Jefferson County Township,
Borough and Town Histories
Borough and Town Histories
The following information is from History of Jefferson County Pennsylvania by Kate M Scott published in 1888.
- Barnett
- Beaver
- Bell
- Clover
- Eldred
- Gaskill
- Heath
- Henderson
- Jenks
- Knox
- McCalmont
- Oliver
- Perry
- Pine Creek
- Polk
- Porter
- Ridgeway
- Ringgold
- Rose
- Snyder
- Tionesta
- Union
- Warsaw
- Washington
- Winslow
- Young
Boroughs
Barnett Township
Barnett is the sixth township, organized in 1833, and was named for Joseph Barnett, the pioneer of Jefferson County. It was taken from Rose township, and until 1838 comprised all that part of Jefferson county lying north of the Clarion river. This township is now bounded on the north by Forest county, from which it is divided by the Clarion River; on the east by Heath township; on the south by Eldred, and on the west by Clarion county.
Situated at the western side of the county, Barnett is one of the northern tier of townships. The greater part of the township is a wilderness. Its northern side is a long slope five hundred feet in height, stretching to the Clarion River. Its southern side bordering on Eldred is traversed nearly it whole length by the ravine of Cathers Run, which heads at the eastern side of the township, and deepens rapidly westward. A narrow strip, therefore, of high land, trending east and west, occupies the center of the township, along which runs its main road, leading from Brookville to Clarington, in Forest county.
Early settlers -- The first to settle in what is now Barnett township, were William, George and Samuel Armstrong, who came from Crawford county about 1827, David and Joseph Reynolds, John Cook, John H. Maze and Alexander Murray came about 1829. David Reynolds cleared the firs land, and made the first improvements.
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Beaver, the twentieth township, was organized in 1850, being formed from portions of Clover and Ringgold. It was named for the principal stream within its bounds, Beaver Run, which traverses the township from east to west, entering Red Bank at Heathville.
This township has Clover township on the north and Rose and Oliver on the east while on the west is Clarion county, and Ringgold forms the southern boundary, being separated from the latter by Little Sandy while Red Bank flows along its western boundary. These two streams then unite just beyond the Jefferson county border. The central part of the township and the eastern part consists of high land much diversified by small ravines, but containing summits which range from 400 to 450 feet above Red Bank Creek.
Early Settlement -- Hulet Smith and his wife were probably the first settlers in Beaver township, to which they came from Connecticut in 1816. They were thirty-five days making the journey and when they came, Brookville as well as nearly all portions of the county, was a dense wilderness. Mrs. Eunice Smith died at her home three miles south of Troy, where she had lived fifty-three years, June 6, 1869; she was in the seventy-sixth year of her age. Mr. Smith removed to Brookville, during the later years of his life where he died in 1879, aged ninety years; he was a soldier of the War of 1812.
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Bell was the twenty-fourth township organized, and was taken from Young in 1857. It was called for Hon. James H. Bell, a prominent citizen of the township. It is bounded on the north by McCalmont township, on the east by Henderson and Gaskill, on the west by Young, and on the south by Indiana county.
This township closely resembles Young, both in size and shape. The Mahoning Creek, flowing across it from east to west, splits it into two nearly equal parts. The southern area is traversed longitudinally by the valley of Canoe Creek, of which Ugly Run is an important tributary. The northern part of the township has only small streams, all of which flow southward into the Mahoning. The Lower Barren Measures cover nearly the whole of the township, and the only rock of any material value to be found being a stratum of good limestone.
The early settlers in what is now Bell township were Nathaniel Tindell, a native of Connecticut, who came with Dr. Jenks in 1818, Jesse Armstrong, Jacob Bowersock, Daniel Graffius, J. Gano, and John Hess, who came sometime after.
Among the prominent setters of Bell township was Hon. James H. Bell, who came from Ireland about the year 1812, and settled in Armstrong county, from whence he removed to Jefferson county in 1831 located at the present site of Bell's Mills. He was like the majority of the early pioneers, almost devoid of means when he settled in the pine forest of Jefferson county, but by untiring perseverance he soon succeeded in paying for his land, and then built the grist and saw-mills on the Mahoning Creek, opposite his residence, which gave the place its name.
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Clover was the thirteenth township organized, and was taken, in 1841, from Rose. It was named for Levi G. Clover, then prothonotary of the county. It is almost square, and contains about seventeen square miles. It is bounded on the north by Union; on the east by Rose; on the south by Beaver, and on the west by Clarion county.
Population and Taxables -- In 1850, according to the census, the population of Clover was 737; in 1860, 910; in 1870, 868; in 1880, 1,054. The census of 1880 gives the population of Summerville at 348. The number of taxables in 1842 was 145; in 1849, 190; in 1856, 166; in 1863, 183; in 1870, 199; in 1880, 262; in 1886, 316.
At an election held in Clover township, in 1842, the following person was elected: Fence viewer, William Magill. In 1843 the following were elected: Inspectors of election, Samuel Milliron, Euphrastus Carrier; judge of election, Solomon Fuller; supervisors, James Sowers, Hazard Jacox; school directors, Hiram Carrier, Mathew Dichey, John Shields, Henry Scott, Samuel Lucas, Christopher Fogle; constable, Charles Jacox; assessor, Euphrastus Carrier; auditors, D. Fayerweather, P.I. Lucas; overseers of the poor, Elijah Heath, Robert Andrews; town clerk, A. Baldwin.
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Eldred was the eighth township organized, and was taken in 1836 from Rose and Barnett, and was named for Hon. Nathaniel B. Eldred, then president judge of the judicial district of which Jefferson county formed a part. This township is bounded on the north by Barnett and Heath townships; on the east by Warsaw; on the south by Union, Rose and Pine Creek, and on the west by Clarion county.
Early Settlers -- The first settlers who came into Eldred were Isaac Matson, in 1828, James Linn, Walter Templeton and Robert McCreight, in 1829, and were followed the next year by E.M. Graham and John McLaughlin; Jacob Craft, David English, in 1831; Paul Stewart, James Templeton and James Trimble, in 1832; Stewart Ross and John Wilson, in 1833, and Thomas Hall in 1834, William and George Catz, and James Summerville.
The first settler of whom we find any mention, in the northern part of Eldred township, was Frederick Kahle, who settled there in 1836. Mr Kahle first came to Clarion County, where he hired a hunter named Tommy Guthrie to go with him into the wilds of northern Jefferson, where he designed locating. After reaching their destination and looking about for a suitable place for Mr.Kahle to make his future home, night overtook them and they were obliged to camp out in the woods. During the night they were attacked by wolves, numbering hundreds, as it appeared to Mr. Kahle; but the old woodsman was not at all disconcerted, pouring some powder on a piece of bark, he set fire to it, and then fired his gun, and the wolves scampered off to he heard no more. Mr. Kahle moved his family, consisting of a number of small children, into these woods that same year, and their first years were scenes of danger and hardship. During the first summer he killed seventeen large rattlesnakes near his own door.
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Gaskill was the fourteenth township, and was organized in 1842. It was formed from a portion of Young, and was named for Hon. Charles C. Gaskill, agent of the Holland Land Company. The township is bounded on the north by Henderson, on the east by Clearfield county, on the south by Indiana county, and on the west by Bell township.
This township occupies the southeastern corner of Jefferson county. A considerable part of the township is uncultivated woodland; other parts of the region, as for example the ravines of Ugly Run and Clover Run, are rugged from the outcrop of the Mahoning sandstone. The surface generally is high. Chestnut Ridge in the southeast corner has elevations of nearly two thousand feet above tide-water, along it summit and western flank. This ridge is the dividing one between the waters of the Susquehanna and the Ohio.
Early Settlements -- The family of Carpenter Winslow, who came from Maine, in 1818, were the first to settle in what is now Gaskill township. They cleared the land and made the first improvements.
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The seventeenth township organized was Heath. It was taken from Barnett, in 1847, and was called for Elijah Heath, one of the first settlers of the county, and for many years a prominent citizen of Brookville. It is bounded on the north by Forest county, from which it is divided by the Clarion River, on the east by Polk township and Elk county, on the south by Eldred, Warsaw and Polk, and on the west by Barnett.
Early Settlers -- The first settlers in Heath township appear to have been Job Carr, James Aharah and John Wynkoop. Mr. K.L. Blood, of Brookville, says of the early settlement of this region: "My father took me, in the fall of 1833, to what was then Ridgway township, now Heath. Job Carr lived there, and was running a saw-mill, and was then building a dam across the Clarion River. James Watterson, of Armstrong, now Clarion county, had made a settlement at the mouth of Spring Creek, and built a saw-mill in 1833, and a man named Ransom and Ralph Hill, had built a shanty, and took up what was then supposed to be vacant land, in the Beech Botton, now owned by Calvin Rodgers." This mill of Job Carr, which was about one mile above Millstone, was the first mill built in what is now Heath township. Mr. Carr took out and ran to market the first lumber. The first school-house was built at Lathrop's, and the first church was built on the Edeburn farm, about 1883.
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Henderson, the twenty-sixth, and the last in the list of townships, was organized in 1857. It was taken from Gaskill and named for Hon. Joseph Henderson, then one of the associate judges of the county. This township, south of Winslow and north of Gaskill township, adjoins Clearfield county on the east, with McCalmont and Bell on the west. The surface is mainly upland, smooth, fertile and well watered. The valleys, with the exception of the Mahoning, extending along the southern border, are shallow and have gentle slopes.
Early Settlement -- The first settlers in Henderson township appear to have been two Englishmen named Potter and Saulsbury; the latter cleared th first land and made the first improvements. In the year 1829 John Pifer and Frederick Kuhnly came from Westmoreland county and settled in what is now known as the Paradise Settlement.
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NOTE: Jenks is no longer a part of Jefferson County, it is now in Forest County.
Jenks township was organized in 1838, and made the tenth in line. It was taken from Barnett, and comprised all that portion lying north of the Clarion River. It was named after Dr. John W. Jenks, who was then on of the associate judges of the county.
Taxables and Population -- In 1842 the taxables in Jenks township numbered 16, and in 1849, 32. The population in 1840 was 40, and in 1850, 88.
At an election held in Jenks township in 1838 the following township officers were elected: Constable, Cyrus Blood; supervisors, Cyrus Blood, John Hund; school directors, Cyrus Blood, John Hund, Aaron Brockway, Aaron Brockway, Jr., Josiah Lacy, John Lewis; auditors, John Hund, Aaron Brockway, sr., Aaron Brockway, Jr.; overseers of the poor, Cyrus Blood, Aaron Brockway, sr.; town clerk, John Hunt; fence viewer, Aaron Brockway, Jr.; inspector of election, John Hunt.
At the same time Tionesta was also organized, making the present township, being also taken from Barnett township, so that these two have very properly been called the twin townships. Tionesta was called for a stream of that name.
The number of taxables in Tionesta in 1842 was 9, and in 1849, 24. The population in 1840 was 27, and in 1850 it had increased to 106.
At an election held in Tionesta township in 1838 the following were elected: Burgess, D.W. Mead; inspector of election, John Nolf.
Colonel Cyrus Blook was the pioneer of Jenks and Tionesta townships.
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Knox made the twenty-third township and was taken from Pine Creek. It was organized in 1853 and called for Hon. John C. Knox, then president judge of his judicial district. It is bounded on the north by Pine Creek, on the east by Pine Creek and Winslow, on the south by McCalmont and Oliver, and on the west by Rose and Oliver.
Early Settlers -- The first pioneers, in the wilds of what is now Knox township, were Joseph Karr, who in 1817 settled on the farm now owned by Manuel Reitz.
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This township, the twenty-fifth in line, was organized in 1857, and was taken from Young. It was named for Hon. John S. McCalmont, the president judge of the district. McCalmont is bounded on the north by Winslow and Knox, on the east by Winslow and Henderson, on the south by Bell and Young, and on the west by Knox and Oliver.
First Settlers -- The first settlers in what is now McCalmont township were Samuel McGhee, Ellis Evans, David and Thomas Carr, Abe Craff, William Best, John Deemer, Philip Bush, and John Smith. They came from Westmoreland and Centre counties about 1830. John Deemer, Carr and Best cleared the first land and made the first improvements.
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Oliver, the twenty-second township, was organized in 1851, and as it was taken from Perry it took also the Christian name of the great naval hero for which that township was called. Oliver is bounded on the north by Knox and Rose, on the east by McCalmont and Young, on the south by Perry and on the west by Beaver and Ringgold.
Early settlers -- The first settler in what is now Oliver township was Reuben Hickox, who came from Connecticut in 1822. Mr. Hickox has been mentioned in the history of Perry township. (Another of the pioneer settlers of Perry township was Reuben Hickox, who came in 1822. He was a great hunter, and in less than three days caught six bears, and in about three months had killed over fifty of these animals. He trapped and hunted principally for bears and wolves, as the skin of the wild cat and other animals were of little or no value. Deer, wild turkey and wild ducks supplied his family with food. Mr. Hickon was born in New Haven, Conn., his father being a soldier in General Washington's own command, for several years during the Revolutionary War. He was married in 1818 to Catharine Williams. Mr. Hickon died about 1884, aged over ninety years. His son Charles Hickon, and others of his descendants, still live in Perry.)
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Perry was the second township organized in Jefferson county, being taken from Pine Creek in 1818. It embraced the whole of the county south of Little Sandy, and the dividing line was for a long time called the "Mason and Dixon line of Jefferson county." It was organized soon after the brilliant victory gained on Lake Erie, by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, and was named for him.
The first settler in what is now Perry township, was John Bell, who was born in Virginia on the 28th of January, 1770, and when but an infant was taken by his family to Cumberland county, and subsequently to the Sewickly settlement, then in Westmoreland county, where he resided until 1800, when he moved to the vicinity of what is now the town of Indiana, where he was in 1805, on the formation of Indiana county, elected the first constable in that county. In 1809 he decided to penetrate still further into the wilderness, and settled upon the farm about one mile north of the Big Mahoning Creek, and made the first improvement in that part of Jefferson county. Until the year 1812 his nearest neighbors were nine miles distant, in Indiana county, and the nearest, in what is now Jefferson county were those living in the Barnett Settlement, over twenty miles north of him.
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Pine Creek township was established by act of Assembly in 1806, and by some writers is supposed to have been named from the creeks running through its bounds, the banks of which were covered with pine trees; but we are inclined to believe that the name was given to the township by Joseph Barnett, who first settled within its limits, and gave it the name from his old home, "Pine Creek," in Lycoming county. This township was the mother of all others, and until 1818, when Perry was organized was the only township in the county -- the only place where any kind of business could be executed.
Within its bounds are three of the principal streams of the county which unite to form Redbank. These are Sandy Lick, which flows along the southern edge of the township, Mill Creek flowing southwest across it, in a ravine no less deep than the other, though less wide; North Fork flowing south along the western side.
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Polk was organized in 1857, being taken from Warsaw and Snyder. It is the twenty-first township, and was named for James K. Polk, eleventh president of the United States. It is one of the northern tier of townships, and adjoins the Elk county line; being bounded on the north by Elk county and Heath township, on the east by Snyder, on the south by Warsaw, and on the west by Warsaw and Heath.
First Settlers -- The first settler who made any improvement in what is now Polk township, was Paul Vandevort, but he only remained a short time; then Frederick Hetrick, in 1838 settled on the farm now owned by Jacob McFadden, and cleared the land and made the first improvements there. He lived there for several years, and then removed to the west, where he died. Philip Hetrick came to Polk township in 1842, and improved the large farm now owned by his son, Darius Hetrick. He, after some years, removed to the west, and is also dead.
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The twelfth township was Porter, organized in 1840. It was taken from Perry township, and named for David R. Porter, then governor of Pennsylvania. This township occupies the southwestern corner of Jefferson county. Pine River flows in a deep valley along its northern edge. It is bounded on the north by Ringgold township; on the east is Perry; on the south, Indiana county, and on the west Armstrong county. The surface is much diversified by hill and valley.
Early settlers -- The first settlement was made in Porter township by James McClelland, in 1803; Benjamin Irons came in 1804 or 1805; David Hamilton, in 1806 or 1808. These all settled in the southwestern part of the township. After them came Elijah Ickes, in 1814 or 1815; Michael Lantz and William Smith about 1815. The first person born in the township was Robert Hamilton.
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NOTE: Ridgeway Township is no longer a part of Jefferson County, it is now in Elk County.
Ridgway, the fourth township, was organized in 1826, being taken from Pine Creek. It was named for Jacob Ridgway, of Philadelphia, who was the owner of a large body of land in McKean county, and also of another large tract in Jefferson county. It was then bounded on the north and east by McKean county, and on the south and west by Pine Creek township.
The taxables in 1826 were 20; in 1828 there were 26 taxables, 1 deaf and dumb person; votes cast at election, 16; votes cast at general election, 19. In 1829 the taxables were still only 26; in 1835, 40; in 1842, 75. The population, according to the census of 1830, was 50, and in 1840, 195. In 1831 the greatest area of the township was, length twenty-three miles, breadth seventeen miles. Mr. Ridgway selected high ground about six miles northeast of the present town of Ridgway, for his settlement, on the Jefferson county land, which was about four hundred and fifty feet above the Clarion River, at Ridgway. In locating this settlement he experienced many difficulties. It was twenty-five miles from his settlement at Bunker Hill, in McKean county, and twenty-two miles from Judge Bishop's (in McKean county), through a dense and heavily timbered wilderness.
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Ringgold, the eighteenth township, was organized in 1848, being taken from Porter township. It was named in honor of Major Ringgold, a gallant officer of the United States army, who was killed at the battle of Palo Alto, in 1846. The township is bounded on the north by Beaver township, on the east by Rose and Oliver, on the south by Porter, and on the west by Armstrong county. Little Sandy Creek flows along its northern edge, and Pine Run along its southern edge. Both streams occupy deep and wide valleys, the centre of the township is high, but much broken by small lateral ravines, one set of which trends north towards the Little Sandy, and the other south, to Pine Run. Along the beds of the main valleys, the elevation above tide-water ranges from twelve hundred and fifty to thirteen hundred and fifty feet; on the uplands the summits occasionally attain an altitude of sixteen hundred feet above the ocean.
Early Settlers -- The first settlers in what is now Ringgold township were Andrew Shaffer, David Milliron and Vanlear, who settled there in 1818. They came from Northumberland and Westmoreland counties. They cleared the first land, and made the first improvements. A number of their descendants yet reside in the township.
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Rose township was the fifth to fall into line in the county history, being formed from Pine Creek, in 1827. It was named for a gentlemen named Rose, then a prominent owner of land in the county. The present bounds of the township enclose a long, narrow area, about eight and a half miles in length, and not over three and a half miles in width at the widest part. Its boundaries are now Eldred township on the north, Pine Creek and Knox on the east, Oliver on the south, and Beaver, Clover and Union on the west. It is a broken, hilly region, and is traversed by numerous deep rugged valleys.
Early settlers. -- Uriah Matson with his family, emigrated to the United States from near Fannet, County Donegal, Ireland, landing at Philadelphia sometime in September, 1786. He settled first in Chester county, PA., near Philadelphia, but how long he remained there, is not now known. Some time before 1800, he removed to Indiana county, where he died. -- John Matson, son of Uriah, was born in Ireland, in 1774, come to the United States with his father's family in 1786; married Mary Thompson, in 1803 or 04, in Indiana (this is probable Indiana County), and removed to Jefferson county, locating on land of which the farm now owned by Robert L. Matson, situated on the Clarington road, one mile northeast of Brookville is a part, in 1805.
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First Settlers: The first person who located in what is now Brookville, as far as can be ascertained, was Moses Knapp. He built a log house about the year 1801, at the mouth of the North Fork, and afterwards built a log grist-mill at the same place.
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Snyder, the seventh township, was organized in 1835, being taken from Pine Creek, and was called for Governor Simon Snyder. In 1843 a portion of the township was taken from it, on the formation of Elk county. The present boundaries of Snyder are: On the north, by Elk county; on the east by Elk and Clearfield; on the south, by Washington township and Clearfield county; and on the west by Polk and Warsaw.
Early Settlers -- In 1822 Alonzo and James W. Brockway settled on the Pfeffer tract, lottery warrant No. 34, which their father, John P. Brockway, had purchased at treasurer's sale, in Indiana, the year previous. This was the first settlement in Snyder township, and is where the town of Brockwayville now is. The next to settle in what is now Snyder township, was Jacob Shaffer, who located in 1823 on the Henry Sivert tract, and his brother-in-law, Henry Walborn, who located on the run known as Walborn Run, about a mile and a half above Brockway's.
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NOTE:Tionesta Township is no longer a part of Jefferson County, it is now in Forest County.
At the same time (as Jenks Township) Tionesta was also organized, making the present township, being also taken from Barnett township, so that these two have very properly been called the twin townships. Tionesta was called for a stream of that name.
The number of taxables in Tionesta in 1842 was 9, and in 1849, 24. The population in 1840 was 27, and in 1850 it had increased to 106.
At an election held in Tionesta township in 1838 the following were elected: Burgess, D.W. Mead; inspector of election, John Nolf.
Colonel Cyrus Blook was the pioneer of Jenks and Tionesta townships.
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Union township was organized in 1849, being taken from Rose and Eldred, and made the nineteenth in number. The name was derived from the term applied to our whole country and which signifies so much to the American citizens. It is bounded on the north by Eldred, on the east by Eldred and Rose, on the south by Clover, and on the west by Clarion county.
Early Settlers -- The first settler in what is now Union township was John Scott, a brother of Samuel Scott, who came with the Barnetts from Lycoming county. He married a daughter of Paul Clover and made the first improvement where the town of Corsica is now located about 1802. William Love came from the vicinity of Sligo, then Armstrong county, about 1820, and there was then but one family living there, that of John Scott. Mr. Love would therefore be the second citizen of Union. He settled on the farm now owned by heirs of Andrew Steele. His son William's widow is now living in Corsica, aged eighty-four years, and has in her possession the first old-fashioned wheel for spinning flax that was made in this part of the country. A daughter of William Love, Miss Elizabeth, who is eighty-one years of age, also makes her home in Corsica.
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Warsaw, the fifteenth township, was formed from Pine Creek, and was organized in 1842. It was named for a city of Poland. Warsaw is one of the largest townships in the county, and is bounded on the north by Polk and Heath; on the east by Snyder and Washington; on the south by Washington and Pine Creek, and on the west by Eldred.
Early Settlers -- The first settlers in what is now Warsaw township were John and Jacob Vasbinder, who came from Mifflin county about the year 1800. Jacob Vasbinder first cleared the farm adjoining the farm of James Harris, on the east in Pine Creek township, which is now owned by George Vasbinder and Benjamin McClelland. He lived on this place until 1841, when he moved to the farm now owned by his son, Jacob, where he died in 1848, being at that time seventy-two years of age. His wife died at the age of eighty-six. Jacob Vasbinder had eight children, four of whom are living. His sons, George and T.Miles, reside in East Warsaw.
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Washington, the eleventh township, named in honor of the "Father of his Country," was organized in 1839, being taken from Pine Creek. It is bounded on the north by Snyder and Warsaw townships; on the east by Clearfield county; on the south by Winslow township, and on the west by Pine Creek and Warsaw.
Washington is one of the largest townships in the county. Its surface area is about fifty square miles, or nearly one-twelfth of the entire surface area of the county. It is over seven miles long from north to south, at its longest part and nearly nine miles wide, from east to west at its widest part.
Early Settlers -- In 1824 Henry Keys, Alexander Osborn, John McIntosh, John McGhee and Thomas Moore, first settled in what is now Washington township. To their new home they gave the name of "Beechwoods," from the great quantity of beech trees which they bound growing there, an appellation which still clings to the locality. They were followed in 1826 by Andrew Smith, William Cooper and John Wilson, with their families, and in 1829, James Smith, with his family, also located in the Beechwoods. These first settlers came from the eastern counties of Centre and Adams.
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The next to form in line, making the sixteenth township, was Winslow, which was organized in 1847, being taken from Washington, Pine Creek and Gaskill. It was named for Hon. James Winslow, then one of the associate judges of the county. It is situated on the east side of the county, and its boundaries are as follows: On the north by Washington, on the east by Clearfield county, on the south by McCalmont and Henderson, and on the west by McCalmont and Pine Creek. It is almost square -- the distance across it north and south is six and a half miles, and east and west about seven and a half miles.
Early settlers -- The first settlers in what is now Winslow township were John Fuller and Rebecca, his wife. Mr. Fuller, who was born in Saratoga County, N.Y., May 5, 1794, and served in the War of 1812, came to Pennsylvania in 1818, and in 1820 married Rebecca Cathers, of Armstrong, now Clarion county. In 1822 they located in Winslow township, making the first trip to their new home on foot, through the wilderness, the only house on their route being at Port Barnett. They built a cabin on the spot now covered by the Fuller garden on the old homestead, and went to work to hew and dig out a home in the wilderness. Mrs. Fuller worked early and late by her husband's side, and the first season dug over a piece of ground, upon which the stumps stood too thick to admit of its being ploughed, and planted their first potatoes. Their first team was an ox and a cow.
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The township which completed the first trio, was Young, organized in 1826, and taken from Perry township. It was then quite large, embracing all the southeastern portion of the county. It was named for Judge Young, at that time president judge of the Westmoreland judicial district. The township is now bounded on the north by McCalmont, south by Indiana county, east by Bell township, and west by Perry. It is rectangular in form, six miles long by three wide -- eighteen square miles, and contains 11,520 acres. The Mahoning Creek flows across the township from east to west, in a deep, wide valley in which Punxsutawney is situated. South from the creek the region is an upland plateau, the top of which is three hundred and fifty feet above the creek level, and is but little broken by ravines. The region north of the creek is, on the other hand, no less high, is much diversified by hill and vale -- a fortunate topographical aggangement for the commercial interest of the township, as it makes access easy above water level to the large and valuable coal beds. The small tributary valleys of which there are four, trend southward, and are roughly parallel to one another. The most important of these is the Elk Run Valley.
First Settler -- Isaac P. Carmalt was born in Philadelphia in 1794. His father was a relative of William Penn, with whom his ancestors came from England on his second voyage to this country.
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Early Settlers -- In 1818 Dr. John W. Jenks came to Punxsutawney and at once began to make preparations for a permanent settlement there, and for over thirty years was one of the most prominent citizens of the county. In 1820 he built, in connection with David Darclay, the mill on Elk Run. "His first house was a small log one built a little north of what was known as Farmer's Alley," and he afterwards built a commodious residence where his son Phineas now resides. Dr. Jenks kept open house all those early years of his residence in Punxsutawney. Travelers from far and near made his house their stopping place. His hospitality was dispensed liberally, and without any compensation, and it was owing to this hospitality and generosity that he did not become a rich man. It was said of him, that while his house was the best patronized in the county in those early days, the only difference between it and the hotels was that the "Jenks House had no license, and made no charge."
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