History of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens 20th century, Part 60

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1474

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > Washington > History of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens 20th century > Part 60

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In this township is a short piece of good Flinn road- about one mile. This is part of the West Middletown Road extension. It was constructed in 1907-8 by the W. E. Howley Company. The entire length of the con- struction work is 10,860 feet, the width in stone being 12 feet and the width in grading being 24 feet. The road cost $30,295.84 for construction and $1,534.79 for engineering.

Its value of real estate in Hopewell Township amounts to $1,262,149. The value of personal property is $53,565, making a total of $1,315,714. The taxables number 218.

The population of this township in 1850 was 1,748, in 1860 it was 1,213, in 1890, 788, and in 1900, 662.

The number of voters in 1850 was 393. In 1904 these numbered 200 and in 1908, 176.

INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP.

This township was formed in February, 1856, from the western division of Hopewell Township. It is bounded on the north by Jefferson and Cross Creek Townships; east by Hopewell and Blaine; south by Donegal, and west by West Virginia. Its greatest length is seven miles, breadth four miles. Buffalo Creek and Brush Run extend along its southern boundary and Cross Creek along the northern. Independence and Avella are towns in this township; the former, with a population of 183 in 1900, is 16 miles northwest of Washington.

The population of the township in 1860 was 1,078; in 1890, 899; in 1900, 772, showing a gradual decrease. There were 231 registered voters in 1903; in 1908 there were 288. The township contains three churches-a Presbyterian, a Methodist Episcopal and a U. P. Church.

Mt. Hope U. P. Church was organized as early as 1800. Rev. Thomas Allison was pastor from 1802 to 1837. The present pastor is Rev. Robert Hamill. The membership is 76.

The Lower Buffalo Presbyterian Church was organ- ized between the years 1785 and 1790. It has had three buildings on three different sites. The first one stood in the southwest corner of what is now Lower Buffalo Grave- yard, one mile and a quarter west of the village of Independence, Pa. It was located in Brooke County, Va., (now West Virginia). It was a log church and would seat 300 people. This building stood for 30 years.

The second building was built of sandstone in the year 1822. It was about the size of the first and was also in Virginia (now West Virginia). It stood about one-fourth of a mile east of the original site or one mile west of Independence. This was a good building, plastered, with ceiling overhead. It was furnished with a pulpit and pews. This buliding was occupied for 28 years.

The third and present building was erected in 1850 in Independence for the convenience of those who re- sided in that village. The lot was presented to the church by Richard Carter, whose wife was a member. On this lot a fine new frame building was erected. They worshiped here for 32 years, and it was so thor- oughly remodeled in 1882 that it may be considered as a new building. The seating capacity now is 350. It has a tower and bell, a lecture room extension and pul- pit recess. The church was modern in style and is free from debt. The years 1858 and 1885 are especially noted as years of revival.

The first pastor of this church was the Rev. James Hughes, who served from 1790 to 1814. The present

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pastor is Rev. Brainerd F. Heany., who assumed the charge in 1906. The present elders are William Lig- gett, David R. Mulholland, John J. Wells, L. M. Irwin and James Moore. The membership in 1858 was down to 37, but increased to 172 in 1885. The present mem- bership is 170.

A Women's Foreign Missionary Society has existed for many years.

The Sabbath School has existed for more than 60 years. Joseph Waugh and D. B. Fleming, (the last named a son of one of the pastors), have entered the ministry. The former was a professor in Washington College and Steubenville Female Seminary and presi- dent of Hollidaysburg Female Seminary 1866-77.

Miss Lucy Crouch, a member of this church, (who later was Mrs. Lehman), labored as a foreign missionary in China.

Independence M. E. Church-Independence M. E. Church was organized in 1840 in the village of Inde- pendence. It has a membership at the present time of 75 and the Sabbath School has about the same number, including teachers and scholars. The present house of worship, erected in 1896, at a cost of $2,500, is a frame structure and is the second building erected by that congregation. The first was a frame structure built in 1848 at a cost of $800. At that time the church had 75 members. There is an Epworth League with a mem- bership of 50.

The trustees of the church are Charles Pitman, John Buxton, W. F. Kline and J. F. Westlake. Board of stewards-Frank Buxton, E. J. Kline and Miss Eliza- beth McCarty.

Rev. George Holmes was the first pastor and Rev. Babcock the first presiding elder. The present pastor, Rev. F. M. Gray, took this charge in 1908. The follow- ing churches were served by the same pastors for a long time, the pastor in charge and an assistant-Inde- pendence, West Middletown, Franklin and Castleman's Run.

A Disciple or Christian Church Congregation organ- ized at the close of the Civil War was served by college students from Bethany College, but disbanded in 1876.

Independence Grange No. 179 was one of the first granges to be organized in Washington County. It was instituted about the year 1873; J. E. Perrin is master . and J. A. Boles lecturer.

The only villages in this township are Independence and Avella, the old and the new. The former with about 200 inhabitants stands in high altitude, 18 miles north- west of Washington and seven miles east of Wellsburg, W. Va. It has two stores, a blacksmith shop, hotel and two physicians, Dr. Richard A. Stewart and Dr. W. L. Simpson. The postmaster is J. F. Westlake.

The plot of this town was laid out in 1803 with lots

60x110 feet, but it was known as Williamsburg and sometimes called The Forks. The village has been known as Independence since 1836. William McCormick owned the land when the village plot was made, but his death came soon. The chief attraction of the place ever since is its beautiful location and its being near the Independence camp-meeting grounds, which is the annual gathering point of the Methodist brethren. These grounds are close to the West Virginia line on the road to Bethany.

Home Telephone Company serves the public with its lines in and around Independence.

Pomona Grange has 30 members with J. E. Perrin master and Joseph Hanna secretary.

There is a beautiful and well kept cemetery just east of the village of Independence.

There are eight schools in Independence Township and eight teachers, (males 3, females 5) ; average num- ber of months taught, 7; average salary of teachers per month, males $51.66, females $44.00; cost of each pupil per month, $2.73; number of mills on the dollar levied for school purposes, 4; estimated value of school property, $8,000. Number of scholars enrolled June, 1908, 192.

School directors-William Cunningham, C. A. Nieser, Marion M. Shaler, William Meloy, William Craig, O. B. Narrigan.

Forty years ago the female teachers received $1 more per month than they do now and six teachers taught the 295 scholars. The tax levy and State appropriation then was a few dollars over $3,000, but now they amount to $5,236.

W. W. Weigman and C. P. Buchannan are the present justices of the peace in this township.

In 1907 the voters adopted the system of collecting all road taxes in cash. Four mills was levied for roads in 1908, raising $5,377.14, of which $3,400.58 was ex- pended for roads and bridges. This township has re- ceived no improvements under the recent county road law or the State Highways Act. The township has 80 miles of road, the main one of which is the Washington and Wellsburg Road. The supervisors are W. F. Kline, Sr., James W. Murdock, A. G. Adams.

This township is well suited for farming and stock raising and has been the home of many fine sheep. It is underlaid with a rich vein of bituminous coal which crops out on the northwestern side of the township and has been extensively developed very recently along the line of the Wabash and Pittsburg Terminal Railroad in the vicinity of Avella. Avella is a new town, located on Cross Creek in the northeastern part of this town- ship. There are still tracts of virgin timber standing in this township.

The following coal companies operate along the

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

Wabash and Pittsburg Terminal Railroad in the vicinity of Avella: The Pittsburg and Southwestern Coal Com- pany, main office Greensburg, Pa., organized November 1, 1902, with a capital stock of $120,000. A close cor- poration, appraised value of property $325,000, began operations in 1904. Officers-Thomas Donohoe, presi- dent; Hon. John Latta, vice president; Hon. John B. Steel, secretary and treasurer.

The officers constitute the board of directors. The shares are held by the officers and their families, ca- pacity 1,000 tons a day. The company owns in fee 550 acres of coal and surface, in addition to which it has leased 1,000 acres. Average thickness of vein 5 feet and 5 inches. The vein varies from 5 feet to 10 feet in thickness of a grade that has stood the highest tests, showing a total combustible analysis of about 95 per cent. Mr. Donohoe has spent ten years in developing the coal mines in the Westmoreland County coal fields and considers their coal equal to the best steam and domestic coal on the market. All the timber used was cut and sawed on the company's property. The stone also was quarried on their property. The company laid its own tracks and has an independent coaling plant located half way between Pittsburg and Jewett, Ohio, which supplies coal for the engines of the Wabash and Pittsburg Terminal Railroad. The company (when running at full capacity) employs 200 men and has its own repair shops and every appliance used in modern mining operations for the safety and convenience of the employees has been added.

The Pittsburg and Southwestern Coal Company con- ducts on its property what in all probability is the most extensive general farm in Washington County. The following is the acreage under cultivation for the year 1909: Wheat, 65 acres; corn, 67 acres; oats, 55 acres; clover and timothy, 77 acres; potatoes, 25 acres, and other farm products. The profits on the farm for 1908 were over $2,500. The company is to be commended for giving its miners opportunity to work on the farm when the mines are idle.

In addition to the Pittsburg and Southwestern Coal Company, the following mines are located in Independ- ence Township along the line of the Wabash and Pitts- burg Terminal Railroad: Midlands No. 3 mine, Pryor Coal Company (which opened near Avella in 1907), Waverly Coal Company, Rex Carbon Coal Company, Independence and Avella Coal Company, Pittsburg and Washington Coal Company mines.

Washington County Coal Company is located in Cross Creek Township on the Studa farm and is mentioned in connection with the history of that township. The Pittsburg and Cross Creek Railroad was built in 1906 to extend to this mine from the Wabash Road at

Avella. This road will finally be extended through Cross Creek to the Panhandle Railroad at Burgetts- town.

The Penobscott Coal Company is located in Jefferson Township near Avella. The two last named companies are mentioned here to show the number of companies operating within a radius of three miles of Avella. The Penobscott Coal Company purchased 1,000 acres in 1906 at $100 per acre, extending from the Wabash Road toward the Bethel Bridge and connects by a switch from near the Kline tunnel to the farm bought of John Burton.

The Midland No. 3 mine is a subsidiary concern oper- ating near Avella and has several mines in Washington County. This is what is known as the Pittsburg and Washington Coal Company. The company when operat- ing at full capacity employs about 500 men. J. J. Flannery, of Pittsburg, is president, J. D. Cribbs su- perintendent.

The Pryor Coal Company was incorporated July 5, 1905, with an authorized capital of $100,000, which was later increased to $200,000. They employ from 250 to 300 men when operating at full capacity. This mine is lo- cated on Cross Creek in Independence Township and is on the Wabash and Pittsburg Terminal Railroad, one- half mile west of Avella. The company owns 535 acres of fine coal land. The following are the officers of the company : Charles M. Jamison, president; Lucien Claw- son, vice president ; John S. Sell, treasurer, and William R. Turney, secretary and general manager.

The Pittsburg and Washington Coal Company began operations about 1904 and in the next year employed about 200 men and ran about 2,500 tons per day. That year they erected a large block of houses near the mines about a half mile above Avella and their payroll amounted to about $8,000 per month, including car- penters and other employees. The quality of coal in this mine is of the best. In 1907 the Pittsburg and Washington mine had the largest output, having shipped over 150,000 tons of coal during the year. All the mines in this neighborhood felt the depression this last year. The Flinn Coal Company began operations last year on what is known as the Jones place near Avella. The mine was opened some distance. A few entries were driven and the lumber was on the ground for a tipple, but the financial depression caused a complete standstill. The Pryor Company, however, erected ten double blocks and two single houses the past year.

The town of Avella was laid out in 1903 by Mr. S. S. Campbell in Independence Township on the south bank of Cross Creek and is a center of large coal operations. There are in the town and within a radius of two miles 300 inhabitants when the seven coal mines are running at full capacity. Mr. Campbell owned the land on which

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

the town was laid out. The first passenger train passed through Avella July 2, 1904, over the Wabash and Pittsburg Terminal Railroad. The large increase of inhabitants has been since that date for there were no coal mines operating there before the opening of this railroad.

It was in connection with the building of this Wabash Railroad that Samuel T. Ferguson was murdered and his team killed September 25, 1903, by a dynamite ex- plosion. This was near Avella on or close by the line between Independence and Hopewell Townships. Near this same line, several years before, and near the cold spring, Samuel Brown, a colored man, was beheaded by an enemy, who seemed to have come upon him by stealth.

The town has a large number of business houses doing all kinds of mercantile business with lumber. and dealers' supplies. W. W. Weigman is the Avella hotel proprietor and has livery, feed and sales stable and is funeral director. John Tuttle conducts a livery busi- ness. Dr. Harry Shunkard is the resident physician. S. D. Major is postmaster. Two rural delivery routes lead out from this postoffice.

A graded school is in this village. A brass band enlivens the community and the inhabitants enjoy a telephone exchange and excellent telephone service.

Avella being a new town has no churches, but both the Presbyterian and Catholic denominations maintain missions and have plans under way for erecting churches for public worship.

The only financial institution in this township is the Lincoln National Bank, Avella, Pa., which opened for business August 11, 1905, with J. A. Ray, president ; D. J. Hill, cashier; J. B. Wilson, vice president. L. M. Irwin is now cashier. These with S. S. Campbell, C. L. Patterson, T. M. Johnson, A. C. Wilson, Thomas Dono- hoe and J. Winfield Reed are now the directors. Its capital was $25,000; deposits at end of the year 1905, $30,868.93; resources, $62,995.70, and loans, $22,404.81. At the end of 1908 its deposits were $98,827.07 and sur- plus and profits $6,939.89; resources, $137,259.96.

Doddridge's Fort and Teeter's Fort were about two miles east of Independence Village. The family of the late Col. Asa Manchester reside on the location of Teeter's Fort and Doddridge's was on . the adjoining tract. This last is a celebrated name in connection with the early history of Washington County. Quotations are very frequent from "Doddridge's Notes," a book written in 1824 by Rev. Joseph Doddridge, the pioneer historian, sometimes called Dr. Doddridge. The full title of the book is, "Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania." Joseph Doddridge was born near Bed- ford in 1769 and was brought with his father's family

to this wilderness in 1773. This was prior to the open contest by Virginia and Pennsylvania to get control of this land west of the mountains.

His book is a most interesting description of pioneer conditions, but his sources of information, the un- tutored frontiersmen, were not always free from ex- aggeration or error and as a consequence some of his statements of details are criticised.

Joseph Doddridge built a chapel at a very early day on or close to land now owned by William Thompson to the left of the leading road between West Middle- town and Independence. An old graveyard marked its location and the sand-tomb stones lie on the ground to this day. Some older white settlers were buried there and later some of the colored race. The place was known as the "Log Pile."

Colored worshipers obtained possession of this build- ing and had frequent campmeetings there before it was abandoned in 1860.

The Parkinson family, which had so many early mem- bers about Monongahela City or Parkinson's Ferry, had one representative in Independence Township. This was Dr. Joseph Parkinson, who opened his office in the village of Independence April 1, 1838, and spent a long life in very active medical practice. He was a nephew of Joseph Parkinson, who kept the old Parkinson's Ferry, and also of Benjamin, who became noted at the time of the whiskey insurrection in 1794. Thomas Parkinson, father of Dr. Joseph, built near the ferry the first mill on Pigeon Creek. Captain James McFarlane, who was killed at the time of the Whiskey Insurrection, bought it from him in 1792 and it was known for many years as McFarlane's Mill.

John Cuthbertson was a physician in this township as early as 1800, and at that time there were two inn keepers, John Buchanan and Robert Wilkins. Some of the ancient family of Wells, after which was named the town of Wellsburg, W. Va., near the mouth of Buffalo Creek, lived in this township. Charles, son of Benjamin Wells, engaged in the tannery business west of Independence from 1817 to 1824. Tanning is a lost art in Washington County.

The value of real estate in Independence Township is $1,230,593; personal property, $73,215; number of taxables, 377.

In 1860 the population of this township numbered 1,078, in 1890, 899, and in 1900, 772.

The number of voters in the township in 1904 was 231 and in 1908 was 288.

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.

Jefferson Township erected out of Cross Creek June 16, 1853, was originally a part of Hopewell, from which Cross Creek was cut off. It is bounded on the north by

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

Harmon's Creek, which separates it from Hanover Township; on the east by Smith and Cross Creek; on the south by the creek called Cross Creek, which sepa- rates it from Independence Township; and on the west by West Virginia. The Panhandle Railroad runs along its northern and the Wabash along its southern border.

Its population has decreased from 984 in 1860 to 825 in 1890 and to 776 in 1900. There were 230 registered voters in 1903 and an increase of four in 1908.

This township decided by vote, in 1906, to collect its road tax in cash, instead of permitting the taxpayer to have credit upon his tax for his labor.

The road tax was 3 mills upon the dollar in 1908 and $3,040.53 was reported as collected for roads that year. No State highway or county roads have been con- structed under the recent laws. In 1870 the township had six schools with an enrollment of 303 scholars, In 1908 Jefferson Township has schools, 7; teachers, 8, (males 2, females 6) ; average number of months taught, 7; an enrollment of 157; average salary of teachers per month, males $47.50, females $46.00; cost of each pupil per month, $2.54; number of mills on the dollar levied for school purposes, 134 ; estimated value of school property, $5,000.

The value of personal property in Jefferson Township is $58,125; real estate is $1,102,076; number of tax- ables, 232.

In 1860 the population numbered 984; in 1890, 825, and in 1900, 776.

The number of voters in the township in 1850 was 215; in 1904 was 230, and in 1908, 234.

The towns in this township are Eldersville (formerly Wardsville) and Hanlin's Station.

ELDERSVILLE.

Eldersville is in the northern part of the township, six miles west of Burgettstown and nine miles east of Steu- benville, Ohio, and 19 miles from Washington. It had a population of 212 in 1900, which was a loss of six in 40 years. The village plot was laid out in 1814 by Thomas Ward. It was known as Wardsville, but soon became known as Eldersville, because Thomas Elder was the tavern keeper here for much of the first quarter of the last century. The town has four stores, black- smith shop, hotel, postoffice and church. The resident physician is C. R. Megahan. John N. Walker is the resident justice of the peace and has conducted a hotel here for eleven years.

The Bell Telephone Company has telephone connec- tions here. Cynosure Lodge No. 805, I. O. O. F., is the only secret order in the place. This lodge has been organized for a number of years and has a present membership of 80. It owns its own building, which is a two-story frame structure.

HANLIN STATION.

Hanlin Station is located on the Panhandle division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and has two general stores, one feed store and a blacksmith shop. Will- iam Parkhill is postmaster. Hanlin is a distributing postoffice. There is a weekly Sabbath School held here. The Bell telephone is used here.

This is a good township in which to study geology. The surface is mostly in the Monongahela formation, but a 200-feet section of the Conemaugh formation is shown in the deeper valleys and creeks. The tops of the highest hills along the east edge of the township show the Washington formation. There are several thick beds of limestone found in addition to the Bulger limestone. The heavy blue limestone bed is found in the vicinity of Eldersville.

Jefferson Township differs but little in its typo- graphical features from other townships in the county. Its proximity to the Ohio River causes the surface to be just a little more broken than some of the interior townships. Yet it is well adapted to general farming purposes and stock raising. Much attention was given formerly to farming and raising sheep and of late years raising cattle and dairying has become an important in- dustry. The milk is shipped to Pittsburg. The timber has been sold and removed from most of the farms, but there is a good growth of smaller timber standing.

This has never been productive of oil, but many gas wells have been drilled here. The Lawrence Gas Com- pany was about the first to operate, putting down two wells near Eldersville, the first of which was on the farm of George Cunningham, Sr. There are several companies operating in Jefferson at present. The gas is distributed to the surrounding towns, some going to Youngstown, Ohio. Few wells are being drilled below the "Hundred-foot," which is usually from 9 to 11 feet thick. The township is underlaid with bituminous coal which is being mined by the Penobscot Coal Company in the southern end of the township, along the line of the Wabash and Pittsburg Terminal Railroad west of Avella. This vein runs over five feet of clean coal of a fine quality.

From the Pittsburg coal to the Dunkard sand is ap- proximately 420 feet, to the Big Injun sand 1,000 feet. to the Squaw sand 1,300, to the Berea or Thirty-foot shells 1,600, and to the Hundred Foot, which is the gas producing sand in this township, 1,780 feet to 1,846 feet. In the G. Cunningham well below the Hundred Foot was found the Thirty-Foot, the Gordon Stray, the Gor- don and the Fourth Sands within 255 feet of drilling. The Fifth Sand found at 348 feet was indicated by shells.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

Along the Eldersville ridge road, both east and west of Lee's schoolhouse, the Waynesburg "A" coal outerops, and 55 feet below it is the Waynesburg coal, which is found on many of the ridge roads in the town- ship.

This Waynesburg coal vein is about two feet thick in this township, and was mined for a short time about 40 years ago on the north side of the ridge road three miles east of Eldersville. The Pittsburg vein of coal is about 270 feet underneath Lee's schoolhouse.

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History of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens 20th century, Part 60

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1474

Author: McFarland, Joseph Fulton; Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1474