Sloan
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Lyle E Sloan
Biography
Samuel Sloan, Sr. owned a grist mill in Hamilton Township, Franklin/Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, before he migrated to Westmoreland County. In 1768 he was taxed for one grist mill, two horses, three cows, six sheep, and one servant. In 1769, possibly the year he moved to Westmoreland County, it was noted, "mill not in repair", on the tax list of Hamilton Township.
Samuel Sloan, Sr., the pioneer and one of the founding fathers of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, arrived in the area that became Derry Township in 1769, and was one of the first to record property there. He purchased land from the Penn family in both Cumberland and Westmoreland Counties. On April 3rd, 1769 he applied for a land patent of 320 acres called "Happy Discovery" which was located on the east side of the Loyalhanna Creek opposite the mouth of Fourteen Mile Run. This property later became part of the town of Latrobe.
The act by which the County of Westmoreland was legislatively established was passed on the 26th of February, 1773. The next day the Governor sent to the Assembly a list of names that he had chosen, and whom he nominated as Justices of the County Courts. The Justices were commissioned under the broad seal of the Province of Pennsylvania, and of these twenty-six men, any three could hold court. Two of the twenty-six newly appointed Justices of the Courts of Westmoreland County were Samuel Sloan, Sr. and Robert Hanna.
On the sixth day of April, 1773 in the reign of our sovereign lord George the Third, by the grace of God, Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so fourth, was the first court convened at Hanna's. Here in the low rickety cabin, overshadowed by the grand old trees of the ancient forest, were the great principals of the English jurisprudence publicly asserted to the people in the wilderness.
Samuel Sloan, Sr. labored on such diverse tasks as dividing the county into townships and selecting Supervisors, laying out the new roads, selecting Constables, Sheriffs and Overseers of the Poor, naming members of a Grand Jury, recommending persons to sell spirituous liquors by small measure and setting the prices that the new tavern keepers could charge.
As soon as the place of justice had been fixed at Hanna's, a new one story, one room jail was built of rough hewn logs. Close by were erected a whipping post (where many a miscreant was whipped bloody and then salt was rubbed into their flesh) and a pillory, which was a framework raised from the ground and made with holes and folding doors through which the hands and head of the criminal were passed. By common law anybody passing a felon in the pillory could throw one stone at him.
Samuel Sloan, Sr. also helped to establish the Unity Presbyterian Church and Graveyard in 1774, received a land grant from the Penn Family for the same, and was one of the original Elders of the Church. He also contributed 10,000 Pounds Sterling to the Continental Army on June 2nd, 1780 and he also established Fort Sloan on his property for the protection of the settlers from the Indians. Samuel Sloan, Sr.'s monetary contribution to the Continental Army was never re-paid and he was forced to sell some of his land in order to pay his taxes.
Samuel Sloan, Jr., born 1763, possibly in Cumberland/Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Died April 13 1837. Lived in Derry Township in Westmoreland Co Pa. prior to 1796. Wife's name possibly Elizabeth or Rebecca Bran(t). Their first three children were born in Derry Township, near Latrobe. The family moved to Butler County in 1796 where they had 10 more children.
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