, 1785; Jere- miah, 1787 ; Samuel, 1789; Mary, 1792; Elizabeth, 1794; William, 1797 ; and James, the subject of this sketch, May 29, 1799. All of the children grew to man's and woman's estate. On the 29th day of June,
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
1823, James was married to Elizabeth Gue, who was , owned by James Carson. In 1840 he built a house born Oct. 2, 1806. To them have been born John, near Perryopolis, in which he resided till his death, Nov. 7, 1844; his wife died July 24, 1838. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. June 10, 1825 ; Mary Jane, Dec. 2, 1827 ; James A., Feb. 5, 1830 ; Sarah, Feb. 6, 1832; Joseph, July 4, 1834 ; Emeline, Feb. 2, 1837 ; Edith, March 17, 1839; Nancy V., May 6, 1842 ; and Jacob L., Nov. 28, 1851. After his marriage he went to Ohio and settled on a tract of wild land owned by his father. Here he re- mained four years, clearing away the forests and im- proving the farm when not engaged in his favorite pursuit of hunting, of which he was passionately fond, and at which he became an expert. Not liking his new home, he returned at the expiration of the four years, his place being filled by an older brother. On the death of his father the old homestead fell to him, on which he still resides and to which he has added, until it now comprises 300 acres of valuable land. For more than thirty years Mr. Peirsol has been a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and through a long life has been an honored and respected citizen.
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