The History of West Deer Township
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Allegheny County, Pennsylvania West Deer Township 150 years of History as told by those that lived here a updated look. (rev 1) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2004 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Notes regarding the publishing of this book. First let me introduce myself. My name is Ken Lewetag son of Ernest Lee Lewetag (a miner) and Victoria Baron (worked at Palmers and delivered milk from the "Barons" in Superior). My Grandfathers (Ernest J Lewetag and Stanislaw "Stine" Baron) were both miners as was their fathers. I was born in 1954 and lived in Russellton until 1965 when I moved to Oregon. I have always called West Deer my home and have remembered it fondly. My mother received a copy of WEST DEER TOWNSHIP A CENTURY AND A HALF OF PROGRESS 1836-1986 from a relative in West Deer. In 1999 I began to research my roots and found this book and read it cover to cover. In March 2004 after many attempts I finally was able to contact Mrs. Dorothy Voeckel and Mrs. Ruth Graff the only remaining authors of that book. I explained that I would like to use their book in part for a new book that would be publish in an electronic form and possible in a printed form, which received their blessing The reason for this publishing, printing and electronic publication is that so few copies of WD150 are available to libraries and schools to research and learn about the coal mining regions of Pennsylvania; specifically of my hometown Russellton and those of my family in Superior and Curtisville. In addition major omissions on the mines within WD150 and needed to be included. My hope is that by publishing this book in electronic form in addition to the printed version more acknowledgements of our little part of the word will be more wildly known. Since much of the text of the WD150 book was scanned and optical recognized there will be some errors. I have tried to keep these errors to a minimum but inevitably there will be some. If any errors are found please feel free to contact me so that I can correct these mistakes. With the advent of computerized publication, and the ability to better manipulate content, I have taken the liberty of reorganization the pictures and some text of the WD150 book to help the electronic and print reader and to fit the new publication. Also we have added additional text from personal knowledge of events that directly related to my families (Lewetag, Baron and Scully) and others have added their information as well. In addition to some of the original text we have taken the liberty to add some comments where appropriate. Include in this book are many more pictures as well as a index to help researches more easily find this items within this book and make them also searchable items. We have attempted to add more information on the mines and the miners although they were not the first to live in West Deer they had a remarkable effect on our Township. In conversation with Mrs. Graff she told me of an additional picture book of the 150-year celebration and additional older photos that did not appear in the original book. She sent me a copy of this book and its older photos are also included in this book with her consent. Since the main reason for publishing this book is for the use of the educational use, research, and the general public and not for commercial gain: Free usage of this publication and it's content is allowed with credit given. However NO part of this publication may be used for ANY commercial purpose without the express written consent of the publisher, contributor and myself. Most of the pictures scanned from the original book (s) due to the limitations of the printing process I was limited in what I could with what was given to me. I did try and correct levels and compensate for some problems within the pictures to make viewing easier. I did crop several of the pictures and straighten them to make the object level or at the correct angles. I would like to thank Dan Angeloni for additional and original versions of pictures without the help of Dan this book would not be near as rich in pictures and history. I would like to thank Kenneth White and the Arch-Dioceses of Pittsburgh for the picture of Transfiguration Church. I would also like to thank the family and friends that took their time and supplied their photos and history as well. In reading this book it seems that some history were passed over to avoid controversy. One of these items is the miners strike of 1927. To this end I recommend R.S. Sukle Bucket of Blood, the Ragman's War published by iUniverse. Although a fictional account it is based on direct information and tells the tale of what it was like during the strike in Russellton #2. To the miners we have tired to add as many pictures of the mines and the miners we were unable to find pictures of Russellton #1, and Bairdford mines. Additional note: For those not from the area, there are five towns that can be confusing Russellton #1, Russellton #2, Curtisville #1, Curtisville #2 and Curtisville #3 (AKA Bairdford). Russellton and Curtisville used without a #1 or #2 normally mean Russellton #1 and Curtisville #1 respectively. Russellton #2, Curtisville #2 and Curtisville #3 normally have the #2 or #3 attached. Like all publishers I would like to thank my wife Teena and my children Zachary and Jacklynn for putting up with my intensity doing this book and the hours I did not spend with them. I would also like to dedicate this book to my Mom Victoria (Vicky) Baron Lewetag without her initial support and time sharing the history of her life in West Deer much of the inspiration and information would have been lost forever. Ken Lewetag II The West Deer Township Municipal Building The 150th Anniversary Committee Several years ago as West Deer Township was approaching this significant birthday, the Park and Recreation Board was given the task of planning this coming celebration. The first step was recruiting and organizing a group of people who would dedicate them to this goal. This committee had its beginning in 1984, and after several changes in membership and leadership, emerged as an organized group with definite goals in mind. The Park and Recreation Board no longer exists, leaving the Anniversary Committee as a somewhat independent organization with support from the Board of Supervisors. Doris McDonald is chairman, Gladys Hess is secretary, Roberta Spichty is treasurer, and John Graff was appointed Historian. James Catherwood was put in charge of an auction to raise funds necessary to begin various programs. John Graff was placed in charge of producing a comprehensive history of the township with the help of George and Dorothy Voeckel. Graff had previously written a Masters Thesis on parts of West Deer's history and the Voeckels were researching a history of Culmerville as a personal project. This book is the result of much labor on the part of this committee. Other major goals are to arouse public interest for suggestions and participation, to give local residents an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and abilities, to promote better unity in all parts of the township, and to stimulate interest in local history and record and preserve that history for future generations. Doris McDonald Chairman III Much of this history was compiled by John Graff, retired West Deer teacher, with the aid of a number of others whose names appear with their contributions. Many thanks to the The 150th Anniversary Committee of West Deer Township 1986 Second Printing WD150 material copied in spring 2004 from Book # 184 with permission of the remaining 150th Anniversary committee IV Preface It has been one hundred and fifty years since the name West Deer was first applied to this area. Some phases of its history have appeared in other publications at one time or another. It is our attempt here, during this sesquicentennial, to gather all we can find that has been written and some that has not, and to put it together well enough so that our future generations may have a better understanding of how West Deer Township came about. We know that there will be errors, omissions, and other mistakes and we do apologize for them. It is our best effort and we hope that it is something that you will want to read, keep, and pass on to your descendents. The committee is grateful to all who contributed and extends many thanks for their help. Much of the research on the development of the mining towns was done for John Graff Masters' Thesis in the late 1950's and served as a background for part of this history. It required another year's part-time work to complete it his part. The Culmerville Area section was started several years ago by Mrs. George (Dorothy) Voeckel as a personal project and was completed for this publication. The other, smaller contributions throughout the book have the authors' names listed with their works. Each organization in West Deer was invited to submit its history and most of them did. However, a few did not and therefore their history is not included. The Family Histories section includes most of the families whose history appeared in the 1903 publication, "Memoirs of Allegheny County", and was expanded to include a number of others. These others were families who had been in West Deer over a hundred years and had enough information available to include them.