Copyright
© 2020 John
F. Oyler
February
27, 2020
Early Settlers in South Fayette
We
recently had the privilege of meeting with a group of South Fayette Seniors and
discussing the pioneers who originally settled what is now South Fayette
Township. We have talked and written about early settlers in the general
Bridgeville area; this was our first opportunity to focus on South Fayette,
We
began by revisiting the series of events that led to the establishment of the
township in its present form. Pennsylvania’s claim to southwestern Pennsylvania
was finally upheld in 1780. At that time Washington County was established; it
consisted of all the land west of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers.
In
1788 Allegheny County was created with its southern border being close to what
it is today; it extended to Lake Erie in the north. Within the county, Moon
Township included all the land south of the Ohio River and west of Chartiers
Creek.
In
1790 Fayette Township was established from part of Moon Township. It, in turn,
was subdivided into North and South Fayette Townships in 1842. The final event
was the establishment of Collier Township in 1785 from parts of Robinson, South
Fayette, and North Fayette Townships.
We
currently believe that the first people to occupy this area were very primitive
wanderers who left evidence of their existence fifteen to twenty thousand years
ago at Meadowcroft Shelter.
About
one thousand years ago there were several villages of a native culture well on
the way to civilization in this general area. Known as the Monongahela People
these folks lived in crude huts in organized villages, raised crops, and
manufactured crude tools.
This
was the same era as the Mound People in the Ohio Valley, the Mississippian
people in Cahokia (east of today’s St. Louis), and the Anasazi in the Four
Corners area. Cahokia was home to 40,000 people in those days; a population
greater than that of London at the time.
Unfortuntely
all these budding civilizations disappeared and were replaced by the native
Americans who were here when the European settlers arrived. They had only a few
small settlements in southwestern Pennsylvania; it was primarily a hunting
ground for them.
Delaware
Tingooqua (known as Catfish to the Europeans) had a hunting camp in what is now
downtown Washington, Pa. The trail from that site to an occasional settlement
on the Ohio River at today’s McKees Rocks was named Catfish Path in his honor.
It followed ridges along the Chartiers Valley. The settlers improved it and
renamed it the Black Horse Trail. In the nineteenth century it became the
Washington and Pittsburgh Turnpike. A century later it served as the route for
part of I-79.
Prior
to 1768 this area was off limits to permanent settlers. The Treaty of Fort
Stanwix that year reversed that restriction and opened it up. Christian Lesnett
elected to take advantage of this opportunity; he is believed to be the first
settler in what is now South Fayette. His claim was along Coal Pit Run, near
today’s Alpine Road.
In the
same year a mystery man named Miller showed up and claimed the land at the
mouth of a creek that he named for himself. According to legend he sold it to
land speculator John Campbell. “The Mouth of Miller’s Run” passed to Campbell’s
sister at his death. She sold it to Presley Neville who then sold it to Robert
Johnson in 1807. Johnson was the subject of one of our recent columns.
In
1772 Richard Boyce and his cousin Thomas Faucett arrived and staked claims in
the south end of the township. Boyce Station and Fawcett Church Road are named
for them.
George
Vallandingham and his brother-in-law Richard Noble claimed land in the
northwest part of the township along Robinson Run in 1773 and founded
Noblestown. Richard’s son Henry then built a sawmill and a grist mill and
established a prosperous trading business.
Next
came Nicholas Hickman and his two sons, in 1774. They purchased a claim from a
settler deciding to move west, supposedly for one cow. Their land was northwest
of Coal Pit Run, including Hickman Hill, currently the site of Calvary Full
Gospel Church.
Abraham
Middleswarth and his son Moses arrived in 1781 and claimed land in what is now
the northeast corner of the township, in the Thoms Run area. Moses eventually moved
across Chartiers Creek and acquired most of the land in Bridgeville west of
Washington Avenue.
Samuel
Morgan came to the South Fayette area sometime in the early 1780s and claimed
the property known as “Armaugh” which eventually became the community of Morgan
(the site of this talk). He built a grist mill there which was sold to Moses
Coulter in 1811. We know very little about Coulter’s early life; he arrived in
South Fayette in 1790.
James
Dinsmore was born near Belfast in Ulster, Ireland in 1742. He came to the New
World as a young man, settling in York, Pa. Around 1776 he claimed “Canaan” on
Miller’s Run, in the Cuddy area. By 1795 he and his family had moved into Washington
County in Canton Township. A blockhouse called Dinsmore’s Fort was built on
this site.
Obadiah
Holmes, Jr. and his family came to South Fayette at about the same time and
claimed “The Parsonage” due north of Morgan’s property. His parents had settled
on Chartiers Creek in what is now Strabane Township in 1775. He was a
participant in the Gnadenhutten Massacre, allegedly reluctantly.
These
early settlers were remarkable people – self-reliant, resourceful, and very
hardworking. One wonders how many of us today could achieve what they did.
Our
thanks to Margie Smith and the South Fayette Seniors for the opportunity to
discuss them.
