USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 69
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Pleasant Grove Methodist Church was organized at the Graham school house. William and Robert Graham and Elijah Morrison were prominent among the active members. Originally a part of Hendersonville circuit, this church is now attached to Waterloo. The place of worship was erected in 1872 by a building committee composed of William Dewoody, John Hill, John Boals, and John Graham.
East Grove Methodist. Church .- The first class was formed at the house of John Foster, who, with his wife and sons-Ross, James, and Caleb; David Smith, and Mary his wife, were the first members, and John Chandler was their first preacher. Jackson Gordon gave the ground for the church building; Reverends Robert Beatty and John Abbott were the preachers at the time of its erection, and the building committee consisted of James Smith, Robert and Miller Graham.
Bethel Grove Church, Church of God, Reverend J. W. Davis, pastor, was organized by A. C. Morrison, David Herman, David Smith, Immanuel Kuntz, Osborne Brown, and others, who worshiped in a school house until 1871, when the church edifice was built. William Smith and Amos Shontz were active in this enterprise. Reverends Long, Plowman, Domer, and Pritz were among Mr. Davis' predecessors.
680
HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP.
BOUNDARIES-ORGANIZATION-PIONEERS-DEMPSEYTOWN-SCHOOLS- CHURCHES.
AKLAND is bounded on the northwest by Plum, on the northeast by Cherry Tree, on the east by Cornplanter, on the south by Sugar Creek, and on the west by Jackson. It is one of the interior townships of the county. Several branches of Two Mile run, Sugar creek, and Cherry Tree run have their sources here. The township is purely agricultural in its character and one of the most productive in the county. In 1850 the population was eight hundred and thirty-seven; in 1870, one thousand and eighty-two; and in 1880, one thousand two hundred and fourteen.
A petition for the separate organization of a new township to be formed from Cornplanter, Plum, and Sugar Creek was presented to the court of quarter sessions April 27, 1840, and Samuel M. Irwin, Jonathan Ayres, and D. B. Hays, appointed for its consideration, reported favorably in the fol- lowing November. There is no record of the final decree of court erecting the township, but in the following year its first officers were appointed and the machinery of the local administration placed in operation.
PIONEERS.
That part of Oakland formerly included in Plum was part of the sixth donation district, in which it was difficult to secure and complete a title; the southern part of the township was embraced in the Holland Company's surveys, and between the two there was a tract of vacant land of varying width, open to settlement on the general terms prescribed by the state. This was naturally selected by the first permanent settlers, and being a region of comparative fertility as indicated by the timber, immigrants were attracted thither at an early period in the history of the county.
Lawrence Dempsey was probably the first. A native of Ireland and of Scotch extraction, he became a resident of Centre county, Pennsylvania, at the close of the Revolutionary war. In 1797 he came into the wilds of the upper Allegheny valley and made some improvements on the Cauvel farm not far from the old graveyard near Dempseytown. Here he planted an orchard, one of the first in the county and certainly the earliest in Oakland
He J. Payers,
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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP.
township, of which several old and gnarled trees yet remain. He had two sons, Peter and David. The latter was a man of local prominence in county affairs. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and at its close was elected to the legislature. Peter Dempsey kept hotel at Dempseytown many years. Lawrence Dempsey died in one of the eastern counties of the state; the re- mains of his wife and sons are interred in the family graveyard.
There were three arrivals in 1798-Robert McElhaney, William Mc- Clain, and James Gordon. McElhaney was of Scotch-Irish extraction and came here from Westmoreland county. He removed elsewhere prior to his death. McClain settled where Zebulon Beatty now lives and is buried on that farm. He had two sons, the elder of whom, William, Jr., removed to Virginia in 1810. The family is no longer represented. Gordon was born and reared in Ireland. He immigrated to America after reaching manhood and married in eastern Pennsylvania. He sold his property to James Has- let and removed to Sugar creek above Cooperstown. One son, Alexander, was brought by his parents to this county and inherited their property. He afterward removed to Ohio.
The year 1800 witnessed a considerable increase in the numbers of this community. Jonah Reynolds was from New York state. He located on the Oil City road at the crossing of the road from Franklin to Titusville, and afterward sold his farm to William Hays, by whose name it is generally known. He then removed to Greenville where his descendants now reside. Charles Stevenson, a native Scotchman, came to Pennsylvania before the Revolution and was actively engaged during that war as a soldier in the Continental army. At its close he settled in Mifflin county and thence re- moved to Venango at the date above mentioned. He was a brother-in-law of George Kean and became his partner in the purchase of a four hundred acre tract. In 1805 he sold his interest to John Hays and removed to Cherry Tree township near the village of Cherry Tree. Eleven years later he went to Adams county, Ohio, his home until death. William Moorehead first settled a farm on Oil creek road as originally laid out, part of which is now owned by George Turner. From this locality he went to Cincinnati and is said to have accumulated a fortune in the shoe business. Edward Patchel, Sr., an old man when he came here, was accompanied by two sons, Edward, Jr., and James, and they secured two four hundred acre tracts now owned by various members of the Prichard family. In 1828 James removed to Ohio and Edward sold the property under a power of attorney from him, after which he also went to that state. James Mason, born in Northumber- land county in 1794, came with his parents to Oakland, then Sugar Creek, in 1800. He was in active service during the war of 1812. His death oc- curred in 1876.
Alexander McCormick came in 1802. He was a native Scotchman and brought a family. Subsequently he removed to Mercer county.
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
Alexander Fowler, son of George Fowler, of Franklin, located on the Oil City road at Lamy church in 1802. He was a man of intemperate habits, and enlisted in the regular army after leaving this section.
George Kean also became a resident in 1802. He was born at German- town in 1766, son of Cornelius Kean, who emigrated from Ireland to Penn- sylvania in 1757, served in the American army during the Revolution and died in Mifflin county at the age of eighty-four. In 1798, accompanied by his brother William, he visited this region; three years later he returned and built a house a mile south of Dempseytown. June 16th of the following year he brought his family thither, and resided in this township until his death, May 3, 1861. Joeseph Kean, who was one year old at the time his father's family came here, still resides in this township, and has probably lived in Venango county longer than any other individual.
Francis Carter, a native of Ireland, came to Pennsylvania while yet a young man, and served in the Revolutionary war. He was in the military service at Pittsburgh, and also at Fort Franklin; from the latter place he went to Erie, but returned to Franklin in 1796, and in the following year settled on Sugar creek a mile below Cooperstown. In 1803 he came to the vicinity of Dempseytown, where he died at an advanced age.
William Hays emigrated from Ireland at the age of forty and came to Venango county in 1803, accompanied by John Hays, his brother. The former died at the residence of Grier Hays on the tract he first settled.
William Reed, from whom Reed's run is named, was born in Ireland; he came to this state in 1798 and to Oakland township in 1803. He enlisted for service in the war of 1812 in Captain McCombs' company.
Philip Walls came in 1804 and bought land from Lawrence Dempsey on the Titusville road, now owned by his descendants.
Philip Kees, another of the Revolutionary veterans who made improve- ments in Oakland at an early date, bought two hundred acres from George Kean in 1805. He was born and reared in Germany. After residing here for a time he removed to a point on the Monongahela river twenty miles above Pittsburgh. Henry Booth, one of the first medical practitioners in this part of the county, succeeded to Kees' improvements.
John Fetterman arrived in 1805. He was born in eastern Pennsyl- vania of German parentage; after his removal here he became justice of the peace and filled that office many years.
Samuel Turner died in Oakland, November 18, 1869, aged eighty years. He came to Franklin in 1800 and assisted in quarrying stone for some of the first houses in the town. Subsequently he moved up the river and located upon the site of South Oil City. He remained there four years and spent three summers surveying with Samuel Dale. He then went to sea, return- ing by way of New Orleans, and lived in Cherry Tree township fifteen years. From that place he removed to the farm in Oakland where he died.
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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP.
The Oil creek road was the first public highway opened through the township. It was surveyed by Samuel M. Irwin. The road from Sugar lake, intersecting the Titusville road two miles from Dempseytown, was also an early traveled route.
The first distillery was built in 1803 by James Patchel at a small stream on his farm. The upper story was used as a dwelling house while the lower floor was occupied with the imperfect and crude appliances of the still. James Gordon also had a distillery, built at an early date. The Speer, Mc- Elhaney, and Smith distilleries also assisted the farmers of this region in disposing of their surplus grain.
Samuel Beatty's tannery appears to have been the only pioneer industry of this class. It was not equipped with a bark mill, but the bark was tramped by horses in the same manner that wheat was threshed and thus prepared for use. Wooden troughs were used in lieu of vats. This was in operation only a few years.
DEMPSEYTOWN.
Samuel Dale, deputy surveyor, surveyed four hundred and one acres of land for Peter Dempsey September 2, 1800, and an adjoining tract for Lawrence Dempsey on the following day, this being his first work after being commissioned for Venango county. The town was laid out by Peter Dempsey. He built a house, of which the site was nearly identical with that of the old hotel kept by him for many years and but recently destroyed by fire. Thomas Carter also built one of the first houses on the ground occupied by David E. Thomas' blacksmith shop. This was one of the first frame buildings erected in the county, certainly the first in Oakland township. The weather-boarding was fastened with wooden pins. Carter was one of the characters of the place. At an advanced age he married a widow whose years were almost as many as his own. He lived to be ninety- eight years old, and she died at one hundred and three. J. R. McClin- tock, in company with Brewer, Watson & Merrick, established the first permanent business house. The first local mechanic was Christian Cauvel, a blacksmith. The town has never had an oil "boom," and presents more of the characteristics of the typical country village than the generality of inland towns in this county. Situated nine miles from Franklin, ten from Titusville, and eight from Oil City, in the midst of a fine agricultural terri- tory, it has become a business point of some importance. Three fraternal organizations and four churches attest the activities of the people in this respect.
Dempseytown Lodge, No. 632, I. O. O. F., was instituted May 20, 1868, with B. F. Mark, N. G .; R. B. Neely, V. G .; George K. Weber, secre- tary; George Fuller, assistant secretary, and Jonas Weber, treasurer.
Dempseytown Lodge, No. 171, A. O. U. W., was instituted March 3, 1880. The first officers were D. W. Weikal, P. M. W .; R. C. Duncan,
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
M. W .; Lewis Prichard, G. F .; T. J. Kimes, O .; Robert Reed, recorder; Freeman Dyson, financier; N. C. Henderson, receiver; E. P. Foster, G .; F. A. McClintock, I. W .; P. S. Cauvel, O. W.
Morning Star Union, No. 91, E. A. U., was organized December 11, 1888. Freeman Dyson was president; J. S. Hood, vice-president; Fidus Weber, secretary and accountant, and G. O. Dewoody, treasurer.
The Dempsey Graveyard, one of the oldest places of interment in this part of the county, is situated within a short distance of the village. The following are among the names of those who were buried here at an early date or are remembered as old people:
Rachel, wife of Jonah Reynolds, died April 2, 1813, in the thirty-ninth year of her age.
Mary, wife of Lawrence Dempsey, died in September, 1825, in the eighty-fourth year of her age.
Jane, wife of John Caruthers, died September 16, 1827, in the thirty- ninth year of her age.
Mary, wife of John Kelly, died December 19, 1829, in the forty-fifth year of her age.
Lewis Herring died September 23, 1836, aged seventy-six years.
John Kelly died June 13, 1849, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.
SCHOOLS.
The first school was taught by John Kelly in 1805 at the house of Jonah Reynolds. William Morehead was also a pioneer pedagogue; his school was taught in a log cabin on the farm now occupied by Francis Prichard.
No building was erected for school purposes until 1807, when a school house was built on the farm of George Kean near the present location of Moses Walls' residence. The first school was taught by Michael Hare, a Revolutionary veteran and a man of fair ability but intemperate in his habits. He died in Erie county at a very old age. A second school house was built on Kean run at the crossing of the Oil creek road, and here William More- head was the first teacher. In 1817 the people living on the Franklin road built a school house one mile west of Dempseytown. Joseph Kean, who has been mentioned as the oldest resident in the county, was the first teacher here, and is properly entitled to the honor of being also the oldest living school teacher. Among his early successors were James Vanatan, Mary Gage, John Beers, and Alexander Hays. A school house was built in 1827 on the Folwell farm in the northwestern part of the township, and another near the residence of Robert Haslet. The schools at both places had a large constituency.
CHURCHES.
It is probable that the first religious services in the township were held in the year 1806 at the Patchel still house by a Methodist preacher named
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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP.
Wiley. There were several baptisms of children, also probably the first in this section of country. The first church building was erected in the summer of 1810 in the eastern part of the township near the residence for- merly occupied by George Tarr. It was built of unhewn logs with clap- board roof; the dimensions were twenty-five and thirty feet. Reverend Ira Condit preached here several years, after which it was no longer occupied for religious purposes. He was a Presbyterian preacher but there is no record of any organization.
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized by Reverend Weicksel some time between the years 1840 and 1850. Among the old members were Jacob Baum, Samuel and John Frankenberger, Mrs. Susan Homan, John Bennehoff, John Kinch, the Gharing, Meals, Ulrich, Phil- lips, and other families. A frame church building was erected on the Titus- ville road at the edge of Dempseytown. This was replaced several years since by an attractive and substantial building in the village proper. The congregation was connected with New Lebanon, Mercer county, for a time, but since the reorganization of the Franklin church the pastors of the latter have usually preached here.
Oakland United Presbyterian Church was organized in 1851 by Rever- end Anderson McClane under direction of the Associate Reformed presby- tery. William Story and John Culberson were the first elders. The first members were Culbertson and Sarah Mcclintock, William and Margaret Stewart, Baptist and Margaret Masson, Daniel and Margaret Gregg, John Culberson, Jane McFate, Sarah McFate, Nancy Ward, Mary Ann Hays, Jane Hays, William Story, Rebecca McKnight, and Nancy Gregg, all of whom had formerly been connected with Plumer church. William McAlwee gave half an acre of ground and as much more was purchased; this consti- tutes the burial ground and site of the church, a frame building erected in 1852. Reverends John R. Slentz and Alexander Murray were the pastors, but for a number of years services were discontinued. Within the present year (1889) steps have been taken to repair the building. Reverend James B. Dodds is the pastor.
Oakland Evangelical Church, a mile northeast of Dempseytown, was erected in 1851 and dedicated in 1852. Prior to this Reverends Bucks and Miller had preached here in 1836; D. Long, in 1838; Samuel Heis, in 1839; Henry Heis, in 1840, and others of the preachers in charge of Venango circuit. At the formation of the Pittsburgh Conference in 1852 Reverend Henry Hampe was in charge of Venango circuit, then embracing all the churches of this denomination in Venango county. Sugar Creek circuit was formed in 1853; in 1879 the name was changed to Dempseytown. The following ap- pointments have been made by the annual conference at the respective dates: 1853, H. W. Thomas; 1854, E. Peer; 1856 (Venango and Sugar Creek), John Pfeifer, W. H. Stoll; 1857, W. H. Pfeifer, James Crossman; 1858,
688
HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
J. Weaver; 1859 (Venango and Sugar Creek), J. Honecker and G. L. Domer; 1860, G. W. Cupp, J. Q. A. Weller; 1861-62, S. F. Crowther; 1863-64, E. Beatty; 1865 (Venango and Sugar Creek), C. W. Davis; 1866, L. M. Boyer; 1867-68, G. W. Brown; 1869, J. Crossman, J. Woodhull; 1870, L. Schobert, J. Woodhull; 1871-72, J. D. Domer; 1873, P. W. Plotts, J. Carmany; 1874-75, J. Garner; 1876-78, A. W. Teats; 1878-79, I. A. Rholand; 1880, L. H. Hetrick; 1881-82, J. Esch; 1883-85, D. M. Baumgardner; 1886-88, B. F. Feitt; 1889, J. W. Domer. Dempseytown circuit also embraces the Dempseytown and Lamey churches.
Zion Evangelical Church (popularly known as Lamey church), was or- ganized in 1863 by Rev. L. M. Boyer. The first class leader was J. Lamey, and of the original membership, Mr. Lamey and Mrs. Margaret Masterson are the only ones still in connection with this society. The church building was dedicated January 24, 1869, by Reverend J. D. Hol- linger. An organization had been formed in this neighborhood many years before with William Masterson as leader. This was disbanded before the present organization came into existence.
Dempseytown Baptist Church. - Five members of Breedtown church formed a society under this name August 19, 1865. Their names were William and Rachel Prichard, George and James Turner, and F. A. McClin- tock. It was recognized as a separate organization January 12, 1869. The church edifice was dedicated August 24, 1873. Reverend C. W. Drake was pastor from 1865 to 1870; Cyrus Shreve, from 1870 to 1874; George M. Righter, from 1874 to 1877; Joseph M. Ray, from 1877 to 1880; O. C. Sherman, from 1880 to 1883; since the latter date Reverend E. F. Crane has served as supply.
Dempseytown Presbyterian Church was organized February 20, 1868, by Reverends R. Craighead and William Elliott. The church building was dedicated March 7, 1869, by Reverend W. H. Taylor. Reverends Reaves, Stewart, Robertson, and Murray have successively served as pastor. Robert Alexander and William Richey were the first elders.
Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, three miles from Dempseytown on the Franklin road, was dedicated September 26, 1870, by Reverend John Abbott. It is connected with Cooperstown circuit.
Trinity Evangelical Church, Dempseytown, was dedicated January 4, 1880, by Reverend H. B. Summers.
Extinct Organizations .- A United Brethren church was built in 1858 in the eastern part of the township. It was sustained for some years by Peter Bennehoof, but finally removed to Cherry Tree in 1880. A Baptist church was organized by Reverends Samuel and William Miles at a school house on the Franklin road prior to 1840.
The First Sunday School in this part of the county was organized in 1827 at a school house on the Franklin road a mile from Dempseytown.
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JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
Francis Carter, Jacob Sutley, Henry Herring, Joseph Kean, and John Car- ter were among its active members. It was continued for a time, but ulti- mately gave place to several different schools at various points.
CHAPTER XL.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
ORGANIZATION AND EXTENT-PIONEERS-BOROUGH OF COOPERSTOWN-IN- HABITANTS IN 1837-INDUSTRIES-OIL DEVELOPMENTS-SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES-MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT- POPULATION-SCHOOLS-CHURCHES.
T THE contiguous portions of Plum, Oakland, Canal, and Sugar Creek were formed into the township of Jackson in 1845. It is bounded on the north by Plum, on the east by Oakland, on the south by Sugar Creek, on the west by Canal, and on the northwest by Crawford county. Sugar creek and its various branches drain the whole of its territory. In 1850 the population was nine hundred and eighty five; in 1870, seven hundred and twenty; in 1880, seven hundred and eighty-nine.
PIONEERS.
It is matter of definite tradition that Robert Beatty was the first set- tler within the limits of this township and in the valley of Sugar creek from its mouth to Townville, Crawford county. Very little is known concerning his personal history. He came to this locality from one of the eastern counties of the state, probably as early as 1796, as his name occurs on the ledgers of both George Power and Edward Hale prior to 1800. At that point in the course of Sugar creek where it is crossed by the southern line of Jackson township the valley of the stream is fully half a mile wide. The channel of the creek is near the bluffs on the east, leaving a level expanse of meadows with a gradual slope from the west. At an early date this was called "the prairie." . It was not covered with a dense forest like the sur- rounding country but merely with a thick growth of underbrush, and was read- ily reduced to cultivation. Here Robert Beatty made his settlement and lived to the end of his life. He reared four sons: John, Francis, Samuel, and Robert; and seven daughters: Mary, Nancy, Sarah, Elizabeth, Isabel, Ann, and Lila. John was the father of the Reverend Robert Beatty, a well-
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
known minister. In politics Mr. Beatty, Sr., was Democratic. Of Scotch extraction, he was Presbyterian in his church connection and gave the ground upon which Sugar Creek church was built. He died May 16, 1823, in the sixty-third year of his age, and is buried under a clump of trees on the Shaw farm. On the previous day he had attended the funeral of Mrs. John Wilson and is said to have remarked that his own death was likely to occur soon. Its suddenness created a profound sensation.
William Cooper settled at Cooperstown in 1797. He was probably the second settler. He was a Revolutionary veteran.
Francis Carter, another veteran of the Revolution, settled on Sugar creek, below Cooperstown, in 1797. In the following decade he removed to Oakland, and died at Dempseytown at a very old age.
James McCurdy, also a soldier of the Revolution, came here at an early date, locating in the valley of the creek, above Beatty. He was well advanced in years when he came here. John McCurdy, his son, reared a large fam- ily, and inherited the homestead. Other early settlers in this part of the valley were John McFadden, James Alexander, and Robert Mason.
Samuel Plumer settled in the township in 1800. He was the son of Nathaniel Plumer, who purchased four hundred acres of land, embracing part of the' site of Mount Washington, one of the wards of Pittsburgh, on the south side of the Monongahela, and settled thereon in 1789; and grand- son of Jonathan Plumer, a commissary in Braddock's expedition, and quar- termaster of Forbes' army, a native of Newbury, Massachusetts, and de- scendant of Francis Plumer, one of the founders of that town in 1635. Samuel Plumer returned to Allegheny county in 1810, where his death occurred in 1820. His widow and family subsequently returned to Venango county, where she died October 2, 1847. It was during his residence in Jackson township that the birth of Arnold Plumer occurred. It is worthy of record in the annals of the township that as a man of such prominence in local and state affairs, doubtless the most distinguished citizen of the county, and of commanding influence in the councils of his party in the commonwealth, was one of the first persons of Caucasian parentage born within its limits.
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