town-township-communities BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MT. PLEASANT TWP. WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA. 1806. 1981 MOUNT PLEASANT v'()- TOWN TOWNSHIP 1 () _,1 ·-' ) COMMUNITIES r ~ 1 :3. Being a History of Mount Pleasant Township, Washington County, Penn­ tJ sylvania with Accounts of Families, Towns and Communities, Institutions ,,s.,., and Events from its formation on May 12, 1806 to the present. -::::> Compiled by -:2. Alvin D. White _t BURGETTSTOWN ·'\) CO MUNffY LIBRARY w -+- (\).. '0 D. - Published under the Direction of the Board of Supervisors of Mt. Pleasant Township. Lee A. Robinson James B. Athey Thomas A. Herbst Cover has been designed by Charles A. Novick · Final typing has been done by Priscilla J. Bernard of the Township Office Mt. Pleasant Township Municipal Building Erected 1976 ~·rotJ:NT , / · (~ ,,'It'_.., ,.... •a:: I ~ ' l: )u / MAP FROM CALDWELL'S ATLAS OF WASHINGTON CO., PENNA. 1876 Reprinted ror Fort Vanee Hietorieal Sodety Limited Edition Printed - 2~ §.,_atE(uffy 'YouH dlfuLn ']:), <WhLh:: BIOGRAPHY Alvin D. White who has written most of the articles in this volume, is a native of neighboring Smith Township, having been born on a farm near present Atlasburg on November 10, 1894. He attended the Cooke School in Smith To~nship and the Nosco Hall School in Cross Creek Township, and graduated from Cross Creek Township High School in 1913. He attended Muskingum College for two years, then began teaching: first in his home school at Nosco Hall, then at Slovan School in Smith Township and at the Cross Creek Township High School. He graduated from the School of Education of the University of Pittsburgh in 1924. He began working as Supervising Principal in 1927 and served in that capacity in the schools of Cross Creek, Jefferson and Hopewell Townships, severally and jointly, and he ended his career of forty years in educational work by serving as Elementary Supervisor in the Avella Joint Schools, re­ tiring therefrom in 1959. Since his retirement, he has been active in writing in the local history and genealogical fields. His published writings include: The Lyles of Washington County, Pennsylvania 1934 and 1963 - History of Cross Creek Presbyterian Church 1969, - History of Cross Creek Graveyard and Cemetery 1969 - History of Mt. Prospect Graveyard and Cemetery 1972 - History of Mt. Prospect Presbyterian Church 1950 and of Hickory United Presbyterian Church 1975 -History of the Cross Creek Country 1975 - Historic Sketches of Cross Creek Valley (in collaboration) 1976 - Historical Sketches of Northern Washington County 1978, and BETHEL 1981. CONTENTS Chapters • Pages I. Mount Pleasant Township . 1 II. The Land and the People . 2 III. First Families of Mount Pleasant Township . • 10 IV. Later Families • . • • . • • • • • 4 3 v. Mount Pleasant's "Dutch Glory" • • • • • • • • • • 56 VI. Agricultural History •.••. • 61 VII. Educational History . • 70 VIII. Religious History •.•..•.•.•...... 80 IX. Industrial History • . • • • . • • • • • • . • . 88 X. Towns and Villages • • • • • • . • • . • • . 94 XI. Exciting Events in the History of Mount Pleasant. 106 XII. Mount Pleasant 1981 •••••••.•.•••.. 130 INTRODUCTION This is perhaps the first history of Mount Pleasant Township which has ever been written for publication. It is not a complete history - limitations of time and space have forbidden any such ambitious project from being undertaken now. Since this year, 1981 marks 175 years of existence for this munici­ pality, this writer suggested to members of the Board of Supervisors that something should be qone to commemorate the event, and he offered to write a brief history to go with whatever else might be arranged. The brief sketches contained in this volume are about all that he felt able to be responsible for, so they are submitted with the hope that they may be of interest and value to a goodly number of our people. Acknowledgment of help received in the preparation of this history is given in appropriate places throughout the book. Thanks must be given, too, to the Board of Supervisors and to their office staff for all assistance and encouragement which they have given in the progress of this writing. A special thanks to Priscilla Bernard for her meticulous care in preparing the final copy for the printer. Also, thanks to Mrs. Minnie Cooke and to Miss Flora Carlisle of the Historical Committee and to Mr. Edwin B. Swartz for c~itically reading the final copy, and to any and all others who have helped in any way. We hope that you enjoy reading the book! A. D. White I. MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP "\olhat''s in a Name?" On May 10, 1?88 a tract of land containing 236 acres plus allow­ ances and situated about one mile east··of the present town of Hickory was patented to one Matthew Hillis, and the patent name given to the tract was "l'1ount Pleasant". At that time, the area comprised within the present Township of Mount Pleasant was an almost unbroken wilder­ ness. Quite a number of white people had already located here, but the clearing of the forests had only begun. However, the elevation of the land, the richness of the soil and the excellent drainage provided. by Chartiers Creek, Raccoon Creek and Cross Creek had attracted a good class of settlers, and they could probably have agreed that Nount Pleasant was a good name for this area. The tract of land referred to above was, in part at least, the farm known for many years as the McCoy Farm, later owned by the Odis Schafer Family and now owned by Eugene Petricca of Smith Township. Hhile this land does lie at a good elevation, yet it is not the highest point in the area. The high knob, once a part of the Griffith Farm, later the Berryhill Farm, and now the property of James A. Phillips, is higher and more prominent, and it might well have been called "I·Iount Pleasant". But since this name had been pre-empted by the Hilli.s tract, LTohn Griffith, when he obtained a patent for his land in June, 1818, had to be satisfied to call his tract simply "Nountain". The knob on this tract on which Hr. James J. Schollaert has erected his fine residence has an elevation of 1,330 feet, which approaches, if it does not exceed any other elevation in the To'l'tnship, i'lount Pleasant was not one of the original thirteen townships of vlashington County. The territory included within the Township Has formerly a part of the now surrounding townships of Smith, Cecil, Ho3;e­ well and Canton, all of which were "original" tmmships, which vrere set up at the time Hashington County Has established ln 1781. On January 6, 1.806 a petition signed by cHizens of this section of the Co 1mty was presented tc the Grand Jury o:f the Court of ;~uarter Sessions of the County, praying for the erection of a nevr toHnship whose terr'i.tory was to be talmn from the four above-mentioned townships. -2- The Grand Jury acted favorably on this petition, and in the May term of Court in that year of 1806, the action of the Grand Jury was confirmed and a decree ordered for the erection of a new Township to be called "Mount Pleasant", Therefore in this year of 1981,Mount Pleasant Town­ ship has had one hundred seventy-five years of corporate existence, So, as the State is observing three hundred years since its settlement by William Penn in 1681, and Washington County is celebrating its two hundredth Anniversary, so, on May 12, 1981 Mount Pleasant Township may observe its 175th Birthday, no small period of time in the History of our State, our County and our Township. An addition was made to the area of Mount Pleasant Township in 1831 when a small strip of land was taken from Chartiers Township and annexed to Mount Pleasant. The area of the Township and its boundaries have remained fairly constant over the years of its existence. However, two of its boundary lines have been in dispute in recent years. The line between Mount Pleasant and Smith townships, which begins at the former James Campbell farm, now the Pollana Farm and continues in a north-easterly direction for about 2 3/4 mila.s has been in dispute at various times, relative to the matter in which township certain residences near this line are located. The resolution of such a problem determines in which township the resident must pay taxes, and also where the children from the home will attend school. Farm homes locatednear this disputed line are those of the Nella Mungai family, the former McGugin or Fullerton Farm, and the old Leech Farm home, now the home of Robert Mungai. Likewise the line between Mount Pleasant Township and Chartiers has been in dis­ pute involving in this case the collection of taxes on the properties of the Westland Mine of Consolidation Coal Company which is located near the disputed line. On government maps these two lines are called "indeterminate", It would be a source of satisfaction to the municipal­ ity and to the residents near these disputed township lines to have surveys made to determine the exact position of each boundary. II. THE LAND AND THE PEOPI£ "I will give thee this land for an everlasting possession." During the years preceding 1770, settlement by the white people within the area of Western Pennsylvania west of the Monongahela and the Ohio rivers was not permitted, Treaties ;-~ith the Indians then in existence forebade settlement by the whites in this area, But this -J- rule was changed when, on November 6, 1768, the Treaty of Fort Stanwix was signed with the Indians, and following that event, white settlers could legally locate here.