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Canton Twp.
History
of Washington
County, Pennsylvania*
CANTON
was erected from parts of the territory of the townships of Morris, Hopewell,
Strabane, and Chartiers,
but it was not, as was often the case, the large extent of any one of these
that caused the reduction of their areas and the formation of the new
township. A petition was presented for the erection of Canton
township to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Washington County in 1791, which
was granted on the 10th of June in that year, erecting the township
of Canton with limits which
remained unchanged until 1853, when a portion of its territory was taken off
to form a part of Franklin
township. Following is a list of persons who were and have been appointed and
elected to the office of justice of the peace (1) in Canton
Township, viz.:
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William Slemmens, Nov. 1, 1795
Jonathan Leet, Jan. 2, 1802
Joseph Irons, April 2, 1803
James White, April 14, 1840
John Brownlee, April 14,
1840
Samuel K. Weirich, April 15, 1845
George W. Boyd, April 15,
1845
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Robert R. Reed, April 11, 1848
Hervey N. Clark, April 10, 1849
Alexander G. Marshman, April 14,
1863; May
30, 1868
A. S. Engleson, April 28, 1873; Jan.
16, 1874; March 25, 1878
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(1) From the erection of the
township in 1791 to 1803 it was under the jurisdiction of the justices of the
district from which it was taken. In the latter year it was united with Buffalo
in District No. 2, and remained in that district until 1838, when it became
an independent district.
Settlements
Zachariah Pumphrey
received a Virginia certificate, dated at Coxe's Fort, Feb. 22, 1780, certifying that he is "entitled
to four hundred acres of land in the county of Ohio, on Shirtees'
Creek, to include his actual settlement made in the year 1774." It was
surveyed in the year 1785, as containing three hundred and fifty-three and
three-eighths acres. On this land he lived till about 1795, but in the meant
time sold parts of it to Abram Swearingen, Abram Robertson, John Ferguson,
Isaac Leet, Jr., James Young, and Isaac Warrich. In 1795 he had sold the entire tract. This tract
was in Strabane township until Canton was erected in 1791, when it became a
part of that township. On this farm was located the old Razortown
(of which but little is known), before the county of Washington was erected. Later the small parcels
were purchased and again became mostly in one tract, and were known
respectively as the Wylie, Kelly, and Montgomery farm. It forms now the fine and
productive farm of Gen . John Hall.
William Johnston was in
this territory as early as 1778, and in January, 1780, he received a Virginia certificate for a tract of land
"situate on the waters of Chartiers
Creek." It was surveyed as "Johnston", and contained three hundred and
ninety-one acres; patent for it was obtained Nov. 20, 1786. In April of this year he was
appointed justice of the peace and of the Court of Common Pleas. On the
6th of May 1795,
he sold to Nathaniel Mitchell two hundred and one acres. William Johnston had
two sons, John and Robert. John married a Miss Noble, but left no
descendants. Robert married Grizella Pollock. They
had twelve children, namely: Mary, Jane, Nancy, John, William, Martha, Margaret,
Grizella (lst), Grizella (2nd), Robert and Samuel.
Mary married John McMillan,
and settled in Chartiers township. Jane married
Barclay McLain and located in Buffalo township. Nancy became the wife of Robert Patterson,
and moved to Beaver
County, PA. John married three times; first,
Margaret Taggart; second, Ann McClelland; third, Rebecca Brownlee. William
married Mary McLain, and settled in Mount Pleasant township. Martha married John Hammond,
and emigrated to Belmont County, Ohio. Margaret and Grizella
both died young. The next daughter (also named Grizella)
married David Morrow, and now resides in the township. Robert married
Isabella McConnaughey, and resides on the old
homestead.
Nathaniel Mitchell came to
this country in 1795, and on the 6th of May in that year purchased two
hundred and one acres of William Johnson, and on the 4th of June the same
year bought one hundred acres of land of William and James Bailey, a part of
a tract named "Labrador" on the head-waters of Brush Run, which had
been granted to Henry Martin on a Virginia certificate. From 1799 to 1828 he
purchased several other tracts, amounting to nearly four hundred acres, in
the vicinity. James, son of Nathaniel, married Elizabeth Irwin, by whom he
had six children - Jennie, Margaret, David, John, Ann, and Elizabeth. Jennie
never married. Margaret married Samuel McConnaughey;
they had four children - James, Joseph, David and Margaret; the latter became
the wife of John Hodgins. David, a son of Nathaniel
Mitchell, married Ann Hatcher of Ohio. John, brother of David, married
Rachel St. Clair; moved to Indiana. Ann became the wife of Eleazer Brownlee, and moved to Ohio. Elizabeth married James Pollock, and emigrated to Ohio.
Enoch Dye emigrated from
the eastern part of the State to what is now Washington County about 1778, and settled upon a tract
of land for which he obtained a Virginia certificate Dec. 16, 1779. It was surveyed to him on 25th of
January 1786. It contained three hundred and ninety-three acres, and was
named "Spencer", and at the time of survey was adjoining lands of
John Leman, Richard Yeates, David Irwin, David
Clark, and James Leet. He married Rebecca, the
daughter of Isaac Leet. Their children were Daniel,
Enoch, Isaac, William, Elizabeth, Sarah, Susan and others. Daniel married
Jane McIntyre, and emigrated to Licking, Ohio, with a large family about 1815.
Enoch, who married Mary McIntyre, was killed by the fall of a tree. Isaac
married Margaret Clidellen, and settled in Canton township where he died. William died
when a young man. Elizabeth became the wife of William Thompson.
Their descendants are now in the township and in Canonsburg. Sarah married
Samuel Crawford and emigrated to Ohio. Susan became the wife of Samuel Carruthers, and removed to Mansfield, Ohio.
Samuel Prigg,
a native of Lancaster
County, PA., emigrated to
Washington County and purchased lands of Enoch Dye,
whose daughter Hetty he married. There were two
block-houses on the tract, which were about one hundred and fifty yards
apart, to which the settlers were in the habit of gathering. Samuel Prigg settled on this land and lived and died there,
leaving five sons and two daughters, namely, John, Robert, William, Enoch,
James, Margaret, and Rebecca, who are all living with the exception of
Robert. John married Jane Dye; they left no descendants; Robert married Mary
A. Bell, by whom he had two children, Hamilton and Hetty;
the former lives in Kansas; the latter became the wife of Joseph McDaniels of this county; William married Rebecca Mountz; Enoch married Matilda McDaniels;
James married Caroline Mountz.
Of the daughters of Samuel Prigg, Margaret became the wife of Daniel Dye, The above all reside in the township except Robert,
who is deceased.
Rebecca became the wife of
Isaac Cooper, and moved to Waynesburg, Greene Co., PA, where they now reside.
John Leman emigrated from Ireland to this country, and settled for some
years in Chester County. About 1779 emigrated with his family
to what soon after became Washington County, and took up land, for which he received
a Virginia certificate Feb. 18, 1780. This tract was surveyed April 11, 1785, as "Care," and contained
three hundred and forty-nine acres. At the time of the survey it was
adjoining lands of Robert Stockton, James Brownlee, and other lands of Leman.
The other land here mentioned was a tract named "Leman Grove", to
which he received a patent March
3, 1786. He sold a few years later one hundred
acres of "Leman Grove" to James Latimore.
He died in the summer of 1794, and left a widow, five daughters and no sons.
The daughters were Jane, Margaret, Martha, Sarah, Isabella and Mary. Jane
became the wife of James Brownlee, and settled in Franklin township; Margaret
married William Brownlee, and also settled in Franklin; Martha married Ludowyck McCarroll, and settled
near Hickory, in Mount Pleasant township; Sarah married James Latimore, who purchased a part of the "Leman
Grove" tract in 1793; Isabella remained single; Mary, the youngest
daughter, married first a Mr. Stuart; they had one daughter, Isabella. After
the death of Mr. Stuart she became the wife of Thomas Patterson, of Mount Pleasant, who died soon after, and she became
the wife of James Ridgway, and settled on property
adjoining land of Thomas Patterson.
Adam and Robert Wylie, who
were of Scotch-Irish descent, settled in what is now Canton township about
1784, Adam on the farm now owned by Samuel Taggert.
He patented three hundred and thirty-nine acres lying on the road from Washington to Charlestown, now Wellsburg. On the
13th of January 1802,
he sold one hundred and forty acres to his son, Adam, who was a physician,
and married a Miss Biers, after which he removed to Ripley, Ohio. Andrew, son of Adam, became a
minister of the Presbyterian Church, married a daughter of Craig Ritchie, of
Canonsburg, and was appointed president of Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, and at the same time
had the care of the Pigeon Creek Congregation. He removed from this county to
near Indianapolis, Ind., where he died. William, also a son of
Adam, married Hetty, a daughter of the Rev. Joseph
Smith. He also became a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and was settled
as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wheeling, West Virginia, where
he died. John Wylie, another son of Adam, married Margaret Watt. Of the
daughters, Mary married Matthew Duncan, Jane married Andrew Duncan, and Elizabaeth became the wife of Robert Tweed.
Matthew Morrow emigrated to
Dauphin County with his father, and in 1791 came to this country, and on the
10th of May the same year received a warrant for a tract of land on the
waters of Buffalo Creek, in Canton township. This tract, named "Zapula", was surveyed March 7, 1785, as eighty-four acres, to William Meetkirk, as administrator for Jesse Dements. It was,
however, patented to Matthew Morrow, May 10, 1799. He also purchased land of William Slemmens on the 28th of September
1807. He
married Elizabeth, a daughter of Samuel Weir, by whom he had seven sons and
five daughters, namely, Samuel, Thomas, John, James, William, David, Adam, Lavina, Catharine, Jane, Ann and Elizabeth. Mary became
the wife of William Kyle, and emigrated to Harrison County, Ohio. Samuel married Maria McCombs, and
settled in Wayne County, Ohio. Lavina married
Robert Taggert, and also settled in Ohio. Thomas married Mary Genet, and moved
Wayne County, Ohio. John, Ann and James all lived and died unmarried. Jane
became the wife of Robert Gailey, and settled in
Union township; William married Eliza McClay,
daughter of Samuel, and settled in Canton township. Elizabeth died in infancy. David married Grisella Johnson, and now lives in the township. His only
daughter became the wife of Hamilton, and also lives in the township. Adam
married Jane Park, and resides in Nottingham township.
John Dodd took out a
land-warrant dated Nov.
22, 1785. It was surveyed April 17th the next
year, and was named "Prulir", containing
three hundred and twenty-five acres, adjoining lands of Robert Wiley, Reason Pumphrey and John Virgin. This tract is partly in Canton and partly in South Strabane township. The larger part of it was
formerly the Archer estate, now belonging to the Hazlett
estate. A part of it is in lots and adjoining the borough of Washington.
William and John McCombe took up land in the township of Strabane in 1785, the warrant of William bearing
date Mar
4, 1785, and surveyed November 15th the same
year. It contained three hundred and forty-five acres, and was named
"Maidenhead." It was situated on Chartiers
Creek, adjoining lands of Reason Virgin, Henry Moore, and William Brownlee.
The tract of John (taken up at the same time, and surveyed June 16th the same
year) was named "Superfine," and contained three hundred and
eighty-seven acres, adjoining land of Thomas Nichols. William also purchased of Robert
McCombs a tract of three hundred and eighty-town acres in Somerset township, which had been warranted to
Robert; Nov.
1, 1787; and April 12, 1792, he sold to Robert McCombs, the
original warrantee. William McCombs was appointed coroner Nov. 1, 1784, and served two terms. He died in
1807, and left three daughters and three sons - Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary, Malcom, John and Robert. The real estate was divided
equally among them.
John, Jacob, and William
Wolfe were natives of Germany. They emigrated
to this country, and after a short time came to Washington County. Jacob and William settled in what is
now Buffalo township, and John settled on a tract
of land which had been located by Kennedy Martin. The deed bears date April
13, 1780, and
the land is mentioned as "all that tract of land on which we formerly
lived, called 'Wolfe' situate, lying, and being upon the waters of Chartiers Creek, in Strabane
township" (now Canton). A warrant was granted to Kennedy Martin, Feb.. 10, 1789, and the patent obtained March 26th the same
year. It contained three hundred and fifty-five acres, and was then adjoining
lands of David Clark, Thomas Wilson, Robert Wylie, and Joseph Paxton.
On the
28th of August 1793,
John Wolfe took out a warrant for four hundred acres, which was surveyed to
him. He lived and died upon his farm, and left eight sons, whose names were
David, Joseph, Solomon, Jacob, William, Henry, John, and Enoch. David, who
was a tanner, married Mary Hewitt, and settled on the farm, now owned by
Hamilton Davis. Joseph was a carpenter. He married Mary Marshall and resided
in Washington. Jacob married Martha Marshall, and
settled on a part of the home farm, where he died, leaving a family of eight
children, of whom John H. Abraham B., Isaac, and Thomas reside in the borough
of Washington. A daughter, Mary, became the wife of
Marshall Cox, and lives in Franklin township.
Solomon, son of John Wolfe,
married Elizabeth Essik, and lived and died on part
of the original tract. John Jr. never married, and emigrated
to California in 1852. Henry emigrated
to Ohio. William settled on the home farm,
built one of the stone houses still standing, and died at ninety-six years of
age. Enoch married Sarah Marshall, and now resides in this township. Of the
daughters, Mary married George Hupp, and settled in
Buffalo township, where he died. She
afterwards removed to St. Louis, Mo., and died there. Hannah married Henry,
a son of Zachariah Cox, and emigrated to Ohio. Catharine remained single, and lived
with her uncle William, and died in 1878. The old homestead place is owned by
William Prigg. The larger part of the farm is owned
by Hamilton Davis. A portion of it is also owned by the estates of James
Kelly and William Price.
William Slemmens
came to this county before 1787, being then well advanced in life. He was
elected justice of the peace Nov.
1 1799. A tract of land was warranted and
patented to him. A portion of it later came into possession of Robert McGowen and a portion to Matthew Morrow, September 18, 1807. He had two sons, Thomas and William,
to the latter of whom a portion of land was devised. Thomas took out a
warrant for a tract of land dated June 22, 1786. It was surveyed to his father,
William Slemmens, Dec. 1, 1787, as "Plenty," and contained
one hundred acres. It was patented June 5, 1787. Thomas Slemmens
died in 1827, leaving a widow and five sons - Samuel, William, Thomas, John
and James - and five daughters - Susanna, Eliza, Jane, Margaret, and Mary. He
bequeathed to Samuel, William, and Thomas each a quarter section of land in
Wayne County, Ohio; his other land lying in this county to be divided as
follows; three-quarters equally between Samuel, Thomas, John, and James, and
one-quarter between the daughters. The land is now owned by the heirs.
Robert McGowen
bought one hundred and eighty acres of land of Jesse Martin on the 3d of June 1785. He also purchased one hundred and
twenty acres of William Slemmens, Jr., which he
afterwards sold to Michael Fornier. A purchase was
made April
27, 1789, of Francis Cunningham. This was on
the head-waters of Georges Creek, a branch of Chartiers
Creek. He kept tavern from 1801 to 1806.
Thomas Allison emigrated
from Ireland to this country, and settled in the
north part of Canton township, where the property is still
owned by his descendants. He married Jane Crawford, by whom he had three sons
and three daughters - John, James, David, Jane, Ellen, and Martha. John
Allison married Ann Paxton, and settled on part of the homestead where his
descendants still live. His children were Ellen, Martha, Mary Ann, Margaret,
John G., Elizabeth and Thomas P. Of these Mary Ann married Thomas Harsha; Margaret remained single; John G. married Mary
Rogers, Elizabeth became the wife of Samuel Taggert; and Thomas P. married Sarah J. Morrow. James the
second son of Thomas Allison, removed to Illinois and died there. David, the third son,
lived a bachelor, and died in the township. Ellen married Thomas Morrison;
Jane became the wife of Mr. Simpson; Martha died when about twenty years of
age.
William Reed came to this
section from near Gettysburg about 1783, and remained for several
years without purchasing lands. On the 29th of June,
1798, he
purchased one hundred and thirty-three acres of Samuel Hanna, adjoining lands
of Adam Wylie, George Sellens, John Cord, and John
Wallace. He had several children, among whom were
David and William. David was a bachelor, and died in the township. Of his
children, John, William & Samuel were Presbyterian ministers. John
settled in Indiana
County, PA,; William in Columbiana County, Ohio. Samuel commenced preaching, and soon
after showed signs of insanity. He strayed to Philadelphia and preached in the streets. He was
found and placed in the asylum, from which he escaped, returned home, and
eventually recovered. He finally settled in Ohio and became a farmer. James Reed was a
farmer, and settled in East
Finley
township, and Andrew in Cross Creek.
David Irwin lived in the
eastern part of the State, where he married Ann Allen and emigrated
to Washington, and located the tract of land still
owned by the family. He built his cabin, raised a family of children, and
died there. He had five sons and five daughters, namely, William, Mary,
Thomas, David, Jane, Elizabeth, Ann, Martha, John and James. William was a
bachelor; Mary became the wife of Samuel McKee; Thomas married in Ohio, where he lived and died; David
emigrated West; Jane married Hugh Allison; Elizabeth became Mrs. James Mitchell; Ann
married Robert Smith. They kept tavern many years near and west of Washington, on the Wheeling road. Martha married John Jenkins who
resided on the Monongahela
River. John
married Nancy Jenkins, and moved to Belmont County, Ohio. James married Nancy Clark, and
settled on the homestead where he lived and died. The homestead property is
now owned by William Irwin, a son of James.
In the extreme north part
of the township of Canton and on the middle fork of Chartiers Creek John and Thomas Douglas took up a tract
of land about 1782. On the 3rd of September 1784, James Taggert
purchased two hundred and sixty acres of them, where he lived and died. His
children were John, James, Samuel, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth and William. John
married Miss Miller and emigrated to Harrison County, Ohio. James married Martha Fergus, and
settled on the homestead and died there. His son James now owns the place.
Samuel married Catharine Morrow, and settled in Wayne County, Ohio. Mary
married George Miller, and lived in Cross Creek village. Elizabeth became the wife of John Marquis, and
lived in Cross Creek township.
James Dinsmore
emigrated to this county from Ireland, and settled first in Fayette township,
Allegheny County, Pa., and on the 21st of July, 1795, purchased two hundred
and seventy-six acres of land in Canton township, Washington County, of
Joshua Anderson, adjoining lands of Francis Cunningham, Samuel Agnew, James Taggert, and William Shearer, it being part of a tract
called "Huntington" which was patented to Joshua Anderson, Sept.
26, 1787. On
this farm Mr. Dinsmore lived and died at an
advanced age. A fort, or block-house, was on the place that later became
known as the Dinsmore Fort. He left two sons, John
and James and several daughters. The farm was divided between John and James.
The former remained on the homestead place till his death, and left four sons
- William, James, John C., and Robert. William is still living on the
homestead where he was born. James moved to Cross Creek. John C. settled in
the township. Robert moved to Buffalo township where he was murdered.
James Dinsmore,
son of James and brother of John, lived on his portion of the farm and died
there. He had three daughters, one of whom, Mary, became the wife of Henry
Graham, a great-grandson of the Henry Graham who took up the land on which
Cross Creek village now stands. They settled in Bloomington, Ill. Two of the daughters, Mrs. Samuel
White and Miss Jane Dinsmore, reside on the home
place.
In the north part of the township of Canton, Francis Cunningham took up a tract of
land which was divided between Francis and his brother James. On the
10th of September, 1792,
they sold one hundred and twelve acres of it to John Moore, adjoining Gavin
Allison, Joshua Anderson, William McGowen, and
James Cunningham. The tract was patented to Francis Cunningham. He made it
over to his father, Robert, one hundred and forty-two acres, who left it by
will to Francis and James.
Three brothers, Joseph,
Jonathan, and John Nesbet, came from Cecil County,
Md., and Joseph purchased of Andrew Swearingen, July 30, 1800, three hundred and ninety-eight acres,
a tract named "Canaside," and one hundred
and sixty-seven acres of a tract named "Drusilla," This land was
divided between the three brothers. Joseph retained the portion of it which
lay in Canton township, on which he lived and died,
leaving a widow and three children - Joseph, Robert and Jane. Joseph, the
eldest son, inherited the homestead, and lived and died there, living a widow
who still lives upon the farm. Robert bought a farm in Peters
township, called Rich Hills. Jane became the wife of Ebenezer
White. They settled on a farm adjoining her father's to the south. Jonathan
and John Nesbitt settled on the portion of the land Joseph purchased, lying
in Chartiers township.
Samuel McCloy
emigrated to America about 1800, and in 1808 located in Washington County. On the 24th of November in that year
he purchased one hundred and one acres of land of Alexander Patterson, situated on Brush Run, a branch of
Buffalo Creek. This land was part of a tract which was warranted to Henry
Martin, and surveyed as "Labrador,"
and for which a patent was granted March 22, 1788. Samuel McCloy
married Sarah McClelland, by whom he had seven children - John, David,
Robert, William, Margaret, Elizabeth and Sarah. Margaret married Robert Dinsmore, and settled and died in Allegheny County. Elizabeth married William Morrow, and settled in
Canton township. Sarah remained single, and
died in 1838. John married, first, Jane Smith, and afterwards Miss Jane
Welsh. Her children were Sarah J., William W., John H., and Robert H. Later
he married Sarah Taggart, who lived only fifteen months afterwards, and later
still Margaret C. Brownlee became his wife.
Robert Thompson emigrated to this country from Ireland and settled for a time on the waters
of Wheeling Creek, where he took up a tract of land of which he was
dispossessed by prior claim. He then located on the Crawford place in Canton
township, where he built a cabin and resided till 1814, when he removed to
Canonsburg and purchased a lot on Front Street, just above the present
public-school building, and built a residence and shoe-shop, in which he
carried on the business of shoemaking till near his death. He had four sons -
Robert, John, Hugh, and Hamilton, and four daughters - Mary, Elizabeth,
Esther and Jane. Robert and John became physicians and settled in Washington, Ohio, and later removed, to Columbus, where the latter still lives. A
sketch of the former will be found among the physicians of Canonsburg. Hugh
and Hamilton became dentists. Hugh settled in Canonsburg and died there. Hamilton located in Washington, PA, where his son, Robert J., now lives.
Mary became the wife of Abram Roberts; Elizabeth of William McMillan. Esther
married Samuel Kirk, and Jane became the wife of George Kirk. The latter
settled in Canonsburg and died there, leaving a widow, two sons, and two
daughters, who still reside there. Mrs. Boyd Crumrine,
of Washington, is also a daughter, and James Kirk is
a son. William, the youngest son, is a physician, residing at Fox Chase near Philadelphia.
SCHOOLS
About 1815 a log school-house was built on the
old Morrow farm. The teachers who taught there after 1820 were Stephen Woods,
John Allison, John Connor, and John Smiley, who was the last. The house
caught fire (while the school was in session) during the year 1829 and was
wholly destroyed. About the same time a school-house was located on the ridge
on the farm of William Wolfe. Benjamin Work was one of the teachers in this
house.
Upon the passage of the
school law in 1834, the township accepted the conditions, and in March, 1835,
elected J. Brownlee and J. White school directors, who at once proceeded to
divide the township into four districts, which have been kept to the present
time without material change. In 1863 there were one hundred and fifty-three
scholars enrolled and seven teachers were employed. The sum of $852 was
raised for school purposes and $927.48 was expended.
In 1873 there were one
hundred and thirty-one scholars and four teachers. The sum of $1849 was
raised and $1861.77 expended. In 1880 there were one hundred and twenty-five
scholars and four teachers. The sum of $1239.03 was raised and $1144.78
expended.
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