History: Part 9 - pp. 93 - 104: S.W. and P.A. DURANT: History of Lawrence County, PA, 1877 transcribed by Tami McConahy and Ed McClelland USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm _____________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: An html version of this work with graphics and tailored search engine is available at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/lawrence/1877/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 1770. --- 1877. HISTORY OF LAWRENCE COUNTY, PA --BY-- S.W. and P.A. DURANT. L. H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PLAIN GROVE TOWNSHIP. [p. 93] There was in each of the original counties of Beaver and Mercer, a township called Slippery Rock. These two townships adjoined each other, and as long as they were in separate counties they were known by the county in which each was located. On the division of Mercer and Beaver counties, and the creation therefrom of Lawrence county, these two townships were brought together in the same county. To distinguish them apart one was called Slippery Rock and the other North Slippery Rock. But finally, North Slippery Rock was divided east and west through the center, on the 13th day of April, 1854, and two new townships formed from it, North Slippery Rock no longer being retained as the name of the township or any part of it. The new organizations were called Washington and Scott, the former being the northern half of the old township and the latter the southern. This order was maintained until February 14, 1855, when the eastern portions of Washington and Scott were erected into a new township called Plain Grove. On the 15th day of February, 1859, Washington township was enlarged by the addition of a strip three-fourths of a mile in width taken from Scott, leaving the three townships in the shape they now are. This was from territory originally in the county of Mercer. Old Slippery Rock (or North Slippery Rock) township was erected sometime between the third Monday of November, 1805, and the third Monday of February, 1806. The surface of Plain Grove township is less broken than most of those in Lawrence county. The soil is generally fertile and productive. The area of the township is about eleven thousand eight hundred acres. The improvements in many parts are excellent, and as an agricultural township Plain Grove is not behind any in the county in most respects. It is well watered and possesses a considerable amount of timber. Two streams of some size head near the northern boundary of the township and flow in a southerly course, discharging their waters into Slippery Rock creek. These streams are Taylor's and Jamison's runs. The power on each has been utilized, and since a very early date mills have been operated on their banks. Each has a number of small tributaries. Originally there extended through nearly the center of the township, east and west, a strip of pine timber, reaching across into both Mercer and Butler counties. This strip was about a-quarter of a mile wide, and at one time contained some valuable timber, but the best has been culled out. The strip is not continuous, as in places narrow belts of land, covered with other varieties of timber, cross it. There were in Plain Grove township several hundred acres of this timber originally. The coal resources of Plain Grove are extensive, and in numerous places mines are worked. The first banks in the township were opened in the neighborhood of the year 1840. The oldest banks were those opened by John and Isaac Lowry and Joseph Totten. The mouth of the Isaac Lowry mine is in Scott township, close to the line of Plain Grove, and the coal is taken out underneath land in the latter. The Joseph Totten bank (old one) has not been worked for two years. William H. H. Miles mines on a small scale, as do a number of others. The thickness of the veins in the township will average about three feet, the coal being of a good quality. About 1860 a number of test-wells were bored for oil in the township, owing to the strong excitement raised by the discovery of oil in great quantities in the newly-opened oil regions of Butler and Venango counties. On the farm of W. H. H. Miles a well was put down about one hundred and twenty-five feet, passing through fine beds of coal at the depths of thirty, sixty and ninety feet. The excitement in the main oil regions tended largely toward stopping the work in this part of Lawrence county, and it was finally abandoned altogether. Another well was bored on the farm of Joseph Moore, just in the edge of Butler county. Mr. Moore's residence was in Lawrence county. This was also abandoned. In both the Miles and Moore wells a fine stream of water was tapped, and these have continued flowing ever since in a strong stream. The rebellion broke out in 1861, and finished the oil business for at least a time, as far as this township was concerned, and nothing has been done at it since. This is out of the oil belt, but the article possibly exists in paying quantities in some places. Iron ore is also found in the township, and generally of a fair quality. Along Slippery Rock creek the "blue ore" abounds, but is much harder to work than the "red ore," and does not pay as well, consequently it is not much used. About 1853-55, the "Myra Furnace" was built by Emery & Culbertson and operated by those parties until 1870. Mr. Culbertson died just before the institution broke up. Of itself it was a paying establishment, but the proprietors became interested in numerous other furnaces, and, owing to the heavy strain, were obliged to close up their business. The ore they used was taken out in the immediate vicinity, together with the other necessary articles for their use, limestone and coal. The ore was of the red quality, generally easily worked. Most of it could be shoveled up readily, while with some of it the use of the pick and blast became necessary. It was similar to the ore now taken from the banks of Grannis, Houk & Co., in Shenango township. Nothing is now done in the township either in mining or manufacturing iron, and probably nothing will be until a railroad from some good market shall open the territory and afford superior shipping advantages to those it now possesses. Of the land in Plain Grove, as well as in other parts of the county, much was not patented for several years after it was first settled, and other tracts were never patented, and were finally sold for taxes. In many cases the original surveys were productive of considerable litigation on account of inaccuracies in description. Among the early patents are the following: The farm now owned by J. M. Lawrence, Esq., was patented by Benjamin Pearson, January 31, 1806, in pursuance of a warrant issued in 1805. The original tract was called "Hope," and consisted of four hundred acres. It was probably settled by Mr. Pearson, and is now owned by J. M. Lawrence, Esq., John Offutt and William J. Offutt. On the 18th of December, 1818, a patent was issued to William George for two hundred and fifty-eight acres, including the place where David George now lives. John Gealy's patent was granted October 6, 1810; warrant issued May 31, 1806. The amount of land was three hundred and ninety-four acres and sixty-four perches, and was patented as "Gay Lodge," and described as lying in "Slippery Rock township, Mercer county," which it then was, the township having been erected about the beginning of that year. Michael Brown's patent was dated March 23, 1807. The land described is located partly in Plain Grove township and partly in Washington. A patent for three hundred and ninety-two acres was granted to Joshua Miles, April 29th, 1812. It is now owned by Joseph Elder, ____ Moore, John Grandy, and Lewis Miles. James, Thomas, John and Robert McCommon were granted a patent April 18th, 1815, to four hundred and seven acres and one hundred and thirty-one perches. The survey was made November 15th, 1815. A patent was issued to Marmaduke Jamison on the 13th of April, 1814. The land has since been in the hands of Francis Jamison, Marmaduke Jamison, Jr., John Christy, Archibald Glenn, John G. Glenn, John Barber and Andrew Glenn, and is now owned by G. W. White, David Hamilton, George B. Hamilton, William C. Glenn, J. Barber, Andrew Glenn, James Moore and Henry Brenneman. Samuel Allen and James Blair received a patent dated October 2d, 1818. James George and Martha Newell--patent dated July 16th 1807; warrant issued April 8th, 1805. John Offutt bought one hundred and sixty-five acres of Benjamin Pearson, the deed being dated May 31st, 1806. Hugh McKee received a patent for three hundred and ninety-seven acres on the 21st of March, 1809. These are but a portion of earlier issues of patents, as far as we have been able to obtain them, and in almost every case the settlement was made a number of years before the patent was given. SETTLEMENT. Sometime in the Summer of 1798, Adam McCracken, who was originally from Ireland, settled on the farm now owned by Alexander McCracken. He settled four hundred acres, getting half for settling. Henry Hagan came in the same Fall, and made a small clearing, and built a cabin on the adjoining four-hundred-acre tract. The following year (1799), he brought his family, having gone back after them when he had completed his improvements. Mr. Hagan had seven children. His son John was the oldest; of his daughters, Rachel was born in Chester county, Pa., in April, 1787, and Margaret in Allegheny, in June, 1799. Her father had moved from Chester county, and lived a year there before coming to Lawrence. He was originally from Ireland. In 1818 Rachel Hagen was [p. 94) married to James McCracken, and is yet living, aged ninety years. A son of Mr. Hagan died in 1805 or 1806. His name was Henry. Mr. Hagan himself died in 1840, and his wife in 1843. For a year or two after these families came, they had all their provisions to "pack" from Pittsburgh. A mill was not long after put up by Jonathan Harlan, where the village of Harlansburg now stands, and after this the settlers were not obliged to go as far. A few other families were living in the neighborhood, who had come out in 1798, the year previous to the Hagan settlement, consequently neighbors were comparatively plenty. Among those who settled in the immediate neighborhood was James McCommon (sometimes spelled McCalmont). He was born in Scotland, and when young went to Ireland. From Ireland he emigrated to Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa., thence to Westmoreland county, and finally, in 1798, came to what is now Plain Grove township, Lawrence county, and settled on a four-hundred acre tract. The old homestead is now owned by Thomas McCommon. The family, when he settled, consisted of himself, wife and seven children. Of the children, but one--Margaret--is now living. Mr. McCommon died about 1804-6. He planted an orchard about 1800, and the orchards on the Hagan, McCracken, Wallace and other farms in the neighborhood, were planted about the same time. Another neighbor was George Rogers, who came from County Armagh, Ireland, about 1790, and settled first in Washington county, Pa. About 1798 he came to Plain Grove township, and located on a farm now owned by David Blair and others, Mr. Blair occupying the old homestead. Mr. Roger's son, William, married a girl named Hathaway (?), living near Harlansburg, and in 1800 George W. Rogers was born on the old place. Betsey Rogers, a sister to William, was married to Alexander McCracken, and her husband afterwards--about 1800 0r 1801 - went to Alabama, and died on his way back. His wife died soon after she learned of his death, and her's was one of the first deaths in the neighborhood, the first being that of a child of James Denniston, and the second that of Henry Hagan, Jr., before mentioned. At that time there was no grave-yard, and the bodies were interred in a field belonging to Mr. Denniston, now in the limits of Mercer county. This land has ever since been used for burial purposes. It is but a short distance across in Mercer county, near the property owned by John Stephenson. Andrew Denniston located in the northwest part of what is now Plain Grove township, about the time the other families came to the neighborhood, in 1798-9. Some of the same name were among the first settlers in what is now Springfield township, Mercer county. After the Rogers family came, they "packed" flour from Westmoreland county for some time, probably ceasing to do so after Harlan's mill was built. When this family settled, the children were generally grown, and some of them were married. Charles Blair and Samuel Allen settled in the same neighborhood with those already mentioned, the two coming together in 1799. Michael Brown, William and Andrew Wallace and John Green also came early. None of them are now in the township. The Wallaces settled a tract adjoining the Hagan farm, and Brown and Green were a mile or more to the south of them. The farms of Brown and Green lay alongside each other. The Brown farm was the one now occupied by John and David Bingham, who came sometime subsequent to 1800. Andrew Wallace died and left his property to his brother William, who sold the whole tract in 1811 to James Burns, and the old homestead is now occupied by Joseph M. Burns. James Burns was born near Florence Court, County Fermanagh, Ireland, June 5, 1778, and about June, 1794-95, he emigrated to America, and settled in Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa. There he staid a few years, and in 1803 came to Brownsville, Fayette county, where he lived three years and a-half, and afterwards removed to a farm on "Ginger Hill," near Bentleysville, Washington county. In 1810 he was married to Mary Morrow, of Washington county, and in April, 1812, he came with his wife and child, Thomas H. Burns, to the Wallace farm, which he had purchased the year previous. He brought his family and goods on the backs of three horses. Mrs. Burns rode one horse, carrying her child on her knee. Eight children were born in the family, four boys and four girls. Seven of them are yet living. Mr. Burns lived on the old place until 1864, when he died in eighty-seventh year. The orchard on the hill east of Alexander McCracken's house, was planted in the neighborhood of 1800, and bears evidence of having withstood the blasts of three-quarters of a century. The farm of one hundred acres, where Alexander McCracken now lives, was owned by his father, Thomas McCracken, a son of Adam McCracken, and a soldier of the war of 1812. Its location is in a fine portion of the township, as are indeed all that were settled in the neighborhood, the settlers evincing good judgment in selecting this locality wherein to build their homes. Jonathan Williams came about 1798, and settled on the farm now occupied by Eli Rogers. He was from Chester county, Pa., and came about the same time with the Glenns and Cunninghams, who settled in the same neighborhood, partially in the present county of Mercer. The Cunninghams located where the present town of Pine Grove, Mercer county, stands, and built a grist and a saw-mill on Wolf creek, at that place, some of the family afterwards laying out the town of Pine Grove. The farm Mr. Williams settled consisted of two hundred acres. William Elliott, a surveyor and civil engineer, came from the neighborhood of east Liberty, or the "Bullock Pens," near Pittsburgh, about 1793-94, and surveyed land which he was interested in as a "land jobber." He had control of several thousand acres in different localities, lying largely in what are now Lawrence and Butler counties. In 1799, soon after he was married, he made a settlement on land lying partly in each of these counties. In this immediate vicinity he had eight or nine hundred acres. He kept "bachelor's hall" for a while, and finally went back after his wife. About 1803-4 he built a log grist-mill on the site of the present frame mill owned by his son, J.P. Elliott. In the old mill Mr. Elliott had a bolting chest, and did considerable work for that time. The present mill was built by J. P. Elliott, in 1844, and stands on the site of the old one on Jamison's run, very near its junction with Slippery Rock creek. Jamison's run was so named from a man who settled early on its banks. James P. Elliott was born February 4th, 1800, and his was the first birth in the southern part of the township, and possibly throughout its entire extent. The present mill contains three runs of stone and does a large business, principally custom-grinding. William Elliott died in 1813, aged thirty-eight years. Robert Jamison came originally from Ireland, and on his arrival in Pennsylvania located on Kiskeminetas creek, where he staid for some time, and finally came on and procured land of William Elliott, settling on a four-hundred-acre tract, of which he received half for so doing. Jamison sold the property to Archibald Armstrong, who came in 1825, but did not locate on the place before 1831. About the year 1800, William George came to the township. He was originally from Ireland, and, when he first arrived, lived with his brother, James George, near North Liberty, Mercer county. Soon afterwards he went to work on the farm now owned by J. P. Elliott, and also staid part of the time about Harrisville, Butler county. About 1805 or 1806 he was married to Phebe Sawyer, who arrived before him, and was living at William Elliott's. Soon after his marriage he settled the farm now owned by his children, David, Mary and Eleanor, the place being called Georgetown. In 1833-34 he built a log-house on the place, and in 1835 erected a log grist-mill containing a pair of burrs and a pair of "country stone" (two run of stone). The wheel, gearing, and nearly everything about the mill, were made of wood. The wheel was a twenty-feet "breast wheel." The old mill is yet standing, though long abandoned; it was built on the east bank of Taylor's run, said stream named from Thomas Taylor, an early settler near it. About the year 1798, James Ramsey came from the Chartier's Valley, in Washington county, Pa., and settled on the farm now owned by John Lowry. The tract originally contained something over three hundred acres. He built a log-cabin on the place and made other improvements. The cabin was burned soon after his marriage, which occurred in 1801, to Sarah Taylor. Mr. Ramsey's father settled in Beaver county, and never located in Lawrence. He may possibly have been a soldier during the Revolution, but the fact is not known positively. James Ramsey's first child, a daughter named Ayls, was born in 1802. About 1795-96, Thomas Taylor came from the Ligonier valley, in Westmoreland county, Pa., and settled on the farm now owned by Joseph Totten, his cabin standing on the hill just across from the present location of Mr. Totten's residence. Mr. Taylor's daughter, Sarah, who came with him, is said to have been the first white woman who ever crossed the Slippery Rock creek. In the month of November, 1798, John Gealey came with his family from Washington county, Pennsylvania, where they lived on the bank of Peter's creek. At the time Mr. Gealey settled, his family consisted of his wife and eight children, but only part of them came with him. He had been out in 1797, and made improvements, bringing with him his daughter Margaret, [p. 95] who did the cooking for him while he was busy getting the place in shape to receive his family. After finishing their work for that Fall, they went back, and in 1798 Mr. Gealey again came out, bringing with him this time his oldest daughter and his son William, the latter about six weeks old at the time. Mr. Gealey left his children alone in the wilderness for a while, and went back after his wife and the rest of his family. The two children had not seen their mother for about a year, and when she came, in 1799, the meeting between her and her children can better be imagined than described. The children who came with their mother in 1799, were Renwick and Sarah. Mr. Gealey and his son Henry each settled a four-hundred-acre tract. In 1800 the oldest son, James Gealey, was married to Mary M. Smith, who was living with Charles Blair, in the northern part of the township. As before stated, Blair settled in 1799, in company with Samuel Allen. When Mr. Gealey first came, in 1797, he raised a log cabin, made a small clearing, and raised some corn. He brought his goods with him in a wagon, which was probably the first one in the township. A road had to be cut ahead in order to get the wagon through, and they advanced but slowly. The old homestead is now owned by the youngest son, Renwick Gealey. The name is spelled by some "Gailey," but the correct way is "Gealey." William Gealey is yet living, at the age of eighty-five years. His wife, Joanna, is a daughter of James Stewart, who settled in 1798 in what is now Perry township, coming from what was then Adams county, Pennsylvania. His father, Matthew Stewart, had served in the Revolution. Mrs. Gealey (Joanna Stewart) was born April 24, 1801, and is yet living. The Gealey family descended from James Gealey, who came from Ireland when a young man, probably about 1745. He married in this country. The land which John Gealey settled was settled under Elliott & Denniston, "land jobbers"--Mr. Gealey, although having served in the Revolution, not choosing to settled on "donation" land. John Gealey's wife was Mary Renwick, a descendant of James Renwick, of Scotland. Her brother, William Renwick, died at Black Rock, N. Y., while serving as a soldier in the war of 1812. The Gealeys occupy excellent farms, and the family has become numerous in the neighborhood where John Gealey first settled. James McCune came about 1800 to 1802, from what was then Huntingdon, now Blair county, and partially improved farm now owned by James C. Shaw. About 1810 he removed to the farm on which his son, David McCune, Esq., now lives, purchasing it from Hugh Hamilton, the original settler. The first farm upon which he located he purchased at two dollars per acre, from Robert Cochran, a "land jobber," who owned considerable land in the neighborhood, and had settled about 1795-96 just east of Plain Grove. James McCune was captain of militia in old Slippery Rock township, when it was in Mercer county, and was out twice at Erie during the war of 1812-15. The country south of Plain Grove Church was originally a plain, with no timber upon it larger than scrubby brush, and when Mr. McCune first came he drove his wagon through it without paying attention to the best way, as the path was equally good anywhere. Timber has since grown upon it, but has been cut away. Hugh McKee came from Ireland in the year 1788, and afterwards, about 1796-98, came to what is now Plain Grove township and settled. His patent is one of the earliest issued to settlers in the township, and bears date March 21, 1809. It calls for three hundred and ninety-seven acres. Most of the lands in the townships are "warrant lands," and were extensively operated by "land jobbers." On Taylor's run, above where William Gealey now lives, there was formerly a beaver dam, and both beaver and otter were quite plenty. The Indians came all the way from their villages in Mercer county to trap them, and the noted Indian, Harth-e-gig, with his squaw and three or four dogs wintered occasionally in a sugar camp near by. Nathan Offutt had a saw-mill early, and Robert Ramsey another one still earlier. The orchard on Esquire David McCune's place was planted by his father, James McCune, about the time he came to the farm (1810), and the trees or a few of them, are yet standing-- With their gnarled and knotty branches Covered with the moss of age. A store was built near Plain Grove Church about 1832-3, by H. Bovard. It was a two-story frame building, containing a general stock, such as is usually found in country stores. Mr. Bovard continued the business till the Spring of 1868, when A. McKinney assumed control, and kept it in the same place until 1875, after which he removed to his present location, one-half mile north of the old stand, near the United Presbyterian Church. The large frame store-building he now occupies was built in the Fall of 1875. A post-office was established at Plain Grove some time during the stay of Mr. Bovard, who was the first postmaster. During Buchanan's administration it was removed to the cross-roads, one mile north, and kept by Alexander McBride, who came from Harlansburg, and had a store for about a year at the corners. The office was afterwards transferred to Mr. Bovard, and, with the exception of McBride's short occupation of it, Mr. Bovard held it from the first until Mr. McKinney took it, in 1868. Mr. M. is the present postmaster. The office is named Plain Grove. Aquilla Miles has a blacksmith shop near the site of Bovard's old store, and it is the only one ever located in the place. About 1873 Andrew Breckenridge opened a store half a mile below the site of the one formerly owned by Bovard. It is a frame building, at present owned by Sidney Kirker, who keeps only groceries. Near the old George grist-mill a blacksmith shop was built about 1854-6 by Alexander Pollock, who has worked in it ever since. About 1850 a foundry was built by J. M. Emery, the same person who was interested in the Myra Furnace. The establishment was operated several years and finally abandoned. It stood southeast of the mill and blacksmith shop. MILITARY RECORD. REVOLUTIONARY WAR.--John Gealey, who came to the township first in 1797, had served with his brother William during the Revolution. The father of James Ramsey located in Beaver county, and had possibly been a soldier of the Revolution, but those of his descendants now living in the township are not certain of the fact. WAR OF 1812-15.--Those who served in this war from Plain Grove were quite numerous. They generally went to Erie. Among the names we find-- James, John and Thomas McCommon, who came to the township with their father, James McCommon, in 1798. Thomas and James McCracken came with their father, Adam McCracken, the same year with the McCommons, and also served in the war. William Rogers, a near neighbor. James Burns, who came in 1811, was out in Captain Denniston's company of the 134th Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Hosack a part of the time. James Ramsey was out as second lieutenant and went to Erie. James, Henry, John, William and Renwick Gealey were out, all but Renwick in Captain James Denniston's company of the 134th. Renwick was in Captain James Robinson's company of the same regiment. They all went to Erie, but never saw any hard fighting. Mr. Gealey says the British ship "Queen Charlotte" came up within range and fired on the batteries which the United States troops were supporting, but without doing any damage. The batteries returned the fire, and four men were seen to fall on the British vessel, which quickly stood out of range. This was while the troops were working the American vessels over the bar. William Renwick, a brother of John Gealey's wife, died at Black Rock during the service. James McCune was out twice to Erie, and after the war served as militia captain. Militia organizations and volunteer rifle companies were kept up for many years after the war. WAR OF THE REBELLION.--Plain Grove, as well as her sister townships arose to meet the call for troops after Fort Sumter was fired upon, and sons of the veterans of 1812, and grandsons of Revolutionary heroes, came, in their turn, to do battle for freedom's cause, and like Arnold Winkelried, "made way for liberty," many giving up their lives in the conflict. The 100th (Roundhead) regiment was the one in which the township was principally represented. SCHOOLS. A school-house was built about 1803 in a field belonging to Henry Hagan, in the southwest part of the township. It was built of round logs, and was the first one in the neighborhood. Andrew Denniston was the first teacher. About 1805-6 a school-house was built on Robert Jamison's land, the first teacher being a man named Robb. Many a trick was played on him, but he held his own against them all. Finally a plan was arranged to turn him out, but he in some way heard of it, and shut himself in the building and barred the door, and held it for nine days against them, provisions being [p. 96] brought him in the night. The pupils saw ther [sic] game blocked, and, in their desperation, racked their brains for some expedient to get the "master" out of the school-house. Finally, some person with an overplus of ingenuity, bethought him of a plan; he procured a package of "brimstone," or sulphur, and climbing to the roof with a number of others, poured the contents of the paper down the chimney upon the fire, and he and one or two others spread their hunting shirts over the top of the chimney, and in a minute or two more Robb had torn away the bar from the door, and emerged, coughing and sputtering, completely beaten after the long siege he had withstood. Some of the witnesses to the affair remarked that "they guessed he smelt hell fast!" Another school-house was built in the George and Taylor neighborhood about 1803-4, and a man named Mitchell was probably the first teacher. Another was erected on the Martin farm, near the present residence of Robert McCune, and in this building a man named Gurley, or Gourley, was an early teacher. About 1822-24, an old-fashioned log school-house was built on Nathan Offutt's farm, the first teacher being Wm. Coulton. After the law establishing free-schools was passed (1834), a building was put up on a piece of land taken partly from the George farm and partly from the place then owned by John Bentley. David McCune taught the first Winter in it, and David Clark was the next male teacher. Elizabeth Burns taught also. The building was erected in 1838. The number of schools in the township in 1875, was six, with an enrollment of two hundred and forty-one school children, of whom one hundred and thirty-nine were males and one hundred and two females. CHURCHES Sometime between 1796 and 1800, a gathering was held to take action in regard to organizing a Presbyterian society and building a church. The two oldest men at the gathering, Thomas Taylor and David Armstrong, were appointed a committee to find a name for the church. After the location was fixed, the name was given to it, "Plain Grove." The country to the south was a bushy plain, and to the west was a glade, while on the eminence fixed as the site for the building of the church there stood a small grove, so that the name was suggested by the surroundings of the location, and Plain Grove fixed upon. The first elders of the congregation were William McNees and Joseph Campbell. The first pastor was Rev. William Wood, who was ordained and installed pastor of Plain Grove and Center, November 3, 1802, by the Presbytery of Erie. Dr. McMillan was present, and by invitation delivered the charges to pastor and people. Mr. Wood was released from the pastoral charge of Plain Grove, October 7, 1816. During his pastorate there were numerous cases of the "falling exercise." The next pastor was Rev. John Munson, who was ordained and installed February 28, 1818. He was released February 5, 1839, after a pastorate of twenty-one years. The present pastor, Rev. Robert B. Walker, D. D., was ordained and installed April 2, 1839. The church had at that time a membership of one hundred and seventy-six. It is now under the care of the Presbytery of Allegheny. Rev. Wm. Wood was born in York county, Pa., March 27, 1776. Samuel Wood, his father, was born in London, England, in 1749, came to America in 1768, and married Mrs. Isabella Sankey, in York county, Pa. He died in Butler county in 1817, leaving four children--William, Samuel, Benjamin and Isabella. William was the oldest. He attended the Cannonsburg Academy, and afterwards studied theology in Dr. McMillan's log cabin. In the 26th day of December, 1800, he was received by the Presbytery of Ohio as a candidate for the ministry, and was licensed to preach, October 29, 1801. During the following Winter he spent his time among vacant churches and missionary points, and was then dismissed in order to put himself under the care of the Presbytery of Erie, which received him April 20, 1802. Having accepted calls from Plain Grove and Center, he was ordained and installed over those congregations at a meeting of the Presbytery held at Plain Grove, November 3, 1802. Rev. Robert Lee preached on the occasion, and, as before stated, Dr. McMillan delivered the charges. Mr. Wood was dismissed from Center, august 24, 1808 and from Plain Grove, October 7, 1816. April 1, 1817, he was dismissed to the Presbytery of Hartford (Beaver), being prepared to accept calls from the congregations of Hopewell and Neshannock. Over these churches he was installed pastor, October 22, 1817. At Hopewell he labored for eleven years, being dismissed June 25, 1828. Mr. Wood died in Utica, Licking county, Ohio, on the 31st day of July, 1839, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and the thirty-ninth of his ministry. May 17, 1798, he had been united in marriage to Miss Margaret Donald, of Washington county, Pa. They had twelve children, two of whom were physicians. The elder, John D., settled in Franklin, Venango county, and the younger in Pulaski, Lawrence county. Both are now deceased. William Wood's wife died at Utica, Ohio, April 20, 1843. In the old cemetery at Plain Grove Church are some ancient headstones, many of them so moss-grown and worn by time that the names are nearly obliterated. Slabs of native sandstone were largely used, and they have not proved as lasting as the marble slabs afterwards introduced. Following is appended a list of some of the earlier deaths with names and ages: David Armstrong died March 20, 1811, aged sixty-four years. Sarah Armstrong died February 3, 1816, aged fifty-six years. William Elliott, Jr., died March 25, 1811, aged nine years. John Emery died May 13, 1814, aged seventy-two years. Hugh Wallace died January 11, 1820, aged seventy-eight years. Archibald McCune died August 4, 1825, aged fifty-one years. Mary Jack died January 18, 1816, aged forty-four years. Charles Martin died November 19, 1828, aged seventy-seven years. Thomas Taylor died February 7, 1829, aged eighty-five years. Ayls Taylor died March 7, 1834, aged eighty-eight years. William Ewing died June 4, 1819, aged thirty-six years. Alexander Ewing died ____ ____, aged eighty-two years. Mary Ewing died _____, 1810, aged forty-four years. Samuel Campbell died May 8, 1826, aged ninety-eight years. Anne Davison died February 8, 1823, aged eighty-five years. Betsy Whitaker died December ___, 1812, aged forty-seven years. William Whitaker died ____ _____, (stone much moss-grown.) Mary Whitaker died March 9, 1813, aged eighty-six years (illegible). Sera Dilley died July 4, 1817, aged fifty-nine years. Price Dilley, Sr., died May 22, 1826, aged seventy-two years. John Means died ____, 1824, aged 7_ years. James Glenn died February 20, 1817, aged seventy-four years. Elizabeth Glenn died November 23, 1815, aged seventy years. Elizabeth Henderson died March 31, 1811, aged forty-one years. On an old headstone is inscribed on the face the following inscription: Departed this life, On Monday, the 21 Of May, A. D., 1832, ELIZABETH BOYD, (Consort of John Boyd), Aged 34 years, 6 months, and five days. On the back of the stone is the following quaint rhyme: Reader, reflect as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I; As I am now, so must you bee-- O bare in minde eternite. The cemetery is situated on the brow of the hill, immediately west of the church. The church is a large brick building. Their first church was a small log structure, which stood on the same spot. This is one of the oldest church organizations in Lawrence county, and has witnessed many changes in the country since the pioneer members first thought of "rearing a temple in the wilderness." The next church in age in the township is the Methodist Episcopal. The pioneer Methodist in the township was James Burns, who settled on the old Wallace farm in 1812. For some time there was no Methodist preaching in the neighborhood, and Mr. Burns supported the Presbyterian Church. But he was soon found by itinerant Methodist preachers, and his house was opened to them both as a home and a preaching place. This house, which was a very good one for that day, is still standing. It was built of hewed logs, and has a shingle roof and stone chimney. The first Methodist preachers who came through this territory were Shadrach Rourke and John McMahan. James Watt was another. Meetings were held until 1840, in Mr. Burns' house, which was known as the "Burns appointment." The house was eighteen by twenty-four feet in dimensions. The preacher stood, while speaking, with his back to a window of four lights of eight-by-ten glass. The Nazareth Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1840, and superceded the "Burns appointment." It is two miles north of the first preaching place within the limits of Mercer county (Springfield township). The first church was built of logs, on land given to the church by Washington Sedwick, and deeded to James Burns, Thomas Nelson and others, trustees in trust for the society. This house was used until 1860, when the member-[p. 97] ship and congregation had increased to such an extent that it became necessary to erect a new building to accommodate them. Accordingly, a neat frame structure was built, and within it the congregation continues to worship. In the year 1860 the Nazareth congregation divided, and a portion of them built what is known as "Mount Pleasant" Church, in Plain Grove township, Lawrence county. It stands one and a-half miles southeast from the old Burns appointment, and was first opened for service December 11, 1860. The dedicatory services on that day were conducted by Rev. G. W. Clarke, pastor is Rev. J. M. Crouch. The first pastor was Rev. S. A. Milroy. The ground on which the house is built, and that on which the burying ground is located was given by Noah Rodgers, and deeded to J. M. Burns, Charles Blair, T. McCommon and others, trustees in trust for the Methodist Episcopal Church. The house is a large frame structure, and is enclosed with a board fence. James Burns, who saw the bud of Methodism in Plain Grove open its petals in his old log-house in 1814, lived to see the flower thus developed grow to a large and flourishing degree. The three houses of worship were built in his time, and when he died, in 1864, he had witnessed wonderful changes since the first itinerant found him a lone Methodist, worshiping with the Presbyterians. Plain Grove United Presbyterian Church was organized about 1859. Their first regular pastor was Rev. James B. Whitten, who staid until about 1874, when Rev. J. C. Bingham came and took charge for six months. After him came Rev. J. L. Robertson, who has had charge since. The church has at different times been supplied. A Sabbath-school has been held in connection with the church from the start. The first elders were William and Renwick Gealey, H. Bovard, Robert Peebles, James Nelson and G. B. Hamilton. They are the same at present, with the addition of Daniel Minick. The present fine brick church was built in 1860. It is situated half a mile north of Plain Grove Presbyterian Church. The present membership of the United Presbyterian Church is about seventy-five, and does not vary materially from what it was originally. The location of the church, in the edge of a fine grove, is pleasant and beautiful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PULASKI TOWNSHIP. [p. 97] This township was erected at the same time with the county, the territory embraced in it having formerly been a part of Mahoning township, which was erected from old Pymatuning township when it was yet in Mercer county, sometime between the third Monday of November, 1805, and the third Monday of February, 1806. It has an area of about nineteen thousand acres, being one of the larger townships of the county. Its surface is much more level than that of the greater part of the county, and the soil is rich and productive. The improvements throughout the township are excellent, and evidences of prosperity are seen among its inhabitants on ever hand. The fine dwellings, huge barns, thrifty orchards, and well-kept fences and fields, are all found in abundance, and where so many improvements are shown there can be naught but prosperous citizens. The township is watered by several streams, the largest being the Shenango river, along the east bank of which the bed of the old Erie Extension of the Pennsylvania canal is seen, and along whose west bank is laid the track of the Erie and Pittsburgh railway. The smaller streams are Deer creek, a branch of the Shenango, Coffee run, a branch of the Mahoning, and a number of other tributaries. On the Shenango and Deer creek there is considerable water-power, and the old canal, when running, also furnished power. The township contains the villages of New Bedford and Pulaski, and the small settlement called Freedom, or Marr. The mineral resources are considerable, but at present are little utilized. EARLY SETTLEMENTS. James McCready settled about three miles southeast of Pulaski, about 1801, on the farm now owned by Mr. Cook. His son William came to Pulaski village in 1838. Andrew Marquis came with his father Samuel Marquis, from Washington county, Pa., and settled in (probably) East Lackawannock township, Mercer county, about 1800. He bought a farm east of Pulaski village, and came to it in 1814-15. The place is now (January, 1877) occupied by his son, John Marquis. Joshua Bentley came from Pittsburgh in 1798, and settled two hundred and fifty-nine acres, the old homestead now owned by Samuel English. Mr. Bentley built a log cabin, cleared a small piece of ground, and put in some grain, after which he went back to Pittsburgh and married, and brought his wife back with him in 1800. In 1801 he built a larger log house and moved into it, and during the same year his oldest child, John, was born. At nearly the same time, William Cotton, George Davis, Isaac Phillips, George Walker, James McCready, Hugh McKean, John Mitchell and others came, and settled in the same neighborhood. John Summerville settled early in the southern part of the township, on the west side of the Shenango. Nathaniel Porter came from Chester county, Pa., in August, 1796, with James McWilliams, who was one of a party that came out in 1793. McWilliams' place was in what is now Mahoning township. Newton Porter now lives on the old Nathaniel Porter place, which originally included two hundred and ninety acres of "population land." Mr. Porter was but eighteen years of age when he came. That season (1796) he made improvements of the place, and went back after his parents and brothers and sisters, whom he brought out in 1797. Mr. McWilliams, after being out in 1793, and making improvements, went back, and returned with his family in 1796, at the same time young Peter came. About 1797-9 Robert Black came from Cannonsburg, Washington county, Pa., and settled the tract where the Deer Creek United Presbyterian Church now stands. His house stood very near the spot now occupied by the church. He "squatted" on the place, and built a blacksmith shop, in which he worked. He one day fell in the fire and burned his arm so badly that it became necessary to amputate it. After that he was extremely unfortunate and died poor. The land on which he squatted was owned by a man named Bell, who settled the place. It happened that the lot on which the church afterwards stood was part of a vacancy, though probably the fact was not known to Bell when he donated the lot for church purposes. It caused trouble afterwards. John Mitchell and his daughter, Naomi Mitchell, afterward Mrs. George McWilliams, settled probably three hundred acres on the west side of the Shenango, about 1796, including the farms now owned by the heirs of Samuel Satterfield and Robert McLanahan. The farms lie one mile below Pulaski village. The one now owned by Mr. McLanahan is the old homestead of Walter Oliver, who located upon it in 1817. Mr. Oliver was a prominent man in the county of Mercer during his life. He died in August, 1839. His daughter, Elizabeth Oliver, became the wife of Samuel Satterfield, a son of Rev. James Satterfield, who was one of the first preachers in the region. Mrs. Satterfield is now living upon a portion of the old Mitchell farm. James Neal came from Comberland [sic] county, Pa., to Washington county, where he lived a short time, and from there he came, in 1797, to Pulaski township, Lawrence county, and settled a four-hundred-acre tract, where his nephew, Alexander Neal, now lives. Alexander Neal came in 1800, and finally became the owner of the place his uncle had settled, and is now living upon it, at an advanced age. Mr. Neal was in his younger days a great hunter, and many are the yarns he can spin of adventures in the forest with bears and deer. These animals are now driven from the country, and Mr. Neal is old and feeble, and yet his eye sparkles as one of yore when telling thrilling stories of his younger days to his eager listeners. Daniel Ault settled, about 1797, on the farm afterwards owned by Richard Amon. About 1798 he built a small log grist-mill on Deer creek. It contained one run of stone, and was afterwards bought by Richard Amon and Frederick Shuce, who operated it a number of years, when it was abandoned and allowed to fall to pieces. Shuce attended principally to the milling. Ault, after selling out to these men, built another log mill on the Shenango, just opposite where Pulaski village now stands. He afterwards built one on the Piper farm, above Pulaski, on a small run flowing through it, and finally removed to New Castle, since which time he has been lost sight of. Richard Amon and Frederick Shuce came to the township in the neighborhood of 1800. Shuce afterwards removed to a place near Hubbard, Ohio, where he died. Amon kept the old Ault farm. It is now cut up into several pieces, belonging to different parties. John Gealey came sometime previous to 1812, and bought land of James Black, who had settled it. Mr. Black afterwards removed to Ohio. After Mr. Gealey purchased the place he built a stone house, which is still standing. The old house and farm are now owned by Henry Grundy. The place is located a mile northeast of the town of New Bedford, on the road leading to Pulaski. James Walker came originally from Ireland--probably County Antrim. He was born September 12th, 1770, and came to America in 1774 with his father, who was a weaver by trade. The family settled in Washington county, Pa., sometime between 1774 and 1776, near what was then called [p. 98] Racoon. In 1792, James Walker was a member of several scouting parties against the Indians. Some of the family were also concerned in the whisky rebellion. In March, 1797, James Walker procured a horse, fastened a small bell to it, filled some sacks with provisions, and, with a few cooking-utensils and his rifle, made his way into the wilderness, which then lay to the northwest of the present site of New Castle. After numerous hardships, known only to the pioneer, Mr. Walker settled on a four-hundred-acre tract on the west side of the Shenango, in Pulaski township, the old homestead now owned by Ambrose Byers. After about 1802-3, Mr. Walker taught school off and on in the neighborhood until 1829. He was married in 1794, in Washington county, and probably went back in 1798, after he made his settlement, and brought out his wife and child. He had four children by his first wife, who died within a few years after he came to the township. One of his sons, Robert, afterwards studied medicine and went South, where he became wealthy. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Walker married again, May 17th, 1808, and by this wife had seven children. In 1814, Mr. Walker purchased a farm on which his son, William W. Walker, now lives. He also lived for a while near New Bedford. All the schools he taught were in his own neighborhood, and he boarded at home. He was admitted by all to be the best teacher the early schools ever had, doing much by his own example to inculcate the principles of honesty and morality in his pupils. He was highly esteemed by all who knew him, and his only fault, if such it can be called, was in working altogether for others, and thinking too little of himself. Was originally an orthodox member of the Presbyterian Church, but as age came over him, experience taught him many things which strict orthodoxy would not countenance. He was, during the earlier days of his life in the county, a member of the Presbyterian Session, and a prominent man among all classes. He was an early adherent to the principles of temperance and anti-slavery, and as early as 1833, came out strong in his belief that slavery should immediately be abolished. At that time, for a man to hold such views, was to voluntarily ruin his prospects, yet with his steadfast ideas of right and justice, Mr. Walker held to his views, regardless of consequences. He was four times elected Auditor of Mercer county. He drafted the constitution of the old Hopewell Presbyterian Church at New Bedford, and was an elder in the church for thirty-five years--was one of its first elders, and was closely identified with it until the anti-slavery excitement culminated--in January, 1844--in a division of the church and a formation of the Free Presbyterian Church, which was organized under the seceding pastor, Rev. John Knox. Mr. Walker also joined the new congregation, and remained with it for two years, when, on account of some of its maneuverings displeased him, he withdrew from it, and afterwards was not connected with any church. He died June 1st, 1855, aged nearly eighty-five years. In his day he had been a great hunter, and like the Blacks, Neals, and others, loved to relate his exploits of the chase. Mr. Walker's elder brother, Robert, came some time after he had settled, and located on the farm now owned by the heirs of William McClung. Robert Walker died at the age of ninety-three years. The patent for the farm where Wm. W. Walker now lives, together with that of John Neal, was taken out April 9, 1825. Another man named Neal settled first on the place, but was not the man who patented it. John Neal sold his part to William Waugh, August 18th, 1825, and Waugh sold it to John Shields, January 17th, 1826. Mr. Shields had then been on the place three years, or since 1823. The farm consisted of one hundred acres, with allowances. Mr. Shields was from Beaver county, Pa. Freedom, or Marr post-office, was established about 1854, and an office kept up for a while with Cowden Murdock as the first and only postmaster. The office existed seven or eight years. The place is called "Frizzleburg," and has other euphonious titles. John and Wallace McCosky and William Sheriff were early settlers in the township, but not among the first. They came about 1812. James Stevenson located in the southwest corner of Mercer county in 1806, coming from Chester county, Pennsylvania, and originally from Ireland. He came to America previous to the Revolution, and served during that war. After he arrived in Mercer county, he remained two years, and then removed to Poland, Mahoning county, Ohio, where he died in 1834, in his eighty-fifth year. His son, E. M. Stevenson, is now living on a farm north of New Bedford, in Pulaski township, Lawrence county, Pa., where he has resided since the Fall of 1831. He was born the year of the "big eclipse," 1806. His farm is on land belonging to the "Bedford claim." William Lockhart, living in the southwest part of the township, on the west side of the Shenango, with O. C. Lockhart, Esq., was an early settler in the neighborhood. Richard Van Fleet was originally from New Jersey, and, after going to Northumberland county, Pa., and helping his newly-married brother build and clear, he went to Washington county and lived for some time. In 1798 he came to the present limits of Mercer county, and in the latter part of 1799, settled on the farm now partly owned by David Van Fleet. On Christmas day, 1798, Mr. Van Fleet got a cabin raised, and then went back to Washington county, and brought out his sister, Mrs. Hannah Burwell, who was a widow. She kept house for him until some time in the year 1800, when he was married to Sarah Hogue, who was living with her mother and two brothers, on the farm now owned by James Burrows. Phebe Van Fleet, their first child, was born in 1801. Twelve children were born to them altogether. They lived for eight or ten years within the bounds of what is now Mercer county, and then built a cabin on the south side of the farm, now in Lawrence county, near the Pulaski and Youngstown road. Nine of the children are now living--six girls and three boys, and three of the boys are dead. William Van Fleet, the second child, born December 20, 1803, is now living in New Bedford, and the oldest child, Phebe, lives with her brothers, George W. and David, on the old farm, in the old house their father built in Lawrence county. Richard Van Fleet died in 1850, aged eighty years. Francis McFarlane was one of the company of forty-five men who came out to locate claims and make improvements in 1793*. He settled first in Mahoning township, but about 1803 put another man on the place he had located upon, and came to Pulaski township, settling the farm now owned by his son, J. C. McFarlane. He entered this farm about 1796, and placed a man named Samuel Phips upon it to hold it. Mr. McFarlane was the only one of the company that came out in 1793, who finally settled in what is now Pulaski township. He had three children when he came, and eleven were born afterwards. *See Mahoning township for history of this party. The settlers of 1793 were occasionally frightened away for a short time by the Indians, but were never harmed by them. Isaac McFarlane had been adopted by an old Indian squaw, whose son was supposed to have been killed by Wayne's army. The son returned, however, but McFarlane and his companions "found favor" in the eyes of the Indians, owing to the adoption, and were always treated kindly by them. John McFarlane probably came out a few years after the others. Francis McFarlane and James Murray were captains during the Indian troubles which General Wayne finally put an end to. These men had charge of companies who were kept under arms to protect the frontier posts. They were called "minute men," and served out three commissions each from the Governor of Pennsylvania before the Indian troubles were ended. Two of McFarlane's brothers, James and Andrew, served during the Revolutionary war, and James was afterwards killed during the whisky insurrection in Western Pennsylvania. In the possession of I. C. McFarlane is an old sword-blade which was used by his uncle James in the Revolution, and afterwards by his father during the Indian war. The eldest McFarlane, John who had been trading with the Indians around Sandusky, Ohio was murdered by them, together with his party, somewhere in the neighborhood of the salt springs, between the sites of Youngstown and Warren, Ohio. About the beginning of the Revolution, Andrew McFarlane was captured by the Indians near the site of Elizabeth, Allegheny county, and carried either to Quebec or Montreal. He did not return till after the Revolution, having been away nine years. Alexander Thompson was among the early settlers of the township. William Smith came originally from Ireland, and in 1811 located on the farms now owned by H. G. Sharps and S. S. Smith. The land was probably originally settled by ____ Monteith. EARLY ROADS. The Mercer and Youngstown road, passing through New Bedford, was laid out about 1802, and in 1827 became a postal route. Another road, running from Sharon, Mercer county, was opened through to New Bedford and beyond, about 1808. The old track passed by the site of Deer Creek United Presbyterian Church, and John Shields, living near Coitsville, Mahoning county, Ohio, remembers it as early as 1810. The New Bedford and New Castle road was cut out some time afterwards, but finally became one of the most important roads of the township. For several years after the country was settled the only roads were old trails through the forest, winding around in all directions, and what seems [p. 99] strange is the fact that they almost invariably ran over the tops of the highest hills and through the most difficult places. SCHOOLS. A school-house was built of round logs some time previous to the war of 1812, and stood near the site of the present residence of James Judy, being either on his farm or the James Donaldson place. It was the first school-house in that neighborhood, and Jas. Neal was the teacher. About 1811-12 he also opened a select school in a log building put up for that purpose. He gave lessons in the languages, and continued the school till the latter part of August, 1813, when he closed it, and went into the army. After the war he resumed his school, but contracted an illness not long after, which finally proved fatal. He was quite old when he died, and had never been married. James Walker taught school as early as 1802-3 in other parts of the township, and also at New Bedford. The number of schools in Pulaski township in 1875 was eleven, having an average attendance of two hundred and fifty-one. The total enrollment of school-children in the township for the same year was three hundred and ninety-two, of whom two hundred and four were males, and one hundred and eighty-eight females. The school-buildings of the township are all comfortable and commodious. The schools are well kept and prosperous, and the citizens have just cause for pride in them. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT DEER CREEK. The Associate Presbyterian (now the United Presbyterian) congregation at Deer Creek was first organized and a tent erected on the site of the present United Presbyterian congregation at Mahoning, about two miles north-east of Lowelville, Ohio, in Mahoning township, now in Lawrence county, Pa. The date of its organization, the number of members, who preached the first sermon, and at what place; when the first elders were elected, who ordained them, or when the Session was first constituted, are queries to which the old record makes no reply; neither does tradition throw much light upon them. The probabilities are that the Rev. James Duncan was the pioneer who first promulgated the doctrines of the Gospel within the bounds of Deer Creek, as set forth by the United Presbyterians, about A. D. 1800, or, possibly, somewhat earlier. The first meeting of the Session upon the record bears date June 25, 1803. It met at the Mahoning tent, and Rev. Duncan was moderator, and the elders present were James McConnell, William Gealey, Robert Walker, William Houston and Samuel McBride. There were three cases before them at that time, and the inference is that the Session was in working order some time before. Mr. McBride was clerk of Session, and continued in that office some twenty-five years. In 1826-27 he and Mr. Houston retired from the Session, being old and full of years, and having served their day and generation faithfully. They soon afterwards fell asleep and went home to their reward. Elder Houston's grave is in Deer Creek cemetery; Elder McBride rests in the Mahoning cemetery. Mr. Walker, father of the illustrious and Rev. John Walker, pastor for many years of the Associate congregation of Unity, Belmont county, Ohio, removed from our bounds into his son's congregation, in 1816, where he lived to a good old age, but has long since gone to his reward. The other two members of the original Session, Elders Gealey and McConnell, are dropped from the record after the aforesaid meeting, and the writer has no further knowledge of them. As to the original members of the congregation, a majority came from Washington and Beaver counties, Pa., and some were here as early as 1798. Others were from east of the mountains. When the organization was effected, it was done by the Presbytery of Chartiers, and continued under its care until 1808, at which date the Presbytery of Ohio was set off. The organization was effected at Mahoning tent on the first Tuesday of October, 1808, Rev. Duncan acting as moderator. The congregation continued to be a member of the Ohio Presbytery until 1859, a period of fifty-one years, when the United Presbytery, of Mercer, was formed, and the congregation became a part of that Presbytery, and so continues at the present time. The last record of the meeting of Session at Mahoning tent is dated June 14, 1806. About the year 1807-8 the question began to be agitated as to the propriety of removing the meetings of the congregation to some place four or five miles north of the Mahoning tent. There is no record of the controversy, nor of the exact time of occurrence, and tradition has forgotten to hand down any reliable information on the subject; but it is well known that the controversy was sharp and bitter, and so determined that the congregation parted asunder. Those who were opposed to the removal continued their organization at the tent, called the Rev. Galloway, of the Associate Reformed Church, for their pastor, and continued a congregation of that body until the union of the Associate and Associate Reformed churches in 1858, and is now a flourishing United Presbyterian congregation, under the pastoral care of Rev. W. T. McConnell. The congregation of Deer Creek (the name is from a small stream in the vicinity) chose for their future place of meetings and cemetery, a spot which is situated in Pulaski township, Lawrence county, Pa., half a mile north of New Bedford, and about four miles north of Mahoning Church. The village of New Bedford, was not laid out until several years subsequently. Deer Creek Church was then literally a church in the wilderness, with no traces of civilization near it except a public highway, which was seldom traveled. The country was the habitation of wild-beasts and birds of prey, who felt no fear of man. The woodsman's axe had not disturbed the beautiful virgin forest. Here they erected a tent, in a splendid grove, whose limits were measured by miles. Hewed logs were arranged in front of the tent for seats, and a hewed log was the table around which the communicants sat when they celebrated the Lord's Supper. In Winter, meetings were held in private houses, there being no school-houses or other public buildings. The Hopewell Church (Presbyterian), where the village of New Bedford now stands, was organized some years before Deer Creek Church, and had built a house of round logs with a clapboard roof, an earthen floor, a mud chimney near the centre of the house; and in this building was displayed the workings of that marvelous epidemic which came so suddenly, about the beginning of the present century, and swept like a mighty, irresistible wave over the congregation of the General Assembly Presbyterian Church, and then departed as suddenly and abruptly, without leaving any permanent traces of either moral or religious reform. This strange visitation was called the falling work. Rev. Duncan went with his people to their new house, and continued his pastoral duties among them. He was the second Associate minister licensed to preach in the United States, and was of Scotch parentage--members of the Covenanter church. He was born and raised in York county, Pa., was large, robust and corpulent; and his countenance indicated a morose and unsocial disposition, but he was really genial and pleasant, and much respected by his people. His movements were slow and tardy; his dress untidy; his hair, trained with much care, stood erect on his forehead in what was then called a "top-knot," and was fashionable in those days. He was a slave to tobacco, and would stop during the delivery of his sermon to discharge his old, well-chewed quid, and replenish with a new one. His sermons were ably written, and delivered without much gesticulation, and were generally of an argumentative kind. He dealt much with the doctrines of the Bible, but his delivery lacked energy and earnestness, which are so necessary to the Gospel enterprise. For a few years the congregation prospered under his care, and many were added to its membership. His time was divided equally between Poland, Liberty and Deer Creek, and the three congregations had one united Session; part of the elders being in each congregation. This arrangement continued to 1831. But in a few years Mr. Duncan began to promulgate doctrines not taught or received, but witnessed against, by the Associate Presbyterian Church. Charges were preferred against him by the Presbytery, for teaching erroneous doctrines, and, after a protracted a vexatious litigation, both the Presbytery and Synod, he was pronounce guilty, and his license recalled. In 1810, the congregation having decided that their organization was a finality at Deer creek, built a hewed-log house, thirty by thirty-five feet in size, each family providing the number of logs assigned them. The building was erected and prepared for the roof, which was shingled. The inside was finished in better style than many churches in that day. A lofty pulpit was erected, which was reached by a flight of steps, and, when done, was occupied by the preacher and singing clerk. This wonderful piece of mechanism was made of panel-work, and was inclosed so high that a man of ordinary stature was only partly visible from the congregation below. The Church was heated by a wood-stove in the cold season. About 1815, Deer Creek and her sister branches were declared vacancies for the first time. In 1811 the name of Alexander Reed, and, in 1812, that of George Thompson, were added to the Session-roll. In 1816 both the last-named gentlemen left the church, and subsequently the congregation had many lonely Sabbaths. The Rev. Alexander Murray, of the Church in New Castle, &c., was a fast [p. 100] friend in time of need, and often visited and refreshed the congregation with his sermons and counsel. In 1817 Deer Creek and her sister branches made a call upon Rev. Wm. Craig, but the call was not accepted. In 1819 a call was given to Rev. Robert Douglass, and accepted by him. He was ordained and installed pastor of Deer Creek, Poland and Liberty, in 1820. Mr. Douglass was a young, unmarried man, educated at Jefferson College, Pa. He studied divinity with the illustrious and Rev. John Anderson, D. D., and Professor of Theology. Mr. Douglass was under the medium height, and was crippled in his right arm. He was very lively and cheerful in company, and at home upon almost any subject. His pulpit exercises were brief, and delivered with few omissions or mistakes. His sermons seldom exceeded thirty minutes in their deliver. He was very popular. His congregation increased rapidly, and the house was soon too small to contain the people. In 1822, a new frame-church, 40 by 50 feet in dimensions was erected, but it was not completed until the beloved pastor had finished his work militant, for, on the 24th of December, 1823, his Father called him home to receive his reward. A plain stone marks his resting place in the cemetery at Poland Centre. In 1820, David Wilson and James Shields were elected ruling elders of Deer Creek Church. This was the first election of such officers placed upon the Church records. Daniel Wilson died in 1842, after having served acceptably in the Session for twenty-two years. Mr. Shields, on account of deafness, retired from the Session in 1844, and died in 1854, in his eighty-first year. In 1824, a call was given to Rev. D. Carson, but was not accepted. In 1825 Rev. David Goodwillie accepted a call from Deer Creek, Poland and Liberty, and was ordained and installed in April, 1826. His father, Rev. D. Goodwillie, was pastor of the Associate congregation of Barnet for forty years, and his son has filled his half century as pastor of Liberty congregation. Mr. Goodwillie was a native of Vermont. He was very popular with his people, and during his pastorate of seven and a-half years there were added to the congregation one hundred new members, and the church had no vacant seats. Encouraged by prosperity, the congregation in 1832 petitioned Presbytery to grant them all of Mr. Goodwillie's time, and to dissolve the existing relations between Deer Creek, and Poland and Liberty, but the two last named joined issue and counter-petitioned for all of Rev. Goodwillie's time for themselves. Presbytery referred the matter to Mr. Goodwillie, who finally chose to serve Poland and Liberty, and so Deer Creek was left vacant for a third time. In 1827 Thomas Robinson and James McConnell were elected ruling elders of Deer Creek, and their names added to the roll of the United Session. The first roll of members and families of the Deer Creek congregation was recorded in 1827, when the number was seventy-eight families and one hundred and sixty communicants. Thomas Robinson was elected clerk of the United Session in place of Mr. McBride, who had served since the organization of the congregation. In 1836 Mr. Robinson removed from the place. In 1833 Deer Creek presented a call to Rev. Bankhead Boyd, which was not accepted. In 1834 a call was made to Rev. James P. Ramsey, which he accepted, and was ordained and installed July 1, 1835. he was the only son of Rev. James Ramsey, D. D., for many years Professor of Theology at Cannonsburg, Pa. Rev. J. P. Ramsey was a tall, dignified and pleasant gentleman, and so popular with his congregation that he remained with them for twenty-one years. During his pastorate many exciting controversies arose, among which was the slavery question, which shook both church and State to their foundations. Rev. Mr. Ramsey was not an abolitionist at first, and was reticent about meddling with the subject, both in the church and the social circle. About this time Rev. Wright (of the Presbyterian Church) set a notice that he would lecture in Deer Creek on a certain day on the subject of American slavery. This appointment was unsolicited on the part of the congregation. The day arrived, and in the midst of a snow-storm the congregation assembled, including Rev. Ramsey and wife, but when they reached the church they found it locked and guarded. The anti-slavery portion of the congregation took in the situation at once and each returned to his home. No words passed between the members holding different opinions, but the simple fact that the church was closed against free discussion, by the pro-slavery portion of the congregation, was of itself an emphatic lecture upon the subject. This proceeding opened a door which could not be closed, and when, on the next Sabbath Mr. Ramsey took decided anti-slavery ground, many of those who had previously sympathized with the pro-slavery element came over to his support. The determined pro-slavery men, however, soon withdrew from the congregation and organized an Associate Reformed congregation, built a church and named it Beulah, two miles north of Deer Creek, and made a call upon Rev. Thos. Mehard, and their organization was continued up to the time of the Union in 1858. After the "secession" of the pro-slavery element from the church the congregation remaining had no more trouble on the subject, but the departure of so many families weakened them seriously. Among those whose departure left a noticeable vacancy was elder James McConnell. The next feature in the history of this congregation was the controversy which grew out of the marriage question, which caused the departure of two additional parties from the pale of the church. Eventually the Synod revoked the substance of their enactment on the subject, and the question gradually became quiet and was finally dropped altogether. Again the Session attempted to carry out the Synod rule on occasional hearing, but it proved abortive and was abandoned. Another cause of discord was the music and the manner of conducting it in church worship. In Mr. Duncan's time the singing-clerk read one line of the psalm, started the tune, and, with the congregation, sang that line, and so on, until the psalm was finished. "Dublin" (or Coles' Hill) was the only tune used at table service on communion Sabbath. At other times such tunes as "Mear," "Dundee," "Bangor," "Isle of Wight," &c., were used. In Mr. Douglass' time there was a change--two lines of the psalm were read instead of one, and a few tunes, then called "new tunes," at Deer Creek, were introduced, such as "Twenty-fourth," "Dunlap's Creek," "Communion," and others. This practice continued until 1852, excepting that a new tune was occasionally introduced, which always produced an excitement. In 1852 "lining out" the psalm was discarded altogether by an almost unanimous vote of the congregation. A few of the members fought these changes inch by inch, and the controversy was at time bitter. Some withheld a part of their stipends, and for a time absented themselves from the church. But finding that Young America would have it his own way, and being true lovers of Christ's house, they concluded to return and content themselves with the new order of things, and the church never lost a member in consequence of this controversy, which was protracted through a period of over forty years. Another cause that tended to diminish the membership of this church was emigration. Many congregations in the Western States are made up in part of members from Deer Creek Church. In 1869 the congregation built a new meeting house, 43 by 50 feet in dimensions, which was the third one erected at Deer Creek. A Sabbath-school was organized by Rev. Ramsey and the Session, but the failing health of the pastor caused it to be discontinued. In 1836 Hugh Nelson and Dr. John Cowden were elected, ordained and installed ruling elders in the church. In 1839 J. P. Cowden and Thomas Slemonds were elected, ordained and installed ruling elders. In 1841 James McBride, Robert Davidson and John Shields, and 1856, William Dickson, William Duff and D. W. Crawford were also elected, ordained and installed ruling elders. On account o his failing health, Rev. Mr. Ramsey petitioned Presbytery to release him from pastoral duties which petition was granted August 19, 1855, and Mr. Ramsey removed from Deer Creek to New Wilmington, where he engaged in the mercantile business. He was much respected and beloved by his congregation. He died in 1862, and was buried at Deer Creek, where also repose the remains of his son William, who died in the Union army during the rebellion, at Hilton Head, South Carolina. For the fourth time, after the removal of Mr. Ramsey, Deer Creek was without a pastor. In 1857, by a unanimous vote of the congregation, a call was presented to Rev. Josiah Alexander, who accepted, and entered upon his duties April 1st of that year, and has continued to the present time (1877). Mr. Alexander is a native of Washington county, Tennessee. He graduated at Franklin College, New Athens, Harrison county, Ohio, and studied divinity at the Theological Seminary at Cannonsburg, Pa., under Drs. Beveridge and Anderson. Though a Southerner by birth, Rev. Alexander was a strong advocate of the abolition of slavery. He is also a faithful advocate of the temperance cause, and is conscientiously opposed to secret societies. He is an active member of the "National Reform Society." He opposes both the practice and precept of the filthy habit of using tobacco. His advocacy of certain ideas, combined with other causes, produced a spirit of [p. 101] opposition from the commencement of his ministry at Deer Park. When he assumed charge of this congregation, in 1857, there were on the roll the names of sixty-seven families, and one hundred and twenty-eight communicants. These numbers increased rapidly until the house was full. A monthly prayer-meeting was organized, which was well attended for years. The Sabbath-school was re-organized, and soon increased to one hundred and thirty-seven members pledged to total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors. In 1858 the union of the Associate and Associate Reformed Churches was perfected. This union worked unfavorably upon Deer Creek church. There was an Associate Reformed Church at Middlesex, five miles north, and another at Mahoning, four miles south of Deer Creek, and many of the members of the latter drew off to one or the other of these, until Deer Creek was sadly diminished in numbers. A case of discipline for intemperance cost the church the loss of several families, and sympathy with the rebellion at the beginning of the war, drew off several others. Other matters produced bitterness and divided interests, and the church was exceedingly troubled; but, notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the membership gradually increased until it numbered some two hundred. During the rebellion, the families belonging to Deer Creek church furnished between twenty and thirty soldiers for the Union army, of whom six perished in defense of their country. The church had an organized aid society during the war, mostly managed by the female members, which made monthly contributions in aid of the sick and wounded. In 1860 Benjamin Mares, Ralph Van Orsdale and Robert Lowry were elected and qualified ruling elders, and in 1873, John Johnston, James Hill and John Walker were also elected for a term of three years. The legality of this proceeding was submitted to the Presbytery, which confirmed the election, but advised the congregation hereafter to adhere to the order recommended by the Assembly of 1871. The elders were ordained and installed, and their names added to the Session-roll. Up to 1867 Mr. Alexander delivered two sermons each Sabbath, and taught a Bible-class in addition; but since that date he has delivered only one sermon each Sabbath. In 1867 the use of tokens* at communion seasons was discontinued. The same year a board of five deacons was elected and ordained. They resigned during the year, and a new board was elected and qualified for the term of four years. In 1874 the church was repaired and re-furbished at a cost of several thousand dollars. The new version of the Psalms was received about this time, and, by the advice of the pastor, who preached a sermon upon the subject, it was adopted without much opposition, and still continues in use. Since Mr. Alexander began his labors in this congregation, there have been added to its numbers as follows: By profession, 130; by certificate, 119. In the same period of twenty years, there have left the church by dismission, 120. The number of baptisms has been: Adults, 17; infants, 204. *On Saturday evening before the communion, and after services, those intending to commune, passed in single file before the Session, and the moderator dropped one of the tokens in the extended hand of each. When seated at the communion, an elder passed around and collected them. These tokens were made of lead. These statistics do not include members deceased or those who left without certificates. During the same time, Mr. Alexander delivered 2, 240 sermons and lectures; married 120 couples, and preached 95 funeral sermons. There have been but few that entered the ministry from Deer Creek Church. The first was Rev. John Walker, of New Athens, Harrison county, Ohio, pastor of the congregation at Unity, Belmont county, Ohio. He was the leading apostle of the anti-slavery cause in the Associate Church in his day. He died March 8, 1845, in the sixtieth year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his ministry. The Rev. A. Y. Houston was born, raised, and admitted to the church in Deer Creek congregation. Rev. W. H. Walker was also born in the Deer Creek congregation. The names of the elders who have officiated at Deer Creek have been: James McConnell, William Gailey, Robert Walker, William Houston, Samuel McBride, Alexander Reed, George Thompson, David Wilson, James Shields, Thomas Robinson, James McConnell, 2nd, Dr. Cowden, John Montieth, Hugh Nelson, J. P. Cowden, Thomas Slemonds, James McBride, Robert Davidson, John Shields, William Dickson, D. W. Crawford, William Duff, Benjamin Mares, Ralph Van Orsdale, Robert Lowry, John Johnston, John Walker and James Hill. Twenty-eight in number. Present Session: Rev. Josiah Alexander, Moderator; Elders: D. W. Crawford, Robert Davidson, William Dickson, James Hill, John Johnston, Robert Lowery, John Shields and John Walker. First Board: J. D. Smith, John Walker, T. W. Brownlee, J. J. Mares, D. W. Mares. Present Board: J. D. Smith, J. J. Mares, James Paden, Joseph Sample, J. K. Davidson. The congregation-roll numbers one hundred and sixty-two communicants. THE SISTERS-OF-MARY ORPHAN FARM. It is located on land originally donated by William Murrin to Bishop O'Connor, of Pittsburgh, in 1855. The Franciscan Brothers of Pittsburgh at first had charge of it, and in 1856 the larger part of the present brick building was erected. The Brothers at first kept a boarding school, but on account of the location, being so far from Pittsburgh, it did not pay well, and Bishop O'Connor finally sold the land to Bishop Rapp, of Cleveland, about 1860, for three thousand dollars, and the "Sisters of Charity" then took charge, and carried it on for three years. They established an orphan school for girls, and at present (January, 1877) have thirty-five girls and one boy in the school. The school and convent are in a flourishing condition. All the buildings on the farm are substantial and commodious. The frame building erected for a church stood originally on the north side of the road, in the cemetery, but was removed, about 1874, to the place where it now stands. The lower story is used for a school-room for the orphans, and the upper story as a school-room for the novices or young sisters. The spiritual director of the house is Monsieur l'Abbe Begel. The institution is in charge of the Sister Superior, Mother Anna. TOWN OF NEW BEDFORD. Some of the lands in this county which belonged to John Nicholson, the President of the Pennsylvania Population Company, were taken possession of by the State, owing to some default, and commissioners were appointed to sell them. There were twenty-six tracts on the Shenango, and thirteen on the Conoquenessing, and they were purchased by Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, Dr. Peter Mowry and James Patterson. Bedford's land laid along the State line in Pulaski township and extended north from a narrow vacancy, which was about twenty rods wide at the State line, and terminated in a point at a distance of two or three miles to the east. The "Bedford claim" included altogether thirty-seven tracts, running into Mercer county, but he only had a part of the thirty-nine tracts in Lawrence county. The town of New Bedford, is situated on some of the Bedford land, and was named after the doctor, although another circumstance exists which might possibly have been an additional reason for giving the place the name of New Bedford. Where the public watering-trough now stands was originally a "bear-wallow." Three strong springs flowed from the ground at the spot, and, in the mud they formed, the bears were accustomed to roll or "wallow," covering themselves with a muddy coat which protected them from insects. These springs are strongly mineral, and their waters possess many of the curative properties of the famed Bedford Springs, being of the chalybeate or ferruginous variety. The first settlers on the ground where the town stands were James and Thomas Black. In the year 1796, James, Thomas and Andrew Black came from Adams county, Pa., and James and Thomas settled a four-hundred-acre tract, including that on which the town now stands. Andrew settled land on Deer creek, northeast of town. Jacob Van Meter, a brother-in-law of the Black's, came originally from Virginia to the "Forks of the Yough," then in Westmoreland county, Pa.,* and finally settled two hundred acres of the four-hundred-acre tract which the Blacks had taken. Mr. Van Meter lived on his place until 1854, when he died at the age of about seventy-five years. *They probably lived on the west side of the Monongahela, in Washington county. James and Thomas Black built the first house ever erected on the site of New Bedford. It stood for many years, and old Mrs. Sheriff, a sister to the Blacks, lived in it when a girl. The Blacks built the cabin and made other improvements in 1796, and in 1797 went back and brought their mother and three sisters, Jane (Mrs. Sheriff) above mentioned, being the youngest child. Mr. Van Meter brought with him his wife and one child, and, on the 1st of May, 1802, his second child, Morgan Van Meter, was born. The first child, Abraham, was born in Washington county, in June, 1800. Twelve children were born in the family altogether, and of the number two died when young. [p. 102] The second house in the neighborhood was built on what is now the Robert McCullough (or McCulloch) farm. This was a hewed-log structure, and was a fine building for the time. Daniel Inbody came sometime after the Blacks, and, on the 25th of June, 1818, laid out the town. The lots were surveyed by James McCready. The following were original lot-owners in New Bedford: Josiah Cotton, J. Beggs, Elizabeth Winters, Samuel Winters, John C. Little, William Bell, Daniel Inbody, Joseph Jackson, Owen McGeary, John Gaily, Henry Potter, John McCready, William Porter, John Hill, Darby Doran, Michael Doran, D. Armstrong, Alexander Ragan, James Waugh, Joseph Randels, James Mitcheltree, Thomas Mitcheltree, Thomas Irwin, J. H. Anderson, Thomas McDonald, Timothy Swan, A. McFarlane, C. Martines, Barney Harris and James Williamson. The original town consisted of eighty-nine lots, some of them of irregular shape. The regular lots were 60 by 150 feet, and the streets were 50 feet wide. A post-office was established at New Bedford about 1827, with Dr. John McCready as first postmaster. Daniel Indbody had a pottery early, and, according to the statement of John Shields, of Coitsville, Mahoning county, Ohio, he kept the first tavern in the place, and had a blue ball the size of a pumpkin hung out as a sign. Other persons are equally as sanguine that Mr. Inbody never kept a tavern, but only occasionally accommodated people who could find no other place to stay. John Pollock opened a tavern in a brick house, now belonging to William Gealy, and this is said by some to have been the first one in the place. About 1810-11, a well was being dug on the place owned by John Inbody, when a sad accident happened. John and Jacob Inbody were Daniel Inbody's sons, Jacob being mute. These two men and two hired men named (probably) De Wolf, who worked in the red-ware pottery belonging to Inbody, were digging the well, and all four were smothered by the damp. One or two others might also have been killed by the poisonous damp, if the crowd had not held them back, and prevented them from going into the well. A tannery was started by John Lynn very soon after town was laid out ?probably in 1819. The water was carried in log pipes from the springs before mentioned. The tannery was run for some years. Thomas Black built a distillery some years before the town was laid out, near the spot afterwards occupied by the tannery. This was the first distillery built in this part of the country, and never was used after the town was laid out. The water for its use was taken from the same spring which the tannery afterwards used. Dr. John McCready was the first physician in the place, and Dr. Gage the second. Dr. John Cowden came to the town in 1829, and was the third M. D. in the place. Dr. John Ferrel was another early physician. These four were Allopaths. Dr. A. R. McClure was one of the early physicians, also Dr. James Love. Both of these were Eclectics. Dr. Marks was in the place in 1854, and for sometime afterwards. There are, at present, two physicians in the place, Dr. Cowden and Dr. Stevenson. Dr. Cowden was away from the town for fifteen years, but returned about 1854. James Waugh opened the first store in the township, on the present James Brown farm, half a mile east of the Deer creek bridge, on the New Bedford and Pulaski road. Waugh afterwards removed to New Bedford, and opened the first store at that place. Waugh's store was established about 1819, he having bought one of the original lots and built upon it, first a house, then a store. He kept the first store in a part of his house, and afterwards erected another building, and moved his goods into it. This building is now occupied as a dwelling by George McKean. Waugh finally removed to Greenville, Mercer county, and opened a store. He died at that place a few years ago. A man named McDowell opened the second store in New Bedford, and kept it about three years, when he removed to New Jersey. He probably arrived a short time after Waugh. Archibald Douglas kept a tavern in the place early, in the building lately refitted for hotel purposes, and known at present as the "Fountain Hotel." A man named Guthrie had a carding-machine at the place some thirty or forty years since. William Leyda built a steam grist-mill about 1851-52, and operated it for some time. William Clark, of New Castle, and others, afterwards owned it. It is a large frame building, and is not now running. Mr. Leyda afterwards went to Minnesota. William Porter, Esq., and Josiah Cotton started the first blacksmith shops, they being built so near the same time that it is not certain now who opened first. Porter's shop stood in the lot now occupied by Dr. Cowden. John and William Porter probably opened the first wagon shop in the place. Previous to this, a man named Alexander Magahey had a wagon shop west of where the town afterwards stood, and made the first wagons that were manufactured in the country. His shop stood near the State line, on land now owned by Irwin McFarlane. He had two men working with him. The wagons they turned out were rough and clumsy. The first tailor shop was kept by a man named Moore, whose brother came with him and was a blacksmith. They staid in town a short time, and Richard Hoagland came next after them and opened a tailor shop. The first saddle-and-harness shop was opened by Samuel Rogers, who carried it on for some time. A man named Kelso worked at the coopering business after New Bedford was laid out. John Leyda and his sons, William and James, built a saw-mill about 1847-48, a few years before they erected the grist-mill. A bent-wood manufactory was originally started by the Leydas while they were running their saw-mill. It afterwards became the property of other parties, and was carried on in the old grist-mill for some time. In 1874-75 a frame building was erected by John Duff and Cassius Zedeker, in which to carry on the business. It is now the property of Duff, Allen, McCurdy & Bell. A school was taught, about 1802-3, in the old log building erected by the Presbyterian congregation of "Hopewell." James Walker taught this school, and afterwards kept it in his house, which stood on the Pulaski road, northeast of town. George Monteith was also one of the early teachers before the town was laid out. Afterwards a log school-house was built near the spot now occupied by the church, and James Hawthorne was the first teacher. This house was used until 1834, when the free-school law went into effect, and new school-houses were built. The present frame two-story school-house stands in the extreme western part of town. In the lower story a common school is taught, while a select school is kept on the upper floor. Both are well attended and in a prosperous condition. New Bedford has in the neighborhood of three hundred inhabitants. It was incorporated, a borough by Act of Legislature, April 23, 1852, and January 1, 1861, the borough organization was discontinued. HOPEWELL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.--The land where Hopewell Church stands is part of a vacancy, some eighteen or twenty miles in width, running as far north as Sharon, Mercer county. In the old Hopewell graveyard, which was laid out in 1800, the first burial was in 1810. A young lady who was accidentally shot, was buried in that year. This church was one of the first organized in the bounds of the old Presbytery of Erie, the date of its organization being during the year 1800.* *Possibly as early as 1798-99. The first pastor was Rev. William Wick, who was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Erie, September 3, 1800, in connection with Neshannock. Mr. Wick was pastor until his death, which occurred March 29, 1815. The first elders of this church were probably James Walker, William Porter and John Monteith. At any rate, Mr. Walker was one of the first, and helped organize the church. The second pastor was Rev. William Wood, who commenced his pastorate March 11, 1816, in connection with Neshannock. He was released June 25, 1829, and succeeded by Rev. William Nesbit, who was ordained and installed October 7, 1829. Mr. Nesbit was released October 6, 1840. The fourth pastor was Rev. Henry Webber, who was installed April 11, 1849, and released June 29, 1853. Rev. William Nesbit was again installed in May, 1854, and released April 6, 1858. Rev. James Fulton was next installed, May 28, 1867. The church is under the care of the Presbytery of Beaver, and is at present (1876) without a pastor. THE FREE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was formed from a portion of the Hopewell congregation in 1844, owing to differences on the subject of slavery. Rev. John Knox, who must have been supplying Hopewell at the time, joined the Free Church and was its first pastor. This congregation built themselves a church, the same building that is now used as the "town hall." The Campbellites or Disciples have occasional meetings at the hall, but they form part of the congregation at Pulaski, and hold their meetings principally at that place. The Methodists also hold meetings in the hall every second Sabbath. Their present pastor is Rev. A. M. Lockwood. This society organized first at Marr, southeast of New Bedford, and built a church, but finally abandoned it and removed to New Bedford. VILLAGE OF PULASKI. [p. 103] The first settler on the land where Pulaski now stands was probably Daniel Ault who first located on Deer creek, west of town, and afterwards came to the site of the village. Mr. Ault built a grist-mill on the west side of Shenango, about 1800, and afterwards built one on the run north of town. The old mill stood opposite the present mill, and a little farther down the stream. There was also a saw-mill at the east end of the dam, possibly built by John Piper after the grist-mill was erected. The old dam was built by Mr. Ault. In the neighborhood of 1835 a carding-mill was built by Mr. Brenneman, on the west side of the Shenango, just above the old grist-mill. It was operated a number of years and finally removed. A saw-mill stood just above it, probably built by Hunter & Watson. The saw-mill was afterwards burned. The Erie Extension of the Pennsylvania canal was completed about 1836, to Pulaski, and during the year 1832 the town was laid out by William Byers and John Piper. Union street was the line between them, Byers having the part south of it, and Piper that which was on the north side. The first dwelling erected on the new town-plot was a log house built by John Crawford. William M. Stitt came to the village July 21, 1833, from Huntingdon county, Pa., where he had learned the tailor's trade. He opened the second tailor shop in Pulaski, the first one having been started by John Porter. When Mr. Stitt came to town it contained only eight dwellings, and he is now the only person in the place who was here in July, 1833. The buildings standing at that time were owned by James Dawson, John Crawford (who had a double log-house, in one part of which he carried on the hatting business), Andrew McWilliams, William Watson, John Hunter (who had a blacksmith shop where the post-office now stands), Samuel and Andrew Tannehill, Marcus Best (who had a chair-and-cabinet shop), and D. C. Matthews (a store-keeper). It is possible that James Hopper, who also had a store, may have been here at that time, but he probably came later. A number of buildings were erected in the Fall of that year. Andrew McWilliams and William Watson had kept a store--the first in the place, and the one opened by D. C. Matthews was the second. William Dickey and John P. Wright also had a store afterwards, and William and Amos J. Waugh another. James F. Scott came to the village in 1839, and, in company with Hugh Bell, opened a general store. Mr. Scott is now carrying on the business in the same place. David A. McKee came to the town in the Spring of 1837, from Shenango township, and, since 1842, has carried on a harness-shop. He learned his trade in the shop of Caldwell & Morrison, which was the first one in the village, established by A. E. Caldwell, in 1836. J. F. Morrison afterwards went into the business with Caldwell. There is at present but the one shop (Mr. McKee's) in the place, although at one time there were three, owned by J. L. Welch, Samuel McCready and Mr. McKee. McKee's shop was the second in town, McCready's third, and Welch's fourth. Soon after Mr. McKee opened his shop, Mr. Caldwell died, and his partner, Mr. Morrison, abandoned the harness business and removed to a farm. The first blacksmith-shop was opened by B. T. Harris in the Spring of 1833. John Hunter came next, and made edged-tools. Allen B. Wallace came to the village about 1837-38. John Porter's tailor-shop, before mentioned, was in the west end of McWilliams & Watson's store. The building now occupied for hotel purposes by M. G. Elliott, was built by Amos Waugh, in 1836. He used the east end for a dwelling, and kept a store in the west end. The first hotel in the place was probably kept by James Byers, in the building still standing at the northwest corner of Union street and the Mercer road. At one time there were five or six taverns in town, and every one of them had a bar in connection. At present the only liquor sold is that dispensed by the druggists. The first physician in Pulaski was Dr. William Wood, who came in the Spring of 1833. Henry King had a shoe-shop early, possibly the first one in the place. David and John Carnahan, and a Mr. Sommerville, opened the first wagon-shops. In 1833 William and Smith Byers were running the old Ault grist-mill. It was then a heavy, frame building. The grist-mill now owned by Hull & Swogger, was built by McWilliams & Wright, about 1840-44. The covered wooden bridge across the Shenango, at Pulaski, was built by a man named Bingham, in the Fall of 1833. It has been repaired considerably, and is yet a very strong structure. A planing-mill was built on the bank of the canal by Scott & Wallace, in 1863, and is the only one ever in the place. It has a saw-mill in connection. A Cornet Band was originally organized a number of years since. The present one was organized in the Fall of 1875, and consists of eleven pieces. The leader is E. L. Welch. John H. Porter, Esq., came to Pulaski in 1842, and in 1843 established a foundry. His present foundry building was erected in 1854, and he began work in it in 1855, and carried on the business until 1871, when he rented to his son, N. M. Porter, who has since continued the business. The manufactures are plows, sled-shoes, &c., and in the machine-shop connected with it a steam-engine is occasionally made. About 1872 four brothers, named Reno, united and formed a partnership under the style of Reno Brothers, for the manufacture of "Reno's French Umber Filler.' The basis of this popular paint is a peculiar mineral mined in Lawrence county. These men have a mill on the Erie and Pittsburgh railway, 45 by 60 feet in size, with a capacity of about two tons daily, and occasionally the demand is so great that orders accumulate on the their hands. The paint they manufacture tends to preserve from decay everything to which it is applied. It is very much used on rough work, and is shipped to many parts of the country. A postal-route was established between Mercer and Youngstown in 1827, and passed through New Wilmington, Pulaski and New Bedford, the latter and New Wilmington then being the only towns laid out. For a number of years they only had weekly mail. In 1839 James F. Scott was the only man in Pulaski who took the Pittsburgh Gazette, and now about seventy copies of this paper, now known as the Gazette-Commercial (changed in February, 1877), come to the office. The first postmaster at Pulaski was Andrew Tannehill, the office being established about 1832. The old post-office stood on the lot opposite that on which James F. Scott's store now stands, the old site now owned by Hugh McConnel, who lives in Ohio. The postmasters since Tannehill, have been William Dickey, James McCready, Hugh Bell, D. C. Matthews, William McCready, and at present, Mr. McCready's wife.* *Mr. McCready died in office. About 1803-4 a log school-house was built near the spot where the spring-house now stands on James McCready's place. One of the first teachers was John Byers, who taught in 1806-7, and probably before. He was a son of William Byers, who laid out the south part of town. William Byers was the first sheriff of Mercer county, appointed November 9, 1803. The second school-house in the neighborhood stood on what is now the Frank Wilson farm, nearly a mile east of Pulaski, and John Bellows (or Belles) was the teacher. This was also a log building. The third school-house was a log structure, and is now part of John D. Clark's dwelling. It stood on the hill east of town. The two-story frame school-house now standing, was built in the Summer of 1876, at a cost of $1,500. It is a neat, substantial structure, painted white, and amply large to accommodate the needs of the village. Pulaski now contains five stores, one harness shop, two tailor shops, three blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, one cooper shop, one paint shop, one carpenter shop, one grist-mill, one foundry, one planning-mill, two saw-mills, one paint-mill, one shoe shop; three physicians, one dentist, three church organizations, with two church-buildings; one two-story frame school-house, two millinery establishments, two horticultural establishments, one hotel, and two hundred inhabitants. The Erie and Pittsburgh railway has a station on the west side of the river, near Reno Brothers' paint works. PULASKI PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.--A meeting of the Presbyterians of Pulaski and vicinity, to ask for a church in the village, was held May 25, 1837, at the house of T. M. Best. William Wilson was appointed a committee to apply to the Presbytery for that purpose. The request was granted, and Rev. William Nesbit appointed to organize the church. In the Fall of the same year (1837) the organization was completed, with a membership of thirty-seven, the members being from the congregations of Neshannock (New Wilmington) and Hopewell (New Bedford). The first meeting was held in the school-house, and the second in the grove east of where the church now stands. The first elders were Patrick Willson, Alexander Cotton and John P. Wright, elected probably in the Fall of 1837. The second elders were Samuel Satterfield and William McCready, elected [p. 104] in the Fall of 1841. The present membership of the church is one hundred and sixty. Revs. William Woods, Absalom McCready and Robert Sample were stated supplies until June, 1845, when Rev. Henry Webber was installed as the first regular pastor. He had been with them since November 30, 1844, and continued his pastorate almost eight years. The second pastor was Rev. David Waggoner, who was installed in the Fall of 1853, and had charge until 1864. Rev. R. T. Price then supplied them for about eighteen months. Rev. J. P. Fulton was installed as third regular pastor, May 12, 1866, and his pastoral relation was dissolved October 5, 1869. Rev. T. B. Anderson came in the Spring of 1871, and served two years. Rev. A. C. Campbell succeeded in the Spring of 1874 (first Sabbath in April) and remained until April, 1876. Rev. Seth R. Gordon is the present stated supply and pastor-elect. All the pastors, previous to Mr. Campbell, preached part of their time at the Hopewell Church, at New Bedford, but, beginning with Mr. Campbell's time, Pulaski has been the sole charge. A Sabbath-school was organized in the Fall of 1843-44, and has been continued Summer and Winter ever since. Sunday schools had been held since the previous Spring, but no regular organization was completed until the Fall. The present frame church-building was begun in the Fall of 1840, and finished in the Spring of 1841. The lot on which it stands was donated by William Byers for church and school purposes when he laid out his part of the town. The first sermon in the church was preached by Rev. Absalom McCready, early in May, 1841, on the death of President Harrison. The church stands in the southern part of the town, and is a neat, substantial building, capable of accommodating an audience of respectable dimensions. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH of Pulaski was organized in 1854 or 1855, their first meetings being held in the school-house. Their first pastor was Rev. Robert Caruthers. The present frame church was built in the Fall of 1856. It was dedicated some time during that Winter. The present membership is in the neighborhood of seventy. Among the pastors since Mr. Caruthers' time, have been Revs. H. H. Moore, ____ Boyle, * * * * * R. M. Bear, S. Gregg, _____ Shattuck, J. F. Perry, J. Crum, J. C. Colton, J. S. Card, J. K. Mendenhall, E. L. Beardsley, H. Henderson, H. C. Smith, and the present pastor, A. M . Lockwood. A Sabbath-school was organized during Rev. J. F. Perry's pastorate, and has been kept up ever since. CHRISTIAN CHURCH.--The brick block, having a hall overhead, was built by Henry Kyle in 1870, and the hall is used for church purposes by the Disciples congregation. This society held its first meetings in Pulaski, in the Fall of 1864, using the school-house, the Methodist Episcopal church, and other places. It was for some time in connection with the congregation at Edenburg, in Mahoning township. In 1870-71 it was organized as a separate congregation by Rev. Henry Camp. The first regular pastor was Rev. Orange Higgins. Since him the pastors have been Revs. S. B. Teegarden, Thomas Hillock, Henry Camp and William F. Cowden, the latter being the present pastor. Revs. Hillock, Camp and Cowden have preached in the hall. This congregation organized with something over twenty members, and, in January, 1877, included about forty. The congregation is partially made up of members from New Bedford, and a portion of the time meetings are held at that place. A Sabbath-school has been organized about a year, and has some thirty or forty members. Its first superintendent was James Micheltree, and present one is Thomas Lutton. MILITARY. REVOLUTIONARY WAR.--James Stevenson served in the Revolutionary army, and was taken prisoner by the British at Philadelphia, and held nine months. The father of James, Thomas and Matthew Black, who settled where New Bedford now stands, served in the Revolution, and died in Washington county, Pa. WAR OF 1812.--Andrew Marquis served in Captain Matthew Dawson's company, and went to Sandusky, Fort Meigs, &c., with Harrison. Joshua Bentley went to Sandusky, and afterwards to Erie. James, David and John McCready (sons of James McCready), John Somerville, Matthew Black, William Lockhart, and William Sheriff's father, served also. James and Alexander Neal were at Erie, the former twice, and the latter three times. John McFarlane (son of Francis McFarlane) was out twice to Erie. John Gealy also, and went to Erie. James Walker served in Captain Alexander Thompson's company at Erie, and helped haul Commodore Perry's fleet over the bar. MILITIA COMPANIES were organized after the war of 1812, and among them was a rifle company, known as the "Shenango Marksmen." This company held its drills at the settlement where Pulaski now stands. Its officers were, at different times, William Sheriff, Ebenezer Byers, William Allen, Samuel Byers, and others not now recollected. The organization was kept up about thirty years. The company went to Mercer for general muster, and also occasionally drilled in New Castle. Its first uniform was a yellow hunting shirt with a white fringe, red sash, and a citizen's hat having a white plume with a red top. This was a volunteer company, and was one of four companies composing a battalion, which held its reviews at Mercer. The battalion was at one time commanded by one Hamilton, who had been promoted from captain of a company to major, and afterwards became colonel, and, finally, general of militia. During the rebellion of 1861-65 the township furnished a considerable number of troops for the Union army. Several regiments were represented, Pulaski has been noted for her patriotism from the date of her earliest settlement, and her sons have sprung to arms at every call when the country was in danger. Many sleep in lonely graves, far from their homes, who died nobly in the cause of liberty. All honor to those who are living, and a grateful tear for the fallen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------