Hickory Township,
The
Covenanters or Reformed Presbyterians organized about 1818, and held
their first meeting in William Patton's
barn. Rev. William Gibson presided at the
organization, and also took charge of the congregation as its first
pastor. After the first meeting in the barn, they held "tent
meetings" in a rude structure made of corner posts and roof, and
fit only for warm weather worship. The "tent" was put up
principally for the use of the minister, while the congregation occupied
log seats in front of it. Their first church was a rude log building,
about 22 by 24 feet in dimensions, and covered with a shingle roof,
being about the first roof of the kind in the neighborhood. About
1833 a frame church was commenced near the site of the old one, and
finished some two years later. This building was burned down in April,
1867. A building committee was at one appointed, and work was
immediately begun on a new structure-the fine brick church now standing.
Just one year from the day the old church was burned, or April 14, 1868,
the first sermon in the new building was preached by Rev.
Mr. Martin. In the fall of 1868 or 1869, owing to considerable
trouble having been previously' experienced in securing preachers, the
church changed to a United Presbyterian congregation. The
Associate Presbyterians built a church east of Eastbrook, about 1840-41.
The building, a roomy frame structure, is still standing. The
denomination is now United Presbyterian. The first pastor was Rev.
William A. Mehard, and the second Rev. R.
Audley Browne. The building occupies a pleasant situation in a
grove, on the hill which rises on the south side of Hettenbaugh Run, or
Eastbrook. A
Methodist Episcopal society was organized in 1847, and meetings held in
schoolhouse "number two," a mile northwest of Eastbrook. It is
not definitely [p. 246] known how many
members there were in the original congregation. On the 17th of March,
1851, an acre and fourteen perches of ground were purchased of Robert
Rea and wife and the frame church erected, which is still
standing. The trustees, at that time (1851), were
Samuel Black, Cornelius Miller, Robert Rea, Enoch McCreary and William
Rea. A graveyard occupies a portion of the ground purchased. SCHOOLS. About
1815-16 a round log schoolhouse was built near the south line of what is
now Hickory Township, on the road running south from Neshannock United
Presbyterian Church. A hewed log schoolhouse was put up in the corner of
the graveyard, near the old Neshannock Church, about 1828-29. This was
the only hewed log schoolhouse in this part of the country and the first
teacher was a man named John Tidball. There
are at present seven schools in the township. The total value of school
property for 1908 is about $6,000. The number of pupils enrolled for
1908 was 169. The total expenditure for school purposes in 1908 was
$3,452.23, of which amount $2,448 was paid to seven teachers. For
many years subsequent to the settlement of the township there were no
grist-mills erected, and the nearest one in the early times was to the
south, in the present Shenango Township. About
1825 Henry Reynolds built a grist-mill on
Hettenbaugh Run, a mile east of the village of Eastbrook, and operated
it until 1837, when he sold out to William Adams
and went West. This mill was the first one erected within the present
limits of the township, and became very popular, the work done being
excellent. The supply of water in the run is usually large enough so
that no inconvenience is experienced with a low stage. It is fed almost
entirely by springs. The
"Eastbrook Mills" were built originally by
John Fisher, in 1836, and rebuilt in 1859. The mill is a fine,
large building, containing three run of stone. About
1816-17 Thomas and John Fisher built a
sawmill near the site of the grist-mill. Two have since been erected at
the same place, the last one is still standing, though unused and much
dilapidated. A
woolen mill was built east of Eastbrook about 1830-32, by Lot
Moffatt, who sold out in the spring of 1837 to
Joseph Burnley & Company. These parties operated it until
about 1840, when they in turn sold to James
Glover. Glover died and the mill became the property of his
daughter, Mrs. J. B. Hardaker, and it was
afterwards carried on for some time by Mr. Hardaker, though doing but a
small business. About
1872 John Hickson built a shop on the south
branch of Eastbrook (Hettenbaugh Run) for the manufacture of pruning
shears, using an engine which had been used since 1861 in a saw-mill on
the same site. VILLAGE
OF EASTBROOK. About
1816-17 some members of the Reynolds family
put a man named Buckmaster as a tenant on
the tract of land near where Eastbrook now stands in order to hold their
claim. Thomas Fisher, having an eye on the
same tract, kept a close watch, and when Buckmaster left it for a time
he put a man on the place and kept him there till he became entitled to
the land by settler's right. Buckmaster afterwards settled elsewhere and
the Reynoldses also. A
man named Terry was a very early settler in
the neighborhood, and located on the farm now owned by
John McCreary, northwest of Eastbrook. A part of the tract is
owned by James Patton. John
Fisher was a soldier of the War of 1812, and came from the
Ligonier Valley in Westmoreland County. He settled the tract, including
the site of Eastbrook, about 1819; this was the third tract he had [p.
247] located upon, the first being in 1809. His brother, Thomas
Fisher, came afterwards. Thomas
Fisher (the first) came to the county in 1802, and located in the
present limits of Neshannock Township, on the Shenango River, where he
put up a carding machine, said to have been the first one in the State
west of the Alleghenies. About 1817 Thomas and
John Fisher built a woolen-mill in Eastbrook, above the site of
their saw-mill. John
McCartney also built a woolen-mill about 1850, and operated it
for some time. It was afterwards bought by David
Stewart, and still later by James Craig. The
mill was in operation the greater portion of the time, for many years,
and its capacity was often taxed to the utmost to supply the demand for
the products, but little if any manufacturing is now done there. The
manufactures were stocking yarn, woolen blankets and barred flannel. The
saw-mills built along the brook since the country was settled have been
almost without number, and we have merely mentioned the first ones and
not taken the trouble to hunt up all of them. Many of the old frames are
yet standing. The
first store at Eastbrook was kept by John Fisher,
about 1835-6. It was a general store and still stands at the west end of
the bridge. Another store the same class was opened in 1838 by T.
H. Harrah, who afterward built another, which he and
J. B. Hardaker operated together. James
McFarlane & Co. also kept a store for a year and a half or
two years subsequent to 1844, the firm afterward being changed to Dickey
& McFarlane. McFarlane finally removed
to Morris, Grundy County, Illinois, and Hardaker & Harrah continued
the business. Hardaker & Simonton were in it from 1852 to 1856. In
the spring of 1860 John Waddington went
into the firm, which was known for a time thereafter as The
first postoffice was established in 1837, the petition being circulated
by John Waddington. The candidates for the position of postmaster were T.
H. Harrah and John Fisher; the
latter was the successful man, after Harrah had done most of the work to
get the office established. However, Harrah afterwards had his ambition
satisfied, and obtained the office after its affairs had been
administered by Fisher and Alexander Carpenter. The
first shoe-shop was opened by Oliver Bascom, about
1840; after him Carson Campbell had a shop;
Samuel Douglas opened one about 1841-3. The
first blacksmith-shop was opened by Phillip Crowl,
in 1832. He has had quite a number of successors. John
McNickel had the first wagon shop in 1840, and it afterwards
became the property of his son, John M. McNickel. The
village and postoffice take their name from the stream which flows
through the place. The stream was named by Thomas
Fisher (the first), the spot on its banks upon which he located
being just five miles directly east of the place where he first settled
on the Shenango. The
first schoolhouse in the village was built in the neighborhood of 1825. "About
1843 a volunteer rifle company, known as the 'Eastbrook Rangers,' was
organized, and drill was kept up for seven years. The officers were:
Captain, Andrew Buchanan; first lieutenant,
Alexander Carpenter; second lieutenant, John
Staton; orderly sergeant, William McConahy.
The company numbered about 100 members and was uniformed with
white pants, blue coats and red sash, and a hat trimmed with cord and
green feather. They were armed with common rifles, in the use of which
they were very expert. The officers held commissions from the Governor
of the State. "Another
company was partially organized in 1860, just before the rebellion broke
out, but when the war came on they consolidated with a small company
from Princeton, in Slippery Rock Township, and the two were mustered in
as Company F, of the 100th (Roundhead) Regiment, which afterward
[p. 248] saw much hard service in the Carolinas, Virginia and
elsewhere." EASTBROOK
STATION. This
place was established at the completion of the New Castle and Franklin
Railway. Thomas Walton opened a grocery
store soon after and a number of dwellings were erected, a short
sidetrack laid, and a fine iron and wooden truss wagon-bridge built
across Neshannock Creek, which stream here makes an extensive and
beautiful bend, receiving just east of the station the waters of East
Brook or Hettenbaugh Run. "Part
of an extensive colony of German Mennonites, or Amish, occupies a
considerable portion of the north and west part of the township, the
remainder of them being in Wilmington, Neshannock and Pulaski townships.
They came principally from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, and have
schools, and a church of their own, the church building being in
Wilmington Township. They are a quiet, industrious class of people, keep
their farms in good order, and but two or three of the original families
have left the township since they came into it."
Source: Hickory Township, " 20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens,
Transcribed and submitted by Stephen Fisher
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