Mon Valley History
Rostraver Twp.
From: History of Westmoreland County. 1882
BOUNDARIES, ETC.
ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP was among the first organized townships in the county, having been erected April 6, 1773, with boundaries as follows:
"Beginning at the mouth of Jacobs Creek, and running down the Youghogheny to where it joins the Monongahela; then up the said Monongahela to the mouth of Redstone creek; and thence with a straight line to the beginning."
The first officers elected in the township were Baltzer Shilling, constable; Alexander Mitchell and Samuel Biggard, overseers of the poor; Eysham Barnes, supervisor.
Other early settlers, beside the first officers above named, were Rev. James Power, the Finleys, George Wendell and his son Peter, the Cunninghams, Fullerton, Pinkertons, Housemaids, Robertson’s, Thompsons, Shepplers, Lowreys, Pattersons, Orrs, McClains, Robinsons, Caldwells, Steeles, Wilsons, Smiths, Eiselles, McClures, Hutchinsons, and others.
The present boundaries of the township are: north by Forward and Elizabeth townships, Allegheny County; south by Washington township, Fayette County; east by the Youghiogheny; and west by the Monongahela River.
The principal stream after the two rivers just mentioned is Saw-Mill Run. This township is much diversified in its topography, having high and romantic bluffs along the streams, and more or less level land in the interior. There is an abundance of coal and limestone found in the eastern part, and the very best quarries of flagstone in the west, near Webster Post-office.
The first actual settler in the township was Joseph Hill, who came from Winchester (now Westminster), Carroll Co., Md., in 1854 (1754?). He was then eighteen years old, and had made quite extensive improvement when Braddock's army passed in the summer following (1755). He settled about one mile a little northwest of Rehoboth Church, on lands now owned by the Fishers, Finleys, Frees, Brownellers, and others. His father, also named Joseph Hill, served seven years in the Revolution, and after its close settled in the township near his son.
Before the Revolution the Housemans and Sheplers came from near Winchester, Md., and settled. Of the latter there were three brothers, viz., Peter, Matthias and Caleb, who located on the Monongahela River hills. Matthias Shepler married a daughter of Joseph Hill, the first settler, and had the following children: John, Philip, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Mary, Margaret, and Catherine, of whom John, Isaac, and Jacob remained in the township, the other sons emigrating West. Isaac married Mary Houseman, and was the father of the venerable Capt. Joseph Shepler.
After Joseph Hill the next actual settlers were George Wendell and his family, who came from Hagerstown, Md., in the spring of 1758, and whose settlement in the northeastern part of the township is described elsewhere in a sketch of this family.
Among other early pioneers were Joseph Blackburn, Dr. Bela B. Smith, Col. John Power, James Sterrett, John Steele, Capt. William Elliott, William Robeson, the Pattersons, Nathaniel Hayden, and the Wrights. The two first pastors of Rehoboth Church were Revs. James Power and James Finley. The former was born in 1746, in Chester County, Pa., and left eight daughters, but no sons. Rev. Mr. Finley was born in 1725, in County Armagh, Ireland, and died June 6, 1795, leaving several children, whose numerous descendants are still found scattered throughout the township.
AN HISTORIC RECOLLECTION.
The following touching the visit of Lafayette to the United States
and his reception in our part of the county is from the Gazette of June
3,1825:
We are pleased to learn that Gen. Lafayette expressed his gratification at Pittsburgh with the reception with which he met at Lebanon School-house, in Rostraver township, Westmoreland Co."On Saturday last, about 10 o'clock A.M., intelligence was received by express in
this place that Gen. La Fayette would he at the Brick Meeting-House in the
Forks of Yough at 10 o'clock the following morning. Maj. Alexander, agreeably
to a wish communicated through the messenger, paraded his artillery company
on horseback, and set out at six o'clock with 2 field-pieces. They proceeded
eight miles the same evening, and on the following morning were joined at Gen.
Markle’s by a part of Capt. Pinkerton's artillery company with another field-piece.
The troops, under the command of Maj. Alexander, together with a number of
private citizens from the surrounding country, arrived at Lebanon School-House,
adjacent to the Meeting-House, at about 11 o'clock. The three field-pieces were
placed on the side of the hill immediately back of the school-house. Telegraphs
were posted on the surrounding hills, who gave information when the 'Nation's
Guest' passed the county line, upon which a salute of 13 guns was fired. In a few
minutes the general and suite, escorted by 50 or 60 citizens of Fayette County,
mounted, arrived. He reviewed the troops, shaking each one cordially by the
hand, after which he partook of refreshments provided by Gen. Markle. A
number of persons, were then introduced, among whom was old Mr. Sterrett, of
Rostraver township, who bed fought with him at Brandywine. The meeting was
an interesting and affecting one. He examined the brass 4-pounder belonging to
Maj. Alexander's artillery corps, and said it was a Spanish piece, but that It was
not engaged in the battle of Saratoga, as was generally supposed. He paid his
respects to a number of ladies, who had assembled to see him, and having got
fresh horses in his phaeton, escorted by the citizens and a part of the military to
Beazel’s tavern (late Daily's), where refreshments were provided, after partaking
of which he proceeded toward, Braddock’s Fields, accompanied by a concourse
of citizens of Allegheny County, where he arrived at 4 o'clock in the evening. He
retired to his chamber to peruse some letters received from his family In France,
and on Monday morning last entered Pittsburgh."It rained very hard a considerable part of the day, which, together with the
distance the troops had to travel (22 miles), made them appear to great
disadvantage. All, however, passed off well, and each one was pleased with the
trip, and the appearance and conduct of the old friend of American
independence."
THE OLDEST LIST OF TAXABLES
we have seen of the inhabitants of this section made during the Revolution,
furnishes the following names and data:
"A return of the Names and Surnames of the Taxable Inhabitants of the Township of Rostraver and their Taxable property taken by order of the Commissioners of Westmoreland County by Matthew Jamison Assistant Assessor:(CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE)
______________________The exact date of the above list of taxables cannot he learned, but
it is evident it was made up during the Revolution. It is noticeable that
although there were columns for the number of acres of land which were
held by deed and by warrant, yet there was no report made of any as so
held, but all was returned as held by location or by improvement. In the
col. columns for "barns" the figures represent the number of outbuildings,
and the letter "B" is used for barns. In the list of occupations, etc.,
those who are not designated are understood to be farmers. The y. m. stand
for young men. The proportion of cabins to houses was
as Falstaff's sack to his bread.
SCHOOLS.
A school-house was built and occupied for school purposes during the
interval from 1780 to 1805. The school was supported by subscription, and
the scholars were compelled to go a distance of four or five miles. The
teachers were generally incompetent, and ruled with tyranny. This school-house
had a straw roof and paper windows. The house that was built in 1805 is
still standing near the centre of the township, being the first to have
a clapboard roof and glass windows. Its first teacher, G. H. Lower, was
from New York, and was a fine scholar. He taught, besides the common branches,
a class of six for some time
in Greek and Latin. He remained quite a while in the township,
and created quite an interest in education. In 1812 two more school-houses
were erected, one in the northern and the other in the southern part of
the township. The latter was deeded by Samuel Burnes for school purposes
as long as water would run or grass grow." Among the leading teachers were
Lower, Roberts, and Darr. The schools continued on in the old ruts until
the passage of the common school law. Many being opposed, the schools did
not succeed very well for some time. Among the first directors were John
Power, E. Moore, and P. Rhyal. At this time there were but six houses in
the district. The first year after the adoption of the school law two new
houses were built, one at Leusty, and the other at Iowa. At this
time there were no graded schools, but some of the teachers were capable
of teaching higher mathematics and the languages. Among the prominent
teachers were Eckley, Darr, ex-United States Senator Edgar Cowan, and Douglass.
The schools continued to be ungraded until 1873, when the Webster School
was divided, and the upper room was taught by Professor L. P. Smith. In
1866 new houses began to take the places of the old ones, two being built
each year, until at present there are fourteen in the township, two being
independent, viz., Lagrange and North Bellevernon. Among the zealous workers
for the last ten years are Lowry, McLane, Brown, and others.
ROHOBOTH CHURCH CEMETERY.
Rohoboth Church (Presbyterian) is one of the pioneer churches of the
county. The present edifice, a brick structure, was erected in 1836. Rev.
A. F. Boyd is the present pastor. Among the early settlers buried in the
cemetery attached are
Dr. Bela B. Smith, died Oct. 17, 1841, aged 79; his wife, Elizabeth,
died May 13, 1844, aged 74.
Elenor Moore, died Jan. 7, 1819, aged 53.
Jane, wife of Robert Moore, died April 11, 1832, aged 80.
James Starrett, died July 8, 1829, aged 78; his wife, Elizabeth,
died March 26, 1833, aged 80.
Robert Galloway, died June 30, 1818, aged 49.
Col. John Power, elder of Rohoboth church, died July 29, 1805,
aged 48; his wife, Margaret, died March 10, 1836, aged 80; their
daughter, Jane, died Nov. 14, 1798, aged 18.
Mary, wife of John Power, died April 14, 1856, aged 46
Rev. James Finley, born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1725,
died Jan. 6, 1795; was forty-six years in the ministry; his wife,
Hannah, died April 1, aged 80; their son, Michael, died July 29,
1850, aged 77; he was a ruling elder in Rohoboth Church.
Fanny, wife of Joseph Finley, died Feb. 18, 1847, aged 66.
John Steele, died Jan. 10, 1856, aged 81 His wife, Nancy H.,
died Aug. 23, 1850, aged 69.
William Bigham, died Dec. 12, 1844, aged 74.
George Crawford, died June 11,1797, aged 52.
Capt. William Eliott, died March 20, 1804, aged 54; his wife,
Ruth, died July 2, 1830, aged 76.
SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY.
This church, located in the northern part of the township, was organized
in 1792, and is the oldest of this denomination in the county. The first
pastor was Rev. Mr. Barkley. The present brick edifice was erected in 1842.
WEBSTER
is the largest town in the township, and is located in its northwestern
part on the Monongahela River. It was laid out in 1833 by Benjamin Beazell
and a Mr. Ford, and so named in honor of the great statesman, Daniel Webster,
then in the zenith of his power and glory. Here Samuel Walker built the
first steamboat on the Monongahela River, and for many years this place
was a noted point for the building of steam-boats. Here are located the
Webster Coal Company's Works, operated by Sneeden & Willson, lessees
of John Guffey, of Greensburg. These are the old Blackamore Works.
John Gilmore also has coal-mines, now being extensively worked.
The Presbyterian Church edifice was erected in 1881, and is supplied with preaching by the pastor of Rehoboth. The Methodist Episcopal Church building was built in 1866, and is a neat frame structure. It is on the Fell's Church Circuit, and before its erection preaching was had in the school-house. The present pastor is Rev. Taylor; Sunday-school superintendent, D. Richards; and Trustees, F. C. Anderson, Asbury Fell, George W. Smith, D. Richards, Christian Keighline, Thomas F. Brown, and Lewis McDonal.
BLACKAMORE LODGE, No.701, I. 0.0. F.
was instituted in 1871. Its first officers were N. G., D. B. Brooks;
V. G., Alex. Simrall; Sec., Jacob Tomer; Asst. Sec., John Brooks; Treas.,
John F. Birmingham. Its Past Noble Grands who are still members are D.
B. Brooks, Philip Andre, Sr., John Boyd, Henry Boyd, Philip Duwall, William
Hodgson, John W. Jones, Lewis V. Jones, A. G. Milholland, Alexander Simrall,
Thomas Strickland, Robert Sarber, and Philip H. Andre. The officers for
1882 are: N. G., Thomas Strickland; V. G., Frederick Zimmer; Sec., A. J.
Milholland.; Asst. Sec., Robert Sarber; Treas., Philip H. Andre; Trustees,
L. V. Jones, John Boyd, P. H.
Andre. It has thirty-nine members, and meets every Saturday evening.
WEBSTER LODGE, ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED BRETHREN, No. 70,
was chartered Feb. 9, 1874. The following were the charter members
and first officers: P. M. W., John Brooks; M. W., W. H. Hodgson; G. F.,
D. B. Brooks; 0., Stephen Doyle; G., Michael Miller; Fin., Samuel Campbell;
Rec., Dr. E. K. Strong; I. W., James Forsythe; OW., Lewis Shepler; J. F.
McDonal, R. E. M. McDonal, S. C. Hara, V. W. Thomas, George Hodgson, Wm.
Snyder, Samuel Insler,: B. F. Seichman, J. S. Wall, John Jenkins,
A. Booth, A. Sharp, T. E. Spence, B. Firestone, James Shaw, P. Kern, H.
Cropp, L. Nahar, Philip Dewall, William Evans, H. Miller. The officers
in 1882 are: P. W. M., Sandy Wilson; W. M., Joseph Taylor; F., Conrad Steinoble;
Fin., Dr. J. T. Krepps; Rec., Albert Allen; Receiver, Samuel Campbell;
G., William Hamilton. It meets twice a month.
STAR OF THE WEST LODGE, No. 26, L. 0. L.,
was instituted Sept. 19, 1871. The first officers were: W. M., John
Holt; D. M., George Archibald; Sec., Joseph Cocain; Treas., Charles Cocain;
Chap., Samuel Haney. The officers in 1882 are: W. M., W. J. T. Campbell;
D. M., Thomas Cocain; Sec., Jacob M. Fish; Treas. and Chap., Samuel Campbell;
Tyler, John Mure; Com., John Starline, John Stewart, Benjamin Braley, Joseph
Taylor, George Booth. The lodge meets the first, third, and fifth
Fridays of each month.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
A little of the northern part of the borough of Bellevernon is in this
township.(1) Rostraver is a hamlet in the eastern part, having a
Methodist Episcopal Church, mills, stores, and shops. Bakertown is a small
place on the Monongahela below Webster. Mount Pleasant is another hamlet
in the southeast portion, containing a Union Church, school, etc.
The principal business of the inhabitants of the township is agriculture, but there is a large amount of capital invested in the coal interest, principally in the way of grist- and saw-milling.
Footnote (1): North Bellevernon Borough- The court, on Feb. 26, 1876, on the formal presentation of the grand jury of the petition filed in the clerk's office decreed and ordered that the citizens of Rostraver township and residents of Speer's new addition to Bellevernon, within the boundaries described, should be vested with corporate privileges, and thenceforth be a borough. Samuel Dougherty was appointed the first judge of the borough election, and Frank Morgan and Thomas Hunt inspectors.
THE WEDDELL FAMILY.
George Weddell and his son Peter, a boy aged sixteen, left Hagerstown,
Md., in the spring of 1758 for the purpose of settling among the Western
wilds. They followed what was then known as "Braddock's trail" until they
reached the Youghiogheny River, which they descended until they arrived
at an old Indian fort, where they decided to make their home. Here they
erected a cabin, cleared and cultivated the soil. In the fall of the same
year the father returned to Maryland, leaving his son in company with another
young man, where they remained until spring, supposing themselves to be
the only white men west of the Allegheny Mountains. Their food consisted
of such game as then abounded in the forests, and corn ground on a "hominy-block,"
and baked on flat stones. In May, 1759, the father, George Weddell, accompanied
by the remainder of his family and by other friends, again reached his
Western home. He had five sons, two of whom emigrated to Kentucky, two
others remained on
the original homestead (now the property of Isaac Irwin), while Peter
located and took out a warrant for four hundred acres now in Westmoreland
County, and about a mile from the farm of his father. In 1774 he
married Rebecca Prichard, who died in
1780, leaving three children, Jesse, Lydia, and Joseph P. In 1783 he
married Miss Parsons, and in the following year received an injury from
which he died. He left another son, Peter M., who went to Cleveland, Ohio,
and became a very successful business man. Horace, only son of the latter,
is now a resident of that city, and worth several millions of dollars.
Jesse, Lydia, and Joseph P. were reared by their grandparents. Jesse emigrated
to Indiana, and Lydia married James Montgomery. In 1802, Joseph P. married
Sarah Scott, and settled and lived on the farm of his father until his
death, in April, 1871. Twice during his life he, in company with his family,
rode on horseback to Chicago, then a straggling village. His children
were Rebecca, married to John Penny; Hannah, married to Thomas Penny; Margaret,
married to T. F. Thomas, and died August, 1870; Jesse, Scott J., and Peter
M. Rebecca and Hannah, with their husbands, removed to Iowa. Peter M. is
a Baptist minister of celebrity in Ohio. Jesse and Scott J. were farmers,
owning two hundred acres of the tract located and settled by their grandfather,
Peter Weddell, and also three hundred acres adjoining, all of which is
improved and every acre of which is arable ground. Jesse occupied a
seat in the House of Representatives in the sessions of 1851-54, and
proved one of the best legislators the county ever had. Jesse Weddell removed
to Kansas some two years ago, but Scott J. still occupies part of the old
homestead.
BUDD'S FERRY AND THE BUDD FAMILY.
The Budd estate, just south of West Newton, on the Youghiogheny River,
and in Rostraver township, has been in the possession of the Budd family
for over a century. John F. Budd, the late owner, came into possession
after the death of
his father, Benjamin Budd. Joseph Budd, Sr., with his two brothers,
Conklin and Joshua, came from Somerset County, N. J., before the Revolutionary
war and settled here. Conklin only remained a short time, and went else-where
to seek his fortune, but Joseph and Joshua became large owners of lands
at the ferry owned by them and named in their honor, and also in the "Forks."
Joshua, who became a major, married Miss Betsey Fitch, kept store, tavern,
and dealt largely in all kinds of stock and in lands. He laid out Mount
Vernon, on the plateau west of the ferry, and intended to make of it a
great town. Although he sold several
lots, and a few houses were erected, the town really existed only on
paper. He had two sons, Daniel and Joshua, Jr. The latter married
Charity Sparks, of Washington County, and died in New Orleans, where he
was on a trip with his boats loaded with produce and provisions. His widow
married John Cooper, a tanner, of Robbstown (West Newtown), who sold out
his tannery there to Mr. Fulton, and went to Williamsport, and there established
a tannery. Dying there his widow married John Smouse, who kept the
"Valley Inn," three miles west of Monongahela City. Joseph Budd married
and had seven children. Of these Amy
was married to John Sutton, Rebecca to William Walsh, Betsey to Benjamin
Stewart, of Rostraver township, Rachel to Isaac McLaughlin, Esther to Robert
Armstrong, of Wayne County, Ohio, and Joseph, Jr., to Miss Stewart, of
Rostraver. The other child, Benjamin, married Miss Nellie Finley, and inherited
the large homestead estate at the ferry.
Joseph Budd, Sr., donated the ground for the Salem Baptist Church and
for the cemetery thereto attached. He assisted Nathaniel Hayden, David
Davis, and others in erecting the church edifice in 1792. The Budds came
to the Youghiogheny River before the Indians were all gone, and when the
only settlement between Gen. Simrall's ferry (West Newton) and their ferry
was one solitary cabin. All emigration to the West, which a few years after
their settlement had become very large, had to pass over either Budd's
or Simrall's ferry, or else there take flat-boat. Some strangers
from the East came and occupied a cabin
near the ferry; They were rather prepossessing in manners, and agreeable
in their intercourse with the settlers, but seemed to have no business
other than fishing and hunting. After the death of Woods, one of their
number, they all immediately left. After their departure there were
found secreted on and in the premises vacated by them all manner of apparatus
for counterfeiting, and it turned out these people who had their rendezvous
here were the greatest band of counterfeiters in the country, who had fled
from New York to escape the officers, and here in the mountains of a new
settlement pursue their schemes unmolested. On the Budd estate are some
remains of the ancient mound-builders, which are among the largest and
best preserved in the State.
THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY.
James Cunningham was born in Lancaster County in 1857 (1757?), and
removed in 1784 to Rostraver township, where he had purchased a considerable
tract of land. He married Mary Robinson, of this township. Their children
were:
1. Robert, born April 15, 1790.
2. Mary, married James Elliot.
3. Alexander.
4. James.
5. John.
6. William.
7. Nancy, died unmarried.
He served in the navy in the Revolutionary war, and died in 1841. He
had a distillery on his farm, where the populace often met in the "Whiskey
Insurrection of 1784" to discuss their grievances. Robert Cunningham married
Brittie Bennett in 1818. He served in the war of 1812 in Capt. James Markle's
company, and was shot through the body, but lived to be eighty-four years
of age, and died Aug. 20, 1873. His children were:
1. John Bennett, born Jan. 1, 1820.
2. Mary, married John V. Hurst.
3. Harriet, died young.
4. Nancy.
5. Harriet (second), died young.
6. Lavina.
7. Elvira.
8. William H.
9. Minerva.
10. James Elliott.
The family is of Scotch-Irish origin, and settled in Lancaster County on arrival in America in 1725.
GIBSONTON MILLS.
The mills of John Gibson's Son & Co. are located at Gibsonton,
near Bellevernon, on the Monongahela River, and manufacture pure Monongahela
rye, wheat, and malt whiskeys. It employs seventy-five hands, and is the
largest rye distillery in the State and probably in the Union. The mills
began operation in 1857, under the firm-name of "John Gibson, Sons &
Co.;" but after the death of John Gibson, in 1864, and of his son Alfred,
the firm-name was changed to "John Gibson's Son & Co.," the son being
Henry C. Gibson, of Philadelphia, and Andrew M. Moore and Joseph F. Sinnott.
When first established, a quarter of a century ago, the capacity of the
mills was two hundred and fifty bushels daily, but the business has grown
to such dimensions that the capacity now is seven hundred and seventy-five
bushels, or a product of sixty-five barrels of whiskey every twenty-four
hours. For twenty years these mills have been under the superintendence
of T. L. Daly, whose father was one of the contractors in the
building of the original works. The mills and various other buildings
are on grounds of forty acres of area, contiguous to which is the farm
of three hundred acres. The eight bonded warehouses have a capacity of
forty thousand barrels of whiskey, and at this writing are filled to their
utmost limit. This distillery is registered as No. 14 in the Twenty-second
Revenue District of the State. The buildings were erected in 1856-69, warehouse
No. 4 in 1870, No. 5 in 1880, and the others since then, and all under
the trained eye and supervision of Mr. Daly, the efficient superintendent
of the mills.
Bonded Warehouses:
No. 1 is 50 1/2 by 100 feet, basement, two-story, attic, slate roof,
and built of stone.
No. 2 is 110 by 50 feet, basement, three-story, attic, slate roof,
and built of stone.
No. 3 is 50 by 93 1/2 feet, basement, three-story, attic, slate roof,
and built of stone.
No. 4 is 50 by 106 feet, basement, three-story, attic, slate roof,
and built of stone.
No. 5 is 200 by 50 feet, basement, one-story, iron roof, and built
of stone.
No. 6 is 200 by 50 feet, two-story, basement, attic, slate roof, and
built of stone.
No. 7 is 225 by 50 feet, three-story, attic, slate roof, and built
of stone.
No. 8 is a one-story frame, board roof, 50 by 250 feet, and is only
a temporary building.
There are five other warehouses. The malt-house is a four-story stone
building with slate roof, and has an annual capacity of thirty thousand
bushels of malt. The other buildings are the distillery, mill-house, drying
kiln; saw-mill, boiler-house, two carpenter-shops, two cooper-shops, blacksmith-shop,
and ice-house. Adjoining the mills is the residence of the superintendent
(an elegant stone structure), near which are the coach-house, spring-house,
wagon-house, and two barns, and on a street leading to the mills are nineteen
tasteful dwellings, the residences of the workmen. There are four steam-engines
of forty,
sixty, sixteen, and twenty horse-power respectively. There are eight
boilers, one wooden and two copper stills. The mills have an organized
fire brigade among the employes, and in their operations of a quarter of
a century have never had a fire, and the only one on the premises that
ever occurred was a small fire in one of the dwellings, in which the loss
was less than forty dollars. The mills make all their own barrels, and
carry a stock of a million of staves. The bonded warehouses are heated
by steam, and thus the stored whiskeys are continually improving in age
beyond any other known methods. All their grain is received by
rail over the Monongahela Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and
then transferred by boats across the river. The mills are only forty miles
from Pittsburgh and near the Fayette County line. There is no distillery
in America that has such costly and substantial buildings, and none that
equals it in the purity and flavor of its whiskeys, which have a world-wide
reputation for their
excellence.
THE DAVIS FARM.
This old farm, adjoining lands of Hortentious Lowry, John Stoneman,
Andrew Moore, and Benjamin Thompson, has a curious history. Every person
who has had anything to do with it in the way of ownership has become ruined
financially. About a century and a third ago two men came from Virginia,
settled there, built a cabin, and cleared a little patch of ground. When
winter came, one of the men went back to Virginia to bring his family out
in the spring to their new home out in the wilderness, leaving his companion
in charge of their new acquisition. So when spring came the man brought
out his family, but instead of finding his companion at the cabin he found
a man by the name of Davis in full possession,but he could learn nothing
of the whereabouts of the companion he had left there. The Davis family
claimed the property as their own, that they had cleared
what had been cleared, had erected the cabin, and refused to give up
the place. Nothing was ever heard of the lone companion, and it has always
been the belief that he was murdered by the Davis family. Only one of the
Davis family died a natural death. Several of them committed suicide, others
became insane, and they all became financially ruined. The belief
seems to be universal that a curse rests and has ever rested upon this
tract, and the financial ruin that has attended its history, as well as
the miserable ending of the Davis family that first possessed it, seems
to afford good grounds for this belief.
THE POWER FAMILY
is one of the oldest that settled in the township. One of its descendants,
Patrick Power, married Nancy Galliher. Their son, Samuel W. Power, was
born May 14, 1823, and married in September, 1847, Melinda Hasler. Their
children were Ada,
John Patrick, Homer James, Sarah H., Anna H., and Calvin Oliphant,
of whomJohn Patrick and Homer James are deceased.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Biographical Sketches included in the Chapter on Rostraver Township can be accessed by clicking on the links below:
The Budd Family
The Cunningham Family
The Power Family
The Weddell Family
Benjamin
F. Beazell
Thomas
L. Daly.
Hortensius
Lowry
Capt.
Joseph Shepler.