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Focusing on the lives
of any person or family who has lived in Little Washington,
Washington County, Pennsylvania at anytime throughout
history to recent times, through data and family stories.
NEW SEARCH BOX ADDED
BEALLSVILLE, PA
Genealogy and family history research in the area of
Little Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania
from 1700 to present.
Nearest cities: Ellsworth, PA (2.9 miles ), Deemston, PA (3.4
miles ), Cokeburg, PA (3.6 miles ), Bentleyville, PA (4.0 miles ), Centerville,
PA (5.1 miles ), Fredericktown-Millsboro, PA (5.1 miles ), Clarksville, PA (6.4
miles ), Marianna, PA (6.8 miles). Latitude: 40.06 N, Longitude: 80.02 W
Clear Drinking once upon a time in Beallsville, PA
by Judith Florian
About 15 miles southeast of downtown Washington is a place that could have just
as well ended up being called Thornton or maybe Thorntonville, after Robert
Thornton who settled on this site in 1774. Or "Clear Drinking,"
the name assigned to the surveyed tract, might have gained popularity.
Instead, the site was named after the man who owned "Clear Drinking,"
Mr. Zephaniah Beall, who obtained more tracts later, along with two other men,
Zephaniah H. Beall, son of the former, and George Jackson. Thornton,
Jackson and the two Bealls men had the town laid out by the then-well
known Jonathan Knight. Once this was completed in 1819, they held a sale
on lots for their new town. But it was not until 1852 that Beallsville was
incorporated as a borough. [Note: Both of these events would have been
recorded in the pages of the "Observer-Reporter" newspaper at
Washington, PA.]
The town of Beallsville, with homes and businesses lining both sides of Route
40, abruptly comes into view, sitting in a small valley. A one stop-light
town, it is one of those that locals refer to as a "if you blink, you'll
miss it" town. But with the French traders being in the area
from probably 1720, Beallsville has been witness to a huge amount of history.
The land recorded the footsteps of Indian and settler, of those who traveled the
"Old Trail" that was originally blazed by 1749, of those present
during the Revolutionary War, of fur trappers, and of tradesman and farmers who
made their way down the then new National Pike (built about 1823) to Brownsville
and the shipyards of the Monongahela River at Brownsville. Footprints and
horse's hoof-prints merged in the original muddy-dirt track with the thousands
of other hooves/feet of livestock such as cattle, sheep and pigs as they were
driven through Beallsville to market or shipment from Brownsville. The
town was also as prominent as Scenery Hill during the Stage Coach days, and one
of the toll gates was located at Beallsville. It was operated by Captain John
Hough, and his widow, Julia Hough, after the Capt's death. Businesses to
accommodate travelers, and their means of travel, flourished. Work was
plentiful, from tavern-inns to feed and allow the weary traveler to rest, to
saddlers, tanners and the blacksmith business. It is easy to imagine the
sounds of horses and people coming into town.
Tavern-inns were
owned by Christian Kreider in 1819; Thomas Stewart in a log house and Thomas G.
Norfolk kept the "Beallsville Sun", both in 1821. The
Beallsville Sun was located in the first brick building in this village, built
by Joseph Mills. Charles Miller opened his tavern in 1830 opposite Greenfield's;
this place was later operated by Mrs. Chambers, Benjamin Demon, Moses
Bennnington, Mr. Mitchell and lastly, Charles Guttery. Mr. William
Greenfield had the Greenfield Hotel already across the road from Miller's.
The Greenfield also housed the Beallsville Savings Bank. This hotel
was the most well-known during its time as a fine establishment due to the
friendly and caring manner of its proprietor. Reprints of the Greenfield
Hotel have been sold online over the last two years, showing the hotel's marquee
on a low two-story frame building with a wide, inviting porch. In
addition, Andrew Keys had a tavern before 1840 (east end of town and later owned
by Thomas Keys, followed by Robert Cluggage, James Dennison, Moses Bennington
and Charles Guttery.) It seems like too many tavern-inns for such a small
town, unless one remembers the large numbers of travelers and townspeople that
each tavern served. Over the next 50 years, from 1823 to 1870, the
town marked its growth with a steady increase in businesses.
Source:
Guidebook Western Pennsylvania, pp. 308-09
Note:
A "stand" was a common reference to a stopping point for the Stage.
Beallsville made its
place in the history of the Civil War through The Ringgold Cavalry, organized
and commanded by Dr. John Keys, a prominent doctor and surgeon who lived in the
borough. Twice Dr. Keys was turned down when he offered the Cavalry's
service, including after a major Union setback at Harper's Ferry.
President Lincoln was requesting infantry volunteers, and Keys and the people of
Beallsville almost put their energies to creating an infantry to comply with
Lincoln's need. But, Dr. Keys wrote to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton,
who accepted the Beallsville Cavalry. It is written that 7,000 people
crammed Beallsville to hear Dr. Keys' speech and send off the original 70
members of this now famous unit. That day marked the first cavalry unit to
enter the War for the North. An additional 100 men joined these soldiers
later. The last surviving member of Ringgold Cavalry was Mr. Hopkins
Moffitt of Centerville. In addition, the Tenth Regiment, commanded by
Colonel Alexander Hawkins, was mostly from the Beallsville area.
The town has
undergone the usual changes as it grew in the early 1800s, and the founding of
the usual landmarks of any community followed this growth. Of course,
early settlers needed contact from outside, and thus, a post office was
established about 1846 or before (Joseph Buffington was supposedly the post
master there). The usual saddlers, tanners, livery stable and
tavern-inns were joined by the general store, grocery store, banks, doctor/s and
dentist/s. One can still see one of the historic inns on the corner
at the traffic light, and diagonally across the intersection is an old home
which was built diagonally on the lot (following the direction of the Pike).
Both sides of the Pike bear many very old homes.
Settlers founded
several churches to meet their spiritual needs. One of the earliest church
presences was the Beallsville Methodist Society, in 1799, which included the
counties of Greene, Fayette and Washington as part of the Greenfield Circuit of
the Baltimore Conference. The organization of Beallsville Cumberland
Presbyterian Church with 35 members resulted from a series of day and night
meetings from Sunday, Feb. 16, to Thursday, March 6th, 1890 which were headed by
Rev. D.A. Cooper.
In 1907, the National
Pike at Beallsville was given a facelift of stone. By 1952, the stone road
was redone in concrete, including the berm on both sides and curbs. By the
beginning of the 1900s, the automobile had found a place in the hearts of
Washington County folks and the National Pike saw the changes in this means of
travel as well. Although other areas were serviced by trolley, and the
railroad had stops and stations in other nearby towns, Beallsville never had
these forms of travel come inside the borough. Indeed, an old pack-horse
trail passed near the home of Isaac Van Voorhis (formerly owned by Harry W.
Stathers, part of my family, of Maiden Street) still was in use through the late
1890s-early 1900s; by 1952 this trail was extinct.
The original Scots-Irish settlers were joined by more immigrants of various
nationalities who came to work in the large Zollarsville gas field between
Beallsville, Zollarsville and Deemston, and to mine coal in the huge Pittsburgh
Coal Seam that runs under Beallsville and most communities of Washington County.
Coal in the area of Beallsville was mined primarily by the Vesta Coal Company
(and other small, privately owned companies were across Washington County
throughout the years).
Like all communities, the undertaking business was typically run by furniture
and cabinet makers, whose carpentry skills served the needs of the living or the
dead. A man by the name of Mr. Robinson was hired by the Union Supply
Company to take over a funeral home, which was later run by well-known mortician
J. V. McDonough. A picture of McDonough standing in front of his
establishment "J.V. McDonough, Funeral Director, Embalmer & Furniture
Dealer," was printed in the Beallsville Bicentennial 1852-1952. John
B. Greenlee entered the business in 1925 and by 1930 had entered a partnership
with Mr. McDonough. Greenlee took ownership in 1949. The Greenlee
Funeral Home is still in operation today. The business has adapted to many
changes since its founding days, including now having a website on the internet
where they have publish obituaries for the deceased they serve. (See
www.greenleefuneralhome.com)
The Beallsville Cemetery is a small but well-cared-for peaceful resting place,
under the incorporation of the Beallsville Cemetery Association (phone
724--632--9535), and is currently managed by Susie Geller. In
2004-2005, Debbie Hill Day made an excellent copy of the interment books and
then photographed each of the tombstones. The tombstone pictures along
with a reading of these were placed on CDs by Ms. Day. It is an excellent
and one-of-a kind record of burials in this cemetery. Many of my family
are buried in the "old section" of Beallsville Cemetery, including my
grandparents, Ruth Elizabeth Lane McGary and Howard Wilbert McGary. Their
son, Howard Jr. and their daughter, Betty Ruth McGary Lanik Peyton, are also
buried here, along with Ruth's brother Roy F. Lane. Also, many of my
Waller side of the family rest in this cemetery.
Go to
Beallsville PA page 2
Go to
Beallsville PA page 3
SEND ME YOUR PICTURES OR MEMORIES OF
BEALLSVILLE
(washington.co.pa.webmaster@gmail.com - and put
Beallsville in the subject line)
Beallsville is 15 miles southeast of Washington, 9 miles
northwest of Brownsville, and lies between West Pike Run Township and Deemston
Borough. The borough is close to Monongahela River.
Keystone
Town Markers
Regional
area of Washington County (east section)
Map
of Beallsville, PA (greater area map at Beallsville, PA)
Close
up Map at Beallsville, PA
North
to Bentleyville, PA
My LANE family settled in Amwell Twp., (part became West Bethlehem Twp.,)
John Lane Sr.'s son, Rev. Daniel Lane, lived in South Strabane Twp..
Daniel's son, James Polk Lane, lived in Somerset Twp. James' son, Francis
Edward "Frank" Lane, first lived in Wylandville then moved his family
to Bentleyville. Frank and Flora Wynona Waller Lane raised three (3)
children: Vesta Marcella Lane Theakston, Roy Franklin Lane I, and , Ruth
Elizabeth Lane McGary, my grandmother.
My grandmother spoke often to me about her memories of Bentleyville and
Beallsville. She told me how back then that people would visit cemeteries
on Decoration Day, and how parents and children would walk from their homes to
Beallsville Cemetery starting out early in the morning. Ruth and her
siblings walked to Beallsville Cemetery with their mother, Flora Wynona Waller
Lane. After hand-cutting the grass and weeds, the children would help the
adults plant the flowers they had carried with them to the cemetery, from
gardens they tended at their homes. Families packed "picnic"
lunches and took along a blanket, which they spread on the ground between the
rows of tombstones, where they would sit and eat their lunch. After lunch,
children of one or several families would play games of Tag or Hide 'n Go
Seek, while the parents stayed on the blanket to chat with relatives and other
families who had also come to the cemetery with flowers and lunches. How
different things are today! If children were seen running through a
cemetery, apparently "unattended", while their parents ate their
lunches among the tombstones, most certainly someone from the cemetery would be
notified.
JAMES POLK LANE
This is the family of James Polk Lane, fifth child of Daniel Lane.
5. James Polk Lane
Mar. 9, 1845
Jan. 18, 1929
Jane Catherine Denman(*) June 10, 1856
Dec. 25, 1940
married Mar. 7, 1871
Children:
1. Floretta "Flora" Lane
Feb. 22, 1872
Mar. 27, 1898
2. Annie A. Lane
Apr. 18, 1874 Oct. 11, 1945
3. Ida M. Lane
Jan. 31, 1877 Nov. 4, 1962
4. Francis Edward Lane
Aug. 25, 1879
June 8, 1936
5. Alvie Z. Lane
Mar. 12, 1882 Nov. 15, 1973
6. Martin V. B Lane
Jan. 22, 1885 May 8, 1977
7. Mary Bell Lane
Mar. 7, 1888 Mar. 24, 1960
8. James Walter Lane
Aug. 27, 1890 Aug. 19, 1964
9. William H. Lane
Nov. 4, 1896 Jan.
8, 1964
FLORA WYNONA WALLER
This is the family of Thomas McClelland Waller, third child of
Andrew Waller.
3. Thomas McClelland Waller Apr. 10, 1849
Nov. 9, 1915
Mary Ann Stathers
Feb. 5, 1859 Jan. 6, 1929
[Obit has name as Anna Mary Waller.]
married Feb. 1880 [see below]
Children:
1. Olive May Waller Carks July 31, 1880
July 3, 1952
2. Flora Wynona Waller Lane Oct. 19, 1881
Jan. 2, 1965
3. Lida I. Waller Glatfelter Dec. 25, 1883
Aug. 1928
4. Julia Waller Ball
May 31, 1885 May 20, 1933
5. Myrtle Waller
Mar. 22, 1887 d. Infancy
6. John Henry Waller
Apr. 2, 1889 Dec. 6, 1964
7. Charlotte E. Waller Lutes Jan. 8, 1894
Oct. 30, 1920
8. Bess Waller Wyse Mesler Thomas Aug. 10, 1896 Sept. 8, 1925
NOTE: Teagarden's work says only 7 children; no names are given.
Flora Wynona "Nona" or "Nown" Waller Lane is
in a black and white group photo entitled "Beallsville School Almost 65
Years Ago" (front row, 5th from left; photo is on last page of the book),
in the book Beallsville Centennial 1852-1952 (Editors or Authors
not given in book and the book has no page numbers]. Nona looks to be
maybe 8 years old in the photo.
FRANCIS EDWARD LANE AND FLORA WYNONA WALLER LANE
This is the family of Francis Edward Lane, fourth child of James
P. Lane.
4. Francis Edward Lane
Aug. 25, 1879
June 8, 1936
Flora Wynona Waller
Oct. 19, 1881 Jan. 2, 1965
married Mar.
29, 1905
Children:
1. James Thomas Lane Nov. 7, 1907 Nov.
7, 1907
2. Roy Franklin Lane
Feb. 21, 1909 Mar. 22, 1972
3. Ruth Elizabeth Lane May 16, 1912 Oct. 14, 2000
4. Vesta Marcella Lane Feb. 7, 1914 Feb.
4, 2001
Go Back to TownTalk Index
Site History and Updates: Dec '05; Jan '05; Mar
'06
Email
Washington.Co.PA.Webmaster
(c) Judith Ann Florian
159 E. Main St.
Girard, Ohio 44420
Copyright Notice - Data / info. for individuals and surnames may be
reproduced for personal family histories only, but not for any commercial use or
sale. Please give credit to Judith Florian and Catherine L. Caldwell for
locating newspaper items and original documents. You may use J. Florian's
research conclusions if credit is given. No other data or images may be
reproduced without permission. © 2005-present, Judith Florian, Copyright All
rights reserved.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 16, 2009 00:15
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