History books imply that Paint Township and Paint Borough took their names from Paint Creek, which reflected color from shale and iron deposits. The word Windber is formed from the Berwind-White Coal Company name that was inverted in syllables. Names of other towns came from their settlers such as Benson Borough, Foustwell, and Seanor (which related to the Zehner/Sanner name.) The quaint name of Scalp Level is said to have come from Jacob Eash who directed his friends to Scalp it level, boys, when the frontiersmen cleared his land.
It is impossible to separate out the actual citizens of the Paint Township area from the other 948 inhabitants of Shade Township who were listed collectively in the 1820 and 1830 census information. However, by 1840 Paint is credited as having 487 people, 90 taxable citizens, 1,382 acres of cleared land, 31 houses, 39 cabins, 94 horses over 2 years of age, and 190 cattle over 4 years of age. By 1850, there were 878 people representing 452 males and 426 females.
Hunting, then farming, became the first businesses of Paint Township. After the establishment of the iron ore industry at Shade furnace and then at Johnstown, mining of coal predominated. In the late 1800s, Berwind Coal Company attracted Europeans to work in their local mines. Paint Township became a melting pot of the old agrarian interests with the new industrial icons. The holding company for Berwind-White was Wilmore Coal Company, which established homes for miners in the Windber community on lands previously owned by David Shaffer. Paint Borough (which included Scalp Level) and Windber Borough were both incorporated in 1900 due to tremendous growth. In 1897 the Pennsylvania Railroad completed service between South Fork and Paint Township, so that coal could be shipped efficiently from the Berwind mines.
Benson Borough, which was laid out by Emanuel Eash in 1880, became a borough in 1892. A branch of the Baltimore and Ohio (B & O) Railroad snaked through the town.
Schools were initially associated with local churches. The first school classes were taught in the home of Jonas Weaver. In 1861 Paint Township approved the Common School Law of 1834, which provided for taxation of the citizens for public education. Apparently, Paint Township was the last Somerset County area to agree to the law.
Amos Claar established The Windber Era in March 1898. The Era continued to be the local source of community information after the demise of the Windber Journal which was first published by J. W. Reed.
Churches added a stabilizing role in the township. Rev. L. J. Bell organized the Mr. Zion Evangelical Lutheran church in 1856. United Brethren, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and other churches formed.
About seven different Roman, Slavic, and Orthodox Catholic churches organized as citizens from Eastern Europe became citizens of Windber. The Shade Creek branch of the Church of the Brethren had separate congregations at Scalp Level, Windber, Rummel, and Berkey.
In general, the climate is temperate with rolling hills and grasslands shaping the countryside. This area was painted by a colony of artists led by George Hetzel in the late 1800s. Woodland landscapes reflecting the Scalp Level school of painting can be viewed in Pennsylvania art museums.
Natural disasters challenged the residents. Benson Borough had a fire that wiped out the Farmers Milling Company, the general store, and two houses in January 1903. Paint Creek flooded parts of Scalp Level with each Johnstown flood, or at least three times. The community rebuilt the damaged bridges, homes and roads.
John Fyock is credited as having been the first settler in Paint Township. Philip Hoffman was in the area by 1790, but he was probably proceeded by Joseph Troyer, David Troyer, Christian Kaufman and Melchior Seese. From these first few, the population has grown. Paint Township including Benson, Scalp Level, and Windber recorded 9,682 citizens in the 1990 census.
The traditions of all citizens who lived in Paint Township continue through genealogical research. You are encouraged to contribute your own ancestral information. All material is welcomed.
Reference Sources:
- Wefley, William. History of Somerset and Bedford Counties, Vol. II and III, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906.
- Somerset County Historical Society, Somerset, PA
- Frank P. Alcomo. The Windber Story: A 20th Century Model Pennsylvania Coal Town,1983.
- The Windber Era
- Jerome E. Blough. History of the Church of the Brethren in Western Pennsylvania., Brethren Publishing House, Elgin, IL 1916.
- U. S. Census Bureau (Census information for 1820, 1830, 1840 and 1990)
DLK 1998
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