Southampton Township

Byadmin

Sep 14, 2015

<center>HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP</center>
This township was first known as Rockland Township, but for reasons unknown the name was changed to Southampton which is of English origin. It was formed in 1801 and included nearly all of that part of Londonderry Township (Bedford County) which was annexed to Somerset County on March 1, 1800. A large township when it was created, it was gradually reduced in size by the formation of Allegheny, Greenville, Northampton and Larimer townships.

The township contains good farm land, is rich in mineral deposits, with valuable deposits of iron and limestone, and has excellent quality coal veins extending throughout the area. Jacob Witt, William Troutman, George Weller and Isaac Harden worked the first coal mines in this township.

Some of the first settlers of Southampton township were William Troutman, Sr., Frederick Reichard, Henry Close, Jacob Uhl, Adam Lepley, John Baker, Jacob Reiber, Jacob Martz, Joseph Leydig, Peter Troutman, Samuel Arnold, George Harden, William Hardy and John Hahn. Others were:
Jost Leydig came from Berks county soon after the revolution and settled on a farm.
William Martz, a millwright, was also from Berks county. He built a mill on Gladdens run.
Valentine Shiery, a blacksmith, was another pioneer.
Joseph Boyer, from Berks county, settled on the “Red Barn” property.
David Baughman, Jacob Rhoads and a man named Sheckley were all farmers.
Jacob Blum, a blacksmith; Christian Startz, a German; Andrew Emrick, a German; Jacob Hahn and John Comp from Berks County and Yargke Keller, a stonemason, were all early settlers.

The first gristmill in Southampton township was built by Jacob Korns where Wellersburg now is, about the year 1809. In the same building, the first carding-mill in the township was placed, and put in operation by William S. and Daniel DeHaven in 1830. The entire structure, then owned by George Weller, was destroyed by fire in 1837 and has never been rebuilt. Jacob Uhl erected the second gristmill about 1810 on land now owned by Eli Shaffer. This mill is now run by Hertman Reitz. Kennell\’s gristmill, four miles northeast of Wellersburg, was built by George Leydig about 1818. It was rebuilt in 1853 by Jonathan Kennell who sill owns it. The old gristmill on the Dennis Comp farm was converted into a woolenmill in 1873, and is the only one in the township.

William Troutman erected the first distillery in the township. It is the only one now in operation. Distilleries were very common in the days of the early pioneers, almost every farmer having one.

The area of Southampton Township is 19,577 acres or about 30Â½ square miles. It contained 55 farms and had a population of 335 persons in 1930.

(Source: partially extracted from History of Bedford, Somerset & Fulton Counties, PA; 1884)

<center>BIOGRAPHIES</center>
<a href=”http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?720,571056″>John Baker</a> – <a href=”http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?720,363834,363834#msg-363834″>Dr. S. C. Fechtig</a> – <a href=”http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?720,470335,470335#msg-470335″>Rev. Benjamin Knepper</a> – <a href=”http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?720,470320,470320#msg-470320″>Gideon Shaffer</a> – <a href=”http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?720,571057″>William Troutman Jr</a>

<center>CHURCHES</center>
<a href=”articles.php?article_id=115″>Comp\’s Reformed & Lutheran</a> — <a href=”articles.php?article_id=119″>Gladden\’s Run Reformed & Lutheran</a> — <a href=”articles.php?article_id=120″>Savage Run Reformed & Lutheran</a> 
<a href=”articles.php?article_id=114″>Wellersburg Reformed & Lutheran</a>

<center>TAX LISTS</center>
<a href=”articles.php?article_id=109″>1805</a>

<center>TOWNS & VILLAGES</center>
<a href=”articles.php?article_id=121″>WELLERSBURG</a>

GLADDENS
Gladdens is the principal town of Southampton Township (1930). It is a small village in the eastern part of the township. It was founded by George Leydig who had erected a grist mill here in 1818. M. L. Tauber was the first postmaster. The postoffice has been discontinued.