Chapter 32
Wayne Township -- Borough of Dayton
AGRICULTURE PREDOMINANT -- BOUNDARIES -- EARLY LANDOWNERS -- SENATOR JAMES G. BLAINE'S ANCESTORS -- "MOLLY PITCHER" -- PIONEER EXPERIENCES -- THE MARSHALL FAMILY -- "FATHER" MCGARRAUGH -- GLADE RUN CHURCH -- OTHER CONGREGATIONS -- GLADE RUN ACADEMY -- DAYTON UNION ACADEMY -- SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME -- DAYTON NORMAL INSTITUTE -- AN INDIAN STUDENT -- EARLY MILLS, FURNACES AND FOUNDRIES -- BOROUGH OF DAYTON -- CHURCHES -- SCHOOLS -- NEWSPAPERS
Nature has destined this section of the county for agriculture and man has availed himself of her bounty from early times. Almost from the first Wayne township has been distinguished for her products, and agriculture and learning have gone hand in hand toward the goal of success. Viewed from any point the landscape expresses tranquility. Vale and glade blend into each other with scarcely an angle to mar the symmetry of the picture. No more suitable location could be found for the establishment of the halls of learning which have made her famous. From these quiet temples of knowledge have gone forth men and women to whom the world is indebted, and who in turn are in the debt of "Old Glade Run." Many a famous clergyman, doctor or lawyer can point with pride to this, his alma mater. The early pioneers of Wayne built a foundation which will ever be a source of benefit to future generations.
BOUNDARIESWayne township was formed from Plum Creek township in 1821. The commissioners were: James White, surveyor; Abraham Zimmerman, Jacob Beck, Noah A. Calhoun, Joseph Marshall and John Thom. It was named after the Revolutionary hero, "Mad" Anthony Wayne. It was ordered to be erected with the following boundaries: Beginning on Mahoning creek at the lower end of Anderson's cave; thence south five miles to a white oak; thence south ten degrees east four miles to the Purchase Line; thence by plot along said line to the line between Armstrong and Indiana counties; thence by plot along said line to Mahoning creek; and thence down the same to the place of beginning. It having been at the same time represented to the court that the viewers had gone beyond the western line of Plum Creek township and included a part of Kittanning township, it was further ordered, "that the new township of Wayne be bounded by that of Kittanning."
The records do not show who was appointed to hold the first election. In the absence of the docket containing the election returns of the various election districts in this county prior to 1839, the names of the township officers then elected have not been ascertained.
SETTLERS AND LANDOWNERSAmong the earlier landowners and settlers were: Thomas W. Hiltzheimer, General Daniel Brodhead, John Rutherford, Jacob Peelor, Joseph Marshall, James Kirkpatrick, John Calhoun, James McGahey, Abel Findley, James Russell, Thomas Duke, William Kinnan, Ephraim Blaine, James Hamilton, William Borland, John Borland, William Kirkpatrick, William Cochran, James Marshall, Noah A. Calhoun, General James Potter, John Hays, Sr., David Ralston, Thomas White, James McKennan, Robert Borland, James McQuoun, Watson S. Marshall, Alexander McClelland, Benjamin Irwin, Robert Martin, Hugh Martin, Enoch Hastings, Reuben Hastings, Robert Beatty, Thomas Taylor, Jacob Pontius, John Hyskell, Joseph Glenn, John Henderson, Samuel Coleman, Thomas Wilson, James Wilson, Samuel Irwin, Joseph McSparrin, Andrew D. Guthrie, Samuel Wallis, George Harrison, Thomas W. Francis, Edward Tilghman, Thomas Ross, Peter Thomas, George Scott, William Wirt Gitt, Henry Pratt, John Butler, Theodore Wilson, George Ellenberger, William Pontius, Samuel Black, John Hettrick, Adam Baughman, Jacob Kammerdiener, Peter Kammerdiener, Thomas Smullen, John Alcorn, Alexander White, James White, John Powers, Joseph Powers, Mrs. Elizabeth McClemmens, Leopold Drohn, Joseph Clever, Eli Schrecengost, Joseph Schrecengost, John Reesman, Dr. William Smith, William C. Bryan, Mark Campbell, Michael Clever, George Harrison, Joseph McGaughey, Jacob Rupp, Isaac Meason, Robert R. Cross, Hugh Gallagher, William McIlhenny, Frederick Soxman, Adam Rupp, Paul Burti, Benjamin B. Cooper, Jacob Smith, John McIntire, George Kline, Joseph Buffington, James A. Knox, George Dill, Moses Dill, John Brodhead.
PROMINENT PIONEERSSeveral of these earlier owners were of more than passing reputation and importance in the history of our country. One of them, Ephraim Blaine, was a resident of Carlisle, Pa., in the earlier years of the Revolutionary war. In the spring of 1777 the appointment of sub-lieutenant of Cumberland county was tendered to him, which he declined. He was afterward appointed deputy commissary general for the middle department. In February or March, 1780, he was appointed commissary general, which position he probably filled until the close of the war. His name appears in the list of names of men residing at Fort Pitt, July 22, 1760. He was the great-grandfather of James G. Blaine, the distinguished United States senator from Maine, who was a native of Pennsylvania.
John Hays, Sr., was a son of John and Mary Hays, both of whom participated in the battle of Monmouth, N. J., in the Revolutionary war. He was a sergeant in a company of artillery, who is said to have directed a cannon at least a part of the time. When he was carried from the field, his wife was approaching with a pitcher of water for him and others, took his place by that cannon, loaded and fired at least once, insisted on remaining, and left with much reluctance. General Washington either saw or heard of the service which she thus rendered, and commissioned her as sergeant by brevet. The morning after the battle she rescued from a pit one of her friends, who had been thrown into it, with others, as dead, carried him in her arms to the hospital and nursed him until he recovered. Many years afterward, when he had learned her residence through the pension office, she received a box of presents and an invitation to make his home her home. She was in the army seven years and nine months, serving with her husband after that battle. After the war she and her husband removed to Carlisle, Pa., where he subsequently died, and she married Sergeant McAuley, who embittered her life by his drunkenness and abuse, and for years lived on her earnings. She received an annual pension of $40 as the widow of John Hays, and during the last week of her life one was granted to her in her own right. She died in January, 1832, in her ninetieth year, and was buried beside her first husband with military honors by several companies that followed her remains to the grave -- "Molly Pitchers" grave. She was called "Molly Pitcher" because of her carrying that pitcher of water to the thirsty soldiers on that intensely hot day of the battle of Monmouth.
Few of these whose names are mentioned were actual settlers. Most of the earlier settlers occupied and improved portions of these tracts for years before they knew or could reach those who could grant valid titles; so that there was a good deal of "squatting" and occasional shifting of locations. When they finally got into communication with the actual owners there was little difficulty experienced in obtaining titles, as the conditions and prices were not onerous or excessive.
The earliest settler in the eastern part of Wayne township, on Glade run, was William Marshall, who came from Indiana county, settled and made an improvement, erecting a log cabin and barn on the Pickering & Co. tract, of which he occupied about eighty acres, known in that region as the "old Glade Run farm," now lying south of the borough of Dayton, between it and the old buildings of the Glade Run Academy. An orchard was planted on it soon after its first occupancy by Marshall, which is still thrifty, and known as the "old Glade orchard."
The only other white settler then within what is now the territory of this township was James Shields, who occupied a part of the above-mentioned vacant tract, the farm since owned by C. Soxman and James Gallagher, Jr., about four miles west of south from Marshall's. The latter's next nearest neighbors were the Kirkpatricks, nearly south, on the Cowanshannock, another family about four miles to the east, and others not less than ten miles to the north. The nearest gristmill was Peter Thomas', about fifteen miles distant on Plum creek, near where the borough of Elderton now is. Even fourteen years later the population of this region must have been very sparse, for Philip Mechling, sheriff of Armstrong county for many years, relates that he then found but very few habitants, and they were far apart, as he passed from Red Bank township to Thomas' in Plum Creek township, when he was collecting United States taxes, levied for paying the public debt incurred by the war of 1812.
There were then only bridle paths from one point to another. The streams were not spanned by bridges. When he reached the ferry kept by Robert Martin, at or near where Milton now is, he could not find either canoe or ferryman on the Red Bank side of the Mahoning. A canoe was on the other side. With dry chestnut logs, an ax and an augur, he constructed a small raft on which he ventured across the turbid stream and landed a considerable distance below his objective point. When he reached the canoe the ferryman had arrived. They crossed over to the Red Bank side and then returned to the Plum Creek side, guiding the horse by the rein or hitching as the latter swam alongside of the canoe.
The pioneer of Glade Run, after making considerable improvement on the "old Glade farm," left it because he could not obtain what he deemed a valid title.
Another contemporaneous settler on Glade run was Joseph Marshall, the eldest son of William Marshall, Sr., he being twenty-two years old when they settled there a century ago. Their new home in the wilderness was then in Toby township.
Joseph Marshall, in later years, when the Marshalls in this part of the county became quite numerous, was distinguished from others bearing the same name by the appellation of "big Joe Marshall." He died in his eightieth year in 1859. His father had nine children, of whom the only one surviving, Robert Marshall, on the centennial anniversary of American Independence was in his seventy-seventh year. The descendants of William Marshall, Sr., if all were living, would number over five hundred. The descendants of his brothers John and Archibald, who were somewhat later settlers in this region, are also quite numerous. Hence the frequency of the name of Marshall in this and other adjacent townships. The Marshalls, like many of their contemporaries bearing different names, have generally been of good repute in their public and private relations.
The eastern portion of this township received nearly all the settlers in the first decade of this century. Thomas Wilson was assessed with 300 acres of land in 1806, being then in Kittanning township. The records show that the other settlers in this section were Hugh Martin, Alexander and Thomas McGaughey, James Kirkpatrick, Sr., and John Calhoun, in 1807.
Christopher Rupp in 1805 was the first settler in the vicinity of Echo. Twenty years after he was the owner of 800 acres of that land.
POPULATIONPrevious to 1830 the population of this township was not very rapidly increased. At that date it was only 878, but by 1840 the number had reached 1,875. In 1850, after the curtailment of its territory, it was 1,348. In 1860 it was 1,576; in 1870, 2,028; in 1880, exclusive of the borough of Dayton, 1,867; in 1890, 1,503; in 1900, 1,461; in 1910, 1,384. The gradual decrease in the population was due to the decline of farming, the closing of the academies and the many attractions offered by the larger cities.
The present territory of Wayne was a part of Toby township from 1801 to 1806; part of Kittanning township until 1809, and part of Plum Creek township until 1821.
GLADE RUN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHThe first clergyman to hold religious services in Wayne township was Rev. Robert McGarraugh, who was also the first Presbyterian minister who preached the gospel east of the Allegheny river in what are now Armstrong and Clarion counties. He held the first services in a barn of William Marshall, Sr., in 1803, while on his way to the wilderness in the northern part of Clarion county, where he subsequently settled. Twice a year thereafter he preached to this little congregation while on his journeys to and from the meetings of the old Redstone Presbytery, which extended from the Allegheny mountains to the Scioto river, and from Lake Erie to the Kanawha river. In those days the settlements were few and far between, and the pioneers marked the dates of his visits by putting pins in the dates in the old almanacs.
The church, which at first was called Cowanshannock, was organized by four families, those of James and William Kirkpatrick, William Marshall and William Shields, in 1804.
Rev. Robert McGarraugh soon thereafter decided to cast his lot with the little circle of worshipers, and in the same year gathered together his family and household goods in Westmoreland county and made the toilsome journey through the almost trackless wilderness to their new home, which they reached in the course of seven or eight days.
Wagon roads had not then been opened in this region, so they performed their journey through the forest on horseback, following Indian trails or the paths indicated by the settlers' blazes. They probably had three horses, one of which Mr. McGarraugh rode; another bore Mrs. McGarraugh and two of the children. All the kitchen furniture was packed on the third, on the top of which John the eldest son, was mounted. On their route they either forded or swam the Kiskiminetas, Crooked creek and Plum creek. They were detained a day at the Mahoning, and another at the Red Bank, where they were under the necessity of constructing canoes, in which they were conveyed across those streams, the horses swimming alongside of them. Their habitation, during the first year of their residence, near the present addition of Strattanville, was a log cabin twelve or sixteen feet square, the door of which was made of chestnut bark.
Father McGarraugh, as he was in later years called, was ordained by the Redstone Presbytery, Nov. 12, 1807, and installed as the pastor of the New Rehoboth and Licking churches, the pastorate in which he continued until April 3, 1822, after which time he preached at Callensburg, Concord and some other places until his death, July 17, 1839, in the sixty-ninth year of his age and the thirty-sixth of his ministry.
Says the writer of a historical sketch of Clarion county: "Rev. Robert McGarraugh is represented to have been a good, God-fearing man, well educated, able in prayer, slow of speech, often taking two or three hours to deliver his sermon. So earnest was he at times that great tears would roll from his eyes to the floor. It was said that his tears were more eloquent than his voice."
He had three sons and four daughters. Mrs. Henry Black, one of the latter, and John McGarraugh, one of the former, were living in 1876. Robert W. McGarraugh, a grandson, served in the Union army in the war of 1861-65 three and a half years, having been confined eleven months at Andersonville, where he died.
The early records of this, like many other churches, were not kept in a book, but on loose pieces of paper, which were preserved by the late George McCombs. They contain the minutes of the sessions from Sept. 15, 1821, until Oct. 24, 1836. It is not known if any members were admitted between 1804 and 1821. The admissions in the last-mentioned year were twenty-one on examination and seven on letters. It is not apparent whether any Presbyterian clergyman preached here even occasionally between the time when Father McGarraugh ceased to travel this route and the advent of Rev. James Galbreath, who preached here a few times prior to 1820, when Rev. David Barclay commenced preaching as a stated supply and continued about five years, during which period a considerable number were admitted. Joseph Diven and George McComb were ordained elders by Mr. Barclay in 1830, and John Marshall, Benjamin Irwin and William Kirkpatrick, July 24, 1825.
The pastorate of Rev. Elisha D. Barrett, M. D., commenced Dec. 9, 1828, and continued until Nov. 29, 1840, during which period John Calhoun, James Wilson, William Gahagen, Robert Caldwell and Robert Wilson were ordained and installed ruling elders, and fifty-nine members were admitted on examination. Dr. Barrett was among the first advocates of the temperance cause and of Sabbath schools, and other great moral and temporal interests of society in this region.
The pastorate of Rev. James D. Mason began June 16, 1843, and ended March 19, 1848, during which thirty-two members were admitted on examination, and William M. Findley, John Henderson and Thomas Travis were elected, ordained and installed ruling elders.
Rev. Cochran Forbes, who came next, had for twenty years been missionary to the Sandwich Islands, and he remained with the church until 1856. During his time eighty-six members were added.
Rev. G. W. Mechlin, DD, next served, from 1857 to 1894. After him came Rev. S. R. Frazier for a short time, and then Rev. G. W. McIntyre, the present pastor, came to the church, which was his first pastorate, in the spring of 1895. He has ever since served the congregation with remarkable success. His congregation is one of the largest in the county, the present membership being 411, while the Sabbath school instructs 200 little ones. At present the church has under its direct care four students for the ministry.
All the church edifices were erected on the same site, near the northern angle of the triangle formed by three public roads, one mile southeast of the borough of Dayton. The first one was 30 by 30 feet, with walls of hewn logs, shingle roof and board floor. It was probably erected in 1821, as the subscription paper found among the papers of the late Benjamin Irwin shows that the "implements," as the materials are styled, were to be delivered to the building committee by the first day of May of that year. One subscriber agreed to furnish five logs, another the same, another five pairs of rafters, two others "one summer," and so on until ample provision was made for the walls, roof and floor. Another paper contains the names of more than forty subscribers, who promised to pay, respectively, sums of money varying from $1 to less than twenty-five cents "for purchasing glass and nails and fixing the windows of the meeting house." That edifice was followed by another in 1831, which gave place in 1857 to another, which in 1871 was enlarged to its present dimensions of 48 by 76 feet, all of which were from time to time required by the healthy increase of the congregation.
The Sabbath school connected with this church was established probably in August or September, 1826, and was organized at a schoolhouse near Abel Findley's residence, which was then on the Hiltzimer tract. The officers on the first day were Joseph Reed, president, and John Calhoun and Abel Findley, assistants. This, like other schools in the township, was soon thereafter merged in the one at the church. It has ever since been a beneficent and flourishing school. Among its devoted superintendents and teachers the name of William Kirkpatrick most frequently occurs.
In 1876 the number of church members was 240, and of Sabbath school scholars, 202
This is not only the first church organized east of the Allegheny river, within the limits of this county, but it has been a parent church, from which emanated large portions of the original members of the Concord, Millville, Rural Village and Smicksburg churches, and a nucleus of the United Presbyterian Church at Dayton.
The following named members of this church and Sabbath school with the exceptions noted, became pastors of the Presbyterian Church: Alexander S. Marshall, Marion, Iowa; David J. Irwin, D. D.; James H. Marshall, Concord; Adam L. Wilson, Methodist Episcopal Church, Bryn Mawr; B. S. Sloan, evangelist, Indiana; J. T. Gibson; S. B. Fleming, Kansas; Johnston McGaughey, Raton, N. M.; Francis X. Miron, Earl Park, Ind; Colbert M. DesIslets, Ph. D., Belvidere, Nebr.; Albert B. Marshall, D. D., Minneapolis, Minn.; John P. Barbor, Lyndon, Kans.; David Brown, Newton, La.; Lycurgus Mechlin, D. D., Washington , Pa; Thomas M. Findley, St. Paul, Minn.; Henry T. McClelland, professor theology, Western Theological Seminary; Anderson F. Irwin, Peoria, Ill.; John C. Irwin, Fullerton, Nebr.; Asa Leard, Farmingdale, Ill.; Thomas W. Leard, Athens, Ill.; Robert E. Anderson, Owatonna, Minn.; Charles P. Cheeseman, Long Run; Joseph M. McComb, Lodiana, India; Adolphus C. Good, Ogowe River, West Africa; John G. Touzeau, Bogota, South America; John C. Mechlin, Salmas, Persia; John C. Anderson, Marion, Pennsylvania.
CONCORD CHURCHIn the year 1839 Rev. John Caruthers preached for some months in John Alcorn's barn to the Presbyterians of Concord, and finally in 1840, the church was formally organized, with the following members: John Alcorn and wife Elizabeth, William McCain, and wife Rebecca, John Calhoun and wife Catharine, Noah A. Calhoun and wife Mary, Samuel H. Porter and wife Nancy, William Marshall and wife Rebecca, and James White. Rev. Joseph Painter was the first pastor and served until 1852. After a vacancy of one year. Rev. Cochran Forbes entered the pulpit, remaining until 1856. From 1857 to 1865 Rev. G. W. Mechlin served. Next came Rev. J. M. Jones, 1865-67; Rev. H. Magill, 1867-72; Rev. F. E. Thompson, 1873-77; Rev. H. Magill, 1880-81; Rev. W. O. Thompson, 1881-82; Rev. J. M. Kelly, 1882-85.
The first church building was a $500 frame, built in 1842 on a hill commanding the surrounding country. After the Civil war another frame edifice was put up, which has been used from 1867 to the present time.
EPISCOPALIANSThe next church established in this township was St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, organized in 1836 by Rev. B. B. Killikelly, who was its rector for several years. Services were at first held in a private house and the congregation numbered ninety-one persons. The congregation rapidly increasing, the pastor visited the East for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions to build a church. In this quest he was successful, and in 1838 a frame edifice was erected at a cost of $250. it was located in the southern part of the township east of the village of Echo. It has not been in use for many years. The church organization was made and it was incorporated in 1866. Rev. William Hilton and Rev. D. C. James followed Rev. Mr. Killikelly up to 1876. At that time the church had begun to decline, and shortly thereafter ceased to exist.
LUTHERANSJerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1832 by Rev. Gabriel A. Reichert. Peter Kammerdiener was the first elder and Christopher Rupp and Abraham Zimmerman the first trustees. After Mr. Reichert left the pulpit was filled intermittently until 1876, when Rev. Michael Sweigert became the pastor. The number of members then was 72, Sabbath school, 50. The first church edifice was a log one, 30 by 25 feet. The present one, a frame, 40 by 35 feet, was erected in 1874 on an acre lot donated by Jacob Kammerdiener, near Belknap. There are occasional services held there now. A. F. Schaeffer was the pastor in 1904.
SCHOOLSThe educational interests were cherished by the early settlers of this township. About 1815 -- it may have been somewhat later or earlier -- according to information which has been orally transmitted to these later times, the first school within its present limits was opened in a building, perhaps not at first designed for a school house, on land of Benjamin Irwin, near the Indiana county line, and was taught by the William Marshall distinguished from others of that name by the sobriquet of "Crooked," not, it is presumed, that he was so morally. Perhaps, whatever crookedness there was in his physique may have been induced by the virtue of extraordinary industry. Some of his pupils traveled three and others four miles daily to acquire the rudiments of education within the walls of that log temple of knowledge in the forest. Robert Marshall, of Dayton, the last surviving pupil, died Oct. 1, 1881. Another school was taught in a primitive schoolhouse, built somewhat later, near the present site of the Glade Run Presbyterian Church, one of the teachers of which was Bezai Irwin.
In 1832 David Scott and David Lewis were assessed as schoolmasters. When the common school law went into operation in 1834-35 four schoolhouses were located, one in the Calhoun settlement in the northwestern part of the township, one in the Beck settlement in the southwestern part, another two miles north of Dayton, and one about the same distance southwest of that borough.
In 1860 the number of schools was 10; average months taught, 4; male teachers, 7; female teachers, 3; average salaries of male, per month, $20; of female, per month, $18.47; male scholars, 221; female scholars, 178; average number attending school, 278; cost of teaching each scholar per month, 48 cents; amounts levied for school purposes, $1,058.18; received from State appropriations, $94.25; from collectors, $800; fuel and contingencies, $74.80; cost of schoolhouses, $25.30.
In 1876 the number of schools was 10; average number of months taught, 5; male teachers, 6; female teachers, 4; average salaries of male, per month, $32; average salaries of female, per month, $32; male scholars, 190; female scholars, 151; average number attending school, 251; cost per month, $1.20; tax levied for school and building purposes, $1,970.84; received from State appropriation, $309.69; received from taxes and other sources, $1,991.12; cost of schoolhouses, repairing, etc., $223.50; paid for teachers' wages, $1,600; collectors' fees, fuel, etc., $234.23.
The school board in 1856 purchased of David Olinger two lots in the village of Belknap on which to erect schoolhouses Nos. 3 and 4, the former 60 by 80 and the latter 60 by 75 1/2 feet, both fronting on the Kittanning road, for $19.25.
In 1876 the report of this school was: Months taught, 5; male teacher, 1; salary per month, $35; male scholars, 36; female scholars, 19; average number attending school, 41; cost per month, 68 cents; tax levied for school and building purposes, $151.27; received from State appropriation, $37.20; from taxes, etc., $184.98; paid for teachers' wages, $175.08; for fuel, etc., $69.37.
In 1913 the number of schools was 11; months taught, 7; male teachers, 5; female teachers 6; average salaries, male, $42; female, $41.66; male scholars, 184; female scholars, 155; average attendance, 210; cost per month of each scholar, $1.61; amount of tax levied , $3,733.85; received from State, $2,026.32; from other sources, $4,501.96; value of schoolhouses, $6,100; teachers' wages, $3,220; other expenses, $2,516.90.
The school directors for that year were H. S. Coleman, president; S. P. Butler, secretary; C. A. Reed, treasurer; J. G. Snyder, S. M. Latimer.
GLADE RUN ACADEMYPrevious to 1850 the standard of learning in the schools was very low. A very superficial knowledge of the "Western Calculator" and "Kirkham's Grammar" were the only requirements of the average teacher, who often was only two or three lessons ahead of the scholars. A farmer's son, by occupying a few winter evenings in study, often distanced his instructor and perhaps filled his place at the next session. The country was rapidly filling up and a higher standard was demanded. Realizing this, the members of the Glade Run Church met on May 27, 1851, and after discussing the expediency of establishing a school of a higher grade, the session unanimously resolved "that measures be adopted for opening a parochial school as soon as possible." The school opened Oct. 27, 1851, with Rev. John M. Jones as principal, the members of the session, having assumed the payment of his first year's salary. He remained until 1854, when he was succeeded by Rev. G. W. Mechlin, D. D., who served until 1861, when Rev. J. M. Jones resumed the position of principal. They were aided at different times by assistants, who later became able preachers of the gospel in various parts of this country.
The first trustees were : Rev. G. W. Mechlin, William Kirkpatrick, John Henderson, Robert Wilson, Benjamin Irwin, W. M. Findley and John Wadding.
The faculty in 1857, according to an old program supplied by W. C. Marshall, editor of the Dayton News, was: Rev. G. W. Mechlin and J. H. Marshall, A. B., principals; J. K. Ritchey and Mrs. Lizzie M. K. Townsend, assistants; Mrs. N. J. Torrence, principal female department.
The rates of tuition were extremely moderate, for languages, rhetoric, sciences and mathematics, $10 per session; philosophy, physiology and algebra, $8; English branches, $6; painting, drawing and embroidery, $5. Board and room could be had in private families at $1.50 per week. At the 1857-58 session there were in attendance 45 males and 35 females.
By 1873 the rates had risen $2 additional and board cost $3. There were then 78 males and 47 females in the school.
In the catalogue published in October, 1862, the second year of the Civil war, which latter had made many vacancies in all advanced schools of learning, we find then enrolled during that eleventh year 55 male and 23 female students, or 78 in all. The enrollment previous to this year or in the first ten years was 202 males and 154 females. There were 84 males from Armstrong county, 27 from Indiana county, 24 from Clarion county, 18 from Jefferson county, 9 from Westmoreland county, 3 from Washington county, and 2 from Clearfield county. There was also a student from Brazil, S. A. Thus we see how far-reaching was the influence of one of Armstrong county's great schools of learning.
Among the many students who availed themselves of the excellent facilities of Glade Run none was more affectionately remembered or sincerely mourned after his untimely death than Benjamin Coles, a Christian Indian of the Caddo tribe, who came from his distant home in Louisiana in the early days of the institution's history and after an attendance of a few years died aged thirty-two, in 1860. At his death his schoolmates sold pictures of him to defray the expense of a tombstone, upon which they engraved the line: "Everybody loved him."
In 1876 it was recorded that over 1,300 students had passed through the institution and of that number nearly sixty had become ministers of the gospel. One became professor of a large theological seminary, several were foreign missionaries, one a president judge, some were prominent lawyers, some entered the medical profession and many were teachers.
At that date the buildings were an academy and three boarding houses for male and female pupils. These buildings were the gifts of the Glade Run and Concord congregations and the people of Kittanning.
A perpetual charter was granted in 1864 under the title of "Glade Run Classical and Normal Academy."
After 1880 the attendance gradually declined, owing to State subsidized normal schools, and in 1895 the old school was closed.
Situated on a commanding eminence, embowered with giant oaks, surrounded on every side by fruitful farms, the old edifice stands, a monument to early education and piety. It is now (1913) used as an overflow room for the Glade Run Sabbath school.
DAYTON UNION ACADEMYThis school was established in 1852 by the united efforts of the United Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal congregations, and was a non-sectarian institution. The first principal was Rev. John A. Campbell, and his successors were Rev. David K. Duff, David Love, A. M., D. W. Lawson and others. For a time the school flourished, but finally the same causes worked to compel its suspension that affected the Glade Run, and in 1905 it was merged with the Dayton Normal Institute.
The first county superintendent of the common schools of this county was Rev. John A. Campbell in 1854, then principal of this academy.
DAYTON SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOMEA need having arisen for a home for the children of deceased soldiers, Dayton was suggested as the most desirable location in the county, and in November 1866, a stock company was organized with a capital of $15,000 and the following membership: Rev. David K. Duff, Rev. T. M. Elder, Dr. William Hosack, Dr. J. H. Crouch, Robert Marshall, Wesley Pontius, William R. Hamilton, William Marshall, Thomas P. Ormond, Thomas H. Marshall, Samuel Good, Smith Neal, John H. Rupp, William Morrow, William J. Burns, J. W. Marshall, William Hindman, John Beck, Jacob Beck, John Craig, David Lawson and David Byers. The school opened in rented buildings with fifty-one pupils. In December, 1873, it was chartered as the "Dayton Soldiers' Orphans' School Association." In 1867 thirty-five acres of land were purchased and three buildings erected. In 1873 two of these were burned, but immediately replaced. The average number of pupils in the first five years was 150, and in 1876, 208. Rev. T. M. Elder, Rev. J. E. Dodds, Hugh McCandless, Miss Elizabeth McCandless and M. L. Thounhurst were the successive principals. As the limit of age at which the inmates could remain in the school was sixteen years, the result was a gradual elimination, and finally in 1888 fire destroyed all but one of the buildings, so the few remaining orphans were distributed among the other schools in various parts of the Union.
All of these institutions were the progenitors of the
DAYTON NORMAL INSTITUTEfounded and chartered in 1905, with these officers: Rev. G. W. McIntyre, president; Will Mechling, vice president; H. L. Ellenberger, secretary; T. E. Thompson, treasurer; Dr. George P. Bible, honorary vice president. The faculty is: Rev. C. W. Johnston, A. B., president, mathematics and science; Chelcie J. McAninch, A. B., Latin, English and German; Josephine Young, mathematics, history and literature; Dr. George P. Bible, A. M., methods of teaching and oratory; Madeleine Raby, elocution and expressive reading; Mark Porritt, musical director; Helen Watson, violin; Mrs. Effie Eckman, matron of dormitories.
A commodious brick building, for classrooms and auditorium, and a dormitory were erected, and together with the renovated Orphans' Home building that remained after the fire constitute the instruction plant. Most of the students are from Armstrong county.
INDUSTRIESThe inhabitants of Wayne township were entirely engaged in agriculture up to 1820. At that date, the first sawmill was erected by Peter Thomas. Others were built at various later dates by Jacob Beck, Abel Findley and Alva Payne. These mills were situated on Glade run, Camp run and Pine creek, but the timber is now exhausted and there remains not a vestige of the old plants save an occasional weed-grown sawdust heap.
The first gristmill was built in 1822 by Joseph Marshall, Sr., on Glade run, near its mouth, and was afterward owned successively by James Kirkpatrick, John Henderson, Archibald Glenn, John Segar and Andrew J. Lowman. The next was put up on Pine creek by George Beck, Sr., in 1830, who afterward added a carding machine. The third one, by Enoch Hastings, in 1835, on Glade run, was subsequently owned by Daniel Schreckengost, John Segar, Alexander Getty and Alex Haines. The fourth, by Andrew J. Lowman, in 1863, on a branch of Pine creek, was later owned by Jacob Segar. Alva Paine (Payne) and Thomas Travis built a saw and gristmill on the south bank of the Mahoning in 1827, and it afterward passed into the hands of Ellenberger Coleman.
The first fulling-mill was built by David Lewis in 1828 in the northeastern part of the township on the Mahoning creek, and was later operated by Archibald McSparrin, Archibald Glenn and James G. Morrison. The latter added a carding machine in 1839.
Robert Marshall, Alexander White, Adam Beck, and Henry Clever operated distilleries during the period from 1823 to 1839.
Other occupations were: John Marshall, hatter, 1829; William Marshall, tanner, 1831; William B. Marlin and Joseph Stewart, tanners, 1832; George McCombs and James McQuown, tanyards, 1839; Enoch Hastings, John Lias, Peter Lias, James Russell and John Rutherford, blacksmiths, in 1832; and in that year, Abel Findley, William Kinnan, carpenters; Hugh Rutherford, tailor; Jesse Cable, shoemaker, John Gould, stone and brick mason; and in 1833, Robert Borland, Jr., chairmaker.
Merchants assessed for the first time: John Borland, in 1832; Jacob Brown, in 1838. There was, it is said, a store, eight or ten years later, at the mill built by Joseph Marshall, on Glade run. In 1876 there were three assessed -- one in the thirteenth, and two in the fourteenth class.
Olney furnace was built by John McCrea and James Galbraith in 1846, and went into blast the next year. It was situated on the southerly side of the Mahoning creek, a little over two miles from the mouth of Glade run, and was a hot and cold blast charcoal furnace, which for a few years made about 23 tons of pig metal a week; and then after the enlargement of its bosh to 9 feet across by 32 feet high, 568 tones in 23 weeks, from the ferriferous and hard limestone ore, taken from the beds in the coal measures three miles around it. The number of employees varied from about sixty to eighty. Galbraith retired from it in 1850, and McCrea continued to operate it until 1855. The iron was transported via the Mahoning creek and Allegheny river to Pittsburgh.
An iron foundry was established by John Henderson and Archibald Glenn, probably in 1847, which was attached to the new gristmill on the site of the old one, called the lower Glade mills. It appears to have been operated by the latter until 1851, when it was transferred to John Segar, to whom it ceased to be assessed after 1852.
The first resident clergymen were Rev. Elisha D. Barrett, in 1829, and Rev. John Hindman, in 1834.
The first resident physician was Dr. William N. Simms, in 1834.
The Glade Run postoffice was established Dec. 17, 1828, at Joseph Marshall's on the then new post route from Kittanning to the mouth of Anderson's creek. Reuben Lewis was its first postmaster, and his successors were Rev. E. D. Barrett, from 1831 till 1835; John Borland, until 1853; William Findley, until 1855, when the office removed to the village of Dayton.
SMALL VILLAGESThe Echo postoffice was established in 1857, the name being given it from the remarkable echo from the hills at this point. The first postmaster was Joseph Knox and the first storekeeper Moses McElwain. This town is one of the stations on the B. R. & P. road and is also notable as the terminal of the Rural Valley railroad, a branch which carried coal and passengers to and from Rural Valley. Quite a business is done in the passenger line, but the service is very unsatisfactory. The road is owned by the B. R. & P. Railroad Company. Echo had, according to the last assessor's report, three blacksmiths, one shoemaker, one carpenter and one painter. W. F. Snyder and A. S. Foster are the storekeepers, C. A. Reed attends to legal matters, and the medical profession is represented by Dr. C. C. Ross.
"Milton" and "Independence" are two little settlements in the extreme northeastern part of the township, on one of the severe bends of the Mahoning.
The postoffice of "Belknap" was established Sept. 21, 1855, and its first postmaster was Charles W. Ellenberger, whose successors have been John Steele, Porter Marshall, Joseph McCorkle, Jacob Maurer and Daniel Knappenberger. The name of this village was adopted in honor of the postmaster general of that year, and was suggested by John McCrea. There is no office at this point now. R. R. Hoffman is the storekeeper.
MISCELLANEOUSThe first lodge of Grangers, or Patrons of Husbandry, in this county was organized in this township, in 1875, its first president being John Steele.
In the year 1876 the great mass of the people of this township were still engaged in agricultural pursuits, the assessment list showing those in other occupations to be: Ministers, 2; teacher, 1, surveyor, 1; physician, 1; merchants, 3; blacksmiths, 2; carpenters, 3; gunsmiths, 1; laborers, 23; millers, 3; miners, 4; shoemaker, 1; teamster, 1; tanner, 1; and 48 single men, valued at $50 each.
The assessment returns for 1913 show: number of acres, 25, 633, valued at $300,637; houses and lots, 46; value, $5,783, average, $123.54; horses, 408, value, $15,882; average, $38.92; cows, 438, value, $6,610; average, $15.11; taxable occupations, 520, amount, $7,085; total valuation, $355,422. Money at interest, $35,687.91.
GEOLOGYThe geology of Wayne township is similar to that of Cowanshannock, there being but slight variation in the convolutions of the strata. A few coal mines are in operation, but agriculture is the ruling occupation.
The little village of Belknap is honored by possessing as its near neighbor the highest point in the township, which is also the highest in the county. This hill is located half way between Belknap and Muff, on the upper branch of Pine creek, and is 1,731 feet above sea level.
BOROUGH OF DAYTONThe town or village of Dayton was laid out in 1850 on a part of the Pickering & Co. tract, then owned by Robert Marshall, and on a part of the Alexander McClelland tract, then owned by John Lias. The lots vary considerably in their areas.
The origin of the name of this municipality is this: On a certain evening, probably in 1849, when there were only about three buildings on the territory which it now covers, there was a small assemblage of persons then residing here and in this vicinity, at the store of Guyer and Laughlin. One topic of conversation on that occasion was the name which should be given to this point, then a mere hamlet, which, it was expected, would in time become a town. The main object was to select a name which had not been given to any other place, or at least to any postoffice, in this State. Some one present, it is not remembered who, suggested Dayton, which name, it is thought, occurred to the suggestor by reason of some mental association of his with Dayton, Ohio, which was named after Jonathan Dayton, one of the agents who effected a purchase for John Cleve Symmes of 248,000 acres from the United States, on a part of which is the site of that city. Dayton was a citizen of New Jersey, and was speaker of the house of representatives in the Congress of the United States from Dec. 7, 1795, until March 3, 1799.
MUNICIPALThe borough was incorporated in 1873, with G. W. Lias as the first burgess. H. L. Spencer and George Kline were the councilmen; W. W. Caldwell and Wesley Pontius, school directors; Thomas P. Ormond and J. R. Cornick, overseers of the poor; J. T. Smith, assessor; A. J. Thompson, auditor; John Campbell, justice of the peace, and G. B. Roof, constable.
The office of burgess was filled from that date by the following: Jacob Beck, D. L. Coleman, A. J. Thompson, W. M. Fulton, G. W. Lias, P. M. Enterline, J. R. Calhoun, D. B. Travis, G. F. Currie, C. W. Milliron, A. Good, J. R. Calhoun, S. S. Enterline, J. T. Irwin, P. H. Milliron, J. E. Marshall, D. L. Coleman, J. J. Martin, and the present cheerful and courteous incumbent, Mr. T. E. Thompson.
A. C. Morrow is the present president of the council. C. C. Radaker is clerk, and the councilmen are: W. R. Fike, H. H. Radaker, A. C. Beck, D. D. Marshall, M. H. Redding, and Joshua Martin. S. S. Snyder is tax collector; J. L. C. Welch, assessor, J. S. Spencer and J. F. Waddin, constables, and J. A. Foreman, policeman.
The justices of the peace have been: C. W. Milliron, 1893; W. C. Marshall, 1895; G. W. Lias, 1905; W. C. Marshall, 1914. Although the Democrats are in the minority, C. W. Milliron has been repeatedly elected, owing to his great popularity. W. C. Marshall is the editor of the News, and, owing to his association with numerous societies, and his work in connection with the principal corporations of the borough, he will not let his name be presented for election after his present term expires.
Among the first settlers in the borough were: Michael Guyer, J. B. Guyer, Samuel Rearich, Sr., Thomas Ormond, Jacob R. McAfoos, Joseph T. Hosack, Samuel McCartney, Daniel W. Wampler, John Campbell, Joseph W. Sharp, James Coleman, Robert N. McComb and Eliza A. Goodhart.
The first assessment list showed: 4 ministers, 5 teachers, 2 physicians, 4 merchants, 2 hotel keepers, 2 blacksmiths, 2 carpenters, 2 harnessmakers, 2 tailors, 2 shoemakers, 10 laborers, 17 farmers, and 27 miscellaneous occupations. The number of taxables in 1876 was 122, and the population was 561.
SCHOOLSThe school statistics for 1876 were: schools, 2; average number months taught, 5; male teacher, 1; female teacher, 1; salary of male per month, $33; salary of female per month, $33; male scholars, 50; female scholars, 49; average number attending school, 74; received from State appropriations, $91.14; from taxes, etc., $626.22; paid for schoolhouse, $244; for teachers' wages, $297; for fuel, $108.12.
Number of schools in 1914, 5; average months taught, 7; male teacher, 1; female teachers, 4; average salaries, male, $70; female, $48.33; male scholars, 100; female scholars, 88; average attendance, 134; cost per month, $1.87; tax levied, $2,363.95; received from State, $559; other sources, $2,361.30; value of schoolhouses, $7,800; teachers' wages, $1505; fuel, fees, etc., $900.94.
The school directors for 1913 were W. B. Walker, president; John M. Williams, secretary; C. G. Earhart, treasurer; Charles H. Winslow, A. W. Kinter.
INDUSTRIESThe postoffice at Dayton was established in 1855 with James McQuown as postmaster. Following came Mrs. Eliza A. Goodhart, Thomas McFarland, J. M. McGaughey, R. M. Marshall and A. W. Schreckengost.
In 1913 there are in the borough limits 13 stores, 2 liverymen, 2 jewelers, 1 tailor, 2 butchers, 1 druggist, 2 barbers, 1 undertaker, 1 dentist and 2 hotels.
The resident physicians are W. B. Walker, George S. Morrow, E. L. Fleming and Daniel Ritter.
The large flouring mill, owned by D. D. Marshall, is run by a gas engine and caters to the surrounding community for a considerable distance. It is valued at $2,000.
The Dayton Coal Company located just west of the borough, employs 88 men and produces 65,000 tons of coal annually. S. C. McHenry is the superintendent.
Dayton Lodge No. 738, I. O. O. F., is a flourishing society. There are also Masonic and other societies in the borough.
The First National Bank of Dayton was chartered Aug. 14, 1891, with a capital of $25,000. The present officers are C. W. Ellenberger, president; C. R. Marshall, vice president; A. J. Gourley, cashier. The directors are: C. W. Ellenberger, S. W. Marshall, A. J. Gourley, W. F. Beyer, C. R. Marshall, T. R. Williams, Eugene H. Winslow.
FINANCIALThe tax collector's returns for 1913 show: Dimensions of the borough, 74 acres, valued at $8,230; 249 houses and lots, valued at $123,880, average, $497.51; 90 horses, valued at $8,230, average value, $44.40; 27 cows, value, $645, average, $23.88; 339 taxable occupations, at $14,345; total valuation, $153,100; money at interest, $85,634.58.
The voters in 1913 decided to incur a $10,500 indebtedness for the purpose of installing waterworks and a lighting plant. This is an important matter in these days of foul rivers and typhoid fever epidemics.
RELIGIOUSThe Methodist Episcopal Church was organized here, it is said, as early as 1821, probably by Rev. Thomas Hudson, during his itinerant labors in this region, there being then about 12 members. Its number of communicants in 1876 was 90; Sabbath school scholars, about 100. There were two other churches in the Dayton circuit, whose aggregate number of members was 200, and of Sabbath school scholars about 240. The first church edifice of the Dayton congregation was erected in 1837. Rev. G. M. Allshouse was pastor 1910-1912. Rev. F. L. Teets became pastor in October, 1912, and was returned in October, 1913, for another year.
The Associate Presbyterian congregation of Glade Run was organized in the vicinity of Dayton by Rev. John Hindman in 1831, with eight members. John H. Marshall and William Kinnan were its first ruling elders. The pastorate of Rev. John Hindman continued until April 28, 1852. Rev. David K. Duff first preached to this congregation in February, 1854, and was ordained and installed Oct. 18, 1856. Although he was absent three years rendering military service as captain of Company K in the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, in the Civil war, his pastoral relation, at the request of his congregation, was not dissolved during any portion of his absence. The Sabbath school was organized April 18, 1859. The membership of the church in 1876 was 100, and the number of Sabbath school scholars, 59.
When the union between the Associate and Associate Reformed churches was effected in 1858, the name was changed to that of the United Presbyterian congregation of Glade Run, and in 1850 to the Dayton United Presbyterian congregation. Its contributions to the various boards during the first twenty years was $9,980, and during the year ending in 1876, $1,170.08. Its first church edifice was frame, 30 by 35 feet, situated nearly two miles southeast from Dayton, on a small branch of Glade run, adjoining the cemetery in the Borland neighborhood. It was enlarged in 1841. Its location was changed to Dayton in 1860. The present edifice, frame, about 40 by 60 feet, between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the academy, on the north side of Church street, was completed in 1863. The lot on which it is located was conveyed by Robert Marshall to Smith Neal, Robert L. Marshall and Wm. J. Stuchell, trustees, and their successors, March 27, 1869, for $10. The church has been served for the last year by Rev. R. T. M. Magill, a licentiate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, who has been called to the pastorate for the future.
THE PRESSIn 1882 James R. Orr, the first printer in the township, interested Rev. T. M. Elder and other citizens in the establishment of a newspaper, and together they started the Dayton News, under the firm name of Elder, Orr & Co. In December 1883, D. A. Lowe, now a leading photographer of Erie, together with W. C. Marshall, the present proprietor, bought up the stock and conducted the paper until 1885, when Marshall sold out and went to the West. In 1889 Lowe sold to M. H. Shick, who finally suspended it in July, 1892. Marshall returned in February of that year, and in July, together with C. W. Hoover, repurchased the plant and started under promising conditions in August of the same year. Mr. Marshall by 1897 had secured entire control of the paper, and from that time its success was assured. The News is now one of the best papers in the county and covers the entire field of the western portion of the county. Squire Marshall is one of the most popular men in Dayton, and to his accurate records much of the correctness of this history of this portion of Armstrong county is due.
The Odd Fellows, the Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World and the Eagles are well represented in the borough.
Source: Page(s) 234-245, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 19114.
Transcribed July 2001 by James R. Hindman for the Armstrong County Smith Project.
Contributed by James R. Hindman for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)
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