Beers Historical Record Chapter 39 – Sugar Creek Township

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Chapter 39
Sugar Creek Township

Greatly reduced in area – Numerous Pioneers – Many Mills of Olden Time –
Franklin Village -“Orrsville”- Religious – Midway Church – St.
Patrick’s, The Oldest Catholic Church in Western Pennsylvania – Schools –
Population – Geology

Sugar Creek Township at the present time is but a small remnant of what it
formerly was in size, having been the parent of five townships, two boroughs
and one city. It is to be hoped that no further division of its territory will
be made in the future.

In the following list of names of early settlers and landowners will be
found only those who settled or acquired land in the present limits of the
township. They were: 

Robert Beatty	David Henry	Samuel Kincaide	Michael Red
Thomas R. McMillen	James Hutchinson	John E. Gilchrist	Joseph Sutton
John Crawford	Robert G. Crawford,	Joseph Thomas	Andrew Shriver
Sylvanus S. White	Solomon Wolf	John Blain	Ezekiel Lewis
William Ayres	George Byers	William Byers	Adam A. Byers
Joseph Thomas	John Moore	Richard Meldrun	Peter Pence
James Witherow	Samuel Caldwell	Cyrus Kilgore	John Craig
Philip Templeton	John Johnston	Patrick Graham	Rev. John Dickey
John P. Quigley	James C. Porterfield	Samuel Swartzlander	Edward McKinney
Nathan Williams	Joseph Irwin	William Blain	Edward McKee
John Davis	Thomas Collins	Nicholas Day	James Fulton
Nicholas Snow	John Denniston	Charles Campbell	Elisha Wick
John Baron	Adam Moyer	James Hutchenson	Harmon Vasbinder
Matthew Brown	Elijah Davis	Thomas Barr	Thomas H. Foster
George Pence	D.C. Mobley	John Bell	James C. Burford
Daniel Morrison	Abraham Lennington,	Jacob Schloss	George Elsor
Benjamin Shaffer	George Forster	Christian Yockey	Abraham Yockey
Samuel Dinsmore	Matthew Wilson	John Gillespie	Reuben Burford
Adam Gallagher	William F. Johnston	Michael Maley,	John Griffith
William B. Clymer	William Robbett	Francis Miller	James Rankin
Peter Cardan,	Patrick Boyle	Andrew Bullman	Philip Lowe
Daniel Boyle	Stephen McCue	Michael Maloney	Jacob Hepler
Hugh Milligan	Anthony Cravenor	Francis O’Neal	Nathaniel Patterson
Thomas Hindman	Owen Quinn	William Robbitt	John Boyers
Hosiah White	Daniel B. Heiner	John Mechling	James Wilson
John McLaughlin	Robert Cathcart	Leonard Trees	Charles Ellenberger
Peter Hummon,	Charley Seckler	William Devinney	Samuel S. Wallace
Joseph Wiles,	Soloman Rumbaugh	Jabez Griffith,	John Wiles
Benjamin Swaim	John Crawford	Jonathan Mutimore	Samuel Sanderson
Thomas F. Toule,	William D. Watkins	John Pontius	Thomas Buchanan
James A. Adams	William Varnum	William Hart	Jacob Ellenberger
Henry Moore	William Cowan	Andrew Rogers	Jacob Hershey
Frederick Howard	David Snyder	William Blaney	Archibald Thompson
Abraham Swartzlander

EARLY INDUSTRIES

The first gristmill established in the township was erected in 1800 by
Abraham Yockey, and was located on the Little Buffalo (now called Patterson
Creek), in the south-central part of the township.

The second gristmill was that of Ebenezer Davis in 1809, located on the
northern tributary of Patterson creek. Ebenezer Davis was the next comer,
building a sawmill in 1815, and finding trade increasing built another
gristmill in 1817, all at the same place. All of these mills were acquired in
1849 by Christopher James and Thomas H. Foster. “Foster’s Mills”
postoffice was established here in 1862, with James Y. Foster as postmaster. A
store and several houses are located here, making a thriving little
settlement.

The same year that Davis’ Mill was built Abraham Lennington put up a
gristmill on Patterson Creek, southwest of the former, but trade went to Davis
and this mill was later abandoned.

A sawmill, gristmill and tannery were established on Patterson creek near
the center of the township in 1824 by John Patton (or Patterson). The third
schoolhouse in the township was erected near Patton’s house in 1821. The first
blacksmith shop in the present limits of the township was that of Nicholas
Snow, who opened for trade in 1810, in the southeastern corner, near the
present line of Washington Township.

James Adams was first assessed in this township as a single man, with one
horse in 1815, at $20, and the next year as “storekeeper” (the first
one in this township) and one horse, at $50. His store, it is said, was at
first kept in the loft of a springhouse on an adjoining tract, but was
afterward removed to the southern part of the Moore-Adams tract, which point
has been for many years known as “Adams.” Hay scales, not common in
rural districts, were erected here soon after the Great Western or Brady’s
Bend iron works went into operation, and proved to be very convenient to the
farmers of this section, who sold their hay and other products at these works.
The postoffice was established here September 23, 1853, James Adams,
postmaster. This property still belongs to the Adams estate.

FRANKLIN VILLAGE

In the extreme northeastern corner of the township at the only place where
it touches the Allegheny, is located the thriving little town of Franklin.
Archibald Thompson settled here in 1801, remaining until 1806, after which the
property came into the hands of Philip Templeton, who, in 1843, erected a
sawmill at the mouth of Snyder’s run, and by 1854, with the assistance of his
sons, had established another mill, a factory, a furnace and a distillery at
this point.

By this period quite a settlement had grown up here, a schoolhouse had been
erected on land donated by Templeton, a ferry established and the embryo town
acquired the name of “Ferryton.” Later on the present name, a much
more historic and dignified one, was adopted.

The present owner of the sawmill is W.J. James, who has supplied most of
the timber used in the construction of the Pennsylvania railroad tunnel
through the famous Brady’s Bend hill, just opposite in Clarion county.

“ORRSVILLE”

Robert Orr, Sr., whose history is related elsewhere was a resident of the
tract of 300 acres located near the center of the present limits of Sugar
Creek township, from 1805 to 1824, after which he removed to Kittanning. In
1819 he laid out north of his residence and west of the Brady’s Bend road the
town of “Orrsville.” It was separately assessed in 1819, but the
nearby settlement of “Adams,” with its mills and other industries
diverted prospective lot buyers, and the site of the town was finally divided
and sold. It bears the name of “Brown’s” at the present date.

RELIGIOUS

About 1835 Rev. Mr. Sweitzerbort of Butler county commenced holding
religious services among the Lutherans, who had settled here and hereabout,
and were members of the White church in that county, preaching at first to
congregations in private houses, barns and the grove. This resulted in the
organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sugar Creek Township. In
the course of about four years the congregation erected a church edifice,
frame, about 40 by 50 feet, the roof of which before it had been completed and
furnished was broken down by the weight of the heavy snow on New Year’s night,
1840.

Its site was on the old “Campbelltown” tract, in the extreme
northwestern part of the township, on the Kittanning turnpike, the legal title
to which being in Henry Wiles and Peter Kemerer, they conveyed it to John
Ellenberger, Joseph Kin, John Marchand, David Snyder and Barnhart Vensel,
trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and John Boyers, Adam and Daniel
Kemerer, John Millicon and Frederick Wiles, Jr., trustees of the St. Paul’s
Reformed Church of Sugar Creek township, and their successors, April 20, 1841,
for $40, the St. Paul’s having been organized about that time with the Rev.
Mr. Dale as pastor. The two congregations soon after erected their first
church edifice, frame, 34 by 50 feet, substantially built and painted white
and neatly furnished. The next Lutheran pastor was Rev. J.W. Alspach.

The combined membership of this church in 1876 was 150, with a Sabbath
school of 100, but after that date the church languished until 1888, when Rev.
Eli Miller reorganized the Lutherans under the title of Mount Pleasant
Evangelical Lutheran church. Much of the credit of the second organization is
due to Amos Steel, who donated the ground on which the present Lutheran church
is located. The church property, including the parsonage, is valued at $3,500.
The charter members of the second organization in 1888 were: Amos Steel, Allen
Steel, Sidney Steel, Maggie Steel, Mrs. A. Steel, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Steel,
Mr. and Mrs. Geo. W. Kepple, Mr. and Mrs. William Kepple, Mr. and Mrs. J. D.
King, S. S. King, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pontius, W. J. Myers, C. F. Myers, J. G.
Myers, M. Myers, D. I. Myers, Henry Myers, Minnie Myers, Ada Myers, Margaret
Myers, Maria Myers, Chambers Foringer, Mary A. Foringer, Frank Foringer,
Jedediah Wiles, S. M. Wiles.

The pastors after Rev. Mr. Miller were: Revs. J. R. Williams, J. C.
Nicholas, W. O. Ibach, A. J. B. Kast, G. W. McSherry. The present pastor is
Rev. J. A. Law who also serves the people of Chicora, Butler County.
Membership in 1913, 88; Sunday school, 75.

MIDWAY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

This church gained its name from its location midway between Union and
Brady’s Bend churches and was organized in September, 1875, with forty-six
members. Christopher Foster, John Adams and Daniel Rankin were elected elders.
On the following Sabbath the first communion was held, Rev. A. S. Thompson
officiating. Rev. W. J. Wilson was the first pastor, remaining until 1879,
when the pulpit became vacant, the church relying upon supplies until the
appointment of Rev. H. Magill in 1881. After the departure of Rev. Mr. Magill
the church depended entirely on supplies.

At first the services were held in the schoolhouse which had been erected
with the view of adapting it to church purposes. In 1880, under the pastorate
of Rev. Mr. Magill, the membership had increased to 114 and a church building
was built at the cost of $2,500 and dedicated free of debt in November.

ST. PATRICK’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

On one of the highest hills in Armstrong county, in a restful rural
district, stands a Norman-Gothic church edifice, surmounted with a tall Norman
tower. This beautiful structure is the most prominent feature of the landscape
and can be seen for miles around. A visitor would at first wonder how so
pretentious a structure could be placed so far away from a city or town, yet
after reading the history of this temple of piety the wonder ceases and
admiration for the energy, loyalty and unswerving religious faith of the early
founders takes place.

This faraway church is the parent of all the Catholic churches west of the
Allegheny River, and its history is the history of the Catholic Church in
Armstrong county. As an introductory to the history of the church a brief
resume is given of the causes which led to its organization.

In 1795 an important Irish colony which came by way of Connellsville and
Freeport settled in Donegal Township, Butler County. This little band was
increased from time to time by emigrants from Ireland and was the nucleus of
the congregation of St. Patrick’s.

The first priest to visit this settlement was Rev. Patrick Lonergan, O. S.
F. who administered the sacrament of baptism in 1801. The next visit was made
by Rev. P. Heilbron, who performed the necessary services for a short period,
but as he could not speak English and most of the congregation were Irish, he
did not remain.

The most authentic date of the arrival of Father Lawrence Sylvester Phelan
is given as 1805. As he was the first resident priest, the parish, with the
usual Irish energy, undertook to supply the pressing need of a house of God.
Money was scarce and five dollars was a small fortune, so the settlement,
which covered twenty miles, was divided into districts and volunteers
appointed to make collections. Casper W. Easly took the southern district,
James Sheridan the southwestern in Clearfield township, Neil Sweeny took
Butler and the surrounding territory and Connell Rodgers the northwestern, or
Donegal township. In a short time the necessary amount was collected, none of
the subscriptions exceeding $2.00.

The present farm, consisting of nearly three hundred acres was purchased
and a small log cabin was built for the pastor. Then, upon a certain day, each
of the four who had solicited subscriptions was required to meet at the farm
bringing with him as many men as would be required to cut and hew logs enough
for one side of the church. To Patrick McElroy was assigned the work of making
shingles and obtaining and driving the nails. The building was erected the
autumn after Father Phelan’s arrival, but as nails could not be secured, it
was not roofed until the next spring. It was then placed under the invocation
of the Apostle of Ireland.

The date of the erection of this church was 1806. It is still standing, and
is being restored to its original condition by the contributions of devout
members of the present congregation. This is in great contrast to the fate of
the first Episcopal church at Brady’s Bend, which was used as a dance hall
after the congregation relinquished it, and is now converted into a hay barn
by the present proprietor.

The old log church of St. Patrick was built of oak and roofed with split
shingles, the crevices of the logs were filled with clay and straw, and the
interior whitewashed and papered near the altar with a thin gilt paper of odd
design. The windows and doors were wide but low, to avoid cutting too many
logs, the floor was puncheon and a stairway led to a low gallery. The stations
of the cross were marked by rude crosses burned into the logs.

This is the oldest Catholic church now standing in the entire western part
of the State. It was attended by people from all the surrounding country for
ten miles or more. People often walked from Freeport, fasting, to be present
at the services. The stations, which the priest was obliged to visit, were so
numerous and so far apart, that Mass was not celebrated more than once a month
and in some instances, once in two months. There was then but one priest in
the whole district west of the Allegheny River from Erie to Beaver.

Father Phelan withdrew in 1810. From 1810 to 1820 the congregation was
visited occasionally by Fathers O’Brien and McGuire, from Pittsburgh and by
Father McGirr from Sportsman’s Hill. In 1821 Rev. Charles Ferry came to the
church and resided there. He visited all the surrounding district, a territory
at least thirty miles square, which was then estimated to contain about 140
families. He remained until 1827, when he was succeeded by Rev. Patrick O’Neil
who also performed missionary work in Butler, Armstrong and adjacent counties.
He remained until 1834, and subsequently was engaged in missionary labors in
the West. He died in 1879, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and the
fifty-eighth of his ministry.

In the summer of 1834 Rev. Patrick Rafferty was placed in charge of the
mission and resided at Freeport, visiting St. Patrick’s one Sunday in a month.
He remained in charge about two years. He was afterward pastor of St. Francis
Church, Fairmount, Philadelphia and died in that position in 1863. He was a
man of great learning and ability.

St. Patrick’s remained without a pastor until the summer of 1837, when Rev.
Joseph Cody was appointed to the pastorate and took up his residence at the
church. Mass was celebrated here two Sundays in the month, the remainder of
the pastor’s time being given to Freeport and Butler. By 1840 the congregation
had become so large that a larger church was needed. A Brick edifice, 45 by 80
feet, with a sacristy (a separate building against the rear of the church),
was erected. It was dedicated July 29, 1842, by Very Rev. M. O’Connor, V. G.
In 1844 the pastor’s field of labor was rendered somewhat smaller by the
appointment of a priest at Butler, who also had charge of Murrinsville and
Mercer. Father Cody, however, visited Brady’s Bend occasionally, and a little
later officiated at the newly established church at Donegal (now North
Oakland), in Clearfield township, Butler County. In 1847 Freeport and Brady’s
Bend were assigned to another priest, and thenceforth Father Cody gave
three-fourths of his time to St. Patrick’s and the remainder to North Oakland.
In 1854 the log parsonage was replaced by a brick residence. After the year
1861 Father Cody, on account of age and failing health, ministered only to St.
Patrick’s congregation. At length he was obliged to cease from the labor of
the parish and at the end of the year 1865, Rev. John O’G. Scanlon was
transferred from Kittanning to St. Patrick’s. Father Cody soon afterward went
to the Mercy Hospital, Pittsburgh, where he died August 7, 1871, in the
seventieth year of his age. He was buried from St. Patrick’s and his remains
repose in front of the church at Sugar Creek.

Father Scanlon started to improve the interior of the church, but before
the work could be done he was transferred to another congregation, and the
Rev. James P. Tanany took up the work in 1868. He succeeded in making the
church one of the most beautiful in the diocese. In November, 1871, he was
succeeded by Rev. S. P. Herman, and the following year, on New Year’s night,
the church was destroyed by a fire believed to be incendiary. The congregation
then returned to the old log church where they worshiped during the pastorates
of Father Thomas Fitzgerald and P. M. Doyle, until 1876, when Rev. P. J.
Quilter became pastor.

Father Quilter at once took steps to replace the second church, and on
August 5, 1876, the cornerstone of the present edifice was laid by Bishop
Domenec of Pittsburgh. The church was finished the next year and dedicated by
Very Rev. R. Phelan of Allegheny.

During the charge of Father Quilter oil was struck on the farm belonging to
the church, and this together with the renovation of the old buildings and the
care of the large farm engaged his attention until 1889, when he was
transferred to Carnegie. Fathers John Burns, John O’Callaghan, F. McKenna and
Rev. O’Connell succeeded Father Quilter.

Rev. William D. Fries, brother of Frank T. Fries, editor of the Kittanning
Times, came in 1902 and remained until 1905, when he went to Charleroi, Pa.,
where he is still stationed. During his term of service a severe windstorm
blew out the rear end of the church, raised the roof and twisted the steeple
partially around. The damages were repaired the same year at the expense of
$2,000, the amount being raised by the sale of timber from lands belonging to
the church.

Father Patrick Diskin is the present pastor, coming here in 1905, and under
his care the church is still thriving, and will uphold the proud position she
has held in the past 109 years. It was during the second year of his pastorate
that the centennial anniversary of the church was celebrated with appropriate
ceremonies.

A list of the old heads of families of the first church is of interest as
an historical record. It is as follows: Patrick Boyle, John Coyle, Charles
Duffy, James Denny, Thomas Dugan, John Durneigh, John Enipich, John Gillespie,
Peter Gallagher, Patrick McBride, Neil Murray, Jeremiah Callihan, Archibald
Black, Matthias Cyper, Michael Carven, Hugh Dugan, Neil Dugan, George
Dougherty, Edward Ferry, Hugh Gillespie, Robert Hanlin, Charles McCue, Hugh
McElroy, David Boyle, Elanor Coyle, Mary Ann Cypher, Peter Croosils, Michael
Dugan, Andrew Dugan, John Duffy, John Forquer, John Gallagher, Charles Hunter,
Daniel McCue, Connell Rodgers, Philip Hartman.

SCHOOLS

The first schoolhouse, a simple log structure, was located near Foster’s
Mills in 1812, and its first teacher was Hugh Rogers of Kittanning. Dr. Samuel
Wallace, who was the first physician to locate in this section in 1827,
resided in the southeastern part of the township, on Long run. He was
interested in erecting the schoolhouse here, which was named after him, and
which was probably built at or before the date of the one above mentioned.

Another schoolhouse stood a little lower down the run, at the intersection
of the Watterson Ferry Road and that to Brady’s Bend. It was built before
1829, and the earliest teachers were Matthew Brown and Cyrus Kilgore.
1860-Number of schools, 9; average number months taught, 4; male teachers, 9:
average salaries per month, $20; male scholars, 196; female scholars, 163;
average number attending school, 204; amount levied for school purposes,
$884.88; cost of teaching each scholar per month, 56 cents; receive from State
ap

propriation, $146.35; from collectors, $520; cost of instruction, $720;
fuel, etc., $90; cost of schoolhouses, $20. 1876-Number of schools, 9; average
number months taught, 5; male teachers, 5; female teachers, 4; average number
of salaries per month, both male and female, $30; male scholars, 143, female
scholars, 129; average number attending school, 200; cost per month, $1.06;
tax levied, $1,860; received from State appropriation, $227.85; from taxes,
etc., $2,327.90; paid teachers, $1,350; fuel, etc., $771.75.

The number of schools in 1913 was 9; average months taught, 7; male
teachers, 4, female teachers, 5; average salaries, male, $45, female, $40;
male scholars, 80, female scholars, 75; average attendance, 101; cost per
month, $2.80; tax levied, $1,672.24; received from State, $1,500.96; other
sources, $2,018.46; value of schoolhouses, $5,400; teachers’ wages, $2,660;
fuel, fees, etc., $811.95.

The school directors were: D. O. Kamerer, president; Samuel Shearer,
secretary; H. A. Hedrick, treasurer; M. W. Foster, Thomas R. Steele.

POPULATION

The first census taken after Sugar Creek was reduced to its present area
was that of 1860, when its population was 1,101. In 1870 it was: Native, 969;
foreign, 54. Its number of taxables in 1876 was 287. The assessment list made
in the last-mentioned year shows the occupations of inhabitants, exclusive of
the agricultural portion, to have been: Laborers, 25; carpenters, 6;
blacksmiths, 3; merchants, 3; miller, 1; shoemakers, 2.

The population according to the census of 1880 was 1,018; of 1890, 1070; of
1900, 885; of 1910, 790.

The assessment returns for 1913 show: Number of acres, 16,633, valued at
$161,231; houses and lots, 25, value, $2,290, average, $91.60; horses, 235,
value, $10,650, average, $45.31; cows, 242, value, $4,770, average $19.71;
taxable occupations, 334, total amount, $4,160. Total valuation, $341,849.
Money at interest, $44,581.14.

GEOLOGICAL

The surface rocks in this township consist largely of the lower barrens.
This is evident from the smooth conditions of its upland farms. The lower
productive rocks skirt the eastern edge of the township, and in the northeast
corner where the river touches the ferriferous limestone are above water
level; also for a short distance on Little Buffalo Creek near Foster’s Mills.
The upper Freeport coal is small and unimportant in this section. Further
west, below the Catholic Church, it expands to four feet thick, and has its
limestone underneath it.

The Kellersburg anticlinal axis extends across the southeast corner of the
township, so that, westward from this, past Adams, the dip is to the northwest
which explains the absence of coal and the presence here of the lower barrens.

The most elevated portion of this township above sea level is at the line
of Washington Township, in the southeastern part, and its altitude is 1,570
feet. It is located directly on the crest of the Kellersburg anticlinal.

Source: Page(s) 271-275, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 19114.
Transcribed August 2001 by Helen Miller for the Armstrong County Beers Project
Contributed by Helen Miller for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project
(http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)

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