HEADER
Chapter 31
Pine Township
Â
CHANGE OF NAME – LANDOWNERS – INDIAN SETTLEMENTS – MAHONINGTOWN- ORE HILL
FURNACE – STEWARDSON FURNACE – TEMPLETON – STATISTICS – SCHOOLS – GEOLOGICAL –
ELEVATIONSÂPine creek, which flows along the northern border of the township, is the
source of the name of this division of Armstrong county. It was originally
named �Pine Creek Township,� but at the time of the separation of Boggs
from its territory the name was changed to the present one. The boundaries of
the township originally were:�By a line commencing at the place where the purchase line crosses the
line of the township of Kittanning at the corner of Wayne township; thence by
said township to the Mahoning creek; thence down said creek and the Allegheny
river to the Borough of Kittanning; thence by the same to the said purchase
line to the place of beginning, about equally dividing Kittanning township.�ÂThe date of its separation from Kittanning township is June 20, 1836. It
was further shorn of territory in 1878 by the erection of Boggs township. LANDOWNERSÂ
Among the first landowners and settlers of this section were:
 John Elliott, Archibald McCall, Peter Brice, Robert Thompson, Abraham
Parkinson, William Elliott, J. B. McLean, William West, Richard Childerston,
David Lawson, Robert Orr, Philip Templeton, Robert Thompson, James Mosgrove,
John Toy, James Calhoun, James Calhoun, William Lowrey, Ethan Chilcott, A. P.
Moderwell, Francis Dobbs, Samuel Hutchison, Stephen Bayard, William Turnbull,
Willian Peart, Walter Sloan, Hugh R. Rutherford, James H. Walker, Charles
Campbell, Tate Allison, James McCauley, Alexander McAllister, David White,
Abraham Walker, Samuel Wallace, Thomas Duncan, Thomas Stewardson, Samuel
Mateer, William Oliver, John P. Brown, David Dever, John Kneas, Robert Martin,
William Stewart, Hugh Williamson, James Nolder, John Cochran, Barnabas Reedy,
James McGinnis, Robert Patrick, Adam Reilstein, John Houser, John Adams,
Martin McCoy, William Anthony, I. H. McGee, Christian Shunk, Alexander
Laughlin, William Phillips, Alexander Oliver, Noah A. Calhoun, Peter Seegrist,
Solomon Seegrest, John Zimmerman, B. B. Cooper, William Dill, George Dill,
Moses Dill, Simon Robinson, Alexander White, Alexander McCain, Francis Powers,
John Yorkey, Henry Bossinger, James Hannegan, John Ludwig, Peter Beck, Robert
Morris, John Nicholson, Abraham Zimmerman, David Dormire, Barnabas Reedy,
Daniel Reedy, John Edwards, James Stockville, David Baum, Jonathan C. Titus,
William Heffelfinger, John Mortimore, Thomas Richey, John Gould, Anthony
Hoover, William H. Barrett.ÂWilliam Turnbill, one of the early settlers, was one of the patriots who
financed the Revolutionary army at a most critical period. He built the first
sawmill at the mouth of Pine creek in 1790. He was repeatedly raided by spies
and Indians during occupancy of this tract. He sold his holdings in 1806 to
William Pearst, who rebuilt the sawmill and added a gristmill. The mills were
finally destroyed in 1813 by a severe freshet.ÂNAME OF THE INDIANS Â
The mouth of the Mahoning was probably the site of an Indian camp for many
years. Early writers speak of it as an Indian settlement, and it was
designated as �Mahoning �T.� on Reading Howells�s map of 1792; This
and �I. T.� , for Indian towns, on the Historical Map of Pennsylvania,
were on the Elliott tract. It was a Seneca or Cornplanter town. It is not
known when it was founded-probably before 1790. When Peter Brice came here in
1804 it consisted of about thirty huts and one hundred and fifty people.ÂThe Indians engaged in hunting and fishing and the squaws raised the corn,
which they kept in a hole about four feet deep in the ground, shaped like an
earthen dish. They were friendly to Brice and his family. The friendship was
mutual, not only between those who lived there but others from the upper
Allegheny who sometimes stopped here.ÂA party of the latter reached here on an autumn day, between 1804 and 1810.
After drawing their canoes out on dry land and partaking of Brice�s
hospitality, they proceeded to the hills back from the river, where they spent
several days in hunting and returned laden with game. The river having risen
in the meantime their canoes would have been swept down-stream if Brice had
not secured them. When those Indians became cognizant of the facts, and
especially the kindness of Brice, they expressed their gratification by
dancing, singing and shouting. In those times bears, deer, wolves, panthers
and wild turkeys were abundant along and back from the river.ÂWhen Brice was farming a portion of the river bottom below Whiskey run, he
found many large blue, red and white beads, flint darts six inches long,
little tomahawks with round poles, and pieces of wire five or six inches long
filled with scalps of wild ducks. Here, too, the English and French traders
may have bartered beads, trinkets and other commodities to the Indians for
their more valuable pelts, furs and other articles. This may possibly have
anciently been a busy mart for that kind of commerce.ÂJames McCullough, Sr., of Kittanning, saw a log cabin here when he first
descended the Allegheny in 1820, and Jonathan E. Meredith also remembered
having seen several of the same kind, possibly fishermen�s huts, when he
passed here in 1827. The �Orrsville� post office was established here in
May, 1838, and Anson Pinney was appointed postmaster. Among his successors
were Joseph A. Knox and Thomas Meredith. This place was thereafter called
Orrsville, so named after the owner of the land on which the town is
built.ÂCharles B. Schotte, the owner of the �Humboldt Gardens� in Kittanning
township, was employed by the owner of �Springfield� to build a hotel-the
first frame structure erected here-in 1836, which he completed the next year,
and which was successively kept by him, Pinney, William Templeton, Chambers
Orr, John Wallace, and others. Schotte remembers that before its erection
there was not a vistige of another building within the limits of �Orrsville.�
About an acre of ground, on which is the site of that hotel, had the
appearance of having been cleared years before.ÂHe also built for the proprietor the warehouse at the south side of the
mouth of the creek which was extended out somewhat over the bank of the river
for the purpose of conveniently receiving such freight as might be landed here
from the steamboats. The town of Mahoning now occupies this point, which will
probably increase in importance since the completion of the Shawmut railroad,
which runs along the northern bank of the Mahoning. The Mahoning station of
this road is just across the creek from the town, and is a new steel county
bridge has been erected since the railroad began service in 1913.ÂJ. M. White is the storekeeper and postmaster at Mahoning. The distillery
at this point was first operated by William Templeton in 1826. It was later
conveyed to the Mahoning Distilling Company, which has since ceased
operations. McCanna Brothers also have a store here.ÂORE HILL FURNACEÂ
The first settler on the tract where the town of Templeton now is located
was Abraham Parkinson, who was assessed with 400 acres in 1803, but afterward
abandoned it. Peter Brice (colored) settled there next in 1804, and many years
was the only colored resident in this section. About 1873 there were at least
sixty-five colored families here, and they formed a greater proportion of the
population. At present most of them have removed to the cities.ÂThe run at this point was for years called Parkinson�s until the
establishment of the Ore Hill furnace, when the quantities of liquor used by
the workmen caused the change of name to �Whisky run.�ÂOre Hill furnace was built in 1845, by Cochran, Dobbs & Co., on the
banks of the run, and was of the same type as those of that period, using
charcoal. In 1856 in forty weeks it produced 1,525 tons of iron. After
exhausting the supply of wood in that region, it went out of blast in
1857.ÂRobert Walker operated a distillery here in 1804, and from this source
later on the operatives at the furnace received the stimulus that caused the
change of name to Whisky run.ÂSTEWARDSON FURNACEÂ
Christian Shunk, who had made the manufacture of iron a specialty and by
his close and varied observation become a good judge of suitable locations, in
1851 selected the site of Stewardson furnace and the adjacent lands containing
the requisite material for that manufacture. He, Alexander Laughlin and
William Phillips erected this furnace and purchased various tracts of land.
William and Robert McCutcheon conveyed to them 2,601 acres and 123 perches of
the Wallis-Duncan-Stewardson lands, for $12,358.40. This furnace was situated about 375 rods slightly north of east in an
air line from mouth of Mahoning, in a deep northern bend of this stream. It
was built for coke in 1851, but was not then successful, and was changed to a
charcoal hot blast until the spring of 1855, when coke was successfully
substituted. Its first product of pig-iron was in 1852. Shunk conveyed all his
interest in this furnace to Laughlin & Phillips, for $5,000.ÂThe furnace was burned down in September, 1858. It was soon rebuilt and
went into blast in January, 1859. Its stack was forty feet high, the distance
across the bosh being eleven and a half feet. This furnace produced in
thirty-two weeks, in 1856, 1,147 tons of pig-metal-120 tons of which were by
coke-out of limestone carbonate ore from the coal measures two miles
around.ÂThe number of dwelling houses for proprietors and employees was forty,
nearly all frame, one and a half story. The proprietors� residence, a two
story brick, 38 by 52 feet, was built in 1861, at a cost of $6,000; six of the
Employees buildings were brick, one-story. A store was connected with the
furnace, in which a general assortment of merchandise was kept, varying in
value from $4,000 to $5,000.ÂThe quantity of land belonging to its proprietors in Pine and Madison
townships was about 3,100 acres. The sawmill on Scrubgrass run was erected in
1866-7. After the death of Alexander Laughlin, Sr., this furnace and property
became vested in his sons Franklin B. and Alexander Laughlin, by whom as
partners it was operated until the modern methods of operation and the cheap
Lake Superior ore caused its suspension, 1880.ÂTEMPLETONÂ
The second settler on the present site of Templeton, after Peter Brice, was
William Templeton, from whom the town is named. He was first assessed here
1824. Here he started a distillery in 1826, which was located where the first
Pennsylvania water tank was standing in 1876. The house in which he lived was
in the lower part of the tract, where it is widest, between the river and the
curve in the railroad, in front of each swung for several years the sign of
the Green Tree, painted by James McCullough, Sr., on the 7th day of April,
1828, which indicates that he kept there a public house, though not assessed
as an innkeeper.ÂChambers and Robert Orr resided several years on this part of the tract
after Tempeton removed to the mouth of Mahoning. Templeton in 1913 has grown
to be quite a thriving town and will probably be shortly incorporated as a
borough. The population is about 300. There are six stores in the town, one
hotel and other necessary establishments. The American Natural Gas Company has
a large pumping station here. The principal industry is the Hay-Walker Brick
Works, operating 22 kilns and employing 100 men. S. C. Redinger & Sons
operate at sawmill and lumber yard. Otto Thompson and J. K. Gearhart are the
leading merchants. J. N. Rebott is proprietor of the hotel. Daniel Slagle is
resident justice of the peace.ÂTempleton Presbyterian Church was established in 1890 and the present
pastor is Rev. Charles Cochrane. The Free Methodist Church is supplied by Rev.
William Ward. The Methodist Episcopal Church was built here in 1892. Rev. S.
M. Cousins is pastor of this congregation, also serving that of
Manorville.ÂThe resident physicians are Drs. Geo. E. Cramer and Thomas H. Newcome. Dr.
Charles H. Shadle, a noted practitioner, died this year.ÂSTATISTICS
 In giving the early statistics of Pine township it is necessary to
include that of Boggs, as the latter deprived Pine of most of its territory in
the division. The population of the township in 1860 was 1,521; in 1870,
1,642; in 1880, 728; in 1890, 522; in 1900, 369; in 1910, 867.ÂThe assessment list for 1876 shows: Miners, 71; laborers, 67; teamsters, 8;
blacksmiths, 4; carpenters, 4; physicians, 4; preachers, 3; railroad bosses,
3; stonemasons, 3; clerks, 3; peddlers, 3; fillers, 3; agents, 2; keepers, 2;
engineers, 2; millers, 2; gentlemen, 2; apprentice, 1; barkeeper, 1;
cokedrawer, 1; innkeeper, 1; coke boss, 1; manager, 1; quarryman, 1; painter,
1; undertaker, 1; wagonmaker, 1; telegraph operator, 1.ÂThe assessment returns for 1913 show: Number of acres, 2, 284, valued at
$37,147; houses and lots, 332, valued at $69,560; average $209.51; horses, 31,
value, $1,175, average, $34.67; cows, 22, value, $325, average, $14.77;
taxable occupations, 290, amount, $9,975; total valuation, $144,222. Money at
interest, $7,937.40ÂSCHOOLSÂ
The first schoolhouse in the present limits of Pine township was a log
building, situated near White�s run in the southeaster part, and was taught
by Wright Elliott between 1805 and 1811. In 1860 the number of schools was 7;
average number of months taught, 4; male teachers, 4; female teachers, 3;
average monthly salaries of male, $16.50, female, $16; male scholars, 190;
female scholars, 168; average number attending school, 168; cost teaching each
per month, 38 cents; tax levied for school purposes, $639.74; received from
State appropriation, $125.95; from collectors, $334.75; cost of instruction,
$464; fuel and contingencies, $86.95; repairing schoolhouses, $10.87. In 1876
the number of school was 12; average number of months taught, 5; male
teachers, 5; female, 7; average monthly salaries of male, $28, female, $25;
male scholars, 244; female scholars, 231; average number attending school,
247; cost teaching each per month, 74 cents; tax levied for school and
building purposes, $2,284.10; received from State appropriation, $335.73; from
taxes and other sources, $2,499.28; cost, building schoolhouses, etc.,
$771.05; teachers� wages, $2,080; fuel, collectors�s fees, etc., $384.
Number of schools in 1913, 6; average months taught, 7; female teachers, 6;
average salaries, female, $45; male scholars, 100; female scholars, 107;
average attendance, 145; cost per month, $1.54; tax levied, $2,076.26;
received from State, $1,060.30; other sources, $2,075.13; value of
schoolhouses, $4,779; teachers� wages, $1,890; fuel, fees, etc., $925.42.
The school directors are: John M. White, president; J. F. Carpenter,
secretary; T. A. McCanna, treasurer; Charles D. Fair, John Bechtel.ÂGEOLOGICALÂ
The following section, the lower portions of which were taken from the
Mahoning creek near its mouth, and the upper portions on the south side of the
creek, behind the tavern house occupied by William Templeton in 1836, was made
before Boggs was separated from Pine, in the course of the first geological
survey of this State, under the superintendence of Prof. Henry D. Rogers:
Ferriferous limestone, 15 feet; shale (ore), 35 feet; Clarion coal, 2-1/2
feet; shale, etc., 20 feet; Brookville coal, 1 foot; Tionesta coal, 1-1/2
feet; Serel conglomerate, massive, also shaly, 100 feet; shale, sandy, partly
carbonaceous, with seams of calcareous sandstone, from 1 inch to 0 inches
thick, 20 feet; bituminous shale, 3 inches; Sharon coal, 2-1/2 inches; shale,
sandy above, bituminous below, 3-1/2 feet; coal, 6 inches; thin bituminous
slate, with stone silicious layers, 11 feet; coal, 1-1/2 inches; blue sandy
clay, 2 feet; slaty sandstone, 25 to 30 feet, to the level of Mahoning creek.
These soon disappear beneath the waters, with a dip of 5 degrees S., 120
degrees east.ÂNone of the hills around are high enough to have the Lower Freeport coalbed,
but both the Freeport limestone and Upper Freeport coalbed are seen on
Scrubgrass creek, which enters the Mahoning two miles above its mouth. The
coal is often so thinned away as to disappear and let the Mahoning sandstone
rest upon the Freeport limestone. This is the case at the exposure on the
north branch of Pine creek, where the Mahoning sandstone is exposed, sixty
feet thick, cropping the hill. Here the lower shales of the interval between
the two Freeport coalbeds are dark brown and black, and contain layers of
argillaceous iron ore. There is a slight local dip to the west. The same rocks
make the surface as those of Wayne, such of the lower barrens as are
represented being found in the ridges which form the watersheds between the
north and south forks of Pine creek; and the north fork of Pine creek and the
Mahoning, and are of no commercial value. The lower productive measures
outcrop in all the slopes overlooking the principal streams, the entire group
being represented.ÂThe Upper Freeport and Lower Kittanning coals are in workable condition,
and they have been developed, each accompanied by its limestone. The Upper
Freeport coal has with it a bed of fireclay of fine quality, but somewhat
unreliable in its outspread. This is being worked at Templeton. The Clarion
and Brookville coals, beneath the ferriferous limestone, are valuless, by
reason of their small size, though above water level. The Pottsville
Conglomerate is magnificently exposed in the neighborhood of Templeton,
forming cliffs forty feet high. It runs along the slopes northwardly from
there to and up the valley of the Mahoning, sinking to water level beyond the
site of the Stewardson furnace. The rocks lie mainly in the Fairmount
synclinal, of which Peart�s Eddy is the center. Here the ferriferous
limestone is at its lowest level along the river front, the rise north and
south being short and rapid. ELEVATIONSÂ
The levels above tide along the Pennsylvania railroad in this township
before Boggs was separated from it, were:ÂOpposite Mosgrove station, 812.1 feet; northwest outside corner Pine creek
bridge abutment, one-tenth of a mile higher up the track, 812.1 feet;
southwest corner of water station platform, two and a half miles higher up the
track, 822.4 feet; southwest corner of bridge abutment, one mile and
two-tenths higher up the track, 821.6 feet; opposite Templeton station,
five-tenths of a mile higher up the track, 823.8 feet; opposite Mahoning
station, nine-tenths of a mile higher up the track, 824.3 feet. The highest
point in the township is located in the eastern end, near the Mahoning, being
1,466 feet above sea level.Source: Page(s) 230-234, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 19114.
Transcribed August 2001 by Linda M Stitt for the Armstrong County Smith
Project.
Contributed by Linda M Stitt for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project
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