Chapter 9
Wayne Township
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Set off from Plum Creek in 1821 – Named in
Honor of Ă¯Â¿Â½Mad AnthonyĂ¯Â¿Â½ – The Original Land Tracts – Their Early Owners and
the Settlers Upon Them – The North American Land Company – Gen. Robert Orr
Succeeds the Company in Ownership of Their Lands in Armstrong County – Holland
Land CompanyĂ¯Â¿Â½s Tracts _ John BrodheadĂ¯Â¿Â½s Survey District – William and
Joseph Marshall – James Shields – A Sparsely Settled Region – Slow Increase in
Population – Religious History – First Sermon – Rev. Robert McGarraugh, the
Pioneer of Presbyterianism – Educational Interests – Pioneer Schools – Later
Advantages – Belknap Independent District – Glad Run Academy – Its Graduates –
First Gristmill – Distilleries – Olney Furnace – Iron Foundry – The First
Professional Men – Postoffices – Borough of Dayton – Churches – Dayton Academy
– SoldiersĂ¯Â¿Â½ OrphansĂ¯Â¿Â½ School -Common Schools – Incorporation – Statistics –
Appropriateness of the NameThe petition of sundry inhabitants of Plum Creek township, praying for its
division, was presented to the court of quarter sessions of this county at
September sessions, 1820. James White (surveyor), Abraham Zimmerman, Jacob
Beck, Noah A. Calhoun, Joseph Marshall and John Thom were appointed the
viewers or commissioners. Their report in favor of the division was presented
at the next December sessions, held over, and approved March 19, 1821. The new
township of Wayne was then ordered and decreed to be erected with the
following boundaries: Beginning on Mahoning creek at the lower end of AndersonĂ¯Â¿Â½s
cave; thence south five miles to a white oak; thence south ten degrees east
four miles to the purchase line; thence by plot along said line to the line
between Indiana and Armstrong counties; thence by plot along said line to
Mahoning creek; and thence down the same to the place of beginning. It having
been at the same time represented to the court that the viewers had gone
beyond the western line of Plum Creek township and included a part of
Kittanning township, it was further ordered, Ă¯Â¿Â½that the new township of Wayne
be bounded by that of Kittanning.Ă¯Â¿Â½The records do not show who was appointed to hold the first election. In
the absence of the docket containing the election returns of the various
election districts in this county prior to 1839, the names of the township
officers then elected have not been ascertained.This township was christened, of course, in honor of General Anthony Wayne,
of fragrant revolutionary memory. His illustrious career is so familiar to the
people, and especially to Pennsylvanians, that a minute and extended mention
of his impetuous valor, unwavering fidelity and patriotism, military genius
and ability would here be superfluous.The original tracts of land in the eastern section of this township, that
is, east of an imaginary line extending from north to south, crossing Glade
run about 275 rods above its mouth, were the following:Two tracts, warrants No. 5146 and 5147, each containing 1,100 acres,
surveyed to Thomas W. Hiltzheimer, on those warrants, dated February 6, 1794,
which Hiltzheimer conveyed to Gen. Daniel Brodhead, December 29, 1795. The
latter, by his will, dated August 8, 1809, devised the same to the children of
his daughter, Anna Heiner, namely John Heiner, of Jefferson county, Virginia;
Catherine, wife of John Brodhead, of Wayne county, Pennsylvania; Margaret,
wife of John Faulk, of the last-mentioned county, and Rebecca J., wife of
Samuel Johnston, of Sussex county, New Jersey. Faulk and wife, December 1,
1814, Heiner and wife, August 29, 1815, and Brodhead and wife, July 14, 1817,
conveyed their respective undivided one-fourth parts of those two tracts to
Robert Brown, of Kittanning. Brodhead and Johnston and their wives conveyed
100 acres of tract surveyed on warrant No. 5147, to Brown, May 30, 1816, for
$20. A considerable portion of the consideration from that vendee to those
vendors consisted of lots in the then town, now borough, of Kittanning.
Johnston and wife conveyed 100 acres of the southern end of this tract
surveyed on warrant No. 5146, to James Kirkpatrick, and on February 4, 1819,
the undivided one-half, part of the residue of this last-mentioned tract for
$500, all of which, except $47.74, was paid in JohnstonĂ¯Â¿Â½s lifetime, and the
balance to his widow, who, by Daniel Stannard, her attorney in fact, executed
a second conveyance, January 17, 1828. From a list of taxes on Gen. BrodheadĂ¯Â¿Â½s
lands in this county, for the years 1806-7-8, obtained by the writer from
Edgar A. Brodhead, it appears that those two tracts, then in Kittanning
township, were assessed with $8.26 road tax, and $16.50 county tax in each of
the years 1806-7, and with $7.50 road tax and $8.26 county, in 1808. John
Rutherford seated 200 acres, and Jacob Peelor 300 acres of tract No. 5146, and
Joseph Marshall, Jr., 114, James Kirkpatrick, 200, John Calhoun, 144, James
McGahey, 50, Abel Findley, 100, and James Russell, 130 acres of tract No.
5147.In the southeastern corner of the township is a portion of the Harmon Le
Roy & CoĂ¯Â¿Â½s [sic] tract No. 3095, extending into Cowanshannock township
and Indiana county, which will be elsewhere more particularly mentioned.North of the last-mentioned tract were the two contiguous tracts surveyed
by warrants Nos. 558 and 553, the former of which contained 400 and the latter
474 acres. They were surveyed to Ephraim Blaine on those warrants. The latter
was seated by Robert Marshall. Fifty acres of the former were occupied by
Thomas Duke, from 1830 until 1840, and by William Kinnan for several years.
Blaine was a resident of Carlisle, Pennsylvania in the earlier years of the
revolutionary war. In the spring of 1777 the appointment of sub-lieutenant of
Cumberland county was tendered to him, which he declined for these reasons,
given in his letter of April 7, to President Wharton: Ă¯Â¿Â½The difference of
sentiment which prevails in Cumberland county about the constitution and the
ill-judged appointment of part of the sub-lieutenants are my principal reasons
for not accepting for the present the commission your honor and the council
were pleased to offer me of the lieutenancy. I shall, however, study to render
the public every service in my power.Ă¯Â¿Â½ He was afterward appointed deputy
commissary general for the middle department. In February or March, 1780, he
was appointed commissary general, which position he probably filled until the
close of the war. His name appears in the list of the names of men residing at
Fort Pitt, July 22, 1760. He was the great-grandfather of James G. Blaine, the
distinguished Untied States Senator from Maine – a native of Pennsylvania.Those two Blaine tracts extended from the above-mentioned Harmon Le Roy &
Co.Ă¯Â¿Â½s tract, along the Indiana county line, 325 rods; thence northwest 200
rods, thence west 200 rods, thence south 475 rods, and thence east 325 rods.
Glade run traverses the territory of which the northern or larger of these
tracts consisted, in a westerly and northwesterly course.Adjoining the last-mentioned tract on the west was the James Hamilton
tract, covered by warrant No. 358, containing 400 acres. It was surveyed to
James Hamilton, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on that warrant. The patent was
granted to his son James, March 3, 1832, It was conveyed to James Hamilton, of
Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, August 6, 1834, who conveyed 131 3/10 acres of
it to William Borland, June 18, 1836, for $492.37 Ă¯Â¿Â½, which then adjoined
lands of William Kirkpatrick, John Borland, William Cochran, James Marshall,
John Calhoun and Noah A. Calhoun.Adjoining that tract on the north was the Timothy Pickering & Co,
tract, covered by warrant No. 262, dated May 17, 1785. There being some
notable points on this tract, some of its various transfers are here
presented. It was a part of Gen. James PotterĂ¯Â¿Â½s estate, which became vested
in his son, James Potter, who covenanted, May 9, 1795, to convey it as
containing 1,000 acres to Ephraim Blaine, His heirs, believing that he had
made a deed therefor which was lost, for the purpose of confirming and
ratifying their fatherĂ¯Â¿Â½s agreement, executed, March 20, 1837, a deed to John
Hays and Rev. Adam Gilchrist, whose wives were daughters of Robert Blaine and
granddaughters of Ephraim Blaine, who were desirous of obtaining a patent and
perfect title. The tract was found to contain 1,099 acres. Ephraim Blaine had
paid for only 1,000, but these heirs considered that the excess of 99 acres
would be a fair equivalent for obtaining the patent and completing the title.
They therefore conveyed to Hays and Gilchrist the entire tract, which
subsequently became vested in John Hays, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, partly in his
own right and partly in that of his children, Mary W. Hays, afterward the wife
and widow of Capt. West, of the United States army, Robert B. Hays, and John
Hays, Jr., with all of whom the writer subsequently became acquainted. The two
last named were his pupils at the Plainfield Academy, near Carlisle. John
Hays, Sr., conveyed his right in that tract to David Ralston, March 23, 1839,
for $7,375, and by virtue of an act of the assembly, approved July 5, 1839, he
conveyed as guardian the interest of his wards therein, October 5, then next
to David Ralston, for $1,000. The latter conveyed one-third thereof,
respectively, to Thomas White and James McKennan, of Indiana, Pennsylvania,
March 25, 1844, the consideration expressed in each conveyance being $1, also,
April 7, 1845, his undivided third part, two tracts, to McKennan, for $850.John Hays, Sr., was a son of John and Mary Hays, both of whom participated
in the battle of Monmouth, N. J., in the revolutionary war. He was a sergeant
in a company of artillery, who is said to have directed a cannon at least a
part of the time. When he was carried from the field, his wife was approaching
with a pitcher of water for him and others, took his place by that cannon,
loaded and fired at least once, insisted on remaining, and left with much
reluctance. Gen. Washington either saw or heard of the service, which she thus
rendered, and commissioned her as sergeant by brevet. The morning after the
battle she rescued from a pit one of her friends, who had been thrown into it,
with others, as dead, carried him in her arms to the hospital and nursed him
until he recovered, from whom, many years afterward, when he had learned her
residence through the pension office, she received a box of presents and an
invitation to make his home her home. She was in the army seven years and nine
months, and in which she served with her husband after that battle. After the
war she and her husband removed to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he
subsequently died, and she married Sergeant McAuley, who embittered her life
by his drunkenness and abuse, and for years lived on her earnings. She
received an annual pension of $40 as the widow of John Hays, and during the
last week of her life, her granddaughter says, one was granted to her in her
own right. She died in January, 1832, in her ninetieth year, and was buried
beside her first husband with military honors by several companies that
followed her remains to the grave Ă¯Â¿Â½ Ă¯Â¿Â½Mary PitcherĂ¯Â¿Â½sĂ¯Â¿Â½ grave. She was
called Ă¯Â¿Â½Molly PitcherĂ¯Â¿Â½ because of her carrying that pitcher of water to
the thirsty soldiers on that intensely hot day of the battle of Monmouth.White, McKennan and Ralston sold portions of that tract as follows: To
Robert Borland, 14 acres, 93 perches, strict measure, September 9, 1843, for
$246.50, to James McQuoun, 90 acres, strict measure, January 17, 1844, for
$1,150; to Robert and John Borland, 41 acres 20 perches, March 13, 1844, for
$740.25; to Robert Marshall, 25.5. acres 102 perches, March 25, 1844, for
$4,607.78; to William Cochran, 84 acres 102 perches, March 25, 1844, for $800;
to John Marshall, 32 acres 11 perches, March 25, 1844, for $577; to John
Hamilton, 231 acres 20 perches, January 16, 1845, for $4,696; to John Lias,
130 acres, January 31, 1845, for $1,200; Thomas White to John W. Marshall,
undivided third part of 76 acres 107 perches, June 3, 1853, for $300; McKennanĂ¯Â¿Â½s
executors to same, May 13, 1853, for undivided two-thirds of 76 acres 107
perches, for $600; White to Watson S. Marshall, undivided one-third of 60
acres 411 perches, for $300; McKennanĂ¯Â¿Â½s executors to same, two undivided
third parts of 600 acres 41 perches, for $600; White to Margaret A., Joseph
L., James K., and John McK. Marshall, the undivided third of 180 acres 87
perches, September 30, 1862, for $741.66, and McKennanĂ¯Â¿Â½s executors to same
two undivided thirds of 180 acres 87 perches, September 23, 1862, for $483.33.The Glade Run Academy and the principal part of the borough of Dayton are
situated within the limits of that tract.The map of the original tracts indicates that a hundred acres tract of
Joseph Marshall, the warrantee, adjoined that of Pickering & Co. tract on
the southeast and the Alexander McClelland tract, warrant No. 1731, dated
January 31, 1786, on the northeast. These two tracts were adjoined on the east
by Harmon LeRoy & Co. tract No. 3115, occupied or seated by William and
Joseph Marshall. Contiguous thereto on the north was the Harmon LeRoy &
Co. Tract No. 3102, of which Benjamin Irwin purchased from the Holland Land
Company, by deed dated April 16, 1832, 119 acres and 17 perches for $135. A
portion of it was also occupied by Robert and Hugh Martin. Next north of that
was a vacant tract about 200 rods wide along its southern boundary about the
same distance along the Indiana county line, its eastern boundary, and about
450 or 500 rods along the Mahoning creek, its northeastern boundary, and
thence by a straight line south to its southern boundary, being the
northeastern portion of the township. Adjoining the northwestern part of the
above-mentioned Pickering & Co. tract No. 262 Ă¯Â¿Â½ the number of the
warrant meaningĂ¯Â¿Â½ was another Pickering & Co. tract No. 391, containing
439Ă¯Â¿Â½ acres, with a considerable portion of which Enoch and Reuben Hastings
were assessed, the latter for a few years and the former from 1825 until after
1839. Adjoining thereto on the east was the Harmon LeRoy tract; covered by
warrant No. 3108, containing 890 acres, 400 acres of which became vested in
Robert Beatty April 26, 1814, who also purchased a portion of the McClelland
tract because it was supposed to interfere with this one. Beatty then conveyed
400 acres to Thomas Taylor March 15, 1819, for $1,600, who conveyed the same
to Jacob Pontius February 6, 1824, for $3,200. The Holland Land Company sold
the upper or northern portion of this tract: 100 acres to John Hyskell May 24,
1837, for $100; 76 acres and 105 perches to Joseph Glenn June 9, 1838, for
$212; 146Ă¯Â¿Â½ acres to John Henderson June 19, 1838, for $109.70; 204 acres and
68 perches to Samuel Coleman May 25, 1843, for $202.50. Contiguous thereto on
the north was the LeRoy & Co. tract, covered by warrant No. 3109, small
portions of which were on the north side of Mahoning creek, and a large
portion of which was in a considerable northern bend of that stream, and which
contains the principal part of Ă¯Â¿Â½Lost Hill.Ă¯Â¿Â½This hill was called Ă¯Â¿Â½lostĂ¯Â¿Â½ in consequence of a man, on a certain
occasion, going out upon it in pursuit of a deer, which he killed, and on his
return homeward became bewildered and lost the points of compass, owing to the
peculiar formation of the surface, and to the dense and extensive forest.
Other persons were on various occasions lost on it. He and they, however, were
found by their neighbors.The first assessment of any part of this tract was made in 1832 to Thomas
Wilson, Jr., for 165 acres, which with that on one head of cattle amounted to
$129.75. In the course of a few years Robert and Samuel Black, Joseph and
Archibald Glenn, James Wilson, Sr., Joseph Marshall, Jr., Samuel Irwin, Joseph
McSparren, Andrew D. Guthrie, and others who have more recently settled
thereon.Immediately west of the northwestern part of the Hiltzhimer tract, surveyed
on warrant No. 5147, and the southwest part of the Pickering & Co. tract,
surveyed on warrant No. 262, was a tract surveyed to Samuel Wallis Ă¯Â¿Â½
sometimes spelled Wallace Ă¯Â¿Â½ on warrant No. 4163, which contained 990 acres,
which Wallis conveyed to George Harrison, July 28, 1797, who conveyed it to
Joseph Thomas, October 18 nest following, who conveyed it to Thomas W.
Francis, Edward Tighlman and Thomas Ross, August 13, 1798, who conveyed it to
Peter Thomas, January 13, 1813, for $990, who conveyed 200 acres thereof to
Archibald Marshall, May 19, 1814, for $200; 218 acres and 15 perches to Peter
Lias, May 9, 1828. Thomas sold different other tracts, containing various
quantities, from 1818 until 1836, to George Scott and others, generally at $1
an acre. The 150-acre tract, which he sold to Scott, became revested in him
and he then conveyed it to Wm. Wirt Gitt, March 13, 1836, for $800, or at the
rate of $5.33a per acre.Gen. Robert Orr purchased two other Wallis tracts, covered by warrants Nos.
4126-7, containing, respectively, 990 and 1,100 acres, from Henry Pratt, who
had purchased the same from the trustees of Joseph Thomas by deed dated June
1, 1803. PrattĂ¯Â¿Â½s conveyance to Orr is dated March 3, 1835. John Butler, Sr.
and Jr., and Theodore Wilson purchased portions of the former in 1851 and
1858, and George Ellenberger, William Pontius, Samuel Black, John Gould, and
John Bargerstock, portions of the latter in 1840-41-50.The tract covered by warrant to Wallis, No. 4146, situated between those
covered by warrants Nos. 4163 and 4126, was sold by John Sloan, sheriff of
Westmoreland county, for taxes to Thomas Hamilton, of Greensburgh [sic], for
$13, October 2, 1807, who, having lost the sheriffĂ¯Â¿Â½s deed, conveyed it by
another deed dated at Kittanning, April 16, 1811, to the assignees of Joseph
Thomas for $20. It having afterward become vested in Gen. Orr, he sold
portions of it to J. W. and G. W. Marshall in November, 1858. Gen. Orr also
purchased several other Wallis tracts. He conveyed portions of the one covered
by warrant No. 4131 to Charles Ellenberger and John Buchanan in September,
1840. Buchanan conveyed his to John Steele in October, 1849. Gen. Orr conveyed
a part of the Wallis tract Ă¯Â¿Â½ warrant No. 4128 Ă¯Â¿Â½ to John Hetrich in
November, 1847; and a portion of the Wallace tract Ă¯Â¿Â½ warrant No. 4132 Ă¯Â¿Â½ to
Adam Baughman in February, 1851.The North American Land Company became possessed pf several large tracts in
this township, covered by warrants dated December 24, 1793. That company was
organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1795, by written
articles of agreement. It consisted of Robert Morris, the great financier of
the revolutionary struggle; John Nicholson, who was commissioned comptroller
general of Pennsylvania, November 8, 1872 [sic], and escheater general October
2, 1787, and James Greenleaf, and those who should become purchasers, owners
and holders of shares in the company. At the final meeting of the
shareholders, December 31, 1807, Henry Pratt, John Ashley, John Vaughan,
Robert Porter, John Miller, Jr., and James Greenleaf were constitutionally
elected president, managers, and secretary of the company. It was also
constitutionally determined at that meeting by the holders and legal
representatives of more than two-thirds of the whole number of shares issued
that all the business of the company should be thenceforth conducted by the
above-mentioned president, managers and secretary, or a majority of them, or
their survivors or a majority of them, and that they should have full and
unlimited power to barter, sell or convey all or any part of the land and
property of the company on such terms and conditions as they might judge to be
fit, and to act in all possible cases relating to the same as they might deem
most proper and expedient.* They, as surviving managers, conveyed, February 8,
1836, to the late Gen. Robert Orr all of that companyĂ¯Â¿Â½s land in this county
excepting and reserving such parts as were claimed by the Holland Land Company
and their assigns, by the adverse surveys of Samuel Wallis, Alexander Craig,
Thomas Hamilton and others. The tracts thus conveyed were covered by warrants
to John Nicholson, Nos. 4573-4-5-6-7-8-9-80, and to Robert Morris, Nos.
4533-4-5 and 4528, aggregating about 9,500 acres. The consideration expressed
in the deed is $2,385. Patents for those tracts were issued to the purchaser
February 5, 1840, who soon after commenced selling that large body of land in
tracts of suitable size for farms, at reasonable prices and on other terms
easy to the purchasers, to whom he was indulgent, too much so in some
instances for his own pecuniary interest. The earliest purchasers of the tract
covered by warrant No. 4578 were Andrew Walker, Noah A. Calhoun, May 11, 1840.
John Calhoun and Samuel Porter, June 24, and the same day, for $1, five acres
to Jacob Kammerdinier [sic], and Jacob B. Hettrich, trustees for the German
Reformed Church. Adjoining that tract on the south was the one covered by
warrant No. 4579, containing 1,100 acres. Peter Kammerdinier [sic], who had
settled there in 1825, was the first purchaser of a part thereof, namely 286
acres and 46 perches, June 24, 1840. Between that and the next tract that
formerly belonged to the North American Land Company was the Thomas Smullen
tract, assessed to John Alcorn for the first time in 1830. Adjoining that on
the south was the tract covered by the Nicholson warrant, No. 1123, called Ă¯Â¿Â½Alexandred,Ă¯Â¿Â½
a patent for which was issued to Alexander Craig, February 25, 1799, who
conveyed 100 acres of it to Alexander and James White, November 18, 1813, for
$200, and the same quantity to John and Joseph Powers, November 7, 1821, for
$425. Adjoining Ă¯Â¿Â½AlexandredĂ¯Â¿Â½ on the northwest was a vacant tract surveyed
to John Alcorn on a warrant dated February 19, 1839, and to whom a patent was
subsequently granted. West of Ă¯Â¿Â½AlexandredĂ¯Â¿Â½ was the Robert Morris tract,
covered by warrant No. 4533, containing 440 acres, which was the southwestern
tract that Gen. Orr purchased from the North American Land Company, who
conveyed, May 29, 1843, 255 acres and 8 perches of it to Alexander White for
$382.75.About 200 rods east of the southeast corner of the Morris tract was the
northwest corner of the Nicholson tract, No. 4573, which cornered on the
southeast corner of Ă¯Â¿Â½Alexandred,Ă¯Â¿Â½ and contained 300 acres. It was included
in the Orr purchase, and it is probably the one from which Mrs. Elizabeth
McClemens, May 4, 1868, and Leopold Drahn, April 13, 1874, purchased their
respective tracts – those being the dates of their deeds.Directly north of that tract was the Wallis tract covered by warrant No.
4132, immediately north of the western half of which was the Nicholson tract,
covered by warrant No. 4575, included also in the Orr purchase. The deed to
Thomas Foster for 23 acres and 31 perches thereof is dated November 13, 1847,
and the deed to Joseph Clever for 301 acres, February 16, 1859.Next north of that and the Wallace tract, covered by warrant No. 4131, was
the Nicholson tract, covered by warrant No. 4575, a part of the Orr purchase,
about 60 acres of which were conveyed to Eli Schrecengost, June 26, 1843. Next
north of it was the Nicholson tract, covered by warrant No. 4576, included in
the same purchase, about 290 acres of which were conveyed to John Reesman,
August 28, 1847; about 182 acres to Joseph Schrecengost, December 24, 1860,
and about 150 acres to Joseph Steele, January 4, 1845, both being parts of the
last-mentioned two Nicholson tracts.Another tract, situated in contiguous parts of what are now Wayne and
Cowanshannock townships, covered by warrant to Dr. William Smith, No. 675,
dated October 20, 1785, which having become vested in William C. Bryan, he
conveyed it to Gen. Orr, August 6, 1840, who conveyed about 121 acres of it to
Mark Campbell, August 16, 1850, for $845, and about 108Ă¯Â¿Â½ to Michael Clever,
the same day, for $280.Adjoining that on the north and east was the Samuel Wallis tract, No. 4162,
containing 1,070 acres, who conveyed it to George Harrison, who conveyed it to
Joseph Thomas, through whose trustees it became vested in Robert Brown, who
conveyed it December 23, 1818, to Jacob Beer, who sold portions of it to Jacob
Beer, Samuel McGoughey [sic], Jacob Rupp and others.Adjoining the Smith tract on the northwest was one containing 549 acres and
61 perches, called Ă¯Â¿Â½White Oak Bottom,Ă¯Â¿Â½ covered by warrant No. 695, issued
to Isaac Meason, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, member of assembly from
Westmoreland county in 1779, and Robert R. Cross, of Philadelphia. A patent,
dated April 21, 1788, was granted for one undivided third part of it to CrossĂ¯Â¿Â½
executors. Contiguous to that, on the northwest was another Meason & Cross
tract, covered by warrant No. 692, containing 549 acres and 68 perches, called
Ă¯Â¿Â½Walnut Bottom,Ă¯Â¿Â½ which, with another tract, called Ă¯Â¿Â½Salem,Ă¯Â¿Â½ on the
waters of TobyĂ¯Â¿Â½s creek, was included in that patent. These three tracts
having become vested in Robert O. Cross, of Philadelphia, mariner, he conveyed
them July 3, 1809, to Thomas Hamilton of Greensburgh [sic], Pennsylvania, for
$1,100. The latter devised Ă¯Â¿Â½White Oak BottomĂ¯Â¿Â½ to the late Thomas
McConnell, and Ă¯Â¿Â½Walnut BottomĂ¯Â¿Â½ to Isaac Cruse. The former conveyed 200
acres of his tract to Hugh Gallagher, September 1, 1831, for $600, and the
latter conveyed 200 acres of his to William McIlhenny, November 1, 1832, for
$753.43.A vacant tract adjoined these two tracts on the northeast, on which
Frederick Soxman and Jacob Rupp settled, and for all, or a portion of which, a
warrant was obtained. With the exception of a vacant tract adjoining Ă¯Â¿Â½Walnut
Bottom,Ă¯Â¿Â½ on the northwest, occupied by Adam Rupp, the land in the remaining
or southwestern portion of this township belonged to the Holland Land Company,
a sketch of which is given in Chapter I. Some of the lands belonging to that
company were conveyed to purchasers by Paul Burti and by Benjamin B. Cooper,
as well as by Wilhelm Willink and others.The earliest purchase made from that company in this part of the township
appears to have been by George Beck for 145 acres and 52 perches for $209, by
deed dated September 21, 1813, being a part of their lands covered by warrant
No. 3046, on which he erected many years ago a two-story brick house, being
the first of the kind in this region. Noah A. CalhounĂ¯Â¿Â½s deed for a portion
of their land covered by that warrant is dated the next day. The quantity
mentioned in his deed is 197 acres and 140 perches, and the consideration
therein expressed is $247.35. Some of the later, yet comparatively early,
purchasers from that part of the land covered by that warrant still in this
township (a part of it was in what are now Pine and Valley) were Susan, Eliza
and Margaret White, December 19, 1827; Jacob Beck, March 17, 1830; and Adam
Beck, December 19, 1832, according to the dates of their deeds.Some of the early purchasers of that companyĂ¯Â¿Â½s land in this township
covered by warrant No. 3045 were Jacob Smith, to whom 182Ă¯Â¿Â½ acres were
conveyed June 17, 1829, the consideration expressed being $92.34; John
McIntire, June 19, 1832, 95 acres for $47.40; George Kline, April 28,1834, 97
acres and 96 perches for $165; and Joseph Buffington, June 19, 1843, 417 acres
and 61 perches, consideration $50. The hamlet called Echo, is located on
allotment No. 6, tract No. 367, covered by the last-mentioned warrant, and on
the same tract conveyed to Jas. A. Knox by Henry Clever, September 5, 1855,
containing 46 acres, consideration $300.The Holland company conveyed , October 7, 1819, to George Dill 89 acres and
85 perches in this township, covered by warrant No. 3141 for $179, being a
part of allotment No. 3 and tract No. 365, and to Moses and George Dill,
December 16, 1828, 119 acres and 51 perches for $59.50.Adjoining the land covered by the last-mentioned warrant, on the east, was
that covered by warrant No. 3139, of which Wilhelm Willink and others
conveyed, March 22, 1831, to John Kline 127 acres, consideration $55, being in
allotment No. 6, in tract No. 336, and April 7, 1837, to James White 550
acres, consisting of allotments Nos. 1, 2, 3, and part of No. 4, consideration
$230.90.The above-mentioned allotments and tracts are those indicated on the map of
the Holland companyĂ¯Â¿Â½s lands.The foregoing presentation of the original tracts and the naming of some of
the early purchasers will, the writer thinks, enable all readers acquainted
with the territory of Wayne township to understand the topography of those
tracts; and the mention of the consideration, expressed in some of the deeds
of conveyance, seems to him sufficient to afford at least a proximate [sic]
idea of the increase in the market value of those lands, as it ranged in the
second, third, fourth and fifth decades of this century.The dates of the deeds of conveyance do not generally indicate the times of
settling upon the lands thus conveyed. Most, if not all, the early settlers
occupied and improved portions of those original tracts for years before they
knew or they could reach those who could grant valid titles; so that there was
in early times a good deal of Ă¯Â¿Â½squattingĂ¯Â¿Â½ and occasional shifting of
locations. But when the owners of those lands or their authorized agents
became accessible to the settlers, the latter readily entered into contracts
for purchasing on such terms and conditions as were, in most cases, easy for
them to fulfil [sic].Nearly all the tracts in this and other townships purchased from the
Holland Company, are described as being Ă¯Â¿Â½in BrodheadĂ¯Â¿Â½s former district No.
6.Ă¯Â¿Â½ It was so called because it was the one of which John Brodhead,
elsewhere mentioned, was deputy surveyor-general. He was commissioned April
28, 1794. His district began at the southeast corner of district No. 5,
granted to William P. Brady, which was at Canoe Place, or what is now called
Cherry Tree, on the Susquehanna river, and extended thence by the Brady
district to the northern boundary of Pennsylvania; thence due west until it
intersected a line extending due north from the mouth of Conewango river;
thence south by that line to the Allegheny river; thence down that river, by
its courses and distances, to the Purchase line of 1768, at Kittanning; and
thence along that line to the place of beginning**.The earliest settler in the eastern part of Wayne township, on Glade Run,
was William Marshall, who came from Indiana county, settled, made an
improvement, erected a log cabin and barn on the Pickering & Co. tract
covered by warrant No. 262, of which he occupied about 80 acres, known in that
region as Ă¯Â¿Â½old Glade Run farm,Ă¯Â¿Â½ now lying south of the borough of Dayton,
between it and the boarding houses of the Glade Run Academy. An orchard was
planted on it soon after its first occupancy by Marshall, which is still
thrifty, and known as the “old Glade orchard.”The only other white settler then within what is now the territory of this
township was James Shields, who occupied a part of the above-mentioned vacant
tract, the farm since owned by C. Soxaman [sic] and James Gallagher, Jr.,
about four miles west of south from MarshallĂ¯Â¿Â½s. The latterĂ¯Â¿Â½s next nearest
neighbors were the Kirkpatricks, nearly south on the Cowanshannock, another
family about four miles to the east, and others not less than ten miles to the
north. The nearest gristmill was Peter ThomasĂ¯Â¿Â½, about fifteen miles distant
on Plum creek, near where the borough of Elderton now is. Even fourteen years
later, the population of this region must have been very sparse, for Philip
Mechling relates that he then found but very few habitations, and they were
far apart, as he passed from Red Bank township to ThomasĂ¯Â¿Â½ in Plum Creek
township, when he was collecting United States taxes, levied for paying the
public debt incurred by the war of 1812. There were then only bridle-paths
from one point to another. The streams were not spanned by bridges. When he
reached the ferry kept by Robert Martin, at or near where Milton now is, he
could not find either canoe or ferryman on the Red Bank side of the Mahoning.
A canoe was on the other side. With dry chestnut logs, an ax and an auger, he
constructed a small raft on which he ventured across the turbid stream and
landed a considerable distance below his objective point. When he reached the
canoe the ferryman had arrived. They crossed over to the Red Bank side and
then returned to the Plum Creek side, guiding the horse by the rein or
hitching as the latter swam alongside of the canoe.The pioneer of Glade Run, after making considerable improvement on the Ă¯Â¿Â½old
Glade farm,Ă¯Â¿Â½ left it because he could not obtain what he deemed a valid
title, and removed thence to the Harman Le Roy & Co. tract covered by
warrant No. 3115, 188 acres and 125 perches of which Benjamin B. Cooper
conveyed to him by deed, dated October 10, 1816, whereof William Marshall,
Sr., conveyed 136 acres and 110 perches to John Marshall, September 8, 1824,
for the nominal sum of $30.Another contemporaneous settler on Glade Run was Joseph Marshall, the
eldest son of William Marshall, Sr., being twenty-two years of age when they
settled there nearly three-quarters of a century ago. Their new home in the
wilderness was then in Toby township. In 1806 Joseph Marshall was assessed on
the Kittanning township list with 100 acres of land, 1 horse and 1 head of
cattle, at a total valuation of $86, and his father, on the same list, with
two tracts of land, aggregating 565 acres, with 1 horse and 2 head of cattle,
at a total valuation of $412. Joseph Marshall, in later years, when the
Marshalls in this part of the county became quite numerous, was distinguished
by the appellation of Ă¯Â¿Â½big Joe Marshall.Ă¯Â¿Â½ He died in his eightieth year in
1859. His father had nine children, of whom the only one surviving is Robert
Marshall, who on the centennial anniversary of American Independence was in
his seventy-seventh year. The descendants of William Marshall, Sr., if all
were living, would number about 350. The descendants of his brothers John and
Archibald, who were somewhat later settlers in this region, are quite
numerous. Hence, the frequency of the name of Marshall in this and other
adjacent townships. The Marshalls, like many of their contemporaries bearing
different names, have generally been of good repute in their public and
private relations.The eastern portion of this township received nearly all the settlers in
the first decade of this century. Thomas Wilson was assessed with 300 acres of
land, part of the James Hamilton tract, and with 2 horses and 1 head of cattle
in 1806, so that he must have settled there as early as 1805 Ă¯Â¿Â½ then and
until 1809 in Kittanning township. The records show that the other settlers in
this section during that period were Hugh Martin, who settled on the Harmon
LeRoy tract, covered by warrant No. 3102, as he was first assessed on that
township list in 1807 with 150 acres; Alexander and Thomas McGaughey the same
year, each having been assessed with 50 acres in 1807, portions of the
Pickering & Co. Tract, covered by warrant No. 262; James Kirkpatrick, Sr.,
assessed with 100 acres, a part of the Hiltzhimer tract, covered by warrant
No. 5147; and John Calhoun in 1807, he having been first assessed with 200
acres in 1808, a part of the last-mentioned tract, to whom the county
commissioners issued an order November 9, 1808, for $8 for catching and
killing a full-grown wolf November 21, 1807.Christopher Rupp settled in 1805 about four and a half miles west of the
western line of the last-mentioned tract, in the vicinity of what is now
called Echo, on the tract of the Holland Company, covered by warrant No. 3045.
He was assessed with 400 acres of land and 3 head of cattle, valued at $215.
He was assessed twenty years later with 800 acres of the John Nicholson tract,
covered by warrant No. 4575.The population of this township increased very slowly until about and after
1825. Its total number of inhabitants in 1830, before it had been shorn of
portions of its territory by the erections of other townships, was only 878.
It was 1,875 in 1840. In 1850, after the curtailment of its territory, it was
1,348. In 1860 it was 1,571 white and 5 colored. In 1870, it was 1,939 native
and 89 foreign. Its number of taxables, in 1876, is 395, from which its
present population is estimated to be 1,867, exclusive of that of the borough
of Dayton.The present territory of Wayne was a part of Toby township from 1801 until
1806; a part of Kittanning township from then until 1809; and then a part of
Plum Creek township until March 19, 1821.RELIGIOUS
The religious interests have been fostered by the people of this township
from its earliest settlement. The first clergyman who held religious services
within its limits was Rev. Robert McGarraugh, who was also the first
Presbyterian minister who preached the gospel east of the Allegheny river in
what are now Armstrong and Clarion counties.*** According to the most reliable
information, the first sermon ever preached within the limits of Wayne was
preached by him, either in the house or in the barn of William Marshall, Sr.,
in 1803, while en route to the then wilderness region between the Red Bank
creek and Clarion river, where he subsequently settled. He preached in this
settlement twice a year for ten or twelve years after 1803, while going to or
returning from his kindred in Westmoreland county and meetings of the old
Redstone Presbytery, which is said to have extended from the ridge of the
Allegheny mountains to the Scioto river, and from Lake Erie to the Kanawha
river. The temples of worship were the primitive log cabins of the
widely-separated settlers, some of whom marked the dates of his appointments
by placing pins at them in their almanacs. They loved to have the gospel
preached to them in their wilderness homes.****Glade Run Presbyterian Church was the first ecclesiastical body organized
within the limits of Wayne. It germinated in the four Presbyterian families of
James and William Kirkpatrick, William Marshall, Sr., and William Shields, who
resided several miles apart, in 1804. From data which Rev. G. W. Mechlin, D.
D., has given in his historical sketch of this church, it appears to have been
organized in 1808 by simply electing James Kirkpatrick and William Marshall,
Sr., ruling elders, who were ordained by Rev. Robert McGarraugh. The original
members of this church in the wilderness, now certainly known, were James and
Margaret Kirkpatrick, William and Mary Marshall, William and Martha
Kirkpatrick, and William and Mary Shields.In this connection, the writer deems a brief personal sketch of that
pioneer minister, whose mission of peace and good will and Christian charity
so soon follower the savage cruelties and startling war-whoops of the
aboriginal inhabitants of these hills and vales, to be in place. Rev. Robert
McGarraugh was born January 9, 1771, in Bedford, afterward Westmoreland, [sic]
county, Pennsylvania. His parents were Joseph and Jane McGarraugh. He probably
passed the early part of his life on his fatherĂ¯Â¿Â½s farm. His instructors
during his academical course were Rev. James Dunlap, subsequently the second
president of Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, from April 27, 1803,
until April 25, 1811, and Rev. David Smith, who resided in the Ă¯Â¿Â½Forks of
Yough.Ă¯Â¿Â½ In 1793 he became a student in the Canonsburg Academy, where he
completed his academical studies. He afterward pursued his theological course
at Canonsburg, under the instruction of Rev. John McMillan, D.D. His marriage
to Miss Levina Stille occurred December 10, 1795, which must have been while
he was yet a student, for he was licensed to preach by the Redstone
Presbytery, October 19, 1803. Very soon thereafter he visited the field of his
future ministerial labors in what was then Armstrong, but which is now Clarion
county. After preaching awhile to the families then there, he was invited to
settle among them. Having accepted their invitation, he and his family, with
their household goods, began, on one of the latter days of May, 1804, their
journey to their new home in the wilderness, which the reached in the course
of seven or eight days, on the first of June. Wagon roads had not then been
opened in this region, so they performed their journey through the forest on
horseback, following Indian trails or the paths indicated by the settlersĂ¯Â¿Â½
blazes. They probably had three horses, one of which Mr. McGarraugh rode,
another bore Mrs. McGarraugh and two of the children. All the kitchen
furniture was packed on the third, on the top of which John, the oldest son,
was mounted. On their route they either forded or swam the Kiskiminetas,
Crooked creek and Plum creek. They were detained a day at the Mahoning, and
another at the Red Bank, where they were under the necessity of constructing
canoes, in which they were conveyed across those streams, the horses swimming
alongside of them. Their habitation, during the first year of their residence,
near the present town of Strattanville, was a log cabin twelve or sixteen feet
square, the door of which was made of chestnut-bark.Father McGarraugh, as he was in later years called, was ordained by the
Redstone Presbytery November 12, 1807, and installed as the pastor of the New
Rehoboth and Licking churches, his pastorate in which continued until April 3,
1822, after which time he preached at Callensburgh, Concord and some other
places until his death, July 17, 1839, in the sixty-ninth year of his age and
the thirty-sixth of his ministry. His successor, Rev. James Montgomery, says
of him: Ă¯Â¿Â½He was an humble, faithful, godly, self-denying and laborious
minister of the Gospel, who labored long and well and laid deep the
foundations of Presbyterianism in this region of the country.Ă¯Â¿Â½ Says Rev. Dr.
Eaton: Ă¯Â¿Â½He was not afraid of hardships; he did not love money; he sought not
human applause. And so he was adapted to his field of labor. He pleased the
people and God was with him. He was a plain unassuming man, not of remarkable
ability or blessed with the gift of eloquence, intent on this one thing Ă¯Â¿Â½ to
stand in his lot and do his duty. And thus he lived, and to-day his memory is
fragrant, whilst that of more highly gifted men is a byword. Today his record
is higher than the stars, for it is written in GodĂ¯Â¿Â½s great book of
remembrance.Ă¯Â¿Â½ Says the writer of a historical sketch of Clarion countyĂ¯Â¿Â½
Ă¯Â¿Â½Rev. Robert McGarraugh is represented to have been a good, God-fearing man,
well educated, able in prayer, slow of speech, often taking two or three hours
to deliver his sermon. So earnest was he at times that great tears would roll
from his eyes to the floor. It was said that his tears were more eloquent than
his voice.Ă¯Â¿Â½ Says Rev. Dr. Mechlin: Ă¯Â¿Â½I well remember, though but a boy, of
seeing him once at a meeting of the Presbytery of Allegheny at Concord church,
now in the Presbytery of Butler, the church of my childhood, and it will
require many years yet to erase the impression his revered countenance, his
gray hairs, and his athletic Ă¯Â¿Â½ almost gigantic Ă¯Â¿Â½ form made on my youthful
mind.Ă¯Â¿Â½ he had three sons and four daughters. Mrs. Henry Black, one of the
latter, and John McGarraugh, one of the former, are still living. Robert W.
McGarraugh, a son of the latter, served in the Union army in the war of 1861
three and a half years, having been confined eleven months at Andersonville,
where he died.The early records of this, like many other churches, were not kept in a
book. All that are now known to be extant were kept on loose pieces of paper,
which were preserved by the late George McCombs. They contain the minutes of
the session from September 15, 1821, until October 24, 1836. It is not known
how many, if any, members were admitted between 1804 and 1821. The admissions,
September 15, in the last-mentioned year, were twenty-one on examination and
seven on letters. It is not apparent whether any Presbyterian clergyman
preached here even occasionally between the time when Father McGarraugh ceased
to travel this route and the advent of Rev. James Galbreath, who preached here
a few times prior to 1820, when Rev. David Barclay commenced preaching as a
stated supply and continued about five years, during which period a
considerable number were admitted. Joseph Diven and George McComb were
ordained elders by Mr. Barclay in 1820, ***** and John Marshall, Benjamin
Irwin and William Kirkpatrick, July 24, 1825.******The pastorate of Rev. Elisha D. Barrett, M.D., commenced December 9, 1828,
and continued until November 29, 1840, during which period John Calhoun, James
Wilson, William Gaghagan, Robert Caldwell and Robert Wilson were ordained and
installed ruling elders, and fifty-nine members were admitted on examination.
Dr. Barrett was among the first advocates of the temperance cause and of
Sabbath-schools and other great moral and temporal interests of society in
this region.The pastorate of Rev. James D. Mason began June 16, 1843, and ended March
19, 1848, during which thirty-two members were admitted on examination, and
Wm. M. Findlay, John Henderson and Thomas Travis were elected, ordained and
installed ruling elders. An elder remarked many years after Mr. MasonĂ¯Â¿Â½s
departure: “It was a weeping time when he left.”The pastorate of Rev. Cochran Forbes commenced about July 1, 1849, and
continued until May, 1856, during which sixty-eight members were admitted on
examination, and Benjamin Irwin, John C. McComb and John Wadding wee elected,
ordained and installed ruling elders.The present pastorate of Rev. G. W. Mechlin, D.D., commenced February 20,
1857, during which there have been 281 members admitted on examination and 131
on certificate, and James R. Marshall, Joseph M. McGaughey, Harkley [sic] K.
Marshall, Wm. C. Guthrie, Samuel S. Caldwell and Archibald Findlay were chosen
ruling elders.The numbers of members admitted on certificates during the pastorates prior
to the present one are not given, because, a s Dr. Mechlin says, the roll of
such is confused.All the church edifices were erected on the same site, near the northern
angle of the triangle formed by three public roads, on the Pickering & Co,
tract, covered by warrant No. 262. The first one was 30 V 30 feet, with walls
of hewn logs, shingle roof and board floor. It was probably erected in 1821,
as the subscription paper recently found among the papers of the late Benjamin
Irwin shows that the Ă¯Â¿Â½implements,Ă¯Â¿Â½ as the materials are styled, were to be
delivered to the building committee by the first day of May that year. One
subscriber agreed to furnish five logs, another the same, another five pairs
of rafters, two others Ă¯Â¿Â½one summer,Ă¯Â¿Â½ and so on until ample provision was
made for the walls, roof and floor. Another paper contains the names of more
than forty subscribers, who promised to pay, respectively, sums of money
varying from $1 to less than twenty-five cents Ă¯Â¿Â½for purchasing glass and
nails and fixing the windows of the meeting-house.Ă¯Â¿Â½ That edifice was
followed by another in 1831, frame, 44 V 54 feet, which gave place in 1857 to
another, 48 V 60 feet, which in 1871 was enlarged to its present dimensions of
48 V 76 feet, all of which were from time to time required by the healthy
increase of the congregation.Many of the members of this church were somewhat agitated by the proposal,
made in 1825, to change the psalmody from RouseĂ¯Â¿Â½s version to WattsĂ¯Â¿Â½ hymns.
The latter were gradually introduced after close scrutiny, without which the
scruples which some entertained respecting the heterodoxy which they feared
might lurk in those hymns were not removed. [sic] In at least one family WattsĂ¯Â¿Â½
hymnbook was for some time kept in a place of concealment, from which it was
brought out for examination after the children were put to bed and were
supposed too sound asleep to hear the comments and discussions of their
scrupulous parents concerning its merits or demerits. After a satisfactory
examination they Ă¯Â¿Â½could see nothing wrong in them,Ă¯Â¿Â½ that is, in those
hymns. So in due time that much-abused book was placed in broad daylight
beside the Psalm-book. It is related that Rev. Mr. Barclay gave great offense
to some of his congregation when with his strong, ringing voice he read the
first hymn given out in this church, containing these lines:“Let them refuse to sing
Who never knew their God.”In the course of time all fears and prejudices against the hymns vanished,
for the present Presbyterian hymnal, having been adopted soon after its
publication, Ă¯Â¿Â½gives general satisfaction.Ă¯Â¿Â½ The choir was organized in
1863, of which Archibald Findlay was appointed the leader, and it has ever
since been composed of a goodly number of ladies and gentlemen of musical
talent and culture.The Sabbath-school connected with this church was established probably in
August or September, 1826, and was organized at a schoolhouse near Abel
FindlayĂ¯Â¿Â½s residence, which was then on the Hiltzhimer tract, covered by
warrant No. 5147. The officers on the first day were Joseph Reed, president,
and John Calhoun and Abel Findlay, assistants. A list of questions in the
handwriting of the last-named, on the 10th and 11th chapters of Matthew,
closely written in double columns, filling a large sheet of paper, is still
extant. In discrimination and point of adaptation to bring out the meaning of
the text they are not excelled by those sanctioned by some of the publishing
houses of the church. This, like other schools in the township, was soon
thereafter merged in the one at the church. It has ever since been a
beneficent and flourishing school. Among its devoted superintendents and
teachers the name of William Kirkpatrick most frequently occurs.In this centennial year the number of church members is 240, and of
Sabbath-school scholars, 202.This is not only the first church organized east of the Allegheny river,
within the limits of this county, but it has been a parent church, from which
emanated large portions of the original members of the Concord, Millville,
Rural Village and Sinicksburg [sic] churches, and a nucleus of the United
Presbyterian church at Dayton. Its charter of incorporation was granted by the
court of common pleas of this county September 7, 1857. Dr. J.R. Crouch, Jacob
B. Guyer and John Marshall were appointed its trustees to serve until the
first election.*******St. MichaelĂ¯Â¿Â½s Protestant Episcopal church appears to have the next one
established in this township. It was organized by Rev. B.B. Killikelly January
7, 1836, who was its rector for several years. His report to the convention of
that year shows that the congregation or parish then consisted of sixteen
families, containing ninety-one persons; that six children had been baptized,
eight persons confirmed and ten communicants added. The services were held in
a private house, small and inconvenient. A portion of the members had
previously belonged to St. PaulĂ¯Â¿Â½s at Kittanning. The next year the number of
families was twenty-three, containing one hundred and thirty-four persons;
fifteen communicants were added; there were eight baptisms; and $12.50 were
collected for missionary purposes. A church edifice being much needed, the
rector visited New York and the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for the
purpose of soliciting aid for erecting one in this and another parish.For this one he obtained $24.13, which he paid over to James McElhinny and
George Stockdill, the wardens. A frame edifice of adequate dimensions was soon
erected and was occupied before its completion. It is located on one of the
above-mentioned Meason & Cross tracts in the southern part of the
township, or it may be on both of them, for on April 2, 1861, Anthony
Gallagher conveyed eighty-three and a half perches of the one called
“Walnut Bottom,” to William Borland, William Cook, William
Gallagher, Andrew Stewart and James Stewart, and others, vestrymen. The
rectors who succeeded Rev. B. B. Killikelly, D.D., were Rev. William Hilton
and Rev. D. C. James. It is incorporated. Its charter was granted by the
proper court June 6, 1866. The report to the convention for 1876 presents
these facts: Rev. William Hilton, rector; James Stewart and Michael Campbell,
wardens; families, 25; persons not thus included, 8; communicants admitted, 5;
died, 1; present number, 54; baptized, infants, 8; confirmed, 7; public
services, Sundays, 23; sittings in church, free; value of church and lot,
$2,000; parsonage, $700; rectorĂ¯Â¿Â½s salary, $355; parochial offerings, $405;
diocesan offerings, $35.25. The rector furthermore remarks that, although the
parish is not so flourishing as he would like to see it, is nevertheless in a
very encouraging condition, the attendance being good. A Sunday-school has
again been established with very encouraging prospects.The late Rev. Joseph Painter, D.D., commenced preaching in this township
late in the fall of 1840, or early in the winter of 1841. By order of
presbytery he and John Calhoun, who had previously emigrated from the eastern
to the northwestern part of the township, organized the Concord Presbyterian
church at the hose of Joseph Clever. Of that house Dr. Painter remarked: Ă¯Â¿Â½It
was a log cabin with one room. In it was a family of children and all the
people that assembled at that time, and yet there was room for more, but the
people were united and had a mind to work.Ă¯Â¿Â½ One of the elders wrote to Rev.
T.D. Ewing: Ă¯Â¿Â½Doctor Painter usually rode out, Ă¯Â¿Â½ (from Kittanning)Ă¯Â¿Â½on
Saturday, and returned on Monday, stopping with the people by turns, and
although cooking, eating and sleeping were all done in the same apartment by
most of them, yet his coming was hailed with pleasure by both old and young.Ă¯Â¿Â½
He statedly supplied this church, which had thus arisen in that then newly
settled region, until March 31, 1853, during which period eighty-six
communicants were admitted. He then left it because more time and labor were
required than he could give. It then became a part of the charge of Rev.
Cochran Forbes until the fore part of May, 1856. From 1857 to 1866 it belonged
to the charge of Rev. G. W. Mechlin, D.D. From 1867 until 1872 it was under
the pastorate, for half time, of Rev. H. Magill, and since then it has been
under that of Rev. F. E. Thompson. Its present number of members is 173, and
of Sabbath-school scholars, 130.The first edifice of Concord church was erected in 1842 on land purchased
from Robert clever, being a part of the John Nicholson tract, covered by
warrant No. 4574. It was a frame structure of adequate capacity for the
accommodation of the congregation at the time of its erection. Archibald Glenn
was the builder, and the committee which made the contract with him consisted
of John Steele, David Buchanan, Joseph Clever and Noah A. Calhoun, Jr. The
Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1832 by Rev. Gabriel A.
Reichert. Peter Kammerdinier [sic] was the first elder, and Christopher Rupp
and Abraham Zimmerman were the first trustees. After Mr. Reichert left, its
pulpit was filled by several different pastors. For some years past this
church has been under the charge of Rev. Michael Swigert. It adheres to the
general Council. The present number of members is 72; Sabbath-school scholars,
50. The first church edifice was a log one about 30 V 25 feet. The present is
frame, 40 V 35 feet. It was erected in 1874, on an acre lot, conveyed to the
trustees by Jacob Kammerdinier, August 7, 1870, being a part of the Nicholson
tract No. 4579.SCHOOLS
The educational interests were cherished by the early settlers of this
township. About 1815 – it may have been somewhat later or earlier – according
to information which has been orally transmitted to these later times, the
first school within its present limits was opened in a building, perhaps not
at first designed for a schoolhouse, on land of Benjamin Irwin, near the
Indiana county line, which was taught by the William Marshall, distinguished
from others of that name by the sobriquet of of [sic] Ă¯Â¿Â½Crooked,Ă¯Â¿Â½ not, it
is presumed, that he was so morally. Perhaps, whatever crookedness there was
in his physique may have been induced by the virtue of extraordinary industry.
Some of his pupils traveled three and others four miles daily to acquire the
rudiments of education within the walls of that log temple of knowledge in the
forest. Robert Marshall, of Dayton, is the only pupil known to be now living.
Another school was taught in a primitive schoolhouse, built somewhat later,
near the present site of the Glade Run Presbyterian church, one of the
teachers of which was Bezai Irwin. Later and before the passage of the common
school law, there must have been at least one organization for the maintenance
of a public school, for John Lias conveyed for $1, March 14, 1829, one-fourth
of an acre on the west side of the Red Bank road, to Benjamin Irwin, Robert
Martin, George McCombs and Jacob Pontius, trustees of the Glade run school
district.In 1830 there were seven children whose parents were too poor to pay for
their schooling; in 1831, ten, and in 1832, eight.In 1832, David Lewis and David Scott were assessed as schoolmasters.
Whether there were any other secular schools before the common school law
of 1834-5 went into operation, is not apparent. The first schoolhouses built
under that law appear to have been distributed in accordance with the wants of
the then most thickly populated portions of the township. One was located in
the Calhoun settlement, in the northwestern part; another in the Beck
settlement, in the southwestern part; another nearly two miles north of
Dayton; and another about the same distance southwest of that borough, on the
Wallace tract, No. 4163.The common school system was adopted, though not unanimously, by the voters
of this township, as is manifest from these incidents: One morning, while the
people of each township had the right to accept or reject it by their votes,
John Buchanon [sic], who then lived on the farm now owned by John Steele, was
firmly resolved to go to the election ground that day and vote for its
rejection. But his grandson, Joseph Steele, about six years old, approached
him as he was starting from the barn on horseback, with this earnest appeal,
Ă¯Â¿Â½Grandpa, donĂ¯Â¿Â½t vote to take the school away from me!Ă¯Â¿Â½ The old gentleman
proceeded to the election with those touching words ringing in his ears, which
had the effect of changing his purpose, for he voted for accepting the school
system, of which he continued to be a firm friend until his death. That was an
instance of families being divided on this question. He that morning
determined to ride to the polling place to vote for rejecting, while his
son-in-law, John Steele, was as fully determined to walk thither to vote for
accepting that system. At another occasion, while this township extended
southward to the purchase line of 1768, when a considerable number of the
citizens were assembled, it was determined to test their sense of the school
question, by those in favor of retaining the school system ranging [sic]
themselves on one side of a small run in Alexander CampbellĂ¯Â¿Â½s meadow, and
those opposed on the other side. After the school men and the anti-school men
had thus ranged [sic] themselves, Martin Schrecengost, then one of the latter,
having surveyed the two opposing lines, declared there was not a decent
looking man in his line, and immediately passed over to the other side. A
certain anti-school man, who had several children that needed to be educated,
was bitterly opposed to the school law, because he deemed the tax required to
sustain the school oppressive. It may have been so on him, for he paid of that
tax the vast sum of eleven cents.In 1860 the number of schools was 10; average months taught, 4; male
teachers, 7; female teachers, 3; average salaries of male, per month, $20; of
female, per month, $18.47; male scholars, 221; female scholars, 178; average
number attending school, 278; cost of teaching each scholar per months, 48
cents; amount levied for school purposes, $1,058.18; received from state
appropriation, $94.25; from collectors, $800; cost of instruction, $704; fuel
and contingencies, $74.80; cost of schoolhouses, $25.30.In 1876 the number of schools was 10; average number of months taught, 5;
male teachers, 6; female teachers, 4; average salaries of male, per month,
$32; average salaries of female, per month, $32; male scholars, 190; female
scholars, 151; average number attending school, 251; cost per month, $1.20;
tax levied for school and building purposes, $1,970.84; received from state
appropriation, $309.69; received from taxes and other sources, $1,991.12; cost
of schoolhouses, repairing, etc., $223.50; paid for teachersĂ¯Â¿Â½ wages, $1,600;
collectorsĂ¯Â¿Â½ fees, fuel, etc. $234.23.The Belknap independent district resulted from a conflict between certain
portions of the people of this township respecting the location of a
schoolhouse, which began in 1848-9. One portion insisted that it should be in
one, and the other in another, place. The school directors could not satisfy
both parties, locate it where they would. The aggrieved party applied to the
court for redress, and a rule was granted on the directors, December 13, 1850,
to appear on the 21st and show cause why their seats should not be vacated.
The complaint against them was dismissed by the court March 6, 1851.
Nevertheless, the conflict grew more determined and serious. A bill of
indictment for misdemeanor in office was found against them at June sessions,
1852. William Marshall was the ostensible prosecutor, and William McIlhinney,
John Lias, Jr., Joshua Foster, James R. Calhoun, Joseph T. Irwin and William
W. Marshall were the defendants. The case was tried at the next September
sessions. The verdict was guilty, and they were sentenced to pay a fine of $1
each, and the costs. The case was taken up to the supreme court, where the
judgement was reversed and they were discharged without day [sic]. Another
indictment for a similar offense was preferred against them at December
sessions, 1853, which was quashed by the court. On the petition of divers
citizens of the township, a rule was granted on them to appear at the June
sessions and show cause why they should not be removed, which was finally
withdrawn. Still the efforts of those opposed to the location of that
schoolhouse in Fox Hollow, though foiled in court, did not cease. After the
passage of the school law of 1854, they applied to the proper court for the
formation of an independent district. Their application was resisted. Its
opponents alleged that there was not enough property within the proposed
limits of the district to enable the directors to raise an adequate amount of
tax for maintaining a school. But when those applicants showed the amount of
their freehold property and offered to become individually liable for the
expense of keeping open the school four months in the year, the remonstrants
changer their base of opposition, alleging that there was too much property in
the proposed district, and that an undue amount of the tax then raised for
defraying the expenses of all the schools in the township would be devoted to
that one school. The court, however, at December sessions, 1855, appointed
Robert McIntosh, John Hotham and William McCutchin [sic], now residents of
Wayne, as commissioners, to examine the grounds of that application and to
report as to whether it should be granted. Their report in favor of granting
it was read by the court December 12, 1855, and confirmed April 15, 1856.
William Lytle, Chambers Orr and Robert Martin, non-residents of this township,
having been appointed commissioners by the court, reported, June 7, that they
had examined and proportioned the schoolhouses in Wayne township and Belknap
district, and awarded the latter $152, to be paid in three semi-annual
installments. A compliance with the terms of that report was enforced under a
rule granted by the court. The Belknap directors used $100 of that sum, the
balance left after paying for legal services rendered, in building a frame
schoolhouse of suitable size. Although Judge Buffington was very adverse to
the formation of independent districts, he deemed it best that this one should
be established for the purpose of ending the protracted conflict. Thus ceased
to be tossed to and from an apple of discord, which for nearly a decade had
caused intense bitterness of feeling among the people and a heavy drain upon
the school fund of the township. The school board thereafter purchased of
David Olinger two lots in the village of Belknap on which to erect a
schoolhouse, namely, Nos. 3 and 4, the former 60 V 80 and the latter 60 V 75Ă¯Â¿Â½
feet, both fronting on the Kittanning road, for $19.25. They are part of the
Wallace tract, No. 4127, and part of the quantity which Gen. Orr sold to Geo.
Ellenberger.In 1876 the report of this school was: Months taught, 5; male teacher, 1;
salary per month, $35; male scholars, 36; female scholars, 19; average number
attending school, 41; cost per month, 68 cents; tax levied for school and
building purposes, $151.27; received from state appropriation, $37.20; from
taxes, etc., $184.98; paid for teachersĂ¯Â¿Â½ wages, $175.08; for fuel, etc.,
$69.37.GLADE RUN ACADEMY
This institution emanated from the Glad Run Presbyterian church, and was
established for the purpose of affording facilities for the more extensive
education of the youth of this region than those enjoyed in the common
schools. After discussing the expediency of establishing a school of a higher
grade by members of the congregation, the session of that church, May 27,
1851, resolved Ă¯Â¿Â½that measures be adopted for opening a parochial school as
soon as possible.Ă¯Â¿Â½ On the 20th of September next thereafter Ă¯Â¿Â½the subject
of a select parochial school was further discussed, but no plan adopted.Ă¯Â¿Â½
The school, however, was opened in the latter part of the next month, with
Rev. John M. Jones as principal, the members of the session having assumed the
responsibility of paying his first yearĂ¯Â¿Â½s salary. His services as principal
continued to be acceptably rendered and continuously, except for a few months,
from that time until 1854. He was succeeded by Rev. G.W. Mechlin, D.D., from
April, 1855, until December, 1861, when the former resumed the position and
continued to fill it for nearly seven years, when he resigned and was
succeeded by the present incumbent, his former successor. Both of those
principals have been aided during the last quarter of a century in their
educational work by various competent and efficient male and female
assistants, most of the former of whom are now Presbyterian clergymen in this
and several other states Nearly 1,100 students, of both sexes, have received
instruction at this institution, to which the people have deservedly given the
name of academy. Between forty and fifty of those students are ministers of
the Gospel. One of them is a professor in one of the oldest theological
seminaries in our country. Some are foreign missionaries. One is a president
judge. Some are prominent lawyers, some are successful physicians, and a
goodly number are laboring efficiently in the useful and honorable vocation of
teaching. The buildings appurtenant to this institution are the academy
edifice, frame, and of adequate size; a boarding -house for the female
students, which was recently given to the trustees by the Glade Run
congregation – the grant to continue as long as it shall be used for academy
purposes; and two boarding-houses for the male students, one of which being
the gift of George W. Goheen, and the other being the product of contributions
made chiefly by the people of Kittanning and members of the congregation of
Concord Presbyterian church in this township and of those from other sources,
A liberal and perpetual charter was granted to this academy by the proper
court of this county June 6, 1866.MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
The occupation of the people within the present limits of this township
appears to have been entirely agricultural until about 1820. From that year on
occupations became somewhat more diversified. In that year Peter Thomas was
first assessed with a sawmill, which must have been on the Wallis tract,
covered by warrant No. 4163. The nest one was assessed to Jacob Beck in 1822,
which must have been on the Holland Company tract, covered by warrant No.
3046. Other sawmills were first assessed: To Abel Findley, on the Hiltzhimer
tract, covered by warrant No. 5147. In 1826; to Alvah Payne, probably on the
Hamilton tract, in 1829, which was afterward transferred to Samuel Brink. The
present number of sawmills is three Ă¯Â¿Â½ one on Glade run, about 300 rods in an
air line above its mouth, one at the mouth of Camp Run, and the other about
160 rods southeast of Echo, on Pine creek.The first gristmill in this township was built by Joseph Marshall, Sr., in
1822, on Glade Run, about half a mile above its mouth, on the Wallace tract,
covered by warrant No. 4127, which was successively owned by James
Kirkpatrick, John Henderson, Archibald Glenn, John Segar and Andrew J. Lowman.
The next gristmill was built, in 1830, by George Beck, Sr., on Pine creek, in
the southwestern part of the township, at or near which there was afterward a
carding machine. The third one was built by Enoch Hastings, in 1835, about 150
rods above the first-mentioned one on Glade Run, on the Pickering & Co.
Tract, covered by warrant No. 391, which was subsequently owned by Daniel
Schrecongost, John Segar, Alexander Getty and Andrew J. Lowman, and Alex.
Haines. The fourth one was built probably by Andrew J. Lowman, in 1863, on a
branch of Pine creek and on the old Anderson Creek road, in the southern part
of the township, now owned by Jacob Segar. The Ellenberger & Coleman,
formerly GuthrieĂ¯Â¿Â½s saw and grist mill, on the south side of Mahoning creek,
in the northeastern part of the township, just below the deep bend in that
stream, was built in 1827 by Alvah Paine [sic] and Thomas Travis. All of these
gristmills are now in operation, and are the only ones in the township.The first fulling-mill in this township was started by David Lewis near the
first of the above-mentioned gristmills, in 1828, which was subsequently
operated by Archibald McSperran, Archibald Glenn and James G. Morrison. The
last-named was also assessed with a carding machine for the first time, in
1839.Distilleries were assessed: To Robert Marshall for the years
1823-4-5-6-7-8; to Alexander White from 1828 until 1831; to Adam Beck from
1831 until 1833; to Henry Clever from 1837 until 1839.Mechanics were assessed for the first time in this township thus: John
Marshall, hatter, in 1829; William Marshall, tanner, in 1831, and William B.
Marlin and Joseph Stewart, in 1832; George McCombs and James McQuown, with
tanyards, in 1836; Enoch Hastings, John Lias, Peter Lias, James Russell and
John Rutherford, blacksmiths, in 1832; and in that year, Abel Findlay [sic],
William Kinnan, carpenters; Hugh Rutherford, tailor; Jesse Cable, shoemaker,
John Gould, stone and brick mason, and in 1833, Robert Borland, Jr.,
chairmaker [sic].Merchants assessed for the first time: John Borland, in 1832; Jacob Brown,
in 1838. There was, it is said, a store, eight or ten years later, at the
mill, built by Joseph Marshall, on Glade Run. In 1876, there are three
assessed Ă¯Â¿Â½ one in thirteenth, and two in fourteenth class.Olney furnace was built by John McCrea and James Galbraith in 1846, and
went into blast the next year. It was situated on the southerly side of the
Mahoning creek, a little over two miles in an air line from the mouth of Glade
Run, and was a hot and cold blast charcoal furnace, which for a few years made
about 23 tons of pig-metal a week; and then after the enlargement of its bosh
to 9 feet across by 32 feet high, 568 tons in 23 weeks, from the ferriferous
and hard limestone ore, taken from the beds in the coal measures three miles
around it. The number of employ3es [sic] varied from about sixty to eighty.
Galbraith retired from it in 1850, and McCrea continued to operate it until
1855. The iron was transported via the Mahoning creek and Allegheny river to
Pittsburgh.An iron foundry was established by John Henderson and Archibald Glenn,
probably in 1847Ă¯Â¿Â½ they were first assessed with it in 1848 Ă¯Â¿Â½ which was
attached to the new gristmill on the site of the old one, called the lower
Glade mills. It appears to have been operated by the latter until 1851, when
it was transferred to John Segar, to whom it ceased to be assessed after 1852.The first resident clergymen were Rev. Elisha D. Barrett, who was first
assessed with portions of the Hiltzhimer tracts in 1829, and Rev. John
Hindman, who was first assessed with a portion of the Blaine tract, covered by
warrant No. 558, in 1834.The first resident physician was Dr. William N. Simms, who was first
assessed with a portion of the Pickering & co. tract, covered by Warrant
No. 262, in 1834.The temperance element in this township has been quite strong for many
years. The vote on the question of granting licenses to sell liquor, February
28, 1873, was 194 against and 56 for.The Glade Run postoffice was established December 17, 1828, at Joseph
Marshalls on the then new post-route from Kittanning to the mouth of AndersonĂ¯Â¿Â½s
creek. Reuben Lewis was its first postmaster, whose ancestors were Rev. E.D.
Barrett from 1831 till 1835; John Borland until 1853; William Findley until
1855 when the office removed to the village of Dayton.The postoffice at Belknap was established September 21, 1855, and its first
postmaster was Charles W. Ellenberger, whose successors have been John Steele,
Porter Marshall, Joseph McCorkle, Jacob Maurer and Daniel Knappenberger.The name of this office was suggested by John McCrea and was readily
adopted by those interested in its establishment, as well as by the
postmaster-general. Hence, the name of the hamlet at that point, and of the
independent school district. That locality is on the Wallace tract covered by
warrant No. 4127.The Echo postoffice was established July 14, 1857, and its first postmaster
was Joseph Knox, merchant; the present one is Moses McElwain. The name of this
office and of the point where it is located was suggested by the re-percussion
of sound caused by the hills in its vicinity.The first lodge of Grangers, or Patrons of Husbandry, in this county was
organized in this township, its first president being John Steele.In the centennial year the great mass of the people of this township were
still engaged in agricultural pursuits, the assessment list showing those in
other occupations to be: Ministers, 2; teacher, 1; surveyor, 1; physician, 1;
merchants, 3; blacksmiths, 2; carpenters, 3; gunsmiths, 1; laborers, 23;
millers, 3; miners, 4; shoemaker, 1; teamster, 1; tanner, 1; and 48 single
men, valued at $50 each.BOROUGH OF DAYTON
The town or village of Dayton was laid out in 1850 on a part of the
Pickering & Co. Tract, covered by warrant No. 262, then owned by Robert
Marshall, and on a part of the Alexander McClelland tract, then owned by John
Lias. The lots vary considerably in their areas. Marshall sold at least one of
his in 1850, one in 1853, one in 1854, but most of the others from 1860 until
1871, at prices varying according to their respective areas and location. For
instance, he conveyed 1 acre and 16 perches, in 1850, to Michael Guyer for
$52.50; 44 perches, the next year, to J. B. Guyer for $15; the same quantify,
the next year, to Samuel Rearich, Sr., for $20; 1 lot to Thomas Ormond, June
8, 1861, for $136.67; lot No. 10, the same day to Jacob R. McAfoos for $30;
and lots Nos. 4 and 5 to Joseph T. Hosack for $950; 2 acres, February 2, 1863,
to SamĂ¯Â¿Â½l McCartney for $120; 1 lot to John Campbell, August 9, 1867, for
$100; and 1 lot, April 5, 1871, to Joseph W. Sharp for $40. John LiasĂ¯Â¿Â½ heirs
conveyed, February 5, 1853, 25 perches to James Coleman for $40.66; 54 7/10
perches to Robert N. McComb for $27.35; and 105 6/10 perches to Eliza A.
Goodhart for $33.The growth of this town in business and population has been gradual and
healthful. It was, of course, a part of Wayne township until its incorporation
into a borough.The Methodist Episcopal church was organized here, it is said, as early as
1821, probably by Rev. Thomas Hudson during his itinerant labors in this
region, there being then about 12 members. Its number of communicants in 1876
is 90; Sabbath-school scholars about 100. There are two other churches in the
Dayton circuit, whose aggregate number of members is 200, and of
Sabbath-school scholars about 240. The first church edifice of the Dayton
congregation was erected in 1837.The Associate Presbyterian congregation of Glade Run was organized in the
vicinity of Dayton by Rev. John Hindman in 1831, with eight members.John H. Marshall and William Kinnan were its first ruling elders. The
pastorate of Rev. John Hindman continued until April 38, 1852. Rev. David K.
Duff, the present pastor, first preached to this congregation in February,
1854, and was ordained and installed October 18, 1856. Although he was absent
three years rendering military service as captain of Company K in the 14th
regt. Pa. Cav., in the War of the Rebellion, his pastoral relation, at the
request of his congregation, was not dissolved during any portion of his
absence. The Sabbath-school was organized April 18, 1859. The membership of
the church in 1876 is 110, and the number of Sabbath-school scholars 59. When
the union between the Associate and Associate Reformed churches was effected
in 1858, the name was changed to that of the United Presbyterian congregation
of Glade Run, and in 1850 [sic] to the Dayton United Presbyterian
congregation. Its contributions to the various boards during the last twenty
years amount to $9,980, and during the year ending in 1876 $1,170.08. Its
first church edifice was frame, 30 V 35 feet, situated nearly two miles in an
air line between south and southeast from Dayton, on a small branch of Glade
Run, adjoining the cemetery noted on the township map, in the Borland
neighborhood. It was enlarged in 1841. Its location was changed to Dayton in
1860. The present edifice, frame, about 40 V 60 feet, between the Methodist
Episcopal church and the academy, on the north side of Church street, was
completed in 1863. The lot on which it is located was conveyed by Robert
Marshall to Smith Neal, Robert L. Marshall and Wm. J. Stuchell, trustees, and
their successors, March 27, 1869, for $10.The Dayton Union Academy was established in 1852, and it has ever since
been under the control of a board of trustees chosen by the contributors to
its support, irrespective of their sectarian tenets. It sprung from the united
efforts of at least two (the United Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal)
denominations. Hence it is called a union academy. Its first principal was
Rev. John A. Campbell, whose successors have been Rev. David K. Duff and David
Love, A.M., who have from time to time had the co-operation of zealous and
competent assistants.The first county superintendent of the common schools of this county was
Rev. Jno. A. Campbell in 1854, then principal of this academy.One of the noble monuments of the gratitude of the people of Pennsylvania
to the dead soldiers of the republic and their tender regard for the welfare
of the children bereft of fathers by the war for out cherished Union adorns
this municipality. It having been suggested in the summer of 1866 that there
was a need of a soldiersĂ¯Â¿Â½ orphansĂ¯Â¿Â½ school either in this or one of the
adjoining counties, Dayton was readily admitted to be an eligible location for
it. Meetings of some of its citizens were held; the subject was generally
discussed, and it was finally determined to establish the needed school here.
Rev. David K. Duff was authorized to confer with Thomas H. Burrowes, who was
then the state superintendent of the SoldiersĂ¯Â¿Â½ OrphansĂ¯Â¿Â½ Schools, who,
after having been informed of this benign movement, came hither, made a parol
agreement with some of the citizens, who had become enlisted in the project,
for consummating it, and selected the present site for the buildings. A joint
stock company was soon organized with a capital of $15,000. Its original
members were Rev. David K. Duff, Rev. T.M. Elder, Dr. William Hosack, Dr. J.
R. Crouch, Robert Marshall, Wesley Pontius, William R. Hamilton, William
Marshall, Thomas P. Ormond, Thomas H. Marshall, Samuel Good, Smith Neal, John
H. Rupp, William Morrow, William J. Burns, J. W. Marshall, William Hindman,
John Beck, Jacob Beck, John Craig, David Lawson and David Byers. The school
opened in rented buildings on the 1st of November in that year, with fifty-one
pupils. This company was incorporated December 1, 1873. Its charter name is
the Ă¯Â¿Â½Dayton SoldiersĂ¯Â¿Â½ OrphansĂ¯Â¿Â½ School Association.Ă¯Â¿Â½ It purchased in
the fall of 1867 thirty-five acres of land, on which have been erected three
substantial two-story frame buildings, one of which, 72 V 24 feet, was
occupied in the early part of the next spring; another, 72 V 36 feet, was
erected during the following summer, and the third one, 86 V 40 feet, was
ready to be occupied by the 1st of September then next ensuing. The ones first
and last erected were burned in December, 1873, and within six months
thereafter new ones were erected on their sites. The three buildings have a
capacity for the accommodation of 225 pupils.Rev. T. M. Elder, Rev. J. E. Dodds and ex-County Superintendent Hugh
McCandless, the present one, having successively been the principals of this
school; the principal assistants, J. P. Barber, G. W. Innes, W. McKiershan,
Alex. T. Ormond and M. L. Thounhurst [sic]; the aggregate of different
assistant teachers of all grades, 27; superintendents of boys, 8; employees
[sic], 29.The average number of pupils, girls and boys, during the first five years,
was about 150, and from 1872 until 1876, 206. Only three deaths of pupils have
occurred in nearly ten years, and there has been, since the opening of the
school, but very little sickness among them. Twenty-four have been transferred
to other schools, 220 have been discharged by reason of their having attained
the age of sixteen years, and 38 by order of the superintendent.The moral, intellectual and physical culture in this schools is such as is
well calculated to make its pupils good, useful and healthful men and women,
and to properly prepare them for their various vocations in after life. It is
gratifying to know that so many of them, as do, find eligible situations after
they pass out from the portals of this temple of knowledge to participate in
the earnest, continuous struggle on the worldĂ¯Â¿Â½s broad battlefield.The common schoolhouse, frame, two stories, is situated on the southeast
corner of South and School streets. The school is graded one of two
departments.The school statistics for 1876 are as follows: schools, 2; average number
of months taught, 5; male teacher, 1; female teacher, 1; salary of male per
month, $33; salary of female per month, 33; male scholars, 50; female
scholars, 49; average number attending school, 74; received from state
appropriation, $91.14; from taxes, etc., $626,22 [sic]; paid for schoolhouse,
$244; for teachersĂ¯Â¿Â½ wages $297; for fuel, $108.12.The petition of divers citizens of the town of Dayton for its incorporation
into a borough, under the general borough acts, was filed in the proper court
on the 3d [sic], approved by the grand jury on the 5th of March, and finally
approved by the court on June 5, 1873, when the usual decree was made, and the
town duly declared to be incorporated into the borough of Dayton, with these
boundaries:“Beginning at a post at the line of lands of Ezra Pontius, thence
passing the lands of Thomas and William Marshall south 3Ă¯Â¿Â½ degrees east 141
perches to a post, thence passing through in part the same land and land of
said Thomas H. Marshall, with other lands of widow Knox south 86 Ă¯Â¿Â½ degrees
west 280 perches to a stump, thence passing through lands of said Knox in
part and in part through lands of Sloan Cochran north 6 degrees east 174
2/10 perches to a post, thence passing through lands of George Kline and
others south 86 Ă¯Â¿Â½ degrees east 253 7/10 perches to the post and place of
beginning.”It was declared to be a separate election and school district. The first
election was directed to be held at the schoolhouse, July 1, 1873. Wesley
Pontius was appointed judge, and Ralph Kells and Theodore Wilson inspectors,
and Abraham Good was directed to give notice of that election. The highest
number of votes cast for any of the candidates was thirty-three, and the
lowest fifteen. All the officers were unanimously elected: Justice of the
peace, John Campbell; burgess, G.W. Lias; town council, H.L. Spencer, George
Kline; school directors, W. W. Caldwell, Wesley Pontius; overseers of the
poor, Thomas P. Ormond, J. R. Cornick; assessor, J. T. Smith; judge of
election, R. L. Marshall; inspectors of election, John Beck, S. W. Marshall;
auditor, A. J. Thompson; constable, G.B. Roof.The assessment list for 1876: Ministers, 4; teachers, 5; principal orphan
school, 1; physicians, 2; students, 4; postmaster, 1; law student, 1; agents,
2; clerks, 2; farmers, 17; press farmer, 1; laborers, 10; merchants, 4;
hotelkeepers [sic], 2; blacksmiths, 2; carpenters, 9; harnessmakers, 2;
furniture dealer, 1; plasterer, 1; painters, 2; tailors, 2; tinner, 1;
teamster, 1; shoemakers, 2; wagonmakers, 2; wheelwright, 1.The number of taxables the same year, 122, from which the population is
estimated to be 561. The vote of the inhabitants of this place is included in
that of Wayne township.POSTAL
The postoffice was established here July 13, 1855. James McQuown was its
first postmaster.ORIGIN OF NAME
The origin of the name of this municipality is this: On a certain evening,
probably in 1849, when there were only about three buildings on the territory
which it now covers, there was a small assemblage of persons then residing
here and in this vicinity, at the store of Guyer & Laughlin. One topic of
conversation on that occasion was the name which should be given to this
point, then a mere hamlet, which, it was expected, would in time become a
town. The main object was to select a name which had not been given to any
other place, or at least to any postoffice, in this state. Some one present,
it is not remembered who, suggested Dayton, which name, it is thought by the
writerĂ¯Â¿Â½s informant, occurred to the suggestor by reason of some mental
association of his with Dayton, Ohio. If such is its derivation, it is, like
the name of the township from which it was organized, mediately [sic]
connected with the achievements of Gen. Wayne, for his victories over, and his
treaty with, the Indians immediately led to the foundation of Dayton in Ohio,
which was named after Jonathan Dayton, who was one of the agents who effected
a purchase for John Cleve Symmes of 248,000 acres from the United States, on a
part of which is the site of that place, which is a part of the land for the
purchase of which Dayton, St. Clair, Wilkinson and Ludlow contracted with
Symmes in seventeen days after WayneĂ¯Â¿Â½s treaty with the Indians was made.
Jonathan Dayton was a citizen of New Jersey, and was speaker of the house of
representatives in the Congress of the United States from December 7, 1795,
until March 3, 1799.____________________________________________________________
*Deed book No. 43, p.227 et seq., Philadelphia.
**Official list of deputy surveyors in the land office. Sketch of Brady’s
district
among the Brodhead papers, in the possession of E. A. Brodhead, Kittanning.
***Rev. Dr. Eaton’s History of the Presbytery of Erie.
****Rev. Dr. Mechlin’s Sketches of Glade Run Presbyterian Church.
*****Letter of Joseph Diven to Rev. G.W. Mechlin.
******Sessional records.
*******For a more detailed history of this pioneer church the reader is
referred to Dr. Mechlin’s historical sketch of it.Source: History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania by
Robert Walker Smith, Esq. Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883.
Transcribed January 2001 by Linda Mockenhaupt for the Armstrong County Smith
Project.
Contributed by Linda Mockenhaupt for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy
Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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presentation, without prior written permission.
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