Jefferson Twp.

      The annual report for the school year ending June 7, 1880, gives
details concerning Jefferson's public schools as follows;

Number of schools.....................................8
Average number of months taught.......................5
Male teachers.........................................5
Female teachers.......................................6
Average monthly salary of males......................$30
Average monthly salary of females....................$30
Male scholars....................................... 165
Female scholars......................................144
Average attandance.................................. 221
Average cost per month..............................  $.86
Mills levied for school purposes.......................0
Mills levied for building purposes....................01
Amount levied for school and building purposes....$983.60
State appropriation.....................................0
Appropriation....................................$1633.87
Totalreceipts....................................$1633.87
Cost of schoolhouses, purchasing, building.renting,
etc.....................................................0
Teachers wages...................................$1200.00
Paid for fuel, contingencies, fees of collectors,
and all other expenses............................$159.82
Total expenditures...............................$1359.82
Resourses.........................................$489.94

Liabilities.............................................0

                                 CHURCHES
                         LITTLE REDSTONE CHURCH
    The Little Redstone Church was organized by Rev. JACOB JENNINGS in a log cabin that stood close to where the Town Hall now stands.   The year of the organization is supposed to have been 1797, although the loss of the early church records renders possitive evidence upon that point
unobtainable.    For the same reason the names of the constituent members of the organization cannot be given.    The first elders chosen were, JOSEPH LYON, JOHN BLYTHE SR.,and JOHN WELLS.   Among those who served as elders in the early history of the church may also be
mentioned are, WILLIAM STEELE,  JOHN STEELE.  JOHN MCKINNON,  JOHN HAZLIP.  PETER HUMRICKHOUSE,  JOHN GORMLY,   WILLIAM FORSYTHE,  NICHOLAS
BAKER,   J.H.DUNCAN,   HENRY BARKMAN,   DAVID HOUGH,   WILLIAM HOUGH,
JOSEPH WELLS.  JAMES CUMMINGS,  J.V. GIBBARD,   and WILLIAM PARKHILL.
  Little Redstone Church was supplied with preaching by the pastors of DUNLAP'S CREEK CHURCH, and when Rev. Mr. JENNINGS ended his pastorate, Rev. WILLIAM JOHNSTON took charge.   During his term of service the organization at Little Redstone was discontinued and its's members transferred to the Brownsville Church.     In 1844, Little Redstone was reorganized by the election of  WILLIAM STEELE,  JOHN STEELE,  JOHN WELLS,  and JOHN BLYTHE as elders.   A brick church was built in 1845, about a half mile north of the old location,  ( WILLIAM ELLIOTT, WILLIAM FORSYTHE,  and WILLIAM PATTERSON  being the building committee.), and a churchyard laid out.   Rev. THOMAS MARTIN assumed the pastorate
and remained until 1848, when he was succeeded by Rev, ROBERT M. WALLACE.  Mr. WALLACE remained until 1860.    His successors to the present time have been Revs.  JOSEPH H. STEVENSON,  GEORGE SCOTT, R.R.GAILEY,  and C.C.B. DUNCAN.  The latter was the pastor in April 1881.  The present membership is ninety.  The trustees in April 1881 were S.R. NUTT and JOHN  N.DIXON.
              FAIRVIEW  ( METHODIST EPISCOPAL ) CHURCH    Fairview was organized in 1828, with something like fourty or fifty members.Among those who took a leading part in effecting the organization were SAMUEL GOE,  STACY HUNT,  WILLIAM BALL,  JACOB WOOD,
and WILLIAM CONDON.  After using the stone schoolhouse a year for meetings , the congregation built a frame church in 1829, and in 1849 built the present brock ediface.   The present pastor is Rev, J. J. MITCHELL, who preaches once in two weeks.  The membership is not above
sixty.  The class-leader is JOHNSON NOBLE, who is also superintendent of the Sunday-school, which has enjoyed a continuous and prosperous existence since Sept. 18,1830.   The church trustees are PLAYFORD COOK, GEORGE KREPPS,  JOHNSON A. NOBLE,  JOSEPH W. MILLER,  J.D. MILLER, ALEXANDER W. JORDAN,   JAMES ESSINGTON,  JOHN STEPHENS,  and CHARLES STUCKSLAGER.
             Some of the early pastors of Fairview were Revs. THORNTON FLEMING,
JACOB YOUNG,  JAMES WILSON,   WILLIAM MONROE,  CHRISTOPHER FRYE,
JOSHUA MONROE,  THOMAS JAMISON,  ASA SHINN,  DAVID SHARP.  JOHN
SPENCER,  CHARLES ELLIOTT,  ROBERT BOYD,  WILLIAM STEPHENS,   BASCOM,
J.G. SANSON,  JOHN ERWIN,  WARNER LONG,  and SAMUEL WAKEFIELD.                     BELLEVUE ( PROTESTANT METHODIST ) CHURCH .
          Bellevue Church was organized in 1832, by Rev. DUNLEVY, of the Brownsville circuit, in the church building of the FAIRVIEW METHODIST EPISCOPAL congregation.  Among the prominent constituent members were THOMAS BURTON and wife,  ROBERT ISHERWOOD and family, ALEXANDER BLAIR and wife, and ROBERT DUNN and wife.   The major portion of the organizing members had been connected with Fairview, and at Fairview as well as at the school-house, meetings were held until 1835, when the Bellvue church was erected.   The first trustees were, H.B. GOE, THOMAS BURTON, and ROBERT DUNN.  A Sunday- school was not organized until 1856.   Previous to that, Fairview had a Union Sunday- school.   Rev.
Mr. DUNLEVY was the first pastor at Bellevue.   After him, some of the earliest pastors were, Revs. CRYINGTON,  PALMER,  HULL,  VALENTINE, LUCAS,  HENRY LUCAS,  TAYLOR,  COLEHOUR, CROWTHER,  and STILLWAGON. Bellevue had at one time a membership of seventy-five, but can boast now of but fourty communicants.    Among the early class leaders were, ALEXANDER  BLAIR,  ROBERT DUNN,  THOMAS BURTON,  T.W. DUNN,  and JACOB WOLFE. The present pastor is HENRY LUCAS, and the leader , THOMAS DUNN. The trustees are JACOB WOLFE,  S.W. REED, and WILLIAM BRADMON.
            MOUNT VERNON CHURCH  ( PROTESTANT METHODIST )  Mount Vernon was at one time a prosperous organization, but since 1872,  it has had a precarious existence, and at present may be considered as virtually dissolved.   No regular preaching had been enjoyed there for some time.   A church building was erected in 1855. In 1872, FRANCIS HERRON, the mainstay of the society, removed from the township, and being soon followed by other members, the speedy decline of the church followed.  There was an organization of Methodist Episcopals at Mount Vernon in 1849, but it failed in a few years for want of support.
          On the Boyd farm in Washington School District, an Episcopal Church stood in 1805.
It was a log cabin, minus doors and windows, and had for a pulpit, a rough desk, under which the rector's surplice was usually kept.  This looseness in hiding  the priestly robes led to their being abstracted by certain mischievous spirits, and a consequent dismay when the rector next came and searched for his garments, that were non est. JOSHUA CLARK donated seven acres of land for the church and churchyard.   The property was for many years assessed to the Church of England.  It is thought  the church was built as early as 1800.  In 1806, the Episcopalians gave up  their meetings, and for a while afterwards the GERMAN LUTHERANS  used the house for worship.

                                     COAL PRODUCTION
             The coal deposits beneath the soil of Jefferson Twp. are said to extend beneath the entire area of the territory, except a small portion in the southeast.   The so-called Pittsburgh nine foot vein prevails here, and the deposits are therefore of an exceedingly valuable nature.  Thus far, however, developments in the way of important mining operations for shipment have been confined to the river-front, for the reason that only by means of the river has there been ready transportation to coal
consuming centers.  The contemplated completion of the REDSTONE EXTENSION RAILROAD along the course of the Redstone Creek will offer an outlet for the product of the creek coal region, and the opening of the railway will of course be the signal for the opening on the Redstone in Jefferson Twp. of extensive mining enterprises.   Something like four thousand acres of coal lands lying along the creek have long been owned by the Redstone Coal Company, which has been waiting simply for the march of railway progress to bring forth it's hidden treasures.
           Upon the river in Jefferson, coal-mining has been carried on to a greater or lesser extent since 1834, and engages at the present the attention of six different mining companies, who ship annually millions of bushels, employ hundreds of hands, and have upon investment , hundreds of thousands of dollars.   In the olden days mining was pursued according to primitive methods.   The coal was wheeled from the pit to the river bottom and there dumped, to remain until such a time as the
water in the river became high.  Water being plentiful, the coal was dumped into flats and floated down the stream to Pittsburgh or other points.   Similarly coal was mined along Little Redstone and floated out in the same way upon the coming of the high water.   The largest operators on the river in Jefferson at present  are TURNBULL & HALL, who have been mining there since 1871.   They have a river- front of half a mile  ( or from the Washington  line to TROYTOWN ), owned from the
commencement from six hundred  to seven hundred acres of coal, and of that quantity have three hundred acres still to be mined.  They have two openings.  Both reach from the river to the Little Redstone Creek, while one passes under the creek, and so on.  Turnbull and Hall have a capacity for mining eighteen thousand bushels of lump coal daily, and employ ordinarily one hundred and twenty-five men.   They own a steam tow-boat and fourty three coal- boats, possess also fourty tenements in which their miners live, they disburse monthly about twelve thousand dollars in wages, and carry on a store for the convenience of their hands, and have upon investment in their business , about one hundred thousand dollars.

       Adjoining TURNBULL & HALL on the west is a miner's village, known for years as TROYTOWN, from one JAMES TROY, who about 1855 began mining operations there and erected  a score or more of tenements.  The landed interests have been , however, owned in chief for many years by ADAM JACOBS, of Brownsville, who has leased the coal privileges to various
parties, from time to time.  Among the mining operators at that point after the departure of JAMES TROY, were THORNTON CHALFANT,  MARK WINNET.  JOHN BORTNER, and DANIEL BORTNER. ARMSTRONG and JACOBS took the business in 1880, and employ at present,
twenty hands.   They get out from three thousand to four thousand bushels daily.  Their working territory includes about one hundred acres.     Next above the TROYTOWN WORKS is the FORSYTHE MINE, operated by HARRIS & Brother, who have two hundred acres under lease and mine about three thousand bushels daily.
        Adjoining the HARRIS place is the WHITE PINE coal-mine, which has been abandoned since 1876, when JOHN STOFFT was the lessee.   The FORSYTHE tract has been leased to the extent of two hundred acres by the LITTLE ALPS CO, and will be mined in the autumn of 1881.   At the
MARCHAND MINE, in the river bend, ELI LEONARD now takes out from three to four thousand bushels of coal  daily and employs a force of thirty five men.      At the BUD coal works , the LITTLE ALPS Co. has been operating quite extensively since 1873, but that tract, like the
MARCHAND MINE shows signs of exhaustion.  The LITTLE ALPS CO.works include the coal under an area of about seventy acres, produce at the rate six hundred thousand bushels annually
and give employment to fifty men.   Next to the LITTLE ALPS works, going up the river, lies  the works of MORGAN and DIXON, who have been at work since 1874.   They owned originally one hundred acres of coal, of which they have about fifty yet to be mined.  Their working force averages
from fourty to sixty men, and their yield is about twenty thousand bushels weekly.   They own a steam tow-boat and eighteen coal-boats. Between MORGAN and DIXON and the mouth of the Redstone Creek, there is an abundance of coal, but as yet the deposits have not been developed.

          The Redstone Coal Co. alluded to in the foregoing as owning about four thousand acres of coal lands along the Redstone, was organized in May 1873, by Westmoreland Co. capitalists.  At the head was A.L. MCFARLAND, and associated with him were Messrs. H.D. FOSTER,   EDWARD COWAN, WILLIAM WELSH,  GEORGE BENNETT,  F.Z. SHALLENBERG,  ISRAEL PAINTER, the MCCLELLANS, and others.   They bought coal lands on Redstone Creek, reaching from the mouth of the creek, to VANCE'S MILL, and as  a condition precedent to their purchases agreed to construct a railway through their territory.   The railway company was accordingly formed, with J.H. BOWMAN as president, and a majority of the directors of the
Redstone Coal Company as directors of the railway company. Subscriptions to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars were received from people living along the line, and work upon the road was begun without much delay.   The plan was to grade from Brownsville to Mount Braddock, where connection was to be made with the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad,  SMITH and BRINDIVILLE took the contract for grading.   PRINDIVILLE completed his portion of the work, but SMITH retired from the field before he had fairly begun. His part of the unfinished contract was sold to CAMPBELL and Co., of Altoona, who upon winding up their affairs with the railway company found themselves unable to get much satisfaction upon their unpaid claim of about twelve thousand dollars.  They entered suit and obtained judgment, whereupon, in1879, the road was sold by the sheriff, and bid on by Mr. BRINDIVILLE for seventeen thousand dollars.   He sold out to
CHARLES SPEAR, of Pittsburgh, who took in E. HOGG and ADAM JACOBS, of Brownsville, and they in turn sold their interests in the fall of 1880 to the Pennsylvania Railroad Co.   Meanwhile, nothing was done upon the road after the bed had been graded to Vance's Mill, but upon the requirement of possession by the Pennsylvania  Railroad Co., measures were set of foot to push the work to completion with such effect , that the road is now nearly ready for the running of trains from Brownsville to Uniontown.    The Redstone Coal Co. still remains intact .   F.Z. SHALLENBERG being the president, and S.S. GRAHAM, secretary and treasurer, and awaits simply the completion of the railway line to begin development of the coal mines.

This account on Jefferson Twp. can be found in Ellis History of Fayette
Co.  pages 614 to 633   ( thanks Toni )
Their are also bios and pictures these individuals.
Dr. LOUIS MARCHAND
WILLIAM FORSYTH
WILLIAM ELLIOTT
JOSEPH S. ELLIOTT
HENRY BATEMAN GOE
JOHN S. GOE
WILLIAM G. PATTERSON
CHRISTIAN SWARTZ
WILLIAM HOUGH
ARCHIBALD BOYD
LOUIS BOWERS MILLER
JOSEPH WELLS
JOHN STEELE
If any of these people are your line and you would like to know more, please let me know.   Thank you all.   Joan