Beers Historical Record Chapter 35 – Madison Township

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Chapter 35
Madison Township

NAMED FROM PRESIDENT MADISON – BRADY�S FIGHT – SETTLERS – FIRST
INDUSTRIES – IRON FURNACES – RIMERTON – KELLERSBURG – WIDNOON – DEANVILLE –
TIDAL – MIDDLE CREEK CHURCH – ROADS AND SCHOOLS – POPULATION – GEOLOGICAL

This township was named after James Madison, fourth president of the United
States, and was formed from parts of Toby and Red Bank townships in 1837. The
boundaries at its formation included the territory north of Red Bank creek,
which is now in Clarion county, and in 1851 it was shorn of more land in the
formation of Mahoning township.

The station of Mahoning on the Shawmut railroad, at the mouth of the
Mahoning creek, is just opposite the site of the famous fight of Capt. Samuel
Brady in 1779, an account of which will be found in the first chapter of this
volume.

Colonel Brodhead, on his expedition against the Seneca and Muncy Indians,
in 1779, passed through the western end of this township. A complete
description of this expedition will be found in a previous chapter.

SETTLERS

The earliest settler in that portion of the township where these events
occurred was Samuel Adams, who was assessed with twenty acres of land and a
blacksmith shop in 1824. He afterward removed to the great bend in Red Bank
creek in Mahoning township. The site of Brady�s fight was occupied by a
store, warehouse and steamboat wharf in 1848. A hotel was built in 1849, which
with the warehouse was burned in 1852. A larger structure was soon erected,
and for years was used as a dining place for stage passengers from Kittanning
to Brookville and Clarion. Before the railroad was completed to this point
large quantities of freight were landed here and the many lumbermen and
travelers who made this their stopping place caused the old battlefield to be
for a time a busy mart of commerce. It will soon see a resumption of trade
when the full effects of the new service of the Shawmut railroad are felt.

In 1872 quite a settlement arose near the mouth oft he Mahoning from the
opening of the coal mines of the Mahoning Coal Company. It was called
Orrsville, but the closing of the mines in 1880 signed its death warrant. Some
of the early landowners in this township were:

Robert Hooks	William Hooks	Samuel T. Crow	Elijah French
Benedict Haas,	Isaac Cousins	George O. Young	Christopher Byerly
Henry Riegele	John Rimer	David Cowan	Andrew Earley
Christopher Ruffner	Aaron Jeffries	Samuel Earley,	Richard Reynolds,
Andrew Schall	Philip Essex	Benjamin Leasure	Fleming Davidson
Charles Edwards	George Howk,	Joseph Cook	Joseph Davis
Richard B. McCabe	Christopher Repine	James Hannegan	Alexander Colwell
Jacob Moyers	Sommers Baldwin	Philip Essex	Jacob Christman
John Reed	David Lawson	Jacob Bowser	Philip Anthony
Joseph Moorhead	George Nulf	Jeremiah Bonner	Thomas Black
Daniel Reedy	James Delp	William Paine	David Shields
John Switzer	Owen Meredith	Philip Bish	George Kogh
George Arnold	Jacob F. Keller	Caspar Beer	Samuel Cassat
John Shobert	Joshua Baughman	Fayette Ely	Jacob Pettigrew,
Hewlett Smith	Charles B. Schotte	John Mulholland,	Oliver Gray
George Craig	James Coat	Gabriel P. Lobeau	John Harman
Robert Dixon	John Hardy	John Wilkins

FIRST INDUSTRIES ESTABLISHED

It is interesting to note that the first gristmill was built by a colored
man, Thomas Ramsey, who sold it to Samuel T. Crow in 1832. It seems he was as
improvident as some members of his race are at the present time. �Big�
George Craig aided in the erection of the mill, which was a log one, with two
runs of stone. It is related that he carried the �summer beam�, 25 feet
long and 18 inches square, on his shoulder up the side of the building, the
others steadying it with pike poles and set into position. David Cowan in 1842
was assessed with this mill, to which had been added a sawmill. It finally
became part of the Furnace run property in 1849. The ruins of the old mill
still stand near the village of Hooks.

Another gristmill was built by John Shobert in 1840 on the run southeast of
the town of Kellersburg.

IRON FURNACES

The old Red Bank Furnace was built in 1841 by Alexander Reynolds and
Christian Shunk on the bank of that creek near its mouth. Shunk retired soon
after the furnace went into blast, and was succeeded by David Tichey. The firm
name was then Reynolds & Richey until the furnace ceased to be operated in
1853. It was a steam, cold blast, charcoal furnace, 9 feet in the bosh by 32
feet high, and made, on an average, 50 tons of pig metal a week, giving
employment, on an average, to 150 persons, and was in the end a source of
profit to its proprietors, who purchased a large quantity of land in the
circumjacent region, considerable portions of which they later sold at a
reasonable advance.

The second Red Bank Furnace was erected by Alexander Reynolds and the late
Thomas McCullough, in 1858, on the tract originally owned by James Watterson,
about 300 yards above the mouth of Red Bank, in Clarion county, just below the
neck of Brady�s Bend, a large portion of its supplies being obtained from
this county. It was the first coke furnace near the Allegheny river. The
proprietors met with some difficulty in finding a ready market on this side of
the mountains for their coke-made iron. Its last owners were Reynolds &
Moorhead.

Aaron Whittaker, John Jamison and George Leslie built the American furnace
on the site of the present town of Rimerton in 1846. John Rimer was the last
to operate it in 1860. It was slightly smaller than Red Bank furnace and the
output was 33 tons per week. Like the latter, it was changed to coke burning,
but never became a paying investment.

RIMERTON

This place was first assessed in 1867, when there were 19 taxables, one
innkeeper, one merchant, and one laborer. The real estate valuation was
$2,229, personal, $44, and the occupations, $150. John Rimer was the first
postmaster. In 1880 there was no increase in the population or extent of the
town. Rev. B.B. Killikelly preached here in 1853. In 1913, the town consisted
of twelve houses, a hotel, kept by C.J. Zeis, and two stores, of which G.W.
Clouse & Co. and Frank Mast are the proprietors. The latter is postmaster.
A station of the Pennsylvania railroad is located here.

KELLERSBURG

This little settlement consisted originally of twenty-three lots, on both
sides oft he Olean road in the eastern part of the township, and was founded
by Nicholas Keller, Sr., in 1842. He had all the instincts of a modern real
estate speculator, for the tradition says that he got out posters, hired John
Campbell to play the fiddle and supplied free whisky to prospective
purchasers. Under these inspirations he managed to dispose of his lots at $20
and $30, good prices for those days. He retained five-sixteenths of an acre
for his hotel and store.

The first separate assessment list was of twenty-two unseated lots at $10
each, 1845. The next year sixteen unseated lots were assessed at $20 each, and
six at $15 each. In 1876 the number of taxable was 21; minister, 1; laborers,
4; miners, 2; shoemakers, 2; blacksmith, 1; merchant, 1. The real estate was
valued at $2,780; and personal property and occupations at $595.

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church is one oft he oldest of the faith in the
county, having been organized as far back as 1836 by Rev. G.A. Reichert. The
deed of the church lands from the Holland Company is dated March 11, 1833, and
is in favor of Jacob Myers and Nicholas Rhodes, �trustees of the
Congregation of Mahoning�. That tract consisted of over seven acres, and was
for a burial ground and the erection of a house of worship. The first house
built upon the church land was a plain log one, dated in 1838, and is older
than the town of Kellersburg. In 1848 the log church was vacated for a better
one of frame construction. It was for a long time unfinished and the seats
were plain slabs, but in 1873 it was thoroughly repaired and rededicated. In
this building the people worshiped until 1891, when a $2,000 frame structure,
the present one, was built. During the early years of the town�s history
both the Presbyterians and the Methodists used the building of the Lutherans,
as there was no suitable house near the settlement.

The pastors from the beginning have been: Rev. G.A. Reichert, 1832-37; Rev.
Henry D. Keyl, occasionally from 1838 to 1842; Rev. William Uhl, 1846-48; Rev.
J.A. Nuner, 1849-51; Rev. Thomas Stock, 1851-54; Rev. George F. Ehrenfeld,
1854-55; Rev. Thomas Steck, 1856; Rev. Michael Sweigert, 1858-64; Rev. Henry
Gathers, 1864-68; Rev. S.S. Stouffer, 1870; Rev. William E. Crebs, 1871-73;
Rev. David Townsend, 1873-74; Rev. Wilson Selner, 1875-81; Rev. Elias A. Best,
1883-86; Rev. J.W. Schwartz, 1889-92; Rev. W.M. Hering, 1892-93; Rev. William
J. Bucher, 1893-97; Rev. F.J. Matter, 1897-1900; Rev. Charles E. Berkey,
1900-03; Rev. W.B. Claney, 1903-10; Rev. William E. Sunday is the present
pastor. The membership is now 36, and the Sabbath school has 95 attendants.

The Methodists have a substantial house of worship, built in 1871. The
congregation is supplied from Widnoon, and the present pastor is Rev. John
Wall.

There are two stores at this place in 1913, one of them kept by A.M.
Willison, who is also postmaster. There are no industries.

WIDNOON (DUNCANVILLE)

The village of Widnoon, formerly called Duncanville, after James Duncan,
who was first assessed with a store there in 1854, is located practically in
the center of the township. The second storekeeper in 1855 was Jeremiah
Bonner, He was succeeded by Bonner & Duncan, and then in 1868 by Thomas
Meredith, who conducted it until 1882, when he was succeeded by his widow. She
carried the then extensive business on until 1885, when her son, Thorett T.,
was taken in as partner, under the firm name of M. Meredith & Son. Thorett
T. Meredith become sole owner in 1890, and has developed the business into the
second largest in the county. Until the construction of the Shawmut railroad
in 1913, Mr. Meredith had to haul his supplies from Mahoning over some of the
worst roads in the county, yet he has kept his customers and is steadily
increasing the circle as the years go by. Mr. Meredith has been the postmaster
here for twenty-eight years.

The elections have been held here since the organization of Clarion county.
Here, too, for many years was the site of one of the public schoolhouses of
this township, in which, after 1854, the annual examinations of teachers were
held. It was situated west of the Lawsonham road in a grove, and, like some
others of that period, was a shell that should have been replaced by a better
one much sooner than it was. Its successor, a comfortable frame structure, is
situated at the crossroads, about eighty rods southeast of Widnoon.

The United Brethren and the Presbyterians had organized churches here and
houses of worship in 1878. The Methodists now have a neat church, the pastor
of which is Rev. John Wall. Grace Reformed Church is under the charge of Rev.
R.V. Hartman, of Rimersburg. The Brethren and Presbyterian Churches are not in
use now.

DEANVILLE (CENTERVILLE)

In the extreme eastern end of this township, near the line of the township
of Red Bank, is the village of Deanville, so called from a Baptist clergyman,
Rev. J.F. Dean, who preached there in 1877. Isaac E. Shoemaker opened a store
here in 1868, and shortly thereafter there sprung up the little town of
Centerville, containing about a dozen buildings, among them one of the public
schoolhouses.

It is said that this town was named Centerville because its position is
about central on one of the routes between Kellersburg in this and Oakland in
Mahoning township. Mail matter from several post offices was brought for
awhile by private conveyances to Shoemaker�s store for persons living at
Centerville and its vicinity, for which reason it is noted on the township map
of 1876 as �Private P.O.�. Deanville post office was established here in
1877 with Isaac E. Shoemaker as postmaster. The first log schoolhouse here was
in use as late as 1866.

The Baptists have a neat church edifice here and the pastor in charge is
Rev. J.C. Green, of New Bethlehem.

Deanville has the distinction of being an independent school district in
1913. The school directors are: J.S. Griffin, president; N.M. Truitt,
secretary; H.H. Shumaker, treasurer; J.S. Moorhead, Christopher Chestnut. The
report to Superintendent Patton is as follows: Number of schools in 1913, 1;
average months taught, 7; female teachers, 1; average salary, female, $45;
male scholars, 20; female scholars, 37; average attendance, 41; cost per
month, $1.47; tax levied, $291.45; received from State, $190.06; other
sources, $244.63; value of schoolhouses, $1,200; teachers� wages, $315;
fuel, fees, etc. $116.14.

TIDAL

Around the blacksmith shop of Louis Shoup in 1871, two miles west of �Duncanville�,
grew up a settlement that later on assumed the odd name of �Tidal�. It
gained very little population until the advent on the Shawmut road, and the
opening of mines at points east of there. It is still a small settlement, with
a post office, kept by Samuel Heath.

MIDDLE CREEK CHURCH

As the population of the county increased a need was evidenced for a church
in the portion lying between Mahoning and Red Bank creeks, so in October,
1843, the Middle Creek Presbyterian Church was organized. The first members
were: Elizabeth Gray, Joseph Sowash, Jane Sowash, Henry Heasely, Mary Heasely,
John Beham, Annie Beham and Charity Bain.

The pastors and supplies were as follows: Rev. David S. McComb, Rev. E.D.
Barrett, Rev. D. McCay, Rev. John Core, Rev. Laverty Grier, Rev. James
Montgomery, Rev. William McMichael, Rev. N.M. Crance, Rev. W.P. Moore, Rev.
John H. Sherrard, Rev. J.A. E. Simpson, Rev. A. Virtue, Rev. A. S. Hughes.

The church edifice was erected on an acre it purchased from James Duncan in
1854 for $13. It was put up in 1864, at a cost of $1,250, and was 40 by 50
feet, with a 12-foot ceiling. This old edifice was torn down a number of years
ago and a new church erected at Tidal, Pa. The pastor at present is Rev.
Charles Cochran, of Templeton.

ROADS AND SCHOOLS

The surface of a large portion of the territory of this township was, when
first settled, comparatively sterile. That in the northeastern part,
especially in the vicinity of the old Red Bank Furnace, was so much so that it
was vulgarly called �Pinchgut�.

Until about 1835 the only other road in this township besides the Olean was
the one cut through from Bain�s to Lawsonham. As late as 1839 there were
only two wagons in this township.

The most convenient educational facilities enjoyed for several years by the
first settlers (Alexander Duncan and others, in the northern part of the
township) were afforded by the school on the north side of the Red Bank near
where Lawsonham now is, which was first taught by James Hunter, and then by
Robert Lawson and others. The first schoolhouse within the present limits of
this township was a primitive log one that was built on Elijah French�s
farm, about a mile from Gray�s Eddy and a great distance northeast of
Rimerton. The first school in that house was taught by Henry Fox, and some of
his scholars traveled five miles daily to attend it. The second schoolhouse
was similar to that one, and situated near Kellersburg, in which David Truitt
was the first teacher. Daylight entered both of those primitive temples of
knowledge through greased paper instead of glass. The next was situated about
145 rods west of the present eastern boundary line of this township, �near
the present residence of John Bish�. The first under the free school law was
situated nearly a mile northwest of the last-mentioned one, on the farm of
Henry Pence. Most, if not all, of the rest were the usual log structures.

In 1860 the number of schools was 8; average number of months taught, 4;
male teachers, 8, female teacher, 0; average salaries, $17; male scholars,
229; female scholars, 184; average number attending school, 226; cost of
teaching each scholar per month, 35 cents; amount levied for school purposes,
$784.20; received from State appropriation, $91.87; from collectors, %563;
cost of instruction, $546; fuel and contingencies, $37.79; cost of
schoolhouses, $15.58.

In 1876 the number of schools was 8; average number of months taught, 5;
male teacher, 7, female teachers, 1; average salaries of both male and female,
per moth $30; male scholars, 255; female scholars, 256; average number
attending school, 119; cost per month, 52 cents; amo9unt of tax levied for
school and building purposes, $2,852.06; received from State appropriation,
$413.85; from taxes, etc., $3,254.01; cost of schoolhouses, $1,303.17; paid
for teachers� wages, $1,243.50; fuel, etc., $1,177.21.

The number of schools in 1913 was 12; average months taught, 7; male
teachers, 5, female teachers, 7; average salaries, male, $48, female, $40;
male scholars, 228; female scholars, 192; average attendance, 297; cost per
month, $2.01; tax levied, $3,664.44; received from State, $2,265.32; other
sources, $3,267.78; value of schoolhouses, $12,000; teachers� wages, $3,640;
fuel, fees, etc., $2,679.76.

The school directors are: A.L. Hetrick, president; Blain Mast, secretary;
G.S. Rebolt, treasurer; D.C. Hawk, Jr., M.W. Hetrick.

POPULATION

Population, including that of the section now included in Mahoning
township, in 1850 was: White, 1,142; colored, 9. In 1860: White, 1,140;
colored, 0. In 1870: Native, 1,485; foreign, 136. In 1876, number of taxables,
543, representing a population of 2,397.

There were six merchants of the fourteenth class in this township,
according to the mercantile appraiser�s list of 1876.

Occupations other than agricultural and mercantile, according to the
assessment list of 1876, including the towns: Laborers, 118; miners, 32;
carpenters, 4; shoemakers, 3; blacksmiths, 2; miller, 1; minister, 1; mason,
1; section boss, 1; innkeeper, 1; old persons, 5. Of those engaged in
agriculture, 7 were assessed as croppers.

In 1890 the population of the township was 1,763; in 1900, it had fallen to
1,604, but in 1910 the inhabitants had increased to 2,318.

The assessment returns for 1913 show: Number of acres, 18,135, value,
$209,557; houses and lots, 167, valued at , $33,977, average, $203.45; horses,
260, valued at, $8,045, average, $30.94; cows, 261, value, $3553, average,
$1,361; taxable occupations, 732, amount $20,495; total valuation, $355,641.
Money at interest, $44,051.30.

GEOLOGICAL

The general geological features of this township are: Only lower productive
rocs make the uplands. The lower part of the deep valleys, which skirt the
township, is composed of conglomerate and subconglomerate rocks. The Upper
Freeport coal is represented only in a few knobs in the eastern and western
portions of the township, and has there barely enough rock on top of it to
protect it from percolating waters. The Lower Kittanning coal is the bed
chiefly mined, and is from three to four feet thick. The remaining beds of the
series are represented where the land is high enough to include them, but, so
far as investigated, they are devoid of importance. The Lower Kittanning coal
has been quite extensively developed, it being the bed worked on the property
of the Mahoning Coal Company. The ferriferous limestone underlies all the
center of the township, and far above water level. The buhrstone ore
accompanies it, and thence the supply of Stewardson conglomerate furnace was
chiefly derived. The Pottsville conglomerate is above water level throughout
the whole length of valleys of the Allegheny, Mahoning and Red Bank in this
township, and is nearly three hundred feet above water level at the mouth of
Mahoning.

ALTITUDES

The heights above the ocean in feet and tenths of a foot, at the time of
the building of the Allegheny Valley railroad, were: North abutment of
Mahoning bridge, lower outside corner, 826.2; upper inside corner, 829.6;
opposite Rimerton Station, 836.7; north abutment, lower inside corner, 831.5;
south bridge seat, lower inside corner, 836.6; south abutment, lower outside
corner, 850.4; south abutment Red Bank bridge, inside corner, 840.4; north
abutment, Red Bank bridge, lower end, 849.6; Red Bank junction, 850.8; Fiddler�s
run, 915; Lawsonham, 919; Buck Lick run, 939; Rock run, 966; Leatherwood,
1,027.

The highest point in Madison township is in the northeastern part, near Red
Bank creek and northeast of Kellersburg. This hill is 1,607 feet above sea
level.

Source: Page(s) 258-262, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 19114.
Transcribed August 2001 by Lisa Stroebel for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed by Lisa Stroebel for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project
(http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)

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