CENTENNIAL Worthington West Franklin 1863

CENTENNIAL
Worthington West Franklin
1863 – 1963

FOREWARD

It has been asked, ï¿½Why write a history of Worthington?ï¿½

It is not necessary to be a large city or to have played a major part in a
prominent historical event to fill the niche in the hearts of the people.

Although prominently located on the old Kittanning and Butler Turnpike, now
U. S. Route 422, the most heavily traveled east and west route north of
Pittsburgh, it still remains only a hamlet.

Nevertheless, it is our town, our home. It is more. It fills a gap in our
hearts so beautifully expressed by a quotation from that well-known poem, ï¿½The
Old Oaken Bucketï¿½:

How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood,
And evï¿½ry loved spot which my infancy knew.ï¿½

It has fallen upon the writer to be Chairman of the Historical Committee of
the Worthington West Franklin Township Centennial. It has been found
impractical to confine the remarks entirely to this area, as certain events of
the county, state, and nation all have a bearing on this vicinity. It is also
equally true that events of our colonial predecessors, whether they were,
Indian, French, or English, all have played their part and left an indelible
mark. It is also necessary to be brief. Unless they are outstanding, it has
been found impractical to include biographies. Nevertheless, we are greatly
indebted to those who have gathered information, especially Miss Joanna Barr,
Mrs. James Hogg, Mrs. Chapman Marshall, Miss Celeste Weaver, and Mrs. Dale
Lewis. We are grateful to those who loaned books and old pictures and who have
contributed time and effort.

Also, we want to thank the various churches, civic organizations, and
individuals who have furnished the statistics to make this narrative possible.

In compiling this work, the writer has gleaned freely from Smithï¿½s
History of Armstrong County, a later two volume edition published in 1914 by
J. H. Beers Co., Chicago, and C. Hale Sipeï¿½s Indian Wars of Pennsylvania.
With these aids and the writerï¿½s knowledge of this vicinity, which extends
well over half a century, it is hoped that the chronicles are correct and that
they give pleasure to some and pain to none. If so, they will have served
their purpose.

The Historical Committee,

Calton C. Conley, Chairman

LEGENDS AND INDIAN HISTORY

Very little is known of the early inhabitants of this vicinity. When
William Penn, at the head of a band of Quakers, in the year 1682, arrived in
this country and settled in the eastern part of the state that we now call
Pennsylvania, he found the country inhabited by a tribe of Indians to which he
gave the name of Delaware, but who called themselves, Lenni-Lenape.

The Lenape like all other Indian Tribes, kept no written history, but
according to their sacred legends and traditions, which were handed from
father to son, formerly had lived in the vast area west of the Mississippi
River. They belonged to the great Algonquins, by far the greatest family in
North America, which was measured by the extent of territory occupied. They
surrounded, on all sides, the other great Indian Family, whom the French named
Iroquois, whose territory extended from Labrador southward to South Carolina,
westward to the Rocky Mountains and northward almost to the present Canadian
boundary.

For some reason, they left their western home, and, after many years of
wandering eastward, they reached the Mississippi River where they met the
Iroquois who were likewise migrating eastward in search of a new home.

The spies sent forward by the Lenape for the purpose of reconnoitering had
discovered, before the arrival of the main body, that the region east of the
Mississippi was occupied by a powerful nation called Alligewi (changed by us
to Allegheny) which in time gave name to the mountains and beautiful river
that flows through Armstrong County.

The Alligewi had many large towns on the rivers of the Mississippi and Ohio
Valleys and had built innumerable mounds, fortifications and entrenchments,
many of which remain and are known by us as the work of the Mound Builders. It
is related that they were tall and stout with many giants among them.

When the Lenape arrived on the banks of the Mississippi, they sent
messengers to the Alligewi requesting that they be permitted to settle among
them. This request being refused, the Lenape were granted permission to pass
through the territory of the Alligewi and seek a settlement further eastward.
The Lenape, accordingly, began to cross the Mississippi River and the Alligewi,
seeing their number vastly greater than they originally supposed, made a
furious attack on the ones who had crossed and threatened the whole tribe with
destruction if they persisted in crossing the river.

Not being prepared for a conflict, the Lenape conferred whether they should
make a trial of strength and were convinced that the enemy were too powerful
for them. But the Iroquois, who had been spectators from a distance and
angered by the treachery of the Alligewi, offered to join the Lenape on the
condition that, after conquering the Alligewi, they should be entitled to
share the spoils of victory, jointly.

Having united their forces, the Lenape and the Iroquois declared war on the
Alligewi and started their onward march across the continent, gradually
driving out the Alligewi, who fled down the Mississippi Valley, never to
return. This conquest lasted for many years, during which time, the Lenape
suffered the heaviest losses as the Iroquois left them to bear the brunt of
the battle., At the end, the conquerors divided the possessions of the
defeated race. The Iroquois took the territory in the region of the Great
Lakes and their tributary streams, and the Lenape took the land to the south.

For a long period, possibly many years, the Lenape and Iroquois lived
peacefully in this region and increased greatly in population., Some of their
hunters and war parties crossed the Allegheny Mountains and arrived on the
streams flowing eastward, following them to the Susquehanna and thence to the
Atlantic Ocean, Other pathfirnders did likewise, penetration the wilderness to
the Delaware River and, exploring still further eastward, arriving on the
Hudson River.

Some of the explorers returned home, reporting the discoveries they had
made, describing the country as abounding in game and the streams as having an
abundance of fish and waterfowl, with no enemies to be dreaded.

The Lenape considered themselves fortunate by these discoveries and began
to migrate thither, settling on the great rivers ï¿½ the Susquehanna, the
Potomac, the Delaware, and the Hudson.

It is to be remembered that, when the territory of the Alligewi was
divided, the Iroquois, taking the region around the Great Lakes, also migrated
eastward, following the St. Lawrence River to the ocean, thereby becoming the
northern neighbors of the Lenape. They now became jealous of the growing power
of the Lenape and planned to subject them and assume dominion over them.
According to the Moravian Missionary, Re. John Heckewelder, who lived among
the Lenape for more than thirty years, they related how this dominion came
about.

The great chiefs of the Lenape stated to Heckewelder that the Iroquois
tricked them into a war with the powerful Cherokees of the south, by placing
the war clubs of the Lenape beside the bodies of some Cherokees, that they,
themselves, had previously slain. The Cherokees, naturally, held the Lenape
responsible and declared war. When this treachery was discovered, they
declared war on the Iroquois, who,, being no match for their powerful
adversary, counselled among themselves, resulting in the uniting of their
tribes into a confederation that we know as the Five Nations.

This event took place probably about 1570 and was, in part, the work of the
great Mohawk Chief, Hiawatha, immortalized by Longfellow in poetry., During
the time that the French were landing in Canada and the Dutch on the Hudson,
the Iroquois were able to obtain superior weapons from them and conquer their
enemies, thereby, in the language of the Indians ï¿½make women of them.ï¿½

By the treaty of peace that followed, the Lenape was deprived of the right
to make war or peace, sell land, or to perform other major duties, these being
reserved to the conquerors. This explains, in part, the dispute that sometimes
followed the sale of land by the Lenape to the colonists when they were honest
enough to buy it.

The Lenape, being subjected by the Iroquois, their land settled upon by the
ever land-hungry English, defrauded again and again, more particularly in the
great Walking Purchase of 1737, began to migrate westward. Their trails
followed from the headwaters of the Susquehanna River to those of the
Allegheny River and they established themselves along the way at the places we
now know as Lock Haven, Clarion, Punxsutawney, Beaver Town, and Kittanning.
Here, at the latter place, they established a stronghold from which many war
parties went forth to scalp and plunder the white settlers in their former
area. This became such a menace to the colonists during the inter-colonial
wars, more particularly during the French and Indian War that they determined
to destroy it.

COLONIAL HISTORY OF COUNTY

In the interval from the close of King Georgeï¿½s War in 1748 to the
beginning hostilities that we call the French and Indian Wars in 1754, that
momentous struggle that was to forever settle the boundary claims of New
France and England in America and to a lesser extent those of their Indian
allies, war did not mean war, or peace, peace.

Because of the ever-increasing western movement of the English colonists
and the southward incursion of the French to the Allegheny and Ohio Valleys,
the French, after 1750, began to erect a chain of forts that was intended to
eventually extend from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It is only natural that
the Indians viewed both movements with ever-increasing alarm and this area
became the scene of conflict.

From 1753 on, the French began to enter this region in great numbers.
Floating down the Allegheny River to the forks of the Ohio where Pittsburgh
now stands, they erected a fort which they called Du Quesne.

This movement gives more importance to the Indian stronghold of Kittanning.
Already located on the east and west Indian trails, it now became a junction
of those running north and south along the Allegheny River, of France and her
Indian allies.

By the early English and Colonial defeats, namely, the fall of Fort
Granville near Lewistown, Fort Necessity in Fayette County, and the disastrous
and overwhelming defeat of General Braddockï¿½s army at the Great Meadows a
few miles from Fort Du Quesne which he set out to capture, the frontiers of
Juniata, Perry, Fulton, Franklin, and Cumberland Counties were left exposed to
the bloody incursion of the Delawares and Shawnees of the Ohio and Allegheny
Valleys, more particularly, the Delawares or Lenape, from their stronghold of
Kittanning.

The Lenape, more cautious than their sister tribes, apparently had waited
to see who would be the winner in this gigantic conflict and now threw their
lot openly with the French. The war whoop sounded and the Indian, with the
ferocity of his nature, aided by tomahawk and scalping knife, fell on the
unprotected settlements of the Blue Ridge Valley. Families were murdered at
midnight, their cabins burned to ashes, parents and children captured and in
many cases brought to Kittanning and other Indian towns to be tortured or
burned to death.

In a letter by Colonel Armstrong at Carlisle, to the Govenor, he calls
attention to the unprotected state of the frontier and asked permission to
lead an expedition against the Indian stronghold at Kittanning and destroy it.
Colonel Armstrong raised a small army consisting of about three hundred men
mostly of Scotch-Irish descent from the Cumberland Valley. Following the
Kittanning Indian Trail from Fort Shirley to Hollidaysburg and leaving this
place on September 4, they had advanced to a place within fifty miles of
Kittanning by September 6. On the advice of scouts they arrived within six
miles of Kittanning by the night of September 8 in 1756 and utterly destroyed
the town and many Indians braves, Colonel Jacobs being among the slain.

Their work accomplished, Colonel Armstrong and his small army returned to
the Cumberland Valley. This, for a time, eliminated Kittanning as an Indian
outpost, but survivors returned and pitched their wigwams among the ashes of
the burned town and it again was revived as a meeting place of the Indians.

Two years later, in 1758, Fort Du Quesne fell to General Forbes and was
renamed Fort Pitt, reestablishing the power of the English at the forks of the
Ohio. Kittanning remained, in somewhat of a lesser degree, as an Indian
outpost until the close of the war. During Pontiacï¿½s Conspiracy, Fort Pitt
was besieged by a vast throng of Indian tribes. It is surmised that Guyasuta,
Chief of the Senecas, who had hitherto remained aloof from the conflict, led a
band of Seneca warriors and counselled with various other chiefs at
Kittanning. They decided to join their Indian brethren and intercept an
expedition to relieve Fort Pitt under Colonel Bouquet.

The two armies met in Westmoreland County about forty miles from Fort Pitt
at a place called Bushy Run where was fought the hardest battle on the
American continent between the red and white men, resulting in a defeat for
the Indians and the gradual explusion westward. However, it was not until
1794, by General Anthony Wayneï¿½s victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and
the treaty at Greenville, Darke County, Ohio, that they ceded to the United
States 25,000 square miles of territory. This included what was formerly known
as ï¿½Indian Countryï¿½ being that portion of Ohio north of the Ohio River and
that part of Pennsylvania west of the Allegheny River where a portion of
Armstrong County is now located. Settlers rapidly took up their abode in the
fertile region, felling the forest, cultivating the virgin soil, and laying
the foundation of the material prosperity which there abounds today.

TOWNSHIP DIVISION AND ORGANIZATION

This county, named for Colonel Armstrong who led the frontiersmen in their
attack on the Indian village of Kittanning, when organized in 1800 contained
within its limits only two organized townships ï¿½ Allegheny and Buffalo. Toby
Township was organized soon afterward, as were many others, one of which was
Sugar Creek, much larger than its present area.

In 1830, a portion of Sugar Creek Township was taken to form Franklin
Township, being later divided into East and West Franklin Townships in which
the present borough of Worthington is located. A patent was granted in 1809 to
Gilbert Wright and Archibald McCall for a tract of three hundred sixty-six
acres which they called ï¿½Mount Lorenzo.” It was so thickly covered with
blackjacks and underbrush that one could not see through them, and the chain
carriers for the surveyors were obliged to crawl on their hands and feet in
carrying the chain through them. Rattlesnakes were also abundant.

Judge Barr erected a sawmill on West Glade Run, within the limits of ï¿½Mount
Lorenzo,ï¿½ about 1808. It was first assessed to his son William in 1809 and
was in the course of a few years removed and a distillery erected on its site
by James Barr, Jr. in 1813. The distillery was replaced by a gristmill with
one run of stone, which was operated for several years.

Borough Settlement

In 1813, James Barr, Jr. purchased two hundred two acres from Gilbert
Wright for $760.00; and soon after perfecting his title to it, he laid out the
town of Worthington in the spring of 1829 on that part of ï¿½Mount Lorenzoï¿½
adjoining the northern line of ï¿½Toddsboroughï¿½ consisting of thirty-eight
lots, each one-fourth of an acre and all of them north of the Kittanning and
Butler Turnpike, nineteen of them between Ross Street and Virgin Alley, the
latter fourteen feet wide and the other nineteen between the alley and the
turnpike. The sale of lots, soon after they were laid out, were cried by
William Cowan. The sale of lots were slow until the construction of the
Kittanning-Butler Turnpike increased the travel through that section. Among
the first purchasers were William Q. Sloan, James Gallagher, Samuel
Hutchinson, Levi Bowser, David Claypoole, John Craig and Christian Kenson.

The first separate assessment list of the ï¿½taxable inhabitants of
Worthingtonï¿½ appears in the assessment for Buffalo Township for 1832.
Fourteen lots were then assessed to eleven persons, six of them at $5.00 each,
four at $10.00, one at $25.00 and one at $50.00, aggregating $145.00. As none
of these lot-owners was assessed with other occupations or personal property,
it is probable they were all then non-residents of Worthington. This town, the
next year, was in Franklin Township, when its assessment list showed one
person having an occupation, Christian Kenson, weaver, whose occupation and
the lot he had purchased from Levi Bowser were valued at $60.00 and one of
Samuel Hutchinsonï¿½s lots, and the ï¿½house and stableï¿½ on it at $58.00.
George Claypooleï¿½s lot was valued at $58.00, and all others at $4.00 and
$8.00 each.

The growth of the town was slow. James Sample was assessed in 1837 as a
tavern keeper. The old stone house still standing in the center of town was
his tavern. William C. Piper was the first merchant in that year; Charles
Forman and John McDonald, tailors; Matthias Bernheimer, shoemaker; Robert
Staley, blacksmith; Robert Armstrong, wagonmaker; Jacob McDonald, carpenter;
William Cratty, tanner. In 1842, John McDonald had opened the second tavern.
As late as 1845 the number of taxables did not exceed ten. Its being a point
of the stage route between Freeport and Clarion and its proximity to Buffalo
Furnace contributed somewhat to the maintenance of its life and business.

Incorporation of Borough

Thirty-four signers were on the petition presented to Quarter Session Court
in 1854, requesting that Worthington be incorporated, representing that there
was a large number of children in their town who needed schooling, but labored
under great inconvenience on account of their schoolhouse being a mile or more
distant from their homes, that the taxes collected from the inhabitants of
their town ought to be applied to the repairs of its streets and alleys, but
were expended on the roads of the township, to the great inconvenience and
damage of the inhabitants and the traveling public., The court appointed the
necessary officers and on their report the following year issued the charter.
The borough officers elected at the spring election, 1856, were Dr. John K.
Maxwell, burgess; Michael Duffey and Adam Rhodes, justices of the peace; Jacob
Mechling, constable; J. G. Clark, H. S. Ehrenfeld, Joseph C. King, John McNarr,
and James Monroe, town councilmen; James Barr and Samuel Monroe for three
years, and Dr. John K. Maxwell for two years, school directors; John T.
Ehrenfeld, assessor; David Landis, borough auditor; and John Blain and Samuel
Lege, overseers of the poor.

This borough contained the next year after its incorporation nearly seventy
taxables: 3 blacksmiths, 2 carpenters, 3 clerks, 2 coachmakers, 1
cabinetmaker, 6 farmers, 1 grocer, 1 harnessmaker, 1 huckster, 10 laborers, 2
merchants, 1 manager, 1 preacher, 1 miller, 1 physician, 3 shoemakers, 1
saddler, 1 teacher, 1 tanner, 1 theological student, 1 tailor, and 1
wagonmaker.

From the time of the incorporation of Worthington, the Council has been
like ï¿½a man without a county,ï¿½ never having a regular place to meet, until
they built the Borough Building on Church Street in 1961.

Most of the work was done by volunteers, with the exception of laying the
blocks and finishing the cement floor, which was done by experts. Mr. Carl
Lewis, an electrician, got the material for the wiring of the building at cost
and did the work free of charge. Mr. Roy Crissman secured the heating system
at cost and also installed it free.

The Mayor and all the councilmen and other citizens came out to help and it
was completed in a short while. They have two meeting rooms and a garage to
keep their equipment in.

The present Mayor is Donald Simmers. Other members of Council are James F.
Hogg, Glenn Graham, Ralston Bowser, Roger Anthony, Robert LaSitis, and Edward
Bargerstock, Jr. The Council President is James Cook. The secretary is William
Beers and the treasurer is Frank Walker.

THE FOUNDERï¿½S FAMILY

The first occupant on the tract of land known as Mount Lorenzo was James
Barr who was a prominent citizen of the state of Pennsylvania from his early
manhood until his death. He was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in
1749. Prior to 1773, he moved to that part of Bedford County afterward
included within the limits of Derry Township, Westmoreland County.

He evinced his patriotism and devotion to the cause of the colonists in the
beginning of the revolutionary struggle by aiding in the organization of what
were then called ï¿½the associated battalions,ï¿½ or bodies of ï¿½Associators,ï¿½
which were raised for the defense of the western frontier and the whole state
and country.

His fellow citizens returned him as a member of the constitutional
convention of the state of Pennsylvania which met July 15, 1776 and framed the
first constitution of this state. From 1787 to 1790, he was a member of the
General Assembly of the state. After the adoption of the Constitution in 1790,
he was appointed one of the associate judges of the courts of Westmoreland
County.

Judge Barr moved from Derry to Appleby Manor, Manor Township, in 1801.
While living here, he was appointed a trustee of the county. When the county
was organized for judicial purposes, he was appointed one of the three
associate judges of Armstrong County, a position he held for twelve years,
resigning in 1817. He died August, 1820, at the age of seventy-one on the part
of Mount Lorenzo then occupied by his son, David Barr.

James Barr, Jr., who built the first house in and laid out the town of
Worthington, was the eldest son of Judge Barr. He was born in 1781 and died in
August, 1832 as the result of an injury incurred while building an addition to
his log house supposedly located on the site where King Bowser now resides.
His remains lie buried in the cemetery of the Union Presbyterian Church at
Cowansville.

Mr. Barr was one of the organizers and elder of the Union Presbyterian
Church in 1801 and 1802. He also led the congregational singing ï¿½ the tuning
fork used is still in the possession of the family.

James Barr was survived by his widow, Nancy Stevenson Barr, and six
children: James Barr, who built the homestead now owned by James Hogg; Nancy,
who married James B. McKee; David; Margaret, who married Samuel Scott and was
the grandmother of Miss Maude Ross and Willard Ross now residents of
Worthington; Jane and Joanna.

In 1864, David Barr and his wife, Eleanor Clark of a Crawford County
pioneer family, purchased 128 acres of land in West Franklin Township.

David was survived by two sons: Robert Clarke Barr, whose sons Douglas and
Roger David Barr now reside in Baytown, Texas. William I. Barrï¿½s surviving
children are Mrs. Nellie Bouch, a resident of Worthington; John David; Joanna;
James; Ira; Frank and Gladys, who reside on the William Barr farm in West
Franklin Township.

INDUSTRIES

The following history of the early industries of this area is taken from
the History of Armstrong County.

The waterpower furnished by Big Buffalo Creek was a strong inducement to
the first settlers to construct mills and factories. The first establishment
was the old Buffalo Furnace, which was organized in 1839-40 by Nicholas
Biddle, formerly President of the Bank of the United States; Henry D. Rodgers,
the eminent geologist who had charge of the first geological survey of the
state and was subsequently Professor of Geology in the University of
Edinburgh, Scotland, whose death was deeply lamented by the scientific world;
John D. McKinney, one of the corps of geologists in that survey; Russell L.
Colt, and perhaps one or two others, and of which McKinney was the manager. It
was a steam cold blast charcoal furnace, its stack thirty-five feet high and
eight feet across the bosh. The weekly product of this furnace, for the first
few years after it went into blast, was thirty-three tons, the number of
employees being one hundred. That furnace company became embarrassed in 1841
and the furnace and land, aggregating five hundred sixty-three acres, were
sold by the sheriff in 1844 to Reuben Baughman, Peter Graff, and Jacob Painter
for $7200. Its business was conducted from the fall of 1843 under the firm
name of P. Graff & Co., who built a new charcoal furnace; with a better
blast, and in which ore of a better quality was used. The two furnaces, from
1846 on, produced a weekly average when in full blast of eighty tons, the
number of employees being one hundred fifty. The latter company, who were
successful, closed their furnaces permanently in 1864, A three-story gristmill
with four runs of stone was erected near the furnace in 1846. It was run by
the old dam on the creek, opposite the Peter Graff Homestead, but the power
was produced by a modern turbine wheel. It operated successfully for many
years and was finally dismantled in recent years.

The first tannery was started in this township by John Shields in 1816.
Robert Long built a sawmill in 1828 in the northern part of the township and
in 1854, James Minteer operated one in the northwestern end. They had been
preceded, however, in 1808, by Judge Barr, who built a sawmill on his land on
Glade Run, afterward adding a gristmill. A sawmill was also operated on Long
Run in 1846 by James McDowell, and a gristmill in the same locality by John
Mounts in 1806. James Sheridan in 1824 was assessed with a distillery on his
tract near the line of Butler County. It is now destroyed.

Buffalo Woolen Mills

These famous mills were erected in 1865 by Peter Graff and Isaac Firth on
Big Buffalo Creek between the south bank of the run and the creek. The mill
was originally run by the dam on the creek above and consisted of one
building. Its original dimensions, three stories, seventy by thirty-five feet,
were increased in 1867 by the addition of sixty by thirty-five feet, of the
same height. The other original buildings consisted of a ware and a wool
house, two-story, fifty by twenty-five feet and a stone dryhouse, sixty by
twenty-five feet. In 1876 a new woolhouse and a new storehouse, each
two-story, forty by thirty-five feet, were erected. The machinery consisted of
eight carding machines, two selfacting mules, with three hundred eighty-four
spindles to each, and a spinning jack, with one hundred eighty spindles, used
for doubling and twisting yarn for cassimeres. There were thirteen looms, wide
and narrow, for weaving jeans, blankets, flannels, cassimeres, and fine
cassimeres. The mules and a considerable part of the other machinery, the
latest and best, at that date were made in England, There was also all the
other machinery required for fulling and finishing. The number of employees at
that date was twenty-five and the amount of wool used annually was eighty
thousand pounds.

In 1886, the firm was composed of Peter Graff, E. D. Graff, J. Frank Graff,
and James E. Claypoole. In 1890, Peter Graff died and in 1912 his son, E. D.
Graff also passed away. The surviving partners continued the business under
the same name as in the past.

In 1913, the mills were devoted exclusively to the production of all-wool
blankets, which were sold all over the United States and were held as the
standard of perfection in that field. Six buildings were in use and housed
over sixty employees, who operated twelve thousand spindles, producing fifty
thousand pairs of blankets, annually. It required two hundred sixty-five
thousand pounds of domestic scoured wool to manufacture that number of bed
coverings. Two gas engines of sixty and one hundred horsepower ran the
machinery and the plant was valued at $100,000.

The Peter Graff Milling Company was also run in connection with the mills
and was owned by J. Frank Graff and Peter Graff.

In 1898 the original building was destroyed by fire and rebuilt, the
interior of which was destroyed by fire in 1932. About this time, the factory
was converted into the manufacture of cloth and sometime later (about 1939)
the building was sold.

The Aluminum Ladder Company purchased the building and started the
manufacture of aluminum ladders, later moving to South Carolina. The structure
is presently occupied by the Craftsmen-Zeigler Printing Company of Butler.

Craig Woolen Mills

Just north of the forks of Big and Little Buffalo Creeks lies a tract of
land which was settled in 1793 by William Stephenson and Aaron Wor (could this
have been the derivation of our townï¿½s name?). who held the land under John
Craig. In 1805 Samuel, son of John Craig, erected a fulling mill on the banks
of the creek and in 1814 added a carding roll, carrying on the business until
1835, when in partnership with his brother John, and Robert Cooper, he began
the manufacture of flannels, blankets and woolen goods. In 1843, the building
was burned, but soon thereafter, rebuilt. In 1856, the firm consisted of the
Craigs and William F. Rumberger, under the firm name of Craig and Rumberger.
The firm supplied the troops at Camp Orr with a large number of blankets in
the fall of 1861, but up to 1914 no payment was made for those most necessary
supplies. In 1867, Rumberger purchased Craigsï¿½ interest for $10,000, took as
a partner John P. Scott, and the firm became Rumberger and Company. On an
unlucky Friday night in December, 1871, just twenty-eight years from the date
of the first fire, an employee attempted to fill a large lighted lamp, with
the usual result. The fire was not long cooled ere the rebuilding of the plant
began and under the name of Rumberger, Gregg and Co., the business for a time
prospered. At that time one thousand yards of flannel and two hundred sixteen
pairs of socks were manufactured, daily. After 1880, the firm was at various
times called W. F. Rumberger & Son; W. F. Rumberger & Co.; Ross,
Burford and Co.; J. Alex Ross & Co.; and finally The Craigsville Woolen
Manufacturing Company and consisted of the following partners: Hiram Dawson,
superintendent; W. F. Minteer, Daniel Younkins, G. M. Haverstroh.

The plant consisted of the building erected in 1872 and the old flouring
mill across the creek. Forty-five employees were required to run the one
thousand three hundred thirty-eight spindles and the yearly output of wool
blankets and flannel cloth for the army valued at $120,000. A forty-horsepower
gas engine and a steam engine of seventy-five horsepower were required to turn
the spindles. The plant was valued at $50,000.

Craigsville

This town, a short distance from Worthington, began to be called Craigtown
about 1843, and afterward Craigsville, which name it still retains. The first
child born within its limits was born March 30, 1809.

The flouring mill, which was later a part of the woolen mill plant, about
thirteen rods below the woolen factory, on the right bank of the creek, was
erected by John Craig, Jr., Joseph T. McCurdy and Samuel S. Wallace, early in
1849, and was a three-story frame structure. In 1871, John Craig died suddenly
soon after breakfast one morning from neuralgia of the heart. His heirs
conveyed the undivided two-thirds of the mill property to McCurdy and Joseph
Minteer, May 14, 1872, for $2,000. The flouring mill was closed in 1905 and
the building taken over by the woolen mill to allow for necessary expansion.

The first separate assessment of Craigsville was made in 1876 and gave
twenty-five taxables: 1 physician, 3 clerks, 1 boss carder, 2 boss weavers, 1
laborer, 1 helper, 1 dyer, 1 wool sorter, 1 picker, 2 teamsters, 1 spinner, 1
blacksmith, 1 wagonmaker, 1 miller, and 1 weaver.

A store was opened near the mills in 1860 by Samuel S. Wallace, John C.
Wallace, and John Craig, afterward being sold in 1872 to Christopher Leard
& Sons. Later it was owned by J. W. Minteer, who also was postmaster. The
postoffice was established there in 1869 with W. F. Rumberger as the first
official in charge.

The village in 1913 had a population of two hundred eighty, most of whom
were dependent on the woolen mills for employment, and consisted of
thirty-five houses, a church, and two stores.

Graff-Kittanning Clay Products

Graff-Kittanning Clay Products Company was incorporated in 1924 and
construction was begun at the Craigsville site in that year. In 1925
production was started and has continued without interruption until the
present date.

In 1945 the Worthington Ceramics Division was acquired as a totally-owned
subsidiary and was put into production shortly thereafter.

In 1958, the Logan Clay Products Company of Logan, Ohio, purchased the
Graff Kittanning Clay Products Company, and from that date on it was known as
the Graff-Kittanning Division of the Logan Clay Products Company.

Mr. R. M. Graff was president of Graff-Kittanning from the time of its
incorporation until it was purchased by the Logan Clay Products Company. He
was also General Manager of the operations from 1924 until his death in 1963.

The following products are manufactured at the Craigsville plant: Vitrified
Clay Sewer Pipe, Clay Flue Liners, Wall Coping, and factory made joints. At
the Worthington Ceramics Plant, Clay Building Tile, Drain Tile, and Flue
lining is manufactured.

A total of approximately two hundred people are employed at both
operations, approximately one hundred fifty at the Graff-Kittanning Plant and
fifty at Worthington Ceramics Plant.

The products manufactured in both of these plants are distributed in the
states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

Buffalo Creek Mine

In 1913 the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad (later the Baltimore
and Ohio) extended their tracks two miles, almost parallel with Big Buffalo
Creek, where the Pittsburgh Limestone Corporation, a subsidiary of the U. S.
Steel Corporation, opened a large limestone mine. The capacity of this mine
was approximately fifteen hundred tons, later increased to approximately
thirty-five hundred tons daily. The major portion of their product went to the
blast furnaces in the Pittsburgh district and the remainder generally was used
for the manufacture of cement and stone for highway construction. Mr. George
Milliron of West Winfield was the first general superintendent and Clifford
Weaver was the first plant superintendent, later succeeded by A. L. Aikens, J.
W. Baird, and W. P. Druschell.

Soon after the opening of the mine a town of several hundred people sprang
up resulting in the erection of a chapel for the purpose of
interdenominational services and a large company-owned store, handling general
merchandise.

The mine was abandoned in 1954, but the town still remaining was given by
the corporation to the Reformed Church.

THE GRAFF FAMILY

Without this biography, a history of Worthington would be incomplete
because of this familyï¿½s prominence in the industrial and social development
of this community.

The Graff family is of German origin where they became resident in the
sixteenth century at Grafenouer, near Mannheim. Grafenauer was a word of which
the first part, Graf, signified a title of nobility, where the latter denoted
castle, hence Grafenauer meant Graffï¿½s Castle.

John Graff, the founder of this branch of the family in America, was born
in Neuwied, Germany, April 15, 1763 and emigrated to the United States in the
year 1783 and lived for a while in Lancaster but settled in Westmoreland
County. He married Barbara Baum, who recalled that at the age of eight she was
captured by the Indians, but she was soon restored to her people through the
friendliness of an old Indian, who had been kindly treated by her family when
threatened with starvation.

Eight sons and four daughters were born to John and Barbara Graff, one of
which was Peter who contributed to the early settlement of our community.

Having been born May 27, 1808, Peter Graff grew to manhood near Pleasant
Unity in Westmoreland County and with limited educational advantages, began to
work in the store of his brother at the age of sixteen. They formed a
partnership and later became connected with the firm of E. G. Dutilh and Co.,
commission merchants of Philadelphia, for the purpose of transporting
merchandise from that city west, via the Pennsylvania Canal and State
Railroad, over what was called the Union Transportation Line. He later moved
to Pittsburgh and became a partner of a wholesale grocery and also the firm
was extensively interested in the manufacture of iron in Armstrong, Venango,
and Clarion Counties, incidentally obtaining control of the Buffalo Furnace
near Worthington.

Thus it came about that in 1844 Mr. Graff became a resident of Buffalo
Mills, Armstrong County, to assume the management of the extensive iron
interest, and although he continued a member of the firm until 1864 he had in
the meantime become sole owner of the Buffalo Furnace, which he operated until
1865. In addition to its operations in the counties mentioned, the firm
carried on the manufacture of axes in Pittsburgh.

In 1865, Mr. Graff, forming a partnership with Isaac Firth, erected the
Buffalo Woolen Mills for the manufacture of woolen fabrics, and this
association continued for twenty years until Mr. Firthï¿½s retirement in 1885.
Then the firm of PeterGraff & Co. was organized, and after Mr. Graffï¿½s
death his sons E. D. Graff and J. Frank Graff, together with James E.
Claypoole composed the firm.

J. Frank Graff, son of Peter and Susan (Lobengier), and one of eleven
children, received a thorough education and upon entering business life became
manager of the company store connected with the Buffalo Woolen Mills, near
Worthington. After ten yearsï¿½ service as superintendent, he became a partner
in the concern. Many interests in this locality and elsewhere made him a
well-known member of the Republican party, holding local and state offices.
Mr. Graff was elected to serve in the House of Representatives from 1900 to
1904 and in 1912 he was elected as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate,
for four years. He was an elector when Roosevelt was chosen president.

In 1881 he married Carrie Louise Brown, daughter of Rev. J. A. Brown, D.D.,
L.L.D. They had a family of six children: James B., Peter III, J. Frank, Jr.,
Mary H., Edmund D., and Richard M. Mrs. Graff died in 1902 and later Mr. Graff
married Martha Stewart, by whom he had two sons, Grier S. and S. Stewart.

Senator J. Frank Graff continued to reside in Worthington, looking after
his various business interests until his death in 1918.

The eldest son, James B. Graff, a doctor by profession, died in 1941.

After the death of his father, Peter Graff III assumed the various business
obligations of the family. He also served a term in the Pennsylvania State
Senate from 1932 to 1936, dying unexpectedly in 1942.

J. Frank Graff, Jr. after acquiring a Degree in Law, enlisted in Company K
of the Pennsylvania National Guard, serving as a Lieutenant on the Mexican
Border in 1917. Later serving with the A. E. F. in France, having risen to the
rank of Major, he was a charter member of the American Legion when it was
organized in Paris in 1918.

Upon returning home, he was elected to the position of Judge of the Various
Courts of Armstrong County in 1923 which he has continued to serve to the
present time. For several months in 1930, he served on the Superior Court of
Pennsylvania. He is now the oldest Judge in continuous service in
Pennsylvania.

Edmund D., after acquiring a formal education, was for a time Superintendent
of the Buffalo Woolen Mills and still resides in Worthington.

Richard M. was the principal founder of the Graff-Kittanning Clay Products
Co. in 1924, serving as President and General Manager of this company and
also, after 1945, of Worthington Ceramics Co., until the plants were sold to
Logan Clay Products in 1958, when he continued to serve as General Manager
until his death January 16, 1963.

Grier S. is a prominent insurance broker in Kittanning.

S. Stewart is a lawyer and head of a chemical association in New York City.

Mary Graff Frantz, who lives in Clearfield, Pa., is the mother of John
Graff Frantz, present General Manager of the Graff-Kittanning Clay Products
Co., and Worthington Ceramics Co.

FRANKLIN UNION BAPTIST CHURCH

The history of the Franklin Union Baptist Church goes back to April 18,
1846, when the Union Baptist Church of North Buffalo Township, Armstrong
County, granted twenty members letters of dismission to organize this new
church near Worthington.

The original church stood some two hundred feet west of the present
building about one mile south of the village of Worthington, which was at that
time an infant of days. On October 18, 1846, Re. James Johnston became pastor
and John Claypoole, church clerk. This early church had its own cemetery next
to the church and it is still a part of the church property.

The church prospered with many new members and on July 2, 1859, forty-one
members were dismissed to form the Montgomeryville Baptish Church. Again in
September 1860, seven other members received their letters of dismission to
form a new church in Butler County.

In 1880 Rev. I. W. Schumaker became the pastor for nine years. He came to
church on foot, walking great distances, arriving on Saturday and being
entertained in various homes. During his stay the original church seemed to
outwear its usefulness, having been repaired many times.

In February, 1885, the church voted to proceed to build a new one. The land
was purchased from Mr. T. V. McKee on top of the hill, ï¿½Beautiful for
Situation.ï¿½ In August, 1885, Harvey Claypoole reported the cost of the new
church $1,149.14.

In 1892, twenty-five members were granted letters to organize a new Baptist
Church at Walk Chalk, now known as the Salem Baptist Church.

In 1926, the church was raised and a basement was put under it. A furnace
was installed and some other improvements were made.

In 1945, under the leadership of Pastor John W. Waugaman a parsonage was
purchased in the heart of Worthington.

In 1961, a Christian Education wing was added to the Church, with some of
the members doing most of the work. Rev. Luther Parker is the present
minister.

There have been thirty-six pastors since this church began and at the
present there are one hundred forty resident members.

LUTHERN CHURCH

The history of the Worthington Evangelical Lutheran Church dates back to
the summer of 1847.

In 1844 there was no church nearer than Slate Lick or Middlesex (Cowansville).
Mr. Peter Graff opened a Sunday School in the wagon-makerï¿½s shop. He
gathered people, young and old, into his shop which had to be made ready
Saturday evening for religious instruction. It was not long until the need of
a pastor was felt and Rev. Ehrenfeld, who then preached in Kittanning,. came
and preached here for a while. These services were held in a small house near
the Iron Furnace which Mr. Graff fitted up for services and was called the
Furnace Chapel.

This chapel was used for two years. Then in the summer of 1847 a
congregation was organized by Rev. George F. Ehrenfeld and Mr. Peter Graff,
with nineteen charter members who were: Peter Graff, Susan Graff, James Barr,
Sr., Susan Barr, John Barr, George Hutley, John Shantz, William Blaine, Jacob
Mechling, Elizabeth Porterfield, John Porterfield, Barbara Mechling, Mary C.
Mechling, John Prunkard, Barbara Prunkard, Frances Reges, and Sidney Reges.

This Furnace Chapel stood near Buffalo Creek and served as a place of
worship for two years. Then the membership, having grown to such a size that
the chapel was too small for it, a lot was secured in Worthington Borough and
the first brick church owned by the congregation was built in 1849. It was
surmounted by a steeple in the belfry of which was mounted the first church
bell used in this section of the country.

A frame chapel to be used for Sunday School was later built near the
church. In 1860 the first County Teachersï¿½ Institute was held here. The
lower story was used many years as a school room, the first school building in
Worthington Borough.

The first brick church served the purpose of the congregation well until
overcrowded conditions forced the congregation in 1888 to tear it down and
build the present church, which seats about three hundred people. It was
erected during the pastorate of Rev. J. W. Schwartz. Rev. Eli Miller preached
the dedicatory sermon, February 17, 1889.

In 1894 the frame chapel was removed and fitted for a dwelling house. The
Graff Memorial Chapel was then built on its present site. It was built by Mrs.
Susan Graff and children in memory of her late husband. The chapel was
thoroughly furnished and free of debt when presented to the church as a family
gift. It has always been used for Sunday School purposes. In 1918 Hon. J. F.
Graff willed the church $3,000 to be set up as an endowment for upkeep of the
chapel.

In August 13, 1918 Hon. J. F. Graff and Melvina Graff, widow of Edmund
Graff, gave the ground now used as a parking lot.

The church was incorporated in 1883. On September 12, 1907 the church
celebrated its sixtieth anniversary and at the same time Dr. Schwartz, his
fortieth year as pastor. The congregation presented him with a horse and
buggy.

Rev. Schwartz assumed charge of the Parish in 1867 and serving the
congregation for forty-nine years, died May 13, 1919. As a tribute to Dr.
Schwartz, Mr. Edmund Graff donated more than half of the cost for a tour of
the Holy Land and the congregation supplied the remainder for the pastor.

The church basement and Chapel were remodeled in 1962. There is now a stone
wall and road in front of the church. The adult members of the Sunday School
meet in the basement and have separate classrooms. Separate rooms have also
been made in the chapel where Primary and Intermediate Classes meet.

The present confirmed membership is four hundred forty-five and the present
pastor is Rev. James Slingluff, who has served the congregation since
February, 1957.

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

We have learned from traditions that this was a preaching place as early as
1840, services being conducted in the log cabins of the early settlers.

The Associate, now the United Presbyterian Church here, was organized in
1848 and depended for the first year upon supplies. Little knowledge can be
gained of those who lived and worshipped here as few records have been kept
but it is believed from information passed down through the years from several
generations of church families that there were twenty-five charter members who
worshipped here as an Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church over one hundred
years ago.

The charter shows the names of five trustees: Thomas McCullough, Peter
Kerr, William Millen, William Hindman, and William Ramsey. From other records
we gather names of others who were prominent in the early church: John Minteer,
Joseph Williams, Arch A. McCullough, Alex Garroway, Nevin Kerr, Samuel Sample,
James Minteer, James Henry, Azil Somerville, George Monroe, John Ross, James
Somerville, Stephen H. Ross, John Milligan, Samuel Milligan, John Stevinson,
John Shields, and John Hepler.

The Worthington United Presbyterian congregation was organized as an
Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregation in 1848 and became United
Presbyterian through the union of the Associate Presbyterian and the Associate
Reformed Presbyterian Churches on May 26, 1858.

Two buildings have been erected, the first from a frame structure on the
ground donated by William Hindman, who became one of the first trustees of the
congregation, 40 feet by 40 feet with 12 foot ceilings at a cost of $350.00
plus donated labor. This building served the congregation until 1883 when it
was town down and the second was erected. Much of the material was salvaged
and used in the latter building, which was sold and torn down in 1962.

The first pastor, Rev. J. W. Dick, was installed pastor of the Worthington
and Kittanning congregations in 1849 ï¿½ serving until 1854, and was a leader
in the forming of the Butler Presbytery.

The membership grew and prospered from the original twenty-five to one
hundred forty-three at the date of the one hundredth anniversary in 1948. The
congregation has been served by nineteen pastors until its merger with the
Presbyterian Church of Worthington. At various times the local church was
affiliated with the congregations of Slate Lick and Kittanning and Mt. Zion
United Presbyterian Churches, in a parish.

When the United Presbyterian Church of the U. S. A. was organized in 1958,
the United Presbyterian and Presbyterian Churches of Worthington merged into a
single body. The Rev. R. Paul Beatty accepted the call and was installed as
the first pastor. The present roll of the merged congregations consists of
three hundred seventeen members.

METHODIST CHURCH

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Worthington in 1849, and
its first pastor was Rev. Mr. Cooper. One of his successors, Rev. Mr. Tiballs,
was in the War of the Rebellion. Membership in 1876 was eighty, with a union
Sabbath School. Its edifice, frame,. one-story forty by thirty-five feet, was
situated on a lot which Samuel Porterfield, December 26, 1849, conveyed for
$50 to John Blain, Peter Mobley, Elijah Newton, James B. Porterfield, James,
Samuel and Thomas Scott, trustees.

In 1884 the building was dismantled and moved to Craigsville and
reconstructed on the present site. Rev. Clyde Lewis is the present minister
with approximately seventy-five members. They also have a flourishing Sunday
School.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Presbyterian Church was established in this area at Kittanning in 1806,
at Slate Lick in 1807-08, at Cowansville in 1825, and West Glade Run in 1845.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church having decided, during its
sessions at Cincinnati in 1845, that the system of slavery as it exists in the
United States was no law to Christian Communion, many friends of Liberty and
sound Presbyterianism in her communion were deeply aggrieved. They accordingly
used their earnest endeavors to bring about a repeal of that action and a
consistent carrying out of the testimony of 1818. Those efforts proving
altogether unavailing and the assembly giving the most lamentable evidence in
its Sessions of 1846 and 1847 of its hopeless adherence to the practice and
justification of slavery, a secession of Ministers, Elders and Churches took
place which resulted in the organization of the ï¿½Free Presbyterian Church of
the United States.ï¿½

The Free Presbyterian Church of Buffalo (as the Worthington Church was then
called) came into reality in March, 1850, when the following people came from
Union Presbyterian (Cowansville), Slate Lick and West Glade Run to be members
of the new church: John Craig, Mary Craig, Joseph McCurdy, Nancy McCurdy,
David Shields, Mary Shields, John Shields, James Stephenson, William McCully,
Martha McCully, Mary Craig, Mary Craig, Jr., Margaret Craig, John Stephenson,
Jared Irwin, Mary Ann Irwin, John Craig, Jr., and Eliza Craig.

Mr. John Craig, Sr. was elected, ordained and installed as a Ruling Elder
and on the 5th of July Mr. John Shields was elected, ordained, and installed
as a Ruling Elder.

Thus, with twenty members being, so called, Charter Members in March and
seven members added in July, the ï¿½Free Presbyterian Church of Buffaloï¿½ was
organized in 1850.

The Church of Buffalo met prior to the fall meeting of Presbytery in 1851
and by unanimous vote approved the Declaration and Testimony of the Synod of
the Free Church in the United States in regard to the Fugitive Slave Law
adopted at the Synodical Meeting held April, 1851 at Ripley, Ohio. Also, they
made out a call to Rev. George McElheny, the first minister.

So opposed was he to the principles of slavery or more particularly to the
Fugitive Slave Law that he stated, ï¿½that the members of this church who had
voted for A. Lincoln for President of the United States had broken the rules
of the Free Presbyterian Church and he could not dispense communion to them.ï¿½
A few of the first members left the church because other members voted
Republican and still others refused to go to the Communion Table with anyone
who made the life of a colored person hard. The position of the Free
Presbyterian Church of Buffalo reflects the mind of the leaders of the Free
Presbyterian movement.

The Free Presbytery of Mahoning, being dissolved after the Civil War,
caused the local church to request the Presbytery of Allegheny to ï¿½take us
under their careï¿½ and they received them and they officially became the ï¿½Free
Presbyterian Church of Worthington,ï¿½ on October 16, 1866.

The church, from its beginning, has been at its present location, which the
original rectangular shaped building being replaced in 1897 with the present
structure.

The church once again joined with West Glade Run during the pastorate of
Rev. Thompson in 1867 and continued as a parish until 1932 when Union
Presbyterian Church (Cowansville) was added to the charge during the pastorate
of Rev. Francis B. Marks.

This parish continued successfully until the retirement of Rev. Cost and
the forthcoming merger of the Presbyterian and United Presbyterian
denominations in 1958, when it was dissolved. Congregations of the two local
denominations merged officially in January, 1959 and are known as the
Worthington United Presbyterian Church of the United Presbyterian Church in
the U. S. A. and are guided by the Rev. R. Paul Beatty who accepted their call
and was installed on November 1, 1959, as the first pastor of the newly formed
congregation.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

The First Baptist Church of Worthington had its beginning in the summer of
1930 in gospel tent meetings conducted by Rev. J. J. Van Gorder, Rev. Fred
Rader, and Rev. Norman Hirschey. At the close of this evangelistic campaign
thirty-seven believers were baptized.

There were thirty-two charter members of the church and they began services
in the Town Hall on October 12, 1930. Their first pastor was Rev. James King.
On November 7, 1930, the Council of Recognition of the Clarion Orthodox
Association (now Association of Regular Baptist Churches of Western
Pennsylvania) met in the Town Hall. After careful examination of the faith and
practice of the new church, the Council voted unanimously to recognize the
newly formed church as a Regular Independent Baptist Church. The church voted
to request fellowship with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
on April 6, 1960.

The present building was dedicated on June 4, 1933. Since that time there have
been seven pastors ï¿½ the present one being Rev. Donald Lumeree.

The church has grown from the thirty-two charter members to the present
membership of three hundred thirty-five.

SCHOOLS

James Barr, Jr. was assessed as a ï¿½schoolmasterï¿½ on the list for
Buffalo Township in 1806-07, but just where his school was is not known. The
first school in the borough was held in the Lutheran Church, where the
Teachersï¿½ Institute of the County was held in April, 1860. A young lady who
taught there one winter had occasion to flog one of her juvenile male pupils.
His irate father, the next day, rushed into the schoolroom and gave her, as
indiscreet parents sometimes do under like circumstances, a severe scolding
and intimated that if she were not a woman he would flog her. She promptly
replied, ï¿½Oh, you neednï¿½t make that excuse. Try it and Iï¿½ll flog you.ï¿½
He didnï¿½t try it.

The first schoolhouse in West Franklin Township was a rude log structure,
sixteen by sixteen feet, situated near Lennington Run in the forks of the
road, not far from the present borough of Worthington. There were a total of
eight schools in the township until the consolidation of the borough and
township into one school district in 1930. They were known as follows: Union,
Hohn, Hindman, Long, McKee, Tory, Noble, and Craigsville.

Worthington became, of course, when incorporated as a borough, a separate
school district, and a frame schoolhouse was erected in the angle formed by
the junction of Ross Street and the public road. Its statistics for 1860 were:
average number of months taught, 4; teacher, male, 1; monthly salary, $20.00;
male scholars, 24; female scholars, 37; average number attending school, 48;
cost of teaching each scholar per month, 41 cents.

In 1876 the statistics for West Franklin Township were as follows: number
of schools, 8; average number of months taught, 5; male teachers, 2; female
teachers, 6; average monthly salaries of both male and female teachers,
$30.00; male scholars, 263; female scholars, 160; average number attending
school, 249; cost of teaching each pupil per month, 73 cents.

By 1913 the number of months taught had increased to seven and the number
of male teachers was one and the number of female teachers was seven with an
increase in salary to $50.00 and an increase in cost of educating each pupil
to $2.67.

The Worthington Borough Elementary School was at one time located on the
Buffalo Hill which has been converted into the Rhoades residence. In 1898 a
three-room school building was erected at the site of the present borough
building and was virtually rebuilt in 1926, when two rooms were added to the
original structure.

This building was destroyed by fire on February 15, 1943, at a loss
estimated at more than $25,000. Classes continued in the high school building
by converting the gymnasium into four classrooms and the stage into two rooms.

About 1930, the borough and township voted to consolidate their schools and
the present high school building was constructed, which housed grades six
through twelve. In 1948, an additional six-room building was erected adjoining
the high school building. The first graduating class from Worthington-West
Franklin Township High School consisted of twenty-six members for the school
term of 1932-33. Mr. Frank E. Leard was the first principal and he continued
to serve in this capacity until 1954, when he was succeeded by Mr. John McCoy,
the present principal. During the current term there were enrolled five
hundred sixty-six pupils and twenty-two teachers. The average teacherï¿½s
salary today is $433.00 a month; the average cost of educating each elementary
pupil is $29.24 a month and each high school pupilï¿½s average is $43.78.

Worthington Academy

Worthington Academy, first called ï¿½Buffalo Instituteï¿½, was organized by
the Lutheran Church in 1852. The first principal was Mr. C. J. Ebrehart, who
taught one session. He was a graduate of Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg. The
Academy continued to operate at irregular intervals and ceased to operate
permanently in 1889. The prominent aim of the institution was to qualify young
ladies and gentlemen for teaching, and its success was marked in this
direction. It fitted a number of young men for the higher classes in college
and for professional life, and it numbers among its former students some who
reflected great credit on the academy in which they were trained. The
structure still stands, being converted into the residence of Orman Edwards.

WORTHINGTONï¿½S BAND OF THE GAY NINETIES

First row: Charles Meals, Johnny Opel, bandmaster; Charles Putton, Henry
Troutner, Jake Benton, Howard Hall, Sam Huston, Harry Bowser, Charles Walker,
Billy Seligman, Sam Fink. Second Row: William Armstrong, Wilson Helm, John
James, Edward Hall, Alverill I. Wilson, Lank Bowser, Clark Minteer, Otis
Southworth, Charles Morrison.

Pictured above is Worthingtonï¿½s pride of the ï¿½Gay Ninetiesï¿½.

Johnny Opel, the bandmaster, a man of many musical talents, resided in
Kittanning but often walked the entire distance of seven miles to Worthington
to conduct his practice sessions, all for the monstrous fee of $1.00 ï¿½ ï¿½The
Good Old Days.ï¿½

For a period of years this twenty-piece organization enjoyed great success.
They were in demand for fairs, wedding receptions, political rallies, civic,
and church affairs, almost always traveling by horse-drawn hack.

The band gained a great distinction, when in the year of 1900 they played
for a reception in Pittsburgh in honor of President William McKinley. They
received his personal congratulations and a reward of $25.00 in gold as best
band.

There are two living members of this famous organization residing in the
Worthington area. They are Mr. Finley Lewis, who played a second tenor horn
and Mr. Clark Minteer, now in his ninety-fourth year, who played a cornet.

WORTHINGTON-WEST FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL BAND

This Centennial year 1963 marks the tenth anniversary of the famous
Worthington-West Franklin High School Band. The organization was officially
formed as a musical unit in the summer of 1953.

Over fifty years had elapsed between the eras of our two fine musical
organizations. However, it is little wonder that with the musical legacy
bequeathed it by its musical forbear it should turn out to be one of the
finest bands in the state. In ten short years and organized from one of the
smaller high schools in the state (enrollment is under five hundred students)
this group of musicians has established a record second to none.

The history of the Band and how it was organized is a classic example of
great combined community effort. It is a well established fact that few
communities support the efforts of the Band and its director to the extent
that the people of the Worthington area do.

Shortly after the second World War, efforts were made by interested
individuals and groups to organize a band. Through the interest of Mr. James
V. Colonna, director of the Kittanning High School Band, and his deep concern
to see the formation of a musical unit in Worthington, free concerts were
conducted by the Kittanning High School Band on the Worthington West-Franklin
High School lawn under Mr. Colonnaï¿½s direction. These concerts did a great
deal to stimulate the desire to see a band organized.

However, ii was not until 1951 that the Worthington Lions Club adopted in
the form of a resolution, ï¿½To explore the possibilities of the formation of
a band and to adopt as a club project the securing of a musical director.ï¿½

In 1953 the School Board and school administration secured Mr. John B.
Cutler as the schoolï¿½s first band director.

With but a handful of students with any musical knowledge Mr. Cutler before
many months had put together a fine group of children that he had taught to
play each and every instrument.

The Band made its first public appearance in the Lions Clubï¿½s Annual
Halloween Parade, dressed as mummers, and much to the pride and joy of the
boys and girls, Mr. Cutler, and the entire community. This great event took
place Friday, October 29, 1953.

With the band a reality its sponsoring groups were quick to lend their
support. A Band Mothers Organization was formed. The P. T. A., Worthington
West-Franklin Fire Department, Lions Club, and other groups and individuals
all became vitally interested in working for and doing for the band. Through
the efforts of the school board and these organizations sixty-five uniforms
were purchased. Almost all of the instruments were secured by the students.
Some instruments were purchased as time went on by various organizations. It
has often been said that the Worthington West-Franklin High School Band is one
of the finest examples of 100% community effort.

Under Mr. Cutler the band embarked on its road to glory and fame competing
as a street-marching band in the Junior Division. In four years of competition
the unit compiled an enviable record. They took many first places and were
roundly applauded wherever they went.

In February 1958 Mr. Cutler accepted a position with the Kittanning School
system. Mr. Alex Costanza succeeded him.

Under Mr. Costanza the band continued to make great strides in the Junior
Band Division, competing in parades throughout the area.

By 1961 the Band had grown to seventy-five members including majorettes.
The organization had established its own reputation as one of the finest and a
tremendous crowd pleaser. The band remained in continual practice throughout
the summer months.

It has been said that our band has probably done more to acquaint people
with the name ï¿½Worthingtonï¿½ than any other single thing. They are known
throughout the entire Tri-State area.

Under Mr. Cutler and Mr. Costanza their nine-year record reads:

117 Competitions entered

98 Firsts (Most Points)

This is truly an amazing record and a great tribute to the boys and girls and
their directors.

Possibly the bandï¿½s greatest win was the out-pointing of the famed
Saegertown High School Marching Band at Sligo, Pa. last summer.

The director of the Saegertown Band was quoted as saying, ï¿½The
Worthington Band is one of the finest in the state and is feared by all who
compete with it.ï¿½

At a banquet last fall at the Worthington Firehall the band was awarded the
All-State Judges Association Trophy for having scored the most points in
parades their organization judged.

Mr. Costanza was awarded a trophy as the outstanding Junior Band Director.

Mr. Costanza resigned his position last June and is at present musical
director at Shannock Valley High School. He has been succeeded by his brother
Victor.

WORTHINGTON-WEST FRANKLIN P. T. A.

A public meeting was held on September 27, 1946, at Bowserï¿½s Hall to
organize a P. T. A., and on October 20 of that year the first meeting was held
at the school. The first officers were Mrs. L. E. Hoyt, president; Mrs. Clark
Bowser, vice-president; Mrs. Paul Reed, second vice-president; Mrs. Clayton
McGarvey, secretary; Mrs. Roy Bowser, treasurer.

In 1947 many projects were carried out that the P.T.A. might be able to
donate some money toward the building of the new elementary school which was
begun in March of 1948.

The term of 1949 was begun with the planning of a Hot Lunch Program. A goal
was set at $1,250.00 to furnish a room in the school for a cafeteria. The
construction was begun on Thursday, March 16, and by March 18 the P. T. A. had
reached their goal set at the beginning of the school year to assist in the
financing. They also had enough to purchase new playground equipment.

Over the years this organization has had various projects. Among them were
sponsorship of the scouts, helping to raise funds for a school band, Polio
Vaccine Clinic, where one hundred youngsters received their shots, playground
equipment for the Craigsville School, installation of drinking fountains,
record players and records, and books.

Every year they donate money toward the Junior-Senior Prom and in 1963
helped support the After-Prom Party.

POST OFFICE

The Worthington Post Office was established in 1840, with John McDonald as
postmaster. John M. Williams succeeded in 1889, followed by W. W. Helm. He was
succeeded in 1913 by Mrs. Jenny Sutton and the post office was located in a
building on Bear Street adjoining her home, in what is presently known as the
Delp residence. In 1932, Randall H. Weaver became postmaster and held the
office until 1960 when he retired. During this time the post office was
located on Main Street. In 1960 Carl Conley was appointed as acting postmaster
and held this position until the latter part of 1961, when Mrs. Carmen Bowser
was appointed as acting postmaster.

In 1962 the United States Government had erected a new brick structure at
the corner of Main and Gairin Streets. Originally there were three rural
routes delivered from this office, but at present they are consolidated into
one route which is fifty-six miles in length and is carried by W. H McKee and
together with the post office serves about thirty-five hundred patrons.
Presently the office employs four people.

TELEPHONE SERVICE

The Kittanning Telephone Company was chartered to provide telephone service
in 1896. Service lines were extended to Worthington during the early nineteen
hundreds. The 1905 directory lists area customers as follows:

Worthington

Clark, Dr. O. C. ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½..Physician ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½..465

Graff & Co., Peter ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½..Woolen Mills Officeï¿½ï¿½ï¿½.431

Kerr, Stair ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½.. Residenceï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½..362

King, Dr. J. Hï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½. Physicianï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½.. 324

Long, C. C. ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ Residence ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½. 421

Meals, Charles ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½Pay Station ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½.. 184

Wilson, H. M. ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ Druggist ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½.. 92

Craigsville

B. R. & P. Railway ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½. Depot ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½..
321

Flick, Robert ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ Livery ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½. 378

Ross, Alex ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ Residence ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½142

Weaver & Dunkle ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ General Store ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½.. 48

In succeeding years, lines were increased and expanded for additional
customers until it became necessary to establish a separate exchange building
to service the district.

On August 7, 1947, the first XY Automatic Dial Equipment Exchange in the
United States was cut into operation at Worthington for about 250 customers.
It was manufactured and installed by the Stromberg-Carlson Company of
Rochester, New York. The first official call was placed through the equipment
by K. Ben Schotte, Jr., General Manager of The Kittanning Telephone Company to
Senator Edward R. Martin at Washington, D. C. Senator Martin was a former
Pennsylvania governor.

Many advancements have been made in the telephone industry since that time
regarding improved talking circuits, and new instruments and grades of
service. The size of the Worthington Exchange Building was increased and
Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) equipment was provided for use of the area
residents on June 1, 1960. The 700 customers served by the exchange can today,
on a modern dial basis, connect with over 13,000 telephones in the Ford
City-Kittanning-Worthington area for local calls; and they can connect to more
than 46,000,000 telephones on the Nationwide-toll-network in the United States
and Canada by dialing on a tool call basis.

The automatic dial equipment in the exchange was completely replaced with a
more modern type ï¿½terminal per station,ï¿½ on December 13, 1961. Current
plans call for the entire area to be recabled and wired during 1963 in order
that the number of rural customers on a line can be reduced to a maximum of
six.

Thus the future holds promise of many important changes yet to come for the
district through The Kittanning Telephone Company, which is locally owned by
stockholders of Worthington as well as other local service areas.

WORTHINGTON-WEST FRANKLIN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARMENT

One evening in early April, 1946, the citizens of Worthington were alarmed
by the ringing of church bells, blowing of whistles, and other means of
summoning the bucket brigade to fight a fire in the home of Dr. William Reed.
By a strenuous effort they were able to hold the fire under control until the
arrival of the West Kittanning Fire Company with their modern equipment, who
quickly extinguished the blaze.

It was the ï¿½last call to arms for the old bucket brigade.ï¿½ Since the
citizens saw their inefficiency in fighting fire the President of the Town
Council called a general meeting to be held in Bowserï¿½s Hall for the purpose
of discussing the possibility of organizing a fire department.

Interest was at a peak with over a hundred in attendance at the initial
meeting. After a decision was reached in favor of such an organization, the
following officers were elected: Carl Conley, president; Frank Walker,
vice-president; Carl Bowser, treasurer; Willis McBride, secretary; Harry
Bowser, fire chief, a position which he has held to the present time. The
meeting was adjourned with the provision that they should meet weekly until
the company was established on a more permanent basis.

The company progressed rapidly. By October, 1946 they purchased from the
John Bean Co. of Lansing, Michigan, their latest model fire truck.

This equipment is very suitable in the rural areas where no fire hydrants
exist, as it is equipped with a tank carrying approximately five hundred
gallons of water and two fog nozzles, which increase the efficiency of a
gallon of water ten-fold.

So proud were the towns-folk of this equipment that it was completely paid
for in a month with almost all money received through solicitation.

Step by step, the company progressed. A new fire siren was purchased in
1947 and also equipment for the protection of the men while fighting fire was
acquired that year.

By 1949, a building was erected on a lot almost in the center of town that
had been purchased the preceding year.

However, it was soon realized that this building was not large enough to
amply house all of this equipment and provide adequate room for the
ever-increasing social activities conducted by the Ladies Auxiliary. In 1952 a
large auditorium and kitchen was added, together with additional land, almost
doubling their original holdings.

Today the Department can look back on a long list of achievements, having
recently added a much larger and faster fire truck at a cost of $18,924.45
together with a Civil Defense radio and a complete line of rescue equipment.
It now consists of one of the most modern units to be found in a town of its
size anywhere.

In the line of social events, since 1947, they have continued to hold a
homecoming week which the community awaits anxiously from year to year. It is
the one event when everyone, old and young, in this vicinity heartily welcomes
acquaintances of bygone years.

The present company consists of thirty active members, with seven of the
original listed as retired; and they deeply appreciate the faithful support of
the community in their annual affairs, who by their efforts have made all
their success possible.

We hope the Worthington-West Franklin Centennial will be their greatest
achievement.

The following members have contributed to the financing of the 100th
Anniversary Celebration, June 16 to June 29,1963.

Active Members

Harold D. Bowser (President)

John W. Steffy (Secretary)

Harry C. Bowser (Chief)

Warren E. Grafton (1st Assistant)

John Dean Thompson (2nd Assistant)

C. Ralph Yockey (3rd Assistant)

Robert J. LaSitis (4th Assistant)

Robert Zeigler (Trustee)

Russell C. Hancock (Trustee)

William R. Boltz (Trustee)

James J. Julius

Frank L. Kersul

Robert A. Fennell

Jack R. Campbell

Ralston W. Bowser

Irvin R. Yockey

V. Paul Jones

J. Robert Shearer

Paul R. Bowser (Engineer)

Donald J. Simmers

Floyd K. Dilley

Daniel L. Hawk

John Smith, Jr. (Assistant Engineer)

Roy S. Crissman

Walter C. Pence

James Croyle

King O. Bowser

Carl Lewis

Harry Stroud

Glenn Graham

Robert Bowser

Honorary Members — Fifty-five years of age — fifteen years active service

William M. Beers (Treasurer)

Victor R. Fullerton (Vice-president)

R. H. Pence

Frank H. Walker

Adam Stewart

Floyd E. Clark

Deceased Members

Paul Flick — November 9, 1948

Willis McBride — March 23, 1951

Fred Fowler — April 16, 1951

Carl Leard — May 20, 1955

J. Pressley Shearer — June 23, 1962

Frank Drake (Honorary) — November 23, 1959

Richard Graff (Honorary) – January 16, 1963

We wish to thank preceding members for their past service to
Worthington-West Franklin Volunteer Fire Department.

LADIES AUXILIARY

On January 21, 1947 the Ladies Auxiliary of the Fire Department was
organized by a group of women interested in assisting the firemen to purchase
a building and to carry out their various projects.

Their first meeting was held at Johnsonï¿½s Dairy Store (now Bishï¿½s
Grocery) when Helen Cramer was elected President, with the following charter
members also in attendance: Yvonne Reed, Esther Johnson, Helen Carbis,
Catherine Stroud, and Velma Simmers.

By 1948 the group had grown to eighteen members and through their efforts
contributed $200.00 and a portable pump to the fire company. During this year
the ladies entered their first parade dressed in white blouses and black
skirts.

A donation of $700.00 was given to the fire department and the group had
grown to a membership of twenty-three, in 1949.

During their sixteen years of existence the Ladies Auxiliary has continued
to grow and prosper by serving cafeteria meals, dinners, bake sales, and
wedding receptions. Through these various activities they were able to
contribute to the fire department a total of $7,200.00 and have bought
equipment for the kitchen and fire hall at a total cost of $5,500.00.

Certainly with a commendable record such as this, the Ladies Auxiliary will
continue to grow and aid the fire department in their many worthy projects of
the future.

LODGES

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is the oldest fraternal organization
existing in Armstrong County. Its Craigsville Lodge #836 was instituted on
February 8, 1905 with J. N. Monroe elected as the first Noble Grand. There
were twenty-nine charter members, all of whom are deceased.

The Lodge, soon after its institution, erected a building where they have
continued to hold their meetings.

By the early 1920s they had two hundred sixty members.

Elmer Templeton is the present Noble Grand and the organization consists of
twenty-nine members.

Lady Craig Rebekah Lodge

Lady Craig Rebekah Lodge #8 was instituted June 30, 1919 in the I. O. O. F.
Hall, Craigsville, with Annie Kline of the Rebekah Assembly of Pennsylvania,
presiding. Seventy-eight candidates received the Rebekah Degree.

Mrs. Warren Minteer was elected Noble Grand and presided at the first
regular meeting.

The Lodge has continued to hold regular meetings semi-monthly. Of the
original seventy-eight charter members, two still remain in good standing.
They are Mrs. Emma (Wright) McMillen of Worthington R. D. #2 and William Jones
of Craigsville.

THE WORTHINGTON LIONS CLUB

The Worthington Lions Club was organized in 1948, with the Elderton Club as
sponsor and Willis McBride as the first president. Fourteen King Lions have
succeeded McBride as president, in order: Robert Shriver, Frank Walker, Paul
Lead, Leonard Smith, Russell Gairin, L., E. Hoyt, A. B. Young, John McCoy,
John Cutler, Robert Flcik, Earl Blose, James Flick, Michael Conrad, and
Richard Egli whose term expires this year.

During its fifteen years of life in this community, the Lions Club has
initiated and supported many projects for the welfare and advancement of those
in the Worthington-West Franklin area. The community, recognizing the value of
the work, has in turn given the club its support.

Residents of the area have bought light bulbs, ironing board covers, flags,
brooms (made by the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind), birthday
calendars, and other items. They have supported festivals, suppers, shows, and
other events. Funds raised from these projects and others have all been
returned to the people in various forms, along with ideas for community
betterment.

As an international policy, Lions Clubs everywhere have concerned
themselves with aid to the blind and the care of the sight. The Worthington
club has a continuous program in this field of activity in this area.

Our present School Band is the direct result of an idea originating with
the Lions Club in 1951 and pursued to a successful debut in the 1953 Annual
Lions Halloween Parade. With wide support from other local groups and from the
school board, this band has become a Pennsylvania State Champion in the Junior
Division ï¿½ the pride of the school and the community.

Other school support has been given in helping to establish the school
cafeteria, buying science equipment, construction of the tennis court, and the
annual college scholarship award. The club members donated their manual labor
in the dismantling and rebuilding of the Music Building located between the
elementary and high school buildings.

The Annual Halloween Parade has become an institution with the kiddies and
grown-ups as well, along with food baskets at Christmas and the Community
Christmas Tree. Hospital beds and wheelchairs provided at no charge by the
Lions are in constant service in the area. Recent projects have been the
installation of waste containers along Main Street and the bicycle rack at the
Post Office. Scheduled for this spring and summer is the development of a
community picnic area.

The club meets semi-monthly for dinner and a program. Each member pays his
own way in dues, dinners, and entertainment, thus assuring that every dollar
raised for community benefit is returned for community benefit. Although the
Lions are an international organization and the largest service club in the
world, it is a peculiarly American Institution providing valuable services
which would otherwise add to the scope and cost of government.

SCOUTING

In February of 1963, Scouting celebrated its fifty-third birthday, but in
Worthington, Cub Scouting is only fifteen years old. It was begun here in
February of 1948 when it was brought to the attention of the PTA and they
decided to sponsor a Cub Pack. In May of that year the Pack received its
number 661 and a charter at a program at the High School. There were sixteen
Cubs in that first pack, their first Cubmaster being Paul Adams.

The Pack was sponsored from 1948 until 1958 by the PTA when the Juftak
Class of the former United Presbyterian Church became the sponsor until the
churchï¿½s merger with the Presbyterian Church. The newly organized United
Presbyterian Church accepted the sponsorship and has continued to the present
time.

Through the past fifteen years Pack 661 has been active and continually
growing until there are fifty cubs registered in fine dens. Melvin McCleary is
the present Cubmaster and William McLachlan is the Program Chairman. The five
den mothers are Mrs. Dan Hawk, Mrs. W. Donald Minteer, Mrs. Ralston Bowser,
Mrs. Niles Hawk, and Mrs. Karl Minteer.

With this large increase in membership in Cubbing in Worthington including
boys from ages eight through eleven it shows a great interest in Scouting
Activities and continues to serve the boys of the area.

Worthington is also fortunate to have Boy Scout Troops for the older boys
and Brownies and Girl Scouts for girls of various ages.

A MASTER FARMER

The Claypoole family is of English origin. It is narrated that three
brothers bearing the name of Claypoole came to America prior to the
Revolutionary War and all of that name in this vicinity are their descendants.

However, according to the Armstrong County History, a certain James
Claypoole was probably the first settler in the limits of what is now
Kittanning having built a cabin at the mouth of Truby Run in 1791 near the
present site of Arch and Water Streets.

He lived there about a year, when his horses came running past his cabin in
terror one day. Upon asking a friendly Indian what this meant he was advised
to leave at once. He made a raft, put his wife and younger children thereon
and floated down the river to Pittsburgh in safety. His two older sons drove
the horses and cattle by land.

Among the early settlers of West Franklin Township is a certain John
Claypoole who was also a clerk in the Armstrong County Court House. He lived
in this township the remainder of his life and was the father of Harvey C.
Claypoole who was born about 1844.

His son, Mr. Alexander Claypoole, was also a life-long resident of West
Franklin Township, having purchased this particular farm from a Mr.
Hesselgesser in 1902. He gradually added to the original tract until today he
and his sons own approximately twelve hundred acres.

For many years Mr. Claypoole operated a turkey farm, one of the largest in
Western Pennsylvania, specializing in Broad-Breasted Bronze Turkeys. This farm
was complete in every detail having its own hatchery, brooder, and dressing
pens and marketing more that twenty-two hundred turkeys annually.

About 1946 they received recognition from the Pittsburgh Press who devoted
their entire Roto Section to this turkey-raising industry.

A few years ago, due to market conditions, Mr. Claypoole changed from
turkey farming to dairy farming and now has a fine head of approximately one
hundred thirty Holsteins producing almost three hundred gallons of milk daily.

When he was seventy-five years of age, he received an award from the
Pennsylvania Farm Magazine and was taken to Harrisburg as a master farmer. He
is now in his eighty-ninth year, having been born September 6, 1874 but is
still in good health and mentally alert. He is a faithful member of the
Franklin Union Baptist Church and a life-long Republican.

WORTHINGTON AREA CENTENARIAN

A retired Worthington area farmer observed Halloween, 1962 by celebrating
his one hundredth birthday a the family homestead at Worthington, R. D. # 1.

Elliot (Al) Swagger was born in Mercer County, October 31, 1862 and came to
Worthington about sixty-five years ago. Shortly after, he was married to
Susanna (Hart) Swagger who was born and reared on the homestead where they
have continued to reside ever since.

During his long life span there have been eighteen presidents occupy the
White House, and Mr. Swagger can remember back to the days of Andrew Johnson.

He has been a life-long Democrat, voting regularly until about four years
ago.

The Centenarian until recently enjoyed reading but due to failing eyesight
has resorted to listening to the radio while sitting in his rocking chair.
Mrs. Swagger is a faithful member of St. Johnï¿½s Roman Catholic Church of
Coylesville and enjoys good health and mental alertness.

OUR OLDSTERS

Mrs. Amelia Frick Reed is our oldest citizen. She, with her husband
Clarence and three sons, came to Worthington in 1918. She will be ninety-eight
on September 14. She likes to take a walk when the weather is fair. Her two
sons, Paul and Elton, reside in our town. Mr. Reed and a son,. Clyde, are
deceased. Mrs. Reed lives alone at the corner of Main and Bear Streets.

Miss Eliza Sample, our oldest living native, was born in the old stone
house on Main Street on April 18, 1876 as was her father James Sample in 1836.
Elizaï¿½s grandfather had a tavern there, and it was the third house built in
Mr. Lorenzo, as it was known then. An amusing tale is told about Elizaï¿½s
grandparents (much to Elizaï¿½s consternation, she being a teetotaler). The
story was published in a Pittsburgh paper in December 1962, by George Swetnam.
According to the story, Elizaï¿½s grandmother was an estimable woman and a
good hostess, though at times a little given to tipping the bottle-or
jug-somewhat too freely. One day Mrs. Sample had to be away from home. Knowing
his wifeï¿½s weakness was always more likely to crop out when she was lonely,
he decided to take measures against it. He had a dandy idea. Knowing that his
wife was afraid of height, he took the keg of whiskey and climbed up into the
rafters of the house, where he tied it securely in the comb of the roof. It
was a good idea, but it did not work. When he returned home late that night,
he found his wife out cold, lying on the floor beside a pan of whiskey. She
had placed the pan directly under the keg, then taken his Pennsylvania long
rifle and shot a hole that allowed the contents to trickle down where she didnï¿½t
even need to stand up to reach it. Eliza lives on Main Street, a block from
the old stone house.

Miss Maude Rossï¿½s great-great grandfather, Judge Barr, was the first post
master in what was then known as Mr. Lorenzo and lived in a two-story log
house where the King Bowser residence now stands. Maudeï¿½s mother was
Margaret Barr, the daughter of James Barr, Jr., who laid out the town of
Worthington in 1829. Maude has a lot of knowledge of the history of our town.
She was born on the farm now owned by Mike Helsel in West Franklin Township,
but lived in Worthington for years. Her grandfather built the home on Ross
Street where Maude now resides with her brother Willard. Maude tells the story
about her Uncle David Barrï¿½s family helping the slaves escape at the time of
the Civil War. Worthington was a rest station for them on their way north, and
they would hide them under the old Presbyterian church. There were large
stones in the foundation that would pivot around at the touch and make an
opening for them. The David Barr family would bring them food and water after
dark.

Edmund G. Linton was born at Clifton Springs, New York, and came to
Worthington when he was eleven years old. He is a grandson of Peter Graff I
and is the present owner of the old stone house on Main Street. He tells the
story about his grandfather, who owned the iron furnace on Buffalo Creek,
going down south to buy one hundred mules to haul the iron to market, and
having to purchase a white horse to lead the mules on the trip home.

Eddie, as he is familiarly known , is amused at the story about the secret
passage under the old stone house, as the only one he knows about is the
drain.

He was the first man to wear walking shorts in Worthington.

He was one of the organizers of the Graff-Kittanning Clay Products Company
and a director from the time of its origin until its sale to Logan Clay
Products Company.

His hobby is flowers and he grows orchids at this home, Hillhaven Gardens,
on the Slate Lick Road.

Mr. And Mrs. James Millen are old-timers in our town. They remember the
skating rink, the race track owned by the Graff family where they held cart
and riding horse races on holidays for the enjoyment of the community, the
fair grounds above the Ralston Bowser home on Bear Street, the Toboggan Slide
which was made above the location where the Thomas Rest Home now stands and
then went down across the dam, and the deer farm where Warren Claypooleï¿½s
residence stands. It had a high fence around it and a number of deer. They
remember the robberies committed here ï¿½ one at the Woolen Mill which was
operated by Peter Graff I, and James Claypoole. Mr. Claypoole lived near-by.
As his daughter was sitting on the front porch she saw six men break in and
she awakened her father, who frightened them away, before they had time to
take anything. One robbery was at the Buffalo Store. Mr. Charles Walker and
Mr. James Millen had watched for twenty-four days to catch the persons who had
robbed it before. There were two men who tried to get in. They caught one, and
he was sentenced to a term in prison by the Judge in Kittanning.

Space does not permit all the interesting things we have learned about ï¿½Our
Townï¿½ from these keen-minded ï¿½young citizensï¿½.

WORTHINGTON and VICINITY

Taken from The Kittanning Times,

Published May 1, 1885

William Hall is still in town.

Town is full of strangers this week.

M. A. Hepler is in Rowlin County, Kansas.

Our sidewalks have not yet been repaired.

Rusticate in Worthington the coming summer.

Yingst and Hall have the best five-cent cigars.

W. H. Claypool has moved on a farm near town.

Memorial Day will be observed here grandly, this year.

Miss Bowser has opened a milliner shop at Buffalo Mills.

Our Milliners have received an elegant stock of spring goods.

Remember James L. Long is a candidate for Jury Commissioner.

We understand a social hop will be given in the rink next week.

All parts of Worthington are being beautified by the liberal use of paints
and white wash.

Buffalo Creek abounds with wild ducks, and it takes our sporting men to
gather them in.

The roads between this place and Middlesex (Cowansville) are in excellent
condition for driving pleasure.

Squire Evans has been given the contract for building the new Baptist
Church.

The Lutherans, Presbyterians, and United Presbyterians all have choir
meeting in their churches on Saturday evenings.

Some large fish are being caught in Buffalo Creek this spring, and crowds
throng its banks every morning, afternoon and evening.

The singing in the Lutheran church under the jurisdiction and leadership of
Rev. J. W. Schwartz re-opened on last Thursday evening and will be continued
until fall.

Communion services were held at the Methodist church, at Craigsville, on
last Sabbath. Many people from Worthington were in attendance at the morning
and evening sessions.

The entire Mystery works are once more in full blast, and a superior
article of goods in their line is now being manufactured here.

The works run day and night, employing two sets of hands.

Robert Ross has taken, and has for sale, some fine stereoscopic views of
the Buffalo Falls, the Craigsville and Buffalo Woolen Mills, the different
town churches, and a number of fine picturesque scenes along Buffalo Creek.

It seems we were wrongly informed when we stated that Mr. George Pfaff
would give up the mail route on the first of May. It should have been July.
Mr. Pfaff called our attention to the mistake, and we are willing to rectify
it. He will continue to run a good hack until the route changes hands.

Miss Sadie and Jennie Claypool, of near Worthington, gave a very pleasant
social to a few of their friends, on last Monday evening, which was highly
enjoyed buy all present. Misses Annie Summerville and Ella Beck and Messrs. A.
C. Summerville, Joseph Shields, and others furnished the music.

The test oil well on the Griffin farm, at McKeeï¿½s School House two and
one-half miles from this place, upon which work was commenced two weeks ago is
going down rapidly, and if the drillers meet with no misfortune in two weeks
more the well will be down the desired depth.

Oil men claim that a great oil belt comes down through that section of the
country and farmers in the vicinity of the ï¿½Wild Catï¿½ are excited and
anxious to see what the result of the ï¿½testerï¿½ will be.

ADDITIONAL NEWS

Baseball will boom here in the near future.

Many strangers from all parts of the country, are in attendance at
Presbytery this week.

A number of persons from Slate Lick will attend the Worthington Academy.

The efforts made to raise an academy here have been crowned with success,
and the spring term will open on next Monday morning. It will be held in the
Lutheran lecture room, one of the most suitable and pleasant rooms in this
place for school purposes. This school will be quite an addition to
Worthington and has the beneficial advantages to both pupils and the
community.

The present week has been a pleasant, interesting, and busy one to the
Presbyterians in this vicinity caused by meeting of the Presbytery in this
place. When it convened in their church on Tuesday afternoon and the roll of
ministers was called, it was found that all the leading ones of this county
and some from adjoining counties were present. The morning, afternoon, and
evening sessions were all largely attended, and much interest was manifested
in them by their own and other denominations.

This paper was found in the United Presbyterian Manse by the present
Minister of the United Presbyterian church, Rev. Paul Beatty.

WORTHINGTON

I am living at Worthington,
On Shady Avenue,
It is a lovely place to live,
So full of nature true.

The giant trees and great gray rocks
Have stood for centuries,
The deep ravines and rippling streams
All speak of ancient years.

We look right down on Buffalo,
And the grand old Woolen Mills,
And houses nestled closely,
On the sides of the hills.

Oh! Buffalo! That grand old creek,
Winding among the hills,
Where the red man used to shelter
From the cold and winter ills.

With towering hills on either side,
We are sheltered from the storm,
Oh! I love to live in such a place,

Where the works of God are shown.

Written by Mrs. Louisa Lewis and published in Kittanning News Paper when she
was a resident of Worthington, PA.

Mrs. Lewis was the grandmother of Mrs. Jack Campbell and Mrs. Rufus Bowser.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

May we take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks to all those who,
either financially of otherwise, contributed in making this, our Centennial
Celebration, a reality and success. To our advertisers, whose whole-hearted
support has helped to create this book, and to the various committees and
individuals who helped in any way we offer, again, our sincere thanks.

The Centennial Committee

Carl O. Bowser, Sr.
Chairman

PLANNING COMMITTEE

Carl O. Bowser Sr. ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½..Chairman
Mrs. James Hogg ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½Co-Chairman
Mrs. Paul Adams ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½… Secretary
Mrs. Samuel Craig ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½. Treasurer

Mrs. Karl Minteer Mrs. Joseph Trulick

Warren Pflugh Carl Lewis

Floyd Hall Harry Stroud

Shelby Shannon Miss Celesta Weaver

Carlton Conley Miss Joanna Barr

Mrs. Chapman Marshall Mrs. Charlotte Rummel

Mrs. Dale Lewis Roy Crissman

Robert Flick Paul Adams

Mrs. Charles Cawley Mrs. Richard Collar

Mrs. Mark Critchfield John Rearick

Mrs. Curtis Kelso Chapman Marshall

Harry Bowser Mrs. Wm. McLachlan

Frank Walker James Hogg

John Steffy Mrs. Blanche Garris

John Thompson Mrs. Birdie Johns

Mrs. Charles Flick Glenn Graham

Walter Tence

Contributed for use by
the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)

Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format, for any
presentation, without prior written permission.

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Nathan Zipfel

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CENTENNIAL Worthington West Franklin 1863 – 1963

LEGENDS AND INDIAN HISTORY

COLONIAL HISTORY OF COUNTY

TOWNSHIP DIVISION AND ORGANIZATION

Borough Settlement

Incorporation of Borough

THE FOUNDERï¿½S FAMILY

INDUSTRIES

Buffalo Woolen Mills

Craig Woolen Mills

Craigsville

Graff-Kittanning Clay Products

Buffalo Creek Mine

THE GRAFF FAMILY

FRANKLIN UNION BAPTIST CHURCH

LUTHERN CHURCH

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

METHODIST CHURCH

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

SCHOOLS

Worthington Academy

WORTHINGTONï¿½S BAND OF THE GAY NINETIES

WORTHINGTON-WEST FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL BAND

WORTHINGTON-WEST FRANKLIN P. T. A.

POST OFFICE

TELEPHONE SERVICE

WORTHINGTON-WEST FRANKLIN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARMENT

LADIES AUXILIARY

LODGES

THE WORTHINGTON LIONS CLUB

SCOUTING

A MASTER FARMER

WORTHINGTON AREA CENTENARIAN

OUR OLDSTERS

WORTHINGTON and VICINITY

ADDITIONAL NEWS

WORTHINGTON

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

PLANNING COMMITTEE

About Author

Nathan Zipfel

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CENTENNIAL
Worthington West Franklin
1863 – 1963