History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 88

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 88

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In September, 1809, the school-house again needed repairs, and Caleb Trevor and Joshua Gibson were appointed to see that necessary repairs were made.

The following extracts from the borough records have reference to teachers and other school matters.

" Oliver Sproul, schoolmaster, ended his first quar- ter July 1, 1811 ; had 37} scholars."

" April 8, 1812, Settled with Oliver Sproul at a meeting of the Council this day, and took his note to Treasurer for $22 in full of Arrearages until this day." Settlement was again made August 10th.

On the 17th of April, 1812, Council " resolved to accept the two lots on the east of the former school lots, it being the present from Alexander Addison for the use of an English school or schools." The deed for these lots was executed by Zachariah Connell (a present from Alexander Addison), May 30, 1812.

March 12, 1814, a meeting was held by the Council " for the purpose of considering whether they will continue to employ the present teacher of the school; they agree to employ him for another half-year at the same rates as heretofore."

July 13, 1814, "Council directed the clerk to call on William Beaty, schoolmaster, for a copy of his School Articles, and to give a Bond for Rent of 123 cents each scholar per quarter." Clerk reported at next meeting that Mr. Beaty refused to give copy or bond, and on the next meeting, July 30th of the same year, the Council " took the matter into consideration, and agreed to continue Mr. Beaty in the School for three Months longer, without conditions."

In November, 1814, " the Council considered whether they will employ Seth Elias as schoolmaster. After consideration, they agree to confer with him on Wed- nesday, the 9th inst." No further action in reference to this man is found recorded.

Aug. 15, 1816, Council resolved that Oliver Sproul be " continued as School-Master at the Borough School- House another quarter." There is nothing found to show whether or not Sproul had been teaching in the borough school continuously from the date of the previous reference to him.

Sept. 22, 1817, "Mr. A. Baldwin, Chairman of the Council, suggested that the Sunday-school was an infringement on the ordinance and supplements thereto for the regulation of the Borough School. A motion was made by Esq. George Mathiot, and sec- onded, to take the sense of the Council on the above subject, which was done, and determined in the nega- tive. Mr. Abraham Baldwin only in the affirmative."

In 1818 the name of Oliver Sproul again appears as teacher of the borough school.

March 6, 1819, George Bell, schoolmaster, made application to the Council " for the privilege of the Borough School-House, to teach a school therein, which was granted." Oliver Sproul's account was approved, which was apparently the closing up of his service as teacher in the Connellsville school. March 16th, repairs on the school-house were ordered, with new benches, etc.

July 12, 1819, it was by the Council resolved "that Mr. G. Bell be, and he is hereby, requested to continue his school three months longer, under and subject to the same rules which he has heretofore established." And at the same time au ordinance was unanimously passed "That the 3d sect. of the 23d ordinance, in- flicting a fine of $20 on the Burgess or any member of the Council who may directly or indirectly en- courage any other teacher except the one who is em- ployed by a majority of the Council, be, and it is hereby, repealed."

On the 1st of October, 1819, "The Council being informed that Mr. Bell, the preseut teacher in the borough school-house, declines teaching after the ex- piration of the present quarter, and having an oppor- tunity of supplying his place immediately by Mr. James Killin, a young man of seventeen years of age, have agreed to receive him on trial, they to be at liberty to discharge him at the end of one month if they do not approve of him as a teacher." It appears, however, that James Killin did not then enter upon duty as teacher, neither did Bell retire, for on the 19th of April, 1820, "George Bell's time as teacher being expired, proposals were laid before the Council by William Jessup. The question whether he be em-

386

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ployed being put, was decided in the negative." On the 29th of April in the same year Dennis O'Keefe pro- posed to the Council to engage as teacher of the bor- ough school, and the Council accepted his proposition.

Among the papers brought to light in the de- molition of the old Herbert house was an article of agreement between the borough of Connellsville and Dennis O'Keefe, teacher, dated Nov. 11, 1820, which sets forth that the said O'Keefe " doth agree to teach an English School in the Borough School-House; that he shall teach Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and English Grammar ; that when his School shall con- sist of over forty scholars he shall employ one of his best scholars as an Assistant Teacher."

The school return of the teacher O'Keefe for the quarter ending in February, 1821, embodies the sub- scription paper, by which certain subscribers agreed to pay him "The sum of 82.50 each, together with 123 cents each, which is for the rent of the school- house, and an equal portion of coal towards each scholar we respectively subscribe or send for each quarter." To this was appended the following names and certification, viz. :

Scholars.1

Scholars.

" Jonathan Page ... 21 James Inglis. 1

H. Gebhart

S. G. Wurtz ...

Adam Snider.

Samuel Sharples. I

Sarah Keepers.

James Carr .... 2

Nancy White.

James Noble 1

Clement Smith,

Michael Gilmore.

Jobn Talbut

Daniel Conghenour.

James Johnston

Encal Clayton .. 1

Alexander Johnston ...

William Little.

George Marietta

Esther Campbell 1

John Salyards

Alfred McCormick 1 Hiram Herbert

" Scholars, 30. " LESTER L. NORTON,

" Treasurer of the Borough of Connellsville. "The above is a correct Return of the Borough School for the third quarter, ending in February, 1821.

" Yours with respect, "D. O'KEEFE."

In the minutes of Sept. 18, 1822, "Schoolmaster Clemens" is mentioned. Under date of March 28, 1823, appears as follows: " William Clemens Dr. to the Borough for School-House rents for the first quar- ter, $15.18[." It appears that Mr. Clemens neglected the business of his school so much that the Council ordered him to account to that body at its next meet- ing. This order brought from Mr. Clemens a state- ment, and action of the Council upon it as follows :

" William Clemens (Borough teacher) exhibited his account, which was reduced. The account rendered by Mr. Clemens is as follows, viz. :

Scholars. Days.

The number of cholars in his 5th quarter. 29

6th .. 35

...

7th

Ending the 28th May inst., 8th

.. 26 51

Total. 117 15

1 The one-half indicates that one scholar was to attend school half the time in the quarter.

" 117 scholars and 45 days, at 12} per scholar per quarter,

Amnonnts to. $14.69} Released one % of J. Cushman .... 374

$14.32

" Amount due for rent up to 28th inst., $14.32, due for school- house rent. Mr. Clemens presented his account against the borough, which was examined and adjusted and approved to amount of $2.574. Bal. due to the Borongh, $11.74}."2

Clemens was succeeded. by a Mr. Fleming, who taught the borough school in 1826. A school was opened by D. S. Knox, on Peach Street,-the lot now owned by Isaac Taylor, where Mrs. Russell lives. After a time an arrangement was made to combine the two schools, and some of the citizens of Connells- ville still recollect the day when the pupils of the Knox school were marched in a body from Peach Street to the borough school-house.

July 16, 1827 .- It was by the Council " Resolved that Mr. Lewis be permitted to teach in the Borough School-House for one year from date, without rent, he to make all repairs, and the Borough to have the use of the house for elections and other meetings."

July 31, 1828 .- Mr. McGlaughlin was "permitted to teach in the Borough School-House for one quar- ter, free of rent, except repairs."

On the 27th of October, 1829, the Council resolved "That the wreck of the school-house be exposed to public Sale on Thursday, the 8th instant." On the Sth of February following the Council

" Resolved, That Whereas a subscription bas been got up by the Citizens of the Borough for building a School-house on one of the Lots owned by the Borough for such nse. Resolved, That the building committee who may be appointed by the citizens be and they are hereby anthorized to cause said school- house to be erected on such part of said lot or lots as they may think proper or the Citizens direct. Resolved, That the pro- ceeds of the sale of the wreck of the old school-house be and are hereby appropriated towards erecting said school-house, and that the Burgess draw his order in favor of the Building Committee for the amount of said procceds. Resolved, That the said Building Committee, or any person they may contract with, have liberty to make brick for said school house on said lot or lots, or the sticet adjoining the same, and to nse the clay thereon for the purpose, provided they fill up any holes they may dig in the street in a reasonable time."

June 30, 1830, a special meeting of the Council was held to receive a memorial of the citizens of the borough and acting on it. It was presented, and after deliberation the Council " Resolved that if a Majority of the Taxable inhabitants sign a paper and present the same to the Council in the following words, to wit : ' We, the undersigned, Taxable inhabitants of the Borough of Connellsville, do object to the build- ing of a borough School-House, or any other im- provements within the Borough, by the collection of a tax or otherwise the present year,' then the pres-

" The settlements of teachers with the borough anthorities during the continuance of that system almost invariably showed the teacher to be in debt to the borough at the close of his term.

James McBride 1 Daniel Harshman 1

387

CONNELLSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP.

ent Council do hereby Resolve to repeal the ordinance regulating the Borough tax, passed June 3d instant."

With occasional resolutions by the Council to build a new school-house, and remonstrances against the same by the inhabitants of the borough, nothing was accomplished, and Connellsville remained without a borough school-house from the sale of the " wreck" of the old building until several years after the passage of the free public school law in 1834. By the pro- visions of that law, authority over the schools was transferred from the borough to the board of school directors. Such a board was constituted for Connells- ville by the appointment of William Davidson and Henry W. Lewis by the court at its January term in 1835. They were succeeded by Valentine Cough- enour and James G. Turner, who were elected in March of the same year.

In 1838, John Fuller and Dr. L. Lindley were elected school directors. At that time Connellsville was still without a school-house, all schools having been taught in rented rooms after the abandonment of the old school-house in 1829. Prominent among the schools so taught during the period referred to was the school taught by Robert Torrance, at his house on Church (Pittsburgh) Street, where he had an attendance of about eighty scholars. But when Messrs. Fuller and Lindley became the school direc- tors they determined to erect school-houses, even if on that account it should become necessary to close the schools for the year for lack of money. It may be questionable whether they kept entirely within the requirements of the law in this regard; but however this may have been, they succeeded in erecting three buildings. One of these, located on Mount Puff (present school-house grounds), was the brick build- ing which is still standing there; another was the Quaker graveyard school-house, built on a lot pur- chased of Henry Blackstone, and the third was the school-house on the "Pinnacle." The first teacher (or certainly one of the earliest) in the brick house on Mount Puff was James Mellvaine, who had charge of that school in the year 1840.

The school-houses erected by the efforts of Messrs. Fuller and Lindley were continued in use for the schools until the completion of the present fine and commodious school-building. The "Pinnacle" lot and school-house was then sold to John K. Brown. The " Mount Puff" school-honse is now the janitor's house on the public school ground. The Quaker graveyard school lot, which was purchased of Henry Blackstone, is still owned by tbe borough school dis- trict.

The borough of Connellsville was erected into a separate and independent school district by the Court of Quarter Sessions of Fayette County at the March term in 1852. Six directors were to be elected, and on the 5th of April of the same year the following- named persons were so elected to form the first school board of the district under the new organization, viz. :

Stephen Robbins, for one year.

Josiah Kurtz, for one year.

Abram Shellenberger, for two years.

John Taylor, for two years. John Collins, for three years.

George White, for three years.

On the 14th of October following, the borough was divided into five sub-districts.

The project to build a new and commodious school- house of sufficient capacity to accommodate the schools of the borough began to be agitated in 1865, and on the 11th of March, 1866, it was resolved "to build a three-story School-House, sixty by sixty-six feet," and to borrow money on borough school bonds for that purpose. No further action of importance was taken in the premises during that year.

On the 6th of May, 1867, a plan for a school-house was submitted by Barr & Mosier, architects, of Pitts- burgh. The plan was adopted, and on the 14th of the same month a contract for the building was awarded to Christian Snider at $14,000.

May 21, 1867, a petition was presented signed by thirty-eight citizens of the borough protesting against the erection of the school-house, also a petition from others praying that the contract be carried out.

On the 5th of August following the board of school directors received a communication from the Town Council of Connellsville as follows: "To the Board of School Directors of Connellsville Borough : Gen- tlemen,-At a meeting of the Town Council of said borough, held on Saturday, Aug. 3, 1867, the follow- ing proceedings were had : 'Resolved that the School Directors of Connellsville Borough be notified to stop proceedings in regard to building a school-house until said Directors shall have conference with said Council in reference to the construction of said house.'"

In reply to this communication the school board " Resolved that as the Charter of the Borough of Connellsville, as well as the Deed from Connell, do- nates or conveys the public ground for school-houses and churches, and as since the organization of the public system the said ground has already been granted by the Borough to the School Board, and one School-House already erected thereon, therefore the said Board have a right to continue to occupy said ground for the purpose of erecting additional school- houses thereon without further permission from the Town Council. We therefore respectfully ask said Council to show cause, if any there be, why said ground shall not now be used for the purpose of erecting a school-house thereon." No further col- lision occurred between the board and the Council in reference to the matter.

In February, 1868, Christian Snider's contract for building the school-house was cancelled, the board paying him for expenses already incurred. The plans of the building were then slightly changed, and on the 4th of May following a new contract was made

388

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

with John Kilpatrick for a brick building, fifty-five ton Sutton was placed in charge, and served the by seventy feet in dimensions and three stories high, church in a very acceptable manner for four years. for eleven thousand two hundred dollars.

Work upon the new school-house was commenced and continued through the summer and fall of 1868 and spring of 1869, and on the 11th of June in the latter year the board accepted the building from the contractor, who was paid in the settlement as follows :

Contract .. Extra work.

$11,200.00 2,229.59

Total

$13,429.59

On Monday, June 14, 1869, the new house was first occupied by the schools of Connellsville under S. P. Espy as principal. He was succeeded by M. L. Baer, the present principal.

There are now (June, 1881) seven hundred and sixty-two scholars, under twelve teachers, in all the departments. The total receipts from all sources for the year ending June 1, 1881, were 88504.72; ex- penditures, 87097.28. The directors for 1881 are Stephen McBride, President; H. P. Suyder, Treas- nrer ; L. P. Norton, Secretary ; Dr. Smith Buttermore, Dr. P. J. Stauffer, William B. Miner.

CHURCHES.

CONNELLSVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH.1

The Baptist Church in Connellsville was constituted June 26, 1796, with the following-named constituent members : David Lobdell, Samuel Trevor, Caleb Tre- vor, Joshua Lobdell, Michael Bryant, Sarah Muirs, Sarah Trevor, Nancy Bryant, and Mary Lobdell,- all being members of regular Baptist Churches in Europe and America.

In the early days of the church the deacons were Samuel Trevor and David Lobdell. Its records even at this early period show that the church was purely apostolic in doctrine, practice, and discipline. During the first thirty years of its existence its members were ministered to by evangelists and chosen ones of their own number having ability to teach. The first regularly installed pastor was Elder James Frey, who served from 1804 to 1809, inclusive. In 1810 the Rev. George Watkin became pastor, and served in that office till 1815. From that time to 1830 the church was served by James Estep, afterwards D.D., who labored with this congregation in word and doctrine. He was succeeded by the Rev. Lester Norton, who served in the pastorate for two years.

In 1832 the pastoral charge of the church was as- sumed by the Rev. Benoni Allen, a popular preacher, mighty in the Scriptures, and a giant in debate. During this period the minutes of the church show that there was rarely a meeting held in which there were no converts seeking admission into the church. It numbered at that time one hundred and fifty mem- bers. In 1835 the Rev. J. P. Rockafeller became pastor and continued until 1837, when the Rev. Mil-

Between the years 1835 and 1840 the teachings of the Rev. Alexander Campbell (founder of the sect known as Disciples) greatly afflicted this church, almost rending it asunder by disunion and strife, leaving it a shattered wreck and but a shadow of what it had formerly been. From 1840 for ten years the pastors of the church were the Revs. J. W. Tis- dale, E. D. Brown, and John Parker. In 1851 the Rev. W. W. Hickman was installed pastor, and con- tinned in that capacity for two years. From 1854 to 1864 the church was served by supplies, except a part of the time, when the Rev. John Scott was pastor. From 1864 to 1875 the pastors were the Revs. W. W. Hickman, N. B. Crutchfield, David Williams, and W. H. Cooper. In 1875 the church was in a low and de- pressed condition, from various causes which contrib- uted to this sad result. It had beeu retrograding for many years, and some had almost abandoned the hope of seeing better days; others continued firm in the faith that the God of their fathers would yet visit them in mercy. But the year 1876 was to their sore hearts the dawn of a better time. God heard their cries, and guided them to call to the pastorate a young man then in charge of the Baptist Church in Irwin, Westmoreland Co., the Rev. R. C. Morgan. He took charge of the church in April, 1876, and has continued with it to the present time, and the six years of his pastorate have been wonderfully blessed. The present number of members of this church is four hundred and eighty.

In 1877 the old church building of this congrega- tion was demolished, and a larger, more commodious, and elegant structure reared in its place. The church's property is free from debt, and its finances in a flour- ishing condition. There is a fine Sunday-school con- trolled by the church, with several mission schools in fair condition located in the outlying suburbs of the town.

The board of deacons is composed of P. McCor- mick, W. F. Holsing, Henry Shaffer, W. B. Minor, J. L. Stentz, R. L. Boyd, J. W. Minor, D. Workman.

It is worthy of note that Deacon McCormick has served as an efficient officer of the church since the year 1831. a period of more than half a century.

Among the devoted and honorable women who have sustained an important part in the history of the church, and whose names should be handed down to future generations, are Sisters Snyder, Wetherill, Higgins, Dushane, Buttermore, Munson, McCormick, Robinson, Minor, MeBeth, Morgan, Risinger, Shaffer, White, Barnes, Percy, and Shaw.

The Newmeyers became connected with the church at a very early date, and are still represented in it by their descendants. There are three clergymen who hold their membership in the church besides the pas- tor, namely, Rev. W. A. Barnes, Rev. W. H. Cooper, 1

and Rev. A. Hutton.

1 By Rev. R. C. Morgan.

389

CONNELLSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Much that pertains in general to the early history of the Methodist Episcopal Churches of this section of country, including that at Connellsville, will be found in the history of the church of this denomi- nation at Uniontown, to which reference may be had. When Robert Ayres and John Smith were appointed to this circuit by the Conference in 1786, there is little doubt that Connellsville was one of their preaching-places. In 1789 Ayres be- came a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Brownsville, where he resided many years. In 1848 the Rev. P. McGowan collected and recorded all the information that could be found in reference to the history of this church. He says of 1789,-

"There is reason to believe that there was a society at Connellsville at this time. Anthony Banning, who resided at Connellsville, was received on trial in the traveling connection this year, but located in 1791, and afterwards resided in the same place." Of 1792 he says, " It is believed that about this time Connells- ville was attached to the Pittsburgh Circuit." In 1802 Connellsville was in the Baltimore Conference, Pittsburgh District. McGowan says of 1811, ' This year the circuit is named Connellsville, and the un- certainty under which we have labored, ceases as it respects the circuit with which this appointment has been connected. The writer is not at present able to state with precision the date of the erection of the stone meeting-house on the hill. It was previous, however, to this year."

The preachers on the circuit in that and succeeding years were :

1811 .- John Meek, Jacob Gorwell.

1812 .- Simon Lanch, Louis R. Fechtige.

1813 .- Thornton Fleming.

1816 .- John Macklefresh.

1817 .- John West.

1818 .- James Reily, Henry Baker, Peregrine Buck- ingham.

1819 .- Samuel P. V. Gillespie, Bennet Douler. 1820 .- John West, John Connelly.

1821 .- John West, Norval Wilson.

1822 .- Henry Baker, William Barnes.

1823 .- Henry Baker, William Morgan.

1824 .- James Paynter, John Strickler.

1825 .- Robert Boyd, Thomas Jamison.

1826 .- George Waddle, John Connelly. 1827 .- David Sharp, John Connelly.

1828 .- Charles Thorn, Jacob K. Miller.

1829 .- Charles Thorn, John West.

1830 .- James G. Sansom, John Philips.

1831 .- James G. Sansom, Moses Tichinell, William A. Bartoo. (" Radical Secession at Connells- ville" this year.)

1832 .- John White, Wesley Kenney.

1833 .- John White, Wesley Kenney, George L. Sis- son.

1834 .- David Sharp, Elias W. Worthington.

1835 .- David Sharp, Jeremiah Knox.

1836 .- John Spencer, John Murray.

1837 .- Samuel Wakefield, George L. Bisson.

1838 .- Samuel Wakefield, D. L. Dempsey. 1839 .- William Tipton, Hamilton Cree.

Uniontown District.

1840 .- William Tipton, Hamilton Cree.

1841 .- Warner Long, Heaton Hill.

1842 .- Warner Long, M. A. Ruter.

1843 .- John L. Irwin, Jeremiah Knox.

1844 .- John L. Irwin, M. P. Jemison.

1845 .- John B. West, M. P. Jemison.

1846 .- John Coil, Joseph Ray.

1847 .- P. M. MeGowan, Joseph Ray.

1848 .- P. M. McGowan, George B. Hudson.

1849 .- James G. Sansom, John M. Rankin.

1850 .- James G. Sansom, J. L. Deans, D. B. Camp- bell.

1851 .- Circuit divided, J. J. Covert appointed to Connellsville.

1852 .- Connellsville made a station and thrown into Uniontown District, J. J. Covert appointed preacher; number of members, about one hundred and forty.

1853 .- Connellsville and Jacob's Creek thrown into one charge. P. F. Jones, preacher.

1854 .- In this year Jacob's Creek and Dunbar were taken from the charge. .

1855 .- Wm. Stuart, John Wakefield. Connellsville was connected with the Redstone Circuit.

1856 .- J. P. Saddler, J. R. Cooper.

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 88

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